The Human Prime
Chapter 37: Light
I marched in front of them of course, as I always did. This time, however, I had others beside me. Sam clung to my side, as I hoped she would do. I tried to keep her from going at all, but no matter what I did, she only managed to come right back by my side (and I even tried trying her to a pole). So, in light of this fact, I assigned her two body guards. One was my second in command, Light. The second was a hyperactive scout who could slip her way in and out of trouble faster than you could say 'Primus.' Her name was Piper.
Also at my side were Optimus and the others. They stayed by my side and it wasn't long before the rest of my unit realized the standings of these new bots on the ladder. They all vowed to protect them for me, in which I replied 'I'm pretty sure they're the ones that are going to be protecting you in the end.' which was true. Minus Sam, they all were survivors of this war and excellent fighters, even Ratchet.
As the sky began to get dark, I noticed my second in command trailing behind me rather gloomily. I frowned and looked around. Everyone was getting tired. The Decepticons would be foolish enough to attack Crystal City till daybreak. I held up my servo, signaling that it was okay to stop. I waved high, signaling the Seekers above me to land and take a break. It was a unison sigh of content. Yup, everyone was tried. Before Sam could draw me into a conversation, I turned to Light.
"Light." I saw Light's head jerk up. "You okay?"
"I never thought I'd be going home as a soldier." Light replied to me with utmost respect, but she was sad. No matter how hard she tried, she could never hide that.
"We will not lose Crystal City, Light. You have my word." I reassured her and went to sit by my eager friends. "Come sit with us."
"Artemis, I…I don't think that's a good idea." She backed away as if I were a ghost from her past.
"That's an order." I said, not with a stern voice, but a calm one. I never liked giving orders and when I did, they sounded more like suggestions. Nevertheless, Light came and sat in the circle with us. I noticed immediately that she was tense.
"Come on, we're not that weird are we?" Sam tilted her head.
"Speak for yourself." Arcee cracked, leading to snickers.
"It's nothing personal. I don't trust anyone." Light answered kindly, but it still sounded as if she didn't want to be there.
"Why not?" Bulkhead couldn't stop himself from asking. My eyes shifted towards Light and I could feel her uncertainty growing towards my friends. I let out a small noise from deep in my throat and suddenly she began to speak.
"No one has given me a reason to." Light said with a resentful tone.
"Come on Light, you can't base everyone's decision process off of one bad choice." I didn't look at her. What she went through was no small deal. It was horrible and if I was put in the situation, I probably would have reacted the same way.
"What happened?" Arcee was the one to speak. I was glad because she would be able to connect with Light more than anyone else would. Still, the situation wasn't the same.
"My unit was heading back to Iacon. We were caught in the cross fire between the two opposing group of Seekers above us. A missile had missed and came down on us. The rest of my unit only had dings and scratches. I, on the other hand, was badly wounded. I screamed for them not to leave me. They knew I was still alive. But… 'No one bot is above the Autobot cause.'" Light quoted her late commander perfectly. The memory was still fresh in her mind.
"They left you for scrap." Arcee said in simpler terms.
"I just…I couldn't move. I needed help and they left me. I needed help for the first time since the war began and instead of helping like I would, they turned and ran." Light looked away from them. They couldn't see her expression through her battle mask, but I knew. I knew she was crying.
"When I get a hold of the bots who-" Bulkhead began, but I shook my head.
"Don't bother. Karma already caught up with them. In their next mission they were killed instantly by Shockwave." I told the one piece of the story that Light would never reveal. She wouldn't because she thought it was her fault for wishing them dead.
"How'd you get out if you couldn't move?" Sam interrupted, still interested in the story.
"…The General of the Autobot Seekers landed to scout for survivors. Artemis…found me and took me back to Iacon." Light almost whispered.
"I looked over the repairs myself." I added. All at once, everyone realized why she clung to me. Light's only friend was me. I noticed her shaking. No one, but me would be able to notice. As a kind gesture, I reached over to her and deactivated her mask. She winced at the world that was not tinted in light blue by her visor. I knew she'd hate me for showing her crying face in front of practical strangers, but I didn't care. I wiped he face dry.
"Y-" Bulkhead began.
"What?" Light said very bitterly.
"You're a femme?" Bulkhead said with his mouth wide open.
"Oh course I'm a femme!" Light screamed, standing up. "What, you thought I was a mech!?"
"I just, the way you fight and how you talk. And the way your voice was muffled through the mask! I didn't know!" Bulkhead tried to build up his argument, but that only made Light scream more. Finally, everyone let out a loud bout of laughter. Light looked around us and hid her face in her metallic scarf.
"See Light? You haven't completely lost your social skills." I said still laughing. She looked at me with wide optics. This whole thing was to get her to lighten up.
"Hey, Light." Sam started a new subject. "Where did you live before this?"
"I lived in Crystal City, actually." Light sat back down. "I was one of the cities scientists."
"Oh, so you're really smart." He said which made her grunt.
"Are you saying a femme can't be smart?"
"Wait, no, I mean. Scrap." We all laughed at Bulkhead's inability to communicate with Light.
"Light," Ratchet interrupted. "Why did you join the Autobots? Crystal City, even though it was built to honor the primes, remained neutral."
"I didn't agree with my fellow Crystalians." Sam cocked her head in confusion; I explained to her that that was what Cybertronians from Crystal City were called. "I believed that our knowledge and skills should be used to assist the war, so that it may end as quickly as possible. Cybertron is in a war, there is no escaping it. Neutral ground does not exist."
"I agree." Arcee said, expressing she too, at least at one time, felt the same way.
"It is a shame we must fight to begin with." Optimus said a hint of despair in his voice.
"I don't think it could have been stopped, even if Megatron didn't exist." Light always said what was on her mind. While the thought was morbid to us, she was probably right. All of a sudden, her audio receptors caught a slight rustle of debris in the distance. She had the best 'ears' of us all.
"Bye Light." I said before she took off in the direction of the sound, mask covering her faceplate once again.
"Where is she going?" Sam asked, tilting her head.
"Hunting."
Outskirts of Crystal City
The day felt hot. It was definitely going to be vicious. The Autobots behind her twitched as they all waited for her orders. They only waited. Artemis tried many times to contact Prowl and his unit, but with no success. The Decepticon must have already scrambled the frequency. That, however, did not scare Artemis. She already knew she would end up doing this alone. She turned to her Seekers, which landed in order to get their orders.
"Seekers!" Artemis said with the booming voice of a leader. "Patrol the skies; shoot down any Decepticons you intercept. Keep your optics on Light and I. We will tell you when to signal the others to press forward." Her Seekers nodded slightly. "ShadowVolt."
"Yeah?" ShadowVolt responded immediately to his name.
"Signal me if you see Prowl's unit." Artemis waited for him to nod before gesturing the Seekers to take off.
"What do you mean 'the others'? We're not all going in at once?" Sam asked her face curious.
"Light and I will scout ahead to see if the enemy has already taken posts in the city." Artemis looked around her bots, trying to find one in particular. "Siren!" She called out.
"Artemis!" Optimus said with a stern tone. He was very angry with her for not telling him.
"I told you not to come." Artemis shrugged before spotting the bot she called. "I'll be okay Optimus. Light can do remarkable things. And I have my own ace up my sleeve."
"Here it is Artemis, what you told me to bring." Siren, a small mech, came forward holding a blaster that was almost bigger than he was. Artemis reached into the opening in the blaster, just large enough for her servo to fit inside, and lifted the blaster to cradle in her other servo.
"What is that thing?" Arcee squinted at the weapon; it didn't look like anything she had ever seen. Ratchet stepped forward to investigate and determined that he didn't see anything like that either.
"I had the idea to make this weapon for a long time. Unfortunately, I lacked the technology to do so. Being in Cybertron gave me the opportunity to build it. It was finished just a few solar cycles ago." Artemis held the blaster up higher. Light ducked when the barrel end of the blaster pointed in her direction. "I call it the EMB, electromagnetic blaster."
"That's what you decided to make! Pfft, the best it could do is stun a bot." Ratchet said mockingly.
"Try stunning a bot, permanently." It was almost dark the way she said it, and it was a little. Artemis had to convince herself many times that it was the best of Cybertron that she built this weapon. "Light, come on, we're moving out." She heard someone's footsteps begin to follow. She turned to look at Optimus and sighed. "Op-"
"I'm coming Artemis, THAT is an order." Optimus responded. Artemis stared at him for a long time before nodding reluctantly. Thank goodness no one else besides, Light and the gang heard him. That would bring up to many questions.
They walked into the city cautiously. Every step was slow and calculated. Light stayed in between them, as Artemis requested. Artemis took the left while Optimus was on the right. As they turned into a narrower street, Optimus found it acceptable to whisper.
"Why do you insist on putting yourself into danger?" He asked, his eyes still shifting between the windows of the buildings.
"Don't we do that every single day back home?" Artemis answered, twitching her head at any slight noises.
"Artemis." He said blankly, knowing she knew what he meant.
"Optimus…back home, you feel responsible for us because we are YOUR unit. You do anything and everything in order to make sure we experience the least amount of pain possible. You defend us like you defend your Cybertron." She began. "Well, here. That unit back there, that it MY unit and this is now MY Cybertron. And I am willing to do anything AND everything in order to make them feel the least amount of pain possible." She paused. "To make sure you feel the least amount of pain possible."
"Optimus?" Light asked, staring at the large red bot.
"I'll explain later Light. Stay focused."
"I never lose focus." Light answered back causally.
"Artemis," Optimus caught Artemis attention. She expected to see him point out an enemy, instead he stared at her. "Haven't you felt enough pain too?" Artemis flinched as he brought up the pains of her past, of her family.
"Touché." Artemis finally said with a sigh. Then, as they started heading back into the main street, they heard a loud rumble.
"There they are. I was beginning to think that we came all this way for nothing." Light lowered her weapon slowly. Artemis looked up to the sky and saw her Seekers signaling her they see the same thing. She waved her arm and made some signals. They quickly flew off to signal the rest of the unit. "Do you think it's Devastator?"
"Most likely. No one would march in front of that monster." Artemis cocked her blaster and pointed out towards the sound, beginning to walk towards it.
"I'm hoping you have a plan." Light covered the two's backs.
"Don't I always." Artemis looked at Optimus and pointed to a large tower. He nodded in agreement, it was a good plan. "Hey Light, what do you think of that tower?" Light turned her head towards the tower and scowled.
"That? An abomination to the city. Sentinel Prime built that in honor of himself. What a pompous old mech." She said before turned back to what she was doing.
"So you wouldn't care if we, shall we say, tore it down?"
"It would be a pleasure." Light automatically reached for the grenade strapped to her belt. "Nothing survives a Light bomb."
"Go; don't move until I say so." Artemis watched Light dash towards the tower. She was good on her own; she could trust Light to survive. "Optimus, I know you don't like the fact of me standing alone on this one, but I need you to reactivate communications."
"Stay strong." That was all Optimus said as he transformed and drove off towards the nearest satellite. Artemis hoisted her blaster up to her mid-section and began walking towards the noise. The Decepticons must have sent in the Constructicons to level the city before they marched through, because all you could see if their large frames coming up from a distance.
"Come and get me." One of the cons that were marching along Devastator's side noticed her instantly. He stormed out from formation and charged towards her. She didn't move, only raised her blaster up level with his optics. One shot, one kill. She looked down at the motionless frame in front of her.
This was not her goal. The EMB heated up against her servo making her uncomfortable. As expected, it wouldn't last long. However, it didn't need to. She had one more shot left and that had the name Devastator on it.
Artemis POV
I ducked into an ally as return fire from the Decepticon Seekers above rained down on the streets. The gang had found their way into the alley from the other end and came to my side. Sam, I pleasantly noted, was untouched. Actually, a large smile was planted across her face. She was happy to help.
"Artemis." Ratchet pointed out. I didn't need him to. I knew that if I didn't take out Devastator out soon, he would reach our ranks.
"I know, Ratchet, I just can't get a good shot with the other constructicons shooting at me. On top of that, the Seekers shooting at me from above." I looked up at the skies at my Seekers trying to illuminate that problem. There was only one problem with that. Starscream along with his most trusted lieutenants were among them.
"Well there must be some way to do this." Sam folded her arms, thinking hard. I sighed and brought my digit to my audio receptor.
"Light." I contacted her over com-link. She didn't immediately respond which meant she must have been in battle.
"Yes?"
"Listen, on my signal, we're going to blow that tower." I looked over at Drexel who nodded before rushing off. "Get ready." I switched my link to ShadowVolt who was battling cons above me. "ShadowVolt, get a hook on Devastator, get Jetfire to help you."
"Help me with what?" He asked, still in an aerial battle.
"Just get hooked up!" I screamed back and he immediately followed my orders. I turned into Phoenix, still having my servo in the blaster, and drew my sword. "Optimus, I need you to help me get close."
"How close?" He was firing on a landed Seeker when he turned to me.
"Close enough to get at that things underbelly, where it can't disrupt the blast." I made the mistake of taking out my secret weapon in front of Sam.
"Wait a second, is that- but how'd you?" Sam began.
"Just so happens that the Shard of the Matrix from THIS dimension didn't get off world yet." I placed the shard on my sword and watched it transform until it was firmly against my sword, becoming one with it. "Let me show you what this thing can do when it's not in my arm." I joked and hoisted the blade onto my shoulder. With one tilt of my head, Optimus and I ran out into the thicket of it.
As the constructicons that came out to face the front line began to approach us, I brought my blade out to my waist and swung. A clean cut right through, I've only felt such power when holding the Star Saber. I charged forward, Optimus having my back. It was fast, the final moments in a battle were always fast.
First, I heard Drexel contact me through the com-link. He only gave a high pitch dinging noise and I took that as a good signal as any. I ordered Light to blow up the tower. As I watched the tower crumble and fall, I noticed the precise landing. Drexel was always spot on. The tower fell right between Devastator and the constructicons behind him.
"ShadowVolt, you hooked on?" I asked through the link.
"Yeah, but-"
"Pull!"
I slowed my charge to a jog as I saw ShadowVolt and the assisting Jetfire pull with all their might. Devastator, slowly mind you, rose up into the sky. I worked quickly, knowing at any moment the cables could snap or, Primus forbid, either of them would be shot out of the air. I stabbed my sword into the ground and held the EMB in line with the creature's spark chamber. One shot…one kill.
Medical Bay
Artemis stood in front of Light's berth. Light had been caught in the cross fire of her own explosion. Though, she wasn't too hard on herself since she took a few Decepticon Seekers down with her. Artemis, on the other hand, had a wound in her right shoulder and a burnt up arm. Right after Devastator went down the EMB performed a new trick. It blew up.
Crystal City, despite the constructicons storming its streets, remained standing. However, the losses were much more than Artemis or Prowl could have hoped for. While Artemis' unit suffered no deaths, most were at this point incapacitated. They would not fight in many battles to come. Prowl's suffered no sever injury, but had many deaths on his card, which Artemis blamed herself for not coordinating with him sooner.
"You should get medical attention to." Light said as she squirmed against Ratchet's blow torch.
"Your injuries are far more severe Light, I can wait." Artemis looked over at Sam who was sharing her experience in battle with Bulkhead, who was otherwise engaged with his own score card during the fight.
"The blast killed everyone in its radius, how did you manage to survive?" Optimus asked, having his own minor wounds that Ratchet ignored for the time being.
"That's easy." Light said as if it were common knowledge. "I teleported"
"Optimus, Light is a special bot. Her gauntlet here," Artemis took Light's servo in her hands. "Contains the powers of generations of bots."
"What do you mean?" Sam had overheard Artemis speaking and walked over to them casually.
"You know how Quickstep can run really fast and that Seeker, Skywarp, can teleport?"
"Yes."
"Well, Light has collected these gifts and installed them into her little gauntlet here." Artemis pointed to the individual lights on Light's gauntlet. "Light can phase through solid objects, teleport, and my personal favorite, become invisible."
"You're like a super hero!" Sam exclaimed which made Light blush. Artemis got called away by ShadowVolt who had something important to tell her.
"So you're a mod bot." Arcee said almost disgustingly.
"No, I don't do modifications; these gifts were given to me. They're a part of my spark now, not add-ons to my frame. Don't group me together with those scavengers." Light said with equal disgust.
"How many are there of those special bots?" Bulkhead asked, scratching his head.
"Not many." She suggested.
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"For the same reason any bot wouldn't. To not be looked at as a tool of war. Though, that's what we all are anymore." It was at that moment ShadowVolt left and Artemis' face turned grim.
"Artemis what's wrong?"
"We need to get back to Iacon." She paused and tried to repeat the words said to her. "Before Starscream's work at the Trypticon Station dooms us all."