CHAPTER TWO
--The Floating Fortress--
"Where are we, Lord Megatron?"
Megatron did not answer Blitzwing's question as the Nemesis docked in the Floating Fortress' hangar bay. To tell the truth, he did not know himself. He had simply received a summons from Shockwave, with the coordinates to Nimbus Five, and was told to bring as many forged Decepticons as he could.
None of this made sense to him. He thought he had already done his part after "reclaiming" his throne, yet here he was following another's beck and call again. Was he not leader of the Decepticons? Had that not been what Shockwave had been shaping him up to be?
Or had he always been a pawn...?
"Megatron?" Blitzwing repeated. "Is everything all right?"
"I'm fine," Megatron snapped. "Save your questions for later. All shall be clear soon."
At least, he hoped so.
Once the Nemesis had docked, Megatron and his crew headed for the loading ramp and disembarked from the ship. Standing outside to greet them was none other than Darkstar, whom Megatron knew as the director of Outpost Four.
"Hello, Megatron," the Seeker greeted him. "I take it you had a safe journey?"
"Quite," Megatron grunted. He then stepped over to her and leaned in to whisper in her audio receptor. "What's going on here? What does Shockwave ask of me?"
"I know nor of any plans Shockwave may have for you," Darkstar whispered back. "I only know that I am to lead you to the meeting chambers. Your crew shall be redirected elsewhere shortly."
"You mean we came all this way just so we can wait?" Blitzwing said angrily. "Well I tell ya, that's a load of scr--"
"Silence," said Soundblaster, his tone monotonous as always. "You shall do as you are commanded to."
Blitzwing rolled his optics. "Always being the kiss up. And I thought Lugnut was bad enough."
Megatron gave him a warning look before turning back to a bemused Darkstar. "Lead the way then."
Keeping an optic ridge arched, Darkstar turned on her heel and walked away, with Megatron close behind.
Neither of them -- nor any of the Decepticons -- noticed a small shuttle sneaking into the hangar and latching onto the side of the Nemesis' hull....
* * *
"You said this thing seated five."
"I did," Brainstorm said, leaning away from the stealth ship's control. "You're all sitting, aren't you?"
"Yes, well--" Chromedome winced as he tried to stand up and ended up hitting his head on the ceiling. "It's not like we have any other options."
"Hey, I never said it would be comfortable, so you can't get on my case for that!"
"Forget it," Cannonspring grunted, sitting cramped between Nightbeat and Getaway. "Let's just get moving before they spot us."
"And how are we going to do that?" Getaway shifted slightly to look out the window. "It's quite a drop to the floor. I'm sure someone would hear us."
"Then we climb out, obviously."
Getaway glared at him. "Okay then, smart aft. Why don't you lead the way then?"
Rolling his optics, Cannonspring reached up and started to undo the opening hatch--
--Just as the alarm went off.
Pushing past the others, Getaway thrust a leg through the window, causing it to shatter. "Every bot for himself!"
He then dropped down to the floor, transforming as he landed, and drove off. Nightbeat and Chromedome shortly followed suit, leaving Cannonspring and Brainstorm behind.
As Brainstorm prepared to drop out of the ship, the other mech cleared his throat. "Um, I hate to bring this up out of nowhere, but, ah...."
Brainstorm looked back at him. "You can't transform?"
Cannonspring nodded sheepishly. "I guess the lack of alt mode kibble kind of made it obvious already."
"Yup." Brainstorm reached behind his back and pulled out a gun, which he aimed at Cannonspring. "Hold still."
"Hey, what are you--" The featureless bot was cut off by an energy ray hitting him. All of a sudden, he found himself standing before a much, much larger Brainstorm. The Autobot scientist then scooped him up as he opened his chest canopy.
"Make sure you hold onto something," Brainstorm said as he placed the miniature Cannonspring inside. "I don't have any safety harnesses in alt mode."
"Why not?"
"Well, I mean, what good does it do me?"
Cannonspring sighed. "Point taken."
With that, Brainstorm dropped from the shuttle and transformed to jet mode, flying after the others.
* * *
Ratchet awoke to the sound of alarms blaring.
Groaning, he sat up from the berth he had been laying on and rubbed his helmet. Wait a minute, he thought. His hands... they were red. Not blue.
He looked down at himself. Blocky build, window chest, white and red color scheme... he was back in his original body. He couldn't help but grin; finally he could stop being attacked by Autobots who thought he was Pharma.
At that thought, his smile quickly vanished. If he was in his old body again... then where was Pharma's?
"Would someone turn off that blasted alarm?!" he heard a voice cry. "I'm trying to operate!"
Ratchet froze up. That voice... it was Pharma's. Without a doubt. He would recognize it anywhere.
He looked around for an escape route. There was only one door, but it was locked behind a keypad. There were no windows, no vents... just one locked door.
He was trapped.
"Ah. You're awake."
He whirled around to see Pharma emerging from an adjacent room, his entire front coated in energon. A wicked grin was plastered on his face.
"How do you like your body?" Pharma asked. "I made sure to take good care of it."
"Go frag yourself," Ratchet snarled.
"Tsk, tsk! Language!" Pharma wagged a finger. "You should watch that filthy mouth of yours, especially when you're around children."
Ratchet raised an eyebrow. "Children?"
"Protoforms! We found a whole lot of them on your ship. Since when did you decide to become a daycare?"
Before Ratchet could answer, he heard a small whimper come from behind the mad doctor. Pharma turned his head towards it and shouted, "Keep it down in there or I'll operate on you next!"
"Pharma," Ratchet said in a low voice. "What are you doing?"
He didn't bother waiting for an answer. Before he knew it, his fist had made contact with Pharma's face and his ex-colleague crumpled to the floor in a daze.
Stepping over his body, Ratchet ran into the other room and found a large red mech stretched upon an operating table, his green spark exposed. He then looked over to see Ariel huddled in a corner, sobbing as she hugged her knees.
"Aw, scrap," he muttered. Of all the bots Pharma had to pick for torture....
Moving over to Rampage, Ratchet tried to figure out what it was Pharma had been doing to him. His chest plate had been pried open, exposing his spark chamber. Tiny little sticks jutted out from the pulsing green orb. Had Pharma been trying to splice it? Point One Percenter sparks were not known to be easy to replicate; hence why they were so rare. But if Ratchet knew anything about the freak his former friend had become....
After gently removing the sticks from Rampage's spark, Ratchet set about repairing the larger bot's chestplate. The alarms continued to blare outside, leading the medic to wonder what was setting them off. Of course, he had yet to figure out where he even was in the first place.
Once he was finished with Rampage, Ratchet then turned to Ariel, crouching down to meet her eyes.
"Are you all right?" he asked softly. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"
She shook her head. "He hurt him...."
"Yes, I know. Don't worry, he's going to be okay."
"I'm scared...."
Ratchet nodded. "I understand. But we'll get through this, okay? I'll keep you safe. Both of you."
Ariel sniffed as she nodded. "Okay. Thank you."
"Doctor?"
Ratchet looked up at Rampage, who was now sitting up. "Yes?"
Rampage jerked his head to where Pharma laid. "I'm going to kill him."
"No. We need him alive. He's the only one who can unlock the door--"
"Perhaps I didn't make myself clear." Rampage was on his feet now, looming over the medic. "I'm going to kill him. He hurt me and, by extension, her. And no one hurts my sister and lives."
"While I admire your code of honor -- such as it is -- I still can't let you do that." Ratchet was standing as well now, although he still wasn't quite at eye level with Rampage. "If you kill him, you'd be no better than him."
"I'm already worse than him. What have I got to lose?"
Ratchet found himself at a loss for words. He had forgotten who he had been speaking to; Rampage likely did have a large kill count than Pharma did.
The point was soon proven moot however when Ratchet looked over again and saw that Pharma had vanished... and the door was still locked.
"Ariel," he said quietly. "You might want to plug your ears."
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