Sky Dancer
By: PhantasmBabeIvory
Author's Notes: Sorry it's been such a long time since the last update. Aside from being very busy over the holidays and making a failed attempt to write a new Christmas story, I've not had very much time for writing. You can thank the deadbeat co-workers whose shifts I've had to cover more often than I liked.
I hope you all enjoy this long-awaited update to the story. Promise to have the next installment out much sooner. Thank you all for being so patient.
Chapter 22
When Scorpinok at last looked over at her, he was quick to note that she might want to go see his friends on the bridge for the purpose of repairing the gouge in her chassis, at the back of her neck. Still, Alexis spent a minute studying him as he returned his gaze to the window, a wave of sympathy washing over her. At last, she turned away, simply musing, No wonder Nebulina viewed him as standoffish… Scorpinok probably doesn't even realize how detached he can be at times.
Three sets of optics came to focus on Alexis once she entered the bridge, making her slightly uneasy. The blue femme seated at the console on the far right must have noticed this, for she leaned back in her chair, adopting a carefree pose. "No hard feelings?" the blue femme asked, her tone indicating that she was just being polite and probably didn't care one way or the other.
The other (fuchsia pink) femme seated at the nearby console looked sharply at her companion. "Be nice, Chromia," she scolded.
Chromia smirked. "I was being nice, Elita," she answered, slowly and deliberately.
Alexis tilted her head downwards a notch, interrupting the "fight" by quietly saying, "There's no hard feelings." After a brief moment, she looked back up and added, gesturing towards her neck, "Scorpinok said you'd be able to fix me."
Rodimus cleared his throat after a second, rising to his feet, holding one hand out towards her in an amenable gesture. "Of course," he said, taking a step backwards and to the right, the look in his optics indicating that Alexis should follow his lead.
If anything, the femme jet was perplexed when he stopped at a nearby console, keying in some command or other, which in turn caused an adjacent metal chamber to open with a loud hiss. Off of her wary look, Rodimus gave a short ironic laugh. "There's nothing to fear," he said simply. A pause, and then, "This is what's called a Cryogenic Restoration chamber, or CR for short… It's what me and mine use for lack of our own personal medic. Perfectly safe, I assure you." He offered Alexis a reassuring smile. "You'll be as good as new in a matter of minutes."
Alexis gave a shaky smile, but moved to step inside regardless, letting out a sigh as Rodimus keyed in a second command to seal her within the chamber. Later on, she would describe the process as akin to being bathed in pure energy, not unlike the process that she'd seen Hot Shot go through to have his arm restored. The only difference was that Alexis remained fully conscious throughout the procedure, and she came out of it never feeling more refreshed or energized.
Given the smile she was wearing when she emerged, her companions were given every indication of just how wonderful she felt and perhaps left to reflect on something they'd potentially taken for granted.
Alexis responded to Rodimus' subsequent offer for her to sit with a nod, and thanked him when he offered her a cup of some kind of ice blue fluid. She took a small sip, marveling for a few seconds over the sweet aftertaste the liquid left in her mouth and throat.
Idly musing over how gracious her hosts were being now, Alexis looked up and said, "How do the three of you figure into all this?" A brief pause, and then, "From what I heard you say after rescuing us from Megatron, you're obviously not from Scorpinok's planet, Rodimus."
He offered a faint smile. "You're very observant." Rodimus leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms and adopting a lazy pose. He went on to tell her of his origins and how he and his girls had met and befriended Scorpinok, then added, "As to why we decided to help him… There's two reasons. Firstly, the odds are great that his and Alpha Q's world, once it's brought back, will be rich with Energon deposits. There'd be more than enough to go around, for all involved parties… It would even make up for what's been stolen from you and yours."
Alexis bowed her head slightly, simply thinking that that did make sense. The Energon used to recreate this planet would undoubtedly leave its mark upon the world. "And the second reason?" she asked after a moment.
"Because I have no desire to see Megatron succeed in what he hopes to accomplish," Rodimus answered. "Times were bad enough when he was limited to the standard weapons and soldiers under his command, during the first war. With a God at his disposal, there's no restrictions to what he'd be capable of." Rodimus turned to look at Elita and Chromia, pausing a moment before saying, "It was Megatron who ordered the bombing that nearly killed my girls here… I can't even begin to tell you just how many lives were lost that day."
Alexis remained silent for a time, simply staring blankly into the cup that was still in her hands. She'd known that the first war among the Transformers had lasted for a very long time, but she'd never given much thought to the fact that there were some, like Scorpinok and Rodimus, who'd abandon Cybertron for a different way of life.
She wondered just how many such beings were out there.
After a long moment, Alexis' wandering thoughts eventually caused her to look over at Chromia and say simply, a questioning note in her tone, "You handle a weapon very well."
Chromia almost looked proud, as though she'd been paid a compliment. Speaking just as cavalierly as she'd been earlier, she said, "Rodimus here taught me everything I know. It's come in handy a number of times… You wouldn't believe how many suckers there are out there, thinking that little old me couldn't best them in a fight."
Alexis blinked, and was marveling over Chromia's similar personality to Ironhide when her attention was caught by Elita. It seemed that bickering was common amongst the two sisters. Shaking her head, Elita stated, "Twenty-two thousand years, and you still can't call him father."
Rodimus and Alexis watched their two companions squabbling for a minute before the former called for them to give it a rest and requested that they give him and their guest a private moment to talk. Once the other two femmes had left the bridge, Rodimus said, "You'll have to forgive my girls. It's just been the three of us for a long time; Chromia and Elita are not used to having company." He paused, then went on with, "Now, Sky Dancer… You don't mind if I call you that, do you?"
Alexis told him to feel free; after a couple seconds, he continued. "We'll be reaching Alpha Q's base of operations in about three hours time, going by the coordinates given by Scorpinok. From there, it will only be a matter of time before you'll get to return home… Until then, you're welcome to everything we have to offer."
Alexis nodded, raising the cup once more to her lips to take a sip. "Thank you, Rodimus," she answered.
He gave her a small smile. "You're very welcome."
She took another sip, then hesitated, taking a moment to study him in detail. If his framework was any indication, then she had a pretty good idea of what his vehicle mode was. And, as she was thinking about it, she realized that she knew what Elita's and Chromia's were as well. "You've been to Earth at some point…?" Alexis asked hesitantly.
Rodimus' smile widened somewhat. "Not personally, no," he answered, leaning forward. "But there have been many of our race that have visited this world, down through the ages. More than I imagine even Optimus realizes." A pause, and then, "One of the planets I trade with -- Velocitron… The residents had long ago planted a transmitter in a key location on Earth, providing them with a good and permanent surveillance feed of your world as its technology progressed. They gravitate towards race cars or muscle cars… I've heard rumors of two other Transformer-inhabited planets who had done likewise -- planted transmitters -- but I don't know much of them beyond that."
Rodimus paused again, then changed the subject with, "So, do you know what you might say to Alpha Q, once we get there?"
Alexis nodded once. "I have some idea…"
*****
As the minutes ticked by, the situation on Cybertron began to improve, little by little. As many of the Autobots would report in the aftermath, there were a large number of Decepticons that needed to be forcefully subdued and put under arrest. Many of them were handled swiftly and went down without any big fuss. Still, Starscream was glad that Starxis had once more agreed to be on his own, though in the company of Rad and Dr. Jones; it would have otherwise been too challenging to focus on both riot control and keeping his adopted child out of harm's way.
Having just put down a group of Decepticon civilians who'd pinned down all those in shooting distance, Starscream didn't even wait for a word of thanks before taking to the skies once more, swiftly seeking out his next target. He found it less than two blocks away, but hesitated for a few seconds as he was shocked by just who was causing the trouble here.
The mech below went by the name of Stormshock, and he was one of the few Decepticons who had followed in Starscream's footsteps after the first war ended. From what the jet knew of his fellow land-based comrade, Stormshock had gradually realized that his ideals mirrored those of the Autobots, causing him to switch sides.
How dare he! Starscream thought angrily as he observed the way Stormshock was leading a small team that was terrorizing a group of innocent femmes. It was sure proof that the mech in question was a coward, for having picked just this method to demonstrate the power trip he was on. Driven by rage at the way Stormshock had a gun pointed at the head of one near-hysterical femme, Starscream soared in, transforming just before he reached the insurrectionists.
Stormshock looked up at the sound accompanying Starscream's transformation, but only had a split-second before the jet slammed into him with enough force to knock him to the ground.
Had they not had an audience, Starscream would surely have laid into the guy with a string of obscenities. Swiftly, he put one foot to Stormshock's chest to keep him down, then quickly went about shooting the weapons out of the hands of the four others who were present.
His orange optics ablaze, Starscream was able to warn all five rebels against trying anything funny, vaguely aware that the femmes were looking at him with gratitude before running for cover. In a low tone that demonstrated the disappointment that had been building up to this point, he said, "Seems I was a fool to actually think that spending ten years out of Megatron's rule would make the Decepticons think twice about letting history repeat itself."
Stormshock actually had the nerve to look irate. "That's fine talk coming from a traitor."
Starscream growled, and had hauled Stormshock to his feet before any of the rebels could fully realize it. "Let's get something straight!" he barked out. "Megatron is the one who betrayed me first! Anything I might have done afterwards was very much justified!"
Starscream paused, then went on with, "Has the past decade really been that terrible for you? Or are all of you such narrow-minded fools that you forgot that Unicron was manipulating us for millions of years so that he could grow in power?! Are you really dumb enough to think that a god can be indefinitely controlled by one of us, even by Megatron?!" Another pause, and then, "Now are you going to help undo the damage caused by Megatron's broadcast, or should I just place you all under arrest now?"
The affirmations that came (from four of the five, at least) imbued Starscream with a small degree of hope. He thought back to Scavenger's words and remembered something that Alexis had said to him many years ago: "The more you deny Megatron what he hopes to achieve, the more you hurt him." And just maybe, he'd been wrong to assume that the Decepticon faction could go on for so many years without a leader to guide them.
Clearly, his role as peacekeeper hadn't been enough. Maybe what they'd really needed was for someone to step in and take command; that being the case, perhaps today's events could well have been avoided.
I'd say that Megatron will soon be in for the rudest awakening for his life, Starscream thought as he slapped a pair of cuffs on the remaining insurrectionist and radioed to any nearby Autobots that there was another prisoner to be picked up. I'd love to see his reaction when he learns I'll be taking charge of his old army…
*****
Even though Alexis had been warned beforehand, she was not totally prepared to see Alpha Q's base of operations, Unicron's head, floating out in the dead of space. Once Rodimus had displayed a visual on his ship's main viewscreen, it was all she could do to remind herself that the dark god was by no means a threat.
Scorpinok had come to the bridge by this point; standing close by, he was quick to pick up on Alexis' discomfort. Softly, he cleared his throat to catch her attention and said, "There's nothing to fear… I can guarantee you that Alpha Q has this half of Unicron well in hand and subdued."
Alexis nodded once, shifting her gaze after a moment to fully look at him. In the few hours it had taken their shuttle to reach this point, she'd had an ample amount of time to think, and she had come up with several aspects in regards to Scorpinok that puzzled her. Now that she knew much of his background and what motivated him, she couldn't help but wonder about several instances in which he'd caused trouble. Deliberately informing Ironhide of her then-undisclosed life as a human, to name one.
Much as she desired to quiz him about this, Alexis quickly decided it was something that could wait. For now, there was Alpha Q to contend with.
Following a short transmission burst from Alpha Q to Scorpinok, Rodimus pulled the ship alongside an open port, using the docking clamps to secure his shuttle so they could disembark. Moments later, he, Scorpinok, and Alexis were exiting into a wide corridor (Elita and Chromia having been told to stay put), slowly making their way to the area where their host and/or friend was waiting.
Whatever Alexis had imagined Alpha Q to look like, the multi-faceted bot she was presented with wasn't it. She blinked in surprise, taken off guard by Alpha Q's very structure alone. Though he could be counted as a member of the Transformers race, his oversized white outer shell didn't even look capable of changing shape. And, as she watched him in silence, Alpha Q began speaking to Scorpinok; Alexis soon became aware of just what the latter had meant when he said his leader's mind had been shattered.
Funny, she mused dryly. I never thought I'd encounter a Transformer suffering from multiple personality disorder…
When Alpha Q turned to acknowledge her and Rodimus, Alexis forced herself to focus. Once the spindly bot offered up a thanks for them having brought Scorpinok back to him, Alexis gave an answering nod, then stepped forward. "It was the least we could do," she said softly. After a moment, she folded her hands together with a slight air of nervousness and added, "Given what Scorpinok has told me, I imagine you have very little reason to trust either Rodimus or myself…"
Alpha Q leaned forward slightly, his interior faces randomly switching from one to the other before settling on the personality that seemed the most level-headed. "We cannot risk allowing your Autobot friends to find this place. It is bad enough having to expend some effort to prevent Megatron from using his half of Unicron to pinpoint where we are."
Alexis' brow furrowed, as she tried to recall if Megatron had made such an effort or even had mentioned any plans to this end. After a moment, she shook her head, quietly deciding that she'd chalk it up to paranoia on Alpha Q's part. A small sigh escaped her lips, and she stated, "I would hope that I'd be able to change your mind."
The words had barely left her before Alpha Q's more spastic persona took hold. "We will not risk it!" he repeated. "Especially not when we are about to have in our grasp someone who will help us!"
Alexis blinked, then looked towards Scorpinok. Much to her surprise, he appeared as confused as she was on what that meant. As she discovered two seconds later, she didn't even have to ask; Alpha Q was providing the answer for her.
"The human boy, Kicker, tagged one of the Terrorcons we sent to Jungle City with a homing beacon. He is now on his way straight here and will be arriving within the next few minutes!"
Feeling dizzy, Alexis merely listened as Scorpinok frantically inquired into the matter and what his liege had done. She was hardly surprised to learn that Kicker (along with Ironhide and Misha) was flying solo, but could feel a huge level of rage building inside at the mere thought of what Alpha Q was hoping to achieve.
With a loud growl, Alexis whirled back to face Alpha Q, taking a threatening step forward. "How dare you!" she said in a raised voice, no doubt unsettling the young spindly bot with the ferocity in her tone. "You will do no such thing! That boy has been through enough without someone else seeking to use him to further their own ends!"
"That is not for you to decide," Alpha Q sputtered after a brief moment. "Our goal is simply to revive our planet, and we will do whatever it takes to get there."
Alexis was virtually seething when she responded, "Not at the expense of someone who's in my care!" She willed her left wing to stretch out from her frame, reaching up with one hand to grasp it to show she was fully prepared to bring her specialized weapon into play. "How far are you willing to take this, Alpha Q?"
The spindly bot looked uncertain on how to proceed for a long while before he started to advance towards her, looking for all the world like he was ready to fight. However, Alpha Q was stopped when Scorpinok abruptly stepped between him and Alexis, leaving all three of the chamber's other occupants to wonder about just who Scorpinok was protecting.
Looking up at his subordinate, Alpha Q said simply, "Get out of my way."
Crossing his arms, Scorpinok said simply, "I will do no such thing. This has to stop now." When Alpha Q responded to this with a screech of protest, he had to speak loudly to be heard over the din. "The primary reason that the girl is here is to negotiate for an alliance between us and the Autobots, which is exactly what should have happened from the very beginning! I'm sorry, Alpha Q, but refusing to place our trust in Optimus and his men is what got us into trouble to begin with. It is our fault that Megatron had been reawakened at all!"
A short uncomfortable silence ensued following Scorpinok's speech, then Alpha Q abruptly lunged towards his comrade, beginning to beat at Scorpinok with his long skinny white arms in what Alexis could only identify as a sort of tantrum. Once more feeling dizzy, she took a step back, feeling a pang in her chest at the reminder that Alpha Q was little more than a child. This situation could still be resolved, but she, Rodimus, and Scorpinok (though, being emotionally deficient, she wasn't entirely sure he could be counted upon) had to deal with it in accordance with the spindly bot's young age.
While Alpha Q's tirade was ensuing, Rodimus caught her attention, quietly saying, "He said your friends' shuttle would be here in a matter of minutes. Perhaps you'd best go keep an eye out for them, Sky Dancer."
She nodded once, turning on her heel and taking a couple steps before switching to her jet mode. The corridors were wide enough that she could navigate them freely as such. Once outside, she activated her external sensors, simultaneously circling around Unicron's massive head to get a full view of the surrounding area. When she got an approaching shuttle in her sights, she began flying out towards it at full speed.
Given that Kicker and Ironhide couldn't possibly be aware that she was no longer in Megatron's company, Alexis was hardly surprised when the ship's guns swiveled in her direction and opened fire. Having anticipated this, she took evasive maneuvers, but shortly found that the cannons were not being directed to get a full lock on her.
Alexis switched back to her bot mode, speaking quickly and hoping beyond hope that her two partners were in a position to hear her. "Kicker, Ironhide," she said loudly. "Stop shooting!" A short pause, then, "It's me! Just me! The Decepticons aren't here! Now please stop firing! We need to talk!"
Though the guns did power down after a moment, Alexis was left waiting anxiously for several minutes. Finally, a hatchway opened near the top of the shuttle and Ironhide stepped out onto the hull, causing her to let out a sigh of relief.
Alexis quickly soared in so she was standing opposite him, thinking him to be a welcome sight regardless of the fact that he was staring at her with wide, distrustful optics and that he had a gun in one hand. Silently, she commended him for having Kicker stay inside, seeing as they had no reason to trust her as of yet. Ironhide spoke first, making a wild gesture towards Unicron's head in the distance. "Sky Dancer… What is this? What are you doing here if you're not with Megatron?"
Alexis briefly turned to regard Alpha Q's base of operations, idly wondering just how Scorpinok and Rodimus were faring at calming down the young ruler. "That is a very long story," she said softly. Looking back at Ironhide, she proceeded to lay it all out for him…
*****
For all of the Autobots' efforts to calm things down on Cybertron, their influence only went so far. After four hours, many of the scattered Decepticons had turned their focus from causing chaos, coalesced into larger groups, and gone into hiding. No doubt they were waiting for Megatron to come get them, as was promised in the broadcast.
By the time the last of his elite troops had returned to headquarters, Optimus was reviewing a video of a fiasco over in the detention center and trying his best to bury the immense agitation he felt over Kicker and Ironhide's desertion. As he'd learned, once the transmission came in from a prison guard (Blurr), things were bad enough without worrying about those two. He only hoped that they weren't already in Megatron's hands.
As the video was only showing images of the hallway outside of solitary, Optimus' only idea of how Shockblast had escaped his chains was from the report that the bolts had been literally ripped out of the wall. Nevertheless, he was disturbed by what happened next -- one of the Decepticon guards had made their way into the corridor and stopped outside the cell door, peering in through the small barred window and saying that he'd come to help Shockblast escape.
Optimus couldn't hear what Shockblast said in response, but the words were unmistakable given what followed. A powerful laser blast (undoubtedly coming from the massive cannon that made up Shockblast's left arm) sheered through the door from the inside, simultaneously blasting through the insides of the unfortunate guard. The Autobot commander said a silent prayer that the poor Decepticon had gone quick and hadn't suffered and watched grimly as Shockblast exited the cell and began heading towards the surface.
Crossing his arms, Starscream was the first to speak. "Provided we don't find him before Megatron reaches Cybertron, at least we can hope that a homicidal maniac like Shockblast will be more than he bargained for."
Demolisher looked across at his friend with a hardened expression. "That may be so, but I'd prefer not to let Shockblast run around unchecked for very long. He caused enough damage last time."
Optimus bowed his head, then turned to face his soldiers. With a small sigh, he said, "Well, we've done the best we can at repairing the damage that Megatron has caused. All we can do now is mobilize everyone who's still on our side before he gets here… No matter what, our main priority has to be confronting Megatron head-on if possible." His gaze locked with Starscream's. "This may be a perfect opportunity to get back what he's taken from us and to put a stop to his reign."
Starscream nodded, his thoughts turning briefly to Alexis before he reminded himself that what was currently happening was bigger than worrying about her well-being. "In that case, I'd like to have a talk with the Decepticons we've taken into custody… I may be able to get some of them to join in on our cause."
Optimus hesitated, then gave a consenting nod. "Good luck, Starscream. At this point, we could use all the help we can get…"
*****
Shortly after he'd initiated the broadcast to Cybertron, Megatron had returned to the battleship with Sideways in tow. At present, he, his three soldiers, and the Terrorcons left behind by Scorpinok were en route to the planet and were nearly halfway there.
Megatron idly cast a glance at the few metallic predators scattered about the bridge, feeling mildly irritated as he reflected on the fact that they seemed to be restless and a tad insubordinate now that Scorpinok was no longer present. He'd made it clear more than once that their 'master' was no longer around and that they would be following his orders from now on, but it didn't seem to have fully registered with the stupid drones yet.
The fact that a number of broadcasts were coming in at this point, via both Tidal Wave and Snowcat, was sufficient to distract Megatron from this matter, though he did muse that perhaps the Terrorcons would become more focused when directed to lay siege to Cybertron. The more responses the Decepticon commander received from soldiers anxious to join his cause, the more delighted he became.
Truthfully, Megatron was surprised by the number of troops looking to be recruited, even from some he'd thought would not be interested in starting the war anew.
Megatron had barely processed a transmission from some random Decepticon (who was a pal of Snowcat's) in regards to an irritating young mech named Thundercracker who apparently talked too much when a much more interesting one came in. Still, he told Shockblast to hold for a few seconds before responding to Snowcat's friend that he was not to shoot Thundercracker to get him to shut up.
Megatron grinned, remembering Shockblast as one of his most determined, reliable troops from the old days. If there was anyone he could count on that hated the Autobots with a passion, then this particular mech was it.
While Megatron engaged in some idle chitchat with his favored warrior, Sideways was surprised to hear Tidal Wave speak up, though in a hushed tone, "Don't trust Shockblast."
With widened optics, Sideways turned to look up at the big guy. He shortly got the impression that Tidal Wave was talking to himself, given the way his gaze was unfocused. Upon hearing the colossal bot comment that he apparently thought Shockblast to be bad news, Sideways thought, with great amusement, Well, aren't you just full of surprises? I actually didn't think you hated anybody on your own team…
*****
Once she'd fully explained things to Ironhide and convinced him that there was nothing to fear, Alexis was invited onto the bridge of the shuttle he and Kicker had commandeered. After being greeted by Kicker and Misha, both of whom expressed their gratitude that she was okay, Alexis quietly asked if they might be able to radio to Earth so that Optimus and Starscream could be told that she was alright.
Misha tilted her head to look up at Alexis after a moment, saying, "I could re-establish the communications array, but it'd take some time. I had to take apart the console somewhat to render it, and the onboard beacon, inoperable… Perhaps we'd be better off making use of the one onboard your friend, Rodimus', ship."
Alexis sighed, looking down towards the floor before noticing out of the corner of her optic that Ironhide was giving her a strange look. When she looked up at him questioningly, he apologized and said, "It's just odd, seeing you with the Decepticon symbols."
Alexis paused, then gave an ironic laugh. She'd forgotten that Megatron had branded her with the faction symbols in question in addition to brainwashing her. "Relax, Ironhide. They aren't permanent," she said lightly. "And they're certainly not a reflection of who I am."
Kicker exchanged a look with Misha, her hand held firmly in his, before shifting his gaze to Alexis. "So, do we get to meet this Alpha Q character?"
Alexis shook her head. "I don't want you anywhere near him, Kicker."
Her teenaged partner hesitated, then scowled. "You don't trust me?!" he said incredulously.
"You, yes. Him, no," Alexis answered. She paused for a long moment, then continued with a sigh. "Like it or not, he's still a child. That makes him unpredictable. He still has a number of Terrorcons at his disposal, and I can't say with the utmost certainty that Scorpinok is going to continue to lean in our favor."
Ironhide spoke up after a short silence. "So, what's our plan then?"
After a couple seconds, Alexis said simply, her gaze unfocused, "I need to talk to Alpha Q. Alone." A pause, and then, "I'd like to try to get him on our side if I can. Hopefully, we'll soon see just how good my bargaining skills are…"
Author's Notes: To all of you who are anxious to see Alexis and Starscream reunited, I'm sorry to say it won't be until the chapter after next. But, will get there eventually. :)
Next up: Alexis' private talk with Alpha Q, and the induction of Shockblast and Thundercracker into Megatron's ranks.