Chapter three! Chapter three! Chapter three!
Sorry, I'll stop now.
I only own Alora and my OCs. Transformers Prime and Star Wars the Clone Wars belong to their respective owners.
Shall we continue?
-Chapter 3: Darkness Rising Part 3-
On the dusty roads in front of where Autobot/Jedi Outpost Omega One remained hidden were Jack and the Autobot second-in-command, Arcee.
"Tighten your grip, Jack," Arcee warned.
Jack couldn't help but yelp in surprise as Arcee suddenly took off speeding down the road. He found himself glad that he had his helmet on as the female Autobot popped a wheelie.
"Hey! What's with you, Arcee?" Jack asked.
"Thought you might actually enjoy the ride without getting shot at," Arcee smirked.
"Oh, bring it!" Jack grinned as they sped along the stretch of road.
Not too far from the first Autobot/Human pairing we find ourselves with another group perched at the top of a rocky hill. This group being Bulkhead, Ark, Ahsoka and Miko.
"Ready? Set?" Miko urged, trying to get Bulkhead to drive down the hill as fast as possible just so she could get an adrenaline rush.
"Miko, we're supposed to be protecting you," Bulkhead reminded her nervously. It was only natural for him not to want anything to happen to his organic friends.
"Bulkhead, we're strapped inside ten tons of metal muscle! We're protected," Miko assured.
Ahsoka laughed. "I like her!"
Bulkhead grumbled quietly in protest.
"I mean… Miko's not wrong Bulk," Ark said, "We'd be totally fine."
Bulkhead sighed and decided to just go for it. Shifting the gear to drive, Bulkhead sped down the hill, enjoying the sounds of delighted screams coming from his friends.
While all of this was happening, Bumblebee, Raf, Anika and Alora sat parked within their own part of the desserts of Jasper. Bee, Raf, and Anika were all head to head in a racing game that Bumblebee had downloaded. Alora on the other hand took this moment to meditate to some soothing sounds through her earbuds.
"No fair, Bumblebee! You've been driving a lot longer than I have!" Raf laughed after Bumblebee had beaten both him and Anika at the race.
All three paused as the air within Bumblebee's vehicle mode became heavy, and a soft groan came from Alora.
"Ally?" Raf asked turning his attention to her.
Anika's eyes showed her worry when her older sister didn't answer.
For the next few minutes the other three called her name in hopes of pulling her out of it. Anika going as far as to rip the earbuds out of Alora's ear, but Alora was too deep into her meditation to let it bother her.
Alora could only watch as images passed through her mind. Memories and perhaps visions?
Some of these memories weren't even hers. She knew that a small part of them were Aloria's, the techno-organic Jedi Queen of Iacon that Alora just so happened to be the reincarnation of. It was easy to tell by the images of Cybertron, the memory of Aloria bonding to Soundwave, the birth of their first child, the adoptions, the war and so on. However the memories that were hers, or at least she thought they were, confused her.
In one memory, she was a little girl again, playing with her siblings, but it was almost as if there were one too many.
She was sitting by with Anika while Ark chased another girl that was an almost mirror image of herself.
The mystery sibling squealed and laughed when their older brother had caught her.
"Alora, help me!" She squealed.
The images shifted to that of her mother, Nola Thettaskiff, or more specifically to the last time she saw her mother. As it played out, all Alora wanted to do was scream at her mother in hopes of getting her to turn around and stay where she was, to keep her from going on the mission that she would never return alive from.
Nola turned and smiled at each one of her children before stopping at her. "Alora…"
Her name echoed around her head as she remembered being torn away from the Autobots and the former Jedi team that came before hers by Count Dooku and Neve Thettaskiff.
"Alora!" Optimus shouted, attempting to reach out for her before… before…
It was dark after that, she couldn't remember what happened clearly, but all she knew was that is was the night that her life changed forever.
"Alora!" The squealing of her mystery sister.
"Alora." A greeting with a nod from Optimus.
"Alora…" The smile from Nola.
"Alora!" A shout from Bumblebee. Wait.
A shout. From Bumblebee? That couldn't be possible unless…
"Alora!"
The padawans eyes shot open to reveal Bumblebee's holoform shaking her out of meditation, worry evident in his bright blue eyes. The shout made sense now, seeing as Bumblebee's holoform was somehow still capable of speech.
She shook her head, and waved him off gently. "I'm fine. I'm fine. Sorry to make you worry."
Bumblebee let out a sigh of relief. "Wow, Obi-Wan wasn't kidding when he said that you get deep into your meditations."
"You got that right," Anika added.
Raf's worry melted as well once Alora sent a reassuring smile his way. He was about to sit back and ask if playing a round of the game would make her feel better when he noticed Bumblebee. "Whoa!"
Bumblebee's holoform looked very Human like with his hair, eyes, and clothes. Pieces of blond hair fell into blue eyes as the Autobot scout smiled and waved at him. "Convincing right? It helps us blend in with the humans easier. And I can talk!"
"So all of you have one?" The Human boy asked.
"Yep!"
The twelve year old's eyes sparkled at this new discovery, causing the other three to laugh.
"Thank goodness for peace and quiet. House guests can be such a bother," Ratchet grumbled as he and Obi-Wan continued their work on the mysterious purple liquid. "Aside from the Jedi of course."
Obi-Wan waved him off with a soft chuckle. "I understand."
They both paused and turned at the sound of rattling nearby. It got louder as the sound got closer making Ratchet a little nervous.
"Optimus?" Ratchet asked before noticing the possessed machinery rapidly approaching them at quick speeds, "By the AllSpark!"
The machine jumped at Ratchet and began to attack. The medic managed to block each attack as they came. There was a metal bar nearby that Obi-Wan threw to Ratchet by way of the Force. Ratchet caught the bar and took continuously swings at it while Obi-Wan made his own attempts with his lightsaber. The machine eventually reached the microscope Ratchet was using before and sliced it in two.
Ratchet gasped and glared at it. "I needed that!" He shouted.
The machine went to attack again and Obi-Wan moved to deflect it when a blaster shot came out of nowhere and destroyed the possessed machine. The two looked to where the blast had come from only to find Optimus disarming his weapon.
"And stay dead," Ratchet said, pointing at the dead machine.
"Now what could have caused that?" Obi-Wan asked as he put his lightsaber away.
"I have a grave suspicion… Dark Energon," Optimus answered gravely.
Back on the Nemesis, Ivy stared in slight horror as her father stood before the glowing Dark Energon. He wasn't moving, and he didn't make a sound.
"Father?" Ivy stuttered nervously.
"It's as if the Blood of Unicron the Destroyer flows through my veins. As if I hear his very thoughts. I now know what I must do," Megatron proclaimed as he ripped another shard.
"And what can we do to assist you, master?" Starscream asked hopefully.
"Quit groveling and await my command," Megatron growled before he began walking away.
Once outside, he transformed and flew off to who knows where.
In the control room, Starscream, Ivy and Soundwave watched Megatron as he retreated into the clouds.
"Soundwave…" Ivy started as she looked up at the silent mech.
"I fear that when our master reached for the stars, he came down with a touch of space madness. Lord Megatron has not been of sound judgement since his return. Increase global surveillance," Starscream instructed him, cutting Ivy off.
"Quit groveling and await my command."
"We're not deaf! But if Optimus Prime lives, I believe it is in the best interest of my father that we ensure our enemy's destruction," Ivy pointed out.
"If the residue Arcee found on Cliffjumper brought your broken equipment to life, it would stand to reason that the very same substance brought Cliffjumper back from the dead," Optimus said as he, Obi-Wan and Ratchet disposed of the shattered machinery.
"That would account for his life signal inexplicitly coming back online. But Dark Energon? It's so scarce as to be virtually non-existent! What would it be doing on Earth?" Ratchet pondered.
"It was transported by Megatron," Optimus realized.
"For what purpose?" Obi-Wan questioned.
"To conquer this planet by raising an army of the undead," Optimus answered gravely.
"Well, Megatron would need to break quite a few toaster ovens. I mean, where on this world would he find that many Cybertronian dead?" Ratchet laughed.
The three were interrupted by the sounds of roaring engines as the Autobots drove into the command center with their organic friends and the elevator doors opening to reveal Anakin, Rex, and Cody.
The children all looked happy in some way, all except Alora. She looked troubled. Very troubled. Seeing this made both Optimus and Obi-Wan rather concerned. They both made a silent agreement to check on her later.
"That was awesome!" Jack exclaimed as the Autobots transformed.
"Can we go again?" Raff asked Bumblebee excitedly.
"Sweet!" Miko squealed excitedly.
There was a clang within Bulkhead's chest plates, making the Autobot blink. "Um," he said as he pulled out a guitar case making Miko gasp.
"Sorry! Must have left that in the backseat," Miko apologized sheepishly, taking her guitar from him.
"Autobots, prepare to…," Optimus trailed off upon noticing their new human friends.
"Roll out?" Arcee suggested.
"Remain here. Ratchet, you'll come with me. Arcee, we'll be outside communication range for some time. So I'm putting you in charge of our team," Optimus decided.
"Dude, you're biggest. You should be the boss," Miko said to Bulkhead.
"He never picks me," Bulkhead said.
"Optimus, with all due respect, playing bodyguard is one thing. Babysitting is another. When Nola was around it was one thing, but," Arcee trailed off.
"Hey!" Jack exclaimed slightly offended.
"Besides, Ratchet hasn't been in the field since the war," Arcee whispered.
"My pistons may be rusty, but my hearing is as sharp as ever!" Ratchet remarked from his spot at a computer.
"For the moment, it's only reconnaissance," Optimus reassured his second-in-command and close friend.
"Then why do I hear an edge in your voice?" Arcee raised an optic ridge.
"Arcee, much has changed within the last 24 hours. And we all need to adapt. Ratchet, bridge us out," Optimus instructed.
Ratchet opened the bridge and the two left in the blink of an eye. Or optic.
"I'm going on patrol," Arcee announced after a moment of silence.
"But Optimus told us to stay," Bulkhead objected.
"When you're in charge, you can call the shots," Arcee shot back, "Bee, with me."
"Congrats Bulkhead, that means you're in charge," Anakin said.
"So, uh…what's on the activity list?" Bulkhead asked sheepishly.
"How about band practice?" Miko suggested as she set up her guitar and amp.
Rex raised an eyebrow. "You've got to be kidding me…"
"But we're not a band," Raf objected.
"Why so antisocial? Come on, Raf. Can you play anything?" Miko asked him.
"Um…keyboard," Raff answered unsurely, holding up his laptop to show her.
"Laptops and symbols. Good. Jack?" Miko turned her attention to Jack.
"I sometimes mess around with the harmonica," Jack confessed sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head.
"Do I look like I do country? Just cover yourself in fake blood and jump around screaming," Miko suggested.
"She cannot be serious," Cody muttered.
"I'm afraid that she is," Obi-Wan said with a small smirk.
"Bulkhead! Percussion! Go for a big industrial sound! D.I.Y! We're a band! You just gotta learn the songs. This one's a ballad. My Fist, Your Face," Miko said before strumming the chords of the song.
The sound made almost everyone cover their ears in response.
Jack groaned. "Miko, I hate to break it to you, but I'm pretty sure Alora is better suited for singing, and guitar for that matter."
"Please don't bring me into this," Alora moaned.
"Commander, you sing?" Rex questioned.
"And play guitar?" Ahsoka added.
"You guys have never heard her? I always tried to get her to join choir or audition for the school musical, but she always said she never had time," Jack shrugged but then added. "I guess I know why now."
Obi-Wan chuckled. "I'm afraid I've only ever heard her hum while doing busy work."
Miko squealed making everyone flinch. "You have to sing for us one day! Promise me!"
"Miko, I don't think that…" Alora began before Miko cut her off.
"Promise!"
"Ok, ok, I promise!" She said waving her hands. "Sheesh!"
The Japanese girl squealed again before wailing away on her guitar once more. Once again everyone covered their ears, that is until an alarm began to sound.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Bulkhead shouted.
"Come on! You can't handle raw power?" Miko teased.
"Proximity sensor. Quick! Hide! Now!" Bulkhead instructed quickly.
While Jack, Miko, and Raf scrambled to hide behind Bulkhead's giant foot, Bulkhead and team Jedi tried their best to make everything seem normal. Just as they finished the elevator doors opened and out came Special Agent Fowler himself.
"Prime!" Fowler called up.
"Agent Fowler! He's…uh, he's not here. Nobody's here! Well…obviously, except for me and the Jedi, of course," Bulkhead confessed sheepishly.
"Well, where did he go? Wait. Don't tell me. He's out pancaking a mini-mall!" Fowler said snarkily.
Bulkhead remained silent and sent a glance towards the Jedi and Clone mixture.
"Now I don't know what language you speak on your planets. But Prime and the Jedi promised you would handle both the Decepticons and the Separatists!" Fowler began angrily, "And blowing a crater in the middle of Nebraska is not what the world 'handle' means in English! So you tell Prime-!"
Fowler trailed off at the sound of an electric guitar, and Alora winced ever so slightly as his gaze followed the sound to the nearby amplifier.
"Since when are you bots electric?" He asked Bulkhead.
The trio of humans looked at each other, and, figuring that their cover was blown, stepped into view.
"Uh, hey. How's it going?" Jack greeted nervously.
"No!" Alora shouted. The Clones shook their heads and facepalmed.
"Contact with civilians again! Team Prime and Jedi has definitely gone off-book! Wait. Don't tell me. You're running a day-care center!" Fowler guessed sarcastically, before pointing to the Thettaskiff siblings. "You're mother did the same thing, telling me she was recruiting for the Jedi, but I know better now!"
"Uh…OK," Bulkhead stumbled with his words.
"We can explain all of this, Agent Fowler, I can assure you," Obi-Wan began.
"Uh, we're interns!" Jack interrupted.
"Student interns!" Raf piped in.
"Earning extra credit in auto-," Jack started.
"Robotics," Miko finished Jack's sentence.
"OK. Let's move. I'm taking all three of you to federal custody. For your own protection," Fowler decided as he approached the children.
Bulkhead stepped over the trio of humans, and Anakin stood before the Autobots foot with his arms crossed.
"We're protecting them," proclaimed the Jedi Knight.
"Is that so? Well, maybe you can explain that to my superiors at the Pentagon!" Fowler challenged as he picked up the phone off a nearby wall and began dialling the necessary number that was needed.
"I wouldn't use that phone," Obi-Wan said motioning for Cody to take aim.
Cody quickly and expertly shot the phone line with his blaster, making the communication device utterly useless.
"It's out of order."
"This isn't over! Not by a long shot!" Fowler swore as he began walking up the stairs, causing Ahsoka to roll her eyes.
Once Fowler was in the elevator and gone Bulkhead let out a sigh and looked to the others.
"Well. That went well," Anakin remarked with a shake of his head.
Ahsoka snorted. "You can say that again."
Ratchet looked around as he and Optimus walked around a foggy, maze like canyon. Rocks stumbled from cliffs every so often, only to disappear into the fog. It was eerily quiet aside from the falling rocks as the two continued on.
"Optimus, what do we hope to find here?" Ratchet asked of his old friend.
"The sight of the largest Cybertronian battlefield in this galaxy," Optimus answered.
"On Earth? You must be joking!" Ratchet scoffed.
"Do you recall the period late in the war when both sides began hiding their Energon spoils off-world?" Optimus began.
"Of course. It's the reason Energon deposits exist on planets like this one," Ratchet answered.
"It 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," Optimus finished gravely.
Back at Autobot/Jedi Outpost Omega One, Alora watched from the security cameras as Agent Fowler boarded the helicopter he used to reach the former missile silo and flew away.
Obi-Wan placed a reassuring hand on his padawans shoulder. "If you're worried about him knowing about the civilians it was bound to happen anyways."
"I acknowledged that the minute they stepped foot in base, Master," Alora sighed, "but that's not what concerns me."
Using the Force Obi-Wan pulled a chair out for himself and placed it before her before sitting himself down, crossing his legs and waving for her to continue speaking. "Please, do tell."
"I just… have a bad feeling about all of this," she said, causing Obi-Wan to hum and stroke his beard.
"With you, that's never a good sign."
Meanwhile, Fowler calmed down a little as flew his helicopter. Flying relaxed him in situations like this, but what he wouldn't give to pilot one of the crafts the Jedi has in their possessions. Man those things were beauties! But thinking about that made him sigh. The Autobots and the Jedi have always meant well from day one on Earth. Both teams did what they could to protect the planet and keep it as peaceful as they could. Perhaps he was being too harsh on them this time. They had let civilians in on the secret before and everything had turned out fine… But still.
"Sir, it's Agent Fowler. We have a situation. I'm en route from the Autobot and Jedi base. I'll brief you in person," Fowler spoke into his radio.
However, the general wasn't the only one who was listening to Fowler, and things were about to go down…
"Agent Fowler. I'm en route from the Autobot and Jedi base. I'll brief you in person."
"Autobot and Jedi base, eh?" Starscream smirked.
"Humans, always the weak link."
"Fetch us this Fowler so that he may brief us instead," Ivy instructed to no one in particular.
Soundwave silently took it upon himself to do the young heir's bidding and deployed the mini-con Laserbeak from his chest.
It wasn't long until alarms went off in Fowler's helicopter, interrupting his peaceful flight.
"I'm flying here!" Fowler pouted before seeing Laserbeak approaching him in front of him. "Well, by Uncle Sam's beard! First the freeway's not safe! Now air travel?" he shouted as he avoided Laserbeak.
Fowler continued flying around within the canyon in the hopes of losing Laserbeak. However, he soon came across a dead end that he would soon crash into if he did not act quickly. And act quickly he did. At the last second, he pulled up into the air, hoping that the Decepticon would crash. However, Fowler wasn't the only fancy flier… Laserbeak pulled up as well.
"You wanna dance, 'Con? I'll lead!" Fowler smirked.
With a flick of a switch and a hit of a button, shots were fired at Laserbeak. But all the bullets seem to do was ricochet off of the mini-cons thick armor. The Decepticon was getting angry, and decided to wait on further action until the human ran out of ammunition. To which Fowler did. And boy was he in trouble now.
Especially since Laserbeak slashed the rear engine off the helicopter, making a crash eminent.
"Never an Autobot or a Jedi around when you actually need one," Fowler moaned as he tried to regain control of the falling helicopter.
Claws ripped through the top of the helicopter soon after and grabbed Fowler. But before the metal bird could drag Fowler away, the agent pressed a button that would send a distress signal. As the Decepticon flew away with him all he could do was watch the crash and hope that someone got his SOS.
Back at base the alarms began to blare again, interrupting Obi-Wan and Alora's conversation.
"My ears!" Raf complained as he covered his ears.
"It's an SOS. From Fowler," Bulkhead read before staring unsurely at the control panel, "Uh…"
Alora immediately turned to the computer she was sitting at and began to quickly type commands.
"Did you trace it?" Raf asked.
"Location scan was incomplete," Alora shook her head.
"Oh well," Bulkhead shrugged.
"'Oh well'? Seriously?" Jack scoffed in disbelief.
"Fowler's a jerk!" Bulkhead argued.
"Whoa! Whether you like the guy or not, the Decepticons or Separatists might have him!" Jack countered.
"And Agent Fowler knows your location!" Raf added in before gulping a little, "Our location!"
"And did we not witness how fast Fowler backs down? They will totally make him squeal!" Miko exclaimed.
"But we lost the transmission! Fowler could be anywhere!" Bulkhead objected.
"That's not the point, Bulkhead, we have to find him!" Ark said.
"Maybe I can narrow it down. About five years ago, the government started microchipping their agents. You know, like owners do with pets," Raf explained as he started typing in commands on his laptop but not without noticing the stares he was getting from everyone, "What? I saw it on TV! Anyway, if I can hack into the government's mainframe, maybe I can pinpoint Fowler's coordinates."
"You know how to hack?" Rex asked incredulously.
"You're like two years old!" Miko added.
"Twelve… and a quarter," Raf corrected with a smug smile.
Anakin pointed at Raf with a smirk. "Him. I like him."
Inside the Nemesis, Starscream and Ivy watched in delight as the enemy liaison was dragged roughly by Vehicons towards them before being thrown roughly to the ground.
"Welcome, Agent Fowler," Ivy greeted with a malicious smirk.
"You treat all your guests this nice?" Fowler asked dusting himself off.
"Any friends of the Autobots or the Jedi of the Republic," Starscream chuckled.
"Autobots? Jedi? Like from the movies?" Fowler pretended to be oblivious.
"Oh, so that's how it's going to be, hmm? Obviously, no one has told you that I have no appreciation for human humor. Make our guest comfortable," Ivy instructed before she and Starscream walked away.
Two battle droids approached Fowler and grabbed him by the arms.
"Alright, let's go," said one.
"Um, how are we going to chain him up there?" Asked the other pointing to the ceiling.
"Oh… I don't know…"
Fowler almost groaned. These droids were actually idiots. He was stuck with actual robotic idiots to chain him up.
"Latitude: 39.5. Longitude: 116.9," Raf read off Fowler's coordinates.
"We have our location," Anakin confirmed.
Obi-Wan nodded and turned to the present Clone Captain and Commander. "Rex, Cody, prepare your men we will be accompanying Bulkhead on this rescue mission."
"Yes, Sir!" They saluted in unison before turning to go follow their orders.
"Snips, Sparky, Ark, Ana you four stay here and watch over the civilians," Anakin instructed of the padawans.
"Yes, Master," The four responded.
"Don't break up the band!" Miko groaned before noticing the two squads of Clone troopers that walked in armed and ready for battle if needed.
"Whoa," gasped the three Earthlings.
Alora and Ahsoka smirked at each other as the troops, Jedi, and Bulkhead moved out.
"Well, I guess we have the run of the place," Jack said as he looked around. His eyebrows pulled together in confusion. Someone was missing.
Ark's eyes widened. "Miko?" He looked around worriedly. "Miko?"
Ahsoka groaned. "Tell me she…"
"You don't think that…?" Anika questioned.
Alora sighed and opened the comm-link patch. "Master, keep an eye out for Miko, I believe she hitched a ride."
The GroundBridge opened to the coordinates that Raf had supplied and the rescue team drove out.
Bulkhead let his occupants out of his vehicle mode and transformed. "Fowler!" He called out before noticing his surroundings. "Uh oh."
"The whole Decepticon shebang," Cody commented as his and Rex's squads arrived.
"No doubt the Clanker Army isn't too far behind," Rex added.
The rescue team agreed that the only hope of getting on board the ship was complete and utter stealth. They mapped out the guards patrol pattern after a few moments of observation, it would be a bit of a problem to try to get them all passed without being noticed. However that wasn't their only problem…
"Alright! What's the plan?" Miko asked excitedly as she poked her head out from behind a rock.
"Master, keep an eye out for Miko, I believe she hitched a ride."
"Yes, I noticed that," Obi-Wan replied, "Open the bridge again, I'll have one of our men escort her back to base."
Anakin looked to the squads and singled out a Clone trooper to bring Miko back.
"What! That's not fair!" She exclaimed.
"Miko!" Bulkhead gasped and signaled for her to be quiet.
The signal was a little too late as a vehicon came around the corner and noticed Miko. The Japanese girl turned around at the sound of its gun charging.
"Oh. Unwise," Miko realized as her shoulders slumped.
"Miko! Get down!" Bulkhead cried.
Miko jumped over the rock and ran towards the group as the Decepticon opened fire.
"Cover her!" Anakin ordered the squads as he and Obi-Wan ran to grab Miko.
The sounds of guns cocking and firing soon filled the air as the Clones opened fire on the Decepticon in hopes of slowing it down even a little bit.
Bulkhead ran up and tackled him to the ground. In a matter of moments, the two Cybertronians were fighting it out. At one point the Autobot had the Decepticon pinned to the ground beneath him. Miko found a large rock and carried it over to him.
"Hold him still!" She cried before slamming it down on the drones head only for it to do nothing.
Anakin grabbed Miko from behind and dragged her away to safety. "Nice try, kid, but you need to get out of here!"
Bulkhead had gotten up and dragged the vehicon with him, holding the Decepticon by the throat.
"Miko, look away!" Anakin instructed.
"But!" Miko began to object.
"Turn your head away!" Anakin repeated.
But she didn't listen, instead she watched in fascination as Bulkhead used his bare hands to rip out the Decepticon's inner wiring. Essentially off lining the poor drone.
"Arcee, Bumblebee, do you read?"
"Loud and clear, Bulkhead," Arcee answered.
"I have a situation…," Bulkhead confessed as he and the team hid.
"Bulkhead, they're children! Humans! Just do whatever! You should be able to handle this by now!" Arcee sighed in frustration before she and Bumblebee suddenly skidded to a stop, "You're where? She's where?"
"What should we do? They may not even realize that she had followed them!" Raf exclaimed in worry.
"Alora is calling it in now," Ark said.
"But Miko hasn't seen the 'Cons in action like we have. She has no idea," Jack said worriedly.
"Yes, I noticed that. Open the bridge again, I'll have one of our men escort her back to base."
"These are the coordinates. The destination is still locked in," Ahsoka announced after a quick check of the computer.
"Activate it," Alora said, earning a nod from her partner.
They all waited for the trooper to walk through with Miko but they never came.
Anika shook her head. "Something's not right…"
"I'm going after her," Jack said after another moment of silence.
"No you're not!" Alora exclaimed.
"At least not by yourself," Ahsoka added.
Ark nodded. "You'll die out there by yourself."
"We're going with," Anika said.
Alora stared at them in disbelief as they walked into the open GroundBridge before groaning. "Damn it," she swore, "I'm coming with. Raf, you're in charge!"
"In charge of what?" Raf exclaimed before running to catch up with the others before the bridge closed.
However, a new problem joined the ring of current problems.
"Arcee to base. Come in. Jack? Alora? Listen up. We need you to bridge us back. Hello?" Arcee spoke into the commlink before sighing, "Bumblebee, metal to the pedal."
Bumblebee didn't need to be told twice.
Fowler could only watch as Ivy and Starscream entered his prison. The two were quite a pair, even he could see it. What he couldn't see were the romantic tensions between the two, but that's a story for another time.
"Agent Fowler, we have one simple request that will save your family the pain of grieving," Starscream started, "Tell us the location of the Autobot and Jedi base."
"No problem. But I need to ask you something first," Fowler requested.
"Yes. We're listening," Ivy nodded. She'd answer any question so long as she got answers herself.
"I've got an issue with the customer service around here. Can I speak to the manager?" Fowler asked smugly.
The two stared at the Human with wide eyes for a moment before Ivy growled.
"I make the decisions around here! I'm in charge!" She shouted in frustration, red eyes glowing, literally glowing, with power.
Starscream chuckled. "Do your worst, my lady."
The rescue team sat by in cover, staring at the newly opened GroundBridge in hopes of it being their backup, but no one walked through leaving them all puzzled.
"What's taking Arcee and Bumblebee?" Bulkhead moaned.
"Dude, the 'Cons could be putting the clamps on Fowler right now! Let's just storm the joint!" Miko suggested.
Rex groaned. "It's not that easy, kid."
"There's movement coming from within the bridge!" A Clone announced.
Bulkhead sighed in relief. "They're here."
However, his relief suddenly faded when he saw the padawans and the other two humans
emerge from the portal and not Arcee or Bumblebee.
"Why don't those guys hang with their own bots? This is our one-on-one time!" Miko pouted with her arms folded across her chest.
"This is not a bonding exercise!" Cody said.
"Are your bones vibrating?" Raf asked Jack who looked a little green.
Ark patted the sixteen year olds back. "Nausea is a side effect of entering the GroundBridge for the first time. You'll get used to it in time."
"And what do you think you are doing here?" Obi-Wan demanded.
"I tried to stop them!" Alora sighed in frustration.
Just then a patrolling group of battle droids came around the corner only to spot the newest arrivals. A collective gasp of "Uh oh." and "Jedi!" came from the group alerting a nearby Vehicon.
"You there!" It exclaimed as it saw the group and began charging their guns.
"Scrap!" The team cursed in unison.
"I ask nicely one last time. The Autobot and Jedi base!" Ivy requested.
"Sure thing, sister. Right after you eat my star-bangled shorts!" Fowler retorted before silencing himself further upon seeing Ivy's reaction. He had messed up.
Ivy actually began to shake with rage, eyes glowing brighter. The emerald pendant she wore seemed to start glowing too as her anger awakened the power of Violet, the techno-organic Sith queen of Kaon. That's right. Alora and her siblings weren't the only reincarnations around.
The Decepticon heir practically roared as she shot red hot electricity from her fingertips, a trademark Sith technique that she had recently learned and had been itching to test out. She grinned in satisfaction when the agent began to scream and writhe in pain once it made contact with his body.
Starscream chuckled delightedly. Yes, Ivy was no weakling, he should never have doubted her for a moment.
During all of this, Optimus and Ratchet continued to walk through the war torn battlefield. The sight left Ratchet feeling uneasy. If Megatron has indeed returned things could go terribly wrong, and Ratchet and Optimus had a family to protect both inside base… and outside of it.
"For the first time in my life, Optimus, I had hoped that you were wrong," Ratchet confessed his thoughts out loud to his friend.
Before Optimus could respond they heard the sound of a jet flying above them. They looked up and saw a familiar figure fly above them towards a rock. Once above the rock, said figure transformed to reveal the enemy. Megatron.
"Optimus! Been well? I see you brought your trusty watchdog. I was certain he'd be convalescing in a scrap yard by now," Megatron remarked.
"Why don't you invite him down here for a chat?" Ratchet suggested as he punched his fist into his hand.
"I know why you're here, Megatron," Optimus proclaimed.
"Hardly a surprise, Optimus. After all, you and I have been at this for a long time. And your time has come to an end," Megatron nodded as he held up a glowing shard of Dark Energon for Optimus and Ratchet to see before throwing it to the ground below.
The shard hit the ground, and instead of shattering or just getting stuck in the rock it melted deep into it. Nothing happened for a few moments until the ground began to crack with glowing purple light.
Optimus and Ratchets optics widened in shock as they both took a few steps back.
"Rise, my army!" Megatron shouted as his optics and circuitry glowed the same bright purple as the ground below.
Below him the Autobots watched in horror as dead Cybertronian warriors emerged from the ground, rusted or tarnished armor being lit up by the Dark Energon.
"By the Allspark!" Ratchet gasped quietly as more soldiers seemed to rise.
"Behold the power of Dark Energon!" Megatron proclaimed with a menacing laugh.
The dead army had risen to their feet at this point and slowly began to make their way to Optimus and Ratchet. The two Autobots sent out silent prayers in hopes of coming out alive and seeing their daughters again...
Honestly, ever since they announced that TFP would be taken off of Netflix, and that there was a trailer for a new Star Wars the Clone Wars I've been very inspired to write this story and finally finish the first selection in the series. Quick question for all of you: Would you like to see some Clone Wars episodes mixed into the story? I didn't do that with the old version of MTMTE but I figured it would bring in more of the Star Wars aspect. Let me know with a review! Until next time!