Prism 6
A Transformers Prime Fanfiction
Shift
"What is it?" Megatron's voice asked in concern, the wide eyed shock he saw in his sparkling's (he refused to think of the young man in any other way) eyes was not the reaction he had been looking for.
"Space," the youth whispered frantically, mind still reeling from what he had both seen and not seen when he had opened his other senses. "So empty, blackness stretching far beyond anything, and yet there was life out there I sensed," the human shuddered, suddenly feeling as if something was preventing him from speaking further.
"Peace my son," Megatron murmured, and there was a note of contrition in his voice. "We are not yet past the outer reaches of the barrier, and in my haste I am afraid that I did not consider that if my suspicions are true you may have never been in the cold emptiness outside of your planet before."
For the first time Jack noted how different the impossibly deep basso was from the times he had heard it before. There was still strength and pride and something of the harsh grating quality, but there was none of the menace or arrogance that he had heard in the cavern or the Autobot base. The youth took a deep steadying breath and grasped at the straps that were holding him. As disturbing as the sensation of having the mech transform around him had been this was far worse, his very perception of the Cybertronian was rapidly shifting. His glimpse of Megatron's life force had been brief but was enough to convince him that the mech held no malice towards him.
What was stranger that that even however was the look, the feel, of his life force. Jack's mind spun as his logic centers tried to make sense of information he had gathered from a sense he had been actively using for less than a year. Every living creature gave off light. Even hard core western science recognized at least the infrared portion of life force. Over the past months Zech and to some extent Sal had been training the younger human on how to interpret the shifting rainbow of colors any living thing gave off.
Jack had sensed Megatron's life force on only a few occasions. By the time he had mastered the skills Zech had been trying to teach him the Autobots had grown far more skilled at keeping their human charges and their sworn enemies apart. But the raven haired youth had a natural sensitivity and gaining this close perspective had suddenly clarified something for him.
"I thought it was just my senses being off from the accident," the human muttered, "but there is something different about you; Fowler too, everyone. You are not Megatron, at least not the Megatron I know. The light of your life force; it's refracted, like white light through a prism. Everything has shifted, except me. I," Jack flushed a bit when he realized he was babbling but started when the harness began to stroke him soothingly in much the same way Optimus was prone to do when the youth was stressed. "Um, please stop that," he requested nervously.
The mech complied but in his heightened state of awareness Jack got the feeling that the Cybertronian was hurt. He shook his head. This was Megatron! Immediately on the heels of that though came a self reprimand. This was a mech who was clearly very close to him here, wherever 'here' was.
"So," Jack started, desperate to find some point of clarity in the mess his mind was rapidly becoming, "ground bridge malfunction, you haven't squished me, Fowler vouching for you; this is an alternate dimension."
"That is the theory that Ratchet and Perceptor have come up with yes."
Jack nodded, that made sense; in the weird reality twisting way things did when you were around giant robots from outer space for long enough.
"I guess I should apologize," the human continued nervously.
"For what, defending yourself against what you perceived to be a foe?" the mech snorted. "You reacted like the warrior you are."
The note of pride in the voice was a bit disturbing and Jack wriggled as the straps snuggled him deeper into the seat. His mind had come over to the idea that this mech meant him no harm but his instincts were still set to react to any movement from what looked like a Decepticon as a threat. He was doubly thankful now for the meditations he had learned from the Franklins as he fought down the urge to crawl out of his skin.
"So I've figured it out now," Jack said a bit shakily, "can we go back to Earth?"
"No."
The human blinked in surprise at the flat denial. Megatron had spoken in a tone Jack had come to associate with an active comm. link and the youth fell silent as he waited for the Cybertronian to finish his conversation. He thought about shifting his awareness so he could see the radio frequencies, but that would mean peering into the cold abyss of space again and he shuddered at the thought. In response to his unconscious gesture a warm wash of air blew over him and the straps began their stroking anew. This time Jack stiffened but accepted the gesture. There was an audible click as the comm. unit shut off and the human could have sworn he felt the mech sigh.
"We cannot return planet side at the moment Jackson. I have duties to attend to on my flag ship and your presence is required as well. Do not worry, your alternate adapted quickly to inner space, I have no doubt you will as well."
"Oh," Jack glanced nervously out the canopy and decided to focus on the stars instead of the blackness between them. It helped. "Um, I have questions."
"Please ask," there was a note of longing in the Warlord's tone that shocked the raven haired youth anew, "it has been far too long since I have heard your voice my sparkling."
"Okay, let's start with that. How am I your sparkling?"
There was silence for a moment and Jack was about to try another question when the mech gave out something that sounded akin to a soft sigh.
"In your dimension, is your biological mother still alive?"
"What? I mean yes she is," Jack stated in shock.
"This dimension was not so blessed. We had just located your world using the old records. The archives told of many devices that the counsel had ordered stored there, and much energon, during the mid stage of the invasion to protect them from enemies. I ordered the troops to fall back and regroup on this planet," there was a long pause and when the fighter jet began to speak again deep emotion was vibrating in his voice. "The enemy found you first. They found you and feared you. By the time my first scouts arrived they had already formulated their attack plans. There was nothing the Seekers could do but watch in horror as they attacked your cities. I had given them strict orders not to interfere with attacks unless Cybertronian interests were specifically threatened." A dry chuckle crackled around Jack. "Unfortunately Starscream was never keen on following orders. When he saw that your people were fighting back, that even hopelessly outclassed by the attackers technology you were defending yourselves he couldn't stand by any longer. He made contact with your leaders and offered tech trades at first. That began to turn the course of the invasion. However this only served to enrage the invaders and they proceeded with extra-atmospheric bombing of all the governmental capitals."
Jack shifted uncomfortably as the mech's stroking suddenly became tender and gentle.
"This is the scene I arrived to. The capital of your mother's nation was reduced to rubble. Passive assistance had not been enough for the rest of the commander's trine. They had attempted to defend certain of the targets. It went badly to say the least. They were shot down over what had been the city of Washington DC. I had entered the system just as their distress calls had gone out. I led a sortie against the invasion fleet. Primus was with us for once and it was small, they had not expected resistance from your people and we caught them off guard. It was over before they had a chance to send a distress signal out even. I left my officers to the cleanup and sought out my errant Seekers on the ground."
Another long pause stretched out and the raven haired youth got the feeling that the mech did not want to go on. The human gently reached out and stroked the side of the cockpit.
"What did you find?"
"They had been badly injured. Had they been left to their own devices they would have no doubt offlined by the time I arrived. They had been hit by a weapon that completely disables Cybertronian functions. The impact from the resulting crash to the surface should have left them with fatal wounds that would have leaked out, but they had been taken to safety in a warehouse. There a small group of humans was tending to their wounds as best they could with their limited understanding. But it had been enough to keep my Seekers online. They were led by a human female. I did not learn her name until much later."
Another dry laugh escaped the Warlord at the memory.
"This little organic, barely a fraction of my weight, came storming up to my ped and demanded to know if I spoke her language. I quickly accessed your internet and assured her I did. She then proceeded to describe the condition of my warriors to me and demanded to know what she could do. I ignored her," deep regret suddenly tinged the rough voice, "made a note to reward her properly later for saving the trine and attempted to debrief my officers. She observed from the side.
That, that was when the second attack occurred. There had been more fighters hiding behind the moon and they used our distraction to level several cities before we could stop them. In the warehouse I was struck by the same disabling device my seekers had been and I watched helplessly as the building crumbled around us. We were in no real danger from the debris. When the dust had cleared and I regained control of my body the attack was over and the rest of my soldiers had destroyed the attackers. I was about to rejoin them when I heard a sound. The organic femme had become trapped in the fallen structure. She was the only human survivor and I freed her but the damage to her frame was simply too great and she was very aware of that fact. There was a look of terror in her eyes as she tried to communicate something to me. It was a name, a password, and a location along with the request that I take care of her offspring and mate."
Deep bitterness filled the voice as he continued the tale and Jack remained still in shock.
"She had saved the sparks of my warriors and I rewarded her by leading my enemies straight to her location. Ratchet had arrived and was tending to the Seekers by then. The rest of the attacking fleet had been destroyed and I took it upon myself to grant her last request. I discovered the location she had indicated and found it to be a section of what I would later learn had been housing units to the North. They had been badly damaged in the attack. It took several hours of searching the rubble; I found a handful humans and handed them over to the medics who had come to search. Finally I began to understand the system of numbered housing and I found hers. In the remains was a single life sign."