Power Source: Chap 6: Bridging
Katfreak: Yo guys! Happy New Year and as a gift here is the next chapter of Power Source! Hopefully I shall be better with this story this year. Hopefully finishing it as well, depending on my spare time and my coursework/exams. I don't own TFA but I do own an OC mentioned! Thanx guys!
Ruins and destruction, that was all that was left of the place and that was depressing, mused Jazz; but what made it worse was Sentinel wouldn't shut up.
The White ninja desperately looked around to ignore the ranting of the pompous Prime.
"Why the frag did we have to go do this pitiful duty?" ranted Sentinel loudly, making the twins flinch beside him, "We are supposed to be the best of the best dealing with the security of Cybertron; and what are we doing? Relief work for low-ranked and washed up Autobots!"
Jazz felt a processor ache rising and a stab of pity for some of the survivors who were close enough to hear Sentinel's outburst.
A young bot with scrapped paint frowned unhappily at Sentinel, while a bigger and grizzlier bot growled and put his good arm around the younger bot as they walked past with a pair of medics wheeling another heavily damaged youngling to the ship.
Jazz looked after them sadly, before scratching his neck plate.
"What do you think, Jazz?" growled Sentinel, making him jump.
"Urm-!"
He looked over at the expectant and impatient Prime, whose optics narrowed slightly in Jazz' direction.
"Sentinel Prime, excuse me!" called a distant voice of another lower ranked Prime, distracting him, "We need your help over here before we finish getting everything aboard!"
Sentinel growled, glared at Jazz before stomping off with the twins in wake. Jazz shook his head, walking away and watching the scene as it unfolded.
"Are you ok?" chirped a half-excited voice, with slight feedback.
Jazz turned around, Blurr appearing behind him with a crooked smile.
The spy had been found half crushed into a cube in a broken incinerator, something Cliffjumper recognised to have used. He had been reconstructed, but still possessed some glitch troubles that they were desperately trying to repair.
Jazz sighed, "It's nothing, Blurr. I just feel a bit on edge here..."
He trailed off and went silent as a pair of Autobots carried a deceased shell passed them.
"ARE you a BIT twitchy here too?" asked Blurr, following Jazz's gaze.
"I guess..." sighed Jazz, "There' so much death here. I know it happens all the time as we're at war but still...this is too much..."
Blurr bounced lightly on his heels, but his face remained dead-panned. "It happens."
"Yeah I know...But to know that a decepticon warship did this much damage...its unreal..." Jazz stopped short, "I'm worried. Especially about the guys."
Blurr snorted, "PROWL!"
Jazz frowned, poking Blurr, who chirped in irritation. "Not just Prowl..." admitted Jazz, "But I am worried something bad is gonna happen soon..."
"You're just too TWITCHY!"
"Aren't you? I just hope we are gonna go soon; this place is awful," grunted Jazz.
"WE ARE NEARLY finished! We were just getting the last few bits onboard-!"
They were both cut off as the commlink chimed. They both answered. "Jazz here." "HELLLLO!"
"This be Jetfire; Sentinel Prime says we be going back now! We has fulfilled our mission!"
"Ok, we're on the way back" said Jazz, nodding to Blurr, who dashed ahead.
Jazz sighed, grateful as he started back himself.
I hope we get back soon...
"So you're saying that this data pad is very important for the decepticon ship Tartarus?" asked Ultra Magnus, seated beside Alpha Trion, staring at the scientists nearby.
Optimus stared grimly at Perceptor and Wheeljack from beside his team, uneasily watching the scientists examine the data pad. Prowl twitched next to him, quite uneasy.
It had been several cycles since the Elites rescued Optimus and his team from the fire at the warehouse in Northern sector of the shuttle docks, and even after it had been put out, nothing of Splash-Down and his team or Lockdown had been found in the ruins.
Prowl, after he had awakened and repaired, seemed quite tense about any mention of the bounty hunter. Just as the others seemed nervous at the mention of the decepticon team they fought.
Optimus nodded, "As far as we know."
"Ultra Magnus" said Perceptor, making everybody stare expectantly, "we have successfully broken through the encryption codes of this data pad; not much of an encryption either..."
"Perceptor, the info?" prodded Wheeljack gently, urging him to get to the point.
Perceptor rolled his optics, but carried on, servos gliding over the control panel as he brought up a schematic image of the ship.
"From what we understand from the schematics included in the data pad, Tartarus is not a complete warship just at this point."
"Not a complete ship?" echoed Ratchet incredulously, sharing a shocked looks with the others.
"But the ship is still pretty powerful enough to destroy," pointed out Alpha Trion.
"As that poor base found out!" Bulkhead chirped.
Ultra Magnus coughed, "Please continue, Perceptor."
Perceptor nodded, "The base is being converted into a warship from one that is more scientifically based. The base is powered by this particular section of the ship, which appears to be the most worked on system. By naturalising this section we can successfully disable the whole ship."
"That is good news," nodded Ultra Magnus, though his tone was dark.
"The ship, due to its recent renovations, has several weaker sections or unprotected ways in. But these are only apparent if you know where they are; as we do here."
"But what about Sari?" interrupted Bumblebee crossly, "Where is she being held?"
Optimus rolled his optic, tiredly swatting the scout.
Perceptor sighed, "The location of the technorganic is not listed here, but I can see several places that would be very likely to be the holding areas."
"Then that means we could save Sari?" asked Bulkhead. He frowned in confusion at the silence as everybody looked over at Ultra Magnus, whose face was set quite darkly.
"Ultra...?" implored Alpha Trion.
"You don't look very convinced, Sir," stated Optimus.
"This seems all too convenient...all this information yet we have little to go by on our mysterious benefactor...it could be a trap..."
"But, Ultra Magnus, Sir!" interrupted Prowl, "Lockdown would not give us a dud information, and I highly doubt he would trick us like this; he seemed too focused to have done that!"
"And what if this isn't a trap?" asked Bumblebee, "We could use this opportunity to rescue Sari from the 'Cons!"
"And we could use this information to strike a serious blow against the Decepticons..." noted Optimus.
Ultra Magnus' faceplate twisted darkly for a moment, "I am well aware of all that..."
The Magnus fell silent, making the air slightly tense.
"Ultra Magnus..." said Optimus, "Sir, do you think...?"
Alpha Trion stared at the young prime for a moment before turning to the Magnus, "It might be possible..."
Ultra Magnus turned to Perceptor, "Perceptor, would it be possible to plan a large scale attack against Tartarus?"
Perceptor and Wheeljack stared briefly for a moment before turning their analytical stares at the ship schematics, considering all the facts.
Sharing a nod, Perceptor nodded, "It's possible, sir."
A loud sound of a commlink chirped at Ultra Magnus, who answered with a frown. "Yes...I see...Send them in..."
The door opened with a loud swish as Sentinel entered the room, followed closely by Jazz, Blurr and the twins.
Jazz stared in concern over at his mate and his team.
Blurr giggled and whooshed over to Bumblebee with a grin, poking the scout several time before whooshing back with a grim expression.
"Welcome back, Sentinel Prime."
"Sir, we have all the salvageable material and information from Sigma-4," sniffed the Prime pompously.
"And the survivors," finished Jazz, earning a sour look from Sentinel, who then turned a glare on Optimus.
"Good..." nodded the Magnus.
"Sir, what has been going on since we left?" asked the blue Prime haughtily.
"With your return, Sentinel, we are considering a full scale attack on the Decepticon warship Tartarus."
"WHAT?" gasped Sentinel in horror.
Optimus and the others discreetly shared a snicker with Wheeljack, before looking over at the other elites, who looked surprised but considering.
"BUT SIR-!"
"Sentinel Prime," interrupted Ultra Magnus, rising to his feet, "This may be the only opportunity we have to destroy Tartarus, score a decisive victory against the Decepticons and to rescue the technorganic who helped our forces on Earth."
Sentinel spluttered at being brushed off, with the Magnus continuing over him, "The council may be against this plan, but I will allow full mobilisation for a full-scale attack."
"You shall have my support, Ultra," nodded Alpha Trion.
"Mine as well," nodded Perceptor, "This must be done."
Ultra Magnus nodded, "Thank you." He turned back to the two teams, "We must begin the preparation for the attack, so hurry and prepare yourselves. The attack will occur in a cycle. Dismissed."
The Magnus swept out of the room, closely followed by Alpha Trion, Perceptor and a horrified Sentinel.
Optimus and the others stared at each other for a moment, before sharing a strange look with the remaining Elites.
"Oh my..."
Half a cycle later, Optimus sat alone in the window of a corridor, watching over the busy activities as a below him prepared for a war. He gave a tired sigh, shaking his head.
"You alright, Prime?" asked Ratchet's voice as the medic appeared. He was closely followed by Bumblebee and Bulkhead, both looking at their leader in concern.
"I'm alright," assured Optimus, with a weak smile.
Seeing that nobody believed him, he sighed again, "I'm just surprised things have turned out like this...and I'm amazed about the data pad..."
"We all are," pointed out Bulkhead, with a comforting smile.
"But I'm also quite confused...a decepticon had to have supplied Lockdown with that data pad and all its info. But why...? We're the enemy, so why...?"
"Maybe," commented Prowl softly, making his presence known a bit further up the corridor and making the others jump, "This bot doesn't like what the 'cons have done...maybe they are trying to help us rescue her as a form of redemption...?"
"Redemption?" snorted Bumblebee, "I don't think any of the 'cons think what they're doing is wrong. What need to they have for redemption?"
Prowl sighed, looking away. Optimus sighed and Ratchet grunted, poking the scout.
Bumblebee pouted sourly, before looking distantly out the next window to Optimus. "I wonder if Sari is ok..."
She panted as she zoomed away, desperate to escape her persuaders.
What the frag is going on here? Why is this happening? Why are they chasing me? Don't they want to help me?
These confused thoughts echoed across Sari's mind, while she wheeled around a corner in an almost automatic manner.
Why would they-?
Sari wheeled around, skidding to a halt beside a statue in the park and panting harshly, heat and steam coming off her armour as she over-heated.
Sari knew that this couldn't keep happening otherwise she would...
Sari jerked before throwing herself to the side as the statue glowed pink and was ripped up and thrown in her direction.
Quickly throwing her energy orbs, she took off again, just in time to avoid the statue fragments raining down on her. As she dashed to get away, she skidded and ducked as a cleanly sliced tree was sent flying with the force of a bulldozer.
It crashed some way ahead, so she bolted over it and ran.
She twitched violently as her chest and spark began to throb painfully. Slag! Not again!
A high pitched whistling sound soon began creeping closer; Sari yelped in shock as she narrowly avoided a thrown weapon.
She reeled lightly as she struggled to regain her balance before a bright light consumed her vision and a painful blast hit her chassis. She shrieked painfully as she hit the floor and bounced a few times before stopping.
Wincing, she forced herself to sit up and looked as her pursuers gathered around her.
"W-why...?" whimpered the frightened technorganic as she stared up at frosty blue optics...
The air was charged with electric tension as the bots contained within the small ship aboard Steelhaven waited anxiously for their mission to begin.
Optimus sat edgy within his seat, while Prowl and Ratchet sat stone faced in their chairs.
Bulkhead and Bumblebee more openly nervous, with Bumblebee lightly twitching and faintly drumming his fingers on the control pad.
Bulkhead kept his servos to himself, tapping his fingers together. The large bot gulped loudly, looking up and around before looking away again.
He coughed, "Boss-bot?"
"Yes, Bulkhead?"
"Can we go over the plan again?"
Bumblebee nodded absently, slightly nervous.
Both Ninja and Medic turned to Optimus, dead-panned, before the young prime spoke.
"Bulkhead, the plan is that a fairly large Autobot fleet will attack the Decepticon warship Tartarus," Bulkhead nodded, "But that will be a ruse. Our ship will infiltrate Tartarus while their defences are busy."
"And?" implored Bumblebee.
"Once we board the ship, we will separate and each have one of 5 possible areas where Sari could be held, so we have limited time to find her. Also, we must destroy the power source for the ship and hopefully destroy the ship itself."
A silence greeted the end of his explanation, to which the Prime frowned.
"...Thanks Boss-bot..." nodded Bulkhead.
"It's ok..."
"We will be able to do this," assured Prowl, face set with conviction.
"He's right, kids. We'll be fine," stated Ratchet, voice surprisingly calm.
A loud comm. Echoed across the ship, making them all jump, before Optimus answered. "Optimus Prime?"
"Speaking."
"This is Captain Sparkzone of the ship Beta-3. Just checking in with you guys as your security escort; we'll be making sure you get to the enemy ship in one piece."
"Thank you..." sighed the young Prime, voice sounding uncertain, "But..."
"Don't worry, Prime," stated Sparkzone cheerfully, "We'll both get out this ok, alright?"
"I'll hold you to that, Captain."
The Femme laughed good-naturedly over the comm. "Get ready for immanent launch and Good luck to all of you."
"Thanks..."
"Thanks Femme."
"Be careful Captain..."
The link flicked off, as the Autobots stared ahead as the holds doors began to open.
"Attention all Autobots, you are about to launch. Good luck cats," chimed Jazz across the air waves.
Prowl's expression flickered briefly before becoming calm again.
"Get ready for launch, Autotbots," nodded Optimus, gripping the controls. The others sat back.
"Whatever happens, everyone, we will get Sari back and bring her home." The others nodded and settled back into their chairs.
"Of course, Boss-bot," nodded Bumblebee with a sudden burst of confidence.
The ship jerked hard as it launched out into the darkness of space, the crew tense as they flew away from Steelhaven and close to the waiting nearby Beta-3.
Optimus noted the many other ships dotted nearby, gulping lightly. Everything was riding on the success of this mission...
Optimus was distracted for a moment, absently asking, "Is everybody ready?"
"..."
"...? Everyone?"
"Um...boss-bot?"
"Yes, Bulkhead?"
"Have you seen the Tartarus yet?"
Optimus looked ahead more fully, optics suddenly going very wide as Ratchet swore nearby and Prowl's intake hitched.
Bumblebee gulped nervously, "Ugh...Boss-bot? That's one fraggin' big ship they got there-!"
Katfreak: WHHOOOO! Done! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Now its starting to heat up the story isn't it? Let me know what you guys think! I'll see ya soon! Thanx guys!