Duty and Deceit
Chapter 6
A Change of Standing
Orns had passed into vorns and she found herself spending most of her time with Skyquake. For some reason, she felt attached to the huge green jet. Maybe it was because he reminded her of her sire, Bullwing... she still wasn't entirely sure why she liked him.
It had taken a long time, but he had finally begun to warm up to her.
Nearly a vorn after her arrival, she noticed subtle changes in how he acted towards her. The more relaxed way he held his wings, his rare jokes popping around more often, the ever-so-slight quirk of his lip-plates whenever she talked to her console (which, since he still didn't talk much, she usually did a lot...)...
Eventually, Skyquake had returned her friendship and acted himself around her.
She figured she probably knew the jet better than any other mech alive. Which was really saying something, since even then she didn't know him very well. She had been immensely surprised when she discovered Skyquake's sense of humor in full throttle. He was a master of deadpan and dry remarks, but his Starscream impersonations trumped all.
"Mighty Megatron, you know that your voice is like the sweetest music to my unworthy audios…" Skyquake recited, his low rumbling voice somehow pitched in the perfect high whine characteristic of the Air Commander.
"No… He didn't really say that did he?" She asked incredulously, a morbid grin tugging on her mouth as she considered what Megatron's response would no doubt have been. Skyquake nodded, his ruby optics shining.
As they continued down the corridor, Skyquake rested his hand on her shoulder, still relating Starscream's latest report of yet another botched mission. Her attention was slightly divided as she tried to ignore her screaming back and pede struts; the weight of Skyquake's relaxed servo being a bit much for her slender frame to support.
"…And at that point, Lord Megatron's optics are starting to fritz and his fists and denta are clenched so tightly I could almost hear his own armor buckling under the strain…"
"Uh… Skyquake? If you don't move your hand, you'll be hearing my armor buckling…" She said chuckling in a now-somewhat-strained manner. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to have heard her; he was too caught up in the story-telling by that point.
A couple mechs that were with them in the corridor were staring and chuckling at her predicament. None of them could be bothered to help her out though; the scene was too entertaining to be worth interrupting the hulking green jet. Resigning herself to the inevitable, she turned her full attention back to Skyquake.
"…and Starscream's down on his knee struts, begging for his spark. 'Great Leader! Spare your most humble and faithful servant! Your wish is my command; I won't fail you again-!" Skyquake mimicked, his wings trembling comically to accompany the Starscream voice.
In spite of herself, she snickered at the dramatic expression and posture Skyquake had assumed in his mockery. The number of observers had increased as they were now in the mess hall. She was a little bit surprised that the large green mech beside her hadn't raised his usual facade; generally he'd revert to dull military commander mode in public.
"…You wouldn't believe how badly Lord Megatron pounded him. When he was finished he ordered me to carry Starscream to medical. It took nearly a groon just to convince Knockout that the pile of scrap I'd brought in was actually Starscream!" Skyquake roared with laughter, patting her shoulder 'lightly'.
Skyquake turned to the femme that was now on the floor beside his pedes. He began to worry when she didn't move or respond in any way.
"Uh… Terabyte?" He knelt down and nudged her lightly. The blue and black femme rolled over limply, and Skyquake noticed that her bio-lights had dimmed; indicating that she was unconscious. The jet groaned in dismay. "Oh. Not again… I really need to stop doing that…"
When Cliffjumper never came with her Energon, Terabyte began to worry that the other Autobots were of the same opinion as Arcee. They'd already gotten all the information they thought she had… Maybe now they were going to get rid of her. Especially since she was now vulnerable. Would they exile her? Put her in permanent stasis lock? Just kill her outright?
Her worries only escalated when she saw Ratchet coming down the corridor. His armor had a concerned sort of flare to it, but Terabyte's own fears blinded her to that fact. The medic mutely shut down the force-field and entered.
Frame gone stiff, Terabyte backed away from the much taller mech. She fought the urge to clamp down her armor. She drew a small comfort from the fact that her consistently flared armor gave the impression of being a bit larger than she really was.
Ratchet seemed slightly pained by her obvious fear of him, but Terabyte's processor discarded the observation without much consideration. As the medic came closer, Terabyte felt her dorsal plating press flat against the cold steel wall of the prison cell. Instinct drove her movements now, medics knew too much; Ratchet could tear her apart piece by piece with knowledge of exactly where to attack to create the most pain. She'd had enough bad experiences with medics to know.
The Decepticons were fighting for a good cause, but no medic – be it Decepticon, Autobot, or even neutral – could be trusted. Terabyte raised her hands into a defensive position, preparing herself to fight for her spark.
"Oh don't be daft. I'm not going to attack you." Ratchet grumbled.
She stared at him distrustfully, not altering her stance. "You're a medic."
"I'm not one of your 'Con butchers. I don't hurt mechs, I fix them." He said, raising his own arms non-threateningly. He took a small step back, still between her and the only exit.
"I don't care what your faction is. It makes no difference; you're a medic." Terabyte spat. How dare he assume that the Decepticons were the only medics untrustworthy? Medics would do anything to save their own chassis. Their only loyalties were to themselves.
"Fine; you'll figure it out later. I don't have time to make you trust me. Hold out your arms, I'm going to restrain you." While he spoke he pulled out a set of energy cuffs. Not nearly as effective as stasis cuffs, they allowed for semi-free movements. However, they also could send a jolt of electricity through the wearer's frame causing temporary paralysis by the press of button.
"Why...?" Having felt the energy discharge of that kind of cuff before, Terabyte was understandably reluctant to comply. That and he was a medic, her processor reminded her stubbornly. A small part of her frowned on her single-track thought pattern. Normally she would consider the reasonable options, but this was different. They could not be trusted and no amount of reasoning could change that.
"A high casualty rate is expected when the team returns. The repairs you did on Cliff' were... done relatively well... so I would assume you have a basic understanding of medical procedures. In short, your assistance is required. Now hold out your arms." The medic begrudgingly acknowledged her skills, but his voice never wavered from the gruff grouchiness.
His temper, obviously having a very short fuse, seemed to be running out uncomfortably fast. Terabyte held out her arms and allowed the medic to restrain her, fearing what he would do if she didn't.
"These restraints will allow a small range of motion. With this device," Ratchet held up a small box with several controls, including a large red button over which his finger was hovering. "I can send-"
"An electrical pulse through my frame which will temporarily paralyze me. I am familiar with standard restraints. You mentioned a probability of casualties, sir?" Terabyte interrupted, eager to just get on with it.
Ratchet grunted and led her to the ground-bridge chamber, watching her closely the whole time. Once in the chamber, the red and white mech ordered her to place her hand on one of the medical berths. As soon as she had, he magnetized the berth, effectively making sure Terabyte wouldn't be going anywhere.
Terabyte scowled at the medic's rather crude methods. She tried at first to see what Ratchet was doing at the console on the upper level, but from her position couldn't get a clear line of sight. Her arm was twisted in a rather uncomfortable angle, so Terabyte shifted her stance, allowing her to relax her arm in a more natural way. With no way of leaving due to her magnetized hand, Terabyte waited. She couldn't even sit down due to the berth being magnetized. If she was planning on getting back up any time soon anyway.
Ratchet was talking to someone over a comm. link. She was still somewhat confused as to why the Autobots all spoke into their comms. It wasn't like it was necessary; the communications all came through visually on their HUDs... Probably some weird Autobot form of courtesy to make them feel better about themselves.
The ground-bridge activated suddenly, and Terabyte stiffened, preparing to be the medical aid that Ratchet needed. If she could help, there was a chance that she could at least gain the benefit-of-the-doubt. Any amount of progress in her status would be welcomed.
The small blue and black femme watched the humans run through and head straight up to where Ratchet was working. Terabyte relaxed - as much as she ever did in the presence of others. As she waited, she imagined all the different things that she could have been- or was obviously missing out on. Terabyte sighed after a breem of contemplations that had become less and less likely and more and more fantastical. There was nothing she hated more than being kept out of the loop. She needed to know what was going on!
Just then the ground-bridge activated again, bringing Terabyte instantly to the ready once again, her frame springing tight and straight. She winced a little as her arm twisted too fast; she'd forgotten about that... This time it was the Autobots that came through, Bumblebee holding an unconscious Arcee. Optimus Prime was also looking rather beat up, but aside from that there were only minor scuffs and dents.
Miko, Raf, and Jack all ran to their guardians, greeting them and making sure they were alright. Terabyte felt her hand come free from the berth as Bumblebee laid Arcee down. She glanced at Ratchet, who had seemingly materialized next to the berth and was scanning the other femme carefully.
"Start taking care of the others' repairs." Ratchet told her, glaring at Cliffjumper as he spoke. "And for goodness' sake, Cliffjumper! Go away! I can't work with you hovering in my way!"
"You're not making Jack move." The red mech pouted, crossing his arms and standing stubbornly in place.
"Jack is only 5'9". You are about four times that. And he's not being a nuisance. Now go away."
Intervening before Cliffjumper could continue arguing, Terabyte grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him away from where Arcee lay limp. Using the small magnetic tool she'd picked up from Ratchet's table, Terabyte slowly and carefully worked out the dents in Cliffjumper's red armor. The mech took a moment to glare at the energy cuffs wrapped around her small wrists before his attention returned again to Arcee.
"Do you think she'll be okay?" He asked her quietly, wincing as a particularly large dent popped out.
"I'm not a medic. I wouldn't know." Terabyte shrugged, "She'll probably be-"
"Jack, really. There are other motorcycles in the world." Arcee's voice interrupted her mid-sentence. Terabyte turned toward where the femme had woken up and was now looking at Jack with a little smirk. The other femme sat up slowly, moving carefully so she didn't knock Jack off of the Cybertronian berth.
Cliffjumper was at Arcee's side helping the blue and pink femme to her feet in seconds.
Once he was sure Arcee was recovering nicely and in good hands, Ratchet looked at the Prime questioningly. "And Megatron?"
"Not even he could have survived ground zero."
Her spark clenched, and her engine choked loudly. Lord Megatron... Dead? That couldn't be true. Ground zero; that meant the Autobots blew something up... They had gotten the schematics for the space-bridge... Terabyte's processor slowly connected all the dots, leaving her to stare at the Prime in disbelief. Of course the Autobots would have blown it up but... How could Megatron be dead? What would happen to the Decepticons now? A new voice cut into her thoughts, bringing her out of her stupor.
"Prime. I didn't get to thank you bots for the save. I owe you one. We all do."
She located the speaker just as he left the building. It was a full-grown human, slightly on the heavy side - she assumed so anyway, Terabyte hadn't had much interaction with humans - with dark skin and a gray suit. She guessed that the man was the one they'd called Fowler. He must have woken from the delirious state Cliffjumper had mentioned.
"So is this the part where you say goodbye and tell us we need to forget we ever saw you?" Miko asked Optimus.
"A little late for that isn't it?" Bulkhead asked hopefully. Optimus nodded in agreement.
When the conversation seemed to be falling towards less important things, Terabyte returned to her thoughts. With Megatron's death, the Decepticons would be without strong leadership. Starscream would be in charge, and who knew how much he would want to change. Terabyte doubted Soundwave would let Starscream lead her people into chaos. Soundwave was far too loyal to Megatron to allow his memory to be so dishonored as the Air Commander no doubt wanted. She would need to report as soon as possible to confirm her mission and be briefed on any alterations that may be made though. How she would manage that remained uncertain.
"Terabyte." Optimus's voice drew her attention back to the present once again. The little femme looked up at the Autobot leader guardedly, though not without the proper respect. "With the loss of your leader, the Decepticons will be in chaos, am I right?"
Terabyte nodded slowly, wondering just where the Prime was going. Surely it was too soon for them to offer defection? But if they were… that would be a huge step forward. But it was still too soon; what did they really want from her?
"This will certainly change your standing with the Decepticons." He paused as if to gauge her reaction to his words before continuing, "It is time for you to make a decision: Will you leave the Decepticons and join our cause or will you return to the Nemesis?"
She blinked. They would let her go? Yeah right… "I have a choice?" She scoffed, gesturing to the six Autobots around her, most of them nearly half again her size.
"We will not stop you if you wish to leave. You do not know the coordinates of our base, you are not a threat." Terabyte repressed a shudder at the Prime's confidence in that fact. "We are also willing to give you a chance to change your ways; to defect."
Already knowing how she would answer in spite of her suspicion – the Autobots may have given her a chance to go home, but her mission did not allow her that option – Terabyte stalled to give the impression of carefully considering the offer. She stared at her angled pedes, scuffing the floor thoughtfully. Finally she decided that she'd 'thought' about it long enough and raised her helm determinedly.
"I wish to defect."
Optimus Prime's optics lit up with an emotion Terabyte couldn't quite name, and then he made one last offer, though his voice had a slightly dull monotonous ring that suggested it was only for record's sake.
"It will not be an easy process. You cannot expect us to blindly trust you, and your status will remain that of a paroled prisoner until you have proven yourself earnest." He warned, taking a step toward her.
Every wire in her frame screamed for Terabyte to back away, but stiffening her minutely mechly – in that they splayed outward at the knees – pedes, the two-wheeler stood her ground, maintaining a submissive posture. In order to succeed, she needed to be cooperative.
"If I may ask, what are the conditions of this parole? Sir?"
"Ratchet will place a small tracking device on you. Your location will be monitored closely at all times. You will not be allowed to go anywhere without an escort, and we will expect you to follow any and all orders without argument. Until our trust has been earned, you will not have access to any subspace, weapons, or communications systems except when on patrol." As he spoke, the scarlet and blue mech removed her restraints, giving them to Cliffjumper to put away until needed again.
"So I will be sent on patrols? With an escort, of course." She hastily tacked on the last bit, so they wouldn't misunderstand her motives. If they were to misunderstand, it would mean that her true intent would be suspected.
"Yes. Your first patrol will be fourth rotation next orn at 0900. Now, are the terms of your parole understood? Any infringement of these terms will result in your returning to the brig until further notice. Is that clear?"
Terabyte glanced over at the other Autobots. Bumblebee and Bulkhead were talking with the kids happily, though she noticed that they were also paying close attention to the Prime's words.
Cliffjumper was very studiously polishing his scratch-free shoulder guard while Arcee glared at the 'ex-Decepticon' femme mutinously. Obviously she didn't agree with Optimus' decision, and occasionally said something to Cliff' about it. The red warrior's only response to her comments was to polish a bit harder.
Ratchet was nowhere to be seen, but Terabyte guessed that he was preparing the tracking device for implanting. She briefly wondered if the procedure would hurt much. Not that it mattered, she would go through it either way.
"I understand, sir. All my actions will be monitored and restricted. Suspicious activities will result in incarceration. I will strive to earn your trust, and I will obey any and all orders." Terabyte's voice was neutrally submissive as she summarized the conditions that the Prime had laid out for her.
The success of her mission depended on these next orns. Her work had begun at last. There was no backing out now; she could not fail.
A.N. Hurray! Another chapter done! How are you guys liking the story so far? Comments, reviews and constructive criticism is very much welcome!
Oh… Poor Skyquake! I'm really enjoying writing those little flashbacks!
I don't know, would you call this a cliffie? I suppose most all of my chapters have been cliffhangers though, so you're all pretty much used to this right? Cliffies make me feel so powerful… Mhuahahaha! *awkward silence* Ahem... Sorry about that. ;P