AN: Read until the end and then please let me tell you what you think...
When Solarflare exited through the groundbridge she hadn't know what to expect but the somber landscape certainly hadn´t crossed her mind. Everywhere she looked was the same, a remote, desolate landscape where grey stone stretched as far as her optics could see. Only a small green ground-plant could be seen here and there and the lack of organic life more than explained the deafening silence broken only by the three bot´s footsteps.
"Optimus, what do we hope to find here?" Ratchet was not liking the ambiance as well, wondering what had prompted the Prime to choose that particular location for their sudden mission.
"The site of the largest Cybertronian battlefield in this galaxy." Was not the answer both Maker and medbot were not expecting. Earth, the site of a battle between the factions? It seemed a little far-fetched.
Not liking the fact that she, as the Maker leader, was going in blind on a mission with no set return time Solarflare decided it was time to put her pede down. "Alright, Prime, you really need to start explaining things in advance. Explain."
"There was a period late in the war when both sides began hiding their energon spoils off-world."
"I… We had no idea." It certainly was the first time she was hearing about such a thing.
Ratchet had known they´d hidden away to avoid the war but not to the point of being unaware of what had happened during it. To him it seemed unthinkable for someone to have been able to live that long without one or two run-ins with either faction. "It´s the reason energon deposits exist on planets such as this one."
"We´d always thought energon was naturally occurring. The overwhelming majority of Makers stayed in Cybertron during their whole lives and had next to no formal education. Solus, we barely even left our district."
The Autobot leader remembered the Maker district. It had been a place he´d never entered, only glanced at from a distance, while bots ranging from lowly miners to Senators went in and out at all times. "It would make sense for you to think that, you evaded all conflict during the war and as such knew nothing of the moves from both sides. As I was saying, the energon is also the reason battles came to be waged on planets such as this one. And I fear Megatron´s memory is as long as history."
Solarflare shook her helm, displeased at her lack of foresight. "I can't believe we´ve been living on a planet long touched by the war. I should´ve known, what kind of leader doesn´t notice there were held battles on the planet they decided to hide out on?"
"It is not your fault. You´ve managed to keep you all safe since the beginning of the war and that is something to be proud of."
"Humph. We´ll see how safe we all are with this whole dark energon business."
Back at the base no one knew what to do exactly. Silverbot and Doomsday picked up the pile of spare parts left on the floor and threw it in to the nearest storage closet while Airachnid went back to laying some webbing around the walls.
Bulkhead kept his optics trained on Mayhem, the heavy-duty seeker was pacing back and forth in front of the offlined groundbridge as if it would come to life on its own to take her somewhere or anywhere.
"You think Optimus is in a lot of trouble?" Mayhem was already tired of waiting. Sure only fifteen minutes had passed since the Autobots and her Carrier had left but it seemed life forever to the younger femme. She´d resigned herself to staring at the bridge in hopes something would happen soon.
"Like right now or with Fowler?" Radical had gotten his portable gaming system from his new berthroom, a piece he´d crafted inspired in the human versions, and was gaming away time.
"Fowler."
"I dunno. Airachnid, you know all this military rank stuff, what´s your opinion?"
The spider-femme turned on the hammock she´d made herself between two piles of metal crates out of boredom. "No clue, sweetspark. I´ve got no idea how similar Cybertronian and human military rankings are."
Everything whet back to being quiet before a loud pitched alarm rang though the base, but that time it didn´t sound like the proximity sensor. Radical dropped his console and ran to the control panel only for Bulkhead to pick him up and set him down on the platform, the wrecker needing to get a closer look at the panel without accidentally stepping on the sparkling.
"It´s an SOS from Fowler!" The Autobot looked at the distress signal but hesitated to push any buttons, unsure on how to operate the console, before the panel went back to normal and the signal got cut off.
The Makers looked between each other and slowly approached the appointed leader for the moment, expecting for clarifications on what just happened or even rescue orders.
"Did you trace it?" Radical leaned over to look at the screen. It certainly didn´t look like it to him.
"Location scan was incomplete." Answered Bulkhead before he shrugged and turned away from the console. "Oh well."
"Oh well?" Silverbot did not like the wrecker´s answer even one bit. "The Decepticons may have him and be preparing for good old-fashioned torture this very moment."
"And Agent Fowler knows your location." The sparkling dry-swallowed and looked over to his Carrier with worry. "Our location."
"That´s it, we´re out of here." Doomsday was trying very hard not to panic. As a forger she had no alt-form and Radical couldn't fly, they´d be prime for the picking. "I say let´s go back to our old base and start over."
Airachnid went to stand with the Forger in agreement. "I´m with her. If the Cons are coming for you Autobots we don´t have to get caught in the crossfire because technically we don´t exist."
"No!" Mayhem could not believe her audio receptors. They wanted to leave behind the bots they swore to fight alongside of and that was a big no in her books. "We´re on the Autobot´s side now and we´ll fight any Con that comes though those doors." Something in her spark told her to fight in that war and her spark had never steered her wrong.
"Or the ceiling. Or the walls." Airachnid countered. "Sweetspark, you don´t know what those monsters are capable of but both of us and your Carrier do. Think this though, do you really believe Solarflare would want you and your brother to fight for a side that oppressed the Makers for millennia?"
"If I have to choose between them and the ones who destroyed our planet I´ll take my chances with the Autobots."
Getting tired of the bickering, Radical sat down and once again connected himself to the console. He began pressing the buttons on his wrist panel with speed and accuracy, testing out a theory he hoped proved to be true or else they´d have next to no chances of rescuing Agent Fowler.
Bulkhead watched the sparkling for a few seconds with a puzzled expression before giving into his curiosity. "What are you doing?"
"Narrowing down Agent Fowler´s location." Radical didn´t even look up from his work before continuing on with his explanation. "About five years ago the government started microchipping their agents. You know, like human owners do with pets. If I can hack into the Fed´s mainframe I may be able to pinpoint his coordinates. "
"Kid, how do you even know all this stuff?"
"Trust me, I´m not that young." There was a beep from the console and coordinates started appearing on the selected destination. "Here it is. Latitude 39.5, longitude 116.9. Groundbridge is a go."
The portal came to life, supposedly leading to the agent´s location, but now they had a dilemma. Who would go to rescue their human liaison?
"Wait here, all of you." The remaining Autobot made his decision. "Erm, Doomsday, you´re in charge."
"Wait!" Mayhem ran up to Bulkhead. "Take me with you, I know I can help you."
"No deal. Stay here with the others."
With his decision made the wrecker went into the swirling portal but before he could disappear something heavy crashed into him, sending both tumbling to the other side before the groundbridge closed in front of the remaining flabbergasted Makers.
"Did she just…" Radical tried telling himself he had not just witnessed Mayhem throw herself into a possible combat situation in a moment of impulsiveness.
"Mayhem, you idiot!" Screamed Silverbot as if his sister was still there to hear his insult.
"I´ll open the portal again, let me just-"
"No." Airachnid slowly shook her helm. "We´ll go. We need you here in case Flare or the two Autobots need backup. If it´s Megatron we´re going against we need someone to match the size."
Doomsday though about her leader and friend. It was true Mayhem could probably handle herself but still… "Airachnid, you do know what will happen if Solarflare finds out we let her daughter get close to Megatron. She´ll have our sparks for this."
"If she doesn´t come back in one piece I will tear your arms from your body like shrimps." Silverbot looked between the femmes. "Both of you."
"Oh no!" As if the universe wasn´t done laughing at their expense the console began to beep as bugs started to spread all over the system.
Silverbot could not believe what was happening. "What did you do?!"
"Nothing, must have been something from the Fed´s server I overlooked! Oh man, I´ve got to fix this quick!" He tried to fight the infestation but it would take him some time, if the growing amount of problems was anything to go by.
"Doomsday, can´t you help?"
"You know very well I´m all about the hardware, for software he´s your only bot."
With a nervous sigh Silverbot resigned to observing Radical fight off the digital infestation.
"Let´s just hope no one needs to be bridged soon. Please be careful, Mayhem."
"Dammit, Mayhem! I said I didn´t want you on this mission."
"Well I´m here now so deal with it. What´s so bad about it anyway? Is it because I´m a Maker? Or because I´m a seeker?"
Bulkhead picked himself off the ground after Mayhem got up from on top of him. She really was packing something to weigh like a boulder. He checked for any dents before turning to the proud-looking femme who´d decided to follow him.
"Neither! If something happens to you I wouldn't be able to forgive myself for letting a defenseless-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a sec, defenseless?" Mayhem interrupted the wrecker, looking very much insulted at being called the ´d´ word. She took out a scepter-like hammer and hit the long handle´s tip on the ground, puffing out her chest. "You see this? I wouldn´t have it if I didn´t know how to use it? Mayhem made it for me along with a full hydraulic system rework when mom said I was ready to fight like a real warrior. Are you calling my Carrier a liar?"
Resigning himself to the idea that no, the femme would not be leaving, the Autobot caved in at last. "Fine, you win. Let´s just find Fowler and get back to the base before the others come back." But then when he looked over ahead he saw the Nemesis grounded in its full glory, complete with patrolling Vehicons. "Uh-oh, the whole Decepticon shebang."
Mayhem grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him behind the large rock wall to their left. "Aren´t you glad I came with you now?" She whispered.
"Follow my lead." Bulkhead though for a moment before running to take cover behind a boulder big enough to hide his frame. It was when he looked over to see Mayhem mouthing ´idiot´ did he realize her wings would not be hidden if she indeed followed him.
When the wrecker took a peek to try and reverse his path he stared directly into a Vehicon´s visor. And the Vehicon stared right back before pointing his blaster at the Autobot, preparing to blast a hole through his armor.
"So unwise, dear Bulkhead." Running up from behind the Decepticon the Maker lifted her hammer in a wide arc and struck downwards with precision, crushing her enemy into the ground. The hit did some damage but the Vehicon still retained enough strength to attempt getting up, that was, before Mayhem reached down and sank her claws into his spark chamber, tearing out a jumble of metal and cables. "You alright?" She asked, letting go of the parts she´d just torn out with a smirk.
"Erm… yeah. C´mon." Unsure on how to describe the fear he´d just felt watching the seeker tear out a Con´s spark, Bulkhead settled for being the one to that time grab her wrist and drag her behind a larger boulder. He needed to make a call.
After the two Autobots left the base on patrol nothing had happened and Arcee did not like that one bit. If the Decepticons were on the move they should´ve seen signs of activity by then but all the desert had to offer until that point had been only sun and sand for the miles they´d driven though.
"Arcee, Bumblebee, do you read? We have a situation." A call from Bulkhead came through, but Arcee did not feel like answering. Mainly because it would likely be the wrecker begging them to come back to base.
"Bulkhead, for the last time, there are no such things as sparkeaters, Doomsday only said that to scare us." The two wheeler felt like hanging up before the next part hit her like a punch from Optimus himself. "You´re where?! She´s where?!" She switched frequencies to contact the base. Radical would be able to operate the groundbridge and get them to those two. "Arcee to bridge, do you copy? We need you to bridge us back. Hello?" Static was her only response. "Nothing. Did they all leave? Forget it. Bumblebee, metal to the pedal."
Bulkhead and Mayhem sat waiting patiently for their backup but they were getting impatient as the minutes trickled by. The femme had put back her weapon and began bouncing her knee with barely contained anticipation while her partner repressed the urge to constantly look over their hiding place to the giant Decepticon ship parked right behind them.
"What´s taking Arcee and Bumblebee?" He was getting more nervous by the second. Had they ran into Cons as well?
"Dude, the Cons could be putting the clamps on Fowler right now, let´s just storm the joint."
"Unless you switch that insignia for theirs I doubt you´d be able to sneak in."
With a scoff Mayhem put a digit to Bulkhead´s chest. "Look who´s talking, thinking he´s as dainty as a ballerina."
During some point in their journey the air seemed to get colder and although the temperature wasn´t enough to affect their systems the three bots repressed the urge to shiver at the sight presented in front of them. Just shy of a few feet ahead laid hundreds, perhaps thousands, of fallen warriors. There was no distinction between Autobots and Decepticons, all one could see were empty husks of Cybertronians who´d lost their lives in the war that had torn up their planet.
Solarflare´s wings dropped closer to her frame while she looked around with unease. Something bad was coming. Something wicked.
"For the first time in my life, Optimus, I had hoped you were wrong." Ratchet could not look away from the gruesome sight. He´d seen what the war could to but it was like relieving his nightmares just by staring at the jumble of fallen allies and enemies.
A flyer engine rumble was heard, coming in fast to their location. Solarflare knew immediately who it was, for she´d heard that engine rev up many times in the past.
Megatron soared over the three bots with glee before landing on top of one of the many steep rocks framing the old battle site. "Optimus, been well?" He´d known exactly what Prime would do and he was playing right into the warlord´s servos. The battle for Cybertron was close to being ended by his army and the Decepticons would rule supreme for eons to come. "I see you brought your trusty watchdog and… Solarflare." Even though his processor was clouded by Unicron´s blood after exposing himself to the dark substance he recognized the Maker. How could he not?
Solarflare said nothing, opting to look at the tyrant with a murderous glare. How dare he address her after the pain he´d caused her? She couldn´t wait to put a hole through his spark chamber a watch as the life drained from his optics, getting revenge at last for the bot responsible for the mass Maker exodus from the only place they´d ever felt at home.
"You know him?!" Ratchet expected much from the tyrannical Decepticon leader but previous involvement with the leader of the Makers had fallen short of that list.
"Not now."
"I know why you´re here, Megatron." The Prime took a defiant step further, inviting Megatron down for one more tally to their fight score.
Upon hearing his enemy´s words the dark energon once again took over and pushed aside his past. There would be time for that after he´d eradicated the Autobots. "Hardly a surprise, Optimus. After all, you and I have been at this a long time, and your time has come to an end. Dearest Flare, you may want to move for this." Megatron readied his fusion cannon but did not shoot at the bots and instead aimed at the ground but there was no explosion, the purple energy ball that came out sinking into the ground. "Rise, my army."
There was a rumble beneath the earth and the corpses of the fallen warriors came to life by Unicron´s will, brandishing their weapons as if their fight had never ended. They moaned and groaned as the purple substance ingrained itself deep in their frames, stumbling out of their supposed final resting place with an undead thirst to battle once again. That time, for one master alone.
"Behold, the power of dark energon!"