Among Friends
Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, Beast Wars, or any of the characters affiliated with either series. Only the Autobot Vapor is of my creation. This is my first attempt at writing Transformers fan fiction, so please only constructive criticism. Many thanks go out to my wonderful new beta Blackwing.Rose for her help. She's got a wonderful Transformers story called How We Seared the Sky, which is a must read for all you fans out there. Thank you and please enjoy.
Chapter 1: Message Received
"I am Optimus Prime, and I send this message to any survivors of my kind
who may be taking refuge among other systems, other stars. You are not alone.
You have a home here, among others of your kind. We are waiting."
The voice was as welcome to the pair as energon in an empty tank. It had been
so long since they had heard a friendly voice of any sort, let alone a message
from the leader of their faction. Both of them had feared that they were the
last of their squad still functioning, seeing as the Tripredacus Council had
ordered an all-out attack on every single Autobot and Maximal they came across
- it was this that had forced them off the planet, fleeing for their very
lives. At first there had been a team of twelve traveling together, each of
them bringing something different to the group.
As time went on, however, their numbers slowly dwindled until there were just
five of them left. At their last encounter with the special Predacon operative
unit, their faction was separated into two groups, with each group going in a
different direction. With an ordered communications blackout they had no way
of knowing what had happened to their comrades, or even if any of them were
still online.
"Did you get all of that, Vapor? I thought Prime was dead," a soft,
decidedly feminine voice said.
"As we all did, partner. As we all did," the other warrior replied,
continuing to move forward as they shifted their trajectory to bring them to
Prime's position. "If it is truly him, then this war may well turn back to
our favor. If not, then Primus help us all."
There was silence as Vapor continued adjusting his trajectory so that they
would be en route to where their esteemed leader's communication had come
from. He considered himself lucky that he had been able to get his scanners on
an alternate form from Earth - he had been too vulnerable as a protoform,
even with his double-barreled cannons. Although it had to look strange... an
F/A-16 Hornet flying free in space with nothing else in sight.
It was a long time before the second of the two, decidedly smaller and
sitting still in the air-pressurized cockpit of her companion's alternate
form, spoke up again. "These co-ordinates have us aimed back to Earth. If we
really have allies there, then they may have been spared from the worst of
this war."
"Let's hope so... I really need maintenance. That last attack nearly
offlined me permanently - and then where would you have been?" he teased
lightly, hoping to lighten the permanently somber mood that they had around
them.
"One dead little femme," she teased back, leaning further back into her
seat. Her helmet was on snugly despite the fact that the cabin was
pressurized, and instead of a flight suit, she wore was appeared to be an
adapted space suit - a less bulky one to accommodate her partner's less than
spacious interior.
(Three Days Later)
"Are we in communications range?" Vapor asked the one in his cockpit,
moving easily to one side as he made to break orbit and head in towards the
message's origin.
They had been on the move constantly since they had first heard those
Primus-blessed words, wanting to be back in friendly territory before their
Predacon pursuers caught up with them. Long-range communications had been
knocked out in one of their last encounters, meaning that they had to be
within a hundred Earth miles of the location before they would even hear them
calling.
"That is an affirmative, my friend. Call Prime."
"Right," he started, pushing his damaged communicator as far as it would
go before opening the channel. "Optimus Prime, I am Vapor, an Autobot.
Request co-ordinates and permission to come planet side."
The response came quickly, startling both of the two companions. The voice
was a little different from the Optimus the two of them knew, but it wasn't
so off that it made too much of a difference. "Permission granted, soldier -
and good to have you."
He shut off the communication, turning his sensors inwards to speak with his
partner. "Well, that was him, alright. Never thought we'd see the day when
Prime would return from the dead. I thought Megatron killed him."
"Guess his death was over-" She stopped, tapping the panel in front of
her to get her partner's attention. "Predacon bogies coming up fast to our
port side. Evasive maneuvers!"
"I know, I know!" Vapor shot back, veering hard to the right to evade the
onslaught of fire from the five bot team. He opened the channel back to
Optimus, sending out a distress call. "Vapor to Prime, can you read me? We
have five hostiles on our tails and we are comin' in hot! I repeat, we are
comin' in- AUG!"
The other member of the team finally got the comm back, and finished the
relay. "Vapor is offline, requesting immediate backup. Prepare yourselves,
we are coming in hot," she finished calmly, grabbing hold of the controls in
front of her and steering herself and her now unconscious partner down through
the atmosphere. She'd had to override his autopilot to get control, but it
was either that or be destroyed.
"We'll cover you, soldier. Hold on, we're on our way," came the
rushed voice of Optimus Prime.
She would have to hold out... have to keep them both alive long enough for
the Autobots to reach them. She would rather die than have the Predacons take
them as prisoners. Primus only knew what they did to their prisoners. It was
like what she and Vapor had always gone by, their motto for most everything
they did.
Live free, fight free. Fly free, die free.
That's it.
I would appreciate any help on jet terminology.
The female member of this team will be introduced next chapter.
Please Read and Review.