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Metroplex’s sensors had to be broken because there were absolutely no Decepticons out here. Bluestreak had just been here fighting them earlier, and they retreated. He was just about to relax in his habsuite when Prowl called him to check on a spark signature. It was so tiny and faint that any normal bot would’ve ignored it, but of course, it was Prowl on monitor duty who’d never let something like this pass by without inspection.
The entire drive out to the battlefield had been pointless. There was nothing but dirt, rocks, and trees. If it weren’t for Prowl, Bluestreak could’ve been in recharge by now. He kicked a rock in frustration, and it flew over a bush. Bluestreak heard someone scream in pain, and he rushed to see what was behind the plant. It was the tiniest bot he’s ever seen, and he was writhing in pain and bleeding.
Bluestreak didn’t think much; he just grabbed the bot and sped off to Autobot City’s med-bay. Ratchet was not happy about how fast he entered, but he shut up his complaining quickly when he saw the little con. The rock had hit him square on the… everything. Ratchet stabilized the little mech, and now he had questions that Bluestreak couldn’t answer.
Ratchet called Prowl since he was the only member of high command on duty, and even though the con was small, he was still an enemy soldier. Soldier? Bluestreak doubted that, but the mech had a Decepticon badge. Bluestreak had never seen that expression on Prowl before. When Prowl saw the Decepticon soldier now in custody, he looked completely shocked and bewildered. He was agape, trying to comprehend what he was seeing. Everyone was to be honest.
Bluestreak didn’t know that Transformers came that small, and neither did anyone else. It was a surprise that the mech was alive at all. The Decepticons aren’t known for helping the weak, and there’s no way the little con could survive without assistance. Every mech with permission to come and go from the med-bay had heard and was just observing the mech recharging his injuries off.
“Oh, I know him,” Every neck snapped right onto Minerva, who’d been helping Ratchet recently.
Ratchet spoke, “What do you mean you know him?”
“Yeah, his name is Browning. One of the Decepticon pretenders takes care of him,”
“What is he? Why was he left on the battlefield?”
“He's just a small Transformer, and how am I supposed to know the answer to the second one? He’s never off of Cancer’s shoulder,”
Ratchet was taken aback, “Who names themselves Cancer?”
“The Decepticon who takes care of Browning does, and I know he cares a lot for Browning. He’s probably going to freak out when he realizes Browning is gone,”
Prowl interjects, “How freaked out?”
Minerva sighs, “He’s probably going to show up soon.”
Prowl stiffened. He ordered Bluestreak to make sure the prison was secure, and he left to, most likely, stare while not blinking at the lift signal map. There wasn’t much to do in the med-bay, so he just sat down and watched bots come and go. Eventually, Browning did wake up from his recharge. Ratchet checked him over, and there was no lasting damage. Ratchet still wanted him to stay in the med-bay, which left Bluestreak alone with the little con.
Bluestreak was awkwardly tapping his thighs, “So-, Browning right? My name is Bluestreak. Sorry for hitting you with a rock; I didn’t know you were there,”
Browning smiled, “Nice to meet you, Bluestreak, and don’t worry, I’ve been through worse,” Ok, not the usual Decepticon to Autobot greeting. Bluestreak was surprised he hadn’t been sworn at.
“What kind of worse?”
“Oh, well, what you’d expect for somebot my size. Almost getting stepped on, being washed away by a small wave, being mistaken for a scraplet, etc,”
“All that sounds pretty scary,”
“Ah, don’t worry. Cancer takes great care of me,”
“He left you on the battlefield,”
“I lost my grip. Cancer was too focused on the battle to notice. He’ll come get me soon,”
“Why’d he even bring you to a battlefield? It’s unsafe for a con of your stature,”
“Cancer is pretty young for a Transformer. He needs a little support,”
“You support him?”
“It’s a mutually beneficial exchange.”
Bluestreak didn’t really know how to comprehend this mech. He was all cheer and smiles, and you would have no idea that he’d been dropped or hit by a rock. The mech rambled on about random things about what he and Cancer do in their free time. It honestly sounded like a pretty nice relationship if you ignored the fact that Cancer was clearly too young to be taking care of another living being, but it was clear that Browning didn’t care.
Bluestreak got a comm-message from Prowl ordering him to bring Browning to the brig. Ratchet was not happy, and neither was Bluestreak. Browning was incapable of causing any harm; he wasn’t even able to get down from the medical berth without breaking a leg. Why would he need to be contained in the brig whose bars probably couldn’t contain him anyway?
Bluestreak picked Browning up carefully and headed off. Prowl was standing arms crossed in front of an occupied cell. There was a light blue and pink Decepticon inside whose face lit up when he saw Bluestreak.
“Browning!” “Cancer!” Both of them said simultaneously.
Prowl speaks, “I found this one looking around the same battlefield that Browning was at,”
“What do we do with them now?” asked Bluestreak.
“I guess we just leave them here and wait for a prisoner exchange. They’ll probably notice them missing in the morning. It’s been a long solar cycle. I’ll have someone take over guarding Browning, so you can finally recharge,”
“Is a guard for him even necessary?”
“Well, we have no other way of properly securing him. I don’t care who he is; I’m not letting any Decepticon in Autobot City without a guard.”
With that, Prowl assigned the job to Trailbreaker, and Bluestreak handed Browning off to him before finally going to recharge. In the morning, Bluestreak switched once again with Trailbreaker. Browning was now in the cell with Cancer, who was chatting with Browning all too cheerfully for someone in a jail cell. It seems that they were similar in that way; too friendly for someone in enemy custody.
Bluestreak eventually got a comm-message from the bridge to bring the two Decepticons. This was probably the prisoner exchange Prowl had mentioned. Cancer and Browning happily complied with Bluestreak. When they entered the bridge, Bluestreak could see an intimidating Decepticon he’d never seen before on the screen.
“There, Overlord, see? They’re both completely safe,” said Optimus.
“You'd better be thankful for that, Prime,”
“Yes, well, now that you’ve been assured of their condition, we can now negotiate,”
“There will be no negotiation. I have no prisoners or exchange, and I will simply get them back by force if I have to,”
“You think you can get past Autobot City’s defenses?”
“I know I can, and even if I can’t, I know I can take down a few of you before having to retreat. So what will it be, Prime? Everyone meets at a nice neutral location, and no one gets hurt? Or do I get what I want by force?”
Optimus looked stunned, “The Autobot High Command will have to discuss this,”
“Fine, but if I don’t get a set of coordinates in a cycle, I’ll know your answer.” Overlord hung up, and Optimus looked stressed.
Prowl spoke up, “We can’t just hand over our prisoners, Optimus,”
“I think might might have to, Prowl,”
“Why?”
“We don’t know enough about the Decepticon pretenders not to be cautious about this. Ginrai is a very strong mech, and I know that even he struggles against just Overlord. I’d rather give in to his demands than risk any Autobot lives over this. He clearly isn’t going to be cooperative with us,”’
Prowl sighed, “I don’t like the idea of just letting Decepticons go, but I can see your reasoning,”
“Find a set of coordinates and send them over.”
The Autobots prepared a small force just in case the Decepticons decided to use this as a chance for an ambush. Cancer was understandably excited to leave. They went through a space bridge that was placed a slight walk from the actual coordinate. Only Overlord was waiting there for them. After being signaled, Bluestreak removed Cancer’s restraints. When free be walked towards Overlord; he looked sheepish.
“Heeeyyy, mentoorrr,”
“You’re in so much trouble,”
“But Browning-”
“So much trouble. Let’s go.”
The two of them left, leaving the Autobots all alone.
Optimus signed, “That hammered it in. We really need to get more information about these Decepticons from Ginrai because I have a feeling we’ll be seeing them more often.”