Chapter 13: Tracked
Starscream and Eleonor headed for the lab.
"Sir, this is great!" She said, and it took all her will not to bounce in excitement on the beige mech's servo.
"This is... unbelievable. There is still a lot of work to do, but it could actually be possible to create a new Allspark. At least, it is worth a try." He muttered to her.
They arrived to the lab, Starscream left the shard secured in a special compartment of his desk, and began to list all they were going to need, especially rare metal alloys. Fortunately, they had all the equipment they needed in the Nemesis' laboratory.
"Sir..." She whispered a little downhearted. Starscream turned to face her. "...I'm afraid the Allspark is not my area of expertise...are you sure I will be able to help?" There was true concern in her voice.
"Don't you ever doubt it. I know you learn very fast." Starscream scowled at her. "And I would not tolerate self-doubts in my lab assistant." He added sternly.
"No, Sir!" She smiled.
"Good girl. Now, changing the subject..." The beige mech extracted something from a compartment in his left arm. "This is for you."
"My phone!" She exclaimed.
"I have enhanced it a little. It has more memory, the battery now will last approximately for a month, and you have your Internet back, but I must warn you that Soundwave monitors all the in-coming and out-coming communications, so be careful. And take a look at the contact list!"
She gasped as she found Frenzy, Ravage, Shockwave, Skywarp, Soundwave, Starscream and Thundercracker listed there.
"You can call and text us, and if you keep it with you, it will open the doors to your quarters and the rec. room. as you approach them."
"Woah, even Shockwave, I can't believe it. Thank you very much, Sir." She said, as she inspected the phone closely.
"Shockwave says that it you start sending him spam he will shoot you." He chuckled. "Now, out of here. Tomorrow we will start making history."
"One more thing, could I have some of the data that human organization collected from the Allspark? So I can start studying it this evening. I am sure the reports in your databases are better, but I can't read your language." She asked.
"Understandable. I'm sending them to your phone now. Let's go." He inwardly smiled. Studying the night before. He had done the same with her project. She didn't like to be clueless neither.
[Nevada, N.E.S.T. base of operations.]
"Sir, Ah think ya should take a look at dis." A sleek silver mech said, his optics shielded by a pale blue visor. He was holding a datapad.
"What is it, Jazz?" A big mech asked. He had a blue and red flames paint-design.
"Ya tell me." He replied casually.
"They all are delivery orders. Of earth metals, different grades of rarity. Some of them are very rare and expensive." The blue and red mech concluded.
"All da orders were made yesterday, from different networks around da globe, but all from da Internet. All were pre-paid for, an' all have similar instructions of leavin' da cargo alone in a warehouse. Those warehouses are all abandoned an' located in remote areas."
"Could you pinpoint the origin of the orders?"
"Ah'm afraid not, but take a look again at da list of metals. Rings any bells?" Jazz suggested. The other mech frowned as he read the datapad again.
"The alloy composition of the Allspark." He gasped as realization hit him.
"Do ya think... it is possible... the creation of a new Allspark, Sir?"
"I don't know, Jazz. I have no scientific training on the matter. But I know one thing for sure: if it weren't possible, no one would bother to try it out."
"An here Ah was, grateful because those Decepticreeps had mysteriously stopped assaultin' oil refineries. They are up ta something, those slaggers..." Jazz was shaking in contained fury as painful memories rushed into his processors. Megatron had almost off-lined him in Mission City two years ago. Good thing they had the best medic on Cybertron on their side, or he would be rusting in peace by then.
"However, we can't be 100% sure that the Decepticons are behind this."
"Sir?" Jazz was puzzled. What other proof did Optimus need?
"Do you remember that 'Sector Seven" organization? They studied the Allspark for generations. Maybe they have regrouped and are trying something." He suggested.
"Humff. Ya are right."
"Where is the nearest order?"
"A 1.2 Kilo cargo of palladium, in Montana. One of da most expensive, Ah must observe. It is to be delivered tomorrow mornin'."
"We have to pull some strings and place a tracker device in it. Quickly." Optimus Prime ordered.
"Uf, I'm drop-off-line tired! I've been teleporting around the globe the whole morning! I need a good refuel and a recharge-nap." Skywarp moaned as he entered the lab with the last package in his servos.
"Thank you, Skywarp. You are a sweet-spark." Eleonor smiled.
"Just following orders, no need to thank me, or to call me embarrassing things." He sighed tiredly as he exited the lab.
The small human grinned and started opening the boxes to inspect the contents.
"Woah..." She exclaimed, looking at the shining silvery metal ore inside. "I have never seen this metal before. Only in pictures. It's quite expensive."
"How is it called in your language again?" Starscream asked, while typing something into his datapad.
"Palladium." She replied as she continued un-boxing the rest of the padding in the package. "I'm going to save the box, it could be useful to put small parts in it-"
Clang!
She stopped as something fell down to the desk from the padding. "What was that?" There was a small device on the desk.
"Scrap!" Starscream exclaimed as he slammed a fist onto the small device, shattering it into pieces.
Eleonor flinched as the fist slammed just centimeters in front of her.
::Soundwave, move the Nemesis two parallel lines to the north. One of the supplies had a tracking device in it. Inform Lord Megatron immediately::
::Understood::
"How would the algae respond if we moved two parallel lines to the north?" He asked to Eleonor.
"I must know where are we exactly, Sir."
"Just over the Equatorial line."
"They should be fine, we are not leaving the tropical region." She said reassuringly. "What happened, Sir?"
"That was an Autobot tracking device. I assume they know at least where we were when I crushed it. I ordered Soundwave to move the ship." He explained.
"This is bad, right?" She asked, her words laced with concern.
"Yes, Eleonor." He had used his real name. This was serious.
"What are we going to do?" She was starting to feel a little anxious.
"We are going to need to work faster." He frowned.
[Nevada, N.E.S.T. base of operations.]
"Optimus, Sir." Jazz saluted.
"Any news of the tracker?" The Autobot Leader asked.
"Yes. Da tracker's signal vanished from Montana an' reappeared in screen almost immediately somewhere in da east Pacific."
"Skywarp."
"Dat was my conclusion too." Jazz nodded. "A while later, da tracker stopped transmitting. Ah assume it was discovered an' destroyed."
Optimus was lost in his thoughts for some minutes before he spoke again. "Is there any island on that area?" He asked.
"Negative."
"Then they must be on a spaceship. The Decepticons had many at their disposition. I only hope it is not the Nemesis."
"Da big slag-maker."
"We must keep an optic on the skies. I'm afraid that if they discovered the tracker, they won't be staying in that place too much longer. We will send some human aerial reconnaissance just in case we can spot them while they move."
"Shouldn't have we picked up by now any satellite image of any Decepticon spaceship hoverin' da Earth by now?" Jazz wondered.
"Not if Soundwave is with them. That mech is capable of cloaking signals and hacking into everything, especially something as primitive as a human satellite." Optimus face-plates were set in a grim expression.
[A week later.]
"Are you alright, Sir?"
Starscream's wings twitched slightly. For a seeker, being grounded was literally a torture. It was true that lately he had been spending a lot of time in the lab, but he always made a small exit every night to stretch his wings for an hour, before recharging. However, since last week the Nemesis had not surfaced. They had remained at 80 m depth. The good thing was that in the transparent waters of the tropical seas, the euphotic zone reached the 200 m. The algae were working at 60% capacity, which was still sufficient for everything and everyone aboard the ship.
All this preventive measures had the purpose of avoiding been detected by the human aerial reconnaissance jets that patrolled the skies since then. They were actually not just above them, because they had moved, but they were still uncomfortably close, so they had to extreme the precautions.
"Just when everything was starting to go smoothly, something happens and we are reminded that the Autobots are still out there, trying to hunt us down. Not that I blame them... but we just wished to forget about them for a while and focus ourselves into more important matters, like building a new Allspark." He sighed. "And if I don't stretch my wings and go for a flight soon I am going mad! And I don't even want to think about TC and 'Warp. At least I can distract myself here in the lab, but that is not their case."
Eleonor gave him a sorrowful glance.
"Why do you hate each other so much? Why did the war start?" She asked, hoping that the conversation served as a distraction for the beige mech.
Starscream was distant for a while.
"The Autobots were formerly some kind of archeology league. They spent most of their time digging out the ruins buried in Cybertron. They were more worried about questions like 'where do Cybertronians come from' and 'what is exactly the Allspark'. They were always caring about the past. Their Leader was Optimus. Optimus and Megatron ruled together. You know, the title of 'Lord High Protector' was actually true. Our Leader was in charge of the protection of all the Cybertronian citizens. He was always saying that we needed to spend more resources into weaponry and defense. It worried him that we might not be able to defend ourselves if an external menace arrived to our planet. He cared about the future."
"That is actually very understandable." She pointed out.
"That was... until the Autobots found the Relic in one of their excavation sites. I sounds ironic now, that it was the Autobots who found the cause of our undoing. That Relic contained the trapped spark of a powerful being called 'The Fallen'. He was one of the Thirteen original Cybertronians, the Ancient Primes. He was disowned by his own brothers for his unethical behaviour."
"And he was alive in that Relic?" Eleonor was fascinated by the history.
"Yes. The Fallen spoke to Megatron. He poisoned his mind with promises of power and glory. Megatron went mad. He consolidated the Decepticon faction, and declared war to the Autobots. But all these things I am telling you now, we didn't know at the time. We were told that it was for our own good, to better learn to protect ourselves."
"He turned out to be the very menace for your race that he feared."
"Yes... It sounds stupid now. But then again, none of us could see that at that moment. We lacked the perspective." Starscream was distant for a long moment again. "We did horrible things to each other. Both factions. Even if we tried, we could not make peace again. Never."
"I understand."
"Megatron focused in the Allspark. He wanted to control it and use its power to his advantage. The Autobots were resolute that he should not have it, so they launched it into space, and it ended here on Earth. We followed it. We fought against each other now on a new battleground, and finally, the Autobots chose to destroy the Allspark so that Megatron didn't have it."
"They were so stubborn that they preferred to condemn your race and planet before giving it up? That was a stupid move I must admit." She frowned.
"I feel the same." He agreed. "And later, The Fallen was terminated, and Megatron started to recover his sanity. I know he hates humans and that he can be cruel sometimes, but he is no longer mad. I have been talking to him often these days, and he is having the brightest ideas in his career. And I agree with him."
"What does he plan?"
"He plans to forget about the Autobots for a while. He doesn't wish to keep extinguishing our race, Autobot or Decepticon. He just wants us to rebuild the Allspark, go back triumphantly to Cybertron and bask in his glory, protecting his planet, to be called Lord High Protector again. He doesn't even want anything to do with the humans or their planet. He just wishes to leave. He misses Cybertron, like the rest of us."
"We cannot change the past, but we can work for a better future, can't we?." She said with a sad smile.
"Yes." He said, reflecting on the wisdom of those words.
"And how is it that the Americans made friends with the Autobots?" She asked curious.
"That's a long story. Let's say, that after keeping Megatron in captivity for generations, we Decepticons weren't very fond of your race, and as soon as Megatron was freed, the first thing he did was start shooting around him. The humans found in the Autobots an ally against a common foe."
"Woah, Megatron got captured? How?"
"When Megatron arrived here, after the Allspark, he landed on the Arctic. Our armor is very resilient, but it doesn't stand a chance against the cold. Megatron succumbed to the freezing temperatures and entered in stasis. Many years later, when the humans found him frozen in the Arctic, he couldn't even defend himself." Starscream paused and was in silence for some seconds. "I'm not going to lie to you. We have killed many humans." He said grimly. "But most of them were soldiers. The rest were collateral damage. Do you know were intended the Autobots to hide the Allspark when we were after it? In the middle of a human city."
"That was not a smart move..."
"And they still claim to be the guardians and protectors of your race. How funny. Especially Optimus Prime, their Leader. He's so noble and charismatic, he can't stand a single human casualty."
"Heh, he should leave North America and go for a walk to the countries south of the equatorial line... And protect us, from who? Does he ever see the news? We kill each other every day. We are no better than you."
"Protect you from us Decepticons, of course. As if we didn't have more important matters to attend to."
"I am so not going to let those Autobots ruin our new Allspark." She said, her eyes burning with the flame of determination.
"You are my little loyal assistant." He chuckled softly.