Helex was currently sitting helplessly in a chair while a femme less then half his size cried her optics out in his lap. He honestly didn't have a clue as to how to comfort her since Tarn always did it and the look Tesarus was giving him wasn't helping. The giant mech sighed heavily and wrapped one pair of arms around Nickel in an attempt to calm her down. "Nick, don't worry. Y'know Tarn won't stop until he gets the little ones back." He said in the most comforting voice he could manage, shooting a quick glare at Tesarus.

Nickel sniffed and rubbed her optics. "I know.. It's just... I feel terrible for even letting Chaos out of my sight. I should've just kept him inside, or gone with Tyranny to check on him, or-" She was shushed by one of Helex's fingers before she could continue.

"Nickel. Quit bein' so hard on yourself. Just imagine this: Tarn's gonna rain hell on whoever took the kiddos when he finds them. Not if, when. If you keep this up, you'll worry your pretty little self sick." Helex said, gently wiping away the tears that were running down her cheeks. "While he's out, me and Tesarus will keep you safe. Sound good?"

The femme sighed and nodded sullenly, leaning back against the massive mech's chassis. "Yeah... thanks, Helex.."

"Not a problem."

———

Tarn's anger slowly boiled within him as he followed Vos and Kaon, optics narrowed in a deadly glare. How dare someone kidnap his children right from the ship, especially when he wasn't there! What a bunch of cowards. They didn't even have the guts to face him like a real bot. While his mind explored the possible methods he could use for torture, he kept his focus on the two smaller mechs in front of him. Kaon had insisted on bringing The Pet so it could track the perpetrators if the energon trail went cold and so far, things were going smoothly.

The DJD leader turned his head when Vos babbled something at him and he huffed. "I have a few ideas on who could've done this, but only one in particular comes to mind."

More babbling in Primal Vernacular, the only language Vos would speak.

"No, not natives! There's no one living on this scrapheap, idiot." Tarn growled at the mech, shifting his gaze back to The Pet as it furiously sniffed at the ground. "Autobots. They're the only ones who are stupid enough to mess with the DJD and think they can get away with it. Their ship must be docked somewhere, and I believe The Pet can lead us to it."

"Tarn! There's more energon here." Kaon piped up, pointing to a few splatters of energon that The Pet was sniffing excitedly.

A murderous grin formed underneath Tarn's mask and he came over to investigate. "We're getting close. Keep a sharp optic out for any scouts up ahead." He muttered, bending down to examine the energon. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough to worry him. Did it belong to one of his sparklings? He could only hope it didn't as he continued onward with a burning determination to kill whoever did this.

———

"So what do you think? Prisoners or orphans?" Rodimus asked after a moment of silence, looking up at Ultra Magnus with a perplexed look on his face. The two sparklings Whirl had brought back were busy hiding in the corner, lashing out at anyone who came too close. The little mech was very aggressive, especially when it came to his older sister. Rodimus had to admit, he admired the burning fire the mech had in his spark.

"Neither."

Rodimus's jaw dropped and he stared at Ultra Magnus for a hot second. "Neither? Why?"

Ultra Magnus rolled his optics and scoffed. "Do I really need to explain?" He gave the Captain a deadpan look, which was returned by an even more confused look. A heavy sigh escaped him and he gestured to the sparklings with one hand. "Look at the mech and tell me who you think he looks like."

Rodimus huffed and turned back to the sparklings, focusing on the mech as he exchanged hushed whispers with his sister. He narrowed his optics as he studied him, trying to figure out what Ultra Magnus was getting at. And then, he saw it. How could he have not seen it before? The little mech had a crest on his helm that had a very strong resemblance to... Tarn. "Oh... Oh frag." He mumbled, slack-jawed and speechless.

"Yeah. 'Oh frag' is right, Rodimus. You just kidnapped Tarn's children, no DNA test needed. What now?"

"Uhh... I'll get back to you on that one."

———

Heyyy, I finally updated this book!

Sorry about taking so long, I honestly forgot about it and lost interest for a while 😂

Hopefully my updates will be more steady since I have more time to write. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter!