Hello Readers! WingedWolfAlari here with another story I hope you'll enjoy. This story is a lot more humorous than my first, but be warned. Later on the story will take a dark turn where I will reveal my secret weapon (Muahahaha). You'll never guess what it is. Alrighty then, lets dive into this tale, shall we?
I have made several changes to the plot of the series. As of now MECH is still operational, Silas is still human, however Breakdown is still dead, and Smokescreen is here as well.
I also have no earthly idea on how to incorporate the Cons into the story, so if anyone has any suggestions, please post them in a review as well as any additional ideas for the story itself. Thanks again.
EARLY WARNING! A good portion of this chapter is basically a description of the characters and details on some events up to that point. I included this for some friends of mine who are going to read this but have never seen the series. However, there is some Optimus/Arcee in the description somewhere. So if you want to read that and skip the rest be my guest. Just make sure that you don't skip to the end, it's really important to the plot.
Disclaimer: Transformers Prime and its characters unfortunately don't belong to me but Hasbro. However the OCs Cadence, Camilla, and Gabriella all belong to me.
Chapter 1: Worst Nightmare
Autobot Outpost Omega 1-3rd pov
It was around four o'clock on Friday at the Autobot base, otherwise known as Autobot Outpost Omega 1, as it sat peacefully and inconspicuously in the Nevada desert. The base was once an American military missile silo that had long since been abandoned, at least until the Autobots got there. Compared to the Nemesis, the Decepticon warship that was almost always on the move, the AOO1 was cleverly disguised as one of the large stone mesas that clustered in that area.
Not much was going on today at the mesa. No Decepticon signals had been identified, nor had there been any other recent critical injuries for Ratchet to treat. So, overall it was pretty quiet aside from the occasional beep from the monitor and the heavy footsteps that accompanied the silo's occupants. The silence was soon interrupted by the sound of three engines roaring into base. Said engines belonged to Arcee, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead.
Arcee rolled into the control room in her motorcycle alt form and briefly stopped to let her charge dismount her. The rider stepped off and removed his helmet to reveal a mess of onyx hair and a set of blue grey eyes. "Hey Ratchet." The rider greeted the Autobot medic.
"Good afternoon Jack, I trust that school went well." The teenager turned to him with a small grin on his face and nodded before heading off to the couch in the area designated for humans. All while the all too familiar sounds of clicking and whirring echoed throughout the room as the second in command transformed into her real form. The femme was the smallest of her faction but that didn't mean she was to be underestimated in battle. Her Royal blue and light pink highlighted armor shined along with the chrome metal skin and faceplate. Her optics were a unique lavender laced light blue color.
Not only a few seconds later, both a yellow and black striped Camaro and a large green truck followed suit and opened their doors. Two kids hopped out of the Cybertronians. One of which was a spunky Japanese foreign exchange student with pink highlights in her black hair and beautiful brown eyes. The other was a brown spikey haired thirteen-year-old with glasses and light brown eyes. He was also holding a laptop under his left arm. Ratchet nearly glitched when the troublemaking girl cried out at the top of her lungs,
"YES! NO MORE SCHOOL!" One of the orange and white medic's fragile tools he happened to be working on at the time shattered in the process. After the other two mechs transformed, all of the bots and humans shielded their ears and audio receptors for what they knew would come next.
"MIKO! I NEEDED THAT!" Ratchet performed his signature quote on queue as he harshly scolded her. Miko Nakadai rolled her eyes as she calmly snapped back,
"Take a chill pill Doc Bot." using the ever so clever nickname she gave him when they met for the first time all those months ago. The same nickname that made the chief medic's optic twitch in annoyance every time he picked it up on his audios. Bulkhead walked up to him and placed a servo on his shoulder in a jocular manner in an attempt to calm a fuming Ratchet. The former wrecker was the second largest Autobot in their group and was equipped with a wrecking ball in his arm. His frame resembled that of a large dark green hulk, a large green hulk that also tended to be on the receiving end of Ratchet's temper since it was made for breaking things.
"She's right Ratch, she has a right to be excited." Bulkhead exclaimed while Miko provided a thumbs up for her guardian.
"Why? It's only the weekend. A weekend like any other." Ratchet argued back with his robot fists clenched. A much younger voice spoke up from the human area,
"Actually, it's not." It was the youngest of the children speaking. The older mech cocked an eyebrow,
"What do you mean, Rafael?" His gruff voice had calmed down by now since Raf was much more tolerable than Miko.
"Today was the last final exam, which marks the last day of the school year," the young boy explained in a way the bots could understand.
"We have the summer off." Jack piped in cheerfully.
Everyone flinched when Ratchet officially glitched and landed sprawled out over the Autobot insignia printed on the metal floor with a loud crash. Bumblebee could not resist the urge to click several times in laughter. The yellow scout was the second to last in terms of height but was the youngest of all the bots. When Cybertron was ravaged by vorns of war, Megatron himself cruelly ripped Bumblebee's voice box out. The damage was too severe and thus, the scout was permanently speechless. The only way he can communicate to others is through a series of robotic sounds that are understandable to only Cybertronians, strangely enough with the exception of Rafael Esquivel.
Suddenly, a normal human car drove into base. Nobody did anything but stare at the car's driver with confused expressions. The driver who stepped out was not an enemy, but still no one expected a surprise visit from Ms. June Darby this early in the day. June was dressed in her teal nurse uniform scrubs and her long raven hair was tied back into a ponytail as usual. She was the one to break the silence,
"Hi Jack, Arcee. I got off work early today and thought I might stop by to see my high school senior-to-be and why is Ratchet on the floor?" she finished quickly, her expression changing from calm and cheery to concern from a mother who's a nurse's standpoint. Jack's face flushed red at what June called him, but quickly took advantage of her question and switched the subject.
"…Uh thanks Mom umm, he glitched when we broke the news to him."
"What do you mean by 'glitched'?" she asked curiously. Raf butted in with his tech wiz intelligence,
"A Cybertronian's version of fainting short term." Almost immediately after he said that, the Autobot medic's optics onlined and both Bumblebee and Arcee helped him up off the floor. Rubbing his helm, he shot an angry glare at both Miko and Bulkhead before turning back towards the monitor grumbling to himself under his intake. June soon followed and the two began to discuss a variety of subjects that the rest of the group could care less about.
"Senior-to-be?" Arcee asked her partner in a taunting tone while lifting one eyebrow. Jack's cheeks lit up like a Christmas tree once again as he slapped himself on the forehead with his right hand and groaned in embarrassment. Raf butted in again,
"When school starts again in August, Jack will begin his final high school year before he heads off to college next year. The ninth through twelve grades each have a name. I skipped a few grades earlier last year, so I finished my freshman year today. In August, I'll be a sophomore or in tenth grade, Miko will become a junior, and Jack a senior. The same names also apply to the first four years of college as well."
"Ah." was all Arcee said to that, but you could tell that she was contemplating Jack going to college.
A sudden alarm sounded, which meant that someone was contacting the base. Ratchet intercepted the communication link, and the Autobot rookie Smokescreen's voice filled the room,
"This is Smokescreen; the energon spike was a no show. Optimus and I need a bridge."
"I read you Smokescreen; I'm sending a bridge a click from your coordinates." Ratchet responded through the comm. link, tapped a few keys on the keyboard. Suddenly, the gaping hole located on the wall across from the control panel roared to life and was accompanied by a blaze of swirling blue and green lights.
"Thanks Ratch. And oh by the way, we're bringing over a surprise for you guys, one that I think Miko and Bulkhead will love a lot." And with that the comm. was offlined, followed by loud whoops courtesy of Miko and Bulkhead. The medic only pinched the bridge of his olfactory sensors and sighed,
"Primus help us all that the base will remain standing by the end of this day." June softly patted his shoulder,
"I'm sure it's not as bad as you think Ratchet. I mean whatever the surprise is would have to go through Optimus' approval before it entered his base, right?" The white and orange mech looked at her with a slightly more positive look on his faceplate.
"Perhaps you're right Ms. Darby."
A few minutes passed, and a figure began making its presence known within the aurora hued portal. First came a pair of white pedes and legs. Then, eventually the hips and a blue chassis formed followed by white arms with a red dash here and there. Soon enough, the AOO1's company was met with Smokescreen's familiar smirk that was almost always planted on his faceplate and sharp blue optics. The rookie was greeted by smiles from all of the humans as he entered the silo.
Immediately afterwards, a gargantuan cobalt blue and crimson mech strolled through the groundbridge. His regal blue optics remained ever calm, but gave off a sense of wisdom and stress gained from a gruel and millennia-lasting war that still reigned to this day, but raged on another planet. All of the Autobots immediately stood up straight respectfully as their leader, the matrix-bearer and last of the primes, turned his helm towards them. A warm smile formed on his faceplates and he nodded, acknowledging them and the humans as he walked over to the monitor to turn and face the bridge. Optimus Prime shot a look at Smokescreen as if it was a command. Smokescreen winked in response as he opened up a comm. link.
"Come on in, Wheeljack."
Miko and Bulkhead gasped in surprise as the other former wrecker walking into base with swag in his step. Every bot rolled his or her optics when Bulkhead ran up gleefully to the red, green, and white mech and hugged him with all of his strength.
"Jackie!" Wheeljack's strained voice went from normal to raspy as he exclaimed,
"It's good to see you too Bulk. Argh… Let go of me…before Hatchet'll have to weld two of me back together." Bulkhead released his hold on his companion. Wheeljack fell to one knee intaking sharply before delivering a sneak lob onto Bulkhead, who playfully retaliated.
It wasn't long before the Autobots of AOO1 took advantage of this moment of peace and were continuing on with their daily activities as they didn't get many visits from Wheeljack, who traveled Earth and galaxies beyond in his small ship, the Jackhammer. However, Optimus knew better than to let his guard down, as he also knew all too well that these moments of serenity never lasted long.
An hour or so later.
"Optimus. I'm receiving an SOS signal from Agent Fowler." Ratchet called to his commander, who answered in his baritone voice.
"Ratchet, can you intercept the transmission?"
"I'll try Optimus." The medic typed furiously away at the keyboard and the picture of the Autobot's government liaison popped up on the monitor. Everyone turned to the screen in concern when a fuzzy transmission came through.
"Bzzt…PRIME, I've been ambus…d…zzt…MEC…Silas and his croni…mean business this ti…zzt…need backup." The connection was lost, but missiles and gunfire could be heard in the background. Before Optimus could give an order, Ratchet's optics widened at what appeared on the screen.
"Optimus you're not going to believe this, an unidentified Cybertronian signal has appeared at Agent Fowler's coordinates. It seems that MECH is tailing it and Agent Fowler."
(Insert famous Star Wars clip, "It's a trap!")
This caught the commander off guard. If another of their species landed on this planet, no matter if it was an Autobot or not, it didn't deserve to be in MECH's twisted hands. Plus, more additions to the team meant a higher chance of winning the war. Without hesitation, the Autobot leader dawned on his 'this is serious' face.
"Autobots, Agent Fowler and the Cybertronian are in dire need of assistance. Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Arcee, we need to make this a quick rescue. The longer it takes, the more information MECH can obtain on us. Wheeljack and Smokescreen, this will be the first time that you two will have faced MECH in battle and I must advise that you do not underestimate them. Furthermore, I must remind you that MECH is still a human organization and I still enforce the rule against harming humans of any kind. That being said, I want to keep the number of human casualties to a minimum. Do you all understand?"
All of the Autobots mentioned shouted in unison, "Yes sir!"
"Ratchet, prepare a groundbridge."
"Already done, Optimus." Ratchet pulled the switch next to the console and the groundbridge roared to life in a beautiful array of colors once again.
Optimus scanned his team like he did before every mission they went on. Each Autobot stared back at him with eager looks in their optics, silently waiting for him to give the word.
Bulkhead had smashed his fists together revealing his denta in an expression that said, 'Let's rumble!'
Bumblebee had pumped his arms up and down in one single fluid motion. He was feeling what humans called 'psyched.'
Wheeljack had cracked his Cybertronian version of knuckles one servo after the other. He began to stretch his arms and cracked several other joints around his frame.
Smokescreen had his arms crossed and seemed to be deep in thought. The racecar mech had also seemed uncharacteristically uneasy. Prime made a mental note about this and literally stored it in the back of his processor before letting his optics travel over to the last member of his assigned team.
Arcee. His spark hummed in pleasure every time her name came across him in any way physically or mentally. She had her servos placed on her hips as she leaned off to one side, putting the majority of her weight on one pede. She had a small smile on he face plate and she was stealing a glance at her charge. He felt himself let out a shaky sigh at the gorgeous sight of her. What was it about the royal blue femme that made him melt into goo on the inside? He couldn't resist the urge to let his optics wander over her frame. Primus it was perfect, from her pedes to her back struts, to her pink wrist blades, to her gorgeous light blue and lavender laced optics…to her hips.
He stopped himself from gawking at her, for it was his duty as a prime to not reveal his emotions or show weakness while in the presence of his team nor at any time at all. This duty, along with many others and the wisdom of the primes, was seared into the main coding of his core processer.
He also eyed the four humans, four out of nearly seven million civilian humans who knew of their existence, who had sworn to secrecy and often brought about a sense of innocence, happiness, and most importantly hope to the Autobot base.
Plot Recount for newbies, feel free to skip.
It was one of these humans that he admired like a son. Jackson Darby reminded him of himself when he was Orion Pax. He was amazed at how quickly the onyx haired teenager had to mature after his father left and got employed at a local fast food business to help pay for he and his mother's financial troubles. He never minded taking extra responsibility, as long as he could make June happy. However, these extra jobs cost him the chance to live as a normal teenager. The only exception was when Smokescreen came along. Eager to hang out with a being that was more his type, the two of them had gone out and pulled some pranks, which was against the wishes of the other Autobots, especially Arcee. After almost getting himself killed as a result of uncharacteristically sneaking through the groundbridge with them, Jack returned to his original composed mature stature. He had learned his lesson that day.
Aside from that one time, it was because of this maturity, to he entrusted the key to Vector Sigma to him. The leader had also received many comments from the other Autobots about how Jack was there to pick up all the pieces when he himself had suffered temporary amnesia and joined the Decepticons as Orion Pax. Optimus let out a small grin as he watched Jack approach Arcee.
"Be careful out there partner." The raven teen playfully warned.
The second in command chuckled, "Since when haven't I been careful." There went his spark cackling madly once again at the blue femme just as it did every time a word would pass through her lips.
In an attempt to keep himself from swooning, Optimus shot a glance at Miko Nakadai. There were not enough words both on Cybertron and Earth to describe the young lady that stood or rather lounged in front of him. The Japanese exchange student was currently seated on the human couch balancing a sketchbook in one arm and tapping an HB pencil repeatedly against her chin. Every now and then she would glance up at her guardian, her eyes tracing every plate, every groove, and every outline of his massive body, before her eyes and the pencil in her hand would dart back down to the page. Within the flurry of flips and movements that roughly manipulated the tip and eraser, Bulkhead's form began to take shape on the paper.
Her talent didn't stop there; drawing was just a hobby. Miko preferred to play, or as she would say 'rock out', on her electric guitar, which as of a few weeks ago was banned from Autobot Outpost Omega 1 and anywhere within three miles of it, courtesy of Ratchet. Though it was loud, the other humans have implied that she is skilled at playing a style of music called heavy metal and it was supposed to sound that way. The pink highlighted girl was also far from shy; she had the kind of spirit that was to be admired. Unfortunately, it was that and her stubborn, spunky, and smart aleck personality that often got her in trouble and even put her in great danger at times, mostly during Autobot missions. But, aside from pissing off Ratchet to no end, Miko liveliness and constant chatter was a spirit lifter at the base and her quick thinking proving reliable at the most random of times.
Then, there was Rafael Esquivel. He was born into a large family and according to him; he was not noticed much among his siblings. However, he had practically devoted his entire life to technology and programming and that affected his grade greatly. His superior intelligence pushed him up a few grades. The young Hispanic was in high school when most children his age would be in middle school. The little genius even baffled Optimus with his amazing hacking skills, which had saved their afts on more than one occasion. Raf would often spend most of his time at base playing video games with the other humans or racing with his guardian Bumblebee. The rest of the time, he helps Ratchet fix and/or learn how to use the human technology at base.
At the moment, he was up on the balcony wishing good luck to the yellow scout who happily answered him in a series of clicks and chirps. As the only human who can understand Bumblebee, he also serves as a translator for the other humans. Anyone with eyes could see that Raf would grow up to be very successful in life. Unfortunately, this opportunity for a great future came at a great price.
Optimus' brows furrowed as he mulled over a subject often discussed amongst the other children. Vince, another one of their classmates and the school bully. According to the humans, the redhead picked on everyone, especially Raf, and possessed quite the record: associating with gangs, regular beatings, illegal street racing. The Autobots had gotten involved with the last one and Vince had nearly discovered their existence at the same time. The leader himself had to take special precautions to prevent the children's guardians from going to blow up the delinquent. Though Optimus hated the bully, as much as the next guy, his' don't hurt humans' rule would be enforced no matter what. That being said, Raf struggled sometimes, but all of the bots would be there to back him up.
Finally, there was June Darby. To sum her up in one sentence would involve using the words, kind, motherly, and overprotective. But no one could blame her. What would any single mother who's son had been keeping a huge secret from her do in a situation where an intergalactic war was involved. After all, her tale of discovering the Autobots was not a pleasant one. The fact that both MECH and Arcee's archenemy Arachnid had been involved at the same time only made it worse. The emergency room nurse had been kidnapped by MECH, which afterward she had been subject to Arachnid's thirst for bloodshed, and nearly fell victim along with her son. Arcee had made it just in time to stop the eight-legged freak from slitting their throats.
The Autobot leader mentally cringed at the history between the spider framed femme and his second in command. The now rogue had captured and mercilessly tortured Arcee for information back on Cybertron. In the end, Arcee's former partner Tailgate was brutally slaughtered before her very own eyes by Arachnid's hand. When the war was moved off planet, the spider femme had gone rogue, creating genocide and collecting the heads of endangered species. Since Arcee had escaped her clutches, the two had made mortal enemies of one another and ended up bringing both Jack and June into their violent rivalry.
Optimus sighed, certainly his team of Autobots human and Cybertronian had grown a lot as they overcame each and every curveball life threw at them. No one was to be underestimated. As he had said once before, they were small but they are strong. Each member had a very important role to play in the Autobot's war campaign. Everyone would do their best to support one another in their darkest hours. In a way, the occupants of Autobot Outpost Omega 1 were one big family. And no matter what, the Autobot commander would not let them down.
Plot Recount end (Okay now that I got that out of the way, IT'S FIGHTIN TIME AGAIN!)
The cobalt blue and crimson red semi mech turned to the groundbridge portal, basking in its warm green light before shouting his signature quote.
"Autobots. ROLL OUT!" All six members of the selected team sped off through the swirling lights, awaiting the scene of destruction, and the all too familiar sounds of gunfire to fill their audio receptors.
Groundbridge Coordinates-3rd pov (I haven't done many fight scenes so bear with me)
The sun baked on the red desert ground, the bright colors reflecting the hot rays, bouncing them back to hit and cauterize any life form that dared to set foot on the Nevada turf. Any plant life as far as the eye could see was set ablaze courtesy of the flying missiles and bullets that defaced the eroded earth. One deafening explosion after another shook the ground as a flock of jets shot through the blue sky. Each missile that was fired would miss their prey by mere inches, and each one would fuel the predators' love for destruction more and more.
A lone F-22 Raptor sped through the blazing landscape, its pilot eager to evade his pursuers. The government agent had suffered multiple close calls during this wild goose chase and was thankful for the several years of training he had received in the past. Agent William Fowler eyed the nearing canyons; a devious smirk spread across his face.
"Target locked Silas. This one won't miss." A pleased smile took form on the MECH leader's scarred face. If the Autobot government liaison were to perish in this skirmish, the cloud of guilt or blinded anger would make the aliens capture much easier. His evil voice ominously filled the cockpit in a foreshadowing tone,
"It was nice knowing you Agent Fowler. Fire!" In one quick movement, his subordinate flicked the cap off the clichéd red button that was placed at the tip of the steering controls. A sudden red light flashed as the button was pushed; a single missile shot out of the launcher with an ear-piercing shriek. Unfortunately for Silas, the F-22 Raptor made an unpredictable sharp turn; a loud boom followed by a brief shockwave shook the aircraft.
Clever move; the jet sped at the speed of sound towards the canyons. The twisting and winding passages accompanied by that powerful thrust would make it impossible to continue the pursuit with their target in their sights. However, Fowler wouldn't have that advantage for long. The last shot had managed to clip a small section of the empennage on the US military jet. As a bonus, Fowler would be unaware of the damage. His last move had backfired; the sonic boom had muffled the impact of the shot. Silas watched as a small trail of translucent yellow fluid spurted from a crack in the stealth aircraft's hull. A minor wound in comparison to the entire tail of the jet, but it would bleed. As the machine's life dropped to the sandy ground, MECH would be drawn to the scent trail like a pack of wolves in winter. They would come, and their prey would sing death's song. (Whoa, talk about detail for those last two sentences)
It had been about fifteen minutes when the MECH fleet happened upon the crash site of the late F-22 Raptor. Burnt scraps of chrome metal lay warped and shredded across the ground along the narrow cavern. The only part that gave any indication that a stealth aircraft had ever existed was the hull that had somehow remained intact at that end of the line of destruction created by the crash. The entire scene was shrouded in a thick blanket of smoke and crackling flames. A shower of sparkling embers continued to rain down upon the sight.
Silas's cruel laughter emanated throughout the fleet's radios. But soon the pilots were spawning looks of confusion when they heard their sadistic leader's chuckle abruptly cut off by a gasp of surprise. His scarred eye twitched several times.
"You have got to be kidding me," he muttered with his irritated eyes locked onto a specific point in the sky. His subordinate followed his gaze and he gritted his teeth together in annoyance. There was Agent William Fowler in all his glory as he slowly drifted towards the ground in his deployed parachute.
Silas was seething with fury at the luck of the African American agent but he kept his calm composure. He patched himself into the other MECH team in charge of the other bait.
Fowler was about forty feet from the ground.
"Shoot him down." Silas ordered.
Thirty feet from the ground.
In the distance, a battered vehicle transformed. A low hum sounded as an increasing amount of energy was charging up at the end of the barrel.
Twenty-five feet from the ground.
A solo energon blast zoomed through the air; it was aimed dead center at Agent Fowler.
Said agent braced himself for the searing heat to cook him from the inside out. A flurry of sounds mingled within the few seconds that followed. Those sounds belonged to an opening groundbridge, the blaring horn and engine belonging to a big rig, and finally the sounds of a Cybertronian undergoing the transformation from vehicle alt mode to bipedal mode.
Fowler found himself being wrenched out of the sky by a large metal hand he knew all too well. Optimus somersaulted before landing back on his pedes that screeched as they slid across the rock. The cobalt blue and crimson mech ran quickly for cover while carefully clutching Agent Fowler against his chassis to avoid having him being hit by the blast that whizzed right past his helm. He found shelter in a large crevice in the canyon wall. He shot a quick glance at his government liaison who looked back up at him with a dazed expression on his face.
"Are you unharmed Agent Fowler?" Fowler shook his head vigorously to clear up any dizziness before replying,
"Fit as a fiddle, Prime. I owe ya one, and before you say it, I'll remain here and contact Uncle Sam. You guys take care of Si."
"I wouldn't have it any other way Agent Fowler." Optimus replied as he deployed his facemask and energon blasters with a loud snap and headed off back into battle. Fowler took out his communicator to send for reinforcements. He paused with his finger hovering over the button on the device. His mind processed the events that took place merely a few moments ago when a troubling thought flooded his mind.
Who fired the first shot?
Battleground in the canyon- Optimus' pov
I left Agent Fowler to contact backup from the American army while I sprinted back towards the swarm of shots that were being fired by both my team and MECH. I aimed my blaster at one of the jets' wings and fired. The electric blue beam of energy crippled the wing and my spark beat returned to its normal pulse when I caught sight of the pilot ejecting from the cockpit of the spiraling plane.
Even though these humans were in my opinion the human version of the Decepticons, I could not prevent myself from feeling guilty whenever I would unintentionally take the life of any sentient being that inhabited this planet. As I continued to shoot down each aircraft in MECH's fleet, I took a moment to observe my team's progress. As commander, it was my duty to oversee my troops.
Bumblebee and Smokescreen were running along both edges of the cavern. As of now, I had no idea how in the name of Primus they got up there so quickly nor how they had even gotten up there at all. I was curious as to what they were planning. A flash of royal blue sped past.
Arcee.
She was being tailed in the air by two of Silas' jets and they were gaining on her. I growled inwardly and carefully raised my blaster. I had one of the jets dead center in my viewfinder. (See where I got that one) Suddenly, Bumblebee launched himself off the edge of the cliff and literally tackled the small aircraft. I lowered my arm and my optics widened in shock. The yellow Camaro made haste and plunged his servo into the jet, pulled out the pilot and tossed him aside. After that, he quickly jumped off and stuck a stylish landing at the precise moment the jet crashed into the ground in a fiery explosion.
I let out a small smirk behind my faceplate. I swear he did that for dramatic effect, typical Bumblebee. My optics diverted to Smokescreen as he pulled off a similar stunt, though not as graceful. Arcee pulled up to the duo and transformed. She let out a small chuckle at the sight of a cringing Smokescreen rubbing his aft which he landed on. I mentally slapped myself at the realization that it was all a setup courtesy of the trio. It was pleasing to know that the members of my team were fighting well alongside each other despite recent conflicts that would normally cloud their judgment.
Just then, several cars were approached, each one with MECH's logo branded on their hoods. The four of us quickly took aim, but just as Bumblebee interrupted me in the middle of my shot, all four of us were interrupted by the former wreckers.
Both Bulkhead and Wheeljack roughly rammed into Silas' troops on the ground, some of which were flipped over by the head on collision. Smokescreen then patched into the comm. link,
"You guys need any help?"
This was his reply, "Wreckers don't call for backup…" Wheeljack retorted.
"They call for cleanup!" Bulkhead finished his partner's sentence while crashing into another MECH car.
Due to their thicker armor, both wreckers escaped without so much as a dent. The two then transformed, high-fived, and regrouped with the rest of us. There was only one plane left, the one that belonged to the terrorist leader himself. What caught me off-guard was the plane itself. Its wings were equipped with a pair of shielded turbines, which allowed the machine to hang precariously in the air. A stolen military piece no doubt.
I narrowed my optics and took aim; the rest of my team followed suit.
"This is your last chance to surrender peacefully Silas." I warned.
Silas's voice resonated from the speakers of the hovering aircraft. "You know very well Optimus Prime, that I am not one to give up so easily. On the contrary, everything is going according to plan perfectly." Suddenly, the undercarriage of the hovercraft opened slowly, and from it came a large metal structure. Said structure resembled a two pointed fork mounted on an aircraft turret.
"What do you think that thing does?" Bumblebee chirped worriedly. I was lost for words; never before during my time as a prime had I come across such a weapon on Cybertron or Earth. Frankly, I couldn't comprehend that the human race could ever construct something that advanced during their current technological era. Yet, here it was and we would have to deal with it.
An intricate web of electrical sparks danced between the two metal spikes. They were accompanied by a humming crescendo as the energy began to build. By instinct, I called out, "EVACUATE, NOW!" Without a word, everyone, myself included found themselves back in their vehicular alt modes. My processor racked as I quickly scanned for a possible escape route.
This wasn't like the incident with Breakdown's optic that was rigged to explode. In that case, we just needed to get as far as possible away from the explosives. But right now, that was not an option. There was no way to find out the weapon's firing range and therefore it was too risky. However, the weapon and the aircraft itself were massive, we could manage to evade the targeting systems if we drove directly under them.
Switching to maximum overdrive, I lead the Autobots under Silas just as the weapon fired. A blinding red light blasted from the twin spikes, the force of the shot sending the hovercraft back before it regained its balance. We remained under the MECH aircraft the entire time.
I became confused when Silas made no attempt to refocus the targeting systems on us, but rather remained hovered over us as a continuous gust of air and dust buffeted our frames. I began to wonder whether Silas thought we existed anymore, and was unaware of our presence. This brought on an ominous thought that perhaps the weapon was designed to evaporate us into thin air. I received several mortified yet confused looks as if that exact foreboding idea had passed through their CPUs as well.
Nevertheless, we maintained our cover. But I just knew that our cover would not last long.
I was not the least bit surprised when Smokescreen hollered at the top of his vocal processor, "HEY SQUISHIE! YOU MISSED!" He earned a whack on the helm and an 'Are you out of your neural net?' glare from Arcee.
Silas's sly voice echoed through the canyon, "Now young rookie, what makes you think I was aiming at you?"
I stiffened and slowly turned in the direction of the fired shot. Lying in a smoldering crater not more than a hundred meters behind from where we once stood was the motionless body of a Cybertronian mech.
Bulkhead dawned a horrified expression, "The unidentified Cybertronian signal," he uttered under his vent. My spark painfully lurched with guilt. Without thinking twice, we rushed over to the mech while I quickly contacted Ratchet at base with my comm. link.
"Ratchet! We are in need of immediate on sight medical assistance!"
The medic's gruff voice sounded on the other end, "Optimus! Who is injured?"
"The owner of the unidentified signal, Silas shot him with a new weapon I cannot identify."
"Listen to me Optimus, I'm on my way. But until I get there, do not touch him and don't let the others touch him until I can see how severe his wounds are." Ratchet instructed.
"I understand." The comm. link was disconnected.
Autobot Outpost Omega 1-3rd pov
Ratchet deactivated the comm. link while keeping a lock on his signal. The humans only stared as he rushed towards the med bay at a speed that should be logically impossible for someone at his age should be able to achieve. He came back with his medical kit in servo and rushed towards the monitor to briefly check the Autobot spark signatures.
He turned to the humans, "Raf, I need you to operate the groundbridge. June, your in charge." The Hispanic teen only nodded before running over to the human sized groundbridge controls.
Jack took this as a chance to intervene, "Ratchet, why are they calling you to the field when they could just bring the bot here?"
June also butted in, "Is something different about this case that has gotten you so stressed?"
The medic released a quick ex-vent before answering worriedly, "They can't bring the bot here since Optimus requested me for on sight medical assistance." Miko piped up,
"So what's wrong with that?" Ratchet shot a quick glance at her before nodding to Raf, who activated the groundbridge.
He stood facing the portal; "I haven't been assigned to an on sight job since my time as a field medic back on Cybertron during the Great War." June walked up to the ledge of the balcony,
"Be careful Ratchet." He slowly turned to face her and gave her an extremely rare smile before transforming into his ambulance alt mode and driving through the portal.
Almost five minutes passed when suddenly Raf almost had a panic attack. Jack was the one to calm him down,
"Raf! What's wrong?"
"Did something happen to the bots?" Miko asked him, her brown eyes filling up to the brim with anxiety. The wiz kid took a few deep breaths when he suddenly turned back towards the monitor and began furiously typing on the keyboard.
"The groundbridge isn't responding. Something's jamming it and I can't regain control!"
All of a sudden, he stopped, his small hands slowly slipped off the keyboard before they fell and hung limp at his sides. His eyes were wide as realization dawned him. "Unbelievable," he whispered.
June walked up to him in concern, "Raf?" She turned to see that Jack and Miko had pulled the exact same stunt.
The Japanese girl's head drooped, "It's almost as if…"
"No." Jack cut her off immediately, his eyes ablaze with a mixture of all sorts of emotions. "No, he did. That sick heathen actually did it."
June's motherly instincts kicked and she began to really worry now. "Who? What are you talking about, Jack. What did he do? Answer me!" She had pulled off her famous 'NOW!' voice during her frantic string of questions. But Jack remained unaffected in his motionless state.
After what seemed like forever, he finally whispered so quietly that it was almost inaudible to the human ear, "Silas. He planned this from the very beginning." He paused when he slammed a raging fist on the console. The resulting sound could be heard all throughout the silo, causing everyone to flinch in shock.
"JACK!" his mother scolded him harshly. Miko and Raf had to do a double take; Jack's body was trembling. He slowly looked back up to the main computer screen with angered eyes that were so intimidating that even Megatron would be shrink back in defense. Even with all of these emotions alarmingly radiating off his body, he somehow was able to speak calmly through his gritted teeth. But it was easy to see that he was unsuccessfully trying to hold back the fact that he was seething with fury, discovering a newfound hatred against Silas Bishop.
"And we fell for it." a small tear slithered down his red boiling cheek and onto the tip of his chin. It seemed to hang there forever before the salty drop fell and splashed against the cold, hard metal floor.
Meanwhile…
Battleground in the canyon- Optimus' pov
I looked up from the mech's body to see our groundbridge open up with Ratchet speeding out of it. He stopped and transformed in front of us before kneeling down before the mech. He set his med kit aside; one look from his optics was all I needed to see before I helped him flip the Cybertronian over. Several gasps erupted from the group.
"Breakdown." I muttered as I stared at Bulkhead's rival.
We watched our medic examine Breakdown for several minutes in total silence. Bulkhead was the first to break it, "Why would old hammer head want to tangle with MECH, especially after he did time as their personal lab rat?"
Ratchet slowly stood up with his medical kit. He let out a long ex-vent, "He didn't have a choice in the matter. In fact, Breakdown has been dead for quite some time."
"That's not possible!" Wheeljack exclaimed. I decided to intervene,
"Ratchet, if what you say is true, then how is it possible that he could emit a neutral signal?" Ratchet kneeled down once again and opened up Breakdown's chest plates. From there, he pulled out a small device.
"It wasn't his own signal, but merely a radio signal that has been manipulated to resemble that of a Cybertronian. His movements were also remote controlled on the same frequenc- oh no!" the chief medic's optics widened as he immediately stood up.
"Ratchet, what's wrong?" I asked him in concern. He didn't answer, instead he frantically tried to contact base.
"Rafael! We need an emergency groundbridge now! It was a trap!"
(: Me- Ha! I told you! : Ratchet- Just shut up, Alari!)
I immediately swerved around to find Silas's hovercraft nowhere in sight.
"Scrap! Comm. link is jammed." Ratchet growled irritably.
We all jumped when three blasts of electricity shot up from all sides and conveyed in the sky.
"A force field." I inferred with a dark tone.
Once again, Silas's sly voice resonated from the aircraft that I found floating above the force field and us. "It was just as I said Optimus Prime. Everything has gone according to plan. Better savor the moment out here, because this will be the last time you'll ever see the light of day." I could almost see him curling his lips into an evil smirk as he beamed down upon us in triumph.
My mind flashed back to the time that Arcee and I were stranded in the Arctic during a blizzard due to a scraplet infestation that was taking place at AOO1.
Flashback starts:
All I could feel was cold, a coldness that threatened to penetrate every inch of my metal frame, which would freeze me solid after I became lifeless. Though it could have been worse. I was cold, but not alone. I lay in the ever-growing snow, my arms and legs were sprawled out and I had begun to lose feeling in those areas. Arcee laid in a similar position to my right; her helm was only a few inches away from my chassis.
As of now, her just being here was the only thing keeping me alive. Not that that mattered to me, I was caught in the middle of a battle between my own selfish needs and my thoughts on Arcee's needs. Part of me always wanted her near me including now. But the other half didn't want her here solely because we would both would die here in this frigid white wasteland, destined to become just another two permanently frozen mounds of ice to add to the thousands already in place if help didn't come soon. But she was here, and I made sure to make the most of this terrible situation.
I briefly considered confessing my feelings to the blue and pink femme. I had had so many chances before, but I would always stall in hopes that the war would end. But this would not be the case now. I had to do it now, before I made the mistake of missing out on what few romantic moments I would have with Arcee. I looked down at her. Her royal blue and pale pink armor plates had received a messy white tint, her lavender and blue optics shined just the same. I was about to speak, but my crush interrupted me.
"You know the worst part? After battling Cons all these years, getting smacked down, shot at, blown up, kidnapped, tortured, this is how our lights go out?" she asked in disbelief. I inwardly chuckled at the memories that we had all spent together before becoming serious again,
"Arcee, this may not be the finish we had planned. But if this is indeed the end, if we become one with the Allspark-."
Flashback ends.
Just as that one time in the Arctic, I felt the familiar soft feeling of Arcee's small servo rest itself in the palm of my much larger servo. I realized that while I was occupied with my own thoughts, the other Autobots had pressed in closer to me. To me, this was undoubtedly awkward on so many levels. Gazing over my team, my optics then did a clean sweep of the area. A soft gasp left my mouth plates. My optics swerved madly around us. The force field was shrinking.
The crackling electronic pulse grew louder and louder, and more and more we pressed in together. My spark was pounding against my chassis harder than it had when I was in the presence of Unicron's very spark chamber. Six pairs of optics locked with mine, each pair pleading that I might have some sort of plan of escape.
I had never felt so ashamed. I had let my team down. I looked down at my second in command with sorrow seeping from my own regal blue optics when her grip on my servo tightened.
A shaky ex-vent exited her shuddering frame as she spoke, "It has been an honor serving with you, Optimus Prime." It wasn't the amount of emotion in this statement that shocked me. It was the fact that this was exactly what Arcee had said to me before passing out completely in the Arctic. I gave her a small rare grin before turning to the rest of my team.
"Autobots, we have come far during our time on this planet. Though we are few in number, we have accomplished tasks that entire battalions have attempted and failed. We have also suffered much as well. We have experienced great loss, received many life-threatening injuries, and have even been tortured to our 'wit's end'. However, in the wake of these troubles have come great miracles, everlasting friendships, and a bond so unbreakable that not even Unicron himself could rupture it. I stand before you now to say that I have been blessed by Primus himself with the best team any Prime could ask for. There are no words to express how proud I am of each and every one of you, not to mention our human allies. To conclude, it has truly been an honor to fight for what we believe in alongside each of you. I do not know what will become of us in MECH's hands, nor do I wish to dwell on the matter. Instead I wish to say-." The high voltage dome was nearing a few inches of my frame.
"Till all are one."
Pure unspeakable pain, then the darkness swallowed me whole.
MECH's secret laboratory- Location: Unknown, Time: Unknown-Optimus pov.
Beep beep. Commencing internal diagnostics:
Spark pulse: Stable
Energon Levels: 87%
Internal Body Temperature: Stable
Internal Systems: Online
Sensory Systems: Online
System Mobility: Offline
Weapons Systems: Offline
Functioning capacity: 65%
Activating Systems…
Darkness closes in around me; it's strange. When a Cybertronian onlines or offlines, there is no middle level of grogginess as the humans stated once. Yet, here I am, fully aware of my body becoming conscious. I immediately assumed the worst,
'Where am I? This can't be the Well of Allsparks, for there is nothing but blackness that surrounds me.'
A sudden searing pain ripped through my body. Nope, I'm definitely still alive. In fact, I can hear faint, muffled voices in the background. Soon, the sound of Arcee's pain filled scream causes my optics to snap open; a blinding light replaced the infinite darkness. After my optics re-adjusted, I found my body strapped to a concrete wall by the wrists, ankles, my abdomen, and my neck. A faint trickle of blue energon dripped from my mouth plates and from a mass of small injuries courtesy of MECH's prowling utensils. I swerved my helm to my right side and my optics were filled with horror.
I was trapped within a translucent cell that was lined up with six others. Some sort of IV was bound into my right wrist and was connected to a large metal pipe that extended through all seven cells and eventually connected to a giant steel vat. A tremendously low feral sound I didn't know I could make resonated from my vocal processor when my optics fell upon the figure in the cell to the right of me.
It was the love of my life, Arcee. I felt a deep rage start to build up within my spark at the sight of her condition. She was literally ripped open; dents and scrapes covered her entire body. I took note of a particular mark that lay across her beautiful left optic. She also had an IV connected to her right wrist. I flinched when she lifted her helm and made eye contact with me with her one remaining optic. In all of my life, I had always known my second in command as extraordinarily fearless and calm most of the time. But now, her faceplate displayed a look of true undeniable fear. Dirty blue stains covered her cheekplates; she had been crying.
Arcee suddenly turned her helm away from me and peered down the rest of the cells. I realized that every single member of the Autobots were being displayed just as we were in these despicable jails. On the other side of the glass, I could see dozens of MECH scientists scurrying about the room, tampering with a multitude of control panels and levers. From the ceiling hung multiple robotic surgical tools at which I shuddered at the sight of. As if things couldn't honestly get worse, they did.
"Enjoying the restraints?" Seven helms jerked in the exact direction of the sadistic voice.
There he was; Silas Bishop, leader of the terrorist organization called MECH, was shooting daggers at me. He was standing on a rising platform with a deranged smirk planted on his face. I tried to speak but the neck restraint had started beeping and I ended up having two thousand plus volts rippling through my body. I could only grit my denta and glare hatefully at his scarred face when he got up right in my faceplate.
"I hope you enjoy your stay Autobots; it is my pleasure to welcome you to 'Project Domesticus.'"
Ooooh Cliffhanger! Holy crap, 30 pages! That's a new record. Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I can officially tell you that there will not be a chapter as long as this one. It'll probably also be about 1-2 chapters before anything really funny happens, so stay tuned. And please check out my other story Wings of Pyrus. As of now, I will begin an updating schedule that involves switching from Wings of Pyrus to Every Bot has its Day for every update. As I said before I'm open to any suggestions you have about improving either story. So, please review, favorite, and follow. Thanks again
WingedWolfAlari out.
(April 4th update: I fixed the chapter, I hope its easier to read for you guys.)