Chapter 12

The Lost Light——————

Months later——————

Fortress Maximus walked down the halls of the ship, towards an emptier section of the ship. He carried a cloth, two empty bowls, and a spare cube of energon. He briefly nodded to Rung before he turned away and walked into the room opposite the psychiatrists.

As soon as he entered, his optics fell on two shapes huddled together on the berth in the dark room. He walked over, knelt down, and rubbed the helm of the biggest lump. 'Hey, you two.' He said as the cyberwolf purred and lifted his helm. Skyraid feebly got to his small pedes and hopped over. He chirped and rubbed his helm against the mech's servo.

Maximus set the two bowls down by them and opened the cube before pouring the energon into them. He made sure they both started drinking while he walked over to the desk and picked up the tape deck.

He used the cloth to wipe off the thin layer of dust that had gathered on it before moving on to the small metal animals that sat there in front of the computer. While carefully cleaning them, his optics gazed over the other objects that littered the desk.

Besides the tape and the player and the small whale, cat, and bird, there were also a few random ones. On top of a leather-bound book, there was a sword that had once belonged to Drift but he'd given it away. Next to them was a photo of a bot with a little femmling in her arms. Both had big smiles on their faces as they looked at the camera. Ontop the photo rested a blue necklace with a crack that ran right through the middle. The last was an iPod attached to a long cord with earphones on the end.

Maximus set the figurine down and picked the photo up. He remembered the first time he saw this. He'd immediately seen the similarities between Radiowave and her carrier, even though she now wore a mask. He set the photo down and picked up the book next to it.

He sighed, sat down on the berth, and opened it, flipping through all the sketches it contained. Skyraid flew up to and landed on his shoulder while Remix rested his helm and paws on his leg. Max looked down at the drawing of him and Rung and stroked the wolf's helm.

It'd been a good few months since Radiowave had disappeared but he tried keeping her room in top shape. Rodimus had sent a search team down to the planet shortly after she ran away but what they returned with wasn't promising.

He remembered waiting anxiously as the doors to the outside opened and the feeling of his spark dropping as Cyclonus and Whirl came through holding her bleeding symbiotes and broken necklace. Ratchet managed to heal them quickly enough but they were extremely depressed after that being so far away from her.

It took a while for them to communicate but when they finally managed, no one was really that surprised when it was Tarn and the DJD who'd done this. They just made finding her their top priority. Their only way to know she was alive was through the wolf and falcon.

Things were looking good until a few weeks ago. They'd defeated Chief Justice Tyrest as well as Shockwave had fled to who knows where after. They had also gained more crew members including bots like Getaway and Nautica. They had also discovered Ultra Magnus to be alive and so he rejoined them.

Remix and Skyraid seemed to cheer up as the crew got a lead on the DJD but things quickly changed. They'd been sitting in the bar when the two suddenly shot a good few feet into the air like they'd been electrocuted and both started shrieking. Chromedome and Rung desperately tried to help but nothing seemed to as the animals writhed in pain on the floor.

After that, they both fell into a heavy depression. The crew tried to find out what was wrong but they seemed too despaired to say anything. It got to the point where someone had to check that they'd eaten every day, neither seeming to care about their health. He tried not to think of what caused them to be like this.

'Where is she?' Max asked them as he stopped at the page with the drawing of her whole family, smiling happily at him. He felt tears form in his optics as he looked at it. Why did he never tell her? She trusted him with all her spark and yet he withheld some of the most important information from her. After she vanished, he and a few specific bots had listened to the tape her sire had left and immediately, the feeling of regret had increased tenfold.

Many, like Chromedome, blamed themselves and silence would fall over the room whenever anyone brought up her name.

The blue mech sighed and looked up, out of the window as the vast expanse of space drifted past.

'Where are you Radiowave?' He asked, 'Where are you, kid?'

The Peaceful Tyranny——————

2 weeks earlier——————

My optics came online as the feeling of someone's servo ran down my back. I looked up and chirped at the optics less face in front of me. The blind mech grinned as he felt me move and the cyberfox by his pedes growled.

'Hello there.' He said. I stood up fully and hopped forward. He straightened and held his servos out which I jumped into. He carried me over from the berth to a table and set me down before calling someone.

He then turned to me and rubbed my helm, making me chirp and lean into his digits. 'Nice to see you up again.' The red mech said, his touch moving over to the top of my helm, 'We thought you were a goner after you received that nasty hit. Luckily Nickel was able to fix you up.'

I blinked and tilted my gaze in confusion, trying to make out what this place was. He furrowed his eyebrows and hovered his servo over my helm. 'I was hoping the scans were inaccurate, 'The opticless mech said, 'But it would seem that your memory banks have been depleted of everything.'

Depleted? Did that mean they were gone? That would explain why I could remember anything. I heard him sigh and he picked me up, sat down in a chair, and held me in his arms.

'Alright,' He said, 'Let's start from the beginning. My name is Kaon and this is The Pet.' I looked down at the mangled cyberfox and chirped. 'Your name is Aceblade but mostly everyone calls you Ace.' Kaon continued, 'And you're a new yet honored member of the DJD.'

Was I really that great? I looked over at the pane of glass to my left where I could see my reflection. I hopped over to examine myself better.

I was a cybertronian bird of some sort except I was quite slim with wings that when I stretched them, seemed too big for my frame. My colors seemed to be mainly silver although there were some blues mixed in, hinted with red and yellow. What I did like were my optics.

While the left one was a glowing red, the right was a bright, light blue. I chirped and leaned closer. Kaon smiled and rubbed my back, 'Yeah you're a special case.' He said, 'We found you in some ruins about a year ago. It was a miracle you were even alive.'

I started purring as his servo trailed down my wings, 'These were barely hanging on and there was a big hole in your chest where your T-cog had been ripped out.' The blind mech said, his digits tracing a large discoloration right in the middle of my chassis.

I looked up at him and chittered, wanting to know what happened next. 'Well,' Kaon then said, 'I managed to convince Tarn to bring you back. We had Nickel patch you up, trained you and you were soon a fierce warrior despite your lack of weapons.'

I looked back at myself in disbelief and frowned a bit. Kinda hard to believe I was strong when I was this slim and fragile looking. I was jostled out of my thoughts when Kaon shifted and got up. I flapped my wings and jumped onto his outstretched arm.

'Come on.' He said, walking out and giving me an opticless grin. The Pet growled and followed behind him. 'Let's go reintroduce you to everyone.' He said, rubbing my beak, 'You were in fairly good terms with everyone but I don't think you've met Overlord before.'

I gave a soft squawk. 'Overlord,' He explained as we walked down the sleek white halls, passing various rooms and doors that branched off, 'He used to be on our list but we gave him a second chance after we found him floating in space, on the brink of death.'

I looked away from him as we entered what looked like a piloting deck of a ship. Controls and screens lined the walls while a big, almost throne-like chair sat right in the middle of the room, currently occupied by a large purple mech. There were a total of four bots in the room.

'Hey everyone!' Kaon called in his raspy voice, 'Guess who's awake.' The mech in the chair turned and looked down at us. I noticed his mask seemed to be a copy of the Decepticon logo. The red mech holding me walked forward, around to the front. He then nudged me so I hopped off onto the armrest and looked up at him.

I shook slightly, intimidated by his sheer size. The large purple bot gazed down at me, almost in amusement. I then watched as his servo came up and his digits curled before he gently rubbed the side of my helm. I chirped and leaned into it.

'It's good to see you up again Ace.' Tarn said in a deep, smooth voice. A mix of unintelligible words made me turn from him and look over to the computers. A smaller purple and silver one over by the computers was looking over at Tarn.

'Vos asked how you were feeling.' He translated, seeing my confused expression. I shrugged but nodded, clicking my beak as I did. 'I'd hope you're feeling well.' A small blue femme grumbled as she wheeled over, holding a datapad, 'Getting you to stabilize was no easy feat.'

'We know that Nickel.' Tarn said, 'And we thank you for helping her.' Nickel looked at me with concern as she lifted my wings and made me flex my claws. We all turned as a door on the right opened and two large mechs stepped out.

'Hey! She's awake!' The blue one said and hurried over. He knelt down and offered his servo out. I cocked my helm before jumping into it. His smile grew and he scratched my helm roughly. I flinched under his rough digits.

Luckily Kaon noticed my discomfort and took me from his servos, 'What did I tell you about being harsh with her.' He said, glaring blindly at him. 'Whaddya expect.' Tesarus said next to the blue mech, 'He's 'bout fifteen times her size.'

The two started to squabble so I just watched from my perch on his arm along with the others. I was starting to grow comfortable with them but soon, a heavy, threatening presence settled over me. It was even more menacing than Tarn's, sending shivers down my spine and making me tremble.

I slowly turned and looked up as the massive mech stood behind Kaon. I cowered as he grabbed me in one giant servo and leaned down, holding me close to his face. 'Hello.' He said, grinning at my quivering form.

'Overlord.' I heard Tarn warn but the sadistic mech didn't care. He kept that smile planted on those fat lips of his. Panic took over when his grip tightened and he stroked my helm with one digit.

'I don't like it!' My thoughts screamed and I started wiggling out of his grasp. 'And just where do you think you're going?' He teased. His thumb went on top of my helm and started pushing down, squishing it into my body so pain bloomed in my neck.

My venting started to pick up and my struggles got more desperate. 'Stop, stop, stop, stop, STOP!' I plunged my sharp beak into his servo with that last thought, making him yell out and release me.

Immediately, I shot into the arms of the bot closest to me, which happened to be Nickel. I was a third of her size but she grabbed and held me close to her chassis. I wrapped my wings around her, shivering as she rubbed my back.

'You little glitch.' Overlord growled, looking at the small wound. 'I warned you.' Tarn said, getting up, 'Ace can pack a punch.' The psychopath glared at me before he scoffed and walked away.

'It's ok.' Nickel whispered, 'He's gone.' I slowly detached from her and hopped back to Kaon who lifted me onto his arm. As he did, Tarn walked over and leaned down to me.

'We do not show weakness,' He said sternly. I flinched a bit, hearing the anger in his tone, 'Especially fear.' I chirped a quiet apology but his optics narrowed, 'Never let that happen again,' He said, 'Or there will be consequences.' I nodded and looked down.

'Now that's enough,' Nickel said, going over and pushing him aside, 'The poor thing just woke up from a nasty wound and you're already pestering her with nonsense like that!'

I blinked and watched her. I was amazed by the tone of authority she used when speaking to Tarn. I thought he was going to yell at her or something but he just sighed, 'I'm just doing what's best for my team.'

'I know you are,' The mini-con said and wheeled over to Kaon, taking me into her grasp yet again, 'And what would be best for her now is a long recharge.'

They all mumbled a 'Yes,' as she went out and back into the passage, skating along on her wheels. We reached a room that seemed to be a mix between surveillance and someone's berthroom.

'You'll sleep here, with Kaon and The Pet.' She instructed and sat me down on a small, perch-like berth I assumed was mine, 'Now Ace. You're not fully healed so I expect you to come to me early tomorrow for a check-up, understand? Don't pull a stunt like they do and go out with half your systems not functioning.' I nodded and settled down, making myself comfortable.

Her face softened and she raised a servo, petting me soothingly as my optics drooped closed. I soon drifted into recharge under her watch but never heard what she said.

'How could they do this to you?' She asked quietly.

I don't think you guys are prepared for what's going to go down in the next chapter, it may make you question everything you thought you figured out in this one. Also, props to my friend for helping me pick Ace's name during class today XD