Why am I so mean to Jack? Why? Rian, explain this.
Jack drifted aimlessly through the darkness. He heard noises, incomprehensible. It was muted garble, like words trying to travel through water. He felt the darkness shift. It pressed against him, either crushing or a chastise stroke. Shapes moved across his vision, too vague for him to to distinguish.
Then optics flickered online.
Jack's vision was dim and blurry, out of focus. He only recognized a brilliant, blinding light above him, a shape moving to his right. His vision desperately tried to adjust, but could not find a focal point. Dull, reverberating pain ached across his body, so deep that he felt in his veins. He shifted, trying to lift his limbs, only for them to remain in place, too heavy. Pinned. A sharp, gravelly sound assaulted his hearing, and he winced at the ring in his ears. A whirring noise filled his senses, and then there was a click.
A startling myriad of sounds greeted Jack. Clanking of objects hitting each other, a series of tapping, heavy steps on metal, and a high-pitched whine from somewhere to his left. Garble of static, like a bad signal on a radio. It took him a few long seconds to realize he had made that sound. Suddenly his vision focused with a whirr. A white light shown above him, fighting the black dimness around him. Then a rumble of a mocking purr brushed Jack's hearing.
"Awake, little ones?"
"Nn..." Jack groaned, head moving side to side as he tired to block out the near blinding light, attempting to move his arm again but to no avail. Finally he managed to raise his head enough to move the light out of his direct line of sight, instead focusing on a large silver blur in front of him, two red pin pricks set firmly into place.
The blazing heat in Jack's veins turned to ice. He had seen that horrible glare only twice in his lifetime, and he prayed he never he had to see it again.
Megatron.
The Decepticon warlord looked like a predator—lips pulled back to reveal fangs and hellish optics narrowed in a leer. Instantly Jack flinched back, trying get away, run, escape, only for his body to remain in place. What? What was going on? Th-this had to be a dream! Jack flickered his vision on and off, desperate enough to shake his head, trying to will the black walls to disappear—to end the nightmare.
"You gave us quite a fright," the tyrant went on in that mocking drawl, nearing. Jack struggled more, only for his body to resist him. "We thought you were going to deactivate. It would be such a shame, to lose such young blood."
...What was he talking about? What kind of dream was this?
Suddenly Jack heard another series of whines and hisses. He glanced over, only to stare. It was a femme he never met before, with sharp jet-black armor. She lay across a gray metal slab, rings of bright glowing energon strapping her into place. She struggled against them valiantly, wiggling like a worm as she bared her denta in a strained grimace.
A Decepticon? Jack had certainly never seen an Autobot like that before. But why would the 'Cons restrain one of their own? And why did she seem so... familiar? Especially that voice, the same pouts and sighs he heard every time she was locked in detention. And the rebellious streak of pink, just like—
"Miko...?" Jack murmured.
Instantly the struggling femme froze. She slowly pivoted her gaze to look at him. Widened, electric-blue optics stared at him, akin to disbelief.
"J-Jack?" the femme—oh, God, it her was voice—gasped, broken by static. "Is that you?"
Jack was confused. What did she mean..?
He glanced down, only to let out a horrified scream. Instead of a body of flesh, he was greeted with one of metal.
What had happened to him?! To them? He looked to Megatron.
"What did you do?!" he demanded, voice hoarse and full of crackling static.
"Nothing," Megatron answered, but his raspy voice was full of mockery. "The Autobots did this to you, when they destroyed the Omega Lock."
He ended his explanation with a savage growl, optics flaring in rage. O-Omega Lock? Then Jack remembered.
He was trapped in a tank... Optimus charged forward, bringing the Star Saber down...
"It appears the cyber-matter reacted with the... 'deoxyribonucleic acid' in your systems," his captor went on, saying the scientific term like it was foreign to him, "resulting in this unexpected outcome." Then he added with a dark smirk, "You will be quite useful to me."
Jack's face set into a determined scowl.
"We're not telling you anything about the 'Bots!" the human-turned-Cybertronian declared defiantly, glaring at the warlord.
"Yeah! If you think we're gonna crack that easily you have another thing coming, Buckethead!" Miko added with her usual spunk.
Megatron's cold laugh sent chills down the boy's back—where his spine used to be.
"Oh, you misunderstand little ones." the sterling monster purred. "I already have all I require—and you." Jack's plating trembled without his permission, and he prayed his captor didn't notice as he turned to Knock Out. "Swiftly, Knock Out. I grow impatient."
The medic bowed humbly. "As you wish, my liege."
Jack renewed his struggles as the Aston Martin meddled through his tools, Megatron's pleased sneer looking on. But the restraints did not give, locking him into place. He was squirming so much, he almost didn't see Knock Out nearing, an obscure device in servo. It almost looked like a wielding tool, but that wasn't right—he wasn't— Then he realized.
A branding iron.
No, no, no, no, no!
"Get that thing the frag away from me!" Jack screamed, so harsh his vocalizer was forced to reset.
"Oh? Not quite so eager to join our ranks are you?" Megatron sneered as Knock Out moved to Jack, bringing the pen up to his plates.
"Jack!" Miko wailed, watching in horror, her struggles just as violent.
"Hold still," Knock Out hissed through gritted teeth as the youngling gave a sudden jerk.
Suddenly electric pain shocked through Jack's system, locking his body and distorting his vision. Before he could recover, he felt something hot touch the armor of his shoulder. Jack let out high-pitched sound as he felt the tool carve into his chassis, drawing a sinister design. Jack never knew how branding was done, but it hurt.
Miko was screeching as loud as her vocalizer would allow, but the Decepticons ignored her like she wasn't even in the room. Finally, Knock Out pulled away, leaving Jack's shoulder stinging. The boy whimpered pitifully. His entire body—chassis—felt hot, burning him from the inside out. Suddenly he felt something in him move, clicking into place and whirr of cooling fans sounded.
"That wasn't so bad now, was it?" A deep voice rumbled above the youngling. Jack flinched, not noticing Megatron's approach immediately.
"We're not Decepticons! We'll never help you!" Jack seethed through gritted denta.
Megatron chuckled darkly, "That will change soon, boy."
"Get fragged!"
Without warning, the tyrant's claws shot out. Jack choked as a crushing grip seized his throat. He felt no struggle to breathe, something that felt wrong, but he did feel the cords that made up his neck crush against each other. The plating that covered them dented. The pain of the unexpected attack made the youngling freeze, only to flinch when he felt something hot again his ear—audial receptor.
"You will learn not to disrespect me," Megatron hissed lowly, barely audible.
Jack couldn't get away, but he looked over at another shriek. He watched as Knock Out settled beside Miko, raising the branding iron once again. The hot-headed girl went into a frenzy, screaming like a banshee. The medic shocked her like he did to Jack, only for the femme to renew her struggles. Knock Out was desperate enough to lean some of his weight on her, only for Miko to slam her helm against his in a clang.
When the medic fell to the floor, Megatron intervened, closing the distance in a few broad steps. He seized her throat like he had done to Jack, but this time struck the back of her head against the hard slab. Miko winced in pain and went still.
"Leave her alone!" Jack demanded, the act futile as Miko groaned, head lolling.
"Finish your work, doctor," Megatron ordered the annoyed medic, retaining his grip on Miko as Knock Out stood back up.
The femme's moan turned into a heart-breaking cry as the branding iron etched into her shoulder.
"Miko!" Jack called out, desperately attempting to break through the restraints to help her. To his own surprise, as well as Megatron, there was a distinctive crack, though the bindings did not break.
Jack's eyes—optics—widened as he saw sparks flying from Miko's frame, from torn wires of her arm. The once pristine armor of her wrist was cracked. The former human only keened—a robotic high-pitched whine—at the broken arm, caused by her desperate struggles.
"Oh, now look at what you did!" Knock Out snapped exasperatedly. "I'm going to have to fix that!"
"It is an easy enough repair," Megatron reprimanded Knock Out as the medic moved to grip the appendage. "Leave her arm as it is for now—it does not require immediate attention. I have other plans for these two—I'm certain they'll want to see the Autobots' demise as much as I do."
Jack widened his optics. D-d-demise?! No, he didn't hear that right!
Suddenly light steps sounded from the darkness of the lab, and the youngling glanced over to see the lean frame of Starscream. His wings were erect in pride and his talons were folded behind his back, a sinister smile on his faceplates.
"Master," the second-in-command called. When Megatron hummed, he reported, "We have arrived."
"Excellent," the Decepticon leader purred with a satisfied grin. He glanced at his miserable prisoners, trapped and whining in pain. "Bring them along."
Not waiting for a response, the warlord headed out of the lab as the drones that accompanied Starscream stepped forward. A pair settled on either side of Jack, one of them disengaging the locks. Once the crushing grip vanished, the mech instantly launched forward.
Only when his feet—pedes—touched the cold floor, he felt his legs quivered. There was a shift in his knees, cracking from an unfamiliar pressure. The individual wires pulled and the heat in his veins—energon—rushed to the site, trying to fuel his stabilizers, but it was too late. Jack crumbled with a wail, only for the Vehicons to catch him before he crashed onto the floor. In his peripheral vision, he saw another pair pluck Miko off of the slab.
"I believe there is a human saying to 'walk before you can run.' In your case I would take that advice quite literally," Knock Out suggested as they were pulled out of the med bay.
Starscream merely chuckled at the display, sending the prisoners one last leer before following Megatron. The drones half-dragged, half-carried the younglings through the long, winging corridors of the Nemesis.
Jack's felt something his chest—his spark—beat faster and faster as he recognized the giant dark hallways, filled with technology he was no closer to fathoming. He tried to memorize the route they took, but everything looked the same for his muddled senses to understand. Finally, the gloominess of the Decepticon warship vanished, replaced by a harsh, blinding light. Jack winced and his lenses adjusted the brightness of his vision to allow him to see.
Allowing him to take in the sight of the flight deck, covered in scratch marks of the repeated abuse of flyers landing and launching. But it was not empty. It was full of dozens of Seekers, in a pristine silver color, shining underneath the bright sun. What—what they all doing here?
"Jack, what's going on?" Miko whined pitifully, trembling in her captors' grip.
"I don't know," the boy replied hushed whisper. Seeing her terrified look, he added, "Everything's going to be okay."
The mech didn't even believe it himself, and his friend looked no more assured. Suddenly a shadow fell over them, and he glanced up, only for the energon in his lines to turn into ice.
It was a dark, menacing structure, made of the same black, alien material of the Nemesis. It was the tallest tower Jack had ever seen, the sharp spires at the top vanishing into the clouds. High up on the skyscraper were four gigantic barrels that looked like cannons, holding sentry in each direction. What was that? Where were they? They had to be still on Cybertron, or even a Decepticon colony.
Jack scanned the landscape below, trying to get an idea where they were. Only to be greeted with the dull, brown color of the desert, stretching in all directions until it met the sky on the horizon. His confusion only grew, until he noticed a cluster of pitifully small buildings that broke the cracked earth, with even patches of deceptive green. A place he instantly recognized, because he knew it like the back of his hand.
Jasper, Nevada.
"Easy now—sparkling steps first," Ratchet advised as Bumblebee helped his young charge off the berth with great care. "Go too fast and you might break something—this body is only hours old."
"I-I know," Raf stammered, stepping forward lightly, careful of how much weight he placed onto the leg.
It felt so odd! It wasn't like the muscles of his human body—flexing and contracting as one without requiring a single thought. Instead, Raf had to focus on rerouting energon—something that was a phenomenon itself—to the wires of his limbs—stabilizers, Ratchet called them. The medic promised it was temporary, until his stabilizers strengthened to hold him on their own and the process became second nature.
Raf knew Cybertronians and human anatomy couldn't be more different—but actually living it first hand... The youngling had blacked out several times—sending Ratchet into a panic attack as the Autobots scrambled to restore him from recharge. There were so many things he didn't understand!
His senses were so acute, collecting so much information he couldn't process it all. He saw details of the base he never saw before—the minuscule cracks in the wall, the individual dust particles that lingered in the air and collected on the sofa, each tiny drop that came from the leak in the water pipeline. Each sound—from the heavy pedes of the Autobots to the leaking water hitting the floor—was explosive in his audial receptors. And he could smell things he never detected as a human. The base was full of a stale, musky scent, and each of the Autobots were cloaked in an odor of their own. He hadn't known that Transformers even could smell. It seemed so impossible to him, and yet he was, living proof that they did.
It was strange, being so much taller than before. To be made of metal now. His family hadn't been informed of what happened yet, he was certain... but what would they even be told? The Autobots were a top-class secret, after all. Would he simply be erased? Forgotten?
A soft, pitiful keen echoed from his vocalizer without his consent, wishing he could have his old body back.
"Mama..." he whimpered. "I want my Mama..."
She could be strict at times, sure, but Raf loved her all the same. He wanted to soak in the warmth of her crushing bear hugs, to hear the smooth, lovely tunes of her lullabies, to taste and stuff himself with her homemade cooking, traditional Mexican dishes that had been in their family for generations. He didn't realize an ugly sound was coming from his vocalizer, or that there were trails of lubricants spilling from his optics. He didn't know Cybertronians could cry.
"I know, bitlet," Ratchet sighed, giving his helm a comforting stroke.
"We'll help you through this, Raf," Bumblebee promised through beeps and whirs, which were clearer now than ever before.
Raf couldn't reply as suddenly the main computer came to life. A familiar face filled the screen..
Agent William Fowler, the liaison between the Autobots and the US government. He did not look happy, his brow furrowed into a scowl. He looked like he was in an aircraft—he sat in a canvas seat with dull metal walls around him, even wearing a pair of headphones.
"Prime!" Fowler barked, louder than he had ever before. Raf winced at the harsh volume and Ratchet glared at the human. "The Pentagon is preparing to go Defcon 1. I need to know what we're dealing with!"
His voice was fast and breathless, panicked, which made the Autobots, including their newest member, more confused.
"To what do you refer, Agent Fowler?" Optimus inquired, stepping forward.
"Maybe you should step outside and see for yourselves." With that, the human disappeared.
"What's he talking about?" Arcee demanded to know as Optimus frowned.
Not taking a moment's hesitation, the Autobots stepped onto the central platform—which was originally meant to carry a nuclear missile. Within moments, the answer to Arcee's question was revealed, as the Autobots took to the top of the silo.
The Transformers gasped and recoilded at the sight of the massive, dark tower looming in the distance. The warm energon in Raf's veins went cold. Optimus's voice was grim.
"The Decepticons have discovered the location of our base."
This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be real. He wasn't a Cybertronian, he wasn't a Decepticon prisoner, and that wasn't Jasper. But there was the cold, cruel logic that creeped forth from his processor. That it was real.
Jack and Miko struggled uselessly as restraints were placed on their wrists and they were dragged forward. Megatron took the head of his armada, Knock Out and Soundwave loyally standing on either side.
"Our opportunity to revive Cyberton has been lost," the Decepticon leader boomed, his bellow carrying over his followers, "due to the treachery of Optimus Prime!"
No! Optimus was trying to save them! Jack flailed, only for his captors to hold him down.
"But from our fortress of New Kaon, we will instead seize control of this world!"
"No!" Jack shouted.
"You bastard!" Miko screeched.
Both were only rewarded with blows to the head. Megatron ignored them as he faced his army, raising a clawed fist into the air.
"Decepticons! Transform and rise up!"
Raf saw them. It had to be them. His new vision was able to pick out their hunched forms easily on the distant upper hull of the Nemesis. Jack and Miko were each curled in a ball, bound and surrounded by Decepticons at Megatron's feet. He saw how their wide optics were, and how their plating rattled madly in terror. Helpless, as Starscream led his armada swarm upon the base.
"Ratchet! Prepare the groundbridge, immediately!" Optimus ordered the medic, knowing the armada was going to be swift. They had to escape now, or death would be imminent.
Red, superheated energon rained down on them, sending fire and debris in every direction. The Autobots opened fired as a wave of Decepticons crashed over them. Blue energon hit flyer after flyer, clipping wings and tearing into engines, sending them to the ground. But for every Eradicon that fell, another took its place.
Raf felt so useless, huddling behind Bumblebee's bulk as the Autobots formed a defensive ring around the youngling. He wished he had blasters, like them, balling his hands—servos, into fists. He imagined his arms turning to cannons, charged with burning energon, shooting down the enemies that attacked them. But nothing happened. He just shivered in fear, watching wave after wave of flyers assault the base, tearing it apart.
Then the Insecticons entered the fray.
The metal, bug-like monsters let out awful, shrill screams as they attached to the sides of the silo. Bigger than the Autobots, they crawled towards them like predators nearing prey. Raf cried out when one's horn came too close for comfort, only for Bumblebee to assault it with a volley of energon. It tore the head clean off, energon and innards gushing out. The youngling's tanks rolled in disgust at the sight.
"Autobots! Retreat into the base!" Optimus bellowed.
At his order, the Autobots filed onto the elevator. Suddenly a Lockhead Martin F-22 Raptor raced towards them, missiles cocked.
"You're scrap!" Starscream screeched, prepared to finish the team once and for all.
Only for another rocket to slam into the Seeker.
The Decepticon lived up to his name as he was sent spiraling out of the sky. Raf glanced up to see a broad helicopter cut through the air, rockets mounted on its sides. Agent Fowler.
"What are you doing here?!" Bulkhhead demanded through the coms.
"My job!" the government agent retorted, sending another missile into an unsuspecting Insecticon.
With that, the doors of the missile silo closed over them, cutting off the outside world. The elevator shook the entire way down, making Raf whimper and tremble in fear. As the 'Bots stepped off, a massive boom reverberated throughout the base.
"I have the groundbridge open!" Ratchet shouted over the noise, the greens and blues of the bridge swirling in a seemingly endless vortex down the tunnel. "We need to leave—now!"
"W-we're just going to abandon the base?" Raf gasped.
"The base is lost," Optimus said gravely. "Fowler can only buy us enough time to escape."
"He can't take them all by himself!" Bulkhead protested.
"You didn't think I was gonna let Team Prime have all the fun, did ya?" a familiar drawl came, distorted by static.
Raf glanced up at the main console, only to see a familiar, silvery-white face fill the screen.
"Haha, it's Jackie!" Bulkhead exclaimed with joy.
"I picked up a strange energy source surge," Wheeljack explained. "Hope you don't mind the company." At the Autobots' shocked expressions of disbelief, he added, "We're still on the same team, remember? Always will be."
Optimus's expression was solemn as ever as he peered up at the Wrecker, who was maneuvering his ship through the fleet of Decepticons. Knowing words were not enough, the Autobot leader nodded, grateful. Wheeljack nodded back, just as sober, and the transmission ended. The Prime turned to the groundbridge, but did not go through.
"Bumblebee, Rafael, you will depart first," he announced.
"You're splitting us up?" Raf gasped.
"It will increase our chances of survival," Optimus informed, never showing an ounce of fear. "Each of us will depart for different locations—I shall be the last to leave."
"But Optimus—" Ratchet protested, but was cut off by his leader.
"I will ensure the Decepticons cannot follow."
Raf froze. What? What did that mean...?
"Y-you can't sacrifice yourself! The 'Bots—what will they do without you?!"
Optimus Prime didn't even meet any of his team's gazes.
"There will be a new Prime."
"Optimus—"
"Bumblebee, Raf, go," Ratchet stated bluntly. "We can't waste anymore time."
The human-turned-Cybertronian snapped his gaze to the medic in disbelief, but the old Autobot's countenance was grim and cold. Raf opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off as the entire silo trembled without warning. Catwalks rattled loudly as dust fell from the ceiling.
Raf flinched and glanced up at the ceiling, expecting it to collapse on top of them all. When it didn't, he looked back down, only to see the dim, distraught looks of Autobots. Wings were flat on their backs and plating was clamped down tight. They looked between the ceiling, at the Decepticons above, their leader, the groundbridge, and even each other. Knowing this was the last they would ever see each other.
Raf quivered. No, no, no. It couldn't end like this.
Suddenly a gentle, warm servo lay across his shoulder. He looked up, lubricants freely spilling from his optics, to see Bumblebee above him, his guardian still taller than him. The scout's faceplates were just as solemn as the others, but his prosthetic voice was soothing.
"Time to go, Raf."
After a long moment, the young mech nodded.
They stepped towards the swirling vortex as one. The silo shook violently again, another reminder of its imbedding doom. Raf wasn't able to stop his tears from flowing. He didn't even know how to control his new body yet. He slowly looked over his shoulder, taking in the sight of each and every Autobot, and all of them together.
His guardians. His friends. His family.
Raf and Bumblebee stepped through the groundbridge.
Megatron looked down with triumph as the massive, wicked form of the Nemesis settled directly over the Autobot Outpost Omega One. The mighty warship's primary weapon, an energy projector, unfolded from the belly of the beast, hungrily taking sights of the old military base turned into the Autobot headquarters.
A brilliant flash of light filled the air, with a deafening, horrible clap of thunder.
Then great flames rose from the desert floor, eating molten metal, as a great column of black smoke rose into the sky.
"NNOOO!" Jack screamed.
Miko let out a high-pitched wail, so loud several of the drones flinched.
No. No. It... it couldn't have happened. Couldn't have ended just like that. His friends... and Arcee...!
"Bulkhead!" she screeched, jerking away from her captors, as if in a attempt to run to his aid.
"Your precious Autobots are gone," Starscream sneered maliciously.
Miko looked down the ruins that once made the Autobot base, lubricants escaping from her optics. She let out that pitiful keen from before. Suddenly a metallic groan came from her legs and her knees buckled underneath her. This time no one caught her as she fell to the floor with a painful thud.
"Take them away," Megatron ordered, his voice cold.
Jack gritted his denta together, not trusting himself to speak—he wasn't certain if he would scream, rage, cry, or sob. He knew he couldn't show weakness to Megatron. Not now, not when Miko needed him.
He felt numb and his spark chamber felt empty as the drones plucked the captives off the ground. He didn't trust his legs to carry him, and he saw Miko was limp in her captors' grip. He shut his optics tight, trying to drown out the roar of the Decepticon army—Seekers and Insecticons flying overhead as the deck crowded with soldiers. They cheered and laughed and yelled, raising fists in salute to their lord.
"All hail Megatron! All hail Megatron! All hail Megatron!"
The chant was still loud in his audios as the door sealed close behind him. It took a long time for the clamor of the celebrating Decepticons to disappear into silence, replaced by the hum of the Nemesis and the clanking of the pedes of their captors. Jack tried to control his trembling, but it was hard. His plating rattled at random intervals. Beside him, he heard Miko still crying, trying to muffle her static-filled sobs. Where were they taking them?
Jack was so lost in his misery, he almost failed to notice when the drones went opposite ways. Separating the pair of human-turned-Cybertronians.
"No!" he screamed.
They couldn't take Miko away! He wouldn't let them! He had to protect her!
Like he was reborn again, Jack was suddenly on his pedes, flailing in his captors' grip. He tried to jerk away, hissing as cold claws dug into his armor and wires, leaving deep grooves. Over his snarls, he heard screeching and clanging. Miko was fighting, too.
"Miko!" Jack cried out, twisting his head at an awkward angle so he could catch sight of her. He locked gazes with her, the femme surrounded by three Vehicons as they carried her further away.
"Jack!"
"Let go of me—!" the prisoner fought against his captors, but to no avail. He was struck in the helm, causing him to reel.
The blow gave a change for the two Decepticons holding him adjust their grip. They yanked him further way, deeper into the bowels of the Nemesis. He heard Miko's shrieks rise in pitch and frequency, but fainter and fainter. Jack struggles increased with every step, only to be rewarded with cheap beatings. When he yelled out, one Eradicon struck him in his vocalizer. It took him several minutes to get it working it again. By then, Miko's yells were gone.
The drones dragged him to a broad door, one stepping forward to put in a code on a glowing panel beside it. The metal moved aside to reveal a black abyss beyond.
Jack didn't have a chance to protest as his captors removed his bonds, only to roughly throw him through the threshold. He crashed in a tangle of limbs, his metal scrapping across the floor, sending sparks into the air. The door sealed shut, a click reverberated through the cold, empty space.
Leaving him in darkness. Alone.