Chapter 1 - Transmissions and Travel
After everyone went into stasis for the night, I climbed onto the roof to gather my thoughts. Life has been hectic ever since we landed on Earth. Megatron and his Decepticons have been fighting us none stop since the All-spark dispersed into fragments and the Elite Guard hasn't been helpful with the fact either. For added artillery they gave us stasis cuffs, no backup, no weapons, pit, they didn't even give us any hints as how to locate the other fragments or how to get rid of the Decepticons. All the fighting that we have done since discovering the All-spark makes me longing for my home. It was peaceful there, everyone was kind and considerate, not like on Cybertron or here on Earth. I researched Earth's history and was shocked by how similar the humans and Cybertronians are.
Thinking of my home I subconsciously grabbed a small object from my subspace pocket. It was a small shinny sphere that had a living picture of the quadrant my home was located in. And at the center of it all was a large ship roughly half the size of Earth's moon. It was not much to look at, just an ancient colony ship, but on the inside was a lively place, like a small country for transformers like myself. I watch the stars above me, and let the tears flow while clutching the sphere as a life line, the unwanted memories of my last moments aboard my home flashing through my processor.
I sat like that for a while before a car drove by and snapped me out of my little trance. Wiping the tears from my face plate, I sub spaced the sphere and headed inside to my berth room to get some rest.
In the morning, everyone was in the Rec. room consuming morning nutrients of oil and energon. (Sari was with her dad on a vacation for a few days so we won't need any human food.) Optimus Prime was talking to Ratchet about the recent 'con activity, Prowl was being his silent ninja self, and Bulkhead was going over some calculations for the space bridge he and Professor Sumdac are making. It was nice to have a peaceful morning and, unfortunately, it was reminding me of my home and I would rather not remember right now; so I decided to disrupt things a bit.
"Hey guys, what are we doing today?" I asked trying to sound bored.
"Later you and Bulkhead will go to the site were Megatron's space bridge was and try to find parts to use in the one we are building. Prowl, Ratchet and I will be patrolling the city keeping an eye out for any trouble and, hopefully, find some more fragments." Prime said nonchalantly.
"Yes and try to be careful while you are out. I've fixed too many dents this past week and I am not in the mood to be fixing any more, understand?" Ratchet said in a threatening tone. I knew he really didn't mean anything by it. We all can tell that he cares about us and does not want us to get hurt.
I put on a big grin and replied "Don't worry doc-bot, we'll be fine."
After breakfast, Bulkhead and I went back to the mine, found some parts, and brought them back without any problems, which made Ratchet relieved. The others found an All-spark fragment without needing our assistance and all in all today was a good day.
The next morning began with alarms sounding, jolting me awake from stasis. Groaning I got up and hurried into the main room to join the others.
"What's with all the racket!" yelled Ratchet. "Decepticons?" asked Prowl. "Another All-spark fragment?" asked Bulkhead.
Prime shook his, "No. Teletran-1 picked up a long distance emergency transition from an unknown source in space."
Curious I asked, "If the message is from space, then how were we able to pick it up from the planet's surface?"
"It didn't come through very well. We lost a part of the message because of the atmosphere, but I was able to unscramble what we did receive." Prime said as he began the sequence to play the video.
At first the screen was just static and then it cleared up, not completely, but enough to see the background of a command center in a ship. A tall mech was on the screen, you could tell he was old, older than Ratchet old, and was dying from his graying armor. "We are under attack … the Defender ha … len. I repeat … Defender has fallen. Find the Ark before it's too late!" At that the mech was stabbed through by a dark shadow and the video cut out.
There was a stunned silence between us as we let the message sink in. Optimus was first to speak, "The Defender and the Ark, hmm, those names sound familiar."
Ratchet faced the Prime and said, "It should since you watched all of those history vids. The Ark and the Defender were two of the most advanced ships ever built by Cybertronians, and they happen to be ancient vessels created during the time of the Thirteen Primes, long before the war started."
"If they were created that long ago, how are they relevant to the war against the Decepticons?" asked Prowl.
Prime pondered for a moment before answering, "They were large warships and very powerful, but, if I recall correctly, the Ark was more of a carrier vessel for a powerful artifact similar to the All-spark and the Defender was it's sister ship which was more of a guardian vessel to the Ark."
"And that's not all." Everyone turned to Ratchet as he spoke, "The Defender carried one of the keys to unlocking whatever was sealed inside of the Ark. There were many stories about what the artifact was, and, since the Thirteen suddenly disappeared when they were finished building the ships, many think that the Ark contains the remains of the Thirteen Primes and their weapons."
"So, the 'cons wanted the power of the primes?" asked a confused Bulkhead.
"Yes, and he was close to gaining them before they vanished through the space bridge." finished Ratchet.
"I'm finding some weird similarities here." Prowl said, remembering the story about the All-spark and their first encounter with it.
Everyone looked at him like he grew an extra limb. Uncomfortably he said, "What?"
"I was expecting a comment like that to be made from the kid, not Prowl." Ratchet said mainly to himself but loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Speaking of Bumblebee…" Prime trailed off, "He has been awfully quiet."
Tapping him on the shoulder, Bulkhead said, "Hey little buddy, are you okay?"
Quickly snapping out of it, Bumblebee replies, "Oh, uh, everything is fine why do you ask."
"You haven't said a word since we watched the transmission. We were getting worried about you." said Prime
"Oh, sorry I was just thinking that we should contact the Elite Guard about this, you know, incase it's really important or something." Bee said while rubbing the back of his helm.
Nodding Prime said, "That's a good idea. I'll call Ultra Magnus and see what he thinks about it. The rest of you are dismissed."
With that Prime faced the monitor again to call Cybertron while the rest did whatever they felt like. Ratchet went into the med-bay, Prowl went to his room to meditate, Bulkhead to paint, and I decided to go to out for a drive.
Outside the base I thought about what the bot on the transmission said, to find the Ark. The Ark sounded too familiar, come to think of it, my home is a large ship, but I never learned its name. I wish I did learn it. Sighing I continued to drive around deep in thought until Optimus comm. Linked me saying that the Elite Guard will be arriving within the hour, having received the transmission earlier and was in the galaxy.
I bided my time and headed towards the direction of the Elite Guard ship when I saw it was landing.
I arrived just in time to meet up with Ultra Magnus, Sentinel Prime, Jazz, and the jet twins, Jetfire and Jetstorm. I transformed into robot mode and walked up to them, "Welcome back to Earth." I said with enthusiasm.
"Greetings young scout. I did not expect to have anyone meet with us." said the Magnus
"Oh, I was already out on patrol so I thought I might escort you back to base." I said. "Well isn't that nice." retorted Sentinel.
I ignored him and greeted the others, "Hey Jazz, twins." "How's it hanging Bee." said Jazz "It is good to be seeing you." said the twins.
"Let us head out now. Autobots transform." said Ultra Magnus as he transformed into a military assault vehicle. I transformed and took the lead to base, which Sentinel complained about, but we ignored him. The jet twins got there first, since they took the sky road.
At the base, and back in robot mode, we met up with the rest of my teammates, who were already chatting with the twins.
Ultra Magnus called into the Rec. room, since it was big enough for all of us to be in, and proceeded to explain the situation. "We received the transmission earlier in the week. The Defender was a first class warship with highly advanced technology and weaponry, finding that it was defeated is a problem."
"So what do you propose we do Ultra Magnus, sir?" asked Optimus. "I propose that we find the Ark before whoever it was that destroyed the Defender. We already know that a map to the Ark exists and once we find it we can leave to find the Ark." said the Magnus.
"Wait, so you're saying that the map to the Ark is here on Earth?" asked Prowl from his spot next to Jazz. "From what our sensors picked up, it's somewhere in the city." said Sentinel.
I stood there thinking, 'I came from a ship, the name Ark sound familiar, and the sphere that pictures my home could possibly be used as a map when looking at the stars in the picture.' I needed more information if I was to mention about my home so I asked, "What does the map look like?"
"It is small and round and shows the Ark's current location in real time affects." said Jazz. Seeming to notice that I tensed up, Ultra Magnus looked at me and before he could say something, Sentinel said in an accusing tone, "You know something don't you?"
I said nothing and took out the sphere from my subspace pocket to show everyone who just gaped at the sphere in awe. "I have had this since I was a sparkling. It's the only thing I have left of my home, which is the ship in the picture." Now everyone shifted their gaze to me as I continued, "I don't know if this is what you are looking for, but from what has been said, there were too many coincidences to keep quiet about it."
"This is indeed the map we were looking for, though I am surprised to hear that you are from the Ark." said Ultra Magnus.
"I didn't know that it was the Ark. I never really learned the name of it since I had to leave during my early sparkling years." I said somewhat sadly. "I don't even know why I had to leave or why I was the only one that left." Ultra Magnus placed his hand on my shoulder in comfort, "Once we find the Ark, you will likely find the answers you seek." he said to me before announcing, "We shall now make arrangements to leave for the Ark. We leave in two days' time."
Meanwhile, at the Decepticon base…
"The Ark escaped me once, but it will not escape me again!" growled Megatron as he finished listening to the Autobots conversation. "Blitzwing, Lugnut prepare the ship for departure."
"Yes of course my liege." Lugnut bowed as he said this before leaving the room. Blitzwing followed him after saying, "yes my lord."
Megatron turned to the monitor where Shockwave appeared on the screen. "Greeting, Lord Megatron. Is there something that you need?"
Inwardly smirking, Megatron relayed his orders, "Shockwave, I need you to get every bit of information you can on the Ark, its sister ship the Defender, and the autobot scout Bumblebee." Shockwave was slightly shocked about Megatron's interest in his old boot camp pal, but he knew not to question Megatron's orders. "As you command, my lord." he said before the connection ended.
'Soon, very soon, the Ark and its contents shall be mine.' thought Megatron evilly. 'And all that I need is that map.' Queue evil laughter
Back at the Autobot base...
The Elite Guard went back to their ship while my friends and I gathered our gear. Optimus had called Sari and her dad to tell them about our trip, he said that Sari was hysterical. She took the next flight home and within a few hours arrived at the base.
"I'm back guys!" Sari yelled as she came into the factory. "And I demand that you tell me everything!" Oh she was mad, very scary mad.
Jazz happened to be with us at the time so he and Prowl began explaining about the transmission we received, about the two ships' history, and went over my involvement, with some reluctance.
"Okay, so let me get this straight. You guys are leaving to find a ship called the Ark so you can protect a bunch of dead guys and said ship just so happens to be Bumblebee's home. Did I get all that right?" Sari said, she was still a little confused about why the 'cons would want dead people. She cringed at the thought.
Jazz and Prowl nodded to say that yes she did get it right. Optimus, Ratchet, and Bulkhead came into the room, carrying some boxes when they heard Sari say, "Okay, so you do know that I'm not letting you guys leave without me right?" She looked up at the bots in the room and flashed a mischievous grin.
"Sari, that decision up to Ultra Magnus, not us." Optimus said placing the box he was carrying down on the other side of the room. "O.P. is right little lady. Though he may not mind you tagging along." Jazz stated as the other boxes were set down next to the first. "I can ask him when I go back to the ship later."
"Thanks Jazz." Looking around the room Sari noticed the lack of yellow mini-bots, "Has anyone seen Bumblebee?" Bulkhead replied, "Little buddy is either in his room or on the roof." "Thanks Bulkhead!" Sari said while leaving to find her friend.
Sari found Bumblebee on the roof looking out at the city looking sad. She walked up beside him and sat down, they sat there in silence for a few minutes before he said, "I'm going to miss Detroit and Earth." Worried about her friend, Sari said, "Why do you say that? It's like you are never coming back."
Bee sighed before saying, "Sari, I don't know if I am. I mean I haven't been home since I was a sparkling. I want to see the Ark again with my entire spark and with it being in danger..." he trailed off, "I just don't know."
Sari looked up into her friends face plate, both were on the verge of tears. Sari got up and hugged her friend around the neck and said, "Even if you don't come back, I am going with you so you'll have a part of Earth with you when go home." He embraced her back and asked, "You are coming with us?" She let go and got into her tough girl pose saying, "If they don't let me I will still find a way to go with you." He smiled and softly said, "Thank you."
They sat together looking out towards the city as the sun began to set. When the sun disappeared into to distance, Sari got up and said, "Well if I'm gonna go you guys, I better pack. Wanna give me a lift for old time sake?" He gently picked up his friend and said, "Sure, I had everything packed before I came up here."
Sari smiled and said, "Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" With that they climbed down from the roof and went to Sumdac Tower. Not noticing the dark shadow that watching them from a distance.
'So that's the keeper of the map. It will be too difficult to try and steal it, might as well follow them from a distance then.' thought the shadow as it disappeared into the night.
Author's Note...
Chapter 1 has been redone, spelling and grammar mistakes have been corrected!
I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my very first fanfiction story, The ship, the legend, and the Bee.
Since this is my first fanfiction I need my fantastic readers to comment about what they wish to see in the future or any other constructive criticism that might help me make this story even better.
The second and third chapters are also fixed and will be posted shortly after this one.
This is Smartcat9 signing off.