Chapter 24-The Original Sin part 2
A floating island, as if meeting alien robots from space wasn't weird enough. Runway explained to the kids that he and his comrades had called Brigadoon, the name of the island they stood on, their home for what Gina estimated to be nearly fifty years. Despite this, they deduced that the island had been roaming the rarely traveled lands of the poles undetected for far longer. As for how they were released from their stasis panels without an external activation device, the Air Defense Team confessed to not having been in panels, but in an escape pod.
"Wait, why were you guys in an escape pod? The other Minicons were stuck in those things before Sparkplug fired them off." Darren said. When they looked at each other silently, Darren realized this was another one of Sparkplug's "secrets".
"We'll…explain that later when we get your friends." Sonar said. He didn't seem particularly eager to be talking about classified information with strangers, friends of Sparkplug they may be.
As they journeyed back to the cave, Darren explained how they came to get on the island, as well as the damages their friends suffered. Runway nodded and rubbed his chin. "My, you tiny fleshies have been through some slag, haven't you?"
"You could say that." Annie said wearily. "It seems to be a common occurrence with us."
Once they met up with the Street Action Team, it was a big reunion between the two teams, which definitely improved the former's condition a bit. Darren explained how they met and High Wire glared at the children.
"I thought I told you three to be careful." He said. "I knew letting you three out alone was too dangerous."
"High Wire, we're still alive and that's all that matters. Besides, we got some help." Darren said, pointing to the Air Defense Team.
"Primus, why did it have to be them?" Grindor groaned.
"Don't be like that, Grindor. It's not nice to be picky about your roommates, especially in your current predicament." Runway said.
"We've been waiting for nearly 50 stellar cycles for others to come to Brigadoon. It gets a bit boring talking to the same people over and over after a while. It doesn't take long to get into the imaginary friend phase of isolation, when you start seeking attention from other sources. Like my friend Chagrin, here." Jetstorm said, motioning to the empty space next to him. "Say help, Chagrin."
Chagrin said nothing. The others looked at Jetstorm before promptly ignoring him. The Street Action Team weren't exactly ecstatic to run into the Air Defense Team, knowing how eccentric they are thanks to their interactions with Sparkplug back on Epistemus. They just hoped the flyers weren't teetering on the edge of insanity.
"Look, Runway," High Wire said, letting Darren help him to his feet. "Is there any place where we can hold out until help arrives? I don't feel safe staying in this cave, and we need to call the Autobots as soon as possible."
"Of course we have a secret base!" Sonar laughed jovially. "We wouldn't have lasted as long as we did on this blasted island without one. We're insane, not stupid."
"If you guys can fly, then why are you still here?" gina asked. "I know this place isn't the most ideal location for you three to hang out in."
"Oh we tried flying off this rock." Runway said.
"But every time we tried to fly off, we get attacked by these flying serpents that just pop out of nowhere and try to tear us apart." Jetstorm said.
"Yeah, big red and gold with long snouts and teeth." Sonar nodded.
"You mean there are more of those things out there?" Annie gaped. Runway nodded.
"Oh, loads of them. We try to avoid them all, especially those big burly brute things that carry those huge axes. Nasty things they are."
"Can we just leave before we inevitably jinx ourselves with all this talk of hostile living statues?" Sureshock pleaded. "We don't have time to stand around talking."
"She's right, we need to move now." High Wire said. He looked to Runway. "Can you please lead us to your hideout? We'll be forever grateful."
"Anything for allies of justice!" Runway cheered, earning more groans from Grindor.
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Near the very edge of the floating island, Nightshade and Flamewar made their entrance by air. Flamewar was hanging onto Nightshade's underbelly as the raven flew in through the island's thick coating of mist, which felt denser and rather constricting than regular mist-it was like they were entering a planet's atmosphere. Once they made it through, Nightshade flew in low to roughly drop Flamewar on the ground before shifting to robot mode and landing on her feet.
"Thanks for the soft landing." Flamewar grumbled.
"Don't expect another hand out like that again." Nightshade said. "Next time, Starscream's giving you a lift home."
Flamewar opened her mouth to retort, but paused when she saw something in the distance. "What's that thing?"
She pointed at something and Nightshade turned to see that she was looking at a tall object in the distance. Magnifying her optical vision, she saw that it was an obelisk-a tall pillar made of black onyx and dark sapphire with a golden pyramid on top with an eye on its three sides. It looked like nothing that could've been built by humans, and she was sure it wasn't just sitting there for decoration.
"Follow my lead, and don't touch anything." Nightshade ordered. "We don't know what we're dealing with here, and I don't intend to find out."
"Yes ma'am." Flamewar drawled, taking out her crossbow. She couldn't stand that self-entitled turkey.
However, before they could move a step from their position, a golden spear stabbed into the ground before them. Nightshade jumped back and drew her bow, Gandiva, on instant, scanning the area for hostiles. The spear was long, almost as long as Nightshade was tall, and had engravings along its length that seemed to radiate some kind of energy. Flamewar noticed a white feather float down in front of her and looked up to see nearly a two dozen shapes flying straight at them at high speeds.
"We've got company!" She yelled.
Nightshade looked up and saw what could only be described as angels descend upon them at once. They looked nothing like traditional angels, rather they had the appearance of gaunt humanoid birds with skin that looked more like smooth marble clad in gold armor. Their heads, shaped like birds, had no features other than a red helmet covering their skulls. Three fingered hands gripped more golden spears and radiated energy that Nightshade knew was going to hurt if it made contact with her.
"What do we do?" Flamewar asked. "Fight or flight?"
"Fight, they'll chase us down if we try to run." Nightshade said.
The angels descended on the two Cons like birds of prey, intent on striking down the intruders. Nightshade pulled Gandiva's string back and fired an arrow, the string giving a deep rumble like thunder as the arrow tore apart a large chunk of the enemy group. Shaken by the initial attack, the angels regrouped and began throwing their spears at them, and the spears turned into points of light that moved faster than the eye could see. Nightshade and Flamewar were forced to dodge the dangerous beams of light that burned deep holes into the ground when they impacted.
More angels charged Nightshade, forcing her to switch to her swords, slashing and hacking away at the strange beings as they came at her with their spears. Flamewar fired her crossbow multiple times, though she was kept on her toes as more seemed to come at her at once. She back flipped onto a tree branch, but hissed as one of the spears sliced into her thigh. The blade had easily cut into her armor and seemed to burn like it was heated. When another spear cut into her shoulder, she realized that these weapons were more dangerous than they looked.
"No more games." Flamewar growled and tossed a grenade into the thick of their formation. The explosion took out three and wounded four, and she fired her crossbow at the others. "These things aren't so tough!"
As the Cons fought against the angels, the ruby eye on top of the obelisk began to glow. The pyramid atop the obelisk slowly rotated around so the eye was facing the ongoing battle miles away. It began charging up its energy, emitting a low hum that grew louder as energy coalesced. Once it charged up enough energy, the pyramid fired a large energy beam that was so bright, it actually darkened the area for a moment.
Nightshade saw this light and her eyes widened as she saw the beam heading their way. Knowing that they had only seconds to evade, Nightshade didn't bother to verbally warn Flamewar, instead opting to jump at the huntress and slam into her, knocking her to the ground. The angels were not so lucky, as they were vaporized on the spot by the white hot beam that hit them. It created a massive explosion that grew into a fiery dome that blasted Nightshade and Flamewar away with the sheer force of its detonation, and they disappeared in the plume of thick smoke and heat.
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From their vantage point atop a hill, the kids and the Minicons saw the obelisk fire its heat beam at an unseen target and heard the distant explosion even from their far off position. They could even see the massive pillar of smoke rising into the air.
"What was that?" Annie said weakly. Gina wrapped a piece of cloth from her shirt around the cut on her arm after thoroughly washing it at Sureshock's insistence. It still stung, but it was all they could do for now. And with the adrenaline wearing off now, the children's exhaustion became apparent.
"The obelisk." Runway answered cryptically. At High Wire's questioning gaze, he said, "Don't ask me what that thing is. All I know is that it's at the center of the island. We learned the hard that the thing likes taking pot shots at random targets."
"And it's packing more than enough firepower." Sonar said. "Just stay out of its line of fire and you'll be fine."
"I like how you guys sound so blasé about a giant eyeball raining down hell on you all." Grindor said.
"Eh," Jetstorm shrugged. "After a while, you stop being afraid and just look at it like it's a ray of sunlight in your eye. You'll get used to it."
They continued on their way, walking down the other side of the hill towards a small canyon a little ways off. Darren took the lull in their journey to hang back with High Wire to talk.
"You guys seem to know each other very well." Darren remarked, not trying to hide the accusation in his voice. "You guys friends?"
High Wire knew Darren was suspicious of everything regarding the Minicons, and he had a right to be. After all the cover ups between Sparkplug and Prowl, the kids became more wary of their alien friends. Enough friendships had been broken because of the need to keep secrets, and High Wire wasn't willing to risk his.
"Remember when I told you that my team was chosen to form a combiner team to protect the Minicons? Well, we weren't the only ones." High Wire explained. "There were three other teams as well, combiners like us, but instead of becoming one larger robot, they combined into gestalt weapons."
"A mix between combiner technology and targetmaster biology, like Songbird." Sureshock said, looking back at them. "We formed the Minicons' golden warrior, Centurion."
"And the other three teams formed weapons to be wielded by Centurion." Grindor said.
The kids looked at their friends with a new sense of wariness. They knew from Sparkplug that the combiner initiative was to protect the Minicons from the Bulks-namely Decepticons-but there was an unspoken statement that the Autobots could be part of that category too. High Wire didn't need to know their thoughts to realize how disappointed they were in them.
"I'm sorry, kids, but we were desperate. The Solomus Massacre was still fresh in our minds, and with the growing Decepticon raids on our villages, we had to do something." High Wire said. "The Autobots may have wanted to help us, but there were a lot of them who wanted to see us Minicons dead or imprisoned, if for no other reason than to deny the Cons more power. Sparkplug did what he had for his people, and so did we. I have no regrets."
Seeking to break the tension, Gina looked to their new guides. "Runway, are the weapons you turn into strong enough to take out a Con?"
"Oh yes, we were designed to be the most powerful weapons ever wielded by Minicon hands." Runway said. "There was the Omni-saber, the Hydra Cannon and the Skyboom Shield. They were designed to be powerful enough to fight your average cybertronian."
"Only if you hit them hard enough, and in the right place." Sonar added. "I'm sure you humans learned that the hard way."
"You could say that." Annie huffed.
"Here we are! Home sweet home!" Runway declared. The mixed group of humans and Minicons stopped at the edge of the canyon, where they saw the Air Defense Team's base, which wasn't what they were expecting.
When Runway said they had a base, they thought he meant some cave they outfitted with salvaged tech from their escape pod, hell they thought it was just the pod by itself! They weren't expecting to see a giant base in the middle of the canyon surrounded on three sides by steep cliffs with only one route of entry. If anything, it looked more like a cybertronian research outpost than anything else.
The base consisted of three metal domes, the largest one was connected to the other two smaller domes via see through walkways made from strong ballistic glass, no doubt for protection against external forces. Next to the main dome was a tower of some kind, something akin to a radio tower used for communication.
"This is your base?" Grindor gaped. "This place is fragging huge!"
"Did you build all this?" Sureshock asked.
"Nope. Wish I could say yes, but we found this place after exploring the island around our escape pod." Runway said. "Come on, you need to meet Sara. She might be able to help you contact your friends."
"Sara?" Darren repeated. That sounded like a human name. Were there other humans living on this strange island as well?
"She's the one who lived here before we came along. A bit of a strange girl, but you'll love her!" Sonar said.
The combiner team led their guests into the canyon, where they approached the front door. Runway inputted a six-digit code into the number pad and leaned in to allow an eye scanner scan his hidden optics. There was a loud click as the doors slid open and Runway entered with his team, though the kids and their guardians hung back a bit.
"Should we go in?" Gina asked. "I mean, they seem trustworthy and all, but…"
"The least we can do is give them the benefit of a doubt. They did save us." Grindor said.
"I agree, we need all the help we can get in this place if we want to make it out alive." Darren said. He looked at Annie's bleeding arm. "And we need to get your arm properly fixed, Annie. We're going to be getting our hands dirty."
"Then it's decided." High Wire said. "Let's go in."
They entered the door, coming into a sterile white room that looked surprisingly cozy; there was a little community center with a large round table, a dining area next to a communications area that had a large computer screen and what looked like a munitions storage area. Everything looked so futuristic, yet the design of the interior reminded the kids of the escape pod where they found the Minicons.
"Sara? Sara, we're back!" Runway called out.
"I am here." A soft female voice called out from the communications station. "Is there something you need?"
"We brought some friends back who need our help. They might be able to help us get off this rock." Runway said.
There was silence as the unseen female appeared from the wall of monitors and screens at the far left of the dome. It was a girl, a girl who looked no older than fourteen. She looked dainty and soft, clad in a long white dress with a round face, fair skin, and long green hair with equally deep emerald green eyes. Her defining feature was the small green gem sitting in the middle of her forehead. For the most part, she looked completely human, if not a bit stiff in her posture.
That was when they noticed that her right forearm was split open, revealing a musculature of artificial muscles and circuitry inside. The girl's green eyes settled on the children as her arm closed up, looking like a normal human arm once more.
This girl wasn't human at all. She was an android!
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Nightshade and Flamewar trudged through the vacant wilderness covered in burns and sporting aching heads from the deafening explosion that nearly took them out. They managed to avoid the worst of the explosion that annihilated the angel swarm that attacked them, but the blast radius was so great that just being near the intense heat was enough for them to be severely burned. The loud boom of the explosion nearly blew out their audio sensors and they were running with ringing in their heads for several minutes.
"I don't get paid enough for this." Flamewar groaned, driving through the plains in her two wheeled alt mode. Nightshade flew alongside her, cruising at a low altitude to avoid being spotted by the obelisk.
"You don't need to get paid. Serving Megatron and reaping the rewards of being a Decepticon should be reward enough for you." Nightshade said.
"Says his arm warmer." Flamewar muttered.
"What was that?"
"Nothing," Flamewar sang and changed the subject. "So what's our next move? I doubt its stand around for that freaky laser to roast us again."
"Obviously, this place is not natural, and whoever built that weapon made it so that intruders won't live long enough to ponder this island's purpose." Nightshade jerked her head at the obelisk. "That obelisk is a big clue to this island's true nature. If we can secure it, then we should have the entire island under our control."
"So you say," Flamewar said. "But I'll play around, since it's the only lead we have."
They entered a forest, where they changed to robot mode and continued on foot into a clearing, where there was a field of brightly colored flowers sitting on a thick bed of vines. It all seemed normal, if a little too sweet for Flamewar's tastes, but when they got close to the flowers, the vines suddenly sprang up and shot at the two femmes.
"Oh come on!" Flamewar fired her crossbow at a vine shooting at her, but was grabbed around the leg and thrown into a tree.
Nightshade used her boosters to jump off the ground and fired off her missile darts, incinerating the flowers and vines on the spot, though the vines took longer than normal to wither away into ash.
"Are you alright?" Nightshade asked and went to help Flamewar up, but the huntress pushed her hand away.
"I'm fine, just dazed. That vine hit harder than it should have." Flamewar said. Then she noticed a tinkling sound, like tiny bells, followed by children's laughter. "What's that?"
The childish laughter grew louder and Nightshade looked around the clearing from the source. The innocent sound of children giggling sounded ominous in her ears and she tried not to get too creeped out by the atmosphere that was dampening around them. Having enough of this, Nightshade pointed her bow to the sky and fired an arrow upwards, the deafening thunderclap silencing the laughter.
"Stop laughing and show yourselves, cowards!" Nightshade yelled.
For a moment, there was silence, and then small orbs of light appeared above the burnt remains of the flower garden. The orbs grew to the size of boulders and broke apart to reveal twelve strange creatures.
The creatures looked like small heads with wings sprouting from their sides, flapping so fast they were barely visible. The heads had the faces of human children, all smiling innocently, though their intentions were anything but. At the front of the group was a larger head that had the face of an old man with a beard and sapphire eyes. The heads hovered around the femmes, laughing together as if they were playing a game. It didn't take Nightshade long to realize that they were in fact blocking their escape routes.
"What the hell are these things?" Flamewar demanded.
"Trouble. Don't start asking questions, just kill them all and don't let them gang up on you." Nightshade said.
"Speaking from experience?" Flamewar quipped.
The flying heads stopped circling them and their faces split open to reveal large blue crystals that pulsated with energy. Nightshade readied her mystical bow.
"You have no idea." Nightshade replied.
The creatures all fired their beams at once at the two Cons and the forest was once again engulfed in a dance of fire and lightning.
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"Uh…" Darren didn't know what to say in this situation. He was still in shock at seeing the robotic internals of the…girl standing before them. He could tell that his friends had similar reactions, not expecting some robot girl to meet them. "Hi, there."
"Hello, I am Sara, this base's caretaker." Sara said in a dull, emotionless tone. "Who are you?"
"I'm Gina," Gina said, quickly stepping up. "These are my friends, Darren and Annie, and the Minicons, High Wire, Grindor and Sureshock."
Sara stared at Gina intently, her eyes scanning the girl from head to toe. Gina got a little uncomfortable from her stare. The robot girl walked up to Gina and stared unblinkingly into her eyes.
"Are you really Gina Harkins?" Sara asked.
"Yes, I am, last time I checked." Gina raised a brow at her. "How do you know my last name? I never told you that."
"I cannot divulge that information. You specifically instructed me not to reveal any dangerous information to you or your friends." Sara said.
"I told you that?" Gina asked slowly.
Sara nodded. "Yes."
This was getting too weird and getting them nowhere. Darren stepped up to the girls to get Sara's attention. "As fun as this is, we need your help. Do you have a medical kit or something for my sister? She's hurt and-"
"I will lead her to the medical facility. It is in the other dome to your left." Sara said and briskly walked towards the sliding doors past another room that was shut tight.
Annie gave Darren a nervous glance, but he urged her forward. Grabbing Grindor's hand, she followed Sara out the room into the glass walkway connecting the three domes together. Once they were gone, Darren and Gina traded looks with High Wire and Sureshock.
"That was interesting." Sureshock said.
"Let's focus on contacting the Autobots." High Wire said and turned to Runway. "Do you have any communication equipment we can use?"
"There's a console there by the Solivision." Runway pointed to the computer in the relay station next to the flatscreen monitor. "Don't expect to get any reception though, we've been trying to call people for ages and got nothing."
"That might be the work of some electromagnetic interference from some external source that's blocking all radio waves." Gina said. "You're personal comm-units probably aren't strong enough to get through to the outside."
"I think I might have a way around that." High Wire took a seat and began typing on the console. He didn't voice his idea, but the others trusted him enough not to ask.
With the boys focused on their task, Sureshock looked to Gina. "Gina, are you alright? You look a bit out of it."
"That's because I am. That girl…android, Sara…she looked at me like she knew me personally." Gina said. "And what did she mean by I told her not to tell us anything?"
"I'm just as clueless as you are, Gina. I'm more concerned about the fact that she's an android of some kind. She's not cybertronian, she looks too sleek to be made by cybertronian hands, but I don't know who could've built her." Sureshock said.
"Maybe she's human made?" Gina suggested.
"But how could that be possible? Look at her, Gina, she's too advanced to have been made by human hands, even beyond OZ's capabilities."
Gina shrugged, too exhausted to really go deeper into this subject. But she couldn't deny that something about Sara was oddly familiar. Looking into her eyes brought about a sense of déjà vu she couldn't explain for the life of her.
"Ms. Gina," Sara the android entered the room with Annie and Grindor in tow. The girl's arm was cleaned and bandaged. "I have repaired your friend for you. Is there anything else you need assistance with?"
"No…yes, actually." Gina pointed to the boys. "We're trying to get a message out to the Autobots, er, our friends on the outside. Is there anything we can do to bypass the blackout zone around us?"
"Verbal communications are blocked by the sphere of energy that is keeping this island afloat." Sara explained. She walked over to the console and wordlessly pushed High Wire aside and began working. "If you want to alert others to your presence on the island, you must send out a beacon. One that they will recognize."
"A beacon," Annie muttered. "What about a distress signal?"
"Like the one we accidentally sent from Sparkplug's escape pod?" Darren asked.
"Yeah, except we can hide a message in it, like, uh, some kind of code." Annie continued. She had no idea what she was saying, but she hoped that they got the idea.
"I think I might have a way." Gina said and looked at Sara. "Sara, could you send something for me?"
"Of course, Ms. Gina."
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"Optimus, I got something." Ratchet said from his spot at the Teletran-1 terminal.
Optimus and Sparkplug, who was hanging out with Longarm by the smaller computer terminal, joined the medic at the console. "What is it, Ratchet?" Optimus asked.
"Teletran just picked up a signal from the north pole. It appears to be a beacon, similar to the distress signal from the Minicon escape pod." Ratchet said. He studied the beacon's code some more. "And I think there's an embedded message attached to it too."
Ratchet entered a command and had Teletran-1 decode the message, except what they got back wasn't a verbal message, it was…music. Optimus and Sparkplug looked confused as to what was going on, but it seemed Ratchet knew exactly what it was.
"Is that music?" Sparkplug asked. "Where did that come from?"
"I recognize the tune, it's the theme from one of the human television shows that I watch." Ratchet said, though he seemed a bit embarrassed to admit that. "No one else knows that I watch that show except…Gina!"
"Gina?" Sparkplug looked up at Ratchet. "Ratchet, do you think Gina sent this?"
"Possibly, she's the only one who'd do something like this." Ratchet's face brightened up. "Optimus, the kids didn't just send a sign that they're alive, they've also signaled their location to us too!"
Optimus was silent for a minute as he processed this, then his posture straightened as he spoke with renewed strength. "Ratchet, have the Autobots assemble at the ground bridge. We're going to rescue our friends."
"Keep in mind that you'll be running in blind Optimus. We don't know where in the North Pole the children are, or what kind of resistance you'll meet there." Ratchet said.
"If we do meet hostile resistance there, then we will fight. I made a vow to protect those children, and I stand by that vow," Optimus said firmly. "No matter what."
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At the same time, Megatron was also ready to mobilize. Thanks to Soundwave being interfaced with the Nemesis' communications array, he detected a signal coming from the island-a beacon that was similar to the distress signal that started this pocket war in the beginning. Megatron thought it was another collection of Minicons, but he reigned himself in before he could become too enamored with that thought. That island was strange enough as it is, and he wondered if it was some trick-like the smoke and mirror slag those three stone witches used on him. He had to be careful so as to not fall into the same trap, or worse.
Starscream watched impatiently as his leader contemplated their next move. He hid his impatience well, silently hoping that Nightshade was dead, along with that traitorous harlot Flamewar. If they were dead, then it was one less obstacle in his way to keep him from his ascension to greatness.
"Megatron, what will be our course of action?" Starscream asked.
Megatron didn't say anything for a few minutes before turning to Soundwave. "Has there been any word from Nightshade or Flamewar?"
"No, we've lost contact with them the minute they landed on the island." Soundwave reported, expertly hiding his worry for Nightshade behind a stoic wall. "Songbird stated that she lost sight of them the moment they vanished into the mist surrounding the island."
"Songbird?" Starscream spat. "What's that little wretch doing away from her master?"
"Nightshade left her behind in case anything went wrong on the mission. She said that there were loud explosions going on within the cloud, then nothing since."
Megatron frowned. This wasn't good news at all. "Very well, Starscream, gather your Seekers and notify the others to mobilize immediately. We're taking that island."
"T-That's a bold move, Megatron." Starscream said, surprised at this sudden decision. "What brought this on? Seeking to avenge our fallen dark bird?"
Megatron grabbed Starscream by the throat and dragged him in close. "I suggest you watch your tone, Starscream. I'm not in the mood." Megatron growled and threw the Seeker to the floor. "That island is not natural and I intend to uncover its true nature. What we find on that island could be what grants us our victory over Prime's forces and finally set the stage for conquering this world. Time isn't on our side today, so do as I say, Starscream, and GATHER OUR FORCES!"
Starscream scrambled to his feet, bowing with a muttered "Yes, Megatron" before running off the bridge. Soundwave got up, but Megatron stopped him.
"You stay here under Knockout's watch." Megatron said. "You have not fully recovered, and I can't have you getting into those fits of yours on the battlefield."
Soundwave said nothing, simply nodding his head to show that he understood. Megatron knew he wanted to come along and see if Nightshade was safe. The two had known each other long before the Decepticons were even a thought in his mind, and Megatron understood this. But Nightshade could take care of herself just fine, and if anything happened to Soundwave on his watch, he'd get an earful from her.
"Leader-1, with me." Megatron commanded and left the bridge with his Minicon in tow, ready to lay siege to another fortress with the full might of his power.
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It's done." Sara said. "I cannot confirm that the message was received, but I can say that whoever finds it will know our location."
"That's all we can hope for Sara. Thank you." Gina said, smiling softly.
"So what do we do now? Just wait for something to happen?" Grindor asked.
"I don't see being able to do anything else at the moment." High Wire said.
Annie plopped herself down onto a chair and leaned back with a sigh. They had been going nonstop since earlier this afternoon and this was the first time she had time to rest up. For once, Annie was content to sit still and wait to see what happens.
"Well, there's nothing else to do but wait for our friends to pick us up and get us off this hell hole." She yawned. "Wake me up when this is over."
"Whoa, hold on!" Darren said. "We can't just sit here and do nothing!"
"We can't? But that seems like a much better alternative than getting ripped to shreds by giant lion dog things." Grindor said. The Air Defense team nodded in agreement.
"No, have you guys forgotten about that giant eye beam that's sitting only a few miles from us?" He asked. "That thing just fired off a shot that could blow the Bots away before they even realize what's going on. They don't know what we know."
"So what do suggest we do?" High Wire asked, though he had a feeling as to what Darren was planning.
"We take that thing out before it destroys us or the Autobots." Darren said strongly.
Everyone looked at him then at each other, not really knowing how to respond to that. He was right of course, that obelisk was a danger that needed to be taken care of, but the question was how. They weren't exactly powerhouses, combiner or not.
"How do we destroy it exactly, Darren?" Grindor asked. "That thing's like as tall as a small apartment building."
"And it's heavily guarded." Runway stated. "Did I mention that? No? Sorry then."
"We just can't sit here! I'm willing to fight, and I know the rest of you are to." Darren grunted and ran his hand through his hair. He looked at the Minicons, who seemed to agree with his sentiments but were still hesitant.
"Darren, we understand where you're going with this, but it's not that simple." Sureshock said. "We're outnumbered and underpowered here, trying to start a fight now will only end badly for all of us. There's nothing we can do."
"If it is firepower you are in need of, then perhaps I can be of assistance." Sara said, gaining everyone's attention. They almost forgot about her, seeing as she was quiet the whole time.
"What do you mean, Sara?" Gina asked.
"I have a way to boost out firepower enough to storm the obelisk," Sara turned to the kids. "And I need you three to help me."
XXXXXX
The endgame was coming, this was the thought that both Optimus and Megatron had on their minds the whole time they were gearing up for what was possibly the most dangerous mission yet in their campaign on Terra. Miraculously, both leaders had proposed the exact same plans of infiltrating the island that was by now classified as a hostile enemy fortress; though Megatron was the only one who had an idea as to what they were fighting against.
Optimus had sent Skyfire ahead to verify the origin point of the beacon in the North Pole, and her search turned up the massive floating island that was completely shocking to Optimus. Realizing that the kids were trapped on this island, Optimus geared up for another war-a different one. He was never a mech who condoned excessive violence, but whoever made that island clearly didn't want it to be found, and if that was the case, then they would take measures to ensure that whoever found the island would be eliminated to keep its secret. The increasingly painful burning of the Matrix in his chest was proof that he wasn't dealing with a conventional threat here.
Optimus came up with a plan that unknowingly mirrored Megatron's; treat it like a siege assault and perform an instant strike. They had to hit hard and quick before the enemy could gather their forces. The exact method of doing this, however, was nothing short of insane.
"You want me to what?" Ratchet gaped.
"Ground bridge us above the island, Ratchet. I can't risk the Ark being affected by whatever's surrounding the island and stranding the ship onto it." Optimus said.
"Optimus, think about this-" Ratchet said, but Optimus held up his hand.
"I have, old friend. And this is the only way." He said. "We have no idea as to who is our enemy, or if there is an enemy at all, but that island is clearly something unnatural to this world, and whoever created it could prove to be dangerous to the children and Minicons. I am not taking any chances here."
Ratchet, though reluctant, knew that he couldn't change Prime's mind when he was like this, and thus conceded to follow his orders. Optimus turned to his team, who were ready and waiting with a full loadout of weaponry from their munitions vault and even with some of the Minicons along for the ride.
"Autobots, I will be honest with you. I do not know what threats we will face, or how dangerous our excursion will be, but I do know this," He said. "Our friends, members of Team Prime, are trapped on that island without any way of getting off. I won't ask you to risk your lives for me, but do it for them, as they would have for all of you."
"No need to try to guilt trip us boss bot." Jazz said. "We're going in with no regrets."
"Save for the usual." Wheeljack muttered. Bulkhead nudged his shoulder.
Though he couldn't physically show it, Optimus smiled at his team. Truly they were some of the best warriors a commander could have. Hefting Sparkplug onto his shoulder, and his Ion cannon onto his other one, Optimus faced the ground bridge as it activated and gave the command.
"Autobots," He yelled. "Transform and roll out!"
The Autobots took their alt modes and drove into the ground bridge, where they were instantly transported into the frigid climate of the frozen north. They angled their bodies so that they fell straight down into the cloud that concealed the island, and let gravity do the rest. Skyfire flew around them so as to keep them from getting any surprise attacks as they made their entry.
Just as Nightshade noted earlier, falling through the cloud was like pushing through a planet's atmosphere. The Autobots were actually pushed back a little as they managed to brave through the first challenge of the island and emerged out of the cloud towards their destination. To their surprise, they already saw a huge battle going on down below.
"What's going on?" Ironhide yelled over the violent winds pushing against his form.
"It's Cons!" Skyfire yelled over the . "Megs is here with nearly his entire squad and their duking it out with these huge bird things!"
"What bird things?" Arcee asked.
"Those bird things!"
Skyfire transformed and drew her particle cannon as a swarm of angels flew towards the falling Autobots. Optimus, Ironhide and Bulkhead, the heavier ones who could stick their landings without any problem, transformed and drew their weapons. In no time at all, the entire sky was alight with blaster fire and missiles shooting every which way as the three Autobots covered their much lighter friends. Skyfire was the only one who was making headway, shooting down the stone angels then switching to jet mode in a blink so that he could shoot them down with heat seeking missiles.
"We're coming down to the surface!" Jazz yelled. "Fire your grappling lines!"
Jazz, Bumblebee, Prowl and Arcee fired their lines at the nearest trees, while Wheeljack simply activated jump jets in his forelegs so slow himself down enough in order to hit the ground in a roll and jump to his feet. Optimus and Ironhide hit the trees and landed on their feet, except Bulkhead, who fell on his back.
"Up and at 'em, kid! No time for lying on the job!" Ironhide helped Bulkhead up and began shooting the Affinities out of the sky. But the more he shot down, more took their place, flying in from whatever hole they nested in. "Prime, these things are gonna overrun us if we don't move!"
"Wheeljack, find the origin point of the distress signal now!" Prowl ordered. But the engineer was already on the job, using his built-in radar dish (which he just modified into his hand that morning) to locate any unusual pulse waves in the area.
"It's going to take some time!" He said.
"Don't worry Jackie, we've got some time to kill." Jazz said, slicing the head off one of the angelic beings. Then he felt the ground tremble.
Optimus felt it to, and he was forced to jump to the side to avoid getting cut in half by a large golden axe that flew from the trees. The ground trembled as a gigantic being, one similar to the angels, came stomping out of the brush.
came stomping out of the brush.
The Autobots had never seen anything like it. It looked like some deformed Greco-Roman statue, large with stony skin and bulging muscles. Its form was hunched over with a red jewel on its back that glowed with power. Its thick, trunk-like legs were equally as thick as the rest of its body, and it lumbered forward like a hunchback brute as it grabbed its axe and swung it around with a deceptive amount of skill. The strangest thing about this thing was that its face was that of a stoic, cherubic child, calm and serene, though strange garbled roars were emitted from an opening in its neck. The brute looked down at the puny Autobots and raised its axe in a war cry as it charged at them.
Jazz closed his mouth, which was hanging open and raised his cryo-emitter. "I take it back, make it snappy Jackie!"
XXXXXX
Sara had taken the kids out of the base and led them to a large cave carved into the canyon wall. Though reluctant to allow the kids alone with the android, Darren assured them that it would be fine, though he was nervous as to what Sara could possibly want them fir. She took them into the cave and didn't stop walking until they reached a dead end, puzzling the kids.
"What are we doing here?" Annie asked.
Sara didn't answer. Instead, she took Gina's hand and pressed it against the center of the wall. Gina was about to ask what she was doing, but then the spot where her hand was began to glow. Some hidden mechanism scanned her palm and then the ground beneath them started to move. It was an elevator disguised to blend in with the scenery. The elevator brought the awestruck kids down a long chute, before exiting into a large, dark cavern that was clearly artificial.
"You told me that if I were to meet you again, I was to give you and your friends these machines." Sara told Gina. "You said they would help greatly in the future."
"I said what? Sara, what are you…?" Gina trailed off as Sara pressed a button and the lights switched on. When they saw what stood before them, the children found themselves shocked speechless for the third time that day.
The cavern was an underground hangar, one used for the storage and maintenance of talos, but it was haphazardly made and was more unorganized than a military hangar. At the back of the hangar were three talos sitting in holding cages. These mecha were fancier and colorful in design, aesthetically pleasing to the eye than the usual talos used in the military or sold to enthusiasts. Each machine sported a slender, streamline design to better fit the humanoid design, akin to the newer Nipponese models recently released, but something about them gave the units a futuristic flare. The talos stood around 26 feet each, taller than the average talos that usually stood around 6 feet, and they all had a different design that catered to their function.
The talos on the right was mostly red with gold armor plating on the biceps and thighs, sporting a lavish if a bit average design common in most talos. The talos in the middle was black and white, shorter than the red talos by at least a foot or two and sporting a squat design with thick armor and two large black cannons mounted on the shoulders. The talos on the left was just as average in design as the first unit, white and purple along the torso, arms and legs. It had thick armor plates on the shoulders that could rotate around, but lacked any visible weapons aside from the cannons on its forearms and the larger cannon mounted on its back, connected to a large backpack unit.
"Sara," Darren said softly, feeling that he'd ruin the moment by speaking loudly. "What's all this?"
"These are talos that you will be piloting now and in the future." Sara answered. "They are talos of the Omega Series, powered by third generation Apollo drives, and equipped with the best weaponry suited for your personalities and fighting styles. They will be your talos, Darren Radcliffe, your talos is the Prometheus. Annie Radcliffe, your talos is the Enyo. Ms. Gina, the Athena is yours." She faced the children. "You three wanted to help the Autobots, so this is your chance to do so."
"This is awesome!" Annie gushed. She ran towards the black and white talos, the enyo. "Dubs on the bad boy here!"
"Wha-no! No one's piloting anything here!" Darren said and glared at Sara. "I don't know what your plan is here, but we're not as gullible as we look!"
Annie raised a finger. "Actually-"
"Shut up, Annie!" Darren yelled. "Do you actually think that we're just going to hop into these things and jump into the middle of a battle? We don't even know how to pilot a talos, let alone fight in one. There's a reason people need licenses to pilot these things!"
"I am not playing any games that I know of." Sara replied. "I am merely doing as Ms. Gina ordered me-"
"Stop saying that! You just met her, how can you follow orders of a girl who didn't even know you existed before today?"
"I am not at liberty to ask that question."
Darren was about to subdue her for answers when they felt the hangar shake. This was followed by faint explosions topside that were loud enough to be heard down there.
"What's that?" Annie asked.
"It would appear that your Autobots have encountered the natives of this land." Sara mildly noted. She looked back at Darren. "I understand your mistrust and reluctance, but time is of the essence. It is paramount that you pilot these talos and destroy the obelisk. It is the focal point of this island and mostly likely its source of power. Destroy it and your friends are safe."
"Why can't you pilot one of them?" Darren demanded.
"The talos are encoded to your biosignature. I cannot even enter them without express permission from one of you."
Darren growled, but Gina grabbed his shoulder to get his attention. "Darren, we don't have time. If what she's saying is true, then the Autobots are in trouble up there. We need to act, now."
I know, but…" He sighed and slumped his shoulders. Hearing more explosions outside, he was forced to make his decision. "Fine, we'll pilot then. But if this turns out to be a trap…"
Sara shook her head, her expression unchanged, though her eyes had a noticeable shine to them. "This is no trap, but an opportunity. A chance to become more than what you already are. A chance to become warriors."
XXXXXX
Sonar whistled as he saw the bright explosions going off in the distance. He could see the Autobots heading their way, but with three brutes chasing after them, along with a flock of angels that were taking pot shots at them with their "magical" spears (as dubbed by Runway). They were holding their own, but his main concern was that they were heading their way with the baddies on their tail, and that was not exactly ideal for the Minicons just barely scraping by.
"What do you see?" High Wire shouted up to him.
"Lots of explosions, Autobots fighting those freaky statue things," Sonar reported. "And they're heading our way with a lot of slag on them."
"I've got the same thing here, except there's a lot of scary Decepticons coming towards us instead." Jetstorm said. "I don't like scary things Sonar."
"Me neither, Jetstorm." Sonar replied, flying back down to the earth with his partner and returning to robot mode.
High Wire sighed. Gina's plan worked, but a bit too well, not only were the Autobots heading towards them, but also the Decepticons as well. Once the two met in the middle, the entire canyon will become a warzone. They needed to get to safety fast.
"What is taking them so long?" Grindor growled. "We've got a storm coming, and they're fooling around with HAL's little sister."
"Calm down, they'll be here soon." Sureshock said calmly. But she did hope that they got here quickly.
"We're back!" Annie's voice yelled from the door, though her voice sounded muffled, like she was talking through speaker. The Minicons ran outside to greet their friends.
"Finally! We were worried about…"Grindor trailed off as he and the others took in the sight before them.
Instead of their three human friends, three large Talos stood in their place; one red and gold, one black, and, one white and purple. Each step they took made the ground shake a bit, though their movements were a bit uneven and janky. Sara was sitting on top of Gina's white unit, the Athena, guiding them as they stopped in front of the Minicons.
"High Wire," Darren's voice came from the external speakers of the red and gold Prometheus. "You better bring out Centurion. Because we're going to storm that castle."
Be sure to check out the official website for Transformers Titan; because this site has an aversion to links, the directions to reach the website are in my profile. Thanks for reading and please leave a review.