Disclaimer: I don't own any of it. This is the only one and will follow through it all. Don't think I put on here yet.
A/N: Took a while but here it is! YAY under 10 days left for TF2, I'm so excited! A big thanks to P.A.W.07 for her help with this,. Also, BDQ has he hands full with everything going on for her and I hope all will be ok.
On another note... *snickers* I am sure you guys read or seen about that Programmable Matter? Sounds funky. Wonder how long it'll take them to release the first' Transformer' (Watch the conspiracy theories fly!). Who all thinks their already here? *giggles at the idea* Sorry, couldn't help myself.
Now. Onto the next chapter. Enjoy!
Things were going pretty well for the Autobots as they started their settling on planet Earth, their new home. Since they had arrived, they had been offered a place to call a sanctuary by the US Government. It was, in fact, an old place between Boulder City and Erie, Nevada. Seeing as it was large enough, still fenced off and warnings were posted that should anyone come near the place, they'd get their heads blown off, there really wasn't much else needed for security. Optimus and the others appreciated the rather large area that was given to them – they were hidden. And for added measure, Ironhide could set a scrambler up so no one on Earth or outside of Earth saw anything but what they had before, allowing the Autobots to live in peace while pacts and truces were made between the US Government and them, since it seemed they were going to be here a while.
Before the Autobots went there, however, it needed to be cleaned out. Ratchet had done scans about the area, making sure that it was safe for them as well. There were trace places of radioactivity. And with this news, he also knew he had a neutralizer for it, since this type of radioactivity did not harm them, he went there first to neutralize the possible deadly grounds so that the humans could walk and not be harmed. He had read files and seen movies where some of the strangest things happened to humans when they were around nuclear waste or radioactivity. Some of the stories were downright deplorable, but most of all he found out it was used to stave off cancer or caused death. The death part was omething the Autobots did not want.
It was soon after that the Autobots began building on the area, given whatever they needed for their work, but their building didn't go up, it went down into the ground. It was understood that when Wheeljack got there, he would need to do what he could for a computer system – but until that time, they relied on their own internal computers and whatever the government provided. The best part was the underground runway.
Sam had gone to Optimus and told him about the events with jets a few days earlier. Optimus watched the news feed and got a better look and sure enough, he recognized them. They were other aircraft – Cybertronian aircraft.
At their more temporary base up north, on the outside of Garnet, Secretary Keller had visited a couple of times to make sure everything was going alright and to see to the needs of their 'refugees'. He was alerted to the Decepticons that had shot down their fighter jets and had a search ready to find them, but for now, he had one thing he wanted to deal with as of now. That thing was the news on Barricade.
When Keller had been told about Barricade, and the fact that he was actually a she, he was surprised and even more so to find that she was the Decepticon that had attacked Sam. The information that was given was limited however, because they didn't have all the information they really needed. Obviously it was to protect the femme in hiding as well.
All of them were still wondering where Barricade and her Sparkling had taken off to, since they hadn't heard hide nor hair of her since the day she had taken off after ramming Bumblebee. And come to think of it, neither had they heard from Mikaela in like 2 days, which was bothering Sam. It could only be assumed that Barricade went back to Mikaela's garage to hide. None of the Autobots dared to go looking for her.
Today the talk of the base wasn't centered on Barricade or the events over Las Vegas, however. No, today something big was going to happen. Optimus' calls had finally been answered and a group of incoming Autobots were on their way. Optimus had told them where a safe place to make landfall was, since he didn't want them destroying more of the cities or let people suspect 'giant robots' more than they already did. Now, all the members couldn't help but stand outside of the base watching the skies for their incoming friends, looking something almost like excited stargazers. Now, the four of them with Sam, Will and Epps stood outside of the base watching the skies for their incoming friends. So far, they had heard that there were six of them coming. Apparently it was Prowl's group. Ironhide had to cringe when he heard the news. Because with Prowl came the twins of terror, since Prowl was basically their babysitters.
Any minute now.
And like clockwork, Ironhide spotted the first flaming streak in the sky as it plummeted through the atmosphere. And then another and another until the sky seemed full of them. It didn't take long for them to crash down. It didn't take long for the falling flames to crash down into the earth below in a rain of dirt and rock. By the time all was said and done, instead of 6 there were ten that came flying overhead. Three of them landed practically in a row, then. Ratchet immediately went to the first one, being he was the closest and it was first to hit. He didn't dare touch the pod, knowing well how hot it was still. He waited patiently, talking with it. Finally one last one made a touchdown, nearly colliding with the main hangar.
A few moments later, the pod began to unfold until there stood the Autobot Second in Command, Prowl. It didn't take long for the SiC to make his way to Optimus to greet him. Ratchet followed him and did a check on him to make sure all was well before he went on to the next ones that were now unfolding. The three that had hit the ground together had already begun their transformation into their Proto-form root modes. The CMO recognized them as Bluestreak, Hot Rod and Mirage. Ok, so 4 down, six more to go. He didn't need to be told twice as to whom the two were when a loud cheer came from them.
The twins unfolded, taking on their bi-pedal modes as well, "Yay, we made it in one piece!" Sideswipe called out as he hugged his brother.
"We were lucky, that's all." Sunstreaker pushed Sideswipe from him and began brushing himself off from all the grime and build up from incoming and the landing.
"Wheeljack, I'm glad you at least missed the building!" Ratchet exclaimed as he meandered to the Engineer.
"I'm really sorry, things got kind of hairy when I came in," he answered as he too unfolded.
"When don't things get hairy when you are in the picture? You are the mech that invented the word explosion." Sideswipe muttered as he too took in all of the land around them.
Further away, two more popped up as well, one being Cliffjumper, the other being none other than Jetfire. Soon, all of them were gathered in a small group talking amongst themselves and getting reacquainted. Optimus took this moment to tell them all about the World Wide Web and find alternate modes. Since they were on a military base of sorts, no residential vehicles were available, so they went to the nearest highway, ducking behind brambles and brush as they watched the oblivious traffic pass by.
Immediately, Prowl had found what suited him best. He changed into a Chevrolet Tahoe Police cruiser.
Jetfire was ordered to find something that fit him and he took off for the skies, headed to find something comparable.
The twins took on the form of a pair of Lamborghini Murciélago Roadsters that flew by, while Hot Rod took on a maroon Ferrari F430 that had apparently been racing them.
Cliffjumper chose a copper '09 Porsche Boxster. It was small and he was quick.
Hound had chosen a hunter green Nissan Xterra, brush bar included after seeing a bunch of the different SUVs. He was going to go with the Jeep Wrangler than had passed, but went with the Nissan more for looks. All of his holographic ability equipment fit hidden within the body very well.
Bluestreak took on the guise of a silver Corvette.
Mirage was in with traffic when he had picked something. He only managed this with his ability to completely disappear from human or optic vision. He was the only Cybertronian with the ability as well. He chose something easy. A newer Dodge Charger.
Wheeljack was still a bit confused as to which form to take, since there were so many to choose from. The Engineer still watched, until finally something did catch his eye. It was a silver Chevrolet Silverado, but it had yellow rollers on the roof, which meant it had to be used for something. When he read the side of it, he saw Hazardous Materials.
"Ha, how about a Space Shuttle?" A voice came over the Autobot officer spread-link.
Optimus tilted his head in question before he replied, "Jetfire, do you see Space Shuttles or read about them going over the planet very often?"
"Ah, nope,"
"There has to be something that will fit you and is more common than that,"
"Well I definitely won't be taking the form of a commercial aircraft, Optimus. There is the B-1 or the SR-71, those will fit,"
"The B-1 was decommissioned. The SR-71 isn't used and is supposed to be a top secret jet. If you choose the SR-71, be sure to stick to the base or a post in the Stratosphere. Since the Decepticons are back, you will need to patrol the air for them."
"Got it,"
After all of them chose their new modes, they headed back to the base and stood with their leader. Optimus had already been transformed and was standing in wait to explain current events.
Addressing them as a leader should, he started with the basics, "First of all, welcome to your new home, Earth. I highly recommend you download any pertinent information about driving and humanity before you leave the base." There was a round of nods from them all as they listened.
Cliffjumper asked as he looked around, it dawning on him that they were short a soldier, "Is it just me or are we missing someone?"
At this, both Optimus and Ratchet frowned, "Can we talk about that later?"
Prowl tilted his head, "Why later?" he too began looking for their missing comrade.
"It's sensitive, Prowl,"
"Something happened to Jazz, didn't it?" Cliffjumper asked. Everyone turned to look at him, "…what?"
"Yes. I'm sorry to say but Jazz was killed in the fight for the Allspark here on Earth."
"What?!" A round of gasps started an argument, "He was one of the best you had, how the in the Matrix could he possibly have been killed?"
"He distracted Megatron himself to divert him from the Allspark while Sam ran with it," Ratchet supplied.
"Sam?"
"Yes, Sam," Bumblebee pointed to the human on his hand, "the one to have taken out Megatron,"
There was another round of gasps. Sunstreaker meandered to the human scrutinized him closely, "You can't possibly tell me that this tiny human killed Megapunk,"
"He did," Ironhide said, "He used the Allspark and put it to his Spark, overloading his systems,"
"Yeah, kinda figured it would do the same thing to Optimus since he said he would sacrifice himself." Sam piped up from the shoulder he was sitting on. Optics went to him and he felt like he wanted to shrink.
Prowl nodded to the boy, "The Allspark? What happened to it?"
"The only thing left is a small shard after the rest of it went into Megatron's Spark, which isn't powerful enough to do anything anymore."
"So we are going to die out?" Sideswipe asked, getting elbowed.
"Nice way to put it there, aft," Sunstreaker snorted.
"Actually, that leads me to my next subject. Barricade. You are all to leave the Decepticon Barricade alone. Under no circumstance is that 'Con to be bothered."
At this, Prowl froze stiff. Air hitched in his vents, "Did you say Barricade?" he asked warily.
"Yes, that Decepticon is here, a few others that we can only speculate as to who that attacked a squadron of fighter jets are here as well, but we do not know where they are."
"I heard Barricade was killed on Cybertron." Prowl commented offhandedly, hiding his nervousness about the fact that Barricade was here.
"Well apparently not," Optimus sighed, "and this is to remain so."
"But why? If he's a Decepticon, then we should surely catch him and bring him in if we see him," Sunstreaker noted, confused as to why Optimus would give such an order.
"That is because recent events have made it so bringing her in would be devastating to not only her, but to us as well."
There was a round of gasps as they heard the emphasis on the 'her', "But Prime, Barricade isn't a femme!" Sideswipe blurted, having faced the Decepticon before.
"Oh, but she is." Ratchet confirmed, "Do not bother her."
"If you see her, turn and head away from her, am I understood?" Optimus asked.
"Barricade is… a femme?" Wheeljack asked, "How in the Matrix did she manage that?" then as if a light bulb went off near his face aside from the normal small flickering indicators, "You mean there's actually a femme still alive?"
"So there's still hope for us after all! With a femme around, we can save our species!" Cliffjumper bounced. His bouncing stopped at the next statement.
"She already has a Sparkling, which means she has already reproduced. She may even have a Spark-Mate. Sad to say, but I do not know for sure." Ratchet warned.
"She what?" Prowl felt something leap in his chest, but he wasn't sure if it was his Spark or if something broke. Barricade was indeed alive! She had managed to not get targeted in the massacre. Although he was still not happy with her being a Decepticon, she was still alive. And she had a Sparkling? Sparkling and Barricade just did not go together as far as he knew. That femme was mean! Certainly not Sparkling rearing material. He really wanted to know who the idiot was that managed to spark her.
"We don't know much about her," Ratchet continued to explain, "She is a Decepticon femme, which were rare to begin with, but they did not reproduce. So I have no knowledge of what she may do, which makes not only her extremely dangerous, but unpredictable."
"I vote for 'leave her alone'," Bumblebee huffed, his pride still damaged, "She already left a huge dent in me running away,"
"You mean she didn't outright kill you?" Prowl asked, turning curiously to the scout.
"No. She ran." Bumblebee nodded, setting Sam down on the ground.
"Well isn't that weird of a Decepticon,"
"Not a femme with a Sparkling." Optimus corrected, "That Sparkling is her priority now. She will probably hide first and ask questions later. We don't know what will happen if she feels that either her or the Sparkling is threatened."
"Plus she seems to have made a friend as well." Sam pointed out from beside Bumblebee, while everyone turned to stare at him, "Yeah… haven't you seen her with Mikaela?" he pointed with a hand toward Ironhide or Bee.
"Decepticon and friend just doesn't compute, Samuel." Wheeljack stated, "Are you sure we are still talking about the same Barricade? One of – if not – the fastest hunters for Megatron?"
"Same one," Ratchet agreed.
"Well that's really weird." Sunstreaker folded his arms after hearing the news. "Since when did Barricade have friends?"
"I guess she does consider Mikaela a friend." Sam reasoned, "She didn't run her over when the girl was right in front of her. She actually told her to move before she hit 'Bee," Sam said gently, letting the information soak in.
"Who's Mikaela?" Hound asked, curious of the people and who to watch for.
"My girlfriend," Sam announced.
"Anyway, back to the Sparkling. Do you know who the mech creator is, Prime?" Prowl then asked.
"No, we don't. But we can possibly hypothesize it down to the Decepticons who were on Earth at the time."
"There is no certainty of how long they were here before we got here." Ironhide noted.
"Who would she have reproduced with, though? Megatron would have had her killed if he even knew she was a femme let alone sparking her, so it couldn't have been him."
"Besides, he was too busy with getting the Allspark,"
"Perhaps the two kept the idea in secret. It's not uncommon for Decepticons to sneak behind Megatron's back. And the one in command was Starscream when they got here. He can be as ruthless as Megatron himself so it couldn't possibly have been him either. He probably would have followed Megatron's path and destroyed her." Ironhide reasoned. It was the only logical explanation.
"I really doubt it would be Bonecrusher either. Or Blackout for that matter," Optimus commented.
"Maybe it was Frenzy." Sam sniggered.
"That's sick." Sunstreaker grimaced down at the teen. Perhaps the boy had no idea what he had just said.
"Who would have thought that a femme was still around," Jetfire smirked at the notion that a Decepticon femme was now their only hope. He shook his head; they were still as good as extinct.
"Don't even think about it, any of you younglings," Prowl suddenly growled as he noticed a collection of smirks forming on some of the younger mech's lips.
"Think what?" Cliffjumper retorted, "That there is a femme and our species is dwindling and she is our hope? Am I the only one seeing reality here?"
"Just leave her alone," Prowl warned a bit too quickly, his fists growing tight at his sides.
"Hey Prowl, is there something going on between you two that we don't know about, hmm?" Sunstreaker elbowed the SiC playfully. "Maybe you're the baby's daddy."
Prowl watched the elbow and then his gaze went back to Sunstreaker's optics, he ignored the baby comment, "She is a Decepticon, yes. She is also a femme. And on top of that, she has a Sparkling to guard against an entire world. So you go right on ahead, Sunstreaker, go find her. I will be waiting in the med bay for you when she is done tearing you apart, which she will undoubtedly do."
"Oh, Primus, Prowl, listen to you! She isn't any more dangerous to us than she was on Cybertron."
"You don't know a slagging thing about her or femmes," Prowl shook his head as he looked around.
Meanwhile, at the Decepticon base…
Well, let's just say they weren't called Decepticons for nothing, even between each other.
Whispering and mumbling was going on in a corridor not far from the group of mechs in the area they deemed the 'Wreck Room'. It was spacious enough for all of them to be sitting in there and there just happened to be plenty of witnesses today since they were taking a break on building the place.
The two talking between each other were sure to be far enough away not to be heard while they conspired – Especially Soundwave, he had the extreme ability to foul things up with just his hearing.
Soon there was a clap on the back as the one chose his target. Just afterwards, the mech charged into the rec room full tilt, took a running leap at the unsuspecting Seeker, who didn't even see it coming. He grabbed that Seeker's wing and used his momentum to jump, using his weight to continue pulling the Seeker with him as he rounded his back in a mid air vault, not letting go as he felt the Seeker's body beginning to turn and tilt in an awkward way. There was a loud cackle and everyone who saw it coming winced, knowing what was going to happen.
The Seeker, screeching in surprise, had no chance to react as he felt his body twisting backwards and sideways, he felt his feet go out from under him and that was all it took. There was no control as the mech let go of him and he went down on his belly with a rather loud crash.
Everyone just stared. The mech who had done it to him slid to a stop past him, standing triumphantly, "Skills bitches, do you has them?"
Said seeker, who happened to be none other than Starscream himself, shuttered his optics a few times as it registered that he was now on the ground. He growled furiously and glared up at the mech who had brought him down, "Just what… in the Pit… was that for?!"
"Told you they weren't any good on their feet," The conspirer glanced to the other with a shrug. He then glanced to everyone else who was now gawking at Starscream and him, before bowing, "I like to call that little number 'Seeker Tipping'."
The mech turned to the one who had been in on the plan, never answering Starscream, only casually walking past him. He gave a low hand slap to the other with a triumphant smirk, "Now pay up,"
Runabout snickered at his twin, "Hey, I offered to pay you to prove it. I never said I would actually pay you to do it to him. You think I am stupid or something?"
Runamuck heard Starscream get up, and turned to see his talons and claws scraping on the floor for traction as the Seeker headed full throttle for him, "You little shit, your aft is mine! Get back here!"
"This isn't over," Runamuck pointed at his twin before he looked back to see a pissed Starscream hot on his tail, "You'll all wait for my next trick!" he yelled as he began running for his life, knowing damned well he was in deep shit for that dirty prank.
Runabout stood there and began laughing his aft off while the rest of the 'Cons stood around and gaped, wondering what had just happened.
"A Bunch of Sparklings, I swear," Thrust muttered as he threw up his hands.
"I'm surrounded by them," Soundwave replied before going back to his duties, a deep smirk set behind his facemask.
*snickers* ...Seeker Tipping... *giggles* Poor 'Screamer.
And it looks like things just might get interesting for our sweet femme.
