TFP: Mercy Ch. 5

Chapter 5: Scout

"I'm telling you, I don't know where he ended up. We got separated when the Autobots showed. After the yellow mech destroyed the Immobilizer I assumed that-"

"And you didn't even bother to search for him?" Megatron snarled down at the small she-spider in front of him.

Airachnid cringed slightly, but kept her face pointed firmly to the floor in a show of respect. She knew it had been wise not to divulge the exact nature of her and Starscream's little confrontation, yet she suspected the Decepticon leader to have already guessed the gist of it. At the time it didn't occurred to her that the seeker would have had to have been of some value to Megatron for him to stay around for so long. Though what that particular quality might be escaped her yet. That self-absorbed vermin deserved whatever came to him.

"If it would please you, Lord Megatron, let me go out and look for him. I'm sure that there is some way for me to make up for what is lost." Airachnid said to the smooth floor of the bridge before chancing a glance up at the scowling face of the Decepticon warlord.
"My second in command is gallivanting outside my realm of control, possibly in the hands of the Autobots, and you think I would allow the one responsible to make matters worse?" Megatron shook his head. "Starscream may be shortsighted, but he is not to be taken for a fool. Tracking him will no doubt be difficult if his energy signature has been masked. If the Autobots are indeed holding him as their prisoner it would stand to reason that he is in their base that which the location of has eluded us thus far. That is why I am assigning the task to Soundwave. You will assist him whenever necessary."

Airachnid glanced back at the faceless bot as he stood silently behind her, watching over the entire meeting. She cursed herself inwardly for being placed under him. Or had she been already? He didn't exactly seem to be included within the normal Decepticon ranking system.
"As you wish, Lord Megatron." She bowed ever so slightly as he strode from the room, waiting until he was gone to drop her composure.

"What are you looking at?" The fembot snarled at Soundwave after the door sealed behind their leader with a tight hiss. She glared at his empty faceplate, as if daring him to direct her to a new task. There was not even a twitch of motion in his slender frame as he presumably stared back at her. The only emotion she could discern was her own fuchsia optics narrowed viscously back at her across the mirror smooth plate. It was infuriating to say the least. After a long moment of silence, "Send for me if you actually need my assistance," Airachnid spoke before finally backing down. Without a cursory glance, she turned on her heel and stalked from the room.
________________________________________

"That was sweet!" Miko exclaimed as she slid from the height of Bulkhead's passenger seat. "When do you think the Slash Monkeys are going to release their next album? It's been like-" The young girl halted abruptly as she noticed something different about the base. She scanned the room and found her narrowed eyes trace up the unfamiliar form Starscream presented off to the side.

"Hey, that's the bot that wanted to scrap Bulkhead and I when we were down in the mines! What's he doing here? When I get my hands on him-" Her hands clenched into fists and she started towards the seeker only to suddenly find herself confronted by a solid wall of dark metal.

"Miko, hold on a sec." Bulkhead waited until he was sure she wouldn't continue on towards Starscream. He then pulled his hand back from in front of the girl's face. "Starscream here is on our side now. He was kicked out of the Decepticons and Optimus decided to take him in."

"And you didn't think to tell me this before, why?"

"You wouldn't stop talking!"

Any further reply was drown out by the imminent approach of Jack and Arcee entering the main room. Miko ran over to the two before Jack could even get his helmet off.

"Jack, don't freak out or anything, but-"

He waved her off. "I know. Arcee told me on the way over."

"You mean I'm the last one to know?" She crossed her arms in a faux pout. "Figures."

"Jack, Miko." Raf greeted them, peering down at them from over the railing of their makeshift living area.

Before any more could be said, a set of heavy footsteps heralded the approach of Optimus Prime. Everyone in the room fell still save for the two new-coming humans scurrying up the stairs to join Raf. The Autobot leader acknowledged them briefly with a small smile before addressing Starscream, who stood seemingly uninterested off to the side.

"Starscream, these are our human companions. Jack, Miko, and Rafael." He motioned to each in turn. "

Starscream took a few steps closer to the platform before glancing down with scarcely masked distaste at the three humans standing before him. Only Raf gave a small wave which he quickly stifled. The seeker turned from them to address Optimus. "May I ask why you allow premature fleshlings to roam freely between your feet? It seems a bit… counterproductive."

"We take great stock in our human allies. They have aided us in many situations and helped us to better understand Earth's culture. They are to be treated with respect."

"Hmm." Starscream looked down at them once more, clearly unconvinced.

Ratchet spoke up once it seemed introductions were out of the way. "Optimus, I hate to interrupt, but a few minutes ago I detected a simultaneous security breach in two government containment facilities. One of them could just be some civilians tripping the security sensors, but the more southern signal is accompanied by some faint Cybertronian tech signatures."

Arcee stepped forward to join them at the monitor. "Decepticons."

Ratchet nodded. "What few human guards they have on staff aren't responding to my calls, leading me to believe they have been neutralized. Government officials have already been notified but I'm afraid that the buildings' remote locations make it impossible for them to get there in any decent amount of time."

"These are your allies, Scream, any idea what they're up to?" Arcee questioned.

"Former allies." Starscream corrected her as he looked over her shoulder at the marked locations. "To my knowledge the buildings in question do not hold any strategic significance to the Decepticons, though I cannot guarantee that Megatron's plans never change."

"Your input is appreciated." Optimus commented. Starscream merely shrugged.

"Arcee, Bulkhead, you two scout out the more nearby facility. Bumblebee, you're with me at the southwest location where the Cybertronian energy was detected. Ratchet, if you would." The red and white medic nodded, opening the ground bridge to his leader's location.

Arcee waited a beat after the two disappeared through the portal before looking towards her human companion. "Are you sure you don't want to ride along, Jack?" She said, shooting a sideways glance at Starscream who merely rolled his eyes in response.

"I dunno, this sounds kind of serious." He said hesitantly.

"You heard Ratchet, ours is probably nothing. I just thought you might enjoy tagging along for this one," she said a bit defensively.

"I've got homework I need to get started on." Jack excused himself hastily. He made his way down to his partner and pressed his fingertips lightly on the side of her lower leg in a small effort to console her. "Don't worry, I'll be okay here." The blue fem gave a small smile down at him in return before Bulkhead broke in.

"Are you ready or what? Whatever that signal is, it's gonna be halfway across Nevada by the time we get there."

She turned toward Bulkhead who was already waiting to go through the bridge. "Alright, let's go." The two transformed and rode through the portal before it closed behind them.

"Hey, you!" Miko leaned over her length of railing at Starscream who was now looking with vague interest at the two locations on the main computer now that the majority of the Autobots had gone. At her insistence he gave a loud sigh and turned to her.

"Yes?"

"Shouldn't you be out there helping your buddies take down those government buildings?"

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about. I believe you are my 'buddies' now." He said slightly mockingly.

"You wish," she retorted. "So how can we know you aren't some sort of secret agent con, infiltrating from within, gaining our trust, waiting for the perfect moment to strike?" She made some sort of gesture that resembled cat claws.

He found his mouth draw into an all too familiar smirk. "You can't."
________________________________________

"We'll need to go by foot from here so the engine noise doesn't attract any unwanted attention." Arcee declared, transforming with Bulkhead close behind.

"So, you're standing in for June again?"

"Huh?"

"You and Jack back at the base. It sounded like you wanted him to come with us."

"Jack's a big kid; he can take care of himself. Honestly he probably made the responsible choice in staying behind. I can't let my feelings towards Starscream lead to poor judgment." She walked in silence for a moment as she fiddled with her handheld scanner. Without looking up, "What about you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You seem awfully okay with keeping a Decepticon around base. Even after what happened with you and Miko in the mines."

Bulkhead regarded her for a moment before responding. "I'm not saying that I'm a fan of this whole situation, but it does seem to make sense in the long run. Starscream vows to let us in on the inner workings of the Decepticon army. It's not every day that you get access to inside information like that."

"Who's to say if it's even true though? I mean, what does he have to gain from giving us all this information?"

"Like he said, the Decepticons had it out for him. You said you saw for yourself that Megatron was about to terminate him in the mines. Too bad he didn't seem to know anything about today's events."

"Unless this is some sort of a trap he's leading us into."

"Now you're just being ridiculous. It's like you want him to be up to something."
She sighed. "I'm just saying, he's too unpredictable. It's not like I want him to turn on us, but it'd sure be a lot more comfortable than sitting around waiting for him to strike."

"I don't know what's going on in Starscream's head, but he'd have to be crazy to make enemies out of both sides."

"Hmm…" A small light on her tracker drew her attention. "We're getting close. It should be just beyond this stand of rocks." Arcee crept up to the ridge and motioned for her companion to do the same. Once she was sure they were both out of sight from whoever might be at the bottom of the hillside, she twisted to peer past the edge of their cover.

"Mech."
________________________________________

"Input code '42693' into the third precedent." Starscream spoke from over Ratchet's shoulder, watching as he input the numbers on the screen. The seeker shifted in place for a moment before gesturing impatiently for the Autobot to move out the way. "Here, let me do it. It'll be faster." Ratchet frowned at him for a moment, but finally stepped one pace to the right to allow him access to the controls. Long spindly fingers tapped down on the keys in a rhythmic fashion telling of their familiarity with the task at hand, pausing only at the odd differences in the opposing faction's computer system.

"We probably should have thought to be monitoring the communication channels from the very beginning. Megatron would be a fool not to change the frequencies…"

A small pattering of footsteps hearkened the arrival of the smallest human. "Hi Ratchet, What are you doing?" Raf watched their progress on the screen from over the railing of the nearby platform.

"We are attempting to use Starscream's comlink channel to tap into the Decepticon airwaves. If they have anything to do with the incident our teams are investigating, we'll know about it. So far though, results are inconclusive."

"Can I help?"

Starscream spoke up before Ratchet could answer. "I hardly think a human could hope to even comprehend the intricacies of Cybertronian technology, even as antiquated as your systems are."

"Now wait just a nanoclick. Rafael can actually serve to be quite useful when it comes to computers. And as it stands, our systems are built up from preexisting Earth technology."

"I helped work out some of the bugs in the Autobot's main computer when I got here," the young boy offered.

"Hmph, that would explain some of these system errors that keep cropping up." Starscream regarded him a moment with distaste, glancing sideways at Ratchet before turning back to his task at hand. "You may stay and watch however. Though I can't see how having a small fleshling around could do much good," he added in a lower tone that Raf just barely picked up. The short bespectacled boy slouched slightly at the comment, but pretended not to hear. Vivid green figures reflected off the lens of his glasses as he stood his ground at the railing.

Across the way Miko sat huddled in one of the reading chairs, a book on basic physics propped up on her knees. She stared through it intently, watching with her peripheral vision as the three science types went about trying to get into the Decepticon comlink system. From time to time her golden eyes darted upwards to follow any sudden movements on Starscream's part. Facing more off to the side sat Jack with his head buried in his notebook, diligently trying to ignore the micro-argument that was now blossoming behind him. By the sound of things the attempt to tap into the Decepticon communications system was proving to be rather unsuccessful.

"What does he think he's up to, huh?" Miko dropped her book a little to afford herself a better view of the scene. "He's probably here on a secret infiltration mission from Megatron."

Jack didn't even look up from his work. "If Megatron sent Starscream to infiltrate the Autobots, you'd think he'd do a better job at pretending to be friendly."

As if to give credence to this statement a shrill scrape cut through the air from behind him. "Be careful with that!" Ratchet's voice admonished loudly. A string of indecipherable curses were heard in response and Raf came skittering over to join the other two humans. He plopped himself on the couch next to Jack, avoiding eye contact.

Jack gave him a small look to make sure he was alright before continuing to Miko. "If Megatron really is after him though, then it's good of Optimus to offer him shelter here, right?"

"What do we look like, a charity case? I say even if Optimus can't find it in him to scrap the Con, they should at least turn him out. I don't see why we have to cover his sorry behind."

"Miko, whether you like it or not this could be a huge step in the Autobot's favor. It's not every day you get an insider's look at enemy arms."

Any further output from the young girl's mouth was cut off by a frustrated growl from behind them. "All the frequencies we used only a few cycles ago are rewritten with a new triple encryption coding, courtesy of Soundwave no doubt. They'd be impossible to gain access to."

At this Miko jumped up from her seat to confront the tall mech. "So what if you need to radio in for some Con backup?" She accused.

"Miko!" Jack reached out a hand to stop her, but she brushed him off and continued on to the railing to make eye contact with her foe as best she could.

Starscream shot her a sideways glare before turning to her with a snarl. "Little girl, I don't think you understand the situation at hand here."

"Oh I understand. You're getting all cozy up to the Autobots just so you can turn your back on them when the time is right to hand them over to Megatron!" Even in his long shadow she didn't move a muscle, her eyes locked upon his in a fierce stare.

The seeker took a step closer to where Miko stood. Despite her stance on the second story platform he loomed over the girl, his face plate scowling down mere feet from her own features. "Now get this into you tiny, frail skull; I left the Decepticons. Megatron doesn't need me anymore! There is no plan, no backup, nothing!"

Seething, Starscream's knife-like fingers clenched momentarily as if by reflex as the two stood otherwise motionless for a moment. No one dared intervene. As quickly as the whole ordeal had begun, it was all over. With a huff Starscream stormed from the room down one of the side corridors.
________________________________________

The Mech soldiers moved with purpose, unhindered by any security and unaware of the two Autobots watching them from atop the hillside. Arcee counted four of them moving about the building, lightly armed from what she could see, but given Bulkhead's previous encounter one could never be too sure with Mech's technology.

"Come on, let's get 'em!" Bulkhead transformed his hand cannon out and started towards the edge of the rock outcropping.

"Hang on a second." Arcee deftly held up a hand causing Bulkhead to stop just short of breaking cover. "We need to report this to Optimus before engaging. Unless they actually present a danger to the plant, we are not to engage. At the moment we don't even know their full weapon capacity."

"Are you serious? We just have to sit here and watch them ride off with everything they came here for? Who knows what they're up to. They could be gathering equipment for their next slagging vivisection!"

"There's only a few soldiers down there. It looks like they're only scouting out the area at the moment. As long as they don't notice us." The blue fem turned once again to peer out from their cover at the uniformed men down below. Bulkhead stood hunched over out of sight from the group below, knowing that such spying was best left to those smaller than he was. Something coming over the opposing horizon caught his attention however.

"Uh, Cee, eyes in the sky!"

Arcee started and whipped around to where her teammate was pointing, a slight whirring noise now making her audio receptors buzz. "Scrap. Why didn't it show up on our scanners? We should be able to pick up on anything electronic the humans can build."

"It looks Decepticon." The large mech observed as the object drew close to them, circling the skies. On its second pass shouts rang out from the valley below them signaling the men now saw the craft as well. Shots pierced the air surrounding the birdlike vessel as it weaved neatly between the attacks, safe from harm.

Arcee ducked lower behind their stand of rocks as several sets of footsteps started pounding up the hill towards the two. "Well whatever it is we can't stay here. Come on!" Taking a running leap she transformed with Bulkhead close behind.

"Ratchet, we need a ground bridge, stat!" Angling her rear-view mirrors she could see the flying vessel veer off suddenly in the direction from whence it came. With a slight sucking sound the ground bridge portal opened up before them in a flash of light, and none too soon by the looks of it. The tops of the Mech soldiers' heads were visible just as the two Autobot tailpipes cleared the void and the portal sealed behind them.