Chapter 12-Daughter of the Zodiac
Nippon, the land of the rising sun. Despite being a relatively small nation comprised of a collection of islands, Nippon was a powerful country with a long history and a lot of pride to show for it. Nippon was a country that managed to maintain its identity and independence in an age of imperialism, refuting repeated invasion attempts from Yuktobania, Joseun, and Britannia. It was a world power and one of the leading nations in science and technology.
In the one and half years that he had been here, Jazz couldn't think of a time he had been to Nippon. With all the craziness that was going on with this planet, it was hard to get some decent downtime that didn't equate as energon scouting. But he always felt an affinity with Nipponese culture; the age old traditions, the samurai culture, the uniqueness of the nation's history as a whole, it all reminded him of his years spent in Yoketron's sanctuary. By rights, his first official visit should have been a memorable one, but Megatron crashing the party and everyone getting caught up in the dolem's attack ruined the thrill of meeting Lucy Chan, his favorite martial arts actor.
But he had a second chance in the form of the join solar energy project. As per the terms of the Cybercord Treaty the Autobots had with most of the world's nations, the Autobots would provide small advances in technology to better improve the lives of humans, be it medicine or energy conservation. Ratchet and Lifeline were working in Anea, helping poor communities with free medicine and food (the local warlords knew better than to try to start something with the giant robots after Lifeline delivered some just retribution on them), and Wheeljack was heading a solar energy plant in Osea, but it was Nippon that had contacted the Autobots for help with a revolutionary power plant that could solve their country's growing energy concerns.
Jazz volunteered, of course, and essentially tagged along with Armorhide and Bulkhead (Bulkhead was a very handy construction worker and Armorhide, despite having little field combat experience was an extremely capable mechanic). It was a great way to mend things with the Nipponese government after that horror show a couple of months ago.
After making some preparations, the three Autobots took a ground bridge to the science research center in Edo to meet up with the head of the new power plant they were making. As soon as he stepped foot on the ground, Jazz stretched his arms and smiled.
"Oh man, it feels good to be back in the Far East again!" jazz said. "Maybe we can finally hit the landmarks without being swarmed by Megs and his posse."
"Uh, you sure I should come along, sir?" Armorhide asked, looking around at the gawking humans watching them. "Last time we were here, uh, things didn't go very well."
"Relax, kid, and you can drop the sir. Just call me Jazz." Jazz patted Armorhide's shoulder. "Of course we're sure about taking you along. You gotta get used to being around humans more. And you're really good with your hands."
"You're pretty good with those tools of yours. Not Wheeljack good, but close enough." Bulkhead said.
"Gee thanks." Armorhide grumbled.
A young woman walked out of the building and approached the three Autobots. She was a classic Nipponese beauty, with short black hair that curled at the ends and icy blue eyes behind a pair of narrow glasses. Somehow, the light gray business suit she wore made her stand out more, and Jazz knew she had to have had her fair share of admirers in the workplace.
"Hello, Autobots. My name is Dr. Chika Tanaka," She gave them all a polite bow in greeting. "I'm the head of the renewable power plant project we're developing."
"Pleased to meet you, Dr. Tanaka. I'm Jazz and these are my friends, Armorhide and Bulkhead. Thanks for having us." Jazz said, returning the bow.
Chika smiled. "Welcome to the Babylon Project, Autobots. I'm glad you three decided to return to Edo. I'm sure the memories of that incident are still fresh for you."
"Well, we Autobots never turn down someone in need." Armorhide said. "But, uh, what do you need us for?"
"As per the conditions of the Cybercord Treat between you and the member nations that are a part of it, the Autobots are allowed to provide small advancements of technology, yes?" Chika asked.
"Yeah, that's true." Bulkhead nodded, still eying the large power source he spotted in the building behind her. "I take it this involves that giant doo-hickey behind you?"
"Correct. That's the crown jewel of the Babylon Project, the Dawn Reactor. Nippon's first foray into using clean energy to power our cities to lessen the use of fossil fuels." Chika said and motioned behind her. "Would you like to see it?"
"Absolutely!" Armorhide said excitedly. Jazz smiled and patted his shoulder.
"Well, you guys go on ahead and have fun. I'm going to hit the road." He said.
"You're not coming?" Bulkhead said.
"Nah. You guys have fun with the techie stuff." Jazz transformed into vehicle mode and revved his engine. "I'm off to do some sightseeing."
Jazz did a hard turn and drove out of the parking lot and sped down the road. Chika watched him go with a small, disapproving frown.
"I do hope he follows the traffic laws." She muttered.
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Jazz drove down the twisting highway that curved around the width of a small mountain at speeds no human would dare attempt at that height. He had better control over his wheels than even the best human sports cars, and split second reaction times that could keep him from tipping over or driving off the edge.
Maybe it was kind of careless to leave those two behind, but it would be a waste to just stand around with all the techno-babble when there's new land to explore. Besides, he wanted to look up some updates on Ginza's rebuilding. Though the district was only moderately damaged in the battle between Prime and Megatron, the true horror came from the survivors of the dolems' sick, twisted games-many were killed, a few requiring psychiatric help, and others…just couldn't handle the nightmares anymore. It was sad, depressing and scary.
Jazz was no stranger to fear. Everyone was afraid of something on some level, and he was trained to control that fear-channel it into something productive. It was a tactic he tried teaching Arcee. But the dolems were…odd. Their power was nothing to sniff at, their god complexes, the scope of their influence, it was all staggering to think about. It was disheartening to see the people like this, and he was sure that the Nipponese government would've at least been somewhat reluctant to accept the Autobots back, but apparently only a small minority of people blamed them. Much of the hate was turned on the Decepticons for initiating the attack.
'Those yahoos back at the States could learn a thing or two from Nippon.' Jazz thought, thinking of those Humanity Front thugs. They were a pack of wild animals nipping and biting at any esper or esper supporter without reason and Jazz could easily see them being manipulated by less noble people. It was the same story every time.
As Jazz came onto a road leading into a nearby coastal town, he spotted a little figure standing in the middle of the road-a little girl. Startled, Jazz hit the brakes and swerved to avoid hitting her, leaving skid marks deep into the ground as he slid past the girl and came to a stop. He summoned his holoform and got out to check on the girl.
"Hey, kid, you alright?" Jazz asked, running over to her. "Man, didn't you folks teach you to never play in the street?"
The girl said nothing, just turning to look at Jazz. She was a pretty girl with a delicate appearance. Jazz thought she almost looked like an elf with how pale she was, and from her pointed ears and long golden hair. She wore a white dress and sandals and looked around ten years old with bright violet eyes that seemed to stare not at him, but through him. There was something about her gaze that said she was looking at something he couldn't see.
"It's okay, Jazz. I knew you wouldn't hit me." The girl said in a soft, airy voice. Jazz blinked at her.
"Wait, how did you know my name?" He asked. The girl's smile widened.
"I knew because of your song." She answered.
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Very few things in the universe could freak Jazz out and creepy humans were one of them. Running into a girl who actively sought him out by hearing his "songs" left him with a bit of a dilemma, so he decided to take the girl over to a nearby park for a bit of one on one.
Once he found a secluded area of the park people rarely walked through, he and the mysterious girl sat down and began what was sure to be an interesting conversation. And the girl knew all the high notes to kick it off.
"So you got a name, sweetheart?" Jazz asked. The girl took a minute to answer before smiling up at him.
"My name's Melody." She said sweetly. "At least, that's what the nice people at Zodiac called me."
"Wait, Zodiac?" Jazz exclaimed. He quickly scanned the park area for any sign of hidden agents, but found nothing. "Um, what do you mean Zodiac?"
Melody was already starting to drift off onto another subject as she looked around at the park. "The music here is so soft. The trees are all the same but each has a slightly different tune." She said wistfully. "You have a nice song too, Jazz. Slow and soothing, it's relaxing."
"Thanks." Jazz said, warily looking at her. "Um, what kind of song do I have?"
"Smooth jazz, just like your name. It rolls off you in waves, sometimes low and sometimes high. Calm and light." She said.
"Huh." He muttered. "And…what about that woman over there? The one with the baby carriage."
Melody looked at the woman he was pointing to and said, "Her song is…death metal. She is loud and strong, very noisy, but right now she's in a low chorus with her baby."
Yeah, she was an esper. Her power seemed very subtle, though. "Hey, could you talk more about your caretakers? The Zodiac people? Do they take care of you?"
"Yes, they're really caring, though there was a lot of noise coming from them. So many songs in one place makes it hard to focus." Melody said, her bright eyes looking at the sunny area they sat in. "One of them was a man. I think they called him Cancer."
"Cancer," Jazz muttered. That was one of the twelve Zodiac all right. "Melody, have they done anything bad to you?"
"No, they didn't hurt me or anything. The people there just ran some tests whenever I went to see the doctor. I didn't understand why because I was never sick, but I think it's because I can do this."
Melody waved her hand over a patch of grass, and to Jazz's surprise, the wilted flowers sitting next to their bench suddenly began to rise as if they were rejuvenated. Within seconds they looked good as new.
"Whoa." He said. It took a lot to make Jazz speechless, but this was one of those rare moments.
Melody giggled. "They also had the same expression. I don't think they were expecting me to do this. They were all looking so surprised, and their songs were bright and upbeat as they talked to me. Except Cancer. I don't think he was very happy."
"I see." Jazz said, frowning. "Well, Melody, since you went to so much trouble to find me, how about I take you back to my place to meet some of my friends? Give you a place to stay and have something to eat."
"Really? That would be wonderful!" Melody smiled and Jazz swore that the world got brighter at that moment.
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"What do you mean you've lost track of her?"
"I'm sorry, sir. The subject was under satellite surveillance for the past day until we lost her signal. It could be a malfunction or-"
A strong hand grasped the scientist around the throat and began to squeeze his windpipe. Angry gold eyes glared into the man's watering eyes as he was slowly choked to death. His coworkers hung back, wanting to help their friend but not wanting to get killed.
"How hard is it to find a little Europian girl in Nippon? We should've found her yesterday for god's sake!" The general growled.
"We're…trying…" The man choked, trying to breathe. "Difficult…"
"Well then try harder!" The general sneered, tightening his hold on the man's windpipe, now on the verge of crushing it.
"Taurus, enough!"
Taurus looked over his shoulder and saw a woman bravely walking up to him. She was a tiny thing, reaching up to his shoulder, and looked dainty enough for him to break her in half. She wore a beige cotton sweater over a pink blouse and dress pants. Her hair was short and black, and her eyes were a bright emerald green.
"Libra," Taurus grumbled, stilling choking the scientist. "Don't start with me, girl. I'm not in the mood."
"Stop acting like a rabid animal and put him down." Libra commanded.
Taurus glared at her before dropping the man. Without another word he followed Libra into the soundproof office set up for them as the scientist was escorted to the on-site clinic.
"Going off on our loyal subordinates is something that maniac Leo would do. Not you. Learn to control yourself, would you?" She said.
"Shut it, Libra. Our project is about to go down the drain thanks to that brat of yours!" Taurus hissed. "Just when our efforts were gaining results, this happens!"
"Maybe if you didn't continually frighten the girl, we wouldn't be in this mess." Libra replied.
"At least I got results." Taurus grumbled and sat down on the chair with a sigh. "All that hard work…" He groaned.
"If this is going to set you off, then I know you're going to hate this new update."
"What now?" He growled.
"Three Autobots just appeared in Nippon an hour ago to help with the Helios Project." Libra said. "And thanks to some newly acquired info, we now have an idea of where Melody is going."
"Excuse me? You mean you know where she'll be?" Taurus said. "Where?"
Libra reached into her drawer and pulled out a colorful drawing of a girl holding hands with a silver Autobot. "Where do you think?"
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Doctor Chika Tanaka stared at Jazz with the sternest, most authoritarian glare she could muster, which wasn't too hard considering she perfected her flawless glare over the course of her professional career. Even Jazz felt the urge to break into a cold sweat, and he didn't even have sweat glands.
"Mr. Jazz-" She began.
"Just Jazz, please." Jazz said.
"…" Chika's glare went from blisteringly cold to absolutely glacial. Jazz wilted like a dry flower.
"Sorry."
"…Jazz, I'm not sure what kind of shenanigans you Autobots get up to when you're "off the clock" but I'm sure it doesn't involve bringing little girls into highly dangerous construction sites."
"Look, I'm sorry for springing her on ya but this really is related to work, er, my work." Jazz said. He got down on one knee and gave her a charming smile. "Please, Doctor Tanaka, just watch over her for a little while, okay? It's super important."
Chika wanted to say no to his face as penance for his recklessness, but a small hand took hers. She looked down and saw Melody smiling up at her, though her eyes seemed to be looking as something else entirely.
"Your song is sweet." Melody said kindly. "Let It Go is your favorite song, isn't it?"
"H-How…?" Chika stammered. She blushed and glared up at a smirking Jazz. "J-Just do what you have to do."
Once that was settled, Jazz pulled Bulkhead and Armorhide to the side and explained the situation to them. Their reactions were to be expected.
"Wait, that girl is with OZ?" Bulkhead blinked. "Are you serious, Jazz?"
"Like a terminal illness, Bulk. She named dropped one of them and the entire group. Those guys are probably operating in Nippon."
"We haven't seen those bastards since the headmaster war." Bulkhead grumbled. "Looks like they're finally done licking their wounds."
"OZ? As in the same people who tortured Sunstreaker?" Armorhide asked, glancing over at the girl as she talked with Chika. "She's with them?"
"No," Jazz said firmly. "No, Armorhide, the chances are that she's just another victim. She's an orphan and they were conducting some kind of experiments on her. Melody's an esper, but her powers…they don't seem to match at all."
"So do we call this in?" Bulkhead asked.
"Not yet. With OZ involved, we can't hunt them down without causing a scene, and they could have some connections that might give us a hard time in the future." Jazz looked over at Melody. "Besides, we should be finding out where they snatched up the poor girl."
"We can't just sit back and do nothing, Jazz. What if they come looking for her?" Armorhide asked.
"Then we punch 'em in the nose if they come sniffing too closely. Nippon is the turf of a Zodiac general we've never seen before, so we can't go on a manhunt. They don't know we're here yet, so I want to keep it that way for as long as possible." Jazz explained. "Bulk, you head out and look for any possible orphanages Melody was taken from that is run by a Sister Margaret. Melody said to look for her."
"Got it." Bulkhead nodded. "And you?"
"Armorhide and I will keep an eye on the girl. She seems to love hanging around me for some reason, so I better stay close to her." Jazz smiled and clapped his hands. "All right, gents, you have your assignments, so let's get it in gear!"
"Hello?"
"Gah!" All three Autobots jumped back as Melody popped up between them.
"Where did she come from?!" Armorhide coughed.
Chika skillfully hid her smile behind her hand at the sight of three giant robots jumping scared at a little girl. Revenge was sweet, after all.
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Espers were an enigma to Armorhide. He knew there were some races in the galaxy who gained special powers from certain quirks in their biology, be it gaining superhuman physical abilities by absorbing solar radiation or innate psychic abilities within physically frail aliens. It was nothing new to Armorhide, who admittedly took a special interest in such races, but the races of Terra were incredibly varied.
There was no rhyme or reason to their powers. There was no pattern, barely any similarities and no clear source. Some called it evolution, but even Armorhide knew that evolution didn't work like this.
But he was an Autobot, and if Jazz wanted him to look out for the girl, then he was going to do it! Even if she was a bit odd.
"So, uh, you like music?" Armorhide asked. He was sitting with Melody in a far off corner of the industrial section, far away from the bulk of the noisy energy production and construction work going on. The girl sat calmly next to the 25 foot tall robot as if it was the most normal thing in the world to do, drawing on pieces of paper with crayons provided to her by Doctor Tanaka.
"So you like to draw, huh?" Armorhide said, tapping his fingers on his bulky knees. "That's cool. I have a few friends up in space who can draw entire cities with intricate detail."
"Are their songs nice?" Melody asked.
"Uh…I think so. They're not the most socially adapt, but they're decent enough people." He shrugged. At least they didn't have Knockout's arrogance. "So what are you drawing?"
"My dreams."
"You dreams?" He blinked. Melody nodded and showed him one of her finished works.
It was drawn in the same messy style children are known for, but cleaner in a sense that there weren't too many squiggles. But the image she drew deeply unsettled Armorhide. It showed two notable Autobots, Rodimus and Ironhide, and Ironhide was lying on his side with a black hole in his chest.
"W-What…" Armorhide stammered, unable to really form words. "Melody, what is this?"
"My dreams. Lately I've been having dreams, and a lot of them are scary. I see your faces in them, and your songs are so sad and angry." Melody went on, either ignoring Armorhide's fear or not noticing it. She finished another drawing and showed it to him.
This drawing showed Optimus and Megatron, each sitting atop a massive flying reptile, battling each other in the sky. Optimus was wielding a large sword, and Megatron brandishing a curved scythe.
The next one showed the Decepticons tearing apart a city with their flag atop the tallest building.
A stick figure that looked suspiciously like Gina carrying the still body of another person, and Armorhide was horrified to recognize the green eyes and black hair of Darren.
"I don't know what they mean, but their songs are full of anguish and sorrow. It hurts to look at them sometimes." Melody sighed. Her sad eyes looked up at a visibly disturbed Armorhide. "I've seen you too. I can draw you, if you want. My dreams don't fade away immediately like other people."
"No…no, I'm goo." Armorhide said coldly. Melody flinched at his tone.
"I'm…sorry. Your songs, they sound-"
"Upset? Uncomfortable? Slightly perturbed? Yeah, I thought so too." He said. He took a glance at the pictures and looked away.
Melody wisely kept quiet when she saw his song buzz like angry bees.
This was the scene Jazz came back to after finishing his call to Optimus. One look at their faces, and then to the drawings Melody made, was enough to make the connection. He cleared his throat and scooped up Melody into his arms. "Hey, guys! I'm done giving Prime the rundown. He's going to let us keep an eye on things here. You wanna join me for a ride?"
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After taking the ferry to the mainland, Jazz drove Melody through the moderately empty streets in a leisurely drive. Melody sat in the passenger seat and hadn't said a word the entire ride. Jazz sighed and made to initiate a conversation.
"Not many kids your age can draw, you know. It's mostly just phones and music for them, though I'm not sayin' music is a bad thing-"
"It's okay, Jazz. I'm used to it. Your friend was just afraid, just like the others." Melody said softly. She looked outside the window as she thought back to her time at the lab. "The people who took care of me were also afraid of what I could…what I saw."
Jazz drove her to a secluded part of the road that couldn't be traversed on foot. He transformed and carried Melody over to a river away from prying eyes where they could talk in private. Sitting down at the edge of the river, Melody dipped her toes in the cool water as she continued to weave her tale to an unusually somber Jazz.
"I could speak to animals. They listened to me, sought me out because of my voice." She said. "When I was very sad, sometimes it would rain, and on bad days it would thunder. I had to be careful of my temper, because the last time I got angry, I…"
Jazz exhaled as Melody's voice caught in her throat. They sat together under the afternoon sun, hidden from civilization. Jazz asked her way they were interested in her powers, and she gave the best answer she could with her limited knowledge.
"My powers…they aren't normal. Miss Libra, my caretaker, said that I see the world through songs, but everything else was something rare in this day and age. She said I was a rare breed of human…someone who was superior to even espers. Miss Libra said that my powers came from something called, um…" Melody tapped her chin. "Quint…quintessence?"
"Say what?" Jazz looked at her. He heard that word before, uttered by the same monsters that had tried kill him and his friends multiple times. It's all the dolems were obsessed about.
"A lot of what they said didn't make sense to me, but Miss Libra said that I was special and that's good."
"Yeah, that is good…" Jazz muttered. "Melody, those people you were with…they aren't good people. They've done things, terrible things to other people. The reason they're so interested in your power is because they want to use you to further their own goals."
"I know. They're songs…they were ominous and dull, like a bass playing the same note over and over again. But Miss Libra, her song is an orchestra. Whenever she got excited, it got louder and grander, and being near her was fun!" Melody looked up at Jazz. "I don't think she was bad. Do you, Jazz?"
Jazz frowned, finding it hard to explain the intricacies of the human heart to a little girl. Melody's powers have left her mentally stunted, far more than Darren, Annie and Gina. Whoever this Libra was, she sounded like she knew a lot about the nature of Melody's powers, which wasn't a good thing. In his experience, smart supervillains were something to be wary of.
He refrained from answering Melody's question and stood up. "Hey, do you want to go the park, Melody?"
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The ride to the park felt longer than it should, mainly due to the silence between Jazz and Melody. Clearly their little talk had brought up some memories for the girl, but Jazz wondered if it was more along the lines of loneliness than abuse.
They arrived at the local park, where Jazz's holoform avatar escorted Melody into the less populated areas of the park. Being surrounded by nature, pure and untouched, their calm and happy songs made Melody's little face light up like the sun. She danced and twirled through the trees, which seemed to rustle and shake as she got near them. Jazz couldn't help but smile at the sight. With Melody humming and dancing amongst the flowers, she looked like a fairy tale princess.
His comm rang and he answered. "Jazz here."
"Jazz, it's me, Bulkhead."
"Bout time, Bulk. You make any progress in your search?" Jazz asked.
"You bet. I managed to track down the orphanage Melody came from. It's a nice little place around the outskirts of the city we're in, run by a nun who watches over the children. Many of the orphans are actually espers, though Nippon's rural areas are a lot more tolerable of espers than we give them credit for." Bulkhead said. "Melody's parents died in a car accident, and looking back at the reports, it was a gruesome scene. I think her powers just emerged around that time, and according to the nun, Melody was still conscious through it all."
"Primus," Jazz whispered, looking at the girl. No wonder she's in such a state. She watched her parents die right before her eyes.
"Yeah, tragic for a little girl who sees the world through songs and do funky magic, huh?" bulkhead sighed. "Melody stayed at the orphanage for two years before a woman came and adopted her-the nun described her as a young woman with short dark blue hair, glasses and dressed in a white suit. Even had an expensive car."
Jazz frowned. "Eye color?"
"The nun couldn't remember, but she does remember the woman having bright, vibrant eyes." Bulkhead answered. "Going off that, I can guess that she's from OZ, and might even be a Zodiac."
"Yeah, Melody had a lot of good things to say about her." Jazz said. He spotted Armorhide driving up to the lake and waved him over as he talked to Bulkhead. "Anything else?"
"Yeah, a guy just visited the place before me, asking for Melody as well in fact. I think OZ wants their cash cow back, Jazz."
"It was only a matter of time. I'll take Melody back to Babylon. OZ may want her badly, but not enough to cause a public spectacle by attacking a high profile construction project."
That sounded hollow even to Jazz, but neither he nor Bulkhead wanted to point that out. OZ favored secrecy above all else, however, the Headmaster War showed how far they're willing to push in order to eliminate their enemies. If push came to shove, OZ could really attack and demolish the Babylon project in order to get Melody back if they really wanted to.
"Thanks for the help, Bulk. Head back to Babylon, Armorhide and I will meet up with you." Jazz said.
"Got it. Bulkhead out."
The call ended and Jazz looked at Armorhide and Melody, who were talking to each other quietly. It was a shame to break it up, since Armorhide seemed to actually be getting along with the girl now (Jazz did get some good footage of Melody teaching Armorhide how to sing the Sound of Music). He got to his feet and clapped his hands to get their attention.
"Sorry to interrupt, but we need to head back to Babylon. Important Autobot business and all that." Jazz said.
"Aw." Melody pouted. Armorhide smiled and patted her head.
"Don't worry, we can talk more on the way back." He said.
"Okay." Melody smiled.
Escorting Melody back to their vehicle forms, the two Autobots drove away from the park, driving past a couple that had been watching them from afar. They would've looked completely normal had their expressions not been stone cold.
"Sir, they're on the move." The woman said into her well-hidden earpiece.
"Good. You two take the rest of the day off. We'll take it from here." A silky voice said on the other end. "We'll handle it from here."
The Zodiac general Taurus smirked as he finally got some good news and turned to his technician team. "Activate Maya and send it out. We're getting our weapon back!"
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It was approaching dusk as the Autobots drove back to the Babylon construction site. Throughout the drive, Jazz had a growing sense of unease that was born from years of warfare as a Special Operations Member.
"Armorhide, be on your guard." Jazz said.
"Huh? What for?" Armorhide asked. "Is it the Cons?"
"I'm not sure, but I think something bad's going to come our-"
A red energy beam was shot at them from behind and hit the ground right next to them. Jazz and Armorhide swerved on the road, and Armorhide was careful not to jostle Melody in his front seat.
"What was that?" Armorhide exclaimed.
Jazz's rearview mirror glanced behind him and he immediately wished he didn't. Just a few miles behind them was a large machine floating in the air. It was shaped like a woman's head, its armor pitch black with ruby red eyes and it moved through the air faster than its size would imply.
"What the hell is that thing?" Armorhide yelled.
"Trouble, that's what." Jazz said. "And it's gearing up for another shot!"
The machine head's eyes began to glow before firing twin red beams at the Autobots. They avoided the blasts, but the explosion nearly threw them off the road this time. Jazz transformed to robot mode and landed on his feet, taking out his rifle. He fired two shots, but the machine head created a large energy barrier that deflected the photon blasts.
"Oh, come on!" Jazz groaned and turned to Armorhide. "Armorhide, get Melody back to the lab and come back with Bulkhead. We can't let this thing near the Babylon site!"
"Roger!" Armorhide said and swerved around to drive away while calming his passenger down. "Don't worry, Melody, I'll get you to safety."
"Okay…" Melody said, but then she began coughing violently.
"Whoa, are you okay?" He asked. He did a quick interior scan of her body and noticed that her temperature was rising. "Melody, are you alright? You're getting warmer."
"I'm…" Melody couldn't finish her sentence, but Armorhide knew she wasn't okay.
"Don't worry, I'll get you some help. Just stay with me!" Armorhide said and increased his speed.
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Chika knew something was wrong when Bulkhead paused in his lengthy explanation on building materials perfect for conducting different forms of energy. His expression darkened and he stood up, turning from construction worker to soldier in a heartbeat.
"Chika, I need you to bring a medical team to the entrance immediately." Bulkhead said as he ran over to the entrance.
"What?" Chika said, trying to match his large strides and failing. "Why? What's happened?"
"I'll explain later, but-"
"Bulkhead!"
Chika gasped as she saw Armorhide kneeling outside the center with a pale and sweaty Melody in his large hands. She quickly had her assistant call for the center's medical team and ran over to the distraught Autobot.
"What happened to her?" She asked.
"I don't know. She just started getting headaches and it got worse from there." Armorhide said.
"Armorhide, I got the call from Jazz." Bulkhead said. "Did a talos attack you?"
"I don't know what the hell it is, but it came out of nowhere and started attacking us. Jazz is fighting it right now."
"Then we better get moving." Bulkhead said. He could already see the smoke in the distance. "Come on!"
He transformed and drove off, leaving Armorhide behind. Seeing how worried he was for Melody, Chika gave him a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry, we'll take good care of her." Chika said. "Now you go do your part."
Armorhide nodded and transformed to vehicle mode. He swerved around and sped away towards the battle, which was steadily getting closer to the Babylon center.
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Jazz wasn't having a good time fighting the talos. The machine was surprisingly fast for its size, and its concussive energy beams smacked him around more than he would like. Its movements were erratic and hard to predict, but something seemed off about it.
"Okay, since shooting at you won't work, then how about some good old fashioned close combat?" He growled.
Jazz took out his laser nunchunks and combined them to form his laser staff. The talos fired its eye beams and Jazz charged through its assault to run straight for the machine. He leapt up and swung his staff into the side of its massive head, only to have his weapon blocked by one of its shields. His staff bounced off the shield, and he was left vulnerable to another one of its energy beams. One beam hit him in the chest and blasted him into the ground.
Jazz hissed in pain as his armor burned from the attack. The talos hovered over him and prepared to finish him off when two laser blasts slammed into it.
"Jazz!" Bulkhead and Armorhide ran over to him, weapons out.
"Are you okay?" Armorhide asked as he helped Jazz up.
"It got me good, but I'll live." Jazz said, rubbing the smoking hole in his chest with a grimace. That one blast burned really deep, and another one of those would've been nasty. "This thing's no joke."
"No kidding." Bulkhead said, looking around at the ravaged area. "Hope we don't get blamed for this mess."
"Guys, look!" Armorhide pointed to the talos, which was flying towards the research center, completely ignoring them. "Don't even think about it, cog sucker!"
"Kid, wait!" Bulkhead tried to stop him, but Armorhide was already running at the talos.
Armorhide took out his plasma rifle and fired a barrage of plasma blasts at the talos. This time, instead of stopping, the talos moved faster.
"That thing's not going to stop." Bulkhead said as he and the others ran for it. "We need to slow it down!"
"On it!" Jazz fired his grappling hook at the talos and managed to get a hold, though it didn't even twitch and Jazz was getting dragged forward. "Scrap!"
The talos suddenly spun around and shot its twin beams, forcing Bulkhead and Armorhide to scatter. Armorhide's shoulder cannon extended to its full length and shot laser blasts at the talos, which it easily deflected. With Jazz still hanging on to its side, it approached Armorhide and prepared to fire, but Bulkhead rushed it from behind and changed his hand into a wrecking ball, shooting it at the talos's underside. The powerful blow smashed into the talos's propulsion system and knocked it off balance, staggering it.
"Now we're in business!" Jazz said and started shooting at the staggered machine.
XXXXXX
"I don't understand what's going on." Chika said, shaking her head. "Her temperature just keeps rising."
Chika wasted no time in taking the ailing Melody to the medical center to treat the girl, but it was hard when she had no idea what was going on with her. The girl suddenly developed a strong fever and her condition was starting to get worse by the minute.
'Her blood tests came out fine, and she's definitely not sick. Something else is happening to her!' Chika thought.
She heard a loud explosion outside and looked out the window to see the Autobots still fighting that oddly shaped talos. They were shooting nonstop at it, but their attacks weren't doing enough damage to make a difference. And with each successful hit, Melody's whimpers grew.
A stray thought passed through Chika's mind and she didn't want to even consider it, but as she looked between the rogue talos and Melody, that idea somehow became more credible despite her wishes.
"Oh no…"
XXXXXX
The talos crashed into a tree, brought down low by another blow from Bulkhead's wrecking ball. It shot its twin beams at him, but Jazz peppered its left wide with photon blasts, not letting up in his assault for a second.
"Keep it up, guys! It's almost down!" Jazz said.
The talos struggled to focus on one of them as they all attacked at the same time, but it was slowly being overwhelmed, and for a moment, it looked like they would eventually beat it. Then came the bad news.
"Jazz?" It was Chika's voice, calling through Jazz's comm channel. "Jazz, if you can hear me, you need to stop fighting it!"
"Say what?" Armorhide yelled. "Why the hell not? We almost have that thing scrapped!"
"It's Melody," The Autobots paused. "That talos is connected to her somehow. Every time you attack it, Melody's condition gets worse. She's actually flinching in pain every time you attack it. If you destroy it…"
'No, that's not possible!' Armorhide thought angrily.
"Another one of OZ's pet projects," Bulkhead snarled. "The bastards!"
Sensing a lull in their attacks, the talos uprighted itself and fired its twin beams at Bulkhead and Armorhide, blasting them away. As they crashed into the street and park, the talos turned to face Jazz and blasted him away as well, singing the armor on his chest with a beam that hit too close to him.
XXXXXX
Even through the agonizing pain, Melody could hear Chika's worried voice calling out to the Autobots. She could barely move because of the pain, but now that it was beginning to fade, she was able to think clearly now. Melody knew exactly what was attacking her new friends, and it wasn't going to stop until they were all dead. And Melody didn't want that.
It was one of the many terrible machines OZ built around her powers; they were talos made to be controlled psychically by her, drawing upon the ambient energy she gathered as a power source to operate itself. This talos was the Maya, named after the goddess of illusions, the latest and strongest of the previous models constructed. If let loose to run wild, then people were going to get hurt, and she didn't want that to happen.
Melody slowly got up from her bed, ignoring Chika's cries for her not to move.
"Melody, don't, it's too dangerous." Chika said, grabbing her arm to keep her back.
"But…Armorhide and the others are in danger." Melody said. "I have to help them."
"You can't go out there into the middle of that chaos." Chika said sternly. "You'll be killed!"
"I don't care! I'm not letting anyone else get hurt because of me!" Melody screamed.
Chika screamed as she was blown back by a wave of power that burst from Melody. As she hit the wall, Melody used her chance to run out of the room and down the hall, hoping that she wasn't too late in saving her friends.
XXXXXX
Armorhide's shoulder cannon snapped off as he hit the ground hard. He rolled onto his back and felt the ground shake from Bulkhead's large form crashing into the dirt, thrown quite a distance by a blast he took for Jazz. Armorhide got to his knees and held a hand to his left shoulder, which was smoking and sizzling.
'Its attacks are getting stronger.' He thought.
When the Autobots stopped blasting it around, the talos didn't hesitate to return the favor in kind. It countered with more powerful energy attacks that actually started melting their armor and blew holes in the ground. The three Autobots could barely dodge as a barrage of concussive beams tossed them around the park like ragdolls.
Jazz lost an arm and Armorhide took a blast to the shoulder that nearly blew off his arm. Bulkhead looked like he took a hard blow to the head and was still a bit dazed. They were getting destroyed, but they couldn't do anything lest Melody get killed along with the machine.
Armorhide tensed up when the talos, Maya, turned his way and slowly hovered over to him, charging up large amounts of energy for a killing strike. Armorhide scowled and got to his feet, drawing his energo-axe. He wasn't going to die on his knees like some Decepticon lackey!
The Maya's eyes glowed bright red and fired its beams at the Autobot. However, before they could hit Armorhide, the beams were deflected by an invisible force that sent them sailing off into the air.
"Stop it!" A young voice cried out.
Armorhide looked up and saw Melody weakly making her way towards him. "Melody, what are you doing?"
"I can't let it hurt you, Armorhide." Melody said. "It came for me…to take me back."
"No, that's not happening!" He shouted.
"I'm sorry this had to happen, Armorhide, but it's okay. I had a lot of fun with you." She said. "It was the best day of…my life…"
Melody's resilience finally ran out and she collapsed to the ground. Armorhide tried to run over to her, but the Maya shot a beam in front of him that knocked him back. He landed on his side and watched as four metal tendrils slithered out of the top of the talos's head and wrapped around Melody to pull her into its cockpit.
"Melody…" Armorhide tried to reach out to her, but his injuries finally caught up with him, and he lost consciousness.
XXXXXX
"…Hey, I think he's coming to."
"Don't crowd over him, Jazz. Give him some space."
Armorhide woke up to the loud voices of his teammates that already made his aching head hurt more. He opened his eyes to see Jazz and Bulkhead standing over him. Like him, they looked terrible, still harboring the wounds from their battle.
"Jazz, Bulkhead…where…?" He groaned.
"We're in Babylon's talos storage hangar. We brought you here after that stupid piece of scrap flew away." Jazz said. "Dr. Tanaka was kind enough to lend us one of the talos transports to get you here fast enough."
Armorhide slowly sat up and grunted from the stinging pain in his shoulder. "Melody…is she…?"
"Gone." Bulkhead said softly. "That talos took her away before we could do anything to help. I'm sorry, kid."
Armorhide gritted his teeth and held his head in his hands. Melody was gone and was now at the mercy of those monsters who were going to do who knows what to her, and there was nothing he could do. Jazz looked away from the pain stricken cadet and looked to the night sky.
'I'm sorry, Melody. We should've done more to keep you safe.' He thought. 'But I swear that we'll get you back…wherever you are.'
XXXXXX
Libra ran her fingers through the sleeping girl's hair as she looked at the girl's face. Despite the mental stress she went through, Melody's condition stabilized once the Maya brought her back to their base. Now she was sleeping, safely within her care again.
"It's about damn time that thing brought her back." Taurus huffed, glaring down at the girl. "We almost lost the talos to those walking tin cans. As it is, the repair costs are making my teeth ache."
"Keep your voice down, you moron." Libra said firmly, her dark indigo eyes gleaming in the dim lighting of the room. "Come, we'll talk outside."
The two Zodiac walked out into the hallway, where they continued their conversation. "So when do we continue with the project? We have five more units that need to be field tested and that girl put us behind schedule." Taurus said.
"There will be no more tests. The Genesis line is being discontinued, effective immediately." Libra said in her normally calm voice.
"What?!" Taurus roared. "What the hell are you talking about? Who had the balls to go and do that?"
"I did, with some help from Ophiuchus." Libra replied, not backing down in the face of her partner's rage. "That girl is a breed of human the world hasn't seen in hundreds of years. Those experimental talos you've built put the girl's life at risk on more than one occasion and we can't lose someone as valuable as her."
"I've spent thousands of dollars keeping this project going and you're just going to throw it away? Think of the resources we spent making those fucking machines!"
"I'm sorry, Taurus, but you need to see the bigger picture. All the time we've wasted building talos that only channel any pain they feel into the girl's body, would've been better used working on testing the limits of the girl's power and finding others like her." You're welcome to air your grievances to Ophiuchus, but she agrees with me as well.'
Taurus simply scowled and pushed past her to march away and scowl in a corner. Libra shook her head and looked back into the room to see Melody still sleeping peacefully on the bed.
Libra was understating Melody's usefulness to OZ. Melody was indeed a rare breed of human that hadn't walked the face of the planet since the so-called "Age of Wonders"; she was a member of a group of humans who could manipulate the universal foci-quintessence. Melody's existence signified a change, and Libra would be damned if she allowed her to die such a pitiful death because of their greed.
She will raise this girl to not only become loyal to OZ, but to strive to change the world for people like her. The other Zodiac might stray amidst a blood-soaked sea of conquest, but Libra will never forget her mission: to create a better future for mankind through forced evolution, through enforced change. That was her purpose in life, and she was going to see it completed no matter what.
I had an easier time getting this chapter out than the last one. We get a glimpse at the other Zodiac while the Autobots take the L for the day. Next chapter the Autobots get caught up in human affairs as they clash with a growing danger on the world stage-Karaba. Be sure to check out the Transformers Titan website on Wordpress, and go see my original fantasy story, Fantasia: Red Dawn, on Fictionpress. Thanks for reading, please leave a review, and Happy Halloween to you all!