Sparkeater apocalypse

A narrow escape

The moment he stepped through the groundbridge, he heard screams of fear and orders being shouted. Several mechs were running around in blind panic, seemingly not noticing him. 

Starscream saw flashes of color from different mechs, behind a flurry of sharp, silver teeth and claws, tearing and biting in hopes to get through to the Autobot's sparks.  

He took a moment to plan his next move, which proved impossible in all the chaos, so the seeker just started shooting at the Sparkeaters, trying to clear a path for the Autobots so they'd be ablte to access the groundbridge. 

As soon as he fired the first shot, several Sparkeater took notice and charged at him. He expected as much, dodging to the side as best as he could in the small base.  

With almost no space to run, he turned around, shooting, and braced for the incoming impact.  

Only it never came. 

He watched, slightly uneasy, as no other than Optimus Prime tore into two of the Sparkeaters that were about to pummel him to the ground. He wasn't exactly sure where the Prime had so suddenly appeared from, but he was thankful none the less. 

Taking on one Sparkeater was already a feat to be admired, they were savage beasts and had no qualms about sustaining injury, driven by a mindless urge to destroy and consume. Plus they were almost as large as Megatron.  Taking on two at once? Almost impossible.  He saw the Prime struggle, saw the moment they overwhelmed him, and decided to intervene. It was the whole reason he was here, after all.  

The seeker took aim and fired a couple shots at the two beasts, dodging when they tried to claw at him. He didn't manage to dodge every attack, leaving him with nasty injuries across his abdomen and, worst of all, his wings. 

Trying to ignore the pain as best as possible, he helped the Prime dispose of the Sparkeaters, watching as their dead husks fell to the floor, energon oozing out of their bodies. 

He couldn't rest on that little accomplished, however, as there were still way too many Sparkeaters than they all could handle. They had to hurry. 

"Prime, gather your Autobots. We'll be dead if we wait any longer." The seeker never thought he'd  live to see the day where he would give his enemies orders, especially Prime.  

"Autobots, go through the groundbridge!" The Prime shouted over the chaos, looking more worried than Starscream had ever seen him before. 

The Autobot leader got his answer in form of panicked shouts and screams of pain. He wasted no time and charged into battle, tearing apart one gruesome monster after another, energon dripping down the blades on his arms. 

Starscream followed suit, although not nearly as determined as the mech he followed. Not once was he able to stop fighting, as simply more and more Sparkeaters clawed their way through the base. 

"Not to disturb your little party, but we should really-," Starscream grunted, shoving away a Sparkeater that had tried to knock him down. He shot it several times for good measure. "-get going."  

"Starscream?!" he heard one of the other Autobots gasp, and several pairs of blasters were aimed at him. He growled in frustration. 

He was momentarily able to get a good look at the bots standing before him. 

Bumblebee, Arcee, Ratchet, a big green mech and another youngling... He knew the first three, although the rest were unbeknownst to him. Almost all of them were injured in some kind of way. 

He could figure out who was who later, now were more urgent matters at hand. 

"I am not here to squabble with you, so start running and get through that groundbridge!" He shouted at them, gesturing to said groundbrdige, which apparently triggered one of them to shoot. 

A blast grazed his cheek and he hissed in pain, narrowing his optics. Before he was able to make out who exactly had shot him, the group was toppled over by a horde of Sparkeaters. 

More shots were fired and they were swarmed by metal beasts, so much that he could barely see the ceiling anymore. Claws dug into his sides and jaws with sharp rows of teeth snapped close on one of his arms. He screamed. 

His cries of pain were matched by those of the Autobots and for a frightening moment the seeker thought none of them would make it out alive.  

Suddenly, the weight of the Sparkeater on top of him was lifted away, and he heard the creature screech in pain. He scrambled to his pedes and looked around him with panicked optics. 

Purple and black cables were wound around the creature as it twitched and roared in sync to the pulses of electricity coming from the cables.  

"Another 'Con?!" Someone screeched, sounding horrified.  

"It's Soundwave!" 

"We're scrapped." 

"Just hurry! If you haven't noticed, there are way too many of these things than we can handle at the moment," he snarled, patience wearing thinner by the second. 

And finally, finally they started running, which, surprise, alerted the Sparkeaters who'd busied themselves tearing up the Autobot's groundbridge.  

While the Autobots ran, or limped, towards and through the groundbridge, their leader made sure no Sparkeater could reach them. Shot after shot was fired, and he sometimes threw himself in the way of the incoming beasts, sustaining heavy injuries in the process. 

Only the two Decepticons and the Autobot leader were left, so they scrambled to the groundbridge, to the safety of the Nemesis where they could rest and- 

Starscream howled in pain, a set of sharp class tearing through his wings, nearly ripping the appendages off with the force the best utilized. With dread he realized that the other Decepticon was already gone, having guided the other Autobots through the groundbridge. 

Was he truly going to die here, after all he'd been through? 

He didn't get to ponder long on that thought as an all too familiar frame tackled the beast above him to the ground. A blade to the spark later, and another beast had fallen. 

Wasting as little time as possible, the Prime bend down and hooked an arm around the seeker's waist, hoisting him up and dragging him through the groundbridge. 

Too tired and injured to care, Starscream only grunted in pain as he let the Prime assist him. He took one last glance at the ruined Autobot base as the bright lights of the groundbridge took over his vision.