((And now for the "official" version to commence...))

[prankster_femme]

((This takes place as roughly the same time as this arc*Wingblade fumbles as she inputs the access code Steadfast gave her. She's shaking and the air is hitching in her cycling systems, though she's physically undamaged. Once the door slides open she throws herself in and onto the berth, then opens a comm to Steadfast, her voice breaking

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[lavender_wings]

Receiving the message, Steadfast instantly knows what Wingblade means by 'gone'. This is what she's been dreading - Wingblade's parents' fate catching up with them. That it's not her universe's Skywarp and Thundercracker this time doesn't make it any less real, but despite the shock that's spearing her spark, Steadfast is oddly calm. As fatalistically calm as one can only be when a long-expected catastrophe arrives. The wait is over.

//Stay where you are, I'm coming!// is the only thing she comms back to Wingblade. All else, she knows she'll have to deal with in person. She hurries to her quarters as fast as she can, having a hunch that Wingblade would be there.

And there she is.

[prankster_femme]

Mama! *When she catches sight of Steadfast, she throws herself at the other femme, clinging for all she's worth as sobs wrack her body.*

[lavender_wings]

Steadfast takes hold of her in an almost painfully tight embrace, not speaking at first - she suspects that Wingblade wouldn't be in any condition to answer. Instead, she tries to comfort and anchor the Seekerling through her physical presence, as if tying something to a firm object to keep it from getting blown away in a storm.

[prankster_femme]

*She clings to Steadfast like a lifeline. With both her Daddy and Fathy gone, Mama is the only parent she has left. She continues to sob--the pain is too fresh, to intense.*

[strataseeker]

Hours pass quietly as the two Decepticon Seekers recharge, peaceful in rest as they had not been online. Strata and Photon maintain their comforting vigil over the pair, keeping watch and waiting for the inevitable shattering of the calm.

[lavender_wings]

The recharge allows Steadfast's systems to recover enough for her to eventually regain consciousness. Her optics light up, flickering as she is pulled between the longing to sink back into reprieve-granting oblivion, and the knowledge that she needs to wake right now, that it's bad she fainted to begin with. It's not so much a matter of embarrassment - after all, the twins seem adamant to not want to fault her for her weakness - as the conviction that she shouldn't fail in her task to be there for Wingblade.

Wingblade... Steadfast's sensors flit about to check on the young Seeker's status.

[prankster_femme]

*For the moment, Wingblade is still in recharge, snuggled up close to Phantom. Her face is peaceful, but almost blank--neither happy nor sad.*

[lavender_wings]

Steadfast is relieved - as small and as hollow as relief is in this situation - to find that Wingblade is in recharge. If nothing else, it means the Sparkling isn't hurting right now.

She watches Wingblade quietly. Inside herself, the pain is still there, but Steadfast isn't driven to wail or scream now. The raging storm has given way to an exhaustion so profound that the hours of recharge couldn't remove it. She's feeling weary, so weary and drained.

[0ut_of_sight]

((Continued from the above sub-thread.))

Elsewhere, the elevator reaches the floor level and Echoshift steps off the platform. He makes his way towards Steadfast's quarters, taking a route that allows him to stop by his own quarters along the way. As agreed, he fishes out a couple of energon cubes from a stash stored in a unit at the far side of the room, pocketing them into subspace. He's about to close the storage unit, but changes his mind and helps himself to a few more as spares while he's at it before leaving the room. The door hisses shut behind him and locks.

A short while later he's standing outside the door to Steadfast's quarters. He taps a few times on the door.

"Hey, it's me," he announces without preamble, keeping that same tone he'd used earlier and wondering what he'll see on the the other side when the door slides out of the way. "Can I come in?"

[lavender_wings]

Steadfast gives Wingblade a light reassuring pat before opening the door from the inside. "Come on in!" she tells Echoshift in the most friendly tone she can muster, though on close listening, there's still some of that lack of cheer in there.

[0ut_of_sight]

Echoshift steps in as invited and throws a glance around the room, taking in the expressions and demeanors of everyone present. He tries not to make it too obvious as he steals a careful look at Steadfast, trying to work out how much of the impression she was trying to give was false cheer. Sometimes, the more someone tried to forcibly hide how they felt on the inside, the more obvious it became that they were only pretending.

"Hi, Kiddo." He reaches over to give Wingblade a brief pat, then looks up and nods in greeting at each of the other three faces in turn. "Hey, everyone. Someone said they needed a drink?" He picks an energon cube out of subspace with a flick of one wrist and tosses it once in the air.

[strataseeker]

Strata grins and reaches out, snatching the cube from the air.

"You make a nice bartender," she chuckles cheerfully, balancing the cube on her fingertip for a second before handing it to Wingblade.

// Thanks, Shifter. We appreciate it. //

[0ut_of_sight]

After leaving Steadfast's quarters, our intrepid heroes the group of four Seekers (plus one skitterfluff) make their way through the maze of corridors to the lab. The door they find when they get there looks pretty much like the rest of the base does, nondescript and purple. And perhaps in need of a bit of a clean to remove the beginnings of a few small patches of rust.

Echoshift pokes at the control panel just to check that yes, the door controls do still work, and then he keys in the default code. The door slides open with a slight noise of protest at some as yet unknown point of friction, revealing the lab beyond.

Echoshift looks around the room and up at the lights. "Well, the power seems to be working okay at least," he observes.

[prankster_femme]

*Wingblade pauses to fuss over Squirmy a moment, making sure the skitterfluff wasn't alarmed by the unusual noise the door made when it opened. Then she waits for her sister and mama to enter the room.*

[strataseeker]

Photon strides confidently through the doorway, adding over her shoulder, "Strata did repair the primary systems controls for the entire base."

She looks around, noting the equipment she needs with a satisfied nod. "I believe these facilities shall prove ideal, Echoshift. Thank you. Could I trouble you for a status report once you have determined the location, type, and extent of the potential damages to the engines? It may assist in directing my investigation," she explains, holding up her hand that the mutated creature is still stretched out on.

[lavender_wings]

Steadfast watches Wingblade fuss over Squirmy, glad that the creature doesn't seem inspired to run away. Then she enters the room alongside Photon.