Disclaimer: I do not own any Transformers characters or Devices from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha! I only own my OCs!

Chapter 7: As Long As We Believe

I sat up slowly on my rear and rubbed my head carefully after that sudden crash. I surveyed the surrounding and saw sand and cliffs in the landscape. An explosion in the distance got my attention. I looked up to see Bumblebee in his bipedal mode fly through the air and crash several meter from me.

I heard a scream nearby and saw Sam suffer in pain for an unknown reason. I ran over to him and saw he had sprained his hand by the crash. I helped him sit up and got some fresh bandage from Raising Heart to wrap Sam's injured hand.

"Here we go. Don't do any harsh moves or it will be just worse", I told him.

"Okay…", Sam's voice shook a little in pain.

"Sam!" Mikaela shouted in the distance.

"Over here!" Said boy screamed back as loud as he could. We stood up and ran over to Mikaela and Leo who ran towards the cliff where Jetfire and Simmons were.

"Are you okay?" I asked them.

"Yeah!" Mikaela nodded.

"Hey, I think we're in Vegas!" Leo said.

We climbed up the cliff and reached Jetfire and a pissed Simmons. "That really, really hurt. You're just lucky that I didn't get hurt! People could have gotten killed, okay? And if I would have gotten hurt, you would have heard-"

"Shut up!" Jetfire spat. "I told you I was opening a space bridge. It's the fastest way to travel to Egypt."

"Egypt?!" Leo exclaimed.

"You didn't warn us!" I scolded the old Cybertronian. "And if we needed to teleport to another place, you could have told us and I would've use the Dimensional Transfer spell that is much gentler." I pointed at Sam. "Sam got hurt by your rough teleport!"

"And why are we even in Egypt?" Sam asked with an irritated voice.

"Don't you get snippy with me, fleshling! You were duly informed!" Jetfire replied before he sat down.

Sam groaned, "Can you just stop for a second? Can you focus? Can you tell us why we're in Egypt so we can all have a little bit of semblance of peace of mind?"

"This planet was visited by our race once before, by our earliest ancestors, millennia ago. They were on an exploratory mission to harvest Energon, the lifeblood of our race. Without it, we'll all perish, oxidize and rust, like my wretched self! Do you have any idea what it's like to slowly fall apart and offline?" Jetfire went into his own world with his own thoughts and simply forgot he had to tell us more about the Cybertronians' ancestors.

Simmons interrupted the Seeker. "Let's not get episodic, okay, old-timer? Beginning, middle, end. Facts. Details. Condense. Plot. Tell it."

"Somewhere buried in this desert, our ancestors built a great machine. It harvests Energon by destroying suns."

"Destroy suns?" my eyes widened.

"You mean blow them up?" Leo asked, motioning with his hands a mini explosion.

Jetfire continued, "Yes. You see, in the beginning, there were seven Primes; our original leaders. And they set out into the universe, seeking distant suns to harvest. The Primes set out with one rule; never destroy a planet with life, until one of them tried to defy this rule."

"And it was the Fallen?" I asked with my arms crossed.

"Correct. His designation forevermore was the Fallen." Jetfire raised his servo and shot out a light to display a movie-like projection and showed the Decepticon I saw before with his red optics filled with hatred. "He despised the human race and he wanted to kill you all by turning on that machine. The only way to activate it is with a legendary key called the Matrix of Leadership." The projection showed a strange metal object, weaved like an intricate web of metal. "A great battle took place over possession of the Matrix. The Fallen was stronger than his brothers, so they had no choice but to steal and hide it from him. In the ultimate sacrifice, they gave their lives to seal the Matrix away in a tomb made of their very own frames; a tomb we cannot find."

*So the Primes sacrificed themselves to hide the Matrix from their crazy brother?* I thought. *Too bad I can't tell anyone yet I've made contact with their souls.*

Jetfire's voice pulled me back to reality. "Somewhere, buried in this desert, that deadly machine remains. The Fallen knows where it is and if he finds the tomb of the Primes, your world will be no more."

"Okay, so how do we stop him?" Mikaela finally spoke after being quiet for a while.

"Only a Prime can defeat the Fallen", Jetfire sighed as he looked up at the sky.

"Optimus Prime?" I said out loudly. When Jetfire heard me, he crouched down and his face alighted with glee.

"So, you've met a Prime? Why, you must have met a great descendant. Is he alive, here on this planet?" he asked eagerly.

I slowly looked down on my feet with sad eyes when I remembered once again the scene of Optimus's death. Sam hugged my shoulders with his left arm.

"He sacrificed himself to save us", he answered for me.

"So, he's dead…", Jetfire's excited smile fell from his lips plates. "Without a Prime, it's impossible. No one else could stop the Fallen."

Something started to tick in my head when I thought about an idea. "Wait a moment!" Everyone turned towards me. "So, the same energy that's going to be used to reactivate the machine… Could that energy somehow be used to reactivate Optimus and bring him back to life?"

"It was never designed for that purpose, but it's an energy like no other", Jetfire answered.

"So, then how do you get us to the Matrix before the Decepticons get to us?" Sam added.

"Follow your mind, your map, your symbols", Jetfire tapped his metal helm with his clawed digit. "What you carved in the sand, it's your clue. When dawn alights the Dagger's Tip, Three Kings will reveal the doorway! Find the doorway! Go now! Go!" Jetfire shoved us away to go to the three Autobots who were waiting for us in their Alt modes under the cliff. "That was my mission. It's your mission now. Go before the Decepticons find me and find you."

We went over to Bumblebee with Wheelie and got inside him before he and the twins drove away. Sam and Simmons sat in the front seat while Mikaela, Leo and I sat in the back seats. I sat in the middle with Leo on my left side, Mikaela on my right side and Wheelie on my lap.

XXXXXXXXXX

I watched through the window the beautiful desert and saw a few wild camels running on the path the Autobots were droving on. Simmons talked with someone on his cell phone before he turned his attention to us and turned off the communicator.

"Okay, here's what my CIA contact says", he began. "Ancient Sumerians used to call the Gulf of Aqaba the 'Dagger's Tip'."

Sam nodded, "That's the Dagger's Tip."

"It's part of the Red Sea. It divides Egypt and Jordan like the tip of a blade", Simmons pulled out a GPS and typed numbers in. "29.5 degrees north, 35 east. Here it is." He showed the location of the Dagger's Tip to me and Sam.

"Okay, first thing we've got to do is get Optimus to the Dagger's Tip", Sam said.

"How're you gonna get him halfway around the world?" Leo asked.

"I'm going to make a call", I said with a light smirk.

"But can't you use your teleport power to make it all easier?" Leo asked.

I shook my head. "No, I can't. I need to save my energy for the worst and we all have to act discreetly since we are wanted criminals."

Suddenly we heard sirens when we almost reached a fork in the road. "We got cops!" Sam alerted us. Bumblebee swerved to the left before suddenly swerving right, throwing the police cars off course and allowing us to safely go down the right road. But the police cars followed us deeper into a town.

"I can't go to prison, guys", Leo panicked.

Bumblebee sped up and made his way through the narrow streets and barely dodged fruit stalls. Suddenly he turned sharply and pulled to a halt, signaling us to climb out. He and the twins transformed and hoisted themselves onto a wall, out of view of the police while the rest of us took refuge in a nearby building. Mikaela and I snatched some black cloths off a washing line and wrapped them around our faces. We saw the police cars pass the building we were hiding in before I let out a sigh of relief.

"Man, stupid cops!" Skids laughed as Bumblebee held him up by his pede.

"Dis is wa's called blendin' in like a ninja", Mudflap added.

"Shut up or I'll blend mah fist in yer face", Skids snapped back.

"They're gone", Mikaela informed the guys as we removed the cloths.

We gathered into a small group to quickly discuss our next step. "We're running out of time", I said. "I need to make the call to William-"

"You and your cousin are on the Worldwide Wanted List. Try calling one base, they'll track you here in seconds. CIA is all over this place!" Simmons waved his hands around wildly.

"That's why you are going to make the call", I said straight.

Simmons's face dropped when I said that and looked at me with a "you-gotta-be-kidding-me" expression. I shrugged my shoulders to say "isn't-it-obvious?".

"Okay. That's a good idea", Simmons gave in after a few seconds of silence.

"All right", Sam nodded.

"I mean, I just had my mind on other things, like winding up in an Egyptian prison", Simmons rambled on with excuses as he walked away with the rest of us behind him. Bumblebee and the twins transformed back to their Alt modes and hid for just in case if the police came back.

Luckily, we found a phone box that took American coins. I pushed in the correct numbers and gave the telephone receiver to Simmons. He waited for a few seconds before someone answered and Simmons asked for William. "Lennox, I'm with the kid. The kid. You know; the one with attitude, and his cousin with voodoo magic, right?" I gave him a glare when I heard that. Sam had sent Leo to watch if the police came back. Mikaela stood there among us while watching the scenery of this town.

Simmons continued, "We need the truck. The truck. We got a possible resurrection going on over here. You're not gonna believe where we are. Code Tut, as in King Tutankhamen. Back of a $1 bill. Coordinates for airdrop; 29.5 north, 34.88 east. Write it down. Write it." Suddenly we saw a figure in a long beige tunica with black cloth wrapped around its face came running towards us. "Oh, my God. I got to go. Okay. Heat comes."

"Wait, who are you?" Sam asked as he put his hand out to stop the person. Simmons slammed the phone down only to knock the whole thing off the wall.

"Leo, you didn't have to use that cloth or worn-out tunica", I groaned.

Leo pulled off the black cloth. "Cops are coming right now. We need to go!"

"All right, hurry to the Autobots", I told the group as we ran back to the trio.

"Move, move, move, move!" Simmons said heatedly.

XXXXXXXXXX

Bumblebee and the twins drove once again to a new destination. I felt a bit sleepy and tried to keep myself awake by trying to figure out the riddle.

"Let's go over the riddle again, guys", I said.

"Good idea", Sam nodded.

"When the dawn alights the Dagger's Tip, the Three Kings will reveal the doorway", Simmons, Sam and I said in perfect unison.

"Spooky", Mikaela commented by our perfect synchronization.

"That's what he said. You know what it means?" Simmons asked Sam, ignoring the young woman's comment.

"No, what does it mean?" Sam asked back.

"I have no idea", Simmons replied.

Sam looked over his shoulder. "Do you know, Stella? You used to be good with riddles."

I shook my head. "I don't know, but I'm trying to figure it out by the clues here in Egypt."

"What kind of clues?" Mikaela asked.

"I wonder if the riddle has something to do with the pyramids", I replied.

Very soon, we reached a fence accompanied by a checkpoint. Leo began to panic. "Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Checkpoint. Checkpoint. I don't have my passport."

"None of us have our passports", I groaned. "Besides, it's good for me and Sam since we're worldwide wanted."

"We're screwed. So screwed", Leo groaned.

I sent a telepathy message to the twins to activate their adult Holoforms and take out their false passports for just in case.

I noticed the guards had weapons and one of them shouted "passport" and then a string of Arabic. It was a small man who approached Bumblebee with a proud stride.

"They got cameras at the top", Sam whispered. I peeked out through the window and saw the camera Sam mentioned.

"All right, chill. This is espionage time. I can handle it. These are my people. I'm one-thirty-sixth Arab", Simmons muttered.

"That was unexpected", I whispered.

Wheelie muttered when he saw the small guard approach us. "Great, a fricking Munchkin. Little people are mean. Tell him he's tall", he said with a scared expression.

"Get back here and hide", I whispered at him and hid him under a blanket on my lap.

The small man approached Simmons's window as he said something in Arabic which Simmons answered. "The Dagger's Tip? Right? Egypt, Jordan. We wanna go there. Me and my family. This is my family. This is my son…" Simmons opened up his arm and Sam inserted his head on it. Simmons then gestured to me, Mikaela and Leo in the back. "…My other son, my daughter and their cousin. We're tourists, from New York."

"New York?" the man's face brightened.

"Yes. Yes", Simmons nodded.

"Fifty kilometers", the Egyptian man exclaimed as he pointed along the road ahead of us. The barriers were lifted and we were allowed through.

"You look like the guy that runs my falafel stand. Thank you very much", Simmons chuckled.

"New York!" the man exclaimed again as we left.

"I know. I know you from somewhere."

"Go, Yankees!"

I lightly chuckled as I removed the blanket and Wheelie gasped for air. "I thought I told you already…", his voice shook. "I'm claustrophobic."

"Sorry, Wheelie", I apologized.

XXXXXXXXXX

After several hours of just desert and cliffs in the landscape, we finally reached a city with tall and modern buildings. There were three pyramids not so far from the city, so once we got out of Bumblebee and I put on my straw hat on my head once again, we walked up a long path to one of the pyramids. It was fantastic that it was humans who built the giant buildings.

The Autobots followed us in their Alt modes for a while until it was safe for them to transform into their bipedal modes. We reached the top of the hill as I heard Skids talk to himself.

"Undercover, yo. Ya gotta blend in with yer surroundin'. Ya know, you gotta be part of th' landscape… OW!"

I looked over my shoulder in time to see Bumblebee jog into Skids, knocking the green Autobot to the ground.

"That was actually unnecessary, Bee", I scolded him.

"Sorry…", he muttered back.

Sam reached an old building nearby the closest pyramid and managed to open the doors. Simmons stopped to admire the pyramid. "Awesome! I think aliens built that", he mumbled and then nodded to himself.

We went into the building and smelt the rotten scent of old wood and thick dust tickled my nose. The place wasn't pleasant at all, but we had to stay here to rest and recover our strength.

Sam turned to the Autobots. "Guard us. Low profile. Don't make a scene, okay?"

"Got it!" the three Autobots saluted and transformed once again to their Alt modes to patrol the area.

"Yeah, someone of us got work to do!" Wheelie shouted. "Dumb Autobots."

XXXXXXXXXX

I managed to get few hours of sleep before I suddenly woke up in the early morning, but the sky was still dark with many stars and constellations decorating it. I grabbed the blanket I had wrapped around my body and snuck out to the cold air.

I rubbed my heavy eyelids beneath my glasses before I decided to take a small walk around the pyramids. I noticed the three Autobots at the other side of the building, still in their Alt modes, in recharge. I didn't want to wake them up, so I went to the other way.

I glanced up at the first pyramid and pondered about the riddle again. *When dawn alights the Dagger's Tip, Three Kings will reveal the doorway… Three… Three…*, I thought while rubbing my forehead. *I think the number 3 has an important purpose in this.*

Suddenly I felt a very strange aura that felt very familiar to a Cybertronian, but yet it was something else. I looked around with caution, but didn't find anything suspicious. *Something is here at the pyramids… But what?*

I looked up at the sky and saw the three stars of Orion's Belt. It reminded me of a conversation I had once with Optimus after we became a couple.

XXXXXXXXXX – FLASHBACK

I sat on Optimus's shoulder after some training with the Autobots and relaxed a little when something hit me.

"Optimus", I said.

"Yes, my dear?" he turned his helm towards me.

"I heard from Elita that you two had different names before…Megatron killed you", I looked down towards the ground and gripped Optimus's shoulder armor harder.

"Yes, that is correct", he sighed. "Our designations weren't always Optimus and Elita One. Alpha Trion rebuilt our new bodies and gave us new designations."

"What were your old designations then?" I asked.

"Elita One was known as Ariel and-"

"Ariel? Like the little mermaid from the Disney movie?" I interrupted him.

"Yes", Optimus chuckled. "And my designation was Orion Pax."

I arched an eyebrow. "Orion? Like the constellation Orion and Orion's Belt?"

"Exactly."

XXXXXXXXXX – END OF FLASHBACK

I used to read astronomy when I was a child, and I started with it once again when my life changed by the Cybertronians. I stared up at the Orion's Belt when I remembered something I had read about the constellation.

"Orion's Belt… Three kings… Three pyramids…", I mumbled to myself before snapping my fingers. "I got it!"

I ran back to the small building and found Sam and Mikaela nearby a small bonfire. They were already up and cuddled when I approached them. "Sam! Mikaela! Get up!"

"Whoa, whoa, what's the matter, cuz?" Sam arched an eyebrow.

"I think I solved the riddle! Now, hurry and get up!" I said and went upstairs to find Simmons and Leo. "Simmons! Leo! Wheelie! Wake up!" I shouted from the stairs before we reached them. The two men sat on a worn-out couch while Wheelie transformed into his bipedal mode and rubbed his tired optics.

"What's wrong, toots?" Wheelie groaned. "It's in the frickin' early morning."

"Sorry", I apologized before I turned to everyone. "Okay, how much do you guys know about astronomy?"

"Almost nada", Leo shook his head. "I was only in college for two days."

"I read the whole astronomy book under one class", Sam said. "Thank to the Cybertronian symbols."

"I solved the riddle by the stars and the pyramids", I said. "Hurry and get out so I can show you!"

I ran outside and saw how the sky was slowly turning to a bright color as the sun raised up at the horizon. I saw the three stars at the sky and pointed towards them when the others got outside.

"You see those three stars?" I asked the others. "You see how the last one touches the horizon? That's Orion's Belt, but it's also called the Three Kings. And the reason for that is the three Egyptian kings who built the pyramids of Giza built them to mirror those stars, so it's like an arrow staring us straight in the face."

"So the stars are like a map to the Matrix?" Mikaela asked.

"Exactly", I nodded.

"They all point due east, towards Jordan. The mountains of Petra", Simmons told us.

"It's time to move out!" I exclaimed with my commander voice.

XXXXXXXXXX

The desert was full of cliffs and sand as we kept moving with the Autobots towards our destination. I could feel a powerful force, almost as strong as the All Spark, as we got closer to the mountains of Petra.

After a few hours, I felt the force growing stronger and stronger. Sam and I walked first and the Autobots walked behind the rest of us.

"It's gotta be around here somewhere", I heard Simmons mutter who was looking on the GPS on his cell phone.

When I turned a corner, I held out my arm to stop the others and stared up with widened eyes. It was ancient ruins and tall pillars that were chopped out in the mountains. And the doorway to the building was massive. It fitted the three Autobots easily.

"Fantastic!" I exclaimed as we ran towards the ruins.

"You see the size of this? You see this?" Simmons asked in awe.

"Spectacular!" Skids exclaimed with his servos up in the air.

We humans helped each other to climb inside as the twins helped each other and Bumblebee helped Wheelie to climb up. It was still massive inside with beautiful painted walls, but very empty. "It's here somewhere, guys", Sam muttered before sitting down on a step to ponder.

Leo snorted, "Yeah, why? 'Cause we're trusting Grandpa Blackbird who doesn't know what planet he's on?"

"In his defense, this is the biggest doorway I've ever seen in my entire life", Simmons glanced up at the giant doorway.

I walked around in the room and tried to find a secret door, because I knew we were at the right place. I felt the aura from the Matrix somewhere deeper inside the cliff, but the Primes hid it very well.

I heard Leo laugh humorlessly. "Okay. Well, that's great. Let me do a quick search, all right?" After a few seconds, he spoke again. "Ehh… Nope. Ever crossed your mind, guys, that archaeologists have been here before? There's nothing here." I walked over to Sam and put my hand on the wall and felt the aura becoming stronger. Mikaela just sighed at the conflict between Simmons and Leo.

"Real life is heartbreak, despair, kid. Sometimes you get to the end of the rainbow and the leprechauns went and booby-trapped it!" Simmons yelled into Leo's face.

"I'm listening to you? You live with your mother!" Leo countered back.

"It's not over", Sam and I said it at the same time.

"It is over. It's done", Leo snarled.

"Why're we still listenin' to ya, little punk-aft?" Mudflap interrupted our argument. "Ah mean, whatcha ever done for us except ding mah rim?"

"Killed Megatron, how 'bout dat?" Skids defended.

"Well, dey didn't get th' job done, ya know what ah mean, amigo, 'cause he's back now…"

"You scared?"

"Scared? Scared of yer ugly face!" Mudflap shoved back his brother.

"I'm ugly? Well, we're twins, ya stupid genius!" Skids shoved back Mudflap and their infamous fight began once again. We had to dodge and dive ourselves to the ground as the twins fought. I pushed Sam away from the step when Skids threw Mudflap towards us.

"Stop it, both of you!" I shouted, but they didn't hear me. "Bumblebee, take care of them!"

"With pleasure!" Bumblebee growled and grabbed the twins by their neck cables and slammed their helms together. "If you want to fight, do it outside! You almost crushed our human friends!" And with those words, Bumblebee tossed them out of the door. I heard them crash and groan in pain. Wheelie laughed very hard, but received a light kick and a strict look from Mikaela.

Sam and I ran over to the wall and noticed a crack. We pulled a chunk of it off and saw some metal claws with the Cybertronian symbols. "Oh, my God. The symbols", Sam traced his fingers over it.

"This must be it", I said. "The tomb of the Primes."

Sam turned towards Bumblebee. "Bee! Shoot it." Bumblebee nodded as his arm turned into a cannon. We all retreated back to a safe distance as the yellow Autobot prepared his cannon and fired it directly at the metal claws.

I felt a rush of wind as the dust settled and we saw an entrance to an entire cavern hidden behind the wall. I pulled out some flashlights from Raising Heart and gave one to everyone before we entered the cave.

"Check this out", Simmons mumbled.

"Look at it", Sam commented.

"Wow…", Wheelie mumbled in awe.

I recognized the Primes' faces from my meeting with them. "These must be the frames of the Primes Jetfire told us about", I said as I gently ran my hand over the smooth metal of a dead Prime. It reminded me once again Optimus's death, but I pushed it aside.

*He will be back soon…*, I thought. *No need to be sad anymore.*

"The tomb of the Primes", Simmons chuckled. "Yo!" It echoed around us. "YOOOO!"

I followed the strong aura I felt and found the Matrix in one piece. "The Matrix…", I mumbled. Everyone gathered around the metal servo where the Matrix laid. Sam bent down and picked it up gently by each edge. I could feel the tension around me. Everyone stared at the Matrix and hoped the plan would work. But only a few seconds later, the Matrix fell apart and turned into dust.

"No. No", Sam stuttered as he touched the dust. I felt my heart getting heavy again. Our last chance to bring back Optimus had disappeared.

"Thousands of years, turned to dust", Simmons spoke softly, which was unusual for him.

"That's too bad", Wheelie shook his helm with a sad expression.

I felt my legs getting numb so I fell down on my knees. "This isn't how it's supposed to end", Sam mumbled sadly. I felt tears collecting in my eyes again. I tried to dry them off, but they still came. The tears fell down on the metal below me with small soft noises, but then I heard a loud noise from outside.

"Hear that?" Simmons said, turning his attention to the noise of some planes before running outside. "US Air Force! C-17s!"

"What's a C-17?" Leo questioned himself while following Simmons.

I could feel the other Autobots' presences, but I was too paralyzed. But then I heard a voice inside my head. It was the voice of the first Prime, the wisest one.

"Never give up until the very end. 'Til all are one."

I remembered what Optimus once said to me before. You had to fight until the very end, even if the situation was difficult. It was the same now. This was not the end yet. We had to keep fighting…and believe.

"You can't bring him back, Sam. There's nothing left", Mikaela told him.

Sam stood up a bit furiously. "Look! Look around you. We didn't just go through everything we went through for no reason at all, that it just had to end like this. There is a reason that we re here. The voices and the symbols in my and Stella's heads led us here for a purpose." He took off his shoe to pull off his sock and poured the dust into it. "Everyone's after us because of what we know."

"And…I know that this is going to work", I said with a new fire burning in my heart.

"How do you two know it's gonna work?" Mikaela asked us.

"Because I believe", Sam and I said simultaneously.

"Mikaela, there is something you need to learn about faith", I said to her. "Even in the most critical situation when you're about to give up, you must keep fighting and have faith in yourself. That's what I learned from the Autobots after being with them for two years in NEST."

The three of us ran out of the cave and saw Simmons and Leo on a cliff. "Sam! Stella!" Simmons screamed as he and Leo climbed down.

I looked up at the sky and saw two air planes and several black dots jumping out from them, both large and small. One of the dots was a giant lifeless body and I knew at once it was Optimus.

"You think you can bring him back to life with that pixie dust?" Simmons asked as we approached when he and Leo reached the ground.

"As long as we believe", I marched past them with Sam. "Move out!"