You can do it Soundwave...You can do it... She thought, over and over again, holding on as long as she could. Primus, please...
The energon explosion had not disappointed her, for the moment Knockout revealed there was no specific signal, and her own attempt to call for help had failed, it gave her one final chance. But whether the Autobots scanners would detect it, was another story. It had destroyed the surrounding environment, leaving charred remains of the organic life. If nothing, it had to be picked on the scanners, or at a stretch, the humans would detect it, and Agent Fowler would alert them. Yet that possibility seemed far away, almost too far.
She screamed in agony, the small device within her seemed to have dug deeper somehow. The pain in her chest was overriding everything she felt emotionally, and any other physical damage. Blue flames danced around her, burning the last remains of the trees. Cinders filled the air, creating a black snow over the landscape, contrasting the still shining sun that pierced through the clouds of dust and debris.
"You...Y..You slagging femme!"
Knockout cursed aloud, as he pushed himself up, shoving burnt trees off him. He looked down at his once beautiful paint job. Scratched, smoldered dull. He gritted his teeth tightly as he looked around hungrily for the femme. He stepped forward a little gingerly, small bits of circuitry were exposed, but he continued. Nothing matter as much as his own paint job did. Out of the scorched blue flamed landscape, he heard her cries and looked to it's source. A few meters closer, he saw she was as damaged as he was; but was suffering a torment he would never know. Knockout walked towards her. She was curled up, her arms covering her chest plates-as though it comforted her pain-ridden spark. She hardly registered Knockout pulling her up, and twisting her face to look at his.
"Such a shame a pretty femme such as yourself has to suffer." He growled with mocking sympathy, " but I do believe I owe Soundwave a favour." He smiled insanely. Arcee's optics opened slightly, as she whispered Soundwave's name out of recognition, before screaming in pain once more.
"Aufwiedersehn, mein fraulein!" Knockout grinned, as he prepared to strike-
"I would not do that if I were you."
Knockout paused, ready to strike at her spark. He turned slowly. Frustrated shock slowly began to overcome him.
Optimus Prime's faceplates were shielded by his face guard, but his optics had never shown such menace, almost rivalling Megatron's .The sound of something transforming and powering up alerted him to the others to his east and west, with Ratchet surprisingly to his south. Bulkhead and Bumblebee stood armed, glaring intently at him. Knockout cursed, as he looked from Arcee to them, and then he let her fall to the earth.
" Ratchet, get Arcee back to base immediately."
Ratchet wasted no time, picking her up gently in his arms, sparing a passing glance at Knockout, then leaving as he commanded Raphael to open a ground bridge. Knockout looked on disdainfully.
" She will dead soon anyway- you might as well have let me extinguish her spark-" All three blasters suddenly came unbearably closer.
" Take us to the Nemesis. Now."
Jack gripped the rails tightly. It had hardly been minutes since the scanners had picked up the explosion, confirmed when an Angry Agent Fowler called not long after. While the Autobots took a chance, mostly healed from their last encounter with Megatron to find out what it was, the kids speculation had run wild.
"Do you think..?"
" It's Arcee and Soundwave?" Jack said, finishing Raphael's question. For the last week or so, Jack had been wondering, unable to concentrate on anything. More than anything, he had wished that he could have done something to help her- or that some how, her and Soundwave, would appear at the base, unharmed and safe.
