Shadow of the Guardian, Part 4

Shockwave approached the Space Bridge as it opened its doors and Megatron, the Cassetticons, and Soundwave exited--Megatron appeared quite solemn, to put it mildly.  “Hail, Lord Megatron!”  Shockwave greeted, pounding the left side of his chest-plate with his right fist, forearm parallel to the ground.  Megatron returned the salute, but remained silent.  “What bothers you?  It’s rare I’ve seen you in such a mood.”

“Someone is after Sheba,” Megatron stated with no pretense, his voice flat and optics narrowed.

Shockwave visibly stiffened and his Cyclops-like optic glowed pure white instead of its usual yellow.  Incapable of showing facial expressions, he was forced to rely on body language to convey his emotions whenever he felt the rare need to do so.  The fact was, his usual restraint in revealing his emotions was temporarily subverted by the shock of such a statement.  “Now that she’s full-grown?  Are they suicidal or idiotic?”  He asked, not able to see the logic of such an event.

Megatron shook his head, having not been able to understand it himself.  “I’ve already lost Sheba once.  I will NOT allow it to happen again,” he stated firmly.  “I came here to see if you had any relevant data on the situation.  This attacker is an Organic Transformer, but not the kind that we know of, as well as an Autobot in the BROADEST sense of the term.  This Organic Transformer is a wolf with bat wings--similar in shape to the Guardians, but with different DNA.”

Shockwave nodded, returning to his usual self.  “I do not believe I have ever encountered any such thing, but I will see if the Sentinels or the forces here on Cybertron have seen anything resembling your description.  Has this Organic Transfomer already attempted to capture Sheba?”

“Twice,” Soundwave stated.  

Rumble rotated his head around as if try to work out a kink in the joints somewhere in his neck.  “That glitch shocked me with a thunderbolt too,” he complained, unknowingly interrupting Soundwave.  “I think it bugged up my systems!”

Soundwave glared at Rumble, who immediately shut up.  “First attempt was shortly after arrival on Earth.  Near success.  Second attempt was during a battle between us and the Autobots.  The battle was in Sheba’s favor, but the mission was a failure,” the monotonic Decepticon explained to Shockwave.

“I see,” Shockwave said neutrally as he began searching through the various logs stored on the massive computer.  Since the logs spanned the time after Megatron and Prime’s disappearance from Cybertron to present day, it would take quite a while.  “Megatron, what did you mean when you said that this Organic Transformer is ‘an Autobot in the broadest sense of the word’?”

Megatron scowled.  “This beast, who calls herself a ‘Hunter’, has the energy signature of an Autobot.  However, her actions and attitude are far worse than any of my Decepticons--even Starscream.”

“That’s sayin’ somethin’,” Frenzy coughed into the back of his hand and the two humanoid Cassetticons shared a smirk.  Megatron pretended not to hear, but his face did soften slightly.

A list of possible clips appeared on the screen and Shockwave quickly scanned through them to check their relevance to the question at hand.  That took substantially less time than finding the logs in the first place.  “There has only been one recorded sighting based on the description you have provided, my lord,” Shockwave stated.  “This was recorded approximately 2.3 million years ago by a Sentinel long since deactivated.  I believe this was the last recording it was able to capture.”  He activated the visual clip and stood aside as Megatron approached the screen to see it better.  

It was, at first, a simple view of an entrance into the depths of Cybertron’s labyrinth-like interior.  The view turned to be cast over the landscape, which was nothing much more than a wasteland.  A warning growl came from somewhere and the Sentinel turned to engage.  A bright flash of something white slammed into its lower torso, right around the abdominal area, and the drone fell flat onto its back.  It was unable to get up, but there was a shadow of some kind lurking around it.  It finally approached and something blocked the full-face visor the Sentinels wore so it could no longer see.  “You should not see.  Not yet,” a clear, male voice stated calmly before the feed went dead.

Megatron’s fists clenched and his optics flared.  He most definitely recognized the barely-recognizable shape--and especially the voice.  “This happened 2.3 million years ago?”  He demanded, barely keeping his voice even.  

“Affirmative,” Shockwave answered, somewhat surprised at Megatron’s reaction.  “Is this the one who has attacked you and Sheba?”  

“No…” Megatron replied with a shake of his head, regaining control of himself.  “No, not this one.  I have, however, encountered him before… just before I left Cybertron four million years ago.”  He waved his hand, dismissing any further questions from all present.  “But that is unimportant.  There are no other sightings from around that timeframe or any time before or afterwards, even vague glimpses?”

Shockwave shook his head in a negative.  “Nothing beyond a possible shadow or some trick of the mind’s optic,” he replied flatly.

“Why does this matter?  It’s not the same Hunter,” Rumble asked, indicating towards the near-blank screen.  

“True, but I had wondered if the Hunter we now fight had ever been to Cybertron herself,” Megatron replied testily, his patience wearing thin with the purple Cassetticon.  “Apparently, the answer is no.  Even so, this may not be completely a wasted effort.  If we can generalize things from this clip and compare it to the actions we have seen for ourselves, Hunters prefer shadows and the element of surprise, or at least the ability to choose the time of their own attack.”  Megatron turned towards the other Decepticons present.  “We cannot give the Hunter on Earth that opportunity.”

“Where does that leave us?”  Soundwave asked.

Megatron rewound the recording and paused it just as the screen began to darken--which was just when the Hunter attacking the Sentinel began to emerge from the shadows.  It had blended in remarkably well, considering that its coat was a pure white that reflected silver and its eyes glowed far brighter than the black Hunter they were dealing with on Earth.  “Not much better off, but all the wiser,” the Decepticon leader replied thoughtfully.  “We shall see if this will help us, but I would say that there is nothing further that we can gain here on Cybertron.”

“I would advise letting just Sheba handle the Hunter,” Shockwave suggested, shutting down the computer.  Although the energy situation on Cybertron was improving, and in favor of the Decepticons no less, Shockwave wasn’t leaving anything to chance.  “Interfering with a fight between magic-users can prove to be fatal--and of the irreversible kind.”

Megatron’s expression darkened.  He hated being reminded of things that he already understood, but he couldn’t deny the truth of it.  “I know that, Shockwave,” he retorted with a glare.  Shockwave didn’t react.  “After the last battle, I’m certain that the Autobots will come to the same conclusion.  However, I would prefer to defeat the Hunter myself.”

“Is that wise, Megatron?”  Shockwave asked, his tone indicating that he knew full-well what would happen if the Hunter got close to beating Megatron.

Megatron was silent for some time, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.  “Perhaps not,” he admitted hesitantly, “but I will not allow her another chance at Sheba, regardless.”  

“None of us will!”  Frenzy added, his voice just bordering on his trademark screech.

*********************

After Megatron, Soundwave, and the Cassetticons had taken the Space Bridge to Cybertron, Sheba decided that enough was enough.  She’d been cooped up far too long inside the base and the recent misunderstanding had ticked her off.  Therefore, as soon as nobody was around to see her leave, she entered the elevator and headed towards the surface.  Starscream, who had been trying to figure out what had turned Skywarp and Thundercracker against Sheba--even for a brief amount of time--quickly realized that Sheba was no longer in the base.  Therefore, as soon as the lift settled back down into the base, he entered it himself.

Sheba didn’t feel like Teleporting away from the base, not when she’d been cooped up for the past week or two and hadn’t really had much of a chance to fly.  She was so busy enjoying herself and the freedom she’d been missing when a very familiar blue, white, and red jet flew up next to her.  “Starscream?  What’re you doing here?”  She asked.

“I got tired of trying to smooth things over,” he replied, his voice revealing just how much he hated the animosity that the other Decepticons were showing to them.  “They can’t seem to understand that me using magic was just a one-time thing, or that you didn‘t mean to attack them.  Megatron can say all he wants, but until we can prove ourselves…”

“Yeah, pretty much,” Sheba growled as she shook her head.  “I just needed to get out of that base, even before that fight kicked up.  I was getting cabin fever.”

Starscream would’ve shot her a blank look if he’d been in robot mode.  “Getting what?”  He asked, completely clueless.

Sheba laughed, barrel-rolling from side to side just for the heck of it.  “Cabin fever.  Humans use the term whenever they’ve been inside too long and need to release their energy.”

“Oh.”  Starscream never could understand why Sheba continued using human terminology.  After all, she was a Decepticon, wasn’t she?  “So what’re you gonna do now that we’re out of the base?”

“Do I have to do anything?”  Sheba asked, glancing at him as they reached the coast and began flying towards the woods where Sheba used to hunt and even reside for certain periods of time.  

“Not doing anything would be nice,” Starscream admitted, transforming in mid-air just because he could.  “We haven’t been able to do that ever since the Hunter came.”

Silence reigned between them as they landed in the woods and began walking in no certain direction in particular.  They were close to Sheba’s old cave, which helped Starscream remember exactly where they were.  He’d most likely get lost any other way.  “Speaking of that Hunter,” Sheba commented, “something about her seems to scare you.”

Starscream bristled.  He opened his mouth to deny it, but the words caught in his throat and he couldn’t spit them out.  “Well…” he shook his head.  “No.  It wasn’t anything.”

Sheba looked at him in concern.  “What?”

Starscream sat down and leaned back against a tree, ignoring the cracking sounds as it strained to remain upright with his weight threatening to break it in two.  “When I was younger, I had… a dream.  Maybe it was a vision.  I don’t know,” he said quietly, almost ashamed to admit it.  “It was dark, so dark I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face--believe me, I tried.  Next thing I know, there was a crack of thunder and lightning bolts began flying all around me.  Their origin came from right in front of me, but I couldn’t see who or what was causing it.  All I could see were two orbs of green fire.  I heard someone laughing and I suddenly got the feeling that something or someone close to me was about to be taken away.”  He shrugged.  “That’s when I woke up.  I’ve hated lightning and thunder ever since.”

Sheba was quite concerned.  “Sounds like a premonition, based on what‘s happened recently.  It looks like that Hunter loves using Thunder elemental spells and magic, if our past encounters mean anything.”

Starscream smirked without any humor.  “Kinda ironic, isn’t it?  I hate thunder, but Quetzalcoatl is the best GF that I can Junction.”

Even Sheba couldn’t figure out how to explain that one.  “Ironic is one way to put it,” she admitted.  “I don’t know how that works, but it does.  Maybe it goes to show you that thunder isn’t completely bad.”  

Starscream shrugged.  “I dunno about that,” he replied, not completely convinced, but then a loud crack interrupted any further conversation as the tree he was leaning against snapped in two like a toothpick.  Since Starscream had been leaning against it quite a bit, he immediately fell flat onto his back with a surprised screech.  Sheba couldn’t help it and began laughing, and seeing the look on Starscream’s face as soon as he sat back up made her laugh all the harder.

“Aw, knock it off!”  Starscream replied, more embarrassed than anything else, but soon he too had to start laughing as well.

Unnoticed to either one, Andromeda lurked downwind of their location and watched from a very good distance.  She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she did see how they interacted with each other.  It will be impossible to separate them, she thought.  I may have to capture the Seeker as well as the Guardian.  It may make the Guardian more… agreeable, but it‘s very risky.

A part of her wanted to attack right then and there, get the job over and done with, but she couldn’t make herself do it.  Not yet.  I haven’t recovered completely from our last fight, she tried to explain away her hesitancy, but it sounded like a lie even to her.  Andromeda just didn’t feel like fighting Sheba right then.

The Curse.  A shudder passed through her body and her wings softly rustled.  Fortunately, the sound didn’t register as anything more than leaves rustling in the breeze to the two Decepticons, due to the distance between the Hunter and her assigned prey.  I’m succumbing to it even as I watch them.  I know what I must do, but why can I not go through with it now?  This can hardly be any more perfect of an opportunity!

Andromeda lay down on the ground and sighed, low and long, as she debated her feelings and tried to ignore the threat of the Curse looming over her.  I never did like capturing a target, even during my training.  I understood even then that it was our duty as Hunters, but I found it… wrong.  The Transformers in the depths of my Master‘s ship… few have been there longer than I‘ve been alive, but their purpose… She laid her head down on her front paws and closed her eyes.  No.  I cannot succumb to these doubts!  I am the Pack-Leader of the Hunters.  I must… remain strong… or my friend…

She opened her eyes and noticed that Sheba and Starscream had left their resting place, probably to move on.  According to the scents in the wind, they were not heading in her direction and apparently had no idea that she was even nearby.  She would’ve been attacked by now otherwise.  I should go while I can without being discovered, she decided, standing up and moving away from the area.  I will capture you, Guardian… but not now.  Not today.  Today, we shall rest and prepare for the next major engagement, whenever that shall be.

***********************

Megatron and Soundwave returned to the Decepticon base on Earth and immediately noticed that both Sheba and Starscream were missing.  Megatron had noticed just how anxious Sheba had been getting before that recent battle, and merely supposed that the recent conflict had finally sent her over the edge.  Some time alone shouldn’t hurt, he thought, but I don’t like the idea of her going back to her cave with that Hunter around.  Still, she beat that wolfish mutant once--I’m sure she can do it again if necessary.

“We need to obtain more information about that Hunter,” Megatron said as he began looking through the various data-logs in the main computer.  “Perhaps the Autobot, Perceptor, can tell us all he knows of the beast.”

“Is that wise, Megatron?”  Soundwave asked, watching the door to make sure nobody came barging in.  “The Hunter may be in league with the Autobots.  She may guard them as Sheba guards us.”

Megatron rubbed his chin and stared at the information scrolling across the screen.  “I highly doubt that.  She is out for her own interests, caring nothing for the Autobots here on Earth.  She won’t try to find whoever we take, I’m certain of it, as she‘s focused only on capturing Sheba.  Therefore, as long as Sheba does not join in on this operation, the Hunter will not interfere with us.”

“She aided the Autobots against Devastator,” Soundwave pointed out.  “Sheba was not present at that time.”

“The Hunter is just as much of a hypocrite as she can be an Autobot,” Megatron scoffed.  “She professes honor and fairness in battles, yet uses magic to overcome my soldiers!  On top of that, she calls us weak because we allow Sheba to fight in our stead, yet defends the Autobots who are the TRUE weaklings.  Tell me I am wrong, Soundwave.”

Soundwave was silent.  He couldn‘t argue against his commander and didn‘t try.  When he saw Megatron smirk, he understood that there was a plan being formed and that there was but one thing to ask now.  “What is your command, Megatron?”

“I need you to prepare yourself for a possible mission, specifically infiltration and communications disruption.  Your cassettes may also be needed.”

***

At the Autobot base, nothing else was mentioned about the Hunter.  They had gotten Andromeda’s message, loud and clear, especially after they could no longer see her glowing green eyes staring at them from the wood-line.  In fact, in the time that had passed ever since that last fight between Andromeda and Sheba, nobody had seen nor heard from her.  As a result, most of the Autobots had all-but-forgotten about the Hunter.

Blaster leaned in close as he began overhearing odd-sounding reports on some human frequencies.  “Hey Prime.  Somethin’ don’t sound right, and I can’t tell if it’s the band or the equipment,” he commented to the Autobot leader.

“Put it on the speakers so we can all listen in,” Prime ordered as he and a few others approached the comm-station.  Blaster obliged, but all they could hear was mumbling and static.  “Blaster, what exactly are we listening to?”

“It’s real faint, Prime, but it sounds like they’ve sighted the Hunter near Oklahoma City.  Don’t know what she’s doing all the way over there, unless she’s never seen a human before and got curious about ‘em,” Blaster tapped the ‘headphones’ covering the sides of his helmet and then tried messing with the speakers on the computer itself.  “Quality’s real crappy, though--probably localized sightings, nothing major.  SkySpy’s also trying to act up too.  Can‘t find the Hunter herself, though.”

“Are you certain it’s her?”  Prowl asked.

“Black and silver wolf, bat wings, glowing green eyes…” Blaster counted the traits off on one hand as he manually input directions to SkySpy with the other.  “I’m tellin’ ya, I don’t think this is a false sighting.”

Prime nodded.  “Very well.  Perceptor, I know you want to learn more about the Hunter, and any information you can find out is welcome.  I want you to lead a survey into the area and see if these sightings are true.  Do NOT stay longer than necessary.  Am I clear?”

“Of course, Prime,” Perceptor agreed.  “Let me gather the necessary equipment and I will be ready when the time comes to leave.”

Prime turned to the computer himself and began scrolling through the roster, trying to see who was available to accompany Perceptor.  “I’m sending the Protectobots, Warpath, Bumblebee, and Hound with him.  Hound should be able to track down the Hunter, provided the information we’re overhearing is true, and I’m sure First Aid has an interest in the Organic Transformer who snapped at him a few days ago.  The others are there mainly for protection.”

“Let me go too, Prime,” Spike piped up from nearby.  He’d been watching the events unfold while Sparkplug was busy helping Wheeljack in his lab.  “They’re gonna need a little bit of cover.  Humans still aren’t used to seeing cars that can roll around without a driver.”

Prime was very hesitant, but Spike did have a point.  Their presence on Earth was hardly a secret, but in the interest of not stirring up any problems… “Very well, but be careful,” he agreed, giving Spike a stern look to relay that he wasn’t kidding.  Spike had no intention of going against Prime’s orders and agreed.

“Should I drop the ’Bots a line and give ‘em the update?”  Blaster asked, turning around in his chair to focus more on what was around him.

“No.  Stay focused on your current job.  Keep SkySpy in that area as long as you can maintain control and attempt an visual search to see if there’s anything more solid than an overheard sighting in the area,” Prime ordered.  “Ironhide, call the Autobots I mentioned and tell them to prepare themselves for a non-combative mission… but to remain prepared for anything.”

***************

Something wasn’t making sense to Perceptor.  According to the human transmissions they’d intercepted, there should’ve been something here that proved that the Hunter was at least nearby.  However, he had initiated every scan he could think of, from heat signature to Autobot energy signature scans, and had detected nothing.  There weren’t even any paw prints left on the ground, nor was the landscape disturbed in any way.  Something was definitely not adding up.

His comm-link suddenly erupted in static and his head snapped skywards as something exploded above him.  “What?!”  He had just enough time to gasp before someone tackled him to the ground as laser-blasts soared over their heads.

Hot Spot kept him pinned as he returned fire on their unseen assailants.  “Ambush!”  He shouted.  “Protectobots, establish a perimeter and figure out where they’re coming from!”

Hound created a hologram of himself and sent it running more towards the open, where it was promptly punched full of holes from two directions--one facing the Autobots, the other to their left.  “We’re in the crossfire!”  He shouted back as he jumped to his feet and ducked behind some cover.  “We’re in a very bad place here!”

“And it’s about to get worse,” Bumblebee answered as he fired on a shadow he could’ve sworn he saw move behind Spike.  The human immediately took cover as Bumblebee and Warpath covered him.  “Who’s firing on us, anyways?”

Perceptor tried to activate his comm-link and cancel out the static, but he was having no luck.  It was dead.  “I have one hypothesis, at the least,” he replied grimly.  “Soundwave’s blocking all transmissions.  We can’t call out for assistance!”

“We’ll be fine!”  Hot Spot barked as he finally let the scientist up and watched his back as Perceptor fell back to a more shielded area.  “Autobots, let’s try to regroup here!  They’ll pick us off one-by-one otherwise!”

“WHAM, BOOM!”  Warpath hollered, firing on every little shadow he saw, regardless of its true nature.  “They took out SkySpy!  KA-POW! That should give the others some kind o’ indication, shouldn’t it?”

“We can hope,” First Aid replied quietly as he took his place near Perceptor.  The Protectobot medic had his weapon drawn but wasn’t firing--being a pacifist, he wasn’t taking the more trigger-happy route his comrades and Protectobot brothers had chosen.  

The sound of rumbling, not unlike Warpath when in tank form, reached their audios next as something approached.  “Time for the fun to begin!”  Brawl shouted as he rammed Warpath head-on and fired his turret at the same time.  Warpath was sent flying, the armor shielding his abdominal area punched through to the mechanisms within, and landed with a harsh crunch, mangling the turret in his chest.

Swindle, in his jeep form, skidded around a particularly thick group of trees (and nearly toppled over as a result) and began firing with his scatter blaster to pepper the Autobots with the pellets.  Shots began falling like meteors as Blast Off began sniping at any Autobot in the open from his position in sub-orbit--he’d already taken out SkySpy, now the rest would be easy.  Vortex began strafing runs, swooping in and releasing a flurry of firepower as he passed, then circled around and began again.

Blades took to the skies to take on Vortex as First Aid began firing his weapon rather infrequently in order to force Swindle to take cover himself.  Perceptor broke cover to pull Warpath out of harm’s way, ignoring the searing heat of one of Blast Off’s shots as it shattered the glass of his lenses.  There was no way he could fight now, not unless it came to hand-to-hand combat--and the probability of that happening was very slim indeed.

“Combaticons!”  Onslaught boomed as he entered the battlefield in his vehicle mode.  “Phase one complete!  Combine into Bruticus!”

Hot Spot cursed as the Decepticon gestalt team began regrouping and combining.  “Protectobots!  Combine into Defensor!  We won’t let them win!”  He shouted, transforming to his fire-truck form.  

Within seconds, both gestalts were complete and were facing off with each other.  The other Autobots moved out of the way, but not before Bruticus took aim at them and fired.  Defensor immediately activated his shielding ability, which encircled both himself and the non-combiner Autobots, and the blast ricocheted towards the sky.  However, instead of advancing towards Defensor in order to start hand-to-hand combat, Bruticus continued to fire his sonic stun gun at the Autobot combiner.  Using all of his energy and focus to maintain the force-field, Defensor was unable to draw his fireball cannon to fight back.

“Someone… go…!”  Defensor growled as he fell to one knee.  The firepower, coupled with the severe energy drain the force-field used, was rapidly draining his energy reserves.  “Others… need to know…!”

“Bumblebee, hurry!  Get out of here as fast as you can and alert the others!”  Hound ordered as he stood over Spike.  Perceptor was busy tending to Warpath, who was out cold.  “They may be on their way with SkySpy down, but we have to be certain!  Move it!”

Bumblebee transformed and was about to move towards Hound so Spike could climb inside without risking getting hit, but that’s when the Groove part of Defensor’s mind briefly wandered from the task at hand.  The lapse of concentration made the force-field flicker and a shot punched through, hitting the ground between the two Autobots and knocking both further apart.  Hound protected Spike as the debris rained down and Bumblebee was sent rolling nose-over-bumper across the ground out of Defensor’s force-field range.  The small Autobot eventually ended up on all four of his wheels and immediately high-tailed it as fast as his damaged condition would allow.  

Bumblebee’s departure had gone unnoticed by Bruticus, whose one-track mind was focused on just one enemy--the severely weakened Defensor.  Seeing that the force-field was down, Bruticus began strafing Defensor with his weapon.  Defensor, still on one knee, aimed his fireball cannons at Bruticus and managed to get a shot off before the Decepticon’s attacks began to take effect.  A shot punched a hole into his left shoulder--the First Aid component--and that’s when Defensor finally fell.  It took only a single stomp from Bruticus to force the Protectobots’ separation protocol to initiate and Defensor separated into his individual Protectobot components, who were knocked out the instant they disengaged.  At that point, the Decepticon combiner simply stopped moving and stood at attention, waiting for new orders.

Hound pushed Spike into a secluded niche in the rocks he was hiding behind and he began setting up another hologram to distract Bruticus.  However, two distinctly different yet similar screeches sounded off behind him as small laser-blasts pounded into his back.  Hound staggered, barely able to maintain his balance, and turned to fire on his assailants--Buzzsaw and Laserbeak.  However, Rumble and Frenzy ganged up on him next and used their pile-drivers to make the scout lose his balance completely.  Ravage slipped into Spike’s hiding spot and pulled the human out by the collar of his shirt, snarling threateningly to keep the human from fighting back--as fruitless as such an action could prove to be.  A blast of audio-disruptor waves, amplified and released in a split-second burst, knocked Hound out.

Perceptor stood and looked around uneasily, realizing that he was the last Autobot standing, as the Decepticons‘ attention turned towards him.  “Oh dear,” he muttered, reaching towards his back to draw his concussion blaster.  However, he immediately froze when he heard the distinct click of a weapon’s safety being turned off and the familiar feel of a muzzle pressed against the back of his head.  The feeling was removed for a split second before something cracked the scientist against the side of his head, around the ‘temple’ area.  He too fell, knocked out cold, revealing Soundwave standing behind him.

Soundwave lowered his arm, which was holding his weapon by the muzzle for the now-accomplished purpose of ‘pistol-whipping‘ Perceptor and knocking him out.  He briefly noted the new dent in his concussion blaster as he moved his hand from its hold on the muzzle to its proper place on the gun-grip itself.  It was but a minor damage, one easily fixed after more important matters were dealt with.  “Combaticons, disengage,” he commanded.  Bruticus obeyed and separated to his component Decepticons, who transformed back to their robot modes.  

It was clear that Onslaught was not too terribly happy about something--most likely something didn‘t go exactly as he‘d planned despite the fact that the mission was apparently a success.  “One of them got away,” he grumbled, glaring at his team.  “None were supposed to escape the battlefield.”

“Affirmative, but it is not mission-critical,” Soundwave reminded him, looking over the Autobots as he opened his chest-plate for his Cassetticons to return to.  Ravage, however, kept Spike pinned and snarled threateningly at the human, his jaws hovering just above Spike’s face.  Spike, wisely, didn’t even try to move.  “Take the scientist, medic, scout, and human.  Leave the rest.  The Autobots will find their own quickly enough.”

**********************

Pain.  That was the first thing Perceptor felt as his systems sluggishly reactivated from the shock they’d received from Soundwave’s hit.  His optics flickered weakly and he groaned, one hand moving to the right side of his helmet to feel the origin of the pain.  There was a pretty deep dent on that side and his right optic couldn’t quite activate completely as a result.  In fact, his vision parameters were severely out of focus and couldn’t quite refocus themselves.  He realized that he was lying on a metal floor, half on his left side and half on his stomach, but he couldn’t make out anything else besides that.

“Ahhh.  You’re awake,” Megatron’s voice pierced the haze, helping Perceptor clear out some of the haze clogging up his mind.  The Autobot scientist slowly, carefully, rolled to his hands and knees before looking up.  He could clearly make out Megatron’s form, but not any specific details--his sight was too badly out-of-focus.  

“Where… am I?”  He asked, his voice hesitant as he forced his vocals to work without any problems.  He knew that he was not at the site where the battle had taken place, and he certainly wasn’t back at the Autobot base, which left him very few other options--none of them good.

Megatron approached him at that point, grabbing Perceptor by the arm and practically hauling the scientist to his feet.  Perceptor fought off a wave of dizziness as he staggered heavily--only Megatron’s grip on his arm kept him from falling back to the ground.  “You are in the Decepticon base on Earth,” Megatron replied.  “I ordered for you to be brought here because I want information from you, Perceptor.”

Perceptor pulled free from Megatron and barely maintained his balance, but he did lean against the wall in order to keep it that way.  “What?”  He wondered, puzzled.  “I do not understand.  Why?  What about?”

Megatron didn’t like being questioned, but he let it slide… for now.  “The Hunter.”  He noted some clarity returning to Perceptor’s optics and smiled unkindly.  “You have information on her that I do not.  I’d much rather be on a more level playing field concerning that beast.”

Perceptor, still holding his head with his right hand, looked at Megatron distrustfully as the Decepticon leader took a few steps backwards.  “Other than the Hunter‘s obvious target being Sheba, what concern do you have with the Hunter?”  He asked, his mind once again as sharp as ever although his migraine was debilitating.

“Have you ever thought that, perhaps, the Hunter will not stop at Sheba?”  The silence told Megatron that such an option had not been considered.  “Think about it, Autobot.  If the Hunter succeeds in capturing Sheba, she could easily capture any of us afterwards--and I highly doubt she will differentiate between Autobots and Decepticons.”

The Autobot scientist wasn’t completely convinced, but he did see the point Megatron brought up.  “The last time I gave you assistance was when you and your Decepticons were infected with Cosmic Rust,” he stated, “and your thanks for my efforts were substantially less than grateful.”  Megatron’s head slightly bobbed at the reminder, as if he was waiting for Perceptor to get to his point.  “Why should I help you this time?”

“So you don’t know?”  Megatron asked, appearing genuinely surprised.  Perceptor didn’t fall for the ruse, but his optics narrowed in concern.  “You were not the only one brought here.  Two other Autobots and a human were also captured.”  That got a clear reaction out of Perceptor, whose jaw dropped in shock and horror.  “My orders were to capture just you, but Soundwave decided that you might be more… agreeable… if you had some incentive to ‘play along‘, if you will.”  That was a lie--Megatron wanted more Autobots than just Perceptor for this very reason--but Megatron had to play the proverbial ‘good guy’.

Perceptor’s left hand clenched into a fist as his expression darkened--both from pain and the news.  “And if I refuse?”  He asked quietly.

Megatron shrugged.  “I cannot guarantee their safety,” he replied.  “No doubt Soundwave and his cassettes, or any Decepticon for that matter, will want to get me the answers I seek.  Although they are not under any orders to do so, they may attempt to extract such information out of your comrades.  In their current condition… well, I’m certainly no medic, but even I can see that the human is in far better shape than the two Autobots.”  That wasn’t COMPLETELY true, as far as not giving Soundwave orders to extract information out of the other prisoners, but the rest of it was.

Perceptor looked down at the ground as he leaned his back against the wall.  He was, as the humans would put it, ‘between a rock and a hard place’, and he knew that Megatron couldn’t be trusted.  With that said, he wasn’t about to place his comrades--his friends--in any more danger than the Inferno they were already in.  “If I do tell you what I know, will they remain unharmed?”  He asked, not getting his hopes up.

Megatron could smell the blood in the water, so he went in for the kill.  “It depends on what you tell me,” he replied noncommittally.

That was hardly encouraging, but it was all Perceptor had.  “What do you want to know?”  He asked, defeated, as he lowered his right hand from his head and stood up as straight as he could.  Megatron smirked triumphantly as he approached the scientist.  The Autobot fool had just played into his hand.

***********

Andromeda’s focus was on the hunt, but not the mission kind of hunt.  She was hungry, and Terran wolf-pack or not, she was going to eat.  Fortunately, the pack had gone in a different direction tonight and the prey in their area was ripe for the taking.  She stalked her prey, an old male deer with antlers any human hunter would die for, as it led its ‘family’ through the woods.  She waited until it lowered its head to eat, then she charged forwards.  It spun around as soon as she got close and tried to sweep at her with its antlers, but she dodged the points and clamped her jaws down around its throat.  With a firm hold and a sharp shake of her head, the windpipe was crushed and the bloodlines severed, giving her a meal.

She prepared to howl her triumph to the moon high above, but a now-familiar sound greeted her audios--vehicle engines.  She would’ve ignored them and howled anyways, but voices accompanied the engine noise, voices that sounded grim indeed.  “How’re we gonna explain this to Sparkplug?”  One asked.

“I dunno, m‘man, but we’d better think o’ somethin’ quick,” Jazz replied.  “He ain’t gonna be jivin’ with his son missin‘.  Prime won’t be happy either with three of our own missin’ too, includin’ Perceptor.”

The conversation continued on before they were drowned out by their engines, which soon faded as well, but Andromeda was no longer listening.  Perceptor… that’s the name of that nosy scientist who has found out so much about me, she remembered.  What happened that could’ve caused a disappearance?  She ate her fill of her kill, but she didn’t taste the meat.  Her mind was elsewhere and, as soon as she’d cleaned herself up to avoid looking like she’d just done bloody murder, her body soon followed.

At the Autobot base, activity was at a high-pitch.  Ratchet was already looking over Bumblebee, who had nearly gone into stasis lock as soon as he’d reached the search team sent after Perceptor.  He looked up as the wounded team entered the med-bay, but he instantly noticed that they were missing some of their comrades.  “Wait.  This isn’t everyone,” he said, turning towards the Autobots carrying in their unconscious comrades.  “Where are Perceptor, Hound, and First Aid?”

“They weren’t there when we got to their location,” Wheeljack replied grimly.  “Spike wasn’t there either.  They might’ve been captured by the Decepticons.”

“WHAT?”  Sparkplug exploded.  He’d been helping Ratchet fix Bumblebee, but this news made him drop the tool he was holding at the time, which hit the floor and cracked in two.  “WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN HE WASN’T THERE???  WHAT THE HELL WAS HE DOING THERE ANYWAYS?!?!”

Powerglide raised his hands defensively.  “Whoa, easy there, Sparkplug!  Don’t get a heart attack on us or something!”  Powerglide being Powerglide, one couldn’t tell if he was joking or being serious--and in this case, Sparkplug seemed to think that Powerglide was trying to joke around with him.

“Wait.”  That one command silenced everyone as Optimus Prime entered the med-bay, giving the barely-conscious Hot Spot a shoulder to lean on--literally.  “Focus on the wounded first, then we will worry about laying the blame on someone.  Agreed?”  His gaze focused on Sparkplug, who seemed to calm down to a seething rage as he nodded an affirmative.

“This is gonna be a little difficult, since neither Perceptor or First Aid are here, but we’ll make do with what we have,” Ratchet huffed, retaking control of his med-bay with a daring glare.  “Wheeljack, start work on Hot Spot.  Grapple, take Blades.  Hoist, you have Groove.  Bumblebee’s good for the time being, so I’ll worry about Warpath.  Looks like someone had enough time to stabilize him before things went south.”

Wheeljack approached Prime to take Hot Spot off of his hands, but the Protectobot leader shook his head and raised his arm to prevent it.  “No.  Take care of the other Protectobots first,” he managed to say.  

Prime nodded at Wheeljack, who instead moved to repair Streetwise.  Prime, on the other hand, helped Hot Spot to a med-table and began repairing the Protectobot leader himself.  Ratchet glanced up, noticing the Autobot leader helping with the repairs, but Prime just gave the chief medical officer a steady gaze in return.  Ratchet smiled slightly, nodded, and returned to work on Warpath.

“Phrame, why would Megatron want Perceptor?  Fer that matta, why take the others?”  Ironhide asked, both puzzled and concerned.

“Because of me,” Andromeda stated quietly as she seemingly appeared out of nowhere on the opposite side of the med-bay and everyone stopped whatever it was they were doing.  Despite being at her larger size, she seemed quite smaller than the Autobots were used to seeing her, but that was possibly because of her body language.  Her head and tail were held lower than usual, her wings sagged slightly, and her ears were not quite lying down against her skull, but were close.  “More accurately, because of my presence here on this world.”

The reception to her appearance was less than hospitable.  “And what do you think you’re doing here?”  Cliffjumper demanded.  “You’re the whole reason we got in this mess!”

“Oh?”  Andromeda’s ears perked at that and she took a seat on the ground, maintaining her distance from the rest of the Autobots.  “How so?”

The Autobots looked at each other, silence reigning between them, and the Hunter simply waited them out.  “I was listenin’ in on some of the humans’ radio communications, seein’ if I could pick up anything important,” Blaster finally replied.  “I overheard something about a possible sighting of a creature matchin’ your description, so I told Prime about it.  It was over in the center of this continent, near a human city.”

Andromeda looked quite puzzled and one ear flattened as she tilted her head.  It would’ve looked comical had the situation not been so serious.  “I have not left these woods ever since you last saw me,” she stated.  “In fact, the Guardian and her Guarded One are in one of the further areas of the woods surrounding your base, something I discovered only recently.  The only reason I knew of anything like this happening was because I overheard a few of you talking on your way back here after I had made a kill for my meal.”  

“So it was fake from the start,” Prowl scowled.  “And we fell right into it.”

Andromeda looked at the wounded, then at the still-active Autobots, as something akin to concern glinted in her unnatural eyes.  “What happened to the team sent to examine this supposed ‘sighting’?”  She asked, her voice not as cold as it usually was.

The Autobots barely noticed the change in her tone.  “Weeell, we was watchin’ ev’rythin’ from the SkySpy--a remote-controlled satellite of sorts,” Ironhide drawled.  “Things seemed lahke it wuz a false alarm, then ev’rythin’ jest exploded.  Blaster almost got ‘is audios broke from the noise an’ nearly scared the oil outta the rest o’ us.”  

“Prime sent a few of us to their last registered location, but we met Bumblebee almost halfway there,” Trailbreaker added.  “Poor guy looked like he’d been kicked around by a gestalt.”

“A… gestalt?”  Andromeda asked, now completely confused.  “I am unfamiliar with the term.”

The Autobots looked quite surprised that she didn’t know.  “It’s a group of Transformers that can combine to form one large robot,” Mirage explained patiently, using a tone Andromeda herself often used.  Andromeda gave him a warning growl and a glare telling him to watch it.  He didn’t notice.  “The Constructicons form Devastator, the large green one you helped us defeat once before, and the Protectobots here form Defensor--though they can’t do that now.”

“And why is that?”  Andromeda wondered as she stood up and cautiously padded towards the wounded, looking at each one while keeping out of the ‘medics’ way.

“First Aid, one of the Protectobots, is missing.  Without him, the Protectobots can‘t combine,” Sideswipe replied.  “Bumblebee was able to lead us back to where he said the fight took place, but the only ones still there were those you see lying on the tables in front of you.  Perceptor, Hound, and our human friend Spike are also missing.  We think they might’ve been captured.”

Andromeda looked at him with a hard glare, as if trying to determine if he was lying or not.  Sideswipe looked quite uncertain, but Sunstreaker moved between his brother and the Hunter and coldly returned the stare.  The stand-off lasted for only a few seconds, then a corner of Andromeda’s mouth twitched in what could’ve very well be a tiny smile.  “I see,” was her only reply as she stopped next to Bumblebee.  “You have no idea what happened while… Bumblebee… was on his way to you?”

“Or what happened in the fight itself,” Smokescreen replied, folding his hands behind his head in an almost carefree gesture.  “Everybody’s been out cold--we had to carry Bumblebee here too, since he broke down almost as soon as we got to the battle-site.  He didn‘t tell us what happened, only that they‘d been ambushed and things looked real bad.”

****************

Andromeda frowned, her eyes narrowed in concern and her tail hanging low, almost parallel to her hind legs.  Something about this didn’t feel right, and the only ones who could clear it up were out cold.  “Hn.  Well, I suppose I can make an exception to my rules this time,” she said, more to herself than the Autobots.  The green energy ripple effect appeared around her as her wings flared to their full wingspan.  “Life2 All!”

An orb of energy formed above each of the unconscious Autobots, then descended until it was absorbed.  Ratchet and the Autobots helping him had to jump back as the damages they were trying to repair instantly healed on their own.  Andromeda stared at each one as they began to slowly reactivate, mostly with groans and slight movements to test their newly-repaired movements.  Andromeda seemed hardly fazed, even though such a spell was certainly one of the more powerful ones she had as far as curative magics were concerned, as she folded her wings back over her back.

“What the Pit?!”  Ratchet cursed, first out of shock then out of wonder as his scans revealed that the offline Autobots were now fully repaired and functional.  “Hunter, what’d ya--?”

“Life2 is a spell that revives one person with full Health Points, and the All Support Materia enabled me to cast it on all affected,” Andromeda replied, but without the condescending tone that was normally evident when she explained her abilities.  “Essentially, I fully repaired them as well as woke them up in the process.”  

Prime chuckled slightly.  “I suppose we shouldn’t get too used to your help in that regard,” he commented dryly.

Andromeda nodded once.  “Indeed.  What I said before still stands.  However,” she started walking away from the occupied med-tables, “if the Decepticons HAVE, in fact, captured some of your Autobots because of my presence on Earth…”  Her eyes flashed.  “Well.”

The Autobots looked at each other when Andromeda didn’t finish her thought.  “You’ll go after them?”  Bluestreak asked incredulously.  “Should you really do that?  I mean--.”

“Should I?”  Andromeda stared at him, almost surprised at the question.  “Of course I should NOT, but I WILL if such things are proven true.”  

Bumblebee sharply sat up straight, as if he just remembered something important that snapped him out of a deep sleep.  “The others!”  He shouted, not quite realizing where he was.  

“Easy there, Bumblebee,” Ironhide drawled gruffly as the young Autobot reoriented himself to his surroundings.  “Ya did good; we got almost ev‘ryone, but that wa‘n‘t yer fault.  Now, tell us whut ‘appened durin’ that ambush far as ya know.”

Bumblebee nodded and explained everything he knew about the ambush, up to the point when he had to leave the battle-scene to find a way to contact his comrades.  When he was done, he looked at Sparkplug almost guiltily.  “I’m sorry, Sparkplug.  I tried to get Spike out of there, but…”

A low snarl came from Andromeda as her ears flattened and head lowered, but her tail curled up and over her spine.  “That… answers that,” she replied cryptically as she turned and strode out of the med-bay.  

“Wait!  Where do you think you’re going?!”  Wheeljack demanded as many of the other Autobots followed close behind.  “You do not know where the Decepticon base is!  You can’t just teleport all over the place and hope you happen across it!”

Andromeda didn’t even glance over her shoulder.  “Then tell me where it is,” she replied calmly, her patience wearing thin even though it sounded like she was quite in control of her emotions.

“No,” Prime stated firmly.  That made Andromeda stop in mid-stride right as she entered the command center.  “I will not allow it.  They are our comrades and our responsibility.  We have mounted rescues before, and we’ll do it again.  Besides, what if Sheba is there?”

Andromeda finally lost her temper.  With a loud snarl, she spun around and pounced on Prime, knocking him flat onto his back and pinning his shoulders to the ground.  “Perhaps you should ask yourself that!”  She shouted, her nose just inches away from Prime‘s faceplate.  “What chance have you if the Guardian is there?  You won’t even get close!”

Prime refused to back down, even though he was hardly in a physically advantageous position and he couldn‘t deny the truth in the Hunter‘s assessment.  “Then you WILL take some of my soldiers with you,” he answered coolly.  

Andromeda was silent, studying him, and her eyes narrowed in understanding.  “Ahhhh.  So that’s it.  You don’t trust me,” she observed, her tone just as cool as Prime’s.  “You fear that I will lose all focus and leave your soldiers to die while I chase after the Guardian, provided she is even in that base.”  His optics widened, if only for a split second, and that confirmed the Hunter’s hypothesis.  “Although the capture of the Guardian is my primary objective, it does NOT mean that I simply drop what I’m doing and chase her down at the faintest hint of her presence.  In fact, I’d much rather AVOID encountering her at this time.”

“You never acknowledged my order,” Prime replied, refusing to be sidetracked.

“Then I’ll answer it now.  NO, I WON‘T,” Andromeda retorted coldly.  “It takes much energy to use my teleportation ability on others as well as myself.  I may not have any energy left to fight if the need arises.  Besides, I will NOT baby-sit your soldiers--I will have to do that when I find the captives anyways.  Now tell me,” she lowered her muzzle until her forehead pressed against the visor of Prime’s helmet and her eyes hovered just in front of his optics, “WHERE IS THE DECEPTICON BASE?”

Prime remained steadfast, not replying to the demand, and the Autobots began to grow worried as the silence stretched on for many minutes.  Neither Hunter nor Autobot leader was going to back down, physically or mentally, and it became clear that this was a challenge if there ever was one.  A challenge of wills.  “Will you two KNOCK IT OFF?!”  Sparkplug shouted, startling both Hunter and Prime out of their stare-down.  “My son is missing, and all you two can do is have a stare-down?!  I don‘t care WHO goes, as long as SOMEONE does!”

Andromeda narrowed her eyes as she looked at the human, who refused to cower under her gaze even though she was over three times his height.  “The human,” she finally said, backing away from Prime to allow him to get up, “has a point.  A challenge between us two leaders will go on forever, and it is time we do not have.”

“Two leaders?”  Groove whispered to Streetwise, who waved his hand to shut him up.  Fortunately, Andromeda didn’t hear--or didn’t seem to, at least.

Prime remained sitting, staring at Andromeda as he weighed his options.  As much as he mistrusted her, she was right on one thing--she wouldn’t leave an Autobot to die while she chased after Sheba.  She didn’t do that to him in the last mission, although Prime was nearly certain that she wanted to.  If this is the way she’s trying to show her more Autobot-like side, then so be it, he decided grimly.  

“The Decepticon base is deep underwater,” he replied.  “The coordinates will be of little use to you.”

“Why?”  Andromeda replied bitingly, all but snarling at him.  “Do you think of me as a mere BEAST?”  She almost spat out that word, glaring daggers at Tracks.  “I am an Organic TRANSFORMER, thus this is merely my organic form.  It doesn’t matter if the base is within the sea or within the stars--I can go to both places.  You hardly need to worry about MY welfare.”

“Considering that my soldiers--my friends--hang in the balance of your welfare, I think I should,” Prime replied quietly as he stood up.  Andromeda‘s anger seemed to melt away slightly as she acknowledged the point.  He walked over to the computer and typed in a command that displayed a series of coordinates, which Andromeda memorized within seconds.  “Bring them back alive, Hunter.”

“Now that,” Andromeda said with one of her near-smiles, “is one order I would be happy to obey.”  

A blindingly bright light enveloped her and, as soon as that faded, she stood before them in her robotic form, which was colored similarly to her fur.  The Autobot insignia was prominently displayed on the sides of both of her shoulders.  She looked over herself, making sure that the transition was complete, but it was clear that she was hardly comfortable--whether it was by revealing it or by being in it.  She raised her head and closed her blue optics as the greenish-white light enveloped her and she disappeared.

“Primus forgive me if I’m wrong,” Prime sighed quietly, almost too quietly for the other Autobots to hear, as he braced his upper torso against Teletran 1’s keyboard, his back to his troops.  It was quite clear that not even Optimus had faith in the success of Andromeda’s self-appointed mission, and that worried everyone else even more.