Chapter 12: Chapter 11
Chapter 11
I own only the oc's. Also, Megatron is singing Erlkonig in the voice of Samuel Ramey. Because Megatron
Once more, bold italics means that someone is on the other end of a comm
Pred'akngard, Sector 12E
Jack did not com Kaon right at the moment Prowl left. He gazed up at Arcee nervously.
"Did you mean what you said before?" he asked.
"About you being the only one Megatronus would listen to? Yeah, I meant it," Arcee replied.
The human crossed his arms and fidgeted. It seemed like a breach of protocol to contact Pred'akngard without Optimus's knowledge or permission, but Prowl technically outranked Jack, - who was not allowed to use his "honorary Prime" rank on Ismaros for the time being - so he wasn't sure he could refuse.
When Jack did contact the Kaonian Capitol, it was not Megatronus who answered.
"What do you want, fleshling?"a gruff voice demanded, "the glorious Lord Megatron has no time for humans!"
Jack fought down the urge to facepalm. "Lugnut, where is Megatronus Prime?" he asked calmly. The brutish mech growled.
"What business does a human have with such a great warrior?"
A condescending chuckle sounded from behind the green and purple titan.
"Who are you terrorizing now, you pompous old windbag?" Sunstorm sneered.
Jack waited patiently on the other end of the line as a scuffle broke out between Lugnut and the Trine for possession of the com. Between crashes and threats of dire punishment, Slipstream snatched the device.
"Pred'akngard, Main Hall. Slipstream speaking."
Jack paced the balcony with the com in his hand. "I can see that," he sighed. "Slipstream, where is Megatronus? I have urgent news regarding a certain incident we were both party to."
The young femme didn't like the sound of that in the slightest. "Just a minute," she said seriously, "the Prime is in his forge. I'll let him know you're on the line."
Slipstream opened a hailing frequency to the forge, then paused. "What name should say? I hear you've got two of them, after all."
The human on the screen frowned. "Captain Darby. He'll know who it is."
The Triplets glanced at each other, amused. "Do we do it?" Ramjet asked from his position on top of Lugnut's helm.
"Do we have a choice?" his sister replied dryly.
Slipstream matched the frequency to Megatronus's coordinates. The massive mech did not notice the screen in the slightest, wholly focused on his task. As the ringing blows of the hammer built up a steady cadence, the ex-warlord's stentorian baritone rose and fell to match. The Trine and Lugnut watched in respectful silence for a while before Sunstorm turned to the com.
"I think it'll be easier if we just send you a Space Bridge. He can't hear us."
In Eden, Jack held a brief, whispered conference with Arcee. "Do you think it's safe to go over there?" he wondered. Certainly, if there was no other way, he'd do it. Still, he would rather Optimus went instead.
Arcee shook her helm. "I doubt it, but this could be life or death. Go ahead and go, I'll let Optimus know what's going on."
The young Captain placed his hand on her shoulder. "Thank you, Arcee," he said softly. Then he turned back to the screen.
"Whenever you're ready," he told Sunstorm.
Jack stepped through the portal to find the Cybertronians still watching the screen with rapt attention.
"Slipstream, I have to talk to him," he stated firmly.
"Bring him to the Forge," Megatronus snapped suddenly, "And turn that screen off! I won't have you all spying on me!"
The Triplets gulped and did as he said.
"Here Sunny, take him to the Forge," Slipstream ordered.
"Me?! I opened the bridge!" Sunstorm protested indignantly, "Make Ram do it."
Their eager-to-please sibling instantly agreed. "I can do it, guys! Be right back!"
Jack followed the young Seeker down a maze of torchlit corridors, wondering whether he himself had ever been that young and immature. Surely he must have been, but it seemed like a very long time ago! For their sakes, he prayed that the threat of the Soul-snatchers would pass by soon. Ramjet led the captain to a pair of heavy stone doors, carved with depictions of Predacons in flight.
"Give me a sec, this is heavier than it looks," the youngling apologized with a shrug.
The doors opened slowly and with a groan. Jack was ushered into the oppressive heat, and the door shut fast behind him. It was utterly dark, save for the glow of the fires.
"Why have you come to Pred'akngard?" Megatronus asked in a harsh voice. The Prime appeared to be irritable: this was a time for diplomacy.
"Forgive me, sir. I should have asked your leave before entering your home. The Trine believed that you would not be able to hear the com, and Lugnut refused to let me speak to you," Jack said humbly. His pulse hammered in his ears, for here he had no backup.
"You've never come alone, son of Optimus. Matters must be truly dire, that they send a sparkling to seek an audience with a Prime."
Megatronus was testing him, watching to see whether he was intimidated. Jack stood straight and tall under the scarlet scrutiny of the Prime's optics, and spoke formally - as he was expected to.
"New information has come to light concerning the growing trend of attacks on outposts, Megatronus Prime. My father is in council now, else he would bring you the news himself."
The Prime set aside the hammer - which had not once been still - and, taking two delicate daggers from the anvil, plunged his arms into a vat of cold water. He then turned to face the Boy as steam curled around his shoulders.
"Speak, Nephew."
Jack explained the rumors of Sparkeaters and the precautions of Level 9 containment fields. "My partner has discovered that four years ago, an identical incident was responsible for the destruction of the Cygnus 26," he finished. Megatronus uttered a curse in his own tongue.
"If, as you say, this has happened before, why was I not informed?" he snarled.
Jack wisely took a step back before answering. "It seems that someone in the Initiative has been encrypting the information for years, hiding it. Only recently was it found and compiled by Optimus Prime."
Megatronus clenched his teeth. "This bodes ill for our people," he murmured, more to himself than to Jack. A thought flashed across his optics, and the old warrior seized a vat of molten metal. "Go," he rasped.
Jack nodded once in acquiescence, then realized that he had no way to open the heavy door on his own. Embarrassed, he turned back to the imposing figure in the forge, who hunched Hephaestus-like hovering over a new project.
"Megatronus? I can't get out," the Boy mumbled, hoping he wasn't blushing. Megatronus seemed to ignore him, so he tried again, a little louder.
"Megatronus? Sir?" The giant remained at his post.
Frustrated, Jack finally shouted, "Uncle?"
At this, Megatronus looked up. "You're still here?" Then he remembered. "Ah yes, I'd forgotten the door." With a tug of one hand, the door swung open, letting a rather disgruntled Captain Darby out.
"Nevermind," his "uncle" smirked, "It won't be long before you'll be able to open this door yourself!" Jack gave him a strange look and departed. He would have to ask Optimus whether Megatronus knew about his impending Metamorphosis.
The great smith turned back to his tools, pretense of levity forgotten. One thought echoed relentlessly in his processor like the ringing of the anvil: Prepare them. Prepare them. Prepare them.
His optics wandered to look at the little daggers, cooling in the trough. They would do for Ramjet, he had decided. Before the metal finished hardening, he carved glyphs for protection and loyalty into the blade with one sharp servo.
Upon the wall hung ornate armor he intended for Sunstorm, and a matchless blade for Slipstream. It hadn't been until Captain Darby had spoken to him that he realized how young and vulnerable his brother's heir was. Once the Boy Metamorphosed, he would need a weapon. Megatronus looked back down at the frame he was pouring the liquid Cybertronium into. A sword worthy of a Prime, he thought.
Optimus stepped out of the council chambers and fought the urge to shake his helm in frustration. That some people could be so stubborn as to impede every step of a motion merely because "the proper forms were not filled out" amazed him. The meeting had nearly devolved into a shouting match by the end, and he'd been forced to pull rank to silence them.
They were unhappy, of course, but when the city of Eden had decided to follow the political model of the Autobots, that had left the Primes with most of the power. So if Optimus made a decision, it was final, and no amount of debating was going to change it. Optimus was glad that he had only needed to order the board members to behave like adults. He found Arcee waiting anxiously beside the door as he walked out.
"Arcee?"
His gentle voice was an invitation to speak.
The blue femme fell into step beside the Prime. "Optimus, last night I was reading your files on the Kaon attacks, and I spoke to a survivor of the Cygnus 26 Incident," she said in a low voice.
Optimus fixed a worried gaze on her. "You believe they are connected."
"Yes sir," Arcee continued, "and I've traced the information to creatures called Sparkeaters."
"Soul-snatchers?" Optimus's faceplates were grim.
"I had recently begun to suspect that they were not as mythical as the Exploration Initiative hopes, but I wished to gather more evidence before I brought it up." Optimus noticed something, or rather, the lack of something. "Arcee...where is your partner?" Arcee straightened her shoulder guards and explained what Prowl had said, and the Space Bridge to Pred'akngard that Jack had stepped through.
A glyph message from Pred'akngard pinged in the Prime's processor.
We need to talk.
Without Arcee's previous explanation, the four words would have been ominous indeed. "Arcee, go to the Esquivel family and ask Rafael to appropriate the data core of the Archive sub-levels," Optimus ordered suddenly, "Then meet me at the Space Bridge. I must speak with my brother, and you must retrieve your partner."
"Wait!" Arcee squeaked, "You're not taking me with you, are you? Megatronus and I get along like cats and dogs! (To use the human phrase)."
But Optimus's tone brooked no room for argument.
Floating Colony 21186D: outer hull
Crash!
"Ow!" The young mech clasped both hands to his helm and sent a baleful glare at his assailant. "Scrap, that hurt!"
An older mech shifted the long metal beam he held to his other shoulder. He snickered. "Sorry Rookie, didn't see ya there!"
The young one ignored Wheeljack's smug grin and went back to welding, petulantly pulling his goggles down tighter than necessary.
A comforting hand ruffled his helm. "Jackie pickin' on you again?" Miko asked from inside the Apex Armor.
Hot Shot shrugged. "I know he's just messing with me, but geez!"
Miko laughed and began to sort through the exposed wires on the hull. "It's all good, kid. If he ever gets on your nerves too much, let me know," she made a fist and winked.
Hot Shot looked up at the young woman and - not for the first time - marveled that someone who was biologically younger than him could seem so much older.
A jubilant shout arose from several yards away, where Bulkhead had found the main damage.
"Hey guys! I think we found what made the lights go out in Seven Forward!" he called. Miko, Hot Shot, and Wheeljack slowly made their way over to him. Something had deeply scored the plating of the hull, actually slicing through two levels of reinforcement to pierce a main halogen line.
Miko whistled appreciatively at the sight. "What do you think did that?"
While Bulkhead and the younger Wreckers bent over the damage with interest, Wheeljack began to scan the surrounding area. He wouldn't call it fear, exactly, but apprehensiveness began to swirl within his spark casing. Please, please just be paranoia! he thought. Suddenly Miko's head snapped up, and her eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"Something's wrong," she hissed.
Wheeljack drew his swords as an alarm sounded on their wrist communicators. Bulkhead blinked. The readings didn't make any sense! According to the scanners, there were several beings surrounding them, but he could see no such thing.
Miko stood slowly. "Guys, make for the airlock-nice and easy," she murmured, "Rookie goes first."
Hot Shot gulped and began to ease his way across the Cybertronium plating. Wheeljack slid gracefully behind him so that their backs nearly touched. Swords still raised, his optics darted to and fro.
Bulkhead turned to his partner. "Your turn, Miko," he rumbled.
Miko shook her head within the armor. "We go together, Bulk. I'll watch your back!"
The feeling of paranoia that had come over them strengthened, drawing near to panic. As the Wreckers barely restrained themselves from breaking into a run, they heard it:
Scrape, hiss. Scrape, hiss. Scrape, hiss.
"Time's up!" Wheeljack said sharply. With one hand, he took hold of Hot Shot's arm. With the other, he fished out a grenade.
"Fire in the hole!" he mouthed to Bulkhead before lobbing it in the direction of the disconcerting noises. The stun grenade set up a brilliant flash, nearly blinding the Wreckers.
For just a moment, Miko thought she saw a face: angelically beautiful and twisted with hatred. Then it was gone and spots swam before her eyes.
"Go!" Wheeljack roared. They did not hesitate. The Wreckers dove through the hatch with a still disoriented Miko bringing up the rear.
Bulkhead turned in time to see a Shape, black against the stars, fly at Miko. Before he could shout a warning, she cried out in pain, and a rush of vapor revealed that the Armor had been compromised. With an enraged cry, Bulkhead rushed the Shape, catching it off guard. His fist closed around something that felt like softened metal, and with a mighty heave he tore it from the deck and flung it into the ether.
Miko crouched at the opening of the hatch in shock, unable to process that her supply of oxygen was leaking into space, even as something warm trickled down her back. Bulkhead thundered towards the airlock, scooping his injured partner up into his arms.
"Jackie! Call Magnus!" he yelled as he dropped inside.
Hot Shot quickly closed the blast doors under the hatch and transformed into a compact car. "I'll get a medic!" he sped away, leaving Bulkhead and Miko alone in the hangar.
Next time, on "Colony 21196D: Survival",
'Ultra Magnus's brow furrowed. "Get this girl in a Cocoon! Now!"
Bulkhead gaped. "Metamorphosis? But sir! She's not twenty one yet! It's illegal!"
Magnus whirled to face the Wrecker with danger in his optics. "It's the Cocoon or a Coffin, soldier! If she doesn't transform now, she'll die!"
Ooh, drama! I figured it was about time we got back to action. Lol, Megatron would be the worst Uncle! You know how sometimes at family reunions, you get that one awkward relative? I think that's him.