A month... An entire freaking month since I last updated... *Sigh* I am sorry for the long wait, it seems that writer's block is determined to prevent me from writing. -.- The first part of the chapter took me more than three weeks to write, let me repeat that, three weeks. Again I am sorry for the huge wait.
But, I do have a few excuses legit excuses to go along with writer's block. For one, my brother's graduation party was about a week after my last update and we spent most of that time preparing for it, let's just leave it at there were a lot of people. Lol. And my little sister's birthday was the same week as my brother's graduation, so I didn't write that day and I spent time with her. And after that, my recently graduated brother and I went on a fishing trip with my dad, we left at 3:30... In the morning. :| But we caught a total of twenty-two fish and all of them were a heck of a lot bigger than any fish I had caught before then, so it was worth it. And after that, my dad and I went to a Yankees game in New York, that was a lot of fun, a crap load of driving, but a lot of fun.
That concludes my excuses. Lol.
Thanks go to Crystal Prime for beta reading.
Anissa - Thanks. And strangely enough... I was writing a lot more during my school year than I have this summer... Weird, huh?
Devil-O-Angel - I made you wait a while, didn't I? I'm sorry for that, but now you'll see how he reacts. :)
jayna prime - Thanks. Lol. It was so much fun to write. :)
pfolk - *Listens to suggested songs* In my opinion, 'What I've Done' doesn't really suit the exist from the Pocket Universe since that song has a bit of a political message, and Shadowstreaker hadn't done anything wrong in that chapter. And 'Cities in Dust' seems to suit... I am not sure, it is one of those songs that I am having a bit of trouble picturing a scene to go with it, but I am certain that I have yet to write a scene that it goes with. And that last song you suggested is actually called '12 21 Prelude' by AFI, and like Cities in Dust, I can't picture a scene to go along with it.
And yes, he does need to grow a spine and tell her. Lol. Probably not by abruptly giving her a fiery kiss, not his style, but he does need to get around to telling her. But Shadowstreaker is a stubborn mech after all. So you, along with everyone else, will have to be patient while he gets over that. :)
And I have used elements of my dad's personality in writing Megatronus, he's always joking around with me. Haha.
On the subject of the character suggestions you gave me... I am so sorry, but I can't use them. Don't get me wrong, it is clear that you've thought out the personalities, appearances, origins and back-story very thoroughly. But it is very clear to me that these characters belong in a story that is either running through your mind, or you have already written and have not put on here due to the fact that you don't have an account. I mean, while both Fate Calls and the story that Hawkeye and Aelita come from are in the Transformers' fandom, they are still very different. Let me give you an example, Hawkeye and Aelita are techno-organics with the ability to transform into Autobot bodies and are Mini-Cons. And I don't know how I would write in techno-organics or Mini-Cons into Fate Calls without it not making any sense. Another example being that your characters were meant to be in the movie-verse since Hawkeye is leader of the Mini-Con branch at NEST.
And finally, these are your characters. And anything I write would butcher the personalities you have already given them, they would only share the name of the characters you've designed by the time I wrote them. My point is, your characters already have a story to go along with them, and you've already written it in your head. Now, please don't take what I am saying the wrong way, but these characters don't belong in Fate Calls, they belong in the story that goes along with them.
Now I hope you haven't gotten angry at me for my inability to get your characters into Fate Calls, and I hope you continue to follow this story and enjoy it as much as your reviews suggest. Thank you for all your feedback.
KayleeChiara - Interesting was what Crystal and I were going for. As well as making sure Shadow' was teased for his stubbornness. Lol. And you're welcome! I love writing! :)
Sky'sLimit5 - Stubborn aft indeed, but it is fun making him so stubborn. Hehe. And yes, yes Springer did deserve an aft-kicking, but Prowl is just being his logical self. Shadow' did technically start the fight after all, and if the Autobots allowed that behavior to go unpunished, then they'd be like the Cons. And that just isn't right. And that probably would be why Shadow's a better fighter, though to be fair, he is built for battle. :)
RatchetsGirl - Thank... You...? *Isn't sure what smiley is*
Disclaimer: Transformers belongs to Hasbro. I only take credit for this story and my OCs.
November 10, 2012 8:48 A.M
Autobot base, outside Jasper, Nevada
The Pocket Universe faded away and I found myself sitting in my cell again. Checking my internal clock, I was surprised to find that only fifteen klicks had passed since I fell into recharge.
'Huh, last time I was in the Pocket Universe an entire night's recharge had gone by before I onlined again.' I thought as I raised my helm up from the berth and looked at Prowl's desk across from my cell, it was empty.
"Must still be giving a lecture to whoever messed up their report," I said to myself with a slight chuckle and let my helm fall back to the berth.
I managed to lay on the berth for five klicks before boredom set in. With boredom came a wandering CPU, and with a wandering CPU came dangerous thoughts -thoughts that were focused on what my sire said about my feelings for a certain blue femme.
My sire had flatly told me I was in love with Arcee, but I couldn't be, I just couldn't. And for several reasons. For one, Arcee was thousands of centi-vorns old and I was essentially eighteen years old according to how my former race measured time. I was practically a sparkling compared to her, and I am still too young to fall in love. At least, according to some article I read when I was just starting high school that was written by a guy saying teenagers couldn't understand what love was and how ninety-five percent of their marriages ended in divorce.
'Thinking about marriage? Now that's a bit premature, don't you think? How about you start courting Arcee before thinking about getting bonded to her?' My own CPU seemed to tease me, I immediately stopped that line of thought and rubbed a servo over my faceplate. Now my own CPU was giving me a hard time about my crush.
Thankfully, the sound of the brig door opening prevented me from continuing to think about what Megatronus said. I leaned toward the barrier to see who was entering, it was Optimus.
But right away I knew this wasn't a normal visit. His calm, arrow-straight and precise stride was far more serious and professional than his usual gate, his posture was straighter and even more commanding than it usually was, and the impassive look on his faceplate rivaled Prowl's expression in the lack of emotion it contained. Optimus Prime, was not a happy camper.
Immediately seeing that my friend and commanding officer was less than pleased, I got up from the berth and stood directly in front of the cold-plasma barrier with my servos folded behind my backplates in the causal, but respectful military stance that I frequently used.
Optimus shifted his impassive gaze to me as he continued to walk into the brig.
"Shadowstreaker," the Prime greeted me in a calm, reserved tone once he completed his trek to my cell.
"Prime," I replied, referring to him by title instead of name since it was clear the reason for this visit wasn't a social one, and I had a feeling that reason was about my fight with Springer.
Optimus mirrored my stance by folding his servos behind his backplates as well. "A cracked optic, eight broken gears in one servo, four pistons in need of repair in one pede, and one piston that is beyond repair in the same pede." He listed off in a neutral tone that he somehow managed to make intimidating. "These are only some of the injuries you intentionally inflicted on a fellow Autobot. Explain your actions." He ordered.
"He was mocking Arcee behind her backplates. He was also making crude and unwanted advances at her, Prime." I answered.
The Prime shook his helm slightly. "I am aware of Springer's behavior, Shadowstreaker. He has made it clear from the first cycle he joined the Autobot cause that he held an interest in Arcee, and she has made it clear that the feeling is far from mutual. But, that is not enough to justify the injuries you gave him." He reprimanded as he unfolded his servos from behind his backplates and started to pace in front of my cell.
I gave Optimus a flat look. "With all due respect, Prime, were you told of the nature of his comments directed at Arcee as well as the subject he mentioned to mock her once she had left the Safe?" I asked.
"No, I was only informed that his rather... Lewd ways of conversing with Arcee were on display before you began your fight." Optimus responded, giving me a brief glance as he continued pacing.
"For starters, he put a servo around her shoulder-joints and essentially asked Arcee to interface with him in his quarters..." I said in a disgusted tone of voice.
Optimus immediately halted his pacing and looked over at me again. "Would you mind repeating that?" He asked after a short moment of silence.
"I said that he put a servo around her shoulder-joints and essentially asked her to interface with him," I said, unconsciously grinding my dentas in anger as I recalled Springer's comments.
The look in Optimus' optics darkened slightly and he was silent for a good ten micro-klicks. "And the subject he used to mock her after she left the Safe?" He finally asked.
"He plainly said that it was Arcee's fault that both Tailgate and Cliffjumper were offlined. And we both know that Arcee blames herself for their offlinings." I replied. I was going say that I helped Arcee realize that there wasn't anything she could have done to prevent Tailgate from being offlined. But, I didn't want to somehow inadvertently tell Optimus that Arcee and I almost kissed after I helped her realize that, so I didn't mention it.
The look in Optimus' optics darkened further. "We came to Cliffjumper's aid as quickly as possible, but he was gone before we even arrived, his offlining was not something that could have been prevented. As for Tailgate..." Optimus paused a moment. "Despite Arcee's belief that she was at fault, he was offlined in a situation that was beyond the control of any of us. As gruesome as his offlining was, it could also not have been prevented. Both Tailgate and Cliffjumper were some of my bravest soldiers. Only the Decepticons are at fault for their offlinings, not Arcee. The mere suggestion that says otherwise is an insult to their sacrifices." The Prime finished in a calm voice, though I knew Optimus well enough to know that he was pissed at Springer.
"Agreed," I said. "He basically spat on their graves when he said it was Arcee's fault they were offlined."
Optimus gave a heavy sigh. "As good a reason as that is to fight Springer, it still does not justify giving him injuries of the severity that you inflicted, Shadowstreaker."
I stared at Optimus incredulously. There was no way he was serious, there was just no way. Springer was basically Arcee's stalker, he was constantly hitting on her and was generally a piece of scum whenever he spoke with her. He was in the middle of bluntly asking her to interface with him before she knocked him to the floor, he flatly said it was her fault that Cliffjumper and Tailgate were offline. Granted, that last one was probably meant to get a rise out of me, but that was beside the point, and that point was that he was basically a walking, talking piece of slag. But somehow, despite all those things, beating him up wasn't justified?
"What?" I finally asked, voice flat with disbelief.
"While you have informed me of questionable behavior from Springer that I will not tolerate or allow him to continue, your actions against him are also questionable. You have given a fellow Autobot severe injuries, Shadowstreaker. Injuries that will require at least two mega-cycles to heal. And conflict of this nature among my soldiers is also something I will not tolerate." Optimus responded.
"But he's been an aft to her for more vorns than I can count in a solar-cycle," I protested. "He can't even go a few breems without hitting on her. And his attempts, to quote his own words, 'seduce her' have been getting more and more blunt and crude since he and Jetfire arrived!" I paused briefly and walked from one end of my cell to the other before I continued.
"He asked her to interface with him, without even being courted, let alone bonded for Primus' sake! He said that it was her fault that Cliffjumper and Tailgate were offlined! How the frag does that not justify fighting him?!" I was shouting at the top of my air-intakes by the time I finished my rant, but Optimus didn't even blink, he just let me vent. And I was thankful for that, because I was really mad at the moment, and I needed to vent.
After I hadn't spoken for a few micro-klicks, Optimus folded his servos behind his backplates again and stepped a bit closer to my cell.
"Shadowstreaker, please understand." He said, voice calm and filled with infinite patience. He sounded more like an older brother explaining something to his younger sibling than a commanding officer lecturing his soldier, which was what he had been doing at the start of this visit. "We Autobots are gravely outnumbered by the Decepticons. For each of us on this planet, there are more than a fifty Decepticons. And for every crate of energon we add to our storage hangers, the Decepticons add a hundred to their stock pile. In short, we are too few in number to afford making enemies of our fellow Autobots, especially with Megatron now leading the Deceptions again. But you have likely done exactly that."
I looked away from Optimus and shook my helm. Unfortunately, he was right. We had more than enough enemies in the Decepticons, there was no point in making an enemy of your ally, which is probably what I've made out of Springer.
"So, what happens now? Do I go over to Springer and say I'm sorry for beating him up?" I asked in a half sarcastic, and half serious tone.
Optimus shook his helm once. "No, I will not force you to apologize when you clearly have no desire to do so. As for what happens now, you will serve your allotted three solar-cycles in this cell." He answered.
"And Springer?" I asked. "You said that his behavior wasn't something you'd allow him to continue."
"His punishment will come after he has recovered from his injuries. Until then, I believe being taken care of by Ratchet, and using up the time Ratchet could be spending with his courted, is punishment enough." With that light joke, Optimus turned and started walking towards the door, but for some reason he hesitated and looked back at me. But he didn't say anything, he just stared at me curiously.
"What?" I asked when he continued to stare at me for several micro-klicks.
Optimus was silent for another moment before he finally spoke. "If you don't mind me asking, why did you react to Springer's words in the matter that you did?" He asked as he back-tracked the few steps he had taken towards the door and once again stood in front of my cell.
"I already told you why, he was mocking Arcee and making unwanted advances that were even more crude than usual." I said, optic ridges coming together as I gazed at the Prime in confusion. To me, that question was random, and something random coming from Optimus was unheard of.
"No, that was the reason you gave for starting your fight with Springer, but that is not the answer for why you reacted in the manner you did. So why did you react that way?" The Prime asked as he looked at me like I was a giant puzzle he was trying to figure out, it was making me even more confused than I already was.
I continued giving Optimus a perplexed look as I answered. "I lost my temper when he said Arcee was the one to blame for Cliffjumper and Tailgate being offlined."
"But should that have gotten you angry enough to fight him?" Optimus asked. "You are a very calm mech, Shadowstreaker. I can count the number of times I have seen you lose your temper on one servo, and you are not one to let your temper control your actions. But, from what Bulkhead and Bumblebee told me of your fight with Springer, that is exactly what you allowed to happen. So, what was it about Springer's words that affected you so much?" By the time Optimus finished speaking, it sounded more like he was musing to himself than actually asking me questions, but his words got me thinking.
Why had Springer's words affected me so much? Sure, what Springer said made me angry, pissed off even... Royally pissed off, actually. But, as Optimus pointed out, I wasn't known for letting my temper control my actions, but all thoughts of controlling my anger went out the window when I heard Springer mock Arcee. So, why did his words really make me so mad that I beat the living slag out of him?
'Because you didn't want the femme you loved to be insulted any further.' My CPU seemed to answer on its own.
That last thought stopped all of my mental activity for a few moments before I plunged back into my thoughts. Was... Was that really why I lost my temper? Was that why I attacked Springer? Was it really because I had somehow, someway fallen for Arcee in the relatively short time I had known her? My processor was screaming no... But, my spark was saying yes.
And for the first time since I first realized I had feelings for Arcee, I was more inclined to listen to my spark over my processor.
It was then that it finally dawned on me, I was in love with Arcee. And the more I thought about it, the more it became apparent that I had felt this way for a long time now and not realized it. The way my spark fluttered when she smiled at me, the way my mood lightened when she was around, the way I sometimes felt protective of her even though she's perfectly capable of protecting herself, and the way I had felt the urge to punch Springer every single time he leered at her. They were all signs that I had fallen for her, and I didn't see them.
I pulled myself out of my thoughts and found Optimus staring at me through the barrier with a look of realization written on his faceplate. He had figured out the puzzle.
"You are in love with Arcee, aren't you?" He asked in a quiet voice that carried a trace of mirth.
"Yeah, yeah I am." I answered quietly and sat down on the berth, since Optimus was no longer being formal, I figured it was alright if I was informal as well.
Optimus smiled slightly. "How long?" He asked, clearly meaning how long it had been since I cared for Arcee more than as I friend.
"I didn't even realize it until just now, but I think it was back in June," I replied. "When she visited me in the med-bay immediately after we found the piece of the Apex Armor."
Optimus hummed in acknowledgement. "And what has stopped you from telling Arcee how you feel about her?"
I chuckled. "Jetfire asked me that same question when he figured out I had feelings for Arcee."
"Jetfire is aware that you are enamored with Arcee?" Optimus asked with one optic ridge raised ever so slightly, the only indication that he was surprised to learn Jetfire knew I had feelings for Arcee.
"Yes, he found out a little over a mega-cycle ago, just after I yelled at Springer for what had been one of his crudest attempts to hit on Arcee, before this cycle at least." I said. "He asked the same question you just did, and I will give you the same answer. I don't want to ruin our friendship, and telling Arcee that I love her would do exactly that since she doesn't feel the same way about me. So, I plan on keeping my feelings a secret from her." I finished stiffly.
The Prime shook his helm. "You are making the assumption that she only sees you as a friend, Shadowstreaker. And it is nearly impossible for you to know for certain how Arcee feels about you. It is quite possible that your feelings are mutual." He said with an almost, but not quite, insinuating tone in his voice. A nearly identical tone to what Shadebreaker used when she first spoke on my recent visit to the Pocket Universe.
I gave Optimus an intensely curious stare. That was the third time someone had said those words to me, or at least in a similar manner. First Jetfire after he found out I had feelings for Arcee, then Shadebreaker when I said there wasn't any progress to be made with Arcee when my feelings for her were one-sided, and now Optimus when he finds out I'm in love with Arcee. What were the odds that three different bots would say almost the exact same thing? And what were they getting at?
"That is the third time someone has said I don't know for certain how Arcee feels about to me, and the second time someone has used that tone of voice when saying it." I said. "But I do not understand why. What do you mean by that?"
The Prime ignored my question and asked one of his own. "The third time someone has said that to you? I suspect Jetfire was the first to say it, but who was the second?"
I narrowed my optics slightly. It wasn't like Optimus to avoid a question like that, but I let his unusual behavior slide. "Shadebreaker was the second one to say it." I answered, and then repeated my question. "Now what did you mean by saying it is nearly impossible for me to know how Arcee feels about me?"
Optimus deflected my question again. "You said that Jetfire found out you harbor feelings for Arcee just over a mega-cycle ago. How could Shadebreaker have been the second to say that to you when you met her four jours ago while you were visiting the Thirteen and you have not spoken to her since?" It was clear that Optimus' main intention in asking his question was to avoid my own, but there was genuine confusion and curiosity in his optics.
I stared at Optimus for a few moments before I decided to let our conversation move to a different subject. But, I added a mental note to ask Optimus at least one more time before he left the brig about what he meant by saying that I didn't know how Arcee felt about me.
"Just before you entered the brig, I onlined after having a visit with the Thirteen." I finally responded.
The look of curiosity in Optimus' optics intensified the moment I mentioned the Thirteen. "What was the purpose of your visit?" He asked.
"There wasn't one, really." I replied with a shrug. "It seemed that Vector and my creators just wanted to spend some time with Shadebreaker and I since they were the only members of the Thirteen that I spoke to while I was there. They did show us some very interesting things while we were there, though."
"'Interesting things'? What do you mean?" The Prime asked in an inquisitive and slightly confused tone.
I smiled. "For starters, do you know there are dinosaurs in the Pocket Universe?" I asked.
In what was one of the most expressive looks I had ever seen Optimus use, the Prime's optic ridges came together and he tilted his helm to the right so slightly that I briefly thought it was a trick of the light.
"What is a dinosaur?" He asked in a tone that mirrored the perplexed look he was giving me.
I chuckled in amusement and shook my helm. "Look it up, Optimus."
The Prime acknowledged my words with a nod and his optics went dim as he searched the internet.
After a micro-klick, his optics returned to their normal brightness as he disconnected from the internet and he looked back at me.
"Those creatures were in the Pocket Universe?" He asked as his optics widened a little in surprise.
"Yes, yes there were. And a few species of the dinosaurs seemed to be as-of-yet undiscovered by human paleontolgists." I responded.
"Such as?" Optimus prompted.
"You encountered pictures of a Tyrannosaurus Rex on the internet, correct?" I asked, and then continued at the Prime's nod. "Well picture this, a Tyrannosaurus Rex three times its normal size, with three-clawed arms large enough to reach beyond its chin, bony protrusions all over its body, and a fifteen foot skull filled with teeth the length of a human's arm. Add all that together, and you have one of the largest dinosaurs I saw in the Pocket Universe." I finished my description, and smiled slightly at the look of shock in the Prime's optics.
"That would be... A large animal." He said after he stared at me a few moments. "Besides these 'dinosaurs', what else did you see in your visit in the Pocket Universe?" He asked.
Knowing that Optimus had a passion for history, I smirked.
"Vector and my creators showed Shadebreaker and I what Cybertron looked like in the Golden Age." I said, widening my smirk as Optimus stared at me in amazement.
The Prime continued staring at me for several micro-klicks before he finally spoke.
"You saw Cybertron in its Golden Age?" He asked in a quiet tone that was filled with awe.
"Yes, but not all of it, though. They just showed us a few different parts of Iacon. But even though we didn't see that much, I still found my breath being stolen away by Iacon's magnificence." I replied in a fond voice, briefly picturing the sights of Iacon in Cybertron's Golden Age before I forced myself to focus on my conversation with Optimus.
But it seemed the Prime was in another place, because he wasn't even looking at me and there was a far-away look in his optics.
"Iacon in the Golden Age..." I heard Optimus say to himself. "What an amazing sight that much have been," he finished musing to himself and looked back at me. "What parts of Iacon did the Thirteen show you and Shadebreaker?"
"The first area we were shown was what looked like a walkway in the city center. There were thousands of Cybertronians walking around us. And when you looked over the side of the walkway, you could distantly see the outer shell of the Core of Cybertron." I said, smiling slightly as I recalled the sight of the Core far beyond the last occupied levels of Iacon.
I saw that Optimus had a faint smile on his faceplate as well. "Iacon was the only place on Cybertron where you could see the Core without traveling to Cybertron's lower levels." He said wistfully, and then asked another question. "What other parts of Iacon did you see?"
"After we saw the city center, Vector and my creators led Shadebreaker and I to the Decagon... Now that was a breath-taking sight." I responded, shaking my helm in amazement as the mental image of the Decagon towering over every nearby building flashed through my processor.
The Prime chuckled. "The Decagon always had a way of leaving bots in awe whenever they saw it. When you stood inside the building long enough, you would get the sense you were standing in a place of safety and strength. It was as if the Decagon itself was trying to fulfill its role of a military base without the bots working inside it. We never understood how or why the Decagon seemed to have its own aura." He said, tone changing from amusement when he started talking about the Decagon to confusion when he spoke of the mysteries of the military base. Mysteries that I could probably answer.
"I can probably give you the reason for why the Decagon had its own aura," I said, causing the Prime to look at me curiously.
"And what was that reason?" Optimus asked.
"Solus and Megatronus were the Decagon's architects." I answered plainly, I would have said more, but when the Thirteen were involved, no further explanation was required.
A look of understanding came into Optimus' optics. "That explains why the Decagon had characteristics that were beyond what our scientists could understand." He said.
Now it was my turn to give him a curious look. "What do you mean?" I asked, voice reflecting the curiosity written on my faceplate.
"There were machines inside the Decagon that were far too advanced for our scientists to replicate or even explain how they worked." The Prime explained. "The most well-known of these machines was referred to as the Forge. According to our scientists, it could create its own matter and use it to construct any kind of military equipment, weapons, armor, munitions, even entire war ships, everything required for an army. But due to the fact our scientists discovered the amount of power needed to activate the Forge was equal to the energy a blue supergiant star would give off in its lifetime, we never came close to actually activating it, we only studied it. But that did not stop Megatron from attempting to use it when he took over Iacon, he failed of course, but the war would have gone far worse for we Autobots had he succeeded." He concluded.
"Huh... My creators forgot to mention that when they said they designed the Decagon," I said after Optimus had finished explaining.
Optimus gave a small smile. "Perhaps you should ask them about the Forge during your next visit with them," he suggested, and then asked another question. "What part of Iacon did Vector and your creators show you and Shadebreaker next?"
Mentally adding Optimus' suggestion to the list of things I wanted to eventually ask the Thirteen, I answered his question. "They showed us only one other place, the Hall of Records. It was a very interesting building to see, not as visually impressive as the Decagon, but the fact the Hall of Records was where the entire history of the Cybertronian race was kept made it more interesting in some ways."
"The Hall of Records did not contain the collective history of our race, Shadowstreaker." Optimus corrected mildly. "Nearly all records of the time before or during the Golden Age were lost to time. Had those records not been lost, I would likely have never left the Hall of Records while I worked there as a data clerk." The Prime finished with a slight laugh.
I gazed at Optimus thoughtfully. He had just confirmed part Shadebreaker's statement in the Pocket Universe, he had worked at the Hall of Records. But the other part of Shadebreaker's statement where she said his name was name was once Orion Pax was still unanswered, I decided to satisfy my curiosity and rectify that.
"Optimus, I said. "Can I ask you something?"
The Prime gave me an amused look. "You just did," he noted humorously, causing me to roll my optics before he continued in his usual manner. "Of course you may, Shadowstreaker."
I leaned forward from where I sat on the berth and stared at Optimus for a moment. "Was your name really Orion Pax before you were Prime?" I asked.
The Prime widened his optics in shock and took a step backwards as if struck by an invisible blow. "How did you know that?" He asked in return, voice filled with surprise.
"Shadebreaker told me in the while we were looking at the Hall of Records," I answered.
The surprise faded from Optimus' optics. "What she told you is correct, my name was once Orion Pax, although it has been thousands of centi-vorns since I was last called that." He said with a look of nostalgia in his optics, as if recalling fond memories.
There was a short silence between Optimus and I before the Prime spoke again.
"If that is all, Shadowstreaker, I will return to my duties. I have spent a much longer period of time speaking with you than I intended." He said, already turning towards the brig door to prepare to leave.
"That's all, Optimus. I'll talk to you later," I replied, and then laid down on the berth to get into a more comfortable position.
Optimus gave me a farewell nod and walked towards the brig door. And he quickly disappeared from the brig.
I sighed once Optimus left the brig, I was back to being alone again, and I knew boredom was probably going to set in pretty soon. But that couldn't be avoided, and it was my own fault for getting myself sent in here, so I was just going to have to deal with it.
My optics widened and I sat bolt-upright on the berth as I suddenly remembered something.
"FRAG!" I yelled in the empty brig. "I forgot to ask Optimus what he meant by saying I didn't know for certain how Arcee feels about me!"
November 13, 2012 4:36 P.M
Autobot base, outside Jasper, Nevada
"For the fifteenth time, Miko." I said in a tired voice. "I really did see dinosaurs while I visited the Pocket Universe."
"I don't believe you!" Came the same response from the young Japanese women for the fifteenth consecutive time.
Three solar-cycles had passed since I had beat Springer up, gotten thrown in the brig, visited the Pocket Universe and spoken with Vector, Shadebreaker, and my creators... And realized I had been in love with Arcee since June. That fact hadn't quite set in yet.
I apparently missed our first skirmish with the Decepticons since Megatron retook command, but other than that, I didn't miss anything important.
Right now I was trying, with little success, to get Miko to believe me when I said I had seen dinosaurs in the Pocket Universe. Jack and Raf believed me when I told them, Prowl glitched when I told him, but he believed me after Ratchet brought him back online, Ratchet himself believed me, Jetfire believed me, Moonracer believed me, Bumblebee believed me, Bulkhead believed me, I didn't give a slag what Springer thought. And Arcee hadn't even blinked when I told her I had seen dinosaurs in the Pocket Universe when I spoke with her later in the cycle. So for some reason, Miko was the only one who didn't believe me, which was a little strange since she would go crazy and pull out her cellphone to take pictures if the word 'zombie' was even uttered within a fifty meter radius of her. But apparently dinosaurs didn't have that same affect.
I pinched the bridge of my nose-plate. "Miko, why are you having such a hard time believing this?" I asked.
"Because the dinosaurs are all dead! They couldn't have been in there when they're dead!" Miko said, either forgetting or disregarding what I told her earlier about how the Thirteen saved endangered species of animals.
I rolled my optics in exasperation and looked over at the Xbox area as Jack spoke up from where he and Raf were playing a co-op game of Dungeon Defenders.
"Shadowstreaker's told you how and why the dinosaurs were in the Pocket Universe like three times, Miko." He said, not taking his eyes off the screen as he and Raf fought off hundreds of goblins and orks.
"Four times, actually." I corrected, pausing briefly to watch Jack and Raf's game as an ogre broke through their defenses and caused Jack to let out a four-letter expletive before I turned to look at Miko again. "Listen, Miko. I've gotten tired of trying to prove this to you. Can you please just take my word for it?" I asked.
Miko narrowed her eyes at me in displeasure. "Fine," she said after a moment and started walking over to Jack and Raf. "But this could have been avoided if you'd just taken some pictures!" She called over her shoulder.
I raised an optic ridge as I watched her walk away. "I can't transfer memory files to a computer, Miko. And I don't have a camera to take pictures with." I pointed out, only for my statement to fall on deaf ears as Miko kept walking over to the Xbox area without another word.
With my debate with Miko finally over, I started thinking about what I could do next. But before I even started going over my options, an alarm signaling an incoming call from Agent Fowler sounded from the workstation.
As soon as the alarm started, Ratchet groaned in annoyance and stepped over from where he was standing next to Moonracer to his part of the workstation while Optimus walked over to the two medics from where he stood next to the ground bridge.
Both Ratchet and Moonracer typed a command into their parts of the workstation and the figure of Agent Fowler from the waist up appeared on the main screen as I started to walk over.
"Prime!" The government agent yelled immediately. "I hope you and your Autobots can shed some light on my current situation," he said, both the look on his face and the tone in his voice urgent and serious, if a little vague and confusing.
"And what would that situation be, Agent Fowler?" The Prime asked in a neutral, patient voice, the tone he always used when speaking with the government agent.
Fowler turned away from us and gestured to someone off-camera as Jack, Raf, and Miko walked over and stood on the catwalk under the main screen.
"Exactly three minutes ago," Fowler said, turning back to the camera to look at us. "A spy-satellite sent into orbit by the S.T.F 141 caught this on tape just before it was shot down."
As Fowler spoke, his image on the main screen shrunk into a small window in the top corner of the screen and was replaced by video from a camera on the satellite Fowler mentioned.
At first video was dark since it appeared the satellite was orbiting the other side of Earth, but the video became bright as day when the mangled, glowing-red form of a ship flew right passed the satellite and continued down towards Earth's surface.
A couple of micro-klicks after the mangled ship went passed the satellite, a much, much larger ship appeared on camera. From what I could tell from the footage, the second ship was midnight black and designed in a manner very similar to the Nemesis, except it was wider and clearly an even larger vessel. A far, far larger vessel in fact. If I had to guess, I would say that it was at least three times the Nemesis' length, although I couldn't be sure because there was only one camera angle.
As the second ship passed the satellite, a small, silver dot appeared on the screen and seemed to be heading for the satellite, it steadily grew larger until it was large enough for me to tell it was a missile. A micro-klick after the silver dot was revealed to be a missile, the missile hit the satellite and the camera footage became static.
"That was just the first of our satellites to be shot down," Agent Fowler said as his image replaced the static of the satellite footage. "Two weather satellites and one Google Earth satellite were shot down less than a minute after that S.T.F satellite was shot down. Whoever's on that ship doesn't want to be seen. So what are we dealing with here, Prime? Even more Decepticons?" The government agent asked.
Moonracer answered Fowler's question instead of Optimus. "I believe so, Agent Fowler. I recognized the ship that down your satellite as a Decepticon war ship called an Adversary-class escort carrier. Although it seems that both the ship it was pursuing and the Adversary-class itself must have cloaking fields since our systems never detected them."
Agent Fowler raised both his eye brows in alarm. "You Bots class that monster as an escort carrier?" He asked, fear starting to creep into his voice. "That thing's probably half the size of Manhattan!"
"Yes, Agent Fowler. The Adversary-class is considered an escort carrier by the standards of our race." Optimus answered. "But what is of greater concern to me is the amount of Decepticons a single Adversary-class is capable of transporting."
Agent Fowler's face grew serious. "How many?" He asked, obviously asking for the number of Decepticons he could expect to be onboard the Adversary-class.
"Depending on the classes of the warriors onboard, two to four thousand Decepticon soldiers." The Prime responded gravely.
Agent Fowler grimaced. "Damn..." He said. "A Con army of that size would just steam-roll our military forces."
"The army onboard the Nemesis already had the ability to do that, Agent Fowler." Ratchet pointed out in his usual tone.
Fowler ignored Ratchet's statement and addressed Optimus again. "What about the ship the carrier was chasing, Prime?" He asked. "What can you tell me about that? Is it one of yours?"
"I do not know, Agent Fowler. The ship was too-" That was as far as Optimus got in his response before Arcee cut him off as she entered the ops center.
"Ironhide and my sisters are on that ship." She said evenly, but I could tell she was both excited for the arrival of her sisters and Ironhide as well as fearful for their safety.
Optimus looked over at the femme I had fallen for as she stepped up next to me. "When did your bonds with them strengthen?" The Prime asked.
"Just now, they kept their ends of our bonds blocked until only about a klick ago," Arcee replied as she crossed her servos over her chestplates.
"Uh, can someone fill in the confused human?" Agent Fowler asked as he looked between Optimus and Arcee. "I mean, sisters? Ironhide? Bonds? What the hell are you talking about?"
I looked over at the main screen. "Cybertronians form bonds between family members, Agent Fowler. We can literally feel everyone in our families. We know when they are in pain, when they are angry, calm, happy, or depressed. We can even locate members of our families through the bond we share with them." I explained.
Fowler gave an understanding nod. "And since Arcee apparently has sisters..."
"She can feel her sisters." I finished his sentence, leaving out the fact that Arcee also shared a sibling bond with Ironhide as well since he was sparkmated to Chromia, figuring if Arcee didn't mention that fact, then it wasn't my place to share it.
"Huh... Sounds handy," Fowler said to me before looking back at Optimus. "Prime, if Arcee can locate where the first ship went down than I can contact the S.T.F and maybe we can catch the Cons off guard-" That was as far as he got before Optimus interjected.
"Agent Fowler, you have already said that Earth's military forces would be overwhelmed by the Decepticons onboard the carrier." The Prime said. "There is nothing General Shepherd and his task force can do to help."
"I know that. But there has got to be something we can do!" Fowler protested in a loud voice. "A war ship carrying thousands of Decepticons is either orbiting above Earth, or is landing on its surface. This is our planet Prime, we need to do our part to protect it."
"As of right now, Agent Fowler," Optimus said. "The only way for you to help protect your planet is to keep your militaries away from that Decepticon carrier." With that, he gestured to Ratchet to kill the feed, cutting off Agent Fowler as he opened his mouth, likely to protest again.
The Prime looked at Moonracer. "Moonracer, contact the others on patrol, tell them to report back to-" He didn't get any further in issuing his order before another alarm sounded from the workstation, a different alarm than the one that signaled a call from Fowler.
With a confused look on her faceplate, Moonracer entered a command into her part of the workstation and the main screen began to display an unknown energy signature moving over the Arizona badlands at hypersonic speeds.
"A Dark Energon signature," Ratchet said after he looked at the screen for a brief moment. "And it's moving fast."
"Megatron's on the move." Optimus said with a slight growl in his voice, and I noticed that he clinched a servo as he looked over Ratchet's shoulder-joint and at the main screen.
"It has been more than a mega-cycle since he came out of stasis," I said as I gazed at the main screen. "It's about time he actually left the Nemesis."
"So the question is, where did he get more Dark Energon?" Moonracer asked. "And how will we deal with the Adversary-class either orbiting or on the surface of Earth as well as Megatron?"
Optimus gazed at the main screen for several long moments before he looked at Moonracer. "Contact the others on patrol and get them back to base," he repeated his previous order that was interrupted.
When Moonracer nodded and started to enter commands into her part of the workstation, Optimus told Ratchet to open up a map of Earth and turned to Arcee.
"Where do you feel Ironhide and your sisters?" He asked her as Ratchet complied to his order and changed the image on the main screen to a map.
Arcee had a distant look in her optics for several micro-klicks, more than likely because she was reaching out to her sisters and Ironhide through their bonds, before she looked at the map and pointed a digit at the Indian Ocean area of the map. "There," she said. "I feel as though they're somewhere in that ocean."
Ratchet looked at where Arcee was pointing at the map and entered a command into his part of the workstation, causing the main screen to zoom in on the Indian Ocean.
After the main screen focused on the Indian Ocean, Arcee got another distant look in her optics as she reached out to her sisters and Ironhide before she pointed a digit at the screen again.
"There, zoom in three-hundred and fifty miles northeast of Madagascar," she directed.
Ratchet nodded and entered another command into his part of the workstation. The main screen zoomed in again and focused on what looked like a small, and very remote, jungle island.
"That's where Ironhide and my sisters are," Arcee said with absolute certainty.
"And that is where you and Shadowstreaker are going, Arcee." Optimus said to the blue and pink femme and looked at Ratchet. "Ratchet, ground bridge Arcee and Shadowstreaker onto that island."
Ratchet turned to his part of the workstation. "With all due respect, Optimus." He said as he started to type a set of coordinates into the computer. "But just Arcee and Shadowstreaker? I'm almost certain that the Adversary-class is already there, searching for our fellow Autobots. It will take more than two of us to fight through the Decepticon ranks and find Ironhide and the others before they do."
"Which is why they will not be engaging the Decepticons, Ratchet." Optimus replied. "They will instead search for our fellow Autobots covertly."
"A stealth mission," I concluded.
The Prime nodded. "Precisely. If the Decepticons are already searching for Ironhide, Elita, Chromia, and whoever else was onboard that ship, then they are on the lookout for a large number of us attempting a rescue, but they will not be searching for two Autobots moving around them covertly." He explained as Ratchet opened the ground bridge.
"Very clever," I said as Arcee went to stand next to the ground bridge. "So while Arcee and I are searching for the Autobot ship, what will you and everyone else be doing? Intercepting Megatron?" I asked.
"Exactly," the Prime answered. "We can't let Megatron go through with whatever his plan is for the Dark Energon he is transporting," he looked over at the ground bridge. "You should go and join Arcee, Shadowstreaker. Time is precious, right now."
I nodded and walked over to Arcee as she stared into the green portal anxiously as she shifted her weight from pede to pede.
"Don't worry, Arcee." I said as I stepped next to her and gave her a comforting look. "We'll find Ironhide and your sisters before the Cons do."
The femme I had fallen for gave me a grateful look, then nodded and started walking toward the ground bridge.
I followed after her wordlessly. And soon, we both disappeared into the ground bridge.
And I ended it on a cliff hanger... Aren't I terrible? Lol.
I know the cliffhanger probably wasn't as good as previous ones, but it was originally supposed to be leading into the next part of this chapter. But then I realized I had been working on this chapter for an entire month and had eight thousand words to show for it... So I am cutting it in two. And the next part should be quite a bit longer. :)
And Shadow' has finally realized he's in love with Arcee! Geez that only took me about a hundred thousand words to get him to realize that. Lol.
This chapter's credit song is "Fired Earth Music - Downfall" This song really suits the ending theme of the chapter and the fact that another Decepticon ship is currently on Earth... But the fact that the particular video I am watching along with this song has a picture of the Reapers invading Earth admittedly had something to do with my choice. Haha.
So, please be sure to leave a review and thanks for reading. I'll see you soon.