Eeer... Eeeer...
...
On to the chapter. ^^
VIII.
Starscream starred at the Lightning Bug that took up a corner in the repair bay. Of course, since it could have the Cosmic Rust germs on it, they kept it enclosed with them and no one touched it since the four arrived back from Antilla. That piece of scrap was the reason they travelled to that faraway world, and that was the reason for their suffering now. Next time, they had to be more careful about their missions–
Next time? Starscream almost laughed out loud, I don't think there will be "next time"...
Starscream took a deep vent. His leader could be impossibly impatient and reckless sometimes, especially when it came to his obsession with destroying the Autobots, but if only it hadn't blinded him to everything else, maybe it would have occured to him just why that world seemed so abandoned. Though, he thought, none of them thought about precautions before leaving to that unknown planet to retrieve that weapon, the weapon they would never have the chance to unleash. They had already seen - a demonstration by their gloriously stupid leader that started it all - the powerful heat ray, the destructive radiation it could produce.
The Seeker frowned when he thought about that. He completely forgot about it.
He got a feeling that he did overlook something important...
The air commander coughed hard and spat the rusted bits into the waste bin he had placed between his legs by his chair when he felt the first wave of nausea. He grimaced at the foul metallic taste. Those were bits of his vocoder, Hook told him and he felt it himself - the burning sensation and the feeling like he was being stabbed repeatedly in the throat were proof enough, and the fact that it seemed harder and harder for him to make sounds. Whenever he spoke - or tried to, at best - it hurt like hell and was laden with static, and the constant itching and coughing did not help his processor ache either.
"I have finished the enzyme tests, Starscream." Shockwave came up next to him in his makeshift laboratory, "The rusticyanin and cytochromes do not seem to change from generation to generation more than normal, though otherwise they seem to be another species–... Starscream? Should I call Hook?"
The Seeker nodded quickly before he leant down to the waste bin. He hadn't purged in ages and it was nothing better now; he soon felt a hand rest on his lower back and Hook offered him a cube of low-grade which he took with shaking hands. He couldn't drink much, his tank was still swirling and glancing down at the bin he found that it was a mixture of processed and unprocessed energon. It had got him, too. There was no going back.
"And the glucan synthases?" he asked hoarsely and put down the cube. He closed his optics and sighed gratefully when Hook pressed an ice pack to his neck, he tried to focus on what Shockwave said. Even though he allowed him to read the datapads and work now, Starscream ordered him around the lab and made him report everything he did to him - at least to feel that he was still in control.
"The synthase enzymes are altered." Shockwave answered, "According to the gene sequencing you did, I think these microbes have reached the point where we can call them a different species from when you were infected with them."
"I will decide that." Starscream muttered and looked over at the Lightning Bug again, "Though seeing their... mutation rate, it is quite possible. Maybe these are... already the fourth or fifth species now."
Starscream took a deep vent and buried his face in his palms. His whole body hurt and trembled with weakness and a moment later Hook grabbed his arm gently and tried to pull him up, "Come on, Starscream, let's go back to your berth. You have been up all cycle, you need to rest."
"Wait," the Seeker looked up at him with deeply burning optics, "I want to try... one more thing." he coughed and glanced at the Lightning Bug before he continued, "If it doesn't work... then... I don't know what more I can do."
He gestured to Shockwave to give him one of the cultures they had been sequencing. Repeated sampling revealed that their genome changed fast from one generation to the other, especially when Starscream tried to administer a chemical, and that was why it seemed impossible to kill them off - they adapted too quickly. But the cause of this rapid mutation they couldn't find.
Hook took the waste bin away while the air commander activated the incubator for what seemed like the millionth time during those three days and set the levels to normal, except for the level of radiation - Starscream set it as low as possible and closed the incubator.
This was their last chance, he knew as he glanced over at the others. Rumble had been blissfully in recharge most of the day after another operation, but he was surrounded by tubes and cables now, energon IVs leading directly to veins as he was unable to process it anymore and his thermostat became irrepairable. Hook also told him the mini-con's energon pump was giving up, they tried to patch up all the cracks and tears inside him, clean him out, but they had to hook him up to a monitor to keep track on his circulation. His spark still seemed strong, though, according to the Constructicons.
Megatron recieved IVs, too, as it seemed he was getting too low on energy, his overworking systems burnt through his reserves rather quickly - just the effort of trying to get air to cool at least a little bit down with half of his vents and filters already turned to dust costed him much. A cable was attached to his chest to help pump air into his systems. Rusted bits were falling off all of them, here and there, though Starscream seemed to be the only one who, apart from a few small holes, didn't have any of his parts missing from his body.
Astrotrain was the worst. He had not been able to consume energon and hardly moved at all. He had not spoken a word ever since the previous evening when he told his two officers to stop their meaningless argument already. He was angry back then, more so about the fact that even if, by some miracle, they could still be cured, there was a chance he may never be able to stand again. But he wasn't even angry anymore, and sometimes the only indications that he was still online were a few painful whimpers and sudden rushes of air through his vents as his unstable systems tried to regulate themselves. His frame was crumbling and he was fading fast.
Starscream wondered if he could still be saved at all. Blitzwing was there with him, though the Seeker did not know if the triple-changer was aware of his partner's presence. It was good to see at least someone was there for him. Starscream knew he could always rely on his trine, and Rumble had his creator and siblings by his side. All of them had someone they could count on, a loved one there next to them which was probably the only good thing they had right now.
Well... all of them, except Megatron. The only one who was there for him was Shockwave, but it was more out of loyalty than true friendship. Starscream wondered if the warlord had anyone at all he would call a friend. Maybe it was Soundwave he trusted the most, though at times he did pour his problems out to Starscream, even personal things on very rare occasions. When he was exceptionally depressed about something. However, both of them were too proud to enter such conversations with the other, and anyway, Starscream thought, they had known each other for millions of stellar cycles - sometimes the smallest of twitches was enough for them to know what the other was feeling. And no matter how many times they betrayed and hurt each other, Starscream was always there by his side.
It was his duty as second-in-command, he told himself. He didn't feel sorry for that slagger; so when he felt his tank had settled down enough and got up painfully to stride over to his leader's berth, he was just fulfilling his duty.
Starscream glanced over at Rumble now out of instinct, the Cassetticon was just barely coming back online, his optics, even as they rebooted, remained a lighter, pinkish shade. Scrapper was there with him, cooling his systems with ice packs. That solution seemed to help a little, but offered only a short-lived relief from the fever. Starscream's spark sank at the sight of the broken mini-mech. He had seen a great deal of different battle injuries throughout the stellar cycles, but this slow decay was the worst horror they could ever imagine.
The air commander reluctantly tore his gaze from the youngling and continued on his way over to Megatron. Blitzwing turned around when he heard him and nodded to his superior. He looked tired with worry, too, and turned back to his fellow triple-changer immediately who seemed to be offline at the moment. It seemed like the hot air was rolling down in waves from Astrotrain's vents. His fans had long stopped working, and a drain spiralled down from his filters to lead away the fluids as the microbes corroded coolant and energon lines as well, clogging the vents, and another cable helped him breath. The water vapor in the air shone as condensation on his burning hot frame.
When their optics met, Starscream saw a glimpse of acceptance on Blitzwing's face that his friend was dying. A hopeless acceptance that made Starscream feel guiltier than ever. He had taken away many lives in the war, and they all knew, were all ready to face it if one of them did not return from a battle - but this, somehow, seemed totally different. They didn't have much time left if this last experiment didn't work and he would soon have to tell them all that...
...that he failed.
Megatron looked up at him when he heard Starscream approach his berth. The once proud mech was now reduced to a trembling wreck that looked ready to fall apart at any moment, but he was still the strongest of them besides Starscream. His intakes grew a bit easier with the machine helping him now, and he still managed a menacing glare at his second when he reached him and supported himself on the edge of the berth.
"What is it?" Megatron asked, his voice hoarse and chest sore from all the coughing.
Starscream cleared his throat to bring a little life back to his vocoder before he could answer, "You're alone."
The Gunformer raised an optical ridge at that, "And? What does it... matter to you?" he asked again, words coming out in-between wheezes as his systems kept working feverishly.
"It doesn't." Starscream rasped, "But you shouldn't be."
"Oh, how nice... of you, Starscream... And what made you..." Megatron stopped for a moment, frowning, before he turned back to his second, "Does it mean... you couldn't find... anything?"
"I..." Starscream shifted, "That's not true. I still have... an idea, but seeing how advanced our conditions are–" he had to stop as static filled his voice.
"So that's it?... Saying goodbye already?" Megatron shook his head with a deep intake, "No need to get... emotional, Starscream... Just give it all to... Shockwave, he will... solve this problem... And you... stop acting so important..."
Anger bubbled up in the Seeker at those words, "Shockwave has done nothing! He wouldn't even know what... a Petri dish is if I didn't guide him with every step! If it weren't for your stubborness–"
"I'm just as... stubborn as you are... my dear second." Megatron pressed on the word, "If you obeyed... sooner and gave Shockwave... what he needs, maybe... we wouldn't be this... far along now."
Starscream bared his dentas at the injustice. It was all his work, his results, and if it weren't for his organizing, they'd be much worse! He worked even when he started becoming ill and tried to raise the others' spirits, too, that there must be a solution, and he would find it, because he was a renowned scientist. And here was Megatron, criticizing his expertise and crushing away all he had achieved by telling him to give it up, now, when he was so close!...
He couldn't hold back himself. The sickness, stress, fear and anger all welled up in him and Starscream moved, closing his fit and hitting his leader on the wound on his shoulder that the asteroid chunk tore on him. He felt no remorse as Megatron gasped in pain and grasped his shoulder with a loud groan, he didn't back away. Of course, he knew the former gladiator could still be dangerous even in his weakened state, but he was too angry to care. Even when Megatron looked up at him with murderous optics and his good hand shot up to grab the Seeker.
There was a loud crack, and a second later, an agonized scream filled the repair bay.
For a moment, Megatron was too dazed to realize what had happened. He, of course, moved to grab Starscream's wing like he usually did when he wanted to punish his air commander, knowing full well how sensitive the appendage was. It was all like instinct for him, and in his blind fury, the Gunformer forgot about the condition they were in; never had he felt regret and fear before over beating Starscream, but now that he slowly looked down at the rusted wing that he still held unconsciously in his hand, his spark seemed to have frozen.
Starscream collapsed by Megatron's berth, his vocalizer gave in with the cry the agony forced out of him. The Seeker purged violently from the white hot pain that burnt the chunk where his wing tore and faintly felt two pairs of arms lift him carefully up from the ground to lead him to his berth. Coolant poured from his optics as painful sobs rocked his body, he couldn't care about being ashamed of crying, couldn't even feel anything else but the pain in those awfully long minutes that followed.
His wing... the symbol of his very being...
Starscream saw Bombshell and Hook move around him, trying to calm him down and injecting him with nanites, painkillers and sedatives. He saw Blitzwing's horrified expression and even Astrotrain woke up at the sound of his scream, looking both confused and sorry. He saw Megatron still sitting frozen on his berth and then rising, he disconnected the cable from his chest and slowly limped over to Starscream's berth. The Seeker looked up at him through his tears and felt the other mech's remaining hand touch his face as he leant down to be eye-level with him.
"I'm sorry, Starscream..." Megatron whispered, "I didn't mean it... I'm so sorry..."
Starscream's sobs quieted down as the nanites started working, he leant his head on Megatron's uninjured shoulder and the Gunformer stroked the back of his head lightly. Both of them were radiating heat and breathing heavily, though the physical pain seemed to be dulling just a bit, their sparks still raced in their chests. Starscream had never seen his leader so remorseful, never said he was sorry after beating him - he knew it was really just the anger that drove both of them and they tended to act without thinking. Even when their lives were at stake.
But now it all seemed so... insignificant. Everything before Starscream seemed to turn into black emptiness.
"I give up." he whispered, his vocoder no longer able to produce sounds.
The depth of those words needed a moment to settle in.
Megatron's hand stopped and he pulled away a little bit to look into Starscream's tired optics. "No... don't." he replied, "You were never one... to give up... And you said you... have one more idea..."
"And we'll all assist you with it." he heard Hook say softly and saw everyone gathering around his berth with Scavenger carrying a stretcher to him. The faces of his commrades were the last thing he remembered before the sedatives finally put him into a peaceful recharge.
Of course, the moment his trine mates felt his pain through the bond, they rushed down to the repair bay and refused to leave his side until late in the evening. Starscream was not allowed to work anymore, the Constructicons cut down the rusted chunk from his back so it wouldn't cause much pain, and Thundercracker and Skywarp didn't let him get up either. They brought him energon and ice packs when he needed them, they held him carefully and showered him with their love to compensate the fear they all felt.
Strange as it seemed to him at first, Starscream didn't blame Megatron. He knew his leader was truly sorry, and he rather blamed this slagging disease for all the things that happened. But maybe it was a good thing... Starscream never thought he would ever see this side of Megatron again. And he wanted it to be this way if they really had to leave this world.
It was by evening, just after the two Seekers and Soundwave reluctantly left the repair bay that a small alarm sounded off from Astrotrain's berth. The triple-changer's vents were expelling smoke and he lay dangerously still as all three Constructicons and Bombshell rushed up to him. They quickly unhooked him from the cables and IV tubes that hang from him before they hauled him to the stretcher.
"What's happening?" Starscream whispered soundlessly, pushing himself up weakly from his berth.
"His pump," Scrapper answered him in a hurry, "it gave up. His processor's not recieving enough energon."
"Come on." Hook urged and they pushed him into the operating room. Silence fell in the bay, just the occasional beeps and whooses of other monitoring and supporting systems could be heard. Starscream kept his gaze on the door of the room and sighed deeply. If Astrotrain's energon pump was now rusted as well, it may have been the end for him; he would have to be completely rebuilt.
"Starscream..." he heard Rumble whispering feebly from his side, "we're all dying... aren't we?"
The Seeker looked at the Cassetticon. There was still a trace of fear in his light optics, but mostly exhaustion and silent acceptance that he already knew the answer. They all had to face reality and all of them came to accept it slowly, but there was still a need to confirm it.
"Yes." Starscream answered, "we're dying."
He lay his head back on the berth and gazed up at the ceiling. Semi-darkness ruled the bay and the pain suppressant nanites made his processor a bit foggy, but Starscream felt he could still think clearly enough to know what he was talking about.
"Do you believe in Primus?" he suddenly asked. A moment of silence followed his question before Rumble spoke up with a shrug.
"Soundwave does... and I guess I believe in what he believes in."
"If Unicron exists..." Megatron whispered, "then there must be... Primus, too."
Starscream nodded absently and quickly covered his mouth when a coughing fit shook him. He wiped his hand from the rusty bits before settling down, intent on continuing the conversation. "And have you ever... prayed?"
"No... Never felt the... need to." it was Megatron who answered first this time. He must have still felt some regret, Starscream thought, that made him join in. Or maybe he came to the conclusion that ranks didn't matter now; it was only them, four mechs sharing the same sickness and same fate with only each other for support.
"I did once," Rumble replied and took a shuddering breath, "dad taught us how to. Once he was injured in a battle and it was... very bad, the medics said he may not make it. That was the first time I prayed. I couldn't imagine living without him."
Starscream nodded in understanding at the mini-mech, "Maybe we should... learn again how to do it."
It was a joor later when the three Constructicons came out. They continued talking for a while and almost fallen into recharge, but Starscream willed himself to remain online to listen to what they had to say. The first thing he noticed immediately was that they didn't bring Astrotrain back. If it was that bad, he really hoped–
"He's still alive, but barely." Hook answered his unspoken question, "Bombshell is staying there with him. He's in deep stasis and we had to hook him up on spark support."
"Won't you... bring him back?" Megatron asked quietly, his optics met Hook's tired gaze.
"No, my liege. We had to take parts out of him and... we cannot move him away from the machines. He's stable now, but I sincerely don't know... how much more he can take."
"Then... download his memories and personality." Starscream whispered, "There must be a way..."
"We're doing everything we can." Scrapper said and put a hand on Hook's shoulder. It must have been hard for all of them and Starscream just realized how scared it made him, too.
He wondered if he was really ready to face it all...
Soundwave stroked Frenzy's head unconsciously as they lay in the berth. He allowed the mini-con to recharge with him through the night, and he was glad the cassette was getting some rest. He took him back to their quarters from the Constructicons after he left the bay and Mixmaster gave him an injection of sedative, but it seemed there was no need for it; the mini-mech recharged almost all day and through the night. Mixmaster told him he was just low on energy and very afraid of what might happen to his twin, that caused his systems to make an emergency shutdown.
The third-in-command, however, still couldn't calm down enough to fall into recharge. He needed it badly and glanced at the sedative, but chased the thought away quickly. In the evening, he could see very well that what they had was no longer enough. Ever since he left the repair bay, after Starscream made him read all the datapads again, his emotions were conflicting in a turmoil, torn between his loyalty to his master and the need to save his creation.
He knew what he should do, but Megatron's order was clear. Yet, in the evening when he hugged Rumble and felt that the little mech was barely able to put his remaining arm around him, the decision was just growing stronger. The thought to disobey his master at first seemed bad. He had almost never done that before. Never saw the need to do it. But now as he glanced down at Frenzy snuggled close to his chest, the bad feeling finally evaporated and it all cleared away. He couldn't lose Rumble. Not when he had the chance to save him - and it suddenly became easy to search for that long forgotten frequency, gave him confidence to take control of the situation.
There was no other way.
"W-wha'?" a familiar, groggy voice spoke up on the other end of the comm-link, "Who's it?"
"Blaster" Soundwave said the name quietly in order not to wake Frenzy.
"S-Soundwave?" he could almost see the other tape decker's dumbfounded expression, "How can... how can you still remember... my frequency?"
"Not important." Soundwave replied, "I need your help."
"My help?" Blaster asked back, he sounded fully awake and alert now, "At two in the morning? What would you need my help for?"
"We need the assistance of your medics." when he recieved no answer, Soundwave added, "Blaster... it's about Rumble."
That did it. Soundwave knew that even though the other dual-spark did not yet have creations on his own, he could never bring himself to hurt other creations, especially not Soundwave's, no matter what they did. He was probably the only Autobot Soundwave would have trusted them with had they ever been caught, and Blaster knew it. He sighed through the comm. and finally said, "Alright. Tell me what it is."
And Soundwave relayed every information he had, every bit from all the datapads Starscream had given him - and Blaster promised he would speak with his superiors. If that was all he could do for now, Soundwave felt a tiny hope returning to his spark knowing that he did everything in his power.
And he could finally fall into recharge.
I want to say I'm sorry for the long wait, and thank you for all those who reviewed/faved/followed. It means a lot to me. :) This chapter turned out to be long and harder to write than I thought... and again, sorry for grammatical or any kind of errors. Good night! :)