"AGH!" Ultra Magnus cried as his back slammed against the wall, and then he slumped to the floor. Optimus was alarmed by this and went to run over to his lieutenant, but found himself with his cheek slammed against the wall, a large servo wrapped around his throat. He struggled in the grip of his assailant, but was unable to get out.
"You're not getting away from me alive, Prime," Megatron's low, dangerous voice hissed in Optimus' audio processor, and the Prime stiffened as he realised that he'd been attacked by the Decepticon leader. He couldn't see the look on Megatron's face, but he knew that it had to be one of pure rage. After all, Ultra Magnus had managed to break free of his cell, and it had been mere hours since they'd all been captured and taken prisoner.
Abruptly Optimus got thrown roughly to the floor, and he yelped as one of Megatron's pedes slammed down on his back, pressing him to the floor and disabling any attempts of getting up that he might have attempted, lest he damage his backstrut. A groan from Ultra Magnus made Optimus look over at the lieutenant, who was dragging himself to his pedes and leaning heavily against the wall for support. The Prime wanted to tell Ultra Magnus to get out of the room, but that in itself was an impossibility considering that Megatron was standing in front of the door.
Ultra Magnus snarled at Megatron as he finally regained his composure, and he summoned his hammer to his hand. The Decepticon warlord seemed a bit alarmed to see the Magnus Hammer, and it was that alarm that the lieutenant took advantage on. The plating on his fingers moving aside and exposing the conduits on his fingers, Ultra Magnus swung the hammer, channelling electricity through it. He slammed it into Megatron's chin, which served to knock him off of Optimus and cause a large amount of voltage to spread through the 'Con's body. A sound that was a combination of a roar and a screech came forth from Megatron's lips as he flew into the air and slammed into the roof, then dropped to the floor with a dull thud.
"Optimus, sir, are you alright?" Ultra Magnus said, covering the conduits as he walked over to the Prime, who was only now beginning to get up. Optimus nodded, which relieved Ultra Magnus, and he said, "I will break the others out. You go find Vesper."
Optimus didn't need telling twice. Thanking Ultra Magnus for the save, he hurried out of the room and ran down the Nemesis' corridors, fighting off whatever came between him and his sparkmate. More often than not he encountered Vehicons, but just before he reached the corridor that Vesper's 'cell' was in, he skidded to a stop. Soundwave was standing right in front of him, silently staring. He was relaxed, his arms by his sides, and Optimus immediately began to feel a little nervous. It was to be expected, to be nervous while facing Soundwave. The silent Decepticon was a force to be reckoned with, having been a previous Kaon gladiator that had almost defeated the mighty Megatron in battle.
The door of Vesper's 'cell' opened them, and Shockwave walked out. That was even worse of a situation. Shockwave was physically unharmed, and as the creator of the cortical psychic patch he knew how it worked; he had probably managed to avoid being mentally damaged when Optimus had stabbed him in the optic and had knocked him out in the 'dream'.
Shockwave and Soundwave stood side-by-side, neither of them uttering a single word. It was two powerful Decepticons against a single Prime, and while Optimus was strong he doubted that he could win against a proficient Kaon gladiator and a highly intelligent, dangerously armed Decepticon scientist. The only weapons that Optimus possessed were two blasters and two blades, which weren't going to help him much.
Suddenly he heard footsteps, and initially he believed that more 'Cons were on their way. His relief was enormous when he saw that it was his fellow Autobots. Ratchet was in vehicle mode, and the others were in robot mode. The humans were all huddled in Ratchet while the others faced off against the two powerful 'Cons, who didn't stand down even though they were outnumbered.
Bumblebee beeped something, and Optimus nodded in agreement. "It seems as if they will do anything to keep at least one of us," he said, although he wasn't too happy to admit that, especially when it was his sparkmate that they were trying to keep. "But they will not be keeping anyone." He clenched his servos. "This I swear with all of my spark."
"You will not be able to take her," Shockwave suddenly said, his voice even. His red optic seemed to bore a hole right through Optimus, but the Prime refused to back down. He refused to give in underneath their scrutiny, and gave both 'Cons a venomous glare in return.
Wheeljack snorted as he removed his dual katanas from his back – how he still had them could be attributed to Vehicon stupidity, as it was blatantly obvious that Wheeljack had been carrying weapons and they still hadn't taken them from him – and held them in front of him. "You're not gonna be able to keep her!" he yelled as he leapt towards the two 'Cons.
Vesper, sitting in the room, was huddled against one of the walls when she heard the sound of metal slicing metal. Her cyan optics widened with curiosity, and she cocked her head to the side as she listened. She began to hear gunshots as well, and she wondered what was happening. Her curiosity, however, was curbed by her fear; she didn't know what was going out there, and she didn't want to find out in case she got killed or something.
Suddenly the noises stopped, and Vesper's spark pounded in her chest. She swallowed, and fear began to course through her veins. Her tank began to churn, and she felt a little sick. She had no idea what had happened out there, and while she prayed that nobody from Team Prime had been injured, she knew that she was hoping for a bit too much.
Somebody had been injured, and it wasn't good. Optimus was leaning near Bumblebee, whose optics were quite dim. Energon was pulsing from a massive wound in the scout's abdomen, and he was trying to apply pressure, which wasn't easy. Ratchet, currently with the humans inside of his altmode, couldn't really help; all the medic could really do was give advice and try to teach Optimus how to stop the energon loss. The others were trying to defend the Prime, who was trying to keep Bee online, but they did need a bit of extra firepower, which wasn't able to be provided.
"Bee…," Raf whimpered, looking out of Ratchet's window.
"He'll be fine," the medic said, trying to reassure the young human, but he didn't even convince himself. This had been the worst injury Bee had ever received, and with no base and no medical supplies to go back to, the chances of Bee surviving were incredibly slim. Even though Ratchet had his triage kit – he'd managed to grab it before he'd been forced to depart from the base for the last time – he didn't have any spare energon, which Bee would need if he survived. "But we won't!" Ratchet suddenly exclaimed, noticing that Soundwave was directing his attention towards the medic, who reversed as Soundwave stalked forward. "Scrap, we're—"
He fell silent. His mouth would have been gaping and his optics boggling if he'd been in robot mode… mainly because Soundwave collapsed to the ground, out stone cold. Everyone stopped fighting and looked over at the fallen 'Con, quite surprised… but none of them were as surprised as Optimus, who had only seen Soundwave fall considering that he was trying to save Bee.
Soundwave has stepped directly in front of the door to Vesper's 'cell', which had opened it. Vesper had taken her chance, and – moving quicker than she ever had before – she'd pressure pointed the silent Decepticon, which had caused him to fall unconscious and drop to the ground.
Shockwave was so astounded that Vesper managed to take advantage of his surprise. She leapt towards him and, putting her Metallikato training to good use, performed a quick roundhouse kick and smashed Shockwave's single optic with the very tip of her pede. Then she landed on the ground, splayed out and keeping her eyes trained on Shockwave as he stumbled around, blind. As Ultra Magnus summoned his hammer and slammed it into the side of the Decepticon scientist's head – effectively knocking him out – Vesper stood to her full height and smiled. Then she looked over at the other Autobots, and as she noticed Bee's injury, her smile fell as she ran over.
"You have no idea what you are doing," Vesper noted as she knelt down next to Optimus, who was beginning to panic. He was doing a good job on hiding his panic, however; only Vesper knew that he was freaking out. "Here, let me do it." She brushed his hands aside and applied pressure in the correct places; her martial arts training had taught her exactly where to apply pressure in the event of a serious wound. Ratchet was especially curious about this, considering that he usually had to teach the others how to do this, but he was also relieved that Vesper seemed to know a small amount of medical knowledge.
When she managed to stabilise Bee and limit the energon flow, she looked at Optimus, who could only utter a simple, "Wow." She smiled softly at him, but said nothing as the Prime gathered Bee up and looked at the rest of the group. "Let us go," he said, and everyone nodded (save for Ratchet and Bee, who obviously couldn't) before following Optimus. Ultra Magnus returned his hammer to his subspace and transformed his servos into blasters in order to give Optimus a bit of cover, which came in handy the nearer they got to the very top of the Decepticon vessel.
When they got to the top, Team Prime's members were all very glad to see that they were over land, although they had no real idea how to actually get off without either using a Ground Bridge or jumping off and killing themselves when they hit the ground.
A sharp intake of breath made every conscious member of Team Prime look over at Vesper, whose optics were wide with anger and horror as she gazed at something. They all followed her gaze, and each one of them was quite alarmed. They couldn't believe their eyes, and Alice actually opened Ratchet's door and hobbled out to get a closer look. The rest of the kids and June followed her example, allowing Ratchet to transform and get a closer look himself.
"It cannot be…," Vesper breathed, falling to her knees. "This was never supposed to happen…"
"Well it did, my dear," a smooth voice said, and Vesper stiffened in horror. She recognised the voice, and hadn't heard it for a long, long time. She slowly turned her head, her gaze settling on a dark green bot with a shining Decepticon symbol right in the middle of his chassis. "Although it would never have been possible… if you hadn't activated the self-destruct sequence."
Optimus, recognising the stranger from Vesper's memories, set Bumblebee down near Ratchet and walked over to his sparkmate, his turquoise optics blazing with fury… and confusion. "How are you standing before us?" he asked, his voice an angry growl.
The Decepticon smiled a calm smile. "I have Shockwave to thank for that." He walked over to the cannon and put his hand on it. "And I have you, my dear Vesper, to thank for me being able to rebuild and increase the cannon's efficiency."
Vesper was horrified as she slowly got to her pedes. "You are mad!" she exclaimed.
"Mad?" the 'Con mused, then laughed. "Oh no, my dear, I am perfectly sane. It is you who is mad," he said, his voice going from light and chatty to dark and unamused within the blink of an eye. "You are the one who betrayed the only logical cause."
"The Decepticon cause is not a logical one!" Vesper argued. "All Megatron wants to do is oppress Cybertronians and bend them to his will!" She shook her head. "The Autobots strive for peace, for Cybertron to be free! Are you so blind that you cannot see that you have been misled?!"
The 'Con shook his head slowly. "It is you who has been misled, my dear," he said. Then he cast his red optics towards Optimus, whose servos were clenched and whose teeth were grit. His eyes flashed as soon as he laid eyes on the Prime, and the corners of his mouth turned upwards ever so slightly. "I expected as much. You trust too easily."
"What exactly," Vesper said, her voice frosty, "Are you getting at?"
Her sudden change in demeanour confused the members of Team Prime, who all looked over at her. Even Optimus couldn't help but glance at her, biting his lip and wondering why she had become so cold.
The stranger's optics flashed with amusement. "You have been lied to. He doesn't love you."
This caused everyone to be quite shocked and alarmed. Optimus' optics widened, then he scowled. "You are lying!" he hissed angrily, and the 'Con looked over at the Prime, still possessing an amused expression.
"Am I?" the stranger said, his eyes flashing with something far darker than mere amusement. "Tell her that." He gestured to Vesper, and Optimus looked over to see that she had a blank expression on her face. Inside of her spark, there was a war going on. On one servo, she believed what the Decepticon was saying, but on the other servo she knew that Optimus' feelings for her were genuine.
"Vesper?" Optimus asked, tentatively going over to her. Everyone watched him closely, wondering what he would do. "Vesper, are you alright?" he asked, his tone laced with worry as he put his servo on her shoulder. She looked up at him, feeling the light pressure on her shoulder, and frowned.
"Am I…," Vesper breathed, her voice shaking with sadness, "Worth anything to you?"
Optimus was taken aback by this, and he was utterly mortified by what Vesper had just uttered. "Of course!" he said immediately. "You are everything to me!"
"Touching," the Decepticon mused, his optics flashing again. "But you could just be saying that, in order to keep her on your side."
"Shut up!" Wheeljack suddenly yelled, the first time any of the others had spoken for some time. The Wrecker pointed one of his katanas at the 'Con, who seemed shocked to see him there. "Stop with your fragging mind games, Haeres! They're pathetic!"
"You sound as if you know this 'Haeres' personally," Alice mused, hobbling over. Ratchet looked at her, a frown on his face, but wasn't too worried about her. She seemed to be holding up well. "Care to explain?"
Wheeljack nodded, scowling. "Haeres is Vesper's former mentor."
Hearing that caused Optimus' anger to grow, and he snarled before looking back over at Haeres, who was standing there with that disgustingly amused expression. "You are Vesper's mentor?" he asked, trying to keep his voice from quaking with his rage and failing miserably.
Haeres smirked. "I was, yes," he confirmed.
Optimus' eyes flashed, but they were not their familiar turquoise this time. He turned on his heel so that he was facing Haeres, and the Decepticon's amused expression disappeared. He recoiled in horror as he noticed that Optimus' blue optics were now red, and the other members of Team Prime also backed off, knowing that it was probably best if they didn't get in the way of the furious Prime.
As Optimus' hand changed into a blade, he roared, "I will rip you apart!" and leapt forward. Haeres ducked to the side, but didn't completely avoid the Prime, who swiftly turned on the ball of his pede and stabbed Haeres in the shoulder. The 'Con yelped in pain, then grunted as Optimus' other servo curled into a fist and slammed into Haeres' face. The 'Con flew backwards, slamming into the weapon that he'd rebuilt, and then he slumped to the ground. Optimus didn't stop there, however; he stalked forward and pressed his pede down on Haeres' throat, his face twisted into a snarl that would have even the emotionless Soundwave fleeing in terror. "I will kill you for your transgressions against my sparkmate, whom I cherish and love beyond everything else!" He applied a bit more pressure to Haeres' neck, and his optics flashed as he heard the Decepticon yelp in pain. "And I will not give you mercy. Your demise will be slow, and it will be painful. You deserve nothing less than that."
"Optimus!" a feminine voice suddenly said, and Optimus looked out of his peripheral vision to notice Vesper looking at him, an alarmed expression on her face. "It is alright! You do not need to offline him!"
"You are wrong, Vesper," Optimus said. It was clear that his anger was clouding his judgement far too much for him to be reasoned with. "He deserves to feel agony! He deserves to die!"
"Nobody deserves that!" the femme said, running over and wrapping her hands around Optimus' arm. "Nobody deserves to die, Optimus! Please do not do this!" She took her hands from Optimus' arm, surprising everyone, but she surprised them even more when she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head in the small of his back. "This is not right, so please… Do not do this," she pleaded, her voice a soft sob.
Optimus' emotions warred within him, but eventually his optics returned to their turquoise colour, and he removed his foot from Haeres' throat. As Vesper released him, Optimus turned around and smiled gently at her. The others were just amazed that the femme had managed to do what most of them would have been far too fearful to do.
Of course, releasing Haeres had been a bad thing to do… for he pulled something out of his personal subspace and clicked it. And as soon as he did, Vesper screamed as pain exploded throughout her entire body.