Father Figure

Father Figure(Unfinished)

The sound of artillery fire close by jolted Nightfire out of deep recharge with a start.  Gasping in spite of herself, the orange and black seeker tried to calm herself and ignore the jarring pace of her fuel pump.  Looking at her roommates, she discovered she hadn’t been the only one startled to wakefulness by the unexpected sounds of  warfare right on their doorstep.  There hadn’t been any reports of any battles anywhere close to the Cybertron War Academy just the night before, but war had a habit of changing things at a moment’s notice.

Nightfire jumped off her recharge platform as the alarm klaxon began blaring out in the hall; and keyed open her weapons locker.  She attached her standard issue seeker rifles to her arms and then grabbed an ebony black laser rifle that had once belonged to her deceased father just for good luck.

Nightfire’s roommates, Zenith and Solstice remained frozen on their bunks, their optics widening in growing fear, listening to the commotion outside in the hall and in the other rooms.  There was shouting and the loud clanging of boots striking the metal floors as cadets began sprinting down the hallway towards the exits as well as the sounds of lockers being slammed shut again by some slower cadets.

“You’re not seriously thinking about going out there with them, Nightfire?!”  Zenith stared at her roommate in disbelief.

“Nah, I thought I’d just sit here and do nothing and wait for the Autobots to bomb the barracks,” she retorted sarcastically.  “Of course I’m going out there! And you are too so grab your weapons!”

Running out the door with exhilaration and more than a little fear, the female seeker joined the stampede out of the building and immediately sought cover behind a bench in the courtyard.  The artillery fire was striking ever closer to the Academy.  Settling down into the prone position and peeking around the side of the bench, Nightfire squeezed off a few rounds of her father’s prized rifle, nailing one of the Autobots trying to infiltrate one of the barracks.  Fortunately, she had been given her dead father’s powerchip and was blessed with binocular night vision and a few other goodies associated with it.  She had been able to spot the Autobot from a greater range than her fellow soldiers and cadets.  No doubt he had a bomb or some weapon of great destruction on him.

Nightfire looked up to the sky briefly.  Her first instinct as a seeker was to fly and attempt an aerial assault, but with the current rate of incoming fire, she’d likely be shot down before she got very far off the ground.  Her fuel pump slammed so hard and so fast she could hear it in her ears and it almost seemed to drown out the artillery fire all around her.

“Primus…” she whispered as she shuddered.  There were bodies lying everywhere and there were the tortured cries and screams of the severely injured and dying.  She hadn’t been exactly sure what to expect and she certainly hadn’t been expecting her first battle to come during her second year at the Cybertron War Academy.  But she’d learned long ago to just roll with the punches.  It was the screams that scared her more than the shelling, but she fought to remain calm.  She had decided long ago to rule her emotions rather than let them rule her.  Still, what kind of physical pain must exist to produce those kinds of sounds.

Looking to her left, Nightfire spotted Starshadow, a fellow seeker, low crawling towards her position.  Starshadow was her mother, Silverrose’s significant other for lack of a more accurate term.  He was back in the Academy retraining for another job, but the battlefield was something he was more familiar with than Nightfire; and she was glad for a friendly face and the more experienced company.

“How are you holding up?”  Starshadow whispered quickly.

Nightfire nodded briefly to indicate that she was okay, just as Starshadow looked up at the sky as a sharp whistling sound indicated incoming missile file in their direction.

“Slag!”  Starshadow cursed and grabbed Nightfire’s arm and took off running.  There was a small building not too far a run from their position.  He had no idea if it was safer, but it might offer an exit on the other side of the Academy from which they could successfully get airborne and do some real damage to the Autobots’ weaponry.

Running at a dead sprint, they reached the door and ran inside the building just as one of the missiles struck a building right next to it.  Nightfire cringed as huge chunks of metal and debris struck the ceiling and the doors, half expecting the impacts to collapse the building.

“You know, it’s times like these that I wish I had my mother’s powerchip,” Nightfire admitted with great longing.  “Her force field would be like a gift from Primus in this situation.”

Starshadow chuckled despite the gravity of the situation.  “You and me both, kiddo,” he agreed, clapping a hand on her shoulder.  “Come on let’s see if we can find another way out of here.”

***

“I’m completely ashamed to admit this,” Nightfire began as she and Starshadow continued their trek down the darkened hall.  “But it just now occurred to me that mother might be somewhere in all that chaos out there.”

Starshadow nodded.  I understand how you’re feeling, but you shouldn’t let yourself feel too badly about it.  In situations where survival is paramount and everything is exploding at once, very rarely is there time to wonder about much else besides what you have to do right that instant.”

“Yes, but shouldn’t I be more concerned for others than myself?”

“And you can’t help other Decepticons if you are dead.  Sometimes you have to help yourself first so that you may help others.”

Nightfire frowned, deep in thought, then nodded after a moment.  “That makes sense.”

“I’m worried about your mother too, Nightfire,” Starshadow said quietly, then changed the subject.  “Everything happened so fast I’m not sure what building we ended up trapped in.”

Nightfire looked around, hoping to see a sign or something.  “I think we’re in the Science hall, which could be problematic if we’re hoping to get out of here soon.”

Starshadow nodded.  “You’re right.  They seal these doors electronically at night so no one can get in or out without a passcode and students don’t have those.  The barracks aren’t rigged this way though luckily; just the buildings that no one should be in at night.”

“Joy.”  Nightfire mumbled sarcastically.  “Wait a minute!  We got in here.  That means the doors are malfunctioning, possibly due to the shelling.”

Rounding a corner, Starshadow found an exit.  He pushed on the door, not exactly sure what to expect, and was actually a bit surprised when it opened.

“Slag, we’re still in the building technically.  This door doesn’t lead directly outside.  It looks like the journey through the Science hall continues.  Nightfire…?”  The blue and dark gray male looked behind him to find Nightfire looking back the way they came.  “Nightfire!”

“Hmmm?”  She muttered distractedly.  “Oh!  Sorry, I was straining to listen for anything still happening outside.  I wish my hearing was as good as my night vision,” she joked.  “The further we go inside the building the less I can hear what’s going on out there.”

Quieting down as well, Starshadow also strained to hear.  “It seems like the shelling has died down at least.  Let’s keep moving.”

They continued down the hall quietly until Nightfire broke the silence.

“Um…can I ask you something, Starshadow?”

“Always.”

“I’m not getting in the way of things with you and mother, am I?”

Frowning, Starshadow stopped.  “Whoa, hold it there.  Getting in the way?”

Nightfire squirmed and stared down at the floor.  “Yeah, you know, inconvenient.  Sort of like how I was sparked; inconvenient for everybody.”

Starshadow had been told by Silverrose that Nightfire had been her father’s idea and was sparked in secret on Earth base without permission from Starscream.  He had been executed for it.  Silverrose’s punishment for allowing herself to be talked into the sparking was having to endure separation from her newly sparked daughter.  Starscream hadn’t been a happy camper when he discovered the new offspark, but let her live as long as she was relocated to Cybertron to be raised by grandparents.  Starshadow could only imagine what it felt like to know you were a problem to be solved and not a planned for, welcome addition to the base.  Still she’d handled things as well as any child in her situation could be expected to; good scores in her studies, (though not as academically impressive as her mother had been) and a good attitude towards her future.  On occasion though, she still had these dark, pessimistic moments which Starshadow figured were probably normal.

“Why would you be inconvenient, Nightfire?  You were in your mother’s life first.  It is I who should be asking you this, not the other way around.”

“I guess I’m afraid I’m going to scare you off.  Mother comes with baggage and not many guys want to accept the responsibility of getting into a long term relationship with someone who has a child.  You’ve been around since I was very young and you’re…the closest thing I’ve had to a father.  I guess I’m scared of losing you too.”

“Oh Nightfire, you’re not going to scare me off,” Starshadow responded, pulling the little seeker into a hug.  Hearing such a young sparkling voice these particular fears was spark wrenching.  He knew, of course, that she’d lost her father very early in her life and that learning about him had been very important to her.  Her grandparents had raised her until her mother was transferred back to Cybertron; and though she and her mother had become close, there was always a void in Nightfire’s life where Sunstriker should have been.

“Nightfire, I don’t know what the future has in store, but I promise you that even if your mother and I do ever part ways, it won’t be because of you.  Okay?”

Brightening up some, Nightfire nodded.  “I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that though.  I’ve been grateful that you’ve been a part of our lives.”

“Frankly Nightfire, I’d love to be your father.  You’ve always been such a pleasant child and I know you’re mother is very proud of you.”

Sighing, Nightfire looked up at the ceiling.  “I wish I knew what my father would have thought about me.  I wish I’d had more time with him.  I never even got to say goodbye.  I know I shouldn’t dwell on something I can’t change, but I can’t help but wonder, “why me?”  Why do other kids still have their fathers and I don’t?  Why did I deserve to lose my father so young?  How might I be different if he’d been around longer?”

It was times like these that Starshadow desperately wished he had something more comforting to say that didn’t sound cliché or that Nightfire hadn’t heard before.  Unfortunately, some questions just didn’t have adequate answers.

“Unfortunately Nightfire, there isn’t much I can say that would help.  I know anything I could say you’ve heard from others already; life isn’t fair, fate, all that stuff.”

“I know,” Nightfire nodded, smiling slightly.  “I guess it just helps to vent about it every now and then.”

“You know I’ll listen to you whenever you need me to, Nightfire.”

“Thanks,” Nightfire smiled a bit shyly.  “We should probably keep moving.  My problems can likely wait until after the crisis outside had passed.”

Starshadow nodded, chuckling.  “You’re quite right.  Your fears stopped *me* dead in my tracks.  Let’s continue on.”

***

“So how is life with your mother now that she’s back on Cybertron?” Starshadow decided to continue the discussion about Nightfire’s life while they continued their way through the Science Hall looking for an exit that would put them back outside. Starshadow was amazed at how there could be so many doors that simply led to an adjoining section of the same building. Of course, he knew the building could simply seem a bit big since they were trying to find their way out.

Taking a look down a dark corridor, Nightfire considered her answer. “It’s alright. Her spark is in the right place even if she doesn’t quite have the life experience recommended for parenting. I think being a parent is hard for her sometimes even though I try not to give her too much trouble. She is the Transformer equivalent of what the humans would term “a teenage mother,” I believe. Dad wasn’t much older from what I’ve been told. Don’t get me wrong; I’m glad she’s around now; it’s just that…how is the best way to say this… she’s still discovering who she is at the same time she’s trying to raise me. Sometimes I get the feeling she’s afraid she’s going to mess me up rather than help me.” Nightfire shrugged. “At least she can be there for me now. On her weekends she spends time with me and we go out and do things together. You know that since you come with us sometimes.”

Chuckling, Nightfire continued. “Since I’d been raised by my grandparents for the first several months of my life, mother sort of felt more like a big sister at first. Regarding her as an authority figure took some getting used to. Compared to my grandparents, mother seemed so young.”

Starshadow opened his mouth to reply, but Nightfire stopped suddenly and motioned for him to stay quiet. All of a sudden she’d just had a feeling that the humans would describe as “making your skin crawl.” The young seeker powered up her night vision and squinted down the corridor, hoping to locate whatever it was that she thought she saw the moment before. She didn’t find it, but she still had this uneasy feeling that the two seekers were no longer alone in the Science wing.

Next to her, Starshadow peered at her questioningly for a moment before turning his head to try to find whatever it was that had piqued her interest. The blue and gray seeker knew it was futile as Nightfire had binocular night vision and could see far better in the dark than he could right now.

"I don’t think we’re alone anymore," she radioed to her companion. "I know I saw movement where this hallway intersects with the other one. Unfortunately, it was a very brief flash of movement and I don’t have *X-ray* vision. If whoever it is is still there, they’re hiding around a corner or something. Now what?"

"Now what is we assume it’s the enemy until we can get an ID on our little buddy down there. Starshadow retrieved a laser rifle from subspace and charged it. Wait, the auditorium is through the door to our right isn’t it?"

Nightfire had a good idea of where Starshadow was headed with this. "You’re planning on going through the auditorium and exiting it into the corridor perpendicular to this one?"

"Exactly. If whatever it is is still there, I should be able to look down that corridor and see it then. And I need you to stay here in this little alcove and keep an eye out. If it makes any movement that you can see, radio me immediately. Understood?"

Nightfire nodded. "Got it. Try not to have too much fun, okay?"

Snorting at how amused she looked, Starshadow quietly pushed open the door and slipped through into the dark auditorium, almost immediately wishing he’d sent Nightfire to do this since she had the night vision powerchip and could see where the frag she was going. He needed to make decent time across the large room, but he also needed to keep the noise level to an absolute minimum. Basically, tripping over chairs and steps was not an option.

You’re a *Decepticon, moron. Use your thrusters and glide over the chairs. See, no tripping over the chairs now?

Arriving just next to the exit door on the other side of the auditorium, Starshadow help his rifle up and fully charged, before peeking out the door window for a brief instant. He kicked the door open, but maintained his position inside the auditorium, and was rewarded with laser fire. The loud, clanging sound of footsteps coming his direction echoed down the hall for a few seconds before a laser blast sounded off in the distance; and whoever had been charging down the hall hit the deck hard.

Nightfire must have nailed him when he ran past the intersecting hallway.

Keeping his weapon at the ready, Starshadow walked out into the hall and approached the fallen mech with his weapon trained on him. Nightfire approached from the other corridor, but she was keeping her weapon up and was looking around the corners for any other possible intruders.

“Yep. Autobot.” Starshadow noted, looking over the corpse.

“One shot, one kill,” Nightfire grinned. “He got any weapons or other stuff on him we can use?”

Starshadow searched the graying Autobot. “Just the one rifle I think,” he said, picking it up and stowing it in his subspace pocket. “I’m rather surprised; he appears to be alone.”

Thinking for a moment, Starshadow kicked the corpse so it rolled over and faced up, then opened a small panel and removed the powerchip.

Nightfire looked over briefly, then quickly resuming her vigil over the hallways. “Any idea what it does?”

“I’m unsure,” Starshadow shook his head. “And I’m not about to insert it until we can check it out first. For all we know it could be boobytrapped.”

Nightfire snorted. A powerchip? Boobytrapped?

Starshadow nodded gravely. “It’s possible to have your powerchip rigged so that it will detect an attempt by an enemy signature to access it. It would then do bad things to hapless enemy.”

“It’s just getting to where you can’t kife anything from anyone anymore without having it blow up in your face,” the young femcon quipped in mock resignation.

Chuckling quietly, Starshadow rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Nightfire brightened her optics at the gesture with amusement. “Considering leaving his brain unit behind? You know there might be intelligence in there that can be extracted…”

They both pretended to ponder that statement before shaking their heads at the same time in even more amusment. “Nah,” they laughed at the same time.

Turning serious once more, Starshadow shook his head.

“What do you mean no? Surely his *brain unit* isn’t boobytrapped?!”

“You haven’t heard what Megatron did to one of the Combaticons, have you?”

Nightfire exhaled in exasperation. “We need to keep going. Will you grab his brain unit already? Even if it’s completely void, I would rather at least have it rather than have to answer to the food chain why we left a potential information source back in a decaying corpse.”

“Fine, fine, you win,” Starshadow held up his hands in surrender and then knelt to work on disconnecting the brain unit from the cranium of the fallen Autobot. Satisfied it wasn’t going to do anything unusual, he also jammed that in his subspace pocket.

Nodding in satisfaction, Nightfire tipped her head in the direction she wanted to continue on.

Starshadow frowned in confusion. “Um, Nightfire? When did you get command of this little mission?”

A mischievous grin lit up the darkness.