Captain: Oh my goodness ya'll were so awesome last chap! Thank you for all the birthday wishes and all of the reviews! 33(fanfic hates hearts, apparently) Unfortunately the day itself went much like the rest of 2020 has. Can we just have HalloThanksmas Eve and be done with the year already? Also work is making me fairly certain I'm about to be out of work and well...applying to stuff in my study field isn't going stellar either. So yeah, been fighting a tension/stress headache for like a week. I know I'm not alone in this sinking boat, but it has severely tanked my ability to focus on fanfic right now. Thank the lord I got a little stockpile of chaps tho, eh? :D A loooot of 'what ifs' going around and September is basically a big 'ole question mark. No matter what, I'm definitely gonna have to fuck off to the woods for a nice long time once hunting season opens here in a couple weeks. Hopefully I'll have better news by the next update, or maybe level 9 will really be the kicker X'D.
Anyway, hope ya'll are doing alright! Without further ado, I bring you the chapter you have been waiting for!
Fairy tales do not tell children that dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children that dragons can be killed. ~G.K. Chesterton
Prowl was aware the very nanosecond the tracker broadcasted, cutting himself off mid-speech as he traced the origin of the signal.
"Prowler?" Jazz brought his attention back to the room filled with officers who were all staring at him with mixed levels of curiosity. Once Major Lennox had been taken captive, Diego Garcia had all but emptied and the majority of Autobot forces had regrouped at an abandoned airport. NEST had supplied a few squads, but both sides agreed that the bulk of the assault should be done by the Autobots.
"The tracker placed on Detective Blake's badge has gone active," he replied, sending the frequency of the broadcast to each 'bot present.
"About fragging time!" Ironhide lurched up, guns itching for a fight. The black mech had been coming closer and closer to ripping the tactician's head off with every day that passed without a sign from his charge. The 'Cons wouldn't have killed him yet, but Ironhide didn't like the Major being in their clutches any less because of it. Now, now he had something other than the twins to vent his frustrations on, and he was going to enjoy every second of it.
"Primus Peak? 'Cons are getting a twisted sense of humor," Ratchet huffed. It was true, the mountain range that cut through the state of Washington had many peaks to choose from and yet their enemy had made their base on the one named for their creator.
"If they're on a mountain, why haven't we heard reports of sightings? Surely the humans have hiked the area enough to have spotted them?" Wheeljack asked, glancing up from the explosive device he'd been tinkering with.
"Most likely they are underground; as the area is surrounded by volcanic activity, the tremors of drilling would pass unnoticed," Prowl stated, cocking his head as he dug through the collection of police records he had assembled with the detective. "There is also a higher rate of missing hikers on that and surrounding mountains. They have been doing the same they did with their disposal site, taking anyone who got too close. Any sightings that may have occurred were dealt with before word could get out."
Optimus vented as he looked around at the assembled bots. "As much as we all wish to charge in and rescue the humans, the presence of an unknown tunnel network puts the possibility of a trap too high. We need a map of these caverns, so that we may efficiently clear them and dispose of them."
Wheeljack all but threw his project into his subspace, "Are you saying we're gonna blow them?"
Prime cast a sidelong glance at Prowl and noted the silent agreement there. "We cannot leave them with a functioning base. As soon as we clear the humans, we bury it."
It wasn't an order the commander gave lightly, for it condemned every Decepticon still in the caves when it blew. But this war had gone on for too long and Starscream had made it abundantly clear he wasn't going to stop the fighting. There were a few on the enemy's side Optimus still hoped to reach with peace, but others he knew were too far gone.
"And just how are you planning on getting a map? I don't think the Decepticons are going to just hand one over if you ask nicely," Ratchet pointed out, casting a heavy glare towards the inventor as he pulled out a different object to tinker with.
Jazz was up in an instant. "The 'Cons still think 'm dead. If they spot meh, they'll jus' think they're seein' things."
Optimus nodded. "Take Mirage with you. Warn the humans if you can that we are coming. Major Lennox will know what to do."
"So, when does the hammer come down?" Wheeljack asked, patting his finished product fondly.
The red and blue leader turned to Prowl, wondering if the tactician had any input at this point. The Charger glanced around, "An hour after sunset they will expect us least."
Prime nodded and his voice reached out to every 'bot on the makeshift base, "Autobots, prepare to roll out."
"You glitched fool! I told you to give him all but section D!"
"Now I could have sworn you specified to give him that one."
Starscream turned on the red medic, raking his claws across the sports car's front before he could dodge the strike. "That was our leverage!"
"Hey! Not the finish!" Knock Out growled, hovering his hands protectively over his scratched chassis. "He hasn't gone through all of them yet."
The Air Commander snarled, flexing his clawed digits and making the smaller mech flinch back. "Then go get them! Put them with the pets and keep them alive."
Knock Out gave a sweeping mock bow, grumbling as he walked out of the room. "Breakdown! Get my buffer!"
Starscream turned towards his silent trine-mate, noting and dismissing the slight frown crossing his features. "Thundercracker, what are our energon levels?"
The blue jet met him optic-to-optic. "We've barely made half of what we need. The humans can't harvest enough to keep up with what Shockwave is using."
The self-proclaimed Lord of the Decepticons huffed. "Pathetic species. We'll need more if they're going to finish processing the deposit in time."
"Ooooooh, does this mean I can go catch more?" Skywarp appeared between the two mechs, grin spread wide in innocent excitement.
"Don't bridge with them this time!" Starscream growled, pausing a moment before he recanted, "No, Soundwave says Stage Two has begun; get into position."
The purple jet gave a snappy salute before disappearing with another loud 'pop'.
The events of the day were too much for either of the men to sleep and even Darcy struggled to find any rest as renewed screams echoed from Shockwave's lab as he received another batch of humans they hadn't known existed. Just how many people were still down there with them? Twenty, fifty, a hundred? Their cries reverberated throughout the night, but the gunfire died quickly. Ravage returned to his post, his frame covered in gore. The three tried to ignore it, but Darcy lost the battle and rolled over to lose the few remains of her stomach. The cat smirked.
As the time crept by and Darcy faded in and out of sleep, she knew she was getting worse. Soon it wouldn't matter how much John told her to hold on, she could barely control her body anymore. She shuddered, somehow freezing and burning at the same time. Her throat dry and coarse like sandpaper, but Lennox refused to let her have any more of the water, promising only that she'd be okay soon.
She didn't know what he could mean by that, but he was getting antsier with every hour that passed. Eventually he was pacing, back and forth and back and forth. It was making Darcy woozier than she already was. John tried to ask what was eating him, but the soldier just waved him off and kept going.
Eventually-it had to be passed dawn-Barricade wandered by and ushered some fifteen people in. Even in her dazed state, Darcy recognized some of them from the reports. So did Lennox.
"Ivan?" he asked, approaching one of the younger men. He was as roughed up as the rest of them, but alive.
"Major?" Lennox looked around, taking stock of just who had joined them.
"You were right, Darcy." he sighed.
The detective offered a noncommittal grunt.
"Right about what?" John asked as the man identified as Ivan stepped towards them.
Darcy fought to sit up, her head spinning as she did so.
"They were targeting NEST families. But why haven't they used them as leverage yet?" He directed the question to the group facing them. It wasn't a question they necessarily wanted an answer to. If they hadn't revealed their captives for the raids they'd already done, then the 'Cons were saving them for something much bigger; something that would be much worse if the Autobots couldn't stop them.
John noticed the confused glances on the faces of those around them. "They don't know, do they?"
Lennox shook his head, but didn't elaborate or bother to explain. He looked towards the empty doorway, frowning. Sighing, he turned away, but didn't start up pacing again.
"It doesn't look good, Prime," Mirage winced and it was felt even through the comms. That certainly got everyone's attention. It wasn't often that the former noble was ruffled by anything, especially humans. "I have only found eighteen humans still functioning, but there is evidence that many more were here recently."
"How recent?" Prime rumbled, worried that somehow, the Decepticons had known they were coming.
It was Jazz who came over the line, voice filled with barely contained rage and disgust. "The mountain side is littered with bodies, Prime. Breakdown is out cleaning it up but the massacre is obvious. They slaughtered 'em last night."
Optimus vented heavily, wanting nothing more than to charge in guns blazing at that moment. But no, they were too many miles away to come in unnoticed and they would be flying blind. They had to wait, come up with a plan, and pray those few remaining could hold on a bit longer.
"How is Lennox?" Ironhide gruffed, his guns yet to stop shifting.
"The Major appears well enough. But Prowl," Mirage paused, hesitating, "your detective is not doing well. She appears to have contracted some sort of virus."
Ratchet hummed to himself from his place beside the tactician. He wasn't surprised someone had gotten ill; he'd seen the autopsy reports of what the 'Cons had been giving them to survive on, it was deplorable. The medic gave a sidelong look to the SIC. He may not have taken guardianship over the woman, but she had been under his watch when Barricade of all mechs had taken her. That would no doubt rile him.
Prowl, for his part, barely twitched his doorwings, but it was enough for those that knew him. "How dire?"
Mirage delayed replying. He didn't have the in-depth knowledge of humans that most of the others did and he dared not use his scanners in the middle of Con territory. Even to the untrained optic, though, he could guess the condition the woman was in. "I give her no more than a week in these conditions, maybe less."
The tactician's doors twitched again and the medic knew he was right. "Can you warn them now?"
"Negative. Ravage is standing guard."
"Thank you, Mirage, finish scoping the tunnels as quickly as possible." Optimus worked through the possible variables of the coming raid. They knew of some Decepticons that would undoubtedly be there, but he wasn't naïve enough to believe they knew of all of them, even with two 'bots scouting the base.
"Copy tha', Prime, we'll be back soon," Jazz responded. The coldness hadn't left his voice and it was promising swift retribution on those responsible for all he had seen.
Some hours later, the sleek forms of the two spies slid into view. Prowl was pacing again, back and forth as he plotted his way through the rough maps the two had sent him. The energon storage room would be needed spoils, but there would be no time to raid the supply. Instead it would be a sweet spot for the bombs, and no doubt Shockwave's lab would be filled with sensitive and explosive materials. So few humans would be easier to get out unnoticed, but they may be guarded. His plan would account for all of it.
As per usual, of course, a hiccup had him recalculating all of it as he alerted Optimus, "Skywarp just started attacking a power plant sixty miles south of here."
Optimus looked over his gathered forces. They couldn't respond fully if they were to be prepared for the coming raid that took precedence. He couldn't spare many, but if he chose strategically who to send after the spastic seeker, then it might trick the 'Cons into believing a larger force was on the way. Speed would be of the essence then, so that when they arrived it would appear that they simply outpaced the others. "Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, do as little damage to the human structure as possible."
The twins shared identical smirks before dropping into their fancy alt modes and peeling off, skid marks quickly the only sign of their departure. Ratchet huffed in their direction. "If they try jet judo one more time, I'm reformatting them into toasters."
The sky began to darker, signally that the time was fast approaching. Optimus turned to his remaining troops. "Jazz, Mirage, you know what to do."
Mirage nodded while Jazz gave a salute and soon the group was watching their taillights disappear as well. The commander rolled his own guns forward to charge. "Autobots, let's get it done."
Darcy groaned as another wave of nausea rolled over her, forcing her to attempt to spit up nothing. Every heave burned her dry throat. The dark room refused to focus properly and she only recognized that it was John hovering over her by his voice; not that she could tell what it was that he was saying. She was just so thirsty and so tired. Maybe if she closed her eyes for just a few seconds, things would stop spinning and settle down. It was worth a try at least.
If only John would let her.
"Damn it, Darcy, stay awake," he snapped, smacking her cheek. His words were muddled and she barely felt his tap.
He turned to the soldier as her eyes refused to focus on him. "We can't wait forever. Tainted or not, she needs water. She's lost too much."
His hands came back damp no matter where he put them. She was sweating out every ounce of fluid she had. If she didn't replenish it soon, it'd be too late for her to recover from whatever was afflicting her.
Lennox sighed, running his hands through his hair, casting a glance to the empty doorway, he whispered, "Just a few more hours. If we haven't heard anything by then, then let her drink."
John didn't like it, he figured she'd have her best chance staying hydrated regardless of the quality of the water, but if help was incoming, then he didn't know if it would truly do more good than harm.
It was impossible to accurately measure time in this place, but the retired cop couldn't wait any longer. Filling up the makeshift cup, he was nearly to her when a monstrous boom shook the cavern.
Darcy jolted at the sound, bleary-eyed and confused. The others were panicking. Only Lennox appeared unconcerned and with a few barked orders, he had the rest quieting down and gathering together in orderly fashion.
"What's going on?" she mumbled as John and another man hauled her to her feet. The world disappeared into a black haze for a long moment as she tried to fight off the oncoming unconsciousness.
She made out the small grin the Major sent her way and noted it looked really out of place given their surroundings. "The cavalry has arrived."
It took her a long time to comprehend what he was getting at, the meaning digging through the fog of her mind. The Autobots had found them.
There was a shift in the room, almost imperceptible, but Darcy was just out of it enough to actually notice. She frowned at the empty air that seemed to shimmer before her eyes. Everyone else noticed when a large red mech just appeared in the middle of the room. The detective jolted away from him, but the two keeping her standing kept her firmly planted.
"Mirage!" Lennox greeted and Darcy squinted, dimly making out the bright blue optics. Autobot?
"We must move quickly," he ordered, moving to stand halfway into the hall. The cavern shook again followed by the echo of shouting and gunfire.
The red bot vanished without warning. A few seconds later Barricade thundered past. He didn't even glance in their direction. Mirage reappeared exactly where he had been before once the Decepticon was gone. "Come and stay quiet."
He handed what looked like a large gun to Lennox before walking out, the rest filing out after him. John and the stranger hauled Darcy forward. She tried to walk on her own, but could only stumble and struggle to keep her feet under her.
"Who's here?" Lennox asked as he took point at the head of the human column.
Mirage paused to attach some box on a support wall as he answered, "Everyone."
A silver mech spun around the corner and Darcy tensed at the coming brawl. Only it never came. The Major greeted this one as well. "Jazz!"
The new bot nodded at him before turning to his fellow alien, looking grimly pleased. "Place is ready to blow."
"You checked all the tunnels?" Lennox asked as they continued forward.
The silver shook his head. "Not the time, but when this beast goes, every fragger still here will be buried."
John adjusted his grip. "What about the other people? There are others still here!"
The two aliens shared a grim look before the red one answered. "There are no others, you are what is left. Now let's go before that changes."
They faced no resistance on the way out and as they turned down foreign tunnels, Darcy's head lulled and she found herself looking at the ceiling. Strangely, it wasn't very smooth or tall, small bits of rock actively dropping from it. It was also scorched. Huh, they made a door.
Bridging the gap into the outside was stepping into a different world.
Light flashed out in the darkness like a strobe, illuminating the fighting aliens that covered the mountain side. Their colors were muted by the glow of gunfire, but their optics stood out sharply.
The cold slapped against her like a brick wall. Despite the burn of it in her lungs, the fresh air after so long was heavenly. The two bots left to join the fight, quickly replaced by a military squad of humans who flanked them. Darcy was never so happy to see them in her life.
She was passed off to two of them who scaled the packed snow with her weight with ease. Before she knew it, they were behind the Autobot line and approaching a small fleet of Humvees waiting for them. Lennox barked an order while gesturing to the detective before moving out of her line of sight.
Despite the rush of all that was happening around her, darkness teased Darcy's vision and her head swam with the effort of processing what she was seeing. She was on a stretcher with no memory of being laid down, the dark sky replaced by the inside of a medical van. Medics were talking to her, flashing lights in her eyes, but it was like she'd been put underwater. She couldn't make out what they were saying or doing, couldn't make her body respond to any command. She only knew it was too bright, the light hurt, and all she wanted was to sleep.
Jostling told her they were moving, or maybe the car was being rocked by explosions. Fading in and out, her irritation grew with every shake the medics gave her, with every question she didn't understand. She was too tired to move her eyes, to try looking at them. They stayed fixed on that dark window, seeing nothing.
The darkness lit up in a great ball of red, orange, and blue, and then even the medics couldn't keep her awake after that.
She was aware of warmth first. Not in any particular location, just an overall comfortable warmth that permeated her entire being. The parched dryness of her throat made itself known next, annoying but not painfully unpleasant. Above all, she felt rested. Like she'd slept for a week and was ready for a double shift. It was almost too perfect a feeling to open her eyes and risk breaking the spell.
There was no pain.
Stilling, she tried to focus on each part of her body, to find where those pains could be hiding. Nothing. Just peaceful numbness in the places that should have been hurting and everywhere else was alive.
She started with minimal movements, testing what would respond and what might not. Her shoulder was wrapped tight, immobile, and IV's tugged at her arm, but that was it. She was free.
Opening her eyes was a less pleasant experience as the light pierced and burned the second it made contact. Groaning, she snapped them closed again, the sound coming out far more pitifully than she expected as it scraped its way out.
"Ratchet, she's awake!" a disembodied voice hollered out and the sound ricocheted around her head.
"Give me a moment, it wouldn't do to have her first vision be of me," another bodiless voice answered from further away. Wherever she was fell silent for a moment before the first voice came again.
"Ms. Blake? Can you try opening your eyes again?" A cool hand rested on her arm and she jolted at the contact. It was promptly removed.
Prepared for the burn this time, she opened her eyes slower, tilting her head to the side to avoid the direct glare. Even without the overhead lights blurring her vision, the sight before her was hazy and took an obscene amount of time to start straightening out.
When her eyes did finally sort themselves, she was greeted by the sight of a military nurse giving her a gentle smile, the doctor entering in behind him. The doctor didn't pay much attention to her at first, instead he shooed the nurse away and pulled out a tablet to start typing away on. She appreciated the chance to gather the rest of her bearings and take in where she was.
It looked like what she figured a typical military medical wing might look like. Curtains cut off her view of other beds and despite the bright lighting, the room itself was dimmed by dark concrete walls. This wasn't any mobile hospital, this was one at a base, though where that base was there was no way to tell.
There was not much else to see, the IV line was attached to a bag with medical jargon that Darcy had been in enough hospitals to know simply meant fluids and supplements. The only other thing worth noting was the doctor himself, now that the nurse was gone. A soft face pitched down into a partial frown with a short mop of light brown hair streaked with grey. All in all, a welcoming but nearly stereotypical look for a doctor. A very familiar looking one at that.
She'd seen that face before. Where had she seen that face before? She was sure she knew it, yet was equally sure she didn't personally know the man. Was he famous?
That was it. The man before her could have been an older doppelganger for Dr. Wilson from that medical show she'd watched a handful of times. House or something like that. She stifled another groan, what was with these people and looking like celebrities?
She stiffened as Lennox's brief explanation of holograms and the like came back to her. They couldn't just create a face, they had to take a known and only then could they make some changes to their preference. A celebrity face was an alien face.
The 'doctor' frowned, glancing up from his tablet as the beeping of the heart monitor spiked. "Detective, I need you to stay calm; you're in a safe place."
Darcy didn't care what he said, she was prone beneath another alien with chemicals dripping into her bloodstream and who-knew-what-else he had done while she was unconscious. Adrenaline shot through her, giving her the strength to bolt up and claw at the IV. The doctor reached for her and pure instinct reacted. She shrieked, throwing the IV tubes toward him and scrambling away, right off the other side of the bed.
"Stay away from me!" she shouted as she crashed to the floor and continued dragging herself away when he moved to come around the bed. Her muscles were weaker than she thought, her legs refused to hold her up. She was left in a sad heap on the ground, helpless and trapped.
In a desperate attempt to put more distance between her and the fake doctor, she pulled herself through the curtain separating the beds and right into a pair of legs. "Darcy?"
"John!" She could have sobbed in relief at finding him, half-standing from his own bed. He dropped to her level in an instant.
"What the devil is going on?" he asked, looking her over in concern.
She caught sight of the IV in his own arm and went for it. "We have to get out of here! The aliens! They're here, pretending to be doctors!"
He pulled his arm out of her reach, using the other to tug her toward him until she was shaking against his chest. "Darcy! It's okay! It's the Autobots, they saved us, saved you. We're at their base, we're safe. You're safe."
Rubbing her back, he urged the panic down, tried to anchor her to this new reality.
"And I am very much a real doctor, thank you," the holoform grouched from the end of the curtain, crossing his arms. Darcy burrowed deeper into John's chest in a vain attempt at hiding herself.
John tugged her back a bit so she could meet his gaze. "Darcy, this is Ratchet, he's the Chief Medical Officer for the Autobots. He saved your life."
She chanced a glance at him. He didn't look overly threatening, a bit annoyed yes, but otherwise not immediately intimidating. For his part, Ratchet didn't move an inch, simply watched and waited.
John looked over at him when Darcy made no move to speak. "Can you give us a moment?"
The medic nodded and left. Both man and mech knew it was going to take many long moments before the detective could get herself right again.
Captain: Yay! Darcy and the others have been rescued! Woo! Aaaaand now she's gonna need a crap ton of therapy...and then that therapist is gonna need therapy :D Yeah, she's got her work cut out for her for recovering. I know ya'll were hoping for more Prowl, but never fear, he's more directly involved next chap! And the next chapter? Is the last of the rewrites! That's right! We are ONE chapter away from brand-new content! Wahoo! I'm excited, 'cause I really loved writing the stuff afterwards, which is probably messed up considering what goes on, but...ya know...we authors are terrible :D Not gonna lie, I don't really like this chapter, but I didn't want to fuss with it too much because in the long run it's small potatoes compared to the big hitters that are coming, so please drop a review and let me know what you think! 3