Spoiler Warning: The first half of this chapter, especially the dialogue, is directly taken from Transformers: Prime, season 2, episode 26 Our Darkest Hour. It's not mine so please don't sue.

Author Note: Thanks to those who left reviews and/or put the story to their favorites and/or alerts.

I wish you all a merry Christmas and a very happy new year!


– chapter three –

Divide and Conquer

Ratchet. The first Jack saw when Arcee exited the spacebridge was the medic. His optics immediately fell on the pods. "The children?" he asked, sounding surprised. While the bots put down the pods so that Arcee could let Jack, Miko and Raf out, Ratchet took in his comrades' expressions and asked, "What happened?"

No one answered; Jack could see they all were shocked beyond words.

But the ever so impatient Ratchet demanded, "Somebody say something!"

Bulkhead was the first to break the continuing silence. "Optimus destroyed the Omega Lock."

Ratchet's optics widened. "What? You did –?"

"What was necessary," Optimus interrupted him. "There was no time for another prolonged battle. Not with Earth in imminent danger." His expression was grim.

"So you destroyed the only device in any universe capable of restoring our home?" Ratchet asked, incredulous – as if he couldn't believe the taller bot to be capable of such drastic measures. "Optimus, we needed that," he added quietly.

Smokescreen walked up and, defending his idol, said, "You weren't there, doc. And it's not your place to second-guess a battlefield decision."

That only served to anger Ratchet. He shouted, "It most certainly is! There had to be another way."

By now freed of his glass prison, Jack walked up to the edge of the level he was on. "It wasn't that simple, Ratchet," he said, willing the medic to understand the why behind Optimus' decision.

Before the medic had time to say something, Raf explained, "Megatron was using the Omega Lock to attack the Earth."

And Miko added defiantly, "Optimus saved our planet."

"What about our planet?" Ratchet asked them, his voice full of emotions. "All of our struggles, and energon spilled, and countless sacrifices – for nothing?"

In a way Jack could sympathize with the medic, but different to humans, the bots were able to travel to other planets to find a new home. They could start over on another planet. Saving Earth from destruction, however, was the only chance for Jack's species to survive. Ratchet had to understand that.

Arcee didn't give him the chance to make Ratchet see his point, however, because she said, "Right decision or wrong, what's done is done. But we have another problem here on this world. The 'cons just changed the rules when they put Jack, Miko and Raf into place."

Their discussion was interrupted when the communications array signaled an incoming message; it was Agent Fowler. "Prime!" he said and then a live-feed from him popped open so they could all see him. He continued, "The Pentagon's preparing to go to Defcon 1. I need to know what we're dealing with."

Optimus stepped closer. "To what do you refer, Agent Fowler?" he asked.

Frowning, Agent Fowler suggested, "Maybe you should step outside and see for yourselves."

It didn't take long for Optimus to make the decision. "Ratchet, watch the children," he downright ordered the medic before leaving with the other bots.

Jack didn't know whether Optimus meant to put the medic back into his place after his outburst or not. One thought wouldn't leave him alone, however: If Ratchet had fetched them from school when they called, events would have unfolded differently. The Decepticons would never have been able to take them prisoner and thus use them as bait. Maybe Optimus was having the same thought, and his order was meant to ensure Ratchet didn't make the same mistake twice. Maybe it even was a combination of both, or nothing of either. Jack might never find out unless he asked Optimus directly – which he most likely would not. Out of the corner of his eyes he noticed Raf and Miko exchange glances, and when they both looked up at him, he realized they were having the same line of thought.

Ratchet was visibly unhappy with the job as babysitter. He stared at them with narrowed optics for a while, as if daring them to move away to where he would have to follow. Miko, defiant to orders as usual, turned around before long and headed for their recreational area. Jack could see Ratchet open his mouth to say something, but he closed it again after a moment. Raf therefore chose to follow Miko, and Jack soon trotted along.

To Jack's surprise, Miko had chosen a local news channel. "… and scientists are unable to explain the phenomenon at the current stage," a reporter announced. In the background, he could see pictures of an alien construction rising skyward. He squinted to see more of the landscape, and gaped open-mouthed when he recognized his hometown in the background. "Guys, this is outside," he said, stunned.

Both their heads whipped around, but before either could say something, an explosion sounded from outside. All three looked up in alarm. Jack could see that Ratchet too lifted his optics to the ceiling. In just that moment, a series of explosions sounded, the last one intense enough to shake the base to the ground. Dust started raining down on them, and everything that hung from the ceiling started to swing.

Another explosion and earthquake-like feeling made them jump up off the couch and run over to Ratchet. He was studying something on his screens. When he didn't immediately react to their presence, Jack asked him, "What's happening?"

In that moment, the other bots returned. Them Ratchet noticed. Turning toward them, he asked, "What is going on out there?"

"The Decepticons have invaded Jasper," Optimus answered.

Bulkhead added, "And Fowler seems to think he can hold them off."

In just that moment, Fowler announced, "Prime! Reinforcements just arrived." He sounded happy.

Optimus took a step forward and said imploringly, "Agent Fowler, your military cannot prevail against –"

"Ya didn't think I would let Team Prime gonna have all the fun, did ya?" a familiar voice interrupted him.

Bulkhead jubilated, "It's Jacky!"

"Wheeljack?" Ratchet asked, stunned. "But how did you –?"

A live-feed of Wheeljack appeared on the communications screen. "Picked up a strange energy surge," he explained. "Hope you don't mind the company."

Ratchet immediately said, "No! It's just that… after everything… well…" He trailed off, and Jack wondered what the story behind the medic's bafflement was.

"We're still on the same team, doc," the Wrecker reminded him before adding, "Always will be."

Silence settled over the group, only interrupted by the on-going bombardment and fighting outside. Jack was glad that at least no more dust was falling from the ceiling. He wasn't sure what they were waiting for. He only knew it wasn't what Optimus had in mind. "Ratchet, prepare to bridge everyone out of here," he ordered. Jack looked over to the leader of the Autobots; he hadn't even noticed the bot having separated from the group, with his back turned on them.

Ratchet's incredulity was audible when he asked, "We're abandoning the base?"

Turning back toward them, Optimus said, "The base is lost. Wheeljack and Agent Fowler can only buy us time to escape. Bumblebee, Rafael, you will depart first."

Before the words could fully register with Jack, Raf asked, "You're splitting us up?"

No, he thought, that's a mistake! Aloud, Jack said, "Shouldn't we stick together?"

"All for one and one for all?" Miko chimed in, appropriately using the motto of the musketeers.

"We must disburse to avoid capture until we can regroup and launch a covert attack," Optimus explained. His tone was resolute, his decision final. "Survival is our only priority now."

They had no other choice but to do as he asked, more so because the bots didn't give them another option. Bumblebee immediately reached out for Raf. The younger boy quickly gave both Miko and Jack a hug before climbing over the railing and onto the hand of his guardian. Bumblebee protectively pulled him toward his chassis before transforming around him, Raf ending up in the back seat.

A helmet presented to him pulled Jack out of his thoughts. He met Arcee's optics; she nodded subtly. He took the helmet and walked down the stairs to meet her. Above him, Miko mirrored Raf and climbed into Bulkhead's hand over the railing. Both bots then transformed simultaneously, just when the groundbridge was activated. Jack watched Bumblebee drive through it before vanishing.

"Come on, Jack," Arcee urged him when he hadn't moved for a solid minute, instead just standing next to her like a rock.

"We haven't much time," Optimus said to the room at large, echoing Arcee's words. Jack sighed before getting on.

Arcee drove up to where Bulkhead was waiting for the get-go, coming to a stop next to him. Jack met Miko's eyes again for a last time before Bulkhead drove into the groundbridge. A moment later, it was his and Arcee's turn. Jack put on his helmet, and off they went.

There were no goodbyes, no hugs, no promises that everything would be all right. While speeding toward the light, Jack couldn't help but wonder what their future would bring – or if he would ever see his friends again. Alive.


Jazz and the others stared. It was one thing to see a building that reminded them of the home they had left vorns ago. It was another story to see it on what they had assumed was an organic world.

"What do you mean?" Prowl asked the scientist, the first to break the shocked silence.

Joining Jazz at his console, Perceptor pulled up some specific subsensor scan results and had them transmitted to the main screen. "It appears the energy beam we witnessed initiated a terraforming process as we've seen on other worlds. The Quintessons especially were known to terraform organic worlds to suit their needs."

Prowl frowned. "Why would the Decepticons attempt the cyberformation of this planet – assuming it was them who fired that beam?"

Perceptor shrugged. "I cannot answer you this question. I only know that the process has begun and that I have an idea of how it will end if nothing stops it."

Before Prowl could ask any more questions, Silverbolt said, "Uh, sirs? The spacebridge was just activated again."

Jazz's head snapped up to the radar screen, his optics zooming in on the blinking red dot depicting the Nemesis. It remained stationary alongside the spacebridge for another couple of breems, then it started moving – in their direction. Prowl having watched the radar too barked, "Keep the moon in-between ourselves and the Nemesis. We mustn't be seen." And as soon as he stopped speaking, the engines fired up and the Ark started to move forward.

Their changing position allowed them to remain hidden from the Decepticons while they themselves had a clear view of the enemy ship's rear end when it approached the planet before entering its atmosphere. The radar showed them that the Nemesis was headed for the Cybertronian structure. Nonetheless, they kept their position just in case; after all, the Nemesis' sensors would most likely pick them up as soon as they got any closer to the planet.

"And now?" Sideswipe asked after several moments of inactivity, looking at Prowl and Jazz.

Jazz's optics were glued to the radar. "Now we have a problem," he said when hundreds of red dots appeared out of the blue, temporarily surrounding the Nemesis, before heading forward in one direction – a Decepticon armada most likely being about to attack.

"I wonder what their target is," Clocker mused out loud while watching the red dots' movements.

Prowl's expression was dark. "I sincerely hope not our tea—"

"Got them!" Blaster suddenly announced, interrupting the tactician. Then he cussed, "Slag!"

"Lock onto them and send the coordinates to the rescue team," Prowl ordered, ignoring the cursing. "Sideswipe, get us down to them. Jazz, weren't you supposed to assemble a team?"

"I lost them again," Blaster announced before grumbling loudly for everybot to hear, "This is slagging weird." All the while his fingers flew at rapid speed over the radar console, and the curses falling from his lipplates became more and more colorful.

"What is?" Prowl demanded, his tone growing impatient.

"What the –?" Blaster halfway turned around while pointing at the radar. "One moment they were there, at the center of the 'con armada, and the next they're gone again, just like that." He snipped his fingers. "The sensors couldn't pick them up anymore, no matter what I tried. But now, all of a sudden, their signals are spreading out across one of the land masses this planet apparently consists of, and all in different locations." He paused, looking pensively at the radar, before adding, "Also, there are more than there should be…"

"What do you mean?" Prowl asked for clarification.

Jazz walked over and checked the radar, frowning. To his surprise, there were six signals where there should have been only four, and one of these was relatively close to the Cybertronian structure they had seen earlier. Just in that moment Sideswipe shouted, "Massive energy burst detected. Origin: the Nemesis." Two spark pulses later, a seventh signal appeared on the radar, quivering in instability – as if the bot was about to offline.

Probably because he never received an answer to his question, Prowl joined them at the console. He took one glance at the sensor readout before turning to Jazz. "Get that team ready. We haven't much time."

Silverbolt was waiting for him at the door, and the two left the command center to head for the weapon's storage. On their way down, Jazz contacted their best fighters, asking them to meet with him in the hangar.

Halfway toward the weapons storage, a small golden body appeared at his left ankle. The saboteur glanced down and met the blue optics of one of Blaster's cassettes. "What'ya doin' here?" he asked Steeljaw.

The cassette shrugged without breaking his even stride. "The boss sends you a message."

"Which boss, mine or yours?"

"Isn't Prowl both our boss?" came a question in reply.

Jazz laughed, and Silverbolt joined in; Steeljaw had great humor. "Point taken."

They continued on in silence for half a breem before Steeljaw clarified, "Prowl asked Blaster to have me inform you that Ironhide's team returned."

Frowning, the saboteur halted and looked down at the cassette. "They're back? How? We left 'em on that desert planet a vorn ago. They only have a small vessel, not a ship able ta travel great distances through space."

Setting on his haunches, Steeljaw said, "Ask him yourself. Prowl already received the report –"

Jazz snorted; Ironhide was known for only grouchily hand in mission reports.

"– and ordered him to gather a second team for the rescue mission of Prime and his team," the cassette finished as if the saboteur had never interrupted him.

"Al'right." Dismissing it for now, Jazz said, "Speaking of missions: Wanna join mah team? Ah could always use somebot with ya talents."

The cassette shook his head. "Thanks, but no thanks. Bots taller than me are better for a rescue mission of the kind that lies ahead. Besides, Blaster has other work for me to do. And that is my cue to get back." He got up and turned around, walking into the direction they came from. Before he vanished around a corner, he said over his shoulder, "Good luck."

Jazz told Silverbolt to go find his brothers while he himself went about to locate Ironhide. He found the warrior soon after, sitting on a crate in front of one of the weapons storages with Hoist standing behind him. The medic was working on a shoulder joint. "You should come into the medbay and not join this mission," he was just saying, his tone imploring – telling Jazz that he had been trying to coax Ironhide for quite some time. "Please, 'Hide. If the joint catches during a battle with the 'cons, you'll be unable to defend yourself." Preparing for an interesting argument between warrior and medic, Jazz leaned against the wall and crossed his arms in front of his chestplates.

But the old warrior only shrugged away the worries. "Won't happen, doc. Just put in some more oil. Once Optimus and the rest is sound and safe back aboard the Ark, I'll get my skidplate into medbay for proper treatment."

Jazz couldn't help but snort, nearly drowning out the resigned sigh of Hoist, and the warrior looked up. "Ya only say it ta ease his processor," Jazz accused Ironhide with a grin.

"I know of a certain mech who uses the same tactic to stay away from medbay," the warrior retorted unfathomed.

"Touché."

Hoist then finished and reattached the thick armor plates. Testing his shoulder, the warrior rolled it. It seemed to function flawlessly. Ironhide grunted in satisfaction. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Hoist said while packing up his toolkit. "Just take care of yourself and good luck." Then he left.

The saboteur retracted his visor and met Ironhide's optics dead on. "Before we leave, tell meh something: how did ya get back?"

Shrugging, Ironhide said, "Got attacked by the Star Seekers but we took control of that spacebridge they attached to their hull and came out near the Ark."

"Slag!" Jazz cursed, unfolding his arms and pushing away from the wall. "If their spacebridge is continuously logged onto our ship, it's understandable they always find us so quickly." His visor slid back over his optics and he started pacing; the revelation unnerved him.

Out of the corner of his optics Jazz saw Ironhide watching him for a breem before saying, "Cosmos said something different."

The saboteur halted midstride and looked up sharply. "Say that again."

Shrugging, Ironhide repeated what he just said before adding, "We came out of the spacebridge you found out there." He loosely pointed in the moon's direction behind which the Decepticons' spacebridge was located.

The visor shone brightly when Jazz said, "Ya mean ta tell meh that their spacebridge locked onto the 'cons', and that's how ya got back?" Then he burst out laughing, without waiting for the warrior to confirm his suspicion. "Primus, that's what Ah call intergalactic co-ordination." He filed away a note to worry about the Star Seekers later, then walked over and clapped his claws on the taller mech's arm. "Let's go. There's bots that need being rescued."

"Not before I packed some more ammunition for my cannons," Ironhide retorted. Jazz tipped his head in agreement, grinning widely.

The bots chosen for the rescue mission were already assembled in the hangar when Jazz and Ironhide arrived, and the saboteur noted with satisfaction that Silverbolt had found all four of his brothers. The large hangar was filled with excited chatter. "All right, pay attention!" Ironhide shouted without preamble, calling the teams to order. Silence dropped instantly.

Jazz stepped forward, automatically taking command as highest ranking bot. His playfulness was gone; he was all serious business. "Listen up, folks: it's recon and rescue. Prime's team got split up without any backup. That's where we come in. We get down, locate them, an' pull 'em out of whatever situation they're in. No solo attempts. This is not the time ta play the hero." He looked Air Raid in the optics, willing him to pull a single stupid stunt.

The aerial bot got the message for he ducked his head sheepishly.

Nodding in satisfaction, Ironhide added, "If I have to report any casualties at the end of the orn, I'll not be a happy mech. I'll drag you out of the Pit by your fenders only to kill you myself. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!" the assembled mechs chorused smartly.

"What he said," Jazz said. "Now grab whatever weapons you can carry."

The mechs moved as one and were packed not a breem later. Just then, a message rolled over all their HUDs while the ship's sirens flared to life:

We have incoming.