Chapter two is finished and ready. Sorry it took a while, when you're doing this on Docs Google and have other stories on a day by day basis, it's never really easy to complete. But when you're committed, you're committed. Will this story take long due to other stories and homework and other random things, yes it will. But I know that FictionFan and I will keep this going while we do our other stories. It's what we do. Checking back to the last chapter, I'm upset about it. One little guest review and 152 hits. Not as popular as my version as season three. But hey, this is just a start of the story. I'm hoping that more of the story and more chapters will get their attention. Speaking of which, The Skystrikers headed to the Unit: E science facility to meet up with a particular scientist to see her latest invention. But when a few certain MECH agents interfere with the visit and overload the device, it could lead to some serious consequences. Hope you enjoy it.
Chapter Notes
The Skystrickers (Sari, Jack, Miko, and Raf) will make their debut on this chapter. Now FictionFan1024 did stories about them and how they came to be. If you want to read it, go on ahead and check out Sari and Transformers Prime Episode 1 – 4. But if you don't want to waste time on that, I've already put together a brief summary on each of them at the beginning just to help you catch up on things. Either, they both explain about them 100%. Same goes with the two MECH agents as they are in the Skystriker series FictionFan is writing now. He might add more in the near future. But for now, he's focusing on something bigger. Trust me, it's going to be a blast.
Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers Prime or Transformers Infinite
Chapter 2: Elicia Lutece
Somewhere above Earth: 20XX
Far above the Earth's surface, there was nothing but clouds in the sky. But then, a huge structure floated through the clouds, journeying over the planet's surface. That structure was a spaceship of some kind, just as big as the Nemesis, but not as intimidating. It is known as the Skybolt, and it houses 150 crew and maintenance personnel, human and alien. The few were known as the Skystrikers, a strike team formed by Agent Fowler to help assist in any threat, whether it be Decepticons or MECH.
Within the ship, two individuals were at a lab of some kind, The first one sitting at the desk was a male of twenty years old with spiky brown hair and wearing a custom battle armor that looked heavy, but light in movement with hidden compartments for his pistols and combat knife, flamethrowers on his wrist, and a built in jetpack on his back to help him fly. The other standing was a female that looked like a teenager, but in reality was actually a few years older than she looked with short fiery red hair in two small pigtails and a yellow dress with built in fingerless glove sleeves and long lighter socks with slip on shoes. They are Sari Sumdac and Raf Esquivel, members of the Skystrikers with Sari being the captain.
Sari used to live in an alternate universe when a spacebridge malfunction sent her to Team Prime's world. Though it was unexpected, Sari was a big help with the team. Every mission she'd done, from rescuing Miko to stopping Kālī (Sari's evil Decepticon clone), gave the Autobots a chance to fight back. But if it wasn't for her, the team's human friends would've been taken by Cons and used as bargaining chips so the Autobots would surrender the Omega Keys to them. Then there's no telling what Megatron would do with the Omega Lock. She even completed her Cyber Ninja training and joined her Cyber Ninja brothers, alive and dead. She was about to join the Autobot Academy on her Cybertron and train to be an officer, however Agent Fowler and the Optimus in the Prime world gave her a proposition. One, now that the Cybertron is revived, the planet needed its own Ninja corps and would let her be a Sensei to train future ninja's starting with Jack. Secondly, Fowler wanted to put a team together to help with protecting the planet. A team that is called the Skystrikers and she would become the leader of this team.
The one called Rafael was once a young 12-year-old with a brilliant mind and incredible hacking abilities but then one day, he was taken by MECH, a group of terrorists dedicated to world domination through the use of technology. While waiting at school he was captured and administered with a super-soldier serum that not only made him grow to an adult but also wiped his mind clean of his past life. He had done many terrible things in his MECH missions and was about to breach into the Autobot's base to gain Intel for Levichev his General. Fortunately, Miko intervened and made him remember about the bad things of his life, snapping him back to his old self. But as he was back, he was suffering from a deadly side effect that causes accelerated aging, developing a DNA repair-deficiency disorder, the nearest in the taxonomy to which would be classified as Werner Syndrome. Being that he had around a year to live, Sari and her friends took Raf to her dimension to get treated by the beings on Deneb IV to get cured. Not only have they succeeded in saving Raf and bringing him back to the 20-year-old agent's superhuman status, but extended his age to 1,000, to keep him young for a long time. Now he's within the Skystrikers as the team's computer hacker and expert in all scientific endeavors.
Raf is sitting in his lab with Captain Sari. They are having a 3-way teleconference with Ratchet at Outpost Omega One and Agent Fowler at Unit:E Headquarters, discussing the modifications he's made to Skybolt's spacebridge.
"How do the specifications look, Ratchet?" Raf started, " I believe they should match the modifications we made to the bridge at your base, which allows transit between our dimension and Captain Sari's."
"You've got everything correct, Rafael," said Ratchet. "Has Bulkhead completed the enlargement of your bridge to accommodate Miko when she's in Predacon form?"
"He's nearly complete," said Sari. "Of course, she can always fly through in human form, sprouting her Predacon wings if necessary," she smiled.
"Granted," said Fowler, "but I want her to be able to use the bridges in either form."
"Now, what about the ability to transit to other dimensions? What progress have you made on that?" Fowler asked Raf.
"Some," Raf replied. "The problem, of course, is knowing the target dimensions."
"I have a recommendation," said Fowler. "Here at Unit:E, we've got a scientist working on something you may find interesting. Her name is Dr. Elicia Lutece; a brilliant theoretical physicist we were able to snatch away from Oxford University. She and her team are building a machine we are calling "The Lutece Tear". When perfected, it will be capable of opening portals, or tears, to an infinite number of dimensions."
"Wow! That's exactly what I'd like to collaborate on," Raf replied.
"Thought you'd be intrigued," he smiled. "In fact, why don't the Skystrikers come down to headquarters? She can meet with you and show you her work. Raf, you two can get together and help each other with any impediments to your projects."
"Very good, Agent Fowler," said Captain Sari, "I'll assemble the team."
"I'd like to tag along as well," said Ratchet.
"Sounds like a plan then. I'll let Dr. Lutece know you're coming."
"So what's this tear doohickey she's got?" asked Miko, as the Skystrikers assembled in the Skybolt transport room.
Now Miko is what some people call a wild child. Even before she joined the Autobots, she was always a troublemaker, jumping into the action without any regard for her safety. However, her risk taking moves got the better of her. When the Autobots and Dinobots took on Predaking, Miko went into the action to take some photos of the battle. Unfortunately, she got too close to the creature as it attacked her and left a gash on her shoulder. At first it was nothing and everyone assumed she would recover. But what they didn't know was that the cut had infected her with Predacon CNA, slowly spreading into her system. The side effects were evident: hellacious nightmares, bursts of anger, hearing of Predaking's voice, increased strength and rage, until finally transforming into a Were-Predacon, wreaking havoc all across a military base. Fortunately, Sari managed to contain the Predacon side of Miko and temporarily cured her during the battle, but it would be a matter of time before Predaking's nature took hold of her again and ultimately change her into a full Predacon. With the help of Jazz, they were able to contain and banish Predaking's control, and saved Miko from being permanently turned into one of Predaking's minions. But the bad news is that she now has a Predacon body that isn't as big as the original size, with her human self to be that of an alt mode. After intensive training and controlling her Predacon nature, Miko is not only an honorary member of the Wreckers, but also the Skystrikers so-called wild card in the group. She wears a tight fitting skin suit complete with connected shoes and a color pigment of purple and pink. She still has her black hair with pink highlights, lotus flower pigtails on the top of her head, and a small ponytail at the back, but now she's got the strangest eyes you've ever seen, like that of a dragon with a yellow glow and slit pupils (one of the many side effect of her Predacon nature).
"It's a device that should open portals to other dimensions," explained Raf. "She believes there are an infinite number of them."
"So, if you step into this Lutece Tear, what if it's a one-way trip? I mean, I assume there's not another Lutece Tear at the target dimension to bring you back," said Jack, in his usual overcautious manner. "Has she perfected a comm. link that transits dimensions as well? And if there truly are an infinite number of dimensions and someone gets lost – well! How do you go about searching for your lost person?"
Once Jack was an ordinary teen that thought living with transforming aliens was weird enough, but that was when Sari came into their lives. During the attack of Kālī, Jack scraped his knee in an explosion, but when he looked at the damage, he was shocked to find circuitry in the open wound and not blood. That's when he found out the shocking truth: that he's a Technorganic that was cut from the same clothe as Sari in her dimension. He learned that his mother found him in a capsule that was entering the final stages of his protoform state. When she touched him, the protoform absorbed her DNA and created an infant Jack. At first he was completely upset that his own mom kept this secret from him all these years. But after a serious talk with Sari, he forgave June and they were together again. Soon after that, he learned how to be a Technorganic, from the weapons he possessed to the training. He's been through a lot since his discovery, such as the surprise arrival of his father, the attack of the Predacon that injured him to the point that he needed a full Cybertronian body until his Technorganic was repaired, and when his own mother got taken and turned into a Decepticon cyborg that was hungry for destruction, only for him to save her from herself and brought her back. But after all of that, he was strong-willed and would never give up. Due to that, Jack became a student for Sari and began his ninja training, he became a reliable member of the Skystrikers, and became Arcee's Sparkmate and the two have Spark Bonded to be closer together.
"Good questions, Jack. I don't know," Raf replied. "These are all things that will have to be answered before the device can be put into production."
"The bridge is ready for your team, Captain Sari," said Technical Specialist Ro.
"Thank you, Ro," she replied, and they stepped into the tunnel, as the blue Sirian pulled on the lever to send them down to Earth. They stepped into the recently built bridge tunnel and headed straight to Unit: E's science labs to meet up with Fowler and Lutece.
In a huge facility area with the 'E' title on the garden center and multiple buildings surrounding it, two individuals were waiting outside; waiting for someone to come. Suddenly, a green and blue portal opened up and four individuals came through it. Those individuals were the Skystrikers, who met up with the two. So far, they already knew of Agent William Fowler, a former Army Ranger, liaison of the Autobots, and one of the founders of the Skystrikers. But there was a woman next to him that they had never seen before. She was around her thirties with a lean yet fit build, long ginger hair that forms into a ponytail, and a pair of light blue eyes. She was wearing a lab coat over her conservative blouse and fitted skirt that went down to her knees with high heel boots and a pair of glasses over her eyes to match with her intellect. The group looked at the two as Fowler stepped in and welcomed them.
"Welcome to Unit; E's Science Division, Skystrikers," he said, "It's nice to see you all have showed up for this momentous occasion."
He then offered a handshake, as Sari was the first to shake it and said, "Likewise, sir. Can't wait to see what this team can do."
Once they stopped shaking hands, Fowler turned to the woman and introduced her to them.
"Team, I would like to introduce to you one of our chief scientists in our division."
Before the agent could finish what he was going to say, the woman approached the captain and introduced herself in a British accent while shaking her hand.
"My name is Dr. Elicia Lutece. I'm the one in charge of the Lutece Tear. You must be the Skystrikers. Fowler informed me about all of you, especially you, Captain Sari. Coming from another dimension is quite a fascinating find for me."
Sari gave a warm smile to her and responded back, "Thank you, Doctor. I'm surprised that you were intrigued about my arrival."
"That and more my dear," Lutece said back, "that and more."
As they were being introduced, Jack looked around and noticed that someone was missing. So he turned to Fowler and said, "Hey! Where's Ratchet? I thought he was going to be with you guys."
The agent looks to him and said, "He's already in the building looking at the device. There's a room in the back for him to fit in. We'll meet up with him shortly."
"But for now," Lutece continued, "let me show you what I've been working on for the last few number of years. This way."
She then turned around and headed to the entrance of the buildings as the team looked on and had some silent looks.
"Wow… Ain't she a ray of sunshine." Miko said with the sour taste of her voice.
Fowler looked to them and told them that it was all right. "She's a bit of a stick in the mud, yes, but it is in her family's genes. Come now, we can't keep her waiting."
Soon enough, the group followed Lutece and entered the building. However, what they didn't know was that someone was sneaking into the area. Two individuals jumped over the fence with their amazing agility and made a dash to the wall of the building. Getting past the security cameras and trip alarms, they spotted a ventilation shaft and one of them opened the grating with sheer strength. The two then went through the vents and were making their way to their objective.
Dr. Lutece gave Fowler and the Skystrikers a tour of her lab in Unit:E's science division. Looking around, they were amazed at what they were seeing. Her lab was a combination of old and new styles of science with high-tech computers and equipment, chalkboards, boards filled with old research papers that have been preserved, and a lot of inventions that she must've used in the past. The group looked on and was in awe by her lab.
"Wow…" Miko said, looking on to the mess, "You're really are quite a busy woman huh?" Lutece looked to her and said, "Well, most scientists deserve to work in a creative chaos, to help us focus with the task at hand."
Jack looked at the mess on the table and was a little creeped out by it all. "Sort of reminds me of my old bedroom in Jasper."
He continued to look around and spotted something else on the wall. In between two chalkboards was a picture of a woman that was similar to Elicia, but looked like someone from another time. Her ginger-like hair was short and styled to a little poof, she was wearing a brown suit with a light brown vest over a white buttoned down shirt, a green tie, and a red skirt dress that went down to her feet, and she was holding an apple. Looking at the picture out of curiosity, he turned to the doctor and asked her about it.
"Dr. Lutece, who's that woman? I swear she looks just like you."
Elicia turned to Jack as she saw the picture of the very woman that was similar to her. With a bit of a smile, she said, "Oh, that's my great grandmother, Rosalind Lutece. She was a professor in quantum physics and dedicated her work in creating inventions that can help push us towards the future."
The others turned to the picture as well and were amazed to see the similarities between the two.
"Ah…", Sari started, "So your family are physicists and you're following in their footsteps. You certainly have experience in the field."
Elicia turned to the Skystriker leader and nodded in agreement. "In a way, yes. My great grandmother wanted to change the world with her inventions. Rounded out the plans to create a better tomorrow. She showed it to the Ministry of Science and the U.S. Government and was promised that they will all go into fruition. They were all pleased with her work, but believed that the world wasn't ready for her marvels. But they decided to make her head of the science division and she worked feverishly till her last breath. For decades though, my family line continues to create the tool she left behind. All of the wonders passed down to me. I was hoping to enter the field after I graduated from Oxford. But since your Autobot friends arrived on Earth and all this nonsense that's been happening since, Fowler here picked me out of the university so I can begin my work. Since then, I've created many things that would be helpful for them."
"And she never gives up on her work, right professor?" Fowler asked.
Elicia turned and nodded, "That's right, Fowler. All you see around my lab are the blueprints my great grandmother had done. Though she never got around to finishing them, she always left it for future generations to pick up where she left off. Now that I have possession of her plans, I not only picked up where others started, but I modified the plans as I see fit. And as you can see, it really does bear fruit."
The others listened to her story, intrigued by Lutece's family history. Miko on the other hand was getting bored as she yawned a little and said, "So what, you're some high class genius? Snoresville…"
Elicia turned to the Predacon hybrid and gave her a scornful look. "Am I boring you Miko?" she asked, "Perhaps a woman of your caliber can never grasp the science behind our work. Allow me to show you one of my earlier creations."
She approached one of the tables and picked up a cylinder-like device, showing it to the team and explaining what it is.
"This is called the Lutece Field, my great grandmother's first work. In this cylinder contains a special atom that can suspend inanimate objects in midair. It is something her colleagues called quantum levitation, to her the object failed to fall. That apple in that picture was the first thing she tested on and though it doesn't show, it did work. Here, allow me to demonstrate."
Getting to the side, she input a little code on the screen to activate the atom. Once she got it all set, the cylinder started to hum to life as she lifted it up with her bare hand. After a few short seconds, she let go of the device but it didn't drop. Instead it was floating in off the ground and bobbing up and down like a beach ball in water. Everyone looked at the device and was speechless as to how it was even floating in the first place.
"Amazing!" Raf said in shock, "I've never seen anything quite like that."
"I could agree with you Raf." Sari responded, awestruck, "I mean, the Cybertron in my world has a lot of technology beyond Earth's, but this? I don't think Preceptor could accomplish that."
Lutece looked to them and smiled after hearing it. "Thank you kindly. The Lutece Field is an advancement in science, but it had not been used for some time. But it did have some potential in the work. So upon Bryce's orders, I've begun using the Field in various ways, trying out various objects to suspend in the air. And then I used this Field to create a crowning achievement. I hope the flight in Skybolt was a pleasant one at best."
Miko heard that and blinked her dragon like eyes, realizing what she meant. "Whoa, whoa!" she started, "Back up. You're telling me that Skybolt is run by that atom thingie?"
The scientist turned to her and nodded in agreement. "But of course. Plus given the size of the ship, the height it needs to take, and the weight of it all, I've taken the liberty of installing fifteen atoms to help counter balance it all. What did you think the ship was running on, rocket boosters, gravity suspenders, and thrusters?"
The girl looked on with a dumb expression as she tried to get an answer out of her own mouth. "Um...Yes?"
Elicia cocked an eyebrow and found her response to be a little sheepish. "It's amazing that a girl your age, who can transform into a metal dragon, knows so little about a ship she's currently living in."
"And what's that suppose to mean?" Miko said with smoke coming out of her mouth, looking ready to spit out fire. Fortunately, Sari stopped her from having a serious meltdown and turned to Lutece to apologize. "You should forgive my teammate here, Ms. Lutece. Though she is the best thrasher for the Skystrikers, she is a little bit of a hothead."
Elicia smiled and said, "None taken, Sari. I have that problem with my staff, thinking that it would be impossible. Boy how wrong they are. But levitating a ship is only the beginning. Imagine what the Lutece Field would do for the planet. The potential to make battleships floating high in the air to attack the enemy from below. Cruises through the clouds that would make airline travel a thing of the past. Or better yet, a city high in the sky. The possibilities are endless."
Fowler though turned to her and told her to not get a little ahead of herself. "Easy now, Ms. Lutece. I know you're persistent regarding your little experiment, but I think it's wise to wait for approval by the United Nations before making all that a reality. Patience is a virtue."
Elicia turned to the former Army Ranger and nodded in agreement. "Of course, perhaps the public isn't ready for all of this quite yet. But I can wait until the time is right." She then deactivated the Lutece field and let the cylinder drop to her hand, placing it back on the table. "Of course, you're not here for that. You wish to see the greatest achievement my family has ever done."
"That's why we're here, Doctor." Sari said in sheer enthusiasm.
Lutece looked to them smiling, saying, "Come, and let me show you."
Soon enough, she led the way as the group followed them, not realizing the trouble that's coming their way.
In the hallway of the Lutece wing, everything was quiet as a lone guard was posted, keeping watch for anything suspicious. He didn't notice that a ventilation grating was being lifted as someone came down on the floor and pulled something out. Suddenly, a string came over the soldier's head and clamped right to the neck, tightening around him in a matter of seconds. The guard was unprepared for that and tried to radio for help. But he was choked to the point of unconsciousness and went limp as the radio fell off his hand. The individual grabbed the radio before it dropped to the floor and another person came down next to him. Standing up, light came on their faces as the two were shown as clear as day.
The first is of Middle Eastern descent and the other was Indian, both wearing the same battle armor as that of Raf. Their names are Mehrdad (a soldier specializing in every form of weaponry be it human or alien) and Aanan (an experienced hacker), super soldiers created the same way as Raf but with some improvements. They were sent by General Levichev to gather information from Elicia Lutece and her experiments, believing that whatever this scientist was working on could be useful for MECH.
Once the soldier was unconscious, the two dragged his immobile body to a broom closet and stepped in, closing the door behind them. It was quiet for a few extra minutes until the door opened again and the MECH agents stepped out, only this time in lab coats. With forged badges, they proceeded to Lutece's restricted areas, to look for something useful.
Back with Lutece and the Skystrikers, the professor was showing them something on the HD monitor. The digital screen showed Earth in a rotation and Elisa discussed about it.
"A long time ago, my great grandmother had a theory. She believed the there are multiple dimensions, each with their own Earth."
The Earth on the screen soon enough multiplied by two, then four, then eight, then sixteen, soon enough multiple Earth's covered the screen as the doctor continued.
"Each Earth is the same, but in reality there are differences within each world, different times, and different events. My great grandmother believed that we are living in one of these dimensions and that there were lots more beyond ours. Sadly though, she didn't have the evidence needed to show that her theory was correct. That was until months back."
She then turned to Sari and went on with the lecture.
"Sari, when you came to our world through a malfunctioned spacebridge in yours, you proved my great grandmother's theory. Thanks to you, we have the opportunity to not only go to your dimension, but an infinite number of universes."
Sari listened in and was pleased that the little accident she went through had helped Lutece understand multiple dimensions. Still, there was the question of how. "That's good to hear Dr. Lutece, but there's the concern of transiting these Infinite universes. Fowler told me that you have a way of crossing over, correct?"
Lutece smiled and said, "But of course I have. In fact, this project was something my great grandmother was working on for years. Allow me to introduce to you the Lutece Tear."
She then turned a chalkboard over, showing an old schematic from the early 1900s. The group looked on and could tell that it was the Lutece Tear she'd been talking about. It was a cylinder-like structure that's exposed on the outside with two beams holding together. On the top was a huge disk with multiple glass bulbs dotting around the borders and two prods sticking out on the side and slanted in the direction of the circle platform. There were cables sticking out on the sides as well as the top looked like it came out of a Frankenstein movie with a huge prod. The group looked at the blueprint as Lutece continued.
"The Lutece Tear is what my great grandmother would call a window to another world. How it works is that this contraption can rip a hole through the fabric of space and time and act as a telegraph of some kind. It was an impressive apparatus and would have revolutionized travel in a way that is."
The group listened in and was amazed that a contraption like that could do that, but there were still questions in the matter of the device per se. "If this device works so well, why wasn't she able to make it work." Raf asked.
The scientist shrugged her shoulders and said, "She had the vision, yet she never got the chance to create it due to multiple reasons. Something about crossing over worlds would lead to consequences. She never got around to making it. Thankfully, all these plans were passed down to the family and right down to me. And due to Sari's unexpected arrival, I've decided to work on this project of the Lutece. And after a few trial and errors, I was able to complete it. Come, I'll show you."
She then started to walk to the next room as the team and Fowler followed behind. The group then walk down the hallway as Lutece continued on.
"My great grandmother believed that once she opened the Tear, she could actually cross over through multiple worlds and time periods, communicate with people in these dimensions, and ultimately create interdimensional travel in between worlds. It's a shame that she was never able to make her vision a reality. But now that I have possession of her work, I can follow in her footsteps."
"I hope this Lutece Tear of yours is worth it, Elicia." Sari said, "I believe it can help with our space bridge, if not surpass it."
Elicia smiled as she approached a huge metal door in front of them. As she was inputting a certain code, she added something that would prepare them for what's on the other side of the door. "Well, as I was working on it, I did make a few modifications."
The moment she pushed enter, the door slowly started to open like a garage door. Once it was opened fully, the team looked on and couldn't believe what they were seeing. It looked like the exact same device from the old blueprints, but this was ten times better than on paper. It was a few stories tall, enough height to let a Cybertronian through, the platform itself is hexagonal in shape, is surrounded by panels, and multiple cables connected to the many terminals with other scientists and maintenance personnel working around the clock. The group was amazed by this incredible feat as Miko whistled to herself and said, "Whoa… A few modifications indeed."
"Well, look who decided to see this historical moment."
The group heard that strange voice and turned to the left to see who it was. What they saw was Ratchet himself as Raf approached him, happy to see him.
"Hey there Ratchet, it's been a long time." he said with a proud look in his face. "How are things at the base?"
Ratch smiled and said, "A little quiet now since you guys went on your own adventures. But I'm glad you all are handling yourself without us. By the way, Bumblebee said hi. He misses you so much."
Raf smiled and said, "Nice to hear. I miss Bumblebee too. He's been a good friend to me since day one. But I know that we'll meet again someday."
As they were talking, Lutece cleared her throat and got their attention.
"If you don't mind, shall we get started with my work?"
The two turned to her and nodded in agreement, knowing that this is important. Elicia then looked up to the machine she built and explained the modifications.
"As you can see I've made a few simple adjustments with Lutece Tear, for one I did increase the size of this machine just so Cybertronians could go through. The shape is more hexagonal then circular to make more room for many occupants. Panels are installed to have a big enough tear to open so more people can come through and once activated, glow a deep purple. Also a project of this caliber needs to have a sufficient power source. The tear is supplied by multiple conduits that gives it unlimited power for it to work, a small power station has been constructed near the building to help with the power and prevent any outages in the facility or any towns that are close by. Have to make sure that we don't get any complaints."
Sari looked at the device and was marveled by the work.
"Incredible," she said in astonishment, "very incredible."
Lutece gave a slight chuckle and liked the captain's response. "My family set the bar high in something like this, a little tweak can go a long way."
"Ms. Lutece..." Ratchet said as she turned to him wondering what he wanted, "Yes," she responded, "What is it Ratchet?"
"This is quite an impressive apparatus you've worked on, but I am concerned about any consequences. Since I've built the ground bridge, I need to be sure that there are no flaws within my work or it could lead to some trouble. Have you've encountered any problems with your Tears?"
The scientist could tell that he needed to see if there were mistakes in her work and started to be honest with him.
"Well, we have came to two obstacles that were in the way of my work."
"Really?" Raf said in surprise that she had a few problems as of late, "What kind?"
Elisa gave a deep sigh and explained about the setbacks.
"Well the first hurdle was testing the device on a few monkeys, just to see if they passed through without any problems. I've set it to a dimension we've charted that isn't hostile and sent them through. All the monkeys made it back and forth flawlessly, but the first monkey had suffered a few side effects upon entering the portal."
The group looked to her and was intrigued with that as Sari asked about the first monkey.
"The chimp that suffered the side effects," she asked, "What were they?"
She turned to the captain and explained about that. "Well, when our first chimp entered the portal, he had succumbed to some temporary side effects. They include dizziness, slight memory alteration, and there was a case where the monkey had a bit of nose bleeding. But it was one test subject; the others didn't have those types of side effects of any kind. So it could be a one-time thing. So far, we managed to get the kinks out of the way and are ready to bring humans and Cybertronians into the tear device."
"If the government approves of it, Ms. Lutece." Fowler immediately interrupted her. "We cannot let you do human testing unless you have approval."
She turned to the agent and gave a slight smile. "But of course Fowler." she said, "I have all the time needed to continue working with animals before I get a chance with using people."
"And the second?" Raf asked.
She turned to the others and talked about the second problem.
"Well the second issue we have is that the panels contain a specific combination of elements which, unpowered, are inert, but once supplied by energy from the station, become volatile. That is why the panels are surrounded by heavy framing, to keep them from coming in contact with each other."
"And what happens if they come in contact with each other?" asked Jack.
"A large explosion and fire," she replied. "That's the theory. Of course, if the tear is active for too long, it may have other unintended consequences, none of them good."
"Oh great," Jack thought to himself. "A bridge to another dimension, or an A-bomb."
She looks to Jack and told him it was all right. "Don't worry; my team and I have come up with a few fail safe protocols to prevent future calamities. And once the kinks have been worked out, this will revolutionize transportation."
Sari turned to Jack and could tell that he was a little nervous. "I'm sensing strong negativity in your Spark," said Sari silently to her Gakusei. "Are you alright?"
"Sorry, Sensei," he replied, "I don't like this device. It's too dangerous."
"Your skepticism is legitimate, but as long as it's under carefully controlled parameters, things should be safe."
"Perhaps a little demonstration can help ease any hesitation. I think Sari's dimension will be the perfect place to start, just to be on the safe side of course. Given the large number of worlds, there's no telling if any of them could be hostile. Which location in your dimension, Captain?" the scientist asked Sari.
"Let's see Detroit," the Cyber Ninja replied. And Dr. Lutece headed to one of the terminals and set the console's parameters accordingly.
The device started to hum to life as electricity danced around the top and the panels glowed purple. Just then, a rippage came out a thin air and opened up a "tear" to reveal an aerial view of downtown Detroit. Everyone watched in surprise that the device could do something like that. Miko though was a bit skeptic and asked away.
"Hey, how do we know that's not our Detroit?" said Miko.
"Oh, it's not!" said Sari. "Look! There's Sumdac Tower!" she smiled.
Everyone watched in amazement as the tear showed Sari's world. But there were two more people that saw this as well. Those two were Aanan and Mehrdad as they entered the restricted lab and saw the project in the works. When they saw the opened tear, they were really fascinated as they whispered to each other.
"Whoa… Did you see that Mehrdad?" asked Aanan.
Mehrdad nodded and responded back. "Sure did Aanan. A machine that can open portals to many worlds. Can you imagine what MECH can do with that?"
"Yeah, no kidding." Aanan agreed, "Anahi will have a field day gathering recruits all across multiple dimensions. We've got to get that for the general."
Nodding, he looked around to see everyone distracted on the project. Seeing a console that's not being used, he decided to act now. "Aanan! Now's your chance! Get the schematics!" whispered Mehrdad.
"On it!" and Aanan stealthily worked his way over to an unused terminal, and began hacking into Dr. Lutece's private files.
As they were doing that, the team watched on and was marveled by Lutece's work. But then the tear started to grow weaker and sparks danced around the panels. Lutece saw that and knew what that meant. "Oh bugger… Not again." She turned to the other scientists and signaled to shut it down. They started to get the shutdown sequence in and the tear closed off completely while the machine was turned off. Rubbing the temples of her head, she turned and apologized about what happened.
"My apologize for this my friends, the Lutece Tear has a few hiccups from time to time. Nothing too serious, just the minor glitches. I swear I thought I got the matter fixed up."
Raf then approached her and told her it was all right. "It's okay, we all had been there before. We just got to live with it and work harder in making it better. Besides, this project of yours does show some potential. Perhaps if we work together, then maybe this Tear can actually work."
Elicia turned to him and gave a pleasant smile, "Thank you Raf, I'm certain that your help can get my tear creation off the ground in no time."
Ratchet through decided to join in and see if he can assist. "Perhaps I should help out as well. I may know little about Earth technology, but this Tear thing can be useful for Team Prime if we come into contact with alternate versions of ourselves, just like Sari's counterparts."
Elicia turned to the medic and nodded in agreement. "But of course Ratchet," she said with glee, "It would be nice to have additional help in this matter. Perhaps have some Cybertronian equipment to keep this machine running smoothly."
As they were talking, the others looked on and were glad at the three talking.
''Well would you look at that?'' Fowler said, "It looks like those three are sharing ideas with each other."
Sari looked to them too and was glad that they are working together. "You can say that again. Looks like those three will be able to revolutionize interdimensional teleportation together."
Jack though looked to the conversation as well and was still hesitant, saying, "I don't know about that, Sensei. After what I saw of this Tear, I still feel worried about it."
Sari turned to her student and let him know that everything will be all right.
"Don't worry about it, Jack. With those three, they might perfect travel through infinite worlds. I'm certain that this Lutece Tear will revolutionize teleportation."
"Then why do I still have the sick feeling in my spark that it's not going to be good?" Jack asked with a bit of concern.
Half-interested, half-bored by the proceedings, Miko was looking around at all the equipment, when suddenly her Predacon "danger" mod started firing. She turned to see Aanan and Mehrdad, over in a remote corner of the lab away from everyone else, and became suspicious. "What are those guys doing?" she wondered, and walked up to Sari and Fowler
"Hey, do you know those two?" she whispered to Fowler, pointing to the two MECH agents.
"I don't recognize them at all," he replied, and approached them.
Back to the two MECH agents, Aanan was still downloading the schematics of the Lutece Tear into MECH's database while Mehrdad was keeping watch, peeking back, he said to the hacker, "What's taking so long?"
Aanan lifted his hand and replied back, "Give me a few minutes, I almost got it. Damn bitch put too much information for me to download. I'll finish it as soon as possible."
"Well you better hurry up!" whispered Mehrdad, "The longer we wait, the more suspicious these scientists will get about us."
That came too soon as Fowler approached the two and interrupted them. "Excuse me, but what are you two doing here?" he demanded.
Mehrdad cringed as he realized they were caught. But calm and collective, he decided to play it coy and distract the former Army Ranger while his partner finished with the download. "Uh, new scientists," he replied. "Pulling up our task orders." He then showed his fake ID to Fowler to prove that they were 'working' for Lutece.
Fowler looks to the badge and was still a little cautious about those two. "Really?" he said looking to the screen, "Do you have access to that terminal over there?"
"Why yes, of course." Merhdad continued with a fake smile, "We were doing diagnostics to the system to see if there were flaws within the Tear. Gotta be safe." He then slowly put his hand into his white jacket, cautiously getting his sidearm in case things went downhill from there.
Meanwhile, Miko and Sari went up to Raf and Dr. Lutece. "Elicia, do you know those two?" Sari asked the scientist. She looked at the MECH agents. "No! They don't belong here. Why are they at a workstation? That's restricted access."
"Whatever they're doing, it's not good," said Miko. "I feel it in my mod."
"Your what?" said Lutece.
"Miko has a mod that alerts her to danger," explained Sari. "If they're spies, we need to shut down your external network immediately before it's too late."
"I'll contact the network engineers to shut the servers down." Lutece replied.
"That's not fast enough," said Sari, and put her servos on a keyboard. Her digits opened up and the prods exited, penetrating the keyboard. Her optics went from blue/white to all white. She entered the lab's network administration, examining all workstation's packet activity. She then immediately shut down all external accesses. Turning to Lutece, she said, "They had hacked into your private directories; an attempt was being made to connect to an external server, to transmit your 'Lutece Tear' schematics; I've cut off all accesses."
The scientist put up her hand to shield her eyes from Sari's bright white optics. "Thank you, Captain," she replied. Sari exited the system, her prods returned to her digits, and her optics went back to blue/white. "Sorry about my optics, they turn all-white when I'm entering a system."
"Fascinating," said Lutece.
Back to the two agents, Aanan was just about finished with the download as Merhdad distracted Fowler. But before he could even complete it, the screen went berserk and a message appeared in front of his face. "Connection terminated" said the monitor on Aanan's workstation.
"Dammit!" he yelled, slamming his fist on the desk. "Someone found out about our plan and shut us down!"
Merhdad turned to him and was incredibly irate. "What?!" he said, "How can that be possible?! We were so close in getting that to our boss!"
The special agent looked to the two and could tell that they were working for someone. "You two had better come with me!" said Fowler, reaching for Aanan's arm.
"I don't think so!" yelled Mehrdad, taking out his concealed automatic weapon, and aimed it at the Unit:E agent.
"Watch out!" yelled Raf, rushing Mehrdad at lightning speed, and pushing Fowler out of the way just as the automatic weapon fired. Raf backhanded the weapon out of the MECH agent's hand, but not before several rounds hit one of the Lutece Tear consoles.
Raf and Mehrdad began a fierce hand-to-hand battle, while Aanan kept trying various terminals, seeing if he could gain access to the MECH server.
The fight began with Mehrdad laughing. "You? Fight me? This will be over quickl-" Raf shut him up with a powerful right hook to the MECH agent's jaw, sending him crashing over a chair. He got up quickly, rushing Raf. "Lucky hit, fool!" Lunging at Raf, he took out his SRK knife and attempted to slash his neck, but the Skystriker turned aside at the last second and grabbed Mehrdad's wrist, twisting it to dislocate the bones and make him drop the knife.
Mehrdad screamed from the pain in his wrist, but not before delivering a powerful kick with his knee to Raf's solar plexus. Raf staggered back, the wind knocked out of him. Mehrdad came at Raf, intending to deliver a roundhouse kick to his head, but spying a desk chair, Raf picked it up and used it to block the kick, which caused the MECH agent to spin back from the contact with the chair, knocking him off balance. Getting his strength back, Raf then attacked Mehrdad with Mueikyaku, an advanced technique featuring a series of rapid kicks, the last kick sending him flying backwards over several consoles. He got up, bleeding.
"Damn you!" yelled Mehrdad, but just then, Aanan grabbed him. "Forget about him Merhdad!" he said, "We've got to get out of here! This place is going to blow!" Merhdad turned to him and was about to argue back. But looking at the situation they're in, he decided to fight another day. And the two started to leave, Mehrdad limping away, assisted by his MECH partner, glaring at Raf, but puzzled by the capabilities of this opponent.
Raf started to pursue them, but Dr. Lutece yelled. "Raf! I need you!" Raf turned to the scientist and back to the two super soldiers leaving. Knowing that he will fight them again, he hurried to Lutece's side.
Back to Lutece, she, the Skystrikers, Fowler, and Ratchet were gathered at one of the consoles, trying to shut the Tear down. Raf then came in and checked to see if everything's okay.
"What's the situation?" the hacker asked.
Lutece turned to him and gave him a worried expression. "Not good. The damaged console is behaving erratically and overloading the power supply, with the panels reaching a critical state. If they overload…"
"Instant A-Bomb." Jack responded back, "I knew it. I knew this was bound to happen."
"Can you shut down the power supply?" Sari asked looking a little nervous.
"Yes I can." Lutece answered back, "But only if the panels are kept apart! They've already started to pull toward each other, straining the framing. Blame those bloody fools that shot at the console, which operates those panels. Looks like we have to do it manually if we are to stop this!"
Ratchet looked back at the Tear device and saw the panels starting to close in on each other. "I'll go in and align the panels." he said, looking confident.
But Lutece turned to him and said, "There are too many for you to work with! This has to be done with a small group if we are to place the panels properly."
Sari looked back to the device too and decided that it was now or never. Turning back, she told Lutece, "In that case, let the Skystrikers handle that!"
The others looked to her, shocked to hear those words coming out of her. "Are you crazy!?" Fowler said with the sound of surprise in his voice, "That machine is entering the meltdown stage! It's a suicide run!"
The captain turned to him and explained the situation. "It's the only shot we have left! Our armor can protect us from the energy field and with our combined strength can even out those panels. We can do this! You and Ratchet help evacuate the scientists around here, we'll shut the Tear down. Let's go, time is against us!"
Fowler was about to argue back, but knowing Sari, she doesn't take no for an answer. Turning to Ratchet, they both nodded and helped assist in evacuating the staff. "You heard the lady! Everybody out of the lab! Move it! Unless you want a front row seat at the biggest explosion known to man!" Quickly, everyone left the lab and got outside the buildings with Ratchet and Fowler close behind. Now everyone is gone with the exception of the Skystrikers and Elisa as the group got in front of the device while the professor was at the controls.
"The panels need to be separate and need to be in their proper place." Lutece said, "Once you got it all set up, I'll commence the emergency shutdown. Hurry! We don't have time!"
The group looked on as the electricity danced all over the area and the panels were getting much closer. As they were watching, Jack had something to say to his teacher.
"Hey Sensei?"
Sari looked over him and responded, "Yes Jack?"
"I hope you know what you're doing." he said back. "Can't have Arcee spark broken knowing that I got killed off by an explosion."
Sari laughed about it and knew that Arcee would have a fit if Jack got hurt. Getting serious, she told the team that it's time. "All right Skystrikers, transform!"
Immediately, Jack and Sari started to glow light blue while Miko glowed bright yellow and Raf activated his jetpack on his back. When the light faded, the three members were in their battle modes. Sari's armor was yellow like her dress and was covering her chest, legs, and arms with little metal wings on her back, a helmet with a mouth guard and prods that resembled her pigtails, and a blue orb centered on her chest.
Jack's armor was a combination of black and gray like his clothes with blue accents. His helm was similar to his bike helmet and smooth with a black mask covering his crystal blue optics and the bridge of his nose. He looked similar to Sari, but he's a little more masculine than in his human mode with a blue rigid-gray cover for his spark chamber.
And though Miko's main mode is that of a Predacon, she can use her human mode to equip the aspects of a humanoid Predacon with armor covering her Unit-E suit with the color combinations of black, pink, and purple, built in claws for hands and feet, a spiky tail swinging side to side, and small human like black and pink wings. Her helm lacked the mouth guard or mask, but it was similar to her hairstyle with horn like appendages that matched her pigtails and her optics glowing bright yellow.
Once they were suited for battle, Sari gave the orders. "Everybody split up! Get two panels and align them properly. We can't let them touch each other!"
They all nodded in unison as they flew up (Sari and Jack with the boosters on their feet, Miko spreading her wings, and Raf using his jetpack) and reached the Tear device. Once they got there, they each grabbed a part of the panels and used their combined strength to push them away from each other. Miko then saw one panel what was misplaced and extended her tail to grab hold of it, putting it in its proper place. Once they were finished, the panels were aligned and they were holding as much as they could.
"Panels are in place professor!" Sari screamed out loud, "Shut the machine down!"
Lutece turned back and saw that they have done a good job and went back to the console.
"On it."
She started to type the sequence down and a secret compartment opened up with a huge button that said 'Emergency Shutdown'. Looking at that, she was about to press it until a warning message appeared on the screen. Looking at the screen, her eyes grew wide and she knew what it meant.
"Oh dear…" she said in a blank stare. Turning back to the machine, she could see a rippage in mid air, meaning a tear was about to open. But this one was more powerful than the last as she warned the others about it.
"A tear is opening!"
Just as she said that, the portal opened and started to make a sucking sound. Soon enough, anything that wasn't bolted down got pulled into the tear and disappeared. Elicia was holding on for dear life as chairs, desks, carts and paper flew in while the Skystrikers kept their ground, holding the panels in place, getting whip lashed by the force of the suction.
"Hang on!" Sari yelled, "Don't let go!"
The group continued to hold on, as the force grew stronger and stronger. Almost instantly, a while light appeared and bathed the team and they had to shut their eyes. They then started to scream as something happened behind the light before their screams faded completely. Lutece then managed to hold her own and looked down to the button to shut it down completely. Lifting her hand up, she threw it down and slammed on the button hard. In a matter of seconds, the light faded and the tear disappeared completely, leaving the lab a complete mess. The scientist got on her knees and took a heavy breather, knowing that it was over.
"Oh... dear... lord...," she said with each breath, "That… was… close…"
As soon as she said that, Fowler and Ratchet came through the door and saw the end result of a near catastrophe.
"Sweet Liberty!" Fowler said as he approached the downed scientist. "Ms. Lutece, are you all right? What happened?"
Elicia got up and dusted herself, explaining, "The device activated a random tear and was sucking everything within its radius. Fortunately we were able to align the panels and shut it down before it could reach critical."
Fowler nodded and took a breather, knowing that they managed to stop a huge meltdown. But then, he realized something and looked around.
"Skystrikers? Skystrikers! What happened to the Skystrikers?!" Yelled Fowler at the scientist.
Dr. Lutece looked up and told him about it. "They were at the device fixing the panels before I could shut it down. I didn't get a chance to see them until the tear opened up and…" Realization soon hit her as she turned to see her creation. So far the device was still intact with a few sparks dancing around the panels, but no Skystrikers present. "Oh no…" she said quietly as she ran to the console, frantically trying to retrieve the logs. "Oh no, no, no, no! This is bad. This is very bad!"
Ratchet looked to her and demanded answers. "What's bad? What's going on?!"
"The Skystrikers must've gotten sucked into the Tear while they were holding on to the panels. The logs indicate that they were taken to an uncharted dimension. I have no record of it."
And where, pray tell, could they be?" Fowler asked her as she responded in the most professional manner.
"That, Agent Fowler, is the question that will be left unanswered."
That's the end of chapter 2. I would like to give special props to FictionFan1024 in the plot of the second chapter and the action scene between Raf and Mehrdad. I of course add my own stuff as well and, yes, this writing style is much different then the ones I do. But hey, it is what it is. Perhaps this will bring attention to the readers. But it's still a great chapter. Just wait and see what I have in store for the next, where the Skystrikers enter the sky city of Columbia. Please Review.
