Shoutout to my amazing readers! We reached 3000 views! Thanks to all of you! And I love hearing from you guys in the reviews, know that I think you're all amazing! So thanks guys! I never expected such a response when I first posted it, and am just amazed that I get readers every day! So don't mind me as I gush out a bit of love to you all.
Also I apologise as I only just now realised that some of the things I'd underlined for when Violet's voice is talking weren't staying underlined when I uploaded them onto here. I hope it didn't make her conversations with 'herself' to difficult to follow. I'll be fixing up the previous chapters and keeping a vigilant eye out for this in the future.
Chapter 17
The Autobots stepped from the space bridge into their base, returning from the planet Cybertron. They held solemn faces, their minds clouded with what had occurred back on their planet and coming to terms with its consequences.
All but one. Violetwind was filled with relief. Fear had torn at her spark worse than anything she had known before when the Earth had been in danger. Now that she had returned, the femme felt better, however part of her was still grieved.
Cybertron will never be restored now...
Only now did she fully understood why the other Autobots were despondent. Their home would remain a lifeless husk. They would not be returning as they had hoped. It made her feel guilty for having been pleased. Though the earth had been saved it had been at a great cost to the Autobots.
The mech who had remained behind turned to greet them. When his optics laid sight of the pods, he uttered in surprise, "The children? What happened?"
No one answered as they placed the humans' pods down, setting them free.
This only served to frustrate the confused Ratchet. "Somebody say something!"
With a deep vent, Bulkhead offered up an explanation in the simplest terms, "Optimus... Destroyed the Omega Lock." Even as he said it, he could hardly believe it had happened.
The medic's optics widened in horror. "What!? You did-!" he started to shout at the Prime before being cut off.
"What was necessary," he finished calmly. "There was no time for a prolonged battle. Not with Earth in imminent danger."
"So you destroyed the only device in any universe capable of restoring our home..." Ratchet slumped against the railing near the computers, barely able to process what his audios had heard. The deepest grief could be heard in his voice, "Optimus... We needed that..."
Smokescreen piped up in the leader's defence, "You weren't there, Doc. And it's not your place to second guess a battlefield decision!"
"It most certainly is!" The medic snapped, stepping forward to glare at the rookie. "There had to be another way!"
Walking over on the catwalk, the humans looked up at the mech.
"It wasn't that simple, Ratchet," Jack stated, not pleased with the medic's reponse to the rescue of their planet.
Raf went on, "Megatron was using the Omega Lock to attack the Earth."
"Optimus saved our planet!" Miko glared at the bot, hands on her hips.
"And what about our planet?!" he shouted back. "All of our struggles and energon spilled. Countless sacrifices. For nothing?!"
Violetwind stared at the ground, unwilling to look at the medic, lest his harsh optics glare at her too. She did not understand why she did not feel the same; why she was not as passionate about Cybertron as the others. She tried to console herself by saying that it was just because she had no memories of it. Yet, was that the answer?
Trying to shake off the feeling she glanced over at Arcee, the femme growling back at the cranky medic. "Right decision or wrong, what's done is done. But we have another problem here, on this world. The 'Cons changed the rules when they put Jack, Miko and Raf into play."
"What do we do about it?" Violetwind queried, concerned about their human friends' safety. "They know where to find you..."
"That's right," confirmed Jack, his face crestfallen.
"What about our families? Will we have to be relocated to another town?" Raf asked, concerned about his family. He was obviously worried that they might be hurt and had reason to be.
"I believe we will need to contact Agent Fowler b-" Optimus started, an urgent communication cutting him off.
::Prime!:: shouted the incoming call from the very human he had been talking about. ::The Pentagon's preparing to go to defcon one! I need to know what we're dealing with!::
Optimus raised an optic ridge, "To what do you refer, Agent Fowler?"
::Maybe you should step outside and see for yourselves,:: he suggested not explaining further.
Turning to head towards the elevator Prime said firmly, "Ratchet, watch the children."
Violetwind glanced at Ratchet then at the humans before heading after Optimus and the others. The femme was curious and wanted to see what Agent Fowler had been talking about, whatever it may be.
Slowly the elevator emerged from the top of the base. The Autobots gaped in awe seeing the structure now towering over the Nevada plains. Not one of them even glanced toward the helicopter that landed nearby and the pudgy human who stepped out. They could not tear their gaze from the cybertronian like building.
"Megatron has managed to accomplish the first phase of his cyberforming of Earth; the construction of his fortress," Optimus explained what they were seeing, mostly for the benefit of their human companion.
Agent Fowler's face crinkled up with confusion. "In Jasper, Nevada? I don't get it. I've already had the town evacuated, why here?"
'Looks like Megatron himself has made an arrival,' Bumblebee pointed at the Nemesis as it flew towards them.
"Because the Decepticons have discovered the location of our base," replied the leader.
The seeker armada flew down towards the Autobot base, lead by Starscream himself. He cackled madly, swooping down to begin the assault, firing upon the Autobots. Bringing out their own blasters, they fought back, defending their home, Optimus the first to react, firing directly at the Decepticon second in command but his shots were easily dodged by the expert flier.
Smokescreen ducked out of the way as a seeker flew over head, quickly spinning around to shoot it down as it passed. The yellow scout took on those still coming their way, while Arcee dodged the rain of shots with ease. Too large to dodge though, Bulkhead held an arm over his helm till it eased enough for him to fire back.
Not wishing to be a part of the fight, Violetwind stood behind the others, her optics locked on the inbound jets in fear.
What are you doing?! Do you wanna die! Shoot back! Yelled her voice.
I think that's gonna happen anyway... she thought back.
A new noise filled the air amidst the usual sounds of battle, the buzzing of many rapidly beating wings. Looking towards the sound, the purple femme's optics widened. While the seeker jets flew about to make another pass, large bug like robots were flying their way. Pointing towards the frightful bugs, she cried out, "What are those things?!"
'They're insceticons,' Bumblebee informed her, not turning away from the fight.
Unamused by the arrivals Smokescreen groaned, "Great..."
The insecticons climbed up the rocky cliff sides of the base, attacking from all around them. Optimus retracted his blasters to take out the Star Saber which had been anchored to his back. The impressive weapon deflected shots and cut to pieces the insecticons trying to climb up the walls near his pedes.
"Eeep!" Violetwind screeched as one of the monstrous bugs headed her way, the weapon on its snout charging up. Transforming her arms into blasters she fired several shots into its face, downing the ugly beast.
Her spark beat heavily in her chest with fear. Staring at the insecticon with wide optics she was unable to stop her arms and legs from trembling.
A crash to her left had her head whirling around to see what it was. The rookie had hit an inscticon with his shoulder knocking it away from her. Punching the side of its head, he swapped his hand for a blaster to shoot it directly in the face, killing it.
He turned back to her with a smirk, "I've got your back."
His confident demeanour amongst the battle helped ease her fears a little, allowing the shaking in her limbs to slow. The simple knowledge of someone being there assisted in calming her nerves.
"Thanks, Smoke," she vented a sigh of relief.
"Hey fights not over yet," he reminded her, lifting his gaze to the air as seekers and insecticons flew above them. Without missing a beat, he continued to try and shoot them down.
With a groan she lifted her arms to fire upon the enemy, mainly aiming for the creepy insecticons so she would not feel so bad if she actually killed any. The bug like Decepticons seemed far more mindless and so she reasoned within herself that as such were more like drones to ease the guilt. Plus they just plain freaked her out compared to the vehicons.
Glancing towards the Nemisis, she could see more insecticons coming their way. "How many of these things are there..."
Also seeing the new wave of enemies, Optimus span around swinging his saber, and moving forward as he did so to send an energy wave at the approaching insecticons. The wave fanned out and exploded many of the bugs on impact. The ball of fire then helped to take out some of those nearby not directly hit by the initial wave of energy. It had hit their ranks hard but they still kept coming.
Seeing the futility of the battle, Optimus called for a retreat. "Autobots! Into the base!"
As the bots headed for the elevator, Agent Fowler went in the other direction, towards his helicopter. Seeing him do so, Bulkhead looked over at him like he was crazy. "Fowler, what are you doing?"
"My job, two tonne," the human replied, buckling himself into the vehicle. Taking off, Fowler flew into the fray.
"Should he be doing that?" Violetwind softly questioned.
Arcee shrugged, "Probably not, but I'm not gonna stop him."
The Autobots gathered on the elevator and went back down into the base. Re-entering the main hub another missile hit, shaking the structure. Dirt floated down from the roof, adding to the sense of unease.
"What's happening?" Jack asked, staring up at the bots with concern.
Ratchet stared at Optimus with wide questioning optics. "What's going on out there?"
The mech wore a grave expression. "The Decepticons have invaded Jasper."
"And Fowler seems to think he can hold em off," the green mech added in disbelief.
Before they had time to process the news, Agent Fowler's voice commed through the computer, ::Prime, reinforcements just arrived.::
"Agent Fowler, your military cannot prevail against the-" before he could protest further, Optimus was cut off.
::You didn't think I was gonna let Team Prime have all the fun did ya?:: spoke an unfamiliar mech.
"Haha, it's Jacky!" laughed Bulkhead with glee, recognising the voice.
"Wheeljack? but how did you?" The medic uttered in disbelief.
::Picked up a strange energy surge. Hope you don't mind the company.::
"No. It's just that after everything, well..."
::We're still on the same side, Doc. Always will be.::
"Who's Jacky?" whispered the purple femme.
"That's Wheeljack, Bulkhead's old friend. They were in the Wreckers together," offered Raf.
"Oh, ok. So, what's the Wreckers?"
Miko took over this time, throwing her arms about in enthusiasm, "They are an awesome group of Autobots, not afraid of anyone or anything! We're not to be messed with! Those 'Con's better watch their tailpipes now!"
"We're?" she repeated not sure if she had heard the girl correctly.
"Oh, yeah! I'm one of them. First human Wecker after I snuffed Hardshell," the girl puffed out her chest proudly.
"What's a hardshell?"
Miko rolled her eyes. "Only the toughest insecticon they had. Until I took care of him, of course."
Looking down at the teenaged girl, Violetwind found that she had a little more respect for the young human. Taking out insecticons was not an easy thing to do.
Optimus broke in, having been silent with thought for the past few minutes. "Ratchet, prepare to bridge everyone out of here."
"We're abandoning the base?" he uttered, not sure if his audios had heard correctly.
"The base is lost," their leader replied firmly, "Wheeljack and Agent Fowler can only buy us time to escape. Bumblebee, Rafael, you will depart first."
'Yes, Optimus,' the scout trilled obediently.
Raf looked up at the mech with frightened eyes, "You're splitting us up?"
"Shouldn't we stick together?" questioned Jack, stepping forward.
"All for one and one for all?" Miko added.
The red and blue mech shook his head. "We must disperse to avoid capture until we can regroup and launch a counter attack. Survival is our only priority now."
Scooping the boy up, Bumblebee whirred sadly, trying to comfort his companion. 'We'll make it through this.'
Stepping forward, Violetwind reached out a finger to ruffle Raf's hair, giving him a sad smile. "Be safe. And keep Bee out of trouble."
"Of course, Vi," he gave her small smile.
'We'll be fine, won't we, Raf?' Bee chirped, the young human nodding in reply.
Moving out of the way she allowed the scout to put him down and transform. Opening his door, he allowed Raf to climb inside. Once buckled up, the boy looked out the window with sad eyes. He did not want to leave everyone behind, to say goodbye like this.
Inputting a set of coordinates, Ratchet opened the ground bridge and everyone turned to watch the send off. All eyes and optics rested on the vehicle, each one thinking over their current circumstances. It did not seem like it could be true. They were actually abandoning the base.
"Take care, Bumblebee," Optimus nodded to the pair.
Honking his horn, the scout drove through the ground bridge, his occupant looking back at the others. The boy's eyes held sadness and fear before he disappeared from view through the tunnel.
"Bulkhead, Miko, you are to go next."
"Optimus, are you sure about this?" the girl pointedly questioned the bot, hand on her hips.
He withheld a sigh, "It is our best course of action." Prime did not wish to admit that even he did not like the plan himself. But he also knew they could not defend the base from the attack nor could they leave together as it would be too conspicuous. They stood a greater chance of going undetected in smaller groups.
"Come on, Miko," the green mech urged his partner.
The girl frowned as she jumped down the stairs. To her this seemed like a bum rap, abandoning the base and splitting up. Even though Optimus might have thought it best, she still felt there was something else they could do...
Jack trailed after her, getting ready for his turn to leave. Like Miko he did not want to leave but he understood it was too dangerous to remain. As the oldest of the humans he had always felt the desire to protect the others. They had grown to be great friends and with things looking so bleak as they split up, he wondered if they would ever see each other again.
Bulkhead transformed into his alternate mode, opening his door. Miko climbed into the passenger's side seat, a small grumble of protest on her lips. As the door closed behind her and she looked out the window, her stern look softened. She looked sadly over at Jack as he hopped onto Arcee who had changed into her vehicle mode. The teen looked back, his own look mirroring hers, both wondering how long it would be before they saw each other again.
"We do not have much time," Optimus stated bluntly, wishing to hurry up the evacuation as another round of blaster fire hit the base causing debris to fall from the roof.
Without a word, Bulkhead drove through the ground bridge, his passenger getting a last glimpse of Jack and the bots before they too disappeared to another part of America.
Ratchet quickly reset the ground bridge for Arcee and Jack. They sped off, escaping the base as another hit shook the building.
"Smokescreen," their leader addressed the rookie, "You will be next."
"And Violetwind?" he looked over at the femme, who had been watching the others leave but turned his way upon hearing mention of her name.
"She will be accompanying Ratchet," the mech stated, glancing at the medic who gave a little huff.
Silently the purple femme wished she were going with Smokescreen, he was much better company than Ratchet. The grumpy old medic was not exactly a barrel of laughs to be around. Even Optimus would be better. At least he had his calm, gentle personality going for him. Though she was not about to protest, nodding in acknowledgement.
"Of course." The rookie turned to Ratchet, trying to lift the mood despite his heavy spark, "You'd better take care of her. I'll hunt you down if I find you've let her get into trouble."
The medic spluttered, "Pfffugh, I think we should be more worried about you being trouble."
"You know me, Doc," he smiled briefly before looking at Violetwind. "Just make sure you stay safe."
"Smokescreen..." The femme stared at him, tears in her optics. Springing forward she clenched him tightly in a hug. The mech was surprised at first by the outburst but was quick to reciprocate the gesture, the warm embrace making it hard to say goodbye.
After what seemed like an eternity, yet was only mere moments, she slowly let go, moving back to look up into his face, wiping the lubricant from her optics, "Promise me you'll make it back alive. You've already scared me enough times making me think I'd lost my closest friend."
He smiled, "I promise. You can't get rid of me that easy." The smile dropped from his face, the air becoming serious. "Goodbye, Violet. Optimus, Ratchet." The rookie looked at each of them. Standing tall, he saluted, before transforming and driving through the ground bridge.
Ratchet changed the vortex's destination once more and started to move towards it.
Seeing that they were leaving too, the femme lifted her gaze to Prime, "But what about you?"
"I will ensure that the Decepticons cannot follow," he replied.
"You're going to-" the medic started to say.
"Yes, Ratchet. I will remain here to destroy the ground bridge controls," his deep voice was strained with rare emotion.
"Optimus, everything is going to he alright isn't it? I mean, we're all going to make it out of this, aren't we?" she asked, wishing for some reassurance for the uncertain times ahead.
"We must have hope, Violetwind," he offered. "Though the Decepticons may think they have obtained victory, as long as there are those willing to stand up against oppression; freedom will prevail."
"Yes, I guess so..." the femme trailed after Ratchet.
The medic gave one last wide opticked look at the noble leader, the pair sharing the knowing gaze of long time comrades. With a sigh he then turned muttering, "I... Never imagined it would end like this..." He then transformed and drove through the swirling gate.
Turning to follow, Violetwind transformed as well, hearing Optimus Prime mutter a sad response as she left, "Neither did I, old friend..."
Slag those Decepticons. Why did it have to come to this?
Ahh, gosh leaving the base! D: All that sadness...
Also, Ratchet's "We needed that..." such emotion re-watching that for that scene.