TF: Prime -- Of Sparks and Cons :8:

“Of Sparks and Cons”
Chapter Eight: Best Laid Plans

Making their way to where the Nemesis was docked, Renegade and Cascade looked to the few bots that were moving about. A number of those they knew on a more personal level were still functioning, however they both searched for certain bots. The sight of a femme with tan and brown armor and wings made Renegade vent air in a heavy sigh.

Turning from what she was doing, the femme lifted a hand in greeting as her optics fell on the two mechs before going wide at the sight of the newest sparkling. Before she could approach them, Renegade held up a hand to stem her curiosity and shaking his head. They couldn’t afford to be late. Megatron had sent a message and was expecting them at the Nemesis before long. He’d have to speak with Dunestar afterwards.

“They’ve been busy,” Cascade commented, indicating the empty streets and byways. Renegade didn’t want to think of what they had to do with all the bodies left in the wake of Megatron’s rage.

Looking down to Duskwalker and Wildcharger, Renegade smiled faintly. It was a good thing the colonists had cleared the remains before they had to walk through.

“Breakdown’s gonna be mad,” Wildcharger pulled Renegade from his own thoughts.

“Hm, why is that?” Renegade asked, never slowing his pace.

“…I left when he was supposed to be watching me,” Wildcharger admitted a little sheepishly. Since coming into Renegade’s care, the mechling had started to open up a little bit, but not much. He still seemed a little afraid of Renegade’s responses to him.

“I’m sure he will be glad to see you safe,” Renegade stated, glancing at Cascade. He was wondering if the wrecker Cascade had been nearly run down by aboard the warship was the same bot Wildcharger was speaking of.

“Can I walk?” Windsplitter suddenly asked, making Renegade chuckle. She seemed focused on herself when no one was in danger.

“If you stay with us,” Cascade stated firmly, “I’m not chasing you all over the map again.”

Windsplitter had the foresight to look chastised before nodding and responding, “I won’t wander.”

“Very well,” Cascade set her to the ground and stood back to his full height, keeping an optic on her to make sure she didn’t wander off. Instead she wandered to Quicksilver’s side and began chatting away. Quicksilver, for her part, looked down and listened while nodding.

Before long Wildcharger struggled to get his feet on the ground as well and Duskwalker followed suit, politely asking Renegade to place her on the gorund; all three crowded around Quicksilver and Cascade had to fight the urge to laugh at the youngling’s put-upon expression.  Renegade didn’t have the same qualms, chuckling and earning himself a scathing glare from the femme.

“It seems they’ve found a ‘big sister’,” Cascade commented off to the side, quietly enough he was sure none had heard him save for Renegade.

“So it would seem,” Renegade seemed distant for a moment before he looked back to Cascade, “When the medic does his examinations, I’m going to have to explain more about Duskwalker’s design and her creation.”

“I’m sure it won’t be a problem,” Cascade reassured, “I’m glad there is a capable medic aboard, however. Windsplitter never did like old Fixit and Swiftmend was too inexperienced to deal with a sparkling’s sensitive systems and growth patterns.”

“Hm,” Renegade nodded in agreement. The one time he’d taken Duskwalker to see Fixit, she’d wound up hiding behind him and growling at the old mech. It had hurt the medic’s feelings in some way though he didn’t let her see that and had simply allowed them to leave.

“Has he always been that way?” Renegade asked, more out of curiosity than anything. He’d met cranky medics in the past but Fixit took it to a whole new level and didn’t seem to understand how badly his attitude frightened sparklings.

“Pretty much… he was a Decepticon medic for a long time before going Neutral,” Cascade stated, “All I really know about him is that he showed up one day badly damaged, managed to survive, and became the colony medic. I wasn’t here yet… Dunestar explained all of that to me.”

“Dunestar seems to know a lot about the colony,” Renegade stated, his tone a little more wistful than he’d intended. Cascade noticed and gave him a knowing smirk but saying nothing about it.

“She’s been here a long time, she might even be around your age, old man,” Cascade laughed at the look he received.

They continued to talk as they made their way to the Decepticon warship, looking to make sure all of the sparklings were accounted for often enough that Quicksilver snapped at them to stop checking up on them. The attitude was a surprise to both but they kept quiet and simply slowed enough to walk behind the four youngsters. Every once in a while the tiny Duskwalker would have to slow down and she’d wind up trotting beside Renegade but before he could scoop her up, she’d take off and catch up to the others again. By the time they reached the ship, the three sparklings were too tired to talk very much and Quicksilver seemed more agitated than before.

Megatron was waiting for them at the end of the ramp, two Eradicons guarding the entrance to the ship. Both glanced over at the sparklings but said nothing. The moment Windsplitter and Duskwalker spotted Megatron, they hid behind their respective creators. Wildcharger remained at Quicksilver’s side, even as she stepped aside to allow Renegade and Cascade passage to where Megatron stood.

“Lord Megatron,” Renegade canted his head as Cascade did likewise. Off to the side, Quicksilver watched with detached interest. Noticing her expression, Renegade made the decision he would have to teach her how to act around their leader. Otherwise she would most likely find herself on Megatron’s bad side quickly.

“Renegade, Cascade, while the sparklings are being examined, I have a few questions for you,” Megatron stated, his optics moving to include the sparklings and Quicksilver as he spoke.

Only Renegade responded, “I would like to be present when Duskwalker is examined. There are a few things the medic may need to know about during the exam.”

With a nod of understanding, Megatron turned and led the way into the warship. Renegade turned and lifted Duskalker into his arms, just as Cascade did the same with Windsplitter and Quicksilver lifted Wildcharger. The sight was unusual enough that both Renegade and Cascade stared slightly with upraised brow ridges. With a huff escaping her vents Quicksilver moved to follow Megatron aboard, leaving them standing at the ramp’s beginning.

“Why do I have a feeling we missed something earlier this light cycle?” Cascade whispered to Renegade as they started to follow, their heavy footsteps echoing hollowly on the ramp.

A smile lifted the corners of Renegade’s mouth as he looked down at Duskwalker, her head was turning fast as she tried to see everything she could before they walked past it, “I believe the sparklings are starting to have an effect on the loner of the pack.”

“May do her quite a bit of good… once the attitude gets taken care of,” Cascade answered, watching as Quicksilver stopped at the top of the ramp and waited for them to reach her. By the time they did so, Megatron’s form was a good distance away and she found herself being shooed forward.

“This ship is biiiiiig,” Windsplitter commented.

Duskwalker crawled up onto Renegade’s shoulder armor to get a better look at the corridor. As she was placing her front paws on his helm, the sound of something being dropped, followed by a startled shout, startled her and she dug her claws in as she fell back to his shoulder, her back arching slightly in a perfect mimicry of the organic creature her body emulated.

“That looked painful,” Cascade commented with a wince.

“Why do you think I have so much armor?” Renegade chuckled, cuddling a still shaking Duskwalker closer. It was not lost on him that Windsplitter was also curled close to her creator’s spark chamber while Wildcharger almost seemed bored with the journey to the medical bay.

“Makes sense,” Cascade grinned, looking up and noticing that Megatron had stopped at a door and was waiting for them. His optics were narrowed as he waited, but seemed focused elsewhere.

“Why’s he starin’ like that?” Windsplitter whispered.

“Internal communication,” Renegade stated as they came up even with the door. The door slid open and Megatron led the way in without a word to any of them.

“Ah, the newest members of the Decepticon ranks… well aren’t you all just adorable?” a small, red mech greeted them all. His armor seemed to shine in the dull lights of the medical bay and his smile didn’t seem capable of reaching his optics.

“Knockout, I expect the examinations to be completed within the light cycle. Your experiments can wait,” Megatron snarled, causing the sparklings to shift uncomfortably.

However, when he turned his attention to them, his expression softened considerably and he nodded to their creators before taking his leave of them, “I will return for the results and to speak with you both later.”

“Yes, Lord Megatron,” Renegade and Cascade responded in unison, earning themselves a few giggles from the sparklings in their arms.

“Wildcharger, you can go and wait in the other room, if you’d prefer… just don’t leave it the way you did the last time,” Knockout had taken the small mech from Quicksilver’s arms, setting him on his feet and giving him a shove in the direction of a secondary door. Another door stood behind the red mech, but had a sign warning others off.

“I suspect that these two,” Renegade indicated Windsplitter and Quicksilver in turn, “will be the easier to examine first. Myself and my sparkling are a bit… different, doctor.”

“Very well,” Knockout shrugged, “I have no issue with that, set the sparkling down and we’ll get started.”

Cascade stepped forward and, prying Windsplitter from his armor, set her on the examination berth Knockout had indicated. The moment she touched the berth, her arms wrapped tightly around her creator’s wrist and she stared with wide optics at the red medic.

“My apologies, our colony medic is not very… well mannered. I’m afraid the sparklings are not accustomed to friendly medics,” Cascade responded to the surprise registering in Knockout’s optics as he looked to him for an explanation for his offspring’s reaction.

“I see,” Knockout did not sound convinced, “Unfortunately I can’t scan her so close to you or the readings will be off.”

“Windsplitter, you’re going to have to let go and sit over there like a big femme,” Cascade started trying to coax her to move away.

“No!” Windsplitter was adamant and gripped his armor tighter, screwing her optics shut.

“Sweet spark, he’s not going to hurt you. We just have to be sure that you’re healthy and growing like you’re,” Cascade continued.

“I don’t wanna… I’m scared!” Windsplitter interrupted.

“This could take a while,” Cascade apologized, kneeling down slightly so that he was on optic-level with Windsplitter.

“Hm, you then, come on, we’ll move on to someone who’s at least not scared out of her processor,” Knockout pointed at Quicksilver and directed her to a berth.

Moving in a deliberately slow fashion, Quicksilver went to where she was directed and leaned back. Her helm and Knockout’s helm were even and it became clear quickly that the two were of equal heights. Cascade noticed even as he was slowly breaking through Windsplitter’s fear and had to stifle a laugh at the annoyed look on the medic’s faceplate. A smaller, higher laugh echoed Cascade’s muffled one and he glanced over to see Duskwalker laughing.

“Hush Duskwalker,” Renegade chided gently, pushing her in the side with his finger. Duskwalker looked up to him and offered him a small smile before curling up into a ball, still shaking with a fit of giggles.

“At least they’re happy,” Knockout snorted as he lifted a scanner and held it out toward Quicksilver, “I’ll have to fix that wing damage in a moment… looks like you suffered quite a few injuries in recent cycles.”

“She got into a scuffle with a flyer last light cycle,” Renegade stated.

“Yesterday,” Duskwalker corrected instantly, though she kept her faceplate hidden against his chest armor. Knockout looked over with a good humored expression before turning back to the scanner.

It was not long before his optics narrowed and his smirk changed to a frown. He looked at Quicksilver for a moment before returning to the scans. As Renegade watched, the medic’s expression continued to darken and he set the scanner aside, pulling out a needle and small vial to extract a sample of the femme’s energon. Renegade watched closely, keeping an optic on Quicksilver’s reaction as well as the medic’s changes in attitude.

“You can’t transform,” Knockout said it softly but seriously. There was no surprise in his tone, nor did he sound as though he were making fun of the young femme.

With a brow ridge quirked, Quicksilver regarded the medic silently.

“Why can’t she?” Windsplitter continued to grip Cascade tightly but was staring at Quicksilver unabashedly.

Glancing over at Cascade and Windsplitter, Knockout considered before speaking, “Because she has no t-cog.”

“How can a youngling have no t-cog?” Renegade asked, stepping closer and looking over at the scans.

“She did at one point… but judging by the damage, it was torn from her body,” Knockout continued, refocused on Quicksilver.

Every optic in the medical bay focused on Quicksilver. The young femme looked back, silent as ever. In the perfect silence of the bay, each and every noise the machines made, as well as the sound of passing mechs in the corridor.

“Torn?” Cascade slowly started to get over his shock, “’Silver, what happened?”

A sigh vented as she looked at him but said nothing. When it became clear she was not going to elaborate on the situation, Knockout turned his attention back to the scans.

“There’s extensive damage to a lot of systems, though it seems to have healed. Beyond the old damage, you’re healthy… well, aside from the more recent damage from the fight you had… yesterday,” Knockout smirked over at Duskwalker, chuckling as the femling ducked her head.

Cascade looked down at Windsplitter, realizing she’d released him in order to get as close to Quicksilver as she could. He hadn’t noticed her moving toward the far edge of the berth and got to her barely in time to keep her from going over the edge. When it became clear the medic was starting to focus on the recent damage, Cascade lifted Windsplitter and settled her next to Quicksilver. The femling quickly latched on and settled against Quicksilver’s side.




Finishing Quicksilver’s repairs, Knockout moved on to Windsplitter. Going over her scans turned out to be simple. She was healthy and in line for her growth status. The only issue he was able to find was a strange anomaly in her spark. Fixit had noticed the same anomaly and Cascade said as much, the old mech had assured him that it was nothing to be too worried about. Knockout agreed but said he’d keep an optic on it, regardless.

Having watched Knockout with the other two, Duskwalker willingly settled on the other berth and waited. With a practiced optic, Knockout looked her over, gently moving limbs and checking her vitals visually. He made notes on a pad, his stylus scratching across the surface quickly. Once he had noted all of his findings, making curious sounds that seemed to denote he’d found something unique and interesting, he turned to scanning her internal systems.  Scanning her, he made a new  sound of surprise and looked over at Renegade appreciatively.

“She’s a bit small for her age… a premature placement into her shell?” Knockout clearly knew the answer but was giving Renegade the chance to confirm his findings.

“Yes,” Renegade stated firmly, indicating he did not want to speak of the circumstances in ‘public’.

“Her energon signature is unique as well. If I may, I’d like to take a sample, however I do not wish to cause harm,” Knockout turned again to Renegade, his expression unreadable.

“A small sample will not harm her, but she will have to go into recharge directly afterward to replenish her systems,” Renegade stated pointedly.

“Understood, then I will wait until I am done,” Knockout nodded, turning back to the scans, “My my, you are a little spitfire though, judging by those claws and dental plates and… what is this?”

Renegade came to stand behind him and looked over his shoulder, a small smile gracing his faceplate. Duskwalker looked up curiously, her body practically vibrating with her want to know what they were looking at.

“A functioning t-cog… you can transform at your age?” Knockout spoke quietly, clearly surprised by this finding. As if to prove that he was reading it correctly, Duskwalker grinned and proceeded to transform from her four-legged form into her two-legged protoform. Her legs were bent at an odd angle, giving the impression of a feline stance and her faceplate was still feline in design. She grinned up at Renegade and he returned her smile.

Knockout, however, was silent, staring at her in shock.

“It’s so she has a defense against those whom would do you harm,” Renegade rumbled, laughing as Duskwalker transformed again, returning to all four paws. Her tail wrapped around her tiny front paws as she looked up at the medic expectantly.

“Very impressive… and the stress is almost null on her spark and body. I… must admit I am impressed, Renegade,” Knockout stated, still staring at her openly.

“Thank you,” Duskwalker smiled.

With a soft chuckle, Knockout canted his head slightly before running the scanner across her spark chamber. He stopped and his brow ridges went up slightly. Renegade waited for what he knew was coming. The medic had noticed and next it would be a question he didn’t know if he was prepared to answer. Instead, however, Knockout moved on without a word, stepping aside to retrieve a new needle and vial for a small sample of Duskwalker’s energon.

Taking the sample and allowing Renegade to scoop Duskwalker up into his arms, Knockout stepped away.

“All right, in you go,” Renegade coaxed, opening the panel in his chestplate, specially designed for this express purpose and holding her near it.

“But… I… I’m not… tired,” Duskwalker stuttered as a yawn escaped her. Her optics were partially shuttered as she swayed on her feet.

“I can tell,” Renegade deadpanned as he watched.

“I’m really,” another yawn overtook her before she could finish the sentiment, “not tired.”

“Lie down for a little while and if you stay awake, you can come back out and play,” Renegade promised, well aware that she’d be in recharge before he could shut the panel.

“…All right,” Duskwalker gave in grudgingly, nearly tripping as she entered the chamber. Renegade shut the panel, feeling the calm of recharge as it overtook the small femling. He chuckled and shook his head as Cascade grinned back. Turning to the medic, he moved to ask a question, but Knockout responded before the words had even formed to be said.

“She is healthy, though a bit small for her age… she will most likely always be smaller than others her age. However, that does nothing to her overall health. As I said earlier, I’m impressed,” Knockout did not turn around, instead he focused on the console he was standing before, “Lord Megatron would like me to do examinations on you two as well, however I understand he wishes to speak with you before then… will your sparkling be all right in the chamber?”

Renegade looked over at him with a smirk, “She’ll be fine. I doubt anything short of a direct hit to my chest armor would wake her from recharge now.”

“Very well, I will keep an optic on them, if you’d like to join Megatron on the command deck,” Knockout offered, still not turning to look at them.

“Thank you,” Cascade thanked, looking to where Windsplitter sat, curled up against Quicksilver, slowly slipping into recharge, “I think you’ll have an easy time of it.” A grin crossed his faceplate before he looked to Renegade and indicated that they should leave the medic to his business.




“If you would prefer, you can join Wildcharger,” Knockout turned to the femme as the two mechs left. Looking at him, her pale optics were focused but she said nothing in response to the suggestion. Instead she shifted slightly and lifted Windsplitter into her arms before sliding from the berth.

Her gaze traveled to the door that he kept locked at all times, unless Megatron wished to venture inside. However there were no questions forthcoming as she turned and headed for the other door. He watched her go, turning back to his console to continue working with the scans and information he had gleaned while examining the young ones. Before she entered the door, however, she turned back to him and in a voice that barely carried to where he was thanked him.

He did not get a chance to say anything back as the door slid shut behind her. Narrowing his optics, Knockout turned back to her scans and pondered the damage that had been done over the course of the femme’s short life.

***

Dust settled all around as Reclaimer landed on his feet, staring down into a valley that was created by the mountains. Long since the rising of the sun, he had passed through the savannah and now stood amid a sweet smelling field of wild flowers, surrounding by tall conifers. Below him ran a lazy stream, its steep banks covered in thick lichen that trailed into the clear waters.

Kneeling down so that he was hidden by the ridge, Reclaimer watched as Catalyst transformed near the edge of the far bank. A burning hatred had started to smolder in his spark as he waited for the Autobot spy to emerge from his hiding place. For all intents and purposes, the mech seemed to have escaped the cave-in unharmed. This only angered Reclaimer further.

Following Catalyst, keeping low to the ground, Reclaimer narrowed his optics and watched as two mechs appeared out of seemingly nowhere. When another mech showed up, Reclaimer clenched his fist. Not only had a single Autobot spy been hiding amongst the colonists, but there seemed to be an entire platoon of bots on the planet. Setting a recorder to run, Reclaimer attempted to get a clear view of the bots, none of which he recognized save for Catalyst.

“What have you been planning?” Reclaimer murmured as the four mechs talked amongst themselves below him.

The sound of thrusters drew Reclaimer’s attention skyward. Scooting back further into the tree cover, he watched as one of the colony flyers flew overhead. The four bots in the valley watched as well, their optics flashing in the bright sunlight. Before long the thrusters renewed in strength and, as Reclaimer watched, a gold and black bot landed amongst the other four. His silver-blue optics flashed as one of the bots came toward him aggressively. Catalyst stepped between and stopped the possible fight. The conversation was renewed and the four of them remained where they were.

Clearly they believed they would not be discovered in their current location.

Even through the haze of hatred and anger, Reclaimer was aware that he was no match for all five of the bots, especially with a flyer involved. Without further hesitation he moved away from the ridge and made his way back down the mountain. There was no way for him to know how many more Autobots had come to call this planet their base, but he had a feeling that there were a few more hiding in the mountains somewhere.

With this new knowledge, a number of Catalyst’s strange remarks since their first meeting became clear. He’d been seeking out new hiding places and new reserves of energon for his comrades. Reclaimer snarled at himself for not noticing the connection sooner.

Once he felt he was far enough away from the Autobots to safely transform, he did so and sped across the meadows, which slowly turned into the savannah once more. It would take him over half of the light cycle to get back to the colony’s space port. He hoped that it would not be too late by that time.

***

The room Quicksilver had entered with Windsplitter in her arms was narrow and elongated with shelving units higher up on the walls. It had most likely served as a storage area before being rehabbed into a play-room type area for Wildcharger. There were no exits other than the one they had entered through and no windows or ornaments adorned the walls. The metal decking was strewn with odds and ends that seemed to have been ‘home made’ toys, while crates and benches sat against the wall. A stack of old pads sat on top of one of the crates, along with a few styluses. Quicksilver was quite sure this had been a hastily thrown together area for the sparkling.

“I hope Nahallia’s all right,” Wildcharger commented from his place on a box near the right hand wall of the room they were currently in.

Quicksilver looked up at the name, certain she had heard it somewhere before.  Before she could respond to Wildcharger’s comment, Windsplitter’s head whipped up and she stared openly at the young mech.

“Nahl is here?!” Windsplitter gasped, a shiver ran through her tiny body and Quicksilver had to squelch the urge to pull her closer.

“You know her?” Wildcharger seemed as surprised as Windsplitter by this news.

“Yeah, she’s a friend… where is she?” Windsplitter asked, getting down to the floor and making her way to the other sparkling.

“In that room off to the end of the med bay,” Wildcharger explained, pointing in the general.

“Who is Nahallia?” Quicksilver asked, standing and moving to where the two of them were seated. She knelt down so she was a little bit closer to their heights, waiting to find out what they knew.

“A Chartah from the village,” Windsplitter shrugged, “Her mama is Amala.”

Amala. There was a name Quicksilver was familiar with. The medicine woman, or shaman of a village on the border of the strait between the colony and the rest of the savannah. She’d had a few run-ins with the female and had no interest in meeting her again.

“Why is she here?” Quicksilver overrode any other questions from Windsplitter. If one of the Chartah were on board the warship, then there had to be a reason.

“She’s one of KO’s experi… experimince,” Wildcharger struggled with the word, but Quicksilver waved him past it.

“And she’s in the room with the sign warning off others?” Quicksilver asked, looking at the wall as though she could see through it.

Wildcharger nodded.

“We gotta do something, ‘Silver,” Windsplitter cried. The look in her optics nearly broke Quicksilver’s spark and she had a feeling there was no way she could tell the femling no.

“What do you suggest we do?” Quicksilver continued, trying to sound like the adult.

“Save her,” Windsplitter stated adamantly, her small hands placed firmly on her hips as she regarded Quicksilver sternly.

With a brow ridge quirked, Quicksilver looked back at the little femme before turning to Wildcharger, “How much do you know about Knockout’s movements?”

“…Well, he usually takes a break to go get energon after he finishes a project,” Wildcharger stated with a shrug.

“Will he let us know if he is going to leave?” Quicksilver asked.

“Uh huh,” Wildcharger nodded, “He’ll lock the door though.”

“That’s not a problem,” Quicksilver smirked, laughing at the surprised looks on their faceplates, “My creator taught me more than history and science.”

“You got a plan?” Windsplitter asked, her optics appearing a little wet. Quicksilver had a feeling she had been about to cry.

“I’ve got a plan, but I’ll need your help,” Quicksilver nodded, standing and walking to where the pads were stacked. Going through them, she found one that was not too damaged and still had plenty of memory space. Gripping a stylus as well, she walked back to where the two sparklings sat and lowered herself to the floor, crossing her legs and setting the pad against her thigh.

“Here’s what we do,” Quicksilver started and outlined her plan in a way the two sparklings would understand.