Chapter 3-Battle Lines
"This is AMAZING!" Gina yelled out.
Darren and Annie agreed with her as they looked around at the outstanding interior of the ship that the Autobots called the Ark. The walls were made of gold alloy that was thoroughly cleaned and polished...or as clean as it could be when half the ship is buried in the side of a dormant volcano. Everything was larger than life, built on a sale that the Autobots could use and all so overwhelming.
"I'm glad you like it Gina." Optimus chuckled.
"To think that a ship this large was in a volcano for 4 million years. Its like a sci-fi cartoon!" Gina gushed. Sureshock giggled.
"Careful Gina, you're starting to drool." She said. Darren looked up at Prowl, who didn't look very happy.
"Hey Prowl, what was that portal thing that you guys brought us through?" He asked. The Autobots had taken the kids through their ground bridge to take them back to base.
"Don't address me as if we're friends, human. We will not reveal our technology to you so don't bother asking, nor will we reveal the true location of the Ark." Prowl said firmly, making Darren back away.
"What crawled up your ass and died?" Annie snorted as she glared up at Prowl, who bristled a bit at the insult. Grindor laughed but a look from Sureshock made him cover it up with a cough.
"Its a ground bridge." Jazz said walking up to them. "We use it to get around the world without having to pay for airplane tickets. All we have to do it type in a location, and drive right in to our destination."
"So I could easily use this to visit the pyramids of Amara and be back in time for dinner?" Gina asked, her mouth dropping to the floor. Jazz nodded and leaned down.
"Yup, though I wouldn't advise any joy riding with sergeant sourpuss over there." He quipped, making the blonde giggle uncontrollably.
"How about Bulk and I give you a tour of the base? would you three like that?" Arcee asked kindly. The kids nodded excitedly at the suggestion.
"Ooh! I want to ride on the big guy's shoulder!" Annie said.
Bulkhead looked unsure but looking down at Annie's lit up face crumbled his reservations. He leaned down and held out a large hand. She jumped into his palm and whooped as she was lifted onto his shoulder, looking like a kid on Christmas morning. As they exited the docking bay, Prowl walked over to Optimus.
"Optimus, you know its against protocol to be showing the natives the ship." He whispered firmly. "We shouldn't even be talking to them."
"The children are at risk due to their involvement in the Minicons' awakening. If they are going to be under our protection, then we must earn their trust and acceptance." Optimus said.
"The children are in as much danger here as they are out here. They don't have armor like us. One wrong move and they'll go squish!" He emphasized the thought by stamping his foot.
"Then we must simply watch our step." Optimus replied.
The kids were having the time of their lives. They and the Minicons were still amazed at how vast the Ark was from the inside. Arcee had shown them the munitions plant, the cargo hold near the rear of the ship, and the computer hub where Teletran-1 was located. Right now they were in the rec room, which was a large room with seven tables and an energon bar that honestly looks like its seen better days.
"You have an amazing ship Arcee." Darren said.
"Thank you. But its all thanks to our engineers and scientists back on Cybertron who sacrificed a lot to build this ship." She said.
She remembered the uproar that Optimus had caused after announcing the construction of the Ark. It took nearly all of their resources to complete the ship, and a lot of firepower to keep the Decepticons from torching it before it was ready to launch. After all the hard work and energon spilt to get it done, it was a little sad to have it buried in a mountain beyond repair.
"Why is it so big? Your team isn't even that large." Grindor asked.
"The main reason the Ark was built was so it could transport massive amounts of energon." Bulkhead explained. "The whole reason we left Cybertron was to look for new energy sources to help us win the war. But one thins led to another and here we are."
"Well I think it still looks magnificent, damaged or not." Gina said. "Was the Exodus this outstanding Sparkplug?" When he didn't answer, she looked over at him to see him deep in thought. "Sparkplug, you alright?"
"Hmm? Oh sorry Gina, my processor was just someplace else for a nano-klik." Sparkplug sighed, setting his weary optics on the children. "No offense, I'm glad I met you guys, but I wish it was under better circumstances and that we weren't making you three potential targets."
"Don't be like that Sparkplug, it's not like you can change what happened." Thinking back on that incident, Darren sighed. "Besides, it was our fault that the Cons were on us like that."
"Still I don't like the idea of you three being targets because of us." He said. He didn't want to think of what could've happened to the children if things had gone wrong. "All I wanted was for us Minicons to be away from that damn war, but now all I've done is drag everyone smack dab into the thick of it. If anything happens to the other Minicon I'll never forgive myself."
"Its not your fault that we crashed here either, Sparkplug." Sureshock said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Whatever the circumstances, we are here now. For the time being we simply have to make due."
"Indeed." Optimus stepped into the room and looked down at his friend. "We will do our very best to find your missing crew members and get them home Sparkplug, I swear this."
"Thank you Optimus."
Darren checked his phone and grimaced. "Uh, Optimus, I don't have a reception."
"Its a precautionary measure. The Ark blocks out all radio waves."
"Well, I need to call my sister before she has the national guard out looking for me and Annie." He said.
" Same here," Gina said disappointed. "Its getting late, and my mom's not exactly someone you want to get mad, so...yeah."
"Very well. Bulkhead you take the twins home with Grindor and High Wire. Arcee, you do the same with Gina and Sureshock." Optimus ordered.
"Got it."
"Will we get to come back tomorrow?" Annie asked. She was not going to let this be a one time thing.
"Of course. You may come to the Ark so we may better watch over you."
"YES! Score!" Annie cheered and high fived Gina. Darren shook his head.
"Good grief."
XXXXXXX
Starscream strutted into Knockout's lab with a swagger only he could perform so casually. The dark crimson Decepticon was busy studying some brightly colored crystals he had on his table. Aside from some energon scouting missions, things had slowed to a crawl on the Nemesis, and Starscream needed someone to talk to.
"The mighty Starscream has actually bothered to visit a lowly mortal like me with his presence? My hell must really have frozen over." Knockout quipped, not looking back at the seeker. Starscream sniffed at the jab.
"I'd watch my tone. Knockout. I am your superior officer."
"And I'm the mech who holds your life in his hands after Megatron uses you for target practice. Pull rank again and I may accidentally confuse my scalpel for a hammer while beating out those dents of yours." The medic replied. He stepped away from his microscope and turned to Starscream. "What do you want?"
"Just wanted an update on your search for the Minicon stasis panels." Starscream answered mildly, trying not to seem like he was prying for too much information.
"What do you think? No progress at all. Not even Soundwave has made any progress in that regard." Knockout said shrugging. "Minicon technology was always a fickle subject considering that they always were hush hush about what they were making. Little bastards."
"Hmm."
Starscream didn't like the sound of that. He wanted to ease the possible location of the panel from Knockout so he could snatch it before Megatron got wind of it, but if even Soundwave had no idea how to find them, he couldn't do much. Then he took notice of the multicolored crystals on the table.
"What are you doing?" He asked. Knockout grinned.
"Studying what these humans call hephaestium. Magnificent things they are, they conduct energy almost as well as energon. Observe." Knockout picked up a blaster and fired a shot from it.
Starscream yelped as he ducked under the prismatic bolt of energy and glared at Knockout, who was grinning cattily at him. "Have you blown a fuzor! What possessed you to fire at your superior officer? I should have you-"
"Relax Starscream, just demonstrating the applications of our mystery mineral."
Knockout ejected the clip from the blaster and tossed it to Starscream. He gave Knockout a look and glanced at the clip. To his surprise, instead of energon, it was that same clear crystal that filled the ammo cartridges, hephaestium in liquid form.
"How...?" He began.
"That's the beauty of it. We could weaponize it more efficiently than the humans. Use it to its fullest potential."
"And this could be a viable substitute for energon?" The gears were already turning in Starscream's head.
"Possibly. I still need to run more tests but it has the potenetial." Knockout answered with a shrug.
Starscream walked up to Knockout and threw an arm around his shoulder. "Knockout, it would be in bests interests that neither Megatron nor Soundwave learn of this element."
"I'm sorry? Are you asking me to lie to our commander?"
"He won't be our commander for long. It's only a matter of time until he makes a mistake, and that is when I will strike." A snake-like smile spread across the seeker's face. "And a commander will need a second in command. Say a certain medic who likes to tinker."
"A promotion?" Knockout also gained a similar smile.
"You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours."
XXXXXXX
It was almost five when Arcee pulled up to Gina's house. The blonde got out, pulling the disguised Sureshock along with her.
"Thanks for the ride Arcee." Gina said.
"No problem. You take good care of each other, okay?" Arcee said.
"We will." Sureshock said.
Gina took Sureshock right up to her house and opened the door, sighing in relief as she entered her home. It felt nice to be home, especially after such a tiring day.
"Gina is that you?" Someone called from the kitchen.
"Yeah, its me mom!"
Gina's mother Julia exited the kitchen. Sureshock took a moment to study her charge's mother. Julia looked nothing like Gina, sporting long red hair and green eyes as well as a strong build, with faint scars running along her exposed arms. She had the look and physique of a seasoned fighter and was not someone that Sureshock wanted to piss off. So this was her parental unit. Scary.
"Gina, what are you doing with that moped? And why is it orange?" Julia asked. Gina stammered for a second but thought of an excuse.
"Um, I just had it upgraded with some parts from the junkyard. Darren helped me remodel it. That's why we're so late." She said.
Fortunately her excuse worked as her mother nodded and smiled. "Okay then, just be sure to put it in the garage when you're finished."
"Okay." Gina made her way towards the stairs but stopped for a moment. "Um, did dad call yet?"
"No, I'm sorry sweetie. He's still very busy with his work in Amara." Julia said, smiling sadly. Seeing her daughter's disappointed expression, she added, "I'll give him an email later on. Maybe he'll call before you go to bed."
"Sure, I guess." Gina smiled, though on the inside she was thinking 'I wouldn't hold my breath on it.'
She went up the stairs and to her room. Kicking the door closed, Gina let out a breath and looked at Sureshock.
"Okay, you can transform now."
Sureshock transformed, feeling a bit out of place in such a homely environment. Gina cleared her throat and waved her arms at what would be Sureshock's knew home for the time being.
"So, this is my room. I live here." Gina said lamely. "What do you think?"
Sureshock looked around at her surroundings. Gina's room was rather average, with lavender walls and a large bed with a work table next to it by the window. She noticed that there were some machine parts lying on the table and what looked like an egg shaped robot with a glass front lying on its side. That must be where Gwen did her magic. Looking back at the girl, Sureshock had to laugh at her nervous expression.
"Your home is amazing Gina, but you don't have to worry. I'm not judgmental about where I live." She told Gina. Venting some air from her filters, she sat on the bed, noting how soft it was. "This is just so weird for me. Waking up on a planet far from home, most of my friends scattered to the four corners of the world. It's a bit lonely."
Gina sat next to the Minicon and gave her a kind smile, placing an arm around her shoulders.
"But you're not alone. You've got High Wire and Grindor, Darren, Annie, and me. Not to mention the Autobots. We'll be right beside you, oaky?"
"Okay. Thank you Gina."
"No problem, Sureshock."
Meanwhile, Darren and Annie were taking their partners to their house, completely exhausted from the day's events. Darren was holding onto High Wire, while Annie carried Grindor under her arm.
"Man, I cant wait to do some cool stuff with Bulkhead tomorrow. A giant bot with a wrecking ball for a hand. How freaking cool is that?!" Annie gushed. Darren rolled his eyes.
"Yes, Annie, its very cool. Like the last five times you've mentioned it." He droned.
"Wow bro, don't sound too excited." She said.
"That's because I'm not excited. I'm tired and hungry. Almost getting blown to kingdom come can do that to a person." He replied.
"Right, because its not like you have powers that can totally help you in situations like that." Annie snorted.
"Powers?" High Wire asked. Darren told him that he'd explain later.
"Wow you two argue a lot. If all twins act like this, I'm glad that I don't have one." Grindor said.
"Shut up Grindor." Darren said with no malice in his voice.
They made it to their house at the middle of the street, and was also the largest one on the block and made their way to the front door. But before they even reached the doorstep, the door swung open and the twins found themselves face to face with their sister.
"Hey Melody." Darren and Annie said in perfect unison. Their postures were stiff as a board as they were scrutinized by their mother.
"You two are late. What took you so long?"
High Wire took a moment to study the woman. Melody Radcliffe was a rather pretty young woman who looked to be in her twenties. She shared the twins' emerald green eyes, and had long, wavy auburn red hair that freely fell down her back in luscious waves. Judging from the smaller age gap between them, High Wire deduced that Melody was their older sister. If that was true, then where were their parental units?
"Hey sis." Annie said nervously. "Sorry we're late. You know how those pesky buses are like. You miss one, you might as well walk, and stuff."
"We were at the junkyard and lost track of time." Darren cut in. He wasn't going to get in trouble by Annie's falty lie. "We tried to catch a bus but we missed one and decided to walk."
Hmm." Melody hummed and nodded. Then she looked at High Wire and Grindor. "What happened to your bike and skateboard? They look different."
"Annie trashed them trying to do some fancy tricks and I spent the rest of the day upgrading so old stuff we found in the junkyard." He replied easily. He was not usually this good at lying to his mom, but the extra ribbing he at Annie he snuck in gave him some confidence. He could already feel her glare on the side of his head.
"Fine. Put those in the garage and come inside. I have dinner ready." Melody said and went back into the house. "We're making your favorite Annie. Pork Chops."
"Yay. More meat for the carnivore." Darren droned. Melody laughed as she entered the house.
The twins went to the garage, where they placed High Wire and Grindor up against the wall by the work table.
"We're going to leave you here until after dinner." Annie told them. "Will you guys be alright here?"
"We'll be fine, Annie thank you." High Wire said. "You two run along before your mother starts shouting."
"Yeah, that's the last thing we need." Darren said as he and Annie made their way to the door. "You guys will see just where Annie gets her temper from."
"Shut up!" Annie growled, punching him in the shoulder.
"Ow! See what I mean?"
They left the garage, shutting the door behind them. This left High Wire and Grindor alone, where they sat in silence for a few minutes. Then Grindor spoke up.
"Hey High Wire?"
"Yes?"
"I think I'm going to like it here."
"Me to, Grindor. Me to."
XXXXXXX
The next day after school, the Autobots picked up the kids and their Minicon guardians and took them to the Ark via the ground bridge. Once they got to their destination, the kids went their separate ways, integrating themselves with the Autobots they felt more connected with. Gina spent her time with Sureshock and Longarm in the rec room, where the Autobots kept their supplies of processed energon in multicolored tanks behind a bar. The tiny trio sat on one of the large tables as Gina explained the ins and outs about her world to the Minicons.
"So Hephaestium is your people's main source of power?" Longarm asked.
"Yeah, we sure alternate sources, but it is the most used." Gina answered. "Hephaestium is used to power machines like airships and Talos, act as ammunition, even provide power to whole cities, though that's a work in progress. We mine it from natural deposits located all over the world, with some places having larger amounts than others."
"Sound a lot like energon." Sureshock noted.
"Yeah, it does." Longarm said.
"But can energon allow you to shoot fire from your hands or create ice out of nothing?" She grinned. "Trust me, Hephaestium is strange when you get to use it, and that's not taking into account the effects it has no nature. You should see the Hallelujah Mountains over in Dalmasca."
"What are those?" Sureshock asked. Gina took out her laptop and turned it on.
"One of the most amazing sights that I hope to see one day. A region where there is so much Hephaestium that there are mountains floating the in the air."
Sureshock and Longarm both looked at the photo of a mountain range on a sunny day. To their amazement, they saw what looked like large mountain tops floating unobstructed in mid-air. Even back on Cybertron they had never seen floating mountains that were natural.
"Cool isn't it?" The blonde asked slyly. "I wish that I could go visit those mountains one day, even if its just once. That would certainly be an experience. Well, aside from meeting you guys."
"I would like to join you as well, Gina. This seems like quite the site to see." Sureshock said.
"You're welcome to come along." Gina replied happily.
Meanwhile, in the Coronado desert, Bulkhead sat at the top of a steep, rocky slope with Annie and Grindor sitting in his front seats. He was supposed to be scouting the area for energon, but somehow he let Annie convince him to bring them along to do some off-roading. Obviously this was a bad idea, but when she gave him those baby eyes...he couldn't help it!
"This is crazy, Annie. I'm supposed to be protecting you, and this hardly seems safe." He said.
"Bulk, relax. Grindor and I are sitting in 10 tons of alien muscled steel. We're protected." She replied cheekily. "Now punch it!"
Bulkhead sighed but revved up his engine anyway and drove down the uneven slope. He raced over the rocky slide with the grace of a half asleep rhino, his large form bumping and rocking violently from the large rocks under his wheels. Annie was whooping and hollering like she was at a rock concert, while Grindor had his optics shut and was praying to whatever god he could think of.
Soon they made it down the slope and back onto flat land. Grindor pushed himself out and fell to the ground, happy that it was over. Annie was just laughing happily, not once regretting hitching a ride with the large Autobot.
"That was amazing! Let's go again!" She cheered. Grindor groaned out a scared "nooo!" from beside them.
"Sorry Annie, but that's it for today. We've got to get you both back to the Ark." Bulkhead told her.
"Aww." Annie frowned.
"But...if I'm free tomorrow, then we can do this again if you want."
Really? Oh Bulk, you're the absolute best!"
Bulkhead chuckled. Seeing this girl smile made it worth getting chewed out by Prowl. She reminded him a lot of his old Wrecker buddies back on Cybertron. Small in size but strong at heart.
"I hate you both." Grindor whimpered.
Wheeljack and Arcee were watching Darren demonstrate his powers by levitating a crate with High Wire sitting on it. They had never seen an esper up close before, and thus seeing him use his powers was quite the sight to see. Though Arcee noticed the effort it took him to lift both the crate and the Minicon.
"This is intriguing," Wheeljack muttered as he watched the boy. "I have never seen an organic species capable of such powers."
"Well, glad you like the show." Darren said. He struggled to place the crate down gently, nearly dropping it as he had a lapse in concentration. "Just don't expect any second showings."
"And you said that there are others like you with these powers?" High Wire asked. Darren nodded.
"Yes. Thousands of people, some have powers like me that they can easily hide, but others aren't so lucky." He explained. "Some espers have physical mutations instead of powers, stuff like wings, tails, weird skin colors, and so on."
"Oh yeah, I heard of an esper who looked like a bipedal wolf who lived up in Maine. I doubt he's had am easy life." Arcee said.
"You could say that. Espers aren't exactly liked here in Delpoi, with most naturals seeing us as either freaks or uncontrollable monsters." Darren said.
High Wire watched perplexed as Darren waved his hand and strips of metal were torn from the crate, bending like they were made of plastic and not steel and floating around the boy. He flexed his hand again and the strips were shot away from him quicker than he could follow, stabbing themselves into the wall.
"Does anyone besides Annie and Gina know about your powers?" High Wire asked.
"Only my mom. I make it a golden rule to never use my powers in public or I risk either getting made an outcast by the other children, or get hunted down by some Friends of Humanity jackholes." He replied.
It wasn't a hard thing to do, hiding his powers. But they've been active since before he was born. According to Julia, every time he kicked in her womb, he would send something flying off the table or shelf. Esper powers manifest around puberty, but he's been using them since he was a baby, a rarity among his kind. Annie may not like him trying to act normal, but he wasn't going to risk her and their mother's safety just to play hero. It was a hard life to be ousted as an esper, and its even harder to be a parent with an esper child. And heaven help them if they have mutations or noticeable powers like fire or ice manipulation.
"That's terrible," Wheeljack said. He was taking notes during his explanation and had only now just finished. "To think that humans are so quick to hurt you people because you can do things they can't."
"They do it out of fear. No matter what planet you come from, if you give people power, too much power, it drives them crazy. And fear makes people stupid things. Terrible things." Arcee said.
She flashed back to the outliers, Cybertronians who were treated in relatively the same way as espers before the war broke out. Discrimination on that level is exactly why the Uprising came to be.
"If its any consolation, Darren," High Wire began. "I think your powers are something amazing that shouldn't be hidden away. They are apart of you, and you should honor that. Not many people are as lucky as you."
Darren hummed and looked at his hands. Hands that had the power to kill people if he wanted. Or save lives. Indeed he was lucky, for there are plenty of other espers who had powers that were as much a danger to them as they were to other people.
But even still. It would be nice to not have to watch your back everyday or worry for your life. It would be nice to be normal for a change.
XXXXXXX
The Rec room was a place where an Autobot could go unwind from the arduous lives they lead in defense of their temporary home. Here they could relax and recuperate after a long day of getting shot at by Decepticons or avoiding getting blown sky high because of a misused bomb (Arcee still hasn't forgiven Wheeljack for that particular mishap). The room was full of large white metal tables, too many for a small team of nine, and it even had an energon bar that served different kinds of energon (because the members of Team Prime had very peculiar tastes), though that may change as their supply of natural energon was starting to run low.
Optimus stood in the doorway watching the members of his team joke and laugh with their new human friends. On his shoulder sat Sparkplug, who also looked at the scene with a small smile on his face.
"They all look so happy." Sparkplug noted. Optimus nodded.
"They do. The children's presence is a new but welcome development for them. It breaks the monotony of the daily routine of fighting our enemies and hunting for energon." He said. "And for some, it provides a distraction from the reality of our situation. The thought that we may not be able to return to Cybertron."
Sparkplug hummed thoughtfully. "I hope the kids aren't dragged too deep into this war. It would be a shame to see such innocent organics tainted by this god forsaken war."
"Isn't that why you left on the Exodus?" Optimus asked. Sparkplug gave him a look, but he didn't pay him any mind. "To preserve what was left of Minicon culture by leaving the war behind."
"Hey, I left because-"
"Optimus," They both looked down to see Longarm tapping his large metal foot. "Ratchet wants to see you. He says that its important. Sparkplug to."
They didn't bother to ask for the specifics, knowing that the medic will explain once they got there. Optimus headed to the computer hub, a large chamber that was full of large monitors and computers, the largest of which housed Teletran-1. Ratchet was at the main terminal, typing in commands while looking up at he atlas displayed on the monitor when Optimus entered the room.
"What seems to be the problem Ratchet?" He asked.
"Teletran just detected another distress signal. One tat is nearly identical to the beacon that originated from the escape pod the kids found." Ratchet reported. Sparkplug's optics widened.
"What? Impossible, I had High Wire's team launch in the only pod we could find after we kept the Exodus from crashing into the moon. There's no way any other Minicons could be active right now." He said.
"Take a look for yourself." Ratchet motioned to the computer.
Optimus held Sparkplug closer so he could read the data Teletran was showing. To his disbelief, Ratchet was totally right. The signal was almost identical to the one that his escape pod used. But there was a minute difference that he spotted.
"Sparkplug," Optimus said. "Do you recognize this signal?"
"I have an idea who sent it, but I need to make sure. But you're right, its another escape pod." Sparkplug said.
"Then we better mobilize before the Decepticons get wind of this as well." Optimus made his way towards the door. "Ratchet, call Ironhide, Prowl and Bumblebee. We're rolling out."
XXXXXXX
Liftor was a nervous wreck. The orange and blue Minicon was hiding inside the tiny cave that held his escape pod, from which he and his companion had just awakened from not minutes ago. He barely had time to gather his surroundings when the pod's sensors had detected multiple Decepticon signals near their position. And that was when the trouble started.
'I went on the Exodus to get away from Decepticons, so how did I get in this situation!' Liftor thought wearily.
He was hiding behind a giant (to him) energon crystal, one of many in this extremely large energon mine that was filled wall to wall with raw energon. He could see three, maybe four Decepticons roaming around the cave, with some smaller ones, presumably Minicons, transporting crates of energon into a ground bridge. He only recognized the Cons as the top Cons listed on his 'run the hell away at first glance' list that he compiled just for this purpose, and the last people he wanted to run into: Soundwave, Starscream, Barricade and the terrible narcissistic doctor Knockout.
Starscream is this going to take, Knockout?" Starscream growled. He glared at the medic as he paced angrily around the cave. "I thought you said that the damn panel was in this cave!"
"It should be, this is the place where the signal originated from." Knockout frowned. "Strange. By all rights we shouldn't be able to get anything from down here with all this energon."
"I don't care, just find the panel already!" Starscream shouted. He wanted to get the Minicon before Megatron had a chance to snatch it away from him like the uncouth savage he was.
"Starscream, may I remind you that you are not in command here. I am." Soundwave said calmly. Starscream glared at the spymaster.
"Yes, because taking orders from an emotionless tool like you is going to get us what we want." He drawled sarcastically.
"Regardless of your personal preference, Megatron has made his orders clear. Perhaps you will be more productive if you actually aided in the search."
"Why you little-"
"Hey! Don't be dissin' Soundwave like he's one of your peeps!" Rumble, a blue Minicon with large pile driver arms, ran up to Starscream. His twin brother Frenzy, who was red and black, joined him.
"Yeah, unlike you, he ain't gonna take no beating from you!" Frenzy said.
Rollbar watched as the Decepticons quarreled amongst themselves and quietly snuck back into the pod. He crawled back into the tunnel he dug and entered the pod, where a predominantly silver Minicon with a red face plate was sitting at one of the small consoles looking at the data on the screen.
"We're in trouble." Liftor said.
"I can see that." Rollbar replied. Liftor took his shoulders and spun him around to face him.
"No, I mean we're in TROUBLE. I just saw Soundwave and Starscream searching the place with Barricade and Knockout. And its only a matter of time before we get found out and beaten within an inch of our lives by Rumble and Frenzy, and then-"
"Liftor!" Rollbar shouted. "Relax. The Cons haven't found us yet and I intend to keep it that way."
"How?"
"By staying here." Liftor looked at him like he had just turned into a swarm of scraplets.
"What? But-"
"We don't have a choice," Rollbar cut his friend off. "If we leave now, we'll be discovered immediately. I heard that Soundwave has better hearing than a Pneuma-lion."
"Then what do we do?" Liftor asked, not feeling a bit frustrated.
Rollbar could only lean back in his seat and vent some air from his exhaust ports. "We wait and hope that there are either Autobots in the area, or the Cons get bored and leave us alone."
Sadly neither seemed very likely a the moment.
XXXXXXX
"Wow," Bumblebee gasped as he and the other Autobots entered the cave. "I've never seen so much energon in one place before."
"Take it all in kid, cause you ain't gonna be seeing a sight like this any time soon." Ironhide quipped.
"Now's not the time to be sight-seeing. Focus on the mission." Prowl said curtly as he ran forward and took cover behind a boulder. The others followed his example.
"Focus on the task at hand Autobots." Optimus said. His optics narrowed when he saw Soundwave and Starscream. Knockout and Barricade were using a large drilling machine that dug into the earth, presumably to find the escape pod they detected earlier. He also saw Rumble and Frenzy pushing carts of energon through the ground bridge back to their base.
"Think we can take 'em?" Ironhide asked.
"We came here for the Minicons. An all out battle with this much energon around is dangerous." Optimus answered and looked down at Sparkplug. "Sparkplug, do you have a fix on their location?"
"Yes, but the scanner is acting a bit wonky. Too much interference, but I think I can reach them." Sparkplug said.
"Then in that case. let's make some noise." Bumblebee said. He took out his blaster and pointed it at Soundwave.
"Bee, wait!" Prowl tried to stop him but he was too late as Bumblebee had already pulled the trigger and let the blast fly. Everyone watched as the blast flew towards Soundwave's unprotected head, and for a moment it appeared that it would hit the Con dead on. But at the last second, Soundwave side-stepped and let the blast sail over his shoulder before hitting an energon crystal and exploding. The explosion took the Decepticons by surprise, but they quickly gathered themselves as Soundwave faced the Autobots.
"Alert, Autobots sighted. Initiate counterattack." Soundwave said before he fired four missiles from his shoulder cannon.
"Autobots, scatter!" Optimus exclaimed. The team split up to avoid the missiles that destroyed their cover and opened fire on the Cons, who returned fire. Soon the entire cave erupted into a fire fight, set alight by blaster fire from both sides.
Back in the pod, Rollbar and Liftor heard the commotion and cautiously went to investigate. They were surprised and elated to see that the Cons were fighting the Autobots.
"We're saved! Haha, we can finally leave!" Liftor said happily, but then deflated. "But how are we going to get to them? We cant just run our into a fire fight without getting blown to pieces."
Rollbar hummed as he thought of a plan. Then his salvation came in the form of a certain yellow Minicon that was hanging out behind Prime's foot. "That's it! Liftor, remember that private that Minicons use?"
"Yeah, but what-oh." Liftor already knew what Rollbar was planning. "I get it. But will it work? We've been in stasis for so long. And our tech barely works."
"It's worth a try."
Sparkplug was taking cover behind a large rock, trying not to get caught up in the fierce fighting, when his began beeping on a private channel that he forgot he had. It was a channel that he developed with some tech heads that was used by Minicons, for Minicons for a sense of maintaining their privacy. He quickly switched it on and was surprised by who answered.
"Hello? Sparkplug is that you?" The voice on the other end was none other than his friend Liftor. "Please tell me that this thing is working."
"Liftor?" Sparkplug said in disbelief.
"Thank Primus, I thought we didn't get any reception down here."
"Well I can barely hear you. You're getting too much interference." Sparkplug replied.
"Never mind that, we're near by your postion but we cant get out without drawing attention from the Cons. Is it possible for you to come get us or have one of the Autobots do it?" Rollbar asked.
"I'll see what I can do. Just hang on." Sparkplug turned to Optimus. "Optimus, I've found them, but they need help."
"I understand. Bumblebee, take Sparkplug and rescue those Minicons!" Optimus ordered.
The scout nodded and picked up Sparkplug, ducking in between crystals and rocks while taking any shots he could. Within seconds he was already standing over the whole that lead to the pod and Sparkplug jumped out of Bumblebee's hand onto the ground. He ran over to the tunnel where Liftor and Rollbar where waiting and smiled upon seeing them.
"It's good to see you guys again!" Sparkplug said.
"Same here. We were worried that this was it for us." Rollbar replied. Liftor looked up at Bumblebee, then at Optimus Prime.
"What the hell are you doing with Optimus Prime? Why are they here? Where is here exactly?" Liftor supplied a whole slew of questions, too many to answer all at once in the middle of a battlefield.
"How about we save the questions for when we get out of here, huh?" Bumblebee said and peeked over a boulder, firing a shot from his blaster that caught Starscream in the shoulder. The seeker spun on his feet, arm cannons firing wildly as he tried to regain his balance.
A few of those rounds hit a cluster of crystals next to Barricade and exploded, almost knocking the Con to the ground. "Watch where you're shooting Starscream! Do you want to blow us all to hell?"
Bumblebee helped the three Minicons return to the cave entrance, an was about to run over to his teammates when he saw something glowing in the ground not too far from him. It was green and very small, hexagonal in shape and had the symbol of the Minicon faction on the front. Sparkplug recognized it as a Minicon stasis panel.
"Bee, get that panel now!" He yelled, but the scout was already on his way.
"On it!" He shouted back, rushing towards the panel that was embedded in the wall. He shot back at the Cons as he tore a path towards the panel.
He reached out with his hand to grab it, but he had to cut off his pursuit to avoid getting his head caved in by Soundwave. The spymaster stood in front of the scout, staring him down with his stone cold featureless face. But Bumblebee wasn't perturbed by him, in his mind he knew Soundwave was no fighter, having spent most of his time off the field and providing support.
He had no idea how wrong he was.
Bumblebee lashed out at Soundwave with a series of fast punches and kicks, and all of them were either dodged or blocked by him. Soundwave didn't expend too much energy in fighting the scout, retaliating only in small but strong blows to his legs face and chest. The spymaster wasn't worried at all about fighting an Autobot, he had fought worse opponents in Cybertron's gladiator arenas. However time was of the essence and he had a mission to complete.
Bumblebee was caught off guard when Soundwave suddenly started wailing on him, knocking aside his fists and punching back with quick strikes that felt like getting smacked by Bulkhead's index finger. Each time he tried to fight back, he would be blocked and then punished with a counterattack. Soundwave finished his assault with a kick to the chest that sent Bumblebee flying back into some crystals.
"Ow, for a guy who never speaks, he certainly knows how to fight." He groaned. Bumblebee sat up and saw that Soundwave was already picking up the panel and had summoned a ground bridge. "No you don't!"
He shot up and made a run for Soundwave, who calmly turned towards him. He raised his arm and his hand shifted into a miniature broadcasting dish. Bumblebee had no time to react as he was assaulted by a strong blast of sonic waves that shot from Soundwave's dish. It hit him with the force of a wrecking ball and the scout was sent crashing through about a dozen energon crystals before landing at Ironhide's feet.
"Bee!" Ironhide shouted. "Prime, Bee's been taken out!"
Optimus ducked under a barge of missiles that Starscream shot at him and rolled to the side to avoid the exploding energon. "Ironhide, take Bumblebee and retreat!"
"But the Minicon!" Prowl protested.
"We already have what we came for we can't risk losing any more of our number!" Optimus said. Ironhide did as he was told, collecting the wound Bumblebee and the Minicons before running over to the save entrance. Soundwave turned to his companions.
"Objective complete. Tactical retreat recommended." He said. Starscream looked at him outraged.
"Retreat? Did you forget that we have a cave of energon here? If we leave then the Autobots will seize the energon!" He shouted. Before entering the ground bridge Soundwave gave him some parting words.
"Obvious suggestion: blow the mine."
Optimus looked Bumblebee over and noted the severe damage done to his chasis and probably some internal damage as well. "We need to get him out of here now!"
Ironhide nodded and was about to call Ratchet when he saw Starscream in front of them. The seeker grinned at them before holding up what appeared to be a photon bomb, a really nasty piece of work.
"I'd love to stay and chat Autobots but I have more important things to do. So here's a goodbye present from me to you!" Starscream chucked the mob into a cluster of large energon crystals and jumped into the ground bridge just as it vanished.
"Ratchet, get us a ground bridge now!" Prowl yelled. Seconds later the bomb exploded and it caused a chain reaction that caused the rest of the energon to explode. Fortunately the ground bridge appeared and the Autobots ran into the portal, which soon vanished before the whole cave erupted into a blue inferno.
XXXXXXX
Bumblebee sat on a recharge slab in the med bay with an unhappy look on his face. He just spent an hour in the CR chamber and Ratchet was doing some work on the last few dents in his armor. They had succeeded in rescuing Rollbar and Liftor but they lost the first stasis panel to be activated. One Minicon to be left to suffer at Megatron's hands. Optimus and Ironhide understood that he tried his best, but Prowl wasn't as understanding.
"What was that?" Prowl asked, his voice tight with agitation. "No really, what was that? Because I don't know what exactly I saw out there."
"Well, there was a lot of shooting and explosions so..." The look Prowl gave him forced Bumblebee to trail off.
"You had one job to do, and that was get the panel. Not try to engage Soundwave!"
"I thought I could take him."
"Well you thought wrong."
"How was I supposed to know that I wasn't supposed to fight him? I didn't wake up this morning thinking that Soundwave, a bot who has the personality of a turbofox and rarely leaves the Nemesis , was a martial arts master equal to Megatron?" Bumblebee replied, also losing his patience. Prowl's grilling wasn't helping his attitude. "Get off my back!"
"No I wont get off your back! We lost a Minicon and now Megatron has gained the advantage over us." Prowl continued.
"Prowl, leave Bee alone, he did his best." Sparkplug said walking up to them. He gave Prowl a look. "And I appreciate it if you didn't refer to us as if we're weapons of mass destruction."
"As long as the Decpeticons hold even one of you in their possession then you might as well be deemed as such." Prowl said.
"Enough!" The arguing bots were quickly silenced by Optimus, who rarely raised his voice. "Prowl, go to the bridge. I will speak with you later."
"But Prime," Prowl clamped up when Optimus gave him a look, blue optics flashing.
"That wasn't a suggestion." Optimus said. Prowl stiffened and nodded, marching out of the room without looking back.
"Finally, some piece and quiet." Ratchet groaned.
"Optimus, Sparkplug, I am so sorry." Bumblebee said, looking defeated now that the wind was gone from his sails. "I tried, really, but Soundwave..."
"There is no need to apologize, Bumblebee, we know you tried." Optimus assured the scout. Sparkplug nodded.
"No one blames you for losing the panel. I've already made my peace with the possibility that we may not be able to save all of the Minicons." Sparkplug told him. It was a grim truth, but a necessary one. Not everyone could be saved in war.
"Even still, I would appreciate it if you would refrain from taking such risks in the future." Optimus ordered Bumblebee. "There's a thin line between being a hero, and being a memory."
"Understood, sir." Bumblebee smiled.
Optimus and Sparkplug left the med bay to allow Bumblebee to get his rest, and they walked in silence before Sparkplug decided to address the elephant in the room.
"Optimus, what do we do?" Sparkplug asked. "Megatron has already gotten the first panel."
"He merely started the arms race that will begin for your people. And we will do what we've always done," Optimus replied sagely. "Save those that can be saved. Nothing more, nothing less."
Sparkplug said nothing, simply nodding and continuing on his way. Though he didn't show it, he was deeply worried for the poor soul within that panel. He only hoped that whoever it was would stay safe until they could be rescued.
XXXXXXX
Megatron and Nightshade stood in the bridge of the Nemesis, watching as Soundwave walked through the doors with Starscream and Knockout following behind him. Lazerbeak flew inside and landed on Nightshade's shoulder. Soundwave walked up to Megatron and held out the panel.
"Here is the stasis panel, Megatron." Soundwave said. Megatron smiled and took the tiny panel from him.
"Excellent work Soundwave. As always you are someone I can rely on to get the job done." He said.
Starscream and Knockout both huffed in annoyance at Soundwave getting the praise, though he did deserve it.
"It is paramount that we get as many Minicon as we can to further our cause on this planet, but this one in particular is very special." Megatron said.
"Why's that?" Nightshade asked. Megatron grinned and held the panel up between his thumb and finger.
"Do you really think that the Exodus crashing was an accident. As we speak there are dozens of Decepticon-aligned Minicons hidden among the refugees who had a hand in the sabotage of the ship. And its all thanks to my little friend here."
Megatron applied some pressure on the panel and it began to glow. He opened his hand as the panel began to dissolve and reconfigure into a humanoid shape. Once the light died down, a Minicon stood in Megatron's palm. He was grey, with blue armor on his arms and legs, and had a yellow visor that glowed ominously in the dark light of the ship. He looked around t his surroundings and then glanced up at the devilish face of Megaton.
"Welcome to the land of the living, Leader-1." Megatrn greeted him. Leader-1, chief among Cybertron's Decepticon Minicon(Mini-Cons) population, bowed his head in respect to his master.
"I live to serve you, Lord Megatron."