Sparks
Official Disclaimer: The Transformers ain't mine.
Author's Note: Thank you all for your reviews! Though a couple of them did bring up a question...is a dues ex machina really a dues ex machina if the situation they solve wouldn't have existed in the first place without them? thinks about it for a moment but gets confused Right, no more considering of literary devices...after reading classic Russian literature, it just leads to headaches. Anyways. Here's the next chapter. Some angst from Beth, some surprises, a random battle...y'know, the usual. Oh, and if anyone reading this speaks Spanish fluently, could they send me a message or leave a review? Jorge is going to make a debut later, and, well...he just wouldn't be Jorge if he didn't lapse into Spanish randomly. And I'd rather not use Bablefish, because I know how painful that would be for any real Spanish speakers.
Also, apparently Epps' first name is Bobby or some origin of that nickname, if Jorge is to believed. Caught that the last time I watched the movie. I may go back and change it. (Not changing the story to match the book so that Jorge is dead, though!)
- Chapter Fourteen: Explanations and New Arrivals -
"So you two just walked out?" Lennox asked with understandable disbelief as Beth recounted her and the Allspark's time in, and escape from, the Decepticon base. They were all in a large airplane hanger, the only place large enough to hold the Autobots, at the base they'd landed at for their supposed rescue of Beth and the Allspark, comparing notes on what had happened.
"Essentially, yes. The Allspark all but said it could have done so any time, but that it was waiting for something." Beth said.
"And since she collapsed shortly after we found the two of them, I think we can assume she was waiting for someone friendly to get close enough." the leader of the special ops team, a Major Jeffrey Bard, spoke up.
"Yes, you mentioned the Allspark collapsed - I take it she's in the infirmary?" Optimus asked with a frown, and Major Bard nodded.
"The doctors were saying that she had tumors all over, which were what caused her to collapse. But then the last time I checked in, they said everything was healing itself." the major replied. Optimus shot Ratchet a worried look.
"May I see her?" Ratchet asked Major Bard, and the major hesitated.
"Well, ah, the infirmary is a pretty small place..." he said.
"Just have the medics bring her outside for a few minutes so I can scan her." Ratchet said, and the major nodded, then motioned for one of his men to take the Autobot medic to the infirmary.
"Oh, Ratchet, I should probably mention - the Decepticons weren't feeding us, so the Allspark was doing...something...to keep me from starving. So it may have over-exerted itself." Beth offered as Ratchet headed out, and he nodded down at her before leaving.
"So what are th' chances of the Decepticons followin' you two anytime soon?" Jazz asked Beth, who shrugged.
"They looked pretty out for the count when we left. Ravage twitched once, but I didn't see any of the others move once the Allspark zapped 'em." she said. "The only one in any shape to follow was Soundwave."
"He won't follow by himself." Ironhide grunted, and Optimus nodded.
"Soundwave's strengths lie in his pets and his communications abilities." the leader of the Autobots said. "He won't attack until the others are operational again."
"He'll have no trouble tracking them here once he does have his back-up dancers, though." Sunstreaker commented.
"Indeed. So we have two options: We stay here and fight them off after getting the humans to safety, or we leave and hope the lack of our presence will stop them from attacking." Optimus mused. The other Autobots gave him a look, and he smiled slightly, then turned to Major Bard. "How quickly can all non-essential personnel be evacuated?"
"The base commander should know more precisely, but the usual evac time for a base this size would be, hmm, an hour or two?" Bard mused. "I can go check."
"Just tell them to start." Optimus said, and Bard nodded before heading out. After that, Beth found herself once again bored as strategies were discussed, and plans made. She eventually slipped out of the hanger and made her way to the infirmary, where Ratchet was still running scans on the unconscious Allspark. Beth hadn't mentioned her sister's brief emergence before their escape, wanting to talk with the Autobot medic about it first.
"How's she doing?" Beth asked softly as she came up on the other side of her sister from Ratchet. There was a human nurse standing at the entrance to the infirmary, but otherwise the human doctors had left Ratchet to his scans.
"From what the base doctors have told me, she is better, but the amount of tumors and growths in her body is..." Ratchet shook his head. "Primus only knows how she's still alive."
"She's still healing though, right?" Beth asked worriedly, and even more worriedly, Ratchet turned his attention from the Allspark to Beth.
"Yes, but the rate of healing has slowed steadily ever since I began scanning her. At its current rate, it will stop entirely well before she's healed entirely." he said gently.
"What's that mean?" Beth asked, feeling a chill go down her spine despite the heavy parka and winter clothing protecting her from the below freezing temperatures of the base.
"I'm not sure." Ratchet said with a sigh. "It's not a good sign, though. I had the opportunity to look at Emily's original x-rays and such of Alexandra right after the Allspark took over her, and I did a few scans myself - from all angles, it looked as if the Allspark was healing damage at exactly the same rate as it was causing it, keeping Alexandra's body in an equilibrium of healing and dying. Now, however, that balance seems to have been interrupted. My best guess is that it took more energy than the Allspark let on to keep itself in that sort of balance, and when it was keeping you alive and healthy in the Decepticon base, it was draining its own energy, so it couldn't keep up with healing."
"But it doesn't have to sustain me now, why isn't it catching up?" Beth asked, giving Ratchet a pleading look, silently asking him to say that it was, and he was mistaken earlier.
"As I said, it apparently took almost all of the Allspark's strength to maintain the balance. Now it's having to do double duty on the healing end." Ratchet explained patiently. He watched Beth for several moments as she stared morosely at her sister, then returned to his scans.
"I spoke to Alex." Beth mumbled after awhile, barely loud enough for Ratchet to hear, but his head shot up when he did.
"What?" he asked, the shock clear in his voice. "Are you sure it -" Ratchet stopped as Beth nodded.
"Her eyes were brown, and she spoke - in English. It was right before we escaped. The Allspark looked worried when I told it I had spoken to her - I think that might have been another reason it chose to escape when we did." Beth said just as quietly. Ratchet frowned, looking back down at the Allspark. "Ratchet...she sounded so confused. She didn't even know what was going on."
"We'll just have to explain it to her when this is all over." Ratchet said quietly after a pause.
"This what?" Beth asked forlornly. "This battle, or the war between you and the Decepticons? When do I get my sister back, Ratchet?" Ratchet, not knowing the answer, remained silent.
---
"Uh, sirs - we're having a bit of a problem." Sergeant Epps nervously interrupted Optimus, Lennox, the base commander, and Major Bard while they had their strategy meeting. The four leaders silenced, and turned to the sergeant with mixed looks of surprise.
"What is it?" Lennox asked, looking puzzled - the sergeant was supposed to be helping the base personnel with evacuation, and the only thing that could go wrong with that would be Decepticons incoming - but the Autobots would have warned them if that had been the problem.
"Beth." Epps said with a wince. "She refuses to leave."
"Has Cliffjumper spoken with her?" Optimus asked, and Epps nodded.
"She, um, threw a rock at him and...well, I'm not going to repeat what she told him to go do." the sergeant said with a sigh. "Suffice it to say that she seems to think that if the Allspark can stay, so can she." The four leaders exchanged glances.
"I'll talk to her." Optimus said finally, then turned and followed Epps out of the hanger. Outside, it wasn't hard to spot Beth - she was clinging to the medical bed holding the Allspark while Ratchet tried to pry her off without harming the Allspark. He wasn't having much success. "Let her go." Optimus ordered Ratchet, and the medic grumpily did just that, and Beth fell to the ground. She lost her grip on the bed momentarily, but latched back on too quickly for anyone to pull either her or the bed away. She glared up at Optimus.
"I am not going anywhere." she stated firmly.
"Elizabeth, you need to leave. You cannot fight, and we cannot protect you." Optimus said as soothingly as he could manage.
"What about Alex? She's not even moving, and she's staying! How can you protect her, but not me?" Beth replied sharply. "I can at least dodge."
"The Decepticons will not hurt the Allspark. They will hurt you." Optimus said patiently. "Besides that, the Decepticons may not attack if the Allspark is not here - they may follow the transport carrying her, and attack it when we are unable to defend it."
"So basically she's your bait." Beth replied. "Great, wonderful - I thought you liked my sister. But here you are, putting her in danger -"
"Elizabeth!" Optimus cut off her rant with his sharp comment. "I miss Alexandra as much as you - right now, however, she is not Alexandra, she is the Allspark, something that both Autobots and Decepticons have fought over for literally millions of years. She will be fought over, will be put in danger, no matter where she is. Here, at least, we will have a chance of effectively defending her."
"Then let me stay and help." Beth said stubbornly, and Optimus sighed.
"You cannot fight. It will be easier for us to defend your sister's body, to defend the Allspark, if we do not have to defend you, as well." he said. Beth glared up at him, and Optimus stared impassively back. It was an odd staring match, and a few of the base personnel heading by to help evacuate the non-essential personnel stopped and stared for a moment before continuing.
"That's just playing dirty." Beth growled finally, but let go of the med bed, which the doctors quickly wheeled away from her and back into the infirmary.
"It's the truth." Optimus said with a frown, and it was Beth's turn to sigh.
"I know, I know. I just sometimes hate hearing the truth." she grumbled, then stood and headed off to where the last vehicle was waiting for her before setting out. Optimus shook his head as he watched her go.
"Humans are amazingly stubborn when it comes to protecting those they love." Optimus mused.
"And we aren't?" Ratchet said, giving Optimus an amused look, and the Autobot leader frowned at his old friend. "I seem to recall someone telling Alexandra to get to safety when their sensors were screaming about a Decepticon presence, and only calling for help once she was away." Optimus shook his head.
"That was different." he said, knowing it was a feeble excuse even as he said it. Ratchet knew it, too, and knew that Optimus knew it, so he just smiled serenely and headed off to help with preparations. Optimus shook his head again and returned to his meeting.
Since no one knew exactly how long it would take the Decepticons to recover, they did their preparations in stages - the most important defenses came first, and then slowly others followed as time allowed. It was a good thing, too, as it was only five hours after they finished the evacuation that Bluestreak spotted Laserbeak flying overhead. The sharp-shooter took a shot at the flying Decepticon, but it was flying too far above to get a clear shot, and sped off towards the Decepticon base as soon as it realized Bluestreak had spotted it. It wasn't long after that that the rest of the Decepticons came.
With ten Autobots and an entire base of humans with 105 shells versus seven Decepticons and three mini-mechs, it should have been, at the very least, a fair fight, if not tipped in the Autobot's favour. Optimus alone was worth at least two Decepticons. But, unfortunately, the Decepticons had a few tactical advantages the Autobots did not - most of them could fly, and Soundwave had some rather nasty mental abilities that he'd apparently improved upon or found new ways to use since the Autobots had last seen him. The Autobots had been counting on the human planes to counteract the Decepticon advantage of flight, but Soundwave neatly negated that - he'd learned how to manipulate human brains, and the instant any human caught sight of him, they went down, screaming in pain, and stayed down, even after Soundwave left their area. Most of the humans lapsed into unconsciousness after only a few moments.
With the humans down, the fight was on even footing again - more in the favour of the Decepticons, in fact, as the Autobots tried desperately to protect the fallen humans. Ratchet and Wheeljack scurried about the base, firing at Decepticons even while carrying humans to the main airplane hanger, where the Allspark already rested with human medics. The Autobot's protection of that building wasn't missed, and the Decepticons constantly made runs at it, only to be foiled by one Autobot or the other.
Bluestreak was the first on either side to go down, taking three Seeker missiles to the chest, then having Ravage pounce on him. Ironhide ripped the robotic panther off the yellow Autobot and dragged him back to the hanger, then resumed the fight, grounding Thundercracker with his first shot. The Decepticon continued to fight on the ground, however, and together with Ravage, managed to corner Sideswipe. Sunstreaker naturally came to his twin's rescue, and Ravage was put out of the fight, but Starscream and Skywarp descended on the twins, and Sunstreaker's weapon arm was severed at the shoulder. He had to drag his barely conscious twin back to the hanger with his good arm, then go back for the severed one, only to get clipped in the leg and have to crawl back, complaining loudly the entire way about his paint job and the things he did for his idiotic - "but still safely in the land of the living, right Ratchet?" - brother. Skywarp was grounded shortly after that - fortuitously, he landed on top of Thundercracker, knocking the mech out, but he himself stayed up and continued to fight from the ground.
Barricade and Bumblebee engaged in a grudge match, which Bumblebee might have won if Soundwave hadn't gotten him with a missile in the back. Barricade almost got the yellow bot's spark, but Jazz tackled the police car, and started to finish what Bumblebee had started. Soundwave stopped him with a blast of mental energy, sending him tumbled backwards, dazed, only to launch himself at his attacker. Behind him, Barricade was able to right himself and get to a distance, where he took up position as a sniper. He managed to get Cliffjumper in the leg, sending the mech to the ground, and the Porsche was dragged back to the hanger, where he sat outside, shooting at the Decepticons flying overhead, managing to send Dirge careening off into the distance, one of his engines sending off thick black smoke.
Laserbeak and Buzzsaw remained a problem, moving too quickly and dodging too agilely to be hit, doing hit and run attacks. Ratchet, by this point, had had to retreat to the hanger to deal with critical injuries, and Wheeljack was still getting unconscious humans to safety. Looking around and seeing only four of his soldiers still fighting, while the Decepticons essentially had seven, Optimus had a sinking feeling that they were going to lose. Even with Barricade's horrible aim, he was still doing damage - he'd decided to ignore the moving targets of the Autobots, instead aiming for stationary targets like vehicles and ammo stores, exploding them as distractions or as possible ways to injure passing Autobots. Starscream and Ramjet were still uninjured, and even as Optimus watched, Soundwave tossed Jazz off to the side, having overcome the silver bot with a mixture of superior strength and telepathy. Wheeljack gave up on rescuing the humans and came to stand with Ironhide and Optimus, and the Autobot leader wearily called Ratchet out of the hanger as the Decepticons regrouped in preparation for the final assault.
"The Allspark will be ours, Autobots!" Starscream howled, and moved to attack - only to be sent spinning off into the snow by a blast from Barricade's position. Autobot and Decepticon alike turned in astonishment, expecting to see Barricade...but not expecting to see him unconscious, with a blue Autobot standing over him, grinning widely as his canon still smoked. The Decepticons opened fire, but the Autobot disappeared, his taunting laughter the only evidence of his location.
"Mirage..." Optimus murmured in disbelief. He and the other Autobots had been so wrapped up in their plans to get the Allspark and Beth back that they hadn't been watching as closely as they should have for new Autobots - a fact made more obvious as a missile from another direction entirely took out Laserbeak. A green mech was seen grinning, and then another shot from yet another direction took out Buzzsaw. Soundwave called a retreat, and the Decepticons gathered their fallen and took off, those that were ground-based heading between Barricade's old position and the mysterious third sniper. The Autobots watched them go with relief as their three new additions came to join them.
"That had to have been one of the worst strategies I've ever seen." a white and black mech, looking suspiciously similar to Barricade, growled as he stalked up, flanked by Mirage and the green mech. Stopping in front of Optimus, he glared up at him. "What did you think you were doing, putting your forces all in one place?"
"Nice to see you, too, Prowl." Optimus said with amusement. Prowl scowled.
"Same here. Though if you've been fighting the Decepticons with tactics like this, I'm surprised to find you still alive." he said. Ironhide turned a laugh into a cough at Optimus' stern look, and Prowl gave the weapons specialist an odd look.
"How'd you find us?" Optimus asked to bring Prowl's attention back to him.
"Hound." Prowl said, nodding to the green mech, who gave a lazy salute.
"Had a bit'a trouble when y'took to th'air, but I managed." he said with a grin, his voice thick with a southern accent.
"Apparently. When did you three get here?" Optimus asked.
"Using human measurements, about...eight days ago." Prowl mused. "Crashed in the prairies in Canada. Hound's and my communication systems malfunctioned during the landing, and Mirage's has been on the fritz for the past several hundred years, so we were unable to communicate. We just headed for your position instead, but we had to reverse course when you abruptly came up here. Wouldn't mind knowing why you did that, and why I'm getting some really strange readings from that hanger you're all protecting." Optimus considered how to phrase the answer to that, but Ironhide beat him to it.
"Allspark's human, Decepticon's caught it, but we got it back, and it's in the hanger." the weapons specialist said bluntly, and Prowl stared at him for a moment, then looked back at Optimus.
"Your message stated that the Allspark was destroyed." he said.
"The Allspark, apparently, can never be destroyed." Optimus said with a shrug, and then set about explaining the whole convoluted situation to the three newcomers. Mirage found it utterly hilarious when he found out that Optimus and Jazz actually had died, and even Prowl shared an amused grin with Ironhide, realizing what the big mech had been laughing at earlier. The humans began to wake up during Optimus' recounting, as did a few of the injured Autobots, though Ratchet promptly sent most of them into recharge so they wouldn't move while he and Wheeljack repaired them. The humans, however, grumbled a bit until Optimus admitted that none of them had known Soundwave could incapacitate them so easily, and then they set about restoring their torn-up base.
"Amazing how quickly they get back on their feet and just continue on." Prowl mused. "I don't think I've ever run across a species quite so...resilient."
"You haven't even seen the half of it." Cliffjumper said with a wry smile, and Prowl gave him a curious look. Cliffjumper just shook his head - the tactician would find out on his own just how resilient the humans were.
"So now that the Decepticons have been chased off, what's next?" Prowl asked Optimus.
"Once everyone's able to be moved, we'll return to the dam. It's clear the Decepticons are going to keep on fighting even with Megatron dead - I'd hoped they might remain quiet for a time, but the re-emergence of the Allspark has doubtlessly squashed any possibility of that happening." Optimus said with a sigh. "As much as it is a relief that it will never be gone, I almost wish it could be destroyed."
"A wish as impossible as destroying the universe." the voice echoed through all the Autobots, and Ratchet emerged from the hanger moments later, the Allspark sitting in his hand.
"So this is the Allspark?" Prowl asked with a frown, leaning in close.
"And also the human Alexandra." Optimus confirmed.
"Greetings Prowl." the Allspark said, then turned to Optimus. "What has happened?"
"You don't know?" Optimus asked, trying to keep the surprise out of his voice.
"The power of life does not come hand in hand with omniscience." the Allspark said, sounding annoyed. "Especially while I am in this form. It was my only choice, but it has many failings, not the least of which is it's many frailties." Optimus rumbled a bit at that, not liking to hear his friend insulted in that manner, even if he, logically, knew the Allspark was telling only the truth.
"The Decepticons came after you once you'd escaped, and we fought them. We almost lost, until Prowl, Mirage and Hound showed up." Ratchet explained for his leader. The Allspark frowned, then looked thoughtfully around. Suddenly, both of Alex's hands were brought down flat on Ratchet's palm.
"Oh not ag-" Ratchet's cranky complaint was halted as he stiffened, Allspark energy crackling around him. It only took a moment for the energy to fade, and then the Allspark jumped from the medic's hand to Optimus' shoulder. Before Optimus could do more than stare in surprise, he, too, stiffened. He felt the dings, scrapes, and various other injuries - small and large - that he'd taken during the battle and Ratchet hadn't yet had a chance to fix repairing themselves. Surprisingly, under it all, there was a pleasant hum, almost a tune...mentally, he frowned, thinking he recognized it, but as he tried to focus on it, it slipped away, and he was free - well, relatively. The Allspark had momentarily hijacked his arm to deliver it to Prowl, who was a bit wary, but Optimus vaguely remembered hearing Ratchet explaining what was happening while the Allspark had been fixing him.
"Ratchet? What's the status of Alexandra's body?" Optimus asked quietly as the Allspark continued its rounds, fixing the newly arrived bots before moving on to the ones damaged in battle.
"Several tumors remain, but the healing process on them has stopped entirely. None of them are life-threatening." Ratchet replied just as quietly.
"Then is it safe for the Allspark to be doing this?" Optimus asked, nodding towards the Allspark.
"I've been scanning, but it seems that whatever energy it takes for the Allspark to continue healing Alex is completely separated from whatever is required to repair us." Ratchet said musingly. "I suspect that the Allspark holds a certain amount of power inside Alexandra herself - the power inherent to its consciousness. Its life force, if you will. That is what is healing and killing Alexandra, and that is what the Allspark exhausted during its stay in, and escape from, the Decepticon base. The power that it uses to repair us, however, would have to come from a different place." Optimus frowned, his mind going back to his first conversation with the Allspark.
"When I first told it of Alexandra's ability to speak through our network...it made a comment, about Alexandra's being a channel for both it and the Matrix." the large Autobot said slowly, and Ratchet glanced at his leader.
"That would fit." he said. "It's energies must still be scattered around the world, only gathered when it needs to do something like this. Wheeljack will be glad to hear that little snippet - he's been muttering for months about the discrepancies between the power the Cube contained and the power in Alexandra." Ratchet gave Optimus an amused look, and the Autobot leader chuckled as the Allspark disappeared inside the hanger to deal with the wounded in there. Ratchet, knowing that the mostly severely wounded were likely to need parts replaced and not just repaired, followed, and emerged moments later to start cannibalizing a military jeep at the orders of the Allspark. While the Allspark and Ratchet finished fixing up the last of the wounded Autobots, the healthy ones helped the humans repair the base.
By the end of the day, the rest of the Autobots, along with Lennox's team, were waving good-bye to the base personnel as they boarded the surprisingly still-intact C-5. As the doors closed and the plane prepped for take-off, the Autobots watched as the Allspark found a seat in a corner and sat down, seeming deep in thought. It remained that way for their entire flight, and seemed only half-aware as it left the plane and hopped into Optimus for the short drive from the landing strip to the dam. At the dam, introductions were made, and then the Autobots settled themselves down for a well-needed rest, while the Allspark wandered the base, lost in thought.
(Surprise Author's Note: Eeee, Prowl! glomp I don't know why, but he's become such a favourite of mine...hopefully I didn't make him too grumpy here.