Same Side

---

AN: Geographically, the gorge I'm referring to in his chapter is actually in West Virginia, but it was the only one I can think of that works for plot devices.

Chapter Fifteen: Road Tripping


Sheppard picked pieces of Wraith dust out of his hair. They came from the exploding cruiser just a hundred meters in front of him, a phenomenon he only got to experience because Ironhide wanted to blast a door big enough for him to fit through in the wall of the ship. The hybrid vessel wasn't completely wrecked, but with a hole the size of three Optimus Primes put together in their hull, he doubted it would get off the ground any time soon.

Point was, the hybrids were down to one cruiser. The Wraith were practically in Earth orbit and there were Decepticons lurking everywhere. To top it all off, McKay was whining at him.

"I didn't just lose it, Sheppard!" the scientist was telling him, three and a half minutes after he stepped through the gate and returned to the Compound. "One minute I was finishing up the stabilization program for the Stargate, and the instant I returned to my lab, I realized it was gone! The notes, the research, my laptop, the prototypes, all gone!"

"First of all, Rodney," the colonel said, turning around with one arm aroud his P90. "It's not your lab, it's the lab. And second of all, don't you have backups somewhere? I'd find it hard to believe you of all people forgot to make a second copy."

"A backup?" McKay snapped. "Of a prototype? Of my laptop? I'm sorry, John, but I haven't exactly gotten around to inventing a machine that clones things!"

"Fine. Did you ask the other scientists nicely if they'd seen them?"

"Why on Earth would they take my research? Other than to copy my brilliant idea, which isn't a complete surprise, but the answer is 'yes'. Yes, I asked them. As much as it pains me to say, it's like it just got up, and walked away on its own."

Sheppard sighed heavily, wanting for the world to just get out of his uniform and curl up with War and Peace in the solitude of his bunker. "Can't you just start over with a new one?"

"Ugh..." McKay pinched the bridge of his nose and held up a hand. "You know what? Never mind. This is my fault for actually thinking you'd understand the seriousness of this problem. If the Wraith, the hybrids, or heaven forbid the Decepticons get their hands on this technology, we're all screwed. Imagine if you will, having a robot the size of him," he said, extending a hand toward the transformed Ironhide, who was currently being examine by Ratchet. "Now imagine that robot being just as deadly, nearly indestructible, and against us."

This perked Sheppard's imagination, and his 'oh, shit' instinct. Soldier mode switched on and he narrowed his eyes at Rodney. "Are you telling me there's a chance the Decepticons got a hold of your research?"

"Yes! Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying!" McKay cried, drawing a lot of strange looks from the personnel milling about. "We need to search the entire compound, top to bottom. If we can't find it, then the next time these guys face a Decepticon, chances are they're not coming back."

"Wait, wait, you said this thing was a prototype," said the colonel, struggling to absorb the situation. "It only fits one Autobot right now, and last time I checked it won't work with any other robot."

"Oh yeah, like that's going to stop a bunch of psychotic super-advanced killing machines from figuring out how to overcome a few encryption codes." It was Rodney's turn to sigh, and honestly he did have quite a lot to worry about, his career being the least of them. "I really, really hope a jealous colleague took it. At this point, anything's better than that scenario."

"I can see how this would become a problem," Ironhide spoke up, his presence snatching both of their attention. Considering he had just arrived from captivity in enemy hands, the large Autobot didn't even seem phased in the slightest. "No doubt Megatron's doing, sending in his infiltration drones to acquire military grade information on your assets."

"Isn't that quaint, because as I remember it, you were the one who called my invention a toy," McKay snapped.

"It is rather toy-like," the black Transformer said with a rather nonplussed shrug. "But in the hands of a Decepticon, it is an annoying toy."

"And they call me arrogant." McKay looked at Sheppard for support, but the colonel just imitated Ironhide's shrug and smirked.

"I'm going to take a shower, and then I'm going to eat something." The co-leader of the Compound Alliance handed his P90 over to a waiting lieutenant and loosened his vest, silently relishing the thought of a little peace and quiet. When this whole thing was over and done with, he was going to take a short vacation on one of the abandoned piers of Atlantis with nothing but his book, a mini fridge of beer, and a T.V.

"Sheppard!"

His fantasy vacation burst into a cloud of dream vapour. Closing his eyes to steel himself against a brand new crisis, the colonel turned around to face Lennox, who was walking briskly towards him. There were three armed soldiers behind him, and Epps, who appeared a lot more grave than usual. "Yes, Major?"

"A garbled message just came through from the east coast," came the explanation. "Major Lorne and Teyla just informed us that Sam Witwicky and the rest of his Autobot escort just left their rendezvous point and are heading due south to a supposed gorge in state."

"What?" Sheppard squinted his eyes. "On who's authority?"

"Storm Jet," Optimus answered darkly, before the NEST commander had a chance to speak. The towering Autobot turned to face the assembled humans. "Trailbreaker has just sent me an update on their situation. Apparently, there are more Decepticons in that area than I anticipated. We must go after them."

"Can't you just tell him to stop?" asked Sheppard.

Optimus shook his head once, more out of habit than intentional emulation of human body language. "No," he said. "Trailbreaker's specialty is relaying long-distance communications. I would be unable to transmit a message to him without an amplifier."

"Alright, what happened the the air evac we sent to the rendezvous point?" Sheppard pointed at one of the technicians standing by, who simply shook his head sadly and went back to his tasks. "Dammit. What the hell do these guys want with one kid?"

"You know, it's a long story, and we can share it on the flight to the airbase in Pennsylvania," Major Lennox said. "A gorge that close to the state university can only be Smoke Hole Canyon. My grandfather used to tell me old Indian tales about that place when I was a kid."

"That's a place to start. Any idea why Storm Jet would lead your entourage into a gorge, Optimus?"

"As rudimentary as it may seem, he intends to keep Sam safe inside the many rock formations this canyon has to offer," the leader of the Autobots replied. "Megatron also has many surveillance drones at his disposal. What he does not know, is that Starscream will definitely go as far as causing the gorge to crumble around them if they cannot capture Sam alive."

"And there are a few local towns that'll get caught in the landslide if that happens," Lennox finished. "Meaning we don't have a lot of time. Epps, organize an anti-Decepticon squad, two units, two medics, some double cheeseburgers and a tank."

"Yes, sir," his second in command said, signalling to the others in his group. "He was kidding about the tank," he explained to one of the newer recruits, slapping him on the shoulder before turning to leave.

"Rodney," said Sheppard, attracting the sour attention of the astrophysicist. "When Ronon gets back from his meeting with the IOA, tell him exactly what you just heard. Got it?"

"Yep. When Ronon gets back, be sure to tell him just how screwed we are." McKay leaned over the computer he was frantically typing at, probably rifling through the security footage for the thousandth time that day. As long as he got the message, Sheppard was happy. Leave it to Rodney to do things his way, and he would get the job done one way or another.

"Flight prep will be over in ten," Lennox told Optimus as he walked past his enormous ankle. "No time to lose, big guy, we've got a ton of lives on the line."

"Autobots," Optimus agreed, addressing both Ratchet and Ironhide, who was evidentally thrilled at the idea of chasing down Decepticons. "Roll out."

-

The only thing worse than having someone in the back seat asking "Are we there yet?" a half dozen times an hour was having Leo in the back seat with a green tinge to his face.

"Ey, Leo, you blow some of those gross chunks in ma interior domain, you gonna taste some rocky road real soon. I ain't talkin' 'bout no ice cream, either."

"Please, someone shut him up," groaned a distraught Leo, trying to not hurl on the floor of the moving transformed Autobot. Seeing as Sam was the only one with him at the time, his addressee was no mystery. "Oh, God, I feel sick."

"That's what happens when you eat three chilli dogs for lunch," Sam told him impatiently. "If you'd listen to me a little more often, you'd feel fine right now."

"How was I supposed to know your crazy robot friends would come out of nowhere and kidnap us? I should be sitting down in class, peacefully digesting in a movement-free environment."

It was his sentence that led into another lapse in conversation. Sixty-eight miles was not a long way to drive for regular vehicles, let alone a group of Autobots, so the ride itself was not destined to take forever. To Sam, however, it might as well have been an eternity, half of which his spent staring at Bumblebee's rear window and trying to sort the strange feeling in his head into words that made sense. An hour ago he had been worrying about the answers to questions fifty-two and fifty-three on his test, and suddenly he had to run away from the normal world, just to make sure he could stay alive long enough to tell his kids one day about his strange encounter.

Above all, he was tired. Staying one step ahead of the Allspark's leftover remnants in his mind was a never-ending relay race, but with one runner and no points. It had gotten easier since finding the Matrix and reviving Optimus, but just because it had been dormant all that time didn't mean it wasn't coming back.

Whoever this Storm Jet was, he hoped Optimus trusted him. He honestly didn't know Trailbreaker, the Twins fought too much to really understand what they were thinking, and Bee wasn't into expressing opinions about other Autobots. At least Storm Jet struck him as an old, old veteran sort of guy, like Jetfire had been before he died. If he was even half of what Jetfire was, the idea of following him to the edge of the state wasn't so ludicrous. Almost sane, actually.

"Man, how could the just leave like that?" Leo asked out of nowhere. Sam looked at him. "You know, those guys, the military dude and the weird lady that came to abduct us? Isn't there some government rule or something that's supposed to prevent that stuff from happening?"

For a long, long moment the young Witwicky just stared at him with partially squinted eyes. Finally, he said, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I don't know," Leo moaned, flopping onto his side. "I just want to get outside and get some fresh air...or I'm gonna spew, seriously."

"You could have stayed behind. I'm the one he wants to play caveman, remember?" Sam moved his eyes to stare out the side window at the trees that sped by. Alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, each one had a name in his head in several languages he did recognize and a lot that he didn't. Now he was losing his mind, but when he was trying to write a simple calculus test, this thing didn't even bother whispering any answers in his ear. They worked for his SATs, but apparently he had to get through college on his own. It's not as if his parents were paying forty grand a year to send him there. Who cared if he passed his classes without getting dragged into the middle of a galactic war every couple of months?

He didn't even realize that the procession of Autobots had turned off the main road and were climbing up a steep, single lane path that led into Smoke Hole Canyon's middle ranges. He had four Autobots—five including Storm Jet—and the promise of safety, but when he saw the enormous, flat walls of the gorge and trails that snaked around the gigantic trench, his courage collapsed on itself. If anything, this place of solid gray pitfalls was a death trap, and not a sanctuary. Sure, he had seen this place from the air when he flew into Pennsylvania with his parents, but from down here the obvious danger was, well...more obvious.

"Whoa, whoa, is this it?" Sam leaned forward approximately thirty seconds later, as Skids rolled to a halt behind and Bumblebee. At the front of the line, Trailbreaker had already peeled away and begun to change shape, standing up in his bipedal form. Their final destination? A ledge, probably wide enough for them all to stand shoulder-to-shoulder, overlooking a four hundred foot drop onto a dead river and jagged rocks.

Leo and Sam got out of their transport, both mesmerized by the scenery for a few moments of panic. Other than the fact that it was deserted, there was nothing particularly special about the ledge. To the north, the dirt trail continued up the side of the gorge for several miles maybe, but there were no caves in sight, and no Storm Jet.

The Twins and Bumblebee concurred that it was safe to transform into their natural shapes and did as much, the echo of this task comitting dully over the expansive canyon. The younger Autobots exchanged glances as Trailbreaker looked at the view with a few puzzled twists of his head.

"That's weird. His Grumpiness should have got here long before we did," the blue Autobot explained, swinging around to face his teammates.

"A'ight, my bet is da Decepticons punked his aft by now," Mudflap said. He sounded almost cheerful about it.

"Really? Autobots should never gamble. They are terrible at proving themselves lucky!"

The intrusive voice preceded the sudden explosion of rock pellets not thirty feet up the canyon trail. Two metallic shapes came sliding down the vertical wall that towered above them, landing heavily on the ledge. Both Decepticons, one an unusually bright orange and black with abnormally oversized fists and the silvery brown one were almost identical, with the exception that the second one was slightly smaller.

"An ambush!" Trailbreaker roared, activating his weapons and his barriers, while simultaneously broadcasting an emergency message to Optimus himself. The twin Autobots and Bumblebee immediately took up a defensive position around Sam and Leo.

Their Decepticon visitors did not move, however. The first one, Gamble, was staring Trailbreaker down and remaining as silent as his brother, Sharpshot. They were waiting for something, and that something came a moment later.

A crimson-coloured jet came hovering down from the overcast sky, gracefully lingering a few dozen feet above the ledge before shapeshifting into Storm Jet and touching down. His much larger body blocked the narrow trail that led back down to the safety of the gorge bottom. What should have been relief turned to stone cold dread in Sam's chest as it became clear what sort of trap it was they had stepped into.

"I commend you all for helping me finish what Megatron has started," said the red one, as the remaining parts on his shoulders and arm folded and shrunk to complete his transformation. "Without you, I doubt I could have proved my worth to him any other way."

"No, no," Sam said, though his weaker voice could barely be heard. "No, this can't be happening. It can't be that easy."

But Storm Jet did hear him. "Easy? Hardly the word I would use to describe my plan. I have waited millennia for a chance such as this. No, fleshling. The easy part is just beginning."

"So you wanna fight me now, Snowstorm?" Trailbreaker made an impolite gesture too explicit for words to describe, the heated-round railguns on his forearms starting to spin slowly in anticipation. "And I thought we used to be friends. I think age has got your cognitive processors malfunctioning, because it sounds to me like you've joined the enemy."

The former Autobot replied by charging up his beam guns and firing off a single round. The concussive force flashed against Trailbreaker's dome-like shield, sending him reeling back a step or two.

"Now you're makin' me mad," he said. He relayed an order to the Twins, outlining just how important it was to protect Sam and Leo while the more experienced dealt with their problem. "This senior officer says its time to make some traitor pie, Autobots!"

It could not have begun at a more opportunistic place for the Decepticons. On all sides but one, a deadly drop awaited them all. Their two escape routes were blocked off and help was a long, long ways away. Bumblebee was trying to keep his back to the wall and still have both sides of the trail covered with his cannon, but they were outnumbered and outflanked. Their only option was to buy time long enough for help to arrive, and there was no sure way of knowing if that help would ever come. Even in his training scenarios, something this apparently hopeless was rare.

He had to protect Sam. That was all that mattered. Bumblebee returned Trailbreaker's silent signal to attack, and charged.

One side was destined to lose.

-

TBC