Title: and the glass zone shatters
Chapter: Six
Summary: On this side of the mirror, the Decepticons have a higher tolerance for humans. The Autobots, on the other hand, don’t really give much thought to the skin-jobs beneath their feet… [Shattered Glass/Mirrorverse Transformers Prime AU]
Disclaimer: I don’t own anything related to Transformers Prime or LOST (i.e. Kate Austen, Edward Mars, James “Sawyer” Ford).
A/N: Please remember to leave feedback. Thank you editoress, nellasaur, wherearemychips and sweetsweetsorrow at tumblr for their feedback on this. Thank you to all the reviewers.Hope everyone enjoys the next chapter.
This also should be in continuity with my other mirrorverse!TFP fic written for the TF-Prime Livejournal community’s August challenge, “it’s science,” unless noted otherwise.
Ch. 6
“Ed, where the hell are you going to take me, the precinct’s back there!”
“On fire.”
Kate madly tried to open her cuffs with the pen she’d found during the chaos of all the freakin’ explosions without Mars seeing. Luckily all his attention was on the road. Still, the Marshall disgusted her even more than usual at the moment. Or just completley baffled her. She glared at him, scowling. Letting out her anger could further distract him from her escape attempt too. “Way to support your fellow law enforcement there!”
“Priorities, Kate.” “Right, like one criminal that blew some bastard up is worth abandoning all those cops under attack—” The cuffs were off. Kate lunged for the wheel first. Before Mars could so much as curse her out, Kate had grabbed, twisted and slammed into something hard, red and white—oh shit that was an ambulance. Probably on the way for the precinct under fire. Caught off guard by that, Kate wasn’t watching the road—and soon the car was flying, rolling, tumbling, crunching. Kate blinked, blood dripping in her eyes. Had she blacked out? The car was on its side. Kate struggled to get out, removing the seat belt, grabbing Mars’ gun—she felt nothing broken in her body— Just when she was about to leave the car and check the ambulance, she noticed how still Mars was. Debating for a few seconds, Kate reached down and felt the man’s pulse. It was there, but he still didn’t look good. Glancing around, Kate holstered the gun in her back pocket, then helped Mars out. She started to drag him to the dented ambulance. It had been shoved into an alley, and now it was pressed against the wall, but it looked all right. “Hello?” There was no answer from the ambulance. “I’m sorry, I—are you all right? I—this guy needs some help—but are you—do you need help too?—” Kate reached the passenger’s door that hung open. In between Mars’ weight and bleeding forehead, Kate was starting to feel dizzy. She climbed in, her movements stiff. She tried to drag Mars inside—Kate stopped, looking around the empty passenger’s and driver’s seats.
“Hello?” Kate wiped the blood and hair out of her eyes. Then she started to look over the seats, to the back. Were the paramedics there with someone already, had they been transporting someone when she—? “Kate!” Knock Out’s voice rang out, and startled, the woman dropped Mars onto the pavement. Kate saw the medic’s red finish flash by her alley in the rear view window, going too fast to stop suddenly once he saw her. Then she heard the sound of shots, crackling. Kate started to shout the medic’s name, but then the ambulance moved. Immediately Kate’s eyes went to the ignition to yank out the keys and stop the engine, she couldn’t let the ambulance roll out of control with Mars on the ground and—
There was no key in the ignition. Before Kate could even really comprehend, the ambulance door shut suddenly, by itself.
Automatically she raised her gun to shoot out a window, but out of the corner of her eye something dark moved—too late, a seatbelt snaked around her gun arm and yanked back hard—her hand spasmed and dropped the gun—the belt kept pulling— She screamed as it yanked her arm out of its socket. “Ratchet!” Kate dimly heard Knock Out’s furious shout over the haze of pain and rising laser fire. Definitely sounded like the ‘Con medic was under attack. Kate kicked, flailed, twisted around, reached for her gun, but soon the seatbelts snapped her limbs to her body and wrapped her tight, one gagging her. Then a panel slide aside and a syringe on a mechanical arm slipped out. The syringe dived in and out. Kate slumped down, unconscious before she could scream around her gag. ### They were in a more abandoned, quiet part of Jasper, but at the moment Knock Out could care less about keeping cover, what with Bulkhead, Arcee, the mute kid and their drones between him and the ‘con skin-job with Ratchet— Knock Out plowed ahead even more viciously with his Energon prod, and his anger simply boiled over when the Autobots’ groundbridge activated behind them. The ‘Con transformed to vehicle mode, revved up and shot forward. The ‘Bots were caught off guard by the sudden switch from attack to vehicular rush—he toppled a few drones, many so close together in an impenetrable wall that the domino effect screwed them over. Knock Out fired up his oil slick, slipping up any ‘Bots that would try to follow him and— Ratchet was in front of the groundbridge, transformed, an unconscious Kate in one hand, in his other a— Something large and lined and crackling shot out of Ratchet’s large rifle, and threw Knock Out back, wrapping him in— Knock Out screamed long and loud as the Energon net slowly burned through every circuit, servo and wire ending. ### Breakdown saw red as Knock Out’s scream pierced the air. He turned one more block and there was his partner, in that vehicle mode he’d painstakingly searched for weeks on end when first arriving on Earth, screaming and writhing and madly sparking under the electrocuting net, Bulkhead about to shoot him— Breakdown rammed the ‘Bot out of the way, and raised his hammers to guard his partner—he had to secure their perimeter before he could even try to remove that damned net— He heard something whirr out with a strain, a certain new height to Knock Out’s pained shouts, and out of the corner of his optic Breakdown saw his partner manage to pop out his saw blade to try cutting through the net. But the saw arm madly twitched, even more so when it touched the net and the sparks just arced higher.
“Don’t—!” Scrap, he could hurt himself even more. “Frag, there’s Megatron!” Breakdown heard Arcee shout. Oh thank Primus. “Then it’s time to go,” Ratchet’s voice broke in, and Breakdown turned just in time to see him flee through the groundbridge with something small and dangling dark human hair out of his large hand. Bulkhead, Arcee, ‘Bee and the other ‘Bot drones were following.
“K—Kat—” Knock Out gritted out in between the shocks, still struggling to saw through his net, and Breakdown made a split decision. He ran after Ratchet and his team, firing shots. Angled shots from above were firing down on the fleeing ‘Bots too.
Breakdown made another split decision when Arcee fired at Knock Out. Immediately his stride stopped as he leapt in his partner’s path and blocked the blast with his arm—but his optics narrowed when the two-wheeler slipped through the groundbridge with the rest, and the groundbridge disconnected.
He turned back at the sound of his leader’s landing and transformation. Megatron slipped out his blade and swiftly sliced through the electrocution net around Knock Out. The wire net fell away, harmless, as the medic gasped for breath. “They took her…they have them both now….” The medic grit out, his voice stretched thin. “Can you transform?” Breakdown asked quietly, kneeling at Knock Out’s side. “‘Course,” Knock Out replied, but Breakdown’s concern rose at how slurred his partner’s voice sounded. He only felt more apprehensive as Knock Out twitched slightly, sparked a bit more, and the parts shifting around grinded against each other with loud painful screeches. Knock Out shot him a tired smirk. “See, s’fine—” Breakdown caught the medic as he began to tip over. Knock Out sighed. “On second thought, probably should’ve stayed that way, we have to get going….” “What ‘we?’ You’re not in top form right now—” “Don’t need to be in top form to find—” Megatron cut them off; “Soundwave has a lead. Whatever blocked our signal before is gone now; we’re groundbridging back to base.” Breakdown frowned as Knock Out finally laid his head down on his large blue chest. His partner’s optics were half-lidded, struggling to stay open. His breathing was slow, so unlike the energetic, impuslive ‘Con…. “Sounds like it’s a mobile device then, something the ‘Bots can move around easily—not stationary like the jamming stations,” Breakdown muttered as their groundbridge lit up, and he lifted Knock Out up. “‘M’can walk, Break.” “Sure you can.”
“Jerk.” “Glitch.” Megatron silently followed the medic and his assistant back to the Nemesis. The older ‘Con’s thoughts strayed back to his missing Second-in-Command…. ### Ratchet had been so determined to return to this sector, Megatron’s curiosity was raised. Especially as it was one of several that had been the field of a space battle a vorn ago. And as long as his crippled ship was about to die, might as well get stranded at somewhere he could investigate. Even Megatron’s general mood rose when he saw that Ratchet’s sector contained the ruins of some space station. It looked like a wreck, but perhaps the Decepticon leader could find enough to repair his ship, or use whatever communications system it had left to contact Soundwave. Megatron frowned as he approached. The station was worse off than he thought, all the entrances looked caved in, virtually locked…. The former gladiator landed the ship on one section of the ruined station. He scanned the vessel’s Energon levels. It would not fly again unless he could refuel, never mind the damage that needed repairing. Megatron stepped out, began combing the surface of the station, looking for weak points to breach through. He had to get in to search for whatever supplies of use, not to mention discover why Ratchet wanted to return here…the place must’ve been one of the Autobots’ research labs…. But the station’s collapse on itself was choked with numerous thick layers of wall and machinery that locked in tight, some areas looked even welded shut. It made Megatron wonder if the Autobots had to quickly abandon the station, yet preserve it for their eventual return. Ratchet’s own eagerness was a point in favor of that thought. And yet accidental explosions could’ve welded some of the areas shut too; the station had clearly suffered severe damage. Megatron fell back on his original caste designation as miner: he began to dig, to pry away at the ruined-yet-interlocking metal. He tried to focus, and he did; but it was not enough to drive the nolstagia away. Absolutely nothing was perfect, but things had, in a way, been…simpler, when he was a miner. He had led then too, and it had been life-and-death at times as well. Especially in dangerous sites under the jurisdiction of higher overseer castes that did not understand or care. But he had never trained anyone to kill then. He had lost friends at the mines, but not to themselves; never had one so thoroughly warp before his eyes that they were almost unrecognizable, never made him wonder, ‘how, how could this happen?’ In a few cycles, Megatron had breached fully. He climbed down, where the only light came from the tunnel he’d made. After again checking the small beacons he had left at his shipwreck and the top of the portal’s makeshift entrance, Megatron stepped forward. Those beacons were all he had in the way of possessing a back-up for finding his way out again. It would be…problematic, if he ran into anything that would interrupt their signal to his sensors. The Decepticon lord increased his underlighting before moving onward with his blade unsheathed. The station seemed abandoned, but it would be beyond foolish if he left himself completely unguarded. And still even with Megatron’s attempts, the dark of the ruined station’s depths was a deep darkness. But soon he crossed what seemed to have been a wide space into a hallway, still just as dark. He walked, the only sounds his own footsteps. Megatron stopped when he heard a low, indistinct growl. The warrior whirled around, blade raised—but paused when he found a small winged figure curled up in a crevice. His eyes (one scarred) squeezed shut even tighter under the Decepticon lord’s underlighting, before finally wrapping an arm over them. The flyer made more low, moaning growls in his sleep. Megatron regarded the younger Cybertronian carefully. It wasn’t just one scar over the eye, but multiple ones all over the rest of his face, his entire body. Not to mention fresh injuries, and others makeshiftedly tended to and in the middle of self-repair. The young mech needed a doctor. The older warrior could find no Decepticon or Autobot symbol, but wounds and scars could be covering that up. His optics narrowed as he examined the wings, the flyer’s entire build…it was looking very specialized, like a…. Megatron’s optics widened and he took a sudden step back as he realized that was a Seeker. Had the Autobots taken some from Vos and the Crystal City before the siege? Then he must be one of the dwindling Unaligned— Megatron’s jaw clenched as he felt a line snap under his heel. Immediately his vision turned upside down, the scarred Seeker a flurry of movement and gunmetal gray as he scrambled away. When Megatron’s vision readjusted to being hung upside down, he checked himself over. Wire wrapped around his waist, pinning his arm to his side—but not his sword arm, which was free. He followed the line up, to where it was secured to a ledge, the hall’s ceiling broken. He looked back down and found the Seeker with a rifle trained on him. Yet the young mech’s violet optics were wide and petrified. They focused on Megatron’s sword arm. The Decepticon lord stayed very still. Both knew he could break free easily. And soon they realized that might be less of an issue as the wire dangerously creaked, and Megatron felt himself minutely lower. “I mean you no harm,” Megatron began, trying to make his voice as soothing as possible, as sincere as possible. Still the Seeker jumped, and Megatron instinctively tensed for an incoming shot, but the trigger wasn’t pulled, not even by accident. “You speak!” The young mech squeaked in a shrill voice. It grew slightly lower, more growling as it grew more hesitant, when he continued, “And you don’t have…your optics are not v-violet.” Megatron blinked. “Not like yours, no.” “You’re not o-one of them?” The Seeker continued as if he didn’t hear Megatron, his voice wondering, yet still cracking slightly. But then it grew shrill again, even higher than last, as he started to shriek, “But n-no, NO, you weren’t here before, you weren’t one of my comrades or one of the scientists or guards or any of them—!” The Seeker’s rifle started to tremble dangerously. “No, I was not here before,” Megatron began calmly, clearly. “My ship was damaged, and low on fuel, I had to land here. That was only a few cycles ago.” The Seeker just stared at him. His rifle had stilled, but he was starting to hyperventilate instead. “What is your name, little one?” Megatron asked, quiet. A strand of his wire snapped. “W-what? I don’t—I mean—it’s—it’s—” And the Seeker finally let his rifle fall away, a claw reaching up to cover his optic. Before his claws shielded it, Megatron realized the scar over it was shaped like a large ‘X,’ that stretched across half his face. “—it’s—it’s S-Starscream.” “How long have you been here, Starscream?” Megatron’s voice grew even quieter. “I—” and then Starscream’s violet optics snapped, refocusing. He raised his rifle again. He was glaring now. “Turn it off. Your underlighting, off, right now, before they—” Megatron immediately began to dim it, but still wretched roars and shrieks sounded. Something scrambled, pounded, shrieked toward them. “Scrap,” hissed Starscream as he retrained his rifle at the approaching roars. Megatron swiftly cut through his tearing wire, and landed on his feet next to the Seeker, the vibration unsteadying the younger mech. But to Megatron’s minor admiration, Starscream regained his footing quickly. “Who are they?” Megatron asked lowly as he raised his blade arm and warmed up his cannon. Starscream shook his head. “T-they don’t go down…they don’t go down….” “Easy?” Megatron deadpanned, optics narrowed. “At all,” Starscream snapped, slight hysteria twisting his voice. “They don’t go down at all, they—we just fight long enough until we can make a run for it. There should be a place where we can lose them at…or…you said you had a ship?” Before Megatron could respond, a large figure rounded a corner. It was a large Seeker, with one wing blown off and violet optics, dashed forward with a savage speed, claws raised. Megatron lunged forward, and Starscream shot, covering him instantly. ### The Decepticon leader’s optics narrowed at the memory. Of course, their eventual escape had not been easy, or quick…. Megatron left the groundbridge’s light, solidly stepping onto the ship’s bridge. He glanced at Breakdown upgrade to letting Knock Out limp at his side, heard the young medic mutter that he just needed some chem relief. Then Megatron glanced to his communications officer. “Soundwave, what news do you have?” A/N: Ratchet’s alert to get the heck out of dodge is taken off from Azula in the original animated show “Avatar the Last Airbender” pretty much word for word. Knock Out and Breakdown’s very last ‘jerk-glitch’ exchange is taken off from the TV show “Supernatural.” And another flashback. I’m beginning to think the flashback style in this is inspired by LOST’s own iconic use of flashbacks. Anyway, this is like the earliest flashback in the timeline so far: Megatron meets Starscream in abandoned space station/lab, Starscream hears about the siege of Crystal City (and Vos), then later on Jetfire is killed. Again, all of these are like snippets that should be explained further later. (Though I’m seriously thinking about doing a prequel to this of the Mirrorverse pre-Earth that massively expands on these flashback snippets.) Just TFP/Cybertronian time there: vorn=year, cycle=day.