Chapter 3
"Arcee hold still while I check for any other damages!"
"Look Ratchet, I'm fine. If you want to check on someone, go and check on Bee. He probably took the blunt of the explosion."
Arcee was strapped to a berth in the medical center as Ratchet scanned her for any circuit damage. Although she was pissed at how the energon scouting mission went, her mind was somewhere else. Arcee was thinking about yesterday night; more specifically about Jack. She couldn't put her finger around it but recently, whenever she was with him, she felt warm inside. At first she thought something was wrong with her so she asked Ratchet for a check-up. The doctor didn't see anything wrong so she chose to ignore it. The feeling came back to her the whole time she was with Jack yesterday night. Gazing up at the stars with him felt nice, but it was the comfort of Jack's presence that warmed her spark. Maybe she was becoming more intimate with him.
That's not possible though, Arcee thought to herself, Jack is my closest friend and partner; Nothing more. Although, he is so charming and I love being around him...NO ARCEE. YOU CAN'T THINK LIKE THIS. If Jack finds out you have feelings for him, your relationship is as good as dead. You are his guardian and friend. Nothing more, nothing less.
"Alright Arcee your free to go" Ratchet said as he unbuckled Arcee's straps. "When you wake up from stasis tomorrow, you should be as good as new. Although, I advise no more fighting today."
"Will do doc" Arcee quipped as she quickly left the medical center. She walked into the control room just as a giant ball of metal flew through the air. Bulkhead caught it between his hands, the force of the throw pushing him back a bit.
"Good throw Jackie" the wrecker chuckled "but try catching this!" Bulked lobbed the giant metal ball across the room towards Wheeljack. The bot caught it but was knocked clean off his feet from the force of the throw, crashing into a table holding some of Ratchet's equipment.
The medic heard something break in the control room, quickly running over, just in time to see Wheeljack stand up with a giant metal ball in his hands, crushing his equipment that once resided on the table.
"Bulkhead! Wheeljack! I needed that!" Ratchet yelled.
"Sorry doc" Wheeljack responded as he threw the ball back at Bulkhead.
Arcee chuckled to herself. Watching Bulkhead and Wheeljack piss off Ratchet like that always lightens the mood. Although she was happy to see Wheeljack rejoin Team Prime for the time being, she didn't like his entrance.
(Flashback to the energon scouting mission)
Team Prime was stationed behind a coupe rocks, overlooking the Vehicons collecting energon from the energon mine.
"I say we jump them now before they call in reinforcements" Bulkhead whispered, Bumblebee beeping in agreement.
"Patience Bulkhead, a full force attack may not be best in this situation" Optimus said with authority. The leader scanned the area looking where the best spot to attack would be. He spotted to separate paths, leading down to the open mine, perfect for a surprise attack. "Bulkhead, Bumblebee, you two will attack from the right side. Draw their fire but do not engage. Meanwhile, Arcee and I will flank them using the path on the left. We will wait until they are distracted, and then attack from behind."
The four of them nodded to each other, making their way to the paths. Before Bulkhead and Bumblebee got the Vehicons' attention, a white car with green and red stripes drove off the cliff overlooking the energon mine, transforming in mid-air, and landing in front of the Vehicons. The Decepticons readied their blasted, all of them aiming at the smirking Autobot.
"Wow wow, guys" Wheeljack held his hands up. "Not trying to look for any trouble. I'm only here to deliver some gifts." Wheeljack put his hands behind his back before throwing a dozen grenades at the mine and running into a sprint, dodging the Vehicons' blaster fire. While running for the nearest exit, Wheeljack ran into Optimus and Arcee who immediately aimed their blasters at him.
"Wow friendly" Wheeljack said with his hands up once more, "although it would probably a good idea to run the other way; the joints about to blow!"
Before Optimus could open his mouth, a huge explosion rocked the ground, causing the Autobots to sprint to safety. The explosion was so big that even from a mile away you could see the giant blue cloud erupting from the mine.
After the dust settled, the Autobots regrouped back where they first scouted out the area, this time joined by Wheeljack. All of them had scorch marks and burns from the explosion but no real injuries.
"Jackie!" Bulkhead greeted his fellow wrecker with a big hug, "I'm guessing that explosion was your doing?"
"Who else would do that?" Wheeljack responded, the two of them sharing a laugh as Arcee and Bumblebee looked at the two with a frown.
(Flashback over)
The mission definitely could have gone better, Arcee thought.
"Optimus" the two-wheeler getting the attention of her leader, "I'm going to go pick Jack up from work. It's been 2 hours so his shift is over soon."
Optimus gave her a nod as she transformed into the motorcycle, activated her Sadie hologram and speeded out of the base.
Once she arrived at the KO Burger, Arcee put up her kickstand and de-activated Sadie, waiting for Jack to come out. She parked in her usual spot giving her a good view of the drive-thru window. Arcee looked up, expecting to see Jack giving out the last order before taking off the uniform. Instead she sees a blond hair girl talking on the phone while handing out the order.
Where's Jack? Arcee thought. He should be out here by now.
Arcee thought maybe June picked him up and decided to give her a call, only to hear that she has been at the hospital this whole morning. The two-wheeler began to feel worried. Jack is not the type to want to spend extra time at the KO Burger. She then realized that Jack's bike wasn't here.
He must have biked home by now. Quickly, Arcee activated Sadie and drove off towards the Darby household. Getting there, she noticed that the garage door was wide open and there was no sign of Jack or his bike. Fearing the worst, Arcee quickly gave June another call.
"June I think you should head over to the KO Burger. Jack didn't come out for me to pick him up and he didn't come home either." The two-wheeler had a worried tone that didn't go unnoticed by June.
"Arcee, I'll meet you at the KO Burger in 5 minutes" the mother said, "there's no need to worry, Jack is fine." The two of them ended the call as June began to doubt what she just said.
...
"Ughh my head"
Jack woke up slowly, still dazed by the knock out. His head pounded and tried to sit up, only to be restrained by the straps around his limbs. Suddenly he remembered what happened; the KO Burger delivery, the fake address and the men surrounding him before he was knocked unconscious.
"What the heck? Where am I?"
"Hello Jack, good to see you awake finally." A familiar voice said. He was in a dark room and Jack's eyes haven't adjusted to the darkness yet.
After a couple moments, Jack could see a little better. He took in his surroundings; he was in a dark room with doctor equipment lying on a metal table to his right, strange black substances were bubbling to his left and standing in front of him was none other than Silas, smirking and the teen.
"Silas," Jack grit his teeth, "what do you want? If you're trying to get information about the Autobots, I'll never tell!"
"Relax Jack," the maniac responded, "we don't want any information. We want you."
"What could I possibly do for you?" asked Jack. He couldn't believe this was happening. He should be at home, relaxing and talking with Arcee. Not here being strapped down by some power hungry madman.
"You should be thankful Jack," Silas started, "you have been chosen to be Operation 000's test subject. Many of my soldiers would be honored with the chance to be... augmented."
"Augmented, what do you mean?" Curiosity was getting the better of him.
"Well, a couple weeks ago, the Earth went through a very strange behaviour. We couldn't figure out what was causing all those natural disasters, many people thought it was the end of the world. That's when we picked up a strong energy source erupting from a volcano. When we arrived, we found a land full of what you call "dark energon". After taking some samples and running some tests, we made a discovery. Dark energon is a living chemical compound, capable of increasing physical abilities. We learned of this when Megatron used its power to take down Optimus Prime."
Jack thought back to that event. Optimus was in a heated battle with Megatron, almost ending it, until the volcano erupted, giving Megatron the upper edge and defeating Optimus. Luckily, the other Autobots were able to rescue Optimus before he was killed.
Silas interrupted his thoughts as he continued. "This is how Operation 000 was created. Using MECH's technologies and information, we were able to create a stable chemical mixture we call 000. This chemical will give its user enhanced physical abilities, creating the ultimate MECH soldier. Although, we were only able to make enough for 1 person, I thought, who better to use it on but my old friend, Jack Darby."
It suddenly dawned on him. The place he is in is an operation room and he was the test subject. Things weren't looking good for him.
"I'll never work for you! The Autobots will save me and wipe that smirk right off your face!" Jack snarled.
"Goodbye Jack." Silas said while walking away. "When Operation 000 is complete, you will be a completely changed person.
Jack watched as Silas left through the double doors, allowing a group of MECH scientists pushing in the rest of their supplies followed by the MECH surgeon.
"No please" Jack begged looking straight at the surgeon, "this is wrong. I'm just a kid! Please you can stop this!"
The surgeon looked at Jack before letting out a little laugh. He reached over to his set of tools, revealing a very sharp knife and a big injection needle with some of the black substance inside. Jack's eyes widened at the deadly equipment. The only thought that came to his mind was Arcee and how much he wanted to be with her, wrapped inside of her arms.
The man walked over to Jack looking straight into his eyes.
"This... is going to hurt. And it's going to hurt a lot."
The surgeon pulled on his mask and lowered the knife.
Moments later, bloodshot screams of pain could be heard throughout the MECH facility.
...
"What do you mean you sent him on a delivery?!" June was at the KO Burger talking with the manager. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Look," Mr. Cowell started, "I sent him to deliver some food to a customer over 2 hours ago. If Jack wants to ditch work, that's fine by me! When you see him, tell him HE'S FIRED!"
"Since when does this dump deliver?" June asked.
"Since the customers started paying triple for what they're buying!" Mr. Cowell answered as he walked off.
"I'll have you know, I know people who work for the government!" June yelled at the manager, "I'm going to have this place shut down in a matter of days!" The woman stormed off through the door, slamming it so hard the glass shattered.
She walked over to the parked Arcee in vehicle mode, talking over the com-link with Optimus.
"Yes,...yes,...he's missing Optimus!..." Arcee noticed June walking over with a worried face. "...hold on Optimus..." Her front wheel turned to face June. "Anything?"
June quickly explained to Arcee how the manager had sent him on a delivery but Jack never came back. She showed Arcee the address he was sent to.
"Optimus I'm sending an address now" Arcee scanned the paper with her headlights. "...yes...we'll meet you there." She turned back to June. "Quick June, hop on!"
June rapidly mounted Arcee as the two women zoomed to the address Jack went to. Nearing the outskirts of the town, Arcee noticed multiple old houses that were on its last legs. The area was definitely the older part of Jasper and needed reconstruction soon.
June gasped as she saw Jack's bike locked up against a pole. Arcee quickly turned onto the road known as Hinter Street as she slowed down her speed so June could look at the house numbers.
"184,...186,...188,...190,...192,...T-there's no 194!" June exclaimed.
Arcee reached the end of the road just as a green vortex appeared, revealing a truck, 2 sports cars, an HUV, and an ambulance. All the vehicles stopped as the vortex closed and looked at the spot where the supposed 194 house should be.
Arcee and June quickly filled them in on what they were missing.
Bumblebee let out a couple beeps turning towards Optimus.
"You are right Bumblebee, Jack must have came down this very road. Ratchet, do you think you can scan the area for any human DNA?"
Ratchet's headlights immediately emitted a dark blue light, scanning the side walk and road. "My scans indicate Jack was here exactly 1 hour and 30 minutes ago" the medic stated.
Suddenly Ratchet gasped, letting everyone know that he found something. "Based on my scans, over a dozen men surrounded Jack. Following his DNA trail it leads to the end of the road where... they all just stop."
Arcee felt like someone just dropped a planet on her head. She couldn't believe Jack, her partner, was gone, taken by a group of men. A wave of emotions came over her; sadness, fear, anger. It was her fault Jack has disappeared. Now, she might never see him again. She won't ever have the chance to tell him how much he means to her.
Optimus broke the silence. "Ratchet, are any of the men's DNA signatures recognizable through our database?"
Ratchet quickly crossed linked the DNA scans with the DNA database the Autobots owned. Another gasp came from the ambulance.
"Yes. The one who was closest to Jack's position."
"Silas."
Hey guys. Once again, hope you enjoyed this chapter of Transformers Prime: Operation 000. Please leave a review and let me know how you think about the story so far. Other than that, have a great day.