Chapter 19: Crash Landing

"So what you're telling me is that Decepticons are building along our shore?" Trailblazer asked, orange optics narrowing at the two Cybertronians in front of him.

"Yes, sir," Solarflare responded while Firespark gave a firm nod.

Trailblazer sighed and leaned back in his chair, "And how did you get this information?"

They gave each other an unsettled look before Firespark responded, "As stated before, I happened to stumble upon the construction, and a Vehicon told me everything,"

Trailblazer's orange gaze seemed to burn holes, "A Vehicon told you valuable secrets without harming you? I'm sorry, Firespark, but I find that hard to believe. Now for that to be true, you'd have to be a Decepticon," he paused, watching their frame's tense up. "I think you both know what question I'm about to ask you."

Firespark shuttered her optics; helm bowed in shame, "Yes, sir, I am a former Decepticon. They raised me when I arrived on this planet; however, I left after some... issues, so to say."

The commanding mech leaned back in his chair, "I had some suspicions of that. What do you suppose we do?" Both mech and femme seemed shocked, as if they expected a rebuke, causing Trailblazer to chuckle, "There's no need to fear. A handful of the inhabitants here have similar stories to yours. Now to more pressing matters, what do we do about our situation?"

Before the plan could take form, the doors burst open, and a dented purple frame rushed inside, followed by three others, causing different reactions.

"Steve?" Firespark asked, dragging the Vehicon aside, assessing the damage on his frame.

"Oceantide!" Trailblazer and Solarflare were dumbfounded as the three guards surrounded them.

A marine blue mech stood at attention, "We're sorry for the intrusion, Commander, but this filthy 'con infiltrated our defenses. Now, if you could move aside, medic," Oceantide made a sudden move toward Firespark, hoovering protectively over Steve.

"You will not lay a servo on him," Firespark growled, shocking all the mechs in the room. "Can't you see he's hurt? As a medic, I have to treat him before containment," directing her attention to the trembling Vehicon, she spoke gently, "Let's get you to the Medbay, then you can tell me everything,"

Steve shook his head, "It's not me you need to worry about," carefully he presented Lazerbeak to the femme.

Firespark reeled back at the state her "adopted brother" was in and gently removed him from Steve's servos. "What happened?" she whispered to herself.

Trailblazer cleared his throat, "I believe there is a miscommunication. Oceantide, I need you and your team to remain here for debriefing. Solarflare, you stay here too. Firespark if you could treat our guests and see if you can learn anything else." The femme nodded and walked with the Vehicon past the baffled guards as Solarflare and Trailblazer conversed quietly.

Steve watched grimly over Firespark's shoulder as she welded wires, veins, and metal, in an attempt to repair the minicon's wing. It was not an easy case for the femme, but her small digits made it easy to grasp small wires. Once the wing was attached to his body, Firespark took a step back and started the energon infusion. "He's stable for now. How about you, Steve, are you injured anywhere?"

The purple mech shook his helm, "Just dented up from the rough landing and trying to get through the guards. Nothing a good buffing can't handle,"

"If you're sure," Firespark relented, "Tell me about what happened. Why was Lazerbeak torn in half?"

"Soundwave deleted the island's coordinates and replaced them. Commander Starscream found out and reported it to Lord Megatron. He wasn't too thrilled with the discovery." Steve tried his best to piece the story together for her, not knowing the full details himself. "Soundwave should be on his way, and probably with some company,"

Firespark reacted quickly, dragging Steve behind her as she rushed out of the Medbay toward Trailblazer's office. The mechs inside were surprised to see them return. "Go ahead and tell them, Steve,"

Steve looked uncomfortable as the mechs gazed at him expectantly before one of the young guards scoffed, "As if a Decepticon would tell us anything. You've been in the medical bay for too long, medic; if you believe that,"

Enraged by his comment, Steve stood tall, "I know that I'm a Decepticon, but I know that even we clones don't treat our medic like that." Satisfied that the guard looked ashamed, Steve presented his knowledge to them by describing their escape, the cause, and what was to come. Tension filled the room when he mentioned that fleet would be deployed to their location, following Soundwave (if he made it off the Nemesis), and a battle would take place on their shores if it came too.

"What do you suppose we do, Commander?" Oceantide asked, leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

Trailblazer was silent, calculating battle plans and different scenarios before concluding, "We'll dispatch all our guards to their posts and issue patrols along the walls. Our best bet is to be on the defensive side." His orange optics met Firespark and Solarflare, "Any advice you can give us?"

Firespark shook her helm, "It sound's like a decent plan. We don't have the proper combat techniques to face a Decepticon fleet, so I agree with the defense," Solarflare nodded to back her up.

"I can't believe we're going with this, but I'll go round up the guards," Oceantide grunted before ushering his team out the door.

"I guess I'll be up on the wall for a while. I probably won't make it for our evening refuel." Solarflare gave a small smile, but Firespark could see his fear swimming in his bright optics.

"We probably won't make it for our evening refuel. I'm going to be up there with you." Firespark stated.

"But what about Thunderstrike?" Solarflare asked in alarm.

"I'll talk with Eclipse about watching him tonight. After all, she needs some experience since she's expecting now." Firespark smiled when Solarflare's optics brightened, happy for Snowdrift's growing family. "And you might need a messenger or medic on hand if things get from bad to worst."

~*~*~*~*

A wall of guards stood stationed as they watched the skies beyond the treeline. Firespark stood next to Solarflare anxiously, waiting for some sign of her sire. Steve stood behind her in the same state, wringing his servos together. He had stated that Soundwave would be right behind him and would be here shortly.

"What if he didn't make it," Firespark whispered sadly to Solarflare.

The red and orange mech responded, "He'll make it, just give him some time,"

"Over here! Look up there!" a guard shouted from the right.

Everyone instantly perked their helms up, witnessing a sleek jet approaching the island.

"I can confirm that it is Soundwave. No fleet inbound yet," another called out.

Firespark watched in horror as she saw his speed slow down, "He's not going to make it. We need to get to the shore now!"

Solarflare nodded and directed her to the nearest staircase, a couple of guards following swiftly behind them.

Brushing pine branches aside, Firespark ran as fast as she could toward the sandy bank. Solarflare was hot on her heels, struggling with the wildly swinging branches.

Bursting out from the forest and onto the sandy dunes, a navy blue frame glinted in the setting sun's rays.