Per Trackster's special request for another chapter, I was able to do so and I hope that she enjoys it. This is for you buddy!
A Foreshadowing Of Things To Come
About a week after the events that took place on the Autobot base, everything went back to business as usual for the Autobots. In that short time, Melanie and Camille had become close friends. Not only that, but Camille had decided to sell her apartment, and soon moved in with Melanie and the Autobots.
For a time, things were going smoothly. For weeks now, there were no reports of any Decepticon activity. This caused Optimus Prime to worry. He decided to call a meeting the very next morning to inform the Autobots of the disturbing news and to remind them all to stay alert.
Strangely that morning, the girls decided to be mischievous and planned to prank a couple of the Autobots while they were still in recharge. They slinked up and down the corridors toward the doors of their intended, unsuspecting targets like ninjas. Which made perfect sense since they used empty pillowcases to wrap up their faces so only their eyes were showing, just in case their victims woke up, they wouldn't know which of the girls pulled the prank. Once their labors were completed, they both ran back to their quarters. Melanie activated her intercom to Camille's room and they chit chatted leisurely through their secure airwaves.
"So who did you get?" Mel asked, slightly out of breath from running back to her room.
"I'm not gonna say, It's a secret! And who says its even one Autobot!" She replied with a giggle.
"Oooooh you're bad." Melanie replied with a wicked grin.
"Let's get back to bed, might as well squeeze some sleep into those last 20 minutes before Optimus wakes us all up on the loudspeaker."
"True. Good night then." Melanie said through a yawn, and severed the communication.
When Optimus' voice erupted on the loudspeaker, Melanie and Camille jumped out of their beds, already dressed, and walked out into the hall towards each other with big smiles on their faces.
"Ready for the fireworks?" Mel asked as she swung her arm around Camille's arm.
"You betcha!" She replied. Then they both skipped down the hallway just like the characters in the Wizard of Oz.
Once they reached the main assembly hall, they climbed onto Teletraan-1's console and watched as the base's inhabitants sleepily strolled in and filled up the room. Just as they had hoped, their potential targets were right smack in the middle of the room, perfect viewing distance for the entire base to see. Once they were all inside, Optimus emerged next to the girls in front of Teletraan-1. He was holding a large data pad with notes and topics he planned to discuss and was about to start his speech when he noticed some red marks on Ironhide's chest.
"Ironhide, what's that red writing on your chest?"
Sideswipe overheard Prime over the voices of the chattering Autobots, and turned towards Ironhide and read the words out loud.
"I LOVE RATCHET?! Haha! Geez Ironhide, I didn't know you played for both teams!" He taunted.
"What the--?" Ironhide looked down, but could only see the words upside down at his angle.
Ratchet heard his name and walked over to Ironhide, only to see his name plastered on his chest with little hearts around it. Ratchet made a gruesome face.
"You think that's funny?" He bellowed as he made a fist and brought it up to Ironhide's.
"I didn't write this!" Ironhide said as he put his hands up to protect himself should Ratchet throw a blow.
"I've been had." Ironhide accused, starting to look around at all the laughing faces. His first culprits for a prank like this would be the twins. He glared viciously in their direction. Yes, they were both laughing, but after careful scrutiny, Ironhide noticed the same writing on both their body chassis, only it was written in white. Ironhide smiled.
"Looks like I'm not the only one who got visited by the prank fairy last night!" He said as pointed to their chests.
They both stopped laughing and looked down to notice the phrase, "I'm with stupid" and an arrow written on both their chests. Camille held back a laugh as she whispered to Melanie.
"See? I told you Sunny always stands to Sideswipe's left! The arrows are pointing right at each other! PERFECT!!"
The entire base was now bursting with laughter. The two most mischievous mechs on the base, done in by some new practical joker...or jokers. Camille and Melanie continued to hold back their laughs by putting their heads down. Their long hair draped over their faces. Helping them hide their guilt. Optimus heard their vain attempts to keep themselves quiet, but by their body language alone, he knew it was them. It was obvious that the red writing on Ironhide was done in lipstick, and that it was definitely them, since they were the only females on the base. The white writing was clearly one of those markers humans used to write their address numbers on their trashcans so they can identify them. He let out a big sigh, smiled from behind his mask, and tried to get the other's attention to continue the meeting.
"Alright, that's enough Autobots. Let's get back to the meeting."
Soon all the Autobot's laughter stopped and they all straightened up and stood at attention. Noticing that all optics were now watching him, Optimus stood tall and pushed his shoulders back and stuck is chest out.
"As you all must have noticed by now, there hasn't been any Decepticon activity for a while now. We need to find out why. I want a small team of you to get out there and get me some information. Hound, Tracks, Sideswipe, Bumblebee. You four should make for a well-rounded team."
Suddenly Sunstreaker straightened up and was pointing a finger in the air, in an attempt to get Optimus' attention.
"Whoa there! Just a second. You're separating us?"
"Just goes to show you who's the better sibling." Sideswipe cockily replied as he pretended to run his fingers through his non-existent hair.
"You fragger! I'll show you!"
Sunstreaker dove for his brother, tackling him to the floor.
"That's enough you two! If you're going to be a danger to the mission, then maybe it's best that neither of you go." Optimus thundered.
They froze like statues. "No! We'll be good! Won't we bro?" Sunstreaker answered nervously.
Sideswipe attempted to nod but couldn't effectively because Sunstreaker still had him in a headlock.
"Alright. Autobots! Transform!" Optimus shouted.
"Wait! We wanna go too!" Melanie stood up, tapping Optimus on the arm. Camille also stood up and looked up at him with pleading eyes.
Optimus looked down at the girls and paused for a moment, considering the consequences. He sighed.
"This is against my better judgment, but alright. I'll assign you each to an Autobot and no matter what happens, STAY TOGETHER. Melanie, I want you to go with Tracks. "
"10-4 Optimus!" She said happily skipping over to him.
"Camille, you go with Hound."
"Alright! I get the convertible! Ha ha! Can't wait to feel the wind blowing through my hair!" She shouted jubilantly as she jumped in the jeep without even opening the door.
"Yeah? Well have fun trying to comb your hair out after the wind messes it up, I on the other hand wanna look fabulous when we find those Decepticons!" Melanie playfully teased flicking her hair like a supermodel right before getting into Tracks' passenger seat.
"Now that's a girl after my own heart!" Tracks proudly announced.
"Come on guys! We got a schedule to stick to! Let's move out!" Bumblebee shouted then transformed.
Sunstreaker and Sideswipe followed his lead and the group sped down the hallways and out of the Ark, on route to their first destination, the Decepticons abandoned space bridge.
Once they arrived at the top of the plateau, they inspected the deserted dry riverbed. The space bridge was still there, but some sections of the track were missing and some if the outer panels had fallen off. Sunstreaker leaned in closer as if something caught his eye.
"I think the instruments down there are still functional."
"What? That's impossible. We better go down and see." Sideswipe answered and then transformed and drove down the steep incline.
The others followed. Once they were all at the base of the canyon, laser fire erupted from behind them.
"It's Starscream! Head for the space bridge! We gotta use those walls for cover otherwise we're sitting ducks!" Hound shouted as he started to veer towards the dilapidated runway of the space bridge.
Once they were all safely inside, they transformed and drew their weapons, all except Tracks.
Hound turned to Camille and said, "You might get hurt out here so go join Melanie. Tracks will keep you both save while we think of a plan to get out of here."
Starscream, who was far enough away that he could easily dodge any shot the Autobots fired, patiently waited for his accomplice to execute his orders. Suddenly a purple blur appeared right before the space bridge console. It was Skywarp. He laughed maliciously before activating the supposedly dormant space bridge and watched as the Autobots and their human companions were sucked into the vortex. He brought his wrist to his chin and contacted Cybertron.
"Skywarp to Shockwave. You're about to get your first customers!"
Millions of miles away on Cybertron, Shockwave had just received the transmission from Skywarp and walked toward the doors of the space bridge. When the Autobots arrived, the doors opened and they all came tumbling out on top of each other. They looked up to see the large purple Decepticon standing at the entrance with his gun drawn.
"Welcome Autobot slaves. If you would be so kind as to follow me to the brig."
They nervously rose to their feet as the single robotic eye watched them intently. Tracks let out Camille and Melanie, transformed, then got to his feet. They all walked down the long corridor till they got to the halls of the prison cells. He put them each in different cells in different halls, most likely so they couldn't plan an escape. Melanie remained with Tracks, unaware that Camille had managed to separate herself from the group, thanks to the distraction of Hound's hologram that made her look as if she was still walking with them. Shockwave put the last Autobot in a holding cell, along with his human companion. Once the force field was up, he turned to them and spoke.
"Megatron has granted me permission to run experiments on any prisoners. I think your fleshling pet will be the first."
Tracks rushed the force field stopping his face inches from it and yelled,
"You will do nothing of the sort! If you so much as lay a finger on her, I'll rip you apart!" His chest was heaving in anger and Melanie could see that Tracks was dead serious with his threat.
Shockwave stared at him for a moment longer, then turned and walked away. Tracks then slowly walked backwards till his back hit the wall of the cell, then slowly slid down till his aft hit the floor.
Melanie quietly approached him and crawled onto his lap.
"Don't worry Tracks, we'll figure a way out of here before he comes back." She said as she continued crawling towards his face.
"I don't know Kiddo, I can't see any way out of this one." Tracks responded in a serious tone. Melanie looked up at him, and then sadly looked at the floor.
"Well…if this truly is our end…" She began, then lifted her head up to meet his optics, "…then I'm glad I'm spending my last moments with you." She said with a smile.
Tracks smiled back and used a finger to poke her midsection. She lurched her stomach backwards with a giggle and smiled. She then retaliated by wiggling her finger over his hood. He chuckled. They both knew exactly where this was going. Again they fought to reach each other's more vulnerable spots. Before they knew it, their laughs were echoing throughout the halls. As they tortured each other with unbearable tickles, they simultaneously came to a stop. Tracks looked into the eyes of the human sitting on his chest, and she responded by looking right back at him.
"I'm so glad you came into my life, Tracks." She said with tears in her eyes.
"Me too Kiddo. Me too." He said pulling her body close to his face as he nuzzled his frightened little friend.
Meanwhile, Shockwave returned to the command center and opened up a channel to Teletraan-1. When Optimus Prime's face appeared on the monitor, Shockwave happily informed him of his captives.
"Greetings Prime. I just thought I'd let you know that 5 of your fellow Autobots as well as two flesh creatures have been captured, and are now here on Cybertron awaiting destruction."
Prime's optics widened in shock.
"Its a shame you won't be able to save them. But If you like, I could send you their scrap remains as a consolation."
Upon those last words, Shockwave abruptly ended transmission. Prime was in total disbelief. How could this have happened? He thought to himself.
"I shouldn't have let the girls go." He spoke softly. "Now they might never come back."
Optimus solemnly spoke over the loudspeaker and informed all Autobots to assemble in the main hall. Within a few minutes the hall was filled with Autobots. As they all stood around waiting for their leader to speak, many of them had looks of uncertainty on their faceplates after hearing the tone in Optimus' voice.
"Autobots, listen up. I've just received word that our reconnaissance team has been captured. They're being held prisoner on Cybertron."
Several Autobots gasped in shock.
"Since we have no means of transportation, and all communications with them have been lost, there's a high probability we may never see them again. Now I know this looks bad, but we mustn't lose hope." Optimus turned towards his scientist. "Perceptor, can you find out exactly where they departed for Cybertron?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I can." he answered as he punched buttons on Teletraan-1's console. "According to Teletraan-1, it appears they were sent to Cybertron by means of a supposedly non-functional space bridge, located just beyond the outskirts of the base. In an dry, abandoned riverbed."
Optimus' spirits rose slightly as he brought his hand to his facemask.
"Hmmm…If that space bridge was functional, then it might still work to get them back. But without communication, there's no way to know when they will be coming through, that's to say if they even manage to escape."
"Don't talk like that Prime!" Ironhide shouted. "I know the girls will be fine. You left them in good hands. And if anything, why don't a few of us go stake out the space bridge and wait for their return? Heck, we'll wait all day and night if I have to!"
Optimus smiled. "Very well old friend. I put you in charge of this mission."
"10-4 Prime. Hey Jazz! Mirage! Get off your lazy afts! Get over here and let's go! You too Cliffjumper!" Without saying a word, the chosen Autobots transformed and rolled single file out of the base towards the direction of the abandoned space bridge.
Back on Cybertron, Camille was alone, slinking against the cold walls of Shockwave's tower, desperately trying to find the holding cells of her fellow Autobots. The place was huge! It was so eerie, quiet and cold, it gave her a weird feeling in her stomach. Suddenly she heard Melanie's faint giggles in the distance. She followed them till they stopped. Drat! There went her only lead to find them! Then she heard a grunt from one of the rooms in the hallway to her right.
"Hey stop it!"
"You stop it! You started it!"
She smiled; she knew exactly whom the voices belonged to. She ran in to see the twins Sunstreaker and Sideswipe throwing loose screws bolts across the room at each other through the bars of their holding cells.
"Guys! It's me!" I whispered as loud as I could.
They both turned towards her with big matching smiles on their faces.
"Whoa! How'd you get out?" Sunstreaker said aloud.
"Shhhhh!! Let's just call it magic, shall we?" She smiled as she jumped to reach the unlocking mechanism for the cell doors.
With one swat, the electric force field was gone and they quickly ran out, Sideswipe stopping for a moment to scoop her up while Sunstreaker ran ahead to search other hallways for their other captured friends.
Once Hound and Bumblebee were released, all that was left was to find Melanie and Tracks. As the 5 of them turned the last corner and down the last hallway, they heard the faint sound of snoring. They peeked their heads into the cell to see the Tracks laying spread eagle on the floor with Melanie sprawled out upon his chest, both engaged in a peaceful nap.
"Awww how cute!" Sunstreaker said clasping his hands under his chin.
Tracks started to stir as Bumblebee de-activated the force field on their cell.
"What in the world? Am I dreaming?" Tracks stared groggily at his friends.
"Nope! It's really us! Now get your aft off the floor and let's get out of here!"
Tracks then used both his hands and carefully removed the still napping Melanie from his chest. He then held her to the corner of his neck like a kitten and proceeded to run and catch up with the others. Once they were all together, they frantically searched for the location of the command bridge. They had to find the space bridge that would take them back to Earth.
Meanwhile, Shockwave was preparing his medical tools for the dissection of his first victim. Once all was ready, he stalked down the hallway, turned the corner towards the cell of his victim and stopped in his tracks in the doorway of the cell block at the sight of the empty cell Melanie and Tracks were in just minutes earlier. He then made a fist and brought it up to his face, and started to shake it violently. Then he used that same hand and bashed the alarm console to his right making the alarm blare throughout the tower. He then opened a communication.
"Attention all drones. The Autobot prisoners have escaped. Do not, I repeat, do not allow them to reach the command bridge!"
He then turned and started to jog towards the command bridge. As the Autobots continued to run through the halls in search of the room with the space bridge, the alarm started to blare, jolting Melanie out of her napping state.
"Yaaaahhhh! What is that?!" She shrieked as she covered her ears with her hands.
Tracks brought Melanie away from his shoulder so he could speak to her. "Shockwave must've alerted all his drones of our escape!"
"Our escape?"
Melanie looked around and saw the other Autobots running in front of her. She even noticed Camille hanging onto Hound's shoulder mounted missile, her legs dangling behind her, as she held on for dear life.
"We gotta find that space bridge. It's our only ticket outta here! Let's try that room." Sideswipe said as he skidded to a stop in front of a rather large closed door.
He hit the keypad to open the door and when the doors slid open, they walked in and were relieved to have finally found the command center, and the space bridge that had brought them there. Unfortunately, at that exact moment, Shockwave came walking in through the other door on the opposite side of the room.
"Oh shoot! Look out!" Sideswipe shouted as he pulled out his blaster and started firing in Shockwave's direction.
Shockwave immediately raised his gun arm towards the Autobots but before he could fire, one of Sideswipe's shot nailed him directly in the chest, causing him to fall back through the doorway into the previous hall. Bumblebee then took his blaster and shot the keypad on the door, activating the emergency lock. Shockwave got to his feet right before the doors slowly closed shut in front of him.
"Hurry! Everybody inside! It won't take him long to override the emergency lock." Tracks shouted as he signaled everyone into the space bridge with his free hand.
"Wait! Someone has to activate it once we're all inside!" Sunstreaker said as he pointed to the space bridge's console.
"And I doubt Shockwave will do it for us, even if we asked politely."
"I've got an idea." Hound said with a smirk.
Once Shockwave managed to undo the lock, he ran in to see that only one Autobot remained. Hound stood completely still with his hand right over the activation switch for the space bridge, which was a large flat gray square.
"Don't touch that!" He shouted and then ran towards him in an attempt to pull his wrist away from the console.
Only when he reached for it, His hand went right through Hound's, accidentally hitting the button beneath, activating the space bridge! Shocked at the sound of the space bridge being activated, he looked up at Hound's Hologram just as it smiled and waved goodbye to him. The image became fuzzy, and then disappeared. "No!" Shockwave shouted as he slammed his fist on the console.
Back on Earth, it was almost sunset; Ironhide and his team were still at the bottom of the dry riverbed, waiting for the space bridge to activate signaling the return of their captive friends.
When the last of the sun's rays disappeared from the canyon floor, Mirage walked over to where Ironhide was sitting and put his hand on his shoulder.
"I think we should head back to the base. If it's been this long, maybe they weren't able to—"
"How can ya say that Mirage?! Ironhide cut him off mid-sentence. "They're gonna make it! I know it! I feel it deep down in my spark!"
The other Autobots overheard the conversation and looked at each other with despair in their optics. Cliffjumper looked up into the evening sky, hoping to see the purple vortex appear in the sky above the space bridge, and then suddenly, it did!
"Look!" Cliffjumper shouted as he pointed towards the sky.
There was a loud crash, then a rumble as the vortex appeared. It dumped its contents, and once the vortex disappeared, the doors of the space bridge opened and 5 very happy Autobots came out.
"They made it! I told you guys they would!" Ironhide exclaimed as he went to greet the others.
The spirits of the others instantly rose as they were relieved to know their fellow Autobots made it back safely.
"How'd you escape?" Mirage asked.
"Yeah, how did we escape?" Melanie asked turning to Camille. She returned her glance with a big smile on her face and then looked up at Hound.
"I think I better answer this one." Hound said as he raised his hand to speak. "When we reached Cybertron, Shockwave was there to greet us, and escort all of us to the brig. Well, when he wasn't looking I made a hologram of Camille to make him think that she was still walking with us. I whispered to her to hide and to find us once the coast was clear. Just as I had hoped, she was able to find us and spring us. Luckily, we were able to find the space bridge that brought us here and used it to return to Earth!"
"Ironhide! Report! What's going on down there?" Optimus called through Ironhide's communicator.
"Prime! They're back! They made it! They're alright!" Ironhide happily answered.
"That's great news! All of you report back to the base immediately. I'll see you when you get here. Prime out."
"Alright you heard the mech! Autobots! Let's roll for home!"
And with that, all the Autobots transformed and rolled for their base.
Once they all returned and everything was back to normal, it was late and soon everyone had turned in for the night. Melanie, who couldn't sleep, was sitting on the edge of her bed in her pajamas. After a brief moment, she got up and went down the hall to see Tracks. She entered his room, and looked up at him. He was leaning back on his recharge berth looking at his reflection from one of his recently polished arm panels.
"What's up kiddo, can't sleep?" He brought his arm down as he noticed her come in.
"Well actually, I've been thinking. "
"About what?"
"About what could have happened to me on Cybertron. I could only imagine how you would feel if Shockwave was to… or even if something else was to happen to me, I…I…"
"Shhh…its okay Mel. I'll always be here to protect you. From anything and anyone!"
She smiled. "Thanks Tracks."
"Now come on up here." He said as he tapped the empty space next to him on his recharge berth with his hand.
"You know, my recharge berth can get to be a very lonely place sometimes!"
She smiled then jumped up and curled up beside him. He pulled a blanket from behind him and covered her with it.
"Good night Tracks." She said through closed eyes with a big smile on her face.
"Good night Mel."
Then the two drifted off into a deep, well deserved sleep.