Chapter 10
Almost two hours passed before Shockwave would allow the space bridge to be powered up for its first activation sequence. He turned to Starscream, who had re-entered the laboratory with Soundwave after Shockwave had informed him that it was almost time. "We'll need to lock in a set of co-ordinates," he explained, "for the destination."
They had no sure way of knowing exactly where their leader was located, and could only assume that, if he was being held in Iacon against his will, he would most likely be found in one of the cell blocks. "Can it send us inside the Command Center in Iacon?" Starscream said without hesitation.
Shockwave input a set of commands into the space bridge's control interface, and gave the Air Commander a definitive nod when he was done. Then he pressed a button, and one of the bridge's side panels slid open. He indicated for Starscream and his trine mates to step inside.
The seeker didn't hesitate, as he did not expect failure; he was too intent on accomplishing his mission. His wing mates followed his lead and, once they were inside the platform, Shockwave closed the panel again. "There's no telling how long the portal will remain open," he informed the second in charge. "Also, bidirectional activation has not yet been configured. If successful, I will reopen the portal in precisely fifteen astro-cycles from the moment you arrive in Iacon. When it activates, you must be ready to return," the guardian finished, a hint of nervousness in his voice.
"We'll be ready," Starscream replied. Then, the other Decepticons watched in silence as the space bridge powered up. After a few moments, a powerful column of energy engulfed the three seekers. It remained active for no more than five seconds, before it finally collapsed.
The Air Commander and his team mates were nowhere to be seen.
The five Destrons watched in horror, unable to do anything to help Megatron. The Liege had been merciless in his assault, punishing him with his bare hands, beating him until the prisoner could no longer stand.
The Decepticon leader had sustained damage to the point that he could not fight back or defend himself, and he lay on the floor of the cell block, his consciousness beginning to drift. He could sense Jhiaxus nearby, and imagined the Liege's former second in command enjoying his defeat, ridiculing him. But none of that mattered now. All he could think about was finding some way to warn the other Decepticons back in Kaon, before Sentinel Prime and the Liege destroyed them all. With the two of them now working together, they would be unstoppable, and no Decepticon – or Destron – was safe.
"I shall return to finish you off," he barely heard the war lord say. "Reluctantly, Sentinel wishes to keep you alive, for a little while longer." Then, after what felt like an eternity, the cell block was quiet again, and Megatron allowed himself to go off-line so that his repair mechanisms could work faster, though he was unsure whether he would get enough time to sufficiently recover before the Liege returned for him.
The five Destron prisoners, who had been watching the ordeal from the other side of the cell block, cautiously moved closer towards the fallen Decepticon, until they were surrounding him. One of them, a purple and yellow Destron, knelt beside Megatron to examine him, and shook his head. "He saved our lives. I wish there was something we could do for him."
Then, before he could say anything more, they all heard footsteps fast approaching from outside the cell block and froze, waiting to see who it was.
Starscream's first experience through the still-experimental space bridge was surreal. In an instant, he felt himself tumbling to the floor as the column of energy expelled him forcefully upon closing. He shook his head, trying to regain his sense of balance, and slowly looked around him as he picked himself up. It looked as though the space bridge had been a success. Other than his two trine mates, he was alone; they had been deposited in the hallway just outside the Command Center's control room.
"You did it, Shockwave," he thought out loud, with a smile. "Ingenious!" He couldn't wait to tell the other Decepticons about it, but that would have to wait – right now, they had a more pressing matter to deal with. He remembered what the guardian had told him, and began an internal count down; they only had fifteen minutes to find Megatron and return him safely to Kaon.
Starscream began moving down the hallway, Thundercracker and Skywarp following closely behind. Then, when he was certain that no Autobots would see them, he broke into a run and headed for the elevator platform that would take them straight down to the base level, where the cell blocks were located.
As the three of them stepped off the platform, three Autobots rounded the corner and halted when they saw the seekers. They began to draw their weapons, but the Air Commander was already one step ahead, and blasted one of them with his arm mounted null rays, effectively disabling him as his circuitry was disrupted. At the same time, Thundercracker and Skywarp took care of the other two with their blasters.
"Sorry about that; it's nothing personal," Skywarp quipped, as the Autobots fell to the floor in a pile.
Starscream and his wing mates sprinted past them, and continued on until the cell blocks came into view. At first, he was disappointed; Megatron did not appear to be in any of them. Then, taking a closer look, he finally saw the Decepticon leader. He was surrounded by five Destrons who he knew quite well, though hadn't seen in a long time. Beside them sat Jhiaxus, who was conscious but unmoving.
Starscream deactivated the cell door with a blast of his weapon to the control panel, and rushed inside the cell.
The Destrons gave him room, allowing him to approach his mentor, and the Air Commander looked down upon them in shock, as he saw the critical condition that Megatron was in. Angered, he demanded answers from the Destrons. "Onslaught, Vortex – what have you done to him?"
The purple and yellow one, who was called Swindle, held out his hands in an attempt to calm the seeker. "It wasn't us, Starscream. I swear!"
Starscream glanced back at the Liege's second in command. "It couldn't have been Jhiaxus!" he exclaimed, gesturing towards him.
Swindle shook his head. "No, but it wasn't us. It was…" He faltered, appearing anxious, and looked up uncertainly at the other two Decepticon seekers who had accompanied the Air Commander.
Starscream knelt down towards Megatron. He held him, examining him for any sign that he still functioned. "He's off-line," he said, momentarily glancing up at the Destrons before refocusing his attention upon his mentor. "Megatron… Megatron!"
Megatron gave no response. Starscream silently promised that he would deal with whoever had done this later; but, right now, he needed to get the Decepticon leader back to Kaon. "You've got to help us get him out of here. Quickly, we don't have much time," he said to the Destrons, as he began to lift Megatron to his feet.
The team of five looked at one another, hesitating, and then Swindle shrugged, prodding his team mates. "Come on, you heard Starscream," he said to them, as he helped steady the Decepticon leader. Then, as Thundercracker and Skywarp ensured that their path was clear, Starscream and the Destrons headed back to the control room, Megatron with them.
They had made it almost all the way back, when Sentinel suddenly appeared in front of them, blocking their path. He was accompanied by a team of Autobot guards. "Starscream," he greeted, "so glad you could join us." On the surface he appeared to be calm, composed, but beneath his exterior was a very different story.
"You are going to pay for this, Sentinel Prime," the Air Commander warned him. He felt a rage that he had not experienced before, one that threatened to overwhelm him as he struggled to keep it under control.
Sentinel laughed at him. "He deserved what he got; him and the rest of you pathetic Decepticons," he taunted, glancing at the other two seekers. "Do you really think I'm just going to let you all walk out of here?"
"Let them go… Sentinel," Megatron interjected, his voice unsteady. He had regained consciousness a few moments earlier, but was still extremely weak and found it an effort to talk.
Sentinel shook his head, and then stepped towards the Decepticon leader until they were face to face. "Oh, no, no, no – that would be too easy. You see, there is only one way that we will ever be able to achieve peace on this planet…" he said to him, his words deliberate. "And it begins with removing the two of you." Sentinel turned slowly towards the Air Commander, a hateful grin spreading across his face. Then, he retrieved his requiem blaster from its shoulder mount and charged it up as it made an ominous whirring sound in his hands.
"No…" Megatron uttered, as he attempted to stand on his own without support. With every ounce of strength that he could muster, he lunged forward into Sentinel, who stumbled backwards as the blaster released a deadly pulse of anti-matter. The lethal blast missed its target, making a clean hole in the ceiling. They both fell to the floor, but Sentinel recovered quickly. He stood over Megatron and aimed his weapon down at him.
Before Sentinel could discharge a fatal shot, Starscream tried to distract him, stepping in front of them. He ignored the Autobot guards who also had their weapons raised towards him, ready for Sentinel to give them the signal. "You're a dirty, double-crossing slag-sucker!" Starscream insulted him.
The Autobot leader slowly aimed his blaster away from Megatron and towards the Air Commander. "Perhaps you'd like to be the first?" he replied simply.
Megatron, who was watching the exchange, blasted Sentinel in the foot with his fusion cannon, just as the Prime released another pulse from his blaster. It missed the seeker by a narrow margin and, as Sentinel struggled to regain his balance, Starscream made his move. He burst forward in a sudden rush, knocking Sentinel backwards into the Autobot guards. Amidst the confusion, the requiem blaster was knocked out of the Prime's hands, and it clattered to the floor beside Megatron, who picked it up.
The very next moment, a sudden flash of energy appeared just behind the Destrons, and they stepped away in surprise.
Starscream turned to look. "The space bridge!" he exclaimed and, turning his attention away from Sentinel, he grabbed Megatron by the arm and pulled him towards the column of energy. "Hurry!"
"Wait…" Megatron said, before turning back towards Sentinel. "Whatever Maximus has promised you, is it truly worth it?"
"Come on, there's no time!" Starscream told him, forcing him inside the space bridge portal. He looked back towards the Destrons. "Are you five going to just stand there, or are you coming with us?" he asked them and, without waiting for their reply, stepped into the space bridge and disappeared, Thundercracker and Skywarp following right behind him.
The rest of the Decepticons, who had all gathered in the laboratory, waited anxiously for Starscream and the others to reappear through the space bridge. When they finally did, they watched in surprise as Megatron materialized inside the column, followed by the Air Commander and his trine mates, as they were thrown to the floor of the space bridge. Three seconds later, five other Destrons also made it through before the column finally collapsed.
"You did it, Screamer. I can't believe you did it!" Thundercracker said to his trine leader, as he helped his friend up.
"What the hell happened over there?" Scrapper asked the Decepticon leader, grabbing hold of one of his arms. "You look like you fell into a trash compactor."
"Close enough," Megatron replied, as he allowed one of the other Constructicons to examine the extent of his damage.
"You are out of action, until I fix you," Hook told him, in no uncertain terms.
Megatron waived it aside. "Later," he said, to Hook's chagrin, and then looked down at the requiem blaster still in his hand. It had more than likely been destroyed and was no longer functional, due to the incompatibility of its anti-matter chamber with the multi-dimensional stream of the space bridge. He handed the weapon to Hook, who studied it with interest.
Meanwhile, Starscream welcomed the new Decepticons. "What were you doing in Iacon, anyway?" he asked Onslaught, the largest, and leader, of the group.
"Why don't you ask them?" he said simply, indicating his team mates.
One of them, Blast Off, spoke up. "Oh, you know; the usual. Getting on the wrong side of the law. No thanks to Swindle, of course."
"Hey, it wasn't my idea to challenge the Autobots to a death-match," Swindle defended, looking towards Brawl, his team mate.
"Don't look at me," Brawl replied. "Vortex started it."
Starscream shook his head in amusement. "You really need to find yourselves a new pastime." He had known the five of them since the days before Tarn and, despite their unpopularity with the Autobots and Destrons alike, he had always remained friends with them.
As they talked, Megatron approached Shockwave, who was busy analysing the data from the results of their first successful test. "I see you've managed to get the space bridge working," he said, using the term that Starscream had coined for the portal earlier.
Shockwave nodded in satisfaction. "It is, indeed, functional."
"Megatron," a familiar voice said from behind him, and the Decepticon leader turned to greet his communications officer.
"What is it, Soundwave?"
"Lord Straxus wishes to speak with you," he said, relaying the message to his superior.
Megatron hesitated. He had had enough excitement for one day, and was still in a much weakened state after his encounter with the Liege. All in all, however, he was satisfied with the way things had ultimately turned out, despite the close calls. "Straxus can wait." He paused, and then added. "Oh, and Soundwave?"
"Yes, Megatron?"
"We're going to need a new emblem – one that represents the Decepticons. Any suggestions?"
"Yes, Megatron. I'll see what I can do," Soundwave replied, and then watched the Decepticon leader walk out of the laboratory to get his much needed recharge.