Wow, I actually managed to churn out another chapter in one day!
So far the support I've gotten on Fanfiction and Deviantart (Comments, reviews, favorites, or alerts), encouraged me to write faster.
Also I'd like to ask those who are keeping track of this story, I need some help.
I absolutely HATE the name of this story and I am looking for a new one. If anyone has a suggestion, please send it!
Once again, I do not own Transformers, Hasbro and those other companies do.
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"As always... Time is running short. I must start my search."
Gabriel peered up silently at the robot. By his mission, he assumed it was his reason for being here on Earth, which Jetfire had declared to be none of his business. Obviously, this was where the two would part ways. It was of course amazing that he had met this alien robot at all and he would never forget it. In a way though, he felt that he wanted to stay with the Autobot. Then again, he was fairly sure Jetfire didn't want anything to do with him.
Jetfire took a step back then, away from him and his car. He began to shift back down into his jet form again. Gabriel merely stood silently as the robot kneeled down, his legs forming into the tail and his arms folding back into the body of the jet. Within mere seconds, the plane stood in front of him, only looking out of the ordinary in the sense that it was sitting on a road.
Gabriel stepped back and around his car, lugging the box with his telescope along with him. Jetfire should have been able to maneuver around the car so he could take off.
"Well?" The Autobot suddenly said.
"Well what?" Gabriel wondered if the robot meant for him to move his car out of the way or say goodbye, or even ask more questions.
"Well are you going to get in or do I have to find someone else?"
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me kid."
Gabriel was dumbfounded now, furrowing his eyebrows together in confusion as he stared at the plane. It was a bit awkward as it had no face, per say, to actually look at.
"Why do you want me to get in?" Gabriel asked uncertainly.
Jetfire heaved a sigh of annoyance, letting it trail into an annoyed groan. "Listen, my mission may be classified to you as of now, but it might come in handy to have some native help on this planet. You don't have to come, but it'd make my life a whole lot easier if I didn't have to go scare the slag out of another human to get their help. Got it?"
Gabriel wanted to go, he knew that. Part of him told him it'd be dangerous, but he knew Jetfire wasn't going to purposely hurt him. The bruising forming on his ribs had been accidental.
"If I get in... Where are we going?" He asked. He didn't exactly want to travel across the country if that's what the Autobot planned to do. Traveling was fun of course, but not if you only had the clothes on your back and your college classes began at 8 AM the next morning.
Jetfire didn't answer immediately, falling completely silent for about a minute. "According to my scanners and a comparison with your maps... A place called Mt. Lassen."
Gabriel's eyebrows drew up in surprise. That wasn't far away at all, just a few counties over. By car it would take several hours, but in a jet it might take minutes.
"Will you bring me back here after you finish?" he asked, his fingers tapping gently on the plastic container at his side.
"Fine, just hurry up." Jetfire grumbled again.
Gabriel gave him a short nod, smiling slightly to himself as he walked back to his car. He quickly deposited the telescope in the trunk and drove the car onto the side of the road out of the way of any scarce traffic that might drive by. He got out and locked the door. And stopped.
"How am I supposed to get into the cockpit anyway?"
The idea obviously hadn't occurred to Jetfire as he cursed softly under his breath. After a few seconds, he worked it out though. "Get on the roof of that vehicle." He commanded.
Gabriel immediately caught onto the idea and obeyed the robot's order. At the same time, Jetfire pulled up next to him so that the door to the cockpit pulled up just overhead, beyond his reach. Gabriel was about to protest about the height different when the door suddenly swung open and the entire plane seemed to sink down on itself. A quick glance at the landing gear showed it was retracted slightly. It probably wasn't a very safe plan, but it worked. With a jump, Gabriel grabbed onto the bottom of the door and heaved himself up and inside the plane.
Of course he was surprised by the immense number of buttons and knobs in the planes interior.
"Don't touch anything." Jetfire warned him swiftly, the sound even louder from inside of the plane.
"I won't." Gabriel reassured him as he sat himself down on one of the seats. He heard the door shut behind him and the engine of the plane suddenly roared to life. He took that as the cue to buckle up, which he did with a bit of trouble since there were probably six of them.
Without a warning from Jetfire, unsurprisingly, the plane lurched forward down the road. Probably much faster than a normal plane should have, they were in the air.
"Feels good to be flying again..." he heard Jetfire rumble contently.
"So..." Gabriel said after a minute. "You can't tell me why you're here, but can you tell me what you're looking for on Mt. Lassen?"
Jetfire remained silent, obviously weighing his choices. Gabriel assumed that flying probably loosened the Transformer up, as he agreed to tell him.
"I'm tracking Energon signals." He responded, continuing after a short pause. "Energon is what powers my kind. What I'm looking for should give off that signal, even if only faintly."
"Energon..." Gabriel murmured. He had to wonder what it was. Maybe it was something they used often on Earth? But then wouldn't Jetfire have called it by an Earth known name? "What does it look like?"
"I guarantee you've never seen it before." Jetfire said, cutting straight to the heart of the question. "It is not found on this planet."
Both remained silent for a while after that. Strangely, when the silence was broken, it was by Jetfire.
"Are there any more questions you want to ask?" the jet asked.
Gabriel sat up a bit straighter and raised an eyebrow. "What are you actually going to answer?"
Strangely, the jet rumbled slightly under him, as if shaken by turbulence. Gabriel recognized it as a soft chuckling though. "I'll answer what I can." Jetfire replied after a second.
Gabriel paused and considered his many questions, decided on probing more into information he'd previously been given. "You called yourself an Autobot. What exactly is that?"
"That is a question I would gladly answer." Jetfire answer, altering his flight path slightly as they were nearing their target mountain range. "I can't explain everything, but an Autobot is a Transformer that fights for peace on our home planet. The alternate is a Decepticon. In short, they want to take over the universe."
Gabriel was surprised at that. He made it sound like they were enemies. He decided to take the more optimistic idea though. Maybe Autobots and Decepticons were merely two different political parties, like Republicans and Democrats. His subconscious told him his "optimistic" idea was wrong though. "Besides the different...ideals, is there any difference?"
"Yes, and 'ideals' is taking it lightly. Look at the center of the control panel." Jetfire told him. Gabriel did as he was told. In the center of the very large control panel was a symbol he'd only seen once before. It had been on Jetfire's wings. It was red and looked like a crying robot. "That is the Autobot symbol. The Decepticon's symbol is purple."
Just as he finished speaking, Jetfire cursed loudly. "There's nowhere to land!" Gabriel peered out the cockpit to confirm that. They were on the side of a mountain and neither of them had considered how they would land.
"We'll have to land at the base and climb up." Gabriel sighed. This wasn't good for him. That kind of climb would take all night and probably the rest of the next day.
"No, I've got an idea." Jetfire grunted. "Get up and go to the door!"
"I can't jump at this speed, that'd kill me!" Gabriel argued, catching onto the idea.
"Trust me and just do it, you aren't going to get hurt!"
Gabriel tensed to argue back, but he then remembered that he was inside an alien robot who was obviously in a hurry. Dangerous or not, it was best to do what Jetfire said. Gabriel quickly unbuckled the seat belts and headed toward the door he'd climbed into. He was unbalanced as Jetfire was being forced to fly in circles around the mountain.
"Now what?" Gabriel called to the Autobot. He never got an answer though. All of a sudden the door flew open and the plane tilted drastically, sending him hurtling out of the plane's relative safety. A scream caught in his throat as he tumbled downward, knowing he was high enough up the he wouldn't survive the fall. In his own terror, Gabriel clenched his eyes shut as the rocky summit closed in on him.
Then he heard a metallic thunk. Then he felt it.
"I told you that you wouldn't get hurt." he heard a voice grumble over him.
Upon opening his eyes, Gabriel found he'd been caught by Jetfire before hitting the ground. The robot had managed to transform and grab him before he hit the ground.
"NEVER do that again." Gabriel managed breathlessly. He tried to put a layer of hate in it, but it wasn't achieved. Terror was really the only emotion in his voice as he choked down air, trying to resume normal blood flow to his face.
"Quit complaining. You aren't offline are you?" Jetfire snorted, raising him to eye-level.
Gabriel gave him the best evil-eye he could manage as he lay draped limply over the metal hand. "Dead is the term for humans. And I'm not dead, but I may have a cracked rib thanks to you."
Jetfire ignored the evil-eye and raised a metal eyebrow at the cracked rib comment. He obviously wasn't very knowledgeable in the human anatomy area. "It was the only way." The Autobot grumbled in his own defense, lowering his hand down to let Gabriel down.
Once on his feet, Gabriel felt extremely nauseous and had to struggle to hold down his dinner. All the while, Jetfire seemed more interested in locating the source of the Energon signal.
"Come on, it's this way." Jetfire said, already beginning to climb up to the rim.
After a minute, Gabriel got control of his stomach again and began up after the robot, even though he was having trouble with his balance. Soon his stomach began to trouble him again as the scent of rotten eggs reached his nose.
Oh. Right. He'd forgotten until now, but Mt. Lassen was actually an active volcano. It hadn't erupted since the beginning of the 20th century, but sulfur, the source of the putrid stench, was still rising from the lava vents.
"What exactly are we looking for? Is it obvious?" Gabriel said when he'd finally caught up to Jetfire. The Autobot was now standing over a rather large vent. Of course, that was large to Gabriel's standards. Compared to Jetfire, it was only about the size of is foot.
"I'm not exactly sure. It could just be a small Energon crystal that happened to land on the planet... Or it could be something else." Jetfire answered, peering down into the dark hole.
"And it's in there?" Gabriel asked, gesturing toward the hole. Jetfire nodded. "I have to go in to look for it?"
Jetfire turned his gaze on him. "I'm too big obviously." he snorted. "I thought this might happen, which is another reason why I asked you to come."
Gabriel had known he was being used in a sense, but he hadn't minded. He was glad to be useful, though he'd prefer not to be tossed around like a rag-doll. "Fine. Just give me a little bit of light at least." he sighed.
In response, the lights in Jetfire's eyes increased in intensity, illuminating the vent. Luckily for him, it slopped downward at a decent rate for along about twenty feet before it hit what looked like a decent tunnel. The only problem he had was that it smelled of sulfur.
With another small sigh and a deep breath of clean air, Gabriel turned and began to climb down into the tunnel. He managed to get to the bottom without any injury other than a few scrapes and his ribs throbbing from his previous ordeal. "Now what?" he called back up to the robot.
"Do you see any light down there?" Jetfire asked.
Gabriel thought it was a stupid question, but sure enough, with a quick scan around, he spotted a light. About thirty yards away there was something glowing in the wall. "I see something!" he called back up.
"Good, that should be it. Go and get it if you can." Jetfire said.
Gabriel nodded to show he understood and began to walk towards it. It was a slow walk though as there was no light between the Energon source and Jetfire's light. He had to inch his way slowly toward it, hands outstretched blindly as he struggled not to trip over or run into anything. It took him several minutes, but he managed to get to it without falling down.
What he saw was incredible. He couldn't say exactly what it was though. In the simplest of terms, it was a rectangle surrounding a glowing blue crystal. It gave off of feeling of power though, as if the mere possession of it could change the fate of any world. Out of sheer instinct, he reached out to touch it. Just as his fingers came in contact with the source of the blue light... He knew it wasn't his to hold. He just knew. This... Whatever it was... It belonged to someone else, someone powerful.
After he touched it, Gabriel seemed to regain himself. This was the source of Energon signal and he'd come to get it. As it was, it seemed as if it was ready to be taken, a strange way to put it but the best way. It had obviously been buried in lava from the last eruption as it was actually buried nearly a foot in the wall. Even so, it looked almost as if it had knocked away the excess rock itself.
"Did you get it?" he heard Jetfire call from above him, sounding a bit impatient.
Gabriel chose to ignore him as he reached for the object. He grasped each side of it and lifted it easily out of it's hole in the wall. It was far lighter than he expected and he tucked it easily under his arm.
"Yes, yes. I'm coming!" Gabriel called back as he make his way back toward the opening. It was much easier since he was carrying a light source now.
"Primus! That's impossible!" Jetfire choked almost as soon as he'd come into view. Looking up, the Autobot looked shocked to his core. He was staring at the object tucked under Gabriel's arm in both terror and wonder.
Gabriel felt he should have been scared of what he held since the giant robot was, but he knew that he had been scared for a different reason. "I'm guessing this is what you were looking for then?" he asked, pulling himself up the vent with his free hand.
Jetfire didn't respond, just backed up from the hole as Gabriel came out. He was staring, open-mouthed at him. "Just...Hold it out for me to see." the stunned Autobot said.
Gabriel did as he said, supporting it with both hands, gripping it on either side of the golden rectangle that surrounded the crystal.
Jetfire bent down and leaned in close to examine it, remaining silent for a long time as he did. It was obvious that the sight of it was welcome to him, but he also seemed completely unwilling to touch it.
"No...It was not what I was looking for... But it's almost as good." Jetfire said slowly, as if weighing his words. "Oh Primus, it's been nearly five hundred years...." he trailed off under his breath.
"Then what is it?" Gabriel asked, trying his best to ignore his curiosity at Jetfire's mumbled comment.
"I can only tell you this... It's called the Matrix of Leadership..." Jetfire said, his voice still unsteady as he pulled away.
Gabriel tucked it back under his arm as Jetfire moved away. As he expected, knowing what it was hadn't answered his questions. "Why are you so stunned to see it then?" He pried.
Jetfire seemed then to hold in a number of things he wanted to say. He once again seemed to try to hide under the classified excuse. "It means 500 years of near hopeless searching is almost over." Jetfire said, his voice sounding weary, almost old.
Gabriel just nodded. This wasn't what he was looking for, but the Matrix obviously held the key to finding the true reason that he had come to Earth.
"Gabriel... I need you to do me one more favor." The Autobot suddenly said, eyeing Gabriel and the Matrix again.
"What is it?" Gabriel couldn't tell by the tone if it was a bad thing or not.
"I need you to keep that for the time being. Keep it safe."
Gabriel furrowed his eyebrows. Why him? This was an extremely important object and Jetfire was entrusting it to him? A human boy? "Why can't you? You have a better chance of protecting it." he pointed out.
Jetfire sighed and shook his head slightly. "It's not mine to take. I'm not worthy of holding it, even if it's only for safe keeping."
Gabriel understood immediately. Even though he wasn't sure on the specifics of the Matrix, he understood what Jetfire meant by it wasn't his to take. He knew that it wasn't his either, but he could keep it safe until its' real owner came back to claim it. Somehow, Gabriel felt that Jetfire knew who it belonged to though.
"Fine. I will guard it for you... In exchange for something." Gabriel said, his voice firm. Jetfire eyed him. "I want to know everything. Why you're here, what this is, and who it belongs to. Everything. Got it?"
Gabriel expected a protest from Jetfire about this deal. To his surprise, the Autobot put up no fight at all.
"Guard the Matrix with your life and I'll tell you everything you want to know."
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Yes, that's right! The Matrix of Leadership is here!
I did in fact have it look like the one used in most of the series.
I dearly love Revenge of the Fallen, but I wanted to Matrix to be shaped to fit in a Spark Chamber like it is in most of the series.
And yes, soon the actual plot to this story will be revealed!
True, it might be a bit too soon to reveal it, but I'm not entirely sure how long this story is going to be.
Although I bet most of you reading this can easily guess the basic plot of this story just by this chapter.
Oh well! Hope you are enjoying it so far!