Infected

Chapter 49

Siege POV.

We lay still on top of the rafters and watched the pirates below us. My wings brushed against the grimy ceiling. I felt myself grimace but did my best to ignore it. Flare shifted next to me, leaning his weight onto his other arm. Eclipse was powered down to conserve energy. The pirates below us would play card games or moving boxes or crates across the ship. Flare's dimmed bio lights flickered. We needed to sneak energon for ourselves. Solar, Wavelength, and Harmony were still following somewhere behind us. Only a few messages have been communicated back and forth. Wavelength and Solar have already prepped the weapons just in case. They seem to be recharging in shifts. Only one was asleep at a time, much like what we were doing.

"Stay here. I'm grabbing us energon." I whisper to Flare who nods.

I won't be having either of my little siblings going off on their own in here. It took a few minutes to get down without being caught. From there I pick up an empty crate and start walking. Keep your wings low, faceplate behind the crate, and back slumped. I'll fit right in and the smugglers will walk past me just as they already have for the past few weeks. Make your voice horse and keep up a scowl. A group of them walked by cackling and shoving each other. One of them was clearly the aft of the joke. More likely than not they lost a gambling game. My scowl turned genuine for a moment. Gambling wasn't something any self-respecting bot should engage in. Or even watch in my opinion. All it creates is a mess.

They walk past without a problem and I continue on my way. The cantine was a red zone. To many pirates along with far too much illegal high grade. There is no telling how those cubes have been tampered with. No, the best option was to break into the storage room again and get three cubes and only three cubes. No less and by no means any more than that. The hall was thankfully empty where the storage room was. All I had to do was enter the passcode Eclipse got us. The door slides open and close behind me. This room was sickening... Energon cubes were strewn about, random repair tools littered the floor, and active bombs lay about. None of that was the worst part... Frame parts hung from the wall or were thrown onto the rusted shelves. Parts ripped from bots were tossed about. Everything still had old, dried energon on it... I choke and shiver. Those parts were part of some bots body at one time... I grab three random cubes before sealing off the crate again. It was time to get back to Flare and Eclipse.

I press my audio to the door before stepping out and leaving. The halls were grimy, covered with steam from broken pipes that covered nearly every surface. Dirt and muck clung to the walls. Rust and alge spread in the cracks. A few metal tiles groaned as I walked down the halls. Everything has a cloud of smog everywhere. It was difficult to see where anything was. The fog at least covered us better, but if anything went wrong we wouldn't be able to navigate these halls as well as the pirates can. I didn't like it.

"Captian is peeved."

I stop walking. That was a familiar voice...

"You think it was those brats?" The second familiar voice could be heard.

"Great..." I whisper a hiss.

"No dolt! He's peeved at us!"

"Still?? It's been weeks! Almost four months!"

"You know he holds grudges!"

The two were shoving each other back and forth down the hall. I walk closer to the wall and keep my helm down.

"Let's just get to the quartermaster! Darkondor doesn't like the Captain's crew being late."

"Gee! Who woulda known Rocketbrains!"

"Don't insult me with my name!!"

The one snickered and the two passed behind me within the hallway intersection. Quartermaster? That meant information. I set my jaw and sigh. I knew I was going to be following them. I send Flare a comm update and stash the crate in a random hole in one of the walls. Neither noticed I was following them. At this point, my dark paint was coated in the black ash that hung everywhere. I doubt the pair was bright enough to recognize me like this even if the fog of sulfur wasn't hanging in every hall. The two continued to one of the upper levels until the main control room came into view.

"It's about time." The bot growled. "Rocketbrains and Glunk correct?"

The grimace in his voice could be heard throughout the room. I could already hear the sarcastic and joking comments of my siblings.

"Y-yes sir. That's us."

I peek around the corner with a glare. The two were standing awkwardly as a bot towered over them. He was huge, more than likely a helm or so shorter than Mr. Optimus. His shoulder armor was large and jagged, spiked out around him, making him look twice as large. His optics glowed a bright red, glistening with vibrant gold as he stared down at the two oddly placed smugglers.

"How is it that it was the both of you that the second mate speaks so?" He paused. "Oddly of?"

"Oddly?" "Yes?"

"Hm." The stare sharpened and the two flinched.

I myself flinched. It was like Uncle Thundercracker was lashing into one of the soldiers of the Nemesis. The video was amazing to me as a sparkling though...

"Despite your dimwitted reports, the pair of you are oddly successful. How is the hunt moving along?"

The one snickered. "We have the crew's official identifications. "Solar, Wavelength, Harmony, Eclipse, Flare and Siege."

My optics widen as a shiver shoots down my spinal strut.

"Harmony might be a problem. That Frost guy was still able to teach the brat more than Captain anticipated." The camo green bot hissed. I think that one is Glunk.

"And who are the rest? Harmony was never meant to leave Cybertron." The Quartermaster hissed back.

"IF Harmony is the sparkling of who we think she is." The second, Rocketbrains laughed.

"If she is, then we played our little, overthrow of the high and mighty safely. Now, please do continue." The mech leaned down slightly, driving the other two to flinch back.

"Solar is the Primes brat. Ratchet seems to have stepped up after she vanished. Shame to, heard that battle was an ugly one." Rocketbrains cackled.

She? Were they talking about Solar's carrier?

"Wavelength is Ultra Magness's. Those two don't get along." Glunk spoke over Rocketbrains.

"And the energy reading from their? Can we confirm the Energon Worm dealt with that?" The mech turned his back to them, however he still looked over his shoulder.

"It hasn't shown up since!"

I grit my jaw. That attack was from them! That attack was either meant to kill us or get ride of our bombs! Which unfortunately, the latter worked.

"Hm. Continue."

"Flare, Siege, and Eclipse all belong to Skywarp. All five went to the same school. The six left Cybertron shortly after Harmony transferred to the same academy."

I almost fell forward, compromising my cover. They had been studying us for that long?!

"I see. Continue with your work. As moronic as you both are, you have been vital thus far."

"Thanks Darkondor!"

The third sharp glare chased the two out of the room as I freeze against the wall. We needed to leave... They knew who we were...