Author's Notes: I hope Blue or Prowl isn't too OOC here. And again, my apologies for the battle scene. *bows head*
Many thanks to Bumblebee's Girl for reviewing, and to all those who have added this story to your Favourites and Alerts! Hope you guys will enjoy this next chapter.
I do not own Transformers.
Connections
Chapter 3
Why are there two medics here? I thought it was usually one-on-one, but maybe they have two for those who were seriously hurt. But I didn't get hit that badly, only a few –
"Bluestreak? Please get on the berth and lie down." Avalanche instructed.
Complying, the grey gunner did so carefully, making sure his doorwings were not squashed uncomfortably. Out of the corner of his optics, as the medic moved into his line of view, he spotted the other femme staring intently at him. A little unsettled, Bluestreak fidgeted uneasily.
"I'm going to have to put you in stasis to treat your wounds," informed the medic, reaching for the panel at the back of his neck.
"Is it really that bad? I don't remember getting hit all that much. I'm sure Sunny and Sides were more –"
Darkness.
: Blue? Sweetspark, can you hear me? : Concern, worry and love flowed through his bond.
"Ungh… wha?" came the groggy reply.
Optics onlined slowly and narrowed at the strong lights of the isolation ward. Bluestreak grunted softly before pushing himself up by his elbows. The blurred image presented to his optics cleared to show the faceplates of the other femme. She was standing over him, looking at him worriedly.
Slowly sitting up, Bluestreak found that the medic had left. It was only the two of them in the ward. Swinging his legs over the edge of the berth, he looked at Swift.
"Where did –?"
: She went off to help with the other patients. How are you feeling? : She smiled at him.
It took a while for Bluestreak to register the familiar presence in his bond, but when he did, Swift found herself engulfed in a tight, crushing hug.
"Mother!" he cried happily, burying his face into her shoulder.
"Hello again, young one. It's so good to see you," replied the femme, hugging her creation back. Pure joy and love coursed through from his side of the bond as he looked up at her.
"I've missed you so much! How've you been? Are you okay? I was so worried about you! Where did…" Bluestreak went on and on while Swift listened quietly, smiling at him.
So it was true what the others said about him being able to talk your audios off. Jazz and I have really picked an apt designation –
At the thought of her bondmate, her grip on him tightened slightly and her smile dropped. The reaction not gone unnoticed, Bluestreak looked at her with concern.
"Are you all right? What's wrong?"
"It's… I just miss Jazz, that's all…" she sighed, looking down sadly.
Bluestreak's faceplates immediately brightened as he pulled away and stood to move. "Want me to go and get him? He's in the Command Centre, but I'm sure he'll really want to see you too since –"
"No," Swift interrupted firmly. At the surprised and slightly hurt look from him, her faceplates softened up. "I'm sorry Blue. As much as I do want to see Jazz again, it is simply too risky at this point in time. We need to take precautions to ensure that Jammer," she practically spat out the designation, a flash of anger in her optics, "does not discover my presence here."
"But what about the bond? Can't he feel you?" he asked.
"The bond connects all four of us, but no, he won't be able to sense me. Although the strength of my spark and bond had been weakened considerably, I can and have set up a block that will prevent him from detecting me. As for you," she looked at him straight in the optics.
"I apologise for not requesting for your permission before the procedure, but I had Avalanche, the medic who was working on you, install a programme in your systems. It acts like a filter, one that blocks emotions and thoughts from your side of the bond from reaching Jammer and Jazz but still allowing you to receive theirs. This is in order to prevent them from tracing you while letting you receive information from them."
"S-so it's like… I'm spying on them?!" he exclaimed incredulously. "I understand why you would do that to Jammer, but why Jazz as well? Don't you trust him?" Bluestreak's optics were wide open and Swift felt bewilderment, shock and a faint trace of anger from him.
"I do trust him," she stated honestly. "I do, but in this situation, I cannot afford to get him involved. It was difficult enough for me to decide to involve you, as I needed a connection to Jammer, but if Jazz was involved, Jammer would be more likely to suspect something and try to stop it. The bond between mates is stronger than that between creators and their creation, so this course of action is for the best!"
Swift was starting to get worked up as she defended herself, but the words that emerged after faded into a whisper. "I – I'm sorry…" Bowing her head, her intakes hitched once, quietly.
Bluestreak watched helplessly as she tried to hold back her emotions. He sensed desperation, anguish, determination and… pain. Though he may not have known what her plans were, he understood the sacrifices and hardships she had to endure in order to bring them back together. The pain of being near loved ones but unable to reach out to them... it was nothing short of torture. Silently, he went back to embrace her.
"It's okay… I'm sorry too. I know this must be hard for you, but you won't have to do it alone. I'll help you. I want us to be together again. And I don't mind the programme, really," he said, trying to comfort her. "Mother…"
Swift smiled, hugging him back. "Thank you, sweetspark." They pulled apart. "But I'm afraid you can't call me 'Mother' in front of the others. My temporary alternate designation is Swift."
"I understand. Thanks for taking out that Decepticon back there too. I didn't know it was you. You look so different than the last time I saw you in the caves!" he exclaimed, looking at her now black and silver paintjob and altered frame design. The mood began to lighten, previous outbursts forgotten.
"Of course! I can't let Jammer or any of the others recognise me, can I? And I seem to remember promising you an explanation for all this," recalled Swift.
Bluestreak nodded frantically. "Yes, you did. Please tell me what happened."
As she told him of the events that had happened in the past, as well as informed him of the situation in the present, Bluestreak was glad that the block prevented the rather undesirable feelings generated from reaching Jammer.
It didn't take too long, really. Not to mention the concept was simple enough to make Wheeljack smack his head against the wall ("Don't you have enough dents from Ratchet already?") when he realised it. All there was to do was to find the angle at which the energy beam had struck their area and reverse calculate the angle to locate the completed targeting system. The discovery of the hidden satellite in the sky helped too.
Of course, destroying the weapon this time would be a lot harder, especially since it was fully functional. Again, the location turned out to be an area of ruins, but more specifically, it was of a destroyed Decepticon base. Elita-One had sent a team there once. They had downloaded data, detonated the place and left with one more member than when they had infiltrated it.
As such, it came as no surprise that Megatron was present for this round, as well as the Seeker Trine and two the gestalt teams. Clearly, the Decepticons planned to protect this one. Thankfully, Optimus Prime had recovered by then, and was able to lead the Autobot army with Elita-One. Jammer would have been stationed back at base to monitor for more transmissions, but the fight was getting intense. He could do so while at the battlefield.
Optimus was going one-on-one with Megatron while the Aerialbots faced off against Starscream and his trine mates. Elita, Chromia and Jazz led the fight on the ground, going up against Menasor, Bruticus, Soundwave and his cassettes and other Decepticon soldiers. Almost everybody was engaged in battle, the battlefield being the site just in front of the deadly machine. With Megatron himself and his stronger fighters in the area, the Autobots did not worry about the machine being activated and firing a beam into the sky to wipe them out.
: Jammer's up against Rumble and Frenzy, but he seems to be holding his own. Jazz is coordinating the Protectobots to take out Bruticus. They're both at the edge of the battlefield southeast of the machine. : Bluestreak reported as he aimed and fired at Laserbeak, sending him spiralling towards the ground in a plume of black smoke.
: Thanks. Watch your back, Menasor's approaching. Keep me posted and be careful. : Swift turned and fired at Ravage, who was about to pounce on Wheeljack as she led the scientist towards the machine. The feline howled in pain and darted away.
"Wheeljack, go! I'll cover you!" she yelled, allowing him to race past her as she fired more shots at the oncoming Decepticons. Smokescreen and Tracks joined her as more Decepticon soldiers tried to break through their defences to get to the machine. Wheeljack worked quickly, placing bombs at strategic locations to bring the massive weapon down in one blast.
"Done!" he announced, hurrying back towards them.
Swift nodded and commed the two femme Commanders. :/ Elita! Chromia! Explosives are set and ready to detonate! /: Dodging laser fire with Wheeljack, Smokescreen and Tracks, the four of them dashed away from the machine.
"Autobots, fall back!" the two femme Commanders ordered.
Optimus broke away from Megatron as his troops retreated further away from the projected blast radius of Wheeljack's explosives. The Decepticon Lord growled as he watched his own soldiers falter.
"Soundwave! Activate that machine!" he snarled, firing after the retreating Autobots.
"Action: unwise," was the monotone reply as Soundwave gathered his cassettes.
With a roar of frustration and rage, Megatron moved to do it himself. Furiously entering commands into the console at the base of the machine, the weapon hummed ominously to life. The other Decepticons started to back away from their leader as the first cackles of energy were heard and purple sparks danced at the vertex, where the beam would be projected.
"Are you insane?! You'll kill us all, you fool!" shrieked Starscream, transforming. Thundercracker and Skywarp did the same, sharing his look of fear and shock behind him.
: Mother! Jammer's – : Bluestreak's urgent call snapped Swift's attention away from the realisation that the machine was manually operated. The mech had broken off from the main forces and fled deeper into the ruins of the Decepticon base. He ignored Jazz's cries for him to come back, instead moving at a quicker pace and disappearing from sight.
Author's Notes 2: Huh. Looks like each chapter's getting longer and longer. *shrugs* Oh well, I don't think you guys are complaining, are you?
Reviews and/or criticisms (preferably constructive ones) are welcome. Thank you.
Refracted Imagination, logging off.
