From the Ashes – Ch 5
[Location: The Dauntless]
As the group filed into the room that Kup had built his ground bridge in, the Wrecker founder marched over to a wall full of shelves, adjusting the detonator in his mouth as he began to pull what he wanted from them. Elita made her way over to the controls with Wheeljack, relaying the coordinates that they should arrive at. In all of her time at the base she had memorized every nook and cranny as she cleaned and repaired the areas the Autobots never utilized. The plan was to get as close to the launch tube as possible, drop down into it and locate their brothers-in-arms. She didn't miss the fact that Jazz was staring at her as the white and blue bot passed, so she watched him out of the corner of her eye as he joined Kup in gathering what they would need.
When the pair joined them at the control panel she looked up from the station. "We get in, find them, get out." When the old rust scarred bot handed her three dark silver disk-like devices she simply looked at them as she took them in hand. "What's this?"
"Energon dampener," he replied, "its how I kept myself under the radar this whole time."
Placing one on her side and storing the other two in her left shoulder compartment, Elita nodded, "Let's go."
Wheeljack pulled the lever, activating the ground bridge, and watched as Elita ran through the portal first, followed closely by Kup and Jazz. After they disappeared he shut it down and settled in to wait, pulling out his swords to sharpen in the lull.
[Location: The ruins of the Autobot base]
The ground bridge portal opened up behind what was left of the butte that the base once resided in, its three travelers leaping out with their weapons ready before it winked shut. Looking up at sky, the current Autobot leader frowned at the dark cloud, hiding the landscape in deep shadow despite the sun setting behind them. With a quiet rush she lead the other two to the edge of the butte, peeked around the corner at the spire in the distance, its top vanishing into the clouds above, and lead the charge into the still smoldering ruins.
Kup and Jazz kept right on her heels, stopping as she knelt down to pull away support girders that had fallen across the launch tube. With a jerk of his head towards her Kup silently ordered Jazz to assist as he kept his weapons trained towards the spire. As they pulled enough away for the trio to make it down Elita lit a flare before letting it drop into the opening, watching for it to land, "Fortunately they removed its previous 'occupant' before abandoning the base."
"You first," Kup ordered, "You're smaller."
Giving a curt nod, Elita slowly climbed into the missile tube, pressing her hands and feet to the sides as she began to shimmy her way down. Jazz joined her after she had cleared enough room while Kup followed up behind them both, pulling a sheet of scrap metal over to cover the opening.
Smokescreen heard the scraping of metal first and rushed up to peek around a pile of smoldering scrap metal. The last thing he saw before the scrap metal fell over the opening was a scarred white bot; whoever it was was heading down into the tunnels below and straight towards Optimus. Turning the Phase Shifter on, the Elite Guardsman frowned before descending into the rocks below.
[Location: North-Eastern Utah, Interstate 90]
Miko quickly scrambled back into her seat, giving a sigh of relief as Bulkhead began to move again. She had done a quick shopping trip at one of the large chain stores to buy food, drinks, and a change of clothing but they really didn't have much that she really wanted to wear.
"You ok?" Bulkhead asked as he drove past the town's farewell sign, the setting sun to their right.
His passenger mumbled something as she wiggled her way into the back seat to dig through the bags in the very back. "After spending so much time in Japan I never thought that crowds would bother me so much. Guess I got too use to Jasper's sparse pop, ya know?"
"I guess so," the Autobot replied. "Get you anything good?"
"Good? Ooooh yeah!" she replied as she set a shopping bag of goodies in the driver's seat along with a couple of two liters of soda, "Now good for me is questionable."
Bulkhead chuckled a bit; glad that she was in a better mood, "Just don't make yourself sick."
With a fresh change of clothing on Miko plopped herself back into the passenger seat again, looking through the contents of her little pouch friends on her belt. As she pulled out the debit card she gave a thoughtful frown as she looked at the name. Elita had put their names on their cards so that there wouldn't be any questions when they used it, but it also had the account holder's name on it. "Hey, Bulk?"
"Yeah?" the vehicle replied, the icon on his steering wheel flashing as he spoke.
"Remember when E vanished into that other reality and Ratch just went crazy till we got her back?"
Giving a half laugh, Bulkhead continued to follow the road as well as the conversation inside of his cab. "Who could forget? I think he drove us crazy until he got her back."
"Yeah, I heard that men do that for the women they really really like," Miko mumbled as she ran her fingers over the embossed letters on the card. "I had asked E about it after we got home, ya know letting her know about Ratchet's feelings 'n all…"
"I bet that went over real well," Bulkhead replied sarcastically.
"Yeah, well," Miko rolled her eyes a bit as she shook her head, "she just told me that she wasn't ready for a relationship like that."
"Sounds rather reasonable to me," the Wrecker replied, "hard to focus on stuff like that when were always fighting."
"Well, I don't think she was being completely honest with me," the human member of the Wreckers told her friend quietly, "I think she likes someone else."
"What makes you say that?"
"Because of the name she put on her bank account."
Bulkhead drove along for a while as night began to settle in, trying to make sense of what Miko was telling him but it was rather difficult when he didn't have all the information. "What's the name?" he finally asked.
"Ariel Burns."
"Oh…"
[Location: Nebraska, Interstate 70, Highway Truck Stop]
Jack and Arcee waited under a covered area of a highway gas station as more jets flew overhead. Thanks to the night sky it was hard to tell if they were Decepticons or United States Military but they didn't want to risk it. They had to travel slowly since the alert sent to Jack's phone that morning, pulling off to the side of the road any time Arcee detected any incoming threat. Six times they were able to dodge Vehicon jets, but she wasn't sure how much longer their luck would hold out. Thanks to Jack's quick thinking of stopping by an army surplus store and buying a foliage camouflage tarp that help keep them from being spotted along uninhabited areas of the highway. Any threat had the pair taking off to the side of the road and Jack draping the covering over them as quickly as he possibly could as they waited for the aircraft to pass. It had been working so far, but Arcee wasn't sure how much longer their luck would hold out.
Using the opportunity to stretch his legs and get a bit of hot food in him, Jack looked at his phone as he sat on a bit of sidewalk next to his Autobot guardian. He was caught between wanting to call his mother and throwing the thing on the ground hard enough to smash it. With a sigh he shoved the thing back into his back pocket after gaining his feet. With his helmet in place Jack retook his seat on Arcee before she pulled free of their cover.
Once away from the prying eyes and ears of other humans Arcee spoke up. "I'm sure she's fine, Jack. Agent Fowler probably picked her up himself and is keeping her safe."
"I know," he sighed, "it's just… knowing Mom she probably headed towards the base when she couldn't get a hold of me. With the firefight that happened she'd have no way of protecting herself and could have gotten seriously injured or worse."
"Stop worrying about the worst and hope for the best," she reminded him gently. "It narrows your focus away from what needs it the most."
"Right," he nodded to himself, "get to Agent Fowler's base and get back with the others."
[Location: North-Eastern Utah, Interstate 90]
Rafael yawned and stretched after he climbed out of Bumblebee. Putting his glasses back on after he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes he looked up at the fast food restaurant his Autobot guardian had picked. It had only been going on two days now, but the young man was getting pretty sick of fast food. Shrugging it off, Rafael began to walk towards the building as the door shut behind him. "I'll be back as soon as I can, Bee." Both knew that Bumblebee wouldn't reply to keep from drawing attention, but it made them both feel better despite the situation.
After a quick trip to the bathroom and ordering his food, the young man looked around at the oddly decorated venue as he waited for his order. With his back turned to the main entrance, he was rather surprised when a familiar voice pulled him from his tired stupor over what drink he should pick from the fountain machine.
Standing there with her hands on her hips, Miko was looking at the overhead menu as she vocally thought over her options. His jaw dropped, not hearing the lady behind the counter read out his order number as he focused on his dear friend. "Miko!"
Surprised, the young lady turned at the voice calling to her. A supernova would have seemed dim compared to how brightly she lit up as they ran over to each other, Miko scooping Rafael up in her arms in a bear hug.
"Oh my gosh! You're safe! I'm so glad to see you!" her words ran together due to her excitement.
Giving a happy laugh as he pushed his glasses back up onto his nose, Rafael could only smile. "I'm glad to see you, too."
Turning to the gentleman behind the register Miko quickly placed her order as Rafael took his from the woman who had been smiling happily at the pair's apparent reunion. With their orders in hand the pair walked out of the front door to look for their rides. It was then that Rafael realized that he had no idea what Bumblebee had changed his colors to.
Bulkhead had pulled forward first, honking his horn in excitement, and was quickly followed by a gold colored sports car, which stopped right beside the green SUV. Both Miko and Rafael's jaws dropped as they took in the color.
"What happened to Bee?!" Miko broke the silence.
"Bee?" Bulkhead asked, adjusting his mirrors to look his friend over.
Despite it being so late, there were other patrons around, most of which were looking at Bumblebee's new paint job. Rafael cleared his throat slightly. "Maybe we should take this elsewhere."
"Great idea," Miko said as Bulkhead opened her door for her. "We'll follow you."
"Sounds great," her friend replied as he ran around the front of Bulkhead, giving his hood a gentle pat of appreciation that made the Wrecker smile to himself, before getting into the gawdy colored sports car. "Let's go."
[Will do,] Bumblebee replied with clicks and beeps, pulling into the lead and out onto the road.
About fifty miles outside of town, and well away from any houses that lived on the outskirt, the four friends were chatting in the moonlight, the kids sipping what was left of their drinks as they sat with the doors open to the Autobots they were in.
"What made you change your color, Bee?" Bulkhead asked, trying not to laugh at the idea of his friend's… lack of better judgment.
[I knew we'd be on a lot of open road so I decided that it would be best if I give myself a make-over,] Bumblebee replied, waiting patiently for Rafael to translate for Miko. [I doubt that the 'Cons would be expecting an over-the-top look like this.]
"Well, personally I've seen worse," she replied, pouring more soda into her cup. "We can just start calling you Goldbug." Bumblebee whirled quietly, slightly depressed over the reaction. "But seriously, Bee, you might want to change into something different. The 'Cons might not realize it's you, but if you go driving through the wrong area of a town or somethin' and it could get you shot at or pulled over by the cops."
Giving a surprised beep, Bumblebee suddenly realized that he inadvertently put Rafael in danger. They had been fortunate so far, but it only took once and once could be one time too many.
"We can reverse your coloring, right Bee?" Rafael asked quietly.
[Sure,] he replied, [just a bit of code tweaking and it should work perfectly. I don't know why I didn't think of that.]
"Have you heard from the others?" Bulkhead asked as the kids got out to walk a bit while Bumblebee shifted through his codes.
"I was actually tracking Miko and Jack with the debit cards they were using," Rafael said as he pushed his glasses back up.
"So Jack and Arcee are good?" Miko asked, her excitement ratcheting up again.
The young man nodded, "Heading this way, I guess to Agent Fowler's base."
"We're rendezvousing with Wheeljack," Bulkhead told them, "You two are coming with."
"Yeah!" Miko did her little happy dance, "with Ralf tracking Jack we can find them in no time."
"What about the others?" Rafael inquired.
"Maybe Jackie will have something on his ship that can help," Bulkhead answered, his tone hopeful.
"If not then we can maybe use the Harbinger," Rafael offered hopefully.
"Usin' the 'Con's own ship under their noses?" Miko asked mischievously, "That would be sick!"
[Well, what do you think?] Bumblebee asked after they had been quiet for a while.
The kids focused back on the sports car, both with wide smiles. It wasn't exactly what Rafael had in mind when he asked his friend if he could reverse his colors, but the Decepticons wouldn't be looking for that style either. The Autobot scout had switched his original color pattern around, giving him a mostly black design with yellow stripes.
"Simple, yet tastefully done," Miko complemented with a huge thumbs up.
"Great," Bulkhead revved his engine, "Let's get going. It's only a few more miles from here and you two can get some sleep while we drive."
With a bounce of excitement, Miko hugged Rafael again before they climbed into their respected rides and headed back to the road. Hopefully they would be able to get the whole band back together soon.
[Location: Under the ruins of the Autobot base]
The trip down to the lower tunnels took longer than Elita really wished for it to, but it gave her some hope that with how deep they were that it was what was causing the signal loss. Stepping on what little remained of the flare she had tossed down Elita turned on her headlight, which illuminated the area from her left hip. It was still covered in the old metal plating, but there was a venting tunnel that stretched out before her. The sound of two heavy stomps signaled that Jazz and Kup had joined her.
"This way," she mumbled, her rifle out and ready as they carefully moved through the area.
Their footsteps echoed through the cavern, making any hope for a silent approach void. They each carefully swept the area as they made their way, leery of an ambush. The trio suddenly paused as they all heard a slight energy wave sound behind them, but before they could turn around Elita heard a familiar voice in the dark.
"Don't move," Smokescreen ordered, his guns out and aimed at the three figures cast in the shadow from their headlights. The one with the red glowing dot near its head was the easiest target to aim for so that was what he chose to do.
Elita turned around, shining her light on the Elite Guardsman, "Smokescreen, stand down. It's me."
"E?!" Relief filled his frame as he lowered his weapons, "What about these two?"
"Jazz, Kup, this is Smokescreen. Smoke, Jazz and Kup," she quickly introduced.
As much as he wanted to melt at just the opportunity to meet two more legends, there was a much more pressing matter. "I'm glad you found us. Optimus needs help now."
"Take us to him," Elita ordered and quickly followed the kid down the tunnels.
The fact that Optimus was groaning was a good sign, but with how bad he was looking, they all were surprised that he was even functional at all. Kneeling down next to him, Elita began to check over his wounds as Jazz provided her light.
"E…lita…" Prime gasped out as he forced his optics open.
"I'm right here, Optimus," she said gently, "We're getting you out of here." Turning to look up at the red dot that was Kup's detonator, she inquired, "Can your ground bridge reach down here?"
"Do Quintessons have five faces?"
Before she even had a chance to answer Kup was talking to Wheeljack and the ground bridge portal opened up before them. Each grabbed one of Optimus' appendages and quickly carried their injured leader through the portal. There was no time to waste.
Author's Note: I don't own the show. Thanks for reading!
Tex MECHs: Yeah, so we're still in the early parts. We don't have to wrap up in 13 episodes.
