Disclaimer:Transformers belongs to Hasbro, Takara, etc. The only thing in this that belongs to me is Arcee's sister.
The Autobots' former base was a smoldering wreck as Insecticons flew towards it, howling before transforming into their robot forms as they began to help Jet Vehicons remove rubble surrounding the base with Megatron standing above them over the burning remains of the base.
"Leave no stone unturned!" Megatron ordered the Insecticons and Vehicons.
"Master, look who we found," the Decepticon warlord heard Starscream's voice call out to him as he approached him with two Vehicons with a very familiar Wrecker as their prisoner in their arms with the Wrecker being Wheeljack and heavily damaged from Starscream shooting down his ship, "Pulled from the wreckage of his ship." Starscream then stepped aside to show Megatron their prisoner, "Wheeljack."
"So one survived," Megatron mused as Wheeljack groaned weakly, "Take our 'guest' back to the Citadel for questioning, back to Darkmount."
As soon as he said the name 'Darkmount,' he gazed almost lovingly back at his new fortress that was created by the Cyber-Matter from the Omega Lock back on Cybertron from his attempt to Cyber-form Earth and turn all humans on the planet into mindless Cybertronian slaves for the Decepticons and that device could have been used to revive Cybertron. That was… until Optimus destroyed the Omega Lock with the Star Saber after an intense battle with the Decepticons on their home planet and just as he destroyed the Omega lock, but little did he and the Decepticons know that a lone Vehicon trooper destroyed a pod shaped container housing one of the Autobots' human allies, Jackson Darby, turning him into a Cybertronian with the destruction of the Omega Lock and its Cyber-Matter, but unlike most times when an organic used unrefined Cyber-Matter to become a Cybertronian, he was still himself and not a mindless slave.
"This is the dawning of a new age, my liege! The reign of Megatron!" Starscream proclaimed.
"You do have a way with words, Starscream," Megatron said as he couldn't help but compliment his second-in-command before turning back to the Vehicons, "Make haste, and unearth the Autobot corpses!"
Even with all the work the Decepticons were doing, even with the careful searching they were performing, they would miss one important thing in the rubble.
They would miss the dying frame of the Autobots' leader, Optimus Prime as his optics were blinking on and off, constantly.
The combining wreckage continued for most of the day and with every passing minute, Megatron grew even more impatient than before. The flames have since extinguished. He wanted to see what the Autobots were hiding in their former base. Also, he wanted to see the bodies of the fallen Autobots.
He was about to be disappointed.
But he was also about to be surprised as two Vehicons brought two objects to Megatron. The first object they brought him was the stasis pod that housed Airachnid, courtesy of Arcee half a year ago during her encounter in the Insecticon, while Bulkhead was trapped on the Nemesis and the day before Trypticon was temporarily reawoken from permanent stasis-lock when Megatron infused the ship with Dark Energon.
However, that wasn't what surprised him. What surprised him was the Forge of Solus Prime as he realized how the Autobots got to Cybertron when they battled for the Omega Lock and how Chromette gained a relic that he had never seen or heard of before and wasn't in the Iacon Database called the Skyboom Shield.
"THE FORGE OF SOLUS PRIME?!" Megatron boomed in disbelief, "How is it you have managed to materialize that, yet not the remains of a single Autobot?!"
"Answer your lord and master! WHERE ARE THEIR BODIES?!" Starscream snarled.
If the Decepticons thought about it, they would've looked deep underground.
Using the Phase Shifter, Smokescreen looked forwards into a cave before exiting the cave when he and Chromette carefully pulled Optimus into the cave as they held each other's servo and rested Optimus on top of a pair of boulders with them sitting on both sides of him as they had disobeyed his orders to rescue him.
"You're hurt…but you probably look way worse than you feel," Smokescreen told Optimus as the Prime groaned weakly and looked at his rescuers, "No. Don't move or talk, just power down. get your strength back. Me and Chromette both got you covered."
"He's right, just power down and get your strength back, Optimus," Chromette said, agreeing with Smokescreen, "We'll take care of everything for you."
After finding everything from the Autobots' former base, they left to return to Darkmount. Well… the Vehicons did. Starscream and Megatron slowly walked away from the destroyed base to discuss some important issues concerning the Autobots and how they didn't find their remains in the wreckage.
"The Autobots clearly Ground Bridged from their base before it was destroyed," Megatron told Starscream as he opened the topic to his second-in-command, "They could be anywhere."
"We should initiate global surveillance, my lord," Starscream immediately suggested, "Send search and destroy teams to every sector of this planet."
Instead of responding to his second-in-command, Megatron pened a comm channel between him and his chief of communications, "Soundwave, monitor all Earth-based transmissions for any sign of Autobot communication. With each other or with their human counterparts."
"Master," Starscream began to say.
Megatron followed Starscream's line of sight towards the desert horizon and saw what he saw.
Fowler's call for backup when the Decepticons were attacking the Autobots' base came through. Tanks rolled across the desert sand approaching the remains of the Autobots' base and Darkmount. Military-issued helicopters flew across the horizon following the tanks. For Starscream and Megatron, it didn't take long for them to realize their intentions.
"Foolish humans," Starscream growled, "I shall deploy the armada."
"That won't be necessary, Starscream. Not when we can engage our enemy with newfound might," Megatron smirked, gazing up at their new fortress.
The approaching members of the army were about to get the shock of their lives. The fortress they were approaching had four fusion cannons; one on each side of the fortress to defend it from attacks from every direction. And they were about to have a massive test.
As the cannons fired, no one from the military had time to retreat to safety. Every single helicopter and tanks were drawn into a magnetic field, pulling them towards one another before blasting them backwards, destroying every single one of the military vehicles and killing their pilots instantly.
And then…it was expanded in one big bang. The incoming military force wasn't the only thing that the Decepticons destroyed that day.
They also destroyed Jasper, Nevada.
From his throne within Darkmont, Megatron, who now had his regular arm from the elbow below that had its fusion cannon attached to it, reattached to his right elbow could see the devastation he caused. all of the military-issued helicopters and tanks that were once approaching the citadel to attack were nothing but small pillars of flame and smoke all across Jasper, Nevada was now nothing but a lifeless pit.
However, he wasn't interested in the damage caused by his own hand. Instead he was engaged in a conversation with Agent Fowler, who was sitting at a desk in a military hangar known as Unit E within a military base.
"A new power dominates your world. Any further attempts to attack me will be met with even greater force. Your leaders should be advised that my fusion cannons have enough firepower to decimate any densely populated area of my choosing," Megatron warned Fowler.
"I would most likely set sights on your nation's capital for starters," Megatron went on.
"Point taken. Now what do you want from us?" Fowler demanded, clearly angered by what the Decepticon warlord did to Jasper.
"Nothing, Agent Fowler. The Decepticons mean no harm to humanity," Megatron 'assured' him.
"We merely desire a place to call home," Megatron went on.
"No offense, Megatron, but I'm having a tough time swallowing all this," Fowler told the Decepticon warlord.
"Since you seemed so bent on plastering humankind under molten steel," Fowler went on.
"Agent Fowler," Megatron began to say.
"I admit that war brings out the worst in me. But the conflict with the Autobots is now over. And our quarrel has never been with your kind. Now that the one true enemy of the Decepticons is no more, my only wish is to coexist on this planet with the human race peacefully," Megatron lied smoothly.
"Together, Agent Fowler, I believe that you and I can make that dream a reality," Megatron finished before terminating the transmission between him and Fowler.
Standing up, Megatron walked away from his throne towards the edge of the floor and Starscream was quick to follow him.
"You, too have a way with words, master," Starscream complimented him, "I almost believed you myself."
Megatron laughed darkly before saying, "Earth is our planet now, Starscream. And we shall finish what we started. Humankind has no idea what lies ahead for them."
Not long after his conversation with Megatron, Fowler got another call. Not a secondary one from the Decepticon warlord. But from his superiors. From General Bryce.
"Yes, General Bryce, special containment protocol G-1000 has been executed as planned. Evacuation of Jasper, Nevada was 100% successful. As far as its citizens or the media are concerned, the threat was a meteor shower, and the town is to remain quarantine until the resulting radiation levels can be dissipated," Fowler explained, crying out at the next suggestion General Bryce threw at him, "Sir, any form of retaliation would be too risky! I just need more time!" Bryce then responded to him harshly, saying that they would have to act against the Decepticons sooner or later, "Yes, I understand."
In frustration, he slammed the phone into the receiver and slumped back down into his chair as he really didn't like when Byce was as strict and by-the-books as he was when the office door suddenly opened with June entering his office with a file under her arm.
"Agent Fowler, those medical supplies still haven't arrived," June informed him, "We have wounded men who need-"
"Doing the best I can, Nurse Darby," he told her as he stood back up and pacing around his office once again, "Been a little busy juggling a bunch of nuke-happy generals who don't seem to care if they blow Nevada sky-high, and a Decepticon warlord who wants to make nice now that the Autobots are in the scrapyard. Megatron's opinion, not mine. He's feeding me a load of horse pucky, trying to crush our spirit."
"Still no word from anyone?" June asked nervously.
That question alone caused Fowler to glance back at her in worry. It made him realize that she wasn't asking this question as a nurse. But as a mother. Jack, Miko, Raf, none of them or the Autobots have been heard from before Jack, Miko and Raf were kidnapped, taken to Cybertron and Jack being transformed into a Triple Changing Cybertronian by Optimus destroying the Omega Lock and its Cyber-Matter on Cybertron. Before they could get to them, the Decepticons blew up the Autobot base. Now, they don't know for sure if they're still alive.
"Listen, no contact only tells me that the main comm-link went down when the base was pounded into pancake batter," Fowler said, trying to reassure her that her son and the others were alright.
"But if I could just call Jack-" June began to say as she stepped forward.
"You know it's too risky, so do the 'Bots," Fowler objected, "The 'Cons could trace any cell phone or comlink signal."
"Then take me home," June requested, "If Jack can't contact me with his comm-link. That's where he'll look for me."
"Jasper's under complete 'Con lockdown. Nobody's getting back in there," Fowler immediately refused before turning to face his office's window, "The only ones who can fix this mess are Jack, Prime and his 'Bots. I'm sure they're out there, keeping a low profile. They gotta be."
Upon realizing that the Autobots were never in their base when it was destroyed, a massive manhunt was launched by the Decepticons in an attempt to search for them.
One of the first places that the Jet Vehicons searched was a busy highway a few states away from Nevada. In the Vehicon's computer programming were schematics of what each Autobots' vehicle mode looked like so they could easily spot them in a busy crowd. So far, they haven't heard any radio chatter about them or their human friends. So they resorted to visual comparison.
"Scanning," the Vehicon said as he scanned cars on the highway that closely resembled any of their Autobot enemies.
They included a car that resembled Bulkhead's SUV, a truck that resembled Optimus' long nose semi peterbilt truck and a car that, if the cars were reversed, could resemble a certain bumblebee-patterned Urbana 500.
"Negative. No Autobot recognition," the Vehicon decreed before flying away.
Once it was clear, the black and yellow muscle car pulled over under the shade of a tree. Automatically it opened its door to reveal Raf in the driver's seat, revealing that the Urbana 500 was really Bumblebee.
"Clear!" Raf said as he exited Bumblebee's alternate mode, allowing him to transform into his robot mode and beep a response as he pulled some tree branches aside to glance at the skies, "Too close. But your paint job did the trick." He then began to pack some books into his backpack before zipping it as Bumblebee tried contacting the others with his comlink, only to earn no response, "The comm's uplink is still down. Bee, I realize Optimus sent us all to different locations and had Ratchet install an experimental Energon damper into Jack's systems to make us harder for the 'Cons to find, but if we don't know where in the world anyone else went, how are we gonna find 'em?" Bumblebee then beeped another response, "Right. Just keep heading towards Jasper, toward Megatron's giant fortress."
Meanwhile somewhere within the Rocky Mountains region of the United States, Bulkhead and Miko weren't having much luck on their end. Both of them were constantly on edge. Bulkhead was more antsy than Miko. Constantly looking out for any kind of trouble.
"I never knew there were so many Rockies," Miko sighed before she let her boredom get to her and took out her cell phone and began hitting some buttons on it, which caused a red flag to be raised in Bulkhead's processor.
"MIKO!" Bulkhead roared, stopping so fast that Miko was jerked forward in her seat, "No cell phone! You know the rules!"
"Dude, I wasn't calling anyone! Just playing a video game I already downloaded," Miko said, defending herself as she showed her phone's screen to Bulkhead's steering wheel to prove her point.
"Sorry. I guess I'm a little on edge," Bulkhead apologized, sheepishly before continuing along the highway.
"Where are we headed anyway, Bulk? You got some sort of plan?" Miko asked him.
"We're following standard Wrecker protocol," Bulkhead answered.
"Which is…" Miko began to ask.
"An emergency plan we followed during the war, in case any Wrecker got stranded or separated from the unit. We'd alway rendezvous at the exact same set of coordinates. Although once, one of us never arrived at the coordinates and betrayed us and joined the Decepticons. If Jackie's still alive, he'll be there," Bulkhead answered.
"So who was this Autobot who switched sides, Bulk?" Miko asked him.
"I hate to say it, but it was Breakdown," Bulkhead sighed.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Miko said with disbelief, "You're telling me that Breakdown was once an Autobot?"
"Yeah, it's hard to believe, considering what he became after he joined the 'Cons after betraying us," Bulkhead confirmed, "But me, Springer and Jackie all used to train with him before a fateful mission during the War for Cybertron before Megatron poisoned our planet's core with Dark Energon. But I'm not sure what made him switch sides and we can't now, considering that he's dead."
It was silence between them after the brief conversation of soothing worries and revealing that Breakdown was once a Wrecker before joining the Decepticons during the War on Cybertron. Miko continued playing her video game, letting out occasional cries of frustration if she was hit or got a game over. But Bulkhead saw through the façade. He knew she was worried about Jack and Raf.
Bulkhead was worried as well. About Optimus. About Arcee and Chromette. About Bumblebee and even about Ratchet, even though he was a grouchy pain-in-the-aft most of the time.
But he kept his mind on the mission. Head to the rendezvous point. Meet up with Wheeljack. Then they would continue their search for Jack and the other Autobots.
If they're still alive.
However, Wheeljack wasn't going to be at the rendezvous point waiting for him. Instead, he was being treated to an interrogation under Starscream's clawed digits as he was hovering in mid air with Energon bonds holding him up.
"Don't stop now. I was just beginning to enjoy myself," Wheeljack smirked after groaning.
"Believe me, Wheeljack, there is more where that came from," Starscream growled as he held an Energon prod in his servos and walked towards him, "And you will tell me the location of your compatriots." He then dragged the Energon prod across the center of Wheeljack's chassis in a painful manner, "No matter what it takes. Or how long."
"Like I told you, they weren't expecting me, they never bothered to fill me in," Wheeljack repeated for what felt like the thousandth time during the interrogation, "So go ahead, knock yourself out."
Despite the Energon that was dripping from the corner of his mouth, Wheeljack smirked. He knew how far Starscream could go during his interrogations. Honestly, he liked pushing his buttons.
Inside the Throne room of the Citadel, Megatron had another matter to deal with as Jet Vehicons were on patrol, flying around Darkmount.
And this matter involved utilizing Knockout's talents as the Decepticon medic stood in front of Megatron as the Decepticon warlord was sitting on his throne.
"How may I serve you, Lord Megatron?" Knockout asked, bowing towards his master.
"Assemble a team and disembark for Cybertron immediately," Megatron instructed, "While hunting Autobots remain paramount, we must not squander the opportunity to recover any Iacon relics left behind in the chaos. For all we know, Optimus Prime is out there somewhere, planning to do the same."
If only Megatron knew exactly where Optimus was and exactly what he was doing at the present time.
It was clearly evident that Chromette was worried about her leader as she and Smokescreen sat on boulders opposite sides of the Prime as her face plate had evidence of worry on her face plate as well as in her optics, so she began to start a conversation with Smokescreen.
"Hey, Smoke," Chromette said, calling their newest recruits' name, causing him to turn to her, "Do you think he'll survive or not, despite his severe injuries?"
"To be honest, Chrome, I'm not sure," Smokescreen answered, "Let's just hope that he does as Jack isn't ready to take up his mantle as Prime as he hasn't had any training in Cybertronian warfare or the wisdom that Optimus has yet."
"Yeah, me too," Chromette said, agreeing with him, "But there's something I've been wanting to tell you since you came back to base with Optimus and the first Omega Key after me and Arcee thought that Megatron killed you in Egypt."
"Yeah, and what's that?" He asked her.
Before she could answer his question, a groan interrupted them. Turning around, they saw Optimus beginning to awaken from his power down.
"It's okay, Optimus. You're with us, Smokescreen and Chromette," Smokescreen assured Optimus.
"How are you feeling, Optimus?" Chromette asked the Prime.
"How did…I get here?" Optimus inquired with a weak groan.
"When we were evacuating the base, just as the 'Cons opened fire, it was my turn to Ground Bridge away. But I couldn't do it," Smokescreen told Optimus as he began to tell his story on how he and Chromette rescued him.
"Nor could I, Optimus," Chromette said, agreeing with Smokescreen, "Neither of us could let you face Megatron's army alone. So we both snuck back."
"And that's when the blast hit, and the whole joint came tumblin' down. But as soon as we regrouped, I managed to pull you from the wreckage before the 'Cons dove in, using the Phase Shifter, which like what Chromette did with the Skyboom Shield, I managed to snag it in all the confusion back on Cybertron," Smokescreen said, finishing their story on how they rescued him.
"We're… We're sorry we defied your orders," Chromette apologized to Opimus.
"And we're safe here, but we're down so deep no one can pick up our signals," Smokescreen told the Prime, "I'll have to scout above ground if we wanna have any hope of finding Ratchet."
"If you do that, Smoke, then I'll stay with Optimus to keep a close eye on him," Chromette informed him.
"No," Optimus objected as Smokescreen began to leave them, only to stop and turn to him, "No hope."
"What do you mean? The Doc's the only one who can get you patched up," Smokescreen said with confusion.
"Yeah, what do you mean there is no hope, Optimus?" Chromette asked, agreeing with Smokescreen.
The only response they got was in the form of his labored breathing.
"Optimus?" Smokescreen and Chromette both said, worryingly as they looked at Optimus and his severely damaged frame.
Meanwhile in an abandoned depot far across the country, all was quiet. Except for the hums of a blue motorcycle of an unknown make and a blue and red 2013 Dodge Challenger and they were none other than Arcee and Jack with Arcee having her holographic driver activated, while Jack had a holographic version of himself from when he was human sitting in the driver's seat, soon after Arcee taught him how to scan an alternate mode and transform.
"What if Jasper wasn't evacuated in time?" Jack rambled as he transformed into his robot mode, which looked similar to his one before he scanned the 2013 Dodge Challenger, but looked more Earth-based and still had the Cybertronian jet wings and fins on his back plates, "She could've been hurt. Or taken by the 'Cons."
"Jack," Arcee said, trying to calm her sparkmate down.
"And even if she did get out, she's gotta be worried out of her mind, not knowing where I am and what I look like now," Jack went on.
"Jack, calm down," Arcee said, trying to sooth her sparkmate as she transformed into her robot mode, "We'll get back to Jasper, find a way to reach your mother, show her what you look like now and reach the rest of the team as well."
"How are you so calm about this, Arcee?" Jack asked her with confusion.
"'Cause this isn't the first time I've been through this, Jack, this has happened to me and Chromette multiple times during the war, especially on Cybertron before Megatron poisoned Primus with Dark Energon," Arcee explained.
They then heard the sound of an engine in the distance. Looking over the dark and cloudy horizon, Arcee saw a helicopter flying in the sky.
"Wait here. Could be a 'Con on our tail and you don't have any weapons installed into your systems yet," Arcee told her sparkmate before transforming into her alternate mode to check and see if the helicopter was a Decepticon on their trail or if the helicopter was an ordinary vehicle with a human piloting it.
Now that he was alone, Jack could ponder the inner turmoil he was having. Immediately, he placed one of his digits on his comlink and went through what was once his phone's contacts as during his transformation into a Cybertronian, his phone merged with his processor. Instead of going through his comlink's contacts alphabetically, he went through the order of when he last contacted them when he was human and before his phone merged with his processor.
After scrolling past Arcee and Ratchet, he reached his mother. She was the one who he wanted to contact with his newly formed and built-in comlink. But still, he couldn't do it.
"Sorry, Mom. I'd call you with my newly formed built-in comlink if I could," Jack promised before giving into temptation, "I could send texts with my comlink, can't I? If so, one text couldn't hurt, could it?"
If only he knew how much it would hurt.
Soundwave was doing as he was told as he maintained his post aboard the Nemesis. He was monitoring all Earth-based frequencies between the Autobots and their human friends, as per Megatron's instructions after the realization was made, while unbeknownst to him and the other Decepticons was that one of the Autobots' human friends was now a Cybertronian.
He struck gold when a signal popped up on the map of America somewhere within the state of Nebraska he was monitoring. As Jack's picture from when he was human appeared on the screen, Starscream just happened to appear right next to him.
"Master," Starscream said, contacting Megatron with the Nemesis' comlink in front of him and Soundwave.
It didn't take long for Megatron to figure out why Starscram was disturbing him. They had found one of the Autobots or their human companions, but unbeknownst to them that it was one of their human pets and was turned into a Triple Changing Cybertronian. Inwardly, the Decepticon warlord couldn't help but think that today was a good day.
"Send in the troops," Megatron instructed as he rose from his throne within Darkmount's throne room, "And Soundwave, I want a live feed."
With those words said, Megatron transformed into his Cybertronian Jet form and flew from the safety of Darkmount and towards the Nemesis.
He wanted to witness this one.
Soundwave was quick to dispatch Laserbeak. His trusted Minicon flew off of Soundwave's chassis and immediately began his journey to Jack's location.
The former human teenager and newly formed Triple Changer had no idea what was coming.
June was in one of the stock rooms filling her first aid bag with some materials. Fowler came through with his promise of having medical supplies delivered. They had arrived not long ago and June was unpacking and sorting them.
She continued the task until she heard her phone beep, indicating a text message. When she pulled it out of her pocket, she read who it was from, she gasped excitedly.
"Jack!" June gasped, already going to open the text, "With Arcee. Now a Cybertronian. Safe. Love you."
As if her son was telling her that he was alive, safe and a Cybertronian now, she hugged her phone, trying to hold on to the feeling.
"Agent Fowler, Jack's alive!" June said, calling out to Fowler to tell him the good news as she ran out of the room and leaving her medical bag behind and began heading towards Fowler's office, crying with joy.
It was the first sign of hope since the Decepticons destroyed the Autobots' base and Fowler telling her that Jack had turned into a Cybertronian during a fierce battle on Cybertron after the Decepticons kidnapped him, Raf and Miko. Nothing would take that from her.
Jack did nothing but smile as he removed his digit from his comlink as the text that he sent to his mother had gone through, but he couldn't help but feel the guilt settle in his tanks. When they began their journey on the run, one of the rules that Arcee told him after she taught him how to scan a vehicle and transform was the fact that he wasn't allowed to contact anybody. Not even the others. Megatron would be monitoring the frequencies for any Autobot contact.
He began praying that the Decepticons didn't pick up his frequency, learn about his transformation into a Cybertronian and his location because he sent a simple text message with his comlink to ease his mother's worries.
The swooshing Jet Vehicon above him told otherwise.
"Scrap!" Jack cursed to himself.
If the incoming Vehicon trooper didn't snuff out his spark in this battle, Arcee certainly will.
The Jet Vehicon began opening fire on Jack as he acted on his instinct to run for his life and transform into his ground alternate mode, while behind him, explosion and chaos were hot on his heel struts.
He began praying that Arcee would notice the chaos and come back fast. Heck. He'd even take the lecture he knew he'd get from his sparkmate when she finds out this happened.
Arcee sped down the road with her holographic driver activated like there was no tomorrow. When she reached a suitable hiding place - a reasonably sized boulder - she transformed into her robot mode and crouched behind the rock as she transformed one of her servos into her blaster, ready to fire.
To her relief, the helicopter wasn't a threat and was just a regular helicopter.
"Civilian," Arcee sighed in relief before she heard explosions behind her. They almost sounded like fireworks. However, she knew that this wasn't the time of year for fireworks.
Glancing back at the warehouse depot that she left Jack, her optics widened in horror. There was smoke coming from some of the warehouses. There were flashes. And…the popping was gunfire with a blue and red 2013 Dodge Challenger evading and accelerating away from the gunfire.
"JACK!" Arcee cried as she transformed into her alternate mode and took off as she went to reach Jack and help him take on the Vehicons as he wasn't ready to take on the Vehicon or any Decepticon for that matter yet.
As Jack was evading the shots that the Vehicon were firing at him above, the Vehicon fired one at one of his back tires, causing him to skid to a stop and grunt and transformed back into his robot form and landed on his aft and looked up as he began desperately searching for the Jet Vehicon, hoping to shake him off somewhere in the massive complex of warehouses.
"I am so toast," Jack panted as he noticed a fence nearby and began running towards it.
Looking above and behind him, he saw not one but two Jet Vehicons. As he looked back at the fence, it was the last thing he needed as they opened fire once again. One of the shots would have hit a little too close to home for Jack if he wasn't a Cybertronian now and was still a human, but the force of the shot was still powerful enough to knock him over the fence and into the grass outside of it.
Realizing that he was near a relay tower, he began running, knowing that one of the first things the Decepticons would attempt would be to shoot the tower down. And he was right. They began shooting at the legs of the tower. However, Jack was able to transform into his ground alternate mode and accelerate away from the collapsing tower before it was able to crash onto his chassis before transforming back into his robot form.
Looking above him, he found out that the situation was going to get even worse. Not only were the two Jet Vehicons after him.
Laserbeak was there as well.
"Smile, you're on Decepticon TV," Jack muttered as he hid behind a wall.
"Master, we have a visual," Starscream reported as Megatron entered the room, "Although it shows some random Cybertronian Triple Changer instead of the Autobots' human pet. But I assure you this is where the human should be."
Seeing Laserbeak approach him, ready to fire, Jack transformed into his ground alternate mode to evade and accelerate from them once again. He began thinking about the last time he had to run for his life like this. He was still human and Insecticons were chasing him in a forest as the Decepticons had unearthed another Iacon relic, which turned out to be the Star Saber before it had been destroyed and recreated with the Forge of Solus Prime.
Seeing a nearby truck, he immediately drove next to it for a second, hoping for cover. However, he forgot something. With their firepower, they could destroy the truck.
And that was what they did.
Now they had a clear line of sight, the Decepticons began opening fire again, shooting at his tires once again, causing him to transform into his robot form yet again. Using his arms and pedes to slide himself backwards, Jack tried to escape them. But it wouldn't have mattered how far he ran or how much he evaded him. They would still find him and they would snuff his spark at the end of the day.
He had never been so grateful for his girlfriend in his life as a human or a Cybertronian until now as she appeared and transformed into her robot form, performing a kick to shield the blaster fire away from him in mid air before landing in front of him and transformed her servos into her blasters and began returning fire at the two Jet Vehicons.
"How long does it take to exterminate a lone Autobot and a neutral Triple Changer who suddenly appeared here on Earth without us even detecting his Energon signature?!" Megatron demanded, impatiently.
"Well, in my experience…" Megatron began to answer.
"Not a riddle, Starscream," Megatron warned his second-in-command.
"Sorry," Starscream apologized, sheepishly.
Arcee glanced around eagerly. The Vehicons would keep coming back and they weren't going to go down easily. SHe needed a plan. A smart plan. Then… she saw a nearby gas station and remembered the 'small' accident that occurred between Wheeljack and Dreadwing that the Autobots stumbled upon when Wheeljack returned to Earth.
Perfect.
"Over there!" Arcee told Jack before they transformed into their alternate modes with Jack transforming into his ground one as they drove over to the gas station, ready to launch their plan. They transformed into their robot modes as soon as they arrived.
"Not the best cover," Jack remarked as they hid behind the fuel dispensers.
"We're not here to hide," Arcee smirked, "Is your holographic driver able to interact with physical objects?"
It was here that Jack realized what Arcee was intending to do. And he loved it.
As predicted, the two Vehicons transformed into their robot modes and landed in front of the gas station, servos transformed into their blasters and fully charged. When they saw Jack's holographic driver standing there with a smirk on its face and two objects in each hand, they realized something was wrong.
"Hey, guys! Unleaded or diesel?!" Jack's holographic driver version of himself from when he was human asked, rhetorically.
Looking down, they saw both kinds of fuel staining the floor of the gas station. They slowly began to realize what was happening as Jack's holographic driver version of himself from when he was human dropped the hoses and ran towards a van that happened to be there before Jack's holographic driver disappeared as he deactivated it. However, by the time they fully grasped what was about to happen, it was too late for them to do anything.
Arcee appeared from behind the van, blaster at the ready and fired at both the gasoline and diesel fuels.
The two Vehicons, Laserbeak and the gas station were engulfed in the massive explosion that followed. Arcee and Jack barely managed to hide behind the van and gasped each other's servos in time before the force of the explosion began to spread.
"Aah!" Megatron yelled in anger as the live feed that Laserbeak was giving them turned to static as he was damaged from the explosion.
"Let's roll before they send reinforcements," Arcee suggested before she transformed into her alternate mode, leaving no room for argument as Jack also transformed into his ground alternate mode before they drove off as they reactivated their holographic drivers.
They prayed that Fowler could cover up the blown up gas station later.
Meanwhile Knockout was currently acting on his own orders from Megatron. He had a team of Vehicons and Insecticons assembled and traveled to Cybertron. Specifically, they traveled to the sight of their last battle in the Sea of Rust; the ruins of the Omega Lock, destroyed by Optimus in the hope of saving Earth being Cyber-formed and its indigenous lifeforms from being turned into mindless Cybertronian slaves.
"Come on, fellas, put your backs into it," Knockout growled, impatiently as the Vehicons worked, approaching them when the Vehicons found something, "The Apex Armor. Our illustrious leader will be pleased. Now, any sign of that Phase Shifter? I really liked that thing."
"Sir," one of the Vehicons called out to him as he saw something in front of them.
At first, Knockout was confused. Then he followed the Vehicon's line of sight.
And he couldn't believe it.
"By the Allspark."
Megatron and Starscream watched over Soundwave's shoulders as their chief of communications tried his hardest to retrieve his pieces Minicon, Laserbeak, or, at least, retrieve his data. However, any attempts were unsuccessful. They will never fully know what happened during the battle or where Arcee and Jack, who they think is just a random Triple Changer, were headed afterwards.
"Well? Did any of the surveillance data survive?" Megatron asked, impatiently.
"A shame, we might have at least learned the direction in which Arcee and that Triple Changer fled," Starscream sighed when no result was yielded, "But might I say, my liege, that Triple Changer and the Autobots' human pet, Jack Darby do have nearly the same facial structure and the resemble of their faces is almost uncanny."
"You do have a point, Starscream, but clearly, we need to improve our methods of hunting Autobots and build upon the tactical advantage we've managed to secure," Megatron mused.
"Lord Megatron," they suddenly heard Knockout's voice say as he contacted them, "I am ready to return to Darkmount, and I'm certain you'll want to see what I've uncovered."
"Soundwave, open a Space Bridge portal," Megatron instructed his chief of communications.
Soundwave immediately retracted his mechanical cables and obeyed Megatron. His visor clearly displayed their Space Bridge being locked on and activated. Before long, a Space Bridge portal appeared before them with Knockout walking through it.
"I find myself in urgent need of good news. So please, Knockout, tell me that you found something useful," Megatron requested his medic.
"Some things, my liege, and some people," Knockout corrected, stepping aside from the Space Bridge portal.
At that moment, the people he found walked through the Space Bridge portal. And one of them made Starscream gasp and tremble in fear with Starscream just gasping in disbelief at the others.
"They live?" Starscream gasped in disbelief.
One of the people that walked through the Space Bridge portal was a purple, teal and gray colored femme seeker with a black helm, silver face plate and red optics with her frame being that of a Cybertronian fighter jet named Slipstream, one of the others was a beige and purple Triple Changing Mech with Cybertronian treads of a tank around his pedes, wings around the back of his arms and what looked like a Cybertronian tank's cannon on his backplates with two red optic-like visors and a yellow helm with a silver colored face plate named Blitzwing, one of the other ones was Barricade, who still looked like as he did when he, Megatron and Brawl went to Trypticon station for Dark Energon before Starscream joined the Decepticons and the last one was someone that everyone in the Decepticon cause would be able to recognize.
After all, how many one optic mad scientists who enjoy utilizing logic do they have in their employ?
"Shockwave, Slipstream, Barricade and Blitzwing," Megatron chuckled in joy at the new prospects being presented before him, "Just the tactical advantages I need."
With Shockwave, Slipstream, Barricade and Blitzwing in the house, things were bound to turn in their favor.
Please favorite, follow and review. And what alternate modes should Slipstream, Barricade and Blitzwing receive? But I want Barricade to have a similar police vehicle mode that he had in the movies and I want Blitzing to have similar ones to his G1 counterpart.