According to their internal clocks, a full chord – an entire week – has passed since the experience in the Chamber. Bumblebee, true to his word, protected Steeljaw. Anyone who tried to get close would be, as Knockout describes it, 'Just like Starscream; nearly beaten within an inch of their lives'. Even the red medic himself. Nobody was exempt from Bumblebee's vow, not until he knew that Steeljaw and the rest of them would be safe.
I hope Moonracer is alright, Knockout thought as he leaned against the wall, watching his cellmates from a distance. Steeljaw's helm rested on Bumblebee's lap as the yellow and black mech rubbed behind his ears. I bet Bee would let her get close to Steeljaw. Actually, she wouldn't give either of them a choice, assuming Steeljaw didn't pick her in the first place. Hard to believe he took to her so quickly.
His smile dropped down to a frown.
But I can't help but wonder who he was talking about before. I asked him if he had a conjunx, or at least someone he had feelings for. He did… he still does, but why won't he admit it? Why won't he tell us? I guess he's afraid, another thing that's hard to believe about Steeljaw.
"Unless it's Phoria," Knockout thought, not realizing he said so out loud.
"Knockout, be quiet!" Bumblebee hissed, regaining the red medic's attention. "You know what mentioning that planet does to Steeljaw!"
"I do know, Bee, but I thought I was, you know, thinking!" Knockout hissed back.
"You do know that Steeljaw has the best hearing out of all of us, right?"
"I do know that, too, Bumblebee!"
"What are you guys arguing about?" Steeljaw's irritated voice asked. The quarreling mechs looked to the partly awake Lupicon.
"Nothing," the two of them responded.
"You guys are horrible liars."
"Well, you would know," Bumblebee muttered, earning him a slap to the faceplate. Knockout attempted to keep his amusement in-check; Steeljaw didn't bother hiding his.
"What?" The Lupicon asked, acting all innocent while grinning.
"Admit it, Bee, you kind of deserved it," Knockout chuckled. Bumblebee rolled his optics.
"You two are impossible sometimes," the Lieutenant vented.
All three mechs shared a laugh.
"I guess that's why you're not always in a bad mood," a new voice suddenly spoke. The trio turned to see Sandstorm and Dust Devil standing on the other side of the cell.
"What do you mean?" Knockout asked, tilting his helm to the side.
"Despite being from different factions, you all seem to get along just fine," Sandstorm continued, sounding a little confused as he scanned the mechs. "I think keeping you all together is what's making it so hard for Thundertron and the others to break you. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I really do believe in what I see before my very own optics."
The mechs exchanged confused looks. Even Dust Devil was astonished by what the smaller flight-frame said.
"Uh… thanks?" Bumblebee replied.
The brig fell into an awkward silence. They waited for someone to say or do something, preferably for Sandstorm and Dust Devil to leave. Or just Sandstorm
"You seem awfully nervous, Dust Devil," the smaller flight-frame suddenly spoke, causing the addressed mech to stiffen. "Something the matter?"
"Nope! No, of course not!" Dust Devil responded, his vocalizer cracking.
Oh frag, Starscream, don't break now! Knockout internally freaked-out.
"I just… uh… well, they were holding me on their ship, and we are in the brig, so I guess it makes sense that I am a little… um… nervous."
Sandstorm hummed in response. He took a couple steps away from Dust Devil, and in the blink of an optic, unsheathed his cutlass and threw it at the other flight-frame. Dust Devil shrunk away from the blade, but after cringing for half a minute, didn't feel any pain. He opened his tightly closed optics to see what happened.
"I had a feeling it was you, Starscream," Sandstorm replied nonchalantly, now standing off to the side as he holstered his cutlass with one servo while holding the Lightbender in the other. "That voice of yours is unmistakable. I'm a little surprised that nobody else has found out."
A pair of blue optics, two pairs of red optics, and another pair of yellow optics were glued to his.
"You… you…" Starscream stammered.
"You knew?" Knockout exclaimed.
"How?" Bumblebee asked.
Steeljaw remained silent.
"Like I said, it's impossible not to recognize your voice," Sandstorm repeated. "Well, almost impossible, apparently."
"Wait, so nobody aside from you suspected something like this?" Knockout questioned. Sandstorm shook his helm.
"But won't they know now?" Starscream rasped.
"Oh, yeah, I guess now's a good time to mention that we don't have security cameras," Sandstorm piped. "At least, not here in the brig, or the Chamber."
After hearing the last word, Steeljaw flinched and curled into a tighter ball. Sensing his pulses of fear, Bumblebee wrapped a comforting, protective arm around the Lupicon.
"Scrap. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to open such fresh wounds."
"It's alright," Steeljaw murmured, leaning further into Bumblebee's embrace.
"We all know it isn't. Trust me, if I could stop them, I would."
"Why don't you?" Bumblebee snapped.
"Hey, Bee, don't you remember what Brimstone and Cannonball said?" Knockout recalled what was revealed to them that first day. The Lieutenant relaxed and opened his mouth to answer…
"What did those two tell you?" Sandstorm demanded, his voice low and cold, with a pinch of worry on top. Knockout and Bumblebee exchanged uncertain glances, neither of them wanting to tell the flight-frame that they were told something personal about him behind his back, and by two mechs that none of them liked for that matter.
Frag frag frag… I don't want to deal with this right now, not when it reminds me too much of Breakdown!
"They said that you were forced to work for Thundertron, because he threatened the love of your life," Bumblebee explained. Knockout vented a sigh of relief.
Sandstorm, on the other servo, looked far from relieved. His optics are wide, frame stiff. Crossed servos clenched, causing the plating underneath to be dented. The blade-like wings were forcibly pressed against his backplate to keep from twitching wildly around.
Knockout and Bumblebee shrunk away from the mech's pain, realizing that they just brought up some bad memories. Starscream averted his gaze from his fellow flight-frame, remembering him going into more detail about the whole situation in private. As the only one out of the loop, Steeljaw was more than a little confused, but he read the room and he kept his mouth shut.
"Sorry," Bumblebee apologized.
"No, no, it's fine," Sandstorm lied, both his spark and vocalizer breaking as the memories of those days resurfaced. "So long as he's online, I'll be fine."
Assuming he's still online, Knockout thought. He didn't dare say that out loud.
"Are you going to tell the others about us?" Starscream asked.
"Really, Starscream?" Knockout reprimanded.
"What? What did I do wrong now?"
"Nice segway: from long lost love to our current predicament."
"Oh, like you could do any better, Knockout!"
The red medic was just about to make another comment when he heard laughing, coming from Sandstorm of all mechs.
"Is it always like this with you guys?" Sandstorm mused.
"Yeah, pretty much," Bumblebee replied, a smile forming on his faceplate.
"Some days, it's worse," Steeljaw admitted, also smiling.
"Hey!" Knockout and Starscream exclaimed simultaneously, causing the other three to laugh.
"But seriously, are you?" The Seeker returned to his original intention.
"Why would I?" Sandstorm questioned, smirking. He held out the Lightbender to an astonished Starscream, who took a moment to register what was happening…
{SANDSTORM!}
A sharp, audio-splitting sound erupted from Sandstorm's commlink, causing him to jump and nearly drop the Lightbender still in his servos.
"Whoa!"
The mech struggled to get a good hold of the Lightbender. Once he did, he immediately shoved it into Starscream's servos, then turned his attention to his commlink.
{Uh, yeah, what is it, Thundertron? I'm a little busy at the moment.}
{I DON'T CARE! I NEED MY BEST PILOT UP HERE, NOW!}
{Why?}
{JUST GET YOUR SCRAWNY AFT UP HERE!}
Knockout and the others remained silent as Thundertron said something to Sandstorm over the commlink, something the rest of them couldn't hear, but a clenched fist was not a good sign.
"No, of course not…
Yes, I understand…
I'll be there in a couple kliks…
Of course, sir. One klik."
The mech's frame sagged as he released an aggravated vent.
"What was that all about?" Bumblebee asked. Sandstorm turned around to answer…
BOOM!
There's a loud blast, followed by many smaller ones. The ship shakes and feels like it's making sharp turns, as if trying to avoid being fired upon. Starscream and Sandstorm, being the only ones standing, were thrown off-balance and sent crashing, either onto the floor – Starscream – or against the cell bars – Sandstorm.
"OW!" The smaller flight-frame cried as his commlink connected with the electrified bars and short circuited.
"Sandstorm, are you alright?" Knockout asked as he crawled over to the downed mech.
"I'm still functioning, sort of. Can't say the same thing for my commlink."
"What about you, Star… SCRAP!"
Knockout recoiled from the still active bars, holding his sparking servos close to his chassis.
"I can't work from here!"
"Give me a nanoklik," Sandstorm hissed, pressing a servo to his singed temple. Despite the rocking of the ship, he managed to keep his balance and limped over to a cabinet on the other side of the room.
"Don't you have to be upstairs right now?" Starscream called out over all the noise.
"I have more important things to worry about, so those rust heaps can wait a few more kliks!"
Sandstorm pulled what looked like a remote control out of the cabinet and hurried back over to the others. He stopped in front of the cell door and punched in the code, slipping inside once there was enough room to do so. Pointing the remote at Knockout and Bumblebee, he pressed a button, and the magnetic cufflinks attached to their wrists dropped to the floor.
"I suggest you all wait down here for a klik or two before escaping, just in case."
Before the mechs could protest, Sandstorm dropped the remote, 'accidentally' stepping on it and breaking it as he ran up and out of the brig. They all remained where they were, silent, for more than just two kliks.
"What just happened?" Starscream was the first to speak, gingerly placing his Lightbender in his subspace.
"I don't understand why, but he just provided us with a way out," Steeljaw replied, getting to his pedes alongside Bumblebee.
"Steeljaw's right, we need to take the chance while we have it," Bumblebee stated. He suddenly remembered something and looked over to Knockout. "Hey, Knockout, how's your leg?"
"Still have a bit of a limp, but I can manage," the red medic reassured as he attempted to keep his balance. He gave a surprised yelp when Starscream yanked him out of the cell and led him over to the exit. "Whoa! Starscream! What gives?"
"Unlike you, Knockout, I don't plan on leaving one of us behind," the Seeker snarled.
"Are you seriously still on that?"
"You betrayed me."
"It was one time!"
"Look how well that turned out."
"Hey, none of this is my fault!"
"Yes it is!"
"No it isn't!"
"GUYS!" Bumblebee snapped, both him and Steeljaw following close behind the bickering mechs as they left the brig and entered another part of the ship.
"Will you two just shut up?" Steeljaw growled.
"He started it!" Knockout and Starscream blamed each other.
"I don't care! If you don't stop your pointless squabble, I will tear your helms clean off your frames!"
Frag, he can be terrifying when he wants to be! Knockout thought, fighting to suppress a shiver. Well, not 'Moonracer when she's in a bad mood' terrifying, but a good contender for 2nd place… okay, maybe 3rd place. Can't forget about Megatron. Or Unicron. Should Unicron even count? I feel like he shouldn't, being evil incarnate and all.
"Is it just me, or has the ship ceased taking fire?"
Bumblebee's voice broke Knockout out of his internal debate. He strained his audio receptors in order to listen for any noise. Nothing that sounded like they were under attack.
"It's because the ship's been boarded," Steeljaw answered, his nose, ears, and tail twitching.
"You can hear them?" Starscream asked. The Lupicon raised an optical ridge. "Right, stupid question."
"I can smell them, too. I'm picking up a few scents that don't match anyone on this ship."
Knockout whistles, impressed. Starscream folds his arms, also impressed.
"Care to lead the way?" Bumblebee offered. The Lupicon turned with a smirk, then ran off, his comrades following suit.
They crossed hallway after hallway, and after getting turned around a couple times, arrived at the bridge. A commotion could be heard coming from the other side of the closed doors. They didn't even need to enter to realize how formidable the newcomers were; offline pirate frames, dismembered and covered in Energon, littered the floor.
"Wow," Knockout said, mouth agape.
"Are you sure we have to go in there?" Starscream asked, already backtracking from the mess.
Bumblebee and Steeljaw exchanged a glance, which held till they turned and headed straight for the entrance to the bridge.
"Of course we are."
Knockout and Starscream rushed to catch up with the others. Once they reached the doors, they automatically opened. Before them was quite the sight: a bunch of dead or injured pirates, Energon everywhere; the uninjured pirates were still up and at it, fighting just as fiercely as their opponents.
Much to the mechs' surprise, a few purple Vehicons, following a reformatted Eradicon, were holding their own against Brimstone and Cannonball off to one side of the bridge.
On the other side of the bridge, Starquest was facing-off against a scarred, silver and teal femme flight-frame with black detailing and purple optics. She fought with extreme skill and precision, having absolutely no trouble switching between blasters and blades, from a distance or up close.
In the middle was Thundertron, battling who could only be the leader of the new bots: a large, ramshackle, orange, brown, and black mech. He wielded what appeared to be an ax made of miscellaneous pieces of scrap metal. The hurt and rage that flashed from his amber optics made it clear that he had a personal score to settle with Thundertron.
"Something tells me this wasn't just a random thing," Knockout vented.
"You think?" Starscream retorted.
"What did we literally just discuss not even five minutes ago?" Bumblebee exclaimed.
"GET DOWN!"
Knockout, Starscream, and Bumblebee were shoved to the ground by Steeljaw, narrowly missing blaster fire directed at them.
"How the frag did you all get out?" Brimstone exclaimed, killing the vehicon he was tussling with instantly.
"Maybe a blast hit the brig and broke it open?" Cannonball suggested. He grabbed two more vehicons and killed them just as quickly as his partner.
"Isn't that Starscream?" Starquest pointed out, his vocalizer raised to be heard. His opponent slashed him with her swords, then punched and kicked him, knocking him unconscious.
"Never thought I'd hear that name again," the femme snarled. Starscream stiffened beside Knockout.
"Screamer, you okay?" The red medic whispered.
"Her voice… she sounds so familiar, but it can't be," Starscream answered, sounding like he just saw a ghost. "She's supposed to be offline."
The others didn't have time to process the information when Thundertron's voice reached them.
"You mean to tell me Megatron's pitiful little lackey managed to sneak aboard my ship undetected and remain that way for who knows how long?"
Knockout knew Starscream wanted to yell at Thundertron for the remark, but thankfully, he kept his mouth shut, still distracted by the femme.
"Why are you so surprised? Any subordinate of Megatron's can easily outsmart you," the autumn-colored mech replied.
If this wasn't such a serious situation, Knockout would've burst out laughing, and based on the shivering bodies around him, so, too, would his comrades. And not just them…
"WHAT ARE YOU TWO LAUGHING AT?" Thundertron yelled.
"Nothing!" Brimstone choked out, still laughing. Cannonball managed to get a hold of himself, but he was struggling to get rid of his smile.
Thundertron was far from amused, looking just about ready to kill anyone he can get his servos on, including the two remaining, functional, and still conscious members of his crew.
"If you want to avoid any more death and embarrassment, I suggest you let us take those four off your servos," the femme said, her tone leaving no room for argument. "If you try to pursue us, we will not hesitate to destroy this ship and everyone on it. Your choice, Captain."
The venom-filled voice left a chill in the room. This femme wasn't kidding; she's being completely serious. Her words and actions, as well as her looks, tell a story, one that involves a lot of pain and suffering and overcoming the worst of the worst.
Like being dragged to the Pits, only to climb back out with a vengeance.
"Grr… fine! Just get off my ship!" Thundertron sheathed his sword and stood out of the femme's way.
"A smart decision, for once," the femme commented. She walked past the pirates and over to Knockout and the others, Steeljaw still on top. "Come along, you four. The sooner we leave, the better."
"Splendid idea, love, if not a bit obvious!" The mech said as he helped the pile of bots back to their pedes. He turned around to look at the still standing Eradicon. "Fodder!"
"Coming!"
The Eradicon, Fodder, grabbed the deceased vehicons, slung two over his shoulders and carried the rest over to his group.
"Okay, now I'm ready!"
The mech nodded and turned to the femme. She nodded as well and led her companions, and Knockout and his comrades, out of one ship and into another.
"Our new friends, may I be the first to welcome you aboard my ship!" The mech preened, wrapping one arm around Knockout and Starscream, and the other around Bumblebee and Steeljaw, bringing them in for a nice big group hug. "Welcome to the Daytrader!"