Chapter One: Vault of Heaven
"The sunsets here are stunning. Not quite like the ones back home, but it does bring around some nostalgia.." a strong and wisdom-filled voice sighed.
"Indeed Optimus." another voice replied, singing of memories. "Indeed."
Crimson reds, burning pinks, and soft yellows crowned the mighty golden sun like a king as he descended slowly in the horizon. He ended his powerful reign of the day with all the colors he could muster. He sat nearly opposite of his partner; the lovely moon. Stars heralded across the sky and twinkled with glee as their queen made her luminous entrance, for she demanded their attention once her partner departed. She was the ruler of the night.
"They're out there, in the blackness of space somewhere. And they are regrouping, if I know them well enough." Optimus' gaze trailed across the faint constellations, his eyes stopping to behold the moon. "I will send the signal again."
Ratchet had worked and fought alongside Optimus long enough to be close companions with him. Even long enough to help replace a good percentage of his parts and circuitry after some of their deadly encounters with the Decepticons. He needn't rely upon his sensors to detect what Optimus might be feeling. He knew it in his core. He was worried.
"Look Ratchet!" Optimus suddenly bursted, pointing a finger at the heavens. Right across the moon, a silver streak of light flashed as some object traveled through the atmosphere.
"Activating telescope vision..." Ratchet answered as a whirring circular device covered his eyes. He remained hopeful that one of their comrades might have heard Optimus' signal and was arriving. But once his vision zoomed close enough to get a reading, it had vanished.
"It's gone..." he replied as the device lifted away from his eyes. "I'm sorry Optimus, it seems to have burned up in the upper layers of the atmosphere before I could get a reading."
"It must have been a meteorite." his shoulders faintly drooped, though his steady eyes never left the sky. "Or what the humans like to call it; a shooting star."
The stars grew brighter, along with the moon as her dominance over the heavens was complete, her partner's rays faded and gone. She smiled secretly down upon the Earth.
"I've become too anxious Ratchet. I believe the boy and his kind may have rubbed off on me more than I suspected." he sighed. "Don't you think so?"
Ratchet allowed a small chuckle and patted his old friend on the shoulder. "Do not let it concern you so. Our integration into the human world has been an-" he paused, "enlightening experience, nonetheless. You remember that trick Sam taught us? Wheelies, I believe?"
Optimus laughed. "Yes, but I don't think the other humans seemed to enjoy it as much as we did. And Ironhide didn't approve."
"Neither did I at first." replied Ratchet with a grin. "But the young ones do have a way of reminding us how to have fun once in awhile."
"Our search for the Allspark was a testing time for all Autobots, and so we had to put our duties first until they were complete. We simply had no room for fun." he admitted.
"And speaking of the Allspark, how has the restoration process on Jazz been going?" Optimus turned to face Ratchet with concern.
Ratchet's gaze did not meet his. He knew he would be asked this question, but he did not want to see his commander worry about more matters that were utterly out of his hands. But he needed to know... "So far, I have been able to reassemble Jazz's body without much trouble. The girl has provided me with sufficient parts and tools, and I have altered the rest to be functional. And as you know, I have spent many days researching the Allspark fragment, trying to fully understand it's powers and the secrets it contains...But it is a fragment Optimus. Only a part of the puzzle, a page from a book, a star in a constellation." He now stared into the blue orbs of his commander. "I was able to restore 17 of Jazz's functions but that is all, I fear. That's all I can do with the piece that we posses."
The commander of the Autobots was silent for long moments. His silhouette was framed against the dome of city lights in the distance as darkness enveloped the wooded hill in which they stood upon. But even in shadows, his presence was strong. He was their leader, and so he must decide the fate of his companion. Should he allow him to live, what with the tiny bit of life that the Allspark fragment was able to restore? He would be able to partly comprehend what was said to him, but communication and movement would be near impossible for him. Would that be too cruel? Optimus knew Jazz as an Autobot who lived to the fullest, no bars or restrictions, and to hell with danger. Would he want this, a half-life? No, it wasn't even a half-life...
His deep train of thought was drowned out by the thunderous roaring of an engine approaching them. Quickly hiding behind a patch of large, bushy trees, they awaited to see the source of the noise. Headlights flared up the hill as a yellow Camero sped closer. From the looks of it, they were in quite a rush.
"Bumblebee..." Rachet mumbled as he stepped aside from the tree.
A car door thrust open and a boy emerged from the car, nearly stumbling in his haste. "Ah! Rachet! Guys! Hey, we found something!! Something real big!!" He waved his arms excitedly to emphasize his words.
"What is it Sam?" Optimus leaned closer, bending down on one knee. "What has you so worked up?"
"Wow, jeez!" Sam jumped, not seeing Optimus behind him in the dark.. "You guys gotta come down to the warehouse, it's about the Allspark!!"
Both Rachet and Optimus looked to one another. Some hope might still be left for Jazz.
And the moon never stopped smiling...
One hour ago...
"Ok, ok, so how does this look? Better? Come on Bumblebee, throw me a freaking bone here."
In the lofty warehouse, numerous crumpled wads of clear paper littered a ten foot radius around a large desk, which was also populated with even more wads of paper. A dark haired boy sat in a swivel chair before the wooden desk. He looked frustrated as he held up a piece of paper.
Bumblebee rubbed the back of his neck, looking down at the paper, not sure what to say to the upset human. "You said there was an alternative to this assignment, am I right? What? Did I say something wrong Sam? Why did you throw that at me?"
"Ugh...Just forget it. I'm no artist and this project is going no where." he slung the pencil down in defeat. "If I don't get and A on this, my grade is gonna look like the pieces of scraps that was once called Megatron..."
"Hahaa!" Ironhide smacked the side of his leg, overhearing Sam's rant. "Well then, it really will take a miracle to fix your grade." He chuckled as he polished his cannons, not taking notice of the death glare he was receiving.
Sam slammed his head to the desk, hard.
"You guys don't understand ok. We're talking about finals. F-I-N-A-L-S." Sam emphasized with pounding the side of his fist on the desk.
"We know how to spell it Sam. We did download the Webster's Complete Dictionary, the Oxford Concise Dictionary, the Complete Standard Universal Dictionary-"
"As well as the whole world wide web, yeah, I know!" he sighed deeply. "Sorry, I'm just a little tense right now. It's the only required subject that you can't study for and if you don't have what it takes, you're just kinda screwed."
"Well is the other project this difficult?" Bumblebee asked.
There was a muffled groan.
"Come on boy, out with it. What do you have to do in the other project?" Ironhide strolled over to them, admiring his very shiny cannons. There was a hint of annoyance in his tone, and Sam had learned very well not to annoy him. He also took notice of the very shiny cannons.
"Ahh..." he gulped, "well, it's not as difficult but it's a heck of a lot more work. The teacher makes it hard on those who are artistically challenged, and she probably thrives on our misery..." Sam spun around in his chair, facing the two Autobots. "Basically I would have to write a seven to ten page report on a local artist AND have a thirty minute interview with them. I mean, there's just no way I have time for that..."
"But you found time to court your female yesterday." Ironhide grinned.
"That was different, we studied together." Sam shot back.
"I'm sure you did study her. And what about the trip to the movies the other day?"
"I'm a Harry Potter buff, so shoot me."
"That is an option..." Ironhide taunted. "And there was also that party your friend had."
"Alright, I don't have an excuse for that one..."
"Oh, and not to mention that carnival last Tuesday..."
"What are you stalking me now?" Sam scooted himself back, and a little closer to the exit.
"We'll just call it boredom. But the point is, boy, you've got the time. You just can't manage it. Or smooth talking a female. Ugh." Ironhide shook his head.
"Hey, I'm working on it alright?!" Sam squeaked in his defense. "I'll do it ok? I'll do it. Jiminie Christmas." Sam turned around and started up the computer on the side of the desk. "At least I'll never have to take another art class again..."
With a few clicks of his mouse he was connected to the internet and started his search on good, old, reliable google.
"Ok, so we'll start out with Nevada artists." he said, the two Autobots crouching behind him, watching. "Uhh, let's see...Nevada art school, nope. Nevada music artists, nope. Nevada...con artists?" Sam scratched his head on that one.
"The boy's technology cannot read thought patterns yet. How primitive." Ironhide commented to Bumblebee.
"Yep, I'm old schoolin' it." Sam clicked on another link. "Come on baby, give me something..."
"Do you want our assistance? Our processors can load 500 gigabytes per nanosecond, versus the 1.89 kilobytes per second of your computer..." Bumblebee offered, revealing a long metal connector from his index finger.
"You guys are sick, you know that?" Sam glanced at the connector. "Man, if Microsoft ever discovered you, Bill Gates would be the next Jesus." he continued his search, the two Autobots just looked at one another.
"Oh! I think I found something." A brightly colored web page with various thumbnails of paintings slowly loaded before them. Sam leaned closer to the screen. "Let's see...local art show...May 28th...Full of family fun, bring the kids..." He scrolled down. "Introducing new, undiscovered artists...come down to Juniper town and have some fun." Sam broke out into a triumphant grin. "Hah! That's only 40 minutes from here! And from the looks of it, there'll be quite a few artists there." His cursor traveled down a lengthy list of names, each one with a picture of the artist beside it.
"Which one will you pick?" Bumblebee looked over the list. "Any particular style you're looking for?"
"Nothing with bowls of fruit or lots of naked people. I don't know, maybe something kinda science fiction-y. Dragons, rock stars, aliens." he clicked repeatedly, going down the list of choices and browsing their works. Most were, like he dreaded, still lives of house hold items, a few nude sketches, and even a series of surrealistic cat portraits. So far, his pickings were looking pretty slim.
"I like that one." Bumblebee innocently pointed at a picture of a boy hugging his new puppy dog at Christmas. Ironhide grumbled something, shaking his head.
"Sorry buddy, but I'm the one who has to do this project..." Sam looked for the next artist. "Hey, this one doesn't have a picture... Kimana Clandestine... Huh, cool name." He clicked on it.
"Wow. Now that's the kind of art I'm talking about! Check it out...it's definitely sci-fi alright."
Over a dozen paintings covered the page. Most consisted of alien looking worlds and moons, some even had strange structures protruding from the desolate lands. One such picture Sam had clicked on was titled, "Before Gluttony". It was a stunning view of three beautiful moons floating in a sea of orange of purple, speckled with thousands of stars. The tips of tall, jagged buildings were in the horizon, showing evidence of thriving life in the dark, canyon-like landscape. Sam clicked on the next picture. This one portrayed a laboratory filled with sophisticated technology and tools. Showers of white hot sparks streamed from a mechanical device that appeared to be working on some sort of robotic life form that laid upon a long metal table. All around the room, ancient looking markings lined the walls and the monitor screens.
"By the stars..." Ironhide swore.
"Yeah, she's pretty good isn't she? Haha, I think I know what artist I'm choosing."
"That...that's impossible..." Bumblebee's face was now next to Sam's, gazing intently at the screen.
"I know, I can barely draw stick people. Some just really have the stuff-"
"No boy!" Ironhide yelled, cutting him off, moving closer to the screen as well. "You don't understand. This painting...it should not exist!"
"Wh-what do you guys mean?" Sam flicked his eyes at the them, and started to feel slightly nervous with the two massive Autobots moving even closer, giving him barely enough room to turn his head either side.
"Those moons...that city. I know them! That's not just some made up world, that's our home! I simply cannot believe it...It's Cybertron!" Ironhide's deep voice faltered briefly, tangled with shock, disbelief, and longing.
"Everything, right down to the constellations..." Bumblebee's optic scanners whizzed to life, taking in every brush stroke. He moved so close to the monitor that Sam thought he would melt into it at any moment.
"Wait, wait...hold up here for a second." Sam butted in, though he moved back so as to not be sandwiched between the two giants. "You're saying that some chick just happened to paint your planet? I mean, are you sure it's not just some weird coincidence? Alien planets can really look alike sometimes...Just a couple moons here, a hi-tech city there..."
"No...that is Cybertron Sam. The inscriptions are of our language..." Bumblebee pointed to a sophisticated-looking character in one of the paintings, clearly fascinated.
"Hey..that looks like one of the symbols my great grandfather drew, when he was in the asylum. After he saw Megatron..." Sam gazed into the distance, thoughts whizzing around him. Finally, one of the thoughts hit.
"That means that this Kimana...she must have had contact with one of your kind. Somehow, she's come across one of you at some point and now she's making paintings of your world. That's the only way..." he brushed his hand against the back of his head. "Am I right? Guys?"
The Autobots were fiercely debating in their own language, gibberish to human ears, as their scanners frantically inspected the paintings. Ironhide made a few insistent gestures with his fist, pointing to the screen. Bumblebee replied with a shake of his head and a shrug. They continued like this for some time. Sam thought it best that they try to work it out first, and he could ask later. It was their planet, their home. They would know what to do...
"I just don't understand..." Ironhide growled irritably, speaking English once again.
Sam took his cue and stood up, walking back over to them. "So, I'm guessing you've figured something out?" He then received a nasty glare from Ironhide. "Or maybe not..." Sam gulped.
"Bumblebee is taking an extensive deep particle scan of the paintings. We should be able to detect her finger prints, perspiration, any sort of genetic information that may provide clues." looking back at the screen, he murmured, "Anything to make sense of this."
"Do you think the Decepticons might be behind this?" Sam couldn't mention the name without feeling a slight shiver.
Ironhide shook his head. "I don't think that the human would be alive if they were."
Suddenly, Bumblebee jumped, the optical scanners buzzing and flashing in a crazy display of noise and light. Sam nearly leapt four feet into the air. He had found something.
"By the stars! Ironhide! I've detected particles of the Allspark!" Bumblebee waved in a frenzied manner. Ironhide was at his side in mere seconds. "It's somehow encoded into the finger prints I found on the painting, and the bits of perspiration that seeped into the paint."
"So you would say it's direct contact?!" Ironhide was shocked.
"Yes. The same results have come up on all of the paintings, all possessing the same amount of Allspark particles. They're microscopic, but they are there." Bumblebee stood up and turned off the optical scanners.
"Then we gotta tell Optimus!" Sam was already running for the door. "I may not understand the Allspark like you guys, but I know just how much the bad dudes want it. And I don't want anyone to be in the same position I was in on the top of that building, helpless and hunted." Sam frowned as the dark memories stirred in his mind. "We have to figure this out before they do. So no one else gets hurt!"
"Well said Sam! We're with you!" Bumblebee cheered, his body twisting and transforming into his Camero form.
He revved up the engine and Sam quickly jumped in the car. Ironhide was already in vehicle form, adding to the dust clouds as they made their swift, roaring exit. The open sky welcomed them with a wash of red, golds, pink, and yellows, all glinting off the shining vehicles. For the vault of heaven that evening opened up to reveal it's most lovely treasures above them.
But anyone gifted with a hint of wisdom knows that treasure attracts greedy eyes and ambitious minds.
