A/N: Thanks for the reviews, ol' friends, ol' buddies, ol' pals! :D
To Ardent Asper: Thanks! I try my best with matching how Optimus would speak with Peter Cullen's voice, and i'm glad you think so!
Thanks for everyone else's reviews too! You know who you are. Btw, to differentiate Optimus and Arcee's counterparts, the evil ones shall be dubbed Nemesis Prime and RC respectively.
Optimus= Good, Nemesis= Bad
Arcee= Good, RC= Bad
Chapter 5
Peace Through Extermination
Megatron walked into the command hub of the ship. This is where most of the action occurs, from planning and statistics to implementation and combat coordination. Chatter could be heard among the throng of both officers and Eradicons. Soundwave, who was typing furiously on the computer, turned his visored head to regard his leader.
"Yo, Megatron, we got some gnarly info here. Looks suspect," Soundwave commented, standing to side to allow Megatron a better view of the incoming transmission. He widened his optics as a result.
"Optimus Prime?" Megatron asked aloud unbelieving. Him? Asking for assistance? This had to be some badly thought out trap. But there it was, Optimus' signal marker. The only strange factor was the designation code looked reversed.
"This makes no logical sense," Megatron muttered under his breath. There was nothing the decepticons had that would possibly benefit Optimus, minus their sparks of course. This couldn't get any more strange. And it was impossible for him to have deencrypted their coordinates. It was a genius signal masking of Soundwave's design that reroutes the signal to the indiviual initiating the search. In effect, one would unlock coordinates to their own position. Nonetheless, no harm in answering the signal, Soundwave could always just alter their signal if the need arises. Megatron nodded his head, giving the go signal for the spymaster.
"This is Megatron, what is it?" the former Gladiator demanded after the call was patched in. A crackle of static and Optimus' voice followed.
"Megatron. What I must tell you is of grave importance. But you would not believe the information if we are not face to face. Me and my partner are need of an extraction."
A rescue mission? Scratch that, it could get more strange.
"And why, pray tell, should I play along with this," Megatron retorted.
"I am currently in the Autobot base. These are the coordinates. And, by the way, Megatron, we are prisoners here."
True to his word, data began streaming across the monitor, detailing the exact location of the Ark's crashed hull.
"Righteous," Soundwave uttered in awe at the information they just recieved. Righteous indeed, Megatron reflected. With the location of the Ark now known, this evened the odds for the Decepticons. Although an aerial strike would be the most obvious choice, the only problem was that the Ark was still shielded from turbolasers.
"Knockout," Megatron said into his comm.
"What can I do for you, Megatron?" Knckout's refined voice responded dutifully.
"We have a situation. There are two...prisoners being held within the Autobot base, which a reliable source has sent us the coordinates to."
Moments later, Knockout and Breakdown emerged from the opposite hallway. Knock Out, the light, cyan colored Aston Martin Vantage carbot, held an air of chivalry. He sported scratches and scars on his chassis from past battles. He relished the thrill of a fight, something that Megatron could admire in another cybertronian. Breakdown to his right, with a navy green chassis and orange-ish faceplate. While Knockout had the customary blue optics of a decepticon, Breakdown's opaque optics were a bluish green. Noticing Megatron, he smiled at the thought of another mission.
"Just open that SpaceBridge and we'll be ready to finish this extraction in a giffy," he commented smugly.
"Yeah, hopefully, I can lay some smackdown on Bulkhead next time we meet," the Stunticon added, punching his open palm for added effect.
"That's the right spirit. Contact the bridge if you require back-up," Megatron replied with a chuckle. He nodded towards Soundwave who keyed in the new coordinates they recieved. Eagerly, Knockout and Breakdown rushed through the portal and then it closed once they passed through.
Arcee continued to struggle against the cuffs, but she was making no progress, much to her chagrin. Optimus was closely observing the strange autobots, as if storing away information for later use. She didn't know how Optimus did it. How he could remain calm in this frankly, unbelievable situation? She might as well chill out, she figured. Hopefully the 'Cons would get here in time.
'Can't believe i'm hoping the 'Cons come to resue us,' Arcee thought, just a bit appalled at the thought.
"Ratchet, open a GroundBridge."
Arcee snapped her head to Optimus, but he hadn't said anything. In fact, he seemed to be looking at the intercom system that Ratchet was standing next to. Oh scrap. Out of all the 'Bots here, Optimus would have to be the nastiest. It was obvious now that the Autobots were the bad guys here. She wasn't particularly keen on meeting this one.
"Frag, this is just like when we thought you went nuts on Agent Fowler," Arcee said to Optimus quietly. He exhaled in a gesture reminescent of an amused snort.
"It is refreshing to know that you still have a sense of humor," he half-joked in a retort. Seconds later, a GroundBridge swirled open, and Arcee was starting to feel sick of seeing the things.
Three figures emerged from the swirling mass. One of them was obviously Bulkhead, she could spot the green lug anywhere. Except this one wasn't green. His paintjob was a dark blue, with red optics, and Arcee thought she would never see an even slightly intimidting Bulkhead in her life. But one she didn't recognize was the black and yellow colored scout. While he did sport yellow, his primary color scheme was black. And his helmet sported slightly elongated horns.
"So these are the imposters," Optimus, -no, Optimus' evil twin, Arcee corrected-said. He was just as imposing as Optimus, only the famous red of his frame was replaced with malevolent dark violet, and the blues on the shins and iconic helm were a matte black, along with the audio receptors. And of course, burning red optics.
"Tell me, where do you hail from," he said almost conversationally, as he neared Optimus.
"A different reality," Optimus replied cryptically. The 'other' Optimus seemed to consider the notion, even so far as to place a hand to his chin, as if in deep thought. He didn't seem much different from Optimus, Arcee figured.
"Where are you going to put them?" the mysterious black and yellow mech asked from the side. He had remained oddly silent until now.
"Bumblebee?" Arcee asked instantly, the moment she heard his voice. His head snapped in her direction, as if surprised that she knew that.
"You two are too dangerous to be left alive. Did you scan them for tracking devices?" 'Nemesis' Prime asked, tilting his head questioningly in Ratchet's direction. The medic nodded once.
"Yes, they are completely clean. Do you have any further use for them before I begin?" Ratchet inquired. He had turned around to face the dreaded Autobot commander with his arms crossed.
"Prime, I don't think letting them live any longer is a good id-"
"Arcee, I will ask your opinion when I require it," the dark Leader cut in harshly. He then turned to Ratchet.
"Do with them what you will, after you test the Dark Energon on them. Then you may...upgrade them, as you wish," he replied darkly. He glanced once more at the table strapped Optimus and Arcee before vacating the room. It didn't escape Arcee's notice that her counterpart was glaring daggers at 'Nemesis' Prime's retreating back, complete with a curled lip.
"Why do you follow him?"
"What?" RC responded, turning to face the blue femme.
"I can tell that you hate him. Why bother following him?" she asked her. Scrap, she thought. This was possibly the weirdest conversation she's ever had.
"Tch. Like I'd follow Megatron? I collect trophies for a living," RC said nonchalantly, with a hint of pride. Arcee made a face before cutting off the conversation there. I'd hate to think what Airachnid is like here.
::Hey, you two there?::
Optimus looked up upon hearing the comm. No one else seemed to react to it, so he knew it was on a private channel. It was Knock Out.
::I am here. We are inside the main hub where the medbay is located. You must hurry. I doubt we will survive much longer in the situation we are in:: Optimus urged through the internal comm, noticing Ratchet preparing to open a locked case that was holding in a purplish glow.
Well trying to get through to any of the bots was out of the question. She turned her head to see Bulkhead just standing there, stock still at attention. That looked strange. He didn't look anything like the jokester Wrecker that she knew.
::We're inside. We'll be there in about 15 seconds.::
Optimus had his doubts that 15 seconds was enough time.
"It's time for your upgrades," Ratchet droned. There was an almost mischievious glint in his eye, and Arcee found that very disturbing. It was worse than when Ratchet was juiced up on Synth-En.
"Ratchet, I'm warning you!" she said harshly, not deterring the mad medic in the least.
"Don't worry, I'm an emergency vehicle..."
And that's when it happened. Everything was a blur as a blue Aston Martin veering around the corner transformed into robot mode and slashed Arcee's cuffs. She instantly jumped into action and noticed that the blue car was Knockout. His paintjob wasn't what surprised her at all. The fact that there were scratches on his chassis that he seemed to not even care were there is what did. Shaking the thought from her mind, she began to race toward Optimus' position, until she saw Breakdown hammer the cuffs open.
Knockout not caring if his paintjob got scratched? Arcee couldn't believe it. What next, A totally Zen Megatron?
"Once we get on the ship or whatever base you 'Cons have, I'm going into recharge," Arcee said tiredly. All of the other Autobots trained their weapons on the Decepticons and the Autobots from another world.