[Jasper, Nevada- 2 days later]
Arianna Ariel Prime stepped out of the car that Captain Lennox had rented to drive them to Jasper, Nevada. She examined the small, one-story house in front of her. "Well," said Lennox, "This is it."
The door opened. Out stepped a young-looking couple. "That's Mr. and Mrs. Chavez," said Ironhide, "Nice people. Expecting a baby in a couple of months."
"That's nice," Aria said back. She couldn't help thinking about her own parents. She brushed the thought to the side and gave a small smile as the two adults approached her. "Welcome to Jasper, Arianna," said Mr. Chavez.
"It's nice to meet you," she said, bobbing her head respectfully.
"Well," said Mrs. Chavez, "Let's help you in."
Arianna quickly grabbed her backpack as Mr. Chavez grabbed her suitcase. "I'm afraid that I have to get going," said Captain Lennox, "I'm meeting up with some friends. Catch you later!" Aria and the Chavez's waved goodbye as he hopped into his car and drove off, honking his horn goodbye.
"Well, right in here," said Mrs. Chavez. She led Aria to the door and into the house. Before Aria entered, she saw the forest green jeep parked at the curb, it's driver window facing her.
Aria cocked an eyebrow and tweaked her eyesight a little bit. A smile spread on her face when she saw the symbol on the grill. The Autobot symbol. She nodded her head slightly before entering her new home.
()
*Boss, someone just entered the house you told me to watch. Someone who doesn't live there. At least, not until recently.*
*Description?*
*Young human female, around seventeen probably. About six feet tall. Navy blue jacket, gray jeans, and blue and silver combat boots. White hair with blue streaks. Top part of her hair was braided to one side.*
*Left side?*
*Left side.*
*Well done, Bulkhead. Return to base for now.*
*Right away, Optimus.*
()
Aria sat on the edge of her bed, her now empty backpack off to one side of her bed and her belongings now in the proper places around her new room and her clothes in the drawer. The photo book that Reyna and Issac had given her was now resting on the bookshelf along with a few other books that she liked to read. And invisible on the far end of the shelf, was her diary, a gift from one of the kinder girls in the orphanage that she left seven years ago.
She looked out the window. She wasn't able to see the Autobot that she had seen at the curb. "Who was that?" she asked a few Autobots in her head.
The Wrecker, Roadblock, answered her, "Vehicle form might be from earth, but I'd recognize that big guy anywhere! That was Bulkhead! He used to be a part of the Wreckers but left to go join Team Prime at the battle of Thunderhead Pass. Before the Great War, he was a construction worker. He builds stuff, he breaks stuff, and that's about it. Wheeljack was sorry to see him go."
"Ah," said Aria, nodding slightly, "You guys think there might be more Autobots here?"
"Bulkhead's a part of Team Prime, ain't he?" said Ironhide, "I wager the rest of the team is here on Earth as well. Including Opie! Now that will be fun!"
"But why was Bulkhead there?" she said, "You don't think he was looking for me, do you?"
Everyone was silent for a bit, but she felt like they were arguing with someone. Finally, Amalgamos said, "You better tell her, Prima. It was your idea in the first place."
"Very well," said Prima. He gave a nervous intake before saying, "Arianna. We may have... told Optimus who you are and where to find you."
Aria's eyes widened before rolling her eyes and saying, "Well of course you did. You guys can't keep anything quiet, can you."
"Hey! Leige is the guy who can't keep his trap shut!" yelled Nexus Prime.
"OI! I can too!" said Leige Maximo. A loud chorus of laughter drowned out his sputtering protests. Arianna rolled her eyes again at that. She hadn't really liked Leige when she first met him. And he reminded her of Loki, helmet, paint scheme, personality, and all.
She finally decided to go explore around town and see her new home. Besides, she might get the chance to see some more Autobots.
()
[Arianna's diary- that night]
Well, here I am in Jasper, Nevada. Not only is it the "Music Capital of the World"- the brochure lied- but it's also the town closest to the Autobot base. I even saw Bulkhead today! And the Primes said that they told Optimus Prime about me and my connection to the Allspark. And while I wandered around town a bit, I saw another Autobot. Ironhide identified him as Bumblebee. Bumblebee- the same warrior scout of Team Prime and who lost his voice to Megatron! I think I actually squealed a little bit on the inside.
I'm planning on flying around a bit and seeing where I can practice my powers a bit. I thought I heard Mrs. Chavez say something about an old gully close to the bridge into town. I might check it out tomorrow.
()
[Next day]
Arianna flew above the deserts surrounding Jasper as a hawk, looking for something interesting. She thought that she saw a helicopter in the distance, but decided to ignore it for the time being.
Suddenly, explosion echoed from underneath her. Aria quickly stopped and looked below her, surprised to see a fight between a couple of Cybertronians- a Seeker with a heavy-hitter Decepticon and a red Autobot with his guns blazing, standing over a fallen blue Autobot femme, energon pouring from a missing arm.
She dove down, landing behind a small outcropping of rock and transformed, cloaking herself before peeking behind the corner. "I don't believe it," said Thundercracker.
"What? What is it?" she asked.
"It's Starscream! The Seeker is Starscream!"
Aria's eyebrow rose before taking a peek at the gray Seeker that was firing his blasters at the red Autobot. She looked him over and ducked behind the rock again, biting her lip to stop her laughter from getting through.
"Just let it out kid," advised Ironhide.
"I'm sorry," she said, still trying to stop sniggering, "But that's Starscream?! He looks like a girl!"
The voices in her head were silent for a while before loud laughter erupted from her mind. "Oh! My! Primus! You are right! He does look like a girl!" yelled Skywarp, "I never liked him anyways! But you're right! He screams like one too!"
"Guess they don't call him Star-Scream for nothing, right?" guffawed Sunstreaker. His brother gave a loud *clunk* as he fell to the ground laughing hard.
As soon as they had calmed down, Aria asked, "And the Autobots?"
"Cliffjumper and Arcee," said Moonracer, "But why haven't the rest of the Autobots showed up?"
After a bit of silence, Perceptor provided the answer, "Starscream is jamming their signals. They can't get through to base."
"Then let's change that." Aria quickly focused on conjuring up two Autobot signals and let them appear through the shielding that was covering the group. She let it hold as the fight continued, Starscream and the heavy-hitter quickly overpowering Cliffjumper. Starscream raised his claws above his head and Aria looked around. Where was Team Prime?
Finally, a swirling vortex of blue-green energy appeared. Two vehicles, a yellow and black Urbana 500 and a red and blue Peterbuilt semi-truck, which transformed into two more Autobots. "Bee and Opie!" yelled Ironhide.
"No way," whispered Aria as the two Autobots defeated the heavy-hitter and sent Starscream running, "That's Optimus Prime?"
Optimus easily towered over the rest of the other Autobots present. A battle mask was secured over his face, with the rest of his helm a brilliant dark blue. His chest was a ruby red, with semi-truck windows secured over his chest. His arms were also red, with two pointed shoulder guards covering his shoulders, with an Autobot symbol on each shoulder. His legs were silver and blue, with his peds black. He honestly looked like, to her, how a leader should look.
Optimus picked up Arcee and carried her though the groundbridge, with Bumblebee- a young looking yellow and black Autobot with two door wings popping out of his back- grabbed her disconnected arm and helped Cliffjumper stagger through the groundbridge. Optimus paused at the entrance to the portal and turned, looking towards her. His bright blue optics gave a respective blink before the four Autobots entered.
She stared at the spot where the groundbridge was and said, "Leige..."
A dark cackle came in reply and Prima gave a angry sigh. "Right. Back to the Matix."
"Aw, no! I wanted to-!" An angry growl stopped his tirade and he said, "Alrght! Alright! I'm going!"
()
[Arianna's diary- 1 week later]
Just started school in Jasper. I'm a Senior this year, and it's not too bad here. A little bit dull if I have to be honest. Well, if you don't include the secret alien civil war that's going on right beneath your nose. Happened to notice Bumblebee parked on a curb close to the school. I guess Optimus wants to make sure that I'm not gonna get kidnapped or something. The only person I have to worry about is Silas, and I haven't seen him since I was ten and I highly doubt that Starscream knows about me.
I've been practicing in the gully with my powers. No one's seen me yet, but as a precaution, Primus is telling me to keep it to not very showy powers. Still, only a matter of time before someone finds me.
()
[Gully- 2 weeks later]
Arianna was twirling a heavy metal pipe that she had found at one end of the gully, swinging it above her head and stabbing out with it at imaginary enemies. She finally finished by slamming the end of the pipe into the ground.
"Hey kid," Ironhide suddenly said, "You've got company." Aria gave a small start, whirling around to see a young boy watching her. He had spiky brown hair, orange, square-rimmed glasses, and wore an orange vest over a white shirt, loose jeans, and red and white sneakers. "Whoa!" he finally said.
Aria had frozen slightly. "Oh, go ahead and say hi," said Nauticia.
The young boy quickly said, "Oh, I'm sorry I interrupted you. It's just, I usually come here sometimes."
"Sorry for taking your spot then," Aria said to him, finally relaxing. He seemed like a nice kid.
"It's alright," he said to her. He walked over to her and held up his hand. "I'm Rafael by the way."
"Arianna," she responded, taking his hand and shaking it, "So, what are you doing down here, Rafael?"
"Just call me Raf," he said as he pulled off his backpack and sat down against the side of the gully. Aria decided to join him as he explained, "I'm just trying to get away from my family for a bit."
"Why?" asked Aria. She didn't understand why he'd want to leave his family for a bit.
Raf pulled out his phone and brought up a picture of his family. The older girl saw that there was at least eight other members of his family besides him. "I'm the youngest," he explained, "And... no one ever really listens to me. Sometimes I even shout and they don't listen." He gave a slightly angry sigh as he stuffed his phone back into his pocket. "So, what are you doing down here?"
"Just getting ready for a threat that I'm not sure will come." She rested her head against the wall as she said, "You're lucky. My parents were killed when I was three. I barely remember them." She rubbed her necklace as Raf looked sympathetically at her.
"You don't have very many friends, do you?" he asked her.
"Last friends I had I left back in Chicago," she said, "But I guess I wouldn't mind having a few more." She smiled at him and he smiled back. "Same time tomorrow?" she asked.
"You're on!" he said.
The enthusiastic tone in his vice made her smile widely. She was gonna like this kid.
()
[Arianna's diary- 4 months later]
It's bee almost 5 months since I came to Jasper. I really didn't think that I'd have any fun here, but was I wrong! I've already made a few friends and I'm doing well in school. I've also developed my powers a lot. Speaking of them, Primus says that it's okay for me to tell Raf about my powers! I'm not really sure why he would want me to tell him though.
I often ask if I'm ever going to officially meet Team Prime. Primus says just be patient. I have to wonder how soon this is gonna be.