Sorry it took me so long to get back to this. I have up to like, a hundred pages of print and suddenly decided to post them all this weekend. It's been tough, senior year and all. So there will be lots of updates, very very soon.

If you think I own either StarTrek or Transformers, there's something wrong with you.

War Stories II

Epps frowned as he read the message on his padd. Kirk had just sent it, saying to get back up to the Enterprise with the Cybertronians as fast as possible. When he sent a message asking Kirk why, the response was a warning about the intentions of the Ziacon. Epps knew he had to contact the Enterprise and figure out what was going on before getting Will to leave.

Standing quickly, Epps nodded as every head turned to stare at him, "I'm terribly sorry, but there seems to be an emergency on the Enterprise that I need to deal with. I'll be right back."

Epps headed through the door, aware of Will's glare on his back. As soon as he reached the hallway he froze. Sam wasn't there. Where the hell was that girl?

Epps pulled out his comm., "Sam, where the hell are you? Will's going to kill you!"

Epps raised an eyebrow at the noise from the comm. Sam had to scream over the sound of metal being cut, "I'm on the ship! I had to rescue a princess so the Allspark would shut up!"

Epps just blinked, "What? Kid, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Vortex, Megatron's kid, isn't dead!" Sam yelled to him, "She's here with me, and she's totally fine. Well, besides being really dirty. And grumpy. Man, this is one angry kid."

Epps raised an eyebrow as a new voice began screaming across the com link. Whoever was with Sam was not very happy, and Epps could guess it was Sam's fault.

"Sam, what is going on up there?" Epps demanded.

There was a moment before Sam responded, "Look Epps, the you-know-what spoke to me today. It told me where to find Vortex, and when I found her I brought her back up here. Epps, I think the Ziacon will take them down to where she was held to get back at the Cybertroanins. And if she's not there…"

"Then we're in trouble," Epps muttered, eyes widening, "Kid, please tell me there's a plan."

A new voice cane across, cold and biting, "Tell them they are needed back on your ship. Say the Wing Commander is having another attack and needs to come into contact with his Bond-mate."

There was a moment of silence on both sides on the line before Epps responded, "And how do you know that will work?"

"I know my mother," came the cold voice, "That's basically a code saying to get out of there."

Epps frowned, "I'll tell them. Sam, get Mr. Scott ready to beam…"

"He's ready Epps."

"…Good. I'll get the other out of there, alright," Epps ordered, heading back towards the door to the meeting room, "Epps out."

And with that he shut off the comm. link and entered the room. All the eyes turned to him again, but Epps was trained for these types of situations. His eyes landed on Will, and he knew the moment he said the code for a full retreat to his captain, things would spiral downwards from there.

Epps nodded to Will, and said with all seriousness, "Sir, the engineers set the bridge on fire. You're needed back on the ship to put it out." Will, there's something dangerous and we need to get back to the ship.

Will nodded, recognizing the hidden meaning, "Has the Lieutenant been informed?" Sam knows, right?

"She already went back to the ship to deal with her engineers," Epps announced. Sam went back early. She's part of this.

"Understood. I'll speak to her," which basically meant I'm going to kill her. Will offered the gathered group a slight smile, "I'm terribly sorry about this. It seems like the moment I take Lieutenant Witwicky away, the engineering department goes insane."

The head priest of Ziacon inclined his head, and gave them a painfully artificial smile, "That is quite alright Captain. I hope we can continue the discussion at a later date."

Epps immediately jumped in before Will could respond, making sure to talk to the gathered Cybertronians, "Um…we got a message saying the Wing Commander is going crazy."

Epps could tell from the narrowing of their eyes that the Cybertronians got it. Now he would defiantly have to talk to Sam about whatever she had been doing while they were in the meeting.

Page break

Sam glared at the cage in front of her. Whatever the Ziacon used as a metal base, it just wouldn't cut. They'd tried fire, phaser, laser cutters, everything. Sam had even smashed on the bars with a sledge hammer a couple of times to open the stupid thing.

Through the entire thing, Vortex sat there looking smug in her gilded cage. She had been given a sandwich and some water which she smugly devoured while Sam kicked the stupid thing.

She was reminded of her past life, when the piece of crap car she'd bought to take Bumblebee's place wouldn't start and Dylan Gould had been approaching. Sam snarled, getting angry at the memory. Which was why she didn't hear Will enter the room, followed by two other people.

"Lieutenant Witwicky!" Will roared into the room, making the other engineers jump. He ignored the stiffening from the two who had followed him back, "What the hell happened back there!"

Sam didn't answer him at first. Instead she picked up the comm. unit resting next to her and threw it at the bulkhead where it shattered into pieces. Sam screamed in rage and picked up the sledge hammer and threw it at the bulkhead for good measure.

"What did they make this piece of shit out of anyways!" Sam screamed, glaring at the cage.

Will could help it. He knew Sam was only trying to do her job, but her ignoring him was making the situation worse.

"Lieutenant!" Will yelled.

"WHAT!" Sam screamed, turning and facing her captain. She froze when seeing the other two figures standing next to Will, "Um…hi there."

Both were tall. The one on the left had a kind face, tan and weather worn. A long scare crossed the bridge of his nose. He had short brown hair that was graying at the temples, and was dressed in a dark blue dress shirt with black slacks and shined shoes.

The other had all gray hair, but the face was of a man in his mid thirties. A leather jacket rested over a gray t-shirt, and jeans and combat boots complete the look. A long scar traveled down from his hair line over the left eye and ended at his chin. Shorter scars were on either side of his face. A scowl crossed his face.

But both had the most striking eyes. The brown hair one had electric blue eyes, and the silver haired one had shocking red eyes. Now that Sam thought about it, the red eyes were the same color of Vortex's.

Will coughed, and when Sam returned her attention to him, she flinched at the glare, "Lieutenant Witiwicky, the gentleman with me are Optimus Prime and Megatron."

Sam paled, eyes landing on Optimus. Maybe if she was really lucky he wouldn't recognize her. Yeah right, like she had that luck.

"Now, please explain what was so important you had to interrupt a peace conference Lieutenant," Will demanded.

Sam's nervous expression turned to annoyance, "The voice in my head told me where to find Vortex. I found her, brought her back here, and now she's stuck in this god damn cage that won't open!"

Sam snarled again and kicked the bars of the cage, before glaring at Vortex who was smiling smugly at her. "You're enjoying this aren't you?" Sam growled.

Vortex raised a perfect eyebrow, smiling smugly, "Seeing how frustrated you are fleshling, yes."

Sam pointed at her, trying to appear vaguely threatening, "I can send you back to the basement if you keep it up!"

And seeing how bored Vortex looked, Sam knew she didn't look threatening at all.

"Sam," she turned and stared at Will, noting the shocked looks on the faces of the other two with him, "Is that Vortex?"

Sam glared, putting her hands on her hips, "No, it's a Vulcan. Of course it's Vortex!"

Megatron took a step forward, the scowl gone and instead replaced with shock, "That's impossible, I found her…her body. And the Bond is gone…"

Vortex dropped her sandwich and ran over to the edge of the cage. She pressed herself into the bars, trying to get out of it. Megatron crossed over to her and they started to converse in quiet tones.

Sam grinned smugly at Will, "Worth disrupting a peace conference over Captain?"

Will just groaned before pulling in her in for a hug, "What am I going to do with you kid? I turn around, and you've gotten yourself covered in trouble."

Sam smirked, and pushed away enough to punch him in the shoulder, "You're getting soft on me old man. If you keep it up, people are going to start to think that you care."

Will shoved her away, causing Sam to fall back laughing wildly. Her attention quickly moved to Optimus who stepped forward.

The older male regarded the cage, and then his eyes fell to the sledge hammer Sam was still holding. Optimus let a small smile cross his face, "Tell me, girl, what were you planning on doing with that?"

Sam scowled darkly, "Trying to break open the stupid cage. It won't open, no matter what I do to it. I put acid on it, it didn't melt. I shot it, and ended up shooting…one of the engineers. Yeah. I lit it on fire and then it went out. I tried to melt it, then I tried to shoot it with the phaser, and then I hit it with a sledge hammer, and then I gave up and started kicking it. Then you two came in, and I kind of gave up on it for now. I'm rambling, I'll stop now."

Optimus regarded the young girl in front of him. She reminded him greatly of Samuel which could be credited to her being his descendant. Still, the way she carried herself, the rambling when nervous, the way she seemed so relaxed in his presence reminded him of the boy so much his spark hurt.

Will quickly took over, turning to regard the cage, "Is there a possibility it's a crystalline substance Sam? That could be resistant to many of the tests."

Sam shook her head. Her eyes landed on Vortex speaking softly to her father, and a bitter smile crossed her face, "No. The science team ruled out crystalline substances, along with anything organic. It's metallic in nature…"

Sam froze, eyes widening, "How the hell did I forget that?"

Spinning away, she ran out of the room. Ignoring the yells of the people behind her she raced through the halls of the Enterprise, searching for the one thing that could potentially break the cage. After sliding around a corner and nearly knocking over an ensign, Sam finally arrived at her location.

Pounding on the door in front of her, Sam yelled, "Jim open up! It's Sam!"

The door slid open to reveal Jim, who was starring at her in confusion but still allowed her inside, "Sammy, what's up? Is there something you need."

Sam quickly began digging through Jim's drawers, grumbling under her breath as she searched for something. Jim's eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"Sam." She ignored him, moving to his closet.

"SAM!" Jim yelled, grabbing her by the shoulders and forcing her to stop, "What is it your looking for?"

Sam's eyes were wide and frantic, "The kayu leputan! Where did you put it!"

Jim frowned, keeping her from running to search for it, "Why do you need it. Sam, answer me."

"It'll break the cage," Sam explained, grabbing Jim's shoulders in her excitement, "The explosive charge combined with the steel balls inside will break the stupid thing open!"

Jim froze, then a smile broke across his face. Letting go he climbed on his bed and pulled the kayu leputan out from the air vents, "This is why I love you Sam. Now let's get going."

Together they both turned and started the race back towards engineering. Jim had a definite lead on Sam as they tore through the halls, due to his long legs and his knowledge of his ship.

The moment they reached engineering, Sam pulled the kayu leputan out of Jim's hand.

Will started towards them, "Sam, what is that thing?"

Sam grinned widely, heading straight for the cage, "A kayu leputan."

Sam placed the stick between the bars of the cage, ignoring the glare from Megatron at approaching. Jim quickly explained the device to Optimus and Will, "The name translates to explosive stick, but we just call it a boomstick in Standard. It's a basic metal tube, and you fill half of it with gun powder, and the other half with ball bearings. The wire, yes, the one Sam's holding, ignites it. If you pull quickly it created a spark, causing an explosion. The explosion causes the ball bearings to fly out and destroy anything in their path."

Vortex's eyes widened and she moved as far away from the device as was possible in the cage. Megatron stepped forward, eyes flashing with rage, "You will not use that device anywhere near my Sparkling."

"It's totally safe," Sam told him, getting disbelieving looks from everyone but Jim.

"Captain Kirk just said it destroys everything in its path," Optimus said, giving the device a hard look, "This will no doubt harm Vortex."

"Not if she ducks," Jim said. Everyone's eyes turned to him while Sam rolled out the charge so she could activate the kayu leputan.

"The boomstick was created as a weapon used by children in a civil war," Jim explained. He noticed the horrified expressions at the thought of children fighting in wars, but continues anyways, "The charge is made to go over the head of a twelve year old, so if she crouched down…"

"She'll be safe," Sam finished, kneeling on the ground away from the boomstick. She fixed the others with a look, "If you don't get down, this thing will tear you to shreds."

Jim was already on the ground, lying on his stomach. Vortex copied him, looking very young and scared all of a sudden. Sam waited until Megatron and Optimus knelt down before focusing her eyes on the kayu leputan in front of her.

Will knelt down next to her, eyes searching. The moment they were all on the floor, Sam pulled the cord.

It all happened in about a second. The fuse was pulled out, causing a spark to form from where it rubbed against the casing. The spark ignited the gun powder, causing an explosion. The explosion caused a flash of blinding white light, and the force behind it sent the ball bearings hurtling through the air. They didn't shatter the objects in their way. No, the ball bearings tore the objects apart.

As the flash died down, the damage to the room was revealed. The cage, once pristine and painted, was managed beyond all reason. The bulkhead had ball bearings imbedded into it from the explosion. But there were no injuries.

Vortex was the first to scramble to her feet. She stepped over the remains of the cage, and ran into her father's arms. Megatron gathered the child to him, making strange clicking noises to her for comfort.

Jim turned and smiled at Sam, "Looks like it was good for something after all."

"Guess so," Sam muttered, climbing to her feet. Will stood next to her, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Optimus regained his footing and graced the Starfleet members with a grateful smile.

"Captains, Lieutenant," The three of them straightened up unconsciously at the commanding tone in Optimus's voice as he addressed them, "You have my thanks. You returned my brother's daughter to us when she seemed lost. I can not repay the debt I now owe you."

Sam traded a look with Will before her captain answered.

"It was no problem," Will responded, "I'm just glad the girl is alright."

Jim finally stepped forward, offering the three Cybertronians a wide smile, "Why don't you guys come with me? I'll get a couple of rooms set up so you guys can relax."

Megatron inclined his head, "That is…tolerable."

Jim started for the door, followed by the Cybertronians. As Vortex passed Sam, the girl offered a small awkward smile, "Thank you Lieutenant, for saving me."

Sam shrugged, "It's all good."

"Indeed," was the dry response Vortex gave as she left the room with her father and uncle. Will and Sam stood there in silence for a moment before Will spoke.

"Listen kid," Sam shut her eyes as Will addressed her, "I'm not going to ask how you knew about the weapon, or how you found the girl yet."

Will stared into her eyes, and Sam felt as if she were seventeen again, being told she was a soldier for the first time, "I will find out what happened Sam. I just hope you tell me before I have to order you to."

Sam looked away, her eyes drawn to the remains of the cage, "Will, I'll tell you soon. Just not right now."

Will finally smiled at that. He ruffled her hair as he headed out of the room, "That's all I ask for Sam."

Sam smiled after him, before turning back to survey the damage done to the room. Her pasts were meeting up with her, something she'd been trying to avoid for years. And there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Sam addressed the empty room where her worlds collided.

"I'm not going to let you win," she whispered to the room, "I'm stronger than this, and I will beat you. I'm no longer the messenger, I'm a soldier now."

And with that, Sam left the room.

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