Chapter Seven

The Resistance:

Somewhere across the Country, In A Small Town in Southern Massachusetts…

It was early morning on August 15, 2007 and about a week after Starscream and Barricade had discovered Alexis' secret. The town that this chapter takes place in is a mess, wreckage and debris everywhere. All is silent until…

"Mercedes! Move your big ass out of my way!" A voice, female, yelled to one of her companions across the rubble of what used to be a Dunkin' Doughnuts. This Dunkin' Doughnuts used to be part of a busy center of town. Now…It was abandoned. The whole town was.

"Shut up! Do you want to get caught!" This came from another girl. This voice sounded a bit younger. But…somehow, if you heard it, you'd get the strange feeling that this particular eleven-and-a-half year old had all ready matured far past her years.

"Sorry Cai. But Keyla started it." This was the third girl in this band, the one the first voice had yelled at only moments before. Cai sighed softly and glared at her two older companions; annoyed that they were still making so much noise.

"Whatever. C'mon. Let's get this over with so we can head back to the base." This would be Keyla; she had the softest voice of the three. Mercedes nodded in agreement, and began to scramble up the heap of junk quicker then before.

"Agreed." Cai was the closest to their target, and she reached the broken fridge faster then Mercedes or Keyla. In close second was her adopted sister –Mercedes- and directly behind her, stumbling clumsily, was Keyla Black.

Yes, you read that right. Keyla Black, the younger sister of one Ms. Alexis Black. She took after her mother, with dark brown hair and darker brown eyes. She was headstrong, and brave. She also was a hell of a good shot with a bow and arrow, and could fight well enough with swords. But she was highly emotional, and that was her downfall. Keyla liked to put on a brave act, pretending nothing was wrong. But…She cried herself to sleep every night, fearing for her sister. Fearing for herself. For her friends, some of which she'd never see again. She hid in her basement and waited till the 'Cons passed by. She wandered for hours in the remains of her hometown, looking for any survivors. That was right about the time a huge ass black Topkick roared up to her and spoke to her, telling her to get in. She listened, having no one else to trust.

Mercedes Chaya was the blond of the group. She looked like one of those American Dream Girls, that is, when she wasn't covered in dirt, grime and filth. She had amazing ice blue eyes that always seemed to hold a sweet, playful glimmer in them and an always-welcoming smile for anyone that crossed her path. Well, at least they used too, before the Decepticon attack. Now, all they held was a haunted glint, a flash of paranoia. Yes, the Dream girl watched her family die in front of her. Anything she'd ever cared about in her fifteen years of life had been torn away from her in an instant by a insane, laughing 'Con. Now, she was a shadow of her former, carefree self. She was paranoid, jumping at every little noise, at any shadow. The wrong tap could send her into a frenzy. A bright yellow Camaro had rescued her before she'd joined her family in oblivion, calming her when she panicked.

Cai Chaya, the youngest of the trio, and probably one of the strangest eleven-year-olds you'll ever meet. Ever since she can remember, she's been able to manipulate the elements. Little things, like a sudden breeze on a completely still summer day, a cloud appearing over the sun to cool them, lighting a small candle in the dead of night. Sounds great right? Not really. You see, she has no control of these 'powers'. They come and go as they please and usually only appear when she looses her temper. Her cat-like green eyes are the most remarkable features on her porcelain face. Her shoulder length black hair is always in her face, leaving her to constantly push it back. Mercedes family adopted Cai when she was ten, not able to remember her life before joining the Chaya family. She'd met up with Mercedes and Keyla after she'd been rescued by a neon yellow Hummer.

So after all the girls had been rescued by their respective Transformer, they'd been taken back to the temporary headquarters in an abandoned hospital to receive treatment for any of the injuries they had. And it was during this time that they slowly realized whom each girl was, having feared the worse had happened to others. Mercedes and Cai had been separated in the madness and each had thought the other was dead, while Keyla had no idea that either had even survived the attack, but still excited when she saw her two best friends were alive and relatively well. After the trio passed inspection, they were taken to the control room. Not that it was much of a control room, just a few rag-tag computers, dim, sparking lights and four huge robots. Mercedes had panicked for a full minute before Cai or Keyla could get through to her, her mind projecting the image of the insane monster that had destroyed her life. When they finally got the girl to shut up, Optimus explained what had happened, beginning to end. From the start of the war and what had caused it (The Allspark for those of you who haven't watched the movie), to the battle of Mission City, to the present day predicament they were currently involved in.

Optimus also told the girls about Alexis, Sam and Mikaela and how they had gone missing during the last huge battle that had taken place, causing the girls to begin talking all at once, concerned for their friend. Ironhide had to shoot off a few rounds to get them quiet enough to listen to Optimus once more. But Optimus had no more to tell them, and allowed Rachet to take over. The medic had smiled gently at them, and explained that they had no reason to fear for the trio of humans that had gone missing, for a transmission had been received a few weeks back. Accompanying this message was also a tracking beacon, which flashed bright red every few seconds on the biggest monitor that displayed a grid of Earth. The strangest part of this was that a small portable music device, also known as an iPod had sent this message. With this in mind, the girls were given a place among the Autobots, with Bumblebee as their guardian. For the last month since joining with the Bots, they'd all been working hard to decode the message, and with any luck, find a way to rescue their friends.

Cai had just finished prying the door off the fridge when suddenly the sound of squealing tires and the roar of a motor reached the girls' ears. Mercedes let out a loud scream of terror and dove behind Keyla, who looked back at the girl sympathetically. Cai was the only one who actually kept a cool head, and turned towards the battered street. Racing to where they stood, was a bright yellow Camaro, who slammed on the brakes upon reaching the group. Mercedes slowly peeked over Keyla's head nervously as the car transformed into his bipedal mode.

"Oh, its just you Bee…" She laughed nervously, finally coming out from behind her friend. But she let out another shriek when he suddenly started blasting 'U Can't Touch This' from his speakers and started moonwalking, which looked very awkward in the ruins of the town. But, as awkward as the moonwalking alien was, Keyla grinned at Cai, who grinned in return. This meant the Autobots had figured out how to save the others, or at the very least, crack the code on the message. As the trio began to work their way down –or in Keyla's case, stumbled- Bee's chest plates popped open and a tiny bot flew out, eliciting another yelp from poor Mercedes. The other two ignored their freaked out friend and waved to the small spy-bot.

"Oh…Scrapheap, its just you! You should know better then to scare me like that…" Mercedes fidgeted, grasping at her heart area. Though she'd been living in the base for month now, she still hadn't quite gotten used to her new found, ten story high, metal friends. And she probably never would, but such is life.

"Who else would it be?" The bot called back, a small smile lighting up his faceplate. "Now hurry! We have news!" The girls glanced at each other, their smiles returning briefly and lighting up their dirty faces. A moment later, they hopped into the already-transformed Bumblebee and were flying down the ruined streets. While Bee screamed down the street, the three humans sat impatiently as they waited for Scrapheap to fill them in on the details. The small bot hovered in the air for a moment, before planting his aft on the dashboard in front of them. "So, obviously, we've deciphered the coded messaged that Ms. Alexis sent us a few weeks ago. It turns out it was specifically coded so only we Autobots could receive it. I haven't heard it yet, so don't ask me what it says." Keyla sighed. She was hoping for something a bit more then just that. She wanted to know that her sister was okay, even if she wasn't biologically related to her. Scrapheap noticed her sad look and smiled kindly at her. "Hey, cheer up! You'll know what it said in ten minutes, and thirty six seconds." He chirped in his high pitched voice. Keyla forced a smile at him and nodded.

"You're probably right…" She murmured. "But I can't shake the feeling that something…well…bad…is going to happen." Cai turned to her friend and touched her comfortingly on the shoulder.

"It'll be alright Kiwi." Cai had a habit of giving people strange nicknames. But Keyla smiled at her anyway. It seemed to be one of the few things that kept her from completely having a mental breakdown, as weird as the names were. The rest of the ride was silent and tense, the only sound that broke the silence was Bumblebee's music that pulsed softly in the background. Nine minutes and twenty-nine seconds later the group of humans and Autobots alike arrived at the hospital they'd been calling home for the last month, give or take a few weeks. It wasn't two seconds after they screeched into the parking lot that the trio flew from the Camaro like a bullet from a gun. Their sneakers pounded against the cracked tiled floor as they flew down the hall. After many twists and bends in the hallway, they arrived in the control room, followed closely by Scrapheap and Bug. Inside this room was the three other Autobots, all with mixed expressions on their faceplates. But Keyla cut straight to the chase.

"We heard you decoded the message Optimus!" She shouted, her eyes sparkling. His worried face disappeared at the girls' hopefulness and he smiled at her.

"Yes we have little one. But first… I'd like to introduce our newest human friend. Andrew, would you like to come out now please?" A boy stepped out from behind Optimus. He had shaggy light brown hair, medium gray eyes and a quirky smirk directed at the girls.

"Yo." He smiled at the girls, causing Mercedes and Keylas' eyes to light up and they tackled 'Andrew' in a hug. When they released him, Cai walked over to the boy a tad more casually, and punched his arm, hard. "Ow" He moaned, rubbing the now sore spot gingerly.

"That was for scaring us." Cai hissed and punched him again.

"What was that for?" He asked, rubbing the spot again in double the pain. She shrugged.

"I felt like it." Andrew sighed and ceased rubbing his arm. The Autobots looked to one another for an answer but shrugged.

"I take it you know these girls, Andrew?" The said boy nodded in answer to Ironhide's question.

"Alexis and Keyla here were my neighbors. I've know these girls practically my whole life." He shrugged, as if that explained everything. Optimus nodded, and with a soft sigh at Keyla's expectant expression, asked,

"Are you all ready to hear what Alexis had to say?" The girls nodded, and Andrew looked around confused.

"Wait…? Where is Alexis?" He asked, glancing around for the sixteen and a half girl who punched him harder then Cai.

"Missing." Mercedes answered, her eyes guarded, her body tensed. She hated meeting with all these robots. It made her mind go crazy, because all she could see was that monster who'd taken the life of her family. Optimus nodded gratefully at her, happy that for once he didn't have to explain what happened. Andrew screwed his face up and waited. Optimus turned to Rachet and nodded. The latter bot readied the playback, and Prime turned back to the children.

"This isn't a pretty message. I just thought that I'd warn you now." He told them just as the medic bot hit the replay button.

Sent: July 14, 2007

Received: July 15, 2007

Decoded: August 15, 2007

Message Playback in Progress… -

I suppose if your listening to this message right now, you're an Autobot. If you're not, and your one of the pain in the asses I've been dealing with for the past months, I will find and kill you. But enough about that crap, I have other things to tell you. We're all okay…well…I am at least. The other humans aren't as 'fortunate' as I am. Sam was nabbed in Mission City by one Bumbling Barricade, Mikaela by a sick whirly bird that loves to abuse her. He calls himself Cyclonus. And Captain Lennox and Epps got stuck with the only triple changer Blitzbutt… I mean, Blitzwing… I don't know how much longer we can hold out. Oh yeah, I'm Starscream's little 'pet' now. Thrilling, right? The only upside to that at the moment is that I can get supplies for everyone. But in all actuality, I have no idea how long that will last. The supplies I brought for them last time were found and destroyed and I have no clue whether or not Screecher is bright enough to piece it together… Suddenly a loud scream interrupts the message NO! Not again! Hang on Mikaela!

-…Message Completed…-

The humans all looked at each other, horrified at Alexis' fate. As for the Autobots –Bee and Scrapheap– who hadn't heard the message, they too were freaked at the cruelty the humans had been subjected too.

"Off all the dirty rotten things…Those poor kids!" Bee's vocal processors were still out of commission, so that left him to continue talking out of a radio. But Rachet had more pressing concerns that needed to be addressed then mindless venting.

"What I fear is that Ms. Black might be sacrificing her own needs to make ends meet for the other humans. This is worrisome. Though it is good that she's getting supplies to the others to keep them from meeting untimely demises, is she herself getting the proper nutrients?" Rachet had brought up a good point, and it made everyone pause for a moment. The medical Autobot leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. Cai was the first to speak.

"When was this message received?" She asked, her mind blank, having not noticed the date flash across the screen. Andrew snickered under his breath and Cai spun to face him, her eyes flashing dangerously. "What's so funny Vett?" She spat, cracking her knuckles. Andrew seemed to shrink before everyone's eyes, practically shaking in his black Vans.

"I-I…" He stammered, practically about to piss his-self.

"You, you, what? What are you going to say Andrew? You better tell me, and you better make it good." Andrew squeaked and backed away from the eleven-year-old. Optimus sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Well, what passed as a nose anyway.

"Cai, please stop attempting to murder Andrew. He just got here. To answer your question, it was recovered a day or so before you three joined us." Cai pouted for a minute, but turned away from Andrew all the same. The boy heaved a sigh of relief, and shot a thumbs up at Optimus.

"Thanks! She really might have killed me…" Cai glared at him again and he shuddered. Ironhide continued Optimus's explanation.

"We've been working on decoding it since we caught the signal." The kids nodded, and Mercedes opened her mouth.

"So…t-this is recent?" She stammered, fidgeting once more. Bee nodded at her, not bothering to answer aloud. Optimus turned his optics back on once more, remembering something.

"Ah, Ironhide. Didn't you have something for the humans?" He asked, turning to his weapon specialist.

"Mmhm…" Hide grunted, and bent down. Mercedes felt something rise up in her and she fought the urge to run as the large black Autobot stooped down to face the group. He held his hand open, palm up. Resting inside it was four objects, and Ironhide handed one of these objects to each of the humans. To Andrew, a HK-21E machine gun, to Mercedes, a double action revolver, to Cai, a long wooden stave with multi-colored runes carved into the side, and finally, to Keyla, two long kantana's that could combine into one. While the girls where impressed with the gifts, Andrew's face fell.

"What the hell is this crap supposed to do against the Decepticons!" He shouted, surprising Ironhide. The Autobot's optics flickered for a moment and he glared at the boy.

"This 'crap' as you call it has been upgraded greatly from what you call weapons on this planet. Those guns, those kantana's can injure a Transformer now when they could barely even scratch us before. As an added bonus, all of those weapons will only react and work according to your own unique DNA." He scoffed proudly. Andrew held his hands up in surrender and Ironhide smirked proudly. While this exchange was occurring, Mercedes was looking over her revolver.

"Well, I suppose that's comforting." She whispered, a tad comforted by the idea of carrying her own firearm to protect herself. Rachet finished doing his own silent scan of the weapons and turned to Hide.

"Well, you certainly outdid yourself this time. There is a lot of Cybertronian tech in those weapons. It makes me wonder where it all came from…" Ironhide straightened, and threw a mock punch at his friend, scowling. Optimus turned Bumblebee, deciding to have him take the humans out of here.

"Why don't you take the humans outside and have them practice with their weapons. That way, if anything should happen to them, they'll be prepared." Bee nodded and saluted his leader, motioning for the kids to follow him. Ironhide stopped them before they could reach the door.

"One more quick thing. Those guns will never run out of ammo. That kantana and staff won't break, at least, not very easily. Cai, that staff will help you better channel those…abilities of yours. I believe that is all. You can go now." He turned back to Rachet and readied himself. Both Bots hadn't spared in forever and was raring for a good go-about. The kids looked up at Bee and he shrugged, and the group headed for the outside world. Optimus shook his head tiredly, allowing his metallic shoulders to fall into a more relaxed position. He hadn't had a very good recharge the night before and it was effecting him now. But that wasn't the only thing that bothered him. Deep down in his spark, something had begun to churn dangerously. That something had kept him alive on more then one occasion. That thing was called intuition. And he'd learned to always trust what his spark told him. And right now, it was practically screaming at him that Decepticons were nearby. And that's why he wanted the humans to be prepared, should anything happen. That's why he casually mentioned to Ironhide that the humans could use something to help them fight. A loud bang on the tiles brought him back to reality. Really, it wasn't much of a surprise who'd one the sparring match.

"Ha! Pinned you!" Rachet crowed, laughing at the pinned mech underneath him.

"You cheated!" Ironhide hissed, glowering at the laughing medic on top of him. He then proceeded to flip the slightly smaller mech over and pinned him, his cannon forming out of his right hand. That's when Optimus decided it was time to end this sparring match.

"Enough. Ironhide, stand down and get off of Rachet. Rachet, stop acting like a sparkling. We need to keep our medic in one piece." He ordered. They both did as asked, but Ironhide decided to be a sore loser and kept shooting laser looks at Rachet, who merely ignored them. Optimus knew that it was going to be a long day with these two.

((A/N: I was tired of waiting to get my files back, so I just figured 'What the hell. I've kept them in suspense long enough.' I had a great time writing this chapter and the next one should be out soon enough. Until then, I hope you enjoyed this one.))