Author's Note:
Hope you guys like it. This will probably be the most unromantic chapter of the story, so chime up, it'll get better. I'm a sucker for romance so it's ought to.
Have a look at my profile for updating infos etc.
Also, please leave a review if you've got constructive criticism or you just want to drop a note.
Thanks for putting up with my rambling.
Have fun reading.
Pretending Prime
Prologue
"Will he make it?" Sam Witwicky's stricken features came into view, as he stepped out from behind agent Lennox who had led him into the subterranean military lab they had converted into a medical bay to fit the giant autobot-leader Optimus Prime.
"We're not sure yet, Sam!" it was Ratchet who answered.
The medic autobot looked up from his patient who remained in the same still, lifeless position they had found him in. The only sign that the last of the Primes was indeed not dead was the small yet steady shine of his spark that Ratchet had layed free.
Besides Ratchet it was only Ironhide and Bumblebee, more of the gigantic transformers would not have fit in alongside the various "medical" utensils.
By the time that Sam had finished his survey of the situation Lennox had already moved on and now stood next to a small communication base, made up of a few monitors, giving an overview of the complete area around the entrance to the base. Outside was set up a small camp of soldiers from NEST additionally to keep an eye at movements outside of the cameras angles.
"Chief Master Seargant Epps, report!" Lennox spoke into a small microphone and a rustling sound could be heard on the other end.
"Mayor!" it was Robert Epps who whispered back. "There's no sign of infiltration since you entered, no sign of decepticon-activity, actually since Jolt left we've not seen a transformer at all. It's quite here! Too quite if you're asking me though, sir!"
"Don't speculate too much, Epps, maybe those decepticons will leave us in peace for once!" Lennox answered.
"I don't know, Will," Epps whispered even more quietly, this was only between him and Lennox, as friends, "I've a bad feeling about this. Do you really think they'll pass up a chance like this? Optimus is no match now, they could kill him off all too easily for my taste."
"I know Robert, I know... so god help us," he paused and thought this over, "or maybe I should rather say Allspark help us. Lennox over!"
It was quiet. Sam, now standing next to a clueless Ratchet, was thinking about what Lennox and Epps had said and he too knew that the decepticons would not pass up the chance to destroy Optimus Prime once again without a good reason.
Lennox made his way over, one hand massaging his right temple. The man had been up and on the go for the past two days, since they'd found the Prime.
"Where did you find him anyway?" Sam asked, the information that he had about the disastrous accident were few.
"I cannot go into detail, Sam," Lennox sighed, "but we found him near a supposedly abandonded old military area in the middle of nowhere in Texas."
Sam's eyebrows rose. "Supposedly abandoned?" he asked in wonder and earned a nod.
"That's what information we had... before the explosion. It seems though that at least parts of the area where still in use. Even the president was not informed about that, we believe that they tested secret defensive-weapons. Something went wrong though, obviously and great parts of the base were destroyed. Optimus who was on patrol sensed that, during the last contact we had he mentioned that he had noticed a big source of Energon, that's when we lost him. I immediately sent a team of my men into his direction, luckily though Ironhide was with us, he was the only one who could get near the body. The whole base was infested with Energon, we couldn't go closer than a few hundred feet to Optimus."
Sam sighed and a similar sound, however it had a metallic ring, could be heard coming from the autobots.
"That's just weird, why would there be an Energon field? Did you check if there was any decepticon activity located near that area?"
"Sure we did, we're no amateurs boy." Lennox grimly answered but shook his head no in the same process.
"We checked everything but nothing suggests that Megatron or his followers had anything to do with it. That's a first but it is true. It was a human project. The minister of defense suggested a secret agent service, or a secret military branch, the kinds of Sector 7. We questioned Simmons about that but he doesn't know anything either."
Putting a hand on Sam's shoulder, Lennox turned the boy around to look him in the eye.
"Let's go get something to eat and drink, you've had a long ride here, wasn't it? The big guy is gonna make it, if he wasn't strong enough for this he would have died already. Don't you think that Optimus Prime would not simply die for nothing? That's not his style!"
Sam nodded but looked over at Bumblebee who had watched Lennox and him intently.
"You're right!"
42 hours ago
The Matrix of the Leadership remained a mystery. Whatever they did it would not give away it's secrets.
Professor Arthur Foxworth was watching the artifact with big eyes through thick glass but even though he could practically feel it's raw energy making every single small hair on his body stand, he just couldn't figure out how to turn this thing on. Although this frustrated him immensely at the same time he was rather pleased with the objects uncooperativity. If this small thing really held the power of an A-bomb then it was best no one knew how to use it.
But in his heart he was nothing but a scientist and he would do about anything to find out more about his studying-object, as would the team he had gathered around him.
His train of thought was broken as a younger collegue came up to him. She was pretty, he remembered her name was Dana and her smile dazzled him. What he wouldn't give to be a few years younger...
"We're ready, professor!" she told him and smiled up at him in the same way like before.
She sure was a beautiful young woman, he pondered whether or not he should ask her out for a drink after work.
"Professor?"
"Ah, I'm sorry, Dana. I was in deep thought. What did you say?" he asked and hoped she would smile once more but all she did was frown a little.
"It's Lana, professor!" Damn... he sighed in annoyance.
"Well then, let's start. By now I'm pretty sure we'll be going home in half an hour. This won't work, nothing worked before. Set up the laser and turn it on full power, right in the middle of this thing. Let's see what we got."
The petit rehead left to go talk to one of the other team-members and Foxworth saw her pointing in his direction and then at the laser they'd set up just above the Matrix.
He listened to the beeping sound that announced that the machine was ready, waited a few seconds longer than necessary to add at least a little drama to this highly scientific process and then nodded at the lab assistant to turn on the laser beam.
Nothing happened at all...
Arthur Foxworth sighed, he had known this would not work. Now really, trying to pry open some unknown and advanced alien-technology with limited human means.
He turned around after prying his eyes from the Matrix and waved his hand at the lab assistant. Before that one could move a finger though Foxworth felt immense heat building up behind him and before he could even think about what this could possibly mean, he and his team of scientists were no more.
40 hours ago
He had finally reached his destination, Optimus could tell as he scanned the area for any sort of live. The whole landscape was practically infested with the (to this planet) alien concept of Energon. How, he was not sure yet but would find out. Until then he'd remained in his truck-disguise but seeing no need to hide quickly transformed before making his way to the still smoldering remains of a human building.
It was probably of no use but he pried away large pieces of trash in hopes of finding any survivors.
Quarter an hour later this assumption had been proven correct and although saddened by the fact that once again innocents had died because of an ancient war, he wondered why these little humans had obviously tried to use something they had no information about.
A mechanical sigh escaped Optimus Prime as he tossed one last giant piece of rock aside, not believing he would find anything. This time however he was proven wrong.
Astonishment was written on his face. One who believed that just because Cybertronians were mechanical forms of life they could not display such emotion was proven wrong.
"It still exists!"
Careful not to damage anything Optimu's large fingers picked up something small from the ground. It glowed like an eye of fire in the middle of the night.
"The Matrix!"
Not believing his eyes, he quickly turned on his radio-system to contact the base and tell Lennox, but the small thing in his hand suddenly glowed even brighter, burning with an unknown energy, even to him.
"No...!"
With a flash, everything vanished from around him, all he could see was white, a bright, blinding white.
"Hello?" Optimus tried to tap his radio system but found he could not move a limb. "Lennox?" Nothing!
"Ironhide, Ratchet? Bumblebee? Autobots can you hear me?" Nothing!
39 hours ago
"Ironhide, what is going on there?" Robert Epps tried to contact the autobot but got no answer. He refrained to watch as the weapons specialist was having a hard time, a few hundred feet away. Through his field glasses he could see that Ironhide was carrying Optimus Prime on his back, away from the heap of ruins they'd seen on the satellite scans.
"Get the heavy goods transporter ready! It's Optimus, he's hurt!" Epps ordered his men in a loud voice, before cursing silently. This was not good.
