Last Edited: June 26, 2019

Starscream

"Must we keep an insect with us on this ship?" I questioned. "Humans are weak insects who-"

"ENOUGH!" Megatron slammed his servos onto his throne before standing and clasping them tightly behind his back. "The human is a major asset to our cause, and is more powerful than you could ever imagine. You, Starscream, are the insect. And if you ever question my authority again, you will perish and Soundwave will take your place as my second in command. Now go tend to my beast."

"Yes, Lord Megatron." I bowed slightly, my optics glaring at the ground before I left the room. As I passed, Lockdown walked by with a smirk on his face platings. Fragging bounty hunter. Shaking my helm, I left the throne room and made my way to the beasts quarters.

Before I entered, I took hold of an electrical rod and held it in front of me, ready for a brutal attack. The beast never listened to me, let alone allowed me to get near it. Much to my surprise, Shockwave stood with one hand clasped behind his back, the other petting the predicon's head. It purred at the gesture, shaking its tail and flapping its wings twice before settling down again and crouching to give Shockwave better access.

I clenched my denta as it's head turned to me, its yellow optics immediately darkening and a growl reaching its throat. Shockwave took little notice of me, sticking something into the Predacons leg before pulling it back out and studying it.

"Another experiment?" I questioned as I hesitantly made my way forward. Shockwave merely nodded, still studying what I now recognized to be a syringe with the predicon's energon sitting inside. The predacon stood still rather than attacking me, knowing Shockwave was present, but still narrowed its optics at me and making a low hiss.

"Yes. The human sparkling will require it's CNA." He said simply, placing the syringe in his chamber before turning to me fully. I cringed.

"How can you expect a weak human to end this war? Fleshies are weak and fragile. I believe it is impractical to keep her aboard this ship."

"That is illogical." Shockwave tilted his helm to one side, his one optic staring at me. "I created the femme specifically for this purpose. Though, she requires some tweaking to take her to her full potential. The human is anything but weak. Do you question my ability to bring victory to us and our kind?"

Though his voice kept steady there was a threat in his tone.

Yes. "Not at all, Shockwave. It is just hard to believe a human as small and fragile as her can do anything."

"Your assumption is logical." Shockwave placed a hand on the Predacon once more and it began purring again. I held back my look of disgust and stepped forward to where I could reach out and touch the beast.

"Energon." I said flatly to the beast, placing the energon cube I had brought with me next to it. Shockwave stepped away.

"I am needed by Lord Megatron." he stated before turning and leaving. Immediately, I pointed the electrical rod at the beast.

"I think you have had enough time out in the open, beast." I sneered. "You must go back into your cage now." I jabbed the rod into its side and it roared, swinging its tail at my head. I yelped and ducked, taking another jab at it. A red light rose from the bottom of its neck to its mouth, and fire spit out, making me scream in terror.

With a satisfied grunt, it picked up the energon cube with its mouth and turned, entering its cage. I roared in frustration before feeling my helm. A burning sensation took place, and I suddenly realized it was on fire.

"You AFT!" I screamed, clawing at my helm and shaking it, the flames still there, but only a tiny flicker. The beast roared in what seemed to be a type of laughter, and I twisted around on my heel and stomped. One thing was for sure.

Neither the human nor the beast deserved to be on this ship.

Megatron

"You mean to tell me a simple human has done this much damage?"

"Yes, Megatron."

"Lord Megatron." I snarled, turning my gaze towards Lockdown. The bounty hunter merely shrugged and continued,

"Unless the antidote is provided, then your human will die, along with any chances of you winning this pathetic war."

"And you believe war is pathetic? A means of power and domination? Is that not what you yourself seek?" I asked, stepping towards him. He didn't seem fazed by my close proximity. Again, he shrugged.

"I do what is needed of me and receive reward. I enjoy what I do, and don't require a pathetic war to receive what I want."

Shaking my helm, I turned to Shockwave, who entered the throne room. "I am required, my Liege?" he bowed slightly, much to my delight, before standing next to Lockdown, who rolled his optics at the gesture.

"A human called Silas has harmed your creation, and she requires immediate care. We require a remedy. An antidote. I suspect you are able to do this?" The fact that a mere human was able to put a delay in my plans made my anger rise, and I found myself clenching my denta in frustration.

"Illogical, until I am able to look her over. But if this is created by a human, and not of our kind, then I will most likely require the maker to give me the antidote." he turned to Lockdown. "What will happen if she is not treated?"

"It is meant to kill her DNA and CNA. It will slowly rip her apart from the inside out. He wishes to join you, that much I know. He wants a trade. Your respect and a place among you for the antidote for your weapon. But I destroyed his facility. I am unsure if he survived."

How long until it takes full affect? I wondered as I turned to Soundwave, who stood silently, as always, across the room. He was working on discovering new energon mines for excavation.

"Soundwave."

The silent mech turned to me. "Search for this human, Silas. If he is still alive, and he truly wants our attention, he should not be hard to find. Lockdown-" I turned to the bounty hunter, "your service is no longer required, unless I comm you and ask. I will have your ship loaded with the weapons I promised immediately. Will you be staying on this planet?"

Lockdown shrugged. "No other place to go. If you require me, I will be here. For the right price. Thank you, Lord Megatron." he smirked before leaving. Soundwave turned to me, cocking his helm to one side.

"Leaving the sparkling alone to perish is illogical. I will work with Knockout to help slow the process. Permission to do so?" he asked. I nodded and vented when he was gone. Perhaps now was a good time to interrogate the wrecker once more. He would give up the location of the secret base with enough persuasion.

Chuckling darkly, I slowly made my way to his cell, and once there found him hanging with his head down, his optics closed. Taking the prod in my servo, I strode over to him before jabbing the weapon into his side. Immediately, he cried out and his optics shot open.

"Can't a mech get a power down?" he managed to wheeze out before he looked up at me. His lips curled up into a pained smile. "What ya' need?" The wrecker was persistent to no end, that was for sure. Again, I jabbed the prod into him, this time slicing at his metal plating and slowly making a cut down.

"What I require, is the location of the Autobots base." I spat out when I was finished. Wheeljack's face was contorted in pain, a grimace obvious and his breaths labored.

"I already told you, I won't tell ya'. Now would you mind letting me get some recharge?" he snapped at me. I growled and punched him in the face plating. His helm snapped to the side and he grunted. "You aren't going to get anything out of me." he smiled. "Wreckers can withstand anything."

"Wreckers and their pride." I vented, standing straighter and grabbing the mech by his neck. "So I suppose I should ask your human pet, who is now aboard my ship."

"You wouldn't harm her, you need the human." Wheeljack said through clenched denta.

"Something is already harming her. What a guardian you are. She is dying." I grinned. "And without the location of your precious base, I will not bother to save her. Shockwave can easily make another just like her." A lie, I knew, because it took nearly five human years to complete the human and then we lost her for another ten. She was needed. If the Autobot did not take my threat seriously, I had other means of getting information out of him.

Wheeljack's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing. "I will let you think over your options."

"Decepticon scum!" He screamed after me. I smirked as I left, locking the door behind me and ordering the guards to have Knockout tend to his wounds when he was free. I couldn't let the wrecker parish just yet.

Slowly, I made my way to the med bay, where I knew Shockwave and Knockout would be working. I required this human to win the war. When the human Silas gave me the antidote, I would simply destroy him and continue with making the perfect weapon for war.

A weapon that will destroy Optimus Prime and his filthy Autobots.

Hope

"Why would you pretend to be my friend?" I asked quietly, mostly to myself, but Wheeljack heard.

"It is what Megatron requested of me to do." he replied with a shrug of his shoulders. Tears brimmed in my eyes at the sight of the new Decepticon insignia Knockout had just finished giving him. I sat in a glass cylinder, on a ledge not far away from Wheeljack, who was sharpening a katana.

"Oh." Was all I said. I didn't need any more explanation. He obviously didn't care, and that's all I really needed to know. Hugging my legs to my chest, I groaned at the pain in my body. I was aching and burning, my bones feeling so weak that it seemed they would snap in half if I simply stood.

My stomach hurt, and as a result, I nearly threw up five times since my arrival. I was provided with a small container to throw up in if I needed to. My eyes burned, and they watered, giving me blurred vision. My pounding head wasn't helping anything, either.

A small piece of my skin easily ripped off of my knee where I placed pressure with my arms. I winced and removed my arms, stretching my legs out and extending my arms to get a better look. Every part of my skin that was visible was no longer a normal skin color, but either dark red or a strange, disgusting blotchy orange that made my stomach churn in disgust even more.

"It's funny how you trust someone so easily." Wheeljack said suddenly. He chuckled and slashed the air with his katana before placing it back in its rightful place and moving on to the twin. "With how your childhood went, you'd think that you would be smarter than to be so gullible."

I forced myself not to wipe at the tears in my eyes, not wanting to give him the satisfaction in knowing he was bothering me. I simply shrugged and made no eye contact. "You managed to earn my trust. I made a mistake."

"You sure did." He snorted, standing and taking a step to me. His blue optics stared into my own. He smirked. "You're pathetic, you know that? So easily used and then thrown away. Manipulated. Did you know that Optimus talked to me about using you in the war? Said he couldn't let the Decepticons capture you because he needed to use you."

"What if I didn't want to be used?" I spat, glaring at him.

"He said you didn't have a choice. Don't you see? You are nothing more than a weapon to be used and thrown away." he smiled. "But who knows? Maybe Megatron will spare your life after he is done using you and give you back to that human scumbag Macen. That would be entertaining, don't you think? Or maybe I could make sport of you." He grinned, and suddenly his holoform was next to me.

I squeaked, scooting away and immediately groaning at the quick movement. I flapped my wings to send me backwards a few feet, but my back hit the glass. He grinned and slammed his hands into the glass, trapping my body between his arms. He leaned down to me and pulled out his katana. I felt the blade dig into my skin at the base of my neck and I squeezed my eyes shut.

"You would be most entertaining to play with." he snarled before I felt his lips smash into mine.

I screamed as panic surged through my body and pushed at his chest.

"Wheeljack! You are required to bring the human to the medbay." The high pitched voice made Wheeljack pull away. He gave me an evil grin before his holoform disappeared, and his giant servo reached out to my glass prison. I was lifted rather roughly, and I fell to one side.

"Starscream." Wheeljack greeted the girly looking Decepticon. I shook my head, my shaking fingers clenched into a fist. Who does he think he is? He just- he just stole my first kiss. How could a giant mechanical alien robot even do something like that, anyway? Have desires like that similar to a human like me?

Starscream made a look of disgust at me, scoffing. "This is what is supposed to win the war? Pathetic."

"Tell me about it." Wheeljack grinned down at me and gave the glass prison a shake. I flapped once, sending me into the air in order not to lose balance. Wheeljack grunted and rolled his eyes as I landed.

"Med bay." Starscream pointed and Wheeljack nodded. "See you around." He walked away from Starscream and strode down the hall. How could he have changed so quickly? The Wheeljack I knew seemed so different from the Wheeljack now. Like there was a button pressed, and now the old Wheeljack was forgotten.

Sighing, I waited silently as I was carried into the Med bay. When we reached the door, I could already hear voices. Inside, the red Decepticon I had seen before, Knockout, stood waiting. Another Decepticon with only one eye stood beside him. The one who had claimed me as his 'creation'. I shuddered as his single eye's gaze fell on me.

"Hello, Hope." he took me from Wheeljack's hold and placed the container on the large table.

"H-hello?" It was more of a question. He was the first Decepticon to call me something other than 'human' or 'fleshie'.

"How long until it is prepared. Her skin is already deteriorating." he said towards Knockout, eyeing my blotchy skin.

"A day or so. But it will not last for more than a week. From what Lockdown told Megatron, the human gave it to her merely a day or two ago. So this is a fast working substance. I give her only another month to live, and that's without the daily dosage of the semi-antidote you are helping me create."

"So, um, how does this deterioration work exactly?" I asked nervously. "Like, my skin is basically dying, so will my insides be showing or something? That would be disgusting." I mumbled the last part to myself, where no bot could hear.

"No. Your weak, fleshy organs will have deteriorated and stopped functioning before the skin disappears." Knockout smirked at the look of horror on my face. "Without this semi-antidote, bye-bye ignorant human."

I sent him a glare. "Thanks. I think I get it now." The red Decepticon smirked at me and turned to the cyclops robot.

"I will require your help, of course. I'm better at breaking them than fixing them." He sighed, rolling his eyes before turning to a keyboard. His digits worked fast as he typed something obviously complex.

"Of course. You would not be able to do so without my help."

From the back of the room, Wheeljack stood from his position against the wall.

"Can I go, now? The human is in your care for now?" he questioned.

"Until I call you."

So Wheeljack left me, and I found myself staring into the eyes, well, eye, of a strangely familiar Decepticon.