My Life as a Teenage Autobot
Chapter 12: Rebooted
Shockwave stepped back to admire his work. After weeks of tedious and challenging labor he and his team finally finished reconstructing Trypticon. The once wrecked city was as pristine and battle ready as ever. Pretty impressive considering the damage the Autobots did to it-er- him so long ago. He was outfitted with new and better point defense cannons, shield generators, missile launchers, and the devastating main proton cannon.
Shockwave threw a switch on a console which was connected to Trypticon. A signal traveled into the restored city and activated the Energon Cell that replaced his spark. Lights began to come on in the city and servos hummed back into life. When the power up process completed, Shockwave stepped toward Trypticon.
"Can you hear me Trypticon?" Shockwave asked. The Decepticon scientist was met by a low, loud, and powerful voice. "YES." The city bellowed. "Good. Now try to transform." Shockwave commanded. Several large servos and gears grinded into motion as the city literally stood up on two gigantic legs. As the city continued to form what looked like a robotic T-Rex, Shockwave and the Vehicon technicians watched in awe.
"I! AM! TRYPTICON!" The T-Rex hollered as he finished transforming. He towered over the wrecked Cybertronian landscape, making even Shockwave look like an ant in comparison. His main body color was a very dark shade of purple and he also had gold and red highlights. (Think Trypticon in War for Cybertron) His optics burned with blood red and his mouth contained teeth that could chomp a Cybertronian to bits. Even in this mode, several of the defensive armaments and weapons were visible in the form of twin barreled cannons and missile pods. On Trypticon's back was the only thing uncharacteristic of a T-Rex: a massive jet pack with four engines.
Shockwave activated his comm-link. "Lord Megatron I have good news. Trypticon is online." Back on the bridge of the Nemesis, Megatron grinned. "Excellent work Shockwave." He praised. "Wait, Shockwave is back?! And he repaired Trypticon?!" Starscream asked in astonishment. "How long was I out?" Megatron turned to Starscream. "Shockwave was recovered several weeks ago and he has worked on Trypticon since then." Megatron informed. "This reminds me, I need to clarify the new chain of command."
"Shockwave is now my first lieutenant in charge of all scientific endeavors, though you will retain control over military operations." Starscream's wings sagged in disappointment. "So what you're saying is, we shall both report directly to you?" Starscream guessed. Megatron nodded in response. "Wonderful." Starscream growled.
"Shockwave, tell Trypticon to take flight toward the Space Bridge. After that, Soundwave will Bridge you onto the Nemesis." Megatron advised. "Understood my liege; Shockwave out." Shockwave replied.
He did as was instructed and joined the Decepticon leadership on the bridge of the Nemesis. "Starscream, I am surprised you survived this long." Shockwave insulted. "At least I wasn't trapped in a pod by the Autobots." Starscream shot back. "Quiet both of you!" Megatron commanded.
Just then, Trypticon came through the Space Bridge. Once he was through, the bridge closed. Megatron then ordered to positioned himself halfway between Earth and its moon. "Trypticon, keep your sights fixed on a city named Washington D.C. but hold your fire until further notice." Megatron ordered. "YES LORD MEGATRON." Trypticon complied as he fired his thrusters to move into position.
At the Autobot Base…
Miko plugged her guitar into her amp and turned to Jenny. "Ready?" she asked. Jenny gave a nod. The rest of the Autobots, Jack, and Raph gathered around them. Miko began strumming the four note opening to the song Jenny picked. Then Jenny began to sing. (Feel free to find the song on Youtube and play it here.)
"You got the touch
You got the power, yeah!
After all is said and done
You've never walked, you've never run,
You're a winner."
Everyone was stunned and impressed by Jenny's singing. Even Ratchet was secretly tapping his foot to the beat of the song.
"You got the moves, you know the streets
Break the rules, take the heat
You're nobody's fool
You're at your best when the goin' gets rough
You've been put to the test, but it's never enough
You got the touch
You got the power
When all hell's breakin' loose
You'll be riding the eye of the storm
You got the heart
You got the motion
You know that when things get too tough
You got the touch
You never bend, you never break
You seem to know just what it takes
You're a fighter
It's in the blood, it's in the will
It's in the mighty hands of steel
When you're standin' your ground
And you never get hit when your back's to the wall
Gonna fight to the end and you're takin' it all
You got the touch
You got the power
When all hell's breakin' loose
You'll be riding the eye of the storm
You got the heart
You got the motion
You know that when things get too tough
You got the touch
You're fightin' fire with fire
You know you got the touch"
Miko performed the short guitar solo and sang with Jenny after she finished.
You're at your best when when the road gets rough
You've been put to the test, but it's never enough
You got the touch
You got the power, yeah!"
Miko ended the song with a powerful chord that resonated around the room for a few seconds. "You sing?" Jack asked in amazement. Jenny blushed. "I do a little vocal work in my spare time." She answered. "Sounds like you've been singin' for years." Bulkhead complimented. "Yeah you've got an awesome voice." Miko agreed.
BEEP BEEP BEEP. The comm system rang. "It's Agent Fowler." Ratchet observed. He patched the government agent through. "Prime, you'd better take a look at this." Fowler began. He transmitted three images of a giant robotic T-Rex in extreme high orbit above Earth. "The Hubble Telescope and ISS snapped these about an hour ago. The Pentagon thought you could identify them."
The images appeared on Ratchets computer screen. As soon as they appeared, all of the Autobots' eyes widened. "By the Allspark!" Ratchet gasped. "No. That's not possible. I saw Optimus take him down." Jetfire remembered. "So, who is it?" asked Fowler. "That is a Decepticon known as Trypticon. He was one of Megatron's most powerful weapons during the War for Cybertron." Optimus said. "That's it! That's what they were doing!" Jenny blurted out. The Autobots, the children, and Fowler gave her confused looks.
"Optimus, you said that Shockwave built weapons for Megatron right? And Megatron stole my power source and the proton cannon right?" Jenny began. "So this whole time, Shockwave was restoring Trypticon so that Megatron could send him to Earth." Arcee deduced. "And that must mean that the Cons moved their Space Bridge into space." Ratchet added. "No pressure Prime, but you and your team have to take Trypticon down. That cannon could do unspeakable damage to Earth's population centers." Fowler warned.
"I agree Agent Fowler. Unfortunately, Trypticon is out of Ground Bridge range and only Jetfire could reach him if we made it to space." Optimus informed. Fowler thought for a moment. "I'll call some people at NASA." He said before hanging up.
"Uh, Prime, Jetfire's not the only Autobot here that can make it to space." Jenny pointed out. "You're not telling me that you can are you?" Ratchet scoffed. It was Jenny's turn to show the Autobots some transformation. Her back opened up and two rocket engines extended from it while two wings folded into a swept forward position on either side of the engines. Finally a silver mask formed over Jenny's mouth and nose. "Nice mask." Arcee quipped.
Back in High Orbit…
"Soundwave, have you finished hacking into the frequency of every communication device in Washington?" Megatron asked. Soundwave gave a slow nod in response. "Begin recording." Megatron ordered. Soon, Megatron's face appeared on every television, cell phone, tablet, and computer screen in DC. "Greetings fleshlings, I am Lord Megatron of the Decepticons." The image cut to Trypticon. "As I speak there is a weapon in high orbit above the planet with the ability to level your cities. If I do not receive the exact coordinates of the Autobot base within the next 72 Earth hours, I will destroy Washington D.C. Any attempt to resist will result in destruction of the city before the deadline expires. That is all."
Back at the Autobot Base…
Agent Fowler called the Autobots back. "Our guys in Washington got a transmission from Megatron." Fowler announced. He played the message back for the Autobots. "The good news is that the folks over at NASA have agreed to help us out." Fowler said. "Bridge into the former Orbital Processing Facility at Cape Canaveral."
Ratchet fired up the Ground Bridge and locked its coordinates on the OPF. "Jack, Miko, Raph," Optimus began. "Remain here to monitor communications and operate the Ground Bridge. We may need Ratchet to assist the NASA engineers." The children nodded in agreement. When the Autobots stepped through the ground bridge, they walked into a large white building with several floors of scaffolding and high tech repair equipment. Some engineers and technicians were examining something under a white tarp in a far corner.
One of the engineers walked up to the Autobots. She had dark brown hair, slightly tanned skin, chocolate brown hair, and was about 5'10". She wore a white lab coat over a yellow polo shirt and jeans. She also had red rimmed glasses. The scientist beamed at the Autobots like a fan girl. "Oh. My. God. It's you. It's Optimus Prime!" She exclaimed. "And you are?" Optimus wondered. "Lauren Pond at your service." She answered.
"I beg your pardon, Miss Pond, but why did Agent Fowler want us to come here?" Optimus asked. "Because we're going to outfit you with these." She answered while gesturing to some silver tubes of varying size with several wires connected to them. There were also several warning signs on the sides. "These are experimental Ion Pulse Rockets." Lauren explained. "If my calculations are correct, they should give you enough power to reach Trypticon from Earth orbit."
"How long do you estimate it will take to outfit the engines?" Ratchet inquired. "With the manpower and resources we have here I estimate we can finish by tonight." Lauren answered. "There is one more thing. In order to add maneuvering thrusters, we'll need to add wings to the rockets." Lauren added. "Shouldn't be a problem. Ratchet and I will make sure everything goes smoothly." Jetfire promised. "You might want to be careful of Ratchet though. He can be a control freak sometimes."
Ratchet glared at Jetfire. "Alright, alright let's get to work." Ratchet said. The engineers decided that Arcee would be the easiest bot to outfit with a rocket pack, so they started with her. After some quick calculations, the scientists concluded that Arcee would need only one medium sized engine. Mounting it and the wings was simple enough as there was plenty of room between Arcee's existing back wings.
Bumblebee was next up and he was a bit apprehensive about people tampering with his assemblage. Jenny flew up to his eye level. "Don't worry Bee. It's only temporary. Besides, you're gonna love flying." She promised. Jenny's words seemed to comfort the scout so he calmed down and allowed the humans to do their work. They gave him two medium sized engines and foldable extensions for his door wings.
Next was the real challenge: Bulkhead. Some of the engineers doubted if they could even get him off the ground much less into space. But, they decided that two large engines and a medium engine would provide enough power. The One large engine went on each side of the wheels on his back and the medium engine went in the space between those wheels. Like Bumblebee, Bulkhead received foldable wings that housed the thruster modules. "This will take some getting' used to." Bulkhead quipped.
Finally, Optimus received two large engines that mounted onto his back near his smoke stacks. The foldable wings he received were swept back and the same shade of red that he was. Silver trim covered the leading edge of each wing. "Wow. You guys look awesome." Jenny complimented.
"Miss Pond, thank you for your services." Optimus thanked. "No problem Optimus. It was an honor." She replied. The Autobots returned to the base where agent Fowler, the children and Wheeljack were waiting. "Jackie!" Bulkhead exclaimed. "Good to see you too Bulk." Wheeljack said. "Jenny, meet Wheeljack." Bulkhead introduced. Wheeljack and Jenny eyed each other with curiosity. "I here talk you gotten yourself into some fixes during your time here." Wheeljack baited.
Jenny didn't flinch. "I here talk you have a callous disregard for rules, safety, and orders." She countered. After a few more seconds of staring the two burst into laughter. "You've got guts kid, I'll give you that." Wheeljack praised. "What brings you here?" Bulkhead questioned. "I was passing through the system when I picked up Megatron's transmission so I decided to head over here." Wheeljack said. "Nice wings by the way."
"Alright Prime, here's the story. The Pentagon wants to arm Jetfire with nuclear warheads to defeat Trypticon." Fowler began. Jenny rolled her eyes. "Nukes. Why is it always nukes?" Jenny scoffed. "Agent Fowler, you know as well as I do that nuclear weaponry would be as dangerous to us as it would be to Trypticon." Optimus replied.
"I know. I'll try to convince the brass that you're way is the best way to take Trypticon down." Fowler agreed. "Thank you." Optimus replied. He then turned to the Autobots to brief them on the attack plan. "Autobots, our mission is this: to get inside Trypticon and destroy him before he destroys Washington. First, we will use the Ground Bridge to reach low Earth orbit and use our new rocket packs to get us the rest of the way to Trypticon." Optimus began.
"Once there, we will split into three teams. Team One will consist of Jenny, and Jetfire. Their objective is to infiltrate Trypticon and destroy his power source." Optimus said. "Hold on, how do we get inside Trypticon in the first place?" Jenny wondered. "The old fashioned way." Ratchet stated while bringing up Trypticon's schematics on one of his monitors. "This schematic might be inaccurate now, but to access Trypticon's inner workings you'll have to fly directly into his mouth." Ratchet said.
"In order to ensure Team One's entry, Team Two which consists of Bumblebee, Arcee, and Wheeljack, will distract Trypticon by attacking his defenses. Team Three which consists of me and Bulkhead will target the Nemesis in order to prevent it from defending Trypticon." Optimus continued. "Also, Bulkhead and I will attempt to take control of the Nemesis in order to gain access to the Decepticon's Space Bridge. If we can hold out long enough for Trypticon's destruction, we can send Jenny home. Jenny, you must decide whether we should stay and fight or blow the bridge." Optimus stated.
Jenny nodded in acknowledgement. "Once Team One is inside they will make for Trypticon's spark chamber. Once there Jetfire will plant explosive charges while Jenny covers him. When Jetfire announces that the charges are planted, all teams will leave the area and bridge back to the base. The resulting explosion from Trypticon's destruction would be devastating to anyone within its vicinity." Optimus warned.
"Autobots, this will be our most difficult battle yet. Though I cannot be certain that all of us will survive, I am certain that we must do everything in our power to protect the 7 billion beings who call this planet home." Optimus concluded. He then turned to Ratchet and told him to open the ground bridge. "Autobots, into the Ground Bridge!" he commanded. One by one, each of the Autobots ran through the swirling green vortex toward a battle that would decide the fate of planet Earth.
A/N: I cannot thank you enough for your continued support. Your views and reviews mean so much to me. On an unrelated note, Lauren Pond is based off of my sister ImWithTheBand121 who proofreads my stories. Tell me what you think and thank you for reading.