The Autobots, along with Agent Fowler, stood and listened while Wheeljack explained what had happened to Kerri. They were furious at the Wrecker, and no one, save Ultra Magnus, held back.
"What is the hell is wrong with you, Wheeljack?-"
"What you did was extremely foolhardy-"
"I'm new to all of this, and even I know that was a bad idea-"
"Prime, you promised me that she would be safe-"
Ultra Magnus stood behind Optimus, silently listening to his angry comrades as they admonished Wheeljack. It was only after the angry indignation had died down that he moved forward, and wary optics fell on him. The Commander's face was stone like, his voice calm. He never looked in Wheeljack's direction, instead focusing his attention on Prime.
"We are going to get her."
"Ultra Magnus, it is not feasible to storm the Nemesis-"
"Then I am going to get her."
"I-I don't think he took her back to the Nemesis," muttered Wheeljack.
For the first time, Magnus turned cold optics towards the bot.
"Where is she?"
"I'm…not sure. I was pretty out of it. But I think I heard Knockout tell Starscream that he wasn't going back."
"So how do we find them?" asked Fowler. "You guys don't have any way of tracking her?!"
"Only her phone, Agent Fowler," answered Ratchet. "I've tried to locate it, with no success."
"What about Knockout? You don't have any way to pick up 'Con signals or anything?"
"It doesn't work that way, Fowler! We have no idea where he could've taken her."
"Well, you all had better figure out something! That's one of my soldiers out there! She trusted you, I trusted you, and you let this knucklehead," he said, gesturing to Wheeljack," put her right back into the hands of the enemy!"
"Look, tiny," started Wheeljack, "if you wanna try-"
"Shut up, Wheeljack," Magnus said quietly. "Shut up or I will put my servo through your spark chamber right now." He started to move towards the Wrecker before Optimus stepped in.
"Enough," he said. "I have an idea. Megatron can't be happy that Knockout has deserted. Or that Starscream assisted him."
"So what difference does that make?" asked Fowler.
"He is probably as eager to retrieve Knockout as we are to retrieve Kerri. Ratchet, contact the Nemesis."
Ratchet turned to the monitor and opened communications.
"Autobot base to Nemesis. Come in Nemesis."
"Autobot base to Nemesis. Megatron, do you read us?"
Silence. And then Megatron's face appeared.
"This is Megatron."
Optimus moved up to the monitor.
"Megatron, we have a situation involving one of you subordinates. Knockout has kidnapped our human ally, Kerri. Do you know anything about it? Does he have her aboard the Nemesis?"
"Ah, Yes, Knockout," he said. "I do, in fact, know something about it. It seems that the good doctor devised a ruse to get himself off of the ship, assisted by Starscream."
"I take it that he had not returned?"
"Apparently he has no intention of returning."
"Do you know where he is, Megatron?" asked Prime.
"Well, it took some persuading, but I convinced Starscream to tell me the entire story."
Megatron moved from in front of the monitor so that the Autobots could see the Starscream's crumpled frame lying on the floor behind him.
"Then I have a proposition for you Megatron. I would assume that you want your medical officer back. If you tell me where he has taken Kerri, we can meet at the location. We will take her, and you can do as you wish with Knockout."
"And why should I care rather or not you retrieve your human pet?" Megatron sneered.
"Because if we find Knockout first, we are going to kill him. We know that he is your only medical personnel aboard the Nemesis. You need him, and we have no desire to spill energon. But if you can't control Knockout, then we will have no choice."
"Don't threaten me Prime," snarled Megatron. "You will not find Knockout. I know where he is. You pet is as good as dead. Megatron out."
The screen went dark as Ultra Magnus slammed his fist onto the console. "Dammit! How are we going to find her?" He turned his attention back to a Wheeljack. "If anything happens to her, Primus himself won't keep me off of you."
Megatron turned to Soundwave. "Send Lazerbeak to the coordinates Starscream gave. I want to make certain that my Second in Command told the truth before I dispose of him once and for all."
: As you command, Master.
Lazerbeak detached from Soundwave's chest and took flight, leaving the Nemesis and heading towards the Harbinger. Megatron looked at Starscream's crumpled frame.
"Have that put in the brig," he said, nodding towards the unresponsive Seeker. "I will finish him once we have the good doctor back in our company." Soundwave motioned to the two Vehicons on the deck, who hurriedly lifted Starscream and left the bridge, dragging the damaged mech behind them.
Starscream, barely conscious, felt himself being moved. His handlers were rough, and every movement elicited a groan. His wings were broken and hanging at seemingly impossible angles. His cockpit was smashed, and energon seemed to be weeping from every joint. His pain receptors were screaming and the Decepticon could barely manage a coherent thought. He was dizzy and lightheaded, his optics struggling to focus. He was being dragged down the corridor, but to where, he wasn't sure.
'You're going to die if you don't get it together,' he thought. Even if Megatron spared him any more damage (which he doubted), he didn't think that he would survive his injuries, especially without Knockout.
Knockout! If he could reach the Harbinger, maybe the doctor could save him. The old ship had been stripped of most supplies, but maybe there would be something on hand to repair him.
Starscream forced himself to ignore his pain and focused. Megatron would be on his way to retrieve Knockout by now. He needed to escape the Nemesis. But what then? Megatron would be at the Harbinger, and Starscream was certainly in no condition to fight the warlord. Megatron would merely offline him before grabbing Knockout and the human-.
The Autobots! Of course! That was his answer. He needed to reach them.
Starscream hung limp between the two Decepticons who were carrying him. His optics narrowed as he gazed down the corridor, trying to get his bearings. They weren't taking him to his quarters. That was in the other direction. He doubted that they were taking him to medbay. No reason to. Not without Knockout there. That left one place: the brig. He did a quick diagnostic check: His wings are useless. He wouldn't be able to fly away from the Nemesis. That left the groundbridge. His weaponry was still intact somehow. Megatron had arrogantly assumed that the flyer was too damaged to fire a weapon. An incredibly lucky turn. Now to act.
Starscream suddenly began thrashing about wildly. "Stop!", he cried out, as he lashed out against the bots. "I'm bleeding out!"
The startled guards dropped Starscream to the floor and watched as he flailed about, seemingly in incredible pain. He managed to get on all fours and stayed that way for a moment, head down, mouth dripping energon, as the Vehicons stared down at him.
"Are you ok, sir?" One of the guards asked, as he went to kneel next to the injured mech.
"No, I'm not," answered Starscream, as both arms shot up, and a rocket hit each mech squarely in the chest. Both went down, sparks and energon pouring from their smoking frames. Starscream stumbled to his peds and looked around. No one was in the corridor and no alarms sounded. So far, so good. But he was in incredible pain.
"Now comes the hard part," he muttered to himself. He needed to get back to the bridge. He assumed that Megatron and Soundwave would both be on the ground by now, leaving the helm manned by Vehicons. Starscream shuffled and limped through the corridor, unnoticed, until he reached the bridge. His intake hitched heavily, rockets prepared to fire. If Megatron was still aboard, this was going to be suicide. But if so, he was going to go out in a blaze of glory.
The doors slid opened, and two Vehicons turned to face him. Starscream didn't hesitate to fire, watching as both fell across the helm before crashing to the floor. Moving as quickly as his damaged form would allow, he activated the groundbridge and headed for the planet below.
Optimus turned to Wheeljack. "You need to try to remember, Wheeljack. Anything, anything at all."
"I told you, Prime, I don't remember anything! Knockout fried my processor! Don't you think-"
"Quiet, everybody!", yelled Ratchet. "I'm getting a communication. From…Starscream," he said, turning to Optimus. Prime walked to the monitor and begin speaking.
"Starscream, this is Optimus Prime. Why are you contacting us?"
"I am in need of medical…treatment," he vented heavily. "In return, I can tell you where to find the human." Ultra Magnus pushed his way past Prime and to the monitor.
"Tell me where in the hell she is, Starscream, now!"
"After I receive medical treatment. I would suggest you hurry. Megatron is already on his way to get Knockout. The woman will be an unfortunate casualty."
"Tell us where she is Starscream," ordered Prime. "Once we confirm your information, we will send medical aid. Not before."
"Very well. I am sending the coordinates now."
Ratchet wasted no time in feeding the coordinates into the computer and activating the groundbridge. Turning to the others, he stated, "As soon as you confirm, I'll go to Starscream." He leveled his gaze at Ultra Magnus. "Bring her back."
"That's exactly what I intend to do," the giant mech answered. "Are we ready?" He asked, turning back to the team.
"Locked and loaded, sir," answered Smokescreen.
"Everyone, be prepared," warned Optimus. "Megatron will be there. Hopefully this will not turn into a fight, but if it does, we will be ready. Kerri's safe return is paramount. Agent Fowler, we need you to man the groundbridge. Wheeljack, you will go with Ratchet."
Wheeljack said nothing, merely nodding. The Autobots ran into the swirling groundbridge. Ratchet closed the bridge behind them before turning back to the monitor, waiting for Optimus to open communications. It was mere seconds before Prime's voice crackled in their audials.
"Prime to Ratchet. We've found a downed Decepticon warship, two life signals inside, one human. Unfortunately, Megatron is here as well. Bumblebee is going to attempt to get a better location on the signals. The faster we do this, the better. You and Wheeljack get to Starscream. We may yet need him."
"On the way," answered Ratchet. He turned to Fowler. "Be prepared to bridge all of us back as quickly as possible," he said to the agent.
"No problem. I've got this. Now go." Ratchet grabbed his bag and activated the grounbridge once more. He turned to Wheeljack. "Let's go, soldier."
Starscream laid against a boulder, clutching his side, trying to focus as the bright light swirled and expanded in front of him. The Autobot medic, accompanied by Wheeljack, leaped out and landed on the ground in front of him. The Wrecker had his weapon activated, while the doctor carried a bag.
"You won't need your weapon, Autobot. As you can clearly see, I am completely incapacitated. I am no threat to you."
"You bastard! It's your fault that Knockout has Kerri!" snarled Wheeljack as lunged towards the grievously wounded Seeker. He was almost on top of the Deception when Ratchet angrily pulled him back, shoving him to the ground. He stood over the Autobot, finger poking him angrily in the chassis.
"It's your fault, Wheeljack. You never should have taken her out there! This is all your fault! You've done enough damage, now how about helping for a change?!"
"Well said, Autobot," Starscream started. "Here I am, trying to help-"
Ratchet spun back to face Starscream. "You, shut the hell up. I would love nothing more than to leave you here to rust. You' d better hope that Prime reaches Knockout before Megatron does, although something tells me that your days are numbered anyhow. You're not going to survive another beating.
"I don't intend to," spat Starscream. "I am officially seeking asylum with the Autobots."