I wanna thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter, put this story on their alert lists and added it to their favourites, you're all awesome especially when it comes to waiting for me to update this fic, I'm really sorry about that! *slinks away into hiding* Anyway here's the next chapter for all you patient people!
Warnings: Use of profanities, fluff, angst
Disclaimer: Not mine, I just toy with with them and hand them back in less than pristine condition.
'Blah' – thoughts
::Blah:: - Radio Communication
:/blah\: - Inter. comm.
::/Blah\\:: Bond communication
"Blah" - Inter-dimmensional speech
{Blah} – Cybertronian speech
Nemesis . . . .
He was pissed, in fact he was beyond that as he was downright livid, although he knew he should have known that this was likely to have been kept from him. It was only through the sly tactics of one of Soundwave's small symbiont's that he had discovered it, after all there was no telling what that two bit fragger Starscream could be planning behind his back, especially when he held two vital pieces to win the war against the infernal Autobots. Megatron stalked through the dimly lit corridors to his so called 2IC's lab, the snarl forming upon his facial plates was enough to send any of his subordinates scurrying for the shadows or into nearby corridors to avoid their leader's wrath brought down upon them, all except one whom was currently following him. Shockwave was somewhat immune to his leader's outbursts since they were never directed at him, unless of course an experiment he had been ordered to conduct failed miserably. The Decepticon leader finally reached his destination and viciously stabbed the key pad on the wall, the doors slid open with a soft hiss and the large silver mech marched into the room. Immediately his crimson optics fell upon the hunched form of his aerial commander who had neither heard him enter the lab, or was simply ignoring him; the latter being the most likely in this case. Then his gaze flittered over to the Autobot sparkling sat in a glass tank that had been converted into a makeshift crib, he was mildly surprised to see the blue glow of ancient runes upon the infant's forearms. Although he suspected that it was possibly a by-product of the Allspark shard being absorbed by the bitlet, and the only way he would be sure of it was by allowing Scalpel to run a deeper analysis of the sparkling. However Megatron wasn't all that interested in the infant's genetic make-up, after all the bitlet was here for one purpose only; free his master from his eternal prison so destruction could be wrought upon the universe, but first things first he had one glitch head of a flier to deal with.
"Starscream." The Decepticon leader growled as he approached the other silver mech, he watched in satisfaction as the F22 Raptor yelped in surprise and scrambled off his seat. So he wasn't ignoring his presence then. The sparkling trilled in concern as he padded the side of the tank closest to Starscream, baby blue optics wide and bright. Megatron sneered at the sparkling in disgust, Autobots were such sentimental fools and they even passed down the useless emotions of compassion, sensitivity and selflessness down to their offspring as well. In a show of defiance, the infant glared at him and his little sensory panels snapped up into a high 'V' position on his back. A barely interpretable smile tugged at the corners of his lip components, so the infant wasn't completely soft after all. But it didn't matter either way, the sparkling's fate was already sealed, although it was somewhat of a pity as the infant would have made a formidable soldier particularly if he had inherited either his carrier's knowledge of sabotage and subterfuge. Or better yet his sire's understanding of logistics and tactical analysis.
"Lord Megatron, what do I owe by being graced by your .. greatness?" Starscream sneered as he brushed down his ruffled plating and quickly composed himself.
"You! You spineless worthless piece of scrap metal have been keeping vital information from me." Megatron growled as he stalked toward the silver flier, clawed fingers flexing and crimson optics bright with barely repressed anger.
The F22 Raptor stood his ground, refusing to submit to the large silver mech "I was going to finish my research and present my findings to you then." From the corner of his optics he noticed that the infant was becoming increasingly distressed, if the unhappy whimpers and warbles not too mention the little sensory panels drooping upon his back, were any indication of the bitlet's steadily decreasing mood. But Starscream knew he couldn't afford to show the Autobot sparkling any outward concern as he knew there was every chance Megatron would use the infant as leverage against him. The Raptor's crimson gaze flickered briefly to Shockwave who was stood shy a few metres from their leader, the singular crimson optic bore into him, cold and calculating. Starscream sneered at the violet coloured mech, he knew the Apache Helicopter held the Decepticon tyrant's audio like that sparkless drone Soundwave did most of the time, and without a doubt would have convinced Megatron that he was becoming a soft sparked fool and neglecting his duties. Of course the Raptor could lie his way out of it and explain that he had been leading the Autobot sparkling into a false sense of security, but he knew Megatron was slowly losing his incredibly short tether of patience and demanded results. Starscream briefly wondered if the creature's impatience was the real reason behind the Decepticon leader's foul temper recently, after all he was much more demanding in getting what he wanted than the large silver mech was.
"I will endeavour to ensure that you will get the results soon." The Raptor told his commander as he turned back to his work, nonchalantly brushing Megatron off and choosing to ignore him from that point onwards. However it appeared to be the wrong choice to make as a squeal of alarm from the infant was the only warning he got before he was roughly grabbed and slammed none too gently into one of the bulkheads. The force of the impact was enough to shake the entire room and leave Starscream dazed senseless for a few breems before he recovered enough of his senses and began scrabbling to prise away the choke hold on his throat.
"I want those results now." Megatron snarled, his grip tightening.
"It .. it takes t-time .. to decode .. the s-sequence." Starscream choked out as he tried to ignore the numerous error messages and warnings popping up in his HUD. The Raptor knew the decoding of the ancient runes could go allot faster if one; he had Skyfire here, as the old Veritech was well versed in the language of the Primes. Or two; the creature offered a servo, but he was currently in stasis conserving his energy "I can .. only go as .. f-fast as I am .. able." Megatron squeezed his grip a faction tighter before letting go, Starscream collapsed to the floor, one clawed hand immediately soothing the soreness in his neck cables whilst crimson optics glared up at the Decepticon leader.
The silver mech crouched down in front of his aerial commander, his forearms coming to rest upon his thighs, his crimson optics narrowing "I expect to see results at the end of the orn or ..." The Decepticon leader glanced over his shoulder to where the Autobot sparkling was crying softly inside his makeshift crib "... that infant will not be the only one to meet an untimely end .. am I understood?" A growl from the Raptor was the first response he received "Starscream?"
"Perfectly." The silver flier hissed angrily.
A smirk made its way onto Megatron's lip components "Good, Shockwave you are to assist Starscream and see to it that he is not … distracted from the task at hand."
"Of course my lord." The military commander complied as he watched his leader push himself up to his full towering height, Megatron directed one last disgusted sneer at both the Raptor and the sparkling before he strode out of the room.
The silver flier picked himself up from the floor, stumbling slightly when his equilibrium circuits had to reinitialise. Starscream began Megatron's lineage back to the original thirteen as he stalked across to the work bench he had been at moments ago, his entire frame tense with seething anger. Although his demeanour softened slightly when his gaze fell upon the distressed sparkling, he was half tempted to simply ignore the fact Shockwave was still in the room and comfort the little one like the thrice be dammed protective coding was telling him too. But he simply pushed it to the back of his processor for now as he had more important things to concern himself with; such as the safety and well being of the last of the hatchlings whose very existence was now under threat, although the F22 Raptor refused to allow anything to happen to them whilst there was still enough spark beating inside of his chest.
Ark . . . .
It felt as though it had been a long time since he had last stepped on board the Ark despite the fact it had only been just a little less than half of a vorn. The old transport ship had served them as a temporary home whilst they had travelled through the depths of space, not too mention as a battleship when they had engaged the Decepticons, however it reminded him too much of what had been lost during the long war particularly of the young mechs and femmes who had given their lives to keep the Allspark out of Megatron's hands. Optimus felt his spark give a painful clench inside its casing at that, after all what they had tried to prevent from happening had no come to pass, although Bluestreak was hardly the ancient artefact, merely a vessel to channel its diminished powers or so Ratchet had hypothesised, however there was no telling for sure exactly what the Allspark shard had done to the infant's physiology, only time would tell as the sparkling grew older. They knew that Bluestreak was capable of bringing mechanical objects to life if the cellphone incident in the rec. room not long ago was anything to go by, lucky enough Sam hadn't been too badly injured and was recovering nicely but the new life that had been accidentally spawned, had perished shortly after its creation.
Ratchet had speculated, after he had called the Prime, Prowl and Jazz down to the med-bay on Earth, that it had taken a tremendous about of energy for the bitlet to create an Allspark surge, which was why the sparkling had tapped into both of his parent's systems through the bond and began draining their energy reserves. A feat. that was both dangerous and could end in fatality. The CMO had also provided the explanation for the saboteur's strange behaviour, he told them that he had been keeping tabs upon the Solstice since he had been revived by the shard. Jazz had been none too impressed that the medic had been keeping the information from him, but lucky enough Prowl was able to use his diplomacy skills and quickly reined in his spark-mate's temper before it could flare. After all no-one had ever been brought back from deactivation before so there wasn't any records in the data-base to tell them what to expect during recovery and life afterwards.
The semi Peter-built nodded to a few human military personnel and engineers as he passed them on the way to the Ark's tactical analysis room. Both them and their allies were preparing the transport ship for battle in the off chance (which was looking more likely), the Decepticons would lead a full out assault on them again. Optimus arrived at the analysis room and typed the code in the pad, the doors slid open to reveal the dimly lit room beyond. He stepped inside and slowed in his stride when his azure optics fell upon the sight in front of him, a smile worked its way onto his lip components as he quietly made his way over to the centre table. Prowl was currently slumped over the edge of the table, his arms pillowed beneath his head and his door wings were lying flat upon his back, a quick scan of his sensors indicated that the tactician was clearly deep in recharge. Jazz on the other servo was sat close beside the 2IC, his silver clawed fingers trailing down the back of his spark-mate's helm in soothing strokes.
The saboteur glanced up, dim cobalt optics meeting his leader's "Hey boss-bot."
"Morning Jazz." The Prime greeted his 3IC.
"Is it?" The Solstice inquired looking somewhat surprised at that as he straightened slightly, the semi Peter-built hid his wince at hearing all of the silver mech's joints pop and the less than subtle groan of discomfort working its way out of Jazz's vocaliser.
"It is on Earth." The large red and blue mech told him "how long have you both been in here?"
"A while." The saboteur replied "Prowl refuses to give in until he has a viable plan that has a ninety five success rate." The Solstice vented a sigh at the thought of his bond-mate's stubbornness.
"That sounds about right." Optimus said as he glanced at the recharging form of his 2IC, a small smile upon his lip components "has Mirage reported back?"
"No, in fact we're waitin' on his Intel. before we can verify the plans and run them through a couple of simulations so we can tweak them." Jazz replied as he pushed himself up out of his seat, taking time to stretch and undo any kinks in his joints, and work out some of the stiffness that had worked its way into his frame. The saboteur vented a deep sigh as he scrubbed tired facial plates with his left hand "I just hope they work."
"Have a little faith in Prowl. " The Prime told him as he folded his arms across his chest plates.
The Solstice met his gaze, normally bright blue optics were pale and dim "Believe me I do, but Blue's an unknown factor in all of this." The silver mech's shoulders slumped "if we even make the slightest of mistakes an' …." Jazz's words trailed off as he glanced over toward the consoles and displays across from him, he didn't even want to contemplate the thought of Megatron murdering his child. But he knew even without Prowl telling him, that it was an incredibly high possibility that he would anyway.
"I know Jazz." The semi Peter-built replied "sparklings and younglings can produce very different outcomes even to the soundest of plans, and especially more so when their creators are involved."
The saboteur glanced at him, their gazes meeting "Is that why you've always tried to keep an arms length between you an' Bumblebee? Because you were afraid that if ya got too close, that it could cloud your judgement?"
Optimus couldn't help but look surprised at that as he tried to process what his 3IC had just said, after all no-one but Ratchet knew about the familial relationship he had with the scout "How did you ….?"
"I learnt a thin' or two when I was in th' matrix, not ta mention durin' th' four years th' shard was in ma spark chamber." The Solstice explained looking considerably calm, although a small frown began to make its way onto his facial plates "but ma question is, why didn't ya tell any of us? Especially Ironhide."
The Prime sighed "For the very same reason, Ratchet, Prowl and myself kept the knowledge about Bluestreak from you."
"You could have trusted some of us with th' knowledge about 'Bee, but I understand ya need fer detachment." The silver mech told him "I didn't think I could miss or worry about someone as much as I do now, especially with the bond pulled so painfully thin between us."
"You will see your son again." The semi Peter-built reassured his 3IC.
"I hope so." Jazz responded as a small sad smile working its way onto his lip components, then he felt someone ping his comm. link "Jazz here."
:/Jazz it's Mirage.\: Came the reply.
The saboteur couldn't help but look somewhat surprised if not relieved "Mech what's your ETA?"
:/Ten minutes I'm about to board the Ark.\: The blue and white mech told him.
"Once ya on board, head straight ta th' tactical analysis room, Prowl an' I will be waitin' fer ya there." The Solstice instructed him as he made his way over to the tactician and gave him a gentle shake.
:/Understood.\: Mirage responded before he terminated the link.
Optimus smiled in amusement when the Dodge Charger swatted his spark-mate away, he also grumbled at him as he begrudgingly came back on-line. The 2IC pushed himself upright with a soft groan working its way out of his vocaliser when his body protested the movement, the black and white mech spotted the red and blue frame of his commander and he curt his helm in acknowledgement of his leader's presence, then he plugged himself into the central console drawing up the incomplete battle plans from earlier. The semi Peter-built noticed Jazz's look of disapproval at seeing his bond-mate burying himself immediately in his work the second he came out of recharge, he even bemusedly heard the saboteur curse Prowl's lineage for being far too work obsessed as the Solstice reached into his sub-space for a sealed cup of energon and a heating canister. The large red and blue mech then watched as his 3IC nagged his 2IC into ingesting the now warm energon after he pushed a small mug of the glowing pink liquid into his mate's free hand.
It wasn't long before Mirage appeared in the room looking tired and covered in dust and small ice particles, the spy made his way over to the tactician and extended a small data-disk that he had kept hidden in a tiny compartment in the underside of his left forearm. The Dodge Charger took it from him and slid it into a slot before issuing the command for the data to be unlocked, he then brought it up on the large holographic display that was in front of him.
"I managed to get as much Intel. as I could in regards to their positioning, how far along they were with repairs, and I tapped into their comm. frequencies." Mirage told them as he hitched a hip up onto the edge of the strategy table and folded his arms across his chest plates. He wasn't about to give credit to Barricade for the success in being able to hack into the Decepticons comm. links, after all he still hadn't committed his allegiance to the Autobots, that and everyone still thought of him as the enemy.
"Were there any indications as to what they might be planning?" Optimus inquired as he glanced at the spy.
"They plan to take the Nemesis into space, if all the hasty repairs they're making is anything to go by." The blue and white mech replied as he observed Prowl trawl through the data he had brought back.
"Where the frag do they plan on goin'?" Jazz asked in concern, his worry for his son increasing ten fold at the thought of the Decepticons taking off with Bluestreak aboard their ship, and them having no way of being able to track them.
"I'm not sure, but they do have some kind of device that looked as old as the Allspark had been, however I unfortunately only saw it briefly." Mirage responded as he watched his team leader's frame deflate and the tactician's door wings flicker.
"If that is the case then we shall need to lead an assault on the Nemesis before their repairs are complete." The Prime suggested.
The Dodge Charger glanced up and met his leader's gaze "I agree."
"Alright, how long will you need in order to have a usable plan in place?" The semi Peter-built inquired.
"A few hours, the process would go much quicker if I had Trailbreaker's assistance." The black and white mech told his commander.
"Very well, I'll send him up the moment I'm back on Earth." Optimus responded whilst he quickly checked his ternary "I'll also schedule a full staff meeting for oh fourteen hundred hours, that's six hours from now." Both Jazz and Prowl nodded in acknowledgement of that. The Prime curt his head in their direction before making his way out of the room.
The saboteur watched as the Autobot leader left the room, clearly aware of his mate burying himself in his work once again as he turned his attention to the blue and white spy "'Raj go an' refuel, ya earned it." Mirage dipped his helm and began making his way over to the doorway "one more thin'." The Solstice glanced away from the display to meet weary cobalt optics "did ya get ta see Blue? Is he okay?"
The spy vented a small sigh "He is fine, no harm has come to him, although I doubt Starscream would let anyone lay a servo on him."
"Ma son is in th' company of that two bit fragger?" Jazz demanded, his entire frame coiling with tension and anxiety.
"That will be a mistake Megatron will regret making." Prowl spoke up without so much as looking up from what he was currently doing.
The saboteur spun round to face his bonded "What? Why?"
The tactician glanced up "Vosians are extremely protective of any young although more particularly of their own or Praxians since we are closely related."
The Solstice couldn't help but look confused "Wait so are ya tellin' me that Screamer is keepin' Blue safe coz he's feelin' a lil protective? Somehow I kinda find that hard ta believe."
"Well not so much as Starscream himself, but more like the string of coding that had been woven deeply into their programming since the first flier." Mirage told his team leader "and if my memory serves me correctly, that same coding is in Praxians as well."
"It does." The Dodge Charger replied as he folded his arms across his chest plates briefly "although it is not as prominent in us as it is in Vosians."
The silver mech couldn't help but frown "How come I've never heard of this before?"
"It wasn't exactly common knowledge Jazz and for a simple reason, it could be used against us as I'm sure Megatron has been doing to keep Starscream obedient." Prowl explained as he allowed his arms to drop down to his sides before hunching over the console he was stood next to, to continue with his work.
"Ya mean he'll use Blue as leverage if Screamer decides he doesn't want ta play th' loyal disciple any more?" Jazz demanded as his entire frame tensed and his clawed hands curled into fists.
The tactician vented a sigh as he regarded the screen in front of him "It's possible which is why I'm going through all of the available data to form a quick and efficient plan."
"In another words ya want us to slag off." The saboteur grumbled. The Dodge Charger didn't say anything in response, but the shooing motion directed at them had the two special ops mechs retreating to the doorway.
The blue and white spy gently gripped one of his team leader's elbows and gave him a reassuring smile "We'll get Blue back Jazz."
The Solstice watched as Mirage stepped out of the room before he glanced across to where his bonded was, their gazes met briefly but in those few seconds, words that couldn't be said out loud were conveyed across the bond through feelings. And it seemed that the pair of them were thinking along the same lines as one another; they would get their son back regardless of the outcome.
Oh fourteen hundred hours – Diego Garcia base ….
On a regular day, no-one enjoyed the full staff meetings that were held inside the briefing room at Diego Garcia, as they tended to be monotonous and boring that the younger bots and some of the human personnel would fall asleep. However the last few meetings had been sombre as they talked and discussed about possible and impartial tactical plans they received from Prowl, the status of the teams both human and Autobot, any new Intel. they had managed to dig up, carrying out continuous sweeps of the base to check for any kind of Decepticon recording device, and the issue with base morale. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker had both been quiet since Bluestreak's kidnapping, and hadn't been seen outside of their quarters except for when they had to report to duty. That was until Ironhide put forth the suggestion of allowing the soldiers to blow off some steam in the training area, Optimus had approved of the idea and even headed down to join in with the 'training' exercises. It had proved to be an ideal distraction to anyone not involved in the tactical and strategical planning, however with Mirage's return with new valuable information regarding the Decepticons allowed all progress that had been stopped, to move forward again.
Which ended up with a full staff meeting being called by the Prime (although the humans were excluded from the briefing this time, a fact that appeared somewhat suspicious to their allies), surprisingly the mood of the base changed when the Autobots in particular heard they would finally be able to strike back at the enemy, and rescue their youngest member of their family from the Decepticons. Although several of the human soldiers spoke about wanting to get revenge for their comrades who had been killed in the last attack, even though Major Lennox had tried to discourage such behaviour knowing it was likely to get more of them killed through recklessness. However he did understand the need to get back at the Decepticons as he felt every death personally since they were under his command. That and he did not enjoy the grim task of having to inform the families of the deceased about their loved ones being killed in the line of duty.
Optimus watched from where he was stood as the briefing room filled with personnel, he met the gazes of each of his Autobots before dipping his helm in acknowledgement of their presences. The Prime already knew what the most probable outcome of this meeting was going to be, but he was concerned about leaving the Earth without any form of defence, although he knew if it truly came down to it he could pick a team of five to remain on the small blue planet. A small smile tugged at his lip components when his gaze fell upon Prowl and Jazz as the pair of them entered the room, he was glad to see the two of them together and getting along as seeing them apart just didn't seem right. The semi Peter-built could tell the pair of them were not as tense as they had been, if the subtle signs in their body language were any indication. He also understood that with the new Intel. Mirage had returned with brought them a step closer to finally rescuing their son and being reunited with him. Optimus met both of his Lieutenants gazes as they made their way over to their respective seats on either side of him, his tactician dipped in head greeting whilst his head of special ops flashed him a small smile as he sat down. The Prime then glanced from his second and third in commands to the doorway again as the twins entered the room, he frowned slightly when he saw the identical solemn expressions upon their facial plates, he knew the pair were still feeling guilty about not having done enough to protect Bluestreak. After all they had been appointed his guardians, and as part of their oath was to protect him no matter the cost. The semi Peter-built watched as the black shadow better known as Barricade made his way over to one of the walls where he leant against it and folded his arms across his chest plates, his crimson gaze settled upon the floor before he turned his attention to his fellow Autobots. Optimus made a sound similar to a human clearing their throat and immediately the room fell silent and every gaze was upon him.
{As you are all aware of, a few days ago we had no clue as to the whereabouts of the Decepticons, but now we have valuable Intel. as to their current location.} The Prime told his subordinates as he switched to their native language. The semi Peter-built leant across the table and keyed in a sequence upon one of the control pads in front of him, the room went dark and a holographic screen activated a few inches above the polished surface. An image appeared upon upon the screen a few seconds later of Saturn's moon Rhea*, swiftly followed by another of the crashed Nemesis undergoing repairs {our newest Intel. reveals that the Nemesis crashed upon the moon sometime ago, however they have been persistent in repairing their ship which is why I suspect the Decepticons have tapped into as many of Earth's resources as possible … but now we are faced with a difficult choice.}
{Difficult choice Sir?} Bumblebee inquired as a confused frown appeared upon his facial plates.
{If we are to pursue the Decepticons and we must, we will have no choice but to leave Earth.} Optimus responded {however I fear that by doing so, we could be opening up Earth to further attack from the Decepticons should Megatron dispatch a unit to destroy the planet.}
{I say we leave and kill the fraggin' 'cons, we've already been told we're not wanted here.} Sunstreaker muttered under his breath as he slouched back in his seat with his arms folded across his chest plates.
{Its not as simple as that Sunstreaker.} Prowl spoke up as he glanced at the two front-liners, but more specifically a gold Lamborghini {the humans are our allies and we should take steps to ….}
Sunstreaker sat forward sharply, his optics narrowed and brightly lit with barely restrained anger {There's only one thing we should be doing, rescuing Bluestreak from those glitch brained pit slaggers. Yet here we are .. talking.}
{Sunny I wanna get Blue back more than anyone, but we can't go in half cocked with no plan.} Jazz told him as he sat forward in his seat, arms coming to rest upon the table in front of him {we can't risk doin' anythin' that might get not only us killed, but Blue as well.}
Sideswipe gently touched his brother's right forearm {He's right bro, the situations too delicate for us to go off an' be reckless.} 'Although I'd rather go slag the fraggers now then wait for a plan' The red Lamborghini added as an afterthought which he sent through their sibling bond.
The gold front-liner allowed a small smile to quirk the corners of his lip components, but it disappeared entirely when Sunstreaker glanced at the tactician {So what's the plan?}
The Dodge Charger reached across to the keypad in front of him and accessed a file, the image of Rhea was replaced with a more complex and detailed scan of the moon {We are all aware that the Nemesis utilises multiphasic shielding and remodulating ion and plasma cannons as we do, which will not make them an easy target to attack.} The black and white mech touched a couple of controls and a detailed scan of the Nemesis' current condition with a few sections highlighted appeared upon the screen before the topographical map of the moon appeared beside it {recent intelligence suggests that repairs are still under way and that both their weapons systems and shields are still off-line, however that status could change at any time.}
{So we need to knock out both before we can lead an assault on them?} Bumblebee inquired {how do you propose to do this?}
Prowl glanced from the scout to meet Jazz's gaze {We'll need to lead a pre-emptive strike in order to sabotage their key systems, Jazz you will take your team into the Nemesis the moment we arrive and disable their primary systems, without them they'll be defenceless.} The special ops team nodded their agreement.
Sideswipe sat forward in his seat {I assume that whilst they're wreckin' a little havoc on the 'cons, we're gonna be drawin' their fire away from them.}
{I believe antagonising Starscream and his trine is one of your favourite pass times is it not Sideswipe?} The tactician remarked with a single optic ridge raised.
{I assume you've got a backup plan in case everything goes south?} Ironhide asked as he folded his arms across his armoured chest plates {we know ole bucket head ain't going to give up Bluestreak without a fight.}
{I do.} The Dodge Charger replied before he sent a data burst to each of them, the black and white mech received a ping of confirmation from all of the assembled, although none of them said anything as they knew it was imperative that they at least have one plan unknown to the enemy, particularly if something or someone was listening in on them {my initial plan is for our forces to split into three sub-groups. Jazz you will take your special ops unit into the Nemesis, your first priority is to disable their primary systems then once our strike team which will comprise of the twins, Ironhide, Optimus, Barricade, Trailbreaker and Inferno, moves into position, your second objective will be to retrieve and retreat as quickly as possible.} The special ops and the strike team nodded in acknowledgement of their orders {the strike team will be backed up by myself and Arcee, we'll be providing cover fire from these sniper points.} Prowl pointed to two particular ridges that provided enough concealment and the ideal location to shoot from {Wheeljack your primary role will be to provide triage upon the battlefield, Ratchet I believe I don't think I need to remind you that you are to remain aboard the Ark, after all you are an important commodity to our continued functioning.} The CMO was about to open his mouth plates and protest against the decision since it was not unheard of for the medic to be out in the field, but he wisely shut his mouth plates for now {Red Alert you will also remain aboard the Ark to monitor our security network, I believe Megatron wouldn't pass over an opportunity to find out what we're planning whilst we are all distracted. Skyfire will provide aerial cover unless the twins can keep Starscream and his trine busy.}
:/Understood Prowl.\: The old Veritech replied through a comm. link as the mech was simply to large to fit into the base, however he had been privy to the entire conversation through a secured comm. link.
{So how do you wanna play this?} Sideswipe asked as he sat forward and leant an elbow on the table {full frontal assault?}
The tactician quirked a single optic ridge at the somewhat gleeful look upon the red Lamborghini's facial plates {Yes it will, the strike team will be segregated into two groups, one will attack from the west and the other from the east.} The Dodge Charger displayed the two holographic unit's movements on the screen. Several of the bots took notes whilst others committed the proposed battle scenario to memory {whilst the strike team are providing a distraction by drawing out the bulk of the Decepticon army, Jazz you and your team will immediately head for the extraction co-ordinates here.} The black and white mech tapped an area upon the display as he glanced at each of the special ops agents in turn before his gaze came to rest upon his spark-mate {Is that understood?} Prowl glanced around and received several nods of confirmation.
Optimus stood, his gaze sweeping over the assembled {There is no margin for error on this mission, if Megatron should catch wind of what we're planning … well I believe I don't need to explain to you all what will happen.} The congregated Autobots allowed their helms to hang, none of them wanted to contemplate what the Decepticon leader could be capable of with one of theirs in his midsts {I'm confident however in each and every one of you, and I know you will all do your best in rescuing our most precious member of our family.} The Prime offered them all a smile {we leave at oh nineteen hundred tonight, dismissed.} The semi Peter-built watched as each of his sub-ordinates nodded in confirmation of his orders before filing out of the room, there was no doubt that they would be either saying their goodbyes to the humans (he was not looking forward to actually informing their allies about their plans, however they needed to act now rather than later), or collecting any equipment they would need for the trip ahead, although many of them knew that they could quite possibly be back on Earth inside a week if the plan Prowl had proposed played out as they hoped it would. Optimus was clearly aware that both his second and third in commands hadn't yet left the briefing room and were stood to one side of him, every now and again however there were brief flickers in their body language which suggested they were communicating over their bond. And for good reason as their attention was solely fixed upon a certain shook trooper trying to slip out of the room, unaware of a role his brother and Jazz wanted him to play in the upcoming battle.
The Prime straightened himself and a stern expression made its way onto his facial plates "Barricade." He rumbled which had the Mustang pause in his stride, Barricade turned and crimson optics met deep cobalt ones "remain behind, there are things we need to discuss."
After the briefing which had taken place a few hours before hand, the Diego Garcia base was awash with activity as the Autobots collected what they needed and carried it through the transwarp gate and onto the Ark. The NEST unit began mobilising troops to their few select bases around the world, a precaution set in place in order to make sure a team was ready to dispatch should the need arise. Informing the humans about their intentions had possibly been one of the hardest tasks Optimus had ever done, the NEST soldiers who they had worked closely with for the past five years had kicked up a protest about being left behind. But many of them came to understand that the upcoming battle was going to be far more dangerous (not that they weren't already every time they engaged the Decepticons in a skirmish), combined with the fact that they required an atmosphere to breathe and a gravitational field to keep them grounded, meant that this was one fight they would have to sit out. Even Sam and Mikaela understood that this was one fight that they would not be able to participate in either, the pair of them particularly Sam was also saddened by the fact that not only were they losing their guardian, but their closest friends as well, despite the fact they had been reassured by many of the Autobots that they would return intact.
Although Sergeant Epps and a few others were somewhat miffed that they wouldn't be able to kick some Decepticon afts, however they had been entrusted with Earth's new defence system that had been put in place a few days prior. Wheeljack had been working on the weapons systems for several weeks now and had managed to create a few prototypes which had worked exceptionally well in the field. So they had been launched them into geosynchronous orbit where they awaited orders from the ground. Of course the satellites like the Transformers were kept a secret as to not cause any panic, although many of the government officials were sceptical about their effectiveness, especially now that the Cybertronians were no longer going to be their first line of defence. However the Prime had been tempted to subtly step to the right during the video conference two hours ago, if only to wipe that condescending smirk off of that imp Galloway's face.
The semi Peter-built glanced around the bridge of the Ark, taking note of who was where and the duties they were performing, he straightened fully and folded his arms across his chest plates as he settled his cobalt gaze upon the main viewer. He had to admit he was somewhat apprehensive about leaving the little blue planet that had served as their home for the past five years, without at least a small team of Autobots to defend it. But if the worst did come to pass the Ark was capable of reaching Earth as quickly as possible, although that had only been through Ratchet's many vorns of tinkering with the ship's interstellar drive, then there was Wheeljack's more recent additions to the engines which would make the Ark that much more faster than the Nemesis. The large red and blue mech became aware of his second in command coming to stand beside him, door wings flared and his hands clasped behind his back.
"The Ark's systems check out sir and the NEST unit report the orbital weapons systems are online, we're good to go." Prowl reported.
"Very well." Optimus replied before his gaze fell upon the helm "Jazz take us out of orbit and lay in a course."
"You got OP." The saboteur responded as he keyed in the co-ordinates upon the helm console with several quick consecutive taps.
A few brief seconds later there was an audible hum as the transport ship's engines were activated, the Ark steered away from its geosynchronous orbit around Earth's moon. Then the transport ship trembled as the interstellar drive engaged before it jumped forward and vanished in a bright flash.
A/N: *looks guilty* I didn't intend for this to take so long to be updated, but the dam plot bunnies refused to co-operate, and things will begin to pick up now, this was more of a 'calm before the storm' chapter. *I also did some research on where the Nemesis crash landed, and its not exactly clear whether it was Saturn's moon or not, so I'm leaving it as it is.
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