"So how," Wheeljack asked as he and Ultra Magnus looked at the damaged engine of the ship, "Are we going to fix this?"
The two of them had been attempting to repair what they could, and they'd managed to do that, although they were now stuck trying to fix up the engine, which had taken the brunt of the lightning bolt. The others were seeking shelter inside of the vessel, repairing the inside and helping wherever they could. Ratchet had made sure to give both Optimus and Vesper a thorough check, and had declared both of them completely healthy… well, at least, physically healthy.
"I have no idea," Ultra Magnus admitted, before sighing and replacing the panel that had revealed the engine. Wheeljack looked at him with an unamused expression, but said nothing more as the warrior turned on his heel and walked back inside. The others were sitting around and chatting among themselves, being quiet about it. They all fell silent as Ultra Magnus walked in and over to the control system, then sat down in the pilot's seat as Wheeljack strode in. The entrance to the ship slid closed, and the vessel rumbled before the systems came online.
Wheeljack turned to look at everyone. "We're unable to repair the engine," he explained, looking nervously over at Ultra Magnus, who had his familiar neutral expression on his face. "We have to get off of this joint, though, so we're flying low and hoping to Primus that the Decepticons don't find us."
Vesper frowned. "Our escape is not ensured, is it?" she asked, looking over at her former bodyguard, who merely shrugged and didn't give her a verbal answer. She shivered but said nothing more as Optimus put his servo on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze; her response was to reach up and put her own servo on top of his.
As the ship flew forward, Team Prime's members found themselves beginning to worry intensely. The Nemesis was still floating nearby, and to get back to the mainland Ultra Magnus would have to direct his ship directly underneath it. When he informed the others of this, they were all very alarmed, but they had no other option, not with the ship's damage. If they tried to go around, Ultra Magnus was unsure if the ship would make it back to land.
They flew low, the blue colour of the ship giving them a bit of comfort, but it wasn't enough. They were about to be in the clear – flying underneath the Nemesis had been a success, although it had been worrisome – when the ship's detection systems picked something up. Something was flying after Team Prime, something that flew extremely fast. It was purple and thin, and Ultra Magnus internally cursed as he realised what – or, rather, who – it was.
"Isn't that Soundwave?" Raf gulped as he looked at the purple MQ-9 Reaper that was flying towards them. Nobody answered as Soundwave opened fire, and Ultra Magnus pulled the controls to the left sharply, which caused the ship to veer, allowing Ultra Magnus's ship to avoid Soundwave's shots. The lieutenant, however, was aware that his continual sharp movements were straining the ship's engines, and as he gritted his teeth he swerved to avoid yet another blast… although this one was not completely avoided.
"Scrap!" Ultra Magnus hissed as the very back of his ship was clipped by Soundwave's blast, and the ship started to dip on one side. He tried to gain a bit more altitude, knowing that if they touched the water they would be scrapped, but it was too late. They touched the water and started to bounce. With a shudder the engines of the ship shut off, and everyone braced for impact.
The ship's nose dipped then, and the ship flipped as it slammed into the water. Soundwave, content that he'd managed to shut the ship down, landed on top of it and transformed back into his robot mode. Then he opened a Ground Bridge – being the only one able to do that without use of any form of structure – and waited patiently as Megatron flew through it.
Inside the ship, everybody was out cold, but that was good for the two Decepticons. Megatron smiled viciously as he ripped a large hole in the ship and reached in, not caring who he pulled out. He actually pulled out Vesper, who was dripping energon from a wound on her head, and his smile grew wider.
"Perfect," Megatron hissed, turning to look at Soundwave and holding Vesper up by the arm. "Now that we have Haeres' student back…" He trailed off, not finishing whatever he was going to say. Instead he handed Vesper to Soundwave before transforming and flying back to the Nemesis. Soundwave needed to only wait for a few minutes for some Vehicons to show up and retrieve the rest of the Autobots.
Soundwave transformed, using his tentacles to keep a hold of Vesper, before flying back to the Decepticon vessel. The Vehicons followed after retrieving the rest of Team Prime's members, humans included, and, on Megatron's orders, placed them in cells. Ratchet and Alice were put together, Bumblebee and Raf were put together, Bulkhead and Miko were put together, Arcee, June and Jack were put together, and Wheeljack, Ultra Magnus and Optimus were put in different cells. The only one who was not put into a cell was Vesper; she was taken elsewhere, to the room she had slept in during her time as a Decepticon. A cruel move on Megatron's part, but the warlord didn't care; he wanted her to be fearful and upset, for it made her more likely to give him the information he so desired.
She woke up after a few hours, her head pounding, and as she slowly took in her surroundings she began to panic. She was alone, in a room that she recognised, and it didn't help that it was dark. She scrambled backwards until she was in a corner, her back pressed against the wall and quiet whimpers escaping from her lips. She curled into a ball, hugging her knees to her chassis, and wondered what was going to happen to her.
The door opened then, and Vesper slowly looked up to see a single, glaring red optic. Her own cyan optics widened in horror as she tried to scramble backwards, but being pressed against the wall didn't help her in that endeavour.
"You are Vesper, the Decepticon traitor and student of the engineer Haeres," the 'Con said, his red optic seemed to burn a hole right through the femme's spark. He said nothing more to her, which only served to unnerve Vesper even more than she already was.
Shockwave held up a purple cord then, and Vesper's eyes widened as she realised that he was going to use a cortical psychic patch on her. "STAY AWAY!" she screamed, trying to get away as Shockwave stomped ever menacingly closer. She was shaking badly, and her spark was beating at an extremely rapid rate as the cyclopean 'Con took one step towards her at a time…
Meanwhile, in the Nemesis' holding cells, Optimus was shooting and punching the wall, trying to get out of the cell. He could feel Vesper's fear, and it angered and scared him. He was desperate to not let Shockwave harm her, and as he started to leak energon from the knuckles, he felt Vesper's fear grow. Then he heard a piercing scream – the words, "STAY AWAY!" – and his desperation grew even more.
"Vesper!" Optimus cried, pounding on the wall. He was unable to break through it, and that thought terrified him.
It did not, however, terrify him as much as being sucked into his sparkmate's mind when she was being subjected to a cortical psychic patch. His body stiffened and his optics rolled back in his head before he collapsed…
And found himself standing in some sort of murky blackness.
He looked around, his optics wide, not seeing anything but grey, wispy clouds floating around. He couldn't even hear anything, and he didn't quite know what to make of that. The silence only lasted for a few minutes, however; he soon heard sobbing, and his audio processors whirred before he headed in the direction of the sound, determined to find the cause of it. He'd heard those sobs before, and he broke into a run as they started to get louder.
He eventually skidded to a stop when he saw Vesper kneeling on the ground. Shockwave was standing over her, his arm cannon pointed at her head, and Optimus' eyes flashed as red as the cyclopean 'Con's singular optic. He clenched his servos as he heard Shockwave say, "Now, tell me this: what else did you steal from us when you betrayed us?"
"Nothing!" the femme sobbed, the misery and fear in her voice breaking Optimus' spark.
"Your answer is illogical," Shockwave said, his voice cold and dangerous. His cannon began to glow, and Optimus' optics widened as he realised that the 'Con was about to shoot the vulnerable femme.
"NO!" Optimus screamed as he jumped forward, both servos transforming into blades as he leapt. Shockwave whipped around to face the angry Prime only to get a blade to the eye. Optimus plunged one of his swords into the 'Con's single optic, shattering it and causing an unearthly screech to come from Shockwave. Then, as he pulled his blade from Shockwave's damaged optic, he ran over to Vesper and knelt down near her. "Vesper, come on!" he exclaimed as the dark, murky world around them started to feel like it was closing in on them.
Vesper shakily looked up at her sparkmate, then around at the murkiness. "Wh-Wha—"
"This place is falling apart!" Optimus exclaimed. "Pull yourself out of the patch!"
Vesper nodded, then closed her eyes. She phased out of existence, and Optimus breathed a sigh of relief before doing the same, leaving Shockwave trapped.
When he opened his eyes and sat up, the first thing he noticed was Ultra Magnus kneeling over him. The warrior had a concerned frown on his face, but it changed a relieved smile when Optimus' optics snapped open. The Prime was a bit confused, seeing as Ultra Magnus had been placed in a different cell, but his curiosity was laid to rest when the warrior said, "They didn't take my hammer."
Optimus nodded. "That is good; we can get out of here," he said.
Ultra Magnus nodded. "We've been mobile for a while, so hopefully we're above land." He stood and helped Optimus to his pedes, then turned on his heel…
And was socked, hard, in the face, which sent him flying into the wall.