A/N: So, I have started gathering a document of deleted scenes. It's not very numerous yet. And I only started keeping stuff starting in chapters a bit later than this one, when I realized I was doing something completely different from the way I had pre-written a scenario, but thought it would be fun to share the original idea someday. I don't think I could re-create the original versions of the edits done of the chapters already posted, but I'm thinking eventually, someday I will post a separate story for deleted scenes, just to share what might've happened alternatively. Like they do for movies, you know? What do you guys think? Would you enjoy that? Should I purposely keep scenes that I ultimately rehaul for the purpose of a Deleted Scenes dump story?
Review Response:
Wiewior14: Your stuff reeks of copy-paste from other similar such messages I have gotten, so it is suspiscious. I will reserve judgment in case you respond to this and prove you are actually reading this story after all. However, I am not looking to spend money on such things right now. Certainly not on something like an ongoing comic thing. That would be a huge task for this story, thus much too expensive for my budget.
GRNauman: Ah, a fellow binge reader has entered the fray! Thank you for your patronage! 3 I, too, enjoy binge reading large stories I come across that strike my fancy and decide by the end of what's posted if I like it or not. I'm glad you have you enjoyed it thus far! I hope you continue to enjoy this story for the chapters to come! There are a great number in the future. :)
Chapter 34: The Time Has Come
The last weeks of preparation passed and I found myself wishing they wouldn't despite also wishing they would. I wanted this whole ordeal to be over with and yet I did not look forward to delving into the bowels of Unicron to go after his spark.
"Are we all here?" Optimus asked upon entering the medbay conference room.
I glanced around at the bots with Shards—including Megatron—as well as Prowl, Chromedome, Springer and Arcee. We were missing two. Solarcharge and the mysterious mech of whom we had yet to meet.
"Where is Solarcharge?" Ultra Magnus asked, making the same observation I had.
"He said he had someone else to pick up," Megatron supplied.
"This mysterious mech he mentioned, no doubt," Ironhide said gruffly, shifting on his pedes.
"Hmm," Megatron hummed thoughtfully.
I shifted my wings as the bots all looked at each other and wondered silently. There was a conversation going over intercom, I knew—I was allowed in on it despite my lack of contributing—but no one spoke their thoughts out loud as we waited. Everyone was hesitant to speak openly with Megatron in the room, with good reason.
I watched them all, observing body languages and keeping an optic on Megatron to make sure he wasn't getting any ideas. The warlord was about to speak, looking at me, when the door finally opened to reveal Solarcharge. He strode into the room, an all black mech following behind him standing about the same height as Ironhide.
I stared at the mech for a moment, feeling like something was familiar about him. Besides the similar color scheme to my mentor.
"Sorry if I'm late," Solarcharge said.
"Not at all, it is only the entire planet and, possibly universe, at stake," Prowl replied smoothly. In perfect Prowl sarcasm fashion. It was rare, but it was a distinctive form of sarcasm whenever he employed it.
Solarcharge paused and narrowed his optics at Prowl while the mech who had followed him in looked mildly amused.
"I had to fetch our last Shard bearer," Solarcharge said, motioning to the mech. "This is Shadowstreaker." Then he went around the table to introduce the mech to each of us.
"It is good to meet each of you," Shadowstreaker said. His cobalt blue optics lingered on Megatron for a moment before moving on to linger on me for another before completely moving on. He gave a bow, his wings shifting in a typical Seeker greeting.
We echoed his sentiment and then the two mechs moved to take seats at the table, which had been expanded to account for the number of bots in this meeting.
As Shadowstreaker rounded the table, I saw wheels on his pedes and realized he was a triple changer. Familiarity continued to tickle at my processor, just out of reach.
"Now that we are all here," Optimus said, standing at the head of the table and hitting a button to pull a holomap of the Earth. "Let us go over the plan. Prowl?"
"Springer, Arcee and I will take teams to these points on the surface to draw Unicron's attention," Prowl said, highlighting spots on the map nearby some of the locations we had found some of the Shards. "While we engage Unicron's mini-manifestations, Solarcharge will portal you Shard bearers and Chromedome into the Earth's core—into Unicron's very being."
"Like little invading nanobots," Arcee said with a smirk, wiggling her fingers.
"Ew," I said, though I felt a little amused by this description.
Prowl gave us both long-suffering looks before moving on. "You will make your way through the passageways to the respective posts where you will guide your Shards onto their pedestals."
On the holomap, little icons appeared in corridors within the Earth as it zoomed in on them with the faces of each bot that were going in. The faces made their way through the pathways first as a big group before splitting off into smaller ones.
I considered the grouping for a second and shifted a wing, thankful I had taken the time to master the Shard as thoroughly as I had. The proximity I would have to Megatron through the whole thing was disconcerting. But Drift was also gonna be nearby the whole time and that was reassuring. The mech had trained hard with Wing and Dai Atlas and between him and I, we could at least escape, I was certain, if Megatron tried anything when this was over.
"As soon as the Shard bearers have directed enough energy into Unicron's spark, Chromedome will use the containment device to trap Unicron's spark within." Prowl said, highlighting the inventor's icon where it waited outside the door to the spark chamber and then entered after the effects of the energy played out.
"After that, it will be imperative that we rendezvous back up in groups for departure," Optimus finished as the groups moved to reconverge into larger groups again. A group with Solarcharge and a group with myself. "We do not know how trapping the World Eater's spark will affect the topography of his innards. It is best we do not linger to find out."
"And what will we do with the World Eater's spark?" Megatron asked, tilting his helm. "Will you eject it, like you did the AllSpark?"
There was a sneer on his face when I looked his way and I glowered at him from behind my visor. I was not the only one sending him a dark look either. But Optimus was unphased.
"That is classified information," Optimus replied calmly.
Megatron snarled at that, but said no more.
I stood with the others, prepared and ready to dive into the depths of Unicron's very body in order to put an end to the threat he posed. I was anxious, of course. As were everyone else, I knew. But I no longer felt that anxiety to be a roadblock like before.
I had made great use of those ten years with the Circle. Training with the Shard and swords. But also with my portals at every chance I had between those and time with Ratchet as well. I was prepared now. My anxiety was merely an emotion, not a stumbling block.
"Be careful," Ratchet said as we waited for the teams to give us the signal they were engaged. He reached out a hand to touch my cheek softly.
"I will," I replied softly, leaning into his touch. I turned my helm and kissed the palm of his hand. "I will see you on the other side, I promise. What do you think I trained so hard to be sure of? That I would find some cheese?"
Ratchet chuckled slightly at my joke, shaking his helm. "Femme." He admonished lightly, but his optics were sparkling.
I grinned at his amusement, glad to bring it to him. "I'll come back and then we'll make decisions, yeah?"
"Yeah," Ratchet nodded.
I thought about kissing him on the lips then. We hadn't really done so in the presence of others yet, but with the looming threat that we both knew of the possibility that I might actually not make it, I considered it. But before I could make a decision, the signal came that it was time to go.
"Primus guide you," Ratchet said, knowing my thoughts about the spiritual.
"And you," I returned, smiling.
I moved away, following my fellow Shard bearers toward the portal Solarcharge had opened. I saw my brother watching me as I approached with a look of obvious disapproval and I raised an optic ridge at him. It was not his place, nor right, to say who I could be sweet on.
Solarcharge and I went through at the same time, taking up the rear of the contingent.
"Pit this place is huge," Chromia said as we looked around.
"And our footing small," Ultra Magnus added, looking over the edge of our rather narrow passageway.
It was only wide enough for two of us to walk side-by-side, though the twins and Bumblebee could all fit side-by-side if they really squeezed. Magnus stood by himself due to his size, as did Solarcharge, Optimus and Megatron.
"It could be worse," I said as I gazed around as well. "We could have to hop across platforms."
"Well, that would be easy for you," Bluestreak commented, referring to my wings.
I grinned slightly as I shifted a wing slightly, careful not to knock it into Drift, who was standing next to me.
"Ewwww, I stepped in something squishy," Sideswipe complained from his spot up front.
"I believe that's a breach in Unicron's vein," Shadowstreaker said nonchalantly.
My helm feathers shifted a bit as I immediately noticed the use of a human word in his statement and frowned. It hadn't been the first thing I noticed that had given me mental pause, but it was the first that was really making me consider it seriously. I'd get the use of a human term if he'd been on Earth this whole time, but he hadn't been. Far as I knew.
"Slag that's gross," Sideswipe said, shaking his pede a little as the group started edging around the squishy spot.
"Hey!" Solarcharge snapped loudly as the actions from up there had caused us all to slow down. "We need to keep moving! We only have so much time to pull this off!"
Sideswipe grumbled, but started back at the previous pace.
I knew he meant because we had ended up pushing the time until Unicron fully awoke. But I also suspected it had to do with the whispers that I was starting to hear lisp at the edges of my processor. Drift looked like he was a little on edge himself—a lot on edge, actually.
I thought it was weird there were no nanobots moving to fix that breach and I said as much as I edged around it myself with a frown. That was when I heard the distinct sound of something flying toward us.
"You just had to say something," Chromia said drily as it got louder and we saw a mass of something round a bend to our right.
"It was weird enough to be concerning for something bigger lying ahead, ok?" I said, moving a hand toward one of my swords as the mass got closer.
"What are those?" Bluestreak asked, sounding a little scared as a whole swarm of flying creatures came toward us.
"Antibodies," Ultra Magnus replied, recalling Solarcharge's explanation from that one meeting as the creatures got close enough for us to begin making out details.
"It stands to reason," Optimus said. "They wish to expel us." He deployed his Ion Blasters.
"Let's see them try," Megatron said, sounding like he was anticipating this fight. He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck before snapping his fusion canon from subspace and onto his arm.
"We cannot linger for a drawn out battle," Solarcharge said.
"Then let us make this quick," I said, shifting from getting a sword to transforming into my owl mode. "Drift!"
I crouched on the edge of our pathway, spreading my wings and waited half a moment for Drift to climb onto my back, hand wrapping around the mantle of my wing where it connected to my torso. Then I took flight and flew straight toward the encroaching swarm.
Upon reaching the swarm, Drift leapt from my back, taking out several with his twin swords as I ripped through more of them with my claws. I knew better than to use my beak on something that would likely end in me consuming dark-en.
As we tore through the antibodies, I made sure to act as a buoy to keep Drift in the air even when I transformed into bot mode to use my own swords. We took out several, but several also made it past us to go after our companions, who took them out easily between the fact we lowered their numbers drastically and they had plenty of time to line up shots.
"Whoop!" Sideswipe cheered as the last one fell and I caught Drift on my back in owl mode once more.
"Nice flying," Chromia said with a grin once I was landing back upon the vein we were using as a walkway.
"Why thank you," I said, transforming and giving a small bow.
"Let's move out," Optimus said.
We started moving again and it wasn't long before we separated into our smaller groups as the vein branched out. We moved in silence until we split off once more.
"This place is creepy," Bluestreak said as he walked between where Megatron was leading the way of our group and where I was walking. "Anyone else hear whispering?"
"It's the dark-en," Megatron said, glancing back slightly. "It may not be in your system, but the simple exposure will have it licking at your mind, whispering your deepest fears and insecurities. Especially if Unicron feels you are a threat."
"Why didn't anyone warn us?" Bluestreak asked.
"An intriguing question," Megatron said.
"My information didn't include this as an effect of simple exposure," I said with a frown. "Whispers in the mind only happened with consumption according to what I knew. More notes for what is accurate and what is not, I suppose."
"Shouldn't Solarcharge have known?" Drift asked. "He was around for past cycles."
"Yeah, well, he hasn't shown himself to be the most straightforward and honest of mechs," I said, tone a little bitter. "Gets that from our father, I'm sure."
"But what does he get from not telling us this?" Bluestreak asked.
I shrugged, uncertain. "Ten to one, we'll find out when this is over." I shifted a wing. "I could play some music over intercom to help drown the whispers out. Call it battle music."
Megatron chuckled.
"I would appreciate it," Bluestreak said.
I sent an inquiry over intercom to the others asking if they would like the same and then played it for those who responded in the affirmative. Human music that I found fueled my battle spirit. The fact that it was human was significantly distracting enough to keep attentions off the whispers. I found it curious that even Megatron accepted the music idea, but assumed he was curious because of his obsession with my information.
Drift suddenly collapsed when we were reaching the next split in the path and I caught him by the arm.
"Easy," I said, frowning in concern.
"The exposure?" Bluestreak asked. "I can feel it trying to take my strength, too."
"Come, now, Drift," Megatron said silkily. "I know you can handle this better than that."
I glared at the warlord as Drift got back to his pedes. I handed Drift a mini-cube of energon and directed him to drink it. I didn't know if it would help, but it wouldn't hurt to try.
Drift downed it and it did seem to perk him back up a bit. So I gave one to Bluestreak and Megatron as well before downing one myself and intercomming the others to do similar.
"Prepared for everything, are you?" Megatron asked.
"Far as you know," I replied smoothly.
"Hmph," Megatron huffed in amusement.
We continued on, splitting off again onto individual pathways. It wasn't long after that that I found myself passing through a door.
And finding myself face-to-face with a room full of antibodies and a platforming path to the pedestal where I had to place my Shard.
"Well frag me to next Tuesday," I said in quiet tones.
Solarcharge had not said anything about platforming through to the pedestals. I mean, it was no big deal for me, since I could fly. But the antibodies were going to be an obstacle. And I didn't know how the others would handle it, though I was sure they could.
.:What was it you said earlier about platforming, fembot?:. Chromia asked over the group comm over the music, sounding amused.
.:Apparently I predict even that which I do not know:. I returned in equal amusement. .:Alert for help if you need it, anyone. I am seeing lots of antibodies in my room.:.
.:Mine appears to just have a giant wall:. Ironhide said.
.:Each room must be different:. Optimus said. .:Mine appears to be asking me to solve a puzzle to access the pedestal.:.
I investigated my room a bit more, trying to take flight and finding that there were actually invisible walls between myself and the antibodies and in touching one I called the attention of the things to myself. One flew through the wall and I quickly sliced through it with my sword while the rest watched.
I made note to myself to ask Solarcharge why he had said nothing about these puzzles while prepping us. Then analyzed the room, looking at each platform in turn to see if I could determine the path I needed to take. Clearly the invisible wall meant that I could not just fly over it.
After identifying a path, I gusted air through my systems and then took a running jump onto the first platform. I landed solidly on it, but then had to brace when it began shaking.
"Whoa!" I said in slight alarm as I took a knee to firmly steady myself as the platform lifted higher. "That changes things."
I looked over the edges around each side as it continued to rise. This would definitely change the path from the one I had initially laid out in my processor. I tried to identify any markers on the side of the platform that marked it as a moving one, but didn't see any. Maybe it was the shape—there were different shapes.
"Ok, just like the video games," I said to myself. "I did better solo when I could sus out the paths myself, anyways, rather than rush after the impatient who didn't take time to appreciate the world."
I looked around at the other platforms, determining which ones I would be able to jump to from this one. There were three I could reach. Which meant I could trial and error it, and find out if the number of times I touched the invisible wall affected how many antibodies came through, or I could find if there was some kind of indication of which was correct.
"There doesn't appear to be any difference," I muttered to myself. "So trial and error it is."
Knock Out peeked out of medbay into the pandemonium that was the hallways. Airachnid had initiated her coup plans about five minutes ago so the ship was on high alert. Breakdown would be "guarding" the Ground Bridge right now to prevent the escape of those loyal to Megatron—Airachnid intended to imprison or offline anyone who wouldn't follow her.
Knock Out's job, according to Airachnid, was to sneak onto the bridge and sedate Soundwave while Airachnid had him distracted, allowing her to deal the finishing blow. What he was actually going to do was sneak through the chaos to the storeroom and then join Breakdown at the Ground Bridge, where they'd make their leave. For good.
"This would be so much easier if I had the phase shifter," he muttered to himself as he ducked into a shadow to avoid passing vehicons.
Knock Out growled as he got stuck in the little nook for an uncomfortably long time. After several long and painful moments, he was able to move through the corridor to the next bend in his journey. He cursed to himself as he caught sight of an Insecticon battling it out with Barricade right in the middle of the hallway.
"Slag, she didn't say anything about bringing any bugs with her," Knock Out grumbled under his breath.
He considered his options. He could go another route, but this was the fastest way to get to where his target was being stored. He couldn't make a plea to the Autobots with anything less. And he knew his time was limited. Airachnid didn't really stand much of a chance against Soundwave, even with backup.
"Ok," Knock Out said to himself, making a decision. He stepped out from cover and then tossed an empty cube he had in subspace at the Insecticon as it screamed at Barricade. "Hey bug!"
The cube hit the Insecticon's helm and shattered, splattering it with small droplets of remnants of high grade. The bug froze, spindly appendages shifting for a moment before it turned to see who had dared throw such a thing at it while it was in the middle of a fight.
And while it was distracted, Barricade blasted a hole straight through its spark with his most powerful canon. The bug took half a moment to realize what had happened before falling forward onto the ground, dead.
"I had it, you know," Barricade said, lifting the canon to rest it on his shoulder as he glared daggers at Knock Out.
"Well, you know," Knock Out said, waving a hand nonchalantly as he grinned. "Thought I'd speed things up for ya so you could join the fun on the bridge. I hear it's a whole party up there."
"Tch," Barricade scoffed, moving toward Knock Out. "I told Megatron letting that spider on board was a bad idea." He brushed past Knock Out, hitting his shoulder with his own. "Guard the store rooms, will ya? I'll check if ol' 'Wave needs some help."
"You got it, boss," Knock Out said, giving the Enforcer a two-finger salute.
Barricade looked at him over his shoulder. "Don't mess this up," he said. "Megatron will have your helm if you let something go missing a second time. Be a shame to lose a good medic."
"No worries, mech," Knock Out assured him, watching the black and white mech consider him.
Knock Out waited until Barricade was around the corner before moving closer to the storeroom doors. He paused at what he saw at the end of the hallway—Starscream sneaking into the warlord's private quarters.
"Interesting," Knock Out said, smirking. Looked like they weren't the only ones taking advantage here. He hoped Starscream found what he was looking for, but he had to take care of his own here.
Knock Out waited just outside the storeroom door for a few moments, eyeing the corridor around him to ensure it was clear before he typed the password into the keypad and slipped in. His optics took in all the goodies kept inside with a gleam as he grinned widely to himself.
"Keep on task," Knock Out reminded himself.
He moved through the storeroom all the way to the back and found his target exactly where he knew it would be. He grinned wider. If this didn't get him an audience, he didn't know what would.
With the prize safely tucked away into his subspace, he moved back through the storeroom, picking up smaller items as he moved—including a nice pair of pistols he knew would earn him some points with a certain trigger happy mech—until his subspace inventory was completely full and he was at the door once more.
"Too bad Barricade keeps the Polarity Gauntlet on his person," Knock Out muttered.
He peered out the door to see if the coast was clear or not. It was and he stood as if he was guarding the door for one more moment.
Of course, that was the moment Starscream exited Megatron's quarters.
Their optics met and Starscream froze, optics wide.
Knock Out raised an optic ridge.
Starscream looked to the left. Then to the right.
Knock Out looked around as well. Then back at the Seeker and shrugged.
They made a silent agreement.
Neither had seen the other exit their respective doors.
Starscream ran off to join the battle in some way to pretend like he cared about the cause.
Knock Out moved on to make his way to join Breakdown.
.:Is everyone in position?:. Optimus asked over intercom.
Everyone besides myself and Bluestreak answered with an affirmative.
.:Almost:. I replied, clinging to the edge of the final platform with one hand. I growled slightly and then swung my sword out with my other to destroy the last of the antibodies.
.:What's taking you?:. Solarcharge asked irritably.
.:I'm sorry, did you have an invisible maze to find your way through while platforming without being able to fly and fighting off a bunch of antibodies?:. I asked snippily as I subspaced my sword and pulled myself up onto the platform with the pedestal.
.:Slag, femme:. Sideswipe said.
.:I'm in position now, anyways:. I said, standing as close to the pedestal as the structure allowed. I was starting to understand why Solarcharge had been so insistent about me mastering my Shard and not relying on him for taking care of both his and my own.
.:Blue'?:. Ironhide asked.
.:I'm here now:. Bluestreak replied, sounding a little winded.
.:Then, Bearers, position your Shards:. Optimus said. .:And let us put the World Eater to rest.:.
I took my Shard out and made it float above my hand for a second before directing it over to the pedestal and slotting it into its spot. The little pieces that it slotted into lit up as it slid into place.
I gusted air through my systems and focused on my EM field. I guided the energy into the Shard and then out toward the window that led out of the room toward Unicron's spark. As much as I could muster.
Several moments past of continuous energy output.
RAAAAA!
"NGH!" I cried at the scream of pain that sounded in my helm.
You will NOT silence me this time students of Primus!
Pain resounded through my helm and I heard the sounds of more antibodies approaching the room from the open doorway. They crashed into the invisible walls, cracking them even before they started wiggling through them.
.:Guys…:. Bluestreak said worriedly.
.:Stay focused. We cannot let up.:. Solarcharge said doggedly. .:We'll be finished before they reach us.:.
.:I hope you're right:. Sideswipe replied.
Get OUT!
The pain was getting hard to bear and I clenched my denta against it. I had bore the pain of Shockwave's experiments. I had bore the pain of Decepticon torture. I was not going to let Unicron's mental assault stop me from saving Earth and possibly the universe.
You are a stubborn lot, aren't you?
His tone was suddenly more silky, a manipulative tone.
You think this will stop me? I will crush everything you hold dear!
Images of my friends and loved ones, even those I knew before all this, flashed across my mind. My human family. Fiancée. Would be in-laws.
Dead.
Bloodied.
Scattered across the ground in grotesque fashion.
As if he could reach across the reality barriers to get to them.
Along with those I called my family now.
I closed my optics uselessly against the images, but I still saw them. I still saw them, because they were in my mind, not in front of me.
.:Do not fall for his tricks!:. It was Megatron's voice that came over comms and the shock made my optics widen. .:He will find whatever he thinks will make you back down. Power. Fear. Threats. Death. Life. Do not fall for it.:.
.:As if there is anything he could offer or threaten that would work.:. I said, hoping my determination would help fuel the others as I fixed my gaze back upon my Shard. .:We are, none of us, ones to be manipulated. By anyone!:.
.:Haha!:. Megatron's laugh was one of impressed triumph. Though I'm sure he would be glad to put it to the test the next time he had me in his clutches.
.:Hold fast, my friends:. Optimus said, tone alone inspiring enough he might as well have made a speech a million times better than mine.
I growled as I pushed through the pain and weakness that was building in my frame. I could hear the antibodies getting closer, but I ignored them.
Then the voice was gone. The pain in my helm lessened from something that was actively being inflicted to the remnant ache of an afterthought.
.:I got it! His spark is contained!:. Chromedome reported.
.:Well done, Chromedome:. Optimus said. .:And well done everyone. Regroup for departure.:.
I turned to face the swarm of antibodies, optics watching as several of them fell uselessly, but not all. Of course they wouldn't just all fall into disfunction.
I spread my wings as I removed my swords from subspace. "I don't have time for this," I growled.
"Security alert near the shield edge on the west side of the island," Red Alert said from his position at the console monitoring the local sensors.
Elita frowned at that as she watched the readings from the away teams on the other consoles. She knew Red Alert was watching them, too, but she couldn't help but keep the closest optic on them. She glanced over at the readings he had picked up. "What can you tell from them?"
"Cybertronian, but they're masking their spark signatures," Red Alert said. "Whoever it is, they're trying to hide, but they're not doing so well enough to avoid detection fully. Looks like there's two of them."
"Hmm," Elita hummed thoughtfully, narrowing her optics.
"Three minutes until we can get a visual," Red Alert said.
"I'm going to meet Perceptor and Wheeljack to intercept," Elita said. "Let Ratchet know to be on standby with you in case we need backup." Everyone else was off base besides Rewind and she didn't want to take the small mech off Ground Bridge duty.
"You got it, Commander," Red Alert said. "I'll feed you the images as they come in."
"Thank you," Elita said, placing a hand on the mech's shoulder for a moment before leaving the security center.
Once outside, Elita transformed down into her vehicle form and drove toward the coordinates that would take her to the edge of the shield where the alert was at. As she was pulling in next to Wheeljack as he turned at an intersection, Red Alert forwarded the satellite images to her. They were mildly puzzling.
The Decepticons Knock Out and Breakdown were at the edge of the island, sitting on a boulder that sat out in the ocean in the jetties on that side of the island just outside the shielding. They couldn't enter—the shielding prevented any Cybertronian with a Decepticon signature from casually entering without permission—so they couldn't encroach any further upon the island. They seemed to just be waiting, with no clear way of how they'd gotten there since there had been no readings of a Ground or Space Bridge.
.:Ground Bridge readings out a ways, it looks like they bridged out in the ocean and then drove the rest of the way under water:. Red Alert reported over intercom.
Elita acknowledged his report, wondering why they had done it that way. Knock Out was known for treasuring his finish as much as Sunstreaker. Submerging himself in seawater was not very friendly to it. It felt as if they were trying to be stealthy, yet they were sitting well out in the open at the edge of their shields, not hiding from them at all while picking seaweed and barnacles off their frames.
"What do you think, Elita?" Perceptor asked quietly as he joined her and Wheeljack, pulling up close to her side. "This doesn't feel like an attack."
"It doesn't," Elita said, thinking back to Shadebreaker's report about how she'd used some information to negotiate her escape from the Decepticons. How the Decepticon medic hadn't outright dismissed her extension of an offer to come to the Autobots, merely said he and Breakdown needed to discuss it.
"You think they're here under false pretenses?" Wheeljack asked, tone suspicious.
"We'll have to see," Elita said.
They made their way to the rocky beach at that side of the island. There were a few humans on security detail waiting for them at the edge, watching the Decepticons from a distance, ones who weren't out with the away teams, and one of them came up to Elita as she transformed and knelt to take his report as Wheeljack and Perceptor watched the Decepticons.
"They haven't shown any signs of moving since we got here, ma'am," the soldier reported. "I believe they have noticed us, but they don't seem to be paying us much mind. They seem to be waiting for you bots. They wouldn't respond to our attempts to get them to speak."
"Thank you, Lieutenant Jenkins," Elita said, bowing her helm to him. "Have your men stay back, but be alert. If this turns into a scuffle, we'll need to take them down hard and fast."
"Yes ma'am," Jenkins saluted her.
Elita rose to her full height and looked toward the two Decepticons, who had clearly noticed her and the two scientists' arrival. They had looked their way and were clearly waiting for them to come out to the jetty to meet them—Knock Out still casually plucking a piece of seaweed out of the seams of his armor with a look of disgust.
"Ugh," the red optic mech said. "Slimey."
Elita suppressed a smile of amusement at the mech's clear disgust and comfort in showing it. His body language was relaxed, not braced for combat. What that meant for the purpose of this visit, she wasn't sure.
"Ah, Elita-1," Knock Out said once she and her mechs were just at the edge of the shielding, a few feet away from the Decepticon pair. He stood to his pedes as he spoke and then gave a careful bow, cautious of his footing lest he fall into the water. "Kind of you to join us. Though, I won't lie, I was hoping to see another fembot out here."
"If you are talking about Shadebreaker, she is otherwise occupied," Elita replied smoothly, tone diplomatic. "I can deliver a message, however. What were you hoping to discuss with her?"
Knock Out shared a look with Breakdown and they appeared to hold a silent conversation. Then the red mech turned back to Elita with a smile that was clearly meant to be friendly, but came out a little on the sly side.
"Ah well," Knock Out said. "I'm sure it would come to your attention for discussion, anyhow."
Elita kept a carefully neutral expression, but she heard her companions share a look with each other behind her.
"She and I once discussed the idea of Breakdown and I switching sides," Knock Out said, waving one of his hands. "And…" he reached for his subspace pullers.
Wheeljack and Perceptor shifted defensively.
Knock Out waved his free hand in a calming motion. "We brought a token of goodwill to prove our seriousness," he said before moving.
Elita motioned the mechs behind her to wait and nodded to Knock Out to do as he wished.
Then out of subspace Knock Out pulled out what he had intended.
Elita's optics widened for half a moment before she schooled her expression.
"Is that-?" Wheeljack asked.
"The Forge of Solus Prime," Knock Out said with an almost feral grin. "With the big man occupied with Unicron and Soundwave occupied with Airachnid's attempted coup, slipping it from the storage room was easy peasy!" He rested the large hammer against his shoulder, standing with it proudly as he examined his digits on his free hand with a clear look of arrogance. "Of course, if you don't want it, I suppose Breakdown and I can always go rogue and not share our information and other spoils we raided on the way out."
Preceptor narrowed his optics. "Why would you leave the Decepticons now of all times?" He asked.
Knock Out scoffed. "What's it matter to you, nerd?" He asked.
Breakdown placed a hand on his companion's shoulder. "Our reasons are ours," he said. "We will discuss that with command and Shadebreaker, no one else."
"Hmph," Perceptor huffed, but he accepted that answer rather than argue in front of Elita.
"Very well," Elita said. "If you would come with me and hand over the Forge, we will discuss. Ratchet will need to see you to ensure you are not carrying any unknown viruses onto base you are not displaying symptoms of."
Knock Out moved forward and allowed Wheeljack to take the Forge from him when Elita motioned for him to do so. "Are medscans really necessary?"
"You could go straight to a cell pending discussion on what to do with you," Perceptor said coldly.
"Ouch," Knock Out said, not actually sounding wounded. "You're friendly."
Elita resisted the urge to sigh heavily at the mechs as she began leading the way back through the base toward medbay. The human contingency followed just in case, but she hoped they wouldn't be needed. She hoped she was making the right decision. She hoped this seed Shadebreaker had planted was truly coming to fruition and this wasn't some trick taking advantage of the femme's hope.
One thing she knew for sure:
The acquirement of the Forge of Solus was a net positive, regardless of what happened with Knock Out and Breakdown.
I sliced through the antibodies as I made my way back through the maze and knocked away the ones I could not do so readily. I didn't make it out entirely unscathed, but I made it through the door and managed to convince it to close once out when I hit the side of the opening—albeit I didn't know for how long.
I looked toward Drift's door only to see him tumbling off the side of the walkway.
"Frag it all," I grumbled, subspacing my swords.
I transformed into owl mode and then flew as quickly as I could toward him. Only to watch Megatron beat me to him. Fear in my spark, I flew after him until he landed on one of the pathways, transforming and laying Drift's halfway conscious form down on it. I landed as well, transforming as I landed and watching the warlord warily as I approached.
"Ah, ah," Megatron said, pointing his fusion cannon at the mech's spark. "I would stop right there if I were you."
The irony of my bodyguard's life sitting in my hands. I wondered if Optimus and Ironhide or Elita and Chromia ever ended up in positions like this.
I watched Megatron even more warily as my wings shifted. I heard the sounds of antibodies in the distance, but nothing that indicated they were rushing toward us anymore.
"I should offline him for betraying me," Megatron said as Drift groaned and shifted. The warlord sat a pede heavily on his tank, stopping him from moving. "But how about I make a trade instead?"
My helm feathers shifted slightly. I glanced down at Drift, my visor running a medscan on him. He was really suffering from the dark-en exposure—he was covered in it in spots from his battles with antibodies, same as Megatron and I. I wasn't entirely sure that was all, however, since he was clearly in worse shape than either of us.
"I will consider letting him go, if you come with me," Megatron said, waving his free hand.
I narrowed my optics at him, flicking my wings out behind me a bit.
Megatron drummed his digits in the air as he pressed the barrel of the fusion canon closer to Drift.
Drift moved a hand unseen by the warlord—Megatron's attention was too much on me—moving toward his subspace pullers.
"Well? What's your answer?" Megatron asked, tilting his helm. "I'm growing impatient. And you don't appear to be in any condition to defy me."
"I'm thinking," I replied, not acknowledging the fact he had clearly seen my bleeding arm and possibly even the wound on my back from those antibodies. "There's a lot to consider, Megatron, you must understand, when one knows what I know."
"And what, pray tell, do you know?" Megatron asked, raising an optic ridge.
Drift pulled a dagger from subspace and stabbed it into the warlord's pede before a moment had even passed.
Megatron roared as he was forced to move the pede—Drift having aimed for a particularly sensitive spot.
At the same moment, I opened a portal above me that also opened underneath Drift, allowing my bodyguard and friend to fall through and right into my awaiting arms, the portal closing immediately after.
"You do not have the advantage you think you have," I said simply.
Megatron snarled and lifted his fusion cannon to fire at me.
Before he could take the shot, however, I was already opening a new portal just below me and I slipped downward into it with my friend in my arms as the shot whizzed past above. I fell out just in front of Bluestreak and looked over my shoulder at him.
"Whoa!" Bluestreak said, optics wide. "Shade'!"
"No time to talk, come on," I said, shifting Drift into a more secure hold and opening a portal in front of us.
I moved through the portal, Bluestreak following. We picked Chromia up next, who looked surprised to see us coming out of a portal in front of her, but didn't stop to ask questions. She did, however, narrow her optics toward where I heard Megatron's engines where he was trying to catch up to us. We got Ironhide and he took half a moment to take Drift from me before I collapsed in front of him before I used my portals to finally grab Chromedome as well.
Then I finally portalled us all back to base.
My systems were gusting heavily as we stepped out of my portal and into the main room of medbay. My vision was glitching a little bit and I was getting that alert that I'd run my energy levels to a critical low again—like that time I'd push my portals to their size limit twice in a row with an intense flight in between. I stumbled, but found myself caught by hands. Familiar hands.
"Easy, Psychic," Knock Out's voice reached me.
"Knock Out? What?" I asked, looking up in confusion.
The red mech grinned at me. "Fill you in when you're not about to pass out," he said.
"Oh," I said, blinking.
And then I did pass out.