Fire of Youth

Chapter 50: The King of the Storm

*Sorry for the delaaaaay D: I am so sorry this took so long! Ack! Please accept this long chapter as an apology! D:


After a few hours of being in the lab with Shockwave and Knockout, Ratchet did have to admit that despite the circumstances (i.e., "being a hostage"), it was actually quite lovely to be able to work alongside two other scientific-minded individuals. Knockout wasn't exactly on the same level as Shockwave (only Perceptor could ever hope to be on his intelligence level), but at the same time, the red medic wasn't daft either. He was a reasonably skilled chemist. Killzone was rather intelligent himself, though not the science-minded type; however, he split his time guarding the lab and managing the construction workers, so he wasn't consistently available to speak to. If nothing else, he kept things interesting by supervising their little watcher in the ceiling grate and hinting that others were watching, too.

The Eradicon Seargent had also accidentally shown him something useful as well. When Killzone had taken him to see "Project: Phoenix," Ratchet noted far fewer soldiers roaming the ship than he had expected. Going by what Killzone had said, it seemed that Knockout and Starscream could be the reason for the mysterious drop in troop numbers, though he had yet to find out the specifics. Regardless, fewer soldiers to stop him could mean an easier escape. He just needed to figure out how to. It wasn't like he could simply jump. He didn't have wings, groundbridge access, or the Phase Shifter like Smokescreen had when he'd impulsively jumped from the Nemesis.

Primus. Smokescreen, he thought. How on Earth was he taking this? Was he alive? And what was the state of the base? Would he even have a place to escape to?

VOIP!

Ratchet nearly jumped at the bright turquoise flash that lit the lab up. For a second, he thought a groundbridge had opened. But instead, it was a small green hound beast far friendlier looking than Ravage. He rather looked like a cross between a wild wolf and a border collie.

"Tag-Along!" scolded Knockout. "What did I say about teleporting into the lab unannounced?"

*Killzone told me to check on you lot, see if you needed anything,* the hound explained in a charming Scottish accent.

"Could you retrieve another vial of the Synth-En from storage?" Ratchet requested. "We're running low. I'd get it myself, but –" he jerked his helm at Shockwave, "I don't feel he would approve."

The hound wagged his tail. *Aye. One klik.*

Two flashes later, the hound returned with two vials, one in each hand. He was just as friendly-looking in his biped state: an athletic-looking little mech with a pleasant face and beaming optics. The upper half of the head of his hound form sat on his chest, and unlike any other Predacon he had seen up to that point, Tag-Along kept his tail and ears in biped form. Charming, really.

"Thank you," the old medic told him.

Tag-Along transformed and let out a cheerful yip before teleporting back out of the lab.

"If only Miko were that well behaved," Ratchet muttered to himself.

Knockout snorted. "Well-behaved? You should see some of the stunts they've pulled on this ship. They knocked out our communications system just for a good giggle."

That reminded him of a recent event. "Was this the same day you abducted Ms. Hayek by any chance?"

"Who?"

Ratchet rolled his optics. Downright typical that he wouldn't remember the name of his hostage. Decepticons were rarely that considerate, and Knockout was frankly too full of himself to remember many other names – especially human ones. He well remembered how he'd somehow inexplicably mistaken Vince – Vince! – for Rafael. Apparently, Knockout was just as bad with human faces as he was with human names.

"Lebanese woman. Works with the mercenary Brawn," he prompted. "She goes by Sami."

"Oh her!" Knockout recalled. "Er, yes. I'd, ah, rather not deal with her ever again."

Ratchet kept his chuckle in his head but couldn't stop the smug smirk from forming on his lip-plates. Knockout was no fan of Sami Hayek after their memorable first encounter. Perhaps he could use that to his advantage at some point.

"Stop smirking and get to work," Knockout snipped. "We're nearly done."

"Yes, that's what I'm worried about," Ratchet muttered under his breath.

"Pardon?"

"Nothing," the old medic calmly lied.


While Rafael, Jack, and Miko worked on getting the transponder ready for flight, Ultra Magnus was studying with Prowl what exactly Ravage had tried to take from Ratchet's console and whether or not he'd succeeded. Hearing their conversations in the background (and the low whine of the transponder) was almost a comforting white noise, though, to some degree, Prowl had learned to tune them out. Not everything the children had to say was of particular strategic import, so argued Prowl, but Ultra Magnus rather disapproved. Sometimes a stray comment could prove helpful. Soundwave knew that better than anyone. His attentiveness was what made him so dangerous.

The Commander turned to Prowl just in time for something to smack into the side of his head. He managed to catch the object before it crashed to the ground.

"Sorry!" cried Rafael, a horrified look on his face.

Behind him, Miko quickly put her hands behind her back.

Ultra Magnus politely returned the object to the boy.

"At least you have it airborne," he noted. "You are making good progress."

"Yeah, I still need to get the control kinks worked out. There seems to be a second or so delay in command receipt," the boy shyly smiled. "Sorry again."

He merely nodded to the boy as a silent means of saying there was no harm done.

"He doesn't appear to have obtained anything of vital importance before we stopped him," Prowl noted when he returned to his side. "That's some relief. I can detect no malware viruses that he may have uploaded either."

"Fortunate for us that Ravage is no professional hacker," Ultra Magnus agreed. "And also fortunate we have one such professional on our side."

He turned to Rafael and nodded. The boy meekly smiled and nervously adjusted his glasses. Ultra Magnus still marveled at how easily he understood Cybertornian language and code. He took to it so naturally. Of course, part of that he was aware was Ratchet's in-depth tutoring, but a great deal of it appeared to be innate talent and understanding. And that was now proving vital. Other than Optimus, Ratchet and Rafael were the only ones who held extensive coding training.

"I think I fixed the command lag, but I'll need to test," the boy declared. "Jack, you wanna try it?"

"You sure? You're kinda the one coding it right now," the older teen observed. "It's easier for you to tell any delays and stuff if you're controlling it, right?"

"Oh, oh! Let me try!" Miko demanded, bouncing.

Jack stood behind her mutely shaking his head. Rafael giggled.

"Just try not to hit Ultra Magnus this time," he told her.

He held out the controller to Miko, who snatched it right away. The retrofitted transponder lifted off without an issue and began quietly buzzing throughout the hangar. This time, she didn't hit anyone.

"You're pretty good at that, Miko!" applauded Bulkhead.

The spunky teen laughed. "I have a friend in Tokyo, Koji, who let me fly his drone to take pictures. I've had some practice."

"Plus, driving an RC car probably helped," Jack clarified. "Same concept, it's just this one is, y'know, airborne."

"And it looks like I fixed the signal delay issue," smiled Raf. "So it's doing what she tells it with no pause. Good. That's important."

Bulkhead held his hand out as a landing pad. Miko took the challenge and guided it over. Fowler happened to open the door to his office just as it was coming his way. The normally composed man briefly panicked and drew his sidearm as instinct took over. Only once she set it down in Bulkhead's palm did he relax and understand what was really going on.

"So Raf's making some progress?" he guessed.

"Leaps and bounds!" Bluestreak gushed. "I mean, I've heard of quick studies before, but this is amazing! I totally buy now what Ratchet said about him hacking Laserbeak and hacking the entire warship in the process."

*Not the entire thing, Blue,* Bumblebee reminded him. *Just the database. Miko would have nose-dived it into the nearest ocean trench if they had hacked the entire ship.*

"But still!"

"Rafael's technical acumen is something to admire," Prowl admitted through the faintest hint of a smile.

"I thought the point was the transponder could get there on its own, though," June argued. "Why remote control it at all?"

"Flight tests mainly," Rafael clarified. "But remember, this is just the transponder, so it probably won't know to get out of the way of something dangerous enough to bring it down. A control override is necessary for when that happens. We need to get this thing as close to the warship as possible to find it visually."

"You expect it to be attacked?" Arcee translated.

Rafael nodded. "And whoever goes with it. Someone will have to. Chip can't stage a rescue on its own. Plus, once it's aboard, its signal will get jammed."

"Which kind of defeats the whole point of this," Wheeljack agreed.

Sami raised a slender eyebrow at him. "Chip?" she repeated curiously.

"Yeah! Because it's a 'chip" off Laserbeak!" grinned Miko. "Get it? Chip?"

Sami quietly applauded while smugly smiling at her. She had never been one to frown at a good bit of wordplay.

"What's that old human saying? Fool me once, shame on you? Fool me twice, shame on me?" Brawn grunted.

Rafael managed a little laugh. "Exactly. They know we've tricked them before, so the longer we put off our trick being called, the better."

"But the 'Cons can spot you 'bots from miles away. So how're you supposed to get Chip close without its escort blowing its cover?" Fowler pressed.

Rafael's eyes twinkled. "They spot them because of identifier beacons. Both sides use them to avoid friendly fire. So all they have to do is turn their beacon off."

Fowler's confusion cleared. Such a strategy was the equivalent of turning the lights off in a large room and being told to find one moving target who couldn't be heard, felt, smelled, or otherwise detected. Finding the target in that situation wasn't impossible, but it made searching much more challenging – and frustrating. And unfortunately for them, Decepticons tended to react to frustration by trying to blow up, maim, or otherwise viciously murder whatever (or whoever) was causing it. So it made sense to give Chip a bodyguard.

"Wouldn't that make tracking our guy impossible?" Jack realized.

"Yes," admitted Rafael slowly, "but so long as we maintain radio contact, that shouldn't be a big problem."

"Is it ready to fly?" Fowler demanded.

"Ready as soon as we have a bodyguard," Rafael confirmed.

"I'll go," offered Infernus.

"Out of the question, Prime," Ribbondance argued in a curt shake of her head. "They would expect you most of all. I will go."

"Y'all realize I got a cloaked ship with a whole lotta guns, right?" Brawn grunted through a grin.

"No! I must be the one to retrieve Ratchet."

Everyone, human and Autobot alike, turned to the Thunderbird in surprise.

"Grim, we don't even know if you can fly yet," Infernus reminded him gently.

The Thunderbird's face was adamant. "Ratchet gave me my wings back," he argued firmly. "It is only right I return his act with one of my own. There is no better time than now to see his work to fruition, Prime. Please, let me return him to you. I owe him this."

He transformed then and there.

Infernus sighed, "I'm not able to talk you out of this, am I?"

Grimwing shook his head and made for the hangar threshold. Rafael ran over and got in the way.

"Hold on, hold on! I have an idea to make this a little easier," the boy told him. "We can use one of the jets to give you a boost."

"You want to strap him to one of the jets?" Jack wondered, baffled.

"No! Not that. Jets create air currents behind them when they fly. It's part of the mechanic that lets them stay airborne, it and the thrust from the engine. Grimwing can use those rear currents to get an air boost! It's the same reason why geese fly in a v-shape when migrating: the bird flying behind gets it a little easier because they get some extra lift from the bird in front! Like drifting, but in the air!"

Grimwing understood the idea. He nodded vigorously.

"I'll scramble my jet!" declared Fowler. "Meet me on the runway, flyboy! Raf, bring Chip!"

Bluestreak offered him a ride to where his jet was waiting. Bumblebee grabbed Chip and Raf and sprinted out to meet them. Grimwing intersected both parties on the tarmac to take up a position about a hundred feet behind Fowler's waiting jet though it wasn't long before the audience grew in size. Everyone had come to see if Raf's idea, and Ratchet's work and therapy, would pay off – and Grimwing certainly didn't disappoint. When Fowler signaled Grimwing with a few wiggles of his jet's flaperons, Grimwing responded by unfurling both wings for the first time in thousands of years. The man was stunned at just how impressive his wingspan was when he gave them a pre-flight flap and stretch: they were massive and broad, more like a vulture or a condor than a hawk or an eagle.

"Everything good back there, Grimwing?" Fowler demanded.

The Thunderbird let out a loud squawk and flapped his wings again. No lock-ups happened.

"To see the Thunderbird of Mount Tsoodzil fly..." muttered Neal in awe. "I never thought I'd see the day."

"He's not in the air yet," Arcee reminded him tersely.

"Raf, let's get Chip in the air so he knows which way to go," he suggested.

Bumblebee put the boy down before placing Chip beside him. Raf then whipped out his controller and, in a faint roar and buzz, Chip launched into the skies.

Grimwing gave a thunderous screech that needed no translation, and Fowler had his jet surge down the runway. Grimwing gave chase, his legs becoming a near-blur beneath him. About halfway down the runway, the speed (and the rush of air under him) was enough to lift his wings up. Infernus could almost feel how it felt, that kind of weird sensation of being able to jump and take off with a wiggle of a wing but still being on the ground.

"Come on Grimwing, come on Grimwing!" urged Fowler.

The rest of the Autobots cheered him on as well. Perhaps the loudest voices of encouragement were from Neal and June though.

His initial kick-off didn't quite work, but a second attempt saw him lifted off the ground. He was wobbly at first after so long out of practice; it took mere moments, however, for muscle memory to kick in and steady his flight path. He became confident and steady, and he maintained a ramrod straight chase after the jet and kept in the aircraft's drift winds with surgical precision. His victory scream was practically drowned out by the roaring cheer of the team below.

"YEAH!" bellowed Bulkhead.

"Atta boy!" cheered Wheeljack.

"Go Grimwing! Go!" Arcee cheered.

Miko whistled loudly and shouted something in her native Japanese.

So many cheers, and so much confidence and faith, lent strength to his wings.

"Yeah, baby!" Fowler laughed. "Ha-ha!"

Fowler's formerly steady incline became sharper, and he pulled off higher. Grimwing screeched as he picked up his pace to match. Fowler led him off the grounds after Chip. But the two weren't alone for long. A commotion occurred on the tarmac as Infernus launched into the air after them.

"Prime!" thundered Ultra Magnus.

Infernus looked back. He was going with him, he argued, and he wasn't going to let anyone stop him. If something happened to Grimwing en route, and no one was there to help him, he'd never forgive himself. Buddy systems were important when the stakes were so high. With such a simple, rational argument, Ultra Magnus was forced to concede. Infernus had already turned off his identifier beacon, and he knew the risks. His action wasn't blindly impulsive. Having an extra alongside Grimwing would help ensure success – and the Commander personally suspected the young Prime wanted any excuse to attack the Decepticons directly, and Megatron personally.

So rather than scold Infernus (as some little part of him wanted to), he simply wished him good speed and for no hurdles to hinder their journey.

"I'll keep the Bulldog idlin' in case you need some extra guns up there, chief," Brawn offered.

*Thanks. Both of you.*

Ultra Magnus had to smile faintly at the gratitude he heard in the young Prime's voice.

*Fowler, pull back. We can handle things from here,* Grimwing requested politely to the man ahead of them.

"Roger that, Grimwing. Godspeed, both of you."

Fowler's jet whined and pulled back to the compound. Chip was left in the lead. Soon, the trio disappeared over the horizon.


They followed Chip for so long a distance that Infernus simply stop tracking distance. Nevada's red-rock deserts and buttes were swiftly left behind. Other states and environments passed by below them. Mountains. Plains. Thick forests. Some paranoid little part of him briefly thought that Chip had been hacked by Soundwave and was leading them into an ambush. Alpha Trion and Optimus together brushed that aside with simple logic. Aside from brief stops to stock up on Energon from the mines, the warship was constantly on the move and either high in the atmosphere or in low earth orbit. For all they knew, the warship was on the opposite side of the planet. At any rate, Rafael would have alerted them if Chip's programming had been compromised.

That was reassurance enough that he stopped worrying. Raf was wicked smart and had a sharp eye. If anything was wrong with Chip, he would have said something. He would say something.

He couldn't help but notice Grimwing had pulled ahead. The air practically crackled around him, and he seemed to be searching the skies.

*Trouble?* he wondered.

*Far from it,* the Thunderbird replied. *I merely seek cloud cover. As high as we are, humans can still see if they look up especially my dark coloration.*

Infernus internally winced. That was a thing he'd told Bryce he'd solve at some point and simply never had. Which was a little unfortunate. According to Miko's report of the British Isles beasts, they were outfitted with cloaking or camouflage devices. The giant serpent beasts of Central and South America had the same (for even more obvious reasons) though theirs functioned more like illusions than true invisibility. But knowing Grimwing's history, it did make sense why he lacked one: he had turned on Shockwave before one had been implemented.

He decided to run the issue by Raf. He could run a weather check using global radar. There could be clouds or storms nearby they just couldn't see yet.

"If Chip keeps his heading, it looks like there's a big storm cell moving in the same direction you are. You should intersect it in about two hours."

Grimwing clacked his beak. *Thank you, Rafael.*

"Storm cell?" June repeated. "Raf, is it wise for them to be flying into that? Chip could get damaged. That cell has multiple severe thunderstorm warnings."

Grimwing's optics brightened and flashed. *Perfect.*

Infernus looked at him, bewildered. How was that perfect? That sounded like a death trap for Chip. Frankly, it sounded like a death trap for them, too. The third rail of a subway was a puppy's chew toy compared to what a lightning strike could do. But Grimwing was almost giddy about the prospect of such a severe storm. Infernus knew Grimwing was no stranger to lighting; he'd used it for food for many centuries. Ratchet, however, had noted that such an approach was dangerous even when accounting for Grimwing's modified biology. Lightning was superheated plasma hotter than the surface of the sun. Absorbing it, even with modified biology, still put a serious strain on his systems. If Grimwing was thinking what Infernus thought he was thinking, he was being uncharacteristically reckless.

But the storm eventually loomed ahead as roiling dark mountains in the sky. The air rumbled and white flashed in the black clouds.

Going through the upper part of it, Infernus judged, would be safer for Chip. Raf agreed and sent the signal. Chip rose up higher, and Infernus followed.

Grimwing didn't even flinch. Like the proud figurehead of an old sailing ship, he sailed headlong into the storm.

KRACKA-KOOM!

The sky practically rattled. White light and crackling lightning erupted in the storm clouds.

"GRIMWING!" he roared.

He couldn't see him below. He blended too well with the storm.

"What's happening to his vitals?" June cried. "Raf?!"

"I don't – I don't – hold on, I –"

"Grimwing, get outta there! It's not safe!" bellowed Bulkhead. "You're gonna get hurt!"

There was a heavy pause on the other end. Thunder cracked the sky and lightning nearly blinded the young Prime. Then came something unexpected: the booming laughter of Neal Rowland and an exuberant exclamation:

"He's a real Thunderbird!"


KRRRACKA-BANG!

Lighting crashed from every angle. Thunder drummed across the sky. All was light. All was sound. Grimwing surged through a cloudbank with a triumphant keen, his whole body beginning to crackle savagely with captured electricity. The white flashes within the dark clouds snapped and jumped, eager to connect. Grimwing would happily oblige them. It had been far too long since he had danced with a storm.

"Come, sister storm! Lend me sword and spear!" he cried.

Lightning cracked and seared his optics. White-hot energy struck his metal hide and burrowed into it. It was overwhelming, and no doubt would have killed any other Cybertronian. But for Grimwing, it was painful but revitalizing – like humans diving into ice-cold water. Every strike that connected provided an invigorating jolt. For too long he had been limp and weak on the ground, away from the raging storms that had earned him his Navajo name, begging those selfsame storms for a little strike for sustenance. To feel the lightning course through him not as food but as power – it was like being young again, fresh out of the pod. Once mostly dormant dispersal and storage systems flared back to life to collect more and more lightning as he roared onward. With each white-hot crack, his body grew yet stronger.

He dove deeper into the storm. Thunder crashed around him like a deafening war drum as sheets of rain pelted his metal feathers. The gusty winds, so dangerous for humans and smaller creatures, were more like hearty claps on the back to Grimwing. His sister was just as happy to see him airborne and mighty again as he himself was. Oh, to fly with the gusts and gales, with the drumbeat of thunder cheering him on!

He could not laugh in his avian form but he managed a loud, hearty keen in its place while true laughter rolled over his comm. link.

He truly thought he would never have this again. This freedom, this power, the thundering approval of the storm.

He would need to take Neal flying one day, once the clangor of war had died.

Screaming, he surged upward out of the thunderhead, nearly colliding with Infernus. The young Prime was unbothered. Indeed, his cheerful blue optics said he was happy to see him so alive again, and shocked to see him literally bristling with enough wild electricity to power a small city for a week.

"Now," the Thunderbird said grandly, "we are ready for a rescue!"

The young Prime roared agreement and they surged onwards to catch up with Chip, the little transponder having forged ahead without them.


Soundwave stood in front of Megatron. His visor displayed something peculiar: two transponder signals. One came from Soundwave himself, the other from Laserbeak. But Laserbeak was attached to Soundwave and had been for many hours. He at first suspected some manner of strange lure meant to draw his forces out, but that made little sense. Soundwave cleared his confusion by simply showing that the signal was headed for the warship. Then, he recalled the damage to Laserbeak itself. The pieces fell into place. He almost had to give the Autobots credit for ingenuity. Almost – if it was even theirs. The littlest of their human charges had an intellectual prowess that belied his age. Whether that was something he had learned from Ratchet or was in fact innate talent had yet to be seen.

"Clever..." he admitted slowly before then raising his voice. "Starscream!"

"Yes, Lord Megatron?" the scrawny grey Seeker bowed.

He frowned at him. "Take Screech and your armada. See to it that this tracking attempt fails."

Starscream smirked, "My pleasure."

The grey Seeker rushed from the bridge and gathered his forces. With a delighted cackle, he took to the skies with his troops – and with Screech, beady-eyed and eternally unpleasant.

"Killzone," Megatron then ordered. "Keep an eye on the Autobot doctor."

"Yes, Lord Megatron," the Seargent replied.


They flew onwards for what felt like hours but in reality, it was only an hour or two. He began to worry Grimwing would attract some unwarranted attention until another band of storms crossed their path. This second storm system was less severe than its earlier twin and provided a much more reasonable place to seek shelter from prying eyes: less lightning and more thunder and rain. Raf deemed it safe enough for Chip to fly into as well. However, Infernus took note that Grimwing was trying to keep a safe distance from Chip due to the arcs of electricity snapping across his frame.

*You sure you don't need to let some of that out?* he asked him. *That looks...uncomfortable.*

Grimwing laughed at him. *Not as uncomfortable as the Decepticons will be when it is unleashed upon them!*

"Uh, guys? I'm picking up Decepticon signals headed your way!" Raf nervously reported. "I think they're onto us!"

Both Autobots checked their scanners and found indeed that they were about to have company. At least a dozen Decepticon signals were converging on their position. Infernus shared a look with Grimwing who nodded back. The Decepticons were only detecting the transponder signal from Chip since their own identifier beacons were dark. They needed to protect it if they hoped to find the warship.

"Autobots!" howled a familiar raspy voice after a clap of thunder.

Starscream.

Infernus's claws flexed. Classic idiot, he thought, announcing his own arrival.

*Raf, can you give me control of Chip? We need to get it out of here or Starscream'll blast it to pieces.*

"Control transferred, Infernus."

He had Chip fly into the darker parts of the storm while he and Grimwing split off in two directions to attack from two different positions. Infernus's idea was simple: ambush them and pick them off as fast as possible. A coordinated melee would reduce the risk of Chip being shot by either party. However, his idea was off to a bad start when a terrible, mind-melting screech ripped through the storm clouds. He screamed in pain and temporarily lost the ability to fly. But the scream was the problem. That let the Decepticons not only know he was there but figure out where he was. Four of them, plus a sickly green bird, dove out of the clouds and pelted him with plasma. He managed to regain composure just as one swooped by him. Furious, he snapped down on the soldier's wing as hard as he could, sawing it off, and swatted him with his tail. Burning and bleeding, the soldier plummeted to the ground miles below, whereupon he exploded when he hit the ground.

For a very, very brief second, he felt a little bad about that.

Then he turned his focus back on the other Decepticons.

His near white-hot stream of fire forced their tight formation to split in two. That prompted Grimwing to silently dive out of the clouds above and snatch one of the soldiers in his talons and quite literally ripped him in half, thus breaking the formation he had attacked. When the Decepticons rounded on him and regrouped, Grimwing vanished back into the clouds. Starscream's formation tore after Infernus himself.

Krrracka-BANG!

In a blinding flash and a pained howl, another soldier spiraled, smoking and crackling, out of the clouds.

"Screech! Deal with him!" screamed the grey Seeker captain.

Another terrible, mind-melting scream forced the young Prime to plummet. Something dirty green dove after him and started clawing at his face. Grimwing fell too as it kept screaming at them, but he recovered first and attacked the other, smaller Avioid. In one swift twist of his talons, he dislocated the smaller bird's wing. Unable to fly, Screech spiraled towards the ground in a chaotic descent as they tried to steady their fall. He was frankly impressed by Grimwing's approach. To be able to take out, without killing, a much smaller target was no small feat for someone Grimwing's size; it took a great deal of control. If Grimwing was a condor, Screech was a mere blue jay. That he bothered to be so careful with an enemy was yet more testimony to his character.

Starscream howled and veered towards Grimwing.

"I am Starscream! I am your better, beast!" he declared in a fury."I will not be bested by a bird!"

'Egotistical much?' harrumphed the Shifter Prime.

'Not to mention the multiple accounts on this planet of single birds bringing down passenger jets...' Solus muttered.

Infernus had to stifle a snicker.

One missile was fired, but it didn't manage to get more than ten feet from Starscream when Grimwing spat lightning at it and the missile exploded practically right in Starscream's face. Apparently realizing that fighting Grimwing was a poor life choice (and not very effective), he went for Infernus and Chip. His soldiers followed after him. Infernus was barely able to avoid the little transponder being shot, and only by using himself to shield it from the flurry of plasma shots.

"Stop the tracker!" he shrieked. "Blast it to pieces!"

They chased him into the clouds.

He rolled, dodged, dove, and climbed to try to shake his pursuers. Rain pelted him and blurred his vision. He kept having to shake his head to clear the droplets.

"Having trouble seeing, Prime?" Starscream crowed.

His mockery lasted about five seconds. With a scream and a snap of thunder, Grimwing dove out of the clouds, burst into their formation, and grabbed one of the troopers in his claws. He then spun with his prey and flung him at one of his fellows in a small explosion, and both plummeted. Lightning spat from his mouth towards another trooper and hit them with such force they simply exploded in a shower of smoke and sparks. Then the Thunderbird whirled on Starscream himself. Starscream ignored him and kept chasing Infernus right up until Grimwing grappled him in his claws.

"Where is Ratchet?!" the great Avioid shrieked.

Starscream panicked and transformed. He managed to swipe at Grimwing's face, which did nothing but annoy him more. He snapped at the grey Seeker's faceplates and gripped him tighter, prompting Starscream to engage in a vicious struggle that Grimwing's claws were happy to partake in. Infernus whirled back to help Grimwing, leaving Chip to its own devices. He grabbed another trooper that swooped on him and snapped their wing off, then reached Grimwing.

Starscream eventually managed to get one arm free and fire his remaining missile almost at point-blank range – but Grimwing's instinctive dodge was the exact thing Starscream wanted. The missile shot past him and burst upon hitting Chip. The little transponder drone squealed and fell out of the sky.

NO!

Infernus screamed, afraid and furious. He dove after the transponder, hoping to maybe salvage something useful, but upon merely touching it, the device fell apart into smoking, warped components and continued its burning fall to the ground many miles below. One trooper wildly chased after it and hit it with a few plasma shots to seal the deal. Infernus got back at him by torching him and ripping his wings off.

Starscream laughed. "Well, it is true! Cheaters never prosper!"

Grimwing shrieked at him at a volume that made thunder seem like a whisper. He threw Starscream down so violently that it sent him spinning, at least until he transformed and righted himself. Rather than fight, he simply called his remaining troops and fled like the yellow-bellied coward he was at spark. He'd done the damage he wanted to do and now he would run – classic Starscream. Grimwing and Infernus gave chase but to no avail. A groundbridge snapped open and swallowed the Decepticons, thereby leaving Infernus and Grimwing in an empty, stormy sky.

"Guys? I've lost Chip's signal. What happened?" Raf demanded.

Infernus couldn't even get words out.

Grimwing spoke for him. "The Decepticons destroyed it, Rafael."

"No! Search the wreckage! Is there wreckage? Search it and find the transponder, maybe we can –"

Grimwing kept hovering in silence. Infernus was rather surprised he wasn't angrier than he was. The young Prime himself was both furious and afraid. They could no longer use the transponder to find the warship. How were they supposed to find Ratchet now?

Only then did he spot that Grimwing wasn't simply hovering and staring into the sky ahead. He was looking at his claws, and those claws had little blue stains and drops on them. Grimwing noticed him noticing and somehow got across a wickedly broad smile through his optics alone.

"We don't need the transponder," the Thunderbird clarified calmly.

"What do you mean we don't need it? How else are we supposed to find Ratchet?!" Bulkhead demanded.

"So how do you propose to find the warship?" Prowl wondered.

"Wheeljack, you said Shockwave took a sample from you when he captured you?" Infernus asked him.

The white Wrecker confirmed. He'd thought it was for some science experiment he was doing.

"No, it was not," Grimwing told him. "Predacons track via the unique mineral composition and purity level in a Cybertronian's blood. Each is unique."

"That was how Megatron's 'pet' found us, I bet," Wheeljack realized. "But then why didn't it just follow us to base?"

"Draconians are built for high-impact, assault-style hunting," Grimwing explained. "They do not need to, and cannot, hold onto signatures for more than a few hours. Avioids can hold onto signatures slightly longer than that, or so said Shockwave's research when I delved into his files."

"Your point?" wondered Prowl.

"...I have a sample. From Starscream."

There was tense silence on the other end of the line as the entire base realized the gold mine they'd just been handed. In the process of destroying one tracking option, Starscream had accidentally given them another.

Grimwing merely held up his stained claw to Infernus almost reverentially. Infernus didn't wholly understand what happened then, but it was like the first time he had scanned a terrestrial vehicle: he didn't just learn its appearance but also everything about it. He learned about Starscream's biology. Purer Energon, probably from getting higher quality processed stuff as an upper officer. High count for minerals like tungsten and silver. Lower count on minerals like lithium and iridium. There was also something much more incriminating: the sour mark of Dark Energon. It was faint, no more than a wisp in his bloodstream, but it was detectable.

That was all he needed. He suddenly knew where Starscream was.

And from the look in Grimwing's optics, he knew where to find the stiletto-heeled creep, too.

"Get going then!" June urged. "You're on a timer!"

"Move, Prime!" agreed Fowler.

Grimwing pumped his wings and surged ahead with a sky-rattling squawk.


Ratchet was running out of possible ideas to slow Knockout and Shockwave down without raising suspicion. If Shockwave hadn't been in the room, it might've been easier, but the monocular scientist was simply too observant and clever. Killzone was running out of options on his end too; he couldn't slow down construction forever, especially with Megatron snapping at his heel struts. And Killzone seemed suddenly nervous for other reasons as well, though he refused to clarify why.

He went over to another table. A mew turned his attention to Catscratch, who sat by a cabinet filled with more samples of the hyper-evolution serum. She blinked one optic at him.

He very briefly stared at her. He knew a wink when he saw one, disguised or not.

Catscratch then extended herself into a long, elaborate stretch. In doing so, her tail knocked a larger vial onto the floor. Knockout spun at the sound.

"Catscratch, I have had it with you," snapped Knockout.

The black feline blinked placidly at him as if she had no idea what on Earth he was so annoyed about. She leapt to the floor and sat by the spill.

"Clean it," Shockwave droned. "I will not tolerate petty vandalism."

"I'm sorry, whose lab is this?" Knockout huffed. "I'm not your lab assistant."

Shockwave stared at him. Knockout frowned, grabbed a cleaning drone from the storage closet, then grumbled at Ratchet to take over for him, and went over to the spill. No sooner had Knockout crouched down did a small explosion knock him onto his backside. Smoke billowed and occluded the lab as the smell of fire filled the air. Hysterical, devilish giggling erupted from Catscratch at the same time the sound of scrambling paws met him. From the sounds of it, she'd fled into the ducts.

"Cat!" Knockout shrieked.

Ratchet would have tried to bail then and there had Shockwave not been far too close to him. He appreciated Catscratch's effort though. She was very good at disguising her efforts to help him as practical jokes. She'd tried to lock Knockout in one of the storage rooms not even half an hour earlier. Shockwave had been forced to pry open the door to get him out since Tag-Along had been far too busy laughing at his predicament to teleport him to freedom. He was honestly surprised Shockwave hadn't simply shot the little hound for such disobedience. Perhaps he was too focused on his work to bother with discipline.

Knockout snarled, then dusted himself off and rose.

"Cat, pranks are funny when you do it to other people. Not to me!" he shouted at the ceiling.

Catscratch meowled back at him.

"Don't think I forgot about you screwing up our communications array!"

Laughter erupted from the ducts. Catscratch was no longer alone in there from the sounds of it.

Suddenly, the ship violently lurched to one side, flinging Knockout and Ratchet to the floor. Only Shockwave remained standing.

"What was that?!" Knockout demanded.

The ship lurched and groaned again. Lights flickered wildly from what had to be have been a massive power surge. Alarms began to scream throughout the ship. Another round of lurching, rattling, and shaking struck the ship, and the lights went dark completely, replaced by faint red emergency lighting. Another strike rattled them moments later. The speed – the speed of whatever was hitting them was incredible, and the force frightening. The Iron Will, Ultra Magnus's ship, certainly had that level of firepower. So did the Bulldog. Combined, they could certainly rattle the warship. But neither of them had the speed, and neither had the capacity to short out an entire ship.

"What is going on out there?!" Knockout shouted. "Did Catscratch screw up the telluric inhibitors too?!"

*That's an idea for later...* giggled the feline over short-band.

"Cat, not now," Killzone snipped.

Telluric inhibitors. Lightning, Ratchet understood. The ship was under attack by lightning?

"Shoot it down, you imbeciles! Don't let it take out our main guns!" Megatron roared over the ship's public address system.

No.

Not lightning.

Someone that could use it.

"Stay here," Killzone ordered before running out of the lab.


Starscream yelped when another explosion rocked the ship. The controls for the ship began to flare a dangerous red as warnings flooded in.

"Communications down! Scanners down! Starboard guns are down!" a panicked trooper reported.

Starscream panicked in turn. "That overgrown pigeon still found us! How?!"

Snarling, Megatron eyed the small wounds on the Seeker's body. They were so non-life-threatening that he hadn't gone to Knockout to have them patched.

"You led him here," he growled.

"What? I absolutely did not!"

Megatron loomed over him and glared as he lunged in close. "Predacons track through Energon signal. All they need is a drop," he reminded him, pointing.

Horror appeared on Starscream's face as he realized the truth. Megatron had the soldier bring up a display of the warship's front end through some of the cameras. All he saw was the ruined flight deck in flames before something dove down from above. The only way he even saw it was the pulsing red lightning accenting its body; otherwise, it blended into the storm perfectly. White-hot lightning arced towards the camera, and the visual feed of the ship was destroyed by another powerful, ship-rocking blast.

"Shoot it!" he bellowed. "Bring it down!"

The soldiers trained the remaining guns on the mysterious storm creature, but it moved too quickly for the guns to train on it. With another blinding flash and crackling explosion, the portside guns were obliterated. Soldiers rushed out onto the deck to fight back, but they lasted mere moments. A familiar streak of white shot down out of the clouds and unleashed a storm of flame onto the flight deck, then proceeded to rip his way through his troops. The white beast looked right at the camera spying on him and destroyed it with a fireball.

He growled. "Smokescreen."

He spun. If the so-called Prime desired to challenge him, he would oblige – and prove to him just how outmatched he really was.

"Shockwave," he demanded. "Status report."

"Project: Phoenix is nearly ready for deployment."

"Good. Is the doctor still required?"

"...No."

"Then remove him. I won't allow loose ends to jeopardize my victory."

"Send for Starscream. I cannot be interrupted with menial disposal at this critical juncture."


Killzone ran through the ship as it continued to rattle and lurch. One such lurch knocked him over. He struggled back to his trods. He had a feeling he knew where the Autobots would enter. The weakest parts of the ship were its launch bays.

"Breach! Breach in launch bay F!" a soldier cried. "It's –!"

He was cut off by a thundering, crackling explosion, the creak of warped metal, and a loud keen that echoed throughout the entire warship. Not even a minute later there was pure chaos in the hallway ahead of him. Lightning crackled and shot three soldiers backward, smoking and convulsing. The attacker was a giant storm-cloud-colored Avioid with brilliant yellow optics the same pale hue as lightning. It turned, spotted him, and launched itself at him before he could even think to back away. Killzone was knocked to the ground and pinned by two terrifying sets of claws. Lightning built in its beak.

"Wait! Wait! Don't!" he begged.

The bird beast hissed.

"You're here for Ratchet, right? He's still alive! I can tell you where he is."

The beast leaned one optic close to the soldier's red visor. He could see the suspicion in them. He could not tell if he was lying or not merely to save himself.

A growl forced their focus away from each other. Standing in the hall, claws out and teeth bared was Ravage.

"Stand down!" barked the soldier.

"You..." the black hound snarled. "The honorable idiot from Wales. I will deal with you next, Seargent. Or should I say, traitor?"

The Avioid screeched and flew at the hound. Ravage went invisible and lunged out of the way of the Thunderbird's crackling claws. While he was busy listening for him to ensure his aim was true, Ravage leapt onto the bird's port wing and sank his teeth into it.

"Ravage! Stop! Get off him before –!"

In a sound like a thunderclap, lightning arced from the bird's body into Ravage's. The hound let loose a terrifying, agonized howl before the Avioid flapped his wing and flung him against the wall. Ravage hit the floor smoking, his body convulsing from the surge.

The Avioid turned back to him. Killzone scrambled back when he transformed to tower over him.

"Where?" he demanded.

Too scared to speak, Killzone pointed back the way he'd come from.

The Thunderbird screamed, transformed, and launched over him.

Killzone frankly pitied whichever idiot tried to get in his way.


Yeah. We're nearly done here, folks. A two, possibly even three-part finale is up next!