Common Ground 2

A Transformers Prime Fanfiction Commission for ScreamtotheStars

Into the Darkness

"Objective isolated!" the soldier hunched over the controls shouted into his headset.

"Fire!" the order came from another chopper.

Two missiles shot out from the central craft and tacked onto the retreating form of Optimus Prime. The first impacted against his side; throwing the Autobot away from the swirling green portal as it closed. The second struck his shoulder with a flash of light.

"The EMP missile has him out!" confirmed a voice over the radio. "Move in!"

"Wait! Bogy approaching from eight o'clock!"

"Dang! Didn't know they had another that big!"

"Hit it with another EMP missile. Fire at will."

"What the? No effect sir!"

"Traditional munitions! Fire at will."

"Sir look!"

Below the hovering craft the grey semi had reached the side of the fallen warrior. Tie straps reached out and faster than the humans could follow pulled the limp Autobot up onto its bob tail and over the cab. The truck then spun and headed back towards the highway. But before it had even traveled its own frame length the air in front of it began to shimmer. The grey semi swerved and hit its breaks, but the reaction was far too slow. The shimmering air surrounded them and both the robot and the semi disappeared.

"Some new teleportation device sir?"

"Perhaps, but they were trying to avoid it."

"The other faction then?"

"There is no way to tell at this point. Let's return to base and report this to Silas."

The three helicopters turned and headed back the way they had come.

"Sir, a witness." The airman pulled up a screen showing the human crouched beside the rocks at the edge of the flats. "Shall we terminate?"

"Affirmative," the commander replied absently and one of the helicopters tacked away from the others. "Wait." He frowned and enhanced the image. The flash that had caught his eye resolved into a long barreled weapon. "Never mind. Continue to base."

"Sir?"

"He is of no consequence and he is armed and using the terrain to shield himself. We can't waste the time to track down someone who can fight back. It would waste too much fuel."

"Yes sir."

Zechariah Franklin snatched up the box of shells and the shotgun that Sal had tossed him and scrambled back up the ridge. The cause of his brother's agitation was immediately apparent. Red Warrior was lying on the ground leaking while three helicopters descended on him like vultures. Zech let out a snarl and flicked the safety off on his weapon. He thumbed five of the more advanced shells into the magazine and backed into a protective overhang.

The lead helicopter fired a missile at Sal which the truck easily blocked with his titanium tie-straps. The flash of the detonation was small but the Semi suddenly slowed. With a roar his main engine engaged and he accelerated towards Red Warrior. Zech's attention was torn away from the fight as the hairs on the back of his neck prickled. He shifted his attention from the world in front of him and nearly panicked.

~Sal! Danger. Enemy. Ahead.~

It wasn't telepathy, but something vaguer and more emotional. Not as precise, but the semi still got the message. He hit his breaks and swerved. Too late, the human realized with a sickening lurch. The nightstalkers had used the distraction of the fight to advance. Three of the largest had untangled their nets and cast them directly in the path of the charging semi. Zech watched in horror as the web enveloped his brother and his friend; pulling them down through layers of reality, scratching at their metal hides, bringing them ever closer to the grasping webbed hands of the predators

Zech's attention was drawn away by the approaching sound of rotors. He snapped his attention back to the physical world feeling something strain in his mind as he did so. The shotgun came up and he carefully aimed it at the fuel tank exposed on the underside of the chopper. The aircraft seemed to hesitate and then turned to follow its mates away.

"Don't want to face anything with teeth?" the human muttered, marking that caution for later use, as he realigned his awareness again.

This time something seared painfully through his brain and he shook his head in frustration, forcing past the hurt. But as he feared there was no sign of the nightstalkers or his brother; either the predators had dragged the prey off to their cave to devour or Sal had managed to escape with Red Warrior. If the second was the case they were trapped in one of the between places.

"Not good," Zech muttered as he rubbed his throbbing head. "Not good at all." Please God keep them safe.

His head snapped up as the swirling green portal opened again. Out leapt three forms and Zech pressed himself back into the rocks. They needed to be told what had happened but how could he without either revealing too much or outright lying? Zech was mulling over this when he felt a familiar presence reach out to him. With a sigh he leapt over the rocks and started jogging back towards the highway. He sent a surge of power tinted with a warning to the younger man. He wasn't certain Jack had the skill to understand that yet but he couldn't linger to explain.

The nightstalkers would be content with their captured prey for some time so Jack was safe and if there was any hope of rescuing Salcha and Red Warrior he needed to contact the Clan fast. Once he reached the comforting stretch of asphalt he shouldered his weapon and took a deep calming breath. Gathering his internal energy he briefly focused it all in a super dense point between his fingertips. Once the point reached critical density he expelled the breath and shattered the sphere. A very specialized wave of energy pulsed out; the Clan equivalent of an SOS. Responses came back immediately. Zech latched on to a familiar one dismissing the others. He wasn't the closest but he had the means of contacting others. It gave two quick pulses; he was coming. The human sat and waited for him to arrive.

With a roar of fury Sal realized the danger and leapt out to assist Red Warrior. He saw the missiles shoot out towards the unsuspecting figure, saw him stagger and fall. The choppers were closing fast. One fired a missile at the grey semi. Sal snapped out his titanium reinforced tie straps and easily knocked the thing away but the pulse it sent out burned his senses and killed the electric engines on his wheels. Snarling the big rig struggled for a few seconds to ignite his engine finally bypassing all the electronics and doing it manually. He accelerated towards the still form praying it still lived.

Barely slowing he reached out with his tie straps and pulled the awkward form up on to his cab and bobtail. Making certain no extremities were dragging, Sal spun and headed back towards the highway. Once in physical contact with the voidwalker he could sense the strong and steady lifeforce and relaxed a little. Then he felt the warning.

Hitting his breaks and spinning his wheel he tried to avoid the unseen foe. Suddenly a thousand spikes were digging into his carbon reinforced skin. His wheels were caught up in tangling webs. He tightened his grip on the precious burden he carried and let out a subsonic roar. Sal had no idea how nightstalkers reacted to subsonics but it was his best weapon. He felt Red Warrior cringe on top of him but kept up the blast. The nets loosened and he hit the accelerator hard. With a ripping sensation the bonds parted and he shot forward.

He could sense the nightstalkers now. He didn't take the time to think about what that meant. The big rig only focused on getting as far away from them as possible. He spotted a road and headed for it. It was old and worn from disuse but it was flat enough for him to hit three digits and he accelerated away from the things following him. He didn't stop until a weak voice spoke up.

"Salcha Franklin? Where are we?" confusion dominated the voice that posed the question.

The semi gently set the voidwalker on the road and rolled back a bit to get a better look at him.

"I have no idea" he confessed.