Sooooooo...here's that other half of the chapter (aka) the next chapter I've been promising 030 for those of you who didn't catch the fix I made in the beginning of the last chapter, I screwed up with the names and renamed the last chapter "It's Not Too Late" and made this one "Only Hope". So yeah…starting off with a bit of humor after a touching moment...
And I'm introducing a few new characters into the story :D Finally gonna get a look on what it was like for the bots on the outside as they attempt to rescue the bots trapped inside the tunnel (AND I FINALLY CAME UP WITH A NAME FOR THEIR LOCATION! XD)
PS- to make things a little less confusing; after a certain cut in the story that goes to the bots on the inside to the bots on the outside (and vice versa) it's gonna say what day (orn) it is (how many days they've been in the tunnel), as well the time and the location of whoever the part is about. (Ex. Orion and the bots, Location: Tunnel). and for the time, when two parts say 'Present time' it means they two scenes are happening at the same time. If it says several hours later or before, you get the idea, this'll be the same for the next for chapters
So yeah, enjoy~
Day 5: Late Midday
Location: Advent Tunnel
Orion onlined his optics and rubbed the sleep from them as it took a few moments to adjust to the dimly lit tunnel. At some point Ratchet had convinced him to shut his optics for a while but despite his attempts to get even a mega cycle of recharge, it had all been in vain. Orion hadn't been able to fall into recharge for more than a few klicks before he was woken up again by a loud groan echoing in the silence.
With a groan of his own, Orion propped himself up on his elbows. He watched as Jazz kneeled beside Blaster, who had been the source of the loud groan. Orion rose to his pedes and made his way to the two music bots.
"Blaster, are you alright?" Orion asked as Blaster let out another pain filled groan.
"Bro?" Jazz asked as Blaster's golden optics flickered online.
"Ugh..." Blaster groaned as he gripped his helm with one servo while using the other to get up.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Orion said as he watched the mech get into a sitting position, only to sway as he gripped his helm with both servos.
"You okay bro? You had us worried sick!" exclaimed Jazz.
"Ugh..." Blaster groaned, ignoring his brother.
"Hey, Blaster, hello?" Jazz said, snapping his digits in an attempt to get the crimson mech's attention, only to get no response from the mech. "Hey! CYBERTRON TO BLASTER!" Jazz yelled in frustration before whacking his brother in the back of the helm.
"OOOOWW!" Blaster yelled, rather loudly, causing Orion to flinch away due to his raised volume, as Blaster turned to his younger brother. "WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!" Blaster yelled, a bit louder than necessary, his voice echoing in the darkness.
"Would you stop yelling!" growled Ironhide.
"WHAT?!" Blaster yelled in response, earning a few odd stares from his fellow Autobots. "COULD YOU SPEAK UP?!"
"That driller really must have fried his processor." Override muttered as she rubbed the sides of her helm in frustration.
"WHAT?!" Blaster's voice echoed in the wide tunnel.
"I said, THAT DRILLER MUST HAVE FRIED YOUR-"
"CAN IT! BOTH IF YA!" Ironhide yelled, his voice adding to the fading echoes.
"Why are you yelling at me?! He started it!" Override growled.
"WHY IS EVERYONE WHISPERING?!" Blaster yelled.
"Will someone shut him up?!" Sunstreaker yelled, having been unpleasantly yanked out of what would have been a peaceful recharge. Blaster ignored him and added, "WHAT WORDS AM I SAYING?!" At this the weapon specialist lifted an optic ridge and stared at the now frustrated Blaster.
"The damage to Blaster's audio receptors seems to be more severe than I originally thought, though it seems that his stereos took the brunt of the blow." Ratchet noted as Blaster suddenly seem to notice the damage to his shoulder mounted stereos, one seemed to dangle heavily from several thin wires while the other appeared somewhat intact.
"Can you fix it?" Override asked, cringing when Blaster attempted to speak, but stopped dead when Ironhide shot him a glare and flashed his cannon at the mech.
"I'll see what I can do. But I doubt I'll be able to restore all of his audio functions while we are trapped within this tunnel or at least until I can gain access to my other tools."
"There is one good thing about this." Orion said as he rubbed his temple
"And what exactly is that?" asked Ironhide.
"At least Blaster doesn't appear to have received any damage to his processor."
"Yeah, now that'd be a tragedy…"muttered Override.
Orion gazed down at Bumblebee, who had woken up during all the commotion and was currently staring up at him.
"Now that Blaster has awakened, Ironhide and I have news regarding our wellbeing within this tunnel."
Orion said, remembering his conversation with Ratchet earlier. "Jazz, will you inform Blaster of the situation once Ironhide and I have explained?"
"No problem, Pax." Jazz said as Blaster began to tinker with his broken stereo, completely oblivious to the conversation.
-"Scrap,"- was the first thing Blaster said once Jazz had sent him a texted message to explain what Orion and Ironhide had just explained to everyone regarding the two remaining drillers. -"Are you guys sure there's two more?"- Blaster sent his own text message.
Orion nodded. "We saw what the drillers were doing. They are obviously far more intelligent than what we originally assumed."
"Yeah, no kidding." said Ironhide. "Damn driller took Bee to lure us down there; luckily we managed to get the drop on it before it could kill any of us."
Orion nodded, grateful that Ironhide hadn't mention what had really transpired during their encounter with the driller.
"The drillers appear to be more of a threat than we thought." said Orion. "But as of now they haven't been paying any heed to us."
"So what? Have they been ignoring us or just don't know we're still here?" asked Barricade.
"I highly doubt it is the latter." said Orion.
"Why's that?" Jazz questioned.
"The drillers know we're still alive so they're trying to collapse the ground beneath our pedes." Orion explained.
There were a few looks of astonishment and shock among the others.
"Wait, wait, wait, they can do that?" asked Sideswipe.
Orion nodded. "They are obviously far more intelligent than any wild driller, perhaps as clever as even Shockwave's."
"But why tunnel under us?" asked Arcee, "Why aren't they attacking us like before?"
"If the drillers were to succeed, in the chaos we'll no doubt be separated, leaving us vulnerable until they've killed us all in one fell swoop while if we were to be attacked at random it would take much longer."
For several moments no one spoke as they began to comprehend how severe their situation really was.
"So what do we do?" asked Arcee.
"The only thing we can do." said Orion.
"Sit here and wait for the end to come?" Jazz suggested as he fiddled with a still badly dented Night Beat.
"Or we can fight." Orion said as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Fight? Are you insane?!" Sunstreaker exclaimed.
"Probably," Override muttered as she tossed a rock across the room.
"We barely stood a chance against one driller, now you expect us to take on three?" said Jazz.
"One of the drillers has already been neutralized and the others have at least been wounded." said Orion.
"Still what makes you think we'll even stand a chance against those drillers? You saw it yourself, they aren't normal."
"I know." Orion dimmed his optics. "But what else can we do?"
"We stay alive, that's what."
Day 5, Present time…
Location: Above the Mountain range surrounding Advent Pass
"'Stay alive' he said." a young flier muttered as he dodged an oncoming Decepticon attack. "Great advice, Slingshot." The white and red mech growled as he shot a missile at an oncoming Decepticon at close range and was enveloped by the blast. He remembered when the Autobot flier had given him that advice several vorns ago when he began his training.
"Just kill a few Decepticons before they can kill you, it'll be fffuuunnnn…"
His old friend's words gave him little comfort as he emerged from the flames and flew high into the blackened sky as he was shrouded in darkness. Scratches were scattered all over his chassis as smoke darkened his white paint job, which had given him little cover in the blackened skies to begin with and had made him an easier target. He didn't care as long as he was able to kill any Decepticon who crossed his path.
The lone flier by the name of Skyfire flew over clashing titans as another battle took place all around him. He found himself ramming headlong into a Decepticon seeker, only having to duck to avoid the stray missile of a Decepticon plummeting to the ground.
Many things drifted in his mind at that moment, survival was one of them. Though considering where he currently was, his chances of survival were quickly dwindling.
What the frag was I thinking? Skyfire thought as he transformed into his jet mode to narrowly avoid being blown into pieces by enemy fire.
He gritted his denta as he processor pounded from a nearby explosion as the air around him erupted into fire, singeing his already blacked armor.
What am I even doing out here? Skyfire thought as he flew across the smog filled sky. Even while in jet mode he mentally resisted the urge to hold his side. His frame still ached from the earlier punishment it had received, but not from a battle he recently fought in.
Skyfire obtained a rare and unique ability that could only be possessed by a Seeker of Old or on rare occasions, passed down the generations to their descendants. Skyfire just so happened to be one of those descendants. Too bad he just barely managed to figure out how to use this ability without nearly killing himself.
Skyfire was gifted, or as he liked to put it, cursed with the power to create space bridges at will. And being the only Autobot flier with this ability, a lot was expected of him.
Story of my life… Skyfire thought with a huff. With no one around who knew neither of his burden nor of how a being could create a spacebridge at will, Skyfire been forced to teach himself the ancient art, alone. Of course Silverbolt had always been by his side, but with no experience with the art, it was like an astro cat trying to teach a glitch mouse to be fierce; in other words, impossible.
Several orns ago Skyfire had been called down by Zeta Sentinel Prime himself to complete an extremely important mission for him. Originally Skyfire believed that he had been finally called into battle to prove his worth as a flier and a fighter. But his hopes had been crushed the moment he was told that the mission required the use of his ability to create space bridges.
The mission itself Skyfire had been willing to do, it was the method of completion that had him worried.
Skyfire had just recently managed to teach himself how to create a working spacebridge without extorting too much energy from his systems. And to make matters worse, Zeta had expected him to use it on a mission of utmost importance. It wasn't like he could refuse. And despite his mentor, Silverbolt's, protests, Skyfire had been escorted to Advent Pass, the location where a secret tunnel was located within the mountains.
In the past, when a small town had been stationed nearby, the tunnel had been used as bomb shelter during the early years of the war due to the mountainous terrain that created cover from any Aerial strike. Now it was, or had been, used as a path to ferry neutrals trapped behind Decepticon borders, where they were taken to a Lingering Space Bridge, once believed to have lead into the spark of Primus, but after the war began, it had closed off for some time and when it opened again, it no longer lead to the core of Cybertron, but rather off planet to a location where neutrals would be safe from the war. The nearby town had served as a last stop on Cybertron before the neutrals would be shipped off planet.
Upon his arrival, Skyfire had learned that the town that had once existed within the rocky terrain had been destroyed by the Decepticons due to its traverse for neutrals and association with Autobots through the Lingering Space Bridge, despite having claimed neutrality. As Skyfire flew through the blacked sky, he could see what he thought were the remnants of the once thriving town only several klicks away from the nearest ground force. But it could have just been his optics playing tricks on him.
It had taken several orns to get Skyfire to Advent Pass because of the increasing Decepticon activity in and around the pass. Skyfire had nearly resorted to opening a space bridge to get him where he needed to go, but he was too far from the main tunnel and at the time had not known where the Autobots had currently been stationed for the past several orns.
He dimmed his optics as he remembered the mission he had been given to by the leader of the Autobots.
Because of his ability to warp, the Autobots planned that he would be able to create and keep a spacebridge open long enough for a rescue team to get into the tunnel and get the survivors out while the Autobot's ground and air forces kept the Decepticons at bay. It was unknown why Megatron had stationed so many Decepticons around the pass or for what reason. Skyfire hadn't given it much though, having been too focused on the spacebridge he had been tasked with creating.
Once he had been taken to the heart of Advent Pass, Skyfire had been escorted to the main entrance, which has been sealed off by Red Alert's security system, Cerebros, ever since the Decepticon raid several orns before. The plan had seemed simple; create a bridge to get the rescue team inside and get the survivors out. Easy enough, Skyfire had thought.
Boy had he been wrong.
The moment Skyfire had been able to generate enough power to create the space bridge; it all back fired on him. Apparently Red Alert had installed, along with Cerebros, a protective shielding around the tunnel to prevent the few Decepticons who shared Skyfire's unique ability, from enabling access inside the tunnel through a space bridge. Unfortunately Red Alert hadn't been present to warn any of them of the shielding. From what First Aid and his medics kept telling him, he was lucky to be alive. Skyfire didn't feel very lucky.
By the time Skyfire had come to two orns later, he had lost a significant amount of energy due to having been, as Wheeljack explained it, electrocuted by the protective shielding. Skyfire was still recovering from that incident and after failing his mission, he had been confined to First Aid's medical tent, leaving him feeling like an utter disappointment and failure.
Nothing Silverbolt or the other Aerial bots said to the young flier had eased his mind. He was a failure and they knew it. What was the point of having a unique ability like this? He couldn't even open a damned space bridge without nearly falling into stasis lock! What made him believe he could save thirteen trapped bots? And to make matters worse, while Skyfire had been in stasis for two orns, one of the trapped civilians had gone offline due to the wounds he had received from a driller that had somehow gotten trapped inside the tunnel with them. That had been the final straw for Skyfire.
The moment he was able to, Skyfire had slipped past First Aid and his medics and had snuck back to the Aerial Combat Units. He had been careful to avoid Silverbolt and his own team in fear that they would send him back to the medical tent. Several Autobots who knew him were glad to see him. Whenever any of them question him about being in the medical tent, he would lie and say that he was released early. It worked, for the most part. After drinking a cube of high grade he had managed to make himself appear as if he weren't about to fall into stasis that astro-second.
And now here he was, flying blindly into battle. What was he even doing out there to begin with?! He would no doubt be caught and scolded by Silverbolt when they dragged him back to the camp. But he couldn't just sit back and do nothing.
With his energy reserves lower than he would have liked, Skyfire avoided using his power unless it was absolutely necessary or risk falling into stasis in midflight. And from these heights, it wouldn't be a pleasant landing whether he was awake or in stasis.
'No going back now,' Skyfire thought as he flew further into the fray. Through all the explosions and roars of turbines shooting across the skies, Skyfire somehow managed to keep his processor clear.
A loud explosion in the distance suddenly caught the attention of Skyfire, as well as the Autobots and Decepticons around him. A purple haze rose to the skies deep within the mountainous pass several clicks east of Skyfire.
He suddenly found himself dodging an enemy's missile as the bots around him returned to their senses. Then almost out of nowhere a blue blur shot past him, nearly crashing into him.
"OUTTA THE WAY!" the blue mech yelled as Skyfire composed himself, just as he was sent spinning by a pair of Decepticons who appeared to be in pursuit of the mech, leaving a trail of smoke in the direction of the previous explosion.
What the spark was that? Skyfire thought before a loud roar interrupted his thoughts.
"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS, AUTOBOT!" a deep green Decepticon roared as he and the other Decepticon chased after the blue mech. Skyfire managed to steady himself in time to see the them disappear into the smog filled sky. It took Skyfire several moments to realize what had just occurred as momentarily stared back at the burning sky.
He did that? Skyfire wondered as he looked back at the hazy sky where the explosion originated from. "Only one way to find out." He muttered under his breath before launching himself after the trio.
Within moments one of the Decepticons managed to grab the leg of the blue mech. The flier soon found himself being yanked back. He yelped slightly as the Decepticon crushed the leg currently in his iron grip.
"You will pay dearly for making a mess of the Decepticon energon stockpile." growled the second nearly invisible Decepticon as he pressed him missile launcher to the mech's chest plate. His armor plating seemed to blend within the background, making it difficult to see him.
"You mean that crater that used to be-"
"SILENCE!" the Decepticon roared as swiped his clawed servo across the mech faceplates, which was mostly protected by a pair of visors shielding his optics. "We might as well rip out your spark chamber here and now."
"Hey now no need for that, we can all settle this out like gentlebots." The blue mech said with a smirk despite the black and white Decepticon keeping him suspended upside down as his thrusters sputtered uselessly, far from the Decepticon's face.
Before the reflective Decepticon could pull the trigger, hot energon splattered into the blue Autobot's faceplates as gaping hole replaced what was once the green Decepticon's spark chamber as the life escaped his crimson optics.
Scrap, Skyfire thought as he watched the deep green Decepticon's clawed servo loosened from the Autobot's thruster as the Decepticon's empty shell dropped from the sky, leaving the slightly burned but still functioning reflective Decepticon stunned in the air as he tried to figure out where the shot came from that killed his partner.
Skyfire watched as the blue Autobot broke free from the Decepticon and ignited his thrusters and began to free fall.
Something's not right…Skyfire thought as one of the Autobot's thruster sputtered and sparked uselessly as it attempted to online, the ground quickly approaching.
SCRAP! Skyfire cursed as he replaced his rifle for his servo as he shot after the blue Autobot as he quickly began to plummet to the ground.
The azure Autobot struggled to stay upright to slow his fall as he attempted to jumpstart his damaged thruster. He yelped as he crashed into a Decepticon, who had been in the middle of chasing a pair of Autobots. The impact sent both him and the Decepticon plummeting to the ground.
The crash seemed to slow his fall but sent him spinning. He was grateful he decided not to drink that high grade before he left; otherwise he would have probably spattered any nearby Autobot or Decepticon with energon. That wouldn't have been pretty.
The Decepticon he crashed into steadied himself and shot after him upon realizing he had crashed into him. Had he not been spinning, the azure Autobot would have seen a white and red Autobot flier shoot down the Decepticon with one shot and soared after him, arms outstretched.
So… this is it, he thought as he dimmed his optics and stopped fighting.
What is he doing? Skyfire thought as the blue Autobot seemed to give up with his damaged thruster and began to free fall down to the ground. Oh no, you're not! Skyfire growled mentally as he ignited his thrusters and shot after the mech. You are not going to die on me!
Memories began to flash across the azure mech's optics, but not his own, the memories of someone he once knew. For a moment he suddenly felt at peace as a smile formed on his faceplates. Guess I'll finally get to see you again, huh bro?
Suddenly he felt a pair of servos clamp onto his damaged thruster as he was suddenly yanked up into the air. He looked up, stunned as a white and red Autobot seemed to struggle to lift him as they rose into the sky.
Skyfire gritted his denta as pain screamed through his limbs as he struggled to carry the mech. Determination seemed to flash across his optics as the mech lifted him into the air.
Skyfire strained the muscle cables in his arms as he did his best to keep the Autobot in the air as he attempted to lower them both to the ground. He gritted his denta as he ignored the pain. The thrusters in his legs suddenly gave out several feet from the ground and the two landed gracelessly on the rocky torn up terrain.
Skyfire groaned as his optics flickered online. He rubbed his helm, which had struck a rock when he crashed into the ground. He looked over to the azure mech, who appeared dazed, but alive.
"You have a hard helm…" the mech muttered as he rubbed his helm before he began laughing.
"Thanks for the save!" the mech thanked him cheerfully as Skyfire sat up. "I thought I was a goner!" he said as he rubbed the back of his helm sheepishly. He appeared to be around his age, Skyfire thought, only his battle armor showed no signs of having been injured, only several scratches and dents he had received from the fall while his own armor seemed to be a maze of imperfections.
"No…no problem." Skyfire responded when he realized the mech was eagerly waiting for a reply.
The azure and golden mech spoke loudly with an accent Skyfire assumed was what acquired by living in the Sonic Canyons his entire life. A lightly tinted blue visor hid his optics from Skyfire's view while he wore a pair of cracked goggles on his forehead. The goggles were a dark maroon and seemed to be the only thing out of place on the blue mech. Skyfire wondered why he wore them if they were damaged and was already wearing a visor to protect his optics (or for the sake of vanity, he wasn't sure which). What purpose did they serve? He wondered.
"What's your name?" The mech asked, the roar of his thrusters suddenly coming back to life, bringing Skyfire back to reality. For a moment he watched as the blue mech, who had not yet introduced himself, began to hover in the air. "Yeah! Still works!" the mech said cheerfully as he flew around Skyfire.
"Name's Skyfire," he said as he eyed the strange Autobot.
"Skyfire huh?" the mech cocked his head as he tested the name on his glossa. For a moment Skyfire thought the mech recognized him and his recent failure. But the azure mech only smirked, surprising him completely.
"Well then Skyfire; Jet Storm at your service." The mech introduced himself with a slight bow.
"Wait…what?"
"You saved my life, so I'm gonna stick with ya til I return the favor." Jet Storm said with a grin.
"Ooookkkkaaaayyyy…" Skyfire said, not sure whether or not he liked the idea of having a loud mech such as Jet Storm following him around. The mech seemed rather…odd.
"I think we best be off now, before the other Aerial Combat Units kills all the Decepticons before we do." And with a powerful gust of wind, Jet Storm shot into the sky and back into the fire fight, leaving Skyfire alone on the ground.
Odd mech…really odd mech. Skyfire thought before flying after Jet Storm.
As Skyfire rose up higher into the sky, a familiar noise suddenly caught his attention as he looked up at Jet Storm, who was in the middle of tackling a Decepticon in mid-flight. His optics scanned the skies until he found the source of the noise.
A null ray…Skyfire thought for a moment, remember he used to fight alongside a flier with that type of weapon. He knew the sound of that particular null ray from anywhere. He helped him built the bloody thing in the first place! And if that wasn't the worse of it, he had stabbed him in the back with it in more ways than one.
He looked up and in the distance he could see his old friend-turned-enemy, Starscream, charging up said weapon in his direction, but he wasn't aiming at him.
Realization finally hit when he realized who Starscream's next target was.
"Jet Storm!" Skyfire yelled at the mech as a deafening explosion erupted nearby. Jet Storm shielded himself from the blast but appeared to have not heard him. Skyfire tried to call his name again but he knew he would be too late.
"Scrap!" Skyfire cursed as he shot towards the mech just as Starscream pulled the trigger, knowing he had to reach Jet Storm no matter what.
Time seemed to slow as iridescent lights danced across his darkened armor as a familiar warm feeling spread from his spark and through his entire frame. With only one thing on his mind, he shut his optics and prayed to Primus and the seven original Primes for his plan to work.
Please don't fall into stasis.
At the sound of his name being called, Jet Storm turned around in time to see Starscream shooting his null ray at him and before his mind could even process what was going on, he was tackled from the side and surrounded by a wave of light.
The next thing he knew, Starscream was gone, and so were all the Autobots and Decepticons around them. He couldn't see them but he could still hear them above in the smoke filled skies.
Jet Storm turned and could see Skyfire clinging to his frame with an iron grip. The mech's intakes grew quick as he leaned heavily on the azure mech as if he were struggling to keep himself up.
"That was… amazing!" Jet Storm exclaimed as Skyfire released his grip on him several moments later. "That's two I owe ya now!" Jet Storm raised a servo to Skyfire as the white mech swayed slightly in the air as the world seemed to spin around him.
"You okay, Sky?" Jet Storm cocked his helm, a grin still plastered on his faceplates.
"Yeah…just dizzy." Skyfire said as he placed a servo over his faceplates. "Haven't…done that in a while."
"What was that you did? It was a space bridge, wasn't it?" said Jet Storm, though it stuck Skyfire a bit odd Jet Storm seemed to know about spacebridges, then again he was an peculiar mech.
Before Skyfire could answer his question, pain erupted in his legs. He could hear Jet Storm's voice crying out over the explosion as he was suddenly engulfed in flames, the next thing he knew he was spinning and hurtling toward the ground.
Skyfire came to moments later, his legs and wings ached painfully.
Scrap! Skyfire cursed as he slowly pulled himself out of the ground into onto his side. He flinched as pain shot through his damaged appendage as he attempted to move his heavily dented wing. He looked down at the thrusters on his legs. He cringed as his optics scanned the mess of circuitry and sparking wires. Energon slowly leaked from his legs; he tried not to focus on the pain.
Great… Skyfire thought. He was grounded.
Skyfire scanned the skies for any sign of Jet Storm and to search for any Autobots flying overhead. Smoke and dust filled the skies above. Skyfire watched as the blackened skies illuminated with explosions created by the opposing forces above.
He turned his helm and could see that the nearest ground unit was at least several deca-miles away. Skyfire groaned as his options quickly began to dwindle. Without Jet Storm, it was either call for help and get killed by his mentor for disobeying orders by sneaking out the medical tent or lie exposed on the ground like a sitting cyber-duck until he was either found by an Autobot or Decepticon. Skyfire weighed both his options.
Finally with a groan he turned on his private comm link.
'Skyfire to Silverbolt, do you copy?' the young flier spoke the private channel. 'Now… before you get mad at me and start yelling, I've…I've been shot down by Decepticons several deca-miles… away from the tunnel and I can't fly back… even if I wanted to.' Skyfire said as he gazed up at the flashing sky as explosions bombarded the air high above him. 'I'm practically right under you guys and… in need of assistance.'
No response.
'Silverbolt?' Skyfire asked but he received nothing but static. Great…dead comm link.
Could this get any worse? He thought as he struggled to sit up. A loud crash behind him caused Skyfire to freeze as he could feel the heat of a blaster on the back of his helm. The universe just loved proving him wrong.
With a sigh, Skyfire dimmed his optics as he listened to the hum of the null ray behind his helm.
"Well, well, well, who do we have here?" Starscream said as he held his cannon against Skyfire's helm. "Didn't expect to see you here, old friend. My sources told me your spark extinguished orns ago, though it appears they were wrong." Starscream said with twisted joy in his tone.
"Well clearly I'm not dead. Better get some new spies who can tell the difference between dying and going into stasis-lock." Skyfire breathed heavily as his legs sparked painfully. His processor began to spin; he shook his helm to clear his vision as he gazed by at the Decepticon Commander.
With the energon he already lost, Skyfire couldn't risk warping again without getting himself into stasis-lock. Another warning flashed across Skyfire's optics, he overrode it as he lifted his gaze to his ex-comrade. His options were slowly dwindling. He had to make a choice.
"Such a shame our friendship must end this way," Starscream said with a sinister smirk as he charged his weapon. The familiar roar of turbines caused Skyfire to gaze past Starscream and up at the blackened sky. "Any last words?"
Skyfire kept his gaze up at the sky; he wasn't going to let Starscream win.
"Yeah…" Skyfire said as he looked into his crimson optics. "If you…haven't noticed, Starscream…our friendship…ended…a long…long time ago." Skyfire said just as two figured appeared behind Starscream.
"Let him go!" one of them ordered, his voice echoing in Skyfire's processor.
It was now or never, Skyfire thought in a daze as warm light enveloped him.
"What is he doing?!" he heard someone yell.
Skyfire could hear as someone screamed his name just as a pair of servos clasped around his shoulders and he was gone.
Day 5: Present Time
Location: Tunnel
"All this death around us…" Orion muttered, "It's caused nothing but pain and suffering." he said as he laughed humorlessly, "How much more death must there be before this war reaches its end?" Orion wondered out loud. No one said anything to this, for no one knew the answer.
"I guess it wouldn't matter if we got out of here alive, we're all going to die one way or another, whether it's here in this tunnel, or somewhere else, we're all going to die one day. I learned that the hard way...but I guess deep down inside everyone knows it. Death is inevitable."
"But I've also learned that you have the power to shape your own destiny. Though you can't decide you time the join the Allspark, you still have the choice to do something worth a damn in life or do whatever you believe is right." Orion said as he rose to his pedes.
"Though I do not wish to see anyone else in this tunnel die before their time, I know that fate will decide what will happen. But we have the power to change our chosen paths and what we chose will decide the fate of everyone both here and outside the tunnel." Orion said as he dimmed his optics. "Fate may not always call upon us in the moment of our choosing, but I do know this." Orion said as he lifted his gaze to the bots before him.
"And what's that?" Arcee eyed the mech with solemn optics.
"No matter what happens," Orion paused, "you…we will get out of this tunnel. We have to."
"How do you know we'll get out? We can't even dig ourselves out and we can't call for help." Blaster said moments later at a tolerable volume.
"Besides, what's the point? We've been trapped in here for orns without a single word from the bots on the outside, that is if there's still anyone outside." said Jazz.
"I doubt they ever left," stated Override, "We wouldn't be able to hear all the fighting if they were gone."
"I still doubt anyone is still trying to look for us." Jazz said as he rested his helm against his servo as he leaned forward with Night Beat on his lap.
"Negative much?" Override commented as she tossed a small rock into the air.
"I'm not being negative, I'm being realistic. The other Autobots are probably too busy dealing with the Decepticons to focus on getting us out of here. And after all that's happened they probably think we're all goners." said Jazz.
"But then why would they still be here if they weren't trying to get us out?" Override shot back as she sat up. "And there's still the surveillance system's cameras Red set up inside the tunnel." She said as she placed a servo on the wall of the tunnel.
"What are you talking about?" asked Ironhide.
"Red Alert rigged this tunnel with a security system, Cerebros, I think."
"That huge system that controls Iacon's and possibly all of Cybertron's security?"
Override nodded.
"So what's your point?"
"My point is, being the paranoid mech he is, Red would have to set up surveillance in case anything went wrong. In case he couldn't see what the problem was he placed hidden cameras all over the tunnel."
"Hate to break it to you, but I'm pretty sure any cameras set up by Red Alert were destroyed by the drillers." Jazz said as he examined Night Beat for any damage he may have missed.
"Maybe not. I've been here once before while Red was setting the place up. The camera made a buzzing noise after he set them up, but I guess the average bot wouldn't be able to hear them if, say a Decepticon were trying to sneak in or a group of bots were trapped inside."
"Do you hear anything now?" asked Orion.
Override nodded. "I can hear a few of them are still online, where exactly I'm not sure. The tunnel's messing up the sound. But I know they're watching us and they've probably been watching us ever since day one."
"So they can see us, what good will that do?" Sunstreaker asked as he glanced around the tunnel as if searching for any hidden cameras.
"If they know we're still alive, then they won't give up the search." said Override.
"And if Chromia's part of the search team-" Arcee began.
"Ain't nothing gonna stop 'er from tearing this tunnel apart until she can get to us." Ironhide smirked.
"Not even Megatron himself would be able to stop her." Orion added, though immediately why he said it. He only met Chromia on several occasions during his training. Were his past memories slowly returning to him? Before he could ponder on this any further, Ironhide's laugh brought him back to his senses.
A wicked smile suddenly spread across Override faceplates as she turned to Ironhide.
"I sense a mate for ol' Hide." Override smirked teasingly as she attempted to lightly punch Ironhide's arm, but nearly got him in the faceplates instead.
"Hey! She's just a friend." Ironhide said quickly as he swatted Override's servo away.
"Then why are your faceplates red?" Override shot back.
"Wha-?! You can't even see!" Ironhide growled in defense.
"Oooh, his faceplates ARE red!" Sideswipe laughed.
"Are not!"
"Are too!"
Their arguing only made Override laughed even harder.
As Orion watched the bickering bots, he couldn't help but feel as if he had seen something similar to this before. It almost reminded him of the life he could no longer remember. Being surrounded by a group of 'bots who looked after one another and even with the possibility of death looming over them, they still found a way to shed some light into this growing darkness. Orion envied them. But he knew they were merely trying to get away from the fact that they were all probably doomed.
Orion dimmed his optics and gazed down at Bumblebee, who appeared to have fallen into a blissful recharge during the conversation.
"Wait up, guys." Jazz said as he cut into the conversation. "I've been thinking, if Red Alert set up Cerebros in this tunnel, wouldn't the system be able to control the sealed doors?" Jazz asked as he pointed a digit behind them.
"He told me that it would." Said Override.
"So why didn't Red just open the sealed door using Cerebros orns ago?" asked Jazz.
"Perhaps something has been preventing Red Alert from opening the tunnel." Said Orion.
"Or he's dead." suggested Barricade.
Override's optics widened slightly as she threw a rock in Barricade's direction, which hit the wall beside the Decepticon's helm. "Do not start with me!" Override hissed, "I'm not losing any more-"
Suddenly an explosion from the outside shook the tunnel, silencing everyone. Every one of them had become accustomed to the almost random bombardments caused by the opposing Autobots and Decepticons fight over their helms, though this particular explosion seemed different as it seemed to stop all the fighting above. For several moments there was silence, and then the fighting resumed.
"Wonder if anyone out there still remembers us being down here…" Jazz wondered aloud.
"I hope Chromia's alright…" Arcee said as she held Sadie in her arms.
"She'll be fine, Arcee. Mia's the strongest femme I know."
Orion's gaze drifted to the floor as his processor seemed to zone out everything around him for a moment. All these bots around him seemed to have connections to other bots that were currently on the other side of the sealed door or stationed somewhere else on Cybertron, all of them no doubt doing whatever they could to see their love ones again.
While Orion had every bot he seemed to cherish right there with him. Part of him began to wonder what it was like to have someone on the outside that still cared about him. As he thought about this his processor began to focus on the bigger picture.
"Do you truly want to see Chromia again, Ironhide?" Orion muttered, getting the weapon specialist's, as well as everyone else's attention, his words echoing somewhat within the darkness.
"What was that, kid?"
"Do you want to see Chromia again?" Orion asked again, looking at the older mech with intense azure optics.
"More than you think." Ironhide said without hesitation before adding. "Where'd that come from, kid?"
"You better stop acting like we're all gonna die and instead do something about that involved being able to live another day." Orion said not unkindly, but enough for them to know he was being serious.
"What's with you?" Sunstreaker asked.
"Here we all are for, who knows how much longer, just waiting for the end to come. Do any of you still even believe that we are going to get out of this alive?"
"Well the odds aren't exactly in our favor, Orion." Jazz said as he strummed several practice cords on Night Beat.
"So, is that it then? Just stay here until the end comes?" Orion said, his frame somewhat trembling as he stood. "How long do you expect Night Beat can keep the drillers at bay?"
"What are we supposed to do? Take on them on before they kill us all?"
"That's exactly what I plan to do."
"Are you out of you're fraggin' mind?!" Arcee exclaimed.
"I think we already settled that," Override said as she picked up another rock and attempted to throw it across the room, but instead accidently hit Blaster in the back of his helm.
"We already discussed this, Orion!" Arcee yelled as she suddenly got up, ignoring the sharp cry from Blaster, who fell into Jazz, causing him to miss several cords on Night Beat which created a loud sharp piercing noise. Which Override reacted to by clamping her servos over her audio receptors and was followed by a minor tremor shuddering through the tunnel.
For a moment everyone froze. It wasn't until the tremors subsided did they relax, though they (no pun intended) were still shaken.
"See? How much longer will we get lucky?" Orion pointed out. "We already took down one driller; why not take them all down while we still can?" Orion said calmly.
"That was just pure luck, Orion." Arcee argued as she crossed her arms over her chest and pinched the bridge of her nose. "You can't honestly expect us to stand a chance against these drillers."
"Whether it was luck or not, Ironhide and I manage to take down one driller. If we want to make it out alive we need to get rid of the remaining drillers. We're nearly out of energon as it is."
"My point exactly!" Arcee shot back. "What if one of you got hurt? There wouldn't be enough energon for Ratchet to repair any of us if we were to go through with this plan."
"Would you rather sit around and wait for the end to come or would you rather fight even if it were the smallest chance of getting out alive? Ironhide, Ratchet, Jazz, Blaster and I all came here for one reason, to make sure all of you made it through this tunnel alive."
"And we sure as Pit will see through to that." said Ironhide.
"Stop it, will you!" Override yelled, surprising everyone.
"What's wrong?"
"You keep saying we're going to get out of here alive, but is that what you really think?"
"What are you talking abou-"
"Why do you all keep making it seem as if we only have two options? Death by drillers or die fighting." Override argued, cutting off Ironhide. "No matter what we do, we'll still be trapped in this Pit forsaken tunnel. So how about instead of arguing about how we're going to die, why not come up with a plan that actually involves us getting out of here alive?" Override suggested.
"She's right; no matter what we do it won't get us out of here." said Jazz.
Orion nodded.
"Either way the odds aren't in our favor. But I'd rather die trying to do something meaningful than just sit around here and do nothing."
"You sound just like her." Arcee muttered, her gaze drifting down for a moment before looking back at Orion, who had fallen silent at her remark.
"Okay if we're gonna fight, what do you expect us to do?"
"Us?" Ironhide asked skeptically as he stared at the femme.
"I'm just as good a fighter as all of you and you know that." said Arcee.
Orion nodded. "In that case," he said as he made his way over to Sunstreaker and Barricade.
"What are you doing?" Sunstreaker questioned skeptically as Orion unlocked his stasis cuffs, which clattered on the ground.
"We'll need all the help we can get." Orion said as he unlocked Barricade's cuffs. "And we can't always be there to drag your afts out of danger, now can we?" Orion said.
"Is that supposed to be a joke, Autobot?" Barricade said as he rubbed his wrists.
"Can I trust you not to shoot me in the back of the head?"
"Whatever, as long as I get out of here alive." Barricade said as Orion made his way back to the group.
"Like Override said, killing the drillers won't get us out of here, but maybe we can take advantage of the drillers as they have been taking advantage of us."
"What do you mean?"
"I assume the reason why the drillers haven't killed us yet is because, like us, they are unable to escape. The search team will continue to try to find a way in as long as we are still alive."
"So why don't they just drill their way out that way?" asked Jazz as he pointed a digit to the rock wall behind them.
"Because the doors prevent them from escaping, they're waiting for the moment the sealed doors are opened so that they may escape. I plan we get the drillers close enough to the wall to clear enough rubble away to allow the search team to get through but keep the drillers in."
"And why would we want to keep them in?" questioned Jazz.
"Over the past several orns the search team has no doubt nearly exhausted their efforts in trying to get us out of here, if we allow the drillers to escape, there will be causalities unless we stop the drillers."
"So we're going to lure the drillers here in hopes that during all the chaos that they damage the walls enough for the search team to get in and we have to kill them before the drillers can get through?" Arcee stared at Orion skeptically.
"Pretty much," Ironhide summed up.
"And what about Ratchet, Override and the younglings? Where will they be during all this?" Arcee asked as she crossed her arms over her chestplates.
"What about me? I'm not a youngling…" Sideswipe grumbled under his breath.
"We'll have to move them to another location within the tunnel." said Ironhide.
"You do know that there isn't much left of this place, right?" Sunstreaker pointed out.
"As far as we know, the far side of the tunnel hasn't been touched yet." said Ratchet. "With the unstable ground it will simply be a matter of getting there and back." The medic took a deep intake before continuing.
"If we do go on with this plan, its best conserve whatever energy we have left."
"Agreed." Orion said as Arcee avoided his gaze.
ARG I DID IT AGAIN! I sliced a chapter in half, my sister made me ._. okay the chapter is shorter than I intended but hey I already have like 28 pages done and my sister told me to cut it in half…SO looks like you'll all get chapter 12 sooner than expected *grins*
Okay, so I've introduced Skyfire into the story :D okay I know it's kinda random how I just threw him into the story but I've come up with a really cool idea for him 83 and after reading SpiritStrike's fanfic 'Birth' (well a majority of it) I REALLY wanted to have Skyfire in the story cuz he's just so awesome! And so here he is! He's kinda loosely based off of SpiritStrike's version of Skyfire but I gave him my own little twist, he kinda has low self-esteem and hates failing because it often reflects on his mentor, Silverbolt and surprise, surprise! He's not related to Jet Storm (I'm not making them twins for a reason) but they do form a brother bond as they get to know one another. Anyways, Skyfire just wants to find a way to prove to those around him (and to himself) that he's not worthless and can actually do something worth a damn. Oh and in case you were wondering, he's not dead (I am not that cruel to kill him off in one chapter)
Anyways! Back to the big picture! The bots plan to kill the drillers so no one else gets hurt once they are rescued, typical Autobot behavior. So anyways, I'm hoping to get Chapter 12 done soon
Til then, bye~