Protectors Of The Young.
Chapter Two.
A/N: 1 joor=6.5 hours.
"Gatehouse to Main control, this is Cliffjumper. Please respond."
Optimus turned to the main screen as he heard the young scout's agitated voice and opened the communication line back.
"Control here, Optimus responding, what is it Cliffjumper? I thought Ironhide was on gate duty for the next two joors."
"He is, but I came out here and found him lying on the ground. First Aid says he's been stunned. I found Red Alert in a similar state, I think Ratchet is seeing to him but it could be for the same reason. Sir, all the alarms and stuff have been turned off, so I think you should know we have an intruder, possibly more than one."
"It's Thundercracker!" came a voice. Optimus turned to see Mirage come into the room, having obviously been running. "Thundercracker stunned me but I roused and managed to slip away while he was playing with the older sparklings."
"The sparklings?" Optimus cried, turning and running for the door, Prowl and Hound not far behind him. Mirage heard an alarm com go out to the rest of the Base occupants, orders to check all the sparklings.
"Wait!" Mirage said, but found himself speaking to empty air. Cursing, he turned and gave chase.
On the other end of the intercom, Cliffjumper heard everything. He had reset all the alarms and shields, and activated them, then set out for the main Base, as First Aid continued work on rousing the currently- inert form of Ironhide.
oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
Skywarp was jerked out of his recharge by the wailing of the sirens. He cried out, much in the way many of the sparklings did, but where his cry was quickly stilled, that of the sparklings intensified as the loud and unfamiliar tones of the alarm continued. They whirred in distress, crying out in fear and confusion. Skywarp knew he should try to escape, realised the entry of himself and his wing-brothers must have been discovered, but another part of him, the programming stronger for its protracted non-activation, told him to find a way to shut off the noise and calm the small ones now huddled against him in distress.
He pulled up from memory the map of the base and warped to the gate house - he would only have issue with the anti-warp field if he tried to warp through it - and stunned the medic working on the Weapons Specialist. Stepping over their sprawled bodies, he reached the control panel and found the switch for the alarms, switching it off and then snapping it off so they could not be switched back on. Then he warped back to the room he had been in, and gathered the sparklings in his arms, clicking and cooing at them to soothe them, bestowing pats and strokes to small backs and heads and limbs, bending his head to nuzzle the helms of the closest.
He was so occupied with this that he did not notice the door open, did not notice the figures that appeared in it. It was the sound of weapons powering up that jerked his attention to the cluster of six brightly-coloured femmes stood in the doorway, weapons pointing his way.
"Stand up slowly and move away from them, Seeker." Chromia said.
oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
Starscream heard the alarms go off, and he reversed course and headed for the exit of the Base.
Escape was the second most thought on his mind, would have been the highest thought except for one thing.
Alarms usually functioned as a warning or an alert, usually associated with danger. The sound of the alarms, coupled with the knowledge that there were sparklings on the Base, fully activated Starscream's protection-programming, and he was first going to make sure the sparklings were safe.
He barrelled into the medbay, startling Ratchet and Red Alert, who had just recovered. Ratchet blinked as he saw Starscream head towards the sparklings, his body tense as he kept one blaster trained on the medic. Something stirred in his memory about Seekers and their reaction to sparklings, Ratchet himself recalled having had a Seeker companion-guardian in his own younglinghood.
At that moment the alarms suddenly cut out: Starscream blinked in confusion, and Ratchet took full advantage of the momentary distraction, moving over to catch up one of the sparklings, who were all squalling at the noise.
Starscream's blaster wavered as he realised it was pointed at the sparkling Ratchet had picked up, then moved up to point at Ratchet's head. Ratchet carefully held out the sparkling to Starscream.
"Shall we get these three calmed down? The noise frightened them, but a few cuddles should reassure them."
The blaster was removed as Starscream registered that Ratchet was not only not a threat, but was holding a sparkling out to him. He didn't hesitate, scooping it into his arms and purring as he held it against him, shifting position only to make space for the second Sparkling that Ratchet offered. Ratchet himself concentrated on the third, the cries subsiding to distressed whirrs which in turn subsided as the two adults calmed them with soft words and engine purrs.
Ratchet send a quiet but urgent com to the rest of the 'bots as he watched Starscream.
'Starscream is here, where he is his wingbrothers are likely to be. If found, do not, repeat do NOT power up weapons or engage in combat if they are in the presence of sparklings. Repeat: do nothing they might perceive as presenting danger to the sparklings!'
oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
Optimus, Hound and Prowl received Ratchet's com as they reached the door of the playroom. They looked at each other in confusion, but the urgent tone of the com meant they were not about to argue with him: they powered down and put away their weapons, and then Prowl opened the door as Mirage caught up with them.
They slowly entered, one by one, and stared at the sight that greeted them.
Thundercracker was lying on his back on the floor as two sparklings sat astride him, bouncing up and down on his canopy and giggling. One of the others was carefully examining one of his hands, bending and flexing the digits in turn, while the fourth was lying on his thigh, deep in recharge.
The Seeker himself, his optics fully shuttered, wore an expression of pure bliss on his face.
oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
Skywarp didn't register Chromia's words, he only registered the sight of weapons pointed in his - and consequently the clustered sparklings' - direction. As Ratchet's com came in, Chromia and the others were startled by it, by the unexpected urgent tone, their concentration broken. The protection-programming kicked in fully, and, taking advantage of their brief distraction, he sprang from his crouched position. They were unprepared for this, both for his move and the speed of his actions.
He disappeared mid-spring, popping back into existence close enough to use one hand to lash out, the fiungers hooked into claws, scattering the other femmes, while the other caught hold of Chromia's weapon and threw it aside. The hand he had used to scatter the others swept back down to fasten around Chromia's neck as the other returned to ram hard against her chest, thrusting her harder against the unyielding kneesshifted to in her legs to the floor, and both his hands were pressed to the hide hard enough to dent the metal they were holding. Chromia tried to pry them off with her own hands but stopped, crying out in pain as Skywarp gave the hand on her neck a vicious, threatening twist.
"Power down your weapons, and get away from here." he growled, his voice hard and menacing. "Leave the room, slowly, and one at a time. If you disobey me, or continue to threaten the sparklings, she will die."