Chapter Text
Fritz ended up approving Delta’s suggestion and Starwake was allowed to get up and leave the medbay. They completely removed her servos to keep them from getting caught or damaged, so she was walking around with only partial limbs for arms and no way to grab anything. To make sure she stayed safe, one of the medics would go out with her and she was only allowed out for a certain amount of time.
Zero-IN, of course, was there waiting anxiously for her the moment she stepped out of the medbay. She sighed as soon as she saw him.
“What is it, Zero-IN?” she asked, clearly annoyed.
“I was hoping we could talk, Commander,” Zero-IN replied meekly.
“Hhh. Fine.”
“She is out here to stretch her legs, Zero-IN,” Delta informed him as he stood next to Starwake. “Take her for a lap around the main hall while you talk.”
“Oh, yeah, sure.” Zero-IN gestured toward the hall. “This way, Commander Starwake.”
Delta followed them out toward the main cavern but stopped at the end of the hallway to let them have their privacy. Starwake paused for just a moment to take in the sheer size of the room, but Zero-IN’s anxious shifting beside her quickly pulled her from her wonderment. Still irritated at him, she turned and immediately started to move along the wall instead of waiting for him to take the lead. Zero-IN was quick to fall in step beside her. Once they were a sufficient distance from Delta, Starwake spoke.
“Well?” she snapped, shooting him a glare.
“The AllSpark is here,” he replied quickly, keeping his voice low.
“Here?” she asked, actually surprised, but she kept her voice low as well. “In this base? Are you sure? Did you see it?”
“Well, no…” Zero-IN quickly glanced around to make sure no one was close. He wasn’t picking up any signatures either, besides Delta who was still back by the hallway to the medbay and busy with a datapad. “It’s not here in the base. But it is on this planet. I am absolutely certain of that now.”
“What about Lord Megatron?” Starwake inquired.
Zero-IN shook his helm. “I don’t know. Commander Scythe simply said he was ‘out of the picture’, but it is highly likely he is still alive somewhere because she also said that ‘he would remain so as long as she could help it’.”
“So, she was able to incapacitate him without killing him? How is that possible?”
“She did it to you, didn’t she?” Zero-IN pointed out and then flinched, realizing he brought up a sore subject.
Surprisingly, Starwake did not get angry. Instead, she seemed to be quietly mulling it over. “...Yes,” she finally replied. “But somehow I can’t imagine Lord Megatron falling to something like that.”
Zero-IN agreed with her. It was hard to imagine Megatron getting taken out, but he also didn’t think that Scythe was lying. “We don’t know the circumstances,” he offered.
“You’re right,” Starwake agreed. Glancing up, she realized that they had not even made it a quarter of the way around the room yet. Why was she already starting to feel tired? She pressed on anyway. “So what then? What are you proposing, Zero-IN?”
“We need to get out of here,” he replied without hesitation. “At the very least, we need to get to the surface so that we can contact Cybertron.”
“And what?” she scoffed. “Do you really think the commander is just going to let us leave?”
“Obviously we are going to have to sneak out,” he grumbled, not too keen on the idea himself after what happened last time, but if Starwake helped him, then maybe…
“Zero-IN, I-” Starwake stopped as she felt a wave of dizziness wash over her. Was this as far as she could go? “I think I need to sit down.”
“Commander Starwake!” Zero-IN caught her shoulder as she began to sway.
Delta suddenly appeared next to them. “Time’s up, I see.” He effortlessly scooped Starwake up bridal style and started back toward the medbay.
“She needs to rest now, Zero-IN,” Delta said over his shoulder when the dark mech started to follow. “You can finish your conversation later.”
“But-” Zero-IN tried to protest.
“Doctor’s orders, mech.” Delta stopped and looked back at him. “Or do I need to get someone higher up involved?”
Zero-IN stopped short. “No sir.”
“Good.” Delta nodded and resumed walking.
Starwake didn’t say anything the whole trip back to the medbay. It wasn’t until Delta was setting her down on the medberth when she finally spoke.
“Did you really have to carry me like that?” she asked.
“It was the easiest and simplest way to get you back here,” he said. “Why? Did you not like it?”
“Not really. It was rather humiliating.”
“What’s the problem?” Fritz asked as he came over.
“Oh, she just barely made it a quarter of the way around the main hall before she ran out of energy, so I had to carry her back,” explained Delta.
Starwake just rumbled in displeasure.
“I’m impressed you made it that far,” Fritz offered. “You are recovering from a massive energy drain. It is going to take time to get your stamina back up to where it was before.”
Scythe had put her usual exploration on hold so that she could follow the movements of Starwake’s old crew. Their ship had landed again. But this time, a second mech was left behind with X-ray.
“I suppose that means X-ray is probably seriously incapacitated,” Scythe mused while staring at the screen in the comm center.
“The other signal is labeled Tangent,” Leech observed. “I believe Alfa said he was a good scout but could be easily intimidated. Unlike that one Autobot scout that Megatron captured at Tyger Pax. Remember him?”
“Yeah, I do,” Scythe replied with a nod. “That mech certainly had some bearings.”
“Do you think he survived?” Leech wondered.
“I don’t know. Maybe. It was Megatron who was interrogating him,” she said as she turned away from the monitor, “not us. So his odds were probably better.”
“Are we going to see X-ray?” Leech asked after Scythe zipped down from the console and was headed for the door.
“Yes.” She reached up and touched her comm link. “Hey, Warpkey, are you busy?”
“Damnit! This is all my fault,” Tangent whined as he plopped down on the floor next to X-ray’s battered frame.
Shatter had been losing her temper quite a lot lately but today was particularly bad. She had gotten upset with Tangent again and, of course, X-ray had stepped in to try and calm her down. That only served to switch the target of her anger to him. He was still suffering from the last beating he had taken but that didn’t stop Shatter.
She continued to lay into him even after he collapsed to the floor and it took all three of them to get her to stop.
“Get off me!” she screamed, flailing her arms as Queback and Yank pulled her back.
Queback got an elbow to the face and Yank didn’t fare any better. Tangent stood between her and X-ray, servos up in front of him.
“Shatter, please, stop!” Tangent begged. “You’re gonna kill him!”
A furious snarl was the only warning Tangent got before Shatter backhanded him into the wall.
“Then you can stay here and look after him!” she snapped. To the others, “You two scrap heaps, come with me!”
Shatter didn’t wait to make sure they were following as she stormed off the ship, but they did so as quickly as they could, Yank trying to hide his limp and Queback wiping the energon off the corner of their mouth.
Speaking of energon, there were a few tiny puddles of it and other fluids, like oil, starting to appear underneath X-ray, who was lying on his side. Shatter had explicitly ordered that, since supplies were getting low, the medkit could only be used for big emergencies now. So there was nothing Tangent could do to help X-ray.
“I’m so sorry, X-ray,” Tangent muttered, pulling his legs to his chest and burying his face in his arms.
“What are you sorry for?” asked a voice.
Tangent’s helm jerked up, startled. Only for him to let out a quiet shriek and immediately scramble backward when he saw Scythe standing right in front of him.
“C-C-Commander Scythe! W-what are you doing here?” he asked, unable to keep his voice from shaking.
“I just came to check on X-ray,” Scythe replied, turning to look over the battered mech, “but it seems he’s in a worse state than last time.”
Tangent froze. Last time?
“Warpkey, leave your medkit before you go out to stand guard,” Scythe commanded.
Confused, Tangent looked up to see the air ripple and the subtle silhouette of a large mech appeared, moving and bending. A personal sized medkit appeared on the floor next to Scythe and then the silhouette disappeared again.
“Thank you,” she said, pulling on the clasp to open the kit. She looked up at the orange mech still huddled against the wall. “If I recall the information Alfa provided correctly, your designation is Tangent, yes?”
Tangent just nodded.
“Alright then, mech. Get over here and lend me a servo.”
After a while, X-ray came back online. He was on the floor, laying on his side, the pain from Shatter’s beatings had dulled. There was someone next to him, leaning over him, touching his back.
“Like this?” he heard a voice ask. He recognised it. Tangent. Good, he sounded fine.
“Yes, hold it there,” replied a second voice. Wait… His processor felt sluggish trying to recall whose voice it was. Wasn’t that-!!
A sharp stab of pain, like fire in his circuits, ran up his spinal strut making him gasp and flinch away from whatever hurt him.
“X-ray!” Tangent cried, turning to face his helm and laying a cautious servo on his shoulder. “Are you awake?”
X-ray clenched his jaw and remained still, waiting as the pain slowly ebbed. He was certain that the other voice was…
“Commander Scythe…?” he managed to ask, his voice laced with static.
“I’m here, X-ray,” she answered, appearing in front of his face.
X-ray attempted to look at her with dim optics, but one of his lenses was cracked and unmoving, the shutter around it stuck half closed, while the other was slow to focus. Once he could finally make out her features, he noted that she had fluids splashed across her armor: energon, oil, and probably coolant too, considering his injuries were worse than last time.
“You came back,” he mumbled.
“Yes, I did,” she replied. “Just continue to lay still. We’re almost done with your patches.” And started to turn away.
He spoke again, voice still quiet, “...You never answered my question.”
Scythe halted.
“Which one?” she asked. Leech’s optics swiveled to look back at him, curious.
“Why did you kill my brother?”
Scythe was silent for a moment. She glanced up at Tangent to find him watching her tensely, also waiting for the answer. She sighed, letting her shoulders slump a little, Leech’s optic stems swaying with the motion.
“I don’t know what kind of answer you are looking for, X-ray,” she said. “If you are looking for some sort of justification or what…” She looked back at him then, visor lifted, red optics bright but cold. “I saw my companion in immediate danger and my only thought was to remove the threat quickly. It was as simple as that.” Letting her visor fall back over her optics, she turned again and started to move away. “If you want to hate me for it, that is your right.”
“Oh, um…” Tangent was flustered by the tense atmosphere and the heavy silence as Scythe went back to X-ray’s repairs. “H-hang on just a little longer, X-ray.” He tried to sound encouraging. “We’ll try to finish up quickly.”
Scythe and, by extension, Leech, to their credit, were more careful now while doing the patches since X-ray was awake. But occasionally there was a muted whine or slight twitch when something hurt him.
Just as they were finishing up, Warpkey hurried back into the ship.
“Commander, they’re back,” he warned as he suddenly scooped her up.
“Wha-” Scythe started as Warpkey held her close and covered her with his servos to hide her with his skill.
“Tangent! We’re back!” was the only warning they got before Shatter stormed on board.
“What’s all this?!” she snarled dangerously when she found Tangent still on his knees next to X-ray, Warpkey’s medkit on the ground beside him.
“I-it’s not what you think, Shatter!” Tangent cried desperately, lifting his servos to hopefully placate her. “C-commander Scythe stopped by! Sh-she gave me these supplies!”
Since Warpkey was completely invisible and could move silently, Tangent had no idea if they were even still there. He just assumed that they had left.
“Why that slimy little-” Shatter started.
“Only slimy ‘cause of your brother’s energon and oil,” Scythe interrupted behind her.
Shatter whirled around, activating a blaster as she did.
Warpkey was ready for her, though, and caught her blaster arm in a strong grip, keeping the barrel pointed at the ceiling. Scythe was standing on his right shoulder, her plating still a mess and her crescent blade out.
Nobody else moved.
“Do you have a problem with me coming by, Shatter?” Scythe asked.
“This is my ship now,” Shatter growled. “I’m in charge here. Who or what I take my anger out on is none of your business.”
Scythe’s servo twitched with annoyance, her blade growing slightly larger.
Movement behind Shatter caught Scythe’s notice. X-ray had managed to lift his helm a little, clearly trying to pay attention to what was going on but, it was difficult to say whether or not he could see that far with busted optics.
“I suppose you’re right,” Scythe relented with a huff as she stowed her blade. Arguing any more with Shatter would not do X-ray any good. “However, what use is a sharpshooter during an enemy attack if he can’t even lift a servo?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Shatter snapped, eyeing her suspiciously as she made an attempt to pull her arm out of Warpkey’s grasp, but he held firm.
Scythe shrugged. “Just a warning. We’re not the only ones on the planet, you know. You should really be more careful.” Leech gently tapped on the side of Warpkey’s helm to tell him to let Shatter go.
Warpkey shoved Shatter’s blaster away and took a step back.
“We’ll leave you alone then,” Scythe said.
Warpkey turned his back on Shatter to leave the ship. Scythe though, she turned on the larger mech’s shoulder to glare back at Shatter. The red femme still had her blaster active, so she was liable to shoot them in the back.
“Um, w-wait, Commander,” Tangent suddenly cried, stumbling to his peds.
Warpkey stopped.
Scythe’s helm tilted toward the scout. “What is it?”
“What happened to Zero-IN?” he asked hesitantly.
“Who?” Scythe asked, feigning ignorance.
“Uh…”
“Zero-IN. The grounder with black plating,” Yank piped up. “He's our tracker. We sent him to find you a while ago, but we haven't heard from him since. Have you really not seen him?”
“Ah, right. That mech.” Scythe shrugged. “Why did you send him to find me exactly? He wasn't very keen on explaining.”
“Uh, well… It was… Um-”
“It’s not a problem anymore,” Shatter snapped, interrupting Yank’s verbal scrambling. “If you're done here, ‘Commander’, you can leave now.”
Unfazed by Shatter’s disrespect of her title, Scythe waved them off. “Sure, sure. Let's go, Warpkey.”
They teleported back to the main hall of their base.
Warpkey gently lifted Scythe off his shoulder and set her on the floor. “Why do you worry about him?”
“Who?” Scythe asked, looking up at the seeker who was still crouched beside her. “X-ray?”
“Yes.”
“Honestly, it is because he reminds me a little bit of myself,” Scythe responded thoughtfully. “Megatron wasn’t exactly the kindest of masters. And other than my unsympathetic, half-sentient parasite of an overseer, I didn’t have anyone to look after me when I was beaten.”
“I still lack sympathy,” Leech put in, crossing their tails.
“Not quite true,” Scythe hummed. “You certainly have a better understanding now than you did back then.”
“Understanding and practice are two different things,” Leech insisted.
“Yes. But, fully-sentient you understanding makes it easier for me to practice,” said Scythe.
Leech humphed.
“Will you go see him again?” Warpkey asked.
“As much as I would like to, I don’t think I will,” Scythe resigned with a worried vent. “I just hope my warning was enough to hold Shatter back.”
“She killed him!” cried Tangent after Scythe and Warpkey disappeared. “She killed Zero-IN for sure!”
“You don't know that, Tangent,” said Queback.
“What else could she have meant?” Tangent countered despairingly. “She talked about him as if he was past.”
“Of course she killed him,” growled Shatter. “Just remember what she did to Starwake and Dropkick.”
“Then why was she helping X-ray?” asked Yank.
“That’s right.” Shatter shoved the mech on the floor roughly onto his back with her ped and leaned over him while grinding her heel into his shoulder. “Why was she helping you?”
“I-I don’t know!” X-ray managed to rasp out.
“Shatter, please!” Tangent cried, grabbing her arm.
Shatter rounded on him and slammed her fist into the side of his helm. Tangent crashed to the floor.
“Shatter…” Queback hesitated, standing well away from the angry femme. “...Scythe’s warning.”
Shatter actually stopped for a moment. Then with an irritated snarl, she stomped off the ship, shoving Yank roughly as she passed him.
Yank and Queback sighed in relief as soon as she was gone.
“Hey, you idiot,” Yank growled as he leaned over Tangent who was still on the floor. “Are you still with us?”
Tangent groaned and shifted.
“Get up if you’re still alive,” Yank grumbled, grabbing his arm and pulling him up into a sitting position.
“I’m sorry,” Tangent mumbled, holding his helm.
“Tangent…” X-ray rasped. His servo moved, digits barely lifting off the floor. “…Thank…you…”
“X-ray,” whined Tangent. “What are you saying? I didn’t do anything.”
“...Still…” X-ray’s voice faded out and the light left his optics.
“Oh, no!” gasped Tangent.
“Frag! Is he dead?!” Yank wanted to know.
Queback grabbed the little scanner out of Warpkey’s forgotten medkit and scanned X-ray.
“Thankfully, no,” they said after getting the results. “He just fell into stasis again.”
“Thank the AllSpark!” Tangent sighed, frame relaxing. “I was scared for a nanoklik there.”
“What do you think’s going to happen now?” Yank asked no one in particular as he plopped tiredly down on the floor next to Tangent.
“I don’t know,” Queback replied, putting the scanner back in the medkit and closing it. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”