CHAPTER THREE
--Floating Fortress--
"Sir, there's been a breakout in Sector Eleven-Three--"
"I'm aware of that," growled the Warden of what had once been Garrus-13. "Dispatch a squad to take of them."
While the operator carried out his order, another bot spoke up from her own station. "Sir, Scourge wants to know what's going on."
"Tell him I have it under control. The last thing I need is that fool hovering over my shoulder, telling me how to do my job."
"Sir," another operator started, only to fall silent as the Warden stormed up to him, optics blazing.
"What is it?" he snarled.
The bot shrunk under his superior's gaze. "Quickswitch's ship has arrived and is requesting entrance. Shall I lower the forcefield or wait until the situation has been handled?"
The Warden exhaled as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Have him wait. Tell him we are experiencing technical difficulties but that it won't take long to deal with."
At least, not if I have anything to say about it... he silently added to himself.
* * *
"Quickly! Through here!"
"How do you know where you're going?" Chromedome asked as he and Getaway made a sharp turn after Nightbeat. "What is it about this corridor that tells you it's the one to go down?"
"I heard a scream come from here," Nightbeat replied. "It kind of sounded like Ratchet."
The three Autobots soon came to a stop before a locked door, which bore the words "Medbay Seven". As they transformed, they were joined shortly by Brainstorm, who was by himself.
Chromedome looked at him. "Where's Cannonspring?"
Brainstorm patted his chest canopy. "In here. Mass-displacement gun. Heck of a thing."
"Then why don't you use it more often?" Getaway asked.
"It takes approximately a decade for a charge to load. Last time I used it was at Orvus Base, Cycle 9804. I haven't been invited back since."
"How long before the effects wear off?" asked Chromedome.
Brainstorm shrugged. "It varies. Can be anywhere from a few hours to several years."
At this, Cannonspring banged his fists against the canopy, yelling obscenities. Nightbeat ignored all this as he looked over at Brainstorm.
"So, Ship's Genius, care to get this door open for us?"
Brainstorm stepped over to the door and rubbed his chin as he studied it focusing on a nearby keypad. He quickly pressed a series of buttons and the door was instantly unlocked.
Nightbeat stared at him slack-jawed. "How did you know...?"
"I didn't. It was just a lucky guess."
"What did you put in then?"
"865625. That spells 'unlock'. The password is literally 'unlock'. I am not joking."
Nightbeat shook his head. "Whatever. Let's just go in."
They opened the door and, just as the detective had guessed, found Ratchet inside -- or rather, Ratchet's old body, which they knew had been swapped with Pharma's back on Talrus. Getaway narrowed his optics, hands rolling into fists.
"Okay," he revved. "You have ten seconds to convince us that--"
"My face still hurts," Ratchet retorted.
Getaway relaxed, looking somewhat sheepish. "Okay. You're legit."
"How did you find us?" the medic asked. "Did you just go up to a random door and got lucky?"
"I heard you swearing," Nightbeat smirked. "I already knew it was you by the colorful language."
"Wait, did you say 'us?'" Chromedome asked.
Ratchet pointed a thumb towards an adjacent room. "Ariel and Rampage are here too. Pharma had been... doing things with them earlier."
"Where's Pharma now?"
"No idea. He vanished just before you guys showed up. That's why I was swearing." Ratchet sighed as he rubbed his helmet crest. "These past few days have been rough on me."
"I think you speak for all of us in that regard," Nightbeat said. "So what now? Do we investigate whatever's setting off these alarms?"
"You mean it wasn't you guys? Because otherwise...." Ratchet trailed off as his optics moved over to a teal scientist. "...Brainstorm, why do you have a little robot in your chest?"
"Hm? Oh, sorry." Brainstorm opened his canopy and brought out the miniature Cannonspring. "This is Cannonspring. He was born less than an hour ago. Don't worry, this isn't his actual size. I just had to make him small so he could--"
"Stop right there." Ratchet raised a hand. "What do you mean 'born?' Are you saying he was forged?"
"I was budded," Cannonspring said. "It's a form of asexual reproduction that has been lost to Cybertronians for many millennia."
"Budding? I that that was just a bunch of claptrap."
"As I said, it's fallen by the wayside. Even back in my day, it wasn't a common method."
"Wait, what do you mean 'back in your day?'" Getaway questioned. "You were just born! How can you--"
"Enough talk!" Rampage emerged from the other room, Ariel right beside him. "Let us find those responsible for our misery and tear them to pieces! Make them suffer the same way we have!"
"He has a point," Getaway said. "I mean, not the tear-them-to-pieces bit, but the fact that we should do something other than hang around here. Like, try to find the others or something."
"Allow me to lead the way," Rampage said. "I can smell fear, and where there is fear, there is suffering."
Nightbeat glanced at Ratchet. "You sure do attract the crazies, don't you, doc?"
"Shut up," Ratchet muttered. "And don't call me 'doc.'"
* * *
"Tell me, Cyclonus: did you have a plan of any sort when you decided to break us out?"
"No," Cyclonus said, blasting the head off one of the many Vehicons shooting at them. "No, I didn't."
"S'okay," Rodimus replied, returning fire as well. "Happens to me all the time."
The two of them had been backed into a corner, along with Trailbreaker and Whirl. Most of the others had already been overwhelmed and recaptured by the Decepticons and it was only thanks to Trailbreaker's forcefield and Whirl's brutality that they had yet to suffer the same fate.
As the crowd of Vehicons grew larger, increasing their offense, Cyclonus spotted a small figure pushing their way through. Spotting their yellow and black color scheme and motorcycle kibble, he easily deduced their identity.
"Hey, traitor!" Sideways called out. "I see you're back at traitoring! You sure are good at that; traitoring, I mean. It's like your favorite thing. Traitoring."
Rodimus snorted. "Even I know that's not a word," he murmured. "And I'm the one Magnus reprimanded for using deus ex machina as a verb."
"Riddle me this, traitor," Sideways went on, now at the forefront of the army of Vehicons. "What do you call a traitor that's betrayed his comrades one too many times? I'll give you a hint: it both starts and ends with the letter 'D.'"
Suddenly, a scream sounded from down the corridor. Distracted by this, some of the Vehicons ceased fire to look back, allowing Cyclonus and Whirl to easily pick them off.
"Keep shooting, you morons!" Sideways cried. "Ignore whatever's going on back there. I'm sure it's no--"
Another scream sounded and Cyclonus could see a large red mech charging down the corridor, tearing through the Vehicons. Those at the front turned to shoot at the intruder, leading them vulnerable to Cyclonus and the Autobots.
"Oh my god," Sideways groaned. "You guys are useless. No wonder Megatron went through so many of you."
Seeing that Rampage was getting closer, Cyclonus looked down at his ex-comrade. "Dead."
She shot him a confused look. "Huh?"
"That's the answer to your riddle. Dead."
"Uh, yeah? I wasn't actually expecting an answer from you. I was just--"
"I know," Cyclonus said. "I just wanted to savor this moment."
Sideways' bemused expression quickly became one of horror as Rampage grabbed the Herald of Unicron from behind and hoisted her up in the air. Even Cyclonus had to shield his optics as Rampage tore Sideways in half at the waist.
As the life left her optics, Sideways managed to grunt out her last words: "Please be a super space tank this time...."
With that, Rampage discarded of the Herald's remains and stood proudly on the pile of Vehicon parts. Behind him, Cyclonus could see Ratchet, Chromedome, Nightbeat, Getaway, Brainstorm, and Ariel arrive.
"Well," Getaway said. "That didn't take long."
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