Thundercracker stares horrified when Torrent enters the medical ward.
His survival instinct prompts him to flee, but fear paralyzes him, and he is helpless while Torrent, like a predator, approaches him with a malevolent smile on his lips.
"My poor little Thundercracker."
Torrent crouches down beside the berth with a deep annoyed sigh and stares coldly into his frightened optics.
"I have been told, that you aren't feeling well."
He begins to tremble while a deceivingly gentle hand slowly begins to caress affectionately along his cheek, and his spark fills with panic when the sire leans in to kiss his lips hard and demanding.
"It seems like you have an issue with your processor. Retrograde has suggested another treatment, and I promise you, that it will make you feel so much better."
Torrent lifts him from the berth and leaves the medical ward.
NO! NO! NO!
He struggles against the strong hold on him, but it is futile.
They enter Retrograde's laboratory and he is placed on the surgical table, just like his old self, with his face down.
The straps fixate him and he begins to cry violently.
A needle penetrates his left arm and he expects to feel the anesthetics begin to take effect the next moment.
"No." Torrent orders, and the needle is pulled out without injecting the anesthetic.
"Are you sure?" Retrograde asks uncertainly.
"Absolutely."
Torrent runs his hands along the sensitive edge of his wings in a mocking attempt at reassurance while Retrograde locates the incision in the back of his head. Her modifying cables slide into his processor through the incision and connects to every system related to his memory storage, memory recall and the processing of previous experiences in relation to new ones, that has made him into the one he is.
The procedure commences, and he instinctively fights a fierce mental battle against the outlier ability, in a desperate attempt to retain his memories, when Retrograde turns her ability against his dearest memories of Skywarp.
It is an impossible battle, and to his horror, he is forced into multiple 'cold' overloads, when Torrent, with a continuous firm pressure to his wingtips, overloads his processor with sensory feedback while whom he is gets erased.
'WHY!' is his last confused thought before the last part of who he is gets erased, and his expressionless optics stare blankly at the surface of the surgical table. His formatted processor now an empty shell that is ready to receive its new identity.
Hidden by the darkness of the night, Shadeweaver and Nightfire approaches 'base zero'. A squadron of fighter jets remain hidden outside detection range, ready to assist them if they should need it.
::Good luck.:: Nightfire sends, and Shadeweaver caresses a wing affectionately in response before she jumps off of his alt-mode and activates her hover wings.
She lands on 'base zero' a few minutes later and hurries inside.
Running down the stairs, she stops at the twenty-fifth floor, where the medical bay is located.
The medical bay turns out to be empty and she curses silently.
Where are you, Skywarp?
She hurries back to the stairs and moves down to the sixth floor, where the building's surveillance room is located.
There is one guard on duty, and he doesn't get the chance to react before she hits him with a fully charged EMP shot that instantly forces him unconscious.
"Where are they hiding you?" She murmurs as she rapidly shifts between cameras on the screen.
The live footage from Skywarp's cell appears on the screen, and she carefully checks the guard, to be certain that he will remain unconscious, before she leaves the surveillance room.
The long corridor on the twenty-third floor is completely deserted when she carefully opens the door leading from the staircase.
She locates the cell with the number 21 on the door and hacks the digital lock.
The beep as the door unlocks sounds loudly in the silence, and she glances carefully up and down the corridor to be sure that no one has heard it.
"Skywarp?" She murmurs, when she opens the door and steps inside the small cell to kneel beside the black and purple seeker.
He is unresponsive, and she hurriedly empties her subspace of the items she has brought with her and places them beside him.
She withdraws a sample of Skywarp's energon with a small needle to test it for the various drugs they know that the syndicate is using on their victims. It reacts with five positives, and she fills a syringe with the correct mix of counteracting agents and injects it into an energon line in Skywarp's neck.
His breathing instantly gets better, and she turns her attention to his deactivated thrusters.
Skywarp wakes slowly from his coma-like state as the counteracting agents neutralize the effect of the drugs in his systems.
His first reaction is fear.
What is Torrent planning to do to him today?
His second reaction is bewilderment when he realizes that he is alone.
The third reaction is shock, when the numbness in his systems dissipate and his processor slowly begins to register the sensations coming from his frame.
Someone is touching him.
He turns around to stare confused at the empty air. It begins to shimmer the next moment, and a gentle reassuring field expands as Shadeweaver deactivates the cloaking device.
"You." He says surprised, as he recognizes the reconnaissance officer.
"I promised you, that I would get you out." Shadeweaver smiles softly while she works on reestablishing his ability to fly.
A faint hope begins to bloom in his spark, but fades at the thought of Thundercracker.
Does he deserve to be saved after what he has done?
Is there any purpose with his life?
Thundercracker is most likely already gone.
Erased.
Torrent had a few days ago meticulously explained the awful details about the traumatic procedure, that Thundercracker would be forced to undergo at the place where the blue seeker has been sent to.
Everything they had together...
Gone.
Just like that.
It is a fate worse than death.
Him loving one, that no longer knows him, and Thundercracker forced to love the one that has hurt them both so much while his spark desperately longs for someone he no longer knows.
"Skywarp?"
Shadeweaver's worried voice draws him out of his depressed thoughts, and he wipes away the running tears when he realizes that he is crying.
"I'm fine." He mumbles.
"No you aren't, but you will be when I get you away from here." Shadeweaver says softly, her voice full of understanding, "I don't know what kind of lies Torrent has told you, but I can reassure you that Thundercracker soon will be safe. We know where he is and they will free him when I have secured your safety."
She returns to her work, and he observes silently while she swiftly replaces the cut wires connecting his thrusters to his flight system with a flair, that shows a deep familiarity with his frame type.
The last wire connects with his flight system and his processor runs a deep system diagnostic and repair, to correct possible system faults, when it registers the presence of the reconnected thrusters in its systems.
"Any issues?"
"No, but I am low on energon." He answers tired.
"I prepared for that." And she withdraws a small cube of energon from subspace, "This should be enough for us to get you to A-63."
"Us?" He inquires curiously while he drinks the small ration.
"No time to explain. We need to get you to safety before my presence gets discovered." She places her tools back into subspace and rises, "Come."
He rises slowly and follows her out of the room.
::We are on our way.:: She contacts Nightfire as they hurry towards the roof.
::On standby. A-63 notified. The special forces have begun their infiltration.:: Nightfire responds, hovering at a short distance from 'base zero'.
Shadeweaver opens the door to the roof a few minutes later, and Skywarp sees the sky for the first time in a long time.
His spark fills with immense relief as they walk out of the building.
"GO!" Shadeweaver orders him, and he looks down at her to offer his hand, but she shakes her head.
"I already have an incoming transport. Follow close behind us. The airspace is currently restricted." She explains with a smile, and he hears the unmistakable sound of a seeker rapidly approaching the building.
His thrusters activate at full power, and he shoots into the air while Shadeweaver runs towards the edge of the building and jumps off.
Nightfire intercepts her in her fall and Skywarp follows the other seeker closely while they fly away from the nightmare of his life.
Torrent looks down at the blue seeker recharging peacefully against him.
He had forgotten how cute 391 had been after the first time they reformatted him and had enjoyed the sweet innocent sounds coming from the sparked carrier, whenever the tip of his spike moved against the sealed gestation chamber while he took the slave on the surgical table right after the procedure had been completed.
The basic personality template is designed to incorporate the first experiences the seeker has into the new identity and shape the personality.
He has no doubt, that 391 is going to be the perfect pleasure slave.
391 had reacted positively to his guidance when he had taught the seeker how to interface, and he didn't even have to force the intimacy beyond gently instructing the slave in how to retract the valve cover and lock it in open position.
The reformatted seeker's innocent, curious and confused optics had looked up at him while he slowly penetrated the valve, and he had been careful to not cause any pain, that could turn the experience into something negative.
Patience is the key to success when it comes to shaping 391 as he wants him.
He had been so furious about the betrayal last time, that he hadn't cared about the long term consequences of his actions, and it had made 391 so fearful of him, that Retrograde had had to transfer the negative experiences and the feelings connected with them onto false memories.
It had had the unexpected benefit that the seeker became afraid of his own frame type, and 391 had desperately sought out his protection against the nonexistent danger whenever he had visited him.
And it is going to be like that again when they show the seeker the footage from 574349's rape of him.
The irony in making 391 afraid of the one he loves makes him smile.
"You are mine." He murmurs possessively and places a gentle hand on the carrier's tiny bulge while he imagines how it is going to feel in a few months.
The thought of sinking his spike into the heavily sparked seeker's valve and watch the extremely erotic sight as the large bulge moves with each of his forceful thrusts, fills him with arousal.
There is a hesitant knock on the door.
"Yes!" He growls, annoyed at being disturbed.
The guard opens the door with an apology.
"The western patrol hasn't reported back and there is no response when we try to contact them."
The base's warning system activates with a high pitched sound the next moment, and the whole complex shakes violently from the explosive impact of a missile, that destroys the base's northern defensive system.
Nacelle and Athena waits together with the assigned healthcare personnel at a safe distance from Retrograde's complex when a large explosion lights up the sky as the first target-locked missile hits its target and destroys one of the base's defensive systems.
The forensic expert listens intently to the communications line while Nacelle's wings twitch nervously, when the syndicate retaliates and fires several missiles in rapid succession high into the air. Thundercracker and the many other victims are located in the middle of the armed conflict, and he prays, that there will be no fatalities.
The syndicate's missiles explode before reaching their targets, intercepted by the Joint Investigation Unit's countermeasures, and the burning remains descend to the ground.
"How can they ensure, that they won't hit the victims?" Athena asks worried while the missile attacks continue and the explosions rain down over the complex.
"The missiles are target-locked to the base's defensive systems, but they can't control the destruction caused by the explosions. We just have to pray that no one dies." Nacelle explains grimly as the conflict gradually escalates. The syndicate utilizes a strange laser weapon to bring down one of the Joint Investigation Unit's AWACS, and it descends uncontrolled to the ground in an explosive inferno.
Topkick's voice fills the communications line and orders a final massive missile attack to destroy the remaining defensive systems as well as the deadly weapons system.
Eight large explosions light up the sky in swift succession as the rest of the base's ground to air defense are destroyed one by one, and they enter the crucial phase, where the Joint Investigation Unit has to secure the safety of the victims, before the members of the syndicate decides to use them as living shields, while at the same time combating the syndicate's two most powerful leaders and their combined forces.
It feels like an eternity while they wait for the Joint Investigation Unit's forces to gain control over the complex.
Torrent is proving to be the challenge, that Prowl had expected him to be while Retrograde seems to be able to cause global amnesia upon those, that get within a radius of ten meters of her. It leaves her targets vulnerable to attacks from the members of the syndicate while those, that try to arrest her collapses unconscious to the ground the moment they touch her.
They share a worried glance while they listen to the reports coming through the communications line.
"I hope that the inhibitor works." Nacelle remarks shaken as they receive the reports of the Joint Investigation Unit's growing casualties.
::Torrent is down! I repeat! Torrent is down! Focus everything on Retrograde. Get the inhibitor on her!:: The announcement fill the communication line roughly twenty minutes later, and the two psychiatrists wait nervously for the confirmation of if the inhibitor is able to nullify the dangerous outlier's ability.
The minutes before they finally receive the good news feel like an eternity.
::Retrograde is down! I repeat! Retrograde is down!::
::Healthcare personnel on standby.::
Nacelle offers his hand to Athena and lifts her when she takes it. He flies them toward the complex and lands at a small distance outside it.
"I'll take care of Retrograde and ensure that they install the inhibitor correctly." The forensic psychiatrist states and heads towards the large group of enforcers standing around the defeated outlier.
Nacelle observes Athena kneel beside Retrograde to check the collar fixated around the outlier's neck. The fake psychiatrist is unconscious and bleeding from a gunshot wound in her chest, that looks to narrowly have missed her spark chamber.
She will survive, but needs treatment.
He turns his attention away when the Joint Investigation Unit's field medics arrive to treat Retrograde and walks towards the main building.
His main focus is Thundercracker, and he requests permission to enter the complex.