Hey, hi. If you didn't notice, I took down my poll. I won't be posting another storie for a while, but I'll put that poll back up when I've finished a few on-going ones now. I did, however put up a new one. Check it out, I'm curious.

Hope you like it.


We were the last to enter, considering the transmission room was clear on the other side of the base. They'd been waiting for us before they continued. I'd been in here a few times before, but I've never actually been present for a live transmission feed from anyone. Not the Cybertron team, not Sunstreaker's team (obviously), not from anyone else's squad. So being this was my first time, I was surprised when I seen an unfamiliar face on the monitor.

"We're all here, you can continue with your report." Optimus urged, turning back to the screen.

"I expect the human in your midst is our newest member?" Wheeljack asked. I've listened to stories, watched stories like when Optimus first told Mikaela and I about the war and Megatron. Plus I knew who was in each known team, unless they'd split up. So I recognized who it was, I also recognized Hot Shot, Prowl, and Hound in the background.

"Yes, of course." Optimus smiled, glancing to me. "This is Samuel Witwicky, our newest Autobot, and Bumblebee's human."

"Nice to meet you Sam. I expect you already know me."

"Yeah, Wheeljack. Hot Shot, Prowl, and Hound." I smiled.

"Glad we aren't ignored be everyone." Hot Shot muttered. Prowl rolled his optics and we all got back on topic. There must be a story behind that somewhere.

"We're tracking current Decepticon activity, and there's been a spike. We don't have specific data, but more Kaon networks are online now than have been since the All Spark was launched off Cybertron. They're up to something, and there's allot of them." Wheeljack informed.

"Have they been hiding forces in the old prison?" Optimus asked. "What are your previous records on Kaon? When did this start?"

"Before about a month ago, there hasn't been any activity at all. The Fallen has hidden there, as we found out when he left, but that's it. We have reason to believe they have altered protoforms there, but no way to keep them alive. Without the Allspark, it's not like they could create a whole new army."

"What of the records? What does their movement suggest?" Ratchet asked.

"A rapid incline in their numbers." Prowl stepped forward. Wheeljack shifted to let him speak about his subject. "They had either found a way to hide their numbers before, by which the only way I know is they were in stasis since Megatron left after the Cube, or they have blocked our scanners. I expect they've found a blind spots in our shields, and have smuggled in soldiers."

"Could they have access to a space bridge?" Ironhide suggested.

"No, no one's had that technology in centuries." Wheeljack shook his head.

"Except Jetfire." I pointed out. They all turned to me. "What? His body was never accounted for after the battle."

"Sam's right." Optimus nodded. "All we found was the armor he insisted I take. They very well could have taken the rest of him and reverse-engineered his space bridge technology."

"This kid's brilliant, where'd you find him Bee?" Hot Shot asked.

"We could have figured it out eventually." Sideswipe rolled his optics. "We just weren't thinking so short term. It did start before then, didn't it?"

"Yes, but not long. About when Megatron escaped the Laurencin Abyss." Prowl supplied.

"They didn't have space bridge technology before then, unless The Fallen had cooperated." Ironhide started, "Could they have just started recruiting through the blind spots?" They all easily pushed away the possibility The Fallen had anything to do with pre-battle of Egypt spacebridge technology. I had to agree, there's about as much chance he would have handed over his technology as we would to the humans, though for different reasons. He thought of himself as higher.

"Their increasing numbers is constant. It didn't rise when they could have gotten the spacebridge built. I'd expect they'd've only gotten it built recently." Prowl mused.

"You say they're showing up at a rapid rate." Ratchet noted.

"Why don't we start thinking about why?" Arcee insisted.

"Death." Sideswipe pointed out.

"Destruction." Hot Shot added.

"Revenge." Jolt kept it going.

"They want us all dead, and by now they'd want Earth gone." Hound spoke up. "What other motivation do they need? What other motivation have they ever had? The Allspark was just a tool to bring these things."

"So was the Matrix. But why didn't they summon these forces then?" Arcee pointed out. "If they did then, we might not have won. They might have gotten the Allspark, or they might have taken the Matrix before Sam ever got a chance to reach Optimus. Why now?"

"What if they didn't have these forces then?" Bee gained everyone's attention. "The Allspark was broken apart when Sam shoved it into Megatron's spark. It became unstable and latched onto many different objects and beings. Most was taken in by Megatron, and two shards escaped." I suddenly realized where he was going with this.

"One of the shards just found its way back to Megatron, but the other was a mix between my mind, and Jetfire." my eyes widened and I sat up. "That little creepy doctor-'con took the energy out of my mind when Megatron got a hold of me. I've never seen symbols after that. And if they got a hold of Jetfire's spark, which was obviously still with what Optimus didn't upgrade with-" I looked at Bee.

"Then the Decepticons have come in possession of almost all the Allspark energy. You know it can't be destroyed, it can only transform." he finished.

"What you're saying is, they joined all the Allspark energy together to re-form the Cube, if that was how it originally formed?" Wheeljack caught on. We both nodded.

"It might not be the Cube though. Could be anything." Bee pointed out.

"Why do you say almost?" Hound asked. "All branches of absorbed All Spark energy is accounted for. The Decepticons have it all."

"Unless there's another branch we are unaware of." Bee defended. He glanced at me, sending me apologies over the link. He nearly blew my cover. I brushed it away and felt pride at how we've helped.

"And there very well could be. The transformers created in Mission City held no more of the Allspark than we do. When they went off line, their portion returned to the greater supply."

"'Till all are one." Optimus nodded, acknowledging Ratchets logic. "All the same with those sparked in Samuel's house. We'll have to keep a look out for wherever else Allspark energy may radiate from. Arcee, I want you to run through data on everywhere the two shards had been. Find out where else energy could have escaped. Anything we find could help us."

"Yasser." she nodded, moving to another monitor. I got my energy before then, I'm safe.

"They could be creating a new army. We never thought to think about the possibility of the Allspark being in their possession." Wheeljack mused. "If they do have it, which now I think it's likely they do, they honestly could be creating new soldiers rather than smuggling them."

"They're likely doing it like in the later days of the war on Cybertron." Hound realized. "Advancing the protoform lifecycle before they're even sparked and prepare them for war when they should be learning how to transform. It's barbaric." he said in disgust.

"But true. The Decepticons have always been that low, we know they'll do anything to win this war." Optimus said gravely. I could only imagine what Hound described; sparkling protoforms armed for war. Bringing them into life only for destruction and never even giving them the chance to choose sides. Using mere sparklings in this, it made my stomach sick.

Bumblebee had a similar feeling, he didn't even try to comfort. I wouldn't have wanted him to then, it's all just horrendous. And we're the ones that have to fight them.

"We need to prepare. Something is coming, and with those forces, there's bound to be an attack. I want everyone on full alert from this moment out. There's nothing we have that they want anywhere else, except for us ourselves, so I want all contacted forces to Earth immediately." Optimus ordered.

"The government really isn't going to like this." Ironhide shook his head.

"Of course they won't. First the Decepticons supposedly leave the planet, then our numbers double, and are obviously ready for war? They're going to try every trick in the book to get us to leave. I wouldn't doubt it if they finally just kicked us off." Sideswipe ranted.

"We cannot let them do that." Jolt stepped up. "We have to stay, and we have to concentrate everything we have on what's going on."

Optimus nodded, agreeing. "Yes, we cannot wander to side things. When can you get here?" he asked them.

"A week, minimum." Hot Shot shrugged. "But they've got a spacebridge, it'll take them three seconds to launch a full-scale invasion."

"Then let's just pray they don't start for a week, minimum." Ratchet mused.

"Then you don't want us here, monitoring them?" Prowl asked.

"No. We can monitor them second-hand from out here. It isn't as efficient, but we already know this attack will be here. Not there." Optimus compromised. "I want you four to leave for Earth immediately. We'll contact all the others we can. Leave now." Optimus ended the transmission feed to stop any farther delaying. He turned to us all. "Alright. I want Jolt helping me with contacting everyone else we can. Ratchet, I expect soon you'll have allot of patients. Make preparations, stay up-to-date and I want Arcee to help you." he glanced to where she was working in the corner. Arcee was the only other 'bot here on Earth that had greater-than-protocol medical education. "Sideswipe, you can take over for her."

"What about the government? What are we going to do about them? Surely we can't tell them, they'll make their own precautions. They'll try to help." Ironhide spoke up.

"We can't let them help." Optimus said urgently. "They've never seen anything like this, they wont understand the magnitude of what's coming. The Decepticons have access to a currently unknown amount of war-sparked younglings. They will have little to no effect on whatever army is to come. We cannot let them fight in this. Not even William."

"Especially not Will." Ironhide started. "We don't have any more objects hidden here on Earth do we? Because I don't expect the Original Primes will be generous enough to send Samuel back to us a second time."

Bee suddenly pulled me close.

"We are taking this very seriously." Optimus said, not looking at us. "This time, Bumblebee will take Sam abroad. Somewhere away from the rest of us and away from where the battle will be."

"Do you really think this will work? The battle always seems to make its way toward him." Ironhide pointed out.

"It better. Do you remember the battles back on Cybertron when they did this?" Optimus asked gravely.

"We always lost the most men then. It'd take me a whole Earth month to repair them all." Ratchet agreed.

"Where will we go?" Bumblebee asked. He was insanely worried and now it was my turn to send comfort to him. I was also frightened at this, but I hadn't witnessed any of those battles. I hadn't seen the outcome and I don't know what we're up against.

"I can't think of anyplace that will hide your spark signal." Optimus started. I could hide both our spark signals, as I do my own all the time, but that would require telling them. Wherever they send us, we should be fine. I can keep us safe with my gift.

Should I tell them now? It's the opportune moment. Something big is coming, and I can nearly double their forces alone. My energy field would be a valuable asset, and my shield would be the ultimate defense. I know they'd ask allot of questions, and they'd want to know so much about it and why I never revealed it before, but they'd accept it. Of course they would, they're the Autobots. In a way, I'm not just Bee's human. I'm the group's human, and they all care about me.

But, what it comes down to, is can I tell them? I glanced up at Bumblebee as he sent comfort, but was a little confused. He had to know what I was contemplating, then why was he confused. I probed his confusion with my own. He went back across the link and probed an unrealized impulse. I realized then it was a natural instinct for me to be against revealing my gift. That's why I never did it before. The All Spark works in strange ways, and it must have given me this instinct to keep me from revealing myself as I grew up, being too young to understand the logic behind keeping it secret.

I shook myself out of it. I can't. Everything will work out. If not, then my spark will be heavy. But it will. I have faith in their abilities and I know they will prevail, without me. For all I know, this could be the deciding battle. This could end the war and let the Autobots finally live in peace. I just can't use it.

"I can think of one." Ironhide said after a minute. No one would have noticed my turn of thoughts except Bee.

"Where?" Ratchet asked, curious.

"The Tomb of the Primes. It hid them for so long. Their spark signal would have faded completely long ago, but the Seekers were looking for them before even then. Surely it could hide theirs." we all stared at him. Oh, no. Please, not there. I've had enough of these ancient Primes. Not only have they been stalking me since long before the battle in Egypt, but I visited them in a dream evidentialy, and they're likely still stalking me. I don't want to give them any more reason to invade my privacy.

"It is your best chance. Can you stay there?" Optimus asked Bee, who contained my dismay.

"Yes, of course. We'll both be a little freaked out, but we'll survive." Bee bowed his head.

"I want you to leave for there immediately. While Jolt, Ratchet, Arcee, and Ironhide carry out their orders, I will be contacting all other known teams, and I will attempt again to reach contact with our MIA team." Optimus started. "Bumblebee and Sam are going abroad and I want you three," He looked at Ironhide, Skids, and Mudflap. The twins had been silent this whole time, wonder what's wrong with them. Well, judging from the looks they were still giving Ratchet when they normally would have spoken up, he likely off lined their vocal processors again. "To hold off the government. Let William know the truth, let them all know. I want you to convince them to stay out this time."

"We'll try. I don't know how easy it'll be..." Ironhide warned.

"Take measures we refrained from before. If need be, show them why they need to stay out. Just do anything you can to insure they are as far from this battle as physically possible. I want as little hurt as possible." Optimus sighed. "If we fail, it won't matter. If we do fail, Bumblebee, leave Earth with Sam."

They can't fail. They won't lose. They will not fall this time. Not now.

"Now go, we need to work quickly." Optimus was more stressed out than I'd ever seen him. I already understood this was bad, but it must be worse than I could understand. The Decepticons, having access to unlimited resources to create a whole new army, larger than any ever seen before. And this time, the Autobots are not on equal ground.

They can't fail.

Bumblebee started to run out with me, but I stopped everyone from leaving.

"What about the spy?" They all froze and turned to me. "The Decepticon above us. He's too high to hack anything or attack, but he's in just the right spot to let the other Decepticon know who left the base and where they went. Teamed with Soundwave on the satellite up there, they could track us all the way to the Tomb."

"He's right. That must be what that Decepticon is doing up there." Sideswipe mused.

"Take the tunnels as far out as you can. You'll have to get to the Tomb without aircrafts. Stay away from the public eye, away from cameras as much as possible. And do not let Sam be seen at all. This is your best chance." Optimus ordered. "Now hurry. Ratchet, let them talk..." Bumblebee was running out with me.

I can't believe this was happening. We just, literally just, got back from our vacation and now we've got to leave again. Maybe for the last time. NEST may not be here any longer by the time we get the chance to return.

We survived Mission City and started this, all around us. We created a new life here, and a new home. We won Egypt, giving us all more hope and more confidence that when we fall, we will always rise again. We've gone through Mikaela's leaving, and my initiation. Bee and I've got our link, and I moved in. Our life here has become normal, we have made history and we have created this new world.

Now, I can almost visibly see everything we've built crashing down around us. Our hope before is only dust compared to what we need now. Bee and I are going into hiding, and more Autobots are coming. The government will quickly notice their power in this war decline until they are completely pushed out of it. It's like everything has changed in these last few hours.

Everything has changed since that fateful night I followed Bumblebee. No one knew my gift, now two others do. The world was not in danger, now this very well could be from the last hour to the last month. I was nearly human then, I was only a human with an odd gift, and a powerful almost plasma-like energy within my heart keeping me alive. Now, I've only got an outer shell of a human. I don't think human, I'm not human under paper work, I've got an alien link, and I've got an alien spark. If that doesn't make me a transformer, I don't know what does.

Bee looked down at me anxiously as we snuck into the underground. He set me down, stroking my back comfortingly once before transforming and opening his drivers' side door. It was a perfectly straight passage way in complete darkness. I glanced back, there didn't seem to be an opening for a hologram covered the ceiling there, or the floor in the room we came in through. No light seeped through.

He sped off and I now felt everything we'd gained in the last (nearly if not) three years drain from me. Everything except for the link.

We were alone again. It was just him and I, driving down the road. Only now, the road was cold and dark, and our emotions were both just the same.


Was it good? Did I do a good job at turning the story around to urgent? I'm suddenly hit with another problem. I hate, absolutely hate, killing off Autobots. But they certainly can't all live in this epic battle that's about to come. How can I do this? I'm not going to give theories this time, so don't worry about a spoiler. But, I just don't know how I'm going to do it. I can't even finish my War for Cybertron: Autobots game because I have to do the bonus missions as Decepticons.

I would have updated much earlier, but my brother needed the computer for collage stuff and after that I got high off gum. If you ever are misfortunate enough to meet me, don't let me chew gum. You'll have a head ach in three minutes, and I'll be doing a hand-stand while playing Wii bowling in five. Also, cheese is bad too.

Enough of my still wearing off sugar high, please review. I absolutely love them and I know all you other authors out there love getting them too.

PS: because I really am still slightly sugar high, and I really don't want to stop typing, I'm going to tell a bit about the book I'm trying to write. It probably won't be finished before the end of the year, and so far it's more on the fantasy side. Not much sci-fi yet, but I'm writing it much like I write these stories and often don't know what the next word I'm going to write is. I might even put in some of the stuff I made up from these stories in it.

PS#2: sometimes couches deserved to be hugged too.