Author's Note: Alright, second chapter up within a week of the first. Take note this is going to be a little slow and will likely not match much of the episode's plot, since I can't remember most of it and don't want to stick to the plot of the series, instead spinning it off on my own plot. That being said, yes there will be missions that were in the series, like the upcoming chapter 3 that will skip ahead several episodes in the series. Also note that there are several personally-made characters with less creative names than I liked, but my mind isn't very creative on names, so I try my best. Read & Review.
I came to, everything blurry as I looked around. I blinked a couple times and recognized I was in what could only be a military facility of some kind. 'But this looks... American!' I thought, confused.
"Eh... Ratchet, Patchkit... the kid's waking up..." a voice, more beautiful than I ever heard, said.
"Kid...? I thought I stopped getting called that over a year ago..." I remarked, coughing afterwards.
"Easy there, human. Your wounds aren't entirely healed, and I'm afraid you'll need a human doctor to fix you up." A deep voice said.
"Well, if he had a protective shell..." Another voice said.
"Damn it, I was wearing bulletproof armor. It doesn't always protect your sides, and it never protects your arm or your shoulder... it's the best we have at the moment... Who are you people?!"
A large red and blue machine stepped to my side and looked down at me.
"Er... What are you?"
"I am Optimus Prime. Leader of a group of sentient techno-organisms from the planet Cybertron.
I laughed. "So PTSD causes hallucinations of aliens."
A pair of the machines entered my field of vision, a red and white colored one and a blue colored one, the red and white one speaking first, and I recognized him as the one who made the comment about the shell. "I'm Ratchet, the team's primary medic. The 'bot with the deep voice you heard is Patchkit here. I assure you that this is no hallucination, but what is this... PTSD?"
"You're kidding me, right? I can tell you've been through some battles... flashbacks to battles... you actively see them, sometimes the same ones over and over, reliving the horrors of the battle..." My eyes widened, seeing that damned horde of AQ, back in Afghanistan. "PETRENKO! GET BACK TO BASE!" I shouted, being shaken from the flashback somehow. I looked up and saw a blue and silver colored... Autobot, was it? 'She's shorter than the others...' I jumped when I realized what I had thought. It was, in fact, a female variant of the machines. She had a hand, about half the size of the other machines', on my shoulder.
"You alright?" She asked.
'So she's the one with the voice...' I thought. "I... should be fine, ma'am... just before I was brought here I was..." I looked away. "Let's just say me and one other man... I hope... are the only survivors..."
"So I saw. That many against you though... five against-"
"Three..."
"But there were three bodies, we saw one heading away with armor matching yours, and then there was you."
"One was killed in the fight... two were killed in an ambush just before that firefight..."
"Wouldn't it have been safer to surren-"
"If you finish that sentence, I swear that when I'm able to get up I'll put a rocket through your chest. Surrender was NOT an option, not with terrorists!"
"I... apologize. I'm Arcee, by the way."
I just nodded. Over the course of the next few hours I met the rest of their team. A 'femme' by the name of Firewall, who looked a lot like Arcee, the biggest difference was that she had what looks like tracks instead of wheels on her frame. Bulkhead, a larger bot than Optimus, at least in width. A scout I couldn't understand named Bumblebee, who only spoke in what I could only describe as beeps. A mech by the name of Killshot, and a charismatic red 'Bot by the name of Cliffjumper. Optimus explained the situation as for why they were here and what their objective was.
"So what's your name, kid?" Arcee asked.
"I stopped being a kid about two years ago, thanks. Corporal Mitchel Daniels."
She nodded and walked off. Firewall did too. I heard Arcee mumble "Sis, don't even act like you don't like him."
"Do what?!" I demanded.
"Scrap... his hearing's better than I thought."
I ended up having to stay there on that bed for the longest time before I heard Arcee call in on the Comm about 10:00 the following morning.
"Cliffjumper's in trouble."
"I'm calling everyone back, we're sending them his way. Burn rubber to get to him."
"I'm going too. I'm itching for a fight, I don't care who it is, if they want to attack people with the same goal as me, then I'm fighting beside you"
"No, you're not even-"
"Damnit, it's easier for a man to fire a rocket launcher with one arm than to put his pants on, I'm helping them!"
"Negative, Mitchel! You don't even know what you'll be going up against, and for this you'll need to be at more than 100% to fight." Arcee said over the comm. I was already on my feet, heading out the door when that stopped me.
"I'm a marine. This is what I'm trained for."
"No, you're trained for killing other humans, NOT Cybertronians!"
"You don't mean... it's them?" Ratchet asked.
"It is."
"Who?!"
"The Decepticons..."
"Friends of yours, I take it?"
"Sadly."
"I've still got some grenades... I think..." I looked on my vest and saw all my munitions that I had left from Afghanistan were gone. "Dammit..."
"Get back on the berth. You need to rest, seeing as how you already look like you could fall over at any moment."
I grunted and limped back to the bed, lying back. I looked at my arm, just now noticing that the sleeve was torn off when they tried to treat my wound.
"Seeing as how I can only wait for the others to get back while I work on getting the groundbridge fixed, what's the image on your arm?" Ratchet asked.
I looked down at the tattoo I got shortly after being deployed. A skull with 'Semper Fi' impressioned on the forehead, crossed M16s behind it.
"... Marine motto." I said simply. It meant more to me than just that, but the 'Bots wouldn't understand.
"Ah."
"These... Decepticons... I have questions about them."
"Shoot. Just... not the med bay equipment."
"How did they get started? What did they do?"
"That... is a story for another time. But they made our home planet of Cybertron incapable of sustaining life."
"They what?"
"The years of war ravaged the planet to a point it was not capable of sustaining any life."
"Now I get it... Now I see why you were hoping it wasn't them."
"Yes... 'hoping' seems to be the key word. Now get some rest. If you're so eager to see some action against them, then I won't stop you when you're healed. But know this, your chances of dying are even higher fighting Decepticons than when you were holding your own a day ago."
"Alright." I finally felt a little more relaxed, as did the 'Bot from what I could tell, still tense due to news of Decepticons but I could tell he felt more at ease around me after the chat we had. I drifted asleep, images of what happened in Afghanistan haunting my dreams.
4 hours later
"What do you mean his life signs have disappeared?!" Arcee yelled, stirring me from my hellish sleep.
"I mean that Cliffjumper... his spark has been extinguished." Ratchet replied.
I was in the middle of sitting up when I heard that and I froze. "I take it that means he's dead?"
"Unfortunately, ye-"
"Let's find those bastards. Wounds or no wounds, as of now I'm at a hundred percent."
"No, you aren't." Arcee growled at me.
"Look here, Miss Giant Robot, you're on my home planet, I think I should be allowed to help take these fuckers down, don't you?"
Optimus looked between the two of us, and weighing the pros and cons of the situation, he spoke. "Mitchel is right. He has the means to do it, if we train him how to fight Cybertronians. However, with human weapons he would be little more than a distraction for any Decepticon forces."
"You don't know how effective we humans are at blowing stuff up." Bulkhead smirked, apparently I was more like him than he originally thought.
"But how are we going to figure out where they went?" Firewall asked
"With them being on a ship, all we can do is- wait, Arcee, where are you going?"
"I'm going back on patrol, sitting here won't avenge Cliff."
"But-"
"Let her go." I said.
"You don't even-"
"I said let her go. She lost a brother in arms that she was close to. She needs time." I said, true for both her and myself.
"I hope you know what you're saying." Ratchet said as Arcee sped off.
"I do... I've been there just a day ago..." I mumbled.
I got up off of the medical bed and walked up to Optimus. "When do we get started on training?"
"Soon enough."
I grunted when I pulled a muscle while trying to move my left arm. "Damn... that hurt."
"Get back on the bed, Mitchel. You're healing at an incredibly fast rate for a human. Your limp is gone, and I figure by another two days you'll be fully healed and ready to go.
"Dammit... I'm getting stir-crazy here, Ratchet."
"I noticed."
"Ratchet, I think I'll take Mitchel out for a ride." Firewall said.
"Optimus?"
"I think it will be fine for Firewall to take Mitchel on a drive, old friend."
The medic bot sighed in defeat as Firewall transformed. I was shocked as I stared at an Abrams tank.
"You going to gawk or are you going to get in?" She asked, opening the commander's hatch. I headed over and climbed onto and then into the 'Bot. We rolled out of the base and into... 'Well... a desert. I'm sick of deserts.' I thought.
"Where are we, exactly?"
"I believe you call a massive area that comprises this location 'Nevada'"
"Whoa whoa whoa, hit the brakes!"
As Firewall slowed to a stop, I was shocked far beyond my comprehension.
"How did I get back in the 'States?"
"Groundbridge."
"But Ratchet was-"
"Bulkhead broke it."
"Oh..."
"Well... that's not really fair... Technically both me and Bulkhead broke it..."
"Just... let's get going. I need to get away from that missile silo for a bit..."
"Okay, Mitchel."
I sighed, a memory flashing through my head.
"I'm sorry Zoey..." I mumbled.
"Zoey? Who's Zoey?"
"... Doesn't matter anymore... let's just keep going."
Memory
"NO! STOP IT! DON'T YOU TOUCH HIM!" Zoey screamed as I was being pummeled by a group of punks in New York. The leader of the group flashed a smile, walking over to her.
"You and me... we're going to have some fun..."
My blood boiled. "You touch her and I will gut you like a fish!"
He laughed and grabbed her arm, pulling a knife. I grabbed one of my three attackers' ankles and pulled him down, grabbing him by the shoulders and rolling so he took the next hit from the other two. I punched the man's throat and killed him before I kicked one of the remaining two in the groin and slammed his head into the third's stomach. I grabbed a brick that was nearby and hit one over the head with it then kicked the other one in the temple, knocking one out and killing the other. I heard Zoey scream and I looked over and saw the group's leader pulling his knife out of her.
"No..."
"You're next, fuckwit."
"You just fucked yourself beyond any chance you ever had of surviving this." I put my boot on the unconscious man's neck and stomped, killing him. The group's leader charged me and tried to stab me. I grabbed his arm, twisted the blade away from me, letting it go past me as I twisted the blade out of his hand and punched him, knocking him backwards as I picked up his knife and charged, stabbing him just above the waistline, blade pointed upwards.
"I warned you. You killing her guaranteed you getting this." I said, ripping the blade upwards until I hit bone and I ripped the blade out of him and stabbed him in the shoulder with it, leaving the blade there as he died in agony.
I pulled a small box out of my pocket, looking at it and then to Zoey's lifeless body. I closed her eyelids, putting the box back in my pocket and walking off, my tears having long since been spent.
Present
I sighed, closing my eyes. "Every time..." I mumbled, shaking my head.
Firewall slowed to a stop. "Spill it."
"You don't want to know..."
"I do. If it's disturbing you that much, I want to help if I can..."
"You can't."
"How do you know?"
"Because I know, damnit, unless you can bring someone back to life!"
"What happened?"
"My girlfriend was murdered in front of me the day I was going to propose to her. And all of my girlfriends before her were killed as well."
"I... I'm sorry..."
"Don't mention it... ever... I don't want to talk about it ever again..."
"I understand..."
"Let's head back to base... I think I'm good for today..."
"Alright... I'm sorry, Mitchel..."
"Look... It's ok... just don't bring it up again... alright?"
"Okay."
As we returned to base, we saw 'Bee burning rubber towards a town.
"I wonder where he's going..." I mumbled.
"Same here..."
"Hey, actually, stop here... I want to talk for a minute about what Arcee said to you when I first woke up here..."
"Um... Y-you heard that?"
"Just stop, I'll talk to you face to face."
She stopped and I climbed out, walking in front of her as she transformed and I looked up at her.
"What did she mean when she said not to hide the fact that you like me?"
"I-I um..."
I raised an eyebrow, getting suspicious that she's... interested.
"I... don't want to talk about it right now... maybe later...?"
I nodded, within walking distance of the entrance, so I started walking, not wanting to take advantage of the femme being able to turn into a vehicle.
'He... didn't use me to get the rest of the way back?' Firewall thought, surprised. 'He... really is the kind of guy I thought he was.' She smiled warmly, heading towards the base.
About thirty minutes after we got back, Arcee and 'Bee came back, and something shocked me. There were three civilians with them. 'Kids?! What the fuck?!' I thought.
Optimus looked at the two, then at the three kids.
"We took the initiative of not letting the witnesses go without protection." Arcee said.
"Witnesses of what, exactly?" I asked.
"Seeing us." the femme said, her and 'Bee having returned to their normal form.
"Uh-huh. They're civilians."
"They're also in danger of being killed by the Cons now."
I grumbled, going off to the med bay and lying down on the bed while all the introductions were handled.
Author's note: Chapter 2 up within 24 hours of chapter 1's posting! Due to some consideration of a review I received, I have decided to reboot the story and write at least all the way through the first five episodes. Anyway, I need some reviews. I know this has been a crap-tacular chapter but he was wounded in battle three times, so he actually shouldn't have even been able to walk normal in this chapter if he was limping from the shot to his side. Revs, please.
