*At The Ark*
*
"Shouldn't we be doing something?" asks Bryan.
"Ella will be fahne." Answers Henry, confident in knowing it was best not to touch her and let her healing systems kick in on their own power, even though every fibre of his being wanted to rush in and help, as was his nature.
Bryan however had not been around her as much. "But are we going to just let her sit there and possibly bleed to death?"
"It's all we can do Bryan. Do ya remember th'brief about what Bioroid blood does ta human tissue?" Asks Henry.
Bryan knowing full well what it does having been briefed on it before comments, "Ok you've got a point." And he goes back to what he was doing.
Prowl had switched over to his Biomode and squatted next to Ella until she started to stir. While she had a gaping hole in the middle of her torso, she was still half conscious and moving and then began to get up. Her wound however quickly healed itself and appeared as if nothing had happened at all.
She got herself fully up off the floor and waived off Peter's offer to help her up. She looked around at the mess her clothes were in and was glad her blood had been reabsorbed back into her body. She was also glad someone had heavily cautioned the Autobots not to touch her or her blood while her wounds were healing.
She had gotten a few weird looks from the others as they thought she should have been dead, "It's quite alright, this isn't the first time this has happened!"
"Like the time one of Jack's experiments went off in your face." A surly but familiar voice said behind them, "And all but blew your face and nearly your entire head off." Ray gave Jackson, who was next to him a surly look and he smiled sheepishly, "That's when I found out about Ella's little blood predicament. I was still new to the base then, coming into his lab to treat them both and being exposed to her blood, and Jack had already been exposed in previous years and so was already immune to it." The Doctor sighs. "Even now he still finds a way to blow himself or others up in some way or another. Nothing much has changed."
Jazz laughs, "Good ol' Wheeljack."
"So when are you two going to join the merry land of mecha hood like Prowl has?" Asks Cliffjumper.
"Who says we haven't already!" Chimes in Jackson. "We just prefer to be this way. Henry is at the same level too, he's been with us since the American Civil War, and Ray here has been with us since last century."
"Then why haven't any of you been using your mecha forms? We haven't seen you in them at all?" Queries Tracks.
"No real need ta." Comments Henry flatly as he and Bryan put down the now disconnected weapon on the floor. Bryan starts working on the wiring and then Henry wanders over to join Jackson in the conversation, "But don' worry we'll be back when we need ta be. We just got some stuff ta do here first."
Ella interjects looking at both Ray' and Jackson, "You get that work done up north?" Knowing they were both up at Port Angeles checking up on the mecha still in the underground cavern under the University.
"Yeah." Says Ray flatly, "Everything's fine there for a while. And you?" Obviously concerned about Ella.
"Fine as usual. It'll take more than a measly cannon like that to kill me, you know that!"
"Well I am a Doctor after all. I have a right to be concerned."
"Yes but your wife is my Doctor not you. She'll have you for breakfast if you try and take her patients away from her; she is as bad as you are after all!"
"And I love her for it!" Ray smiles, "Anyway, Jack' let's go, we've got work to do."
"See you guys later." Jackson follows him off into one into the main control room to work on some wiring.
After they disappear, Ella asks the remaining group, "Its ok guys, go wander, take a look; I'd appreciate some feedback on the construction, and tell me what you think ok."
Heather had ridden up quietly on the mecha horse Quarterback and dismounted "Everything ok with you El'?" She was here today helping to organise and supervise Flashdance's animecha that were helping out.
"Yeah I'm fine, just a defence system malfunction."
She had just finished talking when Jackson who from the control room, working on a console, rewiring cables, had those same cables short out and zapped him with a high voltage of electricity and shut down the lights.
He had called out before passing out and Ray could be heard swearing at him as it happened.
"Can I get some slaggin' lights in here please?" Yelled the surly Doctor. He soon got a couple of mechs running in with their headlights on to help out so Ray could give Jackson some medical attention.
Jazz snickered at the fact, that even as human, Ratchet still commanded instant attention from other Autobots. He took advantage of the quiet as everyone had pretty much left the entry right before the lights went out and he wanted to talk to Ella. "I thought our old friends were all still human bar Prowl? They come up on my scanners as human anyways?" He queried.
Ella sat there in the half light being illuminated by Jazz's headlights and thought, and then told him, "Then it just goes to show you how sophisticated the techno organic material is that is in my blood. For those that choose conversion, it's refined, for those that aren't usually end up like Hot Rod or some of my Roughnecks team. The formula is refined and programmed from my own blood, making them appear human and undetectable."
Jazz smiles, "I guess that's fair enough. Thanks for doing all this by tha way, for bringin' our friends back for helpin' ta rebuild our old base an' all. I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say we really appreciate it."
"As do I give thanks." Replied Prowl in the dark.
"Jeez!" Exclaimed a startled Jazz, "Didn't even know you were there ol' buddy!"
In the half light Jazz catches Prowls smile and it makes him laugh.
"Both of you are quite welcome." Ella states to the both of them.
The lights flicker on again and everyone can get back to exploring the base. Ella would have joined them if not for the fact she was approached by Obliterator and some of his security crew who had been responsible for giving the Ark some protection since they started the rebuild and wanted to talk to her about some things. So she found somewhere where they could talk and left the Autobots to their exploring.
While wandering around the base, Jazz notices that some rooms they had no access to when they came online here back in 1984, were now easily accessible.
He had been joined by Sunstreaker and also Bluestreak, who was happily chatting away as normal, nothing had changed but her gender, she was still as chatty and slightly nervous as ever, and still a remarkable shot.
Between the two of them, Jazz and Sunstreaker were walking behind her and couldn't help but look over her new form, but the fact that it was still their old Bluestreak inside the new femme shell, did slightly disturb them.
It disturbed Sunstreaker a little more than it did Jazz so he thought of something to talk about to take his mind off of it, "How did they manage to rebuild the areas that were wrecked before? Do you think Ella used her nano technology and programmed them to rebuild those areas based on the blueprints you gave her and Prowl?"
"Could have?" Muses Jazz. He wasn't paying much attention as Bluestreak was yakking in his audios about the pre-eminent differences between his old form and his new one and Jazz found it kind of fascinating. But he still tried to listen to Sunstreaker also, "We still don' know exactly what level of tech she uses but it's obviously way ahead of ours. I mean look what happened to her today, got shot through the midsection and healed like it was nothin', blood reabsorbed an' all! Kinda weird?"
"Yeah, wish I could do that," Commented the Yellow Reventon, "Then I wouldn't have to worry about getting my paint job scratched up by Sideswipe when we wrestle right after I've just had it painted."
"Yeah that'd help." He noticed that it had gotten conspicuously quiet. "Hey where'd Bluestreak go?" Jazz noticed that the dark silver femme had disappeared.
"Should we look for her?" Asked Sunstreaker.
"I'm sure she'll be fine." Jazz commented. "We might as well check tha rest of this place out."
They continued to walk down the corridors. "So Jazz is something going on between you and that blue femme, Sound Track or whatever her name is?"
"Heh!" He muses, "It's been a while since I've gotten this much conversation outta you Sunny!"
He grunts, not liking nicknames, "You're lucky it's you calling me that you know."
Jazz smiles at his comrade, "And yeah somethin's goin' on 'tween me and tha blue lady. So what 'bout you an' that white femme Sunstar, I know you've bein' eyein' her off Sunny?"
Before Sunstreaker would have given him an answer, they had found themselves in the old control room where Teletraan One's system was situated. And Sunstreaker saw something rather unusual, as did Jazz.
Jazz had gone to great lengths to convince Optimus Prime to let this project go ahead. He had convinced his leader not out of sentimentality of their old base but due to the strategic aspects of rebuilding the base and he was glad of the Prime's decision to have Teletraan One transported to Earth and reinstalled in its old operating system before having originally been in Iacon.
Teletraan One however no longer had a use as Iacon's central computer as a new one had been built and installed in its place in the time it had been on Earth, so it only felt right to return the computer to the old base and reinstall it in the Ark.
What the two mech's saw was a human form hologram looking over the work that Ray' and Jack were doing.
Ray having helped out Jackson, had gotten him back to working, fixing up the wiring for Teletraan One to ensure the main computer was operational and wired right and there was a human hologram watching them and making comments if they weren't getting something right.
"How about that T'?" Asks Jackson.
'That connection is completely functional. Thank You Wheeljack.' The hologram spoke.
"Wait? Am I seein' things or is that our Teletraan One, the hologram I mean?" Asks Jazz puzzled.
'Correct.' Finished a voice from the hologram in front of Jazz. 'At the moment we are just having some minor wiring difficulties. And it does not help the fact that Jackson keeps zapping himself, trying to help us finish the work and hindering my systems by giving it constant residual feedback.'
Jackson laughs coyly, "I can't help it can I? Seems to be my lot in life!"
"Among other things!" Says Tracks as he walks in. "I found a few strays wandering around." He notes to Jazz. He had the missing femme Bluestreak with him as well as Sideswipe.
"How'd that slagger get here?" Asks Sunstreaker.
He glares at his brother then says, "One of the tech's at Dragon Valley base gave me this." Sideswipe hands over the hand held warping device to Jazz to look it over.
"What's this?" Asks Jazz curiously.
"Kind of like a mobile, hand held orbital bouncer."
"And they gave it to you freely?" Questions Ray' with his body half deep into the wire panels. He gets himself out and looks up at Jazz, "Hand that over, something like that should never be in the hands of someone like him." He nods in Sideswipe's direction.
Jazz looks at Sideswipe and shrugs, then hands over the device.
"Why'd you do that for? He's human now, it's not like he outranks us anymore." Sideswipe whispers to Jazz.
"I heard that you red wretch." Replies Ray' haughtily, which got a snicker from Tracks and Sunstreaker, "But just because I'm like this now doesn't mean I'm not like I was before so remember that."
And he swiftly throws up a wrench at Sideswipe. He dodges the first one but hadn't seen the second and starts rubbing his head case after getting hit, "Yep that's definitely our Ratchet!"
"And don't you go forgetting it." He says pointing a hand with a wrench in it at Sideswipe.
Sideswipe still rubbing his head casing, mutters, "You know I think his aim has improved!" This had the other mechs laughing.
"So this is Teletraan One's permanent home now?" Asks Bluestreak noticing the unfamiliar hologram.
'Affirmative.' Says the hologram again, which startles Tracks, Sideswipe and Bluestreak.
"Whoah!" Exclaims Sideswipe.
The Hologram continues speaking, 'While I have been reinstalled in this system and returned to a functional capacity. I have also been upgraded with Alliance technology to operate alongside my own Cybertronian programming. As a result I am now a fully functioning sentient entity within the confines of this bases control system.'
"Can anyone repeat that in plain Cybertronian?" Says Tracks sarcastically, not getting much of what the computer hologram says.
"What Teletraan One means Tracks is that it's like one of us now, 'cept it ain't got a body like ours, its body is the base itself." Jazz replies.
'Correct Jazz.' Says Teletraan One.
"Cool!" Comments Sideswipe.
"So we can talk to our old computer like its one of us now?" Asks Bluestreak.
The Hologram nods at the femme.
"I don't really see the difference than what it was like before." Comments Sunstreaker.
The computer ignores Sunstreaker's comment before stating, 'If you do not mind, I must return to my passive mode and dissolve this hologram. My systems are not yet at maximum operating capacity, and being in this highly active holographic state drains my backup energy supply. They have yet to attach my energy control system.' Teletraan One's hologram disappears and Ray' and Jackson go back to working on the wiring under the control panels.
Ella walks in and talks to them. "If you boys don't mind I would like to escort you all back to your home base now." She wanders over to the console and kneels down next to Raymond and puts her hand out. He looks at her for a moment and wonders what she wants then realises he has the hand held warping device and hands it back to her, "It's a good thing that Sideswipe was sent here with this isn't it Ray'? As it happens, Prowl sent Steelwind back to Dragon Valley already for more supplies and they are without a ride back so this device will come in handy!" She grins.
Ray looks at her flatly and points at Sideswipe, "Just don't let that blockhead get hold of it; he would wreak all sorts of unimaginable havoc with it and those pranks of his."
"Me?" Questions Sideswipe innocently, "Never!"
"Yeah right!" Raymond comments snidely before returning to his wiring work.
"It's alright Raymond. I have enough trouble with Skywarp playing nasty pranks back at my own base when he is bored. It's why I keep him occupied as much as I can when he's there! I understand what idle hands can do."
Ella giggles to herself and then leads the present mechs out to the entrance and waits for everyone to gather together and presses the button to activate the warp device and returns the Autobots to Autobot City.
When they all arrive, Jazz moves off with some of the others to find Ultra Magnus to let him know where he had just come from and pass along some information.
Ella asks the twins to both stay behind and tosses the warping device to Sideswipe, "I know you'll probably end up abusing this anyway Sideswipe, but perhaps for now you can use it for yourself and your brother so you can go somewhere and talk about the problems you have been having lately, as I'm sure neither Burnout nor Sunstar would like you two fighting."
"What's Sunstar got to do with this?" Asks Sunstreaker.
"Nothing," She replies, "But you may find out if you two sit and have a brother to brother talk."
Sunstreaker grunts at having to listen to someone else dictate the importance of familial ties to him and watches as she teleports herself out of Autobot City. This puzzled the twins, not knowing that she was able to teleport herself under her own steam.
They were left alone together and succumbed to Ella's idea and went to find somewhere to talk with the device Ella left with them.
*
Ella arrived back at the base a little weary, but not for long. Her system was still in a little shock from the weapons blast. Even though she had an exponential generator for a power core, she still at times felt the weight of mortality on her body and also her age.
She tolerated being told off by Heartia in the medical bay and sat back and relaxed taking full advantage of the time alone.
But she wasn't alone for long.
Laura and her friends were still here on the base. She saw some new people amongst the visitors and wasn't going to scold Laura or whoever had brought them inside the base. She just sighed as she didn't get too long to spend alone.
She already knew what they were there for. They all stood in front of her bed right now looking hopeful, except Laura. All of them she knew, Christine, Laura, Adrian, Aelya, Robert, Ryan, 'Lex, Trevor and Hannah, were all perfect candidates for Project Messiah. She smiles.
Laura didn't say a word. She just stood at the back of the group hoping her friends didn't turn around and start asking her questions.
"Laura, go ahead and take your friends for a full tour around the base or something?" Calls out an unusually calm and pleasant Heartia.
Laura knew better than to questions the head of the base's medical department, especially with the old femmes temper. She gathers up her group of friends despite the protests and the questions they were all trying to ask at once and they all leave, leaving Ella finally to some peace and quiet the others in the main command centre.
*
In a military installation in Colorado, a solitary person was watching the US President's news conference from Washington DC. The President was publicly announcing the existence of Project Messiah and how both the military and the public were going to be involved in it and that they would work in tandem with each other.
The General in his office was rather annoyed at the announcement. He wanted this whole mecha thing to be solely under the control of the military. It had been a bonus that this Adam Drake had come forward with the technology and the funds to take their own project further than even he could have imagined and now he had to deal with this. He wasn't a happy General.
He sighed and put his hands over his face. He had to admit defeat on this particular front, as it was obvious that no matter how much he objected, no matter how many strings he was going to pull, he couldn't fight what was now happening and it was going to happen whether he liked it or not.
He had to remember back to the old days when he was just a teenager, when the Autobots had first shown up on Earth and how involved the military was with ridding the planet of both sides of the mechanoid's war. It had taken time for them to learn, but they saw that Optimus Prime and his soldiers were the good guys, and did their best to get rid of the Decepticons under the command of Megatron.
That was why their secret project was formed in the first place. After years of studying the transformers they hadn't gotten any closer to succeeding in what they desired, until Adam Drake came along, who would've thought the guy was using alien technology for the creation of their mecha units...
The General also remembered how adamant he was as a youth not to have anything to do with the military, but that was before Nathaniel Fairborn encouraged him to attend a military college after high school. He had never intended to in the first place, but it was that decision to do so that had estranged him from his family. He had not spoken to his family in a fair while and hoped he could reconcile with them at some stage.
There was a knock on his door. "Come in." He answers.
"General, those people have arrived; the ones that Mr. Drake said would be arriving to help us to recalibrate our mecha units for active duty." Comments the Lieutenant.
"Thank you for coming and letting me know, Lieutenant. I will come down to meet with them shortly." He gets up and then asks, "Wait before you go, is Captain Fairborn still about?"
"Yes she is." The soldier answers.
"Tell her to meet me in the control centre to meet with our new visitors." The General watches the Lieutenant leave then follows shortly behind, grabbing his jacket on the way out, and walks to the meeting room where the new visitors are waiting for him.
*
The plan Decellion had of collecting raw materials from the area she had chosen from space was going smoothly. She was currently monitoring her workers progress.
With many of them disguised in human forms, they wouldn't be easily distinguishable from the native inhabitants of this planet, and that would work to her advantage.
As for her other plan, it could wait a little longer. She knew that Ella would be at her base trying to protect it herself and most likely knew she was already here on Earth and sending her soldiers out to confront her. She figured if she had them all come to her so far from the Dragon Valley base, she could quickly change her location and take a team and attack the base in the USA and take what she wanted with no problems.
Ordinarily she would just walk right in and take what she wanted, she had more than enough power to do it, but she couldn't afford for Ella to sense her coming with even the slightest drop of her own power active, so she would have to do this the hard way.
On Charr, Galvetron was having second thoughts about Decellion's duplicity and was monitoring her activities while on Earth.
While she was away, he could think more clearly and knew what it was he had to do. He would have to go to Earth and exert his authority over her and her soldiers and take back his own soldiers she had commandeered and put her in her place. A femme was not going to lord herself over him.
He knew what she was up to now as Cyclonus and Scourge were able to spy on her freely now under orders from Galvetron. Soundwave was doing petty much the same for him, being able to get as close to Decellion as he had.
*
When Ella walked into the command centre, she could see it was a little crowded.
The Dinosaurers and the Dinobots had returned to the base in Nova's ship to Dragon Valley Base.
Without being prompted Bonecrusher explains they had followed Decellions signal here to Earth and she and Nova had come back to assist with any upcoming battles that would need to be fought.
Ella agreed. With the rest of the teams off base and the civilians on alert in case the base was attacked unexpectedly, the presence of the Dinosaurer and Dinobots teams would be a welcome safeguard.
Bonecrusher readily agrees to Ella's ideas but Grimlock objects and this makes Bonecrusher sigh.
Grimlock prostrates himself, "No, me go where me want to go, and me say Dinobots go where they want to too."
He gets a sideways look from Bonecrusher and also a snarl. She was in her T Rex mode and was face to face with his T Rex mode. "You will listen to Ella's idea and you will stay here on this base and remain on patrol and also on standby or my team and I will not leave you anyone to fight, do you understand?" She growls.
"Me Grimlock no scared of femme Dino even though you bigger than me. Me Grimlock stay on base not because you say so but because Me Grimlock want fight, so me stay, and Dinobots stay too, to fight later." He snarls back to her.
Bonecrusher turns to leave seeing that her gruff face to face talk to Grimlock worked and so goes off to talk strategy with her team and Ella can't help but laugh.
*
Elsewhere, in Europe.
Sound Track is talking strategy, "Perhaps ya'll we can make use of that environment tah ouah advantage."
"Of course." adds Heatwave, the group leader of the Spyhunters. Most of my team are out scouting the area to see what information they can gather. They are after all the best spies in existence."
Sound track sighs at her ex-bondmate's over inflated ego and wishes she didn't have to be here with him right now.
Vanguard knew this and adds, "We also need to come up with a viable idea to make sure these Dominion mechanoids and Decepticons don't cause any harm to the people and environment."
It was the distraction Sound Track needed as it launched the conversation in a different direction.
Burnout had joined them late after they had left Dragon Valley, making use of the warping devices they had access to and added her own idea, "Does this thingy Stella an' 'Screamer made, work?"
"Yeah it does." Replied Vanguard, pointing to the screen Joyride was watching. She was monitoring all the Dominion mecha with the device attached to their scanners through their ship which was hidden under some dense foliage of the forest under a cloak.
Sound Track added, "Whahle Freefall an' her lot engage the Dominion soldiers ya'll we should be able tah get in an' cause some damage."
*
In the rec room, Laura and her friends where sitting back and relaxing, watching the news conference on television when the others had walked in from the command centre.
The young human adults had not seen the Autobots walk in at first as they were focused on the screen.
"So you think we could all join this Project Messiah thing. You think they'll take just anybody?" asks Ryan excitedly.
Haven't we been over this already Ryan?" Replies Christine.
"Hey what about you Hannah?" Asks Laura of her cousin, "Hannah?", But she discovers her cousin is fixated on someone and she turns around to see why, "Oh no!"
'Hannah has seen him now,' She thinks, 'God help us all!'
"What's wrong with your cousin?" Asks Lex.
"Nothing that a little rabid fan girl ecstasy can't fix! Eh Hannah?" But her cousin was too quick for her to grab, "Hannah get back here!" She calls out loudly.
Cliffjumper and his friends had come back to the base under orders from Optimus Prime, in order to help Ella with the situation in Europe and the teens were still on the base hanging out when they came back.
Laura's cousin Hannah had sauntered up to where Cliffjumper had taken a seat and just stands there looking at him. "Um, is there something I can help you with, uh?" not knowing her name, Laura has walked up behind her and tries to drag her away from Cliffjumper's table without success.
"Her name is Hannah, she's my cousin and she is a major fan of yours Cliffjumper, doesn't like any other Autobot but you." States Laura embarrassed.
"Really?" He asks very interested.
Sunstreaker and Sideswipe are in another booth, siting together having finally fixed up their problems and Sideswipe comments, "This I gotta see!"
And his brother adds, "Cliffjumper has a fan? You're right, this we have to see!"
Hannah has been trying to get a word out but can't and ends up fainting from the effort.
"Uh, is there some thing wrong with your cousin's processor?" He asks Laura before leaning over to talk to Jazz, "Is that even normal for humans to do that?" He asks Jazz quietly.
Jazz just bursts out laughing and Cliffjumper scratches his head casing, "Geez I hope she's not one of those fan girls that always writes us weird letters through that website we hang out on?" He comments.
"She probably is ya know!" Comments Laura as she tries to pick up her fainted cousin. Laura finally succeeds in doing so and takes her back over to where she and her friends are sitting.
"You mean that the member names on that Transformers forum you guys have are real?" Questions Ryan.
"Sure they are kid, but we don' get much of a chance ta get on there an' chat ya know." Answers Jazz. "We do have ta work, but those two have been on there plenty of times, more than tha rest of us!" He points to the twins, "An' so has Hound an' Bumblebee. I used ta be too busy ta get on there but I got plenty of time now that 'Magnus is back ta bein' tha boss of Autobot City now."
Ella having only just walked in tells Sideswipe of Burnout's activities on that forum, and Sideswipe suddenly spits out what he was drinking. Sunstreaker can't contain himself.
"That was her?" Asks Jazz.
"I take it then that Sideswipe shared all those private messages she wrote to him with everyone?" Queries Ella.
"Uh yeah!" Sideswipe says wiping the excess energon from his faceplate, "If I'd known that it was her I wouldn't have shown them around. That was some pretty dirty and full on stuff we talked about."
Ella smirks at his comment, "Well at least you two are going out now. All you have to worry about is who your brother will end up with."
"Yeah!" Sideswipe playfully hits his brother in the shoulder plate and Sunstreaker smirks, happy that he and his brother are on proper speaking terms again, irregardless of what had happened lately.
*