The sky's the limit

Chapter 7

A/N: Big thank you to all my readers, hope you are enjoying this. Please R&R. I don't own Transformers nor any OCs in this fic. All OCs and credit for this go to SuperSentai199.

She'd been kept confined in Predakings quarters for many solar cycles now with nothing to do other than sit and wait. Megatrons plan was to use her to breed a new army of predacons that would by loyal to Megatron. But since Predakings last attempt to proceed with the plan where she had been able to talk a little sense into the mech he had left her alone. But she was pretty sure that he had been reporting to his master and telling him that the plan was going well. But nothing was going on which meant that sooner or later the warlord was going to find out and the predacon mech was going to pay for it. Even so she was still isolated in the single room, Predaking coming in to rest and talk with her on the occasion other than that she saw him when he came gave her an energon cube.

On one occasion the two had spent an entire night just talking. He had even made her laugh in her imprisonment. Confusingly he had inquired about her early life as a sparkling and had learned why she had so much hate for Megatron and just how much her family meant to her. Which would be the reason why she easily stood against him to protect them when he was about to kill Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack. He did feel pity for her being kept from the ones that loved her so but as far as he could see they had all failed to protect her while had managed to succeed in that area and that was proven by keeping Megatron at bay and how he was easily able to stop the autobots from taking her. But he wasn't completely honest when they spoke; telling her that he was following orders. In reality he didn't want her leave because he didn't want to be alone because when she was around somehow he brought out the best in him and it brightened his spark. There wasn't much to ask about his past but she did enquire how he felt within the decepticon ranks and he couldn't help but be truthful with her then – telling her that he didn't feel like he fit in as they treated him like a mindless beast and Megatron seeing him as just an asset though the gladiator seemed quite void when he had brought up rebuilding project predacon but on a much larger scale. Predaking knowing to let it pass for the time being.

What worried Shade the most was the recurring mention off two more experimental specimens that would fit the same purpose as Shade. She felt great sorrow for them as they were in the same situation as the predacon femme and from this she gathered that two more predacon mechs had been fully developed on Cybertron and were about ready to be brought to Earth for Predaking to lead them under Megatrons rule. Knowing that the predacon population was growing slowly seemed to brighten Predakings mood that bit more that Shade had noticed. But she had particularly noticed how he would return to his quarters in a foul mood and that would suddenly lift as soon as he interacted with her like she just pushed them away.

She did panic on the occasion that someone might come into the room and take her somewhere that she really didn't want to be like back in that cave or Shockwaves lab but that did go away when she would see Predakings form and hear how he softened his voice when he was around her. Shade wouldn't pretend she had troubles recharging as well and she would often awaken to see him sitting by her side trying to calm her; it was something no decepticon would do which made her want him to reconsider his place among the ranks, make him question his allegiance to the warlord. But she wouldn't press the matter.

Shade spent most of her time staring out of the only window in the room. With the Nemesis moving around the Earth and then going into the planets orbit the views changed but it didn't matter to her they were always beautiful to see. A planet thriving, surrounded in life with the only conflict being that that the humans create. Much like the conflict that rose from the Cybertronians and consumed the planet. Staring out at the planet in its orbit now she couldn't help but envy the humans. They had their planet but they didn't see it, not the way it should be instead they were slowly killing it and so themselves. She was pushed away from her thoughts when the door was unlocked and it slide open allowing Predacon to walk in with a cube of energon in his servo, he placed it down on a metal table propped up against the wall and moved over to sit with her at the window. It hadn't been long since he had last spoke to her but he couldn't just walk in and leave; it hurt his spark thinking about treating her in such a way. "Cybertron was once like this planet" he followed her gaze to look at the planet below them before looking back to her, trying to lock gazes with her bright blue optics "It used to be so healthy and full of life like it was a haven. The sun setting and the moons rising showing off its beauty and now it's a lifeless piece of metal floating in space. Our home is gone which gives us the right to do good in the universe and protect others from the same fate but the decepticons want to destroy it all"

"Megatron wishes to rule it" that as when she looked to him and he could see the sadness in her as it was consuming her up.

"Megatrons rule will bring the destruction of any planet he goes to like he did to ours. Cyberfroming Earth is evidence enough that he wishes to destroy it all. The problem is that once you destroy it all and it's all under your rule what is there left to do and who are you going to rule over if everyone is dead" There was so much emotion in her voice, in her words that Predaking could see just how much she cares, it made him think about his own capacity of emotion. Many saw him as emotionless but Shade didn't. She could see that he buried it and appealed to it always. "You really think Megatron will allow you to command a predacon army?" he nodded in response to her "I've seen him kill, seen the way he thinks. It's like Unicron himself and I tell you that he won't. He doesn't care if you want predacons to thrive again as far as he is concerned you're just a weapon and if you die then so be it; you won't be honoured you'll only get forgotten about…I wouldn't be surprised if he let the other predacons be destroyed by the autobots"

He flinched at those words. He understood that she had been online longer than him so she had more experience and with this much time with the decepticons she would surely be able to predict their movements and plans but she couldn't know how Megatron thought exactly. "He would never. He was prepared to send in the seeker armada to protect them but I volunteered instead; he has no reasoning to terminate project predacon" Predaking was being angered now.

Seeing his loyalty to the warlord only confused Shade "Why do you think so honourably of him? He was faking it, playing you he never had any intention on sending his armada and I can see one very big reason why he would want them dead"

"And what's that?"

"He's scared of you!" she couldn't believe the words came out of her mouth. She didn't mean to make it seem like he was a horrible beast but it was the truth if anything the newly evolved predacon would be a threat to Megatron and make him fear of what would happen if there were more of them. Shade could see that Predaking was trying to control his frustration so lowered her tone to perhaps hush him "You were about to kill two very skilled autobots. One my Sires second in command and the other a wrecker, both of them like uncles to me, within the span of one battle and it has been too long since a decepticon has killed an autobot. If you can do that which Megatron has failed to do for so long within a matter of minutes then you have presented yourself as a threat to him"

"He would have commended me for killing them" he spoke softly now somehow calmed by her voice.

"And you think he would have cared if they killed you?" those words caught him by surprise. Would Megatron care if he did go offline. Shade showed that Optimus and anyone in the autobots did care if someone they knew died but the warlord didn't seem to care as long as he got an advantage over his enemy. "Shockwave was growing them in that cavern right?" Predaking turned to her looking into her optics nodding in response. "Autobots can't detect decepticon energy signatures and energon can only be detected when it's on the surface with no interference"

He grumbled listening to her try to reason with him "What's your point?"

She sighed seeing as his short temper was getting the better of him. Standing up and moving away from the window she moved over to him so that they were really close together. The warmth of both of their sparks radiating off and on to the other. "That cavern was stripped of energon, an abandoned mine, which means there was no energon to be detected and the mineral deposits of the planet would have blocked any energy signals that were coming from Shockwave's laboratory so no reason for the autobots to be there unless they were lured there" unfortunately what the femme was saying to him did make a lot of sense. Predaking remained silent as he thought over what she was telling him. She even moved as close as she could to him now; placing her right servo on his chest plates where his body melted into her touch.

Thinking about it Shade was right. The autobots shouldn't have been there. They couldn't have just happened upon it perhaps there was some truth in what she was telling him. Perhaps they were lured to the site. Shade didn't have a reason to lie to him of course, she had been truthful with him since they had met and he had liked that. He felt as though she accepted him. Seeing how comfortable she was around him; not scared and could get up close and personal with him even fight him he believed that she was one that he could trust.

Before anything more could be said Megatrons voice spoke through Predakings comm link. "Predaking I have a mission for you" his orders were quickly given to him as he was ordered to be sent out into cold conditions to provide back up for shockwave as he procures some important equipment for Megatrons plans. His processor was all over the place at that moment. He didn't really want to leave Shade now as they had gotten close to each other and they kept talking to one another. But he had to obey.

"I must leave for a mission" as he tried to move away from her she grasped on to his arm which stopped him. His spark thrummed out to her but he had to ignore it as he was forced to leave. "Shockwaves new experiments are primed and ready and will be brought here. Megatron thought it might ease them if they had you to speak with" with that said the predacon mech moved out of his quarters the door shutting behind him leaving Shade all alone again.

She crossed her arms over her chest as she vented "Of course he did" she expected nothing less but then again Megatron thought that Predaking was getting her sparked when he was going against the gladiator. Shade moved back to the window taking the energon cube that Predaking had delivered and taking small sips from it to replenish her energon levels. It calmed her a little but didn't completely get rid of nerves as she knew that he had gone to fight autobots. It worried her more knowing that he had almost killed two of her family members had she not stepped in and defended them.

Shade vented hard as she was sick of being stuck in the same room every single day with nothing to do but watch whatever was out of the window. She wished Predaking would take her out for a flight; get some wind under her wings. They were hurting a little from being kept folded behind her back all the time, the small quarters not adequate to stretch them and which her being cooped up all the time she couldn't even go outside the ship for a minute or two under guard just to hover about and feel the air blow through her. Her processor was spinning with so many thoughts and emotions that were filling her up; so much worry in her not just for her family but for Predaking as well. She could tell that Predaking was having thoughts about his loyalty to the decepticon cause because of her and that meant that things were becoming dangerous for him.

The to the room then slide open to her surprise as two bots were pushed into the room and they were sealed in again. The two on the floor in front of her – another reason for her to worry – she had worried that Megatron would capture as many innocent bots as possible and experiment on them. "Hey are you two okay?" she kept her voice soft in a hope to calm them down, their bodies shaking. The one on the left a shade of light blue which some of her accents were black and white while the other was purple with black and blue accents. Both of them looked tired and as they had obviously been changed from their previous forms to the ones they have now which were bulkier so they were stronger and could withstand more. Shade moved in the middle of the two and used her both of her arms to help them to their feet but as she did she couldn't help the familiarity that she felt towards them. Shade recognised the colours but she could believe it, it would be impossible she didn't know what had happened to them on Cybertron. The last she saw of the two was in the moments that their beloved planet died. "Skylight? Nightblade?" as the two stood they remained still as their names were called out, they too recognising Shades voice.

Their helms lifted so that they both saw Shade standing in front of them. Their optics widened seeing their long lost friend. "Shade?" both of them talked in unison. Their voices just the same as Shade remembered but they had been changed, forced just likek she was by Shockwave. She remembered that they had two other predacons growing on Cybertron as well which meant they must be around somewhere particularly if Skylight and Nightblade were created for the same purpose as she was.

Both the femmes in front of her then pushed themselves forward throwing themselves into her in a huge hug. The result pushed the three of them down with a loud clash but they couldn't help but giggle about. They were going to have to get used to their new found strength. "I'm so glad to see you two, I've missed you"

"We missed you Shade" Skylight stood and helped them all back on their peds.

"They did this to you too?" Nightblade sounded restless and like she wanted to give up which to be fair was something Shade had felt when she was being changed but that soon disappeared once she defeated Predaking in battle and she set her processor on helping the autobots from behind enemy lines. But Nightblade wasn't one to give up easily so that was bound to go as soon as she could rest.

Shade mustered up a smile to help calm them a little. Knowing the two very well they didn't do too well when captured and this time there was no chance of an autobot rescue and they were being held on Megatrons warship the Nemesis. "I was the first they experimented on, I so sorry you two had to go through it as well but now we can work together to bring Megatron down from within his ranks"

They nodded in agreement though it would take the new ones to get used to the change and their new beast form instead of having a vehicular form. "Does Megatron really think that by changing us into supposedly extinct predacons that we'll fight for him?"

"No Nightblade; why do you think I'm cooped up in here? He was growing a small squadron of predacons in an isolated area but Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack were able to destroy it before they could be deployed used to destroy the planet and its inhabitants but I believe that Megatron lured my family there because there was no way they just came across Shockwaves secret lab by a happy accident"

The two femmes were listening intently to Shade taking in everything she was saying "There are other autobots here? Then we stand a chance and with this change we can help them" Skylight always managed to look on the brighter side keeping them all motivated.

"I don't get it; Megatron puts so much effort into cloning predacons and then lets the autobots destroy them…Why?"

Shade paced in the room suddenly feeling so much better with two of her best friends by her side "The first one they had called Predaking displayed increased intelligence and has the ability to transform. I fought with him and he is strong which makes me believe that Megadork is actually afraid of him and now he plans to create a loyal army of predacons using us and the three predacons to their cause"

"How would they use us? We're not going to co-operate" Shade raised her optic ridges to Nightblade waiting for her to get it. It took a moment but she did finally get it and to say that she was disgusted by the very idea was an understatement. "No way! They would violate us and use us as breeders for their army, well they've got another thing coming" each of them tensed but even more so for the two new predacon femmes as their bodies then shifted and moved. They began to panic as they had no control over their transformation sequence like Shade had experienced as well but she had soon got the hang of it. Transforming now more sensitive to the emotions they experienced.

Shade couldn't help but admire their beast forms. Nightblade having more of a feline beast mode, her dark colours giving the perfect camouflage in the dark of the night, she had sharp claws at the end of her large paws. Her long tail stretch out long and at the end of it were three deadly sharp blades that could do a serious amount of damage. Nightblades armour had become more intimidating as it stuck out like sharp spike at the tips of her shoulder plates and thighs. Her purple optics causing fear to run through the bodies of her enemies as they saw her.

Skylight on the other hand was a smaller version of a dragon like predacon. Her wings couldn't stretch out much in the confinements of predakings quarters but Shade could tell that her wing span wasn't as big as her own or Predakings. Her form was much smaller than that of Shades and her bright blue optics shone out in the gloom of the gloomy room.

Shade could see the instant panic in their optics moved towards them showing no fear of them. "It's okay the same thing happened to me. It'll take a while to get used to it but transforming is more sensitive to your emotions now' you've just gotta learn to control it" They nodded their helms and tried to change back into their bi-pedal forms but failed. It looked like they would be stuck in beast forms for a little while. "You both should rest" of course they wouldn't admit it "Just because you were lying on a berth with Shockwave standing over you with his lab equipment doesn't mean that you rested well. Predaking shouldn't be back for a while and I'll be up so nothing will happen to either of you will you recharge" she reassured them. They both looked to one another before moving further into the room. Skylight laying down beneath the window her wings folded in as Nightblade laid up against her. Skylights tail curling around them both in a protective manner as they relaxed knowing that Shade was watching over them. Nightblade purred out which got Shades attention, her helm jerking towards her which somehow Shade understood as her asking about her own beast form. "Don't worry you'll see my beast mode soon enough though I think I'm the only one that has access to my wings in my bi-pedal form" as the words left her mouth she spread her wings out as much as she could in the restricted areas that they were in. Both the femmes lying down on the floor were taken aback by the small display of her dark pink wings that were still not as stretched out to show her entire wing span as they could be. It did hurt a little to do so considering she hadn't in so long but she didn't let that bother her. Shade couldn't help but laugh at how impressed they were of her so easily but that soon faded as she moved to sit on the window again above the two femmes as their optics closed and they entered recharge.

Their presence now made Shade feel so much better. She did feel bad that they went through the same thing she did; she would never wish that upon anyone and yet they somehow had been captured like her and experimented on by the Cyclops decepticon scientist. Her processor thought back to Predaking. With more femmes now would he protect them as he did with her against Megatrons foul plans? Then again there were two other predacon mechs that were meant for Skylight and Nightblade so the question begged; did they live by an honourable code like Predaking did? Shade was lucky enough to be able to fight Predaking off and get him to understand her predicament and Predaking chose to disobey Megatron for honour. However that didn't mean that these other two predacons felt the same way even if they were to be under Predakings lead, they may have no problem raping Skylight and Nightblade and getting them sparked which angered Shade. If that was the case then Shade would protect them as best as she could within the decepticon warship. Just because she was bigger and more powerful now didn't mean that she couldn't be overrun by the decepticons.

It appeared that things might have gotten a little better with Shade being reunited with the two femmes that she loved so much but it did mean that escaping was going to be that much harder and she needed to tell her sire about them so that they wouldn't be viewed as a threat. Though she wished she could say the same for Predaking and the other predacon mechs that she was yet to meet. Though something did feel different about the predacon that she had learned to like a bit more. Every day it seemed like he was opening up to her more and she could tell that he enjoyed her company as he stuck around to be with her more. She wondered about that now if Skylight and Nightblade were going to remain then the mech may not feel as open around her and return to the way he used to be around her. She really didn't want that; Shade liked that he happily spoke to her without feeling the need to pry into him to get him to speak to her. Just being around Shade seemed to have changed him as he acted more on honour now than just Megatrons orders which she admired about him. Predaking seemed to want more predacons around and she could see that not just by his anger at the autobots for destroying the others that were almost fully developed but whenshe told him that he was no longer alone she saw him brighten up. Perhaps that was the reason why he didn't want her to go back with the autobots because they would be separated and the mech would feel alone again. If that was the case then would he ever let her leave? Surely he would feel better with there being three mech and three femme predacons now though that didn't mean he would let them go so easily. She wanted to speak to him now but remembered that he was on the mission still and if anything wouldn't be back for a while. She actually missed him but felt great fear for what he was doing; he was helping Megatron and the decepticons while no doubt trying to avenge his deceased brethren.

She could understand that for Shade would love the chance to make Megatron pay for what he did to her carrier and for killing her biological sire but learning from Optimus Prime had changed her mind set. Though it was what she desired she would never truly go against what she had been taught. Optimus would kill Megatron for what he had done but he would never go as low as Megatron to make him pay for his crimes against everyone. Venting out she couldn't believe these thoughts that she was having but even more so for the pull that she felt in her chest plates that made her body over heat a little. Seeing her two best friends recharging on the floor beneath where she sat she smiled, if anything they had a better chance at winning the war now and it didn't matter what Megatron did to her or the two new predacon femmes the three of them would never bow to him. They were autobots at spark and would follow Optimus' lead only.