Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers: just my OC's & the plot.
SMALL MERCIES
Chapter 4: Cloak & Dagger
"Wait-, what just happened?!" Jazz blinked in surprise.
Prime didn't have time to explain as he rushed back into the command center, and opened his comm-line, : Majestrix! Come in Majestrix! : He demanded sternly : Whatever you're doing, drop it and get up here right now! :
: Whatever it is, it'll have to wait: she casually replied, not even caring to acknowledge the tone in his voice (it wasn't the angriest he'd ever been with her).
Knowing she wasn't fully paying attention, Optimus calmed himself, and cut straight to the point, : ...Majestrix, Morri was kidnapped:
The Prima stopped in her tracks: she hadn't expected that.
: When? :
: Just this moment, from right out of my hand: Optimus replied
Majestrix's optics widened in surprise: there were only a few bots that could pull off that particular trick, and two of them were currently unaccounted for.
: ...Hold on, I'll be right up: she replied, and turned back the way she came: heading for the upper level.
"I don't understand, what happened to Morri?" Ultra Magnas thought aloud in concern
"That's what I want to know," Optimus frowned: "Red Alert: check all security camera's and scan the personnel tracker for any and all bots in the immediate vicinity of the command center: if anyone looks to be out of place, stop them and check them. Also, have some of the techs analyze the camera feeds from Wheeljack's lab, check for anything that might lend us a clue as to who stole that BSHB unit: go all the way back to when we first moved into the base if you have to ...Eclipse, I want you to-
But when Prime turned to where Eclipse had been standing, he saw she was gone.
"...Where is she?" he looked around the room, but to no avail,
"I-" Soundwave looked around the room, but much to his surprise, found the femme was gone, "...I don't know, she completely slipped my mind"
"That'll be her counter-telepathy training in effect" Crystalwing told him, "She slipped mine too: as did the one who took Morri"
Everyone glanced at the femme in surprise.
"Someone with counter-telepathy training-, took Morri?" Bumblebee blinked in surprise.
"That narrows the pool of potential suspects down dramatically" Optimus thought aloud, "The question is, where are they?"
Down on the lower level:
Though he was moving at a swift pace, Coldbore's feet hardly made a sound as he paced down the corridor, carrying Morri in one hand, clenched in his fist tightly, yet not so hard he would crush her ribcage: he didn't want to kill her... not yet anyway. Though there wasn't any way she could wriggle out of his grip, Morri tried to thrash about; angry and scared at not knowing what was going on.
"You needn't waste your energy," the sniper coolly stated as he glanced down at her, "You won't live long enough to use it in full".
Glancing up at him in horror, Morri began to panic as she tried to wriggle harder: while at the same time, trying desperately to think of something, anything that would give her a chance of escape. It was at that moment she remembered that she'd primed her CTG's weapon's system; maybe there was a way out of this? Looking down at the sniper's fist, she noticed that his grip was primarily centered on her legs and hips, not her upper torso: chancing a cautious glance up at Coldbore, she saw he wasn't paying her much attention, as he carried her by his side, and out of his direct line of sight.
Gently, and slowly: she maneuvered her left arm upwards, twisting and wriggling in time to the movements of the sniper's gait: and then, as if by chance, his index finger loosened. Not a lot, but just enough she could get her hand up to her head: but her elbow wasn't free. All the while she nervously kept her eyes on his face: if he glanced down now, she wouldn't be able to aim the CTG's laser blaster up at his face.
The fact she didn't know what his destination was made it all the more gut-wrenching, for all she knew, she may only have a matter of minutes, or seconds: as her heart pounded in her chest: she knew she'd have to make her move now...
As the sniper approached an intersection of the corridor, Morri swallowed hard, and with one hard twist, got her elbow free, and flipped the switch on the laser-blaster: Coldbore glanced down, and saw a flash of brilliant red, as his optics suddenly felt like they were on fire. Instinctively flinching away, he raised his other arm to shield his face, but he didn't let go of the human; Morri aimed at his wrist, and fired a blast at the joint: he let go that time. Falling to the floor, Morri quickly scrambled to her feet, and wasted no time in making a mad dash back the way they'd came.
Deciding to hell with keeping her alive, Coldbore primed his shoulder-mounted gun, and aimed at Morri's heat signature. As she heard the cocking of the gun, Morri's stomach dropped: she knew without even looking what kind of gun it was (Deathshot had the exact same modal) and what kind of round it was loaded with...
Time seemed to slow for a split second, as Morri glanced over her shoulder, and saw the barrel aimed at her. As she heard the click of the trigger being pulled, she barely inhaled her last breath, when a flash of silver darted over her head, followed by a loud DING! Time sped up again, and Morri nearly ran straight into Eclipse's shin-plate as she stood in a fighting stance with her blades drawn.
"Eclipse?!" she gasped: her head still spinning as her mind tried to catch up, "What're you-
"-RUN!" Was all Eclipse shouted as Coldbore aimed at her, and fired straight at her head; she easily deflected the bullets with her right wrist-blade, and charged him hard and fast. Morri didn't hang around to watch as she ran, pushing her legs to the fastest speed they could carry her; she made it to the previous intersection, before catching sight of Longrange running straight towards her from way down the other end of the corridor.
"-LONGRANGE'S COMING!" she called out as she spun on a sixpence, and ran back towards the fight: without even hesitating, Eclipse threw Coldbore off and blasted him in the face with one of her smaller guns. Before he could grab her she was already half-way to Morri: a small silver orb was ejected from the sub-space on her wrist, and landed on the floor behind her. In one fluid move, she bent down low and extended her arm out in front of her, aiming for the brunette: and just before Morri could touch the tip of her claws, the orb exploded in a thick cloud of rusty red smoke. As Coldbore got back up onto his feet, he flinched as his sensors began to sting; it was a static smoke bomb, a nasty little device that scrambled a cybertronian's scanners and sensory functions by filling the air with statically-charged particles of iron. As Longrange ran into the smoke cloud, he immediately felt the glitching effects of the static charge, and couldn't get his guns primed as he tried desperately to reboot his external systems. Coldbore activated his main thruster, and with one powerful blast of hot air, managed to clear the smoke out of that section of the corridor: though it proved to be of little use, as both Morri and Eclipse were gone.
"...Great, now what?" Longrange frowned sarcastically.
Meanwhile, back up in the command center:
The first thing she noticed upon stepping into the room: was that her daughter was gone.
"Where's Eclipse?!" Majestrix demanded,
"You tell me" Optimus retorted, "First you tell her to shadow me, and now she disappears? Care to tell me what this is about?"
Glancing over at the main monitor, Majestrix was taken aback for a brief moment, as she watched the situation outside the base unfold. "...What's going on?" she asked, a little half surprised at herself for not keeping tabs on this too.
"A few minutes ago the lights in here went out: Morri was in my hand one second; the next, someone punched me in the face and pulled her from my grasp" Optimus explained.
"Did you get a look at them?" she demanded
"Unfortunately no," Prime sighed, "I don't know if this means anything, but Morri was trying to tell me something right before the lights went out; she mentioned Blackshot, but didn't managed to say anything more"
Though it didn't show on her face, Majestrix's anxiousness piqued sharply: this wasn't good...
"Does it have anything to do with what you're up to?" Optimus added.
Majestrix hesitated: not because she didn't want to tell the truth, but because she noticed the security camera on the ceiling behind Prime, looking straight down at her. She knew who else was watching her through those lenses, and she knew if she said anything aloud here and now, there was no telling what could happen. Calmly composing herself and girding her counter-telepathy training: she looked her brother in the optic, and replied: "I'm not sure, since she didn't get to tell you whatever it was she wanted to say: I'm not sure how this factors into my task at hand"
Though they couldn't pick up on her thoughts or intention, both Soundwave and Crystalwing could sense something about that answer wasn't true; but for the sake of wanting to avoid an awkward situation, they both didn't say anything.
"Which is?" Prime pressed her; he too sensed she was hiding something,
"...An investigation," she merely stated; she had to divert the conversation, before he pressed her into saying what she didn't want to disclose. "Which I will postpone to go and find Morri; isn't that what you were getting at?"
"Indeed" he eyed her suspiciously, "I can't leave the command center: this current situation requires my attention," he gestured to the main monitor, "Which is why I'm asking you to handle this. Find Morri and whoever took her, and find out why" he ordered.
"Of course, brother..." she tipped her helm in acknowledgment: when suddenly, she felt her privet comm line ping.
: -This is getting ridiculous! The situation outside the base is uncertain enough, I don't need my own sister keeping secrets from me, and making excuses. You had better have a very good reason for avoiding me like this: she heard her brother state in a strict no-nonsense tone.
: I have no excuses, but I can assure you, it's anything but good: she replied frankly,
:... How bad? ...: he simply asked with an exasperated sigh,
: Critical: no one on this base is safe, and it's not because of that human out there:
Prime stared at her in concern, :... Does it have anything to do with Morri? :
: Quite possibly: I don't know what she's up to, but I think she's bitten off more than she can chew. I'll find her, and Eclipse; you concentrate on the situation here, I'll take care of this:
: I know you will: Prime stated, : Because if you don't-
: -I know! : She bit back, : Do not lecture me, brother. And I'm not avoiding you: I just don't want to create unnecessary panic:
Now confused: Prime's look of surprise morphed into a concerned frown, :... What do you mean? : He demanded,
Sighing internally, Majestrix relented a little, :...My 'investigation'...If, what I'm checking out, turns out to be real; then we are all in very serious danger. I can't explain right now, but I promise you I will, as soon the situation outside the base is resolved, I'll meet you in your office:
: I'll hold you to that: he warned her
: I know; like I said, I have no excuses: she replied. And without another word, the Prima left swiftly: leaving everyone bar Prime somewhat confused.
"Care to enlighten us on what that was about?" Ironhide asked
Thinking about it, Optimus glanced up at the main monitor, and knew he had to handle things here. "It's not important: not with what's going on outside" he stated.
"Speaking of which, Deathshot's about to make his move" Portia pointed to said sniper on one of the other monitors, as he engaged his stealth-mode and disappeared.
Outside the base:
As the unknown human, encased within their energy orb, floated over the airstrip. Many of the human ground crews stayed hidden in their hiding places: uncertain and afraid of what the super-powered stranger was here for; whatever it was, it couldn't be good...
As he stalked the human from several hundred yards away, Deathshot was taken aback by the energy readings his scanners were picking up. 'I certainly don't remember setting the ion/electro ratio that high! Primus, that static is so concentrated its making my dental plates ache!'
Though the energy the human was giving off was more or less the same as it had been when the BSHB's had been attached to Morri and the other kids: the only major difference was the amount of static electricity the energy orb was giving off. It was so high and so concentrated, that even at several hundred yards, the sniper was feeling the sting of his internal systems reacting to the excessive charge; his CPU was flashing warning after warning, telling him to vacate the vicinity. If it was painful to stand near the human at this distance, what would happen if he, or one of the other bots, got within close range?
: Deathshot to base: I'm about to try and intercept the nanites systems functions: he commed
: Copy that Deathshot: Prime replied
Booting up his nanite-system control function, the sniper forwarded an automated hail to the stolen BSHB unit, essentially telling the nanites to connect with him. The unit responded, and a link was opened. First thing that had to be done was to shut down the energy output, and so Deathshot accessed the software mainframe, and tried to rewrite the nanites command codes: telling them they had a new set of orders; to stand down and cease all functions...
But the second the nanites replied to his order, a red warning flashed across his field of vision: and suddenly, his whole body jerked violently as he felt his motor systems go out of control: his vision was half filled with static, and before he could make sense of what was happening to him, another warning flashed across his field of vision, telling him exactly what was happening...
"-VIRUS!" he gasped in a panic, as he felt his stealth-mode disengage, and fell to the ground in a crumpled heap: shaking and jerking uncontrollably, like a human in the grip of an epileptic fit.
The strange human suddenly spotted him, and without warning the orb around them crackled with bolts of energy: the static charge in the air rose nearly ten-fold; and as the sniper tried to get back up, he was powerless to do anything.
A huge plume of flame and bolt energy shot out from the orb: but just before it reached its target: a blinding flash of white light engulfed the sniper, and within a split-second, he was gone. The energy blast hit a pile of boulders, exploding in a great plume of pebbles and dust that shot over a hundred feet into the air. When the wind blew the dust away, and the human saw that there were no remains of their target: they looked around in confusion; unaware that their victim had just been teleported away...
Ratchet had just handed Mikaela one of his tools to put away, when a while flash and thunderous boom announced Jetfire's arrival: along with the still-glitching Deathshot at his side.
"Jetfire?! What in Primus's name-
But before he had a chance to get out a single curse, Ratchet saw Deathshot, and immediately knew what the sniper was suffering from: "A virus?!" he exclaimed, "-Mikaela! Prep the system scanners, and a full software vaccine constructor! Stat!"
The human Autobot medic went about her task swiftly, as she rushed to prepare the items needs: while Ratchet and Jetfire helped Deathshot up onto one of the bot-sized berths. As Ratchet hooked him up to the CPU monitors, Jetfire relayed the situation to the command center.
From where they were sitting in the far corner of the med-bay, well out of Ratchet's way, the Waineright girls and their father watched anxiously as the sniper continued to jerk and shake uncontrollably.
"Good god, what happened to him?" Jason blinked in astonishment as he held an icepack against his head.
"From the way he's fitting like that, I'd say he got hit with a virus: and a bad one at that" Becca replied, half worried for Deathshot's sake.
"Will he be okay?" her father thought aloud.
"Ratchet's on it. He'll get him on his feet again. Deathshot's a real hard guy to put down, you'd have to go a long way to really knock him outta the sky" Hailey assured him.
Gazing at his daughter, as she watched the medic attend to his patient: for a moment, Jason was in awe; anyone else would probably be half-panicked by now, with all that's going on around them: but Hailey wasn't even blinking. She stood still and calm: concerned, yet in check of her priorities; and it rubbed off onto her younger sisters. The twins weren't fazed: yet they weren't neglectful of the seriousness of the situation; all three of them knew how to handle this. And it impressed him to no end.
"...Listen, sweetheart..." he lightly brushed the back of his hand against her arm, "...I'm sorry for all this trouble"
"Dad-"
"No it-, losing my temper like that, it was stupid and careless; I just-..." he hesitated, letting out a frustrated sigh.
"...He's making this difficult..." she sighed in equal exasperation. As she thought about the argument that had gone down since Lawrence arrived here; from the start it had been nothing but a shouting match: back and forth, with no clear resolution, explanation, or compromise. Lawrence, for the most part, had essentially done nothing but stonewall them, while Jason had tried to demand an explanation for all this nonsense. The more she thought about the argument, the more Hailey began to realize that something about this was out of place...
Frowning in suspicion, she proposed, "...What if we're going about this all wrong?"
"How'd you mean?" Jason asked
"...I'm beginning to think there's something else going on here: why does Lawrence really want us out of NEST? ...National security and all that crap aside: why would a public figure like him, go out of his way to pull three members from a black-ops unit that doesn't officially exist? Wouldn't that just raise questions?"
"We kinda figured that: but what're you getting at?" Becky asked
Turning to her father, Hailey looked him straight in the eye, and anxiously asked him: "...Do you trust me?"
"Of course I do: but sweetheart, what've you got in mind?" he asked worryingly,
"I'm going to try and sort this out, but to do so I'm going to need some help from my friends. I know you're not comfortable with the idea of family issues being aired: but believe me when I tell you, I trust them. I trust them to have my back when I'm in danger: and I know I can trust them to help us with this" she stated frankly.
Looking into his daughter's eyes, Jason knew she wasn't uncertain or doubtful: she had a plan; and besides, at this point what did they have to lose? Letting a hesitant sigh escape his lips, he anxiously nodded: "...Okay...is there anything you need me to do?"
"Just buy as much time as you can: one way or another, none of us are getting on that plane," Hailey assured him, "Come on," she beckoned the girls to follow her as she left the med-bay; "When the code red is lifted, go find mom and fill her in. Then go find Lawrence!" she called back.
"Copy that!" he called after her
"What're you going to do?" Becca asked as she flanked her sister's left side.
"First things first, a family history lesson: I need to know exactly who 'Uncle Lawrence' is" she frowned, "And there's only one person who can help us with that"
Meanwhile, in another section of the base:
Morri's mind had only just caught up to what was going on when Eclipse hurried into a large storage hanger, and quickly shut the door, before opening her cockpit and removing the half-dazed and exhausted human: placing her on a large metal crate where she stood about five feet down from her optic-line.
"-I know about the coup!" was all Morri could blurt out as she tried to catch her breath. She had no time or patience for pussy-footing around the subject, not when individuals like Coldbore and Longrange were involved, and now out to kill them both.
"I know" Eclipse breathed as she panted through her vents, and sheathed her blades.
Morri's brain did a full one eighty, "You knew?!" she exclaimed.
"Your stealth is good, for a novice: but you're not a pro. I spotted you in the corridor when you were tailing us towards the command center: how long had you been following us both?" the purple femme demanded,
Morri's train of thought suddenly screeched to a halt: 'she doesn't know Ashley heard her too?', it was then she realized, 'That's one ace I can keep up my sleeve'
"A little while: I-, overheard you and your mum talking in the corridor; it sounded real serious, so I decided to see what was up" Morri half-lied: she was on edge and still high on adrenaline, but not so much she wasn't able to maintain her poker-face.
Eclipse cursed something under her breath. And glared down at her, "What were you thinking?! It's none of your business what we-
"-HEY! When someone mentions that they tried to kill Soundwave, after everything he and us have been through, I don't ignore it!" Morri angrily spat back, pacing to the edge of the crate to meet the femme's gaze up close, "-And further more: you have no right to keep this secret! Especially from the rest of the base!" she pointed her finger up to her face.
Calming down a little, Eclipse let a frustrated sigh escape her vents, "...I know, your right...And neither of us have any intention of resolving this by ourselves; this has gone way beyond just us"
Deciding to learn a little more about this, Morri calmed down and digressed slightly: "...Well, you may have spotted me, but I don't think your mum did"
"Don't be foolish, I commed her the moment I picked up your bio-signature on my scanners: she knew you were there the whole time too"
"What? But then-, why didn't she say anything?"
"I don't know her reasons for letting you tail her like that, but wherever she went, I can only surmise you must've witnessed the things she did: providing no one else spotted you?"
"I doubt it: she went all the way down to the lower level, the surplus storage hangers? No one else was down there, except for Blackshot and her cronies"
Eclipse's optic's widened in alarm: "...What did you learn?"
"That she's planning to overthrow the base, and from the sounds of it she's got something big in mind"
"That's an understatement," Eclipse frowned, "If she goes ahead with her plan, many Autobots and humans will die, along with many others further afield"
A moment of sobering silence passed between them, as Morri began to realize the true graveness of the situation. She recalled what she had overhead earlier: and something else came to mind...
"... Listen, when I overheard you and your mum talking, I could hear that-, you had some pretty heavy reasons for doing what you did" she anxiously asked. "...I-...I'm sorry...about-, all that"
Eclipse looked at her in bemusement, before a small weak smile crossed her lips: "Your concern for my well-being isn't necessary; I don't deserve any sympathy for what I've done. Nor forgiveness...I let this happen. I let my naivete cloud my judgement, and now I've put everyone in danger"
As she put the pieces together from all she'd learnt this morning, Morri decided to play what cards she had: all that she knew about this coup were a few basics, but no details or outline. Right now, Eclipse was the only best lead she had in this, the only one that knew first-hand what will go down, and now, had switched sides. Whether for her own sake or for everyone else's remained to be seen: but for the time being, she had something she could use.
"Maybe? But you realized that you did wrong, and you're doing something the try and put it right: that's what's important here," Morri tried to assure her. "...Look, we can talk about this in group therapy when this is over: but right now, Blackshot is looking to seize control of the base, and if killing my friends and family is part of that realization, then I'm helping you to stop her. Whether you like it, or not"
The stubbornness in her voice told Eclipse that talking her out of this wasn't an option; she was going to do this, and it made her feel all the more guilty: "...This isn't your fight, youngling"
"You made it my fight when you said you were going to kill Soundwave: the issue of whether he was a Decepticon or not is beside the point; if you hadn't stopped at him, who else would've been taken out? Thundercracker? Skywarp? Jetfire?... Just how many would she have you kill?" Morri scowled up at her.
Eclipse didn't answer, and merely let her head hang in shame; seeing the pain etched onto her face plates, it was then Morri realized just how hurtful this had all been for her: that she didn't play a totally willing role in this...
"... Too many..." she reluctantly spoke up,
As her anger waned into cautiousness: Morri decided to try another angle: "...Blackshot mentioned something about a 'device': it sounded really important to them, can you tell me what it is and where they're hiding it?"
Eclipse snapped her head up and gasped in horror, "You know about it?!"
"Only that it's a 'device', she didn't mention it by name" Morri clarified, "But Eclipse, what is it, and what are they going to do with it?"
Her look of horror uncomfortably morphed into a mix of shame and self-loathing: of all things she wished she knew; she wished she could tell her this in full: "...Blackshot never showed it to me; she never thought I could be entrusted with that knowledge. But she did out-line its main purpose, for the time when we would need to use it"
"Which is?"
"A terra-forming device: one that would turn every living organism within a five mile radius of here into a silicon-based network of cybernetic micro-organisms: like the ones that used to reside on Cybertron, before the planet became a lifeless husk... -But, the only devices capable of terra-forming were the Seeds, and they were destroyed eons ago"
At the mention of the seeds: Morri's mind flashed back to the conversation she'd had with Ashley earlier...
So, there were these things called 'Seeds', and apparently, they could turn whole planets into new Cybertron's using cyber-matter and energon; pretty dangerous too by all accounts, Prime was pretty worried about it. There used to be ten, I think? They were all destroyed except for one, that went 'unaccounted for'... Whatever that means?
"Maybe not all of them" Morri suggested worryingly,
"What do you mean?"
"I-", again, she was careful to keep Ashley out of it: "-was talking with Deathshot some time ago, and he happened to mention them offhand: he said all but one was destroyed, and that that one went unaccounted for...You don't suppose Blackshot might have 'acquired' that one, do you?"
Eclipse stared at her dumbfounded, before smirking: "Forgive me but-: that would be quite a feat, even for her"
"Why?" Morri raised an eyebrow,
"Because the seeds were created to terra-form entire planets: the amount of cyber-matter and energon required for the process meant the devices were built to be over two hundred and fifty feet tall. Squeezing Geo onto the Black Solstus was tricky enough: trying to transport a seed unseen would be quite difficult, even for us, never mind Blackshot..."
"...Okay, forget I mentioned it" Morri waved it off, "But, could Blackshot construct a seed from scratch?"
"It's possible? Acquiring the energon's not a problem, but where would she get cyber-matter from? Even Wheeljack and Que don't have any stored in their labs"
At that moment, Morri's gut instinct began to scream in dread.
"...Blackshot also mentioned that their back-hacked into Teletran's systems: which ones?" Morri pressed her anxiously,
"Pretty much all of them, the security system mostly, but she also keeps tabs on the scientist's mainframe and Ratchet's medical database-"
The scientist's mainframe and Ratchet's medical base; the mention of those networks made Morri all the more worried, as she remembered what Ashley told her earlier...
So this 'cyber-matter': it's only created when you mix energon with your blood?
Evidently. And it's pretty potent: if two drops from an eye-dropper are enough to create cyber-matter the size of a beach-ball: it doesn't take a genius to work out what happens if you throw a few drops of my blood into a whole cube of energon
Morri's mind began to race in a panic 'If she's back-hacked into their networks. And she read Ashley's file, then she knows-
"-As well as the comm frequencies: which is why me and mother have been maintaining comm silence all day" Eclipse finished explaining,
"So-, she doesn't know what happened back there?" Morri pointed to the door.
"No, and I have no idea where she is either: we back-hacked Red Alert's personnel tracker to delete our locations from the system; no one can track either of us in real time, and now, neither can anyone find you"
Morri looked down at her CTG's holo-monitor, brought up the personnel tracker, and sure enough, her name wasn't listed and her signal wasn't highlighted.
"-Forgive me, but when you were in my cockpit, I took the liberty of hacking your CTG and deleting your position from the tracker, as of ten minutes ago, your MIA. That way, Blackshot and her team won't be able to find you"
"...Thanks" Morri replied offhand, "But- what if D, my uncle or my cousins come looking for me?"
"Then they'll have to keep looking," Eclipse stated as she bent down to be closer to her: "Listen, you know too much as it is, you're a target now: the best thing you can do is find somewhere to hide, and stay there"
"Like hell!" Morri retorted, "I'm not running from her! ..." pacing in a circle, she tried to think: "...You said Blackshot's got tabs on the security system: that includes the base's security cameras right?"
"Correct, and unlike me, you don't have stealth capabilities: Blackshot will see you coming a mile off" Eclipse pointed out sarcastically,
As she paced around the top of the crate again, Morri suddenly spotted a large vent grid on the wall near the ceiling: "No stealth you say? There aren't any camera's installed in the ventilation system" she pointed to the grid.
Glancing up at where she was pointing, Eclipse internally facepalmed 'idiot, how could you miss that?' she berated herself. "...Alright, but I'm assuming you have some idea of what you're going to do?" she glanced back at her with a dry look.
"Not offhand, but I've got to do something" Morri sighed in frustration as she ran her fingers through her hair; "What're you going to do?"
"I'm going to find that device and shut it down; Blackshot has it hidden somewhere on the base, but where exactly, I don't know"
"I'll come along, you may need help"
"No! Finding it alone is going to be dangerous enough: you'll just get in the way..." Eclipse stated, before softening her tone, "...Look, I appreciate your offer to help, your courage and your resolve is in no doubt...But this is too big for you to handle alone"
"So were the Insecticons, but that didn't stop me getting Max and the others out of their cave" Morri stated.
Eclipse couldn't help but chuckle: "Right...I forgot..." she straightened up, and looked down at her with cautious optimism: "... Just so we're clear: I'm not comfortable with letting you in on this"
"Hey, if anyone asks, I'll tell them I beat it out of you, okay?" Morri smiled, "And besides, you and your mum need all the help you can get"
"Perhaps? But if your intention is to alert my uncle to this crisis, you needn't bother: I have a distinct feeling he might have already worked out that something's up. Wait until the code red has been disengaged, and then tell him if you must" Eclipse stated.
"...One other thing: the subject of the code red; Blackshot knew they were already on their way here, before air-traffic control picked them up on radar. She said their 'look-out' spotted them. Who's the look-out?" Morri asked
"...It's-
The sound of footsteps approaching the hanger made Eclipse pause; quickly, she grabbed Morri, flipped open her cockpit and unceremoniously shoved her in, and engaged her stealth-mode, right as the door opened up. A curious Tracks leaned in a looked around, certain that he heard voices coming from within the hanger: a quick scan revealed nothing, and with a casual shrug, closed the door again.
As his footsteps paced away, Eclipse reappeared, and let Morri out. "Time is our enemy here. I'm sorry but-, I have to go"
There were still so many questions Morri wanted to ask, but she had to leave it... for now at least: "...Okay...Can you give me a boost up there?"
The femme obliged, and reaching up above her helm, allowed the brunette to reach the vent: and with the screw driver in her emergency repair kit, removed the screws from the grid's frame. "One more thing: are you still linked up to Teletran?"
"Not directly, why?"
"I was hoping you could download me a 3D layout of the ventilation system, as well as the floor-plans of the corridors and various rooms and hangers around the base. Since you took my CTG's ID signal off Teletran's grid, I'm guessing there's not a lot I'll be able to do without my online access, without Blackshot knowing about it"
"You'd guess correct" Eclipse sighed, "...Done; the files should be on your CTG's desktop: anything else?" she asked as the human climbed into the vent.
"Yeah..." Morri sighed as she turned to face her: "Don't die, okay?"
"...Dying's easy," Eclipse smiled weakly: "...There's something Megatron used to say, whenever he and my uncle used to do battle: 'It takes more courage to suffer than to die'. I always used to wonder, what did he possibly suffer? And why courage? It doesn't take courage to kill those weak than you, so what kind of twisted logic did he subscribe to, to come up with something like that? ...But then... I think back over all that's happened these last few months: to me, to us, to you and the other humans. And part of me can't help but think; maybe he was right? ...Is it wrong, to think that?" she asked anxiously.
"...No, it's not..." Morri stated with conviction: "...If you were human, I'd say that's human nature: but-, I don't know how your people quantify something like that? ...All I can tell you? Is that suffering is part and part of life. It's unavoidable, and I'd be lying if I said I haven't had more than my fair share of it. Yeah, I could lie down and give it all up, if it meant I would never have to endure another misfortune in my life. But I believe that for every bad thing that happens to us in life, something good comes along sooner or later, whether for us, or someone else...I don't believe everything we do is without meaning, but at the same time, sometimes? Things can just happen, without rhyme or reason. I don't believe in God, but I do believe in Karma: and I don't believe in luck because I know how to make my own luck"
"Bold words for one so young" Eclipse smiled.
"I wouldn't say them if I didn't believe them to be true. I don't pretend to be something I'm not: (Believe me, I know how much trouble that can get you into) all I can be...is just, me..."
"...Well? ... You're going to have be a little bit more than 'you', to avoid Blackshot" Eclipse smiled, before a look of regret came over her: "...Listen: If we survive this, and I live long enough to face the others. I want you to know: I'm grateful for what you told me, in the rec-room the other night"
"...It's okay..." Morri smiled, before thinking aloud, "...If we do survive this, would you like to have a drink some time?"
"Definitely" Eclipse smirked, "...Good luck, youngling..." she sighed, and disappeared from sight as she engaged her stealth-mode. The door to the hanger opened ajar and closed again, and just like that, she was gone.
Morri sat on the edge of the vent for a moment: clearing her mind, and focusing on what lay ahead. 'I need to find Ashley' she frowned, 'Can't let that bitch get her claws on him...' : she turned and started crawling into the gloom. She activated her CTG's holo-monitor, and found the file containing the ventilation system blueprints, and with her pocket torch-light clasped between her teeth to light her way through the dark, she began the long crawl back up to the main level of the base.
At the same time, outside the base:
: I think they've calmed down now: Soundwave commed, as he kept a safe distance from the super-powered human, watching them carefully as they continued to hover above the airstrip.
: If indeed, they are truly calm? : Crystalwing added
: I take it you still can't get a clear telepathic reading on them? : Optimus asked
: We've tried a few things but to no avail: Soundwave sighed, : There's no way of telling if the 'block' is organic in nature, or created by an artificial means, in any case, we're just back at square one:
: I see... Ironhide, what is your analysis on the human? : Prime asked
: Jetfire wasn't kidding about the static...: the weapon's specialist replied, as he stood on the edge of a nearby ridge, well out of the human's line of sight: with Lennox standing on his shoulder, surveying the target through a set of binoculars. : Even at this distance it's making my servo's ache; if they get inside the base there's no way we'll be able to fight them at close range without incurring multiple casualties: never mind the fact they could create a blackout that could take out all the power to the base:
: But is it possible they can be contained? : Prowl asked, : If this human is the product of Broadsword's weapons development, this may be the only chance we have to study their hybridized technology first-hand; we may never get another opportunity like this again:
: I concur with Prowl, is it possible to neutralize the human without killing them? : Optimus asked
Ironhide glanced at the major with a knowing look: and the major, obliged: "Guess that's our cue" he shrugged as he spoke into the radio on his jacket, : "Hutchins, do you have the shot?"
: Clear-Crzzz-, sir: a whispered voice replied, though it was just barely understandable through the dense static.
"Okay, take them out: tranquilizer only, we need them breathing"
: Copy-Crzz-at:
Down by the airstrip, around the corner of one of the hanger's nearest the strange human; the sniper Hutchins carefully loaded the darts into the chamber of his gun, while his spotter kept a careful eye on the target, and then taking aim at the energy orb: though the energy field around them was bright, the outline of the human form inside wasn't hard to make out. As the human turned their back to him, he took a deep calm breath, slowed his breathing, and gently squeezed the trigger...
A sharp pop echoed across the tarmac, and the energy orb dissipated in a wave of electric blue ripples as the human fell to the earth. The dart had hit its mark, in the back of their left shoulder, and the human weakly flayed around a little, before the tranquilizer finally knocked them out. But as both sniper and spotter cautiously approached the target, they were somewhat taken aback by what they saw, lying on the tarmac before them.
: Hutchins, is the target neutralized? : Lennox demanded over the radio.
"Affirmative sir, target is down and unconscious: send the meds up here. But sir- ..."
: Yes? What is it? :
"It's-, it's a kid"
: What? Hang tight I'm coming down there:
As they carefully rolled her onto her back, both solders were perplexed to be staring down at a young girl. Dressed head to toe in a dark blue form-fitting one-piece suit, covered in what looked like some kind of circuitry. She was thin and lean with a petite frame, and her long pale blond hair reached down to the middle of her back. She couldn't have been much older than Hailey, or one of the other older female interns; and as they shook their heads in disbelief, both soldiers had to wonder, what was going on?
The next several minutes progressed at an easier pace; with the threat to the base unconscious and in custody, everyone relaxed a little; though now, the focus of priority shifted from trying to keep the base safe, to trying to figure out who this strange girl was: and the questions her being here posed. Once the human medics reached the airstrip, she was strapped to a gurney, and taken straight to the quarantine unit in the human medical wing. There, under the watchful gaze of the Autobots and human solders assigned to guard her, the doctors and nurses went about their duties, making sure her vitals were in the green, as well as trying to figure out how to get the stolen BSHB unit off of her.
In the command center, things died down fast, but there was still work to be done.
"Disengage the code red, and have the external base security reset to standard mode" Prime ordered, "I'll be overseeing the examination in the human med-unit; and inform the President it is safe to leave the panic room"
"But what if he wants to speak to you?" one of the human tech's asked
"Tell him I'm busy, this takes top priority over a family squabble" Optimus stated, before comming Deathshot, : Deathshot, do you read me? Are you okay? :
:Much better: Deathshot sighed as he rubbed his still-sore helm, :The vaccine Ratchet put together is doing the trick; but, I'm afraid I have to keep my online functions switched off while the virus is being purged from my systems. Without that, I can't offline the BSHB again:
: A shame; I was going to ask if you could assist us with removing the device:
: I wouldn't recommend it sir, not if that virus is keeping the software protected; I can forward you the data on my attempt to disarm the device, but other than that, don't attempt to link up directly; the virus attacks the motor control functions, and everything linked to them. It's real nasty: the sniper replied, as he forwarded a data-burst to Prime
: Acknowledged: report to me the moment your system is completely purged of the virus, Que and Wheeljack are going to try and contain it as best they can, but we may need your assistance here: Optimus stated
: Copy that sir, I'll let you know when I'm clean: Deathshot replied, before the comm signal cut out.
"It's going to be hours before that virus is completely out of your system" Danny rubbed his forehead in exasperation: "And because of it, you can't link to Teletran directly"
"That (unfortunately) is the reality of viruses of that nature; they strike fast and are embedded with so many layers of code that it takes hours if not days to purge them," Deathshot sighed, "But I'm not completely helpless; this isn't the first time I've had to go without my online functions: I'll just have to get by the old-fashioned way..." he shrugged, before getting back to the subject at hand. "Now, you were telling me before; what else did Eclipse and Majestrix mention when you listened in?" he asked Ashley.
As the boy recounted what he and Morri overheard earlier: down the corridor, and around a corner of an intersection, Majestrix listened in tense anxiousness...
This was bad, he may not have heard everything, but still: he heard enough to make an educated guess that something bad was going down. Majestrix cursed under her breath for not intercepting Morri earlier: 'What was I thinking?! Letting her tail me for that long?! She knows what Blackshot said, and now-' she thought angrily, cursing herself for being such a careless fool.
This was beginning to get out of hand: it was only supposed to be her and Eclipse trying to slow this down, before Blackshot had time to make a move: and now, five humans and another bot knew about this impending crisis. The question of whether they could be discreet and keep this to themselves was beside the point: it's what Blackshot might do if she found out they knew, that worried her more.
But without the details to give clarity to the bigger picture, all Ashley knew was that something bad was going down, and that could come under the broad heading of anything, which could only serve to exasperate the situation, if he took action, but didn't know what to do. Knowing too much could get you in serious trouble, but not knowing enough can be just as, if not more dangerous. Playing dumb was not an option either, if and when they finally caught up to her and demanded answers, she knew stonewalling wouldn't put them off: and now that Deathshot knows too, he would be near-impossible to dissuade from this, especially if he thought his charges were in danger...
Morri
With Eclipse running silent and Morri's ID no longer showing up on the personnel tracker; there were only two possibilities. Either, Eclipse managed to intercept whoever took the girl, and managed to get her to safety; or, she was already dead, and the CTG destroyed along with her...
Majestrix couldn't hold back the scowl that turned her face into a look of pure hatred: if the girl was dead, there would be serious hell to pay. After everything she and her family had endured together, she didn't deserve that, (if that was the case). If Deathshot knew, she didn't even want to think of the hell he would raise, trying to kill her murderers. The more she thought about it, the more she realized this could get very ugly. So to avoid that scenario, she had to find the girl, and make sure she was still alive.
Thinking back to what Optimus told her about the kidnapping, she had a feeling that maybe, it might not be that bad, just yet: Eclipse disappeared from the command center, practically the same moment Morri was taken, so she could only surmise that Eclipse was already tailing them the second they left the room: and if that was the case, there was a chance she might have intercepted the kidnapper after all.
But if so, where would she have hidden her? Where would she have gone? Would she have stayed and protected her? Or would she keep her in her cockpit, for the duration of all this? Thinking about it: staying in one place sounded highly unlikely, not when time was against them; and the role of bodyguard was twice as unlikely. This was Morri after all, the human who managed to bluff the Insecticons into keeping her and the other humans and Autobot younglings alive, that day they kidnapped them and flew up to the Sierras to hide out. For a human, that was suicide: for a veteran Autobot, that's like sitting down at a poker table with no cards, and convincing everyone that you've got a winning hand. How in the pit she pulled that off, Majestrix would never know: but considering what she also went through with Velocity, she had to hand it to the girl, she knew how to hold her nerve and stand her ground. So maybe, just maybe: she's with Eclipse, helping her on this.
As she thought about all this and more, Majestrix suddenly realized he couldn't hear Ashley talking anymore; cautiously peering around the corner, she saw Deathshot and the boys were gone.
Quietly walking over to where he had been standing, she scanned the area for his energon signature, and saw that it led away, towards the rec-room. Weighing up the urgency of the situation, she decided to go with trying to locate Morri and Eclipse: filling the boys in on this would have to wait. And without further ado, she turned and headed off towards the bot-sized elevators.
As he watched her walk off, an invisible Deathshot silently crept out of his hiding place, from down the other end of the corridor.
"Why was she listening in on us?" Sam asked from within his cockpit, as he and the other boys watched her nervously.
"I don't know, but I think you might have stumbled onto something" Deathshot replied through his internal speakers, as he cautiously tailed her: being careful to keep a safe distance.
But what he hadn't noticed: was the security camera on the ceiling some two hundred yards behind him; watching his every move. And somewhere else, Blackshot's rage began to build as she watched Majestrix leave...
Meanwhile, elsewhere on the base:
"Well thank god you guys have a plan at least" Rosy sighed, "We've been brainstorming for like, twenty minutes, and came up with nothing"
"Fortunately, the static discharge from the BSHB on that girl, scrabbled Air Force One's systems a little: the ground crews'll be busy recalibrating the on-board computers for a good few hours yet, so that'll buy us enough time to try and sort this out" Darren added, as his fingers flew over the keyboard of his laptop.
"So, what exactly are we gonna do about your uncle?" Tangostar asked offhand, as she and her sisters sat nearby with their charges sitting on their shoulders and knee-plates.
"The first step is intel: I only know Lawrence by name. I don't know who he is or what he's like. Dad never talks about him in great detail, so he's just-...a guy in a photo on our mantel piece..." Hailey sighed anxiously; half wondering if this was a good idea. Seeing the look of doubt on her face, the other Ainsley cousins couldn't help but feel the same. What she had in mind was a shot in the dark, and there no telling what they may find.
Seeing the look on her face, Darren stopped working, and got up from the desk, approaching her with a sympathetic look: "...Listen, are you sure you want to go through with this? There's no guarantee we'll find anything we can use: if anything, we might come across something you may not want to know. If we do find something and it's bad, are you sure you want the rest of us knowing about it?"
Thinking about it, all Hailey could do was shrug: "What other choice do I have? He wants to take us to Washington with him, as soon as that plane's ready to fly again. I'm not leaving Jay-jay, or you guys, I just-, won't" he firmly stated, unable to hide the fear in her voice.
"I get that, and believe me, we won't let him take you either" Darren assured her as he lay his hand on her shoulder, "But, are you sure you're prepared to deal with this? Whatever happens?"
Looking at him, Hailey sighed and straightened up: "...If there are any bridges to be crossed: we'll cross them when we come to them" she stated, "...So? What've you found so far?"
Sitting back down at the desk, Darren turned the laptop to the side, so she and her sisters could see the various windows of information on the desktop. "Well? I decided to start with what's already known...which, unsurprisingly, is a lot ... Lawrence George Waineright: born 3rd of March, 1962 at the Gallinger Municipal Hospital in DC: grew up in the District, went to privet schools; attended and graduated from Harvard with honors after six years of studying political science, along with your dad, who studied law, also graduating with honors and went on to go into family law"
"Yeah, and from there?" Becca asked
"From there," Darren further explained, as he pointed out the various tit-bits of information, "He worked his way up the political ladder, from the local level up. Until he reached a senior position with the Republican's in 1998 ...But surprisingly, he then had an abrupt career change when he joined the military the following year: trained as a Marine, rose to the rank of Lieutenant and served two tours in the middle east, where he was awarded the medal of honor for getting his squad out of a village full of Taliban insurgents. He went on to serve a third tour, but a shrapnel wound to the ribcage forced him to be discharged with honors, picking up a purple heart on the way out...When he got outta hospital, he went back into politics: and unsurprisingly, his military exploits did wonders for his popularity with the voters; and when he started his bid for the vice-presidency, he was a shoe-in for the win...Helped in part by his mom, your grandma, Ruth Waineright: the senator of Maryland, who spear-headed his campaign trail, as well as footing the bill for the whole thing...Overall: he's kept his nose clean; no suspicious activities, no fishy-looking characters he associates with, no outstanding money trails. All-in-all, he appears to be an okay guy?"
"That's it?" Becky raised an eyebrow
"It's a starting point" Darren shrugged, "There's a ton of other stuff on the rest of the family, but then, that's to be expected when your American political royalty"
"So? Did you know your grandma was a senator?" Lizzy asked offhand
"Yes" Hailey replied frankly, "Like I know her husband is a powerbroker for some of the biggest corporations in the country; and that his brother owns the biggest military weapons development company in the world... Look, it's not like we meet up every five years for a family reunion, all my dad's side of the family are just names to me, that's why I came to you" Hailey turned back to Darren, "I need to know who I'm dealing with here; and no offence to your exceptional research skills, but there's nothing in that profile I don't already know"
"Okay," Roxy threw in her two cents, "He's a politician, right? Good or bad, their all shady as fuck; and you certainly don't get to be vice-president by promising you'll lower taxes: what if he pulled a deal with someone to get that vice-presidency? Or worse; what if he had the president bumped off?"
"Highly unlikely: the coroner's report ruled the death as heart failure by natural causes" Darren stated,
"And you know that for sure?" Roxy eyed him sceptically,
"I was curious, so I discreetly back-hacked the Pentagon's medical resources division: who were in charge of overseeing the autopsy. There wasn't anything to suggest the death had been suspicious, or that the report had been tampered with in any way. Sorry Rox', but he died of a bung ticker, end of story" Darren sighed, "...But the shady politician angle might not be so farfetched: there's been plenty of them in Washington down the years, Lawrence wouldn't be any exception" he thought aloud as he turned back to face his laptop, "Give me a while to knock on some 'back doors': I'll see there's anything that stands out"
"Need any help?" Max asked as she opened up her laptop.
"Actually, yeah: if you could start by running checks on his political backers that'd save some time; start with 'grandma', and go down the line of who paid how much, and what was promised to who. Money is power, and bribes can get you anything in this country"
"On it" she nodded as she switched the device on, and got to work.
"Is there anything we can do?" Becca asked
"Not really, I kinda got things covered with this: and it's gonna take a while to dig around. Why don't you see how Jay-jay's doing? The code red's off now, so the base'll be returning to normal" Darren suggested
"Yeah" Hailey sighed, "... I think I'll get some coffee while I'm at it"
: Darren? Are you receiving, over? : Optimus's voice sounded over the comm in his earpiece.
"I'm here Prime, what's up?" Darren replied with a slight huff: of all the times to receive new orders, this wasn't the best.
: I need you to run an ID check on the girl in the human med-unit: Glen and the other techs have had no luck in tracing her. Perhaps you may have better luck in uncovering who she is? :
Glancing up at Hailey with an apologetic look, all Darren could do was shrug. But she waved it off, and mouthed 'its okay, maybe later?' "Copy that: send me what you got and I'll go fishing" he replied. At that moment, a new window opened on his desktop, and the first thing he saw a picture of the unconscious girl.
"...Whoa..." Becky blinked in surprise: "She can't be any older than you sis"
"...I know..." Hailey stared at the screen, as a near-strange sense of déjà vu came over her.
"You know, they do say that for every person on the planet, there's at least one other who looks exactly like them" Rosy interjected offhand.
"Freaky" Lizzy grimaced
"Who is she?" Jeanie asked in curiosity,
"Dunno, but she's got the stolen BSHB attached to her back" Darren replied
"Do you want me to take over running those 'back door' checks?" Max asked
"Have you got the software I gave you?"
"Installed it just last night" she shrugged,
"Okay: any problems, just say so: and remember, check for trip-viruses when entering any military nets, that's not a mainframe you got there" Darren added,
"Yeah yeah Mr obvious" Max waved off.
"...Thank you" Hailey smiled
"Just buy me a burger and fries when this is over okay?" Max smirked, "Now scoot, I'm busy"
Leaving the two hackers to get on with their work, Hailey and her sisters left the room and made their way back towards the central complex of the base,
"Think they'll find anything?" Becca asked
"It's Darren; if anyone can anything on the internet: it's him" Hailey smirked, "And if Max is as good as he says she is, then I've no doubt she'll find something too"
As they came within sight of the command center: the girls stopped in their tracks when they saw Lawrence and his entourage heading in the same direction, flanked by Colonel Bishop and some of the NEST soldiers.
"Ah, Miss Waineright: status report" the colonel stated
"Uh-, " Hailey quickly racked her brain to try and remember everything that had happened in the last half hour, "The 'anomaly' has been taken care of; that is-, we managed to tranquilizer her and take her into custody"
"Her?" Galloway frowned
"It's-, a girl; we don't know who she is, but she's got the-, one of the bots tech stuck to her: it's what enabled her to get here" Hailey explained, being careful not to give too much away in front of Galloway and Lawrence; after all, being included on the classified access list, didn't guarantee your trustworthiness. Bishop looked at her in slight bemusement, before clearing his throat: "Where is the girl now?"
"She's in the human med-unit" Hailey thumbed down the corridor, "Prime and Lennox are overseeing the examination: trying to figure out how to get the thing off her?"
"Hold up-..." Lawrence tried to comprehend what he just heard; "You're saying a girl, is the reason the whole base just went on full alert? ...How's that possible?"
"I don't know, but I intend to find out; if you'll excuse me gentlemen I have work to attend to" Bishop discreetly tipped his head to the president, before walking off.
"Whoa wait a minute! I want to see this for myself" Lawrence demanded
Bishop paused: for the briefest moment a look of frustration curled his face into a frown, before straightening out again, and turning to face the president: "Mr President, I wouldn't recommend-
"-I said," Lawrence stated firmly, "I want to see her for myself"
Looking back and forth between them, Hailey watched as a look of reluctance came over Bishop, and he gestured for the president to follow him: "...Very well. If you care to follow me, please"
As the entourage left for the med-unit: they passed by Bluestreak, Skywarp and Novastar heading the other way; with Annabelle and Violet sitting on Skywarp's right shoulder plate, and an eager Jay-jay skipping up towards Hailey. Seeing her ward brought a wave of relief, as the little femme hugged her in delight.
"What're you guys doing here? I was just coming to find you" she smiled as the bots kneeled down to be closer to her.
"Your dad filled us in on what happened in the command center" Bluestreak said worryingly, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, and dad'll be okay too; he is a lawyer after all, that's not the worst he's had to deal with" she waved off jestingly.
"Your creator said you had a plan: said you were gonna ask your friends for help; care to bring us up to speed?" Skywarp asked,
"Okay..." Hailey sighed as he went on to explain what Darren and Max were up to.
Meanwhile, down on the lower level:
: It's no use, we've checked everywhere we can think of, and they're not anywhere down here; we can only surmise she took the human up to the central level: Coldbore explained.
: If that's true then she's running in stealth-mode: Blackshot growled in ire, : -How could you let them escape like that?! She knows about the plan! I give you one chance to dispose of her, and you squander it! And now, they all know! :
: What? Who else?: Coldbore tried to clarify
: The boy: that-, hybrid abomination and his 'guardian' know about us too! Albeit they overheard Majestrix and her whelp talking in the corridor; she set that up deliberately so they'd be in on it! : She ranted.
In a small dark room hidden in a secret place: illuminated by the glow of the monitors, displaying all the footage of all the security cameras on the base: Blackshot sat alone. To the casual observer, she was as calm and cool as any professional: but inside, her mind was screaming in a panic, as her anger continued to boil, and her hatred grew darker and more malicious. And as hairline fractures began to grow around the fringes of her insanity, her paranoia began to eat away at reason and sense; as she continued to stare up at the monitors, watching everyone, and anyone.
: You think? : Longrange chipped in, :What good would that serve her? :
: She's got something in mind: she never does anything without a good reason; those humans know something I don't: I know it! : She growled, : ...Is the device safe? :
: We managed to move it just before the code red was disengaged: but we're going to have to return to our posts. If we're gone any longer than necessary, someone's going to notice: Coldbore stated
:... Fine...: Blackshot retorted, : But it'll have to wait: Majestrix is heading straight towards your position:
: How far away is she? : Longrange panicked
: Nine hundred and fifty meters, and closing in fast. I've switched the camera feeds for the whole level, and the comm frequency has been disabled...Get rid of her, anyway you can; but don't kill her...I have something special in mind for her...:
Both snipers looked at one another in grave concern: taking on a powerful combatant like Majestrix was no small feat; they engaged their stealth-modes, primed their weapons to the highest settings possible...and waited.
Nine hundred meters away, Majestrix paced down the corridor at a brisk speed, following Eclipse's energon trail; still unaware, that Deathshot was stalking her...
In the human med-unit:
From up in the observation room, where all the goings-on of the quarantine section could be safely watched at a distance; the president and Galloway watched with Bishop, as the girl lay unconscious on the berth; doctors and nurses attending to her, while the Autobot scientists analyzed and scanned her, as Prime and some of the other Autobots and NEST troops kept a watchful eye on her.
"She's just a kid" Lawrence shook his head in disbelief.
"A kid, who has been the subject of an inhumane science experiment" Soundwave grumbled over the intercom. As he watched her with Crystalwing at his side, right by Optimus.
"I know this goes without saying: but can we be certain this is Broadsword's doing?" Bishop asked
"Undoubtedly" Prime frowned, "The circuitry on her suit is the same I picked up on the Broadsword troops combat gear, that day Barkiss apprehended me on their behalf"
"And that's not even the half of it" Wheeljack sighed, "We've run multiple scans on her, and I'm afraid, the suit's only the tip of the iceberg"
"She's been implanted with multiple devices: designed to interface with her brain and nervous system; all of which are hooked up to the BSHB on her back, and all wired to respond to her motor control" Que added, as one of the doctors gently rolled her onto her back, to point out the BSHB: "...But worse still: the BSHB unit has somehow been physically fused to her spinal cord: to top it off, there's a network of insulated electrodes beneath her skin that emit a static charge when activated. In addition to wielding the BSHB's energies; these electrodes create a charge that's amped when the BSHB's power out-put is increased. Essentially turning her into a walking, breathing EMP emitter"
"...Monstrous" Bishop cursed under his breath, "...Do we know who she is?" he asked,
"I've got Darren looking into it," Optimus stated, he was about to say something else, when something caught his optic. "...Hm? What's that on her wrist?" he pointed to her left arm.
Looking more closely, one of the nurses could see there was something on the inside of her wrist, partially covered by the sleeve of her suit. Picking her arm up, and gently rolling back the synthetic fabric to her elbow: everyone looked in amazement, as a long row of scars stood out against her pale flesh; each about an inch or two inches long, and all looked very narrow, shallow , and cleanly cut, as if a blade had cut the skin.
"...She's self-harming?" one of the doctors realized.
"What does that mean?" Epps cautious asked,
"It means, this just got a little more complicated" one of the other doctors replied solemnly.
Optimus forwarded screenshots of his optic-feed to Darren's laptop, hoping it might help in some way: meanwhile, from the privacy of her secret room, Blackshot watched the examination in morbid curiosity.
"Well?" one of the female doctors sighed, "We've learnt everything we could from the external examination, now it's time to remove the suit and see what we can do about removing those implants; so if you'll excuse us boys, time for the patient to have a little privacy" she stated as she pressed a button, and the viewing window went opaque; blocking the viewers from sight.
"Indeed" Que nodded, "Doctor, I believe we'll need the-
Suddenly: the power went out, and the bots clasped their helms as a short sharp burst of static went right through them.
"WHAT?!" Blackshot exclaimed as she watched the camera feed go black.
"What the-, what just happened?!" Optimus demanded as he rebooted his systems.
"Dunno!-" Jazz hissed in pain as he grasped his helm, "Some kinda EMP burst!"
"Who came in just now?" one of the doctors called out,
"What?" Soundwave exclaimed
"Someone just came into the room" he replied,
The sound of the door closing made everyone look towards the general direction of the entrance. But as the lights and power came back on: everyone nearly jumped as they saw the girl sitting upright; half-awake and very confused. As their optics readjusted to the lights, the bots stood still and silent: as the girl gazed at her surroundings. From the way she held her head and gazed at everyone, it was clear to see she was out of it: though whether that was the tranquilizer, or something else wasn't clear. But she didn't seem to be conscious enough to acknowledge what was going on, as one of the doctor's tentavely, and calmly approached her...
"...Where..." she mumbled
"Your-, in a hospital: your safe here" he stated calmly, mentally bracing himself for whatever might happen.
"...Hospital? ...Is doctor Arkeville, going to see me today?" she replied
Arkeville
That name was all Optimus needed to hear, to confirm it was Broadsword that did this to her.
"...Um? ...Doctor Arkeville is out today, we're going to look after you instead" one of the nurses replied.
"...Okay...I just-, " but as she looked up: instead of a ceiling, instead, there were four large robotic faces were staring down at her; all as surprised as she was.
"Uh, okay, please don't panic, we can explain-" the doctor tried to calmly explain; but before he could do or say anything more: the girl let out a horrified scream.
In a split-second that felt like it lasted half a minute, both Soundwave and Crystalwing experienced a deluge of memories from the girl, as a deep-seated trauma suddenly burst out of her, like champagne out of a bottle...
A city with tall buildings, fire and people screaming, giant metal things shouting and shooting fire from their arms and wrists
Wrists dripping with blood
Something blue, red and silver crashing through the window, so big it tore up everything in its path: its evil eyes and sharp metal teeth gnawing on flesh and bone.
The sound of bones breaking as she fell down the stairs
The smell of antiseptic, a man in a white coat telling her it was time for her treatment.
The pain of electricity coursing through her frail body: making her muscles lock so hard, that she nearly crushed her teeth with her own jaw
A white mansion, surrounded by sprawling lawns and a long drive-way
Something stopping her from using her hands, ankles tied with soft cord, keeping her from moving. She couldn't get out of the room.
Humans don't deserve to live!
They deserve to choose for themselves!
Sam! No Sam, don't!-
Lifeless eyes gazing upwards into nothingness: blood in her hair and on her blue dress. Her screams, rising up on the hot desert air, as she cradled her in her arms.
She saw them, the things that did this to her, she was scared, she was hurt, they took her away from her
They had to pay
As quickly as the memories had flooded out, Soundwave had to cut himself off from them just as quickly: Crystalwing had to do the same, for the sake of both their sanity. But no sooner had they snapped back to the here and now, they were greeted by the intense blast-front of a wave of BSHB energy, followed by a painful static charge.
Almost instinctively, Soundwave activated his sonic cannons, and blindly fired into the blast. The girl clasped her hands over her ears as the cannon's sound-beam painfully assaulted her hearing. As she activated the BSHB, and as its energy began to build and crackle furiously, Prime, Crystalwing and Jazz wasted no time in getting the injured humans out, while Wheeljack helped a dazed Que out: as Soundwave continued to keep the girl pinned down in the 'cone' of the sound-beam. They quickly sealed the doors to the quarantine section, but it did little to shield them from the rising levels of static energy, which were fast becoming unbearable.
"Any suggestions?" Prime asked Jazz as they braced the doors
"Yeah! Don't get zapped!" Jazz huffed
At the same time, down in the lower level.
As Majestrix paced along, something in her pump told her to get her game-face on.
No sooner had she activated her weapons systems and unsheathed her wrist blades, the familiar air-pressure wave of a bullet passing through the air hit the back of her neck...two pressure waves to be exact. She ducked down, but no bullet came, instead, she heard a loud DING! And another, loud CLANG!
Making the fastest one eighty she'd ever done: Majestrix was totally taken aback to see Eclipse standing to her left, while Deathshot, was standing to her right. With their stealth-modes disengaged, Coldbore and Longrange were just as shocked to see them.
The five bots stood in a total daze for a brief moment, before reality set back in, and the two snipers fired several ion-charged laser rounds at them. Making a mad dash for cover behind some corners at the next intersection of the corridor, the three bots returned fire, keeping the snipers at bay.
"Fine. Whatever. You can fill me in later!" Majestrix called over to her daughter, as a round missed her helm.
"Speaking of which, you've got some explaining to do yourself!" Deathshot shouted angrily.
"I know. And as soon we're done here, I'll explain everything"
Watching the fire-fight unfold on the monitor, Blackshot really began to panic; someone was bound to hear it, and then what? It would be totally out of her control. Without much forethought, she did the only thing that made logical sense, and back-hacked the online system for the base's power grid...
All over the base, the power went out: rooms went pitch black, computers and machinery ground to a halt, and the sliding doors to every room and hanger were either shut, left open, or half opened, in the process of closing or opening. All throughout NEST, not a single volt ran through the system...All except the human med-unit
To everyone's horror, the doors slid open, and a wave of blue energy surged out into the corridor...
Cliffhanger time! D8
And on an important note: there will be the issues of mental health, self harming and domestic abuse, raised in certain ares of the story: I'm sorry I didn't put up a warning at the beginning of the story, but I'm winging this, & I wasn't sure how dark it might get: so better late than never. Anyway, it might get a bit heavy in parts, and probably quite tense towards the end: I'm not too sure, we'll have to see how it goes; but from here on in, I'll be sure to post warning at the start of each chapter, Okay? hope I didn't catch anyone off-guard.
Thanks for reading, and be sure to stayed tuned to see how Optimus and the others survive! Cheers! :)