Chapter 2
Justin crouched on his knees as he looked down into the clearing bellow the edge of the forest. It looked like something that resembled a military base. After a while he recognized the place as the Blackrock Aerospace Assembly Plant #1. However, the place still resembled a military base more then anything. There were people everywhere, all men, ages from mid twenties to mid forties. Justin narrowed his eyes as he examined the weaponry. They seemed too advanced to be human, and while it was true that they resembles Cybertronian weapons, they looked too primitive for that as well. He had never seen anything like them.
His attention focused on the building itself. It seemed unnecessarily tall, rectangular in shape, and grey in color. Then a dark violet symbol on the wall caught Justin's attention. Before he had a chance to examine it closer, Justin felt a hand on his shoulder. He sprang to his feet, every muscle tensing, as he prepared to defend himself. But when he looked down, Justin found himself staring straight into Jamie's surprised and a bit frightened ice-blue eyes.
"Jamie," he breathed a sigh of relief, "what are you doing here?"
"I have summer camp in this area," the boy replied. "When I heard the explosion, I thought I'd go and check it out. I didn't expect to find you here."
"I just needed sometime alone," Justin had no intention of telling him about what happened with Jetstorm. "Everyone else is fine."
Jamie nodded, but didn't completely accept the simple explanation. Justin was hiding something, and he knew it, but for the moment, Jamie decided not to stir up anymore trouble then necessary.
"What do you think that is?" he gestured at the area bellow.
"It looks like some kind of military base, but that technology is in no way human," Justin shook his head.
"But they are people, aren't they?" Jamie looked at the older boy. "I mean, I don't see any Preds down there."
"Neither do I," Justin agreed. Before he could continue, a strong gust of wind came out of nowhere. The branch on the trees shook and leaves rustled violently. Both shielded their faces from the flying particles of dust. When it settled, Justin and Jamie looked up as two huge, intertwined shadows passed over their heads. A loud screeching sound was heard as enormous metal birds glided down to the base bellow.
"Iron birds of fortune
Adrift above the skies
Cloudy revelations
Unseen by naked eyes
Flying tools of torment
Will penetrate the sphere
Erupt the rock of ages
Bringing final fear,"
"Hey," Jamie's jaw dropped in amazement. "Isn't that…"
"Yes," most of Justin's surprise was concealed by his matter-of-fact voice. "The Decepticons, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw."
"Instruments of destruction
Tools to power play
It's a violent eruption
Existence drips away,"
"What it really matter
When nothing really counts
Grave eternal darkness
When you are drained of every ounce
And when the nightmare's over
The final from the storm
Dust of all creation
To ashes we transform,"
Jamie looked up at Justin for a long moment. "What are we going to do?" he whispered. The 10-year-old looked scared to death.
"We're leaving right now," Justin replied.
"But…"
"Listen, Jamie, a warrior knows when to fight and when not to fight. Going down there right now is suicide. It's not bravery, but stupidity. Let's go back. The sun is setting and we need to make camp." They got up and started walking for the place where Justin set up his tent. When they got there, they moved everything deeper into the wood, away from site.
"Do you think they were all Decepticons?" Jamie asked as they put up the tent.
"Yes," Justin replied. "I recognize that symbol now, the violet one on the wall. It's the Decepticon symbol."
"So the Decepticons did the same thing as Optimus Prime," the boy concluded. "Their sparks merged into already living people. Where did they find so many people who were willing to take on their sparks?"
"What make's you think they were willing?" Justin looked at him. "While it's true that my father agreed to take on Prime's spark, I doubt that was the case here."
"You think the Decepticons forced their sparks on all those people?" Jamie looked horrified.
"I wouldn't put it past them," the older boy looked out in the direction of the Decepticon base.
