A/N: The slightly anticipated sequel has finally arrived. I hope you enjoy it.

Creative Consultant: "Flair the demon dragon king". Helped me come up some good ideas.

Disclaimer: All characters pertaining to this story (sadly) belong to Hasbro.

Forever is a Long Time Coming

Unexpected Onslaught

"Status report." the deep voice of the Captain of the Ark ordered, from his chair on the bridge. The ship had just dropped out of light-speed.

"It was a clean jump." Came the over-eager, young, voice of the ships Navigator. She was sitting just ten feet in front of the command chair. She spun her chair around and made eye contact with the captain. "We're green across the screen."

"Excellent work." The Captain said, dipping his chin slightly in a nod. "What is our location?"

The navigator turned back to her console and used her hands to flip through the hologaphic screens. "Looks like we slipped out a little early, Sir. We're currently orbiting a planet called Jupe-a-tier..."

"Heh. That's Jupiter, kid." The ships gunnery officer corrected with a mature, yet enthusiastic tone. He was sitting at his chair at the Ark's tactical station, situated just five feet to the right of the young navigator.

"Who comes up with this stuff?" the young bot asked, shaking her head. "I mean, seriously. What kind of name is Jupiter, anyways?"

The captain chuckled. "It is a word derived from ancient Earth, Young one. As much as we Cybertronian's believe in the Great Void, and the All-Spark, humans too believe in the existence of greater beings. Jupiter is the name of a ancient god, from Earth's past."

"Oh." the navigator said with an embarrassed tone.

"Ah. Don't worry about it, Kid." the tactical officer laughed. "You'll get the hang of all that information soon enough."

"What? Why?" The young bot asked, turning her head to look at him. "How long are we going to be staying?"

"Did you not read your mission briefing?" the captain asked, with a hint of concern. "It was my understanding that you did."

She spun her chair around, and faced her captain with a guilty expression. "I, uh, sorta glossed over that part ..."

Her captain made a deep rumbling noise from the back of his throat. "Very well. We are here to lend support to Optimus Prime and his remaining crew. As it was stated in his last deep-space transmission, the Decepticons have made their presence known on Earth. Not only that, but it was suggested that they have the Nemesis with them."

"Wait. Remaining crew?" the navigator repeated. She then asked in a worried voice"Was someone lost?"

"You didn't read that part, either?" The tactical officer asked. She shook her head no. "Cliffjumper, unfortunately, was lost to the Void."

"What?" The navigator asked in shock. "No! That can't be right. He was too strong. He can't be gone!"

"It is as the Chief says." The Captain assured her, "That is why we are going to Earth to lend assistance."

"Cliff..." the young bot mumbled, as she turned back to her console.

"What is our current position?" The captain asked, trying to distract his pilot.

"Uh... we're just a few clicks from Earth's orbit." She responded, sounding a little too professional.

"Any communications from our friends?" The Chief asked.

"That's a big negative." She reported, flipping through her screens, "All scopes are blank."

The captain hummed, and pressed his fingers together. "Not surprising."

"Sir?" The Chief asked, turning in his seat to look at his Captain.

The captain crossed his fingers together. "If the Nemesis in on Earth, chances are the Decepticons will be scanning for Autobot communications. Thus, Optimus would keep all transmissions to a minimum."

"Oh." the chief and the navigator said at the same time.

"So, how can we find them?" The pilot asked, turning her head to look at her Captain. "They could be any-" Her question was cut short by a sudden beeping noise from her computer. "Wait a click, I got something."

"Report." The Captain ordered.

"I don't know what it is..." She said, narrowing her eyes. "It's not an autobot signal. But it isn't Decepticon either..."

"Scrap!" the Chief shouted. He punched some commands into his console, bringing the Ark's defenses on-line. "We got heavy incoming!"

"What-?" the Captain began to ask, but a sudden impact struck the Ark, and cut him off.

"Meteors!" The chief shouted. The Ark's auto-cannons began firing. More hits rang across the hull of the ship. "Lieutenant!" He yelled at the ships Navigator, "Get us out of this mess!"

"Roger!" the Lieutenant exclaimed, as she tried her best to avoid the giant space rocks. "Scrap! There's too many-"

Another, larger, impact shook the Ark. It caused the Lieutenant to be thrown from her chair.

"That was not a meteor!" The Captain yelled, "That was an energy blast!"

The Lieutenant managed to climbed back into her seat. "Scrap! We got a bogie!, Chief! Are you able to get a lock?"

"Blasted thing is to fast for the auto-cannons!" The Chief answered, slamming his fists into the controls. "Fraginn' thing can move!"

Another blast rocked the Ark. All three autobots gripped their chairs to remain sitting.

"We may have another, ugh!" the lieutenant groaned, as yet another blast hit, "Problem! Sensors picked up another ship! It's profile matches the Nemesis!"

"By the All-Spark..." The Captain said in awe. "Chief! I don't want to give the Nemesis a chance to touch us." he ordered. "Charge the main cannon, and shoot it down."

"Roger that, Sir." the Chief responded. He punched a button on his board. "Main cannon charg- Oof!"

More blasts from the unknown ship, combined with hits from the meteor shower, struck the Ark.

"Frag it!" the young navigator shouted. "Chief! Get that guy off my tail! One more hit to our back end, and I'm not going to be landing this thing, I'm going to be crashing it! "

"I can't do a fraggin' thing!" The Chief shot back, "Whatever that ship is, it's moving too fast for me to get a lock!"

"Lieutenant!" The Captain shouted, "Get us to the surface. If we get shot down, I do not want us to end up as part of scenery!"

"I'm doing my best, Sir." she defended. "This isn't... wait... I've got something!"

"What is it?" The Captain asked his pilot.

"It's weak... but I got two Autobot signals on the grid." She answered. "No, wait... make that six."

"Six?" The gunnery chief asked in disbelief.

"Angle us towards that signal, Lieutenant." The Captain ordered, "That must be where Optimus has his base of operations, located."

"Aye, Sir. Changing -" She was cut off as another warning light flashed to life. Her optics went wide. "Brace for IMPACT!"

The Ark and the attacking ship were both hit with the Nemesis's main fusion cannon.

"SCRAP!" The chief yelled. "All systems are off-line! We're flying dark!

"Open all air flaps!" The Captain ordered. "Slow our decent!"

"Flaps aren't responding, Sir!" the lieutenant reported, "Emergency power is gone! The hull is on fire! We got nothing! And, Scrap! We're heading right for a mountain!"

"Matrix preserve us..." The Captain whispered, as the Ark crashed into the surface.

…

"DAMAGE REPORT!" The general of the attacking ship demanded as he slammed his fist into his command chair.

"Navigation off-line!," His weapons master/pilot answered with a feral growl. "Emergency power engaged! The autobot ship took the brunt of the blast from the Nemesis!"

"Keep us airborne!" The general order, slamming his fist again.

"And how do you expect us to do that?" the commander asked with sneering sarcasm, from her position at the engineering station. "We barely have enough power for the engines to make a controlled decent!"

"Blast it!" The general yelled.

"Sir!" The pilot growled, pointing out the main window.

"What!"

"The Ark! She is on fire!" the pilot exclaimed. "She is loosing altitude!"

"Some good news..." The General grumbled. "What of the Nemesis?"

"That cursed thing is just sitting there." the Commander answered. "According to my scans, her main batteries are gone."

"Then what did they hit us with?" The general demanded.

"The power reading suggests it was her main fusion cannon." the Commander explained, as she typed commands into her computer. "If the Ark wasn't in the way, we wouldn't even be here."

"The main cannon?" the pilot growled, "Megatron would not be so foolish as to use it on such a target."

"No." The general agreed. "Only one decepticon would be so stupid."

"That would be Starscream." The Commander said with a hiss. "Idiot."

"Can you land us somewhere safe?" The general demanded of his pilot.

"Humph. The ship, she is badly damaged." The pilot explained. "I am able to land, yes. But, it will be rough."

"We have another problem." The Commander said. She turned away from her console.

"What?" her General barked.

"No need to so rude." she chided. "Our current energy reserves are running out quickly. Which means we have a puncture in our energon tanks."

"Blast!" he yelled, slamming his fist. Again. "What is our location?"

"That is a problem..." The pilot gulped. "We are currently flying lower, and lower, over, what is called the Pacific ocean."

"What!" the general shouted.

"What is worse..." The pilot continued, "Is our current trajectory puts us in line with the Mariana Trench. Which is the deepest part of this world's ocean."

"Commander! Shunt all power to hull integrity!" the general demanded.

"Yes, General." The Commander said, as she entered the command on her console. "That's everything we have."

"Brace for impact in... five, four, three, two..." The pilot counted down, as the ship lost altitude.

…

"Report." Starscream ordered. He was standing on the bridge of the Nemesis, with his hands folded behind his back.

"The Ark has suffered major damage." A vehicon drone reported. "It crash landed into the side of a mountain. Just outside of Jasper, Nevada."

"And the other ship?" Starscream asked next.

"It was also hit with the main cannon. Though not directly." The drone explained. "It's pilot managed to land it in the Pacific ocean."

"Hm." Starscream shrugged indifferently. "No matter."

"My Lord." A second vehicon said, "The computer managed to identify the second ship."

Interests piqued, Starscream walked over the scanners, where the second vehicon was standing. He glanced at the screen silently.

"Set course for that crash site." Starscream ordered. "I want that ship recovered immediately."

"My Lord?" the vehicon asked in a confused tone. "What about the Ark? Should we not -"

With a growl, Starscream smacked the drone across face with the back of his hand. "Do not question my orders! And do as I command!"

"Yes, My Lord." the drone said, as he picked himself up of the floor. "Right away."

"Oh, did I miss a show?" Knock Out asked sarcastically, as he walked onto the bridge.

Starscream turned to face the Decepticon medic. "And what are you doing here, Doctor? Should you not be... taking care of our dear, deactivated, leader?"

"That's just the reason why I came up here to chat, Mighty Starscream." Knock Out explained. "I have an update that might interest you."

"Explain." Starscream said suspiciously, narrowing his optics.

"If you would be so kind as to follow me?" Knock Out asked, gesturing with his thumb towards Starscream's private quarters.

The two walked into the room. Once the doors were closed and locked, Knock Out began talking.

"It seems, My Lord, that Megatron is beginning to reactivate." The medic explained.

"How is that possible?" Starscream sneered.

"Something to do with the Dark energon flowing through his body." Knock Out answered with a shrug. "It appears, that in his haste, Megatron did not consider the potential adverse affects the energon would have on him."

"What do you mean?" Starscream asked.

"After much study, it would seem that Megatron shall remain in stasis lock. Forever." Knock Out said. "That is, unless, a piece of Dark energon is re-inserted into this spark chamber."

"A pity then, that the original piece was destroyed in the explosion." Starscream surmised.

Knock Out crossed his arms. "Quite. However, I must inform you, My Lord, that Megatron's brain is active."

Starscream scowled at Knock Out. "Is he aware of his surroundings?"

"It's a possibility, yes." The medic shrugged. "Though I can't be certain."

"That... may be a problem." Starscream hummed, as he stroked his chin.

"Not necessarily." Knock Out smirked.

"What do you mean?" Starscream asked.

"Well, like I said... Megatron will only wake up if Dark energon is put in his spark chamber." Knock Out explained. "If it isn't, well... his mind will only remain active until the remaining energon runs out. Which isn't very long, if I am to guess." He shot a knowing smile at Starscream, "It would be a pity if that came to pass."

"You know something..." Starscream growled. "Tell me. Now."

"I know that Megatron used dark energon on the Autobot, Cliffjumper." Knock Out said. "I also know that he used it on an army of Cybertonian zombies here on Earth. Now, what are the odds of there being fragments left over at those two locations?"

"I see." Starscream nodded his head. "If you knew there is dark energon, why have you not gone to retrieve it yet?"

"Maybe I don't want to." Knock Out said. "Maybe, I like the way you run things better than how Megatron ran them."

Starscream narrowed his optics. "Oh? And what price do I have to pay for your silence?"

Knock Out shrugged. "I haven't decided. But, I'll let you know when I do. In the mean time, we have to convince Soundwave that Megatron cannot be fixed."

…

Silverbolt landed near the crash site. A little roughly, due to the shock wave caused by the Ark, He transformed into his robot mode (after Miko and Raf got out his cockpit, and Arcee got off his back.). He looked up at what was once, the autobot bunker.

The Arks thrusters were sticking out of the mountain, angled in the air at 30 degrees. The fire on the hull had been extinguished from the the rocks and dirt falling on top of it.

"Whoa..." he whispered. "I hope the others are okay."

Arcee was hugging herself. "I hope so too."

Silverbolt used his arm computer to scan for autobot signatures. "I'm only reading four energy sources." he said, after thirty seconds of scanning. "Three unknowns. Which are pretty strong. And the fourth is... Optimus... and it's weak. But I'm not getting the others at all."

"Maybe... they managed to bridge out." Raf said hesitantly, "And Optimus had to... stay behind to activate it."

"Yeah," Miko said, trying to sound reassuring. "You never know, right?"

"Yeah...' Arcee agreed.

"Man..." Silverbolt gasped, he, and the others, walked towards the Ark. "Look at those pot marks. This thing took some major damage. " He noticed that two of the five thrusters were completely destroyed. As in, completely gone. "Whatever hit it was big and powerful."

"The Nemesis." Arcee growled. "Has to be. Blasted Starscream."

"How are we going to get to Optimus?" Raf asked suddenly. "If he's hurt, he might need our help."

Arcee looked down at her small friend. "I don't know, Raf. With the Ark in the way, there's no way we can get to him."

"Maybe we can ask whoever is inside the ship for help." Miko suggested. "Can you open the doors, Arcee?"

"I can try." Arcee answered. She walked over to the underbelly of the ship. "If I'm right, there should be a entrance ramp here somewhere."

"It's right there." Silverbolt said, holding up his scanning tool. "But I don't think we can open it. The ship has absolutely no power."

"Scrap!" Arcee yelled. She punched the hull of the Ark with her right fist. "Piece of fraggin' junk!"

Just then, the exit ramp hissed open. Silverbolt, Arcee, Raf, and Miko all jumped at the noise. They quickly got out of the way, as the giant ramp slowly lowered itself.

"Please do not insult my ship." the deep voice of the Ark's Captain, kindly requested.

TBC.