From the Ashes – Ch 3
[Location: US Highway70 ]
Driving along the lonely highway only gives one time to think and that was all Ratchet could do. How could things have gone so wrong? Almost everything was working to the Autobot's advantage: the gathering of the Omega Keys, only for Starscream to steal them right from under their very noses, Dreadwing giving them the Forge of Solus which Optimus utilized it to convert their ground bridge into a space bridge, along with the Autobots gaining the Omega Keys back from Megatron on Cybertron. It was what happened on Cybertron that sent everything spiraling out of control.
After all that was said and done, the Autobot medic could only blame himself. It was not Elita's responsibility to have retrieved the children from school. She had only been following Optimus' orders to stay in the base and could have handled communications while he had gone to bring Jack, Miko, and Rafael to safety. His rush to have Cybertron restored and the carelessness by not taking care of the three young humans that thought the world of them cost them not only their chance to return to their home planet but their own home on Earth. His actions also cost him the lives of the two bots he probably cared about the most.
He had watched Optimus Prime grow. The young Orion Pax had been inquisitive as he developed into the respectable bot that began to understudy with Alpha Trion in the Iacon Hall of Records. Even with all the knowledge he had gained, Orion was still impressionable so was it really any wonder that Megatronus had tried to mold the young Cybertronian to be into one of his lackeys? Ratchet was proud that Orion had made the choice to turn away from the path that Megatron began to lead him down and in turn Orion was deemed worthy of the title Prime. It was also his compassionate nature that made Optimus stay behind at the base while the others had fled. Ratchet knew that he should have been the one to stay behind since it was his mistakes that brought everything down around their audio receptors, but the medic knew that Optimus would not let him argue the point. The Autobot leader knew what his orders would lead to and faced the onslaught head on.
Tired of driving, the ambulance pulled into a highway rest stop and settled into a parking space. Cars, trucks, and 18-wheelers surrounded him, but all remained silent. He found no allies here. As he powered off his motor he enjoyed the relative quiet found in such places. His particular spot was facing a group of picnic tables that families and couples sat around to eat what food they had with them or had purchased from the vending machines nearby. As twilight settled in, he watched as the children ran and played, happily carrying on in their games that allowed them to stretch their little legs and burn off the abundant energy they had stored in their tiny bodies from their long car rides.
One particular human woman caught his attention as she began to chase after a couple of the young-ones. Dressed in blue jeans, sneakers, and a simple light blue t-shirt, the woman had her red hair pinned up in a slightly disheveled bun. She was laughing as she grabbed a hold of one of the smaller children, scooped it up into her arms and began to kiss the child on the cheek, much to the child's enjoyment. As he watched the woman with her child the medic felt a fresh wash of guilt.
"I think the thing I'll miss the most is having children. I always wanted to have kids." He heard Elita's voice echoing in his head, a voice from the past when she first was placed in their lives. Back then he only partially understood or even cared about how she felt about the matter. Now, as he watched this woman with her tiny brood of children and seeing how happy she was as this stranger gave and received affection from the children that she cared for, he realized exactly the emotions and joy that had been robbed from Ellan Greer when her purely human life had ended.
Backing out of his spot and continuing down the road, Ratchet couldn't shake his processor free of the thoughts and realizations that swam through it. Elita-One surrogated her maternal feelings onto the children, caring for them in ways only a woman truly could. In his cold dismissal of the children he had hurt her deeply. Even if he had a chance to apologize to Elita for his unintended pain he had caused her Ratchet had no idea where to begin. If she were still alive, which was now an extremely slim chance, she would be right at the heart of where the Decepticons now called home and in more danger than he could even begin to aid her with, if she had not already been captured in the take-over.
As the miles became states, the medic came to the sad conclusion that with everything that had just gone wrong and what was possibly left of the Autobots scattered without a real plan on regrouping there was no real hope in winning this too long and bloody war. Even at his age he wasn't sure if he would be able to last through gaining attachments with others only to lose them again, or even be able to fight any longer. Deciding the best thing for everyone was for him to just disappear, Ratchet pulled over to the side of the road, the moonlight his only companion in the dark of the night.
He only became aware of someone pulling up and stopping directly in front of him in the predawn hours. As the man got out of the tow truck and began to look him over, mumbling about people just leaving vehicles all over the place. Ratchet didn't fight as the man began to hook him up to his tow truck and began to tow him away. Whatever this man had planned for him was better than what any Decepticon would do.
[Location: US Highway 80]
The blue motorcycle kept watch as her human rested on the ground beside her, the pair hidden amongst rows of corn stalks just off the side of the road. Jack, who had purchased the sleeping bag and pillow in one of the little towns they had passed through in the two states they had covered, had finally fallen asleep despite the worry over his mother and their friends. Arcee knew that unlike the other Autobots she was not able to safely carry a sleeping passenger and had made the suggestion that Jack should buy the supplies needed to camp out for the duration of their travels. The days were growing colder as the Fall settled in, but fortunately tonight was clear, void of rain but the possibility of frost forming was making her realize that he would need warmer clothing and possibly a better shelter if they were delayed much longer. They needed to get back to Jasper, to get back together with the team and his mother. For their own peace of mind they had to know that everyone was safe.
It was just as the first rays of dawn began to creep over the horizon that Jack's cell phone began to sound. Both beings were startled awake, Arcee's idle thought of when she actually dozed off quickly pushed aside by the panic of the threat the device posed as Jack scrambled to shut it off.
"I forgot about that," he mumbled as he pocketed the device, "Sierra had talked me into getting a daily horoscope sent to my phone."
"Pack up," Arcee ordered as she revved her engine, "and shut off your phone. We need to get moving and pray that the Decepticons didn't pick up that or it will be a horror show."
Jack had the sleeping bundle rolled and tied to the back of Arcee within the minute and his helmet secured the next. His phone was powered off and the battery removed for good measure as he settled onto the seat. Holding on tightly, Jack did as Arcee told him to and prayed as her tires hit the paved road and they headed off down the road again.
[Location: Darkmount, NV]
Soundwave's facial screen began to show the schematics of his scans, quickly narrowing down the location of one of the signals that he had been scanning worldwide for. Opening a ground bridge portal before him, the silent Decepticon stepped through it and walked out right in front of Megatron as the tyrant sat upon his throne, smirking privately as he flexed his returned limb. A quick read of his most trusted's face gave Megatron a dark reason to smile.
"Excellent Soundwave;" A quick turn of his head to Starscream, who was waiting just behind where the ground bridge portal had opened, he began to issue his orders, "send a squad to retrieve the Autobot and its human pet. I wish to… speak with them."
"Yes, Lord Megatron," Starscream replied with a dark pleasure tone to his voice as he bowed before he transformed and shot off to follow his orders.
As the Decepticon leader sat back in his throne Soundwave's facial screen began to give another warning as the sun slowly began to crest over the horizon. Several vehicles, air born and ground units, began to crest from the rolling rock hills to the east of the citadel.
"Another show of might," Megatron smirked darkly. "Let us remind them about how lacking they really are. Power up the Fusion Cannon."
The approaching army, spanning across most of military branches, proceeded forward towards the mammoth tower looming before them. The brave men and women pushed forward, pausing for a moment as a bright green light built up in the clouds surrounding the top of the tower before the energy split them, the beam aimed right at the approaching vehicles. Any order to retreat issued over the radios had been quickly drowned out as several hundred soldiers screamed out in pain as their metallic vehicles warped and melted around them, their lost control sending several either crashing into the ground or one another. A secondary pulse from the tower sent all the vehicles in its path flying away, some for at least a mile from the epicenter of the blast.
As he watched, the humans began to drag their dead and wounded away, Megatron savored his rush of victory. If this was the best that the Earthlings had to offer then taking over the planet would be relatively simple. There were just a few things he had to plan for, mainly a strike from the Autobots.
"One more thing before you return to your duties, Soundwave," the tyrant began. "Patch me into the Earthling's communications. I wish to speak to Agent Fowler, the Autobots' human watchdog." Watching the images change on his most trusted's facial screen, Megatron smiled in victory as digital ringing gave way to a man's voice.
"Special Agent William Fowler here."
[Location: Alden Military Base, Building E]
Agent Fowler furiously worked his stress ball as he listened to the voice on his phone. He had spent hours since he and June landed back at the base trying to keep everything from escalating beyond repair, at least on the human side of things. The U.S. military general class was crying for a nuclear strike against the attacking force, their main claim that the town of Jasper, Nevada was just too vital to have fall into the hands of a foreign military due to the research and development facilities that had originated the town. Knowing what the most likely outcome of the damage from such an attack would be, both to the landscape and human casualties, Special Agent William Fowler had requested that they hold off their preemptive strike until he knew for sure that the Autobots were unable to handle the situation themselves. Apparently the higher ups either turned a deaf ear to his request or grew tired of waiting for something to happen and sent in a strike team; a strike team that ended up with only a small handful of soldiers uninjured out of the hundreds that were sent in.
Naturally there was some military aid when he had requested it at the time that the Autobot base had been destroyed, but when Elita-One had seen that the battle had been lost she gave the order for retreat. The list of casualties from both skirmishes had him apologizing to Optimus Prime in the quiet of his office for their losses, knowing that the Autobot leader would be frowning in disapproval if he was there. This last battle that the humans had directly with the Decepticons was why he was on the phone.
"You see, Agent Fowler," Megatron's calm and collected voice smoothly flowed out of the speaker of the phone on the desk, "we are just simply refugees from a war torn world that simply seek a place to call home. We had no choice but to defend ourselves."
Tell that to the families of the men that lost their lives today, Agent Fowler thought bitterly.
"It was thanks to the Autobots that we are unable to return to our own home, so we simply wish to remain here on peaceful terms with you humans. Since the desert area of your country is mostly uninhabited we figured that it would be best suited for everyone that we remain in this area. I do suggest that your military cease attacking us poor survivors of a terrible war, for the continuation of peace of course."
"Of course," Fowler frowned as he gave the poor worn stress ball a tight squeeze as the phone call clicked to a close.
Growling as he hit the top of his desk with frustration, the Autobot liaison tried to figure out his next move and what he was going to report to his higher ups. Megatron couldn't be trusted to keep peace. Working with the Autobots for so long, listening to what had happened that began the war that put Cybertron in the condition it was now, plus seeing it first hand after Unicron had been defeated, Agent Fowler knew that Megatron's word was about as good as spitting into the wind, though the latter would be the more beneficial choice.
Dropping the stress ball in the top right drawer of his desk, Fowler sighed as he closed that drawer and opened up the one below it. This was the drawer he kept the stock pile of cookies that Elita kept baking for him. When he was not in his office he kept the drawer locked to keep the treats safe, but it wasn't for his own need to have the treat that he dug into the possibly last bit of cooking he would ever taste from the Autobot-Human hybrid. Grabbing four of the super carb cookies that seemed to be Elita's specialty he locked the drawer back, wrapped them up in some napkins he kept on hand and left his office.
Agent Fowler found June Darby working in the main part of the hanger bay that held his office. It had been turned into a triage center after the military strikes and it was where Nurse Darby had spent her time, buried in her work to keep herself from focusing over the possible loss of her son.
June was in the final stages of re-wrapping her patient's arm when he found her, smiling to keep her patient calm despite her own stress and worry. Fowler stood off to the side as he watched when Nurse Darby had left the man's bedside she was swamped with four military nurses all vying for her attention over one matter or another. Apparently June had taken over running the triage center, or was put in charge of this one if more than one had to have been opened to deal with all the wounded.
"Agent Fowler," she said as she walked closer, "we're running low on medical supplies. When will the shipment get here?"
"Hopefully within the hour," he sighed and looked around before he walked with her off to the side. "When was the last time you ate, June?"
"I don't have the time to sit down to eat, Bill," she replied, nodding to another nurse as the man came up and handed her a clipboard before returning to his duties. As she looked it over she paused as a sizeable cookie 'appeared' on top of the paperwork. "Are you trying to ruin my diet?"
"Not at all," Fowler smiled at the glare she shot him, "they're E's special cookies."
Understanding that these were probably the treats that she heard Jack talking about June took a bite, pleasantly surprised by how good they actually tasted. "Have you heard anything from them?" she asked quietly between bites, having to turn her back to the room to keep from going into tears as she began to feel helpless.
"Not a word," he replied quickly, then softened his tone as he saw her shoulders drop, "not yet at least."
"I want to call him," June cast a pleading look up at Agent Fowler, a look that made his heart ache almost as much as her own had to be.
"You can't, June, you know that. We have no idea if you-know-who would be trying to track them down that way."
"I know," she replied, dejectedly, "I just…" She had to close her eyes and take a deep breath.
"Focus here for right now," Fowler told her gently, "and know that the 'Bots are doing their best to protect the kids, I believe that with my whole heart. Besides, with the base now gone they'll most likely head here."
"I pray you're right, Bill," June looked back up at him, "I really pray you're right."
[Location: Winding mountain roads of the Colorado Rockies]
Bulkhead kept his driving as smooth as possible, despite some of the steep hills and turns that the road took, as Miko slept in his front passenger seat. The young lady was curled up on her side, her arms tucked in close to herself as she clutched the phone in her hands. He wouldn't say a thing about her crying herself to sleep as she looked through the pictures she had saved on her phone, especially when she would focus on too long on either the image of Jack, usually with Arcee, or Optimus.
Despite driving all night, the Wrecker knew that he still had a ways to go. Wheeljack should be meeting up with him sometime today at the coordinates that they had agreed upon, and hopefully Jackie would be bearing some good news. For Miko's sake they really could use it.
Loud yawning and the grind of the seat back being lifted back upright was the only warning that he had that Miko was awake. The usually exuberant teenager was quiet as she folded up her phone and plugged in the charging cable before she looked out the window. "Where are we?"
"Eastern Colorado," the vehicle replied, "we should be crossing into Utah before too long." At the sound of her stomach growling Bulkhead recalled that she had not had anything to eat since lunchtime the day before. "We'll stop at the nearest town so you can get something to eat."
"That's alright, Bulk," she replied sorrowfully, still looking out of the window, "I'm not hungry."
"I need you to keep your strength up, Miko. We don't know what we're going to run into and all Wreckers have to be at their best." That at least gained him a little giggle before they continued down the road in silence. "I forgot to ask, you have money right?"
"A few bucks that's suppose to be for lunch at school," Miko mumbled, then she sat up and quickly dug into one of her little pouch friends she carried on her hip. "Dude! I forgot E gave me a card to her account! She did say emergency use, or shopping for her, but this is definitely an emergency."
"Just don't go wild with it," Bulkhead reminded her with a soft laugh.
Author's Note: I don't own this show.