Well... it was... quick? I'm having a rush of inspiration, so yeah. Here's the next chapter. ^^ Boring and full of errors as ever. ;)
Have a nice day! :)
II.
"Alright, Astrotrain." Scrapper said, "let's weld up this wound. Are you ready?"
The triple-changer nodded uncertainly. His processor was still a bit foggy, Scavenger supported him as he sat. They had managed to cool down his systems somewhat and he didn't feel like his energon pump would burst out of him anymore, but even with the anesthetic nanites he was given, the wound where he was struck by the asteroid chunk was still quite sore.
However, he wasn't ready for the blazing agony that shot through his frame the moment Scrapper's torch touched it. It was so sudden and overwhelming that he couldn't keep himself from screaming, he struggled in Scavenger's arms to get away from the burning sensation. Scrapper deactivated his torch immediately and Hook was already there, sticking an injection of sedatives into Astrotrain's medical port while the other Constructicon gently pushed one of the ice packs to the wound. Astrotrain's struggling ceased and he grew limp as Scavenger let him lie back down on the berth.
Scrapper shook his head, "I guess I did more damage than good." he murmured and frowned when he leant down to take a closer look at Astrotrain's chest. There was dark discolouration on the base of his neck, not yet rust, but Scrapper was sure it was a forerunner of another spot on his frame that the germs had attacked.
It was like this thing was decomposing the metal that made up their bodies.
Starscream came out of the wash racks just as Astrotrain's painful cry rang through the repair bay. He stood frozen, watching the scene with wide optics and only dared move when he saw the Constructicons managed to stabilize the triple-changer. He could imagine how it must have hurt when the burning torch touched the sensitive wound and he flinched with a pang of sympathy and fear. Will he be this sick, too? No, he'll find a solution until then. He had to.
He made his way over to the glass that separated them from the rest of the base where his trinemates were waiting for him anxiously, but he stopped when he reached Megatron who was sitting on the berth next to Astrotrain's. The Decepticon leader still refused to lie down, even though he felt himself weakening, too, and he wore an unreadable expression as he starred at Astrotrain, his optics bright with fever.
"How are you?" Starscream asked and the leader snapped his head up as if he had just noticed his second standing beside him.
Megatron shrugged and winced as the movement sent a wave of pain down his backstrut, "I'm overheating. It still hurts. And you? You didn't even let Hook examine you."
"I've already examined myself." Starscream murmured, crossing his arms across his chest.
Megatron raised an eyebrow, "And?"
Starscream vented with a scowl and pointed down on his thigh, Megatron leant closer to see the already brownish small spot on the otherwise shiny red plate around the Seeker's waist. The leader of the Decepticons sighed, "Starscream... are you sure you can handle this now that you're ill, too? We should contact Shockwave-"
"I have everything under control, Megatron." the air commander huffed, "I'll figure out what it is without that drone's help, thank you."
With that, he left the Gunformer and walked up to the glass. Skywarp hurried over eagerly and pressed himself to the glass while Thundercracker stood behind him with a worried frown as his optics roamed over Starscream's form.
"Star!" the purple Seeker exclaimed, "What happened? What's this Cosmic Rust?"
Starscream frowned in confusion, "Cosmic Rust?"
"Soundwave said that's what it's called."
"Starscream," Thundercracker spoke up in quiet worry, "are you infected, too?"
Fear gripped their sparks when their trine leader nodded without a word. The red Seeker looked down as if he was ashamed of something and shifted on his thrusters, "But I'm alright. I'm... feeling well, and I'll work on this matter. I have to stay here, but you carry out your duties in my absence, too. I don't know how long it'll take, but I won't let it take me down."
"We know you won't, Screamer. You'll win." Skywarp grinned, but his smile faded, "Just promise you'll be alright."
"He means," Thundercracker stepped closer, "that you won't overwork yourself, and listen to Hook and the others."
"Right, right." Starscream waved his hand, "And where's Soundwave gone? I requested a datapad from him."
"He's over there with Rumble." Skywarp pointed over to a berth where the third-in-command had taken his cassette. They were still sitting there, Rumble in Soundwave's lap, he pressed himself to the larger mech's frame and was still shuddering sometimes, especially when he looked at Astrotrain. He was afraid, it was clear, and Starscream sighed. He had never been on the best terms with Rumble, but he could sympthatize with the Cassetticon - Astrotrain's cry of pain and the quick decrease in his condition scared him, too, and it must have terrified the mini-con.
"Go, tend to your duties." the Seeker told his trine, "I'll be alright."
Before he went to prepare the growth media for the microbe cultures, he went over to Soundwave. He could still see coolant trails on Rumble's face even though the mini-mech had stopped crying, his visor looked dimmer and Starscream frowned. He nodded to Soundwave in greeting, then crouched down and put a hand on Rumble's knee joint. He could feel the small Cassetticon's frame was warm, though still not to the extent of Megatron's.
"Soundwave," Starscream turned up to the tape decker, "where's the datapad I asked for?"
Soundwave pointed to the nightstand next to the berth and Starscream nodded before turning back to Rumble, "Has anyone examined you yet?"
Rumble shook his head. "And you?"
Starscream pressed his lips together. Seeing that the three Constructicons were still busy with Astrotrain and Megatron, whose temperature had risen considerably again, instead of an answer, he patted the cassette's knee and tried to make his voice as gentle as possible, "I'll examine you. Come, sit here."
Rumble looked up at Soundwave uncertainly, his creator nodded to him and he moved to the edge of the berth. His small frame was still trembling and he fought the urge to fold his arms around himself again now that he lost the warmth of Soundwave's embrace. The communication officer stayed quiet as he watched Starscream lift his creation's head to look over the sides of his face and neck cables. Rumble fidgeted nervously, it was hard to remain still when the Seeker's fingers moved down to his shoulders and chest, the large mech took his left arm into his hands. He wasn't used to this kind of treatment, only Soundwave and his fellow creations had ever touched him like this.
"Starscream," they heard Soundwave's monotone voice speak up next to them, "scientific assistance and proper medical care are recommended."
"There's nothing Hook and the others can't handle." Starscream answered, "And this is organic infection, which I had previously researched. It's not something they teach at medical schools. Trust me, I'll figure it out. Every organism can be killed off, I'll just have to find... the proper... solution."
His voice quieted down as he raised up Rumble's right arm above his head; the same spot that he had found on his waist was there on the inside of the mini-mech's arm, just above his armpit. He heard Rumble whimper and Soundwave pulled his cassette back to his side. Starscream sighed - all of them were infected, even though Rumble hadn't touched the asteroid chunk. The microbes spread upon contact, which meant they had to keep up the quarantine.
The mini-mech's processor swam, more coolant threatened to fall down his face. He was infected with something that made Astrotrain, a big, strong Decepticon scream in pain and delirious with fever, something that made Megatron, leader of all Decepticons too weak to stand - what would it do to him? Rumble had never been seriously ill before, just some system virus that could easily be overriden, this uncertainty and the prospect of all of them wasting away in rust was utterly terrifying.
He clutched his mid-section as nausea gripped his tanks, he didn't remember being so scared of anything like that before.
"Rumble," Soundwave's voice reached his audios, "are you in pain?"
The mini-con pushed himself up from his creator's lap with shaky hands, "'m feelin' sick."
"Will you purge?" Starscream asked with a worried frown and Rumble nodded. Soundwave scooped him up and took him to the nearest wash racks with Starscream following close behind.
The air commander, for a moment, couldn't decide what had him worried so much; the worsening state of his commrades or his own fear of falling to the same fate he had witnessed so fast on the others. He didn't know if it was the need to save himself or to help them that drove him trying to be everywhere, trying to take control in every way he could. He listened to Rumble's deep vents, Soundwave still hadn't let go of him when he leant over the waste receptacle, as if he was afraid the little 'con would fall if he did.
Starscream was sure that one of his own trine would be just as willing to support him. Soundwave always seemed to be emotionless, but the way he stroked the young cassette's back when he finally started purging told enough of the patient and caring love he held for them. They were his everything, Starscream knew. He would have been the same had it been one of his trine mates.
Rumble was still shaking in Soundwave's arms, intakes hitching and the light in his visor dimmed even further. At Starscream's comm., Hook entered the wash racks with a medical grade cube in his hand and took the Seeker's place next to Soundwave and Rumble after Starscream left. Rumble grimaced when he saw the energon Hook offered him, but the bigger Decepticon grabbed his hands and placed the cube in them.
"Drink it." Hook told him, "You'll overheat quicker if your tank is empty. We don't want you going into stasis lock."
The mini-mech forced down two gulps of the medical grade and leant back to Soundwave, already feeling like he would purge again. Hook put a hand on his shoulder to feel his temperature, "Let's go lie back down and drink the whole cube slowly. Soundwave, thank you for your help, you can go back to your duties. We'll handle this."
"Rumble's emotional state is unstable. It can affect his physical condition. My presence is shooting for him. I request you let me stay."
Hook sighed, "I know you wouldn't be in the way, but since both Megatron and Starscream are out for the time being, you are in charge."
Soundwave did not say anything to that. He was aware of that, of course, but he couldn't help the strong desire to stay with his creation as he held Rumble's trembling body to his. He also had to inform his other cassettes of their brother's condition; he already knew Frenzy would be hard to console, would want to see and be with his twin. Soundwave decided to stay with Rumble until he calmed down and his condition was stabilized, then go back to the monitors and make the reports-
At that moment, Rumble's small body convulsed in a choking cough, a hand shot to his mouth, but that couldn't stop the violent heave his tank made. Energon splattered to the ground between his fingers, the Cassetticon was held by two pairs of strong arms as he purged, he retched until there was nothing left in his tank. Pain flared through his chest and white static burst in his vision, the last thing he felt was someone wiping the unprocessed energon from his face before his processor locked up in emergency stasis.
And Soundwave felt his spark crash.
Starscream sighed in relief when he saw that Skywarp and Thundercracker were gone. The worry he felt from them through their trine bond was enough, he didn't want to see their anxiety for him. It would have been much harder to work like that, and he trusted Thundercracker to calm the purple Seeker, too, and persuade him to listen to Starscream in this situation.
He glanced at Astrotrain and Megatron - the triple-changer seemed to be in recharge now that the sedative had finally worked in his systems while the latter returned his gaze with a questioning look. Megatron did not seem as overheated and dazed as before, but he barely moved and his hand returned to clutch his shoulder again. Starscream, for the time being, ignored him and went over to Rumble's berth to pick up the datapad Soundwave had brought him.
The air commander was sure his commrade made him a full report, he had always been thorough and precise, a trait that annoyed him most of the time when it came to Megatron's approval, but now he was grateful for that. He read through the descriptions the ancient scientists had made, reports from autopsies of victims, symptoms, the structure of the cells, their extremophile nature and long viability, their quick mutation rate and the methods they tried to wipe the germs out...
Starscream found himself taking deep vents, his body trembled with the wild beats of his energon pump. He lowered the datapad and starred into space as the last line of the report kept flashing before his optics, burning itself into his very core like a deadly curse;
Number of survivors: 0
When Hook rushed out of the wash racks with an unconscious Rumble in his arms, sticking energon and nutrient IVs into his ports and pressing ice packs to his chest and head while Soundwave stood at the side like a frozen statue, Starscream ran to an enclosed area in the repair bay where Thundercracker had gathered his laboratory equipment. He willed his hands to stop shaking as he poured the agar powder into the dishes to make the necessary growth media for the microbes, trying to concentrate and swallow down the fear that shook his spark.
There was no more time to waste.