Sparks of joy chapter 12

Chapter 12 Chaos.

Knockout growled for the third time in a few clicks. If he kept staring at his 'assistant' and frown he would end as ugly and as cranky as him. He still couldn't believe that he had to work beside an Autobot, that was just absurd! Who was that idiot to let an enemy play with all his most favourite toys?!?  He annoyed looked back at the ambulance and hissed viciously when the elder outstretched his arm to shift a tool from the table and gain more room.
"DON'T TOUCH IT!"
Ratchet startled and looked astonished at the red mech. His servo was still over the buffer.
That dirty Autobot shouldn't touch something once used by Breakdown.
"Ehm... alright."
Ratchet moved a bit away to work and Knockout shifted the buffer himself, putting it away.
Blaze too was glaring at the prisoner. The blue wolf growled and whispered to the red medic: "May I eat him?"
Knockout huffed. Eat that bitter wreck? That poor pup would have to drink a whole anti-rust can! "No, we need him."
...for now. He ended, already oiling mentally his buzzsaw while he stared at the medic's back.
He didn't notice that the usually locked cabinet which contained the CNA samples was half open due to a tipped sample jar...  

Death Dancer groaned. "I'm just telling that I could try to work for a while, now that the sparklings hatched."
Skyler startled, while he felt his tail grabbed by a chuckling Skyblade. Meantime he was holding under his arm a shrieking Tempest who was trying to fly, and a bottle feeder in the other servo. The whole room seemed a battlefield.
"My love, I need help here!" He protested, before Neutronstar started sobbing because his brother stole his toy.
"Come on, you are doing well, I just need to leave for one hour or two..."
Skyler looked desperate at her. "You can't abandon a comrade like that!"
The seeker smiled tense. If she had to stay in a room full with screams and diapers a little longer she would get insane. But her mate too seemed close to the breaking point.
"Maybe we could ask Flairfire and her vain medic some hel-"
"Yes! Yes please!" The worn out wolf exclaimed, while his mate sniggered. Skyler was that messed up that he forgot she was forbidden to approach to the med bay.
Maybe she could take advantage of the small trip and have a word with the Autobot in there...
And if he became impolite -Death Dancer had the great ability to piss people off when she wanted- she could teach him some etiquette.
A medic could work still with just one arm, after all.
That was when she heard a very angry vocalizer startling her.
-What do you mean that it wasn't the right base?!?-
Lord Megatron. Death Dancer looked around, scared, but behind her there was just a worn out Skyler, three pouches on his chest with three sparklings really lively in them.
She looked down at Skyblade, who cooed happy, looking around at that unknown place.
-Starscream?- She cautiously called for him, but the silver seeker was too busy defending himself.
He couldn't know that those scums would have changed the letter on the building to trick them, but he was going to troubleshoot the problem, immediately.
"Death Dancer?"
She turned to look at the worried wolf.
"What's going on?"
The purple seeker frowned. "The flying armada didn't eradicate the Autobots HQ."
"What? But I thought..."
But Death Dancer wasn't listening to him. Her CPU started running: a prisoner onboard who gave up too easily, the enemies' base still working while they thought to be finally safe, and the Decepticons forces which were going to be split once again...
"My love?" Skyler hissed, feeling so much fear through their sparkbond that his silver fur raised.
"It's a trap!" She shocked said, sweating.
That was when they heard an explosion. It came from the med bay.
"Death Dancer, we need to come back." Skyler tense said, slowly moving towards their room. The seeker held still, frozen, while they heard an engine roaring and the Vehicons shooting.
The noises were getting closer.
"Now!"
The femme startled and turned fast on her heels, running.

"The prisoner escaped? What about my dad?!" Snowfire panicked instantly, but her mate raised a servo and that shushed her, while they looked down at their asleep sparkling.
Soundwave frowned behind the mask. That old mech managed to get a CNA sample and used the Synth En to create a fake instability situation to escape after a little explosion. <He is fine... Lord Megatron... caught... the prisoner... and we have... the Synth En.>
The little dragon sighed in relief. An Autobot free onboard their ship was a disaster she didn't wish to see again that soon. "Does it work?"
<It does.>
Her spark ran. Probably Shockwave was already working on it while they talked. Soon they would have their homeworld ready to be restored. Then an upsetting thought made her ears lower. "What about him?"
The TIC tilted his helm but she insisted. "What about that Autobot? Now we have the formula..."
The tall mech shrugged. <Lord Megatron... gave him to Predaking... for his vengeance.>
Oh Primus. Snowfire looked down. Probably right now Predaking was... he was...
<Are you upset?>
The little femme shook her helm, rubbing her arm. He was an enemy, and his friends slaughtered Predaking's race... but that... it sounded so... wrong! The Autobots medic probably wasn't even there, he wasn't a warrior! But he wasn't innocent either. He was the one keeping her in stasis, and surely he would torture her mate when he was prisoner, if he just could.
"I just hope all of this will end when we'll have Cybertron back." She sighed, brushing her son's soft cheek while he recharged.
Long digits softly grabbed her shoulder.
<We all hope this.> Soundwave reassured her, before stiffening.
Snowfire felt his tension and looked up at him, scared. "Soundwave, what is it?"
<The ship shielding is down.>

Megatron raised a brow when a deactivated Vehicon was thrown at him. Knockout looked instantly for a hiding place, using the excuse to go to collect the Dark Star Saber while Starscream moved slowly. But it wasn't necessary. The Predacon had his optics stuck on their leader.
"Is it true that you ordered the annihilation of my army?!?" The enraged Predacon growled, throwing two other soldiers down as if they were broken puppets.
Megatron didn't look scared at all, while the second in command kept moving. They weren't caught by surprise by that betrayal: one of the soldiers managed to warn them before reaching the Well of the Allspark. Plus Megatron made practice often with his second in command turnarounds so it wasn't easy catching him off guard. He just hoped that the stupid beast didn't damage too much the ship, or they would all fall.
Slowly Megatron moved his servo, as he kept speaking calmly to the tall mech. "Indeed. And my only mistake was not seeing the extermination through."
Predaking looked shocked, but it didn't last much. He flexed his sharp talons and with a roar ran to destroy his enemy, who had his gladiator sword ready for him. "I will tear you apart!!!"
Starscream looked tense and a bit scared when saw that his master wasn't as strong as that rabid beast, so he decided to help the fate a bit hitting the traitor in the back with a rocket.
Predaking roared in pain as he was hurled in the room behind Megatron.
It didn't took look before the warlord had the Predacon close to a door. The former gladiator sniggered even if he was sore by the fight against that beast.
"That's the spirit." He wheezed, staring at the other mech. "But I was a champion of the pits of Kaon not only due to my savage might... but also my cunning!"
All the warlord had to do was to pull two buttons, and the door opened right behind the beast.
Predaking tried to move, but the air pressure grabbed him and he had to use all his strength to hold tightly the door frame for not falling outside, in the empty sky. He could just stare helpless at the warlord who approached...
"You should have heeded my advice and faced me as a beast!" The warlord sniggered, as he took aim with his cannon.
The blast hit Predaking right in the chestplate sending the screaming Predacon out of the Nemesis.
Starscream stared at the warlord who was peeking out the door, barely safe in that delicate position, and hurried to lock the door again to congratulate with him.
"Bravo, my liege. It isn't every day one witnesses the extinction of a species all over again." He said with a smile, expecting some compliments for his helping the master. Unluckily Knockout came to ruin the moment.
"One ultimate weapon coming right up!" The medic announced, holding the dangerous dark energon saber Megatron made thank to the Forge. He was barely able to hold it without getting overbalanced. Knockout blinked, looking around. "Uh, where's the tall, dark and scaly?"
Wow, the beast wasn't as strong as he imagined then?
They turned and looked at the monitor which beeped.
"Report." Megatron ordered and the two high officers looked nervous when they heard blasts in the commlink. That wasn't a good sign.
"Lord Megatron, the ship is under attack... by the Autobots!"
Starscream looked astonished. How was that possible?!? Weren't they cloaked?
The warlord understood immediately what went wrong. "That medic lives!"
That useless beast wasn't even able to terminate an old medic! He hurried to grab the Dark Star Saber. "Mobilize what remains of our forces! The Omega lock must be defended at all costs!" He ordered, walking in the corridor while the alarm started resounding in the whole warship.  
"If Optimus Prime wishes to wage a battle for the fate of Earth and Cybertron then I shall oblige him. This will be our last stand!"

Skyler had gathered few things, making sure their sparklings, Skyblade included, were well secured in the pouches on his chestplate. He looked at Death Dancer, knowing that what he was going to tell would make her angry. "No fights, we are leaving now!"
He was going to take advantage of all that chaos to carry at least part of his family to his secret spot, before things could get even worse.
"But they are ATTACKING US!" Death Dancer shouted, pointing to the corridor. She could feel Starscream firing against the enemies.
Her soldiers needed someone to organize the counterattack, and she wasn't going to let those aftholes destroy her home for the third time!
Skyler whined. "This time I won't obey you, my lady." He said, before grabbing her arm.
"What? Skyler, let go of me!" The seeker steeled herself, but the huge technorganic wolf barely noticed while he dragged her in a calmer corridor. She started panicking when realized he was carrying them to the emergency ships.
"No! Skyler, please! I can't leave, I have to fight!"
Her mate didn't answer while he walked in the room with the single-seat ships. His spark raced when saw there were just two left. Other soldiers realized what was happening and left. But his family was still onboard, he could feel it.
They would never be able to find room all in an escape pod.
"Are you really going to escape? Will you leave your sister and your carrier alone now?!?" She tried another way and finally he stopped, looking at her tormented.
"They already know."
Her red optics grew wide. "What?"

Flairfire looked puzzled and amused at her sparkmate who was throwing items everywhere.
"My love, I think we should hurry up."
The medic sighed. "I got it, pack light! Pack light! Oh!" He smiled, finally seeing the buffer. He hurried to pick it up. "Pack smart!" He sniggered.
The green butterfly couldn't help but smile. "Very funny, now let's go. We need to find our daughter." She urgently said and he nodded, as they left the med bay.

Soundwave meantime was busy trying to protect the pilot room from the attackers. He managed to send the Autobots further in the ship with his portal relocation trick: the soldiers would deal with them and would give him enough time to find a permanent solution. Soon another groundbridge opened behind them and two of the Autobots' pets appeared.
They wouldn't be a problem, if one of them wasn't wearing the Apex Armor. That item couldn't be destroyed in any way. He moved to face that annoying and unusual threat, while he pulled a groundbridge with his servo. The TIC didn't have to attack to deal with that human. He just had to make her choose between a groundbridge and another one.
The human stepped back, while he kept moving forward.
But he startled when looked behind himself and saw... a third portal opening? His silver optics grew wide. What?!?
He instantly opened his wings like arms to close them, but it was too late. Everything trembled and shook around him and he felt dizzy for a moment, but luckily it didn't last for long. Soundwave looked around.
His opticsight adjusted and when saw another human he hurried to attack. He was going to use him as hostage so he would force the human in the armor to leave the item and become a leverage against the Autobots... but his wing went through the target.
Puzzled Soundwave looked at his digits, but everything was alright. The portals instability didn't damage his frame, but his sight seemed altered. He looked back at the two invaders.
They not even looked at him, as if he was a tiny bug which couldn't be seen... as if he wasn't there.
Soundwave looked around, with more attention this time. The pilot room seemed grey and dull... and he wasn't able to attack his enemies.
The TIC froze up, and started sweating when heard one of those organic creatures humming.
"Enjoy the Shadowzone, dude!"
Oh. Scrap.

Snowfire gasped, brushing her chestplate. She looked around, her sparkling safe on her back.  
-My love?- She called him in her mind, uneasy. She still felt her mate through their sparkbond but... it felt strange. Almost... muffled? -Soundwave? Can you hear me?-
She heard blasts very close and she hurried to hide in the first room she saw.
It was an inventory room. Snowfire could still remember the hours she spent with her carrier, trying to joke and have fun so time wouldn't flow too slowly.
She trembled, scared when heard battle sounds just out of the room. Her sire had called her asking her to not fight for any reason and reach them to the emergency ships room. At first she wasn't agree, because Soundwave could consider her a coward, but her daddy was right.
Her family couldn't lose her again.
Frequency chirped interrogative and she hurried to shush him.
"Honey... Soundwave, please, talk to me, what happened?" She asked, so scared that she whispered the question.
-Snowfire. I can't... do anything. I'm trapped.-
"What? Don't worry, I'll help you out!" Snowfire determined said, getting up.
That was when the ship beneath her peds started oscillating dangerously.

The warship kept moving, and she knew that they were moving unseen in the dark space. The battle was continuing, she felt it in the explosions which kept resounding everywhere and by Starscream's thoughts.
One of those Autobot scums was dead. Death Dancer could feel the SIC's exultation through their seeker bond. She was losing all the fun, scrap!
The seeker begged Skyler, trying to persuade him. "You go with the pups in one of them, I'll take another one once I killed someone!"
All of the Autobots scums still online, if she was lucky.
Skyler growled, holding her right wrist. He couldn't just pick her up, he was hampered by the sparklings. "NO! That's final! I can't risk your life!" He snarled, putting the light femme inside.  There was just enough room for him, if he flattened with his back against the escape pod wall.
Death Dancer startled, feeling trapped in a very small place with four scared sparklings and a huge wolf who emitted rage. "I can't move, leave me alone! I can't travel in this position!"
Her wings would hurt like hell for that!
"Don't agitate, you'll make it worse!"
"Starscream! Help me!" She out of her mind exclaimed, but she startled when felt a huge wave of shock and fear from the SIC. For a moment she froze, thinking that the only other seeker had been hit.
"Oh Primus." She whispered, and Skyler looked at her, worried when she stopped struggling.
"What? What?" He exclaimed.
The seeker looked up at him, shocked. "Megatron... He is dead."

Skyler gasped. They did fast.
Ding dong the wicked mech is dead!
A part of him wanted to howl in joy, knowing that his mate rapist finally got what he deserved... but now he just realized that he was the only mech still online who would stand to protect Death Dancer and her offspring. Their offspring.
"We have to go, now!" The wolf growled pulling her in the small ship, but startled and turned fast, his right arm already turned in a gun when the door opened.
Death Dancer not even blinked when saw Shockwave running inside with Starscream. Skyler growled when they glanced at their ship, but there was just another left. Shockwave could try to steal theirs, but it would just mean a time loss and he was too logic to act like that. And Starscream...
The purple femme shivered at the complicated emotions emitted by the second in command: he was shocked, sad, darkly amused that finally the warlord who mistreated him so badly was dead, disappointed that he wasn't dead by his servo... and regret.
A lot of regret.
"Forgive me, my love."
Death Dancer startled when the ship cabin closed and she was pulled against the seat by the huge wolf. She hissed when her wing hit painfully the wall. "Oooow, stop, I don't want! Let me fly, I can follow you!"
"Don't be silly, you can't fly that long, you'd starve!"
She whined while the small emergency ship started buzzing. Her poor wings were already aching.
Skyler moved carefully for not hurting their sparklings and tried to calm them down. The last thing they needed was to have them all screaming in that small space. He could just wrap his arm around his mate, while the ship moved.
"I'll make you forgive me, I promise." Skyler said, while they officially abandoned the Nemesis, the Decepticons cause... and all the things they were sure about.

Flairfire hissed and punched the little human. The only problem was that the little human was in an indestructible armor and she obtained just a sore servo. "Don't touch my mate, he surrendered! Don't you dare!" She shrieked, while the huge armor turned to face her.
"What should you be, an evil fairy?"
"This evil fairy will kick your ass!" She enraged shrieked, agitating her huge butterfly wings.
Knockout froze. "Don't hit her, she is expecting!" He exclaimed, getting up slowly after that the human girl knocked him down. Again.
Come on, he gave up and announced to join the winning team, they should be happy! He was a medic, and he and Snowfire could be useful, while Flairfire was a carrier to be and that would grant her safety... for a while at least. He hoped.
Jeez, he didn't know where Snowfire was, or if Skyler and his mate were alright! Soundwave wasn't there and Starscream disappeared as fast as his slutty high heels allowed him, what the heck could he do? The Vehicons still onboard didn't know what to do, so they simply surrendered.
The Decepticons were no more.
"Expecting what?"
"She is carrying an egg, Miko."
Flairfire hissed as she fought against the two pair of cuffs they put on her wrists. The only reason she didn't have a pair on her wings too was that they were too strange and the Autobots didn't find anything which would suit her.
"You are as pitiful as I remember!" Flairfire hissed and Optimus sighed at that.
"We are not like Sentinel. We won't harm you."
"Tell it to Megatron!" Flairfire exclaimed, angry.
"My liege, I found this little one." Smokescreen announced, carrying a kicking Snowfire while the little Frequency fluttered around them, chirping.
"Did you find the other high officers?"
"No, Optimus. Plus I'm... I'm afraid this little girl lost her mind."
Knockout froze. "What?"
"What have you done to her?!?" The green butterfly hissed and the young mech raised his arms.
"Ehi, we barely touched her! She keeps speaking to someone, but not to us! I think she hit her helm somewhere when the ship lost control."
"Don't look at me, I never drove an alien warship in my life!"
"Yeah, we noticed that, Jack." Miko amused said.
Optimus shook his helm. "Be careful and find the seekers. Look again. They are missing, and the same for Shockwave and the technorganic wolf. I want to know if they are still onboard."
Knockout froze. They didn't mention Soundwave, and the third in command would never leave the ship without Snowfire and their sparkling. It meant just one thing.
He was dead.
Meantime a desperate Snowfire was fighting against Smokescreen, while Ratchet held a sobbing little bat. "Jeez, if he starts crying I'll leave, I swear it, Optimus!"
Soundwave meantime was out of his mind: no one could see him and he wasn't able to help his subordinates, his family...
His sharp arm moved through the Autobot and with a stroke made Snowfire's mane move slightly.
They both froze.
Snowfire looked around. Then right where he was. "Soundwave?"
The third in command felt his spark racing. For a moment, just for a moment he was able to touch something.
"You see, she is doing it again."
"Just leave my daughter alone!"
Knockout sighed. "My dear... I don't like complaining, but this isn't the best way to surrender."
She growled, trying to calm down. "They want to take Frequency."
"I highly doubt it. He is... too noisy for them."
"That's for sure."
"Ratchet."
The green butterfly hurried to raise her chained arms when the blue bat fluttered towards her, chirping.
Soundwave looked at his mate. "I... I'm sorry, Snowfire. I failed."
Snowfire sobbed, reaching out to him. Soundwave automatically opened his arms but hers moved through him and the Autobots looked at her as if she just went crazy.
Soundwave tried to approach and hug her but it was useless. Jeez... that was even worse than when he thought she was offline. He wasn't even able to comfort her.
"Give me my mate back, please!"
"We don't know where Soundwave is, I'm sorry."
"I'm here, I'm here, damn idiot!" He screamed, but no one heard them.
"He is right here, in front of me!" The little dragon exclaimed. She wasn't able to see him, but she could still feel his presence. Like a shadow, able to give her an idea of its owner form.
Smokescreen looked behind himself and frowned. "But..."
Knockout frowned. Maybe he was wrong and Soundwave wasn't offline.
Not yet at least.

Skyler looked at the bright blue sky with a sigh, while he slowly moved out of the pod. They were in the middle of a forest, so they didn't need to be worried about possible organics staring at them.
He looked at the escape pod, where his mate was still sat. She didn't say a word since he pulled her in the emergency ship. Not even to insult him. It was bad, really bad.
"I'm sorry, my love." Skyler whispered when she walked out.
They were totally alone. For a while the escape pods flew close, then the one with Starscream and Shockwave moved further and further. They were leaving the planet... while their small ship landed back on Earth.
His sparkmate had to stand the feeling of the seekers bond which loosened and faded away until she was alone again in her mind. Alone with someone she didn't want to talk with, now.
The silver wolf whined, his ears down. "Please, Death Dancer. Talk to me."
Please, understand! He would love to say instead. I did it to save you, to save us, to protect you and Skyblade! Don't hate me.
The purple seeker looked around and tiredly sat on a rock, a sleepy Skyblade in her arms. The place was full with debris and looked abandoned. So... they were going to live there?
On Earth, with no Vehicons to help them as soldiers or miners? Great. Just great.
"I thought about everything!" The silver wolf hurried to say, running into a cave and coming back with a pair of energon cubes. "I cumulated them in days, in weeks! And we have two drills to look for energon crystals, and a machine to convert it in liquid! There is an old ship in one of the caves, and we can use it as house! Its cloak device works still well, just let me clean up a bit and you'll love it, I'm sure!" He desperate said, trying to make the seeker look at him.
Please, say something, anything!
Death Dancer growled. "We are in the middle of nowhere and no one can rescue us."
That damn emergency ship was too small for a long travel and they didn't have decent tools to repair the old spaceship they were going to use as refuge.
Skyler sighed, while he dropped the energon cubes. "I'll try to solve this problem. Maybe... maybe I can repair the spaceship using pieces from the escape pod..."
"I never escaped from an enemy, until I met you." Death Dancer plainly commented, looking down at her sparkling. She even tried to fight when she was pregnant, that was simply... humiliating.
A warrior shouldn't run away like that, and an high officer should never abandon the subordinates.
Skyler whined. "I just... didn't wish history to repeat itself." He sighed, turning in his animal wolf because he knew she liked it a lot. Maybe she would forgive him faster if he would stay like that for a while.
Death Dancer looked away and when she refused to nuzzle into his fur Skyler felt his spark sinking.

Snowfire whined when she agitated on the table. Once again, she was a prisoner.
"Let go of me!"
"We need to have you scanned and verify why you feel these voices..."
"There aren't voices, there is just my mate's! Give him back to me!"
Soundwave sighed frustrated. He was getting annoyed to be invisible. He sent some messages to his mate, telling her to keep calm and try to not seem a crazy person who talked with the thin air. But it didn't seem she was going to follow his advice.
He managed to send another message to Knockout before he felt too dizzy to do it.
That place was just... it was like being trapped into a loop. His clock seemed insane and he was thirsty. He hoped Knockout would find a way to make him come back soon.
How long a Cybertronian could survive in the Shadowzone before starving?

Skyler looked at her, whining. "Death Dancer please. Talk to me."
She was shaking slightly, hugging their sparklings. He could feel her thoughts.
Starscream too left, now they were alone...
It was so unfair! "I had to leave my family too! They are so scared..."
Soon his family would be too far for him to hear their presence and feeling well, and that wait was too distressing. But he made a choice.
"I think I'll go to rest for a while now." The seeker whispered, getting up.
The wolf whined. "Please, don't go."
Death Dancer blinked and looked at him, interrogative. "Why, you don't come with me?"
Then she didn't hate him... much. Skyler transformed to hug her, but carefully because her wings were sore still and she had their pups in her arms.
He picked her up to move inside their new shelter, hoping that one day his wife could call it 'home'.