The Human Prime
Chapter 36: How to Be a War Hero
Artemis flew high above his unit, watching them march and looking for any sign of an ambush. She looked among the Seekers which aligned themselves with the Autobots and smiled beneath her helmet. A familiar sight caused her to descend. She landed on the ground and gestured the unaligned Cybertronians into Iacon.
"Artemis!" She stopped walking at the sound of Sam's voice and waited.
"Sam, don't push yourself so hard." Artemis pated Sam's back as the young bot attempted to regain her energy.
"Your one to talk." A bots voice caused Artemis to stiffen. She turned slowly and saw the source of the voice.
"Jazz." She smiled slightly.
"You know, usually you're supposed to report changes in destination before you storm off." He folded his arm then saw the familiar faces of the gang.
"Look what I found in Argentex." She held out her hand to her friends and smiled. "I'll take responsibility for my rash actions, but I do not regret it."
"Yeah, well, I wouldn't either." Jazz tilted his head towards Optimus. "Hey."
"Hello my old friend." Optimus answered, knowing Jazz must be caught up with his identity by now.
"Not to be rude, especially since I'd love to share stories, but we have debriefing." He held out his hand to Artemis. She nodded slightly and turned to the others then saw ShadowVolt.
"ShadowVolt, stay with these guys till I get back?"
"Oh course commander." ShadowVolt bowed slightly.
"I'll be back right after I'm done with debriefing." She looked at Optimus and extended a hand. "Did, you want to come?"
"I remember much of the war, but I'm afraid my presence would not change the outcome of what will come. Especially since I am not sure how our presence in this dimension's past has affected its future." She nodded at his response before leaving with Jazz.
"Hey kido, it's been awhile. Where've you been?" ShadowVolt wrapped an arm around Sam bringing her close.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Sam laughed and shoved him away.
"I was just about to go over to get a drink and get myself some R&R, wanna come?" He asked even though they really didn't have a choice. He was their assigned guide and it would be selfish to deprive him of what relaxation he could obtain because they didn't agree with the tour schedule.
"Sure." She answered back before anyone could even consider their options.
They followed him to a long line where rations were being divided among the returning warriors. When they finally got to the front, all except ShadowVolt denied their shares. They didn't deserve it. They weren't there that long. These bots needed it more than they did. They nestled themselves around a shallow pit which had a glowing cube in the middle, just bright enough that they could see within the darkness of night.
There were other bots there. One in which was Comet who had strayed from her normal platoon to sit with some larger bots. ShadowVolt seemed to know them well, holding his drink up to them and exchanging cheers. The bot was large and was covered in black and they continued to talk between themselves before ShadowVolt regained his manners.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to introduce you. Guys, this is Blackrock. Blackrock, this is. Well. The guys." ShadowVolt shrugged, not willing to go through the names.
"Oh, so descriptive Shadow." Blackrock shook everyone's hands, learning their names on his own.
"Blackrock is the best story teller of all the Autobots." ShadowVolt wrapped an arm around his pal.
"What kind of stories?" Sam tilted her head to the side.
"War stories of course." Blackrock leaned forward and patted his chest with a fist.
"Come on Blackrock, tell one." ShadowVolt elbowed him and egged him to tell a story.
"What one? You know most of them yourself Shadow."
"Do you know any about Artemis?" Sam smiled. They didn't know what Artemis had been doing since they've been gone. This would be an easy way to find out.
"Of course."
"Tell them about the battle in Deltacron." ShadowVolt insisted.
"Right, right. Artemis' first battle." Blackrock took a second to compose himself. "It was the battle of Deltacron and we were vastly outnumbered. Decepticon Seekers were pouring down on us with everything they had, dwindling out numbers. Optimus tried to rally us, but they Decepticons had cut us off from each other. Then, out of nowhere, a star fell from the sky."
"Except it wasn't a star. It was Artemis, falling from the sky right out of nothingness." ShadowVolt interrupted.
"Who's telling the story?!" Blackrock growled.
"Sorry." ShadowVolt went back to sipping his Energon. Blackrock sighed then paused before starting where he left off.
"The future commander opened up her large wings and caught herself midair as she glided down to the surface. Most of us were confused and wondered who the bot was. Many also however, knew this brave Gladiator Phoenix that had shown herself as Artemis near the very beginning of the war. In her arms was a black scout, now her surveillance officer, Drexel. Artemis wasted no time in joining the fight. The moment she turned and saw the Decepticon army pushing on our limits, she was firing back with twice as much force." Blackrock held his arm up high as if getting ready for a climax. "Octane."
"Who's that?" Arcee asked, not recognizing the name.
"The first bot that tasted Artemis' steel." He smirked and lowered his servo. "Octane charged at Artemis. He always feared what he couldn't understand and Artemis' arrival was surly not be understood. He charged at her as she tried to grasp her surroundings, he became Artemis' first kill in our war."
"Kill." Sam whispered. She had never thought about it before. It just sounded so, so heartless. Blackrock continued the story, the battle was gruesome. Sam clung to Bulkhead, trying to ignore the gory details.
"Tell them of Kalis next!" ShadowVolt said as the story came to a close.
Hall of Records
Artemis walked in with Jazz. The others were already waiting for them. She made it a point to always sit near Prowl. He was calm and collected, a little too serious at times but it was refreshing. Jazz and Ironhide were always closer anyways. We waited for Orion, this dimension's Optimus, to arrive. Knowing him, he was talking to Alpha Trion about the next step. Artemis looked down at the map of Cybertron. The red glowing areas were the areas under Decepticon rule. What was in blue belonged to us and the grey was unclaimed. There was so little grey now.
"Jazz, Artemis, how did you fare?" Orion walked in standing in front of the table we sat at.
"I pushed the Decepticons from the tip of Khalkon." Jazz assured. "I blew them away. You should have seen it, Optimus!" His excitement was not shared. Khalkon was important to us, no doubt, but the Decepticons were not a direct threat to the city. Defending it was simply an extra measure.
"Artemis?" Orion asked and she knew what he was dwelling on. Was it worth going to Argentex?
"The unit I left at Praxis to block the Decepticon forces succeeded. And," She looked up at Orion, his face was tense. "I successfully evacuated Argentex. No casualties."
"Good." Orion nodded, but she could see the relief wash over him.
"Optimus, I have an odd feeling." Prowl pointed onto the map. "Decepticon forces posted in Zhentox are on the move."
"Some Decepticon spies are retreating from Polyhex as well." Artemis mentioned.
"They're gearing up for something." Orion stood closer to them.
"Drexel is looking into it. He will notify me when he gets any hints into where they are going." She moved her digits across the map. "They could be trying to capture this area."
"Well that's not vague. There are about five cities in that 'area.'" Ironhide sighed.
"There's more." Alpha Trion walked into the room, stepping slowly. "Reports came in from our spies. Shockwave has been experimenting again."
"That mad scientist needs a new hobby besides cutting into bots." Jazz scoffed.
"Artemis?" Orion looked at her. She bit her lip, wondering if it was in her place to speak events from the future. However, it was kind of late to hold things back.
"Constructicons." She finally muttered after weighing the consequences.
"Sounds like trouble." Prowl mumbled.
"There are infinitely sturdier built and their meant to just destroy. That's only the half of it. A group can combine together into a towering monster that can grind a city down to nothing but rubble, Devastator." She said its name with a shudder. The memory of thousands of bots flowing into its funnel like mouth to their deaths slowly flashed in her head.
"Then we must do something about it!" Ironhide demanded, slamming his fist on the table.
"And what do you advise we do? Just waltz up to the thing and demand it to just fall apart?" Prowl said sarcastically.
"Anything, something. If that THING targets one of the major cities, thousands, NO, millions will die." Ironhide answered and Artemis sighed. He didn't know the own truth in his words.
"We can't do anything until we know where there headed." Artemis finally said.
"I agree with Artemis. We have no choice, but to wait for some word of the Decepticon's next strike. In the meantime, we should prepare to move quickly." Orion said, finally taking a seat at the table. He began pointing out possible locations and they all began to construct a plan for any and all possibilities.
Outside
"So Artemis assisted the victory in Kalis?" Ratchet asked again as if not believing it.
"She assisted in every victory we've had so far." Blackrock snorted as if it were common knowledge.
"She works herself to hard though." ShadowVolt suggests before leaning back to look at Arcee. "She could get herself killed just by working that hard."
"They all work hard Shadow. Optimus, Jazz, Ironhide, and Prowl, they're all generals. They need to stay on top of things." Blackrock looked over at that moment and smiled. "Hey Shadow."
"Hm?" ShadowVolt looked back at Blackrock in enough to see him pointing in a direction. He followed the digit to see his beautiful sparkmate approaching them. "Moonray!"
He ran to her and picked her up, clutching her as if she were his life force. She laughed and kissed him when he twirled her around. Arcee couldn't help, but smile. She was still there. MoonRay was still there so that meant ShadowVolt could be happy for a solar cycle longer. Arcee didn't realize when she started caring so much.
It was that moment that Drexel stood up. They all stared at him wondering what had gotten into him. He walked forward a few steps before kneeling. It was at that moment that a black wolf-like robot was seen running towards them in the distance. Optimus and his bots began to tense, not sure what it was.
"It must be Ravage." Bulkhead practically growled.
"Who's Ravage?" Sam asked, obliviously.
"One of Soundwave's bots, he had a lot more than Lazerbeak in the beginning." Arcee explained and held up her fists.
"Whoa, whoa, chill your systems my friends." Blackrock gestured them to relax a little. "That's not Ravage."
"Then who is it?" Sam squinted to try and make out the bot more before it got closer.
"That is K9." Comet's words seemed to pop out of nowhere. She had been so quiet before, keeping her own conversation with the larger bots around them. Sam finally saw the bot jump into Drexel with the utmost excitement. Putting the totally unoriginal name aside, K9 seemed to be a very cute mini-con. It wagged its tail and licked Drexel's screen.
"What is it Drexel? Did he find something?" ShadowVolt loosened his grip on his lover. Now, he was the one who was tense. Drexel only nodded and as quickly as the wolf bot came, he transformed and stored himself as a gauntlet on Drexel's wrist.
The silent spy started walking towards the Hall of Records, walking, more like jogging. Arcee went to follow the bot, but he turned and shook his head, as if saying he had to go alone. She only nodded and let him leave.
"I don't like this. Why would Drexel need to go alone? And so quickly too. It must have been important." Sam said in one breath.
"For once, I agree with Sam. He's obviously hiding something." Arcee nodded and looked at the fading black bot.
"No, Artemis is hiding something." Ratchet said what was on everyone's mind. Drexel wouldn't hide anything from them unless Artemis directly ordered it. This made finding out that much more important.
"You guys should relax. Whatever it was, we'll probably find out about it later." ShadowVolt shrugged and returned to his waiting femme. Optimus looked at his bots and nodded. Arcee and Bulkhead began having a conversation with the surrounding bots. Like ghosts, Optimus, Ratchet, and Sam, all faded from the group and began heading toward the Hall of Records themselves.
They followed Optimus who walked through the building as if it were only yesterday he was roaming the halls. They paused when they turned into a hall where Drexel was walking down. They had caught up to him and as they expected, he was very cautious. He checked his surroundings frequently to make sure no one followed him. He definitely was hiding something. Finally, he disappeared behind a door. It was the door to the meeting room.
Optimus walked up to the door and listened. They were all talking loud enough. He gestured the others over and they all huddled behind the door. They listened and could hear them discussing something. They hadn't yet noticed Drexel walk into the room. However, when Drexel's presence was finally acknowledged, the information he had to share made both Ratchet and Optimus gasp.
Artemis POV
"Drexel, did K9 return from his mission?" I asked and watched by little scout nod. He had grown so much since coming here. I wasn't sure if it was appropriate to call him a scout anymore.
"Please, relay to us his findings." Orion requested. I really needed to start calling him Optimus, but with my Optimus in my memories, it made things so confusing and a little embarrassing. Again, Drexel nodded and began playing his spy's findings.
"'Decepticons,'" The recording sounded like an intercepted transmission. Obviously K9 had successfully hacked into a session in the Data Net as the request went out. It was either an act of skill or luck. Either way, with K9 and Drexel's ability, Megatron probably had no idea that his plans to his troops had been compromised. 'I am now issuing an attack on Crystal City. Contructicons, lead the march into the city and leave no building untouched. Destroy the city and the symbol of repression it has become!'"
I stopped listening after that. I was baffled. After everything this war was becoming, he still was going forth with his political campaign. Still manipulative as ever that Megatron and the worst part was, his followers didn't even realize it. They just follow into his game and offer themselves as lambs to the slaughter. Not that it mattered, no matter how much I had added to our numbers, no matter how many Decepticons we slay, we were still outnumbered.
"Crystal City! That's where he'll strike next!" Jazz said excitingly.
"Then that's where we have to go." Ironhide said almost bitterly. He wanted to fight and he wanted to end this war.
"Calm down Ironhide, we much plan this out. We can just go charging in blindly." Prowl sighed at his eager friend.
"There are thousands of neutral scientists in Crystal City that have yet to be evacuated." I mentioned, putting more pressure on the situation. As much as I was all for planning and strategizing, we just didn't have time. We needed to act for the Decepticons were already moving into position.
"Prowl is right. We need to think this through. First we need to choose who-"
"I will." I said, completely interrupting Orion. "My company is ready to fight. We have been since we got back from Argentex."
Optimus POV
I couldn't believe what I was hearing through the doors. All of a sudden Artemis volunteered to go into a battle that went into history as an Energon bath. There was no winner in the battle of Crystal City, only a large cloud of smoke that would never clear from the damage that was done. My Crystal City was nothing, but ruins now. As much as a war hero Artemis was now, there was no way she was prepared to go into this kind of battle. I wasn't even ready.
"Artemis, your unit is the smallest among us. The chances of surviving-" I heard my other self try and reason her out of the decision.
"It is because they are small that they fight five times as hard. We have never lost a battle and I am not starting now." Artemis said with confidence, but in my spark, I could feel that she wasn't as assured as she sounded.
"I'll go with her." I could hear my dear friend Prowl volunteer. Prowl, I haven't seen him in a very long time. I could hear my other self sigh as if he already lost.
"Fine, you'll leave immediately. I will go-"
"You have a whole army to command. If anything happens while we're taking care of Crystal City, you need to be free to take care of it. Besides, wouldn't it be more productive to make up a counter strike? Commander." Artemis sounded almost demeaning. However, instead of being insulted, I was almost flattered.
The only reason she was acting so rudely, the only reason she was insistent on going alone, was to protect me. To protect Orion I suppose is more accurate. She didn't want him to see the great tragedy that would probably occur. Before any of us could react, the doors opened widely.
Artemis POV
I stared at them surprised. I wasn't sure how long they had been listening, but by the looks on their faces, I knew they must have heard my decision. Without saying a word, I walked away from them down the hall. I didn't want to bring it up with them. Not right then anyways. I had a unit to get on the march. Prowl followed behind me and explained to me which direction he'd start heading. I would not follow the same path, but choose a different one.
"Artemis! Artemis this is suicide!" Ratchet called out. I kept walking, not speeding up or slowing down. "Artemis!" Finally I stopped and turned.
"What's the point of being here if I can't change these events? What's the point of having the power to end this war if I don't use it? Millions will die Ratchet. No matter what I do they will die, but maybe I can make it one million less than it was. Maybe I could end this war and if putting my life on the line in this next battle is what I have to do to make it happen, then so be it." I said and stared at them.
"Artemis, it's not even our dimension." Sam said and for once I couldn't believe how selfish she was.
"That doesn't make their lives any less than the ones in our own. That doesn't mean he," I pointed back at the Hall of Records, referring to Orion Pax A.K.A this dimension's Optimus. "Has to suffer through this too. He doesn't have to. Not when I now have the power to do something about it."
"Then I'm coming too." Optimus intervened.
"What? No, Optimus. Someone shouldn't have to go through this more than once." I frowned and tried to get him to step down.
"You are my partner Artemis, and like it or not I must and WILL go with you into battle. I wouldn't forgive myself if something happened to you." Optimus' words hit me like a brick. I blushed and turned away from him. I had no words for him after that. I lifted up my head and addressed my troops.
"Move out! We're going to Crystal City, and what are we going to do?!"
"KICK SOME DECEPTICON CAN!" My troops replied. I hoped that that would happen and all I can do is hope.