-1Sweet Child of Mine - 14
(following immediately from the ending of chapter 13...)
Prime left the infirmary and walked back to his office, calling up his video phone and placing a call to SecDef Keller in Washington. It took less than a minute before Prowl and Barricade had joined him and another minute or so before Keller finally answered.
"Optimus Prime, what can I do for you today?"
"Secretary Keller, let me introduce my second in command, Prowl and his brother, Barricade. Mr. Secretary, we have a delicate situation and we need your help." Keller nodded, looking at the three mechs in turn.
"I'll do what I can to help, Optimus. What's the problem?"
"The All Spark, as you well know, was destroyed when Samuel pushed it into Megatron's chest. We had lost all hope of ever being able to return to Cybertron or find some means to restore the All Spark." Keller nodded again.
"I do seem to recall that issue," he said. "So, what's the problem?"
"The All Spark has been reborn," Prime told him. "About six months ago only we didn't realize it was the All Spark until recently. To complicate the situation, the All Spark is housed inside one of my scouts, the daughter of the twins, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe."
"I wasn't aware of any other landings," Keller said, frowning slightly.
"There weren't any landings, Sir," Prowl said, stepping forward. "She was created through what we call a spark bond. I can't explain the semantics of it, but suffice it to say, Stormfire is the All Spark reborn and we have to hide her before Starscream and the other Decepticons try to destroy her."
"That much I can understand," Keller answered. "Tell you what. Give me twenty-four hours to find you a secure enough location and I will get back with you. I'll call up Major Lennox and his team as well for backup and escort to the facility."
"Thank you, Secretary Keller," Prime said with a nod.
"You're welcome. We'll talk soon." The video feed was terminated and the three mechs looked at each other.
"I think we should be safe for one day," Barricade said quietly. "Starscream wouldn't dare attack this base. He knows there are more of you here than there are able Decepticons at the moment." Prowl nodded in agreement.
"That gives us time to do what we can about designing a protoform and seeing what needs to be done before we start moving things to a new location."
"We've got a lot of work ahead of us," Prime told them both. "Let's do what we can in the time we have left.."
Sunstreaker had curled up on the bunk with his daughter and Stormfire was currently in recharge, her head in his lap. Sunstreaker's optics were dimmed as well, one hand resting on Storm's head as they slept. He had not been about to leave her. Not yet anyway. Sideswipe watched them sleep then walked over to where Mirage lay hooked up to the machines while Ratchet studied readings and made scans every fifteen minutes.
"Any change?" Sideswipe asked quietly, brushing one hand along Mirage's arm. Ratchet slowly shook his head.
"None. I'm sorry, Sideswipe. There really isn't anything I can do for him. This is something he has to come out of on his own. And honestly, I'm not sure he will." He sighed softly and walked over to Sunstreaker and Storm, scanning the femme as she slept, leaving Sideswipe with Mirage. Sideswipe pulled a chair over by the bunk and sat down next to his former lover, watching him.
Wheeljack was on the opposite corner of the room, running scans on the new sparkling and making notes. He turned, waited until Ratchet looked his way then waved him over. Ratchet turned and walked over the inventor.
"What?" he asked quietly.
"It's not a femme this time," Wheeljack said, showing him the scans. Ratchet checked the scans and frowned slightly.
"So, she made a regular mech this time. Huh. Okay, well, we need to start putting things together for another protoform I guess. Good thing we figured out how to convert Earth metals into metal dense enough for our protoform." Wheeljack nodded in agreement.
"Yep. You know…. I was wondering something."
"What's that?"
"If she's the All Spark, couldn't we take her back to Cybertron? I mean, couldn't she fix what's wrong there and bring life back to our own home? Why do we have to stay here on Earth?" Ratchet sighed softly.
"How would we even be able to get back to Cybertron?" he asked quietly. "Only the Nemesis has the ability to make that trip and I'm pretty sure Starscream won't agree to help us." Wheeljack nodded slowly.
"Yeah…guess not…"
Decepticon base
"You idiot!" Starscream yelled angrily. Soundwave cringed internally only because he'd always hated the sound of Starscream's voice when he was angry. "How could you let one female child escape this base?"
"The femme was dead," Soundwave reported quietly. "Barricade had returned."
"Barricade is dead, you fool," Starscream said, his voice quiet but still angry. "You were tricked by something that femme did to you." He turned to Thundercracker and Skywarp. "Recall those able to fight. We're going after that femme and the one who created her…"
"Course of action not acceptable," Soundwave intoned angrily. Starscream turned to face him as Soundwave's arm cannon came online, pointed at the Air Commander. "You will not go after the child." Starscream had to admit that he was impressed by Soundwave's nerve. It wasn't often the quiet 'Con did much, especially nothing like this.
"What is it about this femme that bothers you so much, Soundwave?" he asked almost gently. Soundwave didn't dare lower his arm but he scanned Starscream and slowly shook his head.
"What knowledge you hope to gain will do you no good," he said, his voice wavering slightly, but nothing like his usual monotone sound. "She is the key to stopping this war once and for all."
"Is she now?" Starscream asked, a feral grin crossing his features. "Oh I do so hope we find her again. I'm sure she will be most… entertaining…" That one word would be Starscream's last as Soundwave's cannon fired off a volley of several shots, all aimed straight at the AC's chest. Starscream's body hit the floor with a loud, resounding thud. Soundwave turned to Thundercracker and Skywarp.
"Intentions?" he asked quietly.
"Hey, whatever you want, big guy," Thundercracker said, hands held up in a show of surrender. "I wasn't real crazy about having the femme here in the first place. You let her go, that's fine with me." Next to him, Skywarp nodded slowly as well.
"What is she, Soundwave? Seriously, how can she stop this war?" Soundwave lowered his cannon, his readings telling him the remaining Seekers meant no harm to himself or the femme.. If she were still alive somewhere.
"Her creator is the All Spark reborn into a femme. She is called Stormfire and her creators are the twins."
"Wait… daffodile and his twin sparked a femme?" Thundercracker asked softly, the awe evident in his voice.
"Affirmative," Soundwave replied.
"Does that mean we can go back to Cybertron?" Skywarp asked softly. Soundwave looked at the young Seeker then at Thundercracker before answering.
"That depends on what the Autobots plan to do now that Barricade has joined them…"
"Optimus!" Prime turned in the hallway as Bumblebee came running up after him. "Soundwave's on the com-channel. Says he needs to talk to you immediately." Prime followed Bumblebee back to the security room. Sure enough, Soundwave was on the screen, Thundercracker and Skywarp just behind him. In what appeared to be a show of trust by the empath, Soundwave retracted his battle mask and when he spoke, Prime didn't know what to think.
"Optimus Prime, I hope this call is not disturbing you or interfering with anything more pressing at the moment."
"Your voice…" Prime said quietly. Soundwave nodded slowly.
"Has not been truly used in it's normal capacity since before we left Cybertron. I want to inquire about two things and I know you may not wish to answer me, but I ask you to hear me out."
"Very well, Soundwave," Prime said, sitting down behind one of the desks in the room.
"Did Barricade make it to the base in one piece and is Stormfire still alive?" Prime looked at him for a moment, gaze narrowing slightly. "It was I who allowed Barricade to leave the base, Prime. I also helped him release Bumblebee and Stormfire when they were captured." Prime looked over at Bumblebee who nodded in affirmation of that statement. Prime turned back to Soundwave.
"Barricade is here and he is functional. Stormfire is alive, though there has been an issue with her ability to control her creation powers. Mirage, whom you might remember from before the war, is in the infirmary unable to wake or respond to stimuli. We have another sparkling as well. Soundwave… where I Starscream?"
"Starscream is dead," Soundwave answered quietly. "When he threatened to go after Stormfire and any other femmes he could find, I destroyed him." Now Prime was in shock. He turned to Bumblebee.
"Get Barricade up here now." Bumblebee nodded and left the room as Prime turned back to Soundwave. "Soundwave, why are you calling us?"
"Optimus, would it not be in our best interests to leave Earth behind and return to Cybertron where we truly belong? Why remain on a planet where we have little to no hope of surviving or rebuilding our way of life?" Prime nodded slowly.
"Your concerns make sense but you followed Megatron all these centuries. How do I know that when we return to Cybertron you won't try to raise up your own evil forces to begin a new war or to destroy the All Spark once again?" The door to the room opened and Barricade walked in to the room and stopped just beside Optimus.
"Soundwave," he said quietly. Soundwave nodded slowly.
"Hello again, Barricade."
"Where's Starscream?" Barricade asked quietly.
"Destroyed," Soundwave answered. Barricade nodded slowly.
"You took my words seriously then," he said quietly before turning to Prime. "I told him, when he let me leave, that when I came back, I'd destroy Starscream and anyone else who stood to cause harm to Stormfire or her creations. I asked him how long this war had to go one before someone decided it was time to end it." Prime looked at Barricade for a moment then turned back to Soundwave.
"How many of you are left?"
"Myself, the Seekers behind me, Frenzy, and Ravage. We are all that arrived and remain." Prime nodded slowly. "The Nemesis is on Earth as well, hidden, but here."
"Give me until tomorrow, Soundwave, and then we'll speak again." Soundwave nodded slowly.
"I wait to hear from you." The screen went black and Prime turned to Barricade.
"Can we trust him?" Barricade nodded slowly.
"Soundwave was specifically programmed not to be able to lie, Prime. I think he, like many of us, just wants to go home. If Storm can learn to control her powers a little better, I think we stand a chance of rebuilding Cybertron."
"I think you might be right," Prime answered quietly. "Still there is something that bothers me about all of this." He stood and left the room, Barricade following him as he headed for his office. Palming the pad next to the door, Prime led the other mech into his office and held up a picture Storm had drawn not so long ago. "She says she dreamed her own death. And yet… none of this has happened." Barricade nodded slowly, taking the picture and studying it carefully.
"Maybe it doesn't have to happen," he said quietly. "If we leave Earth, maybe none of it will happen and she - and we - will be safe once again." He looked up slowly, handing the picture back to Prime. "You'll want everyone's input I know, but I think we should go back to Cybertron." Prime nodded and put the picture back on his desk.
"We'll convene a meeting in three hours…"
TBC… hope you're still enjoying this and the end is probably coming in a couple more chapters. Please remember to read and review. Thanks!