Chapter 1
Sun shone brightly into the room causing Seth Harrison to groan and bury his head deeper under the blankets. Why is it even on his days off he couldn't sleep in? After laying there for a few minutes Seth finally reached for his cell phone to check the time. 9:11am, super. Guess he should go ahead and get up.
After using the restroom Seth went into the kitchen to fix himself a bowl of cereal. With no plans for the day he was hoping to get some Medal of Honor time in along with Borderlands. Both games he had bought a few months ago but have yet to really play.
He was about to turn on the Xbox when his cell phone began to chirp. Knowing the message tone, Seth quickly went back into his bedroom to check it out.
"Was wondering if ya can give me a ride to the grocery store?" Said the text message from his friend, Tanner Littleton.
Seth let out a heavy sigh as he went to a pile of clothes on the floor. "Yeah, what time did you wanna go?" He texted back.
"Whenever. Just getting up, still have to shower and all that."
"Right on, I'll do the same. See ya in an hour."
Somewhere in Space
"Systems at 65%, emergency stasis canceled."
Optimus Prime's optics slowly flickered open but it took several seconds for his systems to catch up. When they did the first sight he saw was the ceiling in the command center of the Ark. What the slag had happened to him?
"Computer, status report." When Teletran-1 didn't respond Optimus slowly looked around to see several Autobots out of commission. "Anybody else awake?" When he didn't get a response Optimus forced his aching body to sit up. "Jazz, Prowl, Bumblebee…."
"I feel like I've been hit by a transport ship." Came Jazz's groggy voice to his left. "What the slag had happened to us?"
"I'm still trying to figure that out myself, Jazz."
Optimus let out a hiss as a sharp pain raced up from his right knee. When he glanced down he could see a piece of shrapnel embedded in his armor, just above his knee joint. But from where? What he could see before him was still rather intact which was a good sign.
"How long were we out for?" Asked Jazz as he shakily got to his feet. "Cause what I'm seeing out the window sure doesn't look familiar."
"My head…." Bumblebee slowly sat up from where he lay on the floor, both hands wrapped around his helmet. "Optimus, you okay?"
Optimus nodded. "I will live." He gradually leaned forward to give Teletran-1 a good smack with his hand. "Come on, ancient piece of scrap work for us."
Lights inside the command center began to flicker on as the computer slowly came to life. Soon the stars in the windows were replaced with several images of their galaxy but with planets he didn't recognize. And if he read the data right they have been floating aimlessly through space for several hundred years.
Bumblebee got to his feet and though a bit unsteady he managed to make his way to Optimus' side. "What now?"
"We do what we had planned on doing in the first place. Exploration."
Earth
When Seth arrived at Tanner's he parked his truck in the driveway then ran up a ramp to the front door. He only had to knock three times before his friend opened the door with his aid dog, Harper by his side.
"Thanks man, really appreciate this." Tanner said with his hands.
Seth nodded as he signed back, "Not a problem. What happened to your sister?"
Tanner gave Seth a shrug. "Who knows with Becca." He motioned for Harper to stay so he could lock the front door. Once done he turned back around to sign, "Really hope to get my car fixed soon."
Seth had a good chuckle at this. "Your piece of junk just needs to be put out of it's misery."
"Yeah, but what can ya do."
Once inside Tanner's truck Seth took out his smart phone to start an app called, Dragon Dictation that will help communicate by translating speech into text. This way both friends can still continue talking while Tanner drove to the grocery store.
Seth pulled into the main thoroughfare and began the thirty minute drive to the nearest grocery store. Where they both lived in Montana there wasn't a lot of options when it came to shopping and the nearest big town was a good two hours away. To avoid that Seth always went to Juniper, a town just large enough to have a full sized grocery store and not a small shop like Trapper had.
"How is the oil rig job?" Asked Tanner through the phone.
"Doing all right, pays well so I can't complain. How is your job doing?"
Tanner shook his head. "I got released yesterday."
"But why? I thought you were doing so well?"
"Didn't get along too well with the foreman." Tanner shrugged. "There is plenty more temp jobs out there, just gotta keep looking."
Mars
A surge of power awoke Megatron from a deep stasis causing him to howl out in pain. His optics flared on as a fine, red dust escaped from his mouth. As the discomfort subsided he was able to focus on the blown out window before him. How long was he out for? Why hadn't his internal processors end the emergency stasis protocol until now?
"Starscream!" When his lieutenant didn't respond Megatron pulled himself into a standing position. "Soundwave, Skywarp…."
His optics fell upon a crumbled form by his feet and upon closer inspection noticed it was a deactivated drone. He then found, hidden under the debris of what was once the main console his communication officer. Thankfully it appeared that Soundwave had also fallen into an emergency stasis which meant that the rest of his team might still be alive.
He slowly made his way to what remained of the computer console in the hopes that some of the AI was still intact. After punching in a sequence he heard a low rumble as the on-board generator came to life.
"Nemesis, status report." When the computer didn't respond Megatron slammed a fist onto the console causing a side panel to fall off. "Piece of scrap!" He gave it a swift kick before slumping back down into his command chair. "Seems I have to do everything myself!"
Autobot Shuttle
Though some of the team had injuries, some severe Optimus did not lose any of his men, a small victory in a time when they were few and far between. He slowly made his way down the corridor, towards the infirmary to see how Ratchet had fared and to also get his knee checked out.
"Optimus, here are the latest scans, as requested." Jazz said as he handed Optimus a thin data-pad. "It appears there is no Energon to be found inside this solar system. However, there is a planet that has resources that we could convert into usable fuel for us."
"Is it inhabited?"
A sour look crossed Jazz's face before giving Optimus a nod. "Billions of life forms." He brought up an image of a small and fragile bipedal creature. "Prowl is trying to get information on the species now."
"How far out is this planet?"
Jazz gave Optimus a shrug as he moved aside to allow Ironhide and Hound to pass. "Three, maybe four days max. That is if our fuel reserves hold up."
Optimus went to another screen on the data-pad to check the Ark's readouts and was glad to have the face-guard to hide his frown. According to this, they had three days of fuel, that is if they conserve all their resources and shut down any systems not needed in the function of flight.
"Very well. Shut down all power to the light grid and anything else not vital at this moment." He handed the pad back to Jazz and began to once again limp his way to the infirmary. "The only bay I want functional at this moment is Ratchet's."
Nemesis - A Few Days Later
It had taken Megatron a day just to siphon enough energon from fallen drones to revive Soundwave and another to get the computer system running. Once the latter was operational he managed to get his key team awake and alert. Now to figure out where they had crashed so he can come up with a plan of action.
Soundwave brought up an image of a glowing, blue planet with swirls of white against it's atmosphere.
"Lord Megatron, this planet appears to have fuel resources we can convert into viable Energon." The communication officer turned to face Megatron, his mouth hidden behind a metal plate and optics, a red visor. "If we leave now, we can make planet fall within twenty hours."
"Excellent. Get the team ready. We will leave in three hours."
Montana: Twenty-Seven Hours Later
With his work shift only two hours away Seth made his way into the kitchen to make a few sandwiches for dinner. And after throwing in a few apples inside the mini, red cooler he went to the refrigerator to snag some cola. He just put his hand on a can when his phone began to ring.
He let out a heavy sigh of frustration before slipping the phone out from his back pant's pocket.
"Yeah, Seth."
"It's Jerry, you busy tomorrow?"
Seth shook his head. "It's my day off…."
"I would greatly appreciate it if you came in to help out."
"For how long?"
"Just a four hour shift."
Seth threw two cans into his cooler not really caring if they squished his sandwiches then slapped the lid closed.
"Yeah, sure."
When Seth hung up with his foreman he let out a few choice words before grabbing his truck keys from the counter. The drive to the rig will take him a good hour, might as well get an earlier start in the hopes it'll help clear his head.
XXXX
The planet Optimus found himself on was like no other he has seen before and he found the experience exhilarating. The atmosphere was so blue, the air so clean and crisp that his war ravaged systems welcomed the new sensation and almost made him relax. But if he had found this planet then he knew Megatron would to. So he put aside the foolish idea of luxury to continue his trek down a black, smooth road that led to their first fuel discovery.
"Jazz, how are things at the site?"
"Pretty much the same as before, nothing new to report." Replied his lieutenant. "Bumblebee did grab a sample, don't ask me how since the humans are crawling all over the place and Perceptor is checking it out now."
Optimus applied his breaks as he got behind a slow moving vehicle, his large truck alt-mode towering over it. Though he appeared to be a Ford Raptor with a Fire and Rescue motif, the tech under the hood was all Cybertronian which he used to gather speed to get around the annoying obstacle.
"How many humans are there at the site?"
"Ten on a regular basis. They tend to change shifts exactly at eight or ten hours depending on the time of day." Jazz let out a sigh of boredom as he fidgeted over the comm-link. "How long are you wanting us to scout this location out?"
"Until we hear back from Perceptor."
Jazz mumbled in frustration before responding. "How far out are you?"
Optimus sped past another slow moving vehicle, his engine roaring so loudly he knew it was probably annoying the human drivers.
"About an hour. Just keep hidden and report if anything suspicious happens."
XXXX
When Seth arrived at work he was in a sour mood and hoped the rest of the night will fare better for him. As he entered the onsite trailer to change into work clothes he saw Benji Henderson over by his locker.
"What is it, Benji?"
"Was wondering if you can cover my shift tomorrow."
Seth shook his head. "I've already been called in. Besides, we have yet to hit our monthly quota so I highly doubt Jerry will let you take off." He pulled off his clean shirt, threw it into his locker and grabbed another from his gym bag. "Well, gotta go. See ya on the rig."
He quickly put the rest of his items into the locker, made sure it was secured then went outside. It was a cool day but thankfully once he began work Seth will heat up real quick.
"Seth! You're here a bit early."
Seth turned to meet his one friend on the rig, Jerome Smith a black kid from south Chicago that somehow found himself in nowhere Montana.
"Jerome!" Seth shook Jerome's hand then pulled him in to give the man a pat on the shoulder. "Did ya get called in tomorrow?"
Jerome laughed. "Of course. I take it you did too?"
"Yeah, and Benji wants the day off."
They both had a good laugh at this as they made their way to the rig.
"Hey, you will never believe what I saw on the road today."
Seth turned to see a huge grin on Jerome's face. "You saw the Raptor too, huh?"
"Thing is a beast! Who knew Ford could make something like that!"
"Well, it passed my little Mazda like it was standing still." Seth shook his head as he remembered something about the truck. "Come to think about it…." He shook his head at the ridiculousness of his thought. "Never mind."
Jerome put a hand on Seth's arm to stop him from walking. "What?"
Seth shook his head. "Maybe it's because the truck sits up higher than mine but I couldn't make out a driver."
"Been playing way too many video games." Jerome waved at Jerry who had pulled up in his vehicle with his son, Mike in the passenger seat. "Just remember, the pay is good and the work, well it keeps ya on your toes."
XXXX
Being deaf had its disadvantages, one of the them being that people thought Tanner was dumb because he couldn't talk. In fact he was highly intelligent, possibly the best computer tech in Montana but trying to get that across to potential employers was a hassle. Many thought since he couldn't hear then he would have problems trying to figure out what the customer wanted done with their system. He tried to freelance, but in a town with barely fifteen hundred souls, that proved pointless.
Currently he sat at the only temp agency in a hundred mile radius in the hopes that a job will be available for him. Since his release from the auto supply warehouse a few days ago he has been making regular visits to the employment office but has yet to get lucky.
A hand gently tapped him on the shoulder and Tanner looked up to see Betty, one of two people that worked at the small office.
Betty gave him a smile then shook her head. "Sorry, I've got nothing for you."
Tanner nodded and typed on his tablet, "It's okay, maybe tomorrow."
He left the office feeling rather defeated knowing in such a small town finding a job could be near to impossible. Wonder if he should consider moving to a larger city like Helen or maybe even out of state? If he did the latter than there could be a better chance of him landing a tech position.
With his mind preoccupied Tanner didn't see the car until it was nearly on him and had no time to react. He tightly closed his eyes, waiting for an impact but all he felt was a slight breeze. When he braved a peek he saw that the looming red, Bronco II had stopped just inches away from him.
Tanner slowly stepped to the side to thank the driver but what he saw made him shy back. There was not a soul in the driver's seat, the vehicle was completely empty.
He quickly put his hand on the hood to make sure the vehicle was still running and once that was confirmed, he ran. Tanner had no idea what was going on, all he knew there was a Bronco out there driving itself.
Several Miles Away
The scenery around Jazz was beautiful, a definite change from the metal planet he had called home. Here, organic life was abundant making different textures so foreign to Jazz's systems he had no word for them. He'll have to look some up on the human's world wide web when he got back to the transport shuttle.
While Jazz kept an eye on the site he began to go through what the human's called radio stations. So far the sounds he heard on the many frequencies were not his style and he was about to give up searching when something finally caught his attention. Something about a 'cray button', the song had a good beat that Jazz could bob his head to.
"Slag it, I just about ran over a human!" Ironhide's voice came through the comm-link causing Jazz to scowl in frustration. "It didn't even hear me blaring my horn! What is wrong with these creatures!"
"Easy, Ironhide. Just keep on the surveillance and let me know what you find." Optimus Prime knelt down beside Jazz, his red and black armor muted in the fading light. "It's getting dark, we should head back to the shuttle soon."
Jazz gave his commander a nod as he stood to stretch his limbs. "Have you heard anything from Perceptor?"
Optimus nodded. "He's close, but it would take another day to fully know if this, oil will convert into Energon." His optics narrowed and his face-guard slightly shifted upward, a sign Jazz knew to mean he was not happy. "I fear we are not alone."
One Hour Later
The rig was loud and chaotic as the drill bore into the ground hoping to find a pocket of oil. Seth's job was to make sure the line didn't get clogged and to apply a clamp if things got out of hand. Most the time his job consisted of standing on the sidelines, but today, thanks to a pocket of water he was busy trying to control a geyser of liquid shooting up from the earth.
"Jerome, we need to move the clamp into place!"
Seth reached for the large, clunky device and began to swing it into position. As he was doing this; mud, water and oil rained down from above, soaking him from head to toe.
"Let me help you, Harrison!" Shouted Jerry as he moved in to help Seth and Jerome with the clamp. "Winston, get your ass over here and help out!"
Benji let out a few grumbles as he made his way to Seth's side. "Lets hurry this up!" He was about to take hold of the swing arm when a loud rumble stopped everybody in the their tracks. "What was that?"
A jet flew over the rig, so low Seth could make out a strange, purple insignia on it's side. He watched as it spiraled upwards before doing a flip and transforming into a giant robot.
"What the hell is that thing?" Asked Jerome as he began to move towards the stairs.
Seth shook his head. "I'm not sure but…."
The robot said something in a strange language before raising his right arm. Seth saw the weapons attached to the limb and knew he had only seconds to get off the rig. As the robot fired his weapon, Seth jumped away from the platform hoping the fall wouldn't kill him.
Seth was close to hitting the ground when an explosion sent a shock wave his direction. A wave of heat hit him blunt in the back and as he tumbled to the ground he caught glimpses of three, giant robots as they attacked the rig.
XXXX
The scene before Optimus was one he had witnessed all too many times back on Cybertron. Thanks to his alt-mode he was able to make quick work of the rough terrain and use the momentum to transform, his small body crashing into the much larger Megatron with a deafening clang.
"Optimus! Why am I not surprised to see you here!" Megatron pushed Optimus away with one hand, a smirk of satisfaction on his face. "I guess it is destiny we are to meet after such a long time apart."
"These life forms are innocent! There is no need to kill them!"
Megatron reached down, picked up a human who was barely alive then held it so Optimus could see the frail body in his palm.
"Why would you care about something so weak, so fragile?"
Optimus reached behind him, took the ax out from it's compartment within his back then slowly inched forward.
"But I can see the similarities between you and these…fleshlings. Like them, Optimus you are also small, fragile and weak."
"Please, don't kill me! Please!" Shouted Megatron's human captive.
A snarl spread across Megatron's face. "See, they fear us, Optimus!"
"Enough, let the human go and I will allow you to have the oil."
"And what if I refuse?"
Optimus gave Megatron a smirk of his own, shame it was hidden behind the face-guard. "Jazz, you have a clear shot?"
"Sure do." Jazz reported through the inner comm-link.
"Fire at will."
A loud thud could be heard as Jazz fired off his sniper rifle, hitting his mark square in the right knee. The Decepticon lieutenant, Starscream quickly dropped to the ground screaming out profanities as he clutched his damaged leg.
Starscream slowly got back up, favoring his leg as he did so. "We should kill them all, Lord Megatron."
Soundwave approached, his body telling Megatron he did not have any good news to report. "According to Skywarp, if we were to continue with a battle, we might not have enough resources to even refine the oil."
Megatron glanced back at Starscream then brought his attention once again to Optimus. "Very well." He looked down at the human in his palm then dropped it to the ground. "Have your filth, Optimus and leave quickly before I change my mind."
Bumblebee, who had been right behind Optimus quickly ran up to the injured human to check on it's condition.
"He's awake, but I think he might be in shock." Bumblebee shook his head as he looked up at Optimus. "We need Ratchet."
"Did somebody say my name?" The young medic appeared at Optimus' right side with a smile on his face. "If we leave now, we can get the human to a structure called a, hospital; a repair bay for Earthlings."
Optimus nodded. "Bumblebee, once Ratchet transforms into alt-mode gently put the human inside then follow him. Make sure nothing happens." He put a finger on his right audio receptor until he heard an audible click. "Jazz, you follow close behind. Once you are inside city limits, let me know."
