Because I'm in such a good mood, you're going to get two chapters this week. This chapter and chapter 18, which will be uploaded some time around this week. Can't exactly say when, but it will be either Thursday or Friday. We'll see how I go. The reason why I'm doing that is because of how much I love my readers and reviewers. You guys are making this story worth writing whenever I get the chance to. Thank you all so much!

Now we draw to the end of the two-parter. Again, credit goes to Mistress Megatron for helping me with the title of the two-parter. She's amazingly awesome!

Chapter 17:

Ring Around the Halo – Part II

Sideswipe

Ratchet stared blankly at Sideswipe, who stared fiercely into the optics of his opponent that he had identified as Sideways. Never had he or the humans had felt so much spite between them. Sideswipe's entire stance had changed completely from relaxed to completely tense. He was crouched in a battle stance, his arms and legs spread out slightly in an attempt to prepare himself for a very brutal battle, and the blades in his wrists sliding from within his silver chassis. His optics were narrowed into a hateful stare that was enough to make even Megatron quake in his boots.

A bubbling question finally formed itself on Ratchet's lips. "How do you know Sideways?"

The front-liner never tore is gaze from Sideways. "All you need to know," he spat venomously, "is that he used to be my friend."

What came out of his vocal processor shocked both Ratchet and the soldiers.

"Listen, I want you to go and find Jasmine while I keep Sideways occupied." His hands clenched tightly into fists as his voice having intensified from the negative feelings that poured from his spark. He sensed Ratchet attempting to argue, but he would have none of it. "Don't even think about voicing your opinion!" he snapped. "It is my job to protect you and the soldiers, and that is what I am doing."

Sideswipe wasn't sure what Ratchet did in response to his words, but something told him that his point had been made. He heard the green mech head toward the passageway at the end of the room, and Sideways made no attempt to stop them.

Once they were alone, Sideswipe raised a right bladed arm and pointed it directly at Sideways. "Why did you do it?" he growled.

"I did what I had to, you fragger!" he hissed angrily, his arms trembling slightly, tossing an arm outward in fury. "You don't even know what they did to me. They practically tortured me into submission! I begged them to stop, but they wouldn't unless I joined them. I thought you were my friend, Sideswipe, I thought you of all 'Bots would get me out of there."

Sideswipe cried, "I thought they had killed you in the battle for Tyger Pax! When I didn't see a body when we cleared the field of the dead, I assumed you would be alive. We searched all over for you!"

"Yet you never found me," Sideways sighed, lowering his head. "Once they broke me and you didn't find me, I did the only thing I could in order to make you suffer for leaving me in their clutches." He lifted his head and his faceplates had shifted to insanity, his lips pulling into a smirk and his optics wide with hatred. "I and Demolisher... took the lives of that precious colony of yours. The one you and your brother so desperately tried to protect. What happened to your brother, Sideswipe? Was he amongst the dead as well?"

"Stop it..." Sideswipe whispered, his arms lowering.

"Touched a nerve did I?" Sideways laughed. "If you must know... it was I who ripped your brother's spark from yours!"

"Shut up!" Sideswipe snarled in anger, lunging forward in an attempt to silence the Decepticon. But he only slashed at thin air as Sideways leapt aside, mocking laughter escaping his vocal processor. But Sideswipe was quick enough to anticipate this and he lashed out with his other blade, the sword cutting deep into the armour of his opponent. Sideways let off a hiss of pain as energon slashed onto the cement.

Furious, Sideways spread out his servos, the wheels that made up his hand ejected spikes from within his interior. The blades began to spin faster than Sideswipe could blink, spinning until they were nothing more than a silver blur. He lashed out with one arm, the blades slicing through Sideswipe's chest plate and penetrating the protoform skin, but missing the spark chamber by mere inches. More energon splattered onto the floor, mixing in with Sideways' own.

But Sideswipe's anger blinded him to the pain and he let off a snarl that rattled the building's windows. Despite his injury, he continued to attack, hitting Sideways over and over again with his blades, while Sideways' posture turned to a defensive stance. The furious roars, snarls and growls blending in with each other until the entire room was echoing with their cries.

Optimus Prime

As the claws fell toward Optimus' spark chamber, the Autobot commander reacted with lightning fast reflexes given to him with hundreds of years of training experience: he swept one leg beneath Starscream's own, tripping him over and causing him to land upon his aft. Optimus was once again back on his feet and he made a grab for his opponent, picking him up with his strong arms and tossing him like a ragdoll as far as he could.

Starscream flew high for a moment before he recovered by correcting his position and transforming into his jet mode. His thrusters ignited with fire and power, shooting him up into the sky as fast as they would allow him.

Optimus frowned in suspicion. Was Starscream running away like last time, leaving his men to fend for themselves? His thoughts proved correct when Starscream pulled a three-sixty degree turn, pointing his nose straight toward Optimus and releasing two sets of missiles. The missiles came hard and fast, raining down upon him with full force. He had to raise his arms and close his optics in order to shield himself from the heat, dust and smoke. Unfortunately, his vocal processors ended up being clogged with the black clouds, causing him to cough violently.

A second explosion shook the ground and he was thrown off his feet and onto his backside, only to wind up being grabbed by sharp claws and being lifted up into the sky. It took him less than a second to register that Starscream had used the smoke to hide himself, transform, and make a grab for him.

"Starscream, you fragger!" he spat, struggling in vain to escape the strong grip of his opponent.

Starscream just laughed mockingly in response and rose even higher than ever.

Optimus could make out the black outline of Ironhide in the darkness, aiming his cannons upwards. They were primed and ready to fire, but the plasma never left the barrels. Optimus realised that he couldn't get a clear shot because he was in the way of his adversary.

He struggled harder.

"Stop that or you're going to make us both fall!" Starscream snapped.

Optimus' struggles only increased. "I can take the fall," he bluffed. "Can you?"

He wasn't sure if Starscream called his bluff, but he didn't really want to test out his own endurance on taking a fall from this height.

As they continued to rise further, he noticed that Starscream was having trouble maintaining his balance. His processor registered that Starscream's injured wing was the cause for his misery.

Knowing that he didn't have much of a choice, he did what he knew was going to endanger his life. He reached out for Starscream's badly damaged wing and yanked hard. The reaction was exactly as he expected it to be. Starscream howled and screeched in white hot agony, but Optimus didn't stop there, he twisted it and turned it violently until the skies itself seemed to tremble with the cries of his enemy.

With Starscream now distracted by the pain, Optimus twisted his body as hard as he could. The combination of the weight of his body turning and Starscream being unable to maintain control of his flight, they found themselves tossing and rolling in the air until everything became a blur. Several times the ground came into Optimus' view and he realised it was coming closer the faster they plummeted.

Primus, this is going to hurt, he thought bitterly and he braced himself.

But he knew that he could never be prepared for the full impact.

They landed with sickening crash of metal and ground. Optimus could have sworn he was screaming in pain. His vocal processor was hurting from his howler, but he was quick to push the pain aside. His body skidded across the battlefield, his mask shattering in half from hitting a very hard rock that was buried deep in the earth. Energon dripped from cuts, dings and dents formed as he continued to bounce along.

His audio and optical sensors had both shutdown, but his pain receptors continued to sound off, telling him exactly what he didn't want to hear. The pain going through his dislocated arm was beyond excruciating.

As his sensors rebooted themselves, he could barely make out Ironhide's voice calling his name. Wincing, he pushed himself to stand up, his head shooting toward the sky as the image of a smiling Jasmine appeared in his processor, reminding him what he was fighting for.

Jasmine Clark

Bang, bang, bang, bang.

The entire building seemed to tremble from whatever was going on outside the base. The continuous noise seemed to repeat itself over and over again, followed by padding that was moving fast paced and unusually out of sync with each other alongside the massive banging that was drawing closer.

Jasmine lifted her head, blinking in surprise. She'd been so caught up in her confusion that she hadn't noticed that the padding and banging had got even closer than ever. Damnit, she was such a fool for thinking that. She sat up to her full height quickly and drew as far from the cell's bars as she could, hoping that it wasn't Starscream and his Decepticons that were coming her way.

Much to her surprise, it wasn't Starscream and his men at all. In fact, four of them were human while the massive green mech was definitely not one of Starscream's men. The humans appeared unafraid of the being that was with them and she realised that it must be one of Optimus' fellow Cybertronians that he called Autobots.

The humans were clothed in what looked like armour, their heads hidden behind helmets with an antenna on the right side and a tinted visor. They carried rifles of unknown design, but she knew that they would be assault rifles. A logo with the Autobot symbol on top of a scan of Earth, followed by four letters spelt in capitals as 'N.E.S.T.' was mounted on the left side of the chest plate.

One of the soldiers glanced over in her direction and he seemed to hesitate when their eyes met each other. "Ratchet, over here!" he shouted, waving the green mech over to them.

Jasmine frowned at the mention of the mech's name. Ratchet sounded like the surname of her doctor. But none of that mattered now as the mech came forward and kneeled down to get a look at her, his sky blue eyes peering at her and she shivered when they made eye contact. They seemed to widen when he finished with whatever he was doing and stood up to his full height, shaking his head, growling and muttering something underneath his breath.

He carefully stuck an arm through the ceiling of the cell where Starscream had made the hole earlier. He inched forward carefully and wrapped his fingers around Jasmine's delicate body. She was far too weak to even struggle, but Ratchet's hand was surprisingly gentle and warm, applying no force to her at all. The hand gently laid her on the ground, a bright blue beam of light shooting from out of Ratchet's eyes. The beam went from her head down to her toes and back up again.

After several seconds, the beam retreated back into his eyes, alarm written all over his face. He turned to one of the soldiers, his expression changing to concern. "She's badly dehydrated," he said. "Get her something to drink."

"I've got some in my backpack," a female soldier spoke up, coming forward as she took off a bag off her back. She kneeled down beside Jasmine and pulled out a bottle of crystal clear water. As she took off the lid, Jasmine could make out the name of soldier on her right chest piece: Daniela "Danny" Gonzalez. The top of the bottle was placed against Jasmine's lips and she drank the contents greedily, but gratefully.

From the corner of her eye, she made out Ratchet transforming into a massive custom-designed ambulance that flashed its sirens, but no sound came out. "Get her inside the back of me," he ordered quickly. "I'll keep her safe from further harm. All I ask is that someone keep an eye on her progress."

"I'll do it, Ratchet," Daniela announced as she and another soldier helped Jasmine to her feet and carried her to Ratchet. Once she was safely strapped into place on a stretcher and wrapped in a blanket to keep her warm, Daniela climbed in after her.

Jasmine blinked and turned her head toward the front of the vehicle, a nagging question forming on her dried lips, "You're the one who helped Optimus get me out of Silverflame and took me to the hospital aren't you?"

Ratchet was silent for a moment before he replied, "Yes that was me. I'm glad you remembered."

Feeling reassured, Jasmine settled into the stretcher while Daniela sat beside her, assault rifle clutched tightly in her hands as the doors to the back of the ambulance was closed.

A loud bang rattled Ratchet's interior and Jasmine was bounced in her stretcher.

"Climb into the front section, soldiers!" Ratchet ordered.

The soldiers didn't need to be told twice as they climbed inside their companion, but not before one of them stopped when they spotted something from the corner of their eye. It was a sliver of unusual metal with strange symbols on them. He picked it up and stuffed it into his pocket, running back over to Ratchet and closing the driver's side door behind him.

"Let's go, Ratchet!" he barked.

Ratchet didn't need to be told twice as he floored it just as a stout, silver figure comes crashing from down the corridor and onto the spot where they had just been.

Another silver figure came skating from the same direction, armed with two blades in his wrists, bleeding in several places on his body, and a furious look in his baby blue eyes. "Sideswipe, you fragger," Ratchet snapped angrily, clearly pissed at the newcomer. "You could have hurt the humans!"

Sideswipe just shrugged his shoulders, unaffected by Ratchet's ebullition.

"Just transform and escort us out the base," Ratchet sighed. He shifted his tyres a bit before continuing, "Besides, Sideways isn't going anywhere, considering the sorry state he's in."

Sideswipe's eyes shifted to Sideways, who lay motionless on the ground. For a moment, he seemed to not listen to what Ratchet was saying before he moved over to his opponent and kicked him in the side harshly. "That's for my brother you glitch!" he hissed. He backed away slightly, still glaring at him. "I hope you'll rust in the Pit."

He then transformed into his slick Corvette form and followed after Ratchet at blinding speed.

Optimus Prime

"Optimus, we've got Jasmine and are escaping the base even as I speak."

Having managed to stand up, Optimus could barely hold back a smile of relief. Ratchet's message was more than just that, it had given him the strength that he needed to get back up on his feet once more, fighting through the pain that was still coursing through his chassis. It felt like it was burning and surging like the flames of a forest fire. A fire that would not be quenched until Ratchet looked him over.

"Thank you, Ratchet," he uttered, his voice strained from the pain he was in. He shook his head as he stood up tall, glancing over to the fallen Starscream where he lay in his crater. "Get as far from the base as you can."

"Are you alright, Optimus?" Ratchet asked, his voice filled with concern.

"I've been better," Optimus quickly replied casually and disconnected the com-link before his friend could ask any more questions. He'd been so occupied with talking to Ratchet that he didn't notice Ironhide and the Bike Sisters were moving up to his side. The N.E.S.T soldiers also drew in closer as well, but Optimus knew that all of them were worried about his wellbeing since he didn't look as better than Starscream.

Ironhide placed a hand upon his shoulder, obviously seeing the dings, dents, and energon coating his entire chassis. "Are you sure you're alright?" he questioned.

"I'm fine, old friend," Optimus answered, brushing him off as he strolled menacingly toward Starscream, but not before he looked down at the two main humans of the group. "Sergeant Epps, call in an airstrike to destroy the base. This place is a soul reminder of what we have fought for today."

Epps saluted and brought out a walkie-talkie to call in the Air Force.

Satisfied, Optimus walked even further toward Starscream as Grindor started helping him up. Upon seeing him, all the Decepticons drew their weapons and pointed them at the Autobot commander. Optimus stopped as he too heard his men and Lennox's own pointing their weapons at the enemy.

"Curse you, Optimus Prime," Starscream hissed. "Curse you all to the Pit! You'll pay for what you've done."

But Optimus ignored and took one more step closer, but never any further. "I'll give you one chance to surrender, Starscream," he announced coldly.

Starscream just shook his head. "Me? Surrender to the likes of you and your little zoo? I don't think so." He whipped out one arm, pointing it directly at Optimus as a missile formed on his wrist.

Optimus attempted to pull out one of his ion blasters when a burst of plasma hit Starscream square in the shoulder and the arm fell off with a massive bang on the ground next to him, energon gushing out of the exposed circuits from the socket and the end of the arm.

As Starscream howled in pain, Optimus turned to see Ironhide pointing his cannons in their direction, smoke escaping from their barrels.

"Lord Starscream is wounded!" Mixmaster bellowed. "Attack the Autobots!"

Just as the Decepticons were about to follow his example, a loud whooshing noise was heard from the west. Everyone glanced up in time to see a squadron of F22 Raptors flying toward them, coming in hot, low, and fast. They released something from their wings and split up in different directions.

Seconds later, there was a mighty loud bang, followed by an explosion of fire, smoke, dust, and rubble. The Autobots and Decepticons were knocked off balance from the shockwave, but the humans were completely blown away. They would have been blown across the grassland if it weren't for Ironhide and the Bike Sisters who shielded them to the best of their abilities.

Debris rained down upon the battlefield from the sky and Optimus managed to recover, the determined look upon his faceplates reappearing. "It's over, Starscream!" he declared. "Surrender now!"

Grindor leaned over Starscream, having been the first to recover from the blast, and whispered something in his audio receptor. Starscream seemed to nod in agreement to whatever he was saying. He glanced over to his brethren and shouted, "Decepticons, retreat!"

They all nodded in response and the ground based ones quickly departed without warning. Grindor wrapped both arms around his leader and began to lift him off the ground. But as they flew higher, Starscream shot a glare at Optimus. "It won't be the last time you'll hear from us, Prime," he snarled. "The next time that we meet, things will be very different when we awaken the fallen!"

Before Optimus could demand to know what he was talking about, they were gone.