Fire in the Sky

Warrior of Flight

A lone F/A 37 Talon raced towards the Nemesis. Without so much as a warning, it launched 4, very specially designed, side-winder missiles. Within seconds, the projectiles hit their intended targets, and the four main artillery batteries of the Decepticon warship, were destroyed.

"Woo-hoo!" Silverbolt whooped. He raced past the ship, and then executed a quick back-flip/barrel roll. And headed back towards the enemy base.

"Excellent marksmanship, Silverbolt." Came the praise of one Optimus Prime, from his crouched position on the jet's back. "Your lessons with Bulkhead have severed you well."

"Thanks, Optimus." Silverbolt replied. "I'm surprised I actually hit those things. Not to mention, that I'm flying this well." he then added with guilt. "Sorry about the flip."

"Trust your instincts, Silverbolt." Optimus offered as advice. "And you need not worry about my safety."

Silverbolt didn't say anything as he launched his two remaining side-winders. He watched with satisfaction as they hit one of the Nemesis's starboard engines. He laughed as the engine flickered out, and died.

"Right on target." He laughed, as he ducked under the ship. However, his mood soon turned grim as a full squadron of vehicon fliers launched from the main hanger from the warships underbelly.

"Scrap. We got trouble, Optimus." Silverbolt said, as his radar light up like a Christmas tree.

"Will you be able to handle them?" the red titan asked, his voice full of concern.

Silverbolt sent a command to his computer. His wings folded out from travel mode into combat mode, and his two mini-guns folded out from beside his cockpit.

"I think so." he said with some confidence. "But not with you on my back, Boss Bot."

Optimus looked over his shoulder, and surveyed the group of enemies heading towards them, and then the upper deck of the Nemesis. "Very well. Get us to the upper deck of the Nemesis, and I shall assist you from there."

"Right away." Silverbolt agreed. "Just hold on tight. This is going to be a bumpy ride..."

The vehicons were almost upon them. At the last possible moment, Silverbolt performed another back-flip and headed back towards the group of enemies, and the warship. He activated his scram-jets, and sent himself, and Prime, into a corkscrew maneuver. As was his intention, the decepticon fliers scrambled out of his way.

"Easy, Silverbolt." Optimus cautioned his young warrior. "My magnets allow me to remain attached to you, but even they have their limits."

"Sorry, Boss." Silverbolt winced. "Had to lose the party-crashers."

"Understood." Optimus agreed. Once they were above the Nemesis, he announced, "Now, this is where we part ways."

"Yep." Silverbolt agreed.

"Then I wish you luck." Optimus said. He jumped from Silverbolt, fell ten feet, and landed on the hull of the damaged ship. Silverbolt flew away quickly, hopefully drawing the vehicons attention.

"Come and get me..." he whispered bravely. He sure hoped his and Prime's plan worked, or they would both be in a world of hurt.

Flashback

"Arcee!" Silverbolt called out in a panic, after his systems rebooted. He quickly realized that he was laying on one of the recovery beds in the autobot med bay. He also noticed that Arcee was no where to be found, and Ratchet, as per usual, was stationed near the medical computer.

Upon hearing him call out, Ratchet turned around. "Ah, good. You're awake." he said in greeting, as he walked over to the recovered bot. "How are your systems?"

Silverbolt stared blankly at the medic. "What? You're concerned about me? I'm not the one in danger! Arcee is!"

Ratchet crossed his arms. "We know Arcee was captured by the Decepticons. That's why we've been looking for their ship over the past two days." he sighed heavily, "But since you are here, and she is not, I want to make sure you have no permanent damage."

Silverbolt quickly ran a systems check. "Nothing seems out of place, but..." he paused for a second, "Wait. The Microbots aren't responding. What happened to them?"

Ratchet shook his head. "It seems that you, and I assume Arcee as well, were hit with a very power EMP weapon. I'm surprised that you're even awake so soon."

"Wait... back up." Silverbolt said, as he stood up. "What's an EMP? And what do you mean, that I shouldn't be awake yet?"

Ratchet grumbled irritably. "EMP stands for Electromagnetic Pulse. Simply put, it's burst of electrical radiation that shuts down any and all electronic devices. But it does so without any physical damage." he paused for a second to let Silverbolt absorb that information. "The reason why I'm surprised that you're awake so soon, is because, that when we Autobots experimented with EMP weapons back on Cybertron, all the devices either shut down for good, or took a standard Earth week to turn back on."

Silverbolt was speechless.

"As for your nanobots..." Ratchet said, with a little remorse. "Well, I'm sorry to inform you, but they did not survive the attack."

"They're... dead?" Silverbolt asked sadly. Ratchet nodded his head.

"In a matter of speaking, yes."

"I..." the silver bot, mumbled quietly.

"Optimus Prime to Ratchet. Come in." the autobot leader suddenly said over the medic's communicator.

"Ratchet here. Go ahead." He answered.

"Our scans have picked up the Nemesis' energy signal." Optimus explained. "Please report to Ops immediately."

"Understood." Ratchet responded. "Shall I bring Silverbolt along with me?"

Silverbolt is active?" Optimus asked, managing to keep his voice level. Without waiting for a response, he continued. "Yes. I need both of you to report to Ops."

End Flashback

Silverbolt dodged and inbound missile by performing a barrel roll.

"Missed me, Slowpokes!" He taunted them with a laugh

He executed a high-speed U-turn, and headed directly for his attackers. He fired his twin mini-guns into the group and managed to send two of them crashing to the ground. The others scattered quickly, as not to be hit.

"All right..." Silverbolt whispered, "Let's see what I can do. Try and keep up, creeps..."

He pulled out out of his trajectory, and shot straight up at a 90 degree angle. Reading his radar, Silverbolt saw the vehicons do exactly the same. With a chuckle, sent himself into another corkscrew, and looped around, so that his nose was now point directly at the ground. He was pleased to hear three rather large explosions, as six of the vehicons crashed into each-other. Now, only four blips remained on his radar.

Silverbolt was surprised how easy this whole battle was going, he thought quietly as he angled back towards Optimus, and the Nemesis. Well, considering it was twelve on one. Well, make that four on one, now. This either meant that the vehicons were horrible shots and fliers, or the flight program he had downloaded was a lot better then the training the cons had been programed with.

Eight missile locks snapped him back to reality.

"Frag." Silverbolt cursed. Thinking quickly, he deployed his tail flares, and executed yet another corkscrew. As a result of that combination, seven of the eight missiles collided together. The last projectile, however, managed to stay locked.

"Not good! Not good! Not good!" Silverbolt panicked. The missile was getting closer, but he didn't want to maneuver out of the way. He was too close to the Nemesis, and there was chance that the explosion might hit Optimus.

"Silverbolt!" Optimus said over his communicator suddenly, "Angle right!"

He did as he was told. Optimus used his fusion cannon to shoot down the projectile, and thus allowing Silverbolt to remain in one piece.

Silverbolt transformed into his robot mode and landed beside Optimus on the deck. He quickly cycled his forearms into his mini-guns, and waited for the jet vehicons to catch up.

"Are you alright, Silverbolt?" Optimus asked, keeping his cannon and his gaze, aimed at the Decepticons.

Silverbolt nodded his head, doing the same. "I'm... okay, Optimus. Just feeling a little tired."

"Hm..." Optimus pondered. But didn't say anything else, as the remaining vehicons landed around him and Silverbolt.

Silverbolt smirked. "Mind if I take 'em, Boss Bot?" he whispered to Prime.

"Not at all." Optimus replied. He quickly crouched down, as Silverbolt opened fire. The vehicons were taken by surprise, and didn't retaliate as they were gunned down.

Silverbolt ceased firing. "All too easy." He brought the barrel of one of his guns to his lips and blew the smoke away. He looked up at Optimus. "What?"

Optimus transformed his cannon back into arm. "You have talent, Silverbolt. Make sure you do not become over confident as a result."

Silverbolt transformed his mini-guns back into his forearms. "Right. Of course not." he said guiltily. He then noticed a smoking crater that was once a defense turret. "Looks like those warheads Ratchet designed worked well."

"Indeed." Optimus agreed.

Flashback

"You want to do what?" Ratchet asked in shock.

"Silverbolt and I will assault the Nemesis ourselves." Optimus repeated.

"Uh... why just the two of you?" Buklhead asked in confusion. "Why can't we all go?"

Bumblebee honked and beeped the same question.

Optimus shook his head. "We cannot use the land-bridge to transport us. There is a chance the portal will be detected, and alert the Decepticons to our presence." he thought for a second. "And since Silverbolt is the only autobot with flight capability, he is the only one who can reach the Nemesis."

"That may be true, Optimus." Ratchet protested. "But his flight mode is completely untested. We don't even know what it is capable of, if he can control it, what weapons he has, or even if he can carry you."

"Wait, what?" Silverbolt gasped. "You want me to fly with you on my back, Optimus?"

Optimus observed Silverbolt for a second before responding. "I know I am asking a great deal of you, Silverbolt. But I am confident that you are capable of performing this task."

Bumblebee let out a series of concerned beeps and whistles.

"I agree with Bee, Optimus." Silverbolt said. "What if I can't lift you?"

"Hm..." The red titan hummed. "Are you able to convert to your flight mode?"

Silverbolt shrugged. "Well, yeah. I've been practicing. But that's it. I haven't flown at all."

"And what weapons do you have, while in your flight mode?" Optimus asked next.

"Well, I have my mini-guns that fire energy pulses, and six side-winder missiles." Silverbolt answered. "I also noticed that I have scram-jets for short bursts of speed, and that I can hover briefly."

"Very well." Optimus said. "Transform, and we shall see if you are capable of lifting me."

"Shall I stand by and be ready to fix him, should he collapse under your weight, Optimus?" Ratchet asked sarcastically.

Optimus looked at his Medical Officer. "Perhaps."

Nervously, Silverbolt converted to his jet mode, with he landing gear extended. "Ready." He gulped.

Cautiously, Optimus placed one foot on Silverbolt's back. When the young bot didn't say anything, the giant placed his other foot on, and quickly moved to a crouching position.

"Silverbolt?" he asked, "Are you in any pain?"

"Uh, no." Silverbolt answered truthfully. "I can barely even tell that you're on. Want me to seen if I can hover?"

"At your own pace." Optimus answered.

Silverbolt engaged his hover-jets, and slowly raised himself, and Optimus two feet in the air. "Frag it... for someone so big, Optimus, You barely weigh a thing." He lowered himself down, and Optimus stepped off of him.

"Well, that's one thing." Ratchet huffed, as Silverbolt returned to his robot mode, "But he still can't fly, and those six missiles most likely won't do much damage to the Nemesis's armor."

Bumblebee squeaked something.

"What do you mean, Raf has been designing a defensive flight program for Silverbolt?" Ratchet asked out of shock.

Bumblebee beeped an answer.

"And with yours and Agent Fowler's help?" the Medic balked. "Where is it then?"

The yellow Bot honked and pointed at the main computer.

Ratchet looked over at the mainframe. "I don't believe this..."

"Yet, it is our only option, Old Friend." Optimus stated. He looked at Silverbolt. "Download the program, and we will go as soon as possible."

"There's still the issue of his weapons, Optimus." Ratchet reminded them. "Cybertronian, or not. They won't affect a warship."

"What if rig them with energon warheads?" Bulkhead suggested. "That will make a dent, right?"

"Ugh..." the medic groaned. "Yes. In theory. But I'll need some time to make six."

"You shall have two hours to ready them, Ratchet." Optimus ordered. "Bumblebee and Bulkhead will assist you. In the meant time, Silverbolt will download his flight program and practice his flying. Dismissed."

End Flashback

"Hey Optimus, did you notice that no ground vehicons, or other drones, have come out yet?" Silverbolt asked his leader. "I wonder why. Do you think Starscream is up to something?"

"I do not know." Optimus answered. "Though you do raise an interesting point."

"Oh, he isn't up to anything." A female voice called out from behind them. Silverbolt and Optimus spun around and readied their cannons.

"Easy there, boys." Arcee joked. She had her hands up in mock surrender. "A little twitchy, huh?"

"Arcee!" Silverbolt exclaimed. He put his guns away and ran over to her. He scooped her up in a hug, and lifted her off her feet. "Are you okay? They didn't hurt you, did they?"

Arcee laughed. "No. Not really. Now put me down, ya big lug-nut."

Silverbolt placed her back on the deck, and let her go. "Sorry. I was just..."

"I know." Arcee whispered. "But I'm okay, now. Thanks to you and Optimus."

"Arcee. It warms my spark to see that you are uninjured." Optimus greeted his commander. "But, I wish to know how you managed to escape."

"That's... a long story, Optimus." Arcee said, with a smirk. "One I'll be glad to tell once we're back at base."

"Of course." the gentle titan agreed. "One question, though, before we leave. What is Silverbolt's real name?"

"Huh?" Silverbolt asked, looking up at him.

"What?" Arcee asked in confusion. "Why would you ask me that, Optimus?"

Optimus looked at her carefully. "His name, Commander."

She looked weirdly at him. "It's Jack. And I even call him Hot-Shot, sometimes."

He nodded his head in approval. "I had to make sure. You could have very well been a spy."

"Oh..." Silverbolt and Arcee said at the same time.

"Optimus to Ratchet. Mission accomplished. Bridge us out." Optimus requested, speaking into his communicator.

"You shall not escape, You retched AUTOBOTS!" Starscream yelled. The three autbots looked up to see the decepticon flying towards them in his jet mode. He transformed into his robot mode and landed in front of them just as the land-bridge opened. "You shall pay for what you have done to my -!"

"Shut up, you windbag." Arcee said, cutting Starscream off, as she punched him hard in the face. He was knocked back several feet, and hit the deck in an unconscious heap.

"Ouch..." Silverbolt winced. "Remind me never to get on your bad side."

"Watch it, Hot shot."

"Yes, Ma'am."

The three Autobots walked into the bridge, leaving a defeated Starscream, and very damaged Nemesis, behind them.

TBC.