I am currently learning how to drive. It is terrifying knowing I have to control a one and a half ton vehicle that could just as easily kill someone. It doesn't help that I keep thinking it's going to transform on me.
Anyway, this starts in Arcee's POV and goes from there.
To give a very brief recap on the previous (and lengthy) chapter, Ratchet, having scanned a Super Hornet fighter jet, received flight lessons from Dreadwing and went undercover as a Decepticon Seeker named Fallstreak. 'Fallstreak' interrogated Starscream, and wrung the truth regarding the location of Faultline's ship out of him. Meanwhile, Wheeljack, the kids and Halli come across Ravage while tracking Optimus's scent. Soundwave senses the confrontation going on between Halli and Ravage and goes to find him. In doing so, he meets Wheeljack and the kids. They all agree to work together to find Optimus after things calm down and soon find Faultline's ship. In this chapter, Soundwave is going to do something that no one, not even Lord Megatron, saw coming.
I woke up to see a black silhouette standing over me in the dark room as I lay on the padded berth. I jolted and shot up on the berth as soon as it registered that somebot was watching me while I was recharging.
I saw the silhouette's hand pull back from its hovering position over my shoulder to hang at their side. "Calm down, Arcee. I was meaning to wake you, but I see you have done that yourself."
I glared hard into silhouette's red optics while I propped myself up on my elbows to look at him. For whatever reason, I stayed down on the berth, rather getting up and facing the freak staring at me. It was Faultline. It was the monster who had me trapped here, along with the baby.
"What do you want?" I growled lowly, glaring up at him.
Faultline's optics narrowed into slits as he gave a brief chuckle. "Nothing you don't have."
My spark skipped a beat as he continued to speak casually. "Now, I'm sorry to disturb you, but I need you to follow me."
I didn't move, only continuing to stare at him. He must be out of his mind if he thinks I'm going anywhere with him.
Faultline clasped his servos behind his back after waiting a few moments and stared down at me. "It would be a wise idea to follow me. You did agree to do what I say, so the delicate one can remain alive to see the light of day."
I scowled and sharply looked away, seeing exactly what he was doing. Of course he would threaten me with the baby...
Faultline suddenly chuckled to himself, amused about something. "'You did agree to do what I say, so the delicate one can remain alive to see the light of day'. Oh, what a rhyme! I'll have to remember that one."
I only scowled in response as he spoke of his rhymes.
...And of course it would work.
Right now, I want more than anything for the other 'Bots to find this ship and get Optimus out of here. I can't do anything as of now to keep the baby safe... No, I can do something. I can comply with whatever this mech says to keep the baby safe. That's the only thing I can do, and I hate myself for being so helpless.
I stood slowly, and the mech backed away a few steps, just so I could stand fully in front of him. As I stood stiffly in front of him, I could feel the mech's optics on my frame before he turned on his heel and headed towards the door. I quietly followed behind him into the light of the hallway.
...
On our way to wherever this freak wanted me to go, I saw the Velocitronian femme in the hallway. The light purple, black visored femme was cleaning one of the windows with some sort of red solvent-soaked rag. There was a bucket on the floor next to her wheeled pede, and the floor around it was speckled in drops of the translucent red cleaner fluid. As soon as she saw Faultline headed her way, she turned around and faced away from the window she was half done cleaning. She kept the rag in her hand as she folded her hands right in front of her. She lowered her helm and looked, for all the world, like a timid servant.
Now that I think about it, that's exactly what she was. A timid servant.
Faultline didn't even spare her a second glance as he walked by. As I passed by the slender femme, I couldn't help but look back at her. I was surprised to see that she hadn't immediately gone back to cleaning the window. Instead, she was looking right at me, even though I couldn't see her optics through her black visor.
She had an even sadder look on her face as she gazed after me down the hallway than she the last time I saw her, if that was even possible. It was like she knew about something terrible that she wasn't saying.
I couldn't continue looking directly at her face. That expression was so sorrowful I couldn't handle it. Instead, I looked down, and my optics locked on her hands.
I could obviously tell that she had been laboring around this ship for a very long time. The plating on her hands was slightly discolored; the silver had turned brown on her fingertips. The brown patches were small, and had to have been caused by using strong cleaning chemicals on a regular basis for a long time. I could also see that the plating on her fingers was rough from vorns of work. The armor on the back on the back of her hand was adorned with badly worn, light purple paint, like it had been rubbed off. I could almost see extremely thin scratches on the plating of her digits, and on what little I could see of her palms.
Her servos had seen many years of labor. And at the same time, I could tell that those same battered servos were once very pretty.
I turned to look at Faultline's back briefly before glancing back at 'Lackluster' from the corner of my eye. The instant I looked at her, she turned away and stared down at the floor.
I looked at her through the corner of my optic for a moment longer before turning around a corner. Once I could no longer see her, I reluctantly turned back to Faultline. I could not help but feel on edge as I walked behind the mech who was holding Optimus and me hostage.
Suddenly, Faultline turned his helm halfway to stare down at me with a bright red optic. "You were looking at Lackluster, yes? And I'm assuming you're wondering how the lovely femme came to be here with me. Interesting story there-"
Just then, a terrible, sickened feeling had washed over me. I don't want to hear her story, especially not from this freak. I tried to burn him with my glare as I cut him off, making him slow to a stop in front of me.
"I don't want to hear anything from you," I nearly snarled.
He stared at me with one bright optic for what seemed like forever, and a smile slowly crept across his faceplates. He made no effort to hide the fact that he was looking me up and down as he regarded me coolly. Under his gaze I felt as if an insect was crawling over my plating. I can hardly put into words how uncomfortable I felt when he looked at me.
I saw his servo twitch slightly as it hung at his side, like he was waiting to reach for something. Naturally suspicious and remembering that powerful gun he kept hidden on his back, I tensed up, and made sure he didn't see the change.
I was wary of him to say the very least, but I knew better than to online my weapons system. Doing that would help me defend myself right now, but would put Optimus in danger later. The longer I remain compliant, the better.
"Ah, yes, it can be easy to forget your liveliness." Faultline flashed me a toothy grin and reached towards a wall and pushed a button on a keypad I hadn't noticed before without looking away from me.
"I'll try to remember that feature. It is very pleasing to see that you possess something that Lackluster has become decidedly deficient in." Just as he finished his sentence, a large door slid open beside me, revealing a dark room.
He removed his digit from the keypad and swept his other arm out towards the darkness of the room, gesturing for me to go inside. The smile on his face never faded as he looked at me.
My first reaction was to refuse, but I quickly thought better of it. I reminded myself that I needed to do what I could so that the baby remained alive. And that meant doing what this mech said.
As I stood there, I realized that part of me was somewhat fine with that. I didn't care much about what he planned on doing with me, so long as it meant that I was buying the other 'Bots time to come and get my little brother out of here.
Under normal circumstances, I would not have gone into that dark room for any reason. That would go completely against my training as a warrior. A true warrior would avoid being cornered by the enemy, at all costs.
But they don't give you training on what to do when a sparkling is in danger. Now, the only thing I have to help me along in making my decision is my spark.
For a long time, I ignored what my spark wanted me to do and recalled my training back on Cybertron as a warrior to guide me in the battlefield, as well as everyday life. I had always thought that the spark would only hinder me in achieving my goal in becoming the best warrior I could be. But, occasionally, my spark shows me that what I learned in training is not always right.
My spark was telling me to do one thing, while my training, my mind, was telling me to do another. My mind knew that nothing good was going to come if I went inside that room. My mind was concerned for my wellbeing. I was practically being yelled at by my own mind to resist Faultline and attempt to get away from him at all costs.
My spark, on the other hand, was reassured that the Autobots would come and that if I cooperated, the sparkling would be safe. Everything would be alright, so long as I waited for help to come. My spark was much quieter in its words, though I could hear them loud and clear.
I stood there for a moment, conflicted between two things that I wanted to do at the same time. My spark and mind were practically waging war against one another, neither one seeming to win the fight.
And in an instant, one side was victorious.
Faultline grinned as he watched me enter the pitch black room, showing a bit of his gleaming denta.
Even though I had relatively good vision, I could hardly see anything inside of the room. But, the one thing that I could see, because of the light coming in from the hallway, was something that looked like a berth near the back wall.
I turned around as soon as I heard the door click shut behind me. I looked up to see a pair of very bright, fiery red optics. There was a very ominous look in those optics.
I shut my optics as I felt almost overwhelmed by his presence in the dark room, and braced myself as I felt him move closer to me. I was trapped. There was no way for me to get out of here on my own.
I could hear his footfalls coming closer and closer. All the while, I just kept my optics shut and thought about a better place, some place other than this dark room. My mind wandered back to the base, to the little baby. I started to hear his little laugh as he played with the cyberdog, who was hopping around him like a playful puppy. I saw the calm, peaceful expression on his father's face as Optimus held his stuffed tiger and was being lulled to sleep by the hum of Ratchet's engine. I felt the little baby's purr as I held him to my chassis, watching Bumblebee and Bulkhead thumb-wrestle, waiting for Ratchet to return from the energon storage room with Optimus's cube.
I couldn't help but smile slightly as I recalled the fond memories.
Then I heard Faultline speak in a low voice, shattering the image of Optimus clutching the sides of his energon cube as he lay in Ratchet's arms. "I'll be taking my pay..."
…Steve's POV…
Shank and I were in the medbay helping Rudder out with treating a few workers when I heard through the private Vehicon comm. link that Commander Starscream had been Bridged out of the Nemesis.
The link was buzzing with chatter. Most were predicting what was going to happen to out second-in-command and why he had been Bridged out there in the first place. Most people hoped Lord Megatron would hurt the grey Seeker for what he planned against the sparkling. I heard Pillage, the same guy who said he wanted to start a lynch mob with Starscream's name on it, say that he wanted to go after Starscream and hurt him himself.
I fully understood why he was so angry, but riling up the troops isn't going to help. I made sure to send him a transmission over the Vehicon link to calm down. The absolute last thing we needed was a full blown riot.
Rumble stopped me in the hallway a short while ago and told me that Lord Megatron, the other high ranking Decepticons and the Autobots were making progress in finding the mech who took the sparkling. I didn't know how he knew that I knew about the Autobots working with Lord Megatron and the others, but I didn't question it.
But, after a bit of thought, I found that it made sense that he knew. Rumble was one of Soundwave's Deployers, and I'm sure Soundwave was sending some kind of message to him through the link they shared.
Well, I'm glad that he's not using it against us Vehicons. Rumble knows that we could get in serious trouble if Lord Megatron found out that we knew something we weren't supposed to about what he was doing.
What's bothering me a bit about Rumble is that I don't know whether or not he told Soundwave about our efforts to keep a lid on things here on the warship. I pray to Primus he didn't. It's Soundwave's job to immediately report to Lord Megatron if something fishy is going on and he doesn't know about it. We are only trying to help, but I can't help but feel a bit nervous about what would happen to us Vehicons if our leader found out that we knew all about the hunt for the sparkling.
I felt a flicker of fear in my spark when I thought about what might happen to Shank and me for ear-hustling, breaking through Soundwave's numerous firewalls that guarded the coordinates that the other high ranking officers were currently at, Bridging the white Wrecker, his two humans and the dog to the same location, and letting the entire crew know of what was going on with the sparkling.
That thought also leads me to be concerned for Volk and Rudder. Volk became involved in this when Shank and I told him about the missing sparkling and the truce. I don't even want to know how high a price he could pay for agreeing to hold a meeting with the other Vehicon officers to tell them the news about the sparkling. The price may be higher for him than the rest of us, since he's the top Vehicon officer. Also, he's part of the reason why the whole crew knows.
Rudder, like the rest of us, could get in huge trouble just for knowing about what Lord Megatron is doing out there with the Autobots. Plus, he's filling a position he really isn't supposed to be in right now.
With his knowledge and experience, he may as well be an official medic, but for some reason, Knockout is the only official medic on the warship. And only the official medic is really allowed to work in there.
Rudder is one among several other Vehicons who are unofficial medics, but he has the most experience out of all of them. He once told me that he was an experienced doctor since long before the Great War.
I would really hate for anything to happen to the elderly mech. He's, really, the nicest, gentlest person on the warship. He was always helping out around the Nemesis, and was always calm, which I personally think was contagious. He could even talk to Lord Megatron without our leader responding to him in his usual angry tone, something that is nearly impossible to do.
He was also the only Vehicon that regularly spoke with Soundwave. Shank told me after a round of ear-hustling that Soundwave and Rudder had known each other for a long time, and were close friends. He's one of the few mechs that personally knew the silent mech.
...He never said anything about it, but I could tell that something was on his mind. It was just a few moments ago that I noticed him wringing his servos, and I noticed his damaged, yellow optics almost constantly flickering. I kept a closer optic on the old mech, and I saw him do it repeatedly.
Over the time that I've known him, I figured out that Rudder only wrings his servos like that when he is deep in thought. It's not too far of a stretch to assume he's thinking about the sparkling. That's what everyone on the warship seemed to be doing right about now.
But he wasn't particularly concerned, at least, not that I could see. The old mech could be incredibly hard to read, and now was one of those moments.
I'm confident that it had to do with the sparkling.
"Are you alright, Rudder?" I asked, concerned, looking away from the medical datapad Shank handed me. My friend looked up at me and then to Rudder after I asked the question.
The old mech turned his helm to gaze at me as he sat near the wall in a chair I brought in from the Rec Room for him. His damaged, yellow visor brightened reassuringly, flickering once again as he answered quietly.
"Don't worry about me, Tripwire. Just remain diligent in your work." I nodded reluctantly and looked back down at the datapad. I could tell that he didn't want to tell me what was on his mind.
I was mildly frustrated with the old mech for that reason, but the feeling quickly passed. The mech was wise, and if he was keeping something to himself, it was for a good reason. I guess I'll just have to trust Rudder on this.
...Jack's POV...
I flipped my phone shut after ending my conversation with my mom. I had taken to calling her every thirty minutes in order to keep her calm, and to keep her from calling Agent Fowler. So far it seemed to work.
Just a little while ago, Ravage and Halli had found this massive spaceship. They tracked Optimus's scent to it, so it had to be the place.
Miko and I had gotten off Halli's back and were standing next to Wheeljack's ankles while we waited for someone to make the next move. I personally hoped it was Wheeljack, not the silent 'Con we were working with.
I looked up at Soundwave, who was standing a short distance away from Wheeljack. The Decepticon third-in-command was making me nervous, really just because of who he was. With all the fighting the other 'Bots did with the Decepticons, I couldn't help but feel a little nervous around him.
Soundwave was just standing there, staring in the direction of the ship we had tracked down, the red light coming from the ship reflecting off his black mask and parts of his helm. I would've thought the Decepticon was a statue if I didn't know any better.
...Well, actually he was moving a bit. I could see his hands trembling at his sides. I furrowed my eyebrows in thought as I watched his fingers shake slightly. I wonder why he was shaking. I definitely don't know Soundwave, but I've heard enough about him from the other 'Bots to know that he never shows emotions, not even through body language.
I know this situation is bad, but to see the normally emotionless 'Con shaking like that told me that something else was going on. Something that had to do with just Soundwave.
"So what're we waitin' on? Let's head in there and get Arcee and the kid out," Wheeljack said, making Miko and me look up at him as he walked towards the red light from behind the large bush. Halli's ears perked as he moved past her. I looked back down to give Miko a nervous glance before running after him.
There is no way he's going in there! We didn't know who else besides the guy who took Optimus and Arcee in that ship. And we don't know if anyone's going to come out of that ship and start shooting at all of us. If the guy can get in and out of the Autobot base undetected, who knows what else he can do!
Thankfully, Miko and I didn't need to stop him.
Soundwave quickly spun around and put a warning hand on Wheeljack's shoulder, keeping him from continuing towards the bush that separated us and the ship. There was a tense silence as Wheeljack stared at the silent Decepticon.
Wheeljack folded his arms over his chest in frustration as Soundwave removed his hand. "The ship's right there. We should go in now while we got the chance."
Soundwave only stood there as he responded with a recording of some Decepticon's voice. "It's too dangerous."
Wheeljack kept his arms folded over his chest as he started to tap his fingers on his upper arm impatiently. "Not too dangerous for a Wrecker."
Ravage laid down and put his head down on his front paws, practically tapping his claws on the looking really impatient. Halli looked anxiously back and forth between Soundwave and Wheeljack as she stood there, like she was rooted to the ground as Miko nodded. "Yeah, nothing's dangerous for a Wrecker!"
I remained quiet. I don't know what we're getting ourselves into, and I know Miko doesn't know. We really should listen to Soundwave, even if he is a 'Con.
It was like Soundave knew exactly what I was thinking when he responded using his audio clips "You don't know what you're getting yourself into."
Wheeljack smirked. "Only one way to find out."
Soundwave just stared at him for a long moment through his black mask before saying through the audio clips, "The others... are nearby."
…Dreadwing's POV…
I was flying relatively close behind Ratchet, also known as Fallstreak, beside Lord Megatron, when I noticed something that was slightly amiss, other than the current situation that we were in.
The new flyer is virtually unarmed. Being a medic, he was not armed with blasters, or any long-range weapons. I am aware that he uses his medical tools as weapons, as Knockout does, but those close range weapons will do him no good in air combat.
I know that F/A-18 Super Hornets are equipped with an M61 Vulcan gatling gun, but those rounds provided by humans in the six-barrel cannon simply aren't enough to efficiently take down a Cybertronian warrior. A stronger weapon will have to be given to him.
"Lord Megatron," I said through the comm. link, gaining my leader's attention. He responded, but with an irritated tone.
"Yes, what is it?" I paused for a nanoklik to gather my thoughts before speaking to him.
"The Autobot medic is a strong fighter, but I fear he may need a long-range blaster to match his skill on the ground in the air."
"Oh, really? And what makes you come to that conclusion?"
"The Autobot scanned an alternate mode that is armed with a human cannon, one that is not ideal for engaging in combat with other mechs," I said carefully. "And since we are flying into the unknown in regards to this mech that abducted the little child, I suggest we arm the medic with a blaster."
Had we not been in vehicular modes, Lord Megatron would have nodded. "I understand your logic, Dreadwing. But that can wait for another day, when we are not so pressed for time."
"Yes, my lord." Then Lord Megatron chuckled slightly as his alternate mode shuddered slightly while dealing with the incoming wind and air resistance.
"Besides, after twice watching the Autobot medic handle Starscream with the ease, efficiency, and ferocity of a gladiator, I do not think that we have any reason to be concerned."
(He was not pleased with what He was seeing.)
(He saw the blue femme, restrained, helpless, and, He knew, demeaned. She was demeaned by another, the one in the very same room as her.)
(This was not her choice, He knew. And yet, it was. This was in a valiant effort to protect one weaker than her. The weaker one... The one who was being comforted by his horned keeper in the small, dark place. The one who had started the cycle once more. The cycle of new life.)
(He rested and waited and watched for a long time. And in that time, He knew that the cycle would start once more.)
(Though He knew this would be, He enjoyed seeing the precious one's interactions with others, the precious one's bonds, formed with others. Others... especially the two that resided on opposite sides.)
(The two that resided on opposite sides were closer than they already knew. He watched them form a friendship that was growing ever stronger in secret. It was a shame that it must remain this way for now. He knew that there was power in such friendships.)
(These two, He saw, were both fathers. One from long ago and one of the precious one.)
(The one from long ago suffered great loss, loss that many others would not be able to handle. He chose a vow of silence, and chose a side. He knew that the one from long ago was virtuous, more so than others, despite what his side stands for, despite what he has been through. The silent one no longer has his precious one, and he has suffered without his precious one.)
(The one of the precious one was new, yet experienced. He could feel the one of the precious one's love for his small offspring. The precious one's father was so warm and comforting; it pleased him to see the affection.)
(The precious one had begun to mend the shattered halves together, despite the rusting and cracking and crumbling of the edges where they once connected. This event, he knew, affected all of them, from both sides.)
(It saddened Him to see that events took such a terrible turn, though He knew it would be long ago. He had decided in times long past that the blue femme must be preserved. Her time to join Him had not yet come.)
(The blue femme's self-sacrifice was admirable. Many of the others would do whatever they could in their power to preserve themselves, selfishly, whereas her only interest was protecting the precious one.)
(He heard her words. He heard her pleas to Him to protect the precious one, and forgetting to do so for herself. The sheer desperation and immense faith in her words resonated within Him, ringing and echoing.)
(Even now He heard her pleas for the precious one's safety, as she was restrained, exposed, and crying out in her torment caused by the one in the room with her. Few things upset Him more than the pained pleas of the innocent.)
(It was not part of His plan for her to be harmed so. Others around Him agreed.)
(He hailed the precious one's horned keeper, gave him a rod, and sent him out to smite down the one harming the femme.)
...Arcee's POV: Some Time Later...
I pleaded for all of it to stop. And he wouldn't stop.
I am no stranger to pain. I fight in a war; I live in pain. But this was unbearable. This was too much, and was taking too long.
Unable to move, I wasn't able to defend myself. It hurt, in more ways than one. I was beginning to wonder if there truly was no one here for me, even as I kept begging for something – anything – to happen to make this all finally come to an end.
I hated being vulnerable like this, and I hated being restrained so I stayed vulnerable. The bonds were too tough to break, and all I could do was lay there as Faultline continued to do what he pleased with me.
But, suddenly, it all ended. The pain was still there, but no more was being caused. I kept my optics shut, expecting this break to be short, but the pain never started again.
Slowly, I gathered the strength to open my optics, to be shocked by the sight I saw in this dark room. I would have rubbed my optics to make sure that I wasn't dreaming, but my servos were bound. So I just lay there, wide-eyed.
Faultline was lying on the floor next to the berth, writhing in pain, clutching his leg. His normally smooth facial features were twisted in his agony as he grunted roughly. As I lay there, bound to the berth, I could smell seared paint and burnt energon, and I could hear the soft crackling of flying sparks.
I smiled slightly as I grimaced, trying to recover from the pain that still lingered. Whatever that was did a real number on his leg. The plating on his thigh, from what little I could see in this dark room, was both split from a powerful impact and badly burned. The jagged edges of the split plating were still glowing was heated yellow, like a frame welder on high power was used on it. I could obviously see that it was causing him a lot of pain.
The only problem was that I didn't see was 'it' was.
After looking back up, I saw exactly what 'it' was.
Cliffjumper stood at the foot of the berth, facing Faultline. How was that even possible? Cliff is dead! Starscream killed him. I saw his mutilated, Dark Energon infected remains.
I stared wide-eyed and speechless as Cliffjumper stood there, strong as ever, as if he never died. There was a soft white light shining around his helm and his optics were a very bright white, and seemed to burn with a protective fire. His flawless paint was a very bright, almost glowing red, and in his hands was a long staff.
The staff was constantly wavering in his hands, like it wasn't completely solid or made of flames. It was lit with a heated violet as Cliffjumper held the staff with both servos placed evenly apart from each other.
He was holding it like it was a weapon and his pedes were in a wide stance. He was standing like he was ready to hit Faultline again with the staff, and was looking down at him, who was still on the floor.
I tried to open my mouth and call his name, but no sound came out. I was too shocked to do anything. My deceased partner had come back to protect me.
The look on his face surprised me. His joking demeanor that I knew well when he was alive was completely gone. In place of that was a stern glare, aimed at Faultline.
Suddenly, I heard a pained grunt and hydraulics hissing, making my tear my gaze away from the glowing spirit in front of me and looked down at Faultline.
As he stood, I could tell that he was favoring the leg that was scorched. He turned his helm to look at me as he spoke, in as calm a voice he could work up. There was a still a smile on his face, though this one showed cold sadism rather than calm relief. The dark expression chilled me to the protoform.
"I'll be right back." With that, he slightly limped his way out of the room, still favoring his burned leg, as if he didn't see Cliff standing right in front him.
Now that I think about it, he might not be able to see him.
I turned my helm back to Cliffjumper as the light of the hallway faded out again, to see him giving me a sideways glance. I couldn't look away once we made optic contact. I still couldn't quite comprehend the fact that a spirit had just come to protect me from beyond the grave.
Then, he gave me a small, comforting smile as he took one hand off the glowing staff and waved at me. Even with his servo still moving, his frame faded and blew away, like red sand in the wind.
...Ratchet's POV...
I had reached a clearing that was near the ship and was waiting for the others to show. Megatron and Dreadwing waited with me, standing nearby.
Bumblebee commed me a short while ago, saying that he and Bulkhead were twenty minutes away from my current location. I was surprised to hear how much progress they had made in through the trees over such a long distance. I know that it is not easy getting through the undergrowth with a ground based vehicular mode.
Now I am particularly glad that I scanned a new vehicular form. I am able to get around much faster without much trouble.
Before I landed here, I spotted the ship underneath the tall trees ahead. The ship was massive; it was no two seat fighter. Five, possibly six, bots could easily live in that vessel for an extended period of time.
I was so close. So close to getting my son back, and yet I had to wait here for the others to rendezvous at my location. I knew that it was not a wise choice to go ahead alone, but I could still feel the powerful urge to rush the ship and get my son back. It was hard to resist. I suppose that the only to maintain my sanity at this moment is to focus on something else.
While I was flying, I noticed that the clouds were coming in from the south very quickly. I saw that they were very dark clouds, making the night darker than it already was. There may be a storm coming, though I am not confident enough in my knowledge of this planet's weather patterns to be completely sure.
In fact, I could see them partially covering the sky overhead now. The wind started to pick up, and leaves started to rustle on their branches and in the air. That only made the dark clouds move even faster, starting to cover the full moon.
I hope that the darkening sky won't interfere in the others finding us here in the clearing. If it's dark out here in the open, I know that it's very dark underneath the trees.
I was pulled away from my attempts to distract myself, and my wings lifted slightly in surprise at hearing Megatron's frustrated tone.
"What is taking them so long?!" He growled, glaring darkly at nothing in particular. I instantly grew annoyed, but didn't say anything. Evidently Megatron is too impatient to take into account that land based modes take much longer than alternate modes capable of flight to travel from one place to another.
He continued to grumble about how much time they were taking as he stood there with his arms crossed over his chassis, and his fusion cannon started to glow a very hot white. I attempted to remain calm, but apparently other around me could see my annoyance.
Dreadwing had come over to me and put a clawed servo on my shoulder with a serious expression on his faceplates, silently advising me to keep a level head, something that was becoming harder and harder to do. My blood-red optics continued to grow slowly brighter as my annoyance and anger increased.
Fortunately for Megatron, we didn't have to wait much longer.
Bumblebee, followed by Knockout and Bulkhead, came out of the woods to my right in their vehicular modes, causing us to turn and look at the sound of their engines. After transforming back into their bipedal modes, they all met with the rest of us.
"Did you see the ship overhead, Ratchet?" Bumblebee asked me from next to Bulkhead, drawing everyone's attention to him. I nodded and pointed in the direction of the vessel.
"Yes. It's about fifty yards in this direction." I lowered my arm and looked over at Knockout, instantly noticing that someone was missing. "Where is Breakdown?"
"Breakdown has been selected by Lord Megatron to ensure that Starscream will not attempt to escape while we are retrieving the sparkling," Dreadwing answered for me, gesturing towards the warlord as he mentioned him.
"Since we do not have sufficient information on the owner of the vessel to deal with him the manner I would like to, we will walk to remainder of the distance," Megatron said.
"In order to stay under the radar, my lord?" Knockout asked. Bumblebee nodded, answering for the warlord.
"Yeah. It won't do us any good if he knew we were all out to get him."
"We should get moving," Bulkhead said, trying to urge us to start heading towards the ship, not that I need the push. The sooner we start walking, sooner I have my opportunity to get my son back and brutally murder the mech who took him from me.
...Bumblebee's POV...
We had reached the ship in no time at all, really. After I spotted it, I alerted the others and we all gathered again to decide what we were going to do next.
The best way to go would be to overpower the mech and storm the ship. We chose not to split off like we did last time, and position ourselves relatively close together in the trees around the exit hatch at the back of the ship. Close enough to verbally speak to each other without too many problems, anyway.
The ship was way bigger than I expected. It was sitting there in a pretty big clearing in the trees, but it took up most of the clearing space. There were four massive engines on the back, two on one side and two on the other. There were lighted seams that were bright red that started at the front of the ship and make their way towards the back, looking almost like red circuit boards, working around the plates of metal on the ship. Those lights made the ship a bit easier to see in the dark.
Along the side that I could see was a number of windows, though they were too tinted for me to see inside.
I could also see two massive blasters on the front of the ship, as well as a lot of other weapons that I couldn't quite identify. On top of this ship was an enormous cannon that had those red lighted seams going from its muzzle to the back.
It was like nothing I had ever seen in my life. With the weapons on it, the ship looked a bit like a scorpion.
What we were going to do was have Dreadwing set off one of his weaker bombs to draw the mech out ship. Then, I was going to distract him long enough for one of the others to sneak up and take him down.
Bulkhead had suggested that we send out Ratchet as a Decepticon Seeker to distract him, and the others liked the idea (especially Ratchet) but I explained to them that it wouldn't be a very wise idea. Ratchet would break the guy in half if he got close enough, and that's only if the mech was extremely lucky.
Once we've got the mech down and out, we'll station a few of ours with him to make sure he stays down. Then, Ratchet, backed by Dreadwing and myself, will invade the ship to search for Arcee and Optimus.
If we come across anyone... well, I'm sure Ratchet won't have anyone keeping him from his kid. I just hope he leaves them in one piece.
Because of the very real possibility of Ratchet's anger getting the better of him, I made sure I was near him, just so I could restrain him if he could no longer fight the urge to charge.
I glanced over at Dreadwing, who was a little ways away, and nodded once, setting our plan in motion. He reaching back and took a bomb from his subspace. It was smaller than his other ones, but he said that the bang was a lot louder than his usual bombs, so we'll know that the mech will hear it on the inside.
I watched from behind a bush as Dreadwing tripped the bomb off and tossed it into the clearing, near the ship's right landing gear. As the bomb's lit timer swiftly started to count down, I sent out a transmission for everyone to reduce the audio input of their receptors, to cut the audio input temporarily, preferably. We didn't need anyone damaging their audio receptors.
The bomb went off, and all of us hidden in the woods found out that Dreadwing was not kidding when he said it was loud. I could feel the vibrations in the ground and in the air. I'm glad I cut the audio input in my receptors. I can only hope the others did the same.
Having turned the input to my audio receptors back up, I could hear birds calling fearfully and working to fly away from here after the bomb went off. Off in the distance I heard other, larger animals running for their lives, though I couldn't really tell exactly what they were from here.
There was no activity coming from the ship at first. I glanced over to my left at Ratchet, whose optics were still a very bright, angry, blood-red. I hope he can keep himself under control enough to stay hidden here. I won't be particularly happy if our cover is blown.
Suddenly, there was a sharp, loud noise, and it came from the ship. I stared out at the ship from behind the bush and saw that it was the exit hatch unlocking!
"Everybody get ready..." I transmitted out to the others. We had to make sure we did this fast. The quicker we take him down, the less time he has to fight back.
I tensed up a bit as the exit hatch door slid back and base lowered. There was a muffled thump as the metal of base hit the ground. Standing on the base of the lowered hatch with a quizzical look on his face and a casual servo on his hip, was the mech that started this whole mess.
It was Faultline.
I heard Ratchet snarl menacingly at the sight of him, and I gave him a sharp look, giving him a rare glare. We can't afford to have our cover blown, and I'm glad Ratchet got the point and stopped. But his red optics kept blazing, burning brighter than ever, and his wings flared out, making him look bigger.
We all watched from our different positions, still hidden in the dark woods, listening to distant thunder rumbling in the sky. The fast-moving clouds had now almost completely blackened the sky, and we could no longer see the full moon.
Faultline walked off the hatch and looked around his ship, a puzzled look on his face. He was no doubt wondering what in the world that noise was. While he moved further off the hatch, I noticed a freshly welded recovery patch on his thigh. I couldn't help but be a bit curious about how he got the wound, seeing that the patch was new.
I onlined my weapons system and was about to play my part in the plan and go out to distract him, when I heard a loud rustling in the bushes to the far right. I quietly gasped when I saw what made the sound.
Soundwave came walking out of the bushes, towards the mech! I stared in amazement as the silent Decepticon caught Faultline's attention, making him turn to him. Is that where he was this whole time? No, that wouldn't make any sense. If he found the ship that long before we did, he would have notified Megatron. He probably found this place a short time before the rest of us.
I looked over at Dreadwing and saw that even he had a shocked look on his face. I glanced over at Ratchet and saw that his faceplates mirrored Dreadwing's.
After seeing both of their expressions, I commed Megatron and asked him if he knew what Soundwave was doing. He responded, asking angrily if he looked like he knew.
I turned my helm and looked at Megatron, who was a little ways away from me and glaring at me. I ignored the expression and looked back to what was going on in the clearing.
We were a good distance away from Faultline, but I could hear him just fine. He arched an optic ridge at Soundwave as he spoke casually. "And who are you?"
Soundwave only stopped walking and stared at him through his black mask. I looked back and forth between the two, trying to figure out what the Pit is going on. From what I know it was completely out of his character to confront an enemy face to face like that unless given a really good reason.
Something bad had to have happened to make Soundwave do that. And seeing that Faultline is a shady figure (an understatement) already, I doubt I really want to know.
...Soundwave's POV...
I could no longer resist the urge once I saw him.
I stepped out of the bushes and walked towards him.
After so many vorns of searching, I finally have the chance to confront this mech.
I have the chance to confront him for Wingspar, for Clearout, for his countless victims.
From what I researched of Faultline back on Cybertron after Wingspar's death, I found that Faultline always narrowed in on his next victim, watching them for a while before catching them when they have their guard down. Of the murder cases that I found filed into police reports, I saw that the reasoning behind such an action was to find the best window of opportunity to catch the next victim off guard, and the greatest chance of going uninterrupted.
He had to have known that I was a single father after my sparkmate, Halli, died of Cosmic Rust. He had to have known that I left to purchase energon for Wingspar and myself from the local energon storage unit. He had to have known that I trusted the young femme, Clearout, enough to watch my child. He had to have known that Clearout did not know how to defend herself well.
To him, what he did to my child and friend was no different from him many other victims. He knows about me. And I am confident that he will remember me.
"And who are you?"
My servos balled into tight fists at the mech's smooth words. Never in my life was it so difficult for me to remain calm. My spark burned in my chest as I worked to hold back.
I stood in the clearing in front of the mech who took my child from me. I stood there as the wind speed increased and thunder rumbled loudly overhead. The black clouds almost swirled overhead as I fumed, almost trembling in anger. This monster didn't recognize me...
I knew that the other Decepticons and Autobots are in the woods of the surrounding area, watching us. I knew that the white Wrecker, the humans, the dog and one of my Deployers were all watching. But, I, at this very moment, did not care who was watching. I didn't care that Lord Megatron was watching.
All I was focused on was forcing this monster to remember me.
There was a way that I know that I can make this monster remember. And I didn't hesitate to do it.
I reached up, and soon the monster chuckled. "Oh, now I know you! I have to say it's been quite some time."
While he's saying this, I heard a series of astonished gasps and shocked whispers from the woods, just beyond the treeline. All of this, I ignored. My focus was this monster.
I was going to find out why he took my baby from me.
...Megatron's POV...
I irritably wondered what my third-in-command was doing when he reached up after being asked who he was, but I found out what in a matter of seconds. Now I stared wide-eyed out into the clearing.
There are few things that surprise me. I am a gladiator of Kaon; I've scoffed at things that sickened and traumatized other bots. But this was on another level of astonishing. One that I had never experienced – until now.
I saw Soundwave's servo lower to his side, with his black mask clutched tightly in his slender digits.
Bumblebee covered the yellow armor over his mouth with his servos, optics wide. Knockout vocalized his amazement in a whisper to an equally amazed Dreadwing, who was standing nearby. The green Wrecker rubbed his optics, as if he didn't believe what he was seeing. The Autobot medic's expression had lost all anger and was replaced with sheer astonishment as he stood next to Bumblebee, mouthing the words, 'Oh my Primus'.
Thunder boomed again, but hardly anyone flinched. We weren't paying any attention to the current weather conditions, or Faultline.
I would have never, in a million vorns, thought that my third-in-command had glittering, sapphire-blue optics.
Bet you didn't expect that, huh?
I want to thank WingedWolfAlari again for helping me out with the basic structure of the next few chapters.
If you have any questions, comments or ideas for me, just let me know in a review. And let me know if you see any typos.
This chapter would have been longer, but if I had kept going, it would have gotten too long. So I have to cut it off here.
Hope you liked it, and see you in the next chapter!
Till next time!
P.S. What do you think the rest of Soundwave's face looks like?