EEEK! I'm so excited!
The Grand Finale of my story is finally here! I figure 15 chapters is about the amount of chapters I want to stick to for one story so please forgive me if you feel it isn't enough!
In the mean time, feast your eyes on the glorious chapter which is FINALE pt1!
Starry Surprise
FINALE pt 1
Location: Autobot base
Earth Time: Next day 8AM
It was a somberly quiet morning. Optimus nor Elita One had shown either of their faces thus far, and the children, along with their Autobot guardians were wondering what was going on.
"Something serious I imagine," Ratchet said, attempting to get all the incessant questions being thrown at him to STOP. The Autobots weren't so bad, but the children were incorrigible.
"Well if something serious is happening then I want to know what it is!" Mikko declared.
"Maybe that something serious is none of your business and Optimus Prime would like to discuss it with Elita One ALONE," Ratchet returned quickly.
"Or maybe, they're telling juicy secrets..." Mikko snickered, rubbing her hands together in greedy anticipation. She immediately began trotting down the base hall way when Jack grabbed her by the arm.
"Since when has Optimus ever kept secrets from us? If there are any secrets than we owe him to keep a few to himself," Jack scolded her. Just then the sound of footprints began thudding down the hall. Jack straitened instantly, releasing Mikko's arm and looking up as Optimus and Elita came into the main part of the base.
"Is everything alright?" Bulkhead asked upon seeing the Prime's stoic face was replaced by one that was cracking with sadness. Optimus glanced back at Elita One and then to all those around him.
"Elita One has come to a conclusion about how she is going to keep her spark power safe from the Decepticons," Optimus Prime announced, raising his voice so all could hear him, "She has decided that she will go back into stasis and has charged me with the task of hiding her away, far from Decepticon reach," he explained. At that the children all started talking at once, including even Ratchet, Bulkhead and Bee who chirped off in the background. Arcee was the only one who remained silent amidst all the questions and outbursts of displeasure.
"But she can't go! She just got here!" Mikko protested.
"Yeah, she was amazing against Lockdown, this team could really use her," Jack added.
"Optimus, hiding her away doesn't secure her safety, we've already learned that!" Ratchet warned.
"Lockdown is still out there, if he found her once whose to say he can't find her again?" Bulkheaded chimed in.
Optimus listened to all the children and his soldier's reasonings, part of him hoping Elita One heeded them and changed her mind, but the other part knew that she was determined and that these comments did nothing but torture her spark further. So, the Prime lifted a gentle hand to silence them all.
"Elita One is aware of all these things," he said softly, "But the decision still stands. Ratchet, I need you to construct a safety pod that Elita One will be stored away in. It needs to be able to mask her energy with a cloaking device," he instructed. Ratchet was about to protest again but cut himself short. That did actually make sense... Perhaps the Prime and the femme commander had been discussing all of these details that morning.
"Yes sir," Ratchet consented.
"Bulkhead and Bumblebee, I'm requesting that you and your wards go out and plot out a path way safest to the location I've chosen for Elita One to be hidden. You shall receive your coordinates in a moment," Optimus stated, then looked to Arcee, "Arcee... you will help Ratchet with the pod and stay with Elita One until she is fully into stasis, then join the others," he finished. Arcee nodded. Once orders were given, everyone was off to work...
Time: 4 hours later...
"Well... it doesn't look too bad, given the means of construction materials I had on hand," Ratchet remarked. He held a hand to his chin as he surveyed his last 4 hours of labor intensive welding work. The pod was nothing extremely fancy, just a mixture of various metal scraps which he had collected from various parts of the base, but he'd grounded it down so it was all smooth and big enough on the inside for Elita One to lay comfortably positioned and even with regulated temperature inside to keep her frame from freezing up. In case the pod be rocked around, she would not be damaged for Ratchet had reenforced all the frame work to keep her farthest from danger as possible. Not even Optimus Prime's own swords could split through this metal. The pod itself was very strong, designed so nothing could get in accept by way of a code lock, which at this point, only Optimus Prime knew. It would stay that way, unless the fatal time should come where he should offline before the end of the war, and have to pass the code along to the nearest bot to him.
"It's brilliant," Elita One complimented Ratchet. She had been standing by watching the work, while Optimus was standing several meters away, typing away on the computers for some reason or another. She could see in the Prime's countenance that he was not looking forward to their separation at all, but neither was she. Unable to stay away from Optimus's side, Elita approached him quietly to lay a hand on the back of his shoulder.
"Would you like to see it?" she asked. Optimus nodded mutely and turned his body to analyze Ratchet and Arcee's work. It was well constructed for sure, he expected nothing less from Ratchet, and Arcee had small hands, perfect to get into all the creases and seal up every last possible hole.
"Well done Ratchet and Arcee," he praised. Elita was unable to remove her hand from off of Optimus' arm, gripped by the remarkable attachment in which her spark felt towards the Prime. She could tell it was taking everything in him not to turn and bring her into a hug himself. They'd agreed that their romantic interactions would remain private and that they should obtain military professionalism in front of the troops at all times. Even so, it was hard.
"What now?" Arcee inquired. Optimus lifted a finger to his com-link system and addressed Bulkhead.
"Is the coast clear?" he questioned.
"Yes sir," Bulkhead responded on the other line.
"Very good, I shall transport both Elita and Arcee to the delivery point. When I pass your mark follow my lead," Optimus instructed then patted Elita's hand and moved away from her to go fetch the trailer which Agent Fowler had graciously bestowed the team with for military advantage. Optimus and Ratchet lifted the pod gently into the back of the trailer, strapping it down just in case any surprises came their way. After the pod was situated, Ratchet stepped out and went to the computer to prep the ground bridge. He would be warping them only half way to their destination, for Optimus had chosen a desolate, and difficult spot to reach that would require some hiking. The Prime now turned to Elita One.
"You will remain out of stasis but inside the trailer until we have reached our destination," he stated, "should any Decepticons try to cut us off, we may need you in the fight," he added. This made Eilta One dearly hope the Cons would dare to attack them, for she wanted a bit more of a thrill before being put to sleep for who knew how long.
"Very well," she nodded. Arcee was standing by, ready to load up with her, but the small blue femme could easily sense when the two needed a moment. So she turned to call up Bulkhead and ask how Jack was doing. He and Mikko had both ridden within the large all-terrain vehicle while Raf had been inside Bumblebee during the recon mission.
Noting how Arcee had turned away, Optimus took the opportunity to take a step closer reach for her hands and lean down just enough to place his forehead gently against Elita's. Neither of them said anything, since they both had poured out each other's sparks to one another the night before. They just stood silently, both with optics closed and soaked in the moment. It needn't be spoken how much they would miss one another, or that Optimus would do his best until he could come and retrieve Elita One back. All promises were there, lingering in the air around them from this one softly intimate act. Finally, Optimus opened his optics and stepped back a space, releasing one of her hands and using the other to guide her the direction of the trailer. She smiled to him and stepped in, their hand slowly sliding apart. Optimus now stood and breathed in a fresh intake of air through his systems. He needed to focus on the task at hand and just as quickly as that, he was once again the same savvy, serious war hero in whom he'd always been before. Walking around to the front of the trailer, he transformed to his semi-truck and hooked up. Arcee jumped into the trailer shortly after that and closed the door behind her. Just before she did though Ratchet waved goodbye to Elita.
"Stay safe," he wished her.
"Thank you," she responded graciously. The blue energy field beamed to life before Optimus Prime, and without hesitation, he rolled out.
Location: Asia, near the Himalayas
The wind whirled back and forth sharply, tossing the falling snow in every which direction. It was a good thing the Autobots could not feel the cold because this place was freezing. The road they drove on had to be driven slowly for parts of it were covered in sheer ice. However, Optimus Prime was a good driver and he went as slow as necessary. But, he also knew that staying in the cold too long could jeopardize their systems. The transportation of Elita One had to be as fast as possible.
"Remind me again why Optimus chose this place?" Arcee asked Elita as she sat across her in the trailer, chilled even when protected by all sides.
"The Himalayas mountain range is one of the largest in the world, and with my pod cloaked, Starscream would never find me amidst all the ridges he'd have to investigate," Elita One explained. Just then, the loud scream of a jet rocked by them.
"Hold tight!" Optimus shouted into their coms, "We have company!"
Just then the trailer began to pitch and shake, rocking back and forth. Elita One and Arcee gripped the side of the trailer as best she could to keep from flailing around.
Outside, Optimus was being forced to dodge missiles that were reigning down on the road ahead of him. Swerving back and forth as well as he could, Optimus kicked his speed into the next gear. It was drones attacking from above, but how had they tracked them? Optimus would have to find out... Transforming in the middle of the road and pulling away from the trailer, the Prime charged his cannons and began firing off into the air at the attack formation of the ariel drones. Two of his first shots hit their targets and sent two jets spiraling off in a whirl of smoke amidst the wind and snow. But the next set of drones were attacking now and Prime would need back up. Then, Elita One and Arcee both emerged from the back of the trailer, offering up their own laser fire and scattering hard shots into the flyers above. However, soon the drones began flying down towardas the ground, transforming and landing to attack from above and below. Bumblebee and Bulkhead weren't far behind, but their problem was that the children were inside them and they couldn't transform as easily without putting the kids out to freeze in the snow.
"You didn't tell me we were going to the middle of Antarctica!" Mikko shouted, rubbing her arms rapidly for warmth.
"Actually I think this is Asia, near the Himalayas," Raf corrected through the com-channel in Bulkhead's dashboard.
"Whatever!" Mikko barked back.
"Bulkhead if you need to help Optimus, Mikko and I can make a break for Bumblebee and stay inside him for a while," Jack offered.
"That would be great," Bulkhead stated, opening both his doors. Jack bounced out, dragging the shivering Mikko after him till they came up alongside Bumblebee's halted car form. Mikko banged on the door, as Bee couldn't seem to open it fast enough and almost threw herself inside out of pure desperation.
"Please tell me you have a heater!" she whimpered. Bee beeped back as Jack slid in to the drivers seat.
"Yes he does," Raf interpreted. Meanwhile, Bulkhead transformed and got busy, charging strait for the now landed group of flier Cons. Arcee ran, dodging back and forth between laser fire in her quick agile style, slicing into drones with her arm blades. Bulkhead smashed into several on the ground, banging his huge bashing ball into the heads of all his victims before following up with a swing similar to a baseball bat smacking into a baseball. Optimus and Elita both concentrated their fire towards the sky when out of the clouds, flew a familiar jet.
"Starscream..." Optimus Prime growled.
TO BE CONCLUDED...
Alrighty then! Fill my review section with all of your wonderful comments and I will be back with Finale pt.2 soon!
-Stokin D Embers