AN: I can't believe it! I mean how long has it been since I last did a back-to-back posting for this or any story? Anyhow, I had gotten the idea of this so ingrained into my head that I just had to get it down on paper, so to speak, as soon as possible. And here to help us celebrate its posting are half of the heroic team for today's action packed adventure, Erica Simmons and Ironhide!
[Audience applause]
Erica: Thanks for having us here
Ironhide: You do know that we should both be doing something important right?
AN: I know but still we've got plenty of time before the major chapters need to get out there.
Erica: You know you really seem to want to give me a bit more of a role in this than I got in the Gundam SEED anime.
AN: Hey what can I say? Girl like you with tech skills like the ones you've got is bound to play a bigger part in the story when the Autobots are involved.
Erica: Fair enough. So shall we get started.
AN: Let's. Oh and be sure to vote for the second team you want to see in action in the Orb Missions Arc. The poll is on my profile page. Now then, Ironhide, if you'd please.
Ironhide: Thought you'd never ask. lyokoMARVELanime owns nothing from either of the Gundam or Transformers franchises.
Chapter 12: The Engineers, the Warriors, and the Sword
"This country is starting to get on my nerves, that's for sure," Yzak growled from where he was standing, as he glared at Athrun.
"We know silver scar," Jaylen sighed. Jaylen had taken to calling Yzak that since they had arrived in Orb and showed no signs of ceasing to call him by the nickname.
"Well it's not like we expected them to leave it in the harbor for everyone to see," Dearka commented from the bench that he and Nicol were sitting on. They were of course referring to their progress to locate the Archangel, or lack thereof. They had been in the country for a day now and still had no luck finding it. At that point the Zala team was taking a break while Breakdown and Knockout sat parked on the side of the curb.
"Well really, how hard is it to hide a pair of ships like those," Knockout asked rhetorically, contributing to the conversation. "I mean sure the Autobot ship is no Arc, but it is still larger than some of the personal ships like that of Ultra Magnus."
"Still what if the ships actually did leave like they had told us," Breakdown asked, even though he was annoyed by the thought. "What then?"
"We need confirmation," Athrun replied. "If it's here, then it's here, and if it's not, it's not."
Everyone just groaned in unison at that, which prompted Athrun to continue his view on the matter, "Because of the naval base in Morgenroete the area by the water has a higher level of security, so we've gotta find a way in there so we can do a real search."
"Yeah we know that Athrun," Yzak snorted. "But how are we supposed to do that? Ground Bridge in there?"
"Right because no one will notice that," Knockout retorted sarcastically.
Athrun just sighed and would have continued had Knockout's comm. link not gone off. "Knockout here," the red Decepticon answered. A moment's pause later and he stated, "Athrun Zala, Lord Megatron wishes for your's and Jaylen Westenfluss's assistance in a Decepticon matter of the utmost importance."
Athrun stared at the red sports car for a minute before asking if he could speak with Megatron himself, to which he received the okay. Athrun then tapped the device that he had in his ear, and it extended into a small headset that acted as Athrun's own comm. device. "Lord Megatron this is Athrun Zala."
"Ah yes Athrun," the warlord's voice replied. "Is there something you wish to speak with me about concerning my request for your assistance?"
"Actually yes. I'm sure you're aware of our team's current situation in regards to our mission to bring down the Legged Ship and the Autobot ship, so why do you need me and Jaylen Westenfluss for a Decepticon mission."
"Rest assured Athrun, I did not want to pull you from your current assignment, but I would not do so unless absolutely necessary, as I am sure Knockout and Breakdown have already informed you. This is one mission that falls into that category. I will explain the full details to you, Jaylen Westenfluss, and Dreadwing when you all arrive here."
"Wait, did you say 'when we arrive here'," Athrun asked. "Are you saying that you will be taking part in this as well?" That got everyone's attention, as the entire Zala team had adopted looks of shock at the idea of Athrun and their newest addition working with Megatron of the Decepticons himself.
"Indeed I will be. Before you leave though, make sure you take careful consideration into who you will have in charge during your absence," Megatron confirmed.
"Understood Lord Megatron. We will see you soon," Athrun responded.
"Excellent. I shall have Soundwave send a Ground Bridge to transport you to your vessel's hanger bay in order to retrieve your respective machines before he sends you to us."
Athrun confirmed that he understood that as well and cut the communications. He then turned to his team and thought carefully about whom to leave in charge, while said team was discussing the fact that Athrun would be working with Megatron on an actual assignment.
"In all the time his forces have been allied with us, I don't think Megatron's ever actually gone out on a mission himself," Dearka commented.
"Yeah not to mention with anyone on Z.A.F.T. either," Nicol agreed. "This must be pretty important."
"I'm suddenly not sure if I should feel jealous or excited for you Athrun," Yzak admitted. "But that still leaves the whole matter of the three of us finding the Legged Ship while you and Jaylen are away."
"You saying you think you can't handle it," Jaylen taunted with a smirk.
"No way, the three of us were able to secure three of the Earth Forces mobile suits from Heliopolis pretty easily on our own without Athrun so this shouldn't be too hard."
Athrun smiled at that as he walked over and placed a hand on Yzak's shoulder, getting the silver haired man's attention as he stated, "In that case, I'll be leaving you in charge while we're on this assignment Yzak."
Now that shocked Yzak, as he figured Athrun might have left Nicol in charge as he knew Athrun thought Nicol was the most levelheaded of the three who were remaining. After getting over his shock he nodded and Athrun then told him, "Just remember to stick to the plan and don't attract attention and you guys should be fine okay?"
Yzak then smirked in reply, "Yes sir, Commander Zala."
Athrun and Jaylen then bade the others goodbye before moving to an out of the way alleyway where they could not be seen and requested the Ground Bridge. Two trips through the portals later, and the Aegis, Dreadwing, and the violet and indigo colored form of the Zaku Accelerant were soon flying out over a small valley in a mountain range up to the large, imposing form of Megatron himself.
Megatron smirked as he greeted them and began walking towards a mountain side as he briefed them. As the Z.A.F.T. pilots looked around, they noticed that the Decepticons had a number of drones and Z.A.F.T. mobile suits such as the DINNs around the area, a fact Megatron seemed to simply shrug off as he said, "Our forces were investigating a strange energy reading that we originally believed to be the tell-tale signs of a new energon mining sight. Though it became clear that was not the case when they arrived and their scanners detected no energon what-so-ever."
"So then what was it," Jaylen asked finally diverting her attention forward after getting a good look at how obvious it was that Megatron had decided to call in on the shows of good will he had given Z.A.F.T.
Megatron smirked in reply. "See for yourselves."
He then reached the mountain face as the drones moved aside revealing what looked like an extravagant sword imbedded in the mountain. To Athrun and Jaylen, all they saw was an impressive sword that seemed to have an interesting handle, but to Dreadwing it was cause for gaining a look of surprise. "Master," Dreadwing gasped. "Is that…?"
"Indeed it is Dreadwing," Megatron confirmed. "Something that in the Autobots' hands could very well mean our darkest hour."
Now that had Athrun's attention. What was it about this sword that had Megatron believing that it would be that much trouble if the Autobots got their hands on it? It was a question that he had to pose to Megatron, which the large silver Decepticon leader was more than happy to elaborate on as he answered, "This sword is that of Prima Prime himself, the first of all Transformers and leader of the Thirteen Original Primes. The blade that in the hands of a Prime could unleash power unlike anything anyone could ever match. This is…the Star Saber."
Athrun and Jaylen both gasped in shock at that just as Dreadwing had. Athrun then got serious and observed, "If that is the case, then we should remove it from the mountain side as soon as possible."
"Agreed," Dreadwing replied. He then wondered something. "Why has that not been done already, and why all these forces?"
"Because the excavation team has had no success in removing the blade from the mountain and we need the additional forces in case Prime and his Autobots show up and attempt to claim the Star Saber themselves."
"Have you tried to just pull it out yet," Jaylen asked like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Megatron looked at her before deciding to demonstrate why that would not work as he walked up to the sword to grasp its handle. Once he did, he pulled with all of his might, but no matter how hard he pulled and tugged on the handle, the sword would not budge. He then released it and turned to Jaylen as he stated, "As you can see, it appears that something has been done to the sword so that only a Prime can remove it from the mountain. That is why we must find an alternate method of removing it."
"I see," Jaylen answered as she thought about something. "It's just like the sword in the stone."
Dreadwing and Megatron both looked at her in confusion, and if the drones could express emotion as well, they would be doing the same thing. The two humans in the small huddle of this otherwise large gathering returned the looks with their own incredulous looks as Athrun asked, "You know the sword in the stone? From the legend of King Arthur?"
"Do you really think we have concerned ourselves with learning of your human legends Athrun Zala," Dreadwing deadpanned.
Jaylen then explained, "The legend says that many years ago during the medieval times, after Camelot's king had passed away a sword appeared before the citizens, embedded in a large stone. On the sword's blade near the hilt, was a transcribing that said that whoever was able to pull the sword from the stone, would be deemed worthy enough to be the new king. Many people tried to pull the sword from the stone for years, but none were successful until a young boy named Arthur came and was finally able to pull the sword free from the stone with one pull."
Megatron just hummed in reply as he commented, "A very amusing tale, and I can certainly see the similarities between our current situation and that legend. Let us hope however, that we can remove this sword in the stone before its King Arthur arrives to do so himself."
Inside the underground factory on Onogoro Island, Morgenroete's Senior Engineer, Erica Simmons was hard at work looking over the statistics of the support OS that Kira Yamato had been working on for the mobile suits that would serve as Orb's protectors, the M1 Astrays. As she looked through it, she found herself thinking back to the other day when she was recording some of her findings in a log entry that was geared specifically towards the data recovered from the Strike and the Archangel's battles, and thought once again of the theory known as the Superior Evolutionary Element Destined factor, or SEED factor for short, and found herself wondering if it was possible that Kira possessed the SEED factor himself. Given what she had seen in the reports on the young Coordinator, Erica found it to be highly unlikely to be otherwise, but she was not an expert on the subject and thought it would be best to leave it alone for the moment.
What she was more interested in at the moment though, was the subject of their alien visitors from planet Cybertron. Ever since Jazz and his band of merry Bots arrived in Orb, Erica had enjoyed the privilege of discussing some technical work with them, mainly Ratchet and occasionally Wheeljack, in order to see what they could do in terms of putting something together using both Autobot and Orb technology. The closest they had gone so far, however, was some of the technology used in the Autobot base. Up until now, Erica was actually okay with what she had learned of the Autobots, but with the arrival of the Omega II in Orb, she had found herself getting a bit more curious about the large beings that were easily robots in disguise. She was determined to learn more about them, but first she needed to at least meet with them, and given that Ratchet had normally been against her being around the Autobot base for long, or even accepting her help with some of the systems in Alpha I, she doubted it would happen anytime soon.
That was about to change when she noticed that Morgenroete's temporary recruit was having a discussion with Orb's blonde princess, and it seemed that Cagalli was getting to be frustrated with Kira about something, to put it mildly.
"I'm serious Kira," Cagalli scolded as Erica walked over. "You seem like you've been working down here nonstop. Have you at least taken some time to sleep, or even eat something?"
"Yeah I have gotten some sleep, and I did get a small snack a short while ago as you well know," Kira admitted. Even though he did not want to admit it, Kira knew Cagalli was right in the fact he had not taken a proper break since he started working in the large facility, but he wanted to get his work done as quickly as possible.
"You know full well what I meant when I asked if you'd had something to eat Kira," Cagalli snapped.
"She has a point you know," Erica stated, making her presence known to the two. "You really shouldn't spend so much time down here. If you don't take a break sometimes there's a chance that even you might slip up and make a mistake that could cause you to start your work all over again."
Kira sighed seeing that now he was getting outvoted by the two women. That's when Cagalli perked up, seeming like she had spotted a chance for something. "Say Kira," she asked, getting his attention. "All your friends have been visiting the Autobot base for a while now. In fact some of them are there right now, and I was about to go down there myself. I heard Bulkhead mention something about telling some old war stories from his days back on Cybertron. If you want you could come too."
"Thanks but…" Kira started to say, but he was cut off when Erica placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You know that sounds like a great idea," Erica stated happily. "In fact I was just about to take a break myself so why don't we all go down there?"
It was now clearly obvious to Kira that there was no way he was going to be able to say no, so he just sighed and agreed to go along with them. The three then walked outside where the familiar sight of Bumblebee and Arcee were waiting for them, both in their respective vehicle modes. Cagalli half ran over to Arcee as she climbed aboard the midnight blue motorcycle Autobot, placing a helmet on her head as soon as she did and then allowed Arcee to race off to the Autobot base. Kira and Erica had soon climbed into Bumblebee to follow after the two girls, at which point Kira had to ask if Bumblebee was sent by Optimus to get him.
"Actually Optimus all but insisted that one of the Bots try to help Cagalli find a way to get you to come to the base with us seeing as you seemed to have been working nonstop lately," the scout admitted.
"Seriously, you guys too," Kira moaned. Erica did not understand what Bumblebee had said, but she could get a pretty good guess from Kira's response. She then saw Kira give a small smirk as he then asked, "So I guess you volunteered and then convinced your girlfriend to help you out with getting me as backup huh?"
"Yeah pretty mu-HEY WAIT A MINUTE!" Bumblebee buzzed indignantly. "Seriously, how many slagging times do I have to say it?! Arcee is NOT my girlfriend!"
"I never said anything about Arcee Bee," Kira replied in a smooth, knowing tone.
"You didn't have to! Oh Primus why does everyone think that we're an item or whatever the human saying is?! We are just good friends!"
Kira just chuckled at his friend's expense, which Erica soon joined in on, the latter having a pretty good idea what Bumblebee was saying based on Kira's reactions and responses to the scout.
In almost no time at all, the two Autobots pulled into Autobot headquarters with their three human passengers, and then transformed as soon as Kira, Cagalli, and Erica had gotten off of their respective rides. They could already hear Bulkhead telling one of his stories in an excited tone to Kira's friends and the Archangel's command staff who were all gathered around near the former Wrecker and his old pal Wheeljack.
"So there we were," Bulkhead recalled. "No communications, low on energon, and surrounded by Cons. So what does Wheeljack do?" Everyone looked on in excitement as Bulkhead paused in his story, eager to know what happened. Bulkhead chuckled in excitement as he called out, "Tell 'em Jackie."
"Heh, what I do best," Wheeljack stated confidently.
Bulkhead chuckled again as he told them, "He chucks his only grenade into the primary heat exchanger!"
"That's crazy," Natarle shouted. "Isn't that against some sort of regulation or something?"
"If it is, nobody ever told me," Wheeljack joked. "Besides, it seemed like a good idea at the time, and it still does."
"And the joint went supernova," Bulkhead finished in excitement.
"Whoa," Mu whistled.
"Awesome," Tolle added, and soon enough every other human was adding their own words, or word, of amazement at that.
"And there it is," Bulkhead finished at last. "Jackie's signature. One grenade, one shot."
"And it's always worked," Sai asked eagerly.
"Eh there've been a couple of…instances that were due to unfortunate luck, but yeah for the most part," Wheeljack admitted sheepishly.
"Still sounds pretty amazing if you ask me," Kira commented, making him and the other new arrivals known to the others.
"Kira," Miriallia exclaimed happily as she ran over to give him a quick, friendly hug. "We were all beginning to think you weren't ever going to come here."
"Yeah man," Tolle agreed as he and Kira exchanged a quick fist bump. "You've gotta hear some of the stories Bulkhead has told us."
"I actually just caught the last part of that last one," Kira admitted. "Really sounds like a blast."
Wheeljack and Bulkhead both let out a good laugh at Kira's comment, and Kira merely raised an eyebrow before he realized he had unintentionally made a small joke and found himself laughing along with them.
"Hey Jackie, you gotta tell them about the battle of Dark Mount Pass," Bulkhead exclaimed.
"Nah Bulk, you tell 'em," Wheeljack waved casually. "You'd tell it way better than I would."
"You can't be serious."
"Yeah you're right I'm not," Wheeljack joked, getting both of the two to laugh again before Wheeljack started telling the tale. "The Wreckers were trapped between a Decepticon patrol and a smelting pit. Cons were vicious, bearing down on us with everything they had. That wasn't gonna stop us though, so we engaged the enemy and left 'em for scrap. Then I made us a way out using their backsides as stepping stones to cross the molten metal."
"You make it sound like Bulkhead didn't do anything," Cagalli commented.
"That's 'cause I didn't. Kinda hard to do something when you aren't even there," Bulkhead explained. "I had already transferred over to Team Prime by the time they had gone on that mission and I heard about it from Jackie after he went through it."
The little party would have gone on had Ratchet's computer had not suddenly started beeping in alarm. "Optimus, you may want to see this," Ratchet called out to Optimus who was just entering the room with Ironhide.
"What is it Ratchet," the last Prime asked.
"Systems are picking up a large energy reading in this area here," Ratchet explained as he indicated said area on his screens. "But I can't identify what it is. All I can tell you is that it's not an energon source."
"You sure about that," Ironhide asked.
"Positive. Further scans indicate that the readings are not the same as you would expect from energon mines."
"You think the Decepticons know about it," Mu asked as he and the other humans and Bots walked over.
"Hard to say seeing as we can only detect Decepticon signals when they are actively moving like when they are in a mining operation or a battle, or if they're not in small groups like if there's only one or two of them. Our sensors also can't track their Ground Bridge either, but we are definitely picking up Decepticon readings in the area."
"And there's a lot of 'em if I'm reading that right," Ironhide commented.
"Elita One, Hound, and Jazz are all currently working on the Omega II's repairs so we're all that's available Optimus," Ratchet reported.
"Understood," Optimus said. "But I have a hunch we will not be needing that many for this." He then paused as he considered how to proceed, stopping only for a moment to look in Kira's direction before finally making his decision. "Ratchet, first open a Ground Bridge to the Morgenroete factory so that our friend Kira Yamato may collect the Strike. Once that has been done, Ironhide and I shall traverse a Ground Bridge to the coordinates of the energy reading, with Kira joining us in the Strike."
"Hold on a minute," Natarle interjected. "The Strike is an Earth Forces mobile suit not some random gadget that you can just use whenever you feel like it."
"I understand your reluctance in allowing Kira to pilot the Strike into this situation, but given the circumstances I believe it will be the most beneficial to have his aide if he wishes to provide it."
Everyone looked to Kira, who had already adopted a serious look and nodded to say that he was in. As soon as the Ground Bridge was opened, Kira went through and then reappeared a moment later piloting the Strike into the base. Nobody needed to look in her direction to know that Natarle had a disapproving look on her face and was silently fuming to herself. Mu and Murrue both knew that she was more than likely going to be adding this to her list of things to note in her report when they reached Alaska.
"So that's the infamous Strike huh," Wheeljack asked. "I hope it looks better in action with that Phase Shift armor of its activated."
"Hold on a moment," Erica called out as Optimus and Ironhide moved to gather their weapons before heading o the Ground Bridge themselves along with Kira. "I'm coming with you."
"I would not advise that Miss Erica," Optimus stated.
"I'm not asking for permission. Right now, the Strike is under my facility's care so I think it would be best if I came along just in case, and besides you never know if you need an engineer's help."
"She has a point Prime," Ironhide conceded. "And she did help us get this base operational."
Optimus finally nodded and agreed so long as Erica remained in the Strike's cockpit unless absolutely necessary. As Erica climbed aboard the Strike, Optimus and Ironhide gathered up their weapons, Optimus's being an old favorite of his from the early days of the war, the Ion Blaster, and Ironhide's being a Riot Cannon, a downgraded version of the Fusion Cannon Megatron used. Everyone also noticed that Kira had elected to equip the Strike with the Aile Striker pack before arriving at the Autobot base and figured that it was Kira's way of being prepared. Once all three were ready, they all raced through the Ground Bridge and disappeared from the base.
"Be careful you guys," Cagalli whispered. A sentiment that was shared by everyone in the room, especially in the case of Kira's friends.
A moment after the three heroes had disappeared from the Autobot base in Orb, a Ground Bridge portal appeared a short distance away from where the Decepticons and Z.A.F.T. had gathered, and Optimus, Ironhide, and the Strike had jumped out ready for action. When they saw no one around, they quickly but quietly moved over to a cliff side overlooking the work that the two forces were doing.
Upon seeing what was going on, Kira gasped when he saw a familiar form. "The Aegis is here," Kira whispered over the comm. link.
Optimus and Ironhide looked and confirmed what Kira saw. "If that's one of the G-Weapons stolen from Morgenroete why isn't its Phase Shift armor activated," Ironhide asked.
"Perhaps the pilot is attempting to conserve energy for when he needs it most," Optimus speculated.
"That would make sense," Erica agreed. "The Phase Shift armor is really just a function that amplifies the suits capabilities and resistance to certain armaments, so the suit can function just as easily without it activated. The only difference is that it's more vulnerable."
Kira then continued looking, and saw an unfamiliar Z.A.F.T. mobile suit was with the Aegis and figured it was a new Z.A.F.T. model. Along with the two Z.A.F.T. mobile suits, Kira noticed that a number of DINNs were also present along with Decepticon drones and the familiar form of Dreadwing, but there was one thing there that he did not recognize, although he could tell that it was another Transformer so he assumed that it was a Decepticon. He then asked, "Hey Optimus, Ironhide? Who's that with the Aegis and the unknown mobile suit? The big, silver Con with a cannon on his arm."
The two Autobots froze for a moment at Kira's description of who he was asking about, but shook it off before looking where Kira had directed their attention. That was when Ironhide snarled, "What the slag is he doing here?"
Optimus's own expression became one of anger as he glared down at the large, silver, cannon wielding Con and growled, "Megatron."
Kira gasped in shock at what Optimus had said and looked back to the now identified Decepticon leader. So that's Megatron?! The leader of the Decepticons, and Optimus's former friend! Erica had also heard about the Decepticon warlord and her thoughts were the same as Kira's, but something had her wondering why he was here now, and what were all these forces doing? That was when she noticed something that the others had not yet discovered. "Hey what's that in the mountain," she called out.
That got all three of the men's attention. Kira squinted for a moment and just barely made out what appeared to be a sword handle as a Decepticon drill backed away from the mountain so that they could all see better. Optimus and Ironhide saw it too and both gasped in shock, "By Primus!"
Optimus then pulled out his Ion Blaster, and readied it for battle as he proclaimed, "We cannot allow Megatron to get his hands on that sword!" He then charged, firing as he went, and he shouted out, "Autobots attack!"
Ironhide was soon right behind him, firing his Riot Cannon at the Decepticon drones and making sure the blast did not cause too much harm to any Z.A.F.T. machines that were in the blast radius beyond disabling said suits. Megatron looked in their direction and growled as he shouted out orders to his forces to stop the Autobots. Dreadwing was soon charging in with the Aegis and the Zaku close behind him. Athrun was soon right on top of Ironhide, his mobile suit now fully powered up, and about to fire at the red and silver Autobot when he himself was fired upon. Athrun looked towards the source and saw that the Strike was flying towards him, firing its beam rifle before it holstered the weapon and pulled out its beam saber and the two were soon engaged in close combat.
Ironhide would have moved to help Kira, but was suddenly attacked by the Zaku as Jaylen fired the machine's long range rifle, and followed up by firing the missile launchers on its back. Ironhide quickly took cover as he returned fire with his default blasters, which were much like Cliffjumper's. Seeing that her opponent had opted to hide for the moment, Jaylen switched to back up Athrun as he tangled with the Strike, whipping out the Zaku's battle axe and powering up its beams as she went. Kira was able to both parry Athrun's beam saber while using the Strike's shield to block the Zaku's axe before pushing the latter away and charging at the female Z.A.F.T. pilot.
Meanwhile, the leaders of the two Transformer factions were facing off once again in another battle in their long list of face offs. Megatron had fired his Fusion Cannon multiple times striking the ground near Optimus along with some of the projectiles that were fired from Optimus's Ion Blaster, to which Optimus did the same with his weapon until finally the two were close enough to one and other that they both swung and collided fists with each other. Optimus eventually overpowered his former friend by delivering a hard kick to Megatron's side, which caused him to stumble for a moment and allowed Optimus a chance to slam his fist into Megatron's head sending the Decepticon warlord into the ground. Optimus then switched his free hand into his default sword and moved to strike at Megatron, only to have his blade parried by Megatron's own sword as the Decepticon leader forced Prime off of him. "It seems that you and I are just destined to continue our battle despite what events had transpired aboard the Arc Optimus, but I assure you, this is one battle that I will not lose!"
"That remains to be seen Megatron," Optimus retorted, and with that the two charged once more and engaged in a fierce battle unlike anything any other Cybertronian could easily match.
During that time, Kira had been able to fend off Athrun and Jaylen for a moment by slicing Jaylen's long range rifle in half with his beam saber and kicking her right into the Aegis while she was off guard. As Kira flew to try and take down some of the Z.A.F.T. mobile suits, Erica looked to see that Ironhide was behind cover trying to work with something, but having little success. When she saw that he was getting so frustrated that he threw one of his tools aside before firing a few shots off in Dreadwing's direction, she felt she had to do something to help him. Then she saw Ironhide receive a serious hit to his arm from Dreadwing and knew she had to help. Thinking quickly, Erica tapped Kira's arm, getting his attention for a moment and half ordered him, "Get me over to Ironhide now!"
Kira would have protested, but he was soon being fired upon by the Aegis, Dreadwing, and a number of Z.A.F.T. mobile suits and Decepticon drones, and felt that there was no time to argue. Kira then hollered out over his communicator, "Optimus, I need some covering fire!"
Optimus nodded in the Strike's direction, and slugged Megatron away before firing off a number of rounds from his Ion Blaster using up the last of the ammo in his weapon as he did. Thankfully it was enough as the forces bearing down on the Strike quickly dispersed to avoid being hit by Optimus, giving Kira the time he needed to fly the Strike close to Ironhide and let Erica off so that she could run over to help him.
When Ironhide saw that the human woman had left the safety of the Strike he was ready to scold her on her recklessness until she shouted out, "What are you trying to do?"
Seeing that he had no other option, Ironhide stated, "I'm trying to get this thing working so that we have more of a fighting chance here, but nothing I've tried has worked and now I can't work at all seeing as I'm now short an arm."
Erica looked at the device, and saw that it looked like a small staff of some kind. She assumed that it somehow extended into something much more impressive and then turned to Ironhide and asked, "How can I help?"
Elsewhere on the battlefield, Dreadwing had flown out of everyone's notice and saw that his ship that Megatron had granted him, the Havoc, was now in position over the mountain and had tow cables attached to the part that the Star Saber was imbedded in. "Lord Megatron, they are ready," Dreadwing reported over his radio.
"Excellent Dreadwing," Megatron replied as he punched Optimus back. "Havoc, do it."
"Yes Lord Megatron," Thundercracker's voice replied. Now the Seeker siblings had not joined in the battle themselves because they needed to be aboard the Havoc for this specific reason. That reason being revealed as the fired weapons at the mountain separating the section the legendary sword was trapped in and then firing its thrusters at maximum, garnering everyone's notice.
"The mountain," Jaylen exclaimed in shock.
"Are they really trying to lift it out with the Havoc," Athrun asked. His lack of attention proving to be a mistake as he received a hard hit from the Strike that knocked him away. Though Athrun was not the only one who was put at a disadvantage due to a lack of attention, as Optimus to was now pinned down by Megatron. The Decepticon raised his battle mace high above his head, ready to finish the Prime once and for all as he stated, "It's over Prime."
"NO! I WON'T LET YOU," came a loud shout which caught Megatron off guard. The next thing he knew, the Strike had slammed its shield into Megatron and sent him crashing away from Optimus.
Megatron snarled at what was now his new opponent before he lightly chuckled, "Ah the infamous Earth Forces mobile suit, X105-Strike. Let us see if you are as mighty as the reports have led others to believe."
With that the two charge at one and other, clashing beam saber with battle mace as they did until finally the two locked weapons. At that moment, Megatron took a moment to say, "From the reports I've read of you and your mobile suit, Pilot, I've come to believe that you are no mere Natural, but they all seem to imply that you are invincible. I wonder if that is true though."
"Why don't you come and find out," Kira shouted. The voice of the young Coordinator was heard by Megatron and had caught him off guard for a moment, a moment that Kira used to push back against his opponent, causing Megatron to stumble. Kira then followed up by having the Strike jump and deliver a hard kick that sent Megatron away.
Megatron regained his composure as he chuckled at his new revelation. "So the mysterious pilot of the Strike is nothing more than a mere Earth child. How interesting," Megatron coolly stated. "You should best start praying that I never see your face boy, as I never forget a face. Ever."
Megatron then charged once more as he swung his battle mace at Kira, which was soon blocked by the Strike's shield. Kira then tried to hit Megatron with the Strike's beam saber but Megatron side stepped a moment later, and slammed his fist into the Strike's head causing the suit to stumble and the pilot to get jostled about in his seat. Megatron then took this time to check on Optimus, but saw that the Autobot leader seemed to have vanished. Angered by the fact he had lost track of his hated enemy because of this human brat, Megatron extended his sword from his cannon arm and charged at Kira swinging both his mace and sword until the former had landed a hit on the Strike that sent it into the side of the mountain behind it.
Seeing that he was about to be hit by both of the Decepticon warlord's weapons, Kira quickly rolled the Strike out of the way before both weapons could hit. Megatron would have moved to strike again, but was halted by a call from Jaylen. "Lord Megatron, Athrun! Look, up on the mountain!"
The two turned to see that racing up the mountain side towards the mountain section that was being lifted away, was the unmistakable red and blue vehicle mode of Optimus Prime. "Dreadwing stop him," Megatron shouted, forgetting the Strike for a moment. A moment Kira tried to capitalize on as he charged in with his beam saber, only to be tackled by the Aegis in its mobile armor mode.
"Athrun get off of me," Kira demanded.
"Sorry Kira, but I can't let you do that, and don't think I forgot what you and I said the last time we saw each other," Athrun replied. "You said you would show no mercy, so then what are you waiting on? I could tell you've improved Kira, so show me just how much you have!"
Kira growled and then granted Athrun his request as he fired the Strike's thrusters, sending them both into the air. The Strike then grabbed one of the Aegis's legs that it was using to hold onto the white and blue mobile suit and tore it off. With one of the legs now torn off his mobile suit, Athrun soon lost his grip on the Strike and switched back to mobile suit mode, which was now missing an arm.
During that time, Dreadwing had landed in Optimus path and was proving to be more of a problem for Optimus than he could handle. Optimus made the mistake of glancing towards the Star Saber hilt that was being lifted away with the mountain and then found he was pinned underneath Dreadwing's foot. As Dreadwing began to raise his sword to end the Autobot leader's life, a shout from Ironhide grabbed his attention. "Prime," Ironhide had cried out. "I think you might need this!"
As soon as he had said that, Ironhide moved to toss the staff he had been working on, which Erica was proud to say that she had finished working on and had been able to get working. Dreadwing tried blasting the two, and while his shots did not hit either one he was able to throw off Ironhide's throw, sending the staff hurtling through the air. It seemed that it would not reach its intended target until suddenly, a grey and white hand grasped it. Gasping in shock, Dreadwing could do nothing but look on as the Strike spun around in midair and gave the staff a hard toss to its originally intended target, just before it had to use its shield to block a missile barrage form the Zaku and parry the Aegis's follow up beam saber attack.
Dreadwing tried to work fast by slashing his sword down upon Optimus, but was too late as Optimus had caught the staff and blocked Dreadwing's strike with something none of the Decepticons had expected to see Optimus wielding. "It can't be! That weapon was destroyed," Dreadwing reputed.
Sadly, it was true. Optimus Prime had stopped Dreadwing's attack with his old Energon Battle Axe, a weapon that he had long thought he would never wield again. Optimus then used said axe to push Dreadwing away and off of him, and then followed up with a mighty swing that Dreadwing barely escaped at the cost of his arm.
"Dreadwing," Athrun cried out, seeing his friend lose his arm.
"I am alright Athrun Zala," Dreadwing assured him. "Just stop Prime before he retrieves the sword."
Athrun nodded in reply and moved to fire the Aegis's beam rifle at Optimus, who was charging through Decepticon and Z.A.F.T. forces alike, cutting both down with his battle axe as he went. Before Athrun could fire though, he found he was once again stopped by Kira, who had fired his own beam rifle at him.
"This guy just doesn't quit, does he," Jaylen asked as she charged the Strike with the Zaku's own battle axe.
"No he doesn't," Athrun remarked.
Seeing all their forces were having trouble stopping Optimus or dealing with the Strike and Ironhide, who had been able to continue firing upon his enemies using his default blasters even after being attacked by Dreadwing, Megatron took to the skies in his jet mode flew in the same direction Optimus was heading.
Optimus then floored it as he drove up the mountain side at his vehicle mode's maximum speed. The next thing anyone knew, Optimus had launched himself into the air and transformed to robot mode reaching out one hand towards the sword in the mountain. By some stroke of luck, or miracle, or whatever you would want to call it, Optimus was able to grasp the sword handle, and with one mighty pull he pulled the legendary Star Saber free from the mountain. As soon as Optimus jumped clear, he was tackled by Megatron, who had transformed to robot mode as well.
The Decepticon warlord tried to pull the Star Saber away, shouting that he would not allow the Autobots to have the sword when something unexpected began to happen. The sword began to glow with the same radiant blue color as pure energon, while Megatron himself began to light up with a dark, purple glow, symbolizing that somehow the Dark Energon inside of him was reacting to the Star Saber. A moment later, there was a massive burst of energy that sent both of them flying apart and crashing to the ground. Optimus with the Star Saber in hand and still glowing, and Megatron empty handed and still alight with the glow of the Dark Energon.
Megatron snarled as he gave the order, "Decepticons, Z.A.F.T. forces, retreat." He then looked toward the Havoc and decided to make one final desperate play. "Havoc, release the mountain from the tow cables. With any luck it will crush Prime beneath it." Though Megatron did hope this would be true, he somehow knew that Optimus would survive. He did not wish to see it though as he transformed and led all the enemy forces, including the Aegis and the Zaku away from the battle.
As Athrun and Jaylen flew away, they both looked back for a moment at Optimus and the Star Saber as the Havoc carried out its final orders for this mission. "Looks like you were right Jaylen," Athrun commented with a small smile.
"What do you mean," Jaylen asked in genuine curiosity.
"It really was like the sword in the stone," Athrun explained with a chuckle.
Jaylen had a small laugh at that as she stated, "Yeah it really was."
Kira breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the enemy in full retreat but then saw that it was not over yet. "Optimus behind you," Kira shouted out.
Ironhide and Erica both looked towards Optimus and saw what had caused Kira's outburst. The mountain side had been released from the Havoc's tow cables and was now rolling down the cliff towards Optimus.
"Prime move!" "Get out of there!" Were the cries of Ironhide and Erica respectively, but Optimus just seemed to ignore them as he stood there seemingly examining the sword he held in his hand. Just when it seemed like the mountain would crush him, Optimus turned around, took a stance, and swung the sword in an upward strike. Kira and the others could only look on in shock as the mountain split in half and collapsed on either side of Optimus as he swung the sword down.
"Incredible," Erica gasped.
"He just cut nearly an entire mountain clean in two with one swing," Kira breathed out as he looked on in shock.
"Now that is definitely a sign of that sword being the real thing," Ironhide stated.
Sometime later, everyone at the Autobot base had gathered near the ground bridge as Ironhide, Kira, and Erica walked through it with Optimus following shortly behind them, carrying the Star Saber as he came. Kira had dropped the Strike off at Morgenroete beforehand, with Erica assuring him to not worry about the additional damage that the machine had suffered in the recent battle. She did say that it would take a little longer to give it the full repair work she had told him it would get, but all the same it would not be a problem.
When the four came into the base from the Ground Bridge portal, they saw that Jazz, Hound, and Elita One had returned from working on the Omega II and were waiting to greet them as well. When the other Autobots saw that Optimus was carrying both the Star Saber and his battle axe, they launched into a million questions for their fellow Bots. When Optimus finally got a chance to, he turned to Ironhide and asked, "How were you able to restore my old battle axe? I had thought it was destroyed in battle back on Cybertron."
"Not entirely," Ironhide confessed. "I was able to gather up what pieces I could and started putting it all back together shortly after we ended up here in Orb. I wasn't able to get the damn thing working until that last battle."
"Either way, you have my thanks old friend."
"You should thank Miss Erica. If it wasn't for her the thing would never have been able to start working again," Ironhide corrected as he gestured to said woman who had gained a small blush of embarrassment at the praise.
Optimus nodded in acknowledgement of this and turned to Erica as he said, "Thank you Erica Simmons. You have no idea what having this battle axe back at my side means to me, and for that I owe you a great debt. I believe that we have now found someone to call upon should the Autobots ever need additional technical expertise."
Erica smiled in joy at that while Ratchet just groaned in worry and muttered something about having more humans around to meddle in his work. Kira just chuckled a bit as he watched this exchange when his friends all approached him asking him what had happened. Kira thought for a moment before finally saying, "I guess now it's my turn to share an old war story. As long as Bulkhead and Wheeljack don't mind."
"Trust me kid, we're more than willing to let someone else have a turn," Bulkhead commented.
"Yeah besides, I think this is going to be a story we've gotta hear," Wheeljack added.
Kira chuckled and gestured for everyone to gather around as he began to tell everyone about how he faced off with a massive army with just himself, Optimus, and Ironhide; how Optimus worked to retrieve the Star Saber; and how he had ended up facing off against Megatron himself.
Optimus smiled at the exchange as he saw that it seemed that Kira's road to recovery from the stress he had been under lately was well under way, as he watched the young man spend time with his friends.
Aboard the Nemesis, Athrun and Jaylen were with Megatron in one of the ship's labs as they waited for their machines to be repaired before being sent back to Orb. Athrun decided to gather his courage and speak up as he stated, "I'm sorry that the operation was a failure Lord Megatron. I assure you we did everything we could."
"Do not apologize Athrun Zala," Megatron reassured him calmly, something that surprised Athrun as he was sure that Megatron would have been furious at what had happened. "It had become a situation that none of us had expected. However, this mission was not a total loss."
"Really? And why do you say that Lord Megatron if you don't mind our asking," Jaylen asked, intrigued by what Megatron had said.
"From today's battle, I learned the pilot of the Strike is actually a mere human child, perhaps not that much older than either one of you," Megatron explained. Athrun had gasped in shock, thinking at first that Megatron had learned Kira's identity, but when he heard the rest of what Megatron had said, he let out a mental sigh of relief before the warlord continued. "And not only that, but while Prime may have his precious Star Saber sword, I believe I have now found an equalizer for that."
"What do you mean," Athrun asked, now very confused.
"When I had grasped the sword in an attempt to pull it away from Optimus, the Dark Energon within me began to resonate with the sword," Megatron explained. "Though it has taken me some time to understand, I now see that the Dark Energon within me could sense the sword's power and sought to give me something that could equal it. I believe we should allow it to do so don't you?"
As soon as he said that, Megatron extended his hand forward and scrunched his face in concentration. In doing so, the dark substance that coursed through him began to glow once more; surrounding him in a dark, evil aura that seemed to cause the air to become heavy and made Athrun and Jaylen feel almost as though they were suffocating. A moment later, and the aura extended outward and began to form something. Then in a massive burst of energy, the two humans were knocked away from where they were standing while Megatron fell to his knees. Megatron then looked in front of him and let out a low chuckle, which prompted Athrun and Jaylen to look in the same direction as well after the former had helped the latter to her feet once again.
Laying on the ground before Megatron, was a menacing looking sword with a black handle who's hilt seem to twist upward and around the base of the blade. The blade itself glowed with the same menacing aura that was associated with Dark Energon as though it were made of the substance itself. Megatron continued to chuckle as he picked up the mighty blade that had just been created before their very eyes and examined it. As he finished doing so, he proclaimed, "This was neither the Decepticons darkest hour, nor Z.A.F.T.'s, for now I posses a weapon that has a might equal to that of one of the legendary weapons of the Thirteen Primes. Look upon this magnificent blade you two and behold the power that shall be the end of Optimus Prime and the Autobots. Behold the Dark Star Saber!"
Athrun and Jaylen were doing just that, but neither one of them were as awestruck by the blade as Megatron was, but rather terrified of both it and what its master may do with it.
Erica Simmons would be the first one to admit that she was being very hypocritical right now, as earlier she had done everything she could to help Cagalli convince Kira that everyone needs to take a break sometimes and yet now she was in her office working when she should have been at home getting some sleep. The reason for this though, was not because she had work to do, but that the events of today had given her much to think about. Seeing no other way to get it off her chest, she had come to her office and turned her computer on to record something.
As soon as she had given her identification and password she began recording what she wanted to say. "In the earlier stages of our contact with the alien life forms, the Autobots from planet Cybertron, I had believed that they were highly advanced machines with incredible capabilities and technology, but today I learned that they are much more than that."
"Even after spending millions of years in a war against their own kind, each of the Autobots that I have met have found ways to carry on fighting and at the same time find a way to still look after others, including us human beings whether they are Naturals or Coordinators, an way of thinking that is shared by the Orb Union, and which they whole world could learn from. They are able to laugh, love, and even look back on past battles with joy and laugh things off like it was nothing. The two most notable cases of the last one being the Autobot Wreckers, Bulkhead and Wheeljack, who were old war buddies from back on their home world."
"Another instance being the Autobot Scout, Bumblebee who lost his voice box in the line of duty. Despite the fact he may never hear the sound of his own voice again, the scout still continues to press on and live his life happily, never giving up hope. One could argue that is because he has been identified as the youngest of the Autobot group that has gathered here in Orb, but I honestly feel that it is because Bumblebee truly believes that everything will work out for the best."
"My final case of the Autobots being more than what they seem would be the Autobot leader himself, Optimus Prime. While in his youth he was the human equivalent of a simple librarian, Optimus was able to adapt and become a mighty warrior, who fought for the belief of peace and freedom for all sentient beings, all of which were contributing factors in his ascent to becoming the last Prime. Today though, I saw Optimus risk everything to keep a powerful object out of Decepticon hands, and yet he seemed to be happier by the fact that his old weapon, which he calls his Energon Battle Axe, was restored to him. When he expressed his gratitude to me for my assistance in restoring said weapon, I could see that despite how well he normally hides his emotions, Optimus was genuinely grateful to have something that he would seem to consider similar to a long lost friend restored to him."
"In conclusion, it is hard to really pay attention to the differences between Cybertronians and humans as it seems that they have more in common with us than many of us would have believed at first. In fact I would go so far as to say that maybe, perhaps the Autobots are just as if not even more human than we are."
With her log entry finished, Erica Simmons sealed the file with an encrypted password and shut off the computer and lights before leaving her office to return home to her husband and son who were waiting for her.
Erica: Don't you think the chapter didn't really focus that much on the team you had for this adventure?
AN: Admittedly I did want it to be mostly focused on that, but as I kept running this through my head, the more I found it ending up like this.
Ironhide: I gotta ask though, why the reference to the Sword in the Stone
AN: When I was growing up most of the movies I watched as a kid were Disney movies, and one of my favorites was The Sword in the Stone. Ever since I had a pretty big interest in stuff involving the legend of King Arthur, and I honestly think a bit of my interest in swords also originated from that as well. So when I first saw the episode of Transformers Prime that this chapter was based off of, I couldn't help but think back to that old story of the sword in the stone.
Ironhide: Yeah it definitely does have some similarities.
Erica: I have a question though. Why are you setting up the next chapter the way it is?
AN: Ah an excellent question. Now normally I hate, and I mean hate fillers and I wouldn't normally do this, but in this case I felt it best to make the next chapter like this so everyone has a chance to vote on the poll for the next team. Plus I always find parts of the episode that the next chapter is based off of to be really funny, especially one scene in particular that I am just dying to include in the next chapter.
Erica: I suppose that makes sense. Sort of.
AN: That being said, onto the preview...
An arctic expedition leads the Autobots to a curious find of Cybertronian origin, prompting Optimus and Elita One to return to investigate further. While the two leading figures are away from the base, the true nature of the find is revealed much to the horror of the Autobots in the base. Facing an infestation of creatures that eat metal and consider living metal a delicacy, Kira, Cagalli, Miriallia, and the rest of the Autobots' human friends now become the guardians of their large friends as they work to rid the base of the infestation and restore the Ground Bridge to functionality. Can they clear the base in time, or will the Autobots in the base become a main course while Optimus and Elita freeze to death. Next time on Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Prime…Chapter 13: Infestation. Cast out the metal eating menace Kira and friends!
AN: Read, review, and please be sure to vote on the poll for the next team you want to see, found in my profile page.
All Three: See you next time!