Chapter 2-Earthfall part 2
Four million years had passed since they crashed on this strange planet. Much has changed since this world's primordial era. Mountains have risen and fallen, islands were raised form the sea only to be swallowed up once more, and whole continents were split apart and drifted away from each other. This world was still home to organic creatures, but not the powerful reptiles that once dominated the land. Instead a new bipedal species with great intelligence rules this new world-Terra.
They were called Humans, a young but violent species that have called Terra their home for thousands of years. They have waged many wars within the span of their lifetime, for reasons that vary greatly. Humanity has spread to almost every possible environment on their world, thanks in part due to their general adaptability and willingness to change. Such traits have lead to the creation of great innovations built for the pursuit of knowledge...and the pursuit of war.
Optimus Prime couldn't help but marvel at how alike these humans were to the cybertronians of times past.
Standing atop a cliff overlooking the half buried Ark in the side of a dormant volcano known as Mount St. Helens, Optimus lamented the situation that his team was in. The Ark, a ship that thousands of Autobots literally gave their lives for so that it could be protected, was grounded. It was barely operational and even now the Autobots were still repairs on it. Even still, the situation was grim for Team Prime, they were stuck on a planet light years from Cybertron with no way to contact their comrades.
Were Elita-1 and the other Autobots still fighting? Is the war over, or is it still being fought? Is there even a Cybertron anymore?
Optimus didn't want to think of all the grim possibilities that may or may not be true.
A year had passed since they awakened from their stasis and much of their time was spent either repairing the ship or exploring the world they were stranded on. As per protocol they first acquired vehicle modes matching the local of their environment before exploring.
Optimus had made it a habit to learn more about humanity. They were no different from some of the other organic races he encountered in the past; dual gendered, and reasonably primitive technological level of advancement. But one thing stood out to Optimus.
The humans were divided into two sub-groups; naturals and espers. Naturals were the majority, normal people with nothing special about them. Espers were humans born with superpowers like super speed and telekinesis, as well as physical mutations. Such powers often lead to espers being seen as freaks and monsters.
Optimus saw the growing divide between naturals and espers and saw the similarities to the social divides between the classes back on Cybertron, the divides that had sparked the Uprising and later the Great War. It seemed that Cybertron didn't have a monopoly on war mongers.
A chirp from his comm-link claimed his attention. "Optimus? Jazz and Prowl just returned from their patrol."
"On my way. Ironhide."
Reminded once more of his duties in the present, the Autobot leader climbed down from his spot on the ledge overlooking the Ark. Things had been quiet in the past year since their awakening on this planet, but Prime knew that things were going to change soon.
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Tranquility was a city that was located in the state of Dakote in northeastern Delpoi. Located in the middle of a dense forest, it was named for its peaceful and tranquil atmosphere that only nature can provide. Aside from a large lake a few miles from the city and the wonderful sight of the mountains in the distance, Tranquility didn't have much to offer any visitors. All in all, it was just a boring, normal city.
But for Darren Radcliffe, it was home.
The thirteen year old boy with short black hair and emerald green eyes sat on his bed, absentmindedly levitating four metal marbles over his palm. He didn't really have to think about doing anything as he used his powers, this was nothing. The balls orbited his hand like miniature planets in orbit around a sun, a low hum audible as Darren controlled him with his mind. He was busy reading a news report on the home page of his laptop about some current events surrounding a very controversial topic.
Today's Top Story: Esper Response Division uncovers and neutralizes esper nest in with no civilian casualties.
"Wonderful, more news on indiscriminate killing." Darren muttered and continued reading the article. He saw several pictures of destroyed vehicles, and civilians running to escape the violence between the rabid espers and the ERD soldiers fighting them.
Were these esper terrorists behind the recent anti-human bombings in New York and Washington? Police say the evidence is undeniable, but human rights Amnesty International have condemned the action as "inhumane and unconstitutional" provoking a stern response from Valerie Cooper of the Commission of Superhuman Affairs...
The article cuts to a photo of a young blonde woman in a crisp blue suit addressing the pubic at a press conference. "How can anyone question the ERD's actions after the Washington Annihilation is beyond me. Our job is to protect the country from superhuman threats and the president, as well as myself, believe that is exactly what we're doing."
The CSA chairwoman was of course referring to Karaba's devastating bomb blast on Captiol Hill only seven days ago. And the recent broadcasts from Erik Lehnsherr, the death cult's self proclaimed leader...
There was a video showing the blurry image of a crimson armored figure sitting regally on a throne of gold. He was a middle aged man with a strong build and had short grey hair, but even just from looking at his picture, Darren could tell that this man was very powerful and had no problem showing that power off.
"This is only the beginning. Some would say that I am a terrorist, but I like to think of myself as a savior, a savior who looks out for man's successor, Espers. No longer will we live in fear of those inferior homo sapiens-soon it will be the naturals who will know fear. Naturally our attacks on this cess pool of a country will continue until you cede this land to its rightful owners. But your gods grow impatient. And you don't want to know what happens when our patience runs out."
"Hey Darren."
"Gah!" Darren nearly fell off his bed as he jumped up in alarm, losing control over the marbles and let them drop to the floor. He took a moment to calm himself before glaring at his unwelcome visitor. "Damn it Annie, you ever heard of knocking?"
Annie, his twin sister, merely grinned in response. She was the younger twin (though that is to be debated) and shared his black hair and green eyes. She was dressed in a sleeveless black shirt that showed off her toned arms (courtesy of martial arts training) and a black skirt with combat boots.
"Hey bro, what ya doing?" She asked.
"Just fooling around on the computer, nothing you need to concern yourself with." Darren said I a snarky tone. Annie blatantly looked at his laptop and frowned at what she saw. When she gave him a look, he had the decency to ask, "What?"
"You shouldn't be watching stuff like this you know. You know how Marina warned you of your anxiety attacks." Annie scolded him and motioned to the article on the screen. "And this isn't helping at all.
"I cant help it," Darren grumbled and he snatched the laptop from her. "As an esper I have a right to be afraid. Those ERD thugs don't exactly discriminate between friend or foe. Heaven help me if any of them come sniffing around our neck of the woods."
"But they wont, because no one comes to Tranquility. And why are you worried? You're a telekinetic, you can hide your powers. Be glad you aren't just a burning skeleton like that dude from Ontario. Man he looked wicked." She said and noted his withering glare. "What? I'm just saying that as a telekinetic, you can probably take those ERD guys no problem." Then she added, "If you actually practiced and didn't skimp like a wuss-"
"Why are you here, Annie?" He asked, already getting tired of her.
"Well, aside from telling your that Marina has breakfast ready, I'm here to inform you that we will be going out into the forest to do some exploring." Annie said smiling.
"Who's we?"
"You, me and Gina."
"Good lord, you got Gina in on this?" He groaned.
"Not yet, but I know she'll say yes when I show her what I found."
He really wasn't liking her smile. "And what did you find?"
"Not telling," She said in a sing-song voice. "You'll have to come with me to find out."
By rights, he should have heeded the warning flags that shot up in his mind, but Darren's curiosity won out. "Fine, I'll come with you."
"Really? You're not just saying that to get rid of me right? Because if you don't come later I'm gonna hunt your ass down."
"GO!" He shouted. He released a telekinetic wave that shoved Annie off his bed and outside his room, shutting the door in the same motion.
"I'm guessing that's a yes then." Her muffled voice said outside the door.
'Dear Gaia, how are we related?' Darren thought.
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Bumblebee weaved through the trees, his metal feet barely audible on the foliage of the forest ground that was situated near Mount St. Helens. He kept is external sensors pointed outwards in all directions as kept his hand on his blaster, finger near the trigger but not on it.
He moved to find cover so as to get rid of that feeling of being watched but as he did so, his sensors let out a warning before he rolled to the side to avoid a bolt that sailed over his shoulder. He righted himself and fired a few shots in the direction where the bolts came from then stopped. No one was shooting back. He realized his guard just a bit, but when he hear the branches above him rustle, he looked up and saw a dark figure descend upon him.
Bumblebee rolled to the side to avoid getting landed on and spun around to point his blaster at the assailant, who did the same to him. They kept their weapons trained on each other for a moment before lowering them.
"I thought we were supposed to be training together Arcee. You nearly scared me half to death." Bumblebee said.
"Sorry, had to make sure you weren't the enemy. You know you can never be too careful." Arcee said, not looking away from the forest around them. Bumblebee had to marvel at how she could talk and stay focused at the same time but considering who they were dealing with, such concentration was necessary. "That light show probably gave away our position. We better move before he finds a chance to get the jump on us."
"You mean like now?"
Jazz landed between them and kicked Bumblebee away. Arcee tried to shoot him but he kicked the blaster from her hands and leapt at her. Arcee back-flipped and drew her energon blades, slashing at Jazz with quick strikes that he easily dodged. Jazz took out his laser nunchucks and batted the blades away with hard blows that sent vibrations running up Arcee's arms.
Bumblebee stood up and fired his blaster. Jazz flipped over Arcee, using her as a shield to block the bolts, which were set to stun, and kicked her into the scout. Both Autobots went tumbling into each other, but Arcee quickly righted herself to face Jazz. Only to see him gone.
"Scrap." She cursed. She felt a presence behind her and spun around only to get bonked on the head by one of his nun-chucks went tumbling to the ground in a daze.
Bumblebee jumped up and tried to grab at Jazz, but he grabbed the scout's arm and twisted it, sending the scout spinning in the air before he was kicked into a tree. Jazz jumped on him and pointed his nunchaku at Bumblebee's face.
"And that's game." Jazz grinned. He got off Bumblebee and helped him up. "You guys did good. A lot better than yesterday."
"That doesn't help my self esteem." Bumblebee grumbled. "Why did I agree to this again?"
"You needed some help with your hand to hand combat style. That's why." Jazz answered. He walked over to Arcee and helped her up. "You okay, Cee?"
"Did you have to hit me so hard? My head is ringing." She hissed.
"Sorry. Just needed to make sure you were out for the count. You're a hard girl to keep down." Jazz stepped back and looked at the two Autobots. "Now, tell me, what did you two do wrong?"
Bumblebee was at a loss at how to answer that question, but Arcee was right on the dot. "We weren't exactly working as a team."
"Exactly. When going up against a strong opponent, always have someone with you to help you out and watch your back. Working as a coherent unit increases your chances of success and survival."
"So if we work together next time, does that mean that we might be able to beat you?" Bumblebee asked hopefully.
"Nah, it'll be a long time before that happens." Jazz snorted. "But it will make fighting a dysfunctional group like the Decepticons a lot easier. Prmius knows they're teamwork is atrocious."
"Modest isn't he?" Bumblebee muttered. Arcee chuckled.
"No, just telling it how it is. Come on, we've got recon duty in five."
"Oh joy."
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Gina Harkins sat in her history class taking notes diligently as her teacher read out the current subject they were doing. She was a cute blonde girl with a pair of large round glasses over blue eyes and a noticeably more developed body than girls her age, an early bloomer. Unlike most of her classmates, she was paying attention to the lecture the teacher was giving.
"The Arian Empire was considered to be the most advanced civilization of the ancient world and is widely considered to be the forefathers of our modern civilization." Diana Masters, 6th grade history teacher at Heartsgrace middle school, gave each of her students a glance as she walked through the classroom, making sure they were taking notes and not having secret conversations. "Their existence dates as far back as 3000 BC, in an era where many countries around the world were largely isolated and primitive in terms of social and technological developments. But that all changed when the Arians made a small but very significant discovery that helped their empire expand. Any ideas on what that discovery was?"
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gina raise her hand. "Yes Gina?"
"It was Hephaestium?" Gina answered.
"Correct." Diana nodded. "The early Arians discovered hephaestium and had learned to harness its properties to grant them a whole arsenal of new technologies that advanced their development. Despite being primitive by today's standards, they had created machines that we still have yet to replicate, such as the Vimana, and the Golems, automatons that our modern day Talos were based on. We still have yet to understand how the Golems operated without any manual controls, but any information on them was lost in the Great Cataclysm that began the Void Century." The bell rang as she finished. "Class dismissed, and remember to read pages 28-31 in your textbooks for Monday's quiz."
As numerous students filed out of the classroom, Gina was quick to head towards her locker, her mind still on the lecture. Being the daughter of an archaeologist, Gina has always had a certain level of interest in what the past had to offer. She enjoyed the challenge it brought in finding out things that no one else has before, and the Arian Empire was the pinnacle of such challenges.
"Gina!"
She looked down the hall to see Darren walk towards her and she felt a smile automatically spread across her face. Seeing her best friend always brought a smile to her face.
"Darren, hey." Gina smiled at her friend. "How was your day?"
"It went about as well as it could without Fred and Billy trying and failing to shoot spitballs at me." Darren said.
Gina pictured Darren's tormentors trying to shoot spitballs at him in class, only for the boy to easily deflect them all with his powers. It must have been something to see.
"So, I wanted to ask you if you've ran into Annie today." Darren said. "Did she mention anything about a special something she wanted to show us?"
"Nope. But she was strangely more uppity than usual during gym this morning." Gina said. "And I suppose you have a reason for that?"
"She wants us to meet up with her afterschool. Where, I don't know, and why, I don't know either. But I am reasonably nervous as for what she has planned for us." He replied. He chuckled when Gina lightly punched his shoulder.
"Be nice. She's not that bad."
"Bro, Gina!"
They turned to see Annie run up to them, nearly knocking over a teacher who was passing by without so much as a sorry.
"So Gina, did Darren give you the rundown of what's going on afterschool?" Annie asked.
"He did, and we're both wondering what exactly is so special that you look like a kid on Christmas morning." Gina said. Annie merely grinned and tapped her on the nose.
"That's something that I'm not telling you until later." She said. "Darren, remember that mountain that mom took us to last summer?"
"You mean the one where you almost caused a rock slide with your big mouth?"
"Yeah. That one." She said dryly and turned to Gina. "I found something around there and I wanted to go check it out with you guys. I already have Darren hooked, but I wanted to know if you were-"
"I'm coming." Gina cut in with a huge smile. "You should know that I love digging around to things in the dirt."
"Good. Just head over to that cave entrance and I'll tell you the rest. Now I gotta go, see ya!"
Darren watched his sister run back down the hall towards her next class, once again almost knocking over the same teacher she mowed down earlier.
"I really hope that this doesn't blow up in our faces." He groaned. Gina smiled at him.
"Don't worry Darren, you won't into any trouble with me around!"
"That's because I'll be too busy keeping you out of trouble instead."
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The lazily named Decepticon Island (which no one liked but weren't suicidal enough to tell Megatron about it) was a large island located somewhere in the Florecio ocean, east of Azteca near the equator. The island was mostly devoid of life save for the migratory species that had made the island their home. The volcano that sparked the birth of the island loomed over the landscape, dormant and covered in a faint coat of grass.
Megatron stood on the rim of the volcanic crater looking down at the Nemesis. The ship was in bad condition, with much of the outer hull riddled with holes and armor plating sheered away from the devastating impact of crashing into the ocean. Forget the front of the ship that was a lost cause. And the rear thrusters were completely shot, worn away from spending a millennia in the sea.
It was fortunate that they crashed on the same bedrock that would later form the island, lest they ship still be underwater. The volcano was dormant, but there was an underlying danger that even a small but drastic shift in the tectonic plates could cause it to erupt, or an explosive force of great magnitude would be needed. Thank god that Rumble was smart enough not to use his pile-driver arms in a volcano.
When he awoke, Megatron thought he was dead, one with the Alllspark with all of his goals unfulfilled, but it too a moment for him to realize that he was still alive. However upon seeing the condition of his mighty flagship…to say that he was super mad would be a gross understatement.
They were low on energon, their ship was grounded, they couldn't communicate with the rest of their forces, and they were stuck on a backwater planet in some unknown corner of the galaxy. The only thing that was going for them was that they had the facsimiles. But even then they couldn't enact the infiltration plan until they got rid of the Autobots!
The infiltration plan was standard protocol for all Decepticons stationed off-world. It was basically a six-phase plan that involved secretly manipulating the native populace and have them tear each other apart, all while they drained the planet of all available resources. That is, if the Autobots don't come and send everything straight to hell first.
"Megatron."
He looked up to see a large black raven descend upon him. Just before it landed it let out a cry and transformed into a lithe femme with black and white armor. Nightshade, his second in command.
"How is the search going?" He asked.
"Lugnut and Blackout found another energon mine on the western continent. Starscream and his seekers are out scavenging materials to repair the ship with, so they'll be a while in getting back. I myself just came back from stealing prototype equipment from the human research centers to repair our computers."
"Equipment? From the humans?" Megatron scoffed. "Nightshade, we have our pride as Decepticons to worry about. There's no need to stoop so low."
"In case you haven't noticed, the Nemesis' equipment is in bad shape as is the rest of the ship. Not to mention that we're lucky the engines didn't explode and blow us all straight to hell, so yeah, I needed to improvise." She replied cattily. "But if you have any other suggestions on how to fix them, be my guest."
Had it been anyone else, Megatron would've struck them down for speaking to him like that. But Nightshade was, one of his best warriors and among his closest confidants. She was his successor should he fall, which was very unlikely, and thus she was given a bit more leeway than most soldiers.
"Just have Soundwave transport the Drillers to Lugnut's position."
"As you command Megatron." Nightshade said smirking and transformed into beast mode again and shooting into the air.
Megatron watched her fly away for a moment before he made his way down the slope towards the ship. There was work to be done.
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"I still don't get why you want to explore this place. Not like we're gonna find anything."
Annie gave her brother a grin as she set her skateboard next to her brother's bike alongside a prominent outcropping.
"Come on, this'll be fun!" she said. "When was the last time we've done something like this together?"
"Two weeks ago, when I broke my leg after you pushed me off a damn cliff." Darren answered. she had the decency to look a bit sheepish at that.
"Well, in my defense I thought that the lake was a little closer to us. But come on, have an open mind about this. It will be great practice for using your powers."
Darren sighed but decided to humor Annie. "Alright, if you wanna do this then fine. But if I die, I'm coming back to haunt you."
"Deal"
At that moment Gina arrived on her special all-terrain moped, one she made with Darren's help a few weeks ago, an parked it next to Darren's bike.
"Hey guys! I'm all ready for our cave adventure!" Gina said grinning. Darren gave her moped a curious look.
"You came here on your moped?"
"Yeah, it's all terrain for a reason, Darren, a hell of a lot better than the crap Fred's dad sells. Those motorbikes can suck it!" She said. Darren shook his head and took some time to study their surroundings.
Rising out of the landscape before them was a small mountain, one of many tat dotted the landscape outside Tranquility, just east of the downtown area, being within an hour's bike ride of the suburb the three lived in. The area was safe enough for the three kids to visit, albeit unattended and unsupervised.
"So here we are, Annie. Now can you tell us why we're here?" He asked.
Annie reached into her bag and pulled out a large blue crystal that emitted a faint glow in the dim light of the trees. Gina and Darren both crowded around her and let out a soft 'whoa' upon seeing the strange crystal.
"Oh my god." Gina gaped. "What is it?"
"No idea. I found it around this cave while I was doing some off-roading on my skateboard." Annie said.
"You don't know what it is?" Darren questioned.
"I thought it was hephaestium, but when I took it to our science teacher, that crazy lady Ms. Maria, she said that it was nothing like hephaestium. She said something about it not having the same properties or whatever and was a completely different mineral."
"No way, Annie you just discovered a new mineral! This is so exciting!" Gina gushed.
"I know, how much do you think people will pay for this?" Annie said with dollar signs flashing in her eyes.
"Forget the money Annie! This might be a new power source that could rival hephaestium if we find enough of it!"
Darren was also a bit intrigued by this discovery. Hephaestium was a naturally occurring mineral on Terra and formed the backbone of human technological advancement as a power source, burning hotter than coal and capable of conducting different forms of energy. It powered machines ranging from airships to Talos, but no one new what exactly it was. The only thing that everyone was certain about it was that it mankind was highly dependent on it.
"So are you guys in or out?" Annie asked.
"Oh you know I'm in! How can I pass up this opportunity?" Gina said and looked at the only male in their group. "Darren?"
"Yeah, count me in. Someone has to keep you two out of trouble."
"Great, let's get out little expedition started!"
"We're exploring for hidden treasure!" Gina cheered.
"Girls, please be careful." Darren warned them. But the girls paid him no heed as they switched on their flashlights and entered the cave.
"I'm so excited!"
"I know right?"
"And they ignore me." Darren sighed.
He followed the girls into the cave, switching on his flashlight. The cave was small, barely large enough for the three of them to walk through without bending down.
"Be mindful of where you step." Gina said. "They're probably a few bats here."
"Wonderful." Darren muttered, not too fond of stepping in bat guano.
As they continued, their lights keeping them aware of their surroundings in the tunnel, the three children remained cautious. Suddenly they came upon something unexpected.
"Wait a second," Darren said attracting the attention of his companions. "Look!"
"Where?" Gina asked.
"At the wall, right where my flashlights beam ends."
They noticed the light reflected off to where the beam ended. Unlike the rocky jagged cave walls, the spot was smooth and silverfish.
"Some kind of crystal?" Darren implored as Gina walked forward and studied it.
"Wait, this isn't rock. It's some kind of metal."
"Metal?" Annie snorted. "What you think it could be some kind of UFO?"
"Let's not jump to any conclusions." Gina replied quickly. She felt along the surface and, feeling something akin to a door, then added, "Then again, you may be right."
Placing her bag down, and setting her flashlight on it so the light was on her, Gina reached in and pulled out a crowbar.
"Where did you get a crowbar from?" Darren asked. Gina smirked cattily at him.
"An explorer is always prepared." She said. Putting the crowbar against the hatch, she pushed down on the hatch as hard as she could but the doors would not budge. Stopping to take a breath, she looked at the twins.
"A little help would be nice."
Darren cracked his neck and focused on using his power to open the hatch. As a telekinetic, his esper powers had endless potential, but he rarely used them for anything more than lifting a couch. With his hands, he reached out and made like he was prying the doors apart. Gina and Annie were slightly amazed to see that the hatch was indeed beginning to shake and groan and slowly lift apart. Finally the hatch opened with a loud bang.
"There, easy as pie." Darren panted. That was harder than he thought. He knew other epsper with similar powers that could do it with little to no problem, but they were few and far in between.
"Great job bro." Annie said, patting her brother on the back.
"Okay Annie, looks like you finally shot straight for once." Gina gulped as she viewed her their handiwork. "It might actually be a UFO."
"Sweet." Annie smiled. "So, what do we do now?"
"We go inside." Gina answered. "For all we know, this could be a genuine first contact situation. And I am definitely hype enough at being one of the first humans to meet an alien."
Gina picked up a crowbar from underneath the hatch. At her friends' questioning look, she merely said, "For protection."
The kids looked at each other, then Darren decided to lead the way through the hatch. The moment he stepped through, however, the small structure suddenly became illuminated, strong artificial lights blinking into existence.
"Must be automatic." Darren noted.
"Wow," Gina gasped. "This place is amazing."
The pod was large, about the size of a small dining room in a modern home. It was circular, with a few computer displays made near the hatch and a group of six metal pod-like devices in the center of the support column.
"Well this isn't so bad." Darren said as he moved towards the center column. "No way this wasn't made by human hands, just look at the writing. We better not-"
A high pitch alarm rang out, forcing all three to cover their ears. Darren looked over as Annie pressed a button and shut the alarm off. She gave a weak laugh in response her companions' glares. "Oops, sorry."
Gina let out an exasperated sigh. "Nice going, Annie, 'oh, a shiny red button, let's press it and see what it does.' You're lucky we're still talking to each other."
"Hey I said I was…" another beeping sound went off. Annie raised her hands. "That totally wasn't me."
A small portion of the console extended outwards, a black and yellow object rising from it. It looked like a digital camcorder, but then it shifted in shape, a head, legs, and wing-like appendages emerging from it.
The small robotic bird tested its joints and looked around with its camera-like lens, its head bobbing up and down. Darren asked what was on both their minds. "What is it?"
"Some kind of robot." Just as Gina spoke those words the robot bird activated tiny jets on its wings, leapt off the console and flew out of the pod, back the way they had come from.
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Several quick beeps roused the attention of Blackout as he began to drift off, prompting him to return his attention to the computer he was stationed at. Boredom from hiding and no action had become so unsatisfying that Blackout hoped that his superiors didn't mind him taking a nap. He gave no shits about Starscream but Primus help him if Nightshade found him snoozing. Just as he checked over the readings, it stopped.
"Okay, that's weird."
"Something wrong Blackout?"
Jumping a bit from his seat, he said, "Just for a couple of nano-kliks, Nightshade. It was an old cybertronian signal, extremely powerful. Strange thing is, it wasn't coming from space but from Delpoi."
"Autobot?"
"I don't know, but it did come near the central area, ma'am."
Nightshade pressed a button on the console and opened a channel to another section of the ship. "Soundwave."
"Nightshade, you wish to speak to me about the unusual pulsewave?" The spymaster inquired.
"Yes, can you verify its origins?"
"I can identify its source. That specific frequency was used for escape pods loaded onto the Exodus."
Blackout gawked, optics wide. "It can't be."
"But it can…and most likely is." A smile on her face, the assassin turned to the comm-channel. "Soundwave, report this to Megatron." Cutting off the line, she turned to Blackout. "Blackout, you go get Barricade and Starscream."
"Ma'am are you sure we should tell Megatron so soon? I mean, it could just be a false alarm, and I really don't wanna piss of Megatron more than he already is."
"Blackout, if we detected that signal, then chances are that the Autobots have as well. That ship belonged to the Minicons, and if we can get to them first then it will grant us a massive advantage. We have been given a rare opportunity I do not intend to squander it."
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As soon as he received the call, Ironhide nearly left skid marks on the floor in his haste by the time he reached the bridge. "You sure you've got the right signal Wheeljack?"
"Something this important and you're asking me that question?" Wheeljack, the team's mechanical engineer, said. He was frantically going over his keyboard, the screen giving him a positive match for the signal. "No way was that anything else-that was the Exodus!"
"You sure?" Ironhide asked, only to get a wrench tossed at his head. "Okay I'll stop asking!"
"Wait, hold up," Bulkhead said. "What's the Exodus?"
"It's a long story, way before your time. Remind me to tell you about it later." Keying his own communicator, the weapons specialist had hoped that this day would never come, but there's no point in breaking down over spilled energon. "Prime, we're just picked up a distress beacon. It matches what's in our records, and I hate to say this but…it's the Exodus."
Interrupted just as he and Prowl began to enter his office, the Autobot leader exchanged a brief glance with his second in command before answering his comm-link. "Have you verified it?"
"Checked and double-checked, boss. It's them."
Prowl let out a curse. "To think that the Exodus would be found on this planet of all places. Think anyone else has picked up on it?"
As powerful as the transmitters were on that ship, I'm not taking any chances." Optimus then ordered, "Ironhide, have any Autobot within driving distance of the signal's origin go there on the double. Time is of the essence and we don't have a nano-klik to spare."
"Gotcha!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Annie peered out the room, the small drone just leaving her line of sight as it exited the cave. "What do you think that was all about?"
"Maybe it was some kind of UAV," Darren said. At the girl's surprised expressions, he shrugged. "You know, like the unmanned drones at military bases."
"Maybe," Gina began to pack her things, making sure to leave her crowbar out. "Whatever it is, I don't think we should be here when it comes back. Let's just take a quick look around, make sure there aren't any more surprises and leave.
"Okay, just whatever you do, don't-"
"Touch anything. Got it." Annie said.
The small drone soon returned, swooping past the kids and over to the console before hooking itself back into its slot. The trio looked from the small robot to the screen above it, fragments of unrecognizable alien text and wire frame scans.
"Guess I was right about it being a UAV." Darren's eyes blinked as he recognized some of the scans. "Look, it scanned our stuff and more!"
The wire frame scans quickly took the shapes of familiar objects, the kids recognized the designs similar to Darren's bike, Annie's skateboard, Gina's moped, as well as a sports car, helicopter and a fire truck.
Gina whistled in appreciation. "Tiny UAVs that could make the military jealous, but why scan all this stuff? Its old school."
Several chirps sounded behind them, prompting Darren to turn towards the center column. "Um, girls? One of the pods is doing something!"
He turned to the pods as one of the six began to come online. After a series of status displays flashing across the screen, the display became static and a hatch hissed open, the door flipping to the side. Within the pod lay a thin, deep blue robot slightly smaller than themselves, its limbs colored light silver blue and a white mouth-plate, with parts resembling a bicycle hanging from its form.
"What is it?" Darren questioned.
"It's an alien obviously." Gina said, stepping forward.
As if in response to her words, a pair of white optics flashed on and the robot glanced over at the trio and spoke in a clearly male voice. "It has a name, thank you."
The kids jumped in unison, clearly not expecting the robot to speak, let alone do so in their language. Giving the inwardly squealing Gina a wary glance, Darren stepped forward. "Yeah sorry, we didn't know, uh…"
"High Wire." The robot said, moving his limbs to regain their feeling. "Given the circumstances, I can understand your ignorance. And who are the three of you?"
"Well, I'm Darren. This is my sister Annie and my friend Gina." As the little robot continued to stare unflinchingly at them, he grew nervous. "Um, is something wrong?"
High wire shook his head to clear up the diagnostic banners flitting across his vision. "I'm sorry, I simply wasn't expecting to encounter organic life on this planet- a least, none as developed as you are. Clearly many things had changed since the last time I was online."
Turning back to the contraption, Gina poked it. "So, this pod…is it some kind of sleep chamber?"
"It's actually a stasis pod, but yes, Gina, that is an adequate analogy. We use them for long distance trips, emergency operations or in my case to protect us from harm." Then High Wire noticed the turned on console. His optics scanned over the readings on the screen and grew wide with worry. "No, who touched that console?"
Darren and Gina pointed to Annie, who had the decency to look shy at all the attention.
"Yeah, sorry about that." She said. Then she got scared. "Oh god, I didn't activate the self destruct sequence did I?"
"Nothing of the sort. What you did was activate a distress beacon that can only be detected on a cybertronian wavelength." High Wire explained.
"And why is that a bad thing?" Darren asked.
High wire studied Darren for a moment before nodding. "Well, since you've found me, I should probably give you all the details."
"Yes, that would be nice." Gina said, crossing her arms.
"To start things off, myself and my companions here, are Minicons, a subset of a race of mechanical beings native to the planet Cybertron orbiting the star my people call Hadeen. We had left our world to escape a civil war being fought between two factions, the Autobots and Decepticons.
"It was a unanimous decision among the neutrals to leave the planet when it became clear that resources were becoming scarce as a result of the war, and to avoid the constant threat of slavery. You see, we Minicons have the power to enhance the abilities of our larger counterparts and that has gained us unwanted attention from the Decepticons. Megatron, the Decpticon leader, sought to…enlist as many Minicons as he could." The kids winced at the tone High Wire used on the word enlist. "Some joined him willingly, eager for a taste of power, but the vast majority chose to remain neutral. With the war growing larger and more destructive, maintaining out neutrality became harder to do so. In order to escape enslavement or death, the Autobots helped us build a ship, the Exodus, to carry us away from Cybertron. With their help, we managed to escape the Decepticons and quantum jump away from Cybertron. But…things didn't go so well."
"What happened?" Gina said.
"I don't know. Something went wrong with the engines and the ship was forced out of transwarp space near your planet. My companions and I acted as a skeleton crew, while the rest of the minicons went into stasis panels and were ejected as we fell into orbit. We climbed into escape pods and ejected before the ship crashed. Presumably the ship is somewhere ono this planet, and the individual panels scattered across its surface as well as that of its moon."
"And I'm guessing that the signal I just activated will reactivate those panels?" Annie asked.
"Yes. That was a default frequency, any properly adjusted communications band would be able to pick up on it without much difficulty. Odds were that any cybertronian space craft or base near our position had already picked up on the frequency, even the Decepticons." High Wire turned to the console uneasily. "Which means that the war could spread to this world as well, and we're right back where we started.
It was a grim situation indeed. A whole ship of what are essentially refugees scattered and stranded on an alien planet with no way to contact each other or their homeworld. A worse case-scenario for any alien.
"Hold on!" Annie jumped to her feet. "You can't just give up! No matter how quick that transmission was, the Decepticons can't just zip themselves here in five seconds notice!"
"They can't but once they do, they'll detect our energy signatures immediately."
"Then leave," Gina said. "Get your friends out of those pods and make for the town. We can hide you."
"Annie," Darren said. "What makes you think that they'll have a better chance there? We can't just take them home and hide them in our garage hoping our parents don't find them."
"Well we can't just leave them here to roam the world all alone, advanced aliens or not." She retorted. "High Wire, will you let us help you adjust to our world?"
High Wire's eyes brightened. "Actually that idea may just work. There may be just enough electromagnetic interference to prevent Decepticon sensors from locking onto us fully. Sure there may be some advances in that area since out departure, but we don't have time for new ideas." He faced the kids." Now if you three wouldn't mind, could you lend me a hand? I must revive my friends as soon as possible."
XXXXXXXXXXXX
As his systems began to reboot, the yellow minicon's optics slowly came back online after who knows how long and a familiar form came into focus after the protective shutters opened.
"Sparkplug? How are you feeling?"
The Minicon flexed his fingers, trying to get the feeling back.
"A little stiff but I'll be fine. How long have we been out?"
If he had a mouth, High Wire would be smiling wryly.
"A very long time."
As Sparkplug shakily stepped from his pod with some help from High Wire, the three kids were busy speaking with the other Minicons.
"Okay, so how did you guys learn English?" Gina asked.
One of the Minicons, a blue and black mech with yellow wing-like protrusions on his shoulders, chuckled and pointed to the small avian drone.
"See that drone? We call them Skyspys, they help scan alt-modes for us when we're in stasis, as for how we can speak your language, we have internal translators that help us learn any spoken language. Pretty cool huh?" He laughed.
Another Minicon, an orange femme with a grey mouthless face with parts of a moped on her form, crossed her arms.
"I don't see what the temperature has to do with technology Grindor." She said.
"It's an expression, Sureshock." Grindor rolled his optics. "Lighten up girl, you could use a sense of humor."
"Now's not the time for jokes." Longarm, a brown Minicon with a crane on his back and a red visor covering his optics. "You kids mind leading us out? The faster we get going, the better, and you don't want to get left behind in the dust."
"We're coming Longarm." Darren said and looked over to a red bot with helicopter blades on his back. "You ready Jolt?"
"Yup. All set."
Seeing that his systems were running fine, Sparkplug offered a hand. "Annie, right? High Wire tells me that we have you to thank for giving us in being in such a hurry."
The girl giggled and accepted the offered hand. "Yeah, sorry about that."
"I'm glad that you found us and not someone else." Sparkplug smiled and beckoned to the hatch. "Now, it's your world, lead the way."
The kids retrieved their gear and with the Minicons in tow, led them back out of the cave. As they emerged from the cave, the minicons partially closed their optic shutters, unused to such bright light after a millennia of stasis. Finally adjusting to the light, they marveled over the terrain that might be their new home.
"Well I'll be damned." Jolt gave a jubilant laugh. "Look at all this vegetation! And the sun, Primus I never thought I would see it again!"
"Well you'll have plenty of time to get used to it." Sparkplug noted. As they made their way down the mountain, Sparkplug kept a close eye on his surroundings. "Everyone stick close and be on your guard. No telling what might-"
A loud crack went through the air, a rush of wind blowing them hard against the kids and the minicons that forced them into a crouching position to avoid being blown away. Annie frantically looked around, her arms covering her head.
"What the hell was that?!" She yelled.
"Not what," High Wire said, optics wide with terror as he pointed ahead. "Who!"
The others followed his gaze and looked up. The minicons immediately recognized the massive form before them, while the kids didn't have to recognize him to know they were in trouble. He towered above them, gunmetal grey, and black body supported by wide feet large enough to crush a car (and already crushing the trio's bikes), a grim and dour expression on his face, and a wicked looking black cannon on his right arm.
"Megatron." Sureshock whispered in horror. How was the Decepticon leader on this planet? He couldn't have gotten here so fast from Cybertron after detecting the signal.
"How nice of you to come here. I see the many vorns haven't clouded your memory." He said in a raspy voice. Megatron turned his optics on the humans. "Fleshlings, you have found something that belongs to me. You have my thanks- depart and you may live to see another day. Remain and- " His heel dug into the ground, further grinding the kids' rides underneath. "Well you get the idea."
The six minicons tensed up, ready to try and protect themselves and the kids among them. This prompted a laugh from the warlord.
"How touching, if futile." He smirked. "Very well, it seems we'll be doing this the hard way." He aimed his fusion cannon at the group. Gina huddled closer to Darren, who was trying not to shake in gear. Seconds before the cannon could fire, a new voice rang out.
"Stand down Megatron!"
Minicon, human and Decepticon alike were surprised as a laser blast hit Megatron in the chest, causing him to stumble back and fire his cannon into the air, the massive energy blast tearing through the tops of the trees and blowing hole into the mountain behind them. Megatron growled and leveled his sights upon the newcomer.
"Prime."
Standing nearby stood another mech, this was just as tall and bulky as Megatron, and visibly armed with a large black Ion cannon with steam rising from the barrel. "Run!"
Longarm and Jolt fled, speeding away from the battle as quickly as possible, soon disappearing into the forest in their alt-modes. Exchanging a quick comm-burst between themselves, the Street Action team also transformed but no into their alt-modes. Instead they combined into a single form- Sureshock forming the legs, Grindor forming the torso and arms, and High Wire forming the head and neck area. The newly formed gestalt-Centurion- quickly picked up the surprised children, carrying the twins under his arms and flipping Gina on to his back, speeding away, skating on his wheel-like feet.
As his comrades and new friends left for safety, Sparkplug raced towards Optimus, swerving around Megatron's feet. The warlord made for the minicon, prompting additional shots from Optimus.
"Shooting first Prime? How un-Autobot of you!" He retaliated with another shot from his fusion cannon, blasting the cannon out of Prime's hand. "And yet still ineffective."
Optimus rolled to the side to avoid another blast, and held out his hand to Sparkplug. "Sparkplug, do it now!"
Sparkplug flipped into the air, his car form plugging into a port on Optimus' right arm. Just as they connected, Optimus felt a jolt of energy run through his arm before a long, red hot orange blade slid out of his wrist emitting intense heat. Pulling a barrage cannon from the smokestack on his back, Optimus gave Megatron a challenging look.
"Now where were we?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Moving as fast as his rotors will allow at his height, Jolt kept his sensors fixed in all directions and thanked Primus that Megatron was the only Decepticon to appear so far. He was trained in recon and wouldn't last a nano-klik in combat. A fight was the last thing he needed.
"Well look at what crawled out of the service package!"
The tiny minicon was barely able to keep up his speed as an unfamiliar Decepticon charged in after him, trying to grab a hold of him with sharp looking hands.
"Come on you piece of scrap!" Barricade snarled as the little red chopper weaved just out of his reach and into the trees. It was hard to catch up with all the vegetation in his way and the tiny organic creatures darting around his feet. "Well if that's how you want it, then let's play!"
Suddenly a missile hit him in the side of his torso, knocking him into a tree.
"Back off Con!"
Blackout glared at the yellow Autobot who stepped out of the trees "Great, of all the Bots on this stupid rock, Barricade gets stuck fighting you. The Autobot mascot just fresh from the protoform stage."
"I'm still old enough to beat your aft!"
Bumblebee ran forward leaping on the trees to give him some height on his adversary. Barricade swiftly pulled out his gyro blades and swung them at the scout. Bumblebee dodged the strike, hissing as the blade cut into his chasis armor, and kneed Barricade in the face.
The blow dazed Barricade but he recovered and grabbed Bumblebee's arm, tossing him into a tree. The scout lost his grip on his blaster but had no time to retrieve it as he was forced to evade another strike from Barricade's blades, which easily cut through the trunk like paper.
"Damn!" He said. He could go in for another strike, but getting hit by those spinning blades was not an option. Those things could decapitate a lesser armored bot like him if he got a good hit in.
"Bee, heads up!"
Bumblebee looked up to see Jolt race through the air like a red bullet, jumping when he connected to his right arm. Bumblebee felt a huge surge of energy race through him as the powerlinking caused his arm to transform, his limb shifting inside itself to form a compact solar accelerator.
"Oh yes!" He grinned.
"A fancy new gun isn't going to help you against Barricade!"
Barricade charged at Bumblebee, but was stopped when his blade arm was suddenly shot clean off at the shoulder. The warrior stopped for a moment as he tried to process the loss of his limb.
"I think it's done a great job at helping me. Don't you?"
He didn't give Barricade time to answer as he fired another shot, this concussive blast hitting Barricade straight in his chest and blasting off some pieces of his armor. And one last shot blasted him a few feet away through a couple of trees.
"Wow, this thing packs a punch." Bumblebee said. Jolt disengaged himself from his arm and transformed. "Thanks Jolt."
"Anytime kid."
XXXXXXXX
Longarm tore through the bushes as he ran from his relentless pursuer, who was ripping up the forest floor trying to get to him. A missile hit the spot next to him, the explosion blasting him sideways into a tree. His vision swam for a bit before he quickly recovered and kept on running. But his path was cut off when a tall dark form stepped in his way.
"Don't try anything scraplet!" Lugnut growled, aiming his mortar guns at him. "Surrender and pledge your loyalty to the mighty lord Megatron."
"Oh shut up." Longarm tossed a sticky bomb on to Lugnut's foot and dived to the side as it exploded detonated. The brute howled in pain as the metal on his foot was blown off along with the internal circuitry.
"You little bastard!" Lugnut roared and was about to shoot Longarm down, when a wrecking ball him square in the face, making him spin around.
"Bulkhead!" Longarm smiled.
The big green Autobot ran gave Longarm a passing grin as he charged at Lugnut. Lugnut, still dazed from the punch, fired at him with his gun hands, the armor-piercing bullets ripping into the ground and the trees, but not hitting Bulkhead.
"Your aim sucks!"
Bulkhead shifted his arm into a wrecking ball and slammed it into Lugnut's eye at full force. The blow was like getting slugged by Ultra Magnus hopped up on red energon and was strong enough to damage the glass covering Lugnut's eye. The large Con toppled over and crashed to the ground, making the ground shake.
"Nice job," Longarm said. "Though you were cutting it a bit close."
"Hey, I like to make an entrance."
XXXXXXXXXXX
Twisting a bit to get more comfortable despite being held like a sack of potatoes, Darren struggled to get a better look at their new "friend". "Wait High Wire, Grindor, er…what do we call you?"
"Centurion." The Minicon gestalt answered, leaping over a large boulder with ease. The roar of engines caused Centurion to look skywards and notice a red and silver jet. "Damn it, it's Starscream!"
Before the kids could ask who Starscream was, they got their answer. A sleek fighter jet dived towards them and transformed in the blink of an eye, landing before the group with his trademark smirk on his face.
"Leave it to the mighty Megtraon to lose track of a couple of fleshlings and a Minicon. Pathetic." Starscream said and appointed his null ray at them. Centurion let the children down.
"Go, he's only here for me, not you. You three need to run." He said.
"What? No, we're not ditching you!" Gina said.
Then a pink and white convertible raced out of the trees and shifted form into a slender femme, who kneed a surprised Starscream in the face, sending him into a tree. Arcee ran at the seeker, who fired his arm cannons at her. She dodged them with the skill and agility of a highly trained warrior, and fired a blast from her pistol at his knee, forcing him to kneel.
Starscream growled and kicked the pistol out of her hand, attempting to shoot her face at point blank range only for her to grab his arm and twist it. It was clear she wasn't going to give him a chance to transform and attack her from the air, his natural element. Arcee broke his arm at an unnatural angle, making the kids cringe of the sickening 'crack' it gave before she stomped his head so hard he crashed through a tree trunk and crumpled to the ground.
"Holy shit, that was so one sided." Annie breathed. Her friends agreed. Arcee turned to them and knelt down to their level.
"Are you all okay?" She asked softly so as to not scare them.
"Yes we're fine." Centurion said and turned to the kids. "It's okay, she's an Autobot, one of the good guys."
"Finally," Darren sighed. "I was beginning to think the big guy was by himself."
"Optimus Prime." Arcee said, setting her sights back towards the mountain. "Don't thank me yet, this battle is far from over."
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
The two leaders continued to brawl at the foot of the mountain, the Autobot leader having lost his blaster and the war monger's fusion cannon having been damaged. Even with the added power boost provided by Sparkplug, both combatants remained evenly matched, the two having gone into close quarters combat and deadlocked with their blades.
"It seems we are at a stalemate Prime!" Megatron smirked. "Even with your Minicon, you cannot defeat me!"
"Give it time Megatron! I'm just getting warmed up!" Optimus grunted.
He delivered an uppercut to Megatron's chin, just as a line came over his opponent's comm-unit, Soundwave's voice sounding through.
"Lord Megatron, the others have been rendered inoperable by the Autobots and have failed to retrieve the minicons. Enemy reinforcements imminent, suggest tactical retreat."
Megatron growled at the news, blocking a high kick. "Enjoy this victory Prime! But know this, the war is far from over! Soundwave!"
A ground bridge appeared behind him, Megatron shoved Optimus aside and jumped back into the portal.
Optimus looked at the spot where his enemy had vanished, Sparkplug disengaging from his arm and climbed onto his shoulder.
"Ratchet, can you detect any other Decepticon signals in the area?" He asked over the comm-channel.
":No. All the other Decepticons are retreating. And before you ask, we can't track them back to their base. They must be cloaking their signals as well as the trail left by the ground bridge.:"
"Of course." Prime sighed.
" Optimus, what was Megatron doing on this planet?" Sparkplug asked. "And you for that matter? Why aren't you on Cybertron?"
"That's a story I'll tell you back at the base, Sparkplug, but for now we must regroup with your new friends."
XXXXXXXXXXXX
"YOU FOOLS!"
The Decpticons trembled at their leader's rage, with Lugnut on his knees begging for the forgiveness of his glorious master. Starscream didn't look as fearful but was smart enough not to interject with a witty comeback. Even he knew that Megatron was not in the mood.
They had all regrouped back at the Nemesis on their little island not-paradise, and the entire crew had gathered on the bridge to address their next course of action.
"B-but sir, the Auotobots…" Barricade said, but was cut off.
"Are nothing! They are but a handful of warriors that barely match up to a squad of those idiotic Wreckers! You are Decepticons, my fighting elite! They should have been no match for you!"
"They just caught us off-guard mighty Megatron." Lugnut said, head bowed. "Rest assured, we will be ready for them next time."
"If there is a next time." Starscream muttered, but shut up at Megatron's look. Nightshade walked forward.
"There's nothing to stress about, Megatron. Though the Autobot's got a head start on the minicons, keep in mind that there are hundreds more who are most likely all over the world in the most remote places. If we stay on our toes, we can get them before the Autobots do, and then we can take the fight to them." She said, calming him down. She always had that effect on him since before they had begun their revolution. Nightshade kept him from going off on murderous rages that would've ruined his image at a crucial point in their campaign.
"Is there any way for us to detect the Minicons ahead of time?" Megatron asked Knockout, who shrugged.
"From what I know about Minicon technology, no. Those little buggers will activate at random and one at a time. Until we the next one activates, then all we can do is wait."
Megatron grunted but accepted the answer and looked out the window and out into the desolate landscape. They had to take this slow, or everything will fall apart. But Megatron vowed upon his spark that Prime's team will fall and this world will follow.
XXXXXXXXXXX
The Autobots had regrouped back at the cave opening where the pod was discovered. Introductions were made around with names (which would have ended sooner had Gwen not been asking a thousand questions by the minute). Prowl, who had arrived via ground bridge, walked up to Optimus and voiced his concerns.
"Optimus, what do we do about the children?" He asked. "We can't just let them go."
"We can only do one thing Prowl." Optimus knelt down to the kids' level to better speak to them without seeming too intimidating. Thankfully they had already calmed down from the chaos of earlier. "Children, on behalf of my people and my comrades, I thank you for finding these Minicons and bringing them back online. The rest of my team resides back at our ship, which is also in the general area."
"Um, Optimus…what happens now? Will you take the minicons and leave?" Darren hesitantly asked, not wanting to leave High Wire alone despite not having known him for very long.
The Autobot leader shook his head. "Three are any more Minicons in the world and Megarton will not stop once he's enslaved all of them. And even if we wanted to leave, we are currently unable to, as our ship is damaged beyond repair." He answered. "Until he and his forces are defeated, you world remains in danger."
"Which means we're staying put," Bulkhead said. "So what do we do about them? Megs saw them with minicons. And that isn't a good thing."
"What do you mean?" Annie asked.
"Megatron will target you because you found the minicons, and might think you know how to find more, if not use you all as hostages." Arcee explained.
"As such, it is within your best interests to be watched over to ensure that the Decepticons do not attempt anything." Optimus said. High Wire walked forward.
"Optimus, is it alright if my team watch over the children ourselves?" He requested. "In a way, it was our fault that they're being targeted by the Cons. We are suited for combat like Sparkplug."
Optimus turned to the children. "Are you okay with this arrangement?"
They looked at each other before Gina stepped forward and gave the Street Action team a wide smile. "They're more than welcome into our home!"
If he could, High Wire would have shed a tear. "That is more than enough. Thank you."
Little did the Autobots know, this would begin a new conflict that would change the face of the Great War forever. A conflict that would change the hearts and minds of all those present, good and evil. The War for Terra.
