Cybertron's Outcasts; The Crash Landing

Chapter Twenty One- Beneath The Depths

Beelzebub and Optimus looked into the murky water with a sense of dread.

Beelzebub climbed up there not five minutes ago, and had lowered a rope downward so Optimus could climb up easier.

Beelzebub felt her nerves heightening, her tanks twisting slightly. She had tied the rope around her shoulder plating like a makeshift harness.

Beelzebub didn't trust her friends to hold the rope steady, they would get distracted and drop the other end of the rope and she would have no guarantee that she and Hawthorn would get back safely.

So she had asked Optimus to help her. He didn't seem like the distracted type.

Beelzebub looked up to Optimus for a moment, he was still looking into the murky depths.

Beelzebub took a deep breath and stepped forward, her pede breaking the calm surface of the water. As expected, it was cold.

"Be careful," She heard Optimus say before taking another step, "You said that this ship was unstable."

"It is," Beelzebub replied, "We have to be quick with this."

Beelzebub turned back to the water and walked forward, her frame hating the sudden change in temperature. She shuddered slightly as she placed a battle mask over her mouth, the prospect of getting water in her intakes again was not a good one.

The water was dark as she had remembered, but it became darker as she moved forward. She didn't turn down the other corridors, though rescuing items from the half flooded rec room did sound appealing to her.

Beelzebub had one job right now, and that was to help her friend and leave this cave.

As she traveled through the water, she remembered when she first spoke to Hawthorn.

Hawthorn, in the early days of the war, had lived in Vos, where Beelzebub and her family had lived. Beelzebub had bumped into Hawthorn quite literally, by tripping over one of her minicons.

They exchanged apologies and whereabouts, discovering that they attended the same academy and lived close to one another.

The two became close friends shortly after that. Hawthorn had told her that she was putting together a small group of younglings around their age who had been oppressed by the standards of the functionists.

When she had gathered a good amount of bots, they would speak to the council, if they could. Show them how many younglings were affected by their horrid ways. Hawthorn never achieved this, for Megatronus rose before she did.

And the war only made things worse... They had to leave Cybertron, for they feared being identified as decepticon followers. And look where it has gotten them now.

Sure there were some upsides. They met Harvenger and Raptore, who had lived on Velocitron. They had made new allies across worlds and gained a bit a reputation, all while avoiding both the autobots and the decepticons.

But now? They needed the help of the autobots, and since Compton had attacked the decepticon air commander... It would be almost impossible to avoid the war if the decepticons communicated with other off world sub-factions.

She never feared the decepticons, but she feared the people that they were associated with. Like the DJD; she was horrified by them.

Beelzebub didn't want to worry about that now. All she needed to worry about was the water against her plating and the knife in her subspace. The rope was digging into her shoulders, which was both a good thing and a bad thing.