"So where are we exactly?" Briley asked Jazz, pulling off one of her boots and dumping the sand on the ground before slipping it back off and starting on the next one.
"Egypt I think," the silver saboteur said rather sheepishly.
"After this is over I'm never going to want to see sand again," Briley said with a sigh, slipping her other, now empty boot back on her foot before standing. "Ever," she stressed, glaring slightly at Jazz who sighed.
"So what exactly are we doing here?" Sam called over to Jetfire who was hobbling to his feet.
"To see the Solar Harvester," Jetfire grumbled. "Don't you young whippersnappers do any thinking anymore?"
"I don't read minds," Sam protested. "I just see crazy symbols from the time of the Primes."
"Where is this Solar Harvester?" Briley asked, suddenly getting a very bad feeling that she wasn't going to like the answer.
"In that thing over that direction," Jetfire grumbled, motioning toward a shape in the direction. "What do you humans call it?"
"The Sphinx?" Sam asked and Mikaela groaned, slapping her own forehead.
"Sam that's a pyramid," she corrected.
"That's right," Jetfire grumbled. "The key to the Harvester, the Matrix, is in some ancient tomb of the Primes. That's where the Fallen will be headed but you won't be able to stop him."
"Why not?" Jazz asked. "After all it ain't jus' humans here." Bee chirped in agreement and Skids and Mudflap stopped arguing long enough to pay attention, miracle of all miracles.
"Only one Prime can defeat another one," Jetfire lectured with a glare in the Autobots direction.
"Like Optimus," Sam said sadly, his face falling.
"You know a Prime boy? There's an actual living Prime on this mud ball?" Jetfire asked incredulously.
"Not anymore," Sam said, hanging his head. "He was killed protecting Mikaela and I."
"Humph," Jetfire said but he actually looked sad at the thought of a dead Prime. "Typical Prime throwing their life away to protect others." Sam opened his mouth to protest but Jetfire was still talking. "It was their best virtue."
"What exactly can this Matrix do?" Briley asked suddenly, her necklace thrumming around her neck like a live wire.
"Activates the Solar Harvester but other than that no one knows," Jetfire huffed with a shrug.
"So it could bring back Optimus?" Mikaela asked, her face suddenly brightening. Smart girl, Briley thought with a smile of her own. Jazz and Bumblebee exchanged hopeful glances and the twins were completely silent now.
"I don't know," Jetfire said but the spark had already been lit.
"It's worth a try," Briley said with a shrug, looking at the others around her. "After all what do we have to lose?" That was when disaster struck.
"Decepticons," Jetfire called and Briley took three strides to the edge of the sand dune. Sure enough there were two figures with Decepticon sigils coming toward them.
"Because it couldn't be that simple," Briley grumbled, considering their options. That was when Jetfire took the choice out of her hands.
"I'll take care of these punks," he called. "You go find the tomb of the Primes. Look for the ruins." Then he was down the hill before any of them could ask any more.
Miles away Summer paced just out of sight of the base, able to do nothing but worry. Optimus was dead, Galloway was in charge, and Ratchet had just informed her that Jazz and Briley had vanished off the face of the Earth, or so it seemed. "Please Lord let Briley come out on top," Summer prayed, eyes upturned to the sky. That was why she noticed the sleek shape of an F-22 above her. At first she thought nothing of it. After all this was a military base. All kinds of plane traffic made its way above her on a regular basis. That was when it swooped low and she noticed that it was dark blue, the kind of color so deep it glimmered like a night sky, and a purple Decepticon sigil. She was frozen, unable to react, as it landed in front of her.
"Oh Lord," she whispered, almost completely breathless as if transformed. That was when her fight or flight instincts kicked in and she turned, running for her life. She stumbled over a rock, not noticing it in her hurry, and fell to the ground hard, skinning her hands on the rough, rocky soil. She considered screaming for an instant but quickly pushed that thought out of her mind. If she screamed she would only get others hurt.
A dark shadow loomed over her and she stood painfully, turning around to face the monster in front of her. He watched her with his head tilted slightly to one side. "What do you want?" she asked, forcing the words out of her heavy mouth. Her mind scrambled for some kind of comfort and her mind stumbled on one of her mother's favorite verses. God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble-Psalm 46:1. Her heart stilled slowly and the black dots on her vision faded away so she could see clearly again.
"Where is the boy?" the flier asked and this time it was Summer's turn to stare.
"What?" she asked.
"The boy," the Decepticon ground out with a snarl.
"Sam? Sam Witwicky?" Summer asked for clarification. The robot nodded and she made her face stone. "You really think I'm going to tell you?"
"You have no choice fleshling," the flier hissed.
"There's always a choice," Summer shot back, fury and determination holding her where she was, staring down a giant evil alien robot. She may not have had Briley's unshakeable faith but she found comfort in Christ and that was enough for her this day.
"You will tell me," it snarled and Summer flat out glared at him.
"Like heck I will," she snapped back. Then she shrieked in surprise as she was yanked from the ground and the flier was suddenly airborne. Her stomach lurched as her eyes were drawn like a magnet to the ground far below. She felt a wave of vertigo and bile rose in her mouth. If there was one thing Summer was afraid of it was heights and this was by far her worst nightmare. The last thing she saw before she passed out was the base vanishing far below her.
Author's Note: Sorry for not updating again yesterday! I got caught up with other things and never came back to this. Thanks to MissShelz (no kidding! Talk about bad landings) for reviewing the last chapter! I own nothing but my OCs. Also if you haven't yet remember to check my poll. It'll probably be taken off by Tuesday so today and tomorrow are your last chances to vote.