28- Orion Pax (part 2).
"Optimus Prime?" Darkscream said in disbelief, aiming his missiles at him.
"Please, I mean no harm."
"Oh?! Then, what are you doing here?!"
"Research, for lord Galvatron."
That left Darkscream confused. "Is this some kind of joke?"
"I do not understand. And why did you call me Optimus Prime?"
Darkscream finally lowered his weapons. "Eh…why wouldn't I?"
"Because my name is Orion Pax. I am far from being a Prime."
Darkscream took a look and saw that Optimus had the Decepticon symbol on his shoulders.
"Ah, you reminded me of someone I once knew. That's all." Darkscream invented.
"You are Starscream? You look different."
"Well, now I like to call myself Darkscream, but it is still me."
"Lord Galvatron told me you had been terminated."
"Lord Galvatron says many things, only some of which are true."
"You…do not suggest that our leader would speak falsehoods?"
That made Darkscream laugh a lot. "You truly are being kept in the dark, aren't you?"
"You speak in many riddles, Darkscream. Please, tell what it is that you know." Orion asked.
"And in return…" Darkscream started.
In that moment, the door opened and some Decepticons air soldiers appeared, with guns ready.
"Darkscream, surrender." One of them ordered aiming his gun.
Darkscream went to cover right behind Orion.
"Hold your fire." Orion demanded.
Darkscream immediately changed to his jet mode and flew above them and through the ship's halls.
"Remain in the lab." One of the soldiers ordered.
"But I…" Orion started.
"Lord Galvatron's orders." The Decepticon interrupted him before he closed the door and changed to his vehicle form and chased Darkscream.
Other Decepticons tried to shot down Darkscream, but he eliminated them all first with his laser guns as he flew through the ship's corridors. Noticing that he was being followed by an air soldier, Darkscream changed to robot form and landed on top of him. He blasted him with his gun until the soldier started to get down and jumped and returned to vehicle form. Next, he used one of his missiles to blow the hangar's door. As he made his way out of it, the Nemesis's guns fired at him, so he tried to get away as fast as he could, until one shot hit him at one of his engines, making him scream in pain as he fell down to Earth's surface. Meanwhile, at the Autobot base, Ratchet was about to see if his modifications on the ground bridge really worked.
"Clemont, is the test subject ready?" Ratchet asked.
Clemont placed a remote-control car on the floor while he handed the controller. "Check. Long-range GPS activated."
"I have doubts whether my recalibrations have successfully extended ground bridge range, but there is only one way to find out." Ratchet said as he activated the portal.
Clemont used the remote controller to guide the toy car at the portal.
"Come on." Ratchet said.
The car was about to reach the vortex, but before it could it began to spark before blowing up in pieces. Ratchet sighed in disappointment.
"It was just the first try." Clemont said, trying to cheer him up.
"No Clemont, it was pure folly: a misguided act of desperation. It takes eons to master space bridge engineering, and no one is more accomplished than the Decepticons." Ratchet lamented in defeat.
"You know, there's this thing in gym class which my dad told me about: you have to climb a rope all the way to the ceiling. It's really hard, and I've never been able to do it. But when my sister saw me practicing, she encouraged me to continue, which made me practice a ton. Finally, just a couple of weeks ago, I made it, to the top." Clemont told.
"What does any of this have to do with gym class?!" Ratchet asked frustratingly.
"I…I was just…"
Ratchet simply growled and went back to the terminal.
"I'll give you some alone time." Clemont said leaving, not aware that someone else observed everything.
"What was that for?"
Ratchet turned, only to see Elita One with an annoyed look." What do you mean?"
"You, talking to Clemont like that, like if he's guilty of something he did. I know you are frustrated, but that doesn't give you the right to treat him like that. He was trying to make you feel better, even if it was only a bit. I don't think he deserved the way which you have answered to him. Keep your emotions in check, Ratchet, because I'm sure Optimus wouldn't you to act that way with our friends. Don't forget that you are not the only one who miss him." She pronounced before going to check the main terminal.
"Optimus, I'm so sorry."
On the Nemesis, Galvatron already knew about what happened with Darkscream, and went to see how was his old friend.
"Orion, I'm so sorry for the recent commotion. You weren't in any way harmed, were you?"
"No, lord Galvatron. But why did you tell me Starscream was dead?"
"Because he's truly dead to our cause. Starscream was my most trusted lieutenant, until he turned traitor and joined the Autobots, offering himself as a test subject for an unimaginable experiment as a test to prove his loyalty, which resulted on him becoming that new abomination called Darkscream, as a way to inflict fear on us. Never have I witnessed a more profound act of deceit. He did not do or say anything troubling to you?"
"No."
"Good. Perhaps it's best to forget the entire incident and return to your project." Galvatron finished as he left the room.
"As you wish, my lord."
As he returned with Soundblaster, Galvatron growled his teeth in anger, knowing that Darkscream could had ruined everything.
"Orion was never very adept at the art of deception. I made a mistake not terminating Darkscream when I had the opportunity. A mistake I do not intend to make again."
At the same time, Warpath and Sideswipe returned to base by the ground bridge, changing to robot form.
"No sign of energon spikes." Warpath reported.
"Has anyone found the space bridge?" Sideswipe asked.
"They haven't yet reported back." Elita answered.
"Ratchet, you're alright?" Warpath asked, noticing Ratchet's face.
"He just…needed to let off some steam." Elita simply said.
"Hum? Yes. Yes, let's just get you two to the next quadrant." Ratchet nodded.
In that moment, the main screen started to glow and beep.
"What is it?" Warpath asked.
"A high-frequency signal. With an embedded message. For me, and Elita." Ratchet saw.
"Optimus?" Elita asked with hope.
Ratchet checked it, but was not who they thought. "Darkscream."
"Really? Screamy decided to call us? He knows we can take him now that he's not with the Cons anymore. Why take such a risk?" Sideswipe demanded in disbelief.
Ratchet started to see the message. "I have obtained information regarding your leader. Bring medical kit, come just the two of you alone."
"You think is a trap?" Warpath asked.
"We cannot be certain. If Darkscream has truly gone rogue he cannot stand a chance against me or Ratchet, specially when he's outnumbered." Elita explained.
"Yeah, his tactic is more to fly away as the coward we know he is." Sideswipe recalled.
"And if he is calling for both our presence, he must know something really important to offer, specially is he's asking for medical attention." Ratchet deduced.
Darkscream laid against a boulder on the forest near the shore of the Blue Lagoon, on Johto, as the lake was lighted by the lights of some Chinchou. He was leaking energon from his leg, which made him groan in pain when suddenly he saw a ground bridge appear in front of him. Ratchet, Warpath, Elita and Sideswipe came out from it.
"I told you to come alone!" Darkscream exclaimed.
"And since when do we listen to you?" Sideswipe pointed as he and Warpath pulled out their weapons, in case they needed them.
"Where is Optimus?" Elita demanded.
"Patch me up and perhaps I'll tell you."
"Don't make me worse your condition with a simple BOOM!" Warpath menaced aiming his chest cannon at him.
Darkscream groaned. "Have sympathy. I'm leaking here."
"Then I suggest that you speak quickly." Ratchet advised.
"Now tell us, as Optimus been harmed, in any way?" Elita demanded.
"He's fine, fine. Can't you see I'm the one who's been harmed?"
"Where is he?!" Warpath demanded.
"Where do you think?! He's on Galvatron's warship!"
"Which is located where?" Sideswipe continued.
"Hehe, now? Who knows? It's a ship, it moves. It took me weeks to track, only to get fired upon." Darkscream ranted.
"You wouldn't go to the trouble of calling us here unless you had information to trade. Real information." Elita reminded as she turned her hands into swords, and approached one to Darkscream's neck. "Now, speak clearly."
Darkscream sighed. "Very well. Your beloved leader may have lost his senses: he goes by the name Orion Pax now, and it seems Galvatron has led him to believe he's a Decepticon."
Sideswipe laughed a little. "Tell us something we don't know."
"What? How could you possibly know that?!"
"We're wasting our time." Ratchet concluded.
"I guess you're right." Elita agreed with him as they and the other Autobots headed back to the portal.
"Wait, that's all I have! Really! You can't just leave me like this!"
"Unless you know where Galvatron is hiding his space bridge, you can stay here and rust." Warpath proclaimed.
Darkscream gasped in surprise. "Space bridge? Do you mean to tell me that they actually finished building it without my supervision?!"
That caught the Autobots' attention.
"You know where it is, don't you?" Sideswipe deduced.
Darkscream laughed. "It hurts most right here, doctor."
Moments later, everyone was present in the base's main hall, looking at the screen.
"The Decepticon space bridge is located right here, deep within an energon mine somewhere on Mt. Coronet." Ratchet introduced.
"Adjacent to a raw fuel supply, clever." Hot Rod observed.
"What's our intel?" Arcee asked.
"A reliable source." Sideswipe simply answered, so Arcee looked him with a confused look.
"So, do we have a consensus?" Elita asked to Delia.
"Do we know if people can even breath your atmosphere?" Delia asked.
"We will take care of the proper equipment. We pokémon rangers have some connections with the space exploring organization." Ranger Solana reassured.
"It's too dangerous."
"Mom, I know that this is hard, but Optimus risked his life to save our planet, and he's not even human. We owe it to him. Besides, this is nothing new for me, and you know it." Ash explained.
"Ash may be the only one who can do this, Delia." Serena supported.
"And I don't want you to think for one moment that I'll allow him to travel unchaperoned." Elita reassured her.
"Not everyone is destined for an ordinary life. Optimus Prime was once Orion Pax after all." Ratchet added.
Delia looked over at Ash and smiled. "When they are little, many children want to be an astronaut. And you are going to become one right now."
"It's not very different than dream of becoming a pokémon master." Hot Rod added.
Meanwhile, at the Nemesis, inside Orion's workstation…
"Okay. Optimus Prime." Orion typed on the computer, trying to search about who belonged that name. After that, an image appeared on the screen. "Optimus Prime: leader of the Autobot invaders. I reminded Darkscream of him. And lord Galvatron said Ratchet was the Autobot leader. Someone is not telling the truth."
Back at the Autobot base…
"We will ground bridge directly into the energon mine, and make our way to the space bridge chamber, neutralizing any Decepticon forces we encounter." Elita was explaining. "Once we secure the space bridge we'll send for Ash. Stealth must be an absolute priority. We will most certainly be outnumbered, and if any Decepticon should transmit an alert to their warship…"
"The odds become 400 to 1." Wheeljack finished.
"Scrambling communications upon entry will certainly provide an edge in this regard." Ratchet suggested, holding a coms scrambler on his hand.
"Taking the bridge is the easy part. You eight need to hold it long enough for Ash and me to get to Cybertron and return." Hot Rod pointed.
"Clemont climbed to the top of the rope of gym class. We can do this." Ratchet declared, making Clemont smile.
"You really did it? Why didn't you tell me?!" Bonnie exclaimed to him a little annoyed.
"It seems he wanted to give you a surprise." May deduced.
"What can we do to help?" Dawn asked.
"We will require all assistance as possible. Besides you assisting the pokémon rangers operate our ground bridge and manage the communication ops, we will need your strongest pokémon to help us hold the space bridge once we take it for any complication." Elita instructed.
"We supposed you will need them, so we brought them just in case." Misty said as she and the rest of the gang started to pull out their poke balls.
"And Miss Ketchum would stand by in case of emergency."
"Ash, it's time for you two to suit up." Ranger Solana announced.
That caught Ash by surprise. "Wait, do you mean that Pikachu can also come?"
"We also have a special suit for space about his size. And it's modified, so he would not have any trouble about using his moves." Ranger Lunick revealed.
"Did you hear that, buddy? We can go to space travel together. What do you say?"
"Pikachu." Pikachu nodded giving him a thumb up.
The ground bridge took the Autobot team to a cavern in the deeps of Mt. Coronet. They arrived with their guns ready.
"Clear." Hot Rod reported.
"Clear." Arcee repeated.
"No Cons at sight yet." Wheeljack added.
The team started to make their way in. Not far from there they found a couple of Vehicons and a heavy soldier with a mining drill. Sideswipe got at top of the drill and landed between they two, kicking one in the face, knocking him out, before Warpath smashed him with his hammers. The other tried to shot at them, but Bee and Hot Rod smashed him against the drill.
"(Not a wise move.)"
"Command, this is space bridge control, we are under attack." The heavy soldier called by com-link, but he only heard static. "Command, do you read…"
Immediately, Arcee, Elita and Moonracer kicked him at once, sending him flying. Before he could get up, Wheeljack finished him with his swords.
"Shhh." He said.
The Autobots reached to an elevator, which took them to a lower level.
"Going down." Warpath said before he smashed a Decepticon's face with both hammers when the elevator stopped.
They continued their way until they finally reached to a huge chamber, where they covered behind some boulders.
"By the Allspark." Ratchet expressed.
Right in front of them, stood the space bridge: a huge construction, guarded by a few Decepticon helicopters, tanks, air soldiers and lots of engineers.
"Thank you, Darkscream." Moonracer said, making Wheeljack to look at her surprised. "Who else would it be?"
"Let's take that thing from their servos, Wrecker style." Wheeljack declared pulling out a grenade and placing it inside one of the drills once it was activated.
Two of the Decepticons heard a sound, making them prepare their guns. And next, they saw the drill flying at them, they tried to destroy it firing, but it ended crushing them before the grenade exploded, earning the Cons' attention. That allowed the Autobots to start their assault: the Decepticon helicopters were the first to fire them back from the distance, but Wheeljack and Sideswipe managed to eliminate them one by one with their swords after approaching them fast. The engineers also tried to defend themselves, but the Autobots, being faster than then, managed to sneak behind them and fire at the generators of their backs, exploding them, while Warpath eliminated the closest ones with his cannon and hammers. Once all enemies were defeated, Ratchet walked to the space bridge command terminal.
"A masterpiece of engineering." Ratchet contemplated.
"Operational?" Elita asked.
Ratchet typed on the terminal, activating it. "Fully."
"Perimeter secured." Warpath reported.
"Now the scary part." Arcee said worried.
"I'm shutting down the scrambler in order to contact base and maintain communication through the remainder of the mission." Ratchet informed.
"Strike team to base, objective secured." Elita communicated.
"That's your signal." Solana confirmed while Clemont opened the ground bridge.
Ash was wearing some kind of astronaut suit, the same as Pikachu, who wore a similar suit with helmet already on. Ash allowed Pikachu to climb on his shoulder before climbing down the stairs. He saw the portal open next to him and Zippo, Tracey's Scyther, Misty's Gyarados, May's Blaziken, Dawn's Mamoswine, Serena's Braixen and Clemont's Luxray ready to enter the ground bridge. Ash pulled out four of his poke balls and called out his Charizard, Greninja, Sceptile and Krookodile.
"Guys, our friends are going to need all the help needed while Pikachu and I complete our mission." Ash instructed, earning a nod from all of them.
"Piplup, piplup!"
"You want to join them as well, Piplup?" Dawn asked her pokémon.
"Piplup." Piplup nodded.
"Alright, but be careful."
"Good luck, Ash." Clemont encouraged.
"Bring me back a souvenir." Max asked.
"Remember to tell us every detail once you're back." May added.
"So, what happens when you have to go to the bathroom?" Bonnie asked.
"I'm sure he would not have to worry about that, Bonnie." Misty reassured her.
"We will be ready to assist you when you need us, all of us." Ritchie said.
"Pikachu." Sparky added.
"You can do it, Ash." Tracey supported.
"Safe journey, Ash." Solana told him as Lunick saluted him as both Plusle and Minun said goodbye to Pikachu.
Serena hug Ash. "Be safe, and don't forget to return."
"I won't. I promise." Ash swore before giving her a kiss.
"Just go already. Optimus needs you." His mother simply said before giving him a hug. "Take care of him, Pikachu."
"Pika pi." He nodded.
After putting on the helmet, Ash took a couple of steps back before saluting them. Next, accompanied by all the pokémon, he entered the ground bridge and reached the space bridge, where the Autobots were waiting for them.
"Reinforcements are here." Moonracer announced.
"Locking onto Cybertron." Ratchet announced.
"Glad to know you're joining us, Pikachu." Hot Rod noticed. "You're ready?"
Ash pulled out the key. "Let's do this."
"I'll leave the space bridge portal open in order to eliminate any communication lag over the great distance and make it easier for you to locate when you're ready to return." Ratchet informed.
"Easier to locate? You're not bridging us straight to Vector Sigma?"
"Vector Sigma's true location has always been a myth, Ash. No one has ever discovered it." Wheeljack revealed.
"But it is said the path of the Primes leads there. We must be confident that Optimus will guide you." Elita explained.
"Don't worry. Space bridging is just like ground bridging." Arcee reassured.
Ratchet activated the space bridge. The force of the portal was noticed.
"Just a little more intense!" Sideswipe shouted.
"Nah, don't listen to him. We'll be just fine." Hot Rod reassured.
They entered the space bridge. When they reached the other side, they saw they were in middle of the ruins of a big city. Ash and Pikachu looked around in awe as they saw Cybertron for the first time while they continued walking with Hot Rod.
"Whoa, I can't believe it. We're actually on another planet. Isn't it amazing, buddy?"
"Pikachu." Pikachu nodded amazed.
"Hot Rod, this is incredible!" Ash expressed, but he earned no response from his friend. "Hot Rod?"
He had a sad expression on his face. "This isn't how I wanted you to see my home."
"I'm so sorry."
"Pika." Pikachu added lowering his head.
"In the fog of war, it's hard to see beyond the next leg of the mission, for the next punch in the fight. We did everything to save Cybertron, but when the fog finally lifted, there wasn't much left to save."
"Hot Rod, Ash, do you copy?" Elita called by com-link.
"Affirmative. We're on Cybertron." Ash answered.
That cause the gang to yell happy and gave each other some high-fives even with the pokémon rangers.
"Oh, thank goodness." Delia sighed with relief.
"See? He's fine." Serena reassured her.
"Just keep the sightseeing to a minimum, huh?" Sideswipe asked.
"Indeed. We don't know if your journey ahead is five clicks or five thousand." Ratchet clarified.
"Understood. We're out." Hot Rod told them before he ended the communication.
"Okay, Elita said the key would guide us. But I don't see how or what I'm supposed to…" Ash said, until he observed the key glowing with more intensity.
Ash moved the key to every direction, seeing where it glowed most.
"There you go." Hot Rod said before changing to vehicle form.
Ash and Pikachu got inside him and they started to make their way through the necropolis, following the key's guide. Meanwhile, the rest of the Autobots waited guarding the space bridge.
"This could be a while." Warpath remarked.
"Space bridge control, do you read me?" Someone called suddenly through a com-link. "Space bridge control, this is Breakdown. Your status report is overdue."
"Scrap." Wheeljack cursed as he was about to answer, but Arcee stopped him.
"What do you think you're doing?" She asked.
"He'll suspect if he doesn't receive an answer."
"Wheeljack, no. He'll recognize your voice." Ratchet advised.
"He can make it lower." Warpath suggested changing his voice's tone. "Higher?"
"Do you think that's going to work?" Moonracer asked in disbelief.
"Well, Breakdown is not the smartest Con of the Nemesis. It may work." Sideswipe opined.
"We cannot take the risk, he may not recognize all ours voices, but he may not be alone there listening." Elita reasoned.
They looked at Bumblebee, thinking of he may could fool him.
"Come in, space bridge control. Don't make me come down there and dent some engine blocks." Breakdown menaced.
"Maybe you, but not us."
Then an idea came to Ratchet's mind. "Max, you're a genius. Clemont, patch in Ranger Lunick."
With that suggestion, Lunick became nervous. Breakdown was starting to lost his patience.
"You have one nano cycle to respond or I…"
"This is space bridge control, situation normal." Ranger Lunick said through the com link.
"Normal? You're sure about that?" Breakdown asked suspicious.
"We were just…calibrating the sub-systems and we…huh, had a surge, but its fine now. How are you?" He said, making everyone to get nervous.
"That's it, they are doomed." Misty cursed.
There was a short silence until Breakdown answered. "Uh…hm, never better. I know it's thankless down there. Keep up the good work, uh?"
"Will do. Control out." Ranger Lunick said before hanging up and sighed in relief.
"I didn't know you have this curious talent, Lunick." Solana admired.
"Well, thanks. I think." He said a little red.
Meanwhile, Orion continued his investigation.
"Why would the Decepticon archives be so heavily encrypted?"
Orion continued typing, until he finally managed to break the code, in that moment the image started to change. Once it finished, he widened his optics in shock.
"How could I possibly be Optimus Prime?"
Unfortunately, Soundblaster detected all his efforts and showed it to Galvatron, who wasn't happy.
"Even our encryptions couldn't keep him from the truth. Orion has much to accomplish, and he will stay the course. Even if I must inflict great pain to ensure the completion of Project Iacon."
Back to Cybertron, Hot Rod, Ash and Pikachu continued their search, following the key across the ruins of ancient cities. The key pointed right at another city in ruins.
"That way." Ash pointed with the key.
"Toward Kaon?" Hot Rod asked surprised.
"The Decepticon capital." Ash recognized.
The trio reached to a long bridge that lead to the remaining ruins of Kaon. Hot Rod stopped right at the head of the bridge.
"We're on foot from here." Hot Rod decided. Ash and Pikachu got out him, allowing him to return to robot form and pull out his weapons. "Don't want engine noise to attract the wrong kind of attention."
"Cons?" Ash asked.
"Vermin." Hot Rod corrected. "Stay alert you too, Pikachu."
"Pika." Pikachu nodded.
Ash pulled out the key card and pointed it towards Kaon. "This way."
They started to advance toward Kaon, but Hot Rod was right that there might be something else on Cybertron instead of Cons, but he didn't know that it was closer than he expected. Right beneath them, under the bridge, something crawled beneath the ground, and noticed their presence. Something big, purple and fierce was going for them.
To be continued…