Jolt is the sole Cybertronian medic in GHOST Witwicky Prison Base. He's an Outlier who emits electrical energy from himself, using two built-in whips as his main weapons. He served as an on-field medic in the Autobots.
Jolt is a big mouth, terrible at keeping secrets, yet is competent in keeping the Decepticon prisoners in line. He's not a fan of Warden Croft for how she treated the prisoners and the prison staff alike. He vouches for Schloder and hopes he would take over Croft's position.
He is one of the few Cybertronians who felt more at home on Earth. To him, Cybertron is but a graveyard planet. This had caused a misunderstanding between him and his close friends which lead to a fallout. Wheeljack brought Jolt with him to the Prison Base when it was established, and he had been there since.
Elita-1, Thundercracker, and Wheeljack kept the Terrans' existence a secret from Jolt, fearing he'd accidentally reveal them to Warden Croft. When he found out about them, and why no one told him, Jolt visits the Maltos often to teach the Terrans on Cybertronian medical practices and help them uncover their biology the best he can.
He doesn't want to admit he's avoiding his colleagues so he complains about his stress to the cows (and Bumblebee) with his face in the mud.
Hunter sat on the throne as though he was born on one, back perfectly straight and chin held high. He looked every bit a royal born, a stark difference to his usual form.
His clothes dripped of wealth, made from the softest and most durable of cloth, whereas his old cloak and muddy attire had proved he spent weeks in the woods. Clean shaved sharp jaw and slicked back hair, a picture of radiance.
Saiph felt like she was being left hanging over a ledge, legs desperately scrambling for purchase as the rockface beneath her slid out below, her fingers barely clinging to the world she used to know.
“You seem feint, Little Huntress,” Hunter spoke, his voice flowing with the sick pleasure he was finding in her fall. “Perhaps you should sit.” And then he gestured to the chair beside him, her stepmother’s chair. The throne of a wife.
Only, she didn’t feel feint. She felt mad.
At him, at her father.
Why couldn’t he have told her who he really was? Years of teaching and he couldn’t have been bothered to say something? He couldn’t find a moment to reveal he was her betrothed? That in a few years, against her own will, he would be marrying her?
Why was he so worthy of her father’s attention? Who was he again?
Oh Primus…
Warlord, power hunger, maniac, murderer, monster.
Greatest threat to the people of Cybertron.
“What did you do?” Saiph growled, turning her glare onto her still grovelling father.
“It was the only way.” he whispered back, and when he wouldn’t meet her eyes, a tightness settled in her stomach.
He was terrified, not only of the man before him, but of her.
A wife would not longer be bound to her father, and with a powerful husband like Megatron, nothing could stop her from enacting revenge for all the abuse he had doled onto her.
“I first set my sights on Yuss about seven years ago. Being such a small town, I did not bother with an army, merely walked right in.” Hun- no, Megatron started, relaxing into the throne more. “I was fully prepared to kill your father and every member of his line, but then I saw you in the field, playing solider.”
Saiph felt her skin crawl, taking a step back as her old instructor, her mentor, her friend, let his eyes lazily travel up and down her body.
“Strong, skilled, unbending will, and from a royal line. Exactly the type of woman a King would need as a Queen.”
“You’re not a King.” she snarled.
Megatron smirked, eyes hungry. “And with a mouth that would be so much fun to tame. I would have married you that day. But the Autobots were still a threat back then and so I made a deal with your father that he could continue to rule this shithole until I was ready to claim both it, and you.”
Megatron, leader of the Decepticons. Enemy to General Prime and his men, who were currently residing a floor below them.
She needed to get out, warn Optimus. There was still time for them to escape.
She hadn’t seen an army. Maybe they’d be able to slip away through that hole in the southern wall, make for the woods and keep going.
Saiph had to bite her cheek to stop from looking around the room, for wondering eyes would surely give away her plan.
“I wonder,” Megatron started, leaning forward just a bit. “How is young Bumblebee doing?”
Saiph’s blood froze in her veins, her vision narrowing on the spot between his feet.
“It’s been a couple days. Has his voice returned yet?”
Her eyes rose slowly, body vibrating as the rage built and built until she was finally looking him in the eye. Eyes she had once been so happy to please, working so hard to see the pride in them.
Megatron, tyrant of the Decepticons. The one who attacked her cousin.
One quick glance at her father confirmed it. He had ratted them out to the Warlord. Of course, that was why he had been letting the Autobots stay to begin with. He was waiting for Megatron.
He would be next to die.
She took a step forward, hand reaching for her dagger, when the doors swung open once again and this time men pooled in.
Soldiers.
Too many for her to fight alone to get to Megatron, though by the glint in his eyes, he was hoping she would be angry enough to try.
Don’t do it. Don’t rush in without a plan. It is more than just your life this time. You have to get them out.
Do not fight him.
“Well, Little Huntress?” Megatron spoke again, standing and holding a hand out as though she would take it. “Are you ready to get married?”
She would have loved to throw some retort back, maybe string together some curses that left him blushing or blanching.
Instead, taking advantage of the momentary chaos of so many bodies moving to find a space in the ever-shrinking room, she turned and ran.
Slipping between armoured bodies, it was an effort for them to try as grab her, crashing into one another or not being able to bend far enough.
Bursting from the room, Saiph turned left and bolted down the hall, running not as though her life depended on it, but the lives of others.
She made it to the stairs just as the first Decepticon reached her, and tall man with a mask covering his entire face. Cold, slender arms wrapped around her, trapping her to his chest.
She opened her mouth, intending to scream. She was close enough that Optimus would hear her. But then a head appeared, ascending the stairs. One all too familiar.
He recognized the Decepticon before he saw Saiph in his grip and froze a moment too long.
“Ratchet!” Saiph screamed. “Go! Warn them!”
The medic turned and rushed down the stairs, more Decepticons slipping past her and going after him.
She was not surrendering to that bastard. Not today, not ever.
She dropped her head and bit an arm, twisting out of his hold when he grunted and loosened his hold.
But before she could take a step away, the butt of a sword hit the side of her head the world went black.
---
Saiph awoke with a start and a gasp, the events of before rushing back to her in a blur of fury.
Sitting, she blinked as the room spun.
“So, the Lady finally awakes.”
Saiph snapped her head towards the voice, finding a pale man standing at the end of her bed.
“I was beginning to wonder if Soundwave hit you harder than he meant to.”
Past the man with crimson red hair and matching eyes, she recognized the back of her nurse, the woman standing in the far corner and visibly trembling.
Saiph wanted to ask a million questions, but she doubted she would get an answer to any of them from him, so she kept her mouth shut and glared for all her worth.
“I can see why Lord Megatron likes you.” the man chuckled. “You’d better get ready. You get married in an hour.”
He began to walk to the door, pausing as he opened it. “And if you think of escaping, we will kill your nurse.” Then he left, locking the door behind him.
June spun, rushing to Saiph’s side, hands instantly cupping her face. “Are you ok? Let me see.”
Saiph was too focused on the blooming patch of red on her nurse’s face, the mark obviously from an open palm. “Who did that?”
“How do you feel?” her nurse ignored her, angling her head so she could see her temple. “Dizzy? Nauseous?”
“June!” Saiph barked, cursing herself when her nurse flinched.
The closest she had even gotten to a mother was June, the woman who stayed by her side through fevers, who held her as she cried, who brushed her hair with such tenderness and kissed her cheeks with love.
And someone had dared to raise a hand against her.
They would beg for death.
“Saiph,” June started, her voice wobbling as tears filled her eyes. “I don’t know where Jack is.”
Oh shit…
Jack, Miko, Raf, Bumblebee. They had all been leaving when-
“The castle is closed. No one can get in, or out. They told me to help you get ready, and I haven’t heard or see him.”
The mother dissolved into small sobs, hugging Saiph close to her.
Think Saiph. Think!
If they left the same time she did, they could have made it to the gates by the time she entered the throne room, her having taken the longest route and stopping at the kitchen before trudging her way to see her father. They probably would have made it out before the soldiers closed off the castle.
With soldiers prowling and the castle closed, they would go to Bulkhead’s.
The concealed tunnel behind her closet eventually led to Preceptor’s, if you knew the routes to take.
And, to get from her room to the main hall, which was the only room in this castle large enough to possibly host a wedding ceremony, they would need to pass the library. The library, which had tunnels directly to the kitchen.
The sunlight filtering through her window told her there was just over two hours of daylight left.
All she’d need to do is find where the Autobots were being held.
“June, I need you to listen to me.”
The nurse pulled away, wiping her tears. “I don’t like that look in your eyes.”
“You need to help me get ready for the wedding.”
June paled, pulling further back. “What? You can’t marry him! I won’t let you-”
“Shhh!” Saiph hissed. “There’s no doubt guards are at the door.”
After a couple seconds of silence, and a glance at the still closed door, Saiph turned back to June.
“Here’s the plan. You’re going to get me ready and you’re going to help me strap a small knife to thigh. Then take the tunnels to Preceptor’s. You’ll be safe with him.”
“But-”
“I’m going to play along, and when we get to the library, I’ll take the old servant’s tunnel to the kitchen and slip out once it’s dark. There’s a way over the wall on the southern bank.”
“And Jack?”
“He’s out. He left before they arrived.” A hopeful estimate, maybe a lie, but she didn’t need June knowing that. “He’ll be at Bulkhead’s with the others. Once I get help, we’ll slip back in and free the Autobots.”
The nurse buried her face in her hands, body shaking as she shed a few silent tears before taking a deep breath. “Ok.”
Dressing silently, Saiph allowed June to help her slip on the white gown. It was nice, not too extravagant but made of the finest of cloths that showed wealth.
Hiking up the layers of lace and satin, Nurse June strapped the small blade Saiph kept hidden in a secret cubby under her bed.
When facing trained soldiers it wouldn’t do much, but it would give her enough of a chance to launch a surprise attack.
Saiph clenched her jaw, watching the sun closer to the horizon beyond her window was her nurse brushed her hair, creating an elaborate updo that would keep the strands well away from her face.
“You look beautiful.” Nurse June whispered as she took a step back, admiring her work.
“Please don’t say that.”
“If things go according to plan, I look forward to getting you ready for the day you marry General Prime.”
Saiph sighed, standing and turning to face her nurse. “Why does everyone keep saying that?”
“Because neither of you are subtle.”
Hugging her nurse a final time, Saiph pushed her towards the hidden door. “Go. I’ll come get you both when it’s all over.”
“Be careful.”
Making sure she was safely through, and pushing the closet back into place, Saiph knocked on her bedroom door. “I’m ready.”
