Chapter 56
-0-Australia
The shooting was continuous. So was the cursing. Prowl listened with an icy servo gripping his spark. He heard Blue's voice calling out to Springer. Screaming out to Springer would be more accurate, then shooting and the sound of someone running very fast, then stopping to shoot again.
The sound of jets revving, the sound of them screaming in for the kill reverberated throughout the facility as everyone was rooted to the spot listening to it. In the N.E.S.T. HQ it was no different. Those on duty worked with the same urgent efficiency, their voices as calm and professional. They sent and received information, the Autobot's live visual feed filling the screens. Night vision views of the battle danced across their screens, too, an innovation for this mission.
Colonel Fulton running the show from his HQ looked with the same tension at the event on the screens before him as Optimus Prime did in his.
-0-On the ground
They came down from above, diving quickly while laying down fire between Springer, Arcee and the others. Blue stepping out of the trees fired up, catching the Seeker with two well placed shots. Smoke and flame burst out of its undercarriage as it zoomed off to disappear into the darkness. Stepping back, Blue hunkered down watching ahead as it was silent a moment.
Then shots were fired from Springer's position and the sound of something big running toward them was heard.
Blue rose glancing down at the soldiers. "Don't come, Robert. This will be bad." Then he ran forward heading toward the trees following Warpath who was already ahead of him.
In Ops Center they listened as fear gripped Prowl with icy digits. He looked at two of the visuals, the jerking images indicating Blue and Warpath running. They heard the shouting, picking out the voices among the noise of shooting, the strafing of a Seeker and then it was quiet again.
The four views shown on split screens were looking around, the visuals darting back and forth. Then Springer's saw a huge black shape and he moved away firing as he went. There was a null blast and his screen went black. Arcee moving toward Springer, shooting as she went glitched and went black as well.
Blue's voice yelled their names and there was shooting, his visual feed showing things moving too fast to make out. A blur of colors and shapes rose swiftly away as Blue ran, the muzzle fire of his weapon flashing ahead of him, then upward. He paused to hear Warpath shouting, then began to run toward him.
It was dark as the Seekers were leaving, the sound of their jets becoming less pronounced, more far away even as the soldiers poured fire after them.
Blue's visual reached Warpath as the soldiers arrived at the same time. He was down, his wounded leg flashing past on the screen as Blue looked at it, then back up to him.
Warpath was cursing and looking up at the sky, his weapon still trained on it. "Where's Arcee? Arcee! Springer!" He called to them but no one answered.
Blue looked all around them, his weapon following his point of view as he cast about seeing and sensing no one. The Seekers were gone. So was Arcee and Springer. The churned up ground around them offered nothing. Overhead, the sound of jets could be heard as Blue stood in the middle of the open space pointing his rifle upward. "Move! Move to the trees!" he shouted stepping forward to fight.
"Blue! Aerialbots," Warpath said before laying back as pain overtook his spirit at last.
The sound of Aerialbots landing then hurrying toward them was music to Prowl's ears. "Prowl to Bluestreak."
"Bluestreak, Prowl." Blue sounded jerky. He was running toward the last position he could remember seeing Arcee and Springer. He looked and saw nothing but churned up soil and broken trees. There was no energon and there were no Autobots. "Prowl, I can't find them. Arcee and Springer. They're gone."
Prime listening grimly glanced at Prowl.
Prowl walked to Teletraan II. He bent over it, working on something for a moment, then looked at Prime. "I lost their signal in the Oort Field."
Prime nodded. "Get the team back here."
Ratchet and Ironhide staring at the sensor screen glanced at each other. The Oort Field was a very, very big place.
-0-California
He sat parked in front of the house, trunk open and engine idling. Inside the house, Sam and his family were finishing up their evacuation. Sam had deposited baggage in his trunk and Bee closed it to open a door for Sam and his dogs. His mom and dad after locking the dark house ran forward to climb into the Camaro. Settling back, doors closing, Bumblebee pulled out to move off into the early morning gloom for Vandenburg Air Force Base and a C-17 ride to Diego Garcia as per orders from Prime.
They hadn't argued, understanding that this was their life now. They even had bags packed against just such an eventuality. So with a quick run through of their house they were ready to go within ten minutes of the alarm. N.E.S.T. officials would take care of everything as long as they were gone.
Bumblebee, his sensor net cast wide rolled out onto the freeway as the early morning commuter traffic beginning to pick up. Behind him in a new alt mode Barricade followed. He was a Mercedes Benz, a nice powerful sedan, he considered. He could move up and get close, perhaps ram the little Autobot mini-con and have some mayhem before finishing him off. He, however, hadn't figured on morning traffic. All his efforts to move up on Bumblebee were thwarted by the kamikaze drivers of Southern California, road warriors in their own right.
By the time the Autobot reached the base entrance it was too late to plant Bee upside down in the ditch again. Barricade rolled past slowly, watching as Bumblebee cleared the gates and his prey, the AllSpark AND Bumblebee slipped away.
Again.
He rolled away fuming.
Again.
-0-Autobot City, Mars
It was silent in the Rec Room as the crew sat listening to the mission. Arcee and Springer were missing, presumably taken by the Seekers. Warpath was injured and Bluestreak was intact giving cover for the Aerialbots and the evacuation.
Sideswipe listened with tension informing every rivet. When the Aerialbots signaled that they were taking off he relaxed only then. He tossed his energon into the receptacle by the door, glancing at Huffer and Wheeljack. "This is going to be bad."
They nodded, stunned at the development as well.
-0-In the Oort Field
They were dumped unceremoniously into two cells, each of them charged with bars of energy designed to pacify the inhabitants. Where they were they didn't know and they couldn't alert Earth because the 'Cons had disabled their internal communications. They feigned unconsciousness and listened more than aware of the precarious position they were both in.
They could hear heavy treads.
Seekers.
Then a distinctive voice spoke. "You did well, Thundercracker. You got one more than I expected."
"It was fortuitous considering the damage we took," he replied.
"But worth the effort. Not only did we get Prime's bond, we got his youngling femme as well," Starscream said, his pleasure only exceeded by the leverage he'd just acquired over the Autobot leader who haunted his dreams and thwarted his ambitions. "We need to wait and see what they do before we contact them."
"And these two?" Thundercracker asked.
"They are not to be molested or harmed in any way. Until we see what Prime is willing to do to get his bond back, we want them in good condition."
With that, they walked away.
Springer lay a long time on the floor before on-lining his optics. A cursory examination located the surveillance system and he shifted slightly to peer at Arcee. She lay still as well. He hissed softly watching as her optics opened slightly. "Arcee."
"Springer."
"Don't move. They're watching."
"What now?" she asked.
"We wait," Springer replied off-lining his optics once more.
-0-Daniels
He sat by his computer, a heavily encrypted device provided by the computer geniuses at Intel-Martin and read the news. Their contact, High Flyer was giving them the word. They had captured two Autobots. But not just any Autobots. These two were targets of high value apparently. He sat back digesting the news. Nast and High Flyer, a billionaire who wished to remain anonymous even as he assisted them with funds and intel were discussing the event that had just transpired. Seekers had taken two Autobots, the ones designated Springer and Arcee. It had been a shoot out and even though there were minor casualties on both sides no one had died.
He looked at the screen. Another email had pinged. It was from High Flyer. He opened it and read the message…
^,,^
"I have been informed that the Autobots taken have more than just the usual value to the Prime. The Autobots taken were family. Springer is his bond and Arcee his femme, his daughter. I will try to get more information from my sources. Stand by. -High Flyer"
^,,^