Gateway Future

Exiles' Guild

It was the most exciting battle either boy had been in. At every turn there was another Invader attempting to destroy them, and with every Invader that tried to attack them and the wounded, another Autobot that was without injury or shield or the pathetically prideful Demolisher that had given up on activating his own Gate Shield was directly behind them blasting the Invader away for a moment so the boys could destroy it. There wasn't enough time for the Invaders to call a retreat, for by time they had realized that there were more than just the Gates of Ying and Yang at work, their numbers were down to four. Ironhide finished the pleasantries by stomping on all four in one giant thump.

"I'm glad that's over," Ironhide huffed.

"Yeah, no kidding. For a while I thought we were goners." Kicker echoed his companion's exhaustion. Blaze and Swords exchanged a look before staring almost blankly at the so called 'Renegade'. She seemed to have been so badly beaten that it was a miracle she was standing at all. Her arms had wide gashes oozing pussy red blood, her face was bound to have at least one new scar on her otherwise ivory cheek, and her feet had returned to being shoeless. She looked at the two boys, who instantly stiffened to battle positions.

"Aw man, do we have to go through this again?" Jet Fire moaned from his locked position in the rubble of the city's main tower, mock slapping himself up side the head in show of his frustration. Erin fought back a giggle, standing up from her perch leaning against what remained of a crumbled wall and walking stiffly before the two boys.

"I won't fight you if you want to take me to Gate Keeper HQ. This battle's over and I doubt the Invaders would try to attack again after the whooping they got this time." Erin bowed. Blaze and Swords exchanged a look of confusion again. They'd seen the way she fought – if her friends were in danger, she'd take half the hits so that they'd only receive the smallest fraction of a wound. She'd be the decoy so that everyone else could escape, and she'd stay behind if that's what it took to insure their safety. Her battle style was far from what the Commanders had told them of. Instead of being ruthless, she was compassionate. Instead of being heartless, she cared more for others than her own life.

Blaze was the first to remark by bowing his hat and sighing, "Forget it, Renegade. Your battle skills speak more for your attitude then your friend's loud mouth."

"Loud mouth?!" Kicker jumped. Swords nodded in agreement with his companion.

"Let's get out of here before HQ thinks we're in league with such a pathetic fighter."

"Right,"

Before the two could run off, they could have sworn Erin had shouted out her thanks.

Both Unicron and the Commander were glaring at each other in disgust.

"This plan is falling apart, Unicron." The Commander growled.

"I agree. Perhaps we're looking at this from the wrong perspective?" The Commander tipped his head to the side slightly in confusion.

"What do you mean?" he demanded.

"Perhaps instead of sending in simply Invader forces, we should send in the Decepticons and Terracons as well as some Invader foot solders? A battalion of each should easily crush their weakened defenses, Gate Keepers or not." Unicron explained.

"Perhaps... But I will not risk another ambush like that again. We'll deploy our strategy at an observatory post." The Commander stated.

"Agreed. Would the Black Star mining observatory in the Taro quadrant serve as a good test sight?" Unicron chuckled. He'd recently received reports that a large chunk of Energon had been deposited there for 'safe keeping'.

"Very well,"

The meeting hall was quieter than usual. Despite the fact the meeting was packed with both Shinobi and regular Gate Keeper fighters, had a pin been dropped it would have been louder then how some were breathing. Blaze had the strangest feeling that they were all staring at both him and Swords. A shadowed figure that was positioned almost like a god above the meeting hall walked forward, disrupting the silence with his booming voice and commanding demeanor. Even though his eyes could not be seen, it was obvious that he was glaring at the two boys before him.

"Wallace 'Blaze' Granger and Stephan 'Swords' Tyrone, your recent conduct with the Renegade has not gone unnoticed. Explain to the committee why you did not complete your mission when you had the chance."

"While we were in the process of collecting her to deliver her here to HQ, and Invader fleet attacked the base she was occupying at the time." Swords began. His words caused a ripple effect to pass through the observing crowd.

"It's true, sir! Invaders have begun attacking Auotbot bases without reason." Blaze added. This addition to Swords' statement caused another gurgle of worry to echo through the observers. A javelin was brought down on the podium before the shadowed godly figure, silencing the room with an echoing thump.

"Silence!" the figure boomed unnecessarily. "There have been no Invader sightings in over five years!"

"It's true, though, sir! The base Erin Topaz is currently occupying is in the process of repairing itself from Invader attack. We were there! We saw the carnage they unleashed upon the Autobots!" Blaze shouted, overlapping the commanding voice of the shadowed god. He turned his gaze upon the audience and continued, "If we Gate Keepers don't do something about this sudden surge in Invader population, the whole world could be pulled under Invader control without a single counterstrike being launched!"

"That is enough, Blaze!" a female voice slashed through the crowd. A second hidden figure appeared next to the first. This one was outlined in silver and had a purely feminine look to its curves and design. Once silence was restored, the voice continued, "We all know you have an active imagination and that coupled with your loss to Erin Topaz's rather weak Gate has probably caused you to become unbalanced slightly. I recommend you be taken off active duty for a few days so that you can straighten your mind out."

"The Renegade has no weak Gate! Erin Topaz is the keeper of the Gate of Ying-Yang!" Blaze shouted. Another murmur of shock echoed through the crowd.

"I can confirm Blaze's statement, Commanders, and I can also confirm that the majority of reports on her battle behavior have been overstretched. Today during a considerably minor battle she nearly lost her life due to the fact she was taking hit after hit for the Autobots. If it weren't for her, Commanders, I doubt there'd be an Auotbot left that could help us with this new threat the Decepticons and Terracons are posing." Swords echoed. Regaining silence in the hall was now imposable.

"Silence!" a hard male voice boomed much like the voice of a god throughout the congregation, forcing all those gathered to huddle back and be silent. A glowing figure with a golden Gate formed behind him much like a halo descended down before Swords and Blaze, causing the two to bow in respect.

"Hi-Commander," the two bowed in awe. The glowing figure's features could not be seen due to the fact that it too was wearing a flowing white and silver robe that covered all aspects of its body. The Hi-Commander looked out through the darkness of his hood at the two boys and seemed to glare at them.

"You two are hereby relieved of active duty, indefinably, for the crimes of spreading improvable rumors throughout the Gate Keepers and causing doubt in our decisions. Do I need to remind you further who it is that took all of you in from your tarnished homes and raised you as if you were my own sons and daughters?" the Hi-Commander boomed.

"...No sir..." Swords whispered.

"Good. This meeting is adjourned." No one in the room dared move till all three shadowed figures had left through the aft balcony.

Blaze's fist crashed upon the hard stone of the room he shared with Swords, creating a small crater in the wall. Swords' hat was covering his eyes, making it impossible to see if he was awake or asleep as he sat as still as death on his bed opposite Blaze.

"If you keep that up, you'll break your hand." Swords muttered almost lazily.

"How can you just sit there like that!? Our names have been disgraced and I'm starting to doubt my place here among the Gate Keepers... Punching a wall out is the least I can do to keep my mind calm enough to stop my Gate from destroying this very room." Blaze growled. Swords remained silent, listening to the echo of dust fall back from the hole Blaze's fist had made in the wall.

"I can sit here like this because I know the truth, as do you. The Commanders are nothing without us. The Renegade was right." Swords sighed, releasing an icy puff of air into the freezing room. He removed one of the satchels on his belt and played with it for a few moments.

"What's that?"

"Gun powder,"

"Gun powder!?"

"Yes... I think it's time for a new Gate Keepers Organization to come into play, and I know just who should lead it." Blaze looked at Swords as if he were insane before covering his eyes with his hat and sighing,

"So there's gonna be three Renegades instead of just one? Well, count me in. You know I just love explosive situations,"

"Don't remind me." Swords moaned in mach agony. "It's gonna be hard to get out of here."

"So? It's not like you hate a challenge." Blaze smirked. Swords shook his head in mach agony again. In one fluid motion, there was an explosion on the outer wall of their quarters. Alarms began to blare throughout the castle that served as Gate Keepers' HQ.

Erin watched with an ice cream cone in her mouth and a smile on her face as the main entrance was finally sealed with pressure and bullet proof glass. Now all that was left to be repaired of the demolished Ocean City was the decent mechanism, the upper levels from ground to floor level twenty, and the defense batteries. She pouted slightly at the fact the work wasn't even halfway done.

"What's with the sour face, Erin?" Kicker suddenly questioned. Erin removed the ice cream cone and sighed,

"The fact it seems like repairs will take forever..."

"Ah, it won't take that long. I mean, we've already got level five done and the new dome should be here in a couple of hours." Kicker countered. Erin pushed the cone back in her mouth and sighed again. Kicker took a seat next to her on the observation crane and watched as the new Plexiglas was pushed gently into place. Before the sheet could slip out, Erin had summoned five white Gates to melt the rivets in place. "Since when could you create that much heat with a Ying Gate?"

"Since I learned to make fire monsters," Erin giggled. Three or four fire lizards crawled back into the Ying Gates, making Kicker blink in confusion.

"Cool,"

"Or hot depending on your point of view." Optimus laughed from behind the children. They turned back to face him, blinking slightly.

"What's up, Prime?" Kicker questioned.

"Actually, I was hoping Erin could accompany Jet Fire, Demolisher, and myself to Mountain City. I'm hoping that we can Invader-proof the remainder of our functional cities." Optimus explained. Erin pushed herself up on the observation crane, tossed what was inedible of her now eaten cone back into a black Gate, and bowed,

"I'd be happy to help in any way possible." She climbed delicately into Prime's outstretched hand. The wind from the sudden change in altitude sent her hair flying back behind her, creating black and white patterns that bewitched Kicker's senses. It was only after she had vanished out of sight and Ironhide had called for his aid that Kicker managed to snap himself back to reality.

An old looking silver crane robot waved to the descending Autobots and Demolisher as they made their landing. He was more than old; his optics and looks told it all. This robot had seen the other side of life – he had died once. His right arm was nothing more than two giant pumps attached to a flexible fist, giving him an unnatural feel. Weather this bothered him or not, no one could really tell.

"Perfect timing, sir; we've just found something of interest." the elder robot explained.

"What is it, Smokescreen?" Optimus blinked, a questioning look in his optics. As Smokescreen ushered the group through the mountainous underground city, he explained the situation to them.

"We found two boys near the edge of Mountain City last night. They were in pretty bad shape, but so far they've made it through alright. According to Dr. Onishi, they should be back on their feet in a few hours."

"I thought Dr. Onishi had been evacuated due to the Decepticon/Terracon threat." Jet Fire blinked. A gentle old laugh echoed through the door to the next room,

"Are you joking, Vice-Commander? I may be an old human, but that doesn't mean I don't mind a little action now and then! Besides, Transformer biology and human biology aren't that much different. I can at least help out that way."

Erin blinked back the blinding light of the medical facility, shielding her eyes with the back of her hand. The room was twice as large as Ocean City's medical bay and contained what looked like twice the number of medical and repair robots than those found on the oceanic city. Dr. Onishi was an old man with flowing white hair and burning blue eyes. He had a slight hump to his back that accented his age and wisdom. The bright blue letters 'Dr. Onishi MD' echoed almost like a sun against his starch white uniform buttoned lab coat.

"Dr. Onishi, it's a pleasure to see you again." Optimus bowed. Dr. Onishi waved him off with a gentle teasing smile.

"Oh there's no need for formalities, Commander Prime. If you'll follow me, I'll take you to our guests." Dr. Onishi laughed, taking point. He didn't need to move far to find the first of the two boys forcing himself down the hall. Once he was in sight, he locked his eyes in a glare pointed at Erin.

"Damn you, Renegade... It took you long enough to get here..."