BAM! You can't keep a [good] writer down, now can you? This story is just begging to be told! Sorry for the radio silence regarding Author's Notes in the Prologue. I wanted to smack you all in the face with the newest instalment of the WE series. No watering it down with long, sappy tirades about how much I adore you all and am humbled and grateful for all your support and interest in this story. That's what the rest of the story is for! 8D
It might take a few chapters for the story to get established, but I hope you're all with me! You know how it is- seven years is a long time, so we all need to know what ground we stand on. I'm so sorry that I can't shower you all independently with heaps of sparkling love for all your amazing reviews- and believe me, I want to gush about them for hours!- but if you'll bear with me, individual loving will come soon. In the mean time, group love is okay, yes? Everyone likes [review] orgies! ...or so I hear. =P
My greatest and most sincere thanks to the most amazing people in the world: DragonFlyDevi, Afrolady114, renegadewriter8, Bluebird Soaring, KuuybiSango, Litahatchee, Juzu, Ladyleyn, lady tecuma, BluePaintedFreak, Balrog Rioke, Chloo, The King of Pain, Indigo Feral, and cynthia. You have all been my inspirations, my muses, my reasons for continuing this story~ Cosmic love and stars to you all. ^_^
To FunkyFish1991, the dearest other half to my twisted black soul: thank you for existing. *hugs*
Now, no more delaying your gratification, readers! Onward! Read, review, & enjoy! ^_^
War Eternal:
May We Never Let Go
To Begin a Story
Sam found himself standing in the middle of a battlefield.
At his feet, the ground was soaked with blood and energon. So thick was the gore-soaked earth, his feet became mired in it. The air was as hot as the deepest depth of hell. Each breath in seared his nose, throat, and lungs like a dry acid. The acrid scent of burning metal and charred flesh hung omnipresent. Broken corpses lay scattered around him, hacked to pieces. Those empty optics were turned upwards, watching him.
Standing with the dead were the living. Autobot and human alike. They were grime-covered, sagging with exhaustion. The demons of war still lingered in their staring gazes. Expressions all haunted. None moved. No eye nor optic blinked. All living figures stood frozen.
Among the living and the dead stood the things in between. Creatures that Sam didn't dare turn around to acknowledge. He could feel as their gazes bore into him; some hot, some cold, some soft like satin, some slimy like dead things dragged up from the abyss. The intensity of their gazes made his skin prickle. In some deep part of his twisted psyche, he knew they were the representatives of Earth, from the cat-headed woman to the white-winged man. All staring. Waiting.
Sam tensed, trying to not let the dream get to him. Too many dreams like this got to him, disturbing his waking hours, making him wary of falling asleep again. He knew it was a dream, knew everything here was a product of his disturbed mind, and he was slave to it until it was over.
The air stirred to his right. A gentle scent lit the air, sweet without any distinct flavour, cutting through the acidic smells of death. They had arrived. The ones not of Earth. Wraith-like, formed of faint outlines defined only when the wind blew against them. Never quite real. Never solid. Never belonging in the dreamscape, or entirely welcome there either. Their amber stares were ancient, unwavering.
As if in a spotlight, Sam was the focus of everyone's attention.
"Sam." A whisper on the hot winds. The sound curled around his ears, beseeching him to listen.
Above him, a portal of blackness appeared. A blotch of oil in the pool of blue. Attention turned to the sky. All eyes and optics lifted as one. Sam, drawn by a will greater than his own, tilted his head back to watch. Silence reigned. Absolute and unwavering. The taint of black spread steadily, swallowing the sky. Darkness eclipsed the light.
"Unicron," Sam breathed, his voice turned ragged.
Two spots of light appeared amidst the darkness. Optics. Red optics. A body forming from the darkness, taking shape. Limbs oozing from the solid shadow. Tar dripping from between each slate of metal. The embodiment of a monster.
Sam stared until his eyes burned, transfixed, Hypnotized. Around him, the air crackled with a mind of its own. Thin whips of blue lightning snapped. Energy laced between his fingers. Skin tingling, charged.
"Sam," called the unEarthly ones. An invisible hand gripped his, ice cold, desperate. "Be prepared. He's coming."
With their warning delivered, the dreamscape crumbled.
With a wild gasp, Sam shot up in his seat. Too fast. Too sudden. He felt the burn of his seatbelt vividly as it dug into his neck. Pain bloomed in his chest as the steering wheel rammed into his sternum, between his ribs. Adrenaline shot through him. A minor flash of blue erupted before his eyes, sparking like static electricity in the air.
"Oh shit, oh shit," he panted raggedly, disorientated. He slammed his back into the leather seat, sinking into the hot embrace. The solidness surrounding him helped to ground him in reality. Helped to remind him that he was not trapped in his head anymore.
Coming down from one of those dreams was like coming down from a bad drug high; you crashed hard, the aftermath leaving you drained and sick inside. Like the worst addict, he was powerless to stop the dreams from happening.
Sam dragged a shaking hand down his sweat-slicked face. His eyes burned from a volatile combination of heat and sweat running into them. His mouth felt dry and stale, his breath rancid as he panted. He slid his hand down, rubbing at his throat where his seatbelt had bit into him. The skin was raw. As he drew away his hand, almost invisible cobwebs of light stretched the distance. He felt the tingle of the energy dancing in every cell of his hand. They blew away almost as quickly as they appeared.
Damn.
It had been a while since a dream had spooked him badly enough to... react to it so strongly.
"...Sam?"
The sound of his name being called reminded Sam that he was not alone. He was surrounded by someone, sitting within them. His alien guardian of eight years; his best friend. Bumblebee's voice, his presence, further soothed Sam's shattered nerves. Not completely at ease, but soothed away from the edge of madness.
"Yeah, Bee?" he croaked, then cleared his throat. Too dry. His canteen sat abandoned on the seat next to him, quickly snatched up and drained. The water was hot, a little stale, but a blessing nonetheless.
"Another dream?" wondered the scout, his voice drifting from the speakers within the cab of the car. He spoke in a low tone, cautious. Not wary of Sam himself, but of the answer to his question. He knew well that Sam despised his dreams.
"Yeah, another dream," Sam confirmed, disgusted with himself. "And before you ask- no, I don't want to talk about it." He never wanted to talk about it. There were very few times in the last seven- eight years he'd started having the dreams that he ever wanted to acknowledge them. Didn't want to admit to them. He was enough things in life without being labelled crazy, too.
"Suit yourself," Bumblebee sighed.
That was exactly what Sam planned on doing. He took a couple deep breaths, still working the adrenaline from his body. He half expected the air to taste as it did in his dream. It did not. It carried the smells of another foreign land- Egypt or Sudan. He didn't know how long he'd been asleep, or if they had crossed the border between the countries yet. Beyond the windows of Bumblebee's alt mode, the desert sands stretched out in all directions. Welcoming and foreboding at the same time, untamed and untouched. A falcon soared high on the thermal up-drafts in the distance, hunting under the blaze of the sun.
A falcon- like the ancient Egyptian god Horus. God of the sky, protection. And War. Sam hoped the bird was not an omen.
On the road before him was the impressive sight of a golden Lamborghini streaking along at breakneck speeds, while behind him was a solid presence of a forest-green Jeep Gladiator, and bringing up the rear was a bright red mirror to the golden Lambo. Sam didn't need to let his eyes drop to the Autobot insignias emblazoned on their grills and license plates to know who they were, what they were. Eight years among the aliens had gifted him with a sixth sense of knowing what was an inanimate object and what was alive.
Finally feeling grounded, Sam pulled himself together and decided to get down to business. "How long was I out?" he enquired, pulling out a paper-thin PDA from his pocket. Noting that his hands still shook a little, he opted for handless-handling. Pulling out a long, thin cord from the side of the PDA, he drew the needle-tipped end to the back of his neck where he inserted it into a small interfacial port hidden back there. In a matter of seconds, he was synced with the device.
"You've only been sleeping a few hours," Bumblebee replied. "We crossed the border not long after you fell asleep. There was very little trouble getting across into Sudan."
"No one thought it odd that the guy supposed to be driving you was out cold in the driver's seat?" Sam wondered dryly, checking through several messages. He needed only to think of what operation he wanted to perform on the PDA and it would respond appropriately.
"They knew who we were," replied the scout.
"Of course they did." Sam smirked wryly. Everyone always knew. There probably wasn't a human on the planet who didn't know what Autobot insignia meant. At least they hadn't faced as much adversity getting into Sudan as they did in other places. Some humans didn't take too kindly to the Cybertronian refugees- or the war they brought with them. "You could have woke me up for company, you know?"
"Since you haven't been sleeping a lot lately, I figured it was kindest to let you get what little rest you could," replied the Camaro. After all these years, the scout still insisted on his original alt mode. It had sentimental value. "We've made good time crossing the desert." Meaning the Autobots had hit speeds no normal vehicle on Earth could maintain without exploding under the heat of the Sahara sun. "We're almost to the Merowe Dam."
"Good. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can go home," Sam sighed. A month was too long to be away from home, especially while on radio silence. A pang of longing tightened his chest. He wondered what Mikaela was doing at the moment.
"Home. Primus, I'm looking forward to a good, long recharge in a proper berth," Bumblebee said, sounding eager. Sam heard the exhaustion in the undercurrent of his friend's voice. Guilt twinged at him, knowing the Autobots has scarcely had time to properly recharge during their assignment. A few joors every night while he himself slept was hardly enough for them.
"If you want, I could give you a boost to hold you over," Sam offered, already rubbing his palms together. His skin tingled, blue sparks appearing. He tried not to use his 'gifts' frivolously too often, but one could hardly call helping a friend in need frivolous.
"Don't waste your energy, Sam. If something comes up, you need to be at the top of your game," Bumblebee said. "I'll have plenty of time to rest when we return."
"Alright, if you're sure," Sam sighed, shaking out his hands to dissipate the energy.
From behind them, the red Lambo darted up and came along side them. There was no driver. Sideswipe gave Bumblebee a friendly nudge, having sensed the brief rise in energy the same way a human felt when a storm was coming. "I wouldn't mind a pick-me-up," he said, his voice transmitted through Bumblebee's speakers. "How about sharing the love, Sparky?"
Sparky. Sam's pet name among the Autobots and very few humans, underscoring the fact that he was not everything he appeared to be. He was more.
"Get back in position, Sideswipe," Bumblebee intoned, though sounding amused. "Sam's not sharing anything at the moment."
"Too bad," sighed the red warrior, pulling back to take up the rear once more.
"We should be to Merowe within the hour," Sunstreaker announced from ahead of them, his tone a little tight. Everyone present knew how currently irritated he was, covered in dust and constantly having his gloss eroded by the scrape of sand. If it wasn't for the fact that he and his brother were necessary for this assignment, he would not have come at all.
"Will we be able ta stop in town so Ah can pick up a couple more souvenirs?" Hound asked lightly.
Sam's lips curved. "Yeah, sure, we should probably have time later." Hound's love of human paraphernalia had not diminished in his years being on Earth. However, he now tended to hide it behind a smokescreen of buying the Banes women gifts from all the places he was sent scouting. Knowing Mikaela enjoyed the gifts Hound brought her, Sam was definitely in favour of allowing for a brief diversion.
"You know, I'm kind of hoping something does happen while we're there," Sideswipe suddenly intoned. "We've been going back and forth between the Aswan High and Low Dams for the last month and nothing happened. I was kind of looking forward to a bit of action, you know? Things have been way too quiet lately."
"You probably just jinxed us, Sides. Now nothing is going to happen," Bumblebee teased.
"Ya better hope that nothing continues ta happen," Hound insisted. "Nothin' happening is a good thing."
"It's boring," Sideswipe countered.
Sunstreaker growled lightly. "Elita One had a feeling something was going to happen. Something will happen."
Elita One's "feelings" were hardly ever wrong. Ever since her rescue from the combined torture Shockwave and the Fallen, the femme had been different. Not just in personality, but in other, less understandable, ways as well. Every once in a while, she would have a particular feeling about a place, and it usually turned out to be the next target for the energy leeches and kremzeeks who continued to plague the planet looking for energy. They had long since learnt to trust in Elita's feelings.
Sam's lips thinned. "Sunstreaker's right- if Elita had a feeling about this place, you know something's up. We should stay on guard; anything could happen at any time." Expect the unexpected was the creed they lived by nowadays. One never knew what would come from day to day. When their enemies were the likes of a planet devouring monster with an untold amount of power and a flaming demon-ship with a penchant for chaos, there was very little anyone could do other than expect the worst. "And, for God's sake, try to keep a low profile. We don't want to stir any more ire than..."
"We usually do?" Bumblebee offered with a sigh.
"Yeah, no more than we usually do," Sam agreed tiredly.
Sometimes all it took was one wrong look, a misplaced swerve on the road. Hell, they could park in the wrong parking spot, and humans would start getting antsy.
Worse yet, it had recently come to their attention that the dwarf planet Pluto was now missing from the skies. With Unicron lurking out there, it was no mystery where it went. The news was slowly coming to the attention of the public. When human opinion of the Cybertronians was always wavering, constantly up for debate, it was incidences like these that threatened hardcore eviction. The rabid media craze that would soon ensue would be merciless. Sam only prayed he and his team would be safely home by the time the inevitable storm broke.
"...so," Hound intoned, cutting through the brief pall that had fallen over them. He was looking for a distraction, kind enough to attempt to raise everyone else's spirits. "So, what do ya think Ah should buy for Chase and Mickey this time? I already have pashminas, jewellery, and figurines..."
"A camel," Sideswipe announced at random.
Sam crossed his eyes. Hound had too much of a soft spot for animals, it was best not to tempt him. "Please, not a camel." Now done with his PDA, he drew the cable from his neck and stashed the device away. He tried not to shudder at the unusual feeling of sliding the needle-like connector from the port embedded in his flesh; there were some sensations that were impossible to get used to.
The Jeep wiggled on his axles, an equivalent to shaking his head. "No... Ah thought about it, but no. Chase didn't appreciate the llama last time." The llama Hound had brought back from the Andean mountains a few years back had caused a fair amount of roaring from his human friend. Apparently waking up to a llama in the living room had not been at the top of her priorities list.
"I think she was spitting more than the animal did," Bumblebee recalled, laughing.
"She wasn't pleased with it, and Ah don't want ta have it out with her again," Hound insisted. "Ah have plenty of things from Egypt, but Ah'd also like ta get them something from Sudan. Ah just don't know what."
"Mikaela likes anything you bring home. She keeps it all in her room," Sam assured. Every prized souvenir, every lovely photograph; Mikaela cared for them all, treasuring them. "If you want to get Chase something special, though..." He paused for thought. What to get a bawdy, tyrannical bi- witch who wanted nothing? "Get her a bottle of absinthe."
"Or a muzzle," Sideswipe merrily suggested, prompting Hound to slam on his brakes. Only the warrior's quick reflexes saved him from slamming into the larger mech's aft. "Joking! I was joking!"
"Ya better have been," Hound warned.
With a dry smirk, Sam simply let the conversation wash over him. Time passed easily as the four Autobots and one human continued to discuss light topics, obstinately avoiding heavier subjects. Sam was very much at home among the aliens, sometimes feeling more so at ease with them than with his own species. He didn't always know if his affinity for them was because of the years spent with them, honing himself into a figure that could be of use to them in their war and in their bid to find a home on Earth, or if he was drawn to them because he wasn't quite... as human as he looked.
A quick adjustment to Bumblebee's rear view mirror gave him the chance to give his appearance a once over. A man of twenty-five stared back, blue eyes too bright to be natural. They hadn't always been blue- he had been born with brown eyes. His hair was short, the dark waves cropped close to his scalp. The beginnings of a shadow was growing across his hardened jaw. His body had filled out with age and hard work, no longer lanky or awkward. He looked human. Actually, he tended to appear a little more human than the average person, able to blend in almost anywhere with remarkable ease. It was as if his physical appearance were trying to make up for his unusual abilities. Whatever the reason, he appreciated it. The fact that he looked like an average human was powerful camouflage when he knew he was a hunted man- or, rather, the power inside him was hunted.
"Merowe up ahead," Sunstreaker announced, startling Sam from his thoughts.
Still hazy in the distance, distorted by heat waves, the small town of Merowe was a glistening white-beige line on the horizon. Greenery was starting to appear, mixed in amongst the sand. Green life made possible in this barren land by the Nile River, its water acting as the essence of life in the dessert. Further in the distance, unseen by Sam but undoubtedly observed by his alien companions, was the huge expanse of the Merowe Dam, stretching its monumental girth across the river, creating a massive reservoir in its wake.
The hydro-electricity supplied by the dam was precious to the people of Merowe and beyond, but that supplied energy also made it a target. The whole purpose of their assignment was to inspect the structure, suggest ways to increase security and give the humans anti-leech and anti-kremzeek methods of protecting themselves. If need be, if an attack came while they were there, they would fight.
"Everyone knows to keep alert?" Sam asked rhetorically. The Autobots had been at war far longer than he'd been alive.
"You do your job pandering to the humans and we'll do our job," Sunstreaker snorted.
They passed through the town quickly enough, dodging wildly around rowdy drivers, donkey- and camel-pulled carts, and swerving around humans. They made it to the dam without great incident, all grateful for satellite tracking to give them the shortest possible route to their destination. Their arrival had been expected, a group of men approaching with expressions ranging from welcome to wariness.
Sam swiftly exited Bumblebee, straightening his uniform. He wore two crests; the Autobot decal above his heart, mirroring the tattoo he bore on his skin, unabashedly claiming his loyalty to the aliens, while the second badge sewn to his uniform was a picture of the Earth eclipsed by a shield, the letters EDC inlaid over top. It was the decal worn by human agents of the Earth Defence Command, an organization built from the ashes of Sector Seven, although heeding to a far more public approach to alien handling and trafficking so as to seemingly put the public at ease. For the most part, Sam cared little that they signed his paychecks; he preferred to take his orders from Optimus Prime.
Near him, four holograms materialized. Each bore a uniform similar to Sam's, though they pointedly lacked any visible connections to the EDC. They were Autobots, without question.
Bumblebee was at his elbow. His hologram was normally an androgynous blond, though for today he adjusted the holo-matrix to appear more masculine to cut down on any confusion. His blond hair and blue eyes made him a little too obvious among the darker colourations of the people in this corner of the world, and although it was in his nature to blend in as much as possible, he had refused to change his settings too drastically. He was as sentimentally attached to the holo as he was to his Camaro alt mode.
Hound's hologram gave a comfortable stretch, making some very convincing popping noises as if bones were cracking into place. At 6-foot-7, he towered over everyone present. Physically intimidating. He wandered around until he could stand by Sam and Bumblebee, his hologram's expression calm and curious. His copper skin and raven-black hair, inspired by the human he had modelled himself after, allowed him to blend in with greater ease. It was only his height and strong build that made him stick out, though like Bumblebee, he was not inclined to change.
The twins were the most obvious of the quartet of holograms, standing apart from the group in both looks and physical distance. They were near mirror-images of each other, near but not complete. Sunstreaker maintained a perfect visage. Perfect. Beyond humanly so, which caused many humans an instinctual discomfort that was hard to explain. Sam suffered the same disturbance whenever an Autobot didn't put enough thought into their hologram and materialized "too perfect". Sideswipe appeared the more human of the two, his face a devilish mask with shadowed jaw, smirking lips, and mischievous eyes. Their hair reflected their paint, one impossibly golden-blond, the other an unnatural shade of wicked red. Strangest yet, they were male versions of the one and only Mikaela Banes, since Sunstreaker had determined her the most beautiful and had chosen to emulate her.
Sam cast his eyes to the sky, hoping some divine force would allow the twins' eccentric appearances to go unnoticed. They had to be among the very few Cybertronians who had an aversion to blending in. Unfortunately, Sam couldn't tell them to stay away. They were necessary. While Bumblebee and Hound could see when normal trouble was coming from miles away, the twins had the unique ability to see when trouble was coming when no one else could.
Soon the Sudanese representatives of the Merowe Dam were upon them, introductions quickly exchanged. Bumblebee acted as translator. Sam quickly found himself relieved that the men he was meeting with were not adverse to the Cybertronians being present. In fact, the earlier wariness he had seen on some of their faces had been not for the aliens, but for the possible threat looming over their dam. It had taken nearly a decade to construct Merowe Dam and no one was willing to see it go. They were welcome to any protection the Autobots and the EDC could suggest or provide.
"A tour of your facilities would be helpful to the process," Sam suggested, translated by Bumblebee.
As quickly as they had arrived, they were off again, now travelling into the depths of the massive dam. Sam and Bumblebee remained at the head of the pack with the main overseer of the dam's operations, a one such Samir Amal. He was a knowledgeable man, devoted to work, intensely serious about the protection of the dam. The rest fell behind with Hound, who was making friends left and right- as was his natural talent. The twins took up the rear, staying at least twenty feet behind. They were silent and vigilant, on the look out for any kind of threat.
The tour took quite a while, over two hours at the very least. Their overseer-guide turned out to have a vested interest in the Autobots. He had a cousin who was a very wealthy investor and his dealings often brought him in contact with the robotic aliens, and by no means had the contact left him poorer. Usually, it left him delectably richer. For such generosity to a family member, their guide was willing to show them all there was to see.
Sam once more brought out his PDA, at first opting to use the stylus so as not to make their company uncomfortable. Sometimes it was like walking on eggshells around humans. You never knew what would set them off. Once, four years ago, shortly after Sam had had the interfacial ports implanted, a senator had seen him insert the cable to his iPod into the back of his neck. The senator then promptly vomited on his wife's shoes. Sufficed to say, Sam had been more careful after that.
Samir would hear nothing of it, expressly wishing to see Sam connect with the PDA. Only approved EDC agents and a few special civilians were implanted with interfacial ports, equalling less than one hundred in the world. Samir found it fascinating.
By the time they made it topside again, now on the other side of the dam, the sun was setting. The sky turned the colour of blood as the sun bled out, dying beneath the horizon. The air cooled substantially, bringing with it a breeze that carried off the reservoir water. It was refreshing. While the scenery was far from quiet- water rushing to churn turbines, kinetic energy being converted into electricity, cars revving and honking in the distance- everything seemed tranquil. The only thing strange was that the night seemed to set in quicker than it should have, bringing with it a darkness too deep.
"How odd," Samir commented, regarding the sky he had grown up under. "The stars are dim tonight."
Bumblebee conveyed the man's sentiments. A cold feeling slithered down Sam's spine.
Suddenly, a rustling came to Sam's attention. A hand settled on his shoulder. He turned his head to regard the hologram now standing there, a halo of golden hair surrounding a hard face. Ice coloured eyes literally glowed in the night. Sunstreaker dipped his head gracefully, bringing his cold lips flush to Sam's ear.
"No One's here," he whispered.
Sam gave a curt nod. No One's here. That was code for "the Fallen's spectre is lurking around" although, it also served as code for "shit is about to hit the fan."
"Mr Amal, perhaps you and your associates should make your way back inside," Sam suggested gravely, and then waiting for Bumblebee to get the meaning across. Samir appeared startled by the request, but quickly picked up on the new tension Sam and the holograms radiated. He murmured for them to be well in whatever was to come, and then quickly ushered his colleagues into the safety of the dam.
"Where is he?" Sam asked warily, casting an eye around as if he had a hope of spotting the demon.
"We caught a glimpse of him just as we were coming out into the open," Sideswipe informed tightly. His glowing gaze swept the open area. "He's hiding now. He probably knows we spotted him."
"Is he anywhere near your alt modes?" Sam enquired.
"No," came Sideswipe's immediate reply.
That was a small consolation. Had the Fallen made it anywhere near the Autobot's frames, he could take possession of one of them... Nothing good would come of it.
"If he's here, the others won't be far," Hound growled. The others- he meant the energy leeches. The kremzeeks.
"Don't divide yourselves anymore. Get back to your bodies before something happens. I'll be fine crossing the dam on my own." Sam gave them a sharp gesture, urging their holograms to disperse. Faces hard in the too-dark night, holo-matter pixelated, and then shattered. Almost instantly after, the haunting melody of Cybertronian transformation carried on the breeze. Four huge forms stood up on the other side of the dam.
With a tired sigh, Sam decided the falcon he'd seen earlier had been an omen. A bad one.
Halfway across the dam's top, taking it at a fast sprint, Sam chanced a spare glance over the edge. The dark river flowed into the dam from far below, like a black snake writhing. Sam stumbled to a halt, doing a double take. He could have sworn he'd seen...
Yes, a flash of neon-purple lightning.
"Dammit!" Sam roared, swerving away from the railing. "They're coming in from the water!" He kicked into a headlong run, long legs eating up the distance between him from his team mates. By the time he reached them, they were already in battle mode. Battle-masks down. Weapons charged. Blades at the ready. They stared intently down into the ravine, watching as dark shapes emerged from the Nile.
No wonder the night was darker than usual. Energy leeches could suck light right out of the air. They looked like the walking dead, all shades of dead grey and black. Living black holes, sucking everything in. Able to drain a Cybertronian dry of every drop of energy. A single touch could render a human necrotic. Their moans became a haunting cacophony, growing louder as more leeches emerged.
With them came their erratic partners, the kremzeeks. Where the leeches were dark, the kremzeeks were light. Pure energy. All colours of the electric rainbow, as deadly as a bolt of lightning. Their screeching was like all manner of wild, horrid things- screaming cats, nails down a chalkboard, feedback loops on speakers.
"There's so many of them," Bumblebee pointed out uneasily. Usually, no more than a dozen leeches would attack any one facility. Tonight, there were dozens. Perhaps over fifty. They kept coming from the Nile like an edless nightmare.
"So? Kill a few and there won't be as many," Sideswipe replied, slicing a sharpened dagger through the night in challenge to the coming fiends.
"I'm with Sideswipe. We have to take them all down," Sam intoned stonily, hand up in demand for his own weapon. Bumblebee supplied it from subspace. Cool metal that transformed with a single touch. A hollow space appeared, Sam's arm sliding in. He felt the cool, familiar, disturbing touch of needle-like connectors sinking into the hidden ports in his wrist and elbow. The gun came to life with a hungry growl. Sam was quick to slip the eye piece into place, hooking it over one ear, slipping the cable into his neck, adjusting the transparent screen that now glowed before his right eye. He now had a perfect view of the night, targeting included.
"But why are there so many tonight?" Bumblebee insisted. The leeches were now trying to crowd into the tunnels to get to the turbines. They were starved for energy. The kremzeeks egged them on with their cries. None made a move for the Autobots, blind to them for the time being.
"There must be a reason," Hound agreed warily, tracing the blade that protruded from his forearm.
A sudden, violent reaction erupted from the twins. They spun, slashing at thin air. Their snarls were feral, optics turning a little wild. Obviously the Fallen had taken to tormenting them.
"Who's coming?" Sunstreaker demanded of the spectre. Forced to suffer through every moment of the demon's taunting, there was no reprieve for them. The Fallen knew it. Loved to goad them. Sunstreaker could only be pushed so far before... The berserker's optics flashed red.
Sam felt the bottom of his stomach drop out. Who's coming? Sunstreaker had asked. Coldness spread. Dread settled deep in his bones. In his dream, they had said to be prepared-
"Who's coming, you fragging freak? !" Sideswipe spat, his optics tracking something none other could see.
"He's coming," they'd said in the dream.
"He's coming," Sam murmured through numb lips. Nausea gripped him. Bile rose. He didn't understand who... what was coming, but he didn't like it.
Bumblebee's gaze shot down, locking on Sam. "Who?"
Sam stared back helplessly. "I don't know."
A greater darkness fell upon them. Not the entire land, but their general vicinity. Darkness that concentrated into a single area, congealing into a mass of churning black ooze. Sam suddenly found himself on his knees as all ambient oxygen disappeared. From the portal came a creature whose shape formed from shadow. Tar poured from between metal slates. The optics that fell upon them were that of a monster's, as red as jewels of blood.
"I come," announced the mech, "but not in peace."
There was a split second of disorientation as the bot stepped away from the portal. For the briefest moments, the Autobots were given the impression of an evil mirror-verse version of their Optimus Prime. A mimic of the frame design, but the colours were wrong. The aura was wrong. That split second of staring disappeared when the mech's gaze landed on Bumblebee. Tension coiled.
"You."
As a blur, the newcomer launched himself at Bumblebee, hands coming around his neck. The force of the attack flung them both over the side into the ravine hundreds of meters below.