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, keeping an optic on Bumblebee and Steeljaw from a distance. 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.
A recent memory file surfaced.
I know he has feelings for someone else, but who? And why won't he tell us?
"Knockout?"
Bumblebee's voice caught Knockout's attention.
"Yeah, Bee?"
"You okay?"
"I'm fine. Just thinking about something."
"Something I should be worried about?"
Knockout didn't immediately answer. His gaze shifted to look at Steeljaw.
"Maybe?"
"What did Steeljaw tell you?"
"Nothing!"
"Knockout…"
"I'm being completely honest with you, Bee! It isn't that he didn't tell me anything, per-se, but rather that he was avoiding certain things that I wanted to know."
"That doesn't really make any sense."
"I know! I just don't know how to describe it. Like, it's not what he says that bothers me; it's what he doesn't say. Haven't you noticed how secretive he's been about certain things?"
"No offense, Knockout, but I think that's your inner 'Con talking."
Knockout scoffed.
"Oh, please! You're just as suspicious as I am about what he's hiding from us!"
Bumblebee hated to admit it, but he agreed with Knockout.
"What are you guys arguing about?"
Bumblebee and Knockout jumped slightly, startled by the voice. They looked at Steeljaw, who was just waking-up.
"Nothing!" The quarreling mechs responded.
"You guys are horrible liars."
"Well, you would know," Bumblebee muttered, earning him a slap to the faceplate. He glared at the Lupicon.
"What?" Steeljaw asked, acting all innocent while grinning.
"Admit it, Bee, you kind of deserved that," Knockout chuckled.
"You two are impossible sometimes," Bumblebee vented, rolling his optics with a smile.
The mechs shared a laugh.
"I guess that's why you're not always in a foul mood."
The three turned to see Sandstorm and Dust Devil standing outside the cell.
"What do you mean?" Knockout asked.
"Despite being from different factions, you all seem to get along just fine," Sandstorm continued. "I think keeping you all together is what's making it so hard for Thundertron and the others to break you."
The mechs exchanged confused looks. Even Dust Devil was astonished by what the smaller flight-frame said.
"Thanks, I guess," 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," Sandstorm suddenly said, causing the addressed mech to stiffen. "Something the matter?"
"No, of course not!" Dust Devil responded, vocalizer cracking. "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… you know… nervous."
Sandstorm hummed. He backed away, and in the blink of an eye, 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 admitted nonchalantly, now standing off to the side as he holstered his cutlass with one servo and picked up 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 knew?" Bumblebee exclaimed. "How?"
"Like I said, it's impossible not to recognize Starscream's voice," Sandstorm repeated. "Well, almost impossible, apparently."
"Wait, so nobody aside from you suspected?" Knockout questioned. Sandstorm shook his helm.
"But won't they know now?" Starscream rasped.
"Oh, yeah, I guess now's as good a time as any to mention that we don't have security cameras," Sandstorm piped, handing the Lightbender back to an on-edge Starscream. "At least, not here in the brig, or the Chamber."
Steeljaw flinched after hearing the last word. Sensing his fear, Bumblebee wrapped a comforting, protective arm around the Lupicon.
"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 I told you? What Brimstone and Cannonball told me about Sandstorm while you were unconscious?" Knockout interceded.
Bumblebee calmed down after recalling what happened that first day.
"What did those two tell you?" Sandstorm demanded, arms crossed, and voice pinched with worry and dread.
Knockout and Bumblebee exchanged uncertain glances, neither of them wanting to tell the small 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.
"They said that you were forced to work for Thundertron, because he threatened your lover," Bumblebee answered.
Sandstorm's optics dilated, and his grip around his arms tightened exponentially, to the point where he dented his own plating. Knockout and Bumblebee shrunk out of guilt, realizing that they just brought up a painful past. Starscream averted his gaze from his fellow flight-frame, remembering him going into more detail about the whole situation in private. Unbeknownst to everyone else, Steeljaw understands what Sandstorm is going through, but not wanting to discuss his past with the others, keeps quiet.
"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 alive, that is, Knockout thought.
"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 chuckled.
"But, seriously, are you going to tell the others about us?" Starscream repeated.
"Why would I?" Sandstorm questioned.
The response took the imprisoned mechs by surprise, as they weren't expecting…
{SANDSTORM!}
A sharp, audio-splitting call erupted from Sandstorm's commlink, startling everyone. Sandstorm pushed past Starscream to put some distance between him and the others. Even if they could still hear what Thundertron said, the extra space provides Sandstorm with the illusion that he is alone.
{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, the latter crying out as his temple 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."
Pressing a servo to his wound, Sandstorm got up and limped over to the cell door, punched in the code, and opened it.
"I suggest you all wait down here for a klik or two before escaping, just in case," Sandstorm advised. Before the mechs could protest, he was gone.
.
.
.
.
.
"What just happened?" Starscream was the first to speak.
"He just provided us with a way out," Steeljaw clarified, standing with help from 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," Knockout reassured as he attempted to keep his balance. He gave a surprised yelp when Starscream yanked him out of the cell.
"Whoa! Starscream! What gives?"
"Unlike you, Knockout, I don't plan on leaving one of us behind."
"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 pair 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.
"It's because the ship's been boarded," Steeljaw answered. "I'm picking up a few scents that don't match anyone on this ship."
With Steeljaw in the lead, the mechs took off. They crossed hallway after hallway, and after getting turned around a couple times, came across the corridor that led to the bridge. A commotion could be heard coming from the other side of the closed doors, but 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 look, then ran straight for the entrance to the bridge.
"Of course we are."
Knockout and Starscream rushed to catch up with the others. The other side held quite a sight.
A half dozen Vehicons, following a reformatted Eradicon, were holding their own against Brimstone and Cannonball off to the left. On the right, Starquest was facing-off against a scarred, silver and teal femme flight-frame with black detailing and purple optics, skillfully wielding twin Energon swords. In the middle was Thundertron, engaging in close combat with a large, ramshackle, autumn-colored mech, whose amber optics flashed in hurt and rage.
"Something tells me this wasn't just a random thing," Knockout said.
"You think?" Starscream retorted.
"GET DOWN!"
Knockout, Starscream, and Bumblebee were shoved to the floor by Steeljaw, narrowly missing blaster fire.
"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 as 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 struck a major blow, knocking him unconscious.
"Never thought I'd hear that name again," the femme said.
Upon hearing the voice, Starscream's frame stiffened, radiating disbelief.
"Screamer, you okay?" Knockout whispered, noticing the change in his friend's demeanor.
"She… She sounds so familiar, but it can't be," Starscream muttered. "She's supposed to be dead."
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?"
Under any other circumstance, Starscream would have yelled at Thundertron for the remark, but was currently too distracted by the femme to really pay anyone else much thought.
"Why are you so surprised? Any subordinate of Megatron's can easily outsmart you!" The autumn-colored mech commented.
If this wasn't such a serious situation, Knockout would've burst out laughing.
Someone else didn't have that problem, though.
"WHAT ARE YOU TWO LAUGHING AT?" Thundertron yelled.
"Nothing!" Brimstone choked out while Cannonball struggled 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 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…"
"Fine!" Thundertron interrupted, sheathing his sword. "Just get off my ship!"
"A smart decision, for once."
The femme 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 autumn-colored 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 grabbed the deceased vehicons and carried them 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 team-mates, 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!"