A/N: Thanks for the reviews!
Chapter 9
Aboard the Nemesis, Knock Out had just returned, victorious in retrieving an unknown Iacon artifact. This was sure to put Lord Megatron back in a good mood. Ever since they lost Orion and the spark extractor to the Autobots, the leader of the Decepticons had been dangerous to approach (as many Vehicons learned the hard way). The Decepticon medic examined the device in his servos; whatever it was, if the ancient 'Bots went to such great lengths to keep from 'Con hand, it must've been important. It was rather easy to retrieve this device, given Bumblebee's apparent lack of speed.
Knock Out was still wondering why the Autobot scout refused to use his wheels to pursue him; taking the artifact was no fun if he couldn't make the Autobots eat his dust. But for some reason, the scout didn't transform, letting Knock Out escape as he fell off a cliff. Knock Out entered the command center and presented the device to Lord Megatron, earning him a rare a look of satisfaction.
"Well done, Knock Out."
The medic smirked, "I aim to please, Lord Megatron. But I am curious as to what this device does." Megatron raised his fusion cannon and fired. Knock Out ducked behind the device; not the smartest plan, but he had to do all he could to protect his finish. He remembered how much work he had to do when Starscream scratched his. Suddenly, the artifact opened up and an energy shield sprung from it, deflecting the blast and hitting ST3V3, who merely shrugged it off (how did he survive such attacks, anyway!).
"Know you know," Megatron rasped.
Knock Out smiled nervously, "I think I leaked a little transmission fluid."
ShadowStrike Rising
In the desert, MECH soldiers and Foot Ninja were on the hunt for energon, the life blood of the "Transformers". They had finally managed to obtain a bio-mechanism known as a "T-Cog" from one of them and were in the process of utilizing it, only for it to fail. It seemed like they were at a loss until the ex-Decepticon, Starscream, arrived and offered them inside knowledge of Cybertronian biology. While the information was useful, dealing with the seeker proved to be an annoyance. He wouldn't stop bragging about how superior he was to both 'Bots and 'Cons.
As they made their way through the cavern, Starscream continued his prattling, "I had always suggested to Megatron that aligning ourselves with humans might prove to be an advantage. After all, it seems to work for the Autobots. However, it is often hard to get through such thick-minded brutes like him."
Silas turned around, both he and the Shredder looking annoyed, "Do you ever not talk?" They continued onward, leaving the Seeker somewhat taken back. He noticed that Karai was still walking beside him and decided to play it cool.
"Did I mention that I personally extinguished an Autobot?"
"About a million times," she huffed. "And he was most likely already half-dead." She continued onward, leaving the seeker speechless. It seemed that impressing these humans was harder than he originally anticipated. But still, he needed the energon and they provided some protection, especially these "ninja". But still, the seeker remained cautious; if he learned anything from his years of battle, it was that the only you could rely up on was yourself.
ShadowStrike Rising
At the Autobot base, Ratchet was running a scanner over an unconscious Bumblebee, trying to determine what damage he might have sustained. After he left to pick up Rafael, their computers had picked up another Iacon signal. Rather than wait for backup, Bulkhead and Bumblebee went on alone and attempted to recover the device, only to run into Knock Out and Breakdown. While Bulkhead faced his longtime rival, Bumblebee pursued Knock Out. Without the use of his wheels, 'Bee was forced to use an old pickup.
However, the wheels gave out and 'Bee was sent hurdling over a cliff, knocking him out cold. When the others arrived and chased off Breakdown, they quickly went work looking for their scout. They found him, unconscious, near a pile of trees and evacuated him back to base. As Ratchet's scans came back, confirming 'Bee was fine, he turned to Bulkhead and Arcee, shooting a venomous glare at the former.
"Of all the foolish decisions," he seethed, "to take Bumblebee on a mission with potential chase scenario without the use of his wheels!"
"He improvised," the Wrecker replied, sheepishly. Before Ratchet could tear Bulkhead a new one, Raf alerted them.
'Bee's waking up!" Indeed, the scout sat up in the berth, shaking his head clean of any cobwebs. That, however, did not save him from Ratchet.
"You've already lost your voice box and your T-Cog, Bumblebee," Ratchet scolded. "I would hardly think you would want to add your spark to the list." 'Bee merely beeped sadly. All he wanted to do was prove to the others, and himself, that he could still contribute in the field even if he didn't have his wheels.
"Don't say that Bumblebee," Raf said. "You're not useless!"
"Hate to break up the pity party," Arcee sighed. "But no one's talking about how the 'Cons just got their hands on unknown Iacon payday #2." From behind them, Optimus walked up.
"Neither praise nor pity will alter past events," he said. "But still, we must remain vigilant for the last Iacon device decoded as well as the other relics of old only Jack and Zangetsu and locate." He turned to 'Bee, "Bumblebee, you are not to leave our base until we can recover your missing bio-mech." He turned to exit the room, leaving 'Bee to dwell in his sorrow as the others did their best to comfort the scout.
Meanwhile, the Thirteen watched the sight before them in pity, save for Liege, who watched with unbridled joy. He gave a demonic laugh, "Look at the pathetic scout! Moping around like a sparkling! Oh, such a sight brings me such joy."
"Your compassion, as always brother, is most touching," Nexus replied sarcastically.
"We must leave the Autobots to their own problems that do not pertain to the relics of Iacon," Alpha Trion said. "Speaking of which, why are you here, Zangetsu?"
"Solus wished to take my place as she believes she knows what the next artifact will be," Zangetsu replied. "Besides, I think it would benefit our human Prime in the making to have her guidance."
ShadowStrike Rising
In the training room, Jack was hard at work practicing his martial arts on a wooden pole. He had to make sure his skills were at their best if he hoped to survive another encounter with the Shredder. As he punched the wooden structure, he kept flashing back to his first meeting with the ninja. He was right about one thing, Jack knew almost nothing about being a ninja, save for the things he'd seen in movies. He knew if he were to survive the long road ahead of him, he would have to begin forging new weapons.
"That is where I come in," the voice of Solus Prime resonated in Jack's mind, pulling inside his inner world. Surrounded by fog, Jack and the female Prime stood across from one another. She wore black and silver armor. Her optics were a cerulean blue and she had numerous wires protruding from her head, no doubt the Cybertonain equivalent to hair. Jack had no problem saying that she was beautiful.
"Solus," he scratched his head, "Why are you here?"
"Come now," she chuckled. "You didn't think Zangetsu would be the only one training you. We will each be taking turns helping you down the path to being a Prime."
"Why me? Why not help Optimus?"
"Optimus Prime has proven himself a capable leader," she replied. "He has all the traits a Prime needs to have and more. I see now why you view him as a father figure."
Jack blushed slightly, "How did you know that?"
"As said before, we have seen your memories and we know the hardships you and your mother have faced since your father abandoned you. You were a young man forced to grow up too early and not be able to enjoy life as a child."
"I had a responsibility to stay out of trouble," he said. "My mom had already been let down by one man in her life, I couldn't let it be two."
"Admirable, young one," she smiled. She returned Jack to the real world so he could continue his training. His body was already starting to show the benefits; his arms were bulkier as well as his chest and torso were more toned. There was certainly an advantage to training as rigorously as he did.
"Nice bod," came the teasing tone of Jack's partner, Arcee.
"One of us has to try," he grinned. "I'm not like you. My body doesn't stay the same as a it gets older."
"Are you saying I'm old," she gave him a warning look.
"Your words, not mine," he replied as he put his shirt and shoes on. "How's 'Bee?"
"Awake, but not feeling like himself," she sighed. "I can't imagine what he's going through. To lose his voice box is one thing, but the ability to transform. Especially someone like him, who uses speed in his fights."
"I'm sure you guys will find MECH and get his T-Cog back," Jack said.
"If MECH hasn't destroyed it with their experiments. They may have scanned us, but they still know almost nothing about our biology. Even if we do find it, there's no guarantee that Ratchet will be able to fix it."
"Arcee, Bulkhead," Ratchet's voice boomed over the commlink, "Report to med bay at once."
ShadowStrike Rising
In the old abandoned military base that served as MECH's current hideout, Silas watched as his men inserted the energon they mined into the T-Cog of their Transformer. Starscream watched from the corner, eyeing the experiment intently. If this were successful, it might solve several problems for him. For one, he'd have his own army to contend with the Autobots and Decepticons. Secondly, with an army of man-made Transformers, he wouldn't have to worry about insubordination from said beings, given that they would likely have no free will of their own.
As he watched the experiment unfold, he was quick to notice the ninja were absent, "And where are those humans with the strange outfits?"
"Off doing something that is not your concern?" Silas replied curtly.
"Placing energon inside," the Surgeon said. The energon was placed inside and the T-Cog began to hum, vibrating slightly. Silas' widened in both shock and victory.
"It's working," he smiled.
"Energon will do wonders for our army," Starscream grinned. Silas turned, a frown once again adorning his face. Starscream slumped and grumbled, "Your army."
ShadowStrike Rising
Bumblebee lay on a medical berth again while Ratchet walked over to Arcee and Bulkhead, scanning them over to make sure they were ready for what was about to happen. After Optimus had confined Bumblebee to base, Ratchet had made a rather risky suggestion; with no guarantee that 'Bots could recover 'Bee's missing T-Cog in one piece, Ratchet decided to give the scout his T-Cog via a transplant. To the medic, it made sense, seeing as how he spent most of his time in the base, barely making use of his vehicle mode. Though Optimus was against it, he allowed the procedure to take place. Now there was only one problem; who would do the procedure?
With Ratchet being the donor, he could not perform the procedure, so he called Bulkhead and Arcee to med bay to decide which of them should do it. He looked them over, both of them straightening their backs under his gaze while the others watched from afar.
"Now," he spoke, "since I am one of the patients involved, one of you will have to act as my stead." He looked them over gain, making sure he made a suitable choice. Neither one of them had any real medical experience, though Ratchet had given lessons to them for just such an event. He gave one last look over before deciding, "Arcee."
Bulkhead gave a sigh of relief while Arcee remained stiff, "Optimus has bigger hands."
"While that may be," Ratchet replied, "he does not possess any medical knowledge. I've taught you and Bulkhead." He walked over to berth to prepare for surgery while Arcee's shoulders slumped. She walked away to mentally prepare herself.
Jack noticed her discomfort, "Arcee, you okay?"
"No," she replied.
"Come on, you've been through worse."
"That was in the battle, this is a med bay."
"And you're usually the patient, but I know you can do it." Arcee still looked unsure as went over to lab computer and sent Ratchet into stasis. Once the medic was out, it was 'Bee's turn. Just as she was about to send the scout into stasis, the alarm blared.
"What's going on?" Raf asked.
"Ratchet's flat-lining!" Miko shrieked.
"No!" Arcee snapped, "it's the alarm."
"Another Iacon artifact has been located," Optimus approached. "Autobots, prepare to roll out."
"Yes," Arcee whispered.
'Bee made a move to get up, but Optimus stopped, "Remain here, Bumblebee. It appears we must put your surgery on hold." The scout beeped sadly, but obeyed.
"Jack," the voice Solus called to him, "you must accompany them."
"Why?" Jack asked.
"Because I know what the next artifact is," she replied. As the 'Bots rolled out, Jack made a move to follow them, making sure Miko was distracted. Once through, Jack quickly hid himself as to not alert the 'Bots to his presence. If they knew he was with them, they'd be too busy trying to protect him. Jack closed his eyes and concentrated; there was darkness.
Darkness, but the sound of hammering; suddenly there were cracks of light. Another hammering noise and the crack got wider. Jack transformed and looked up to the mountain top. Just how was he supposed to get up there? There was no way he could fly and had no experience climbing walls.
He then remembered how he got up the cliff Oroku Saki threw him off of; he used his kunai and climbed up. He snuck past the 'Bots while they were formulating a plan and reach the base of the mountain. His instinct told him the artifact was up there. He pulled a kunai in each hand thrust one of them into the mountain. He hoisted himself up and slammed the other into it.
He continued the rhythm of pulling out one kunai and thrusting the other a little higher. Before he knew it, he was several feet off the ground. He noticed from the side that the 'Bots were also climbing, unaware of his presence. He continued on his way as he kept moving up the mountain one knife at a time. No matter how far up he got, he never seemed to be getting closer.
He was about half way up when the rock gave out and he fell; he opened his masked mouth to scream but nothing came out.
ShadowStrike Rising
Bumblebee sat in base, feeling the worst he felt in his entire life. His T-Cog was gone and now he was no better than a useless tool. He couldn't understand why Ratchet insisted on staying at base while the others went into battle. Even though the medic rarely used his weapons and wheels, he was still of use to the team as the medic. While 'Bee had no use whatsoever.
He was a scout and scouts were known for their incredible speed and agility. Sure, 'Bee was still agile, but without his T-Cog, what could he do in fight against Megatron or the 'Cons. Pit, even Jack was now able to contribute something in the field, what with being a "human Prime" and all. Despite what everyone said, he was useless.
The alarm brought 'Bee out of his thoughts, "Prime!" It was Agent Fowler, "Prime!" 'Bee walked up to the monitor and began beeping in reply, but Fowler just looked confused, "Where's Prime!" 'Bee merely beeped again, so Fowler just shrugged, "Okay, tell Prime that I may have a location on MECH's current base."
'Bee's optics widened and he began to beep wildly, irritating Fowler, "Can I get someone who doesn't speak 'bleep'!" Rather than be offended, 'Bee stepped aside to let Raf explain.
"I can help," the boy smiled.
"Do I hear a fuzor in need of repairing," came the slurred reply of Ratchet.
Fowler, for his part, looked irate, "What's a 'fuzor!"
ShadowStrike Rising
A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Next time: the 'Bots come across an important relic that could solve a lot of problems. Meanwhile, Shredder and Karai make their presence known. And did ShadowStrike survive the fall, or is he back where he started?