'I hope the puny fleshlings didn't give you too much trouble, Blackout.' Starscream muttered over the comm link. Blackout didn't even blink. He was used to his temporary leader's dry sense of humor.
'They just made a lot of racket and ran around with no real direction.' Blackout bit back, causing Starscream to snort.
'Fleshlings are so stupid, aren't they? Did you get the files we need?' Starscream growled out. Blackout huffed slightly, not liking his leaders obvious lack of trust.
'Of course. You say that like you expected me to fail.' He mused.
'I did.' Starscream responded dryly. Blackout couldn't be bothered to think of a response. The femme fleshling he had forced into the back emitted a groan, causing Blackout to jump slightly. Blackout narrowed his eyes at it. He couldn't even remember why he had picked it up in the first place. He usually had no interest in keeping a pet.
'SCOUT!' Starscream suddenly barked.
'Lord Starscream.' Barricade murmured sarcastically. It was obvious to everyone, aside from Starscream himself, that Barricade had no respect for him at all. Another groan emitted from the femme fleshling, causing an irritated Blackout to scan her.
'Give Blackout the coordinates to the base you have found for us. Then, find Ladiesman217. Do not fail me, Barricade.' Starscream commanded. Barricade barely grunted in response. A brief moment of silence passed between them as Blackout received the coordinates. He then adjusted his course, headed towards the abandoned airfield that would soon be their base.
'Blackout, head to the base. Skorponok will rendezvous with you there. That is all.' Starscream bit out.
'Sure thing, Screamer.' Blackout responded, terminating the link before Starscream could blow up at him. He glanced at the scans of the femme fleshling, which showed that she had sustained an injury known as burn on the left side of her torso. It wasn't going to offline her, so Blackout didn't bother to worry. Blackout welcomed the peaceful silence willingly, allowing himself to find a few moments of enjoyment from it.
However, his peace was short-lived because suddenly, the femme fleshling shot up, awake. And then, she started screaming.
/ ~ / ~ / ~ /
The sound of a chopper was what lulled me from my sleep.
I shot up, extremely confused. Why the hell was I in a chopper? I glanced around the familiar interior. It was an interior that I could recognise anywhere, causing my heart to jump into my throat. I wasn't just in any helicopter, I was in my brother's.
At that moment, the events of the day before all came rushing back to me. My stomach lurched when I remembered that the chopper had turned into a giant, robot man. Even more so when I remembered that it had grabbed me.
Holy mother of pancakes, I realised, I'm in that thing right now!
It was at that very moment that a searing pain ran up the left side of my leg. It travelled up my entire torso and down my arm, ending just under my ear. It burned. It felt like I had been set on fire. I started to scream.
"Be quiet, fleshling! Your meticulous racket is driving my processors insane," An ominous voice spat darkly. My voice cut out immediately, and I cowered against the seat above me.
"Sorry," I squeaked, pulling myself up from the floor. I went to touch the leather, but I was stopped.
"Don't touch me!" It roared, and I felt myself squeak. Tears pooled in my eyes, but I willed them not to spill. I was stronger than this, so much stronger than this. I didn't want it to know I was scared.
"Who are you?" I asked, sounding more timid than I was hoping for. I was met with silence. A few more awkward seconds passed and I sighed painfully, resting my head against the seat.
"It doesn't matter, fleshling," It barked, before making a sound that reminded me of a sigh.
"My designation, fleshling, is Blackout."
I groaned painfully, pulling at my shirt that had seemingly attached itself to my burning side.
"You have sustained a 'burn'. How?" Blackout snarled, causing me to cower slightly against my will. I knew immediately that Blackout had noticed, as you could practically sense the pride that was oozing from him. I growled at myself quietly. Stupid, stupid Hazel.
"From the explosion," I quipped. I didn't really want to answer him. There was a few seconds of silence, before he transformed in mid-air. A shocked shriek escaped my lips as I started to free fall.
Suddenly, a large, metal hand clasped around my falling form. I latched onto what seemed like a finger as we fell. Blackout's feet impacting the ground created a loud 'boom', and pillows of dust were sent flying into the air. The dust clogged my airways, causing me to cough and splutter. Seconds later, I found myself standing on the ground.
I gazed upward at Blackout, who rolled his shoulders back in pride, extending to his full height. I took the time to take in his appearance.
The shape of his head reminded me of a crab, and it sat low on his shoulders. It made it look like he had no neck. This realization caused me to giggle slightly, pain forcing me to stop almost as soon as I had started. His chest was made up of the front part of the helicopter. He was bulky, with short legs and short arms. One of his hands looked like a crab claw, whereas the other was made up of the helicopters blade.
Something wasn't right with his blade arm. It leaked a bright blue, sweet smelling liquid, which I could only assume was their version of blood. Gasping, I noticed how most of the cables on his arm were severed, with a small piece of jagged metal embedded deep within the wound.
"The explosion-" I gasped, remembering how the missile had struck him in his side, but was rudely cut off.
"Yes fleshling, we don't have all day. Get that metal out of me now, or I'll shoot you." He spat darkly, pointing his cannon towards my face threateningly. I was about to nod and start climbing, when suddenly a thought struck me.
He was the one who had hacked into the computer. He had the files on Jason's crash.
"No," I responded, gritting my teeth nervously.
"What was that, fleshling?" He roared, eyes ablaze as he took another step towards me, causing the ground to vibrate violently.
"I said no," I responded, with less courage this time. "You have something that I want. If you give it to me, I will help you."
The suggestion itself looked like it appalled him.
"You are not in the position to be making demands, fleshling!" Blackout screamed, pointing the cannon right into my face. My eyes widened as I felt the heat of it agitate my burn. It suddenly felt like my entire side was alight again, and I bit my tongue to stop from crying out in pain.
"I know I'm not. But you are in pain. Let me remove the metal, Blackout. Then, give me what I want," I responded, picking my words carefully. His eyes narrowed at me, darkening slightly.
"I will not give you your freedom, if that's what you want, femme!" Blackout bellowed, and I shrank back slightly.
"No, that's not what I want. You hacked the computer, you have the files on what really happened to 4500 X," I explained, and he sighed, pulling the cannon from my face.
"Fine, fleshling. You'll get your files. Just remove the metal!" He roared, and I nodded, rushing forward. Ignoring my body's protests, I climbed up his arm that he rested on the ground. I was careful to avoid the severed cables as I scoured his arm.
When I reached his shoulder, I braced myself, and watched as Blackout tensed himself too. Exhaling, I threw myself forward, careful to avoid the damage as I leaned into his wound. Blackout hissed with pain, and I winced, feeling sympathetic. My hands fastened themselves around the metal, as I pulled softly. It came away almost instantly. Blackout sighed in relief.
"This is gonna hurt," I warned, as I scaled out of his wound. He hissing with pain every time I touched another piece of destroyed metal.
"Hurry up, femme!" He shouted. Squeaking, I climbed vigorously, before finally sliding back down his arm and onto the floor. He stood again, and shook his arm. Smirking to himself, he wiped the blue stuff from the wound, and flicked it towards me. I squeaked as it splashed in front of me, wetting me slightly. Then, he transformed again, and opened his door, beckoning me to climb in again.
"Here, have your files," Blackout spat, before the computer in the cockpit flashed on. I scurried forward, sitting in the co-pilots spot before leaning over.
"You're welcome." I muttered, knowing that he would hear me. He said nothing in response, but I was past the point of caring. I tapped the file on the computer, and gasped when I saw just how many files there were. A lot more then there should be, that was for sure.
I opened the first file, and a video appeared. I watched it silently.
"T-t-there was this big thing! It came out of the sky right beside us. It just appeared, out of nowhere! It stared at us, right into our eyes, it did. And then it shot us! We crashed to the ground, and that was the end of it." A terrified voice cried out.
"Do you know what it was?" The interviewer asked, sounding slightly cocky.
"N-no."
"Well, you're about to find out, Mr Brooks." The interviewer responded, but then the video cut out.
"How?" I breathed, still staring at the screen that was frozen on his face. They told me he was dead. The military had lied. The government lied. The entire thing was one big, fat lie!
I didn't know what the video meant, or what else was in that file.
But I knew one thing for certain, Jason Brooks was alive.