Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters - Ignition

42. Lure

"Spin!" WheelJack shouted for the infant sparkling as Mainframe stalked towards him. "Leave him alone!" Vapor's energon was pooling on the cement. "I told you I don't know where they are! Don't you touch him!" His processor was racing as he watched the damned wretch take her weapon closer and closer to the defenseless sparkling.

"Then tell me where they are!" She shouted in response. "Angel's shrouding their location with the Plane, but you aren't so lucky to have her protection, are you? No, they've hung you out to dry, so how about you take some revenge, and tell me where those cowards are camped out, before your precious little child dies right alongside Mommy? Hm? I'm waiting, 'Jackie'."

~~~

"Code MF," came the hushed voice over the com link. "Send backup to the secondary base pronto. We've got a major problem."

"What's going on?" Li asked, Blade halting the second she heard the voice come in through Li's link. "What's happened?"

"Code MF," Maria repeated quietly. "Mainframe's here. Or as I prefer to call the bitch, Motherfucker. Just send someone immediately. It's getting nasty. I have to intervene."

"What? What is it?" Blade asked, eyeing the girl on her shoulder. "Look, tell Marie not to engage the enemy. It's too dangerous on her own. The Decepticons could have an ambush waiting."

"Waiting isn't exactly an option," she whispered back. "Vape's bleeding out. If I don't do something, she won't have any energon left in her systems pretty soon. I've gotta get involved. She's going after the sparkling next."

"What?" Lauren asked. "Maria she has the sparklings?"

"No, no," she answered. "Just Shade. Everyone else went out for a bit. Nowhere dangerous, just out in the woods, towards that lake, remember? They're safe. I came back. Something just didn't feel right . . . And who knew . . . The wench found us. Look, I've gotta go now. If I don't do something, they're done for. Just get Ratchet to bridge you over before shit hits the fan."

The com link went dead before Li could interrupt, and the dragonesque girl looked up at her guardian. "Vapor . . ."

"She'll be fine," Blade muttered. "Have faith. She's a fighter. Now hold on. I imagine we're going to be in for a lot more than we bargained for." Spinning on her heels, Blade turned around and ran for the common area, seeking the medic. Her connection with the Plane was shaky as of late, and if she attempted to open a Gate, she imagined she'd wind up in anyplace but her intended destination. Li gripped Jewel's shoulder for balance as they went, finding Ratchet exactly where they'd expected, attending to his computers.

"Ratchet!" Blade shouted. "Has WheelJack checked in yet?"

"Not yet," he muttered back. "They have things to do as well, I'm sure-."

"Things like getting murdered?" She cut him off before he could finish, her teal optics cutting into the back of his helm as he turned around. Before Ratchet could start speaking again, she ordered him, "Open a damn bridge, Ratchet. Call for reinforcements. This has Decepticon stink all over it. We'll handle it until they get there."

~~~

"I thought I told you to leave us alone," Copper snarled down at the woman pinned under her. "You don't touch them." Mainframe tried to force her way up, but Copper slammed her wrists back down to the cement, flinching just slightly as a small amount of energon splashed against her face. "They, they are family. Just like the others. You do not touch them without some severe consequences. Do you understand me? Do you understand me? DO YOU?"

"See, I'd love to leave you all alone, Sweetheart, but um, I have a job to finish. And you're part of it. Your family is part of it. But hey, you can all burn in hell together now can't you? Or, if you're really lucky, you'll get stuck in the Plane like all the other restless spirits. So many of them are murder victims. You'll fit right in, now won't you?" Mainframe just smiled at her. "Unfortunately, Darling, I've got a bit of a trump card waiting just outside this base. If they haven't arrived already, they'll be here soon."

Copper scowled, glancing over at WheelJack as his chains finally disintegrated. The shots she'd fired at the locks had finally eaten away at their power source. He was free. WheelJack pulled away, rushing over to Vapor, breaking her chains. Not that she had much energy anymore, anyway. "Vay," he muttered. "Vay, come on."

Mainframe laughed, the sound turning Copper's stomach in circles.

"Is this really that funny to you?" She asked, slamming Mainframe back against the pavement. "This is someone's life we're talking about! It's not funny to toy with something like that!"

"I beg to differ," she answered with a smirk. "I mean, that is my profession after all. Give them just enough hope that they might live, and you'll never be bored with the work. It's so entertaining to watch them cling to life when they've got fatal wounds."

"WheelJack get her out of here and contact Ratchet! She needs medical help! Get the hell out now!"

Tossing Vapor over his shoulder, WheelJack grabbed KickSpin in his other arm, struggling to balance both, but managing. His family was on the line, and he'd seen enough war to know the very real consequences if he didn't obey orders.

WheelJack ran, and he didn't look back.

"I'm going to make you suffer for everyone you've harmed," Copper whispered. "You deserve so much worse than death."

~~~

"Stupid, freaking, ugh," Blade ran quickly.

"He was typing quickly," Li answered. "It's an easy mistake to make. He was only off by a little."

"I know, I know," Blade muttered. "But every second counts we can't-! Ratchet open up a new bridge!" She shouted into the com. "We've got wounded!" WheelJack was running towards them, Vapor and Spin in tow, and he nodded a quick acknowledgement to them as they rushed towards the base. It was only a matter of yards to go now, she could see it.

Then the smoke began billowing out of the entrance.

"Maria!" Lauren shouted, flying forward, propelling herself to the base, concern overwhelming her. "Marie!"

~~~

"Have you ever felt so alone?" Starbreak asked the Prime, looking up at the stars. They'd had a great victory today over the Decepticons. Much energon had been spilled, but they'd held their camp, held their ground against the strikers Megatron had sent. A few Autobots had been lost, but not nearly as many as the Decepticons. "No matter how many bodies are around us, it's so hard to get close to anyone anymore. You're so afraid they'll be ripped away that you can't get attached anymore." Venting harshly, she ran a hand over her helm. "Curse this war. Curse it. Slag it to the Pits. Fighting should not be like this."

The Prime paused for a moment, studying the femme sitting not three yards away from him. "Your words carry much weight, Star," he answered softly.

"What do you mean?" She asked quietly. "My opinion is the same as everyone else's. They all hate this war, too." She gestured out to the troops on the sloping ground below them.

"You were born a warrior," the Prime told her gently. "Your greatest talent lies on the battlefield, in training. You are unlike the others here who were born as other things. As engineers, as medics, as-."

"LIbrarians?" She offered, glancing at him for just a moment before turning her optics back to the night sky. "Maybe I don't have a purpose outside of fighting," she whispered. "But I'd be damn determined to find one if it meant I could stop losing the mechs I care about. I'm tired of losing everyone to this war. We've lost enough to them. I don't want to lose anyone else."

~~~

Jewel ran faster, watching as Li vanished into the base, into the smoke. "Li! Mist!" As she entered the smoky building, her optics had to readjust to be able to see anything. As her vision switched to thermal imaging, she saw two bodies on the ground, motionless. "Oh Primus, no," she whispered, stepping closer. "No."

"Don't worry, Maiden." His voice was a shiver inside her spark, making her jump, but his hands were already on waist and neck. "They're not dead. Not yet."