A/N: Hi all! another chapter for you to enjoy! Oooh, and I might be getting some artwork soon to go with this story!
Chapter 25
The great hall was filled with the growls and murmurs of the assembled decepticons, as they polished their armour, cleaned their weapons and watched Starscream from narrowed optics. The jet had not moved since Megatron had made his astonishing offer then left. Now they had to wait to see what he would choose. Would he accept Megatron's offer of Stewardship of Cybertron and cancel the rebellion, abandon the Earth to Megatron? And if so what would happen to each of them? Would they be granted clemency? Where would they be ordered to go? Unease and tension simmered throughout the vast room. In one corner, Blackout smouldered with anger and muttered to Dirge, having been repaired and released sometime earlier. His circuits still ached from Starsceam's vicious attack.
"Not sure I care much any more," he snarled, trying to surreptitiously rub his aching shoulder joint. "This whole thing has been nothing but a farce. I'm sick of Megatron, but what can Starscream offer us? He cares no more about the cause than Megatron, he only cares for his own stinking hide. And he's going soft in the circuits, keeping human pets, chasing vestigial weapons… Ugh! It was a mistake to ever follow him! He'll go back to Cybertron, but what about us? You think Megatron will let the rest of us off so easy? Something doesn't smell right. I should go out there right now and detach myself from Screamer completely, align myself to Megatron, cut my losses!"
He took one angry step forward, but Dirge swiftly put out an arm, barring his way, pushing him back. "Wait one klik, Blackout," he said calmly. "Don't go making rash decisions just yet."
Starscream suddenly stood, and as he did so, a hush fell over the room. Squaring his shoulders and scowling, he made his way through the crowd, who parted, staring, to let him through. The giant doors hissed aside and he stepped through them.
"Where does he think he's going?" snarled Blackout, folding his arms as slowly the babble resumed.
"I think…" said Dirge, his mouth curling into a soft smile, "… he's going to the armoury."
Ironhide stalked warily down the empty passage. Damn decepticons, even their bases managed to have an oppressive, evil air about them. Despite low rumbles and echoes reaching his audios, he knew no one significant was nearby. But this didn't stop him from being on full alert.
Around a corner, and into another seemingly identical passage, except… He frowned and stomped up to a heavily fortified door. It glowed eerily from several pulsing lights dotted around the frame, seemingly connected to a panel beside it. Ironhide raised his eyebrows. This looked promising. Very promising. He opened a com link.
"Prime. I think I've found the armoury. I'm going to try to get to the Blaster."
He studied the panel intently, and tentatively pressed a few buttons. When nothing happened, he shrugged. He wasn't expecting it to be that easy anyway. Good thing the decepticons hadn't rigged the door with any kind of alarm, or anti-tamper device. He fired his weapon at the panel and then at the door, cringing at the echoing blast ringing through the halls deafeningly. The smoke cleared, showing a completely un-damaged door and panel.
He stepped back and frowned.
Just then a movement on the floor to his left caught his eye, and he wheeled round, weapons whining, ready to fire. What he saw made him blink and step back..
A small figure stood next to the wall, beside an open ventilation shaft. It was human-sized. Not another one of Soundwaves's cassettes, he realized, squinting at it. It didn't appear to have a mouth, just two blank, circular glowing eyes. It regarded him quite calmly, almost peacefully. Ironhide's processor searched for the word he was looking for. Mini… Minicon. This creature was a minicon. In spite of himself, he took a step closer, fascinated. He hadn't seen one of these for millennia. "What are you doing here, tiny one?" he murmured in Cybertronian.
The minicon made no sound, staring placidly up at him. Ironhide opened his mouth to question the creature again, when a sound inside the shaft alerted him and he immediately tensed once more.
A second minicon emerged, leaping lightly down onto the floor. It was followed in turn by a third, who reached in, appearing to help someone else out…
Alexis hopped out of the shaft, panting with the exertion of crawling and climbing. As her feet made impact with the floor she winced, her injured ribs jarring. She dusted off her clothes and with a small smile, lifted the Requiem Blaster out of the arms of the third minicon. That had been surprisingly easy. She had found the armoury fast enough, only to be met by Starscream's minicons, who seemed to have silently and inexplicably come to find her. Once inside, they had quietly helped her climb up onto the cabinet, and at the lightest touch of her fingers the huge weapon had transformed and diminished in front of her, stopping in its two-foot mode, enabling her to lift it. Now she was out. She gave a triumphant short laugh and hefted the weapon, her sparkling eyes sliding up to meet the blue gaze of Ironhide. "Piece of cake," she said.
Ironhide stared at the Blaster, lethal-looking even at that small size. "Well done," he grunted, moving forward and extending a hand, bending at the waist. "Now lets get you out of here and take that weapon to Prime."
Alexis didn't move, regarding the autobot calmly. After a period of silence she shifted her weight from one foot to the other.
"I'm glad it's you that came," she said. "Nothing personal, of course. But it would been harder, much harder, to do this with Prime. I like him a lot."
She turned her back on Ironhide and set off down the corridor. The minicons followed, with a series of cooing noises and clicks.
"Woah there, now just wait a klik!" Ironhide roared. "Just where are you taking that thing, human?"
Alexis stopped, and turned back, her gaze steely and unwavering. "Why, to Starscream, of course."
Ironhide gaped, momentarily speechless. "To Sta… wha… you little…Sari never told me you were a traitor! You clueless little brat! This isn't your war!"
Alexis aimed the Requiem Blaster at the ceiling and pulled the trigger. She did not flinch as an almighty boom tore the air, and debris rained down, missing her by inches. Ironhide blanched, cursing, his optics fixed on the furious human girl before him, her feet planted firmly, chest heaving, eyes burning.
"WRONG!" she shrieked, swinging the weapon round to aim at the autobot's chest. "This is MY PLANET! MY FIGHT! And this weapon is OURS! We found it TOGETHER!"
'Now," she snarled. "Get out of here, before I shoot you! You think I wouldn't?" As she spoke, an ominous hum could be heard deep inside the weapon, as if it had had a small taste of destruction and was calling out for more. Ironhide stumbled back, aghast. Then he turned and ran, back around the corner and out of sight.
Skywarp had a stray piece of scrap metal, and was flicking it between his fingers. He could tell he was starting to irritate Thundercracker, but he couldn't stop. "So… what do you think Screamer will do, TC?"
Thundercracker sighed , and clenched his fists. "I. Don't. Know. I told you." He moved over to a console abruptly, busying himself, before he had a chance to lose his temper completely. Skywarp leant back against the table, bored and baffled. He didn't like not knowing what was going to happen. Skywarp had a thicker hide than most, but even he could sense the tension and uncertainty flowing through the room like hot magma. He sighed, and swung his hand behind him, resting it on the table to steady himself. A sharp intake of breath caused him to spin around and he saw that he had missed the human girl by inches, almost knocking her off the table. He did a double take, peering down to make sure it was really her.
"You! How did you get out of your box?"
She laughed, tossing her head. "I got bored in there," she replied simply. "Came to join the fun. Where's Megatron? Where's Starscream?"
Skywarp leaned down, his face almost level with the table top. He saw that she was injured, limping, organic internal fluid soaking her clothes. In her arms, clearly too heavy for her, was… the Requiem Blaster. He shook his head in disbelief. "Where did Screamer find you?"
She ignored the question, hefting the weapon, shrugging off the pain and fatigue clearly battling to own her frail body. "Where's Starscream?"
Skywarp straightened up. "He's gone to think over Megatron's offer, I guess."
She looked up sharply. "What offer?"
"Megatron offered Cybertron to Screamer, in return Screamer must drop the rebellion. He'll be able to go home, us too, hopefully." Skywarp paused. "Megatron will stay here."
"Well, he's not going to say yes, is he?" When the purple and black jet's optics shifted to one side almost guiltily, she raised her voice: "Oi! HEY! I said, he's not going to say yes, is he? He can't!"
"Look, human…" he stepped back and raised his palms defensively as she swung to face him, still holding the Blaster. "Woah! Put that down!" Immediately, out of instinct, his own weapons began to charge, ready to fire should she shoot…
"Where is Starscream? I want to know what's going on here!"
"Put that thing down, fleshling, okay?"
A shadow fell over Alexis and she looked up to see Thundercracker looming over her. "Hello Alexis," he rumbled calmly, seemingly unfazed that the human girl had somehow escaped confinement, turned up in the main hall covered in blood and wielding one of the most powerful known weapons in the galaxy. "Stop picking on Skywarp."
"Thundercracker, what's going on?" Alexis repeated, trying to duck his huge fingers as he touched her gently and engulfed her in red light, scanning her. He ignored her and tutted, his scan revealing her cracked ribs.
But just then the doors to the hall crashed open and Starscream appeared, his face a picture of rage. All the mechs in the hall cringed back. "WHERE IS THE REQUIEM BLASTER?"
The hall was silent as a tomb. Then Thundrcracker gestured simply to the tabletop. Starscream's gaze shot to it, and he strode over to the table, glaring down at the sight that met him.
Alexis looked up, clutching the Blaster. "Hi."
"Alexis?"
She braced herself for the inevitable deafening storm as he leant down, hoping he wouldn't grab her too hard, her mind already busy trying to assemble plausible lies for their escape, where Sari was…
"You're bleeding!"
Alexis blinked. He scooped her into his palm and lifted her to his face, running a digit over her cheek, lifting her arm and lowering it gently. They both spoke at once.
"What happened?"
The jet and the girl stared at one another, unblinking. Then Starscream jerked his head. "Well," he demanded. "Come on. You were to be hidden away, kept safe. You did not stay put. You got yourself injured. You went after the Blaster. Your friend is missing. What have you been up to, Alexis?"
"No, no." Alexis shook her head. "Your story sounds far more interesting. I missed loads whilst I was in my box, it would seem. What about Megatron offering you Cybertron and him staying here?
They glared at one another. "That is of no concern to you, " he replied gruffly.
"It is if all I've worked for is for nothing! If you plan on settling for second best!
"Second best? What exactly do you mean by that?" he growled.
"Well, I only mean the Starscream I know would not settle for being second-in-command-caretaker of some planet, when what he really wanted was total leadership, total power!"
"How can you presume to know all about me?"
"So I'm wrong, am I?"
He hesitated, changed tack. "Where's Sari?"
"She… left."
"On her own?" One eyebrow shot up.
"Er… yes."
Thundercracker interrupted, appearing at Starscream's side. "Megatron is coming back into the base, Starscream."
Starscream nodded curtly. He cupped his hands around Alexis, striding across the hall. One digit came down and touched the Blaster and it sprang from her arms, transforming and unfolding… growing to its original monstrous size and attaching itself to his forearm. As he moved he spoke to her but kept his optics straight ahead.
"I never used these before. They were designed as punishment cells for disobedient slaves. But the important fact, is it will keep you safe, and out of sight. I won't have you harmed, Alexis. That is all there is to it."
And he deposited her gently on a ledge, about level with his shoulder. Before she could react he dropped a transparent half-sphere on top of her. As soon as it made contact with the shelf the edges sealed themselves with a sucking noise, trapping her under. She flew to the edge and beat on the glassy surface with all her might, her injuries screaming in protest.
"No! You're not doing this to me again! Starscream! Let me out!"
Through the misty glass he loomed above her, a murky shadow. He gave no indication he could hear her. "You can see out, but no-one can see in. You will be safe until it's over."
And he turned his back on her, striding back to the centre of the room, facing the doors.
Megatron stepped back over the threshold, his expression grim. He surveryed the room, sweeping over the consoles… the worktops… his gaze missing nothing… the assembled mechs,... and finally, his crimson gaze rested on his second in command, standing up straight, his chin lifted, shoulders squared.
"Have you made your decision?" he barked.
"Yes," Starscream replied softly.