Science and Fiction JE 32

Journal entry; panic

Sideswipe's calls were unending, 'Where are you?', 'Are you okay?', 'What happened?' and I couldn't answer any of them.  It was a horribly vicious cycle because he was getting really worked up about it and turns out that any extreme feelings are hard to hold back over an open connection.  He didn't want to close the connection though because he was afraid...which was making me afraid...which made him more afraid...yep, there's the cycle right there.
So in a matter of minutes I was in hysterical panic.  I screamed and kicked and punched with everything I had, all for nothing of course.  Wherever I was, I wasn't getting out on my own.

~Aurian Fae

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"Do something with him!"
"Like what?"
"I don't know, you're the medic!"  Ironhide was struggling to keep hold of the young mech beneath him.
"I've already given him the strongest sedative I have on me, I can't do anything else!"  Ratchet was frantically scanning the mech, "You just have to hold on until it starts working."
Ironhide roared as the mech in his grasp slipped free enough to punch him in the face.  "Sideswipe, get it together!"  His answer was another punch followed by a kick that almost lifted him from the smaller mech.  "What the Hell is goin' on with him Ratchet?"
The battle was roaring on in the distance, all the others were trying to subdue the Decepticon they'd spent the past several Earth hours hunting down.  They had almost had him captured when Sideswipe lost his focus allowing the enemy to slip past him, very unlike him.  Ironhide had alerted to this fact very quickly and had tried to bring his attentions back to the battle the way he normally did, yelling and threatening to pummel him when he got a hold of him later.  At that time Sideswipe had seemingly just lost it, blowing things up and demolishing anything he could get his blades near.
Thankfully Ratchet had not been far, having been near when the whole discussion between Aurian and Sideswipe had taken place concerning Barricade and concerned over his reaction to the woman blocking him out he hadn't wanted to go far.  A good decision on his part.
"I'm not sure."  Though he had an idea, "I think we need to get in touch with the base as soon as possible."
"If we could get that fraggin' disruptor..."
"I know."  Ratchet was examining some minor damage Sideswipe had sustained when the Decepticon had briefly crossed paths with him, the mech finally calming under the influence of the drug in his system.  "Sideswipe?  Before you offline, you want to tell me what's going on?"
"Aurian!"  He groaned, still struggling though unable to overpower the weapons specialist's grip.
"What?"  Ironhide looked to Ratchet immediately for clarification, only to be further confused by the distressed look on the medic's face.
"Was it Barricade?"
"No.  Sideways..." He was losing the battle against the drugs, his systems slowing to a resting state dragging him into recharge.
Not daring to let go of the young warrior mech until he was sure he was safely offline,  Ironhide continued to glare at the medic.  Ratchet looked extremely troubled by what Sideswipe had said.  "Care to explain?"  He growled.
"Later.  We need to end this now."  He considered the battle still raging.  The Decepticon wasn't all that powerful but he was quick, something Sideswipe usually took care of.  "Sideswipe, transform before you go offline."  He knew it would be difficult for the mech to do anything at this point, but he couldn't leave him laying like this.  If he was in his vehicle mode at least he would be hidden from human view.
Sideswipe heard the order, he even knew he should comply but he just couldn't.  His thoughts were too far away and his systems already too sluggish.  'Where are you?'  He called over the bond as he fell into the embrace of thoughtless recharge.
"Pit."  Ratchet considered their options.  He couldn't leave Sideswipe alone... "Ironhide, go.  I'll stay with him."
There was no need for further conversation at that point.  Ironhide may have been confused by what had just occurred before his very optics but he knew one thing for sure.  Things were worse then they appeared to him and he had to do everything in his power to get them on their way home...where he was sure they were going to find something horrible had happened.
~ >*< ~ >*< ~ >*< ~ >*< ~ >*< ~
Darkness.
Aurian felt a numbness running through her.  It was pleasant and calming all at once, though it did not take away the fact that she was still trapped.  She had felt the sensation of movement, even several harsh jarring impacts nearby but in the end she didn't even have enough room to bounce around much.  "This is so not good."  She told herself.  "How did I end up here?"  She thought of the chaos that had happened just before she found herself in this unusual prison.  She had been watching Barricade fall toward her.  He had landed  above her, shuffling around to avoid another blast from Sideways while trying to keep her beneath him.  "Why did he do that?"  She had collapsed into a ball out of fear and tried to just go wherever she was pushed... "Damn it.  I should have watched where I was going."  That was the last of it.  After that she had been here.
The air was becoming stagnant, she had to of been in here a long time.  Aurian was beginning to worry that she might suffocate when there was a familiar shifting sound and then a vent opened up into her tiny tomb, soft blue light filtering in along with a rush of warm air.  She was about to start shouting that whomever was holding her captive release her immediately when she heard something else familiar.
"Stay silent human, or I will not be able to keep you from them."  The warning was quick and quiet.  Barricade.
Aurian was prepared to lecture the mech on just how silent she was not going to remain when more voices echoed through to her.
"Still online traitor?"
"He always was too stubborn."  Aurian couldn't identify these two voices but their tones were unmistakable.  They had ill intent toward Barricade.
"What?  Nothing to say?"  The first voice taunted.
"I don't think I'd want to say anything either if I'd gone scampering off to the Autobots."
Both voices laughed, though it was nothing merry.  Aurian easily compared it to 'skin-crawling' and 'bone-chilling'.  Even as she was about to ask Barricade what was going on, only his previous warning bringing any hesitation to her, she felt another jarring sensation.  It was something akin to being inside a barrel that was being slammed against the walls.
"What did you tell them?"  The second voice demanded angrily.
Another bashing feeling followed by falling and then more, steady pulsating vibrations that nearly knocked the wind from her.  'What the Hell?'  She thought desperately.  What was going on?  They were obviously yelling at Barricade, so why was she feeling all this...
"Talk traitor!"  The second voice snarled viciously, punctuated by even more thunderous concussions.
'They're beating him!'  She realized, 'I'm inside him!'  Aurian drew all her thoughts together trying to piece it all together.  She was surrounded by metal on all sides so wherever she was she was completely protected within some kind of 'pocket'.  Her only clue was the pale blue light that did not seem to falter no matter the amount of movement.  'If I didn't know any better...'  Her thoughts were cut short as she felt that she were flying some great distance and then a painful impact.  "Ow!"  She shouted before she could catch herself.
Barricade snarled angrily trying to cover the small noise.
"So soft Barricade?"  The first voice cooed, "Have you lost your edge?"  They obviously thought they were braking him already.  "If you give us the information we ask, maybe we won't beat you to death."
"Unlikely."  Barricade growled.
"Rust chip."  The second chuckled in almost a pitying way.  "I'm going to enjoy this."
~ >*< ~ >*< ~ >*< ~ >*< ~ >*< ~
The Autobots looked over the demolished base with intense horror.  Their human comrades standing around them no more believing of what they were seeing.  The base was...gone, for lack of better words.
"What happened here?"  Will's voice was quiet, but in the deathly silence it rang out all to loudly.
"Decepticons attacked while we were gone."  Ratchet had told them that he had reason to believe that the Decepticons had made a move on the base but he had never even dreamed that this was what they would find.
"Why?"  This was Jolt.  He may not have cared much for the humans they worked with but that didn't mean that he wanted them to be destroyed, because that is what had happened.  There was yet to be a living body found in the mess.
"Aurian."  Both Ratchet and Ironhide answered this time and both turned to look at the one mech among them that had yet to discover the truth of the bases fate.  Optimus also looked at the young mech, concern evident in his features.
"Do you think they got her?"  Rob wasn't sure if he preferred that the Decepticons had managed to find and abduct the woman again or if it would be a kinder fate to count her among the departed.
No one wanted to answer that, half their thoughts leaning toward 'I hope so' and the other weighing heavily with 'I hope not'.
"We will know soon enough."  Ratchet prepared himself as he noticed the tell tale signs of Sideswipe coming online.
"Ratchet..."  Ironhide had a sneaking suspicion he knew what the medic was hinting at but how was that possible?
The annoyed groan had everyone preparing to either tackle the young warrior, or run for cover.  "Fraggin Hatchet."  Sideswipe could feel his systems starting to respond again but they weren't coming online nearly fast enough for his liking.  The silence around him refocused his attentions however as the medic he cursed was leaning over him, concern in his optics.  "What the Pit is going on?"
"We're back at base."  Ratchet explained slowly, hoping that as realization dawned on the young mech that he would have the opportunity to stop any violent reactions.
"Base?"  For some reason that thought distressed him.  Something had happened... "Aurian!"  He sat up quickly, almost knocking Ratchet over in his haste, and got to his feet before anyone had a chance to say anything further.
It seemed both Ironhide and Optimus were prepared to take down the mech before he could do anything, however it was unneeded as he became so still one might have thought his gears had locked.
"Sideswipe?"  Optimus chanced trying to gain the mech's attention.
Sideswipe looked at the destruction with a mix of emotion he could not quite figure out.  He was upset but not.  Horrified and relieved.  Confused.  He was definitely confused.  'Aurian?'  He sought out their bond, hoping beyond any and all hope that the other end was still intact.
'Sideswipe?'  Came the much desired return.
'Where are you?  Are you alright?'
'I'm...with Barricade.'  She was trying to send him comfort, trying to send him the feelings of security she was feeling but at the same time she was worried and Sideswipe could feel that too.
'What's wrong?  If that Pit-spawned 'Con's done any...'
'He's protecting me Sideswipe.'  This was sent with an amount of hostility that Sideswipe could not even have imagined the woman knew how to feel.  'He's...hurt.'
"Sideswipe?"  This time it was Ratchet who was trying to gain his attention.  The mech hadn't moved a micrometer since he had laid optics on the devastated base.
"She's not here."  He finally answered.  There was a mix of relief and anxiety that ran through all that were present.  They had all seen what had happened last time the Decepticons had gotten a hold of the woman.  'Where are you?'
'I don't know.'  There was a waive of fear that flooded his entire frame, core wrenching fear.  'I can't talk anymore.'
'We'll find you!'  He sent all the courage and determination he could toward her before he pulled back on their connection.  He wouldn't pull away completely, just enough that he could feel her and that she could feel him but that she couldn't hear him any further or feel his uncertainty.
"Is she alright?"  Ratchet ventured.  He couldn't quite read the look on Sideswipe's face, though he understood that there was anger there, along with doubt.
"She didn't say."
"What?"  This time it was Jolt.  He thought everyone was acting strangely but this bordered on insane.  "How are you speaking with the human?"
"They've somehow managed to become bonded."  Ratchet explained mater-of-factly.  "We are yet unsure of how this bond works other then it would seem it functions as any bond between Cybertronians."
"That's not possible!"  They young medic was shocked, though it seemed he was the only one that was.  Optimus merely nodded as though he had known but had not confirmed it.  Ironhide seemed to be accepting, as though this explained some great unexplainable question.  The twins were yammering on about all the interesting ways the two might have become 'bonded', though many of their descriptions were not only impossible but rather disgusting.  So this left Jolt to stare at Ratchet, alone in his disbelief.
"I would have agreed with you if I had not seen proof of it myself.  They are bonded and there is no denying it."  Ratchet was scanning Sideswipe as he spoke to Jolt.  He wanted to be sure that the mech was in no pain that he could accidentally transfer over to the woman when she very well might be suffering her own.  "Could you feel anything from her?"
"She feels...safe."  This Sideswipe snarled angrily, his fists clenching with frustrated irritation.
"Why does that upset you?"  Optimus was confused, that was an odd reaction to such a report.
"Because she's with that 'Con!"  With this he laid into one of the very few still standing buildings.
"Dang, man...chill!"  Came a new voice...one that was familiar...
"That's..."  Ironhide stared unbelieving.
"Not possible..."  Jolt finished.  For some unfathomable reason Primus seemed to want to prove to Jolt this day that everything he knew to be true was in fact not true.
"Hey."  The familiar mech stood before the unbelieving group, waiving one hand in greeting while the other rubbed at a sore spot on his midsection.  "What's crakin', bitches?"
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It had been silent for what she was guessing to have been hours.  Aurian was afraid to talk.  She hadn't heard the interrogators leave but they had not done anything for so long... "'Cade?"  She whispered as softly as she could only hoping that the mech might hear her.
"Silence human."  Barricade responded softly, though not a whisper.  It was more that it seemed he didn't want to talk rather then he couldn't.
Aurian knew he had to be hurting.  The mechs that had paid their most recent visit had been rough, hardly speaking at all and seemingly enjoying all too much using Barricade as a practice dummy for some high tech kick boxing.  "You've got to get out of here."  She continued to whisper.  Even though she had an undeniable desire to communicate with the mech keeping her safe from unknown horrors she did not want to bring him any more suffering because someone overheard her talking.
Barricade cycled air, which brought Aurian another warm breeze.  It was pleasant and she wasn't sure if he did it intentionally or not but she appreciated it either way.  "It is too dangerous."
"What?"  Dangerous?  More dangerous then remaining where the merciless Decepticon keepers would eventually destroy Barricade more completely then simply deactivating him permanently?  "'Cade...they're going to kill you."
"Very likely."
There was a moving sensation and Aurian realized that Barricade must have been laying wherever the interrogators had left him.  She struggled to keep in a whimper of sorrow for the mech.  "Then how is it more dangerous to escape?"
"Because if I attempt to escape, they will most likely deactivate me by frying all my circuits with high voltage charges."
High voltage charges?  Why would that be more fearsome then what they were doing to him now?  "Is it painful?"
"Very, though it does not last long."
"So...if they got you, you'd die faster then slowly being beat to death?  Why wouldn't you jump on that?"
Another cycle of warm air hit Aurian in the face.  It was very refreshing but Aurian got the feeling the mech was trying to distract her from something that should have been obvious.  "Are you damaged?"  He asked instead of answering.
"Not really.  A few bumps but I'm sure it's nothing compared to what you got."
"You should rest."
Aurian shifted against her cramped conditions.  She really wanted to be able to stretch out but that was just too dangerous without them knowing when the next round of 'visitors' might come.  It seemed that there was a pattern to it, she just hadn't figured it out yet.  "Is your arm still hurting?"
"No."
She thought that he answered a little too fast to her question, though, with the beatings he'd received she supposed one 'dead' arm wouldn't bother him so much.  "Sorry I didn't get that fixed.  Maybe if you let me out for a minute I can finish it."
"No."
"No you won't let me out?  Or no I can't fix it?"
"Silence."  He warned and that was all Aurian needed.  They were coming back.
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Journal entry continued; mad doctors and interrogators

I don't know who's worse!  Honestly I only knew what they were demanding of 'Cade less then half of the time, many of the interrogators spoke in Cybertronian...it is their native language after all, but I did gather that they thought he had been a turncoat and that he was hiding something.  The Allspark shard I assumed.
Still, I kept wondering why he was putting up with it all.  'Cade was a strong mech and he could hold his own, granted he had one useless arm and was weak from so long of forced paralysis but he was a sneaky mech and I knew it!  He wouldn't have been one of the first ones on Earth to search for the Allspark if he wasn't proficient in some form of stealth tactics.  What was holding him back?
Of course, a few hours of him either unconscious or just ignoring me left me to think through that query rather fully and finally it dawned on me.
A high voltage electrical charge running through his frame would kill me too...

~Aurian Fae