His highly sensitive peds froze, planting themselves flat on the ground for full perception. His wings perked. His large optics dilated as he stared out across the far edge of the Rust Sea. His peds read the measurements of the vibrations, his built-in seismometer determining whether it was a problem or just another minor quake.
Yet, as the seeker stood there, he felt the shifting patterns of the vibrations and knew that they came from no earthquake. He gave an annoyed but resigned sigh.
"Hey!" He shouted, waving his hand and blinking the Autobot symbols on his wings to get the attention of the bot posted on the top of the rickety fort their group held. "Minitron's coming for another visit!"
His mouth plates tipped up when he heard the bot swear, "Cybertron below me! It really wouldn't surprise me if the thing WAS Shockwave's pet! Sending it over here just to pick at our tailpipes . . . !" The bot swore again, shouting and sounding the alarm as the other four bots inside scrambled to get ready.
The seeker transformed and flew up to the top of the fort, landing next to the second. He took the grenade shoved into his hand as another bot exploded through the roof's door, toting a massive cannon.
"This the baby you want, Blades?" he said.
Blades grinned. "Frag yeah. We're gonna bust that thing's ugly mug into the bottom of this fragging wasteland!"
"He's coming up from the east," the seeker supplied helpfully.
"How far?"
"Oh, I dunno. He was about five kliks out and moving pretty fast."
"THAT'S helpful."
The seeker grinned up at him. "My forte." Then, he used his comm. link as the bot that had brought the gargantuan weapon loaded it. "Hey, Groove!"
"Yeah?" was the answering reply, slow and easy as he ever was.
"First Aid's worked himself into another glitching panic attack." He grinned, tossing his grenade up and down. "Calm him down for me? I'm not gonna be able to focus with him freaking my spark out like this."
Groove just laughed him off easily, saying, "Right, kid. I'll get him to quit being a femme carrying ornament."
The seeker laughed, rich and warm as he chided, "And remind him that he's my big brother, NOT my mother!"
He waltzed back to Blades and the other bot, rolling his optics and saying, "You'd think he'd realize I've done this before! Scrap, at this point I'm a pro at it. Do it with my arms tied behind my back and blindfolded—"
"Focus, kid." The seeker jumped, catching the extra long whip that was thrown his way. As he raveled it up to hook it on his hip with the grenade, Blades trained his large weapon out to the distance, bracing it on his shoulder and propping it on the ledge. He asked, "How much time do we have? Groove isn't in position yet."
The lone seeker of the unit frowned. "Well, I don't know—"
"Then shut up, get down and find out! Swear I'ma cut that glossia from your mouth if you don't shut up and straighten up—"
The deep blue seeker just laughed, always so amazed at how tense Blades became on a battlefield. He stepped up onto the ledge, chuckling, "Don't twist a turbine! I'll check it—"
An explosion not a klik away shook the ground, and shouts erupted as gunfire filled the air. The seeker yelped and took off, amazed that the monster had snuck up on them so easily. He really DID need to drop the act and get serious.
The massive driller burst from the ground again with a shrill shriek, gargantuan and screeching as it tore so close to Groove it nearly decimated the Autobot in one blow. He drew up high, assaulting the giant, burrowing multi-tentacle beast that would rip apart buildings with ease and spread carnage like bloody rain. Not that their last base had been destroyed by the same thing, but the Rust Sea was a breeding ground for the monstrosities. The only good that came from a driller was this:
If there was enough energon deep in Cybertron for the driller to run itself, that meant Cybertron was slowly going on the mend.
With that positive thought, the dark blue seeker banked around to follow the driller as it menaced its way over to the edge of the base. Blades's voice was drowned out by the gears crashing and grinding in the driller's body as it drew up, but after having done this so many times, the seeker could easily place the words as something akin to this:
"Fraggit, kid! Hurry up! Cybertron below me, that thing is an UGLY mother of all—Fraggit, blow it already! Holy scrap it's on top of me you worthless piece of tin, TAKE IT OUT!"
When the Driller was about to crash into their base, the seeker finally transformed, snagged the pin and tossed the grenade on the driller's back before changing back to his flight mode and banking sharply away. A blast ricocheted the air behind him, giving him a nasty case of turbulence, but with smug success, he heard the driller shriek and rear up, turning its attention to him.
He further incited and infuriated the monstrous drilling beast by blinking his Autobot symbols, a feature he had for nothing other than to draw its attention. "Sorry, Minitron, but you're asking for it when you come and attack us!"
A larger explosion rocked below them, the blast nearly knocking Blades flat the driller was so close as he used the rocket launcher to get a close and direct hit on it. The driller screeched and burrowed back underground, huge twisting body ravaging the ground.
"Bit-Brain, I still can't believe you named that spawn of Unicron!"
"Bit-Brain" swooped low with a generous laugh at Blades's highly affronted offence, and he heard a whoop from their leader. Hot Spot was busy firing round after of his neutron assault rifle into the beast's nigh-impenetrable flanks with a wide grin. "I can believe it! Bit-Brain's as miss-clocked as they get! Besides, I think it'd make a great pet!"
Dubbed "Bit-Brain" in the heat of the moment, the seeker just laughed as he swerved around for another go at the beast, though he knew his stun rays really didn't do much—they worked against soldiers, not a hulking mass of that size. "Well, I can't believe you guys would call me something as offensive as THAT!" But his laughter belied his indignation.
The driller tore up through the ground again, this time taking the lower east edge of the base with it, decimating—
"Hey! That's my recharge room you worthless Pit-spawn!"
The seeker whirled around as the bots unleashed a flurry of pounding bullets into the beast's side, bullets pinging off and laser fire just barely managing to sear the surface of the driller. The seeker landed on the building, and taking up the energon whip, lashed out at the driller. The little shocks near its face made it hiss and rear up, and the bot narrowed his blue optics. Several of the smaller appendages with their ripping saws jabbed towards him.
Snapping the whip around the lower part of the driller's jaw, the seeker swooped down and used the energon whip as a rope, swinging himself away from the attacking tentacles and up and around until he landed on the driller's back. He dug his peds into the driller's shifting body as it reared up, slinging with the effort to get him off.
The seeker yipped and howled as he rode the bucking beast. Hot Spot was right there with him, hollering out, "That's the way, Bit-Brain! Ride it!"
Through his comm. link, the seeker heard First Aid explode, "You got a glitch in that processor of yours? You're going to get yourself killed!"
His deep voice laughed as he slapped the whip down on the head of the driller, the lashes of pain in the weak spots making the driller thrash its head. "I'll be fine! Just lemme do my work!"
"You haven't done something as stupid as RIDE it before!"
"Improvising!" the seeker yelled back above the screeching of the driller. Blades yelped and roared when a sawing tentacle cut across his propellers, sending the helo in a nasty spin to the ground. The seeker lashed the whip around one of the mandibles in the giant creature's gaping maw, and he yanked and pulled. The driller shrieked, whip cutting into sensitive parts, and it followed where the seeker pulled him.
Groove gave up trying to hurt the thing with his gun, conserving his weaponry. Instead, he gave a salute. "You have fun, Bit-Brain! I swear, at the rate you're going with this thing, you'll have it following your every order like a pet!"
Streetwise, banking around the edge and dodging some nasty tentacles, laughed heartily. "Aw, Pit! Bit-Brain, if you do manage to tame this thing, we'll have to plough right in and attack the Decepticon base!"
Bit-Brain gritted his dentures, body arching and reeling as the driller tried to throw him off. "Hey now! I have a name!"
"Not anymore you don't!" Blades snarled at him, First Aid nursing his sawed-through propeller and patching him up to preserve precious energon. He shook a fist. "You're Bit-Brain now, and you'll never grow out of it!"
Even in the midst of heated battle, Bit-Brain couldn't help but laugh before he yelped, the driller twisting its body and diving for the ground. He threw himself off, hitting the ground hard and rolling as the driller burrowed back underground. It dug near the surface—he could see the ground mounding up where it moved. It was going to come up for another attack.
"Bit-Brain!"
The seeker turned and caught the grenade thrown at him, and he transformed and flew to the top of the base again, getting the height advantage as the driller burst from the ground again. The seeker aimed carefully, took the pin out, and threw the grenade. The driller moved at the last second, so it pinged near the edge of its maw instead of falling in, but the explosion caught the beast's attention. Blinking his Autobot symbols on his wings, the driller screeched, lunging for him.
Bit-Brain jumped and transformed, flying out of the way as the driller took off the upper edge of the base. Its sole attention was focused on him and no one else. He kept blinking his Autobot symbols to antagonize it more, and Hot Spot whooped as the seeker began to bait the beast away.
"Atta boy! Drop it off somewhere and get back here pronto! We've got loads of repairs for the base to do, mainly YOUR room!"
"You just keep picking on me, guys!" he hollered at the top of his vocalizer. "You're gonna regret it when I pull a prank on you one night!"
With that, they were out of audio shot of each other, and the seeker darted through the air, teasing the driller by letting it get close as it chased him and zooming out of reach of its dangerous tentacles. He even skidded close to the surface of Cybertron to taunt it as they crossed the grounds quickly, bringing them farther and farther away from the fort.
The seeker brought the gargantuan "Minitron" plenty of miles out from the base, knowing how far the driller could go in a short span of time. He burned thrusters when the yawning jaws of the driller sliced close to him before pulling away, weaving in between tentacles with the ease and skill of one who had done this job countless times. Baiting the driller away was as easy as breathing for him anymore.
Thus, when he was pressing the borders of their communications range, "Bit-Brain" swooped out above the deep of the Rest Sea, knowing exactly where a nasty pit was that the driller would fall into. He let it get close again with a great lunge, and then, it shrieked as it fell, half-submerged in gritty rust and bot parts and decaying ships.
The seeker transformed, landing on the familiar peak of the communications tower of one ship, affectionately named "The Bootleg" since he couldn't read the real name. The letters had already been eaten away by the rust. With a wide grin that disappeared beneath his battle mask, he whooped and pumped his fists in elation for a job well done as Minitron writhed and squirmed in the rust, trying not to drill under and ruin its entire body and still get out.
"Eat that, you nasty little mudslogger!"
As he shouted that, his sensors picked up a sharp spike of energy to the south. He turned his head, ignoring the screeching driller as he looked, a frown creasing his features. Faint blue glowed in the distance, and he hesitated. A ping came into his communications.
"Hey, Bit-Brain? You getting that?"
He gave a half shrug, brows cinching as he said back to Hot Spot, "Loud and clear. And . . . I think I'm seeing it."
"Seeing it? What is it?"
He shook his head as if his leader could see him. "Not sure. I can't see anything but a faint blue glow from here."
"Really?" A pause, muffled talking, shuffling. "The readings are off the charts. I don't know how I feel about sending you out alone, but . . . Check it out. Report back, got it?"
"Got it."
Playfulness gone with the prospect of a real mission and not just toying with a driller, the seeker transformed and took off towards the glow. A second later, and it faded.
"The energy readings are gone."
"So is the light," he said. Drawing close to the remains of Uraya, he transformed, landing lightly on a building that thankfully didn't creak under his weight. He frowned through the dim remains of the city, and then, his jaw dropped.
"We have another spike of energy several miles north of your position."
In shock, he stammered in a hushed whisper over the comm. link, "You guys—that's MEGATRON!"
"What? Megatron? Are you—"
"I'm sure!" he burst, running over a fallen beam and ducking behind a rounded and decaying building-top. "I'm looking at him right now! Scrap, he's got some—some sort of weapon on his back, a sword, but it's nothing like I've ever seen before. Jagged, purple, seeping some sort of energy, it's giving me a chill just looking at it."
Mutterings across the line from his team, and First Aid asking, "Dark energon?"
"That sounds like him," Hot Spot said thoughtfully. "The description fits, but I don't see how he could make something like that."
The seeker waved a hand, creeping above the Decepticons as he reported quietly, "He's got a battalion of soldiers with him."
"A BATTALION?" Hot Spot said in shock.
He nodded, wide blue optics sweeping them all in shock. "A whole battalion. Easily a hundred. All fliers. Wait—" and he zoomed his optics in. "I've got four in the center front, carrying some sort of gold . . . item."
"More descriptive?"
"It's . . ." The seeker made a face, shaking his head. "They're gold, about the size and width of your forearm, Commander. Intricate design. Looks nothing but a fancy trinket, but all those Vehicons are holding them with both hands."
Hot Spot cursed. "Great, as if we needed MEGATRON here. I thought Optimus had taken the battle off-world—"
"Quiet!" the seeker snapped. "He's talking!" and he turned up his audio receptors until he got a little feedback from the wind, but he could faintly hear Megatron's words: " . . . the Keys, the object we seek is located deep within the Sea of Rust."
The seeker gritted his teeth when a wind blew, making the building he eavesdropped on groan and sway. He ducked back down, whispering, "They're looking for something in the Rust Sea. He mentioned something about keys, but I don't know what he's talking about. Might be the gold trinkets."
Hot Spot cursed again. "They're coming our way, aren't they?"
The seeker shook his head. "No. They're angled east, not north. They won't find us."
"Good. We've taken too much damage to go right into the thick of it, and with those kinds of numbers, we'd just get slaughtered. Get back to base."
"Wait!" The seeker ducked through the buildings, knowing the landscape by heart and easily tailing the group without getting seen. "Let me tail them. This is too big not to keep an eye on it." When Hot Spot gave a disapproving rumble, the seeker frowned and kept up with the group, a little bit of a difficulty as he had to jump from building to building. "Something big's going on, Commander, and whatever the 'Cons are looking for, I'll just be quick to swipe it before they get they're claws on it. He brought a whole BATTALION with him. He's desperate. At least if I don't even act, we can at least have some intel on this."
Hot Spot gave a frustrated sigh. "All right. Tail them, and BE CAREFUL. I don't need to be prying you from Shockwave's operating table again!"
He smirked briefly. "Yes, sir."
He followed the Decepticon battalion easily, keeping up and moving down when he became worried that a beam would break beneath him and give him away. The winds picked up—he gritted his jaw as he realized a storm was brewing. He swore under his breath, not looking forward to the rust infesting under his armor, but plodded along with the Decepticons, moving deeper and deeper into the Rust Sea, just barely inside communications range of the Protectobots.
After several more clicks, the seeker accessed his comm. link again. "I'm being tailed."
"By who?" Hot Spot said sharply. "Lose them."
The seeker frowned, feeling a gaze on him but not sure what to think of it. "I . . . don't think they're tailing me in particular. I think they're tailing the 'Cons too."
"There were two bursts of energy," Streetwise supplied helpfully. "Two different locations. One was the 'Cons, so the other had to be 'Bots. After all, I highly doubt that if Megatron brought a battalion that size that he wasn't expecting resistance."
The seeker was about to respond when he heard gunfire from the rear. Whipping his head, his optics popped as he saw all hell starting to be unleashed.
His hand flashed to his audio receptor. "Autobot sighted! Autobot, nine o'clock! White and blue, grounder, Elite Guard!"
Disbelief poured from the other side of the line. "One Autobot against—"
He ducked to the side, hiding as he watched the bot hit and run, gathering all the attention to the rear. Just before the seeker looked to the front, knowing that was what the distraction was for, his optics popped.
"He just ran through a wall! I repeat, just ran through a wall—! Oh . . . slot . . ."
"Bit-Brain? You all right? Status!"
His big blue optics widened as he watched a heaping mound of fallen debris, metal, and beams lift up high, a magnetic field holding it, and then, it crashed down on top of a section of Vehicons, crushing them to scrap. His optics flickered to the movement above, and he assessed the bot immediately.
"I'm fine! Yellow grounder, moves like a scout!"
Megatron's face warped. "CRUSH THEM!"
All gunfire focused on the little scout, and the seeker watched as he transformed into a strange alternate mode. His optics swept the battlefield as he hid just out of sight, spark beginning to hammer in his chassis.
"Little red grounder, six-cylinder ion cannons. Big green grounder. They all seem to have some strange weapons, nothing of the sort I've ever seen before!" He shifted, moving to get a better look as his optics flashed up. "Tiny little blue femme—SLOT!" His exclamation was cut off by watching her place a round item on her chassis, and in a click, was encased from head to toe in armor. "Scratch that, she's got some WICKED armor! Twice as big as the green bot! Bullets aren't doing anything, probably nigh impenetrable—The 'Cons are creating a barrier around those key things. They're defending—SLOT! Slot you guys, that's Optimus Prime!"
"Optimus PRIME? You mean he's there?"
"Right in front of me! With a sword to rival Megatron's—" He cut off, adrenaline setting in his neural net. "Permission to join the fray!"
"What? You don't even know what—"
"They're outnumbered twenty to one!" the seeker interrupted, trusting that he wouldn't get down the road for the disrespect. "There's only five of them, I've got to help them! We can ask questions later, but they need help now!"
"Permission to engage granted!" Hot Spot ordered. "We'll try to get there as fast as we can, but we've gotta make a couple more patches and grab our gear. Hold out that long!"
"That's too long and you know it!" the seeker shouted as he transformed up and took the skies. With how far out the Protectobots were and how far they would have to drive, there was no way they could make a lasting impression on this battle. Whirling up and diving back down, he duly noted to stay out of a twenty foot radius of Megatron and Optimus as their swords clashed so mightily that the energies surged like clouds.
The Autobot seeker angled himself down, shooting rapid stun blasts from his guns before landing on the ground in the midst of the Decepticons and grabbing his weapon, a lone short sword hanging from his hip. He drew the blade and slung the scabbard over his left arm in one fluid motion, yanking the chain tight so the scabbard lashed to his forearm. Thumbing over the gilded design, the scabbard activated into an electric shield, the concaved diameter of light extending from opening to tip, and he flung himself into the fray.
He slammed his shield into the closest Vehicon's face, the shocks of electricity shorting out his optics and audio receptors at the force it hit him, and he jabbed his sword beneath he 'Con's pit, hitting vital energon lines and leaving him incapacitated and leaking to death. He moved swiftly to the next with his own fighting style, a combination of the skills Blades gave him and a rugged Circuit-Su. He fought with reservations, knowing his small stature—solid armor or not—worked against him in combat. He fought defensively, attacking at the most opportune moments, and fell back often to gather his bearings and avoid damage. He battled by quickly disabling and killing. His style of combat focused on unlocking alternate routes, gaining access to good equipment, and obtaining an advantageous position over the enemy.
This . . . FREE FOR ALL reminded him exactly how much he hated this kind of fighting.
The dark blue seeker felt confined on all sides by the massing amounts of Vehicons, hacking at one's neck before gutting the next, searching for the soft spots and digging his short sword where it would do the most damage with the littlest amount of force needed. He felt like every spot was a blind spot. He might be a good warrior, but he was made for stealth missions! Hacking! Assassination! Sabotage! He was made for espionage at its finest! This brutal kind of battling, hacking and slashing, so quick he could only manage to keep his in cycles steady and regular, was not what he was used to, though he adapted as well as he could.
He whirled around, slicing the neck wires of the nearest Vehicon and using his shield to deflect laser fire before he saw a massive fist coming his way. Yelping and tumbling out of the way of the now-gigantic femme, he blinked his Autobot symbols and deflected more blaster fire, shouting, "Slot—! Friendly! I'm a friendly! Friendly fire!"
He felt her gaze on him for half a nanoclick before she whirled around, plowing through the Vehicons like a one-man army. Feeling safe picking off the ones that slipped her by, the seeker followed her footsteps, amazed at the slim stick that completely immobilized things, the strange force field that could pick up and sling anything metal, and the bot that could run through anything and come up from the ground like a wraith. It puzzled and bewildered him, this strange magic they had, but he wasn't about to question it.
As he sliced the wires in one 'Con's hip and finished him with a jab up in the throat, he turned to the next only to have a six-cylinder ion cannon pointed in his face. He jerked his shield up, blinked his Autobot symbols, and shouted again, "Friendly! Friendly!"
The red bot blinked at him before returning to the fray with him, beginning a back-to-back sort of stance. "Sorry!" the mech chatted easily on the field of battle with him. "You blended right in with them!"
The seeker snorted, ricocheting blaster fire with his shield. "That so? Makes me think you're color blind! I'm blue, not purple!"
The friendly Autobot laughed heartily. "Close enough! Dark colors!" He flinched when a shot whizzed by his head. "Besides, you're a seeker too, and those are few and far between on the Autobot side!"
"What can I say?" he said back. "I'm uncouth!"
"Name's Cliffjumper!" the red bot supplied. "Yours?"
Before he could answer, they were forced to break apart, bolting for cover when bullets erupted from the weak side. The seeker grunted, falling back and lifting his shield, he avoided a blast and whirled, gutting the nearest 'Con as the Autobots apprehended the key things. Once the items were seized, the Autobots transformed down into their strange alternate modes, and the seeker kicked off using the thrusters in his heels before transforming and following at a slower pace. His scanners picked up four Vehicon seekers following from the rear.
He banked left and right, avoiding their laser fire before pulling his nose up sharply, flipping up and backwards and transforming, landing one of them. Transforming his servo and jabbing it to the seeker, he shot him, stun blasters causing a temporary malfunction. He jumped off as the short-out was just long enough for the Decepticon to tip into a nosedive and crash to the ground. Falling behind the three remaining, he shot, disabling one more before they sped ahead above the Autobot's heads.
They seemed to realize that he had them covered because the Autobot's didn't stop but rather let him dart up again, throwing himself forward and transforming, and he sliced a jagged edge through the seeker's wing, causing him to crash violently to the ground. One of the bots transformed and shot the last one before it could get away, and they finally settled into an undisturbed drive towards wherever they were going.
The blue seeker followed them for a while, getting out of communication's range of the Protectobots, and—as figured—he felt First Aid contact him through their sparks.
What's going on?
He flew slowly so he wouldn't overtake the Autobots below him, noting with awe Optimus Prime leading them. We've apprehended the key things Megatron was trying to protect, and now I'm with Optimus Prime and his group. We're headed southeast, down in the southern outskirts of Polyhex.
POLYHEX? You really are a fragging—Cybertron below me! Headquarters are in Kalis and you're all the way down in Polyhex? I oughta strip your paint for that!
Not that! Deep laughter from the shimmering blue seeker resounded through their sparks, trying to sooth his brother's panic. I'm much too expensive for that!
Why in Primus's name are you headed out of POLYHEX? We'll never reach you at this rate!
You guys are on the move? The seeker let puzzlement seep over the bond as he watched the Autobots transform up near—wait, that old thing? The most random little stump of metal in the universe, good for nothing, completely useless and just THERE? Well, we're here, wherever we are. I'm missing out on something here, let me go down and see if I can get caught up.
Right. You be careful, got it?
He could have rolled his optics.
Got it.
Saying so, he flew down to where Optimus Prime was standing forward at the hunk of metal so old and unused he was sure it would never work. He landed next to the bot named Cliffjumper out of comfort's sake as the only one he sort of knew. He listened respectfully in silence to the Prime's words, but his optics drew to Arcee.
Slot, she's hot.
What was that? First Aid asked.
Nothing!
"According to Alpha Trion, the Omega Lock is a conduit to the very All Spark itself," Optimus was saying.
The white Autobot with the door wings came forward. He shook his head. "Optimus, an honor like this shouldn't belong to me."
He proffered the key, but before anything more could be say, they started glowing. The little seeker's optics widened as he watched, and to his immense surprise, the rusty old mechanism lit up too, responding to the close proximity of the keys.
The seeker blinked. First Aid, something big is going on here.
Big like what?
The seeker fell silent for a moment, watching as his jaw slowly dropped as the land around them began to transform. It shook all around, vibrating beneath his peds and tickling as massive pillars began to jut up, fold open and lock into place. The rust fell in waterfalls of waves as the columns rose up, and he watched the transformation lock everything into place, gigantic and empowering, and the dark skies were blotted out for energon blue energies blazing to life.
Like, portal as big as Iacon big.
There was a pause.
Quite joking.
He finally closed his gaping jaw.
Not joking.
The scream of jet engines filled the air. The seeker jerked, whirling around with the other bots as he instinctively pulled his sword and shield again, battle mask sliding back into place as they all took aggressive stances at the sight of Megatron landing before them.
How far out are you guys?
Just passing through the southern edge of Uraya. We've got a ways to go yet.
Ah. Just checking. Hopefully Megatron doesn't lop our heads off.
"Autobots!" Megatron said, and his voice grated across the seeker's audio receptors. "I would suggest you put a halt to your task and hand over those keys."
"And why would we do that?" the certain outspoken Cliffjumper snorted.
His answer was a ground bridge. The seeker watched as his three generals—Starscream, Soundwave, and Knockout—all walked out, each bot holding—
Wait . . .
What were those little alien things?
Were those ORGANIC?
"So that I may hand over the humans."
The seeker blinked. All right, so they were classified as humans. What did humans have to do with anything? He looked to the bots around him, noting how they all stiffened like he held precious captives. Friends with off world beings? He couldn't imagine them getting that tense over pets, so they had to be sentient beings, correct? He narrowed his optics, trying to keep up with everything as he filled in First Aid over their bond so First Aid could keep Hot Spot updated.
"And if we refuse?" Optimus growled evenly.
Megatron stepped forward, getting right into his face. "Then I will have no choice but to open the pods, exposing your pets to Cybertron's TOXIC atmosphere. And then, we can all watch them instantly perish together."
THIS much drama over pets? No way. They had to be . . . SPECIAL in some sort of way. They had to be a key part in all of this somehow. But then, in the silence as Optimus silently weighed his options, he saw the one with the fuzzy fur on its head kick the glass pod and mutter, "NOT how I wanted to spend my first trip to Cybertron."
Megatron looked back. "Starscream!"
The seeker grinned. "Jaaaack!" he cajoled. "Time to come out and play!"
The blue seeker's wings twitched at the sound of his claws scratching against the glass. The little human named "Jack" glared back at Starscream, snapping, "Go ahead. The Autobots were prepared to sacrifice themselves over MY planet. I'll do the same for theirs."
"Me too! Creepy!"
Yes, okay, most definitely sentient. The seeker looked back to Megatron as he jabbed slyly, "Perhaps we should oblige them."
Optimus just blinked. "If my decision dooms the future of the Autobot cause on Cybertron, so be it. But I will never forsake our human allies."
With that, the seeker watched in shock as Optimus swung his sword, jamming it into the ground and laying down his arms to Megatron.
Over these . . . HUMAN things.
With a last wild thought, the seeker could only assume that these beings were more important than these key things somehow. He stubbornly kept his grip on his sword for a minute even as the femme took off the armor, throwing it forward to lay with Optimus's sword.
He couldn't imagine how they were so important that he could doom the entire Autobot cause—all their sacrifice over the years would have been for nothing—but he trusted him. They were clearly innocent, HELPLESS even, and it wasn't honorable to prey upon those so much weaker. As the rest of their mystic weapons collected with the grand blade, little Bit-Brain turned off his shield, sheathed his sword, and threw his out with the rest—albeit, just a narrow bit closer. The Protectobots had sunk a LOT of credits into that piece of equipment, and he wasn't about to throw it away to the Decepticons so easily.
The seeker talked with First Aid over their fraternal bond in secret, updating them as he watched the bots handing over these important keys to the 'Cons.
"If this human was important enough to entrust with the Matrix of Leadership, then he's worth TWO Omega Keys!"
In a rush, he repeated Megatron's words as the blue femme and the white bot handed their keys over, updating them on Megatron's exact words, he got an audio full of confusion as to the fact that they were trading. When did that happen? Belatedly, the seeker hurried to explain that they had laid down their arms for some alien "humans", First Aid cut in hurriedly, Get out of there.
What?
You heard me, get out of there! Hot Spot says to make a break for it, now!
I already threw down my weapon!
Leave it! Get back here now—!
Before the seeker could do anything, he jumped when a ground bridge blasted open and Vehicons rushed out and circled them.
Um . . . Too late. We're surrounded.
First Aid had worked himself into a tizzy at this point. Bit-Brain ignored him as well as he could, worry doing no good at this point as the bots with humans took protective stances around them and the Decepticons congregated around the Omega Lock.
"Now bear witness as a new era dawns on Cybertron!"
The seeker stood on his toes, trying to see around everyone as the Decepticons inserted the keys into their respective ports, a bright gold light flashing before a touch-oriented screen popped up, indicating Cybertron.
What in Primus's name was going on?
With a growing sense of rising irritation from being left out of the loop, helpless without knowledge, the seeker heard the Omega Lock power up, but a chill ran down his circuits when Megatron proclaimed, "Behold! The age of the Decepticons!"
Uh, guys?
What is it?
I think we're fragged.
He jerked as a powerful laser beam shot out, massive and singing the air, shorting out all his communications as it shot out towards the edge of Polyhex. His optics widened when it hit one of the ravaged buildings, but—wait . . .
His round optics widened.
"By the Celestial Spires . . ." he breathed.
He could see the building moving. Shifting. Transforming. It drew up, pulling itself back together, rust and scorch marks falling away as it stood up with its former glory of the Golden Age of Cybertron, a landmark of gleaming silver among deteriorating gray.
What . . . What is that? He felt First Aid contact him again. It's . . . so beautiful . . . What's going on? How did that happen? That beam practically hit us!
The seeker shook his helm, too in awe to really just his jaw this time. His wings fanned slowly. I . . . have no idea, but . . . I think this Omega Lock must be the way to revive Cybertron! Look—LOOK AT THAT!
"You have what you want Megatron," Optimus's commanding voice brought the seeker out of his daydreams. He shifted, tapping his toes nervously. "This conflict is between Autobot and Decepticons. Allow me to return the humans to Earth!"
"Oh, I wouldn't recommend it," Megatron said. He turned to them. "They'll be far safer here. Is the space bridge locked on target?"
Starscream bowed. "As per your instructions, Lord Megatron."
The power to restore Cybertron, space bridges, magical weapons—it all sounded like fantasy, yet here he was, living it. Bit-Brain could hardly believe his audio receptors as he shifted restlessly from ped to ped.
"Excellent. Why rule only one world, when I could rule TWO?"
The seeker blinked. Then, he looked down on the humans.
Oh slot.
Nightstalker jerked and yelped when the crash slammed into Earth so hard it knocked out all communications in one blast. The lights at the top of the silo jangled, and she jumped to her peds, wings fluttering in panic.
Ratchet typed restlessly, calibrating and recalibrating, desperate to get the communications back up if this was a dire emergency. "Optimus, do you read? An unknown energy spike in Earth's atmosphere is crashing all my systems! Please tell me this is all in relation to the activation of the Omega Lock . . ."
Nightstalker backed up. "Ratchet, whatever it was crashed outside. I'm gonna go check it out!"
He whirled. "Oh no you don't! You're staying right here where it's safe!"
"I'll just be on top of the silo! I promise! I'll be all right, remember? The fight's on Cybertron, remember?'
It seemed the pressure of not knowing anything that was going on snapped the last of Ratchet's patience as he turned back to the blaring computers. "All right! Go! I'll be in here!"
Nightstalker nodded, hurrying to the other side and taking the lift up to the top of silo. Her wings fluttered as fast as her spark. So much weighed on this one mission. If something went wrong . . .
Her optics widened when she got to the top of the silo. She stared at the massive blue beam crashing into Earth, and the thing silhouetted inside it. Her peds walked her forward to the edge as she stared at the formation of this travesty, but she couldn't find her words to go back in to Ratchet, only stare in horror.
So, cyberforming Earth wasn't a good thing, and killing all the indigenous life was worse. The seeker stared up in horror until Megatron spoke, jerking his attention back down.
"What raw POWER! What shall I call my new domain?" and the warlord directed his attention to Optimus, a devilish glint taunting him. "New Kaon? Or perhaps, Gilded Earth!"
The humans were beside themselves. "No!"
"Leave our planet alone!"
The seeker tilted his head, looking towards the commander whose optics were the widest he had ever seen them as the Decepticons laughed and laughed. He shifted his weight; Optimus's optics narrowed. A narrow compartment in the seeker's right calf opened; Optimus drew his built-in blade.
The Autobot leader attacked, hacking down the Vehicon closest to him, and as he did so Bit-Brain let the catches release, springing a flail into his hand—and thumbing the gilded design on it—the spikes sprang free. Lunging forward, he smashed the flail into the closest Vehicon's face and bolted after Optimus who darted to his blade again. He could feel the Decepticons on his tail, so he dropped and skidded, the massive wave of energy from Optimus's blade crashing into and destroying three Vehicons in one blow.
He grabbed his sword as Optimus charged the Decepticons—the little seeker dodged the white bot that came running his way too, thinking to grab his weapon too. Instead of charging the generals, the little seeker rushed back to the bots that were more concerned about their alien human allies and strapped his sword to his hip and kept using his flail. He had just crushed in another skull when he saw it—Optimus, leaping towards the Omega Lock with his blade held high. With a blink and a grab of his sword, he picked up his sheath, turned on the shield—
A giant explosion ricocheted him backwards, leaving his audio receptors ringing shrilly at a high pitch and his optics recalibrating. Within seconds everything was reoriented, his shield thankfully having taken most of the blast while the Omega Lock burned around them.
Are you okay? Oh Primus, are you okay? We're at the edge of Polyhex, we saw the blast! Primus scrap you, are you—
It took him a moment to realize First Aid was aggressively talking to him through the bond. I'm okay. I'm fine. Everyone's fine, unfortunately. He jumped when a ground bridge blasted open—theirs. Stay away! The 'Cons are fine, all generals, they'll crush you. I'll stick with Prime—got a bridge. Have to go—I'll be safe, trust me!
No! No, don't you go, fly back to us—
I've gotta go now, First Aid! Megatron would catch me! Retreat, I'll be fine, I'm with Prime! He rushed to the edge of the bridge, saying, Trust me, love you, I'll be safe—
And then, he was through the bridge, and it felt like his entire world shifted out of joint. His contact with First Aid faded to a bare minimum, stretched beyond light years and billions of units in distance that couldn't be measured as he was suddenly jumped from Cybertron to Earth. Too far away to get actual words through, the little seeker could only faintly comfort his worried brother in the form of a feeling that seemed to take forever to travel from one end of the bond to the other.
"The children? What happened." a voice cut in.
She heard it. She heard it all, on the open comm. link. A part of her died, really. But . . . She had never had a better life until she came to Earth. But with THAT sitting right there, she probably had a bigger problem than just the Omega Lock being destroyed.
Finally, she mechanically brought her hand to her comm. link. "Guys? I think you need to come outside."
The Decepticon fortress stood huge, dark, ugly against the bright sky of Earth. She heard the bots come back up, and she whirled around, spying Cliffjumper and Bumblebee immediately. Nightstalker threw her arms around Bumblebee first, and then Cliffjumper, thankful to have them back before she turned back to stare at the Decepticon citadel with the rest of them.
"Megatron has managed to accomplish his first phase of the Cyberforming of Earth," she heard Optimus say. Ah, that made more sense. So did the fact that he put his new domain right here . . . in front of them. "The construction of his fortress."
"In Jasper Nevada," Fowler stated more than questioned, too stunned to really say more. "I don't get it! I've already had the town evacuated! Why here?"
The words stuck in Nightstalker's throat, but that was all right because Optimus said them for her:
"Because the Decepticons have discovered the location of our base."
Faintly, Nightstalker heard Megatron's voice carry over the silent dunes, over the sound of the NEMESIS's engines. She shivered and shrank into Cliffjumper, fear clotting in her throat as she hid behind him. His hand tightened supportively on hers. "Our opportunity to revive Cybertron has been lost due to the treachery of Optimus Prime! But from our new fortress of New Kaon, we will instead seize control of THIS world! DECEPTICONS! TRANSFORM AND RISE UP!"
With a growing sense of horror, Nightstalker watched as Starscream took off, leading a new battalion of elite silver seekers, all rising up like a silver wave before they crashed over them with a flurry of laser fire. Nightstalker cried out and flinched down behind Cliffjumper as the barrage began to take place, Insecticons flying out too, the sheer numbers overwhelming them.
"You wanna fight like that, eh?" Nightstalker looked up to the voice she had never heard before, yet his dabble of an accent had her spark reeling. She saw a deep blue seeker for a nanoclick before he took off, darting out into the thick of the fray, and her optics widened at the brace he had on his right wing.
They held their own for not even a minute before Optimus bellowed, "Autobots! Into the base!"
Nightstalker flinched and ducked down immediately, cowering behind Cliffjumper as the elevator took them down. He panted, brushing off a faint leak on his shoulder before his optics jumped around. The walls rumbled around them as he pulled her to his feet. "Hey, where's the hitchhiker?"
"He went off into the middle of that with Fowler!" Bulkhead growled. "They're gonna get themselves killed!"
As they filed out into the silo, Nightstalker pulled Cliffjumper aside in the medical area, snatching up Ratchet's welder to patch up the leak.
"The Decepticons have invaded Jasper," Optimus was answering Ratchet and Jack's questions.
"And Fowler and the hitchhiker seem to think they can hold them off!"
When Nightstalker finished the easy patch job, Cliffjumper's hand cupped the side of her cheek, holding her there to look him in the optics. "You okay?" he whispered to her, seeming oblivious to the roof shaking and dust falling around them.
Nightstalker took a deep in cycle, calming her wired nerves before setting the welder aside. "Y-yeah," she whispered just as quietly back. She pressed her helm into his though, drawing his strength and fluttering her wings. "I just . . . Yeah."
His strong arms wrapped around her, giving her that feeling of being embraced in a shield of protection. He pressed a kiss to her audio receptor, murmuring in the middle of the hell tumbling around them, "It's gonna be all right." His deep voice rumbled in her audio receptors, comforting her. "We'll be okay. We've been through pinches than this. And besides, Megatron's gonna regret it if he gets too close to you."
Nightstalker nodded, taking a deep breath of Cliffjumper's scent before she heard Optimus say, "Ratchet, prepare to bridge everyone out of here!"
Both Nightstalker and Cliffjumper looked up in shock as Ratchet echoed weakly, "We're . . . ABANDONING the base?"
Optimus turned. "The base is lost. Wheeljack, Agent Fowler, and our mysterious ally can only buy us time to escape! Bumblebee, Rafael, you will depart first."
With a slash of panic, Nightstalker bolted across the base to them as Bumblebee chirped, holding out his hand and letting Raf jump into his palm. She slammed into his chest, burying her face into his chassis, feeling like the younger sister of the relationship again instead of the older sister.
Little tears beaded in her optics. Bumblebee squeezed her tight, saying, *It's gonna be all right, Nightstalker. We'll be fine and careful, I promise*
Nightstalker nodded, a hitching cycle filtering out as she nuzzled Raf before rasping, "Y-Yeah. You two be careful, all right?"
Raf nodded, and though his little face was white with fear, said strongly, "We will. You be too. I promise we'll see each other again."
She felt her spark shatter to tiny little pieces as they moved to head out. She hugged Bulkhead and Miko, hugged Arcee so tight the warrior thought she would pop her head off and said her goodbyes to Jack and Smokescreen, leaving no one left out. As she frantically latched her arms around Ratchet's waist, he activated the bridge for Miko and Bulkhead, picking her up and hugging her back.
"I want you to go with Cliffjumper," he said to her. Nightstalker looked up, opening her mouth to argue what Optimus's orders had been, but Ratchet shook his head, interrupting sharply, "No! I—I KNOW what he said, but this is what I'm saying. You're still too shaken from Megatron's rape, you don't have the fighting skills yet, and you're still not cleared to transform for a week. I want Cliffjumper to look after you, got it?" He looked up and past her, obviously getting a nod from him before pinning his optics back to Nightstalker. "You be CAREFUL," he stressed on a raw whisper. He absently activated the bridge for Jack and Arcee before wrapping his arms around her fully, squeezing her optics out. "Stay alive."
Little tears seeped from the edges of her optics before she could stop it. She nodded, whispering back, "I won't lose another father."
Ratchet had to let her go then, setting their coordinates, and he looked back with worried optics. Nightstalker bit her bottom lip, looking back at him, possibly for the last time. Then, with Cliffjumper taking her hand, they ran through the ground bridge.
The Autobot hitchhiker zipped through the sky, gunning down whom he could, succeeding in making some mechs crash with his stun blasters while others were high enough to reorient themselves before they hit the ground. He covered the clunky little helicopter as best he could, but he couldn't do anything against the Insecticons unless he landed on them and shredded his sword through their wings. The seeker was thankful for the Autobot ship that joined them, but with the NEMESIS advancing and the ship shot down by Starscream, he knew that was it.
Breathing in sharp in takes, the little seeker landed on one of the jagged wings of the NEMESIS, feeling the crackle in the air of the charge of its laser. His spark panicked for a moment as he looked down on the top of the base, but then realized that they wouldn't have to make a break for it on wheels—they had a space bridge. They could get anywhere they needed to. He searched for the little helicopter with the human organic, and he saw it hovering far off, not picked off because it wasn't worth the trouble. Some seekers still hovered far away, looking for him, but they soon returned to the ship.
It took him one second to realize why they had retreated into the ship.
In the next, the world exploded.
The powerful laser beam tore through the top of the Autobot base, shredding through it to the ground, and the resulting blast at such a close range on the outside threw the seeker back, slamming him into the side of the NEMESIS's hull before he collapsed on the wing, heat scorching over his circuits.
He blacked out for an instant before his optics flickered back online full of hazy fuzz, and his audio receptors rang at such a shrill pitch he couldn't hear anything. With a shaking hand, he pushed himself up, in cycles coughing on thick smoke, and when his optics recalibrated again, saw billows of heavy black clouds rolling up from the smoldering base, fire flickering with a deadly light.
No one could have survived that.
Megatron and Starscream were down there. Hearing slowly came back to him, and with it, a different sight:
Something white moving in the wreckage.
Stumbling to his peds, he took off and went straight to him, and when he landed, was met with a blaster.
"Friendly!" he hissed above the crackle of the fire. "Friendly!"
The bot grunted and picked up—his spark fell to the pits of his stomach.
"Cybertron below me . . ."
The little seeker hurried to help drag the devastated and unconscious Optimus Prime with him, names beyond use at this point. By putting a hand on the white bot, he used the Phase Shifter to move them easily through the wreckage. They dragged the leader's limp, heavy body, going through canyon walls, going down slopes, moving deeper and deeper. Finally, they came into a wider cave, and of unspoken agreement, it was far enough. They both laid the mortally wounded Prime as comfortable as possible against the rocks.
He stirred, trying to move. The white bot's hand shot out and gently touched his chassis. "You're hurt," he told him unnecessarily. "But you probably look way worse than you feel."
The seeker's wings fluttered as he listened to the labored, thin in cycles of the Prime. His head lolled towards his voice, a garbled mumble catching on his lips.
"No, don't move or talk," the white bot said hurriedly. "Just . . . power down. Get your strength back. I got you covered."
Almost immediately those flickering optics closed. A pause in which both mechs could only look at him, and then the seeker whispered, "That's not good enough."
The white bot looked up at him. "What?"
The seeker reached into his subspace, pulling out a standard medical field kit. The bot's optics widened. "Use this," the seeker said. Opening it, he took the spare welder, some electrical tape, and a few clamps. He left the rest, the bulk of it for them. "I'm going."
The white bot leapt to his feet. "What? You saw what happened out there! We've got to stick together right now. You can't do any good right now."
The seeker shook his helm. "No. What I can do is swipe some energon for you and Optimus so you guys don't run dry—espionage is my specialty. I'll grab some from the Decepticons, and then, I'll go scouting for the others. Since I'm a flier, I'll spot them easier, get us back together quicker. Besides, I'd feel . . . confined in here; seekers aren't known for underground, cramped spaces. Sound like a plan?"
The white bot nodded. He started to go before he realized he needed the Phase Shifter to get out, and the white bot grabbed him by his cripple wing supported by his brace. He tossed him the Phase Shifter. "My name's Smokescreen. You?"
"Nightflier." He shrugged. "Or, Fli-Ni, for short."
Nothing else was said. With a quick crash course in how to use the Shifter, Nightflier ran back out. His wide blue optics narrowed at the Decepticon citadel of New Kaon. He could hear Starscream and Megatron roaring about not finding any bodies.
He set out, an enigmatic apparition vanishing in the night.
Author's Note:
SURPRISE!
First off, if you're wondering, NO Smokescreen did NOT realize he was Nightstalker's brother! He doesn't even know she has a brother! poor little ignorant Smokescreen, and Optimus was out cold, so no one knows yet!
Second, if you're wondering, NO Fli-Ni is not spark mates with First Aid, they're BROTHERS through a fraternal bond. I think I mentioned that.
Third! I wanted to make sure to characterize Fli-Ni well since this is debut chapter. So, you know his function is espionage, he's a Protectobot, fraternal bond with First Aid, and plays will drillers for fun though he takes himself quite serious on missions. Has a sense of honor like his father, but seems to be a little free spirited. He's taller than Arcee, shorter then Bumblebee. Deep voice like his father.
I especially wanted to show the difference in the way he talks. He uses "slot" the way our bots would use "scrap" and uses euphemisms like "By the Celestial Spires" and "Cybertron below me" which will be popping up more and more as I write him.
I also wanted to emphasize his different style of fighting. A cross between the typical soldier's fighting and an ill-learned Circuit-Su, so he's a bit graceful, but with a sting. Goes for the weak spots and is defensive, falls back rather than charges.
YES this has a few little spoilers for season 3, but hey, I had to put Fli-Ni where I needed him, and he's gonna be a little all over the place if I'm not for certain...
Sad news. Fraternizing has now hit a standstill until I am comfortable with where I am going with this in regards to season 3. I'll need more episodes, thus, I'll be waiting a while, thus, updates are going to stop and it's going to be sad! (cause i have no idea where I'm going with this now, ffft)
Fli-Ni will have an art coming soon, courteousy of a good friend on DevArt
On another note... HOW MUCH DID I SURPRISE YOU? :D