Woah, been a while huh? Finally decided to give other stories some much needed attention. And this one needed it badly (what story doesn't honestly).
Also had a nice vacation in Miami by myself. Loved it. I partied with a whole group of random French people on my last party night there. Food? Excellent. Lot of great people there. A few Anus Crawlers, but that's everywhere.
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Anywho, please enjoy! Big thanks to Rexblazer1 for Beta Reading!
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"Well, anything?" Starscream asked impatiently, "Those rebels can't possibly elude us with all this surveillance at our servos."
Soundewave was silent, simply processing the information loaded into her database. There were quite a few areas of interest, at least at first. But it seemed as though the bots were getting tipped off. They appeared to be changing courses and patrol areas.
"Useless," hissed the annoyed Starscream. She hated the way Soundwave so casually ignored her at times. And was able to get away with it without much as a slap. Inside the base, she heard the noise of what sounded like a weapon discharge in the back room. Since there was no screaming save for Knockout's, she ignored it.
"Easy, watch the hair!" Knockout shouted as she moved back from a spray of fire.
"Hey, relax, I got it on low," chuckled Breakdown. She turned to scan another weapon, a shipment of missiles, scanned those and her hand changed from that of a flamethrower to missile launchers, "hey, that's not bad."
"Primitive. Dull looking. Doubtful of anything special," Knockout scoffed, "don't you think you're above such childish nonsense?"
"Nothing wrong with being a bit of a sparkling is there?" Breakdown chuckled again, "wanna see me shoot 'em?"
"We'll look for something rusty and beat up. Outside," Knockout sighed as she started shoving her partner forward. Someone had to keep the damage to a minimum for now.
To the side, Powell was hastily typing the notes of what he had just seen, speaking with Fowler, "Marvelous. All they have to do is simply look at our technology and they can copy them into their own systems. And even enhance it to their fighting needs."
"Yeah and I suggest you keep that in mind to not get too friendly," Fowler warned in a low tone once Knockout and Breakdown were out of the room. He had to admit, the blue one actually seemed genuinely friendly… if highly volatile.
"Yes, of course, Fowler," Powell waved off, rather done with his colleagues' constant warnings, "you just be sure to keep it civil. We need to make a good impression on mankind."
"Right," he drawled, feeling the same towards Powell's insistence on manners. There was a gasp from Starscream and he immediately turned to see her setting her composure back to normal, setting her hair and straightening her tie.
"I will be heading out. The rest of you keep up the good work," her eyes went straight into Fowler's, a glowing red clashing with his dull brown, "especially you, Fowler."
"Thank you," Fowler replied, nearly about to use that same sweet tone of hers but held back. He needed to keep up his attitude, but not enough to let out warning signs. He would gradually ease himself to act more friendly to ease down the tensions. But certainly not right now.
With that, Starscream walked out of the base and took flight in her new F-15 Raptor mode. She flew high enough into the air and nearly left the atmosphere until she was taken in by a Ground bridge back to the nemesis. Inside, Barricade and Blitzwing were kneeling before her.
"At ease, my underlings," she told them as she walked in between them. With contained sighes, they rose, "You'll never guess what goodie Soundwave found for us."
She began pulling up data on the Nemesis computer. First was a location. Next was the signal. And with it came an influx of highly radioactive signals.
Both of the con enforcers gasped before Blitzwing's visor went blue, "Dark energon. A high concentration within clusters of normal energon of it with a… pulse."
"That's a rather high amount. You'd be lucky to even find a planet containing just a few kilos," muttered Barricade, tilting her cap back, "this planet might actually be special."
Starscream chuckled, "Yes, and I'll need some lucky bots to investigate it now won't I?"
Barricade and Blitzwing looked between each other up on that. They looked as if they were on the verge of insubordination until Starscream raised her hand, "Don't worry, I'll be sending Knockout along with some drones with you."
""Thank you, Lady Starscream,"" It was clear that their tone was as hollow as a subway, but that mattered little. They would follow her commands and that was all that mattered.
"Now, get going. It's the middle of the night in that location and you should have the cover of darkness to aid you," Starscream informed them as she turned back to the monitor and waved them off. She listened to the sound of their footsteps and her smirk dropped once she could no longer hear them. She narrowed her eyes at the pulse and hoped to primus it wasn't who she thought she was. She was having guttural feelings of unease.
Just to be safe, there was nothing wrong with an accidental tip off or two was there? Pressing on a few buttons, she decided to send a signal back…
XXXXX
"Dude, shut up!" Growled Cliffjumper as Ironhide and Goldbug laughed, Ratchet shook her head, and even Optimus looked like she was refraining from giggling, "besides, that was your Cliffjumper, I did way better! I got many more shots in and didn't get stuck!"
"I don't know, you sound pretty defensive," Bumblebee wiggled his eyebrows, teasing his friend further, "maybe Shockwave smacked you around a bit more."
"Maybe you wanna get smacked around a bit more. Just keep right on talking, motor-mouth," Cliffjumper cracked her knuckles. She looked a tad serious too.
Bumblebee decided that was enough and held up his hands with a cheeky smile, "alright, alright, it's not like I was saying you weren't cool."
"Damn right," Cliffjumper huffed, folding her arms with an assured nod, "it was just a fluke."
"But don't let it distract from the fact you are a few components short of a processor," Ironhide had to bring her back down from her high chair at least once.
This made Cliffjumper bark, with a clearly flustered tinge to it, "Shut up!"
"Oh, clown brigade," Teletraan-1 called out, sounding somewhat nervous despite the playful jab, "I've got some odd signals I think you should check out!"
The Autobots ceased their banter and moved over to check out what their AI had found. She pulled out the readings and location to reveal a digsite. A Sumdac digsite in Asia, not many files on it save for a few warnings. But that was far from the most disturbing thing.
Bumblebee muttered in horror. There was so much of it already, "Dark energon…"
"And a pulse," Muttered Ratchet, adding onto everyone's shock and Bumblebee's terror.
"Teletraan-1, inform Arcee and Prowl of the situation," Optimus ordered before turning to Bumblebee, the rest of the Autobots following her lead, and asking, "how much experience do you have with dark energon."
"Enough. Enough to know that whatever comes from that pulse won't be good. And we're definitely gonna need Ratchet on standby," Bumblebee told them, a chill running up his spine. Something similar, but totally different. Again. And he really didn't want to play around with anyone.
A thought hit him and he quickly added, "And I wanna be with Cliffjumper on this mission or at the very least request she have a partner to watch her."
Cliffjumper was gawking until she muttered an offended, "Excuse me?"
Optimus was perplexed at such a request, but unlike everyone else, she could read that pleading look on Bumblebee's face. She nodded, "Alright. You will be partnered for this particular mission."
"Woah, woah, I'm not a spark-"
"By the way, the cons are taking moderate interest," Teletraan-1 cut in urgently, "But hey, no rush, you gals."
"Haste is looking rather necessary," Optimus mumbled before activating the groundbridge, "Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, and Goldbug, I want you two to take point. You'll be transported just on the outskirts of the location. Ratchet will be on standby and join you once Acree and Prowl arrive."
"Understood. And we're not gonna have any fun this time," Bumblebee assured her. His grave attitude resonated with Cliffjumper and Goldbug. This wouldn't be as fun as bashing random evil con drones.
"That bad?" Teletraan-1 asked, "this is one of those times I'm glad I get to miss out."
Once the portal was open, all three bots transformed and rolled out.
XXXXX
Goldbug narrowed her eyes before turning to her partners and shaking her head. No humans in the area, Goldbug confirmed that, and it looked like some things were in the process of being hastily moved.
Cliffjumper and Bumblebee nodded, the former asking, "Any nearby cons?"
Goldbug turned back around. A few lights were coming in, a little spread out in groups led by stand out vehicles one of which was a tank, and they were converging. She nodded to her comrades. The cons were, with the utmost certainty, here.
Barricade was the first to transform followed by Knockout and Blitzwing. Barricade stepped towards the shaft before pointing at it. A few of the drones immediately rushed over and began placing devices on them. The Cybertronian equivalent of C4.
"A little risky to just blow open a cave isn't it?" Knockout hummed, already getting ready for any workplace accidents to occur.
"Shut the chatter, run-a-way model," Barricade softly barked, "it's safe to blow open. Just no explosives on the inside."
A few sneaky glances were tossed Blitzwing's way and she was luckily in stoic mode. The spot was blown open and inside was a deep chasm that could fit even the form of Blitzwing, albeit with a bit of squeezing here and there.
"Hmph… run-a-way model, more classy than usual, I'll give you that," muttered Knockout distastefully.
"A few of you are gonna watch the perimeter. I want no unexpected surprises," Barricade then muttered as her and the rest of the group we're heading in, "No more at least."
From afar, the Autobots watched as the rest of the cons disappeared while the few who remained behind began to take watch, spreading out to cover more ground.
Cliffjumper immediately grinned and asked, "want me to do a bit of sharpshooting? They're spread out, but they're easy pickings."
"Yeah, we gotta clear the area quickly and quietly," Bumblebee answered before glancing at his counterpart. She held an index finger over her smiling mouth and gave him the okay signal, "Let's do this."
The three of them then split apart themselves. First kill went to Cliffjumper with a glass bolt to a drone's head. Second to Bumblebee, pulling a con into the cover of the shadows to pummel her neck. And Goldbug improvised with a piece of sharp steel, dragging a con in before delivering the killing blow.
An even score amongst them. But there were only two left.
While Bumblebee didn't consider it a competition at all, Cliffjumper was still a bit miffed at his request. Not that she didn't like him, she just hated being coddled and so blatantly in front of her.
So, she has to set a bit of an example, blowing apart another Con head right I'm in front of Bumblebee. It was close enough to his head that he had to turn and give his buddy a light glare. Cliffjumper gave him a cheeky mischievous smirk and winked.
He had enough sense to catch on to why she did that, or at least a clue, and shook his head. He'll talk that out with her later. The sound of a power down and electrical spark took his attention, making him turn over to his counterpart.
Now she was giving him a cheeky smirk, holding up a peace sign as she stood over the dead con.
"Two for two," Cliffjumper snickered as she fist bumped Goldbug, "having trouble keeping up, boy-bot?"
"No, but we definitely need to make sure we keep up with the bad-bots," Bumblebee gestures to the cave, less in the mood for joking around considering what he felt was coming. He knew better and could show off another time, but now wasn't it.
"You could lighten up a little, ya know," Cliffjumper mumbled as she rubbed the back of her head. This was a little worrying in her opinion. Whatever was going on must've really spooked the hell out of him, she figured. That means she needs to get serious too.
And judging from the nod Goldbug gave him, she was thinking the same thing. She gestured to the cave and they started noticing an ominous glow to it.
They pressed on into the cave, having ample room to move in. It was barren at first, save for a few bits of moss and fungus growing on the sides. But slowly as they descended, they took notice of the shards of energon glowing around them. Dark energon specks, if greatly weakened due to greatly diminished size and intermingle with mostly normal energon clusters. But as they moved on, the shards and thus the power grew larger.
"Be careful," Bumblebee urged strongly, "this stuff will start to sap us if we get too close."
"I really hope that becomes an option soon," retorted Cliffjumper as she had to catch Goldbug as she nearly tripped onto a shard, "we're gonna need more steering room. We've got the ceiling room, but not much else."
They were nearly brushing up against the walls and had to do all they could to not directly touch the ominous shards. That was when Bumblebee noticed just how different they were compared to their old selves as they could suck in their chests and truly be as malleable as human skin. It was beyond fascinating.
A few more steps and Bumblebee let out a single chuckle, though it had a little less mirth than usual, "Hey… think you might get your wish."
"Oh, please don't let it crunch me on the aft," mumbled Cliffjumper while Goldbug already pulled out her Stinger.
The passage was getting bigger, less claustrophobia inducing, and with that came bigger shards of dark energon. It wasn't like numerous clusters of normal energon, but instead, scout knee high blisters of the corrupt formations scattered about on ceilings, walls, and floor of the cave starting to overtake the energon around it.
"Primus, that's an eyesore," muttered Bumblebee, horrified to see them again.
"No wonder the humans bugged out, this place crawling with this freaky scrap," Cliffjumper surmised, "you have any idea what it does to humans, Bee?"
"Not a clue. But I never want to find out," Bumblebee grimly answered, "come on, we're getting closer."
"~Spooky, scary~," Goldbug lowly played a verse on her radio with distortion and the others nodded to her sentiment.
XXXXX
"Optimus, Teletraan-1, do you still have their signal?" Asked Prowl, having finished moving the bodies away from the site. Ratchet and Arcee stood by, watching the cave and surroundings for any signs of con activity as they waited for the scout trio's words.
"Affirmative and they're nearing the signal," Optimus answered, making sure their vitals stayed at a healthy level. So far so good.
"Sending them down there… something about standing idly grinds my gears," Ratchet muttered as her instincts were practically screaming at her to be down there to make sure they were alright. But she had faith they would come out fine.
Prowl nodded, keeping a solid stare at the cave now, "Be patient. At worse, we'll-"
"Intervene. Yes. But I just hope we'll be able to reach them in time," Ratchet tensely finished.
"Do you want me to tail behind them?" Arcee asked, sniper and blades primed for action.
Prowl had to think it over. Though she was a woman of protocol, this wasn't too off the handle. And given the dire situation, it may be advised to simply wait idly. So, Prowl nodded, "Yes. You know what to watch out for,"
XXXXX
"Goldbug… hey, shut that noise off, already," Grumbled Cliffjumper. It didn't and she let out an annoyed huff, turning back to say more until she saw the panicked and confused look on her comrade's face, "Bumblebee, somethings wrong with your twin here."
"What?" Bumblebee turned and came over. Goldbug pointed at her chassis, where her radio was located and he could hear the odd static and voice within, "What the frag?"
They kept walking on, albeit at a slower and more cautious pace, and as they did so, the voice became clearer and clearer to the point a few words could be made out, "Decepticons… here I…"
Bumblebee narrowed his eyes, asking, "Who's that?"
Both Cliffjumper and Goldbug became shocked then wrought with despair, the former whispering angrily, "No. Oh no, oh frag me, is she back? Here!?"
"Who was that?" Bumblebee repeated with more tension.
Cliffjumper answered with one of the worst possible outcomes, if expected, "Megatron. That was the voice of that genocidal freak."
Bumblebee was shocked, but worse than that, he knew that beyond this point, she would be there. Waiting. And he had no idea that she went on and did what his Megatron had done. Hastily, he said, "Optimus, come in."
Luckily, he could still get an answer, "I'm here, what's happening?"
"I think we know what's here and it's at least Megatron related," Bumblebee saw Goldbug hastily nod, "Goldbug picked up some chatter on her radio and we could hear Megatron speaking."
"Proceed further with extreme caution. We're on our way," Optimus immediately replied. In the background, Teletraan-1 could be heard for a split second before the comms were off.
"You heard the boss bot," Cliffjumper said, priming her Glass Cannon, "If Megatron's here and running, I'm gonna permanently shut her down."
"Yeah," Bumblebee said as they began walking again. But he muttered to himself under his breath, saying, "I hope you make the shot. That you can even get a shot. We'll only get one."
Further on they press. And that's when they could hear voices and the sounds of machinery moving. They had to slow themselves and find cover from anyone's line of sight. There, they could see within the dimness of light, the Decepticons.
And the worst of them all, Megatron. Around her, the drones along with Barricade and Blitzwing were keeping watch and helping the machinery either function or speed up the process. At the center was Knockout, using some datapad to check or read something.
They could hear them speaking clearly and Knockout was the first to say, "Her vitals are… abnormal, but she isn't in bad shape. Far from it, she's thriving at this point!"
"As expected, you can't keep a true empress down," Barricade boasted on her leader's behalf, "how much longer until she's fully conscious?"
"It ranges," Knockout's answer made the Autobots tense up and it almost felt like a millennium as they waited for the answer. But Knockout didn't even take a second, "About a few klicks, from about two to five."
"Scrap," muttered Cliffjumper in frustration, "Optimus, We see Megatron and she's about to wake up from some sort of… stasis."
"Hold tight, we're on our way!" Optimus told her.
"We don't have time for an "on our way" dammit," Muttered Cliffjumper as she pulled out her cannon, "we need to take care of her now."
"Wait, we don't even know what exactly is happening, we need to wait for the others," Bumblebee told her, making her lower her gun, but she snatched it away, "Once their here, you can-"
"What? When she's right there?" Cliffjumper argued before pointing at his head, "Use your helm, Bumblebee, we can take her out here and -"
That's when they heard the machines getting louder and some form of take above Megatron getting visibly hotter to the point some components looked as though they were melting. No, they were melting like ice cream on a sidewalk.
The Decepticons all moved back, Knockout going as far as to hide behind Blitzwing's legs. Barricade was the first to shout, "Knockout, explain this!"
"I think I got the wake up time a tad wrong!" She answered fearfully, "We should back up now!"
Bumblebee and Goldbug were in a minor stupor as they moved back until they both turned to Cliffjumper, rising from her hiding position with cannon ready. "Eat this!" She roared after pulling the trigger.
Time seemed to slow down as the blast sailed through the air and the cons all turned to see the Autobots, the scouts and Arcee behind them, and the blast quickly reaching their rising leader. It looked as if it would reach Meagtron's head and end the war in one devastating anticlimactic finish, by the standards of Decepticon history at least.
Until there was a purple flash just before the blast even reached the tip of Megatron's nose. Everyone and everything was blown back before Arcee could take a second shot.
Bumblebee gasped, eyes blinking through the debris and hands scrambling to reorient himself, and his first instinct was to call out to his team, "Guys, guys!? Talk to me!"
"~Everybody knows your name~!" That came from Goldbug's radio. From the dust, she gave Bumblebee a quick thumbs up.
"Still here!" He turned to the side and saw two thumbs up and one was clearly not hers, "Plus one!"
"Get off will you!?" That was Arcee's strained voice.
"Sorry, lil' blue," muttered Cliffjumper as she quickly rolled off. Before Arcee could retort at that little nickname, all of their eyes wandered to the glow of dark purple light pulsating down the cave. Slowly, all the Decepticons rose up and faced that direction too, their eyes landing towards the center.
The sounds of ripping machinery and deep feminine grunts were heard, followed by heavy footsteps and rustling broken metals. Slowly, her great form moved from the clouds of debris and her own lighting began to overpower the shine of dark energon behind her.
Her eyes had opened to reveal pools of purple hatred and conquest. Her armor was dark and twisted. A cannon began to radiate energy and a powerful war mace crashed against the floor. Her neck length white hair and cape flower in the wind as she let out an exhale of intense heat. When she finally spoke, it was deep, mature, and a voice that absolutely commanded you to listen, and they did, "my loyal Decepticons, I have returned to you."
""Hail lady Megatron!"" All the surrounding Decepticons bowed before their returned master as the Autobots looked on in horror.
With a satisfied smirk, Megatron then slowly raised her finger to point towards the Autobots, now getting into combat stances as the cons turned to them, and said, "But I must say, I am disappointed. Why are Autobots before me, but not in pieces?"
"A mistake we'll fix, Lady Megatron!" Roared Blitzwing in her crazy mode as Barricade and Knockout activated their weapons. The drones looked eager themselves, all lined up like a firing squad ready to make an execution.
Until the sound of a rocket firing made everyone turn behind the four Autobots. Unlike the drones, Megatron's more prominent minions actually jumped out of the way.
"Megatron," Optimus growled, Ratchet, Ironhide, and Prowl beside her, "I knew you'd return. But this was unexpected."
"Optimus," Megatron nearly purred. Optimus narrowed her eyes at that, she was too excited to see her again, "and you brought the elderly to the battlefield again. How shameful."
"How original," Grumbled Ironhide while Ratchet's left eye twitched. All the Autobots began shooting, forcing the cons into cover, but Megatron simply returned fire with her signature cannon. This forced the rest of the bots to take cover themselves, as the blast out performed the rocket from Ironhide.
The gunfight only lasted a few moments before a Groundbridge had opened behind Megatron. She laughed, "Ah, Soundwave. Always ahead of schedule. Decepticons, leave the bots to their fate. We must make a few preparations."
As her soldiers ran inside, she walked behind them and sparing one last glance at the Autobots, smiling and winking at them before moving in.
"Leave us to our fate? Arrogant bitch," Cliffjumper hissed out, Goldbug and Arcee nodding, "What the hell is that supposed to mean!?"
With swiftness that would outpace the human eye, something zipped passed them before disappearing into the distance. Ironhide was the first to ask, "Was… was that Laserbeak?"
"Oh frag," Muttered Arcee. She was right to say that as an explosion went off ahead of them. The moment they caught a glimpse of the explosion heading their way, they drove back as fast as they could back to the entrance.
"Teletraan-1, requesting immediate Groundbridge, straight ahead of us!" Prowl roared, being the nearly last bit in the line, just ahead of Ratchet.
"Coming right up, captain!" The AI shouted back just before a portal opened right in front of the group. They sped in and just when Ratchet made it in, the groundbridge closed just before it could sear her tailpipe, engulfing the cave in purple and blue flames.
XXXXX
"I'm not out for more than a few breems and you're already being extremely weird again," Starscream sighed in exasperation. Around her, the drones were lined up and standing around their usual stations, "can I get an explanation at least? I doubt this is a welcoming party for me. You're never that considerate… and I don't care much for the corpses you brought in earlier." She muttered that last part, a bit freaked out they were organized in lines on the bridge.
Instead, a Groundbridge opened up behind the annoyed Seeker, making her nearly jump, and with it came the more important members of the squad she sent out. She muttered under her breath, "At least they're still alive."
And after them came Megatron. Starscream's jaw nearly dropped and she nearly fumbled to straighten herself out. With perfect synchrony, all of the deck shouted, ""Hail Lady Megatron!""
"Music to my ears," Megatron growled with satisfaction. Ahead of her, Soundwave kneeled and Megatron placed her hand atop her head, "Rise, my treasured second."
Starscream rolled her eyes as she was sure no one was looking. But Megatron caught a glimpse of her, "Starscream," again, she nearly jumped, "another one of my most loyal warriors."
Subtle venom was in her words and Starscream felt it well. She immediately replied, "Lady Megatron, it's wonderful to have you back, leading us to glory and plunder."
"Silence, your sweet talking only disgusts me," Megatron hissed as she walked over, towering over the seeker, "Tell something useful. I want to know everything that's been happening during my… unexpected stasis. Don't worry," Megatron leaned down and whispered into the seeker's ear, "Soundwave and I will fact check."
"Y-yes, of course Lady Megatron… where to begin," Starscream nervously chuckled out.
This would be a long sol for her. She was terrified of Megatron at times, but those purples eyes of her, that darker glow she emanated, she figured she should've gone herself to ensure a… workplace accident. Or maybe that she was better off not doing such a thing. There was a reason for her hatred of Soundwave and those like her, and it wasn't just the odd antics.
Starscream began with, "We've been busy getting a few contacts lately. You met the Autobots upon Earth, but do you know of the humans? Their Military?"
XXXXX
"So, did this happen in your timeline? Or is this another variation?" Arcee asked as she leaned on a crate.
"Variation. And it's got scarier implications," Bumblebee huffed out. All four of the bots who went in earlier felt woozy, "I'd love to answer… any and all questions but, uh, we need decontamination first…"
"Agreed," Cliffjumper mumbled, helping Goldbug up. That explosion combined with that long exposure to the shards put them at greater risk. Arcee especially given her smaller size, but she refused to show any weakness, especially in front of Bumblebee.
"I have the pods ready," Ratchet told them as some bay doors opened, "Teletraan-1 and Sumdac modified an old human bay. Head in."
Bumblebee was about to walk straight in until Cliffjumper's voice cut in, "Uh, hey, what are you doing, dude?"
"Heading in, why?' he turned to see the others removing their clothing and armor. With an eyebrow raised, he then asked them, "uh, what are you doing?"
While the rest simply gazed at him in confusion, Arcee had the most deadpan expression he had ever witnessed in a long time, "You cannot be serious."