A Kirua & SIC co-written production presents:
Lets Try this Again
Chapter 1
New Recruits
Orion looked at the debris around him as Megatronus urged him into the glowing portal he called a Ground Bridge. He never knew such technology existed, but then again, he didn't even know what planet they were on.
What happened to Cybertron? Where were they? Who were these Autobots and why were they fighting them?
"Hurry, Orion!" Megatronus urged, red eyes glowing with an unknown emotion. "Before the Autobots arrive!"
The bot frowned and hesitantly followed his friend, spotting three bots running around the corner of the rock formation with their guns out - all looking at him strangely.
"Optimus!" The blue fem cried out as he ran into the portal, the yellow winged bot crying out in beeps and frequencies.
Then he was gone from one place and now on a ship.
"This way, Orion." Megatronus said with a knowing smile, leading him down a hallway. The bot frowned, not sure he liked the atmosphere of the vessel, but followed obediently, shrinking away from other bots they passed as they looked at him oddly.
"Lord Megatron," two bots appeared, a large blue one with a red face and one optic speaking while a slender red one stood beside him with his arms crossed. "We have a guest…"
"Yes, I know." Megatron rolled his optics and glanced back at Orion who was confused as to why they called his friend Lord Megatron.
"N-No. I mean, uh, another guest. He came all the way from Cybertron…He's waiting for you in the comm room."
Megatron frowned, looking slightly confused, "Knockout, see that Orion Pax," he emphasized the name. "Get him to his new office, we have much work for him. I'll go see this…visitor."
A well built blue mech paced back and forth in Megatron's office "He'll be RIGHT back my aft" he growled, having been there for over 10 klicks with not even a 'are you well' from the drones, least of all Soundwave whom he had known since he was very young. Pushing up his clear visor he groaned and sat down in Megatron's chair, putting his feet on the large desk while he rubbed his optics.
The door swished open and the large Lord walked in, a look of genuine surprise on his face as he recognized the young mech.
"Blurr? What are doing away from Cyberton?"
"Oh now you show up!" Blurr chuckled getting up an obvious smile behind his mask as he looked at the large lord "Knockout said you guys needed some more help - something about Starscream flying off! I told you he would, and well, I have a bit of a bug problem that I couldn't seem to shake on Cybertron - I think I lost him on the flight over, or so I hope" Blurr rambled before seeing the annoyed flash coming from Megatron's optics and shut up his mask unhitching and folding back into his helm "So, enough about me, what have you been up to while I've been away Father?" Blurr smirked, knowing Megatron didn't like the reminder.
"Much more than I could have hoped for. We have…Orion Pax in our possession, we're going to use him to read through the Autobot data we've collected. We had a battle with Unicron, but I doubt the old god will stay dead." Megatron growled and crossed his arms. "What I'm more interested in is who is ruling over Cybertron now that you're here."
"I may have let Shockwave take care of the place" Blurr mumbled optics anywhere but on the silver mech, biting his lower lip, his expression that of his carrier "Since uh, how do I put this, not even Drift is on Cybertron anymore" he added.
"What?!" The mech roared in anger, stomping closer to his son. "What do you mean Drift isn't on Cybertron!?"
"He left shortly after you did, he didn't really say why, though I think he left with with an Autobot. . ." Blurr trailed off optics moving back to look at his father, not liking the look in his optics.
"What do you mean he left with an Autobot?" Megatron hissed, stepping even closer, the sharp shards in his mouth looking even more menacing.
"I don't know, I think it was an Autobot, I only saw him from the back. . . I didn't know what to do, by the time I realized it was Drift it was too late" Blurr said "Don't get mad at me, I mean, I wasn't aware I was my twins keeper. . . if it's any consolation he's still alive" he said holding up his hands, optics holding a mild glint of fear.
The silver mech glared down at his son and turned away swiftly with a growl.
"I'm….sorry," Primus, that was hard for him to say. "It is not your doing. Whatever happened, I know Drift will come back. He always does."
Megatron rubbed his optics tiredly and sighed. "I suppose I should be glad to have another soldier, we already outnumber the Autobots by many, best to wipe them out completely with more than less."
"Very true, and well, Shockwave is ultimately loyal and will do a good job watching Cybertron, so, where do you want me staying?" Blurr asked, not wanting to tell his father he choose a race car for his alt mode, today was not the day to do it. Though it wouldn't be so bad, he still had his flight abilities and, Knockout and Breakdown were cars right?
"There is an empty cabin close to my own. You can stay there." Megatron said while straightening up and sighing. "I will give you two warnings, do not mention anything that will make Orion Pax think we are his enemies - I have the mech where I want him and I will not take lightly to any mutiny from him. As far as he's concerned, we're Decepticon war heroes who are fighting the tyrannical Autobots. Second, be wary of Arachnid. I know you like to toy with femms and mechs alike, but she's simply too bothersome."
Blurr nodded "Sure thing! I will probably avoid Pax anyway, and as for Arachnid I'll make sure not to get to close to her! I've heard things about her before, not to worry, I'm more of a mech kind of mech now anyway" Blurr shrugged.
"Says the bot whose kept many different mechs and femmes in his room when he should be out training," Megatron said with a roll of his optics. "Sometimes more than one, I add."
"What? Can I help it if I got the best of both my creators! Looks both in armor and under armor!" Blurr chuckled with a fanged grin. "So, WHAT are you going to do to Starscream when he finds his way back to the ship?" Blurr asked, having over heard Knockout talking about how pissed Megatron was at Starscream for taking off.
Megatron chuckled darkly and walked out of the room, his voice echoing off the walls of the dark ship.
"I think the appropriate question is what aren't I going to do to him."
The base was gloomy without Optimus, everyone looked like they'd been hit in the gut a million times over, even the kids were in a depressed state.
"I-I don't know what we can do, without Optimus-"
"We'll get him back, Bulkhead." Arcee hissed, a determined look on her face. "We have to!"
Ratchet sighed "Arcee is right, we just have to track the Decepticon. . ." he said, a beep interrupted him and he looked to the monitors an autobot symbol on the screen "A distress beckon?" he said confused, hitting a few buttons he got a link up with the Autobot "Hot Shot?" he said shocked to see the yellow and red mech. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
The yellow bot grinned nervously, his ship around him sparking and making him even more worried.
"J-Just thought I drop in! See if you needed in help!" He gasped as his console started to smoke and he quickly dispelled it by trying to wave the fog out of his way, the Autobots on the other side of the screen barely able to see his face.
"My ship has been torn to shreds, I barely managed to make it to this system - though, I don't think I'll land very well…"
"Well, I'll send Arcee and Bumblebee to your location when you land and I'll look you over when you get here, land the best you can I'll contact a friend of ours to get your ship taken to a safe place" Ratchet said, a bit worried for the young warrior.
"Thanks Ratchet!" Hot Shot smiled excitedly, already itching to meet up with Optimus and catching up. "See you in a few kliks!"
The transmission cut out and Arcee sighed. "It's good to have another team member, but…"
"But what?" Miko asked with a grin. "One more to get Boss Bot back, right?"
"It's more than that Miko…" Bulkhead frowned, growing nervous. "Hot Shot…well, I don't think he'll take the news of Optimus' kidnapping very lightly."
"No, so be very careful what you say, if it's okay, I'll be the one to tell him, I was the one to deliver him and the only other one here that is close enough to him to be family." Ratchet said tracking Hot Shot and setting up the coordinate for the ground bridge, "Bring him back in one piece will ya?" he asked with a soft sigh, unsure exactly how he was going to go about telling Hot Shot.
"What if we're attacked, those distress beacons aren't exactly subtle." Arcee frowned.
"Maybe I should go, in case the Decepticons decide to investigate…" Bulkhead said with a frown, knowing Hot Shot was as small as Bumblebee, though skilled in combat - the three of them would have trouble getting back in one piece.
Ratchet nodded "Good point, Hot Shot has never been one for subtleties" Ratchet rubbed his optics
"Alright! A rescue mission!" Miko grinned, running towards Bulkhead who immediately stopped her.
"No Miko, stay here." The green mech sighed, ignoring the girl's protest.
"It's for the best. We should be heading home, it's getting dark out." Jack said while pulling out his cell phone. "I'll call my mom to come get us."
Ratchet nodded "Sounds like a good idea" he said picking up Miko to make sure she didn't follow as he turned on the bridge watching the three leave to retrieve Hot Shot who seemed to have stopped, meaning he crash landed, he just hopped that no Decepticons went to see what the beckon was all about.
The three ran out of the bridge to see the silver ship torn apart and in a pile of smoke and dust.
"Slag!" Arcee ran towards the crash site, hoping the bot was okay.
A slender yellow and red mech managed to climb out of the wreckage, his visor slipping down over his optics and making him huff. He pushed it back up and wiggled his way free, a few dents and scratches on his frame.
"That could have gone worse I guess…"
"Are you okay?" Bulkhead asked while running up, worry on his face.
The yellow bot looked up with a wide grin, the lines on his cheeks curving with his smile and making them look chubbier than most bots. "I'm fine! I got lucky, that tall brown thing took most the impact."
"Uh, that's a tree…"
"Yeah, that tree!"
Bee beeped a few times pointing to the open bridge, a worried look in his blue optics.
"Hey Bumblebee! It's been a while!" Hot Shot grinned at his friend, not noticing the worried looks on everyone's faces. "Is your voice still gone? Has Ratchet not fixed it yet?"
"Hot Shot, you can catch up when we get back to the base. We need to get out of here." Arcee frowned, urging the bot towards the bridge.
"What? Why?"
"Yeah, why?" A loud voice laughed, two cars speeding towards them. One blue and the other red.
"Slag! It's Breakdown and Knockout!" Bulkhead growled, already annoyed.
"Seems you two got a new yellow bot!" Breakdown smiled transforming into his robot mode "Only this one speaks!" he chuckled standing in the way of the glowing bridge "You need to really learn to hide your beckons kid" he said.
Hot Shot frowned and clenched his fists. "Decepticons!"
"Slaggit!" Arcee transformed her hand into a gun and aimed. "Bee! Get Hot Shot through the bridge, we'll cover you!"
"What!? No! We have to fight!" Hot Shot looked at the group in shock.
"The kid wants to fight Arcee, you should let him! So he knows what it feels like to be like your other yellow one!" Breakdown smirked hand changing into his hammer, knowing that Megatron said not to fight but, who was he to pass up the opportunity to hit a new recruit?
"Always eager," Knockout laughed, transforming and watching the show with a smirk.
Bulkhead quickly moved in front of Hot Shot and slammed his boulder fist into Breakdown's hammer with a growl. "Go! Now!"
Arcee started to fire at Knockout who dodged with a frown.
"N-No! I have to fight!" Hot Shot yelped as Bumblebee grabbed his hand and started to drag him towards the ground bridge.
Bee beeped irritated and pushed Hot Shot though and followed him motioning for Arcee and Bulkhead to follow.
Ratchet grabbed hold of Hot Shot once he got though, followed by Bee then Bulkhead, seeing Arcee shooting as she ran backward though the portal before he shut it off, making sure who ever she was firing at didn't follow.
"So the Decepticons did pick up on the signal huh?" he asked with a frown hearing the doors hiss open as Jack's mother came to get the kids.
"Yeah, lucky us." Arcee growled.
"Why did we run!? We're Autobots! We should've stayed and fought!" Hot Shot shouted, clearly upset.
"There's only so many of us, Hot Shot!" Arcee growled back, hands on her hips in anger. "Megatron practically has an armada compared to our numbers! We can't risk losing anyone!"
"Exactly, Hot Shot, before we get too far into all the 'good news' there is something that you should know" Ratchet said with a sad sigh.
"Good news? Losing anyone!? What are you talking about? Who…Who have we lost?" Hot Shot asked with a frown, looking around in worry.
"We lost…Cliffjumper a while back and Wheeljack didn't stay long." Arcee said sadly
"And more recently Optimus has left with Megatron" Ratchet said with a sad look in his optics.
Hot Shot looked at Ratchet as if he were crazy, Jack's mother quickly ushering the children away so the Autobots could be alone.
"Y-You're…you're lying! Optimus…Optimus would never go with Megatron!"
"I wish I were lying Hot Shot, I really do, but Optimus willingly left with Megatron" Ratchet said. "He looked at us and didn't know who we were. . . We're trying to find him, and I'm sure Optimus will remember being an Autobot and come back to us in no time!" his voice holding worry.
The yellow bot looked at all the other bots, seeing the truth in each of their optics before he held his helm and started to shake.
"N-No! M-Megatron must have done something to him! My father would never follow that…that evil mech!"
"I know how you feel Hot Shot, I've known Optimus for a very long time, it's hard for me to think of him not around, but like I said, he'll come back to us soon, once he remembers who he is. . ." Ratchet sighed softly.
End Chapter 1: New Recrutes
Up Next: Chapter 2: Welcome Back