Transformers Prime: Eclipse

Chapter 16: The Lines Have Blurred

Flying out of the groundbridge, I found myself staring into a whole lot of nothing. Just rocks, rocks and more damn rocks for as far as my optics could scan. Swooping down low, I transformed near Breakdown, choosing to stick close to my only known ally around.

Three of the Insecticons sent with us maintained their alt modes, hovering in the air as they looked to the only transformed Insecticon. His designation was Hardshell, and he'd been selected by Megatron personally to lead the Insecticons on this mission. 

I was honestly the most surprised that the Insecticons even had individual designations, but I tried not to linger on that thought. It only brought up more guilt. Killing the Insecticons before had been impersonal, a matter of survival, just eliminating mindless drones. Now they had free will again, and they were pissed, though they didn't act on it.

To my knowledge, my task was to recover the relic same as everyone else here, only I was to report to Breakdown instead of Hardshell. Not a problem for me, personally. Although nothing had been said, I could feel the waves of resentment coming from the Insecticons. It was warranted, I suppose. I had killed a few of them already, but it had all been in self-defense. 

Not that I was willing to get into an argument over the situation. No, best to simply keep silent and stick to talking with Breakdown over the comm link. It was ironic, as I was continually forced to realize. The very Con who had kidnapped me and started this whole pain chain in the first place was now my only source of solace. 

"Divide, and do not hesitate to conquer!"

As Hardshell issued his command to his fellow Insecticons, they all spread out in search of the relic. Hardshell spared a glare back at me, his optical visor narrowing as he clenched his servos together. I did my best to keep looking forward and remain still. Thankfully, Breakdown once again came to my rescue.

"We've got our sectors to search, Hardshell, and you've got yours. We'll touch base in ten kliks or so."

"Very well."

Once Hardshell took off, I breathed a silent sigh of relief. Breakdown gave me a look of concern, no doubt observing the minute shaking of my frame. His single optic was full of fire, but the imagery just reminded me of my own close call with Arcee. The blade which had protected me so many times in the past had come far too close to rendering me half blind, and it terrified me.

"I'm gonna scout for tracks on the ground, in case any Autobots arrived here first. I'd appreciate some overwatch from the skies, if you think you can manage."

The taunting in Breakdown's voice wasn't lost on me, and I could smell a challenge like a shark drawn to a drop of blood. But I was secretly grateful for the light teasing, it helped take my mind off of how fucked this whole situation was for once. I felt like I could actually relax around Breakdown, especially since we weren't being monitored in the Nemesis.

{"Wilco. Hopefully we find something before Hardshell does."}

Transforming back into my hybrid hawk alt mode, I swiftly took to the skies and gained an ariel view of the landscape. As I had so brilliantly predicted, the entire place was filled with rocks, with the exception being the volcano at the peak. After 10 kliks of not having seen anything of note, I commed my ally. 

{"Any sign of hostiles or the package?"}

It still hurt to refer to the Autobots as hostiles, but it was the safe option for now. Although I was mostly sure that Raf and June understood my message, I couldn't be certain, and even if they knew what I was saying there was no telling if the Autobots would believe them. Not only that, but Soundwave was always listening to communications. I didn't want him to grow suspicious.