Rating: T for some violence and Cybertronian swearing
Warnings for this chapter: Nothing in particular.
Summary: Megatron is building a space bridge.
Pairing(s): None
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Echo.
A/N: Guess who decided to update again! :D I may not be able to get online again for about a week after tomorrow, so I'm trying to get my stories updated quickly. Enjoy and review please!
Also, a story recommendation: Desert Sunrise by Lynn Jones! It's got a really interesting premise and it's well written! Plus it has my movieverse OC Riella in it! So check it out, please!
Chapter 11: Final Frontier
Echo sighed, fiddling with a wrench. "How long is this going to take?"
"Don't know," Ratchet replied absently, still leaning over the console. "Shouldn't be too much longer though. Decode's almost finished."
"Huh." Echo subspaced the wrench and returned to the minor console adjustments that weren't really necessary. "Sooner the better."
The computer beeped sharply, and Ratchet stared at the screen in shock. "It can't be."
"What?" Echo dropped the welder and ran over to look, as her father turned to yell into the main room. "Optimus!"
"Dad, what is this?" The femme studied the specs closely. "It doesn't look like anything I've ever seen."
"These are engineering specs for a space-time vortex generator." Ratchet shook his head.
Optimus growled softly. "Megatron's building a space bridge. If he hasn't already."
"Well, let him!" Bulkhead stepped out of the groundbridge, followed closely by Bumblebee. "The sooner he leaves, the better."
Echo sighed. "Bulkhead, think about it. This is not a good thing!" At his puzzled look, she clarified irritably. "A space bridge runs in two directions."
Optimus nodded. "Megatron may not be using it to leave Earth, but to bring through his conquering army."
"The 'main event' Megatron referred to?" Ratchet shook his head. "But the only place Megatron could possibly recruit that many fallen warriors…"
Echo shuddered as Optimus spoke. "Precisely. Cybertron. We cannot allow Megatron to send Dark Energon through his space bridge. If we fail, the dead of Cybertron will rise, swarm through its vortex, and invade Earth."
A sudden, horrifying thought struck the young medic. No…that couldn't…wouldn't… "Dad, you don't think…Mom…"
"NO!" Ratchet snapped, keeping his back to her. "No. Not possible."
But Echo knew it was all too possible, and her muscles tensed at the thought of her mother – the faint image she remembered, anyway – as one of the creatures under Megatron's control…no!
Without bothering to excuse herself, Echo spun around and left the main room. Barely stopping to notice that someone – Bulkhead? – had repaired her door, she stalked into her room and grabbed a datapad. If they were going to be trying to stop undead Cybertronians, they had to know how.
Hours later, she was distracted from her 'pad by a knock on the door. "Come in," she called dully, optics fixed on a short entry from a war-era medical journal. Dark Energon poisoning is a result of dark energon making direct contact with an injured Autobot's spark or central processing unit…
"You should try to get some rest."
Echo looked up to see Arcee. Blinking with surprise, she responded, "I'm fine, and this needs to be done. But thanks."
"Hmm." The older femme sat down on the bunk. "I know what the problem is, you know. Been there, done that. With Cliff."
"Oh…" Echo honestly didn't know what to say to that.
"Right." Arcee nodded quietly. "You're thinking about your femme creator. But it won't happen."
Echo glared at her. "How do you know?"
"Because I'm not going to let it happen," the warrior said firmly. "Megatron will not bring an army of the dead to Earth. Cliffjumper died trying to stop the Decepticons. I'm not going to give up now. If he's going to conquer Earth, it will be over my offline body."
The medic could feel the intensity in Arcee's tone, and it sent courage through her. "I'll stand with you. No matter what, Megatron will not win this."
Face set grimly, Arcee nodded and reached out a hand. Echo grasped the other femme's forearm, looking straight into her optics. "Till all are one?"
"Till all are one." Arcee squeezed Echo's arm lightly before letting go. "Bulkhead and Bumblebee went to get their humans, and I'm going to go get Jack."
"Wait, didn't Jack leave?" Echo tried to remember exactly what it was she'd been told.
"Yeah, or so he thinks, but I'm not letting him walk out that easily." Arcee shook her head with a wry chuckle. "He wants to be here, he just thinks he can't."
"Oh-kay…" Echo shrugged. "Your human, your call."
"Exactly. Oh, by the way, your dad said for me to tell you to come help him with the space bridge specs. He's figuring out where it is."
"What?" The femme medic jumped upright. "Why didn't you say so before?"
"'Cause you needed to talk." Arcee laughed. "Now move it!"
Echo ran out into the main room, skidding to a stop beside the main computer console. "Dad, Arcee said you wanted me?"
"Yes," Ratchet glanced at her briefly. "I need you to start running these equations through the computer as I give them to you. Done properly, this should give us the exact location of this particular space bridge."
"Got it." Echo sat down and started entering the numbers that Ratchet brought up on the screen. "Dad, can I ask you something?"
"Just did, didn't you?" Ratchet brought up another sequence. "Yes, you can, just not 'What chance do we have?', because I'm not answering."
Echo giggled, a bit nervously. "Wasn't going to ask that. I wanted to know, if Megatron could build a space bridge, why haven't we?"
"No time, not enough raw materials…" Ratchet shrugged. "And beyond the general ability to leave the planet, which we're not going to do, there's no reason for us to have one. I'm sure you agree we don't need any extra work, and nobody else has the qualifications to actually construct one."
"Hmm." Echo fiddled with the cable, hoping to get the computer to work faster. "So then who built Megatron's?"
Ratchet brought up another equation on the screen. "Could've been anyone, theoretically, but I'm going to guess Starscream or Soundwave. Starscream was a scientist back before the war – no, you wouldn't remember, but I had a friend who worked with him once – and who knows what Soundwave is capable of, if Megatron orders it? Given the detail in these specs, though, I think they were written back on Cybertron, maybe even by Autobot or Neutral scientists, and then encoded later. They could have had this planned for a long time, just waiting for the right time to use it."
"That would make sense." Echo finished entering the sequences. "I think that's it! Did it work?"
"Yes, it looks like it." Ratchet turned and gestured. "Optimus, we've pinpointed the location of Megatron's space bridge. High in Earth's orbit."
"Out of our reach." Optimus sighed, and Echo bit her lower lip component, hard.
Miko, standing beside Bulkhead, waved a hand. "Okay, so you guys don't fly. But can't you just groundbridge there?"
Echo shook her head. "A groundbridge has limited range. Stretched all the way into orbit, its vortex could snap."
"Scattering us to the stars," Ratchet elaborated.
Optimus clenched one fist slowly. "Since Megatron is most likely already in transit, I'm afraid we must take that risk. Reaching the space bridge first is our only means of stopping him."
"We'll do our best, Optimus, but…" Ratchet shook his head slowly. "I don't know."
A horn sounded from the entrance tunnel, and Jack and Arcee pulled in. Echo's optics widened. Well, what do you know. She was right.
"Hey…guess who's back."
Optimus nodded a brief greeting to Jack. "Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Arcee, prepare for departure."
"Where to?" Arcee raised a hand.
"The final frontier." Miko smiled.
"Megatron's space bridge," Echo clarified. "Assuming the groundbridge works."
As the children said goodbye to their guardians, Ratchet took the controls and pointed to the computer. "Echo, keep the coordinates locked and do not look away from that screen. If I tell you, change the coordinates to a location on Earth immediately. Understand?"
"Yes, sir!" Echo glanced up at Optimus. "Good luck?"
Ratchet glared at their commander. "Optimus, if you leave us stranded on a planet teeming with humans, I will never forgive you."
Optimus almost smiled. "Until we meet again, old friend. Autobots, roll out!"
Obeying orders, Echo kept her optics on the screen in front of her, resisting the temptation to watch them leave. "Dad…I think the bridge is stretching again…"
Ratchet opened a comm channel. ::Optimus, you need to hurry! The bridge isn't designed to take this kind of stress.::
::Acknowledged. Maximum overdrive!::
Echo held one servo over the keypad, ready to change the coordinates if the bridge started to buckle. A moment later, however, Ratchet cycled his vents in relief. "Transport successful. All humans present and accounted for?"
Slumping in her chair and looking around, Echo nodded. "Yep. Three kids and a government agent."
::Optimus, do you copy?:: Ratchet checked the comm lines' stability.
::Yes, Ratchet. I read you loud and clear.::
"Good." Ratchet turned away from the console. "Well, then…this is it."
