Shards (Transformers Prime, Shattered Glass)

Chapter 31

"We're receiving increased Energon readouts near a volcanic site after a minor seismic event," Q-T shouted down the hallway "Do you want us to go check it out or should I just ignore it?"

"Keep it on scan, I'll come look at it," Breakdown called back.

"Oke dokey," Q-T leaned on his elbow against the console, listening as Breakdown clunked closer, a cloud of dust hanging about him "Did you go roll in the backyard or something?"

Breakdown laughed "No, just helping Airachnid clean out her room. Speaking of which, how are the barracks?"

"Fine, the Eradicons keep it pretty clean. Act like dirt is against their religion or something."

Breakdown laughed again then tapped on the scanner "So what popped up?"

"Well, it wasn't anything we didn't know about, but this spot didn't have enough resources to justify the effort.
But some sort of seismic activity disturbed the area and now the readouts have doubled."

"Like, what sort of seismic activity?"

"The blowy-up sort."

"Ri-ight. I'll comm Megatron and Starscream and see what they think."

"Comms are down."

"Again?"

Q-T shrugged.

"Right," Breakdown sighed "Guess I'll roam the halls yelling their names until I find them and then I'll ask what they think."
---

Vince was pulled out of his "what have I gotten into and how can I get out of it," daydream/anxiety fuled dissociative downward spiral by a beeping and squeal from Raf.

"They're awake! They're awake! Doctor Knocktor they're awake!"

Looking up Vince saw that the two small (smaller) robots that had been laid out on one of the medical beds had seemed to have rebooted.

One of them, a white catlike robot, shakily got to its feet and blinked blue eyes. It gave Vince an odd look before Knockout stepped in between them.

"Hey Ravage," the doctor said "It's confusing so I'll save the explanation for later. You just sit there and tell me if your spark starts to feel like it's going to explode."

"Uh."

----

"Well, it could be the start of a whole vein," Megatron said, leaning closer to the screen. He hadn't yet figured out how to properly manipulate Soundwave's visor and currently it was zoomed all the way out.

"Or it could just be the pocket," Starscream pointed out.

"True," Megatron leaned back, the squinting giving him a headache "How's the Groundbridge been behaving?"

"Well enough," Breakdown shrugged "Sides, the Ally isn't too far, four hours flying, well three for the Commander, four for anyone else."

"Well, I think it's worth a look," Megatron turned to Starscream "What do you think?"

Starscream frowned and the "no" was halfway out of his mouth when he caught Sierra's gaze and paused.

"Any Autobot activity recorded in that area?" He asked instead.

Q-T tapped at the console commands "Uh, nope. We don't have any Autobot encounters anywhere near here."

"Well then I supposed we'd be amiss if we didn't at least look."

"Can I-?"

"Yes," Starscream answered Sierra's question before she could finish asking it "You can come with us."

He paused and turned to Megatron "If that's alright with you, sir?"

"Yeah that's fine."

----

As Megatron stepped out of the Groundbridge in Soundwave's unfamiliar body and found himself immediately confronted by Wheeljack's blaster, he realized it probably was not fine.

"Get back!" He shouted, but Starscream and Sierra were already through and the portal had closed.

No going back then.

Megatron lunged forwards, only realizing afterwards there wasn't as much of himself to throw as there usually was.

Wheeljack sidestepped nearly, letting the spindly body go crashing past him before releasing a volley directly into Starscream's face.

The seeker toppled backwards, arms flung up to protect his face and missiles engaging as he fell.

One grazed along Wheeljack's arm, detonating in a flash of heat and force. The second went stray, exploding against the cave roof.

Gathering himself up awkwardly, Megatron managed to wrap a tendril around the Autobot's arm and yank him back, giving Starscream enough time to scramble up to his feet.

"Sierra-!" Was all he had time to shout before Wheeljack was on the offensive again.

Past all the near nonsensical information that the visor was feeding him, Megatron scanned across the ground, searching for Sierra among the rocks.

"I can't... I don't..." Megatron ducked as Wheeljack pulled out his blades and began swinging "I don't know where she is!"

"Find her!" Starscream shouted above the sound of his own swords clashing with Wheeljack's "You can't fight like this! Get out of here and get back to the Ally. I'll be fine!"

It chafed, but Starscream was right. No way could he maneuver this unfamiliar body in a fight.

Dodging stray swipes from Wheeljack and trying to keep out of Starscream's way, Megatron managed to stumble his way around towards the front of the cave.

His foot, Soundwave's tiny little foot, caught on a stone that Megatron would've normally crushed, and he sprawled face first across the ground, inches away from where Sierra was crouching behind a rock.

"Oh hi," he greeted her "Let's get out of here, okay?"

She nodded, dust falling from her hair.

He was reaching for her when there was a loud thunk from behind him and the cave around shivered.

Megatron twisted to see Wheeljack slump forwards, seconds after Starscream had shoved him against the cave wall.

There was a painful sound of stone scraping against stone and the ceiling, already compromised from Starscream's stray missile, cracked and stone rained down on them all.