Chapter 6
The swirling green vortex closed as he Autobots and human companions made it onto the Bermuda Triangle Island safely. The team transformed into their robotic forms while looking around. The groundbridge had dropped them off at a rock beach. Dark clouds covered the sky and barely any sunshine could penetrate them. The harsh waves of the ocean smashed against the large rocks on the left side, only to be broken apart as another wave appeared behind the old one. Up ahead, a thick forest covered the ground and a single mountain peak could be seen in the distance.
"WOW! This is SO COOL!" Miko exclaimed, quickly taking out her phone and snapping some pictures. "Bulk, Wheeljack! Get in this one!"
The two wreckers shrugged as they moved closer so all three of them would be captured by the phone's camera.
Raf looked around, just as astonished as Miko is. Farther down the rocky beach, Raf spotted something that appeared to be a broken airplane wing. Next to it was a torn up boat, no longer usable and obviously it got washed up onto the shore by the strong waves.
"That explains a lot" Raf said, he pointed to the broken wing and the torn up boat. "Check it out Bee, that's one of the lost planes and boats that I was talking about earlier."
Bumblebee studied the broken up vehicles and let out some curious beeps.
Raf's emotions slightly became a bit sadder as he responded. "I don't think anyone could have survived that."
"Autobots, the relic's signal is getting stronger. That must mean the Decepticons are unearthing the relic as we speak. We must move quickly." Optimus stated as he made his way into the forest. Bumblebee, Wheeljack, Bulkhead followed with their human companions not too far behind. Arcee stared out at the ocean, watching the waves move around.
Jack would have loved this, she thought and let out a sad sigh. Jack, please be okay.
Arcee quickly caught up to the group as they continued their way through the forest.
Not too long after entering the dense forest, the group heard drilling and someone yelling from a nearby clearing.
"Come on!" Knock Out yelled at one of the Vehicon miners. "Put your back into it!" The red doctor impatiently crossed his arms and tapped his foot. Breakdown stepped forward, pulling the Vehicon backwards as he activated his hammer in his left hand.
"I got this" he said, smashing the rocks around the area the Vehicons were mining, revealing a metal container which held the relic.
The Autobots watched all this happen as they crouched down in the forest. Knowing that they had to act fast, Optimus quickly devised a plan.
"Wheeljack, Bulkhead. You two will enter from the far side of the forest while Bumblebee and I attack from here. On my command, we launch an all out assault. Remember, we are trying to retrieve the relic. As soon as we get it, I will contact Ratchet for a groundbridge."
The three Autobots nodded but Arcee had a question.
"Optimus, what am I going to do?" she asked.
Optimus looked down at his second-in-command and could see in her optics that she was still emotionally unstable. "You will stay here and protect our human companions. When the groundbridge arrives, you will take through it immediately."
"Aww" complained Miko as she pouted and crossed her arms.
"But Optimus I-"
Arcee was cut off by Optimus. "Arcee, you are in no condition to fight at this moment. I need you to watch Miko and Raf. We have already lost one of our allies recently and I do not plan on losing another one." He looked at the rest of the group. "Autobots, you know what we must do. Take your positions." Optimus slid his faceplate across, covering his mouth.
Wheeljack and Bulkhead quickly made their way over to their position while Optimus and Bumblebee activated their blasters. Meanwhile, Breakdown had just uncovered the container. He picked it up and curiously started to study it.
"I don't see what so special about a metal container" he said to Knock Out. "If Megatron wanted one so bad, I could have made it for him."
Knock Out grabbed the container from his partner. "He doesn't want the container. It's the thing inside the container that he wants." The doctor started to open up the container but stopped as he saw his reflection in the metal.
"Wow," he said to no one in particular as he stared at himself, "I look good."
Suddenly Wheeljack jumped out from his cover and blasted Knock out. The doctor was taken by surprise and was thrown back, dropping the container.
"I had about enough of you, princess" Wheeljack said through his faceplate, making his way over to retrieve the relic.
Before he could pick it up, he was hit across the face by Breakdown's hammer, knocking him to the side.
As that happened, Optimus, Bumblebee and Bulkhead rushed towards the clearing. The green wrecker immediately targeted his long time enemy and gave him an uppercut with his mace. Breakdown recovered and counter-attacked, landing two blows against Bulkhead's chest. The two heavies alternately bashed each other, both of them trying to knock the other one down.
"What's wrong Bulkhead," Breakdown mocked as he blocked one of Bulkhead's swings, "you starting to go soft on me?" The blue mech landed a hit to Bulkhead's chest, pushing him back a couple feet before activating his shoulder canon and fired at him. A barrage of blaster fire rained down onto the wrecker. Bulkhead saw it coming and he rolled out of the way. The blasts barely missed him, only scorching his arm a bit, and created a little dent in the ground.
"No, I'm just getting started" Bulkhead answered as he activated his own blaster. Quickly, he aimed at Breakdown's shoulder and shot off his blaster, causing the blue mech to howl out in pain. The two heavies ran towards each other, Breakdown's hammer and Bulkhead's mace colliding in the middle.
Meanwhile, Optimus and Bumblebee were busy fending off Vehicons, Knock Out slowly got up. He quickly checked his body and saw the blaster mark of where Wheeljack had hit him and instantly became enraged.
Looking Wheeljack straight in the optics, he activated his energon staff and charged. "You dare ruin my paint job! I'll destroy yours!"
Wheeljack unsheathed his swords just in time to block Knock Out's attack. The wrecker spun to his left, and tried to slice Knock Out's arm, only to have it paired with the staff. He tried using his other sword but the doctor saw it coming and kicked Wheeljack's hand, making him drop the sword. Catching him off guard, Knock Out jabbed the end of his staff into Wheeljack's leg, shocking the wrecker for a moment before he fell to his knees. The doctor activated the knife that shot out of the end of his staff, hoping to finish him off. Wheeljack dodged the blade but came in contact with the staff, the force of the swing pushing him to the side.
"I gotta give you some credit doc," Wheeljack quipped while spitting out some energon that was dripping from his mouth, "you sure know how to twirl your little baton. Maybe you should join the circus."
The wrecker quickly got back up and started unleashing a barrage of swings at Knock Out, the two robots pairing after every attempt.
While Bulkhead and Wheeljack were dealing with their Decepticon foes, Optimus noticed the relic unguarded. From behind a large rock he used as cover, the Autobot leader turned around and shot his blaster a few times before turning to Bumblebee who was lying on his torso, shooting from underneath a fallen tree.
"Bumblebee!" Optimus yelled, getting the scout's attention. "Retrieve the relic while I provide cover fire." The scout nodded and transformed into the yellow and black Urbana 500. Optimus jumped out from behind the rock and charged at the oncoming squadron of Vehicons. The leader dodged blaster fire as he fired back, off-lining a couple unfortunate Vehicons.
The squadron was too busy with Optimus to notice Bumblebee speed off towards the relic. In one swift motion, the scout jumped, transformed and grabbed the relic, then transformed into his vehicle form once again, landing with a bounce and speeding off towards the forest.
As that happened, Wheeljack and Bulkhead started to back-up. Knock out and Breakdown bearing down on them as the wreckers pressed their backs against each other. Wheeljack saw Bumblebee retrieve the relic and smirked, reminding himself to congratulate the scout on that slick move.
"Bulkhead!" he yelled out to his fellow wrecker. "Let's finish this, wrecker style!"
The green Autobot smirked and nodded his head as Wheeljack secretly activated his grenade and passed it along to Bulkhead. The pair waited until Knock out and Breakdown were right in front of them before dropping the grenade and diving to the side. The two Decepticons saw the grenade and tried to run but it was too late. The blast engulfed the two as the explosion shook the ground. Some Vehicons weren't paying attention as they too were engulfed in the explosion. Others fell to the ground or took cover. Optimus was forced to retreat back to the large rock as the explosion just passed him when he dove behind the rock.
Looking out from the forest, Miko, Raf, and Arcee watched as the event unfolded. Raf saw Bumblebee driving towards them and cheered when the scout let him know that he got the relic.
"It's not over yet" Arcee stated blankly. "Knock Out and Breakdown aren't that easy to get rid of. There are also plenty of Vehicons left to scrap. You two better stay here until we know that it's safe to go out."
Raf nodded his head and looked back. "Ummm, Arcee?" The female looked down at the boy and saw him pointing towards the direction of the explosion. Because of all the dust, Arcee could barely see anything until she picked up the figure of Miko running towards Bulkhead.
"Scrap" she cursed and quickly went after her, leaving Bumblebee and Raf in the forest.
When the dust cleared, everyone slowly got up. Knock Out slowly stood up, a little dazed from the explosion. He looked down at himself and gasped. Burns and scorch marks covered his body as his red paint was barely visible behind the brown dirt. "Look at what you Autobots did!" he screamed. "This is going to take cycles to repair!"
He was about to curse again when he spotted something that stood out from everything else. In the middle of the crater left behind by Wheeljack's explosion, was another container. This one was much larger than the other one and was severely damaged by the explosion. Unfortunately for him, he was not the only one to see the uncovered relic.
"Another relic?" Bulkhead asked Optimus.
"It appears so Bulkhead. Although, the scanners did not pick up another energy signal so the beacon on this one must be damaged. Nonetheless, we cannot allow the Decepticons to get their hands on Autobot artifacts! Autobots, retrieve the second relic!" Optimus commanded as he ran towards Knock Out. The Decepticon doctor was about to pick up the container until he was tackled by Optimus. Breakdown attempted to retrieve it by himself but was attacked by Wheeljack. The wrecker drew his swords and motioned for Breakdown to attack, in which he gladly accepted the challenge by activating his hammer and charged. Bulkhead was busy fending off the remaining Vehicons. The green wrecker seemed to be having fun as he smashed his maces against the face of a Vehicon.
Everyone was too busy with their own fights to notice Miko run towards the broken container.
"Wow" was all she said, looking up. For an artifact, it towered over her at almost 12 feet. Miko was very curious to see what ancient Cybertronian tech this container held. She saw a crack in the metal container and reached her hand into it. She couldn't see anything but felt a metal surface. As soon as her hand made contact, a very dim light appeared inside and the artifact started to vibrate before it all came to a complete stop. Startled Miko took out her hand and tried to look inside.
"Miko!" Arcee yelled as the female Autobot ran towards her. "I told you not to move. Now come on!" Surprisingly, Arcee's voice seemed to sound different. There was more care and worry in her voice than usual. A wave of guilt hit Miko in the chest as she knew that Jack's disappearance has been really hard on Arcee and her stunt probably just made it worst.
"Ok let's get out of here" she responded but pointed at the container. "What do we do with this?" Arcee tried to life the artifact but in all fairness, it stood at roughly a third of her height. She could lift it, but it would be at a slow pace and would look pretty obvious that someone was moving it away.
"Quick, hop on" she said as she transformed into her motorcycle form. "We'll get Bumblebee to pick it up."
The two girls raced back to the forest where they joined up with Bumblebee and Raf. As Miko got off Arcee quickly transformed into her bipedal form and took the first container form Bumblebee's hands. "Bee, there's another relic that got uncovered when the explosion went off. It's too big for me to carry so I need you to go get it."
The scout nodded and ran out of the forest towards the crater. Optimus spotted the young Autobot make a move for the relic and created a strategy accordingly.
"Autobots! Provide Bumblebee with cover fire and hold back your opponents!" he ordered. The three of them formed a tight wall with their back facing the container. Activating their blasters, they let loose at everything that tried to move forward.
Bumblebee saw the cover his teammates were providing and quickly picked up the second relic in his arms, running back to the forest. As he ran, he was shot a couple times in the back and shoulders but refused to stop because of the pain. Optimus, Wheeljack, and Bulkhead followed; taking blaster fire for the scout and returning with everything they had. As they neared the forest, Arcee contacted Ratchet for a groundbridge. The swirling green vortex appeared to her left as she picked up the children, as well as the relic and jumped in.
Bumblebee continued to run forward, taking more hits as he separated from the wall the others were providing. Pain shot up his back as he felt energon dripping. The scout pushed past the pain and dashed for the groundbridge, collapsing on the other side. Wheeljack and Bulkhead quickly followed through as Optimus continued to shoot at the oncoming Decepticons. Seeing the vortex begin to close, he quickly dove through, just in time before one of Breakdown's missiles hit.
"Scrap!" The angry Decepticon said as he smashed one of the nearby Vehicons. "Megatron is going to tear us a new one for losing two relics."
...
Optimus appeared in the command center as he changed directions in mid-air so that he wouldn't land on the collapsed Bumblebee. The Autobot leader got up and aided in getting Bumblebee to the medical room. The four of them sat on different berths, allowing Ratchet to scan them all.
"Luckily, you all sustained minor injuries. Bumblebee seemed to have gotten the worst of it all. Once I patch up those holes and refill your energon, you should all be fine." Ratchet said as he got to work on Bumblebee.
"You okay Bulkhead?" Miko asked looking up at her green guardian. He had a couple dents where Breakdown hit him but he was fine.
"I'm fine Miko" he answered, smiling down at his friend.
"How about you Bee?" Raf looked at Bumblebee.
The scout beeped happily and put a thumbs up. The boy laughed at his friends antics and was glad that he wasn't hurt too badly.
Arcee watched as Miko and Raf laughed and joked with their friends and instantly thought of Jack. Whenever she was in this room, Jack would always be there, right next to her side. Even when she wanted him to leave, he would stay. Sometimes, he would sit here for hours, waiting for her to recover.
"Partners always stick together" is what he said, Arcee thought to herself. She turned around so that no one would see the tear coming from her optics. Quietly, she made her way to her quarters, locking the door and allowing all her emotions to come out.
...
After about 30 minutes of recovery, the Autobots are now back on their feet. Currently they are all standing in the command center waiting for Arcee, once again. The two containers holding ancient Cybertronian artifacts lay on the ground. Everyone was excited to see what secrets lie inside.
"Come on!" Miko impatiently said. "Let's bust these cans open and take a peak at what's inside!"
"Not yet Miko" Bulkhead responded, looking down at his human companion. "We're waiting for Arcee."
"Hummf!" Miko pouted with her arms crossed, "fine!"
Moments later, Arcee slowly trotted in. Once again, she was looking down at the floor, not saying a word. Wheeljack saw that her arm was slightly wet and knew exactly what she had been doing in her quarters. Under any normal circumstances, he would have jumped on the opportunity to make fun of the two-wheeler, however, he also knew that Jack meant the world to her and ever since his kidnapping, Arcee hasn't been the same.
"So..." Ratchet said awkwardly, "should we start?"
"Go ahead old friend" Optimus said, "I too am excited to see what ancient artifacts are hidden in those containers."
Ratchet nodded as he walked over to the two containers. He picked up the smaller one, the first relic they had retrieved. Ever so gently, he began opening the lid of the container. With a hiss, the lid opened and everyone leaned in to get a better look at the artifact. Ratchet looked at the looks of anticipation on everyone face and let out a little chuckle as he reached in a grabbed the artifact.
Pulling it out, he studied it for a moment before letting out a little gasp. The artifact appeared to be a plate with a blue circle in the middle. It was quite hard to explain because of how technologically advanced it looked. Optimus looked at it, not believing his eyes while Wheeljack and Bulkhead had confused looks on their faces. Bumblebee held Raf closer and Arcee merely gave it a glance.
"Optimus,... is this what I think it is?" Ratchet asked the Autobot leader.
"Yes" he responded, "I believe so. Autobots, this ancient artifact as called the Apex Armor. It was used by the Thirteen and hand crafted by Solus Prime herself. In their battle against Unicron, the armor was used frequently and is the most protective item in Cybertronian history."
Raf looked up at Optimus. "Didn't you say that it was called the Apex Armor? To me it looks like a high-tech plate. Why is it called the Apex Armor is there is no armor?"
"A very good question Rafael" Ratchet quipped, "allow me to show you. With that, Ratchet placed the plate like artifact on his chest and it immediately began to extend. Armor plates engulfed Ratchet as the Apex Armor lived up to its name. Once all movement was complete, Ratchet's whole body was covered in blue tinted armor. His arms looked huge and the armor gave him extra height, making him taller than Optimus Prime. Everyone looked at him in awe as he stood above them. Ratchet then pressed something in the middle of his chest, reverting him back to his regular form and the Apex Armor once again becoming the small little plate.
"Who ever wears the Apex Armor instantly becomes indestructible" Optimus explained, "No amount of force or bullet can penetrate that armor. I am grateful we did not allow the Decepticons to be able to retrieve this ancient relic."
"That was so cool!" Miko exclaimed. "Hey Bulk, maybe if I wear that Apex thingy, we could go sparing together!"
"I don't know Miko, even with the armor it's still kinda dangerous." The wrecker said.
"Oh Come on! Afraid you'll lose against a human?" The little girl teased. Bulkhead rolled his optics while Wheeljack chuckled.
"The girl's got spunk, I'll give her that." Wheeljack said patting Miko on the head. "Maybe one day she could be an honorary wrecker."
Miko looked up at Wheeljack with stars in her eyes. "Really? You really think so? Wow a wrecker. I've always wanted to be one."
"Alright enough" Ratchet said cutting in, "you can talk about your dreams some time else. Right now, let us open the second container. After scanning the container's properties, it appears that it was already damaged before Wheeljack's grenade. I believe it still functions but we should be cautious while opening it."
"Oh it functions Ratchet, I tested it."
"What?!" The medic looked at Miko with disbelief, "how could you have possible tested it. It's still in the container."
"Well actually, when you guys were busy scrapping the 'cons, I went over to the artifact." Miko started. "I was curious to see what was inside so I reached my hand through one of the cracks and felt a metal surface. When I touched it, there was a small light and the whole thing rumbled a bit before stopping."
Ratchet stared at the girl with his mouth wide open. "You thought it would be a good idea to touch a damaged artifact?! HAVE YOU GONE MAD?! The consequences of your actions could have been much worse! What if it was a bomb and you just set it off?! What if it was a very delicate relic and you just destroyed it?! What if-"
"Ratchet" Optimus cut him off, "I believe you have stated your point. It was a very irresponsible thing for Miko to touch the artifact without safety precautions. However, we should be glad that she is okay. Shall we open the container and see what lies inside?"
Ratchet pinched the bridge of his "nose" and stepped forward with a grunt. He reached down and began to open up the container.
"PRIME!"
The voice startled Ratchet as he turned around to see who it was. Everyone looked at the communication's monitor and saw Agent Fowler's picture, indicating that he is in a transmission call with them
"We have some information regarding MECH" Agent Fowler's voice came through.
Arcee immediately looked over at Optimus with pleading eyes. Optimus nodded and turned his attention to the monitor.
"Have you found where they are holding Jack?" The Prime asked.
"Yes and no. Let me start from the beginning. A couple hours ago, someone managed to break into the Pentagon..."
"Isn't the Pentagon supposed to be like super secure and super classified?" Miko asked.
"Yes it is. We're still trying to find out how they managed to get in. Anyways, whoever got in completely wiped out Sector D-23 and managed to steal information from our military database."
"Hold on Agent Fowler" Raf jumped in. "For someone to access the database, they would need to be using a computer that has straight access to it. Also, what did you mean by 'wiped out'. You mean the equipment is destroyed?"
Agent Fowler took a moment to think of a response. "No, the equipment is fine. When I say 'wiped out', I mean that everyone who worked in that sector has been killed. Also, they were not just killed, but brutally murdered... Let's just say, we can't identify any of the dead bodies. Anyways, Sector D-23 is the government's technological division and has access to all of our files. Whoever infiltrated the area copied a file regarding "dark energon" and sent it to a secure network. After our team found out something was copied, we immediately traced the network to MECH and found the location of where the data was sent."
Arcee took all of this information in. Suddenly her emotions went from sad and depressed to angry and furious. "Optimus, we have to rescue Jack and stop MECH's plans."
The Prime nodded his head. "I agree Arcee, Agent Fowler if you could please send the co-ordinates, we will groundbridge there immediately."
"Sure thing. Good luck to you all. And Prime?"
"Yes Agent Fowler, what is it?"
"Bring our guy back." With that he ended the transmission. Optimus looked at his team and saw the anger and determination on their faces. He too had this feeling inside of him. They will do whatever it takes to bring Jack back. He looked over at Arcee and saw the anger burning inside of her. The groundbridge opened in front of them and Optimus stepped forward.
"Autobots, we must remember to keep our emotions in check. Not only for our safety but for Jack."
Arcee quickly glanced to a picture of Jack on the wall, the same one that is in quarters.
"Jack" she whispered to herself, "I'm bringing you home."
"Autobots, roll out!"
Team Prime transformed and drove into the swirling green vortex. Each of them prepared for anything MECH throws at them.
Like the prisoners, they were very, very wrong.
...