This is a fanfic I started writing before Revenge of the Fallen came out, and tweaked a bit once it and Dark of the Moon came out. Think of it as an interim story between Revenge of the Fallen and Dark of the Moon. During this time, Sam is single, having just been dumped by Mikaela. Warning: Contains original characters...a lot of them. But, don't worry; only two of them are Autobots. The rest are people, both important to the story and not. Warning 2: Contains character resurection, but who doesn't like that? Warning 3: Contains character crossovers. Some aren't that obvious, but some are really obvious. I will be updating frequently. The only things in here that belong to me are the story and the OC's. Enjoy!
Prologue
The red desert basin was choked with dust, stirred up by some great disturbance. The air was thick with the sounds of gunfire and explosions, and dirt spewed into the air as missiles and grenades rained down from every direction. Out of the thick dust, a hulking metal figure stumbled forward a few paces before dropping down to one knee clutching his side. The figure coughed, trying to wave away the dust. Blue liquid leaked uncontrollably from the wound in the figure's side, staining his green and yellow armor. A missile flew in from behind the figure and exploded a few feet away, blowing the figure off his feet. He landed with a cracking thunk, crying out as his left shoulder armor bent painfully. The figure forced himself to his feet, his armor creaking from his injuries and the dust clogging his joints. He stumbled when he first got to his feet but was able to stay up. He pressed a finger to the port on the side of his helmet and activated his com.
"Brigadier, this is going nowhere!" he yelled, flinching at the sound of another explosion at his back. "We never should have come out here, we're completely outnumbered! I think they waited for us!" The person at the other end of the com shouted something frantic, and the figure grunted in agreement. "I hope you're right, kiddo," he said anxiously. "Give the order now, I'll pull everyone out here towards you." The brigadier at the other end confirmed, and the figure ended the connection. He opened up another frequency and hollered as loudly as he could. "Fall back! Fall back! This battle is lost, fall back NOW!" At his words, a squad of soldiers in combat gear burst out of the cloud of desert dust, running full-till for the hills. The giant metal warrior counted the soldiers, and once he was satisfied that his entire squad was present, he took off after them. He calibrated the intensity on his optics so he could see through the thick dust, following the fleeing backs of the soldiers he commanded. With a poof he burst out of the red cloud, a sigh of relief escaping his mouth. Up ahead, he could see a towering, slim red and gold mecha warrior, its eyes green and glowing, and an ion blaster in its hand. Though the green and gold metal warrior was quite a few feet taller and several times bigger than the foot soldiers, the red and gold mecha warrior towered above all of them, even the metal warrior. The metal warrior raised a hand to the mecha and shouted a frantic greeting. The mecha had no expression on its red mask, but its returning wave quickly morphed into what appeared to be a panicked warning. The mecha pointed at something behind the metal warrior, but before he could turn around to see what was wrong, there was a loud whistling sound, and then a missile blasted its way through the metal warrior's chest.
From her heightened vision from the other side of her eye panels, the brigadier general saw every horrific detail of the green and yellow Autobot's death. The missile shot straight through his back and out his chest plate, obliterating his spark container completely. His face froze in an expression of surprise, his optics dimming seconds after impact. The propulsion of the missile carried the Autobot several feet forward before he collapsed in a splayed heap on the ground, his arms and legs sticking out at unnatural angles. The brigadier general let out a wail that was significantly deepened by a vocal disguise program in her helmet-mask.
"Springer, NO!" she screamed, charging forward toward the fallen Autobot, completely abandoning her post at a cluster of red desert rocks. From behind the rocks, a metallic voice called out to her,
"Brigadier, come back!" But the mecha-armored brigadier general didn't listen. She ran to the Autobot's side, skidding to a halt on her knees at his shoulder. She completely forgot about the gunfire and explosions tearing through the air around her, her eyes only on the Autobot's face. His facial plates were still blank in surprise, energon leaking from a corner of his mouth. She placed a red armored hand on his shoulder and shook him, but it was too late; his brilliant blue optics had already gone dark.
The brigadier general laid her helmeted forehead down on the Autobot's helm, sobs wracking her frame. For a moment, her sorrow totally took the forefront of her reality, blocking out anything that didn't have to do with Springer's death. But, her reprieve from the present was abruptly cut short.
"STARSCREAM!" a deep robotic voice rang out across the desert, followed by a furious roar and massive amounts of gunfire. The brigadier general looked up from Springer's body, her magnified vision scanning the field in front of her. Out of the dust cloud erupted two more giant metal warriors locked in furious hand-to-hand combat; another Autobot fighting a Decepticon. The shorter warrior's armor was an angry red, his shoulder panels doubling as wing-like protrusions that splayed out in a broad span. Two curved metal horns like those of a bull rose from his helm, making him look like some sort of metal devil. The larger warrior he fought was silver and covered in symbolic tattoos. His head was angular, and his optics were as crimson as the Autobot he fought. The two metal titans exchanged a series of metal-cracking blows, and the red warrior looked like he had the upper hand as he fired a devastating upper-cut to the silver monster's jaw. The silver Decepticon staggered backwards a few feet, but his mouth parts suddenly twisted in a wicked grin. From where she knelt, the mecha-armored brigadier general could see that the strikes the Autobot landed were indeed devastating blows, but the Decepticon seemed unaffected. Quick as lightening, he unsheathed a long, jagged sword from his forearm and lunged at the red Autobot. The Autobot tried to pull a weapon of his own from the slot on his left leg, but the Decepticon elbowed him in the chest, knocking him off balance. The brigadier general jumped to her feet, a warning cry building in her throat. But, before she could call to the Autobot, the silver Decepticon, Starscream, pushed forward… and thrust his jagged blade straight through the Autobot's chest, a triumphant growl escaping his mouthparts. The red Autobot choked out a scream, his furious expression smoothing over to horror. The brigadier general pelted towards the two robot warriors, loading her blaster and aiming it at Starscream. The Decepticon second-in-command wrenched his sword out of the Autobot's chest, releasing a violent spray of glowing blue energon and red coolant.
"NOOOOO!" the brigadier general screeched, firing a blast at Starscream. It hit the Decepticon squarely in the side of the head, pushing it sideways with a fierce crack. However, Starscream simply wrenched his head back to a normal position, cackling with maniacal laughter, and blasted straight up into the air, disappearing into the gathering desert clouds. The brigadier general fired a few more ion shots after him, but they missed by a mile. She came to a stop beside the red Autobot, who had collapsed onto his back shortly after Starscream removed his blade. She knelt beside him and cradled his horned metal head in her large armored arms, tears flowing freely down her cheeks inside her helmet. "Cliffjumper, stay with me, please!" she cried. Though her voice was disguised, the anguish in it was more than obvious. Cliffjumper shifted his flickering optics to the brigadier's helmeted face. The Autobot's faceplates cracked in a sad smile, and he shook his head weakly.
"Sorry sweetie," he said hoarsely, his throat thick with energon, "looks like I'm done here…you're gonna have to finish this war…without me." The brigadier general shook her head vigorously, and leaned her helm against his.
"Please, you can't die now!" she wept, holding him tightly. "Springer is dead…we can't lose you too!" Cliffjumper, his life rapidly dwindling, raised a hand and touched her arm. That he had the strength to do so was unreal.
"You can do it, kiddo," he rasped, his optics growing dark and energon steadily leaking from his mouth. "But you've got to get help…the Cons…are too strong." He used his last bit of strength to slip his hand under her jaw and tilt her head up to look into his optics. "Find…Optimus…Prime…he can…help…" With that, the last light of Cliffjumper's spark faded, and his optics grew dark. The Autobot sighed as he passed into the Well of AllSparks.
"CLIFFJUUUMPERRRR!" The brigadier general wailed into the sky, and slumped over the red Autobot's body. The explosions around them died down as the Decepticon troops pulled out of the area, following their second-in-command out of the desert basin towards the jagged mountains to the west. When the dust finally settled, the brigadier general finally looked around from where she knelt beside Cliffjumper's body. Her mouth dropped in horror beneath her mask. The body count was unfathomable; at least a hundred of her soldiers lay lifeless in the desert dirt, pools of blood gathering beneath and around them. Most of the bodies were in front of the hold behind the rocks, where they had tried to push the Decepticons back. The last twenty stragglers behind the rocks poked their heads out to survey the scene as well. The only ones who had made it back from the field seemed to be Springer's squad; the rest had been eliminated. The brigadier general put her head in her hands, shaking with sobs. This was getting out of hand; this was the fifth battle they had wandered into without realizing what they were up against, and this time it had cost them two Autobots.
The brigadier general jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked down to see another Autobot, a tiny yellow and blue one with a round helm and wide shoulders, standing at her elbow, his face full of worry.
"We need to get out of here," he said quietly. "We should fall back to base before a second wave comes, and come back for the bodies later." The brigadier general looked at him, and though he couldn't see her expression, he guessed it was incredulous.
"No," she said flatly. She tightened her grip around dead Cliffjumper. "We're not leaving anyone. Call for back up so we can take them back." The small Autobot sighed and shook his head.
"There's nothing you can do for them," he said quietly. "They're gone. Let it go." The brigadier general hung her head, her shoulders shaking.
"I can't…I can't…" Her disguised voice broke, and she dissolved into incoherent sobs. The Autobot growled, anger rising in his spark. He moved over in front of the mecha-armored warrior, reached up and grabbed her shoulders, and wrenched her sideways to face him. When she didn't look at him, he shook her, hard. The brigadier general raised her head just enough so her green eye panels met his blue optics. Snarling, he reached over and pressed a button on her jaw. The helmet split down the middle and opened up, retracting into a duct at the base of the armor neck. The Autobot looked up into the shining blue eyes of a very young woman. Her skin was fair and slicked with sweat, as was her short-cropped blonde hair. She had prominent cheekbones, a delicate nose and a narrow jaw; tears soaked her flushed cheeks. Her head was considerably smaller than her mecha body, indicating how much of a boost the armor gave her. She stared dejectedly down at the small Autobot, her mouth clenched in anguish. The Autobot's optics softened.
"Let them go, Myla," said the Autobot, his voice a little gentler. He moved his hands up from her shoulders to softly cup her face in his metal hands. "It wasn't your fault. There was nothing you could do, and I know they don't blame you." Myla closed her eyes and nodded, more tears escaping from beneath her eyelids.
"This has to end," she said quietly. Her undisguised voice was higher and much more feminine than the voice in her helmet. It made her seem all the younger. "We can't keep fighting like this. We need reinforcements." She looked down at the lifeless Cliffjumper, and then glanced back at the body of Springer. "Enough is enough. We need to go to Earth, and find the rest of the Autobots. We need Optimus Prime."