My apologies, these chapters are coming out a bit more slowly. TheSealer and I want to put out a quality product, of course; but I'm also working with LuisJM on his excellent story, "Transformers Infinite" – be sure to check it out!
The three missions begin! All of the Skystrikers are involved: Sari and Miko in Japan, Jack alone in Griffin Rock, and Raf and Ben at an archeological dig in Egypt.
Sari and Miko arrived in Tokyo. The hidden Technorganic was a few kilometers from their location, but luckily, Miko was very familiar with her home town. Unfortunately, they had no means of getting around the crowded city.
"What are we gonna do, Captain?" asked Miko. "Hold on," she replied, and spying a nearby scooter, a green light shot out of her eyes, followed shortly by clicking sounds. Miko stared in amazement. Seconds later, where beside her had been Sari in "human" mode, there was now a scooter with an Autobot insignia on the handlebars!
"Have a seat," Sari said from the radio speaker.
"Awesome!" the Japanese hybrid girl giggled, and getting on, the two began to ply the Tokyo streets. After a few hours of driving and some quick sightseeing, they came to a small, deserted park, where they spied a young boy with straight up, spiky brown hair, sitting on a bench.
"Dude! Look at that hair. That definitely puts anime fanfreaks to shame."
"Miko, try not saying that to his face, please," Sari chuckled. Moving her headlight and mirrors back and forth, she looked around to make sure no one was watching, then transformed back into her "human" form.
"That is so wicked, this new mod of yours," Miko gushed.
Sari smiled. "Haven't experienced that since I inhabited an Autobot body. Felt good."
"Now, let's keep the personal comments about his physical appearance on the DL, alright?"
"I'll try but no promises, Captain. That hairstyle gives my peeps a geeky rep."
"Uh, sure," Sari responded, eyebrow raised. "Whatever you just said, Miko. Maybe I should handle the talking."
The boy seemed completely tangled in his thoughts to notice the two older girls approaching. Sari wondered what could be troubling him. He looked to be 14, maybe 15 tops.
Sari came to sit beside him and the boy looked at her puzzled. Miko didn't sit, just leaned on the bench, giving the boy a few sideways glances that he completely ignored.
Two teens watched this interaction from a distance.
"Dammit! She's here!" Said the British TechnoCon.
"Who's that Japanese chick with her?" Asked Thunderbolt. They were both in "human" mode.
"That's the Predacon-girl, Miko Nakadai. You should watch some of Soundwave's vids."
"Damn, that's the dragon freak!"
"Quiet, let's keep watching."
"Hello, you want something?" the boy asked, confusedly looking at Sari.
"Just wondering why you are sitting here, all alone." she could tell he had a great deal on his processor and it probably revolved around his nature. The boy sighed his answer out:
"Just thinking about stuff, about me."
"About how you're different?" Sari's astute discerning earned her a curious suspicious look from the boy.
"How do...Who are you?" he half stood up, warily eyeing from one girl to the other. "Are you PSIA?" (PSIA: Public Security Intelligence Agency. It is tasked with internal security and espionage against threats to Japan's national security)
"Don't worry." Sari assured him. "We're just like you."
"Like me?" he scoffed, doubtful. "You don't even know who I am! How do you know you're just like me?"
Sari gave a meaningful look to Miko, who looked around thoroughly to see if anyone was spying on them. It was Starfury's attentive lookout that warned him in time for the TechnoCons to hide. When Miko nodded, Sari approached the boy and transformed her hand and wrist into "bot" mode.
The boy made a small gasp. He looked at Sari intently and showed her his own hand transforming. Sari smiled at that. "He has the ability to transform other parts of his body, not just his helm," she thought to herself. "Not all Technorganics can do that; interesting." Indeed, before her upgrade, Sari could only transform her head into "human" mode while keeping the rest of her body in "bot".
"I guess that proves it. Now let's try this again, I'm Sari and my chatty friend here, is Miko. And I don't mean that sarcastically."
"Right." the boy didn't know what to say to that, since Miko hadn't said a word since he met her. "I'm Koji Onishi. Nice to meet you. So what are...we?"
"Not here." Sari silenced him. We need somewhere private. Can we go to your house?"
As Koji led them out of the park, Thunderbolt growled furiously. "How are we gonna catch that guy now?"
"We can do nothing while Sari is with him. I'll call Kālī." Starfury got on his comm.
"Thank you for traveling with our agency!" said the feminine voice to all the passengers in the ferry. "Have a nice stay on Griffin Rock."
The ship docked and Jack Darby walked out with the passengers. The Technorganic was now in the small autonomous island in the Atlantic Ocean to find his brethren. He blended in with the locals and carried the Spark sensor discreetly. He took a quick look around and spread his Cyber-Ninja sense out to feel for the presence of Decepticons. He sensed none and relaxed:
"No 'Cons around." ever so subtly, Jack checked the Spark sensor. The radar showed the target was in movement towards the center of the town.
"Okay, let's roll out!" imitating Optimus' catchphrase, he walked off of the pier and into the small city in a hurried but calm step. Jack didn't want to raise attention but knew diligence was a must if he was to find the new Technorganic before Kālī or those TechnoCons did.
"Who knew I would one day be an undercover agent." he smiled to himself in spite of it. He recalled when he was six he played with the idea. Seemed like a lifetime ago.
Much to his surprise and frustration, the road up ahead was blocked to pedestrians and vehicles alike. The reason: an apartment building going up in flames.
"Sir, you have to turn back. This road is cut off until all the people are rescued." an officer said. The crowd watched a team of rescuers taking the people trapped on the floors to safety. For a moment Jack grimly remembered the Battle of New York.
He spied the Spark sensor again and saw the dot coming near the building, following the streets rather than going in a straight line:
"I guess this one hasn't learned to fly yet. And I bet good money he - or she - is going to rescue those people." Jack said to himself, walking away from the crowd and into a deserted alley. "This Technorganic is following the same pattern as Ben."
He looked at his surroundings; finding no one around, he transformed into "bot" mode and took off into the sky. From the ground some people noticed him and called him "Rescue…" something. But he ignored that. High up in the air, he could more easily spot the young Technorganic, probably speeding with Azusa skates rather than flying.
"Maybe this one hasn't gotten the plasma boosters yet." Jack surmised. Even from the distance, Jack could see that the Technorganic was small, indicating one younger than he. A scream alerted him to the people in the building. "I'll deal with the little guy later."
Jack flew to the highest floor with people trapped inside. An old woman with a nine-year-old boy, panicking.
"It's okay. I'm here to help." he reassured them. The woman tensed but the boy's eyes went wide:
"Grandma, it's the Rescue Man of New York, on TV!"
Jack frowned, completely lost on that. He figured the media had gotten very few images and long-range blurry recordings of the Battle of New York. One of them included him briefly fighting Skysword. But the media never gave him or the others any such names.
"Listen, I can get you both out of here, but you have to trust me." Jack urged. Hesitantly, the old lady accepted and held the boy in her lap as Jack held her and brought the two of them safely to the ground. He repeated the process with others, from the top down. Every now and then he was called "Rescue Man" and some other comments but he ignored most.
Looking down, Jack saw the new Technorganic doing the same as he was, from the bottom levels up. Except this one wasn't flying but rather running and leaping, reinforcing Jack's theory.
"If this keeps up, we'll wind up face-to-face. Though this one seems faster." Jack noticed the new Technorganic seemed to be everywhere at once, down below.
Charlie Burns, firefighter Captain, analyzed the situation. The "Rescue Twins" (as the people of Griffin Rock collectively called Rescue Boy and Rescue Girl) were doing their usual job. It had been over two months since these two mysterious young hero figures revealed themselves as freelance rescuers of their own.
Personally, Charlie had to frown at that. Good as those kids' intentions may be, they were still children who could get hurt despite their unbelievable abilities. He hated to think of his youngest son, Cody, getting himself too close to danger, as he was prone to do.
And today another surprise happened. A new, much older-looking rescuer appeared (people were calling him "Rescue Man"), capable of flying. Charlie remembered seeing something like that in the footage of the alien Battle of New York.
"This world is getting turned upside down." he muttered to himself.
"Dad, the fire is under control. All of the people have been evacuated. Courtesy of the rescue trio." his oldest son, Kade, informed him through the walkie-talkie, probably doing an eye roll.
Above them, Dani Burns, his red-haired daughter was piloting a chopper and watching for any further developments.
"The worst part is over, dad. The building is..." suddenly, Dani spotted a large chunk of the building threatening to split off and plummet into the ground. Worse, her dad was directly beneath it! "Dad, watch out!"
Too late. What happened next went too fast to be seen by the naked human eye. The piece of the building, consisting of a two floor wall, broke and fell. Charlie Burns looked up but had no time to move out of harm's way. He would have met his doom if the three Technorganics, faster than the eye could see, hadn't stepped in.
"My God!" Charlie gasped, lying on the ground with the wall just inches from his eyes. There were the three Rescuers holding it above him.
"Wow, this is heavier than it looks!" grunted one of the small ones, the Rescue Boy.
"Captain, you might want to get out of here." the other small one, the Rescue Girl said and the human nodded.
"Right!"
Hearing those voices only now, Jack turned his helm. To his stunning surprise, there were two of them, look-alike Technorganics!
"Wait! There's two of you!"
"Hey! You're the Rescue Man, from New York." one of the Technorganics, the female one spoke.
"That voice. You're a girl?" Jack shook his head. "Never mind. First let's take care of this."
Focusing, Jack used P-O-M to move the piece up and away from them. The younger ones, even Captain Charlie, looked truly amazed.
"Noble!" the Rescue Boy sighed which caught Charlie's ear:
"Wait, what did you just say?"
"Uh! Oh...nothing, sir." Rescue Boy stammered. "Well, our job here is done. See ya!"
He and Rescue Girl broke into a run. Charlie, puzzled, turned to the new Rescue superhero only to find him gone as well.
"What made you use your catchphrase right in front of your dad?" Rescue Girl chided while the pair ran through the city at high-speed.
"Sorry, got caught up." Rescue Boy shrugged. "That guy had some wicked telekinesis. It was weird and cool!"
"Thanks!" the Rescue Twins almost tripped when they saw Jack running beside them. "You mind if we stop to talk somewhere private?"
They stopped outside the town in the forest where nobody was around. The Rescue Twins had similar frames. The boy's chassis was a dark blue with red servos, pedes and highlights in the waist and neck. The girl's was the same, though the colors were dark purple and yellow, respectively. The optics were, obviously, blue behind black visors.
"So you're just like us, uh? A super-hero?" Rescue Boy asked, not hiding his excitement.
"Only because I chose to be." Jack answered vaguely. He transformed just his head in "human" mode, leaving the rest "bot". "I'm Jack Darby."
"Cody Burns." the boy transformed wholly into human with long blond hair. "And how do you do that?"
"I am Frankie Greene." the girl revealed herself, dark-skinned with equally dark hair. They both looked to be about thirteen.
"It's an easy trick." Jack answered Cody's question, resuming transforming the rest of his body. "Now, with that aside, you guys learned you're different recently, I assume?"
"Yep, over two months ago." Cody began. "We were out there playing by the old abandoned railway tunnels."
"By 'playing' he means, he was going to get himself in trouble and I was trying to convince him not to." Frankie grinned smartly much to Cody's annoyance, but then he smirked:
"But if I did like you said, we wouldn't have discovered our powers! Ah!" she ignored his retort and Cody continued. "Anyways, there was a cave-in and we were running for the exit. But we weren't fast enough and wouldn't make it. It was then that our powers kicked in and we transformed. We ran faster than the speed of light…"
"You know we can't even run half of the speed of light." Frankie cut him off but he continued as if uninterrupted.
"...and we got out just in time. We looked at each other and finally saw how cool we were!"
"You didn't fly, did you?" that question made them exchange a look:
"No, we can't. Why?" Frankie was curious. Jack didn't answer verbally; transforming back into "bot" mode, he activated the plasma jets on his pedes and hovered for a while before landing.
"Noble! I told you we could fly!" Cody beamed.
"Technically, you'll learn when you're older. I take it your families don't know about your 'powers'." Jack quirked an eyebrow.
"No...we figured this is better to stay our secret for now." Frankie said.
"I'll only tell my folks when I'm eighteen. That way dad can't ground me." Cody crossed his arms. "If he knew I've been rescuing people and getting my neck in danger, he would lock me in a cage and eat the key for supper."
Jack couldn't hold back a chuckle. His mom had also been the same. Thinking of his family reminded him of something he ought to ask:
"Just out of curiosity, are you guys adopted?" that question sounded definitely suspicious. Frankie frowned and looked at her friend, who was equally confused and suspecting.
"Why do you ask?"
Jack sighed, understanding he had endangered their trust in him and decided to be honest and upfront. He sat down on a rock half-buried and motioned them to do the same:
"Sit down, please. There are things maybe I should have told you about. Just try not to freak out, please."
The two of them were even more anxious now, so Jack decided to drop it right now.
"We're not like other people. See, we three are not 100% human. We are Technorganics. All I know is that my friends and I all came from space in different stasis pods. We each were discovered by our parents, and when they touched us, we acquired their human DNA and our human forms."
"Uh, wait are you saying that...we're aliens?" Cody made a 'WTF' face.
"Pretty much, yeah. Though there's still a lot about our origins that me and my friends don't know yet." Jack didn't want to reveal anything about Kālī and the supposed Creators for now.
"Amazing." Frankie sighed, thinking out loud. "Sometimes I assumed my dad may have...built us. Or maybe we were built by someone else. But from another planet? Do we have anything to do with the giant alien robots that attacked New York?"
"A bit, I'm willing to bet. But no, we're not the same species as them. They are called 'Cybertronians'." Jack said, seeing what Frankie's face implied. "My friends and I are allied with the Autobots, the peaceful faction. The ones who attacked are the Decepticons who seek to conquer."
"I lived with my mom my whole life. I discovered my double nature months after meeting the Autobots. It was Sari, the original Technorganic, who taught me." Jack finished his abridged tale. "What about you?"
"We grew up on Griffin Rock. We never saw anything beyond it." Frankie began. "And neither of us ever met our moms. Our dads raised us."
"Yeah, but at least you don't have older siblings who live to tease you." Cody muttered.
"Anyways, my dad is a scientist and I want to follow in his footsteps. The same goes for Cody here. His dad is the firefighter captain, so Cody wants to join the family business."
"Both orphans of a single parent and dedicated in the careers of their other parent." Jack recognized the pattern. Transforming back into "human" mode, he got up and motioned for them to walk. "Guys, I know this is a lot to take in just now. I understand that you don't trust me, but I think your families should know the truth."
Leaving the woods, the two children took Jack on a walk to the fire station. On their way they asked many questions about him and his friends and Jack answered truthfully. Though he always kept an eye out for signs of someone overhearing them. Or worse, the sight of Kālī or the TechnoCons.
Finally they arrived at the fire station where Captain Charlie Burns and Doctor Greene were talking in the garage.
"Yo, dad!" Cody greeted.
"Cody! Where have you been?"
"Just walking." he shrugged, covering up the truth. Though it was true that he had been walking.
"You kids will never guess what is on the front page." Doctor Greene announced.
"What is it, Daddy?"
The Doctor showed them a newspaper of the evening; the front page displayed a large picture of Jack Technorganic. The title was beneath the picture 'RESCUE MAN'.
"I've only been here for a few hours and the paparazzi got me! They print things fast here." Jack commented standing by the door. Only now had the fireman captain noticed him.
"Good afternoon, young man. If you are here to sign up as trainee, I'm sorry but we have no vacancies."
"What? No." Jack chuckled. "I was just walking Cody and Frankie home. I think there's something we should talk about."
The fathers turned to each other in puzzlement and then to their respective children. Cody gave an uncertain look to Jack who returned with a reassuring smile.
"Dad, we're not human, Frankie and me, are we?"
Doctor and captain exchanged shocked looks and then sighed. The four sat down at a table to talk. Jack subtly retreated outside to grant them some privacy, though he could still hear what they were saying:
"You know kids, Doctor Greene and I met because of our wives. They were friends since kindergarten and introduced us years ago soon after both our weddings. Eventually, your brothers and sister came along. One day when they were still kids, our two families joined for a picnic on the woods. Then there was the fire…"
"The fire when my Frankie and June lost their lives." the doctor continued solemnly. "We were trying to get Kade, Graham and Dani to safety."
A depressive pause followed when nobody dared to talk. The two men were reliving hard memories, after all.
"The tragedy set us apart from our jobs and our friends, for months. Until one day we stumbled upon each other by the cliff at the beach, looking for some alone time. It was on that day that you two came to be." Doc Greene paused and Charlie took his turn:
"A UFO crash landed on the beach. There was no one around so we hurried to see what it was. The UFO was actually two big metal cradles of some sort. For a moment we thought it was some fallen satellite." Charlie paused, recollecting his thoughts. "Then he saw a silver figure inside each cradle, like a sleeping infant."
The Doctor shrugged as he carried on. "Maybe it was just scientific curiosity, but we touched the two 'silver babies' and passed out from an electric discharge. When we came to, the two silver creatures were human babies, you, Frankie and Cody."
"We had to tell everybody we found you two abandoned in the street. After a lot of paperwork and nobody claiming they were your parents, we managed have custody. Though you two are registered as 'adopted', we never had a motive to tell you the truth or that story we invented for the authorities."
After a few seconds passed and the truth sunk in, Frankie remembered something. "Wait a minute daddy, I once did a DNA analysis and it showed I'm really your daughter."
Jack walked back in. "Doctor, Captain, what you both touched were Sparkling protoforms that absorbed your DNA. That's why Frankie and Cody share physical characteristics with you. They may be adopted but they really are your biological children, after a fashion."
"Do you by any chance have white streaks of hair, from that electric shock?"
"Why yes, but I always cut mine when it starts to sprout." the Doctor took a hand to his long, dark hair. Jack looked at the firefighter captain; his gray hair easily disguised the white streak though Jack's optics could see it. Now Charlie Burns was looking at him more penetratingly than ever:
"Who are you to know all of this, young man?" the fireman put a protective hand on his son's shoulder and gave Jack a fierce look. "Are you CIA?"
"No, please Captain Burns, I'm not here to cause trouble. I'm not taking your children from you." he kept his cool, partially thanks to his training as Cyber-Ninja. "I am just like Cody and Frankie."
"Prove it." Charlie demanded coolly. Without warning Jack transformed into bot mode, leaving them flabbergasted.
"Noble, huh, dad!" Cody boasted without thinking. "I can do the same...oops!"
"Wait! If you are this Rescue Man," Doc Greene turned to the younger technorganics. "Are you two…?"
He never finished that question for the wall exploded, throwing all five of them away though not severely injuring anyone. When Jack looked at the perpetrators, he saw to his great horror Kālī and Skysword!
"What do we have here? I came here to hunt one green Technorganic and I get three of them!" she laughed. Kālī deployed her energy scythes and turned to Skysword. "Capture the wonder twins. I'll deal with Jackie."
"You know I can handle him myself." Skysword protested, not liking to be left out of a fight to abduct a pair of shrimps.
"Right you can." she rolled her optics.
"Everyone, get out of here!" Jack shouted to the innocents and deployed his broadsword. "I got this!"
"But…" Cody protested.
"RUN!"
"If she does appear before you, I don't want you to fight. I want you to run!" Sari's words echoed in his processor but he couldn't run now. He knew he was no match for her but he had to buy time for them to run away.
Jack went for the attack…
"Hold it right there!" Kālī raised her palm at him…
...And he stopped in mid-attack, unable to move, completely paralyzed.
"What the!" This was the effect of P-O-M holding Jack like a statue. Skysword observed with intrigue, intent on reporting to Megatron everything he could learn about Kālī.
"I told your little Sensei; the Creators invented P-O-M." next she turned sharply to Skysword and snapped, "Did I not tell you to catch the targets?"
The two adults were dragging their children away from the attackers and into the fire truck.
"Dad! We gotta help Jack!" Cody protested.
"There's nothing we can do, children." the Doctor said softly.
"You're right about that." Skysword revealed himself right behind them. They turned shocked and terrified by him. "Now hand over the kids and I'll let you live."
"Just you try!" Captain Charlie challenged, picking up a crowbar and the Doctor put himself between him and Frankie. Skysword grinned, deploying his falchions, eager for the kill.
"With pleasure!"
"Dad!" Cody shouted and a light flashed when Skysword was about to strike. When it died, Skysword was pushed away, for Cody was in bot mode shielding his father. A golden Negatronic field surrounded the young technorganic, which died out.
"Noble, what was that?" he asked himself. He never had that power before!
Chief Charlie looked at his son, eyes wide and slight dismay. "Rescue Boy! It was you, all this time? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Dad, let's talk about this some other time." Cody pleaded.
"Negatronic field, huh?" Skysword picked himself up. "Caught me by surprise; I always thought it was my exclusive toy." He shrugged and prepared for another attack. "But your mod is exhausted now. Come peacefully and I won't hurt you."
"Not a chance." Frankie transformed too and activated her Skyboom shield. Skysword got an idea that brought a smirk to his faceplate. He ran to the enemies and just when he was within arm's length of them, activated his own Negatronic field which tossed the Technorganics and their father away into a wall. "Payback is sweet!"
Deploying his own hyperspace mallet, Skysword knocked and attacked Cody and Frankie with rapid and trained blows. The targets were overpowered and outclassed. They had never fought before. Disoriented and beaten up, they both collapsed into stasis.
"Don't touch them!" Doctor Greene tried to assault him with a fire-extinguisher but Skysword pried the thing from his hands and grabbed the man by the neck. He would have ended the man's life if Charlie hadn't shot him in the back with his pistol. Of course the bullets bounced off Skysword's chassis. Out of boredom, the TechnoCon launched the Doctor at the Captain, knocking the two men out.
"Be glad that I'm feeling generous to spare your lives." he spat callously and grabbed the two unconscious Technorganics. Kālī joined him with Jack floating and still paralyzed, struggling to no avail.
"I see you are not totally useless, TechnoCon." she leered to which Skysword grunted.
"This is Skysword to New Kaon, open a ground bridge." Soundwave received a message and compiled, the swirling vortex of light flash-opened. Captain Charlie was just about to wake up and Jack knew this was his only chance. Focusing, he managed to use P-O-M. Kālī prevented him from using that to attack her but right now she was a bit distracted.
Jack focused his mind and accessed the fireman's cell-phone, sending a special contact into his list.
"Captain, warn the Autobots!"
That was all he could say before he crossed the portal and it closed.
In New Kaon, the city was beginning to take on a Decepticon design. The buildings that were suited to be of use were changed into storage facilities or even small factories for guns and ammo.
Sitting on his throne, Megatron had a ghost of a smirk when Skysword and Kālī returned with not one but three prisoners, one who had recently become a thorn in his side.
"Jack Darby, the 'honorary' Prime!" the warlord mocked the title as a Vehicon placed stasis cuffs on all the prisoners, Jack being the first. The cuffs forced his weapons and movements still. They also had a system, that Kālī had added, which prevented him from using P-O-M. Though the Skystriker kept glaring at the Decepticon fearlessly.
"Lord Megatron," Skysword bowed. "One of the targets employed a Negatronic field, though not as wide as my own."
"Is that so?" Megatron gave an interested look at the two stasis-locked ones and an idea occurred to him. "Kālī, as my soldier has assisted you in this hunt, I doubt you would have reason to oppose Shockwave taking CNA and DNA samples from these two."
Jack immediately understood where Megatron was going with this. He wanted a greater, more varied supply of Technorganic genetic material for future TechnoCons.
"No!"
"Quiet you!" Kālī silenced him by shutting down his vocorder. She turned to Megatron and shrugged. "Fine, whatever. Just don't give them permanent damage."
Personally she didn't want to do any favors for Megatron. But it wouldn't do to aggravate him and risk this alliance when she was vastly outnumbered. She might be able to out power all the Skystrikers, sans Sari, but she couldn't be everywhere at once. For now, those TechnoCons were needed. Besides, what harm could Megatron do to the Creators' grand design if he got himself more of those second-rate Technorganics?
"I'll take Jackie to the brig." she used her P-O-M to carry the still mute Jack and took flight. He was brought to Rikers Island, that had been changed into a prison specialized for Technorganic prisoners, all designed by Kālī.
In time, his voice returned and he spat challengingly at Kālī. "You won't get away with this!"
"Don't bother yelling, Jackie. By your Autobot point of view, I'm doing what is right." she walked into the prison, passing by corridors of cells, pulling him floating behind her. "After all, if something is stolen from someone, wouldn't it be just and fair to return it to that person? The Creators were robbed of their belongings; I am just returning to them what rightfully is theirs."
"I am no slave, unlike you!" he retorted as they stopped before a cell with a stasis pod similar to one that held Airachnid. Except this one had been modified and upgraded.
"Me, a slave?" she laughed. "You're absolutely right, Jackie. You're not a slave like me. But if I'm a slave," she inched closer to his face, red eyes in blue, "you should consider yourself a tool. At best."
She floated him into the pod and powerful hooks grabbed him tightly by the wrists and ankles. The pod closed and he began feeling the temperature decreasing and his system being forced into stasis-lock. It would take almost a minute before he was out cold again, but for now he could still hear and see Kālī through the glass.
"In fact, forget the name 'Jack Darby'. Tools don't have names, they are labeled, L-213P."
"What?" he was barely capable of asking even that now. Soon he would shut down.
"That is your label. Yes, the Creators told me about your designation, L-213P. They still remember you, and they're eager to have you and all the others back." She retreated, her voice echoing through the prison hall - though Jack wasn't capable of hearing her now.
Jack's POV
Emergency Shutdown Commencing…
Mechanical Systems Offline…
Weapons Systems Offline…
T-Cog Offline…
Internal Systems Offline…
Backup Systems Offline…
Spark Shutdown…complete
Processor Offline…
Kālī viewed her other two options: Tokyo or Egypt. Thunderbolt and Starfury, those idiots with slippery digits, were in the first, while Firefly and that slob Skyskater were in the second. She couldn't tell in which Sari was, that glitch probably was concealing her presence.
"Hmm, sooner or later the Skystrikers and the Autobots will learn we have L-213P. Knowing Prime, he would even attempt a suicide attack to retrieve his comrades." she had told Megatron that much. Not that she cared if he won this war, but she didn't want her newest capture to be snatched from her grasp.
While thinking, she received a communication:
"Kālī, this is Starfury. We have located our target, but so has Sari. We require your backup."
She responded. "Smart of you to call me. Keep an eye on them but don't be spotted. I'm on my way."
"So that's where the glitch is," she chuckled. "Tokyo it is."
Ben and Raf exited the space bridge into Egypt. "Dang! It's hot here!" groused Ben.
"It's called a desert for a reason," laughed Raf. "You ever been to Las Vegas?"
"No," he replied, wiping his brow.
"Well, I'm from Nevada, and even though my hometown Jasper's up north in the high desert, my dad worked in Vegas and when I was a little kid we went there lots of times. It's like this in the summer."
"Bet you went to Vegas a lot when you were a teen," said Ben.
"Oh. Well, there is that," Raf chuckled.
"What? What's so funny?"
"I was never a teenager," he replied.
"Huh?"
"I was abducted by MECH when I was almost 13 and experimented on. They injected me with a serum that advanced my age to 21, turned me into this super soldier, and brainwashed me into thinking I was one of their men, meant to fight the US government and the Autobots."
"Geez!"
"I did some awful things during that time, Ben. I had no memory of anyone from my life; my family, my past, my friends, nothing. But one good friend fought me and sparked something that caused it all to come flooding back."
"Really? Who was that?"
"Miko."
"Miko? The Predacon chick? What'd she do?"
"She challenged me, and while we battled, Miko kept hitting me with past memories, until she found the one thing that MECH neglected to wipe: my jealousy of a school bully named Vince. You see, I was an advanced-placement student, and was already in high-school even though I was only 12. Vince on the other hand, had been left behind a few times, so he was the biggest kid around. I was always picked on by him. That one little memory sparked the floodgates that brought everything back."
"Wow!" Then Ben did a double-take. "Hold on! You mean, you went from 12 to like, 21?! You wound up skipping over...uh…"
"Nine years," smiled Raf.
"Nine years! Going from a kid to an adult? That'd mess me up for sure!"
"It gets worse, Ben. That serum MECH used on me? It didn't stop there. After I was rescued from MECH, I kept on aging, rapidly. You see, I was a guinea pig for their little experiment. I started aging at the rate of 15 years a week."
"Damn! What happened?"
"Captain Sari knew about a planet in her dimension with an advanced race that could heal me. The trip took 2 months, so by the time we finally arrived, I was near death."
"And they healed you?"
"Uh, yes?"
"Oh yeah, duh." Ben slapped his sweaty forehead.
Raf laughed. "They did more than just heal me of the rapid aging though," Raf continued. "They brought me back to 21 - they couldn't bring me back to 12, because my bones and muscle had already grown. But I received some other very important things from them."
"Oh? Like what?"
"Well, as you said, suddenly going from 12 to 21, completely bypassing adolescence and normal emotional growth can severely damage your psyche. The Denebians' treatment - that's the alien race that helped me - also repaired and strengthened my emotional state. But it was my Mama, my close-knit family and friends who helped in that regard as well. On the way to Deneb IV, Mama hugged me and told me that, no matter what happened, I would always be her 'precious hijo' - her precious son. It was her unfailing love and the love and support of my family and friends that also healed me."
"The Denebians gave me another side-benefit of their treatment. Their lifespan is over 1,000 years, and now, as a result of being under their care, so is mine."
"Dude, that's incredible!"
The Spark sensor beeped. "We're close, Ben."
The sensor led them near an excavation site. "Interesting," said Raf, "you think our hidden Technorganic's with this archeological dig?"
"Hey, why not? Autobots are really old; maybe this one likes old stuff."
Raf rolled his eyes and smiled. "You never know." He rechecked the sensor; it was spiking. "This is it, apparently. He or she is somewhere in this dig."
Suddenly, three SUVs sped up to the site. Armed men got out and ran to the entrance.
"What the heck's going on?" asked Ben.
"I'm not sure," Raf replied. "Stay away, but watch." They ducked behind a wall.
A man and a young woman stepped out of the dig. She looked to be about sixteen, with brown eyes and long reddish-brown hair plaited down her back. She wore a turquoise tank top, light brown shorts, calf-high boots, and long white socks.
The man approached the leader of the group.
"What do you want, Powell?" he asked.
"Rather obvious, Richard. The artifact. Hand it over, if you please."
"It belongs in a museum, with the people of Egypt, not as the prize piece of some auction!"
Powell motioned to his men, who took out their weapons. "I'd say you don't have much leeway in that decision, my Lord," he sneered.
"Dad?" the girl frowned, looking at her father.
"You'd better do what we say, Richard. I don't think you'd want your daughter involved; these men aren't the most...gentlemanly types."
"You're a bastard, Powell," Lord Richard spat back, and then turned to his daughter. "It's time." His daughter nodded, then with a blue flash, she transformed into "bot" mode. Her chassis was black with gold trim, and a matching skirt. It looked somewhat similar to Sari's original design.
Her blue optics burned with anger, and she held up her servos toward the men. "Leave - if you know what's good for you!" she demanded in a metallic voice.
"What is this, Richard, some cheap theatrics?" laughed Powell. "Take them down!" he ordered his men. They aimed, but the Technorganic fired first. She blasted the ones in front with her orbs, causing them to burst into flames, screaming. The girl took out a Skyboom shield. "Dad! Get behind me!" She yelled, as the volley was large.
"Ben! Let's help!" said Raf. "Transform!"
"It's HERO time!" he replied, and getting into "bot" mode, he flew up and over the goons. "Hey! Up here!" he yelled. All were shocked to see a second Technorganic - including Lord Richard and his daughter. Ben landed right in the middle of the group, engaging in melee fighting he'd learned from his training on Cybertron. Raf for his part took out his Beretta pistol and began shooting at the ones in the back.
Powell, recognizing a losing proposition, abandoned the encounter and jumped in one of the SUVs. He sped away.
With the goons taken down, Ben wiped his servos. "Another awesome job done by yours truly!" He turned to watch Powell speed away and waved. "See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya!" Suddenly, he was grabbed from behind by the fembot and slammed to the ground. She shoved a glowing palm in his face and with an angry look yelled "You! Who are you?"
"H..Hey! Take it easy babe! I'm one of the good guys!"
"I'll be the judge of that," she responded. "For all I know, you're just from some other group looking to steal our work!"
"Miss, Ben's right," said Raf. He'd already holstered his Beretta and was holding up his hands. "I assume you've realized that he's like you, half human, half robot." Raf turned to her father. "Lord Richard, my name is Rafael Esquivel. My partner is Ben Tennyson. We are with the Autobots."
"The Autobots! The ones who fought in New York?"
"Yes, Lord. In fact, Ben and I were engaged in that battle."
Lord Richard turned to his daughter. "Lara, please release him." She let go and the two of them got up. "Forgive me, Ben," she said, "we have to be careful. There are many despicable characters who would like nothing better than to exploit the search for antiquities and make a profit."
"No prob," he smiled, and looked into her optics - perhaps a little too long. For her part, the girl was half embarrassed, half charmed by the attention. She turned her helm. "Yes. Well then, why are you here?"
"Is there a place we can talk in private?" Raf asked.
"Of course," replied Lord Richard. "Let's go into my office." They headed back into the archeological site.
The fembot transformed back into "human" mode and Ben did the same. She offered a handshake. "Lara Croft."
"Ben Tennyson, resident hero at your service!" he replied, shaking her hand. Meeting his eyes, she gave him a quick smile.
"It's good to make your acquaintance, Benjamin," said Lord Richard, shaking his hand, "and you, Rafael," shaking Raf's hand.
"Thank you, Lord Richard," replied Raf, and approaching his daughter, said "very nice to meet you Lara."
"Thank you, Rafael," she answered.
They sat down in his office. "So tell me what this is all about," began Lara's father.
"Ben and I are with a group called The Skystrikers," said Raf. "our leader, Captain Sari Sumdac, is another who is like Lara and Ben. In fact, she was the very first. They are called Technorganics, and there are many scattered around the Earth. There are two others in our group to date: a classmate of mine named Jack Darby from the United States, and a Tibetan monk named Aang."
"If I may be so bold, can I assume that Lara came to Earth from the stars?"
"She did indeed, Rafael," said Richard. "Sixteen years ago, I was outside, on the Gilf Kebir. My crew and I were studying one of the many Neolithic petroglyphs. I left the campground one night to view the stars, when I saw what I thought was a meteorite. However, it suddenly shifted its trajectory and headed right towards me! I panicked and started to run back to the camp. It landed behind me, and something made me want to return back to the crash site. Arriving, I saw that it wasn't a meteorite, but a space vessel. The moment I approached, it opened, and inside the glowing pod was a tiny, infant-sized silvery being. The next thing that happened is a little blurry, I'm afraid. I remember reaching out to touch it, and then I believe I received a shock! I awakened on the ground, on my back, and heard a baby crying. Getting up, I returned to the pod, and saw her lying there - a perfectly formed, human baby! I picked her up and wrapped her in my jacket."
"My wife, who was pregnant at the time with our first child and near delivery, had died tragically in a plane crash right after this occurred. I brought Lara home with me and raised her as my daughter. Luckily, the British tabloids never bothered to research things," he chuckled. "I have very loyal staff."
"The pattern of your story very closely matches those of the other Technorganics," said Raf. "Now, as to the purpose of our arrival. The other robotic faction, the ones that Ben and I battled, is in league with a very evil Technorganic known as Kālī. She is searching the globe, intent on abducting all Technorganics for her own vicious purposes. We are here to offer Lara sanctuary from her."
"The Autobots have a hidden location where Captain Sari is gathering all of the Technorganics. We are diligently searching for them. Ben and I have been sent to this location."
"I can fight off this Kālī," boasted Lara.
"I'm sure you have powerful skills, Lara," said Raf, "but Kālī has been endowed with much greater ones. The only Technorganic who matches her abilities is Captain Sari. Please, trust me on this."
"Would I be able to accompany Lara?" asked Lord Richard.
"I don't see why not," said Raf. "Ben's parents have been there, after we found him. Ben nodded.
Lara put her hand on her father's shoulder. "But Dad, what about the artifacts?"
"There is one which I wish to keep out of Powell's hands," he replied. "I will bring it with me."
"The Amulet?" she asked.
"Precisely. It's what he wanted today. He's only interested in it because of the ruby." He turned to Raf and Ben. "May I bring it with me?"
"As long as it's portable, that should not be a problem," said Raf.
He went and opened up a footlocker. Inside was a large, gilded, ankh-shaped artifact, with a huge ruby in the center. Lord Richard picked it up. "This was retrieved from a sarcophagus found in the Tomb of Set," he explained. "It belongs in a museum, which is where I intend it to be."
"Let's get…" but Raf was unable to continue his sentence, for an explosion blew apart the roof of the office. Hovering above them were Firefly and Skyskater!
"Well, well, well! Who do we have here?" laughed Firefly.
"Lord Richard! Take cover and get behind me! Lara! Transform and stay with Ben!" yelled Raf. The super soldier got out his plasma guns. Ben and Lara transformed.
"I'll protect you, Lara!" yelled Ben.
"I'm not completely defenseless," she snapped back, taking out a Skyboom shield.
"Ooh, a feisty one," laughed Firefly. "Let's see you deal with this!" and shot a bolt of flames at her. Lara jumped up high avoiding the flame, sailing right over Firefly's head. She then twisted, landing a powerful roundhouse kick on the back of the TechnoCon's helm, knocking her down, before landing back on the ground.
"Damn!" said Ben, duly impressed.
Skyskater meanwhile went after Raf and Lord Richard, flying around them in smaller and smaller circles. "C'mere you two!" he chuckled, "lemme give ya a little scratch." Raf grabbed a long steel pole and held it out toward the TechnoCon. "You're getting nowhere near us, Skyskater," he told him, continually knocking his arms away. When he got too close, Raf whacked the 'Con on the head. "Ow, man! Cut it out!" he yelled.
Ben and Lara took on Firefly as a team. He flew over her, preventing her from taking flight, while she would jump-circle Firefly, landing extremely rapid, powerful blows with her servos and pedes. The TechnoCon used her energy whip, but Lara enlarged her Skyboom shield to block it, smacking it back to her.
Finally, Raf landed a huge blow to the side of Skyskater's helm, sending him crashing into a brick wall and knocking him out, while Ben and Lara simultaneously shot powerful orbs at Firefly, causing them to blow up on her, sending her sailing backwards away from the dig.
"Now's our chance!" yelled Raf, and got on his comm. "Bulkhead! four to bridge, stat!" A ground bridge opened and they rushed in, just as Firefly returned.
She watched the bridge close up, then came to Skyskater, who was coming to. "Idiot!" she yelled, "you let them get away?!"
"Hey! Where were you, huh?" he spat back.
"I'm blaming YOU for this failure!" She said, then got on her comm. "Bridge us back."
"What?!" Skyskater yelled.
"No, we didn't get the target," she said flatly, then sighed. "Will report when we get back to base." She turned back to her partner and shoved a digit on his chest. "If YOU hadn't spent so much time playing with the humans, leaving me to deal with TWO Technorganics, this would have turned out better!"
A bridge back to New Kaon opened. They kept on yelling at each other as they flew into the bridge.
"Wha…? Humans? That Raf dude's not human!"
"Shut up!"
Raf, Ben, Lara and Lord Richard entered the bridge nexus in Area 51.
"Thank you, Bulkhead," said Raf, "that was a close one. Has anyone else reported back yet?"
"No one yet, Raf," he replied.
"Those were some wicked moves you did on Firefly!" Ben told Lara. "What was that? Where'd you learn them?"
"Velocity Taekwondo," she replied. "I received martial arts training from my Dad's Royal Marine friends."
Suddenly, a beep went off on the green Autobot's console. "Wait! Jack's vital signs just went off!"
A dread silence fell over the group until Raf broke it. "Is he...dead?"
Around this same time, Arcee was at Autobot Outpost Omega One with T:Prime Ratchet.
"So, when exactly were you planning on letting me requisition a new vocorder for you?" the old medic raised a metallic eyebrow. "It's time, don't you think?"
("There's just too much to do, Ratchet! I'm too busy!")
"Nonsense! I can put in a word to my counterpart in the other dimension, and...what's wrong?"
Arcee staggered back, holding her Spark.
("It's Jack! He's been abducted!")
"What?! By whom?"
"Jack! What happened?"
"Captured...Kālī…"
("It's Kālī! We've got to tell Optimus!")
Ratchet gets on his comm. "Optimus! Emergency!"
"Jack! We will rescue you!"
"I'm in New Kaon...Stasis Lock"
("He's being shut down!")
"Oh, dear Primus!"
"Jack! Jack!"
"Arcee…."
One mission success, one failure (with three captures!), and the success of the third thrown into question. More than likely, a rescue will be planned; is that what Kālī is counting on? We shall see!
Another cooperative effort by yours truly and the Sealer!
Thanks for reading. Please review.
