Hello all,
New fanfiction writer here, also first experience in writing an original story, so go easy please, although true constructive criticism is always welcome. There will be a little bending of both ARK and TF: Prime canon, but nothing too major to stray from the main stories. And it goes without saying that I do not own Transformers Prime or ARK Survival Evolved. Anyways, let's get this started
A lone figure floats in an empty void, confined to the great System that both protected and imprisoned her species. She was the youngest and the last of the Homo Deus, the constructors and overseers of the ARK initiative. The last hope for the dying planet her kind had called home. The One Who Waits was searching through the System's database of human history for new candidates to become survivors, when 3 certain teenagers caught her eye.
"Hmmm, seems these three had been through the ringer more than a few times," she says out loud as she watches their memories. From their first meeting with the alien Autobots, to their trip to Cybertron, to their assistance in taking the Omega Lock, it was clear these children had faced threats almost as deadly as what plagued the Earth below. They had even encountered Element years before the rest of humanity, although energon rolled off the tongue better. With their individual strengths, she believed the group had more than what it takes to survive the ARK.
"These three may be the key to finally overcoming the shadows and their King," she says.
She toils with the System's inner workings until she had reconstructed their bodies and inserted their implants. Because of their unique interactions with the Autobots and their early exposure to Element/Energon, she had decided to make an exception to the mindwipe, re-inserting all of their memories and experiences. When she had finished, she prepared to send them off into the Island, but not before giving a proper farewell.
"Good luck Jack, Miko, and Raf, humanity is counting on you"
With that, she had them teleported onto the beaches of the Island before she resumed her work. When they were gone, a single tear rolled off her eye and down her transparent body. I'm sorry Mei Yin. I'll avenge you all, no matter what it takes.
Pain
Jack woke with a start, having felt a sharp pinch on his arm. He righted himself, ready to smack whoever had pinched him, and was thoroughly dumbfounded to find a small bipedal bird creature picking at his arm.
"Hey, beat it!" he yelled, prompting the small and ugly creature to scamper off into the jungle.
Where am I? he thought to himself, surveying the beach he now found himself stranded on. Seeing that he was almost naked made the situation even more bizarre. He went to attend to whatever injury the bird might have left, and was thoroughly shocked to find a diamond shaped implant stuck in his left arm. In a panic, he quickly tries to scratch it off to no avail.
After several minutes of shock, Jack decided he needed to get working before night falls on the mysterious island. I could really use my survival kit right now. Better yet I could use Arcee. It had been a month since the Autobots returned home to Cybertron, but that didn't mean he didn't missed his old partner. No dwelling on the past now, I'm still in the middle of nowhere.
While Jack was in his thoughts, he hears a grunting noise. Instinctively, he ducks behind a rock and peeks over the edge. What he sees is a girl and a boy laying face down in the sand, one with familiar black pigtails and a pink streak in her hair, and one with spiky brown hair. Jack bolted out from behind the rocks and attempted to wake his friends up.
"Miko, Raf! Come on wake up," he exclaimed while shaking them, jarring them from their unconsciousness and back to the real world.
"Jack, Miko? Whats's going on? Where are we? And what's with this itchy metal stub?" Raf asks in a flurry of questions. "I don't know Raf, I woke up a minute before you did. All I know is we need to find shelter before dark," to which Miko interceded, "But we just got here on an abandoned beach! Where's your sense of adventure guys?"
Before Jack could rebutt her, a loud snorting sound came from behind them. They all ducked behind a rock again and peeked out. What they saw left them completely stunned. Standing in front of them was a pair of three-horned beast, easily larger than them all put together. Raf was the one to voice what all three of them were thinking.
"That's a triceratops."
"Is this time travel?"
"Are we gonna die?"
After the initial shock and debate wore off, the group decided to get closer, remembering that triceratops is a mostly peaceful herbivore. "Touch it Jack! It won't eat you," Miko insisted. "No, but I stand a good chance of becoming a kebab," he answered. Though at first hesitant, Jack eventually caved into his own curiosity and laid his hand on the beast's back. It payed no mind to his touch, letting him stroke it gently. "This is insane, but for once I actually like it!" he said in awe. As he was petting the triceratops, he noticed his implant was glowing blue. He pulled back his hand to his face to inspect it, and was surprised when a blue hologram popped up showing multiple statistics.
"Woah, thats definitely new" he said. Raf bumped him and showed that his implant had a glowing stat sheet as well. Many of them were self explanatory such as health, stamina, and food. Only torpidity caused some confusion, and judging by the icon it was easy to tell what it meant.
"It's like a video game," Raf pointed out. "Look, it even says level up!" It was true. Jack's screen had a green level up sign at the top, and the stats on the side had glowing plus signs next to them. Jack stared confused at the screen. "Uh, I guess it never hurts to have more health, right?" he warily questioned. He touched the plus sign next to health, where it took him to a screen called engrams. Currently, he had 8 engram points available to spend on a campfire, a stone hatchet, and a spear. Jack pondered what use these engrams could have until Raf nudged him again and showed him his own screen. "Maybe those engrams have something to do with this?" Raf suggested, proceeding to tap the Crafting section next to the Inventory. On it is a blacked out portrait of a torch, stone pickaxe, and a note. When Raf held their icons, it showed the resources needed to craft them. Jack takes a second to check his inventory and finds he had all the resources needed to craft a stone pick. He then goes to his own crafting tab before finding the portrait of the pickaxe to be brightened. He taps the symbol and hears the sounds of construction. When the construction meter fills, he goes back and finds a stone pick assembled in his inventory. Curious now, Jack taps the icon of the pickaxe, and in his hand appears a stone pickaxe out of thin air, taking the boys aback. "That's impossible, tools can't just magically form out of the air," Raf stutters out, trying to make sense of it all. Jack places his hand on his shoulder, telling him, "Let's not look a gift horse in the mouth, I can barely put together a decent campfire. With this thing, we can make better tools than we ever could have by hand." Raf smiled at this, before realizing with a start, "Wait, where's Miko?"
"GUYYYS!"
Jack sighs, muttering "Here we go again," before him and Raf took off to where they heard the voice.
Turning the corner around a palm tree, the boys spot Miko booking it across the beach line. Right behind her are a pair of carnivorous dinosaurs spitting acid at her. "Those are dilophosaurs!" Raf exclaimed, having recognized the frills and acid spitting from the Jurassic Park movies. He quickly turns to Jack, who already had set off, pickaxe in hand, to save Miko.
The dilophosaur pair had nearly caught Miko, who had been weakened by the acid spit. Just as the first Dilo was about to pounce, it was met with the sharp end of Jack's pickaxe. Due to its low level, the Dilo crumpled to the ground in pain. The other Dilo hissed at Jack, its attention completely on the one who crippled its mate. It charged Jack, spitting and roaring in fury. Jack dodged the first two projectiles, but was hit by a third square in the chest. It left a searing pain that caused him to stumble over. The Dilo had jumped on him, getting ready to go for Jack's throat, when it was hit in the face by a stone blade. The Dilo turned to face the new threat, where Raf stood with his new stone hatchet in hand. He helped Jack get back up, putting the boys in a standoff against the dinosaur. The Dilo charged again, allowing the boys to sidestep it and hit it together, causing major damage. The dinosaur was bleeding profusely, desperately trying to shoot the two attackers. Jack and Raf hid behind a rock to avoid the spit. Suddenly, Jack sprinted up the side of the rock, where he jumped off, bearing down on the dilophosaur. With a swift swipe of his pickaxe, Jack smashed the skull of the tiny carnivore, killing it on impact.
Miko came running over to the boys, screaming, "That was so cool! You showed that dinosaur you don't mess with Team Prime!" Raf blushed slightly while Jack casually responded, "Yeah, guess hanging around Arcee and her training sessions has its benefits. But more importantly, this is what happens when you run off. Without the Autobots, all we have is each other on an island of dinosaurs and who knows what else. We can't lose each other."
Before Miko could create a retort, a pained wail sounded from behind them. The Dilophosaur Jack had crippled lay on the ground in great pain. It hurt the group to see what they had done, but it was the way of nature. That however didn't stop Raf from feeling bad for it.
"We have to do something to help it," Raf declared
Jack and Miko replied in unison, "But it just tried to KILL us"
"It was only doing what it was born to do, and we were the ones who did this to her. Miko, did you do anything to aggravate them?
"Well i did pick up a chubby bird that they might have been hunting, I think it was a dodo" Miko answered
"Right, and since her mate is gone, the least we can do is give her what she was after"
Though Miko and Jack didn't like it, they had to agree with Raf's reasoning, as without Miko's interference, the Dilos wouldn't have bothered them. So Miko went back to where she left the Dodo and carried its corpse over to where the Dilo lay. Laying the corpse at its mouth and knocking it unconscious to get away, the teens left the injured dinosaur there and set off further down the beach.
"Ok, so we lost some time before dark to get set up. Good thing I killed that Dilophosaur though because I leveled up again. And it looks like I can craft us some clothes, for all our benefit," Jack explained. Clothes would help them endure the elements, as well as make being around each other much less awkward. Before Jack could add on however, Miko asked, "Um, you guys mind explaining how this whole "crafting" thingy in your arm works?"
After a thorough explanation of what the implant does, Miko attempted to gather the materials for a pickaxe. when she picked up a piece of wood, she was surprised to see it get sucked into the implant. "Whoa, what was that?" she exclaimed. "Yeah, it does that. It puts it in your inventory so you can use it for crafting." Jack offhandedly replied. "It's convenient."
Miko didn't complain, and so gathered the rest of the materials needed for a stone pick and a hatchet, with the boys doing the same. When they each had leveled up and had one of each of the stone tools, they agreed it was best to start gathering the resources needed for a campfire. But before they could set off...
Grumble
Raf chuckled, "Well, guess my food meter is down huh?" Jack and Miko realized that they too were hungry. "Alright, let's get some food first, then we make a campfire" Jack declared.
The trio had split up to scavenge a few bushes and gather resources, finding various colored berries that the implant had labeled names such as "Tintoberry" and "Narcoberry" as well as greater resource yields thanks to their new tools. Jack was gathering more berries when he gathered a strange substance from the plant. Investigating further, he found it was the fiber he needed to craft clothes.
"Yes! Jack Darby, you are a genius," he muttered to himself.
Jack's thoughts were interrupted again as he heard a high pitched whine. Still slightly hurt from the Dilo fight, he jumped into the bushes to hide himself from potential predators. He peeked out of the bushes, his eyes falling on another bipedal lizard, much larger than the Dilo and with feathers sticking out. It didn't take much for him to identify the predator.
"Raptor," he whispered.
The Raptor was sniffing the air looking for prey, when it turned its eyes to the bush Jack was in. Halting all movement, Jack held his breath for a few tense seconds, praying the Raptor didn't notice him. As it began baring its teeth, a huge bird with giant claws burst from the jungle, rushing the Raptor. As it did, 4 more Raptors burst from the foliage and engaged the giant clawed beast.
I've been in this situation with the 'Cons enough times to know when to leave Jack thought. Taking a few more berries and fiber, he slipped away back to where he would meet Miko and Raf, hoping some unseen predator wasn't stalking him.
Raf had gone into the Jungle to gather more wood for the fire. Along the way, he had found that hitting a rock with his pickaxe yielded flint instead of stone, which he used to craft himself a torch and gain a level up.
As he walked around the jungle, there was a squeaking behind him. When he turned around, he saw several little yellow and green dinosaurs rushing at him. From the look of their mouths and his exposure to Jurassic Park III, he was able to tell they were Compys. Having seen what they could do, he sprinted away into the foliage. After gaining considerable distance, he tripped on something. Believing it to be a log, Raf was startled out of his mind when he came nose to nose with a human skull.
"Whoaa!" he yelled, scrambling backwards.
After the initial shock wore off, Raf investigated the body for anything of use. He found a spear, a slingshot, even a bow with arrows. The most intriguing thing he found however was an old book titled, "Dossiers and Journals of Helena Walker". Curious, Raf opened the book, and was greeted with a page with an in-depth description of the Therizinosaurus. Raf studied the page up and down, processing all the information it had to offer. Having been a dinosaur fanatic in his younger days, he already knew a fair bit of information about the lethal herbivore.
At least, until he arrived at the tab that said "domesticated". Raf had to re-read the word to make sure he saw it right. We can tame dinosaurs? he thought. As he read the tab, he discovered that tribes had once used the beast for gathering as well as hunting. The implications left Raf stunned for a few minutes, both because of the potential benefits domesticated animals can give, and because his inner 9 year old was giddy at the thought of having a pet dinosaur. It also comforted him to know there were other humans at one point, making him feel less alone.
Raf saw that it was beginning to get dark, so he picked up his torch and began making his way back to the beach, eager to share his discoveries with Jack and Miko.
Miko had gone further down the beach to try and get a feel of the area. Along the way, she had come across many new animals, prompting her to geek out at many of them. She even fed berries to a passing dodo. After some time, she came across a bay area that led into a river. Hoping to find something exciting farther inland, she continued further up river.
After arriving at a fork in the river, Miko decided to call it quits after finding nothing but piranhas, much to her and her arm's chagrin. As she was preparing to head back, she saw a Parasaurolophus hurriedly making its way across the river. Miko wondered why the dinosaur was in such a hurry, when her curiosity turned to fear as she spotted the large fin in the water.
The Megalodon burst forward in a flash of teeth, surprising the parasaur as it was rag dolled in its jaws, eventually killing it. Once the shark had taken a considerable chunk out of the parasaur's leg, it circled back for another bite, before a loud roar echoed across the river as the true reason the parasaur was running made its presence known.
The Spinosaurus had stealthily made its way behind the parasaur before towering high above both it and the Megalodon. The Spino roared at the shark, challenging it for its kill. The shark made a lunge at the dinosaur, earning it a deep scratch across its face and a bite to the dorsal fin. Realizing the battle was too risky in shallow water, the Megalodon retreated back out to the ocean. After tossing the parasaur corpse on land, the Spinosaur proceeded to give chase to the massive shark.
In the brush, Miko had watched the spectacle of nature unfold in its entirety, having been frozen both out of fear and amazement. As she saw the Spino give chase to the Meg, she saw that the parasaur corpse had landed near her position. It wouldnt hurt to have some meat for the fire she thought. After some doubt and checking if the coast was clear, Miko made a mad dash for the parasaur. Arriving at the corpse, she began swinging wildly at it while packing the meat into her implant as well as some hide. She went into her inventory and was surprise to see the parasaur had an inventory as well, containing a single item labeled "nerdy glasses". Deciding not to ponder on it, she took the glasses from its inventory to give Raf and continued harvesting. After several more swings, the corpse disintegrated.
"Weird, but I've seen weirder," she said out loud.
As she was getting ready to head back, a roar called her attention to the Spinosaurus barreling down on her. It had returned from chasing the shark in time to see Miko harvesting its kill. With a squeal, Miko began sprinting into the jungle, the Spino hot on her heels.
Miko checked her stamina as she ran, her anxiety growing when she saw her stamina at 34/110. She would not be able to outrun the Spino unless a miracle happened. Thankfully, it did. After going a considerable distance into the jungle, the Spino had given up its pursuit and began to return to the river. Panting heavily, Miko wheezed out, "Man, got some serious Skyquake vibes from that. I think I should head back." With that, Miko tiredly trekked back to the beach, excited to tell the others what events had occured.
Arcee had just finished her training session with the new recruits. Presently, all she wanted to do was go take an oil bath and enter her sleep mode. Ever since the restoration of Cybertron, Arcee's new position as commander and war hero had been both a blessing and a curse. She appreciated the benefits and the fact that she was honored alongside all her friends on their restored home, but there were days where she wished she was still on Earth, if only to avoid the holowork and to have some RR. Still, she couldn't complain. Her old life was back, and she was going to enjoy it. She still couldn't help thinking about the kids though after all these years, especially Jack. She had seen him as family, a little brother of sorts. Which made the call from Ratchet all the more heartbreaking when she heard he had died at 86 years old. The memory still saddened Arcee when she thought of it.
Arcee was shaken from her stupor when her two comrades in arms, Bumblebee and Bulkhead, came running towards her.
"Arcee, we need to talk," Bumblebee stated. "What's happening Bee?" she asked. "Bee' got a distress call from Earth. Get this, it was sent two centuries ago," Bulkhead finished.
"What? How is that possible? If something was wrong, Ratchet would have sent a message at least a day after," Arcee said in alarm. How could Ratchet not have not known to contact them? "Does this have to do with the humans' discovery of energon?" she stammered.
"We're not sure. All we know is we need to get to Earth as soon as possible," Bumblebee said.
"Come on, we need to alert Ultra Magnus right now," Arcee hurriedly stated, as she and the two mechs transformed and hurried to the General's room.
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