A/N: Okay, so I take back my statement about this being a filler. But, I know Lockdown's ship has taken forever, and in my defense, it is a huge piece to tackle. This updates you on the artifact that Optimus presented Mira in the previous chapter.
Thirty-Three
…
There was a reverence in the armory terminal.
Mira couldn't explain the sense that came over her, only that it was one of overwhelming honor, and duty. Standing here, before Optimus; with her family (the Autobots included) and now her friends standing behind her, she couldn't begin to formulate the introduction. The Shield began to burn, when Optimus spoke in Cybertronian to it. Still standing and holding the Shield by the chain, she held the other object in her hand and looked up at Optimus.
A warrioress of the stars? She'd never left Earth, how could she possibly be a warrior? So, she'd fought alongside her friends—which had become more of her family than her friends. Her love for these beings—these Cybertronians—ran so deep within her that Mira wondered for a second if it was even healthy. But, looking up into Optimus Prime's optics, holding part of his very spark—the very life force that made him who he was—she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is where she belonged. She felt at home among all this huge technology, this otherworldliness.
Still on his knee before her, Optimus flickered his optics. "You know the Shield has the ability to transform any type of mechanical object into a Cybertronian organism," he addressed her softly now, "but something you do not know about our kind is that some of our science was able to create objects with no sparks. We call them Ventrons." He took a massive finger and pointed it at the pill shaped object, "This is a Ventron. It is able to transform into any form its coded desires," he then looked to the Shield.
"So you're giving me a Ventron?" she asked quietly, "…this isn't a living Cybertronian? Sort of like an inanimate object?"
He nodded, "Exactly, yes. But," he touched the Shield with the tip of his finger, "What I am about to tell you to do will change everything you know of our technology, Miriam. It will take you to an entire new understanding of our kind. This will be quite different—you will be quite different." He stood, "As a Keeper of the Shield, you will be called to duties far more dangerous than your kind has been called to handle. And, considering the contextual circumstances, I have decided that you are to be better equipped than you are. It is not fair to charge you with such a calling and not better prepare you for the duty."
Mira was confused. Was this Ventron some type of weapon? She looked at the pill-shaped object, so dormant, and then the glowing Shield. Mira couldn't imagine what an inanimate object would do if it were indeed inanimate—how was she supposed to use it? Looking back up at Optimus, she tipped her head to the side, "Alright. I understand, Optimus," she then looked between the two objects, "so what do I do with it then?"
He chuckled, "Use the Shield, Mira." Then, without warning, he activated the holoform and it appeared before her. She gasped, took half a step back, and only stopped when he grabbed her wrist tightly. She'd never seen him use the holoform in bi-pedal before, and it startled her. His hand was on fire, and his eyes were insanely bright. She noticed how the insignia dangling from his neck was illuminated to the point where you couldn't even make out the allegiance he was tied to. He locked eyes with her and then took the Shield. "Watch carefully, my dear."
He took both objects, and addressed them. "I, Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots use the power of the Matrix of Leadership for such a purpose as this. To combine two worlds as one, to make the unknown known to yet another warrior have I come to call my own," The Shield exploded into an array of light now, humming quickly like a spark. Optimus looked to her and smiled, "so I address the power of the Matrix and apply it accordingly, not for the benefit of myself, but to the benefit of the people I love." Without warning, he then crammed the Shield piece into the Ventron, and it was consumed.
The Ventron began to manipulate now, twisting and shaping and moving. Optimus extended a hand to her, and she wrapped her own in it. Instantly, she felt something sharp pierce into her wrist, and she squeaked, noting a thick stream of blood erupting from the veins in her arm. Optimus gave her a small, apologetic smile and pressed the Ventron into the bloodstream.
Instantly, the color changed. Once a deep and depressing black, it formed into a sparkling silver. Then, it split apart and began to manipulate again, this time wrapping around her wrist. Panic seized her, Optimus gripping onto her other wrist, confidence and encouragement flooding through his eyes. The Ventron began to creep up her arm like lightning, spreading and turning until her entire arm and hand were covered in a light but smooth metal. It began spreading over her shoulders, heat flooding the top of her skin until it snaked down the other arm and covered her hand in an armored suit.
The rest of the body followed; her torso was consumed with the manipulatable metal, until finally it spread over her clothing and legs and down to her feet. It covered her like an armored suit, until Optimus released her hand and removed her glasses. By now Cade, Tessa, Bryce, and Merrick all surrounded her, as did the Autobots. Optimus was behind them all, taking in the work of art he'd just formulated. Mira watched as Optimus intercepted her glasses from the holoform, deactivated it, and scanned her glasses with his optics.
"Mom!" Merrick sounded entirely amazed, "What is that!?" He rapped his knuckled on her waist and pulled back, a smile lighting up not only his face but his eyes as well, "You look like Ironman!"
Cade grabbed her wrist and began inspecting it, "A very technologically advanced Ironman," he ran his hand over her palm, where a round, clear looking circle was embeddened. Inside one could the see the mechanical workings that one would expect inside an engine, "what is this? How—"
"The Matrix has undeniable power," Optimus said behind them. The group split and he took a knee before Mira again, who as still in awe. She'd lost all words, just stared in awe at her hands and the rest of her body, inspecting the work of art. The suit was just as light as any other type of clothing, but was strong. "Power that we sometimes are not meant to understand. I formulated this design with Ratchet when I had decided to give you the Shield," he handed her glasses back to her—they were the same style, but colored his red along the inside frames and his blue outside, "We just did not have the Ventron to complete the task."
"So, this is basically…?" Bryce interjected.
"This is basically a battle armor, much like our protective armor that we were going into battle, such as my mask," Optimus interjected, finishing the though, "It is triggered by voice. Ratchet and I termed it the CAST—Cybertronian Armor System Technology. It is fully operational, and equipped with weapons and jets for flight."
Cade's brows rose, "Wow," he looked to her. Mira situated the glasses on her face and instantly they converted into a fully operational See-All system. She saw the entire system functions before her now, at a focus that was comfortable which still allowed her to see. Cade continued his thought, "That's…amazing. Do they come in my size?"
"Great," Crosshairs mumbled, "Just what the humans need—our tech! Prime, are you sure this is a good idea-?"
"The suit is only compatible with the Shield's power and technology," Optimus said sternly, "so it cannot be duplicated, I'm afraid. And since it is coded to Mira—"
"—no one else can use it," Mira looked up at him and smiled, pushing the glasses atop her head. She then looked down, to where the Autobot insignia was engraved directly over her heart. Placing a hand over it, she lurched backwards when the armor began to contract. Within a matter of moments, the Autobot insignia shrank to a very compact size, and a fresh, Cybertronian looking cable dangled from her fingertips—a new necklace. Looping it back around her neck, it dangled just below her throat comfortably. Merrick was bouncing up and down by now.
"How awesome! You can fly and fight and run really, really fast, Mom! It's just like Halo, only it's real!" He grabbed her hand in his own and beamed up at her, "You gotta try it, you just have to!"
She smiled at him and then gave Optimus a look. "So is the Shield gone?"
He shook his head, "No. It has only just changed form. It still contains the power of the Matrix, just as the Shield itself would. It is in disguise, you could say. It's technology is hidden from the world, just as our own technology is hidden in the form of everyday vehicles." He smiled at her and stood now, "You are as much a Cybertronian as I can make you, my friend."
The Autobots all were smiling like schoolboys, all except Crosshairs, who looked disgusted. Bumblebee clapped his hands, "Celebrate good times, c'mon! It's a cel-e-bration!" This caused the group to chuckle, and Mira's ear came to life with Hound's voice. She reached up and felt a small communication link in her ear, which hadn't been there before.
"Atta girl, princess. 'Bought time you meched up and got down with the rest of us. I knew ya had it in ya for somthin'. I hate to break up the little ceremony, but we got company comin' and I'm ready to break off here."
Optimus seconded the idea, "Agreed. We—"
Without a word more, a folly of gunfire exploded from the entry of the terminal. It ricocheted, and the Autobots divided to sides of the Terminal, pressing against the walls. Mira pressed Merrick into the enormous wall and covered him with her body, the two of them curled into a ball. Then, a shadow ascended over them, and Mira noticed that Optimus had shifted to cover the humans from any fire that might come their way.
"All of you get out of here!" Optimus boomed down to them, "We'll cover you!"
Mira nodded, grabbing Merrick's wrist. Bolting towards the end of the Terminal, the five of them headed right and ran full-bore down the corridor, bullets whizzing past their heads and colliding with the corridor's walls around them. Mira looked up to the right, noticing how drones were stationed in sniper position in the upper workings of the ship's "rafters". They took a sharp left, Mira stumbling forward as the floor shook with the immense weight of the Autobots running up behind them.
"Get outside!" Cade pulled Tessa forward, bolting straight ahead for the daylight shining through a gaping exit. Mira saw the anchor cables, which were tied together in thinner sets of three. If only they could use them to cross over to the sky-scraper. Running out onto the pavilion, they pulled up short when the gunfire stopped—the Autobots were gone from behind them.
Cade was the first to test her theory, releasing Tessa's wrist and helping himself up onto the sets of cables. He bounced for a sound, holding onto the one next to him and shot her a look, "It's stable," he panted, "We can cross here and get to the building before Hound detaches the ship."
"Are you insane?" Mira asked him, shouting, "We can't do this! It's ridiculously dangerous—and we've got kids here, Cade! We can't chance—"
There was a growl in the distance, followed by deep barks and snarls. Howls echoed off the walls of the corridors, and all five of them focused behind where they'd just come. Within moments, a group of three huge dogs rounded the corner. Mira's eyes widened as Tessa screamed, Merrick hiding behind her legs and peeking out from behind her. Bryce pulled up his weapons, but as the beings lessened the gap between them, Mira realized a simple handgun would not take these monsters down.
They were like werewolves, only set to Cybertronian standards. They looked like hybrids; mixtures between organic dogs and robot armor. They were huge, about the size of a small Sedan—roughly 1200 pounds apiece. They had green eyes and green "slobber", which Mira surmised as shizzle, and looked hungry with bloodlust and death. They were the stuff of nightmares, of Halloween horror-movies.
-and they were there for them.
Mira wondered if they were intelligent, but when they stopped to stare at her she realized they were indeed able to compute like any other Cybertronian. There was a standoff, them against the hybrids, and there was silence besides the wind whipping behind them, so high above the ground.
Looking to Cade, she swallowed thickly and then looked down to Merrick. Glancing at the hybrids from the corner of her eyes, she guessed they were fifty yards away. Without warning, she shoved Merrick towards Bryce, touched the Autobot insignia around her neck, and shouted. "CAST!" Instantly, the insignia broke apart and began shifting down her body, and Bryce, Tessa, and Merrick scrambled onto the cables. Mira tossed them a look as the last of the CAST armor fell into place around her feet, "Get to the building, I'll hold them off!" Whipping around, she reached up with an armored hand and touched the comm.
"Optimus!" She exclaimed, dodging left as the hybrids came roaring passed her. She slammed into the wall of the ship, now facing the three of them. They were still, until one of them charged her. She rolled right, as the other two followed the first, and she looped around them from behind, "How do I use the weapons system?!"
He responded immediately, "It is controlled by manipulation, Mira! Flick your wrists to use the ions!" He cut out, the feed going dead in her ear. Flick her wrists? What insanity was that?
"I hope your right," she muttered to herself. Then, flicking her right wrist, the circle in her palm pulsated to life with a huge ion blast much like what would come from a Cybertronian blaster, like Optimus' preferred weapon of choice. It erupted into the wall past the hybrids, which were shocked and recoiled back. They whipped attention at her, snarled, and looked to one another. Her brows rose, and the systems in her glasses awakened and her lenses were filled with information much like the See-All in Optimus' alternation mode. "It works!" she exclaimed.
"Then use it already!" Bryce exclaimed from behind her. She whipped a look over her shoulder, to see them struggling along the cables for balance. Merrick had stopped and was laying along the cable, arms wrapped around them tightly, bobbing as the breeze flittered the lines. He was screaming and crying. Her motherly instincts tore at her being, but as the things snarled and each took a step closer, she gave her attention to them.
"You wanna play, slobber-bots? Fine then. Let's play."
