Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter! I hope all of you in the States had a lovely 4th of July! It would have been awesome if I could have had this up on the 4th, but a few days late isn't too bad, right? I hope you enjoy!
Please note: I do not own Transformers. I do, however, have my own OC's which I have inserted into the story. My OC's include Reese Shields and Chase Sanders. Electra Belongs to my sister.
24. Panic! At The Antarctic
This chapter corresponds to the episode "Triangulation"
The team went about their business, preparing themselves to be split up to cover as much ground at once. The question was, who was going where?
Ratchet, who had been monitoring the still uncloaked decepticon warship's progress, noted a change in their position. "Here's a twist, it would appear that the Decepticons have retreated from Manhattan!"
"They just… up and left?" Arcee asked, sounding unconvinced.
"It is more likely that Megatron has already set course for the second set of coordinates, having already dispatched a unit to this relic's underground location," Optimus surmised.
"How'd they do that without tearing up a whole city block in the process?" Arcee sounded even more surprised.
"They probably used subway tunnels. New York has a whole network of them running beneath the city," Jack explained.
"Well, since the human population no longer seems to be directly threatened, maintaining our disguise will be necessary. Arcee, Bumblebee, you are the best choices to navigate through such a densely populated area," Optimus instructed the two smallest bots on the team.
"New York has over eight million people in it. Even if Bumblebee and Arcee are best suited for a densely populated environment, the odds of them being spotted are still high, even if they are headed underground" Jack pointed out.
"Where are you going with this?" Arcee gave Jack a suspicious look.
"You're gonna need a face man. Someone who can speak on your behalf and run interference if your cover gets blown."
"Yea, well I've actually been in subway tunnels. I grew up in a major metropolis, remember? Unlike Mr. "I've never been outside Jasper Nevada" here," Miko crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air. "If anyone is best suited to go on this mission, it should be me, not Jack."
"Well, I have been to Cybertron," Jack pointed out.
"Cybertron doesn't have subway tunnels! Does it?" Miko argued.
"Agent Fowler's field experience makes him our best candidate," Optimus seemed to ignore Miko's comment.
"Alas, he is still recovering from his encounter with the decepticon warship," Ratchet muttered, glancing over at the semi-conscious agent who lay on a gurney in the corner. "It's gonna be a while before he's back on his feet again. Several hours at least, and we don't exactly have that kind of time."
"Yea, well we survived the trip aboard the Nemesis without incident," Miko pointed out.
"Very well, Miko and Jack, you may accompany Arcee and Bumblebee," Optimus vented. He didn't sound completely sold on the idea, but their options were pretty limited. "Ratchet, initiate transport and triangulate the coordinates of the other three relics."
"I'll get on that right away," Ratchet said as he plugged the coordinates to the first relic into the groundbridge.
As soon as Bumblebee, Arcee, Jack, and Miko had departed for New York, Optimus turned to Bulkhead. You will be dispatched to the next set of coordinates. Are you okay doing this mission solo?"
"Piece of cake! I'm a wrecker, remember?" Bulkhead grinned, giving Optimus a thumbs up.
"Heads up! I've triangulated the rest of the coordinates. Bulkhead, it looks like your headed to the equator," Ratchet called over from the groundbridge controls."
"Looks like I'll be prepping for the tropics, Wrecker style!" Bulkhead slammed his fist into his other servo.
"Ratchet will be required to retrieve one of the relics, so while he is away, Rafael and Agent Fowler will be your transportation and communication hub. Well, once Agent Fowler recovers, that is," Optimus informed Bulkhead. "Be on your guard."
"Will do," Bulkhead nodded as he walked through the open portal.
With two of the four teams dispatched, Optimus turned to Ratchet. "BlueStreak and I will be headed to the Antarctic to get the third relic. As for you, I would rather you had someone to accompany you on your mission, as well."
"But who else is there? Everyone else has already been dispatched." Ratchet looked a little confused.
"There is one other," Optimus hinted.
"No! Absolutely not. Wheeljack is insubordinate, a Ruffian! He doesn't listen to anyone! You can't seriously expect me to work with him!" Ratchet scoffed.
"Wheeljack is a highly capable warrior. You would be wise to welcome the temporary alliance." Optimus gave Ratchet a stern look, one he didn't have to give very often.
"Very well…" Ratchet vented, though it was clear he still wasn't thrilled with the plan.
Optimus then turned to address BlueStreak. "I hope you don't mind accompanying me to the Antarctic. It will be cold, but according to Ratchet's sensors, the weather and temperatures should still be within the safe limits for Cybertronians."
"No problem. A little snow never hurt anybody."
"Hey BlueStreak, do you think I could come with?" Chase came up to his guardian with a pleading look.
"I don't know, kid. The temperatures might be too much for you."
"But Optimus just said that the temperatures would be in the safe zone for Cybertronians. If I'm in my Cyberform, I should be fine, right?"
"Well… I guess so," BlueStreak relented. "As long as Optimus is okay with it."
Chase looked up at Optimus expectantly.
"Very well, you may come along, but if the weather drops to dangerous limits, you will need to return to base. Do you understand?"
"Loud and Clear! Thanks."
"Hey, I want to come too! It seems like everyone is getting in on the action, and I'm the only one being left out," Reese grumbled, using the handrail to pull herself to her feet."
"Reese, you just had a run in with the warship. Perhaps it would be best to sit this one out," BlueStreak said, but he could already tell that Reese wasn't going to take no for an answer.
"No way! Other than being a tad tired, I feel fine. I'm not even dizzy anymore. Please let me come with you! It's not fair if Chase gets to go and I don't!"
BlueStreak shot Optimus a questioning look, leaving the decision up to the Prime.
Optimus seemed to consider the situation and then vented. "I suppose it's only fair that you be allowed to come too, but the same stipulations apply to you as apply to Chase. Should the environment become too inhospitable, both of you will return to base. Understood?"
"Yes sir! Just let me grab a jacket really quick." Reese beamed, running off to her room to grab her heaviest coat.
"Chase, you should probably grab a coat as well. Just to be safe," BlueStreak recommended.
"Alright, I'll be right back," Chase nodded, heading off to his own room to grab a coat.
Once both young adults had left the room, BlueStreak turned to Optimus. "I'm okay with Chase coming, but are you certain that Reese is well enough to come too? I'm just a little concerned for her."
"Your concern is understandable; however, I think it is also important to realize that she has grown up much since you last saw her. She is much stronger than she might first appear."
"I suppose…"
"We're back and ready to go!" Reese declared as she and Chase came back into the main room, both donning heavy coats, hats, and gloves.
"Okay then, hop in and buckle up. Until we find the relic, I recommend that you two stay inside my alt mode. The less you are exposed to the elements, the better." BlueStreak transformed and opened the doors to his alt-mode.
Reese and Chase did as they were told, climbing into the driver and passenger seats respectively. Once they were securely buckled in, BlueStreak and Optimus drove through the open bridge.
Reese plastered her face to the window as they exited the bridge on the other side. Snow and ice stretched on for as far as the eye could see.
"Wow! I've never seen this much snow before!" Reese breathed, steaming up the window in the process. "It's beautiful."
"It's definitely a sight to behold," Chase agreed, also awestruck by the terrifyingly beautiful landscape.
"Have you had many encounters with snow?" Reese turned to Chase.
"I've been out in it a few times, but I've never seen anything like this."
"I don't think many people can say they have either. This part of your world isn't exactly the most hospitable to humans," BlueStreak chuckled.
"Ooh! Do you think we will get to see some penguins? I've always wanted to see penguins, and I know they live down here in antarctica." Reese suddenly got very excited, to the point that she was squirming with giddy energy.
"Sorry kiddo, we're pretty far inland. Most of the penguins stick near the coast, where they have access to plenty of fish."
"Awww, bummer," Reese pouted, slumping down in her seat and folding her arms across her chest. "Well, at least this beats training for hours on end."
"That reminds me, I have been meaning to talk to you about that."
"Scrap, I just had to open my big mouth…" Reese facepalmed.
"Wow, do you really hate it that much?" BlueStreak sounded a little disappointed.
"It's not that I hate it…" Reese seemed to pick her words carefully. "It's kind of a lot. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate you helping me get stronger and all, I just don't exactly relish spending my every waking moment training…"
"I figured as much. Chase and I had a talk yesterday, and I guess that maybe, just maybe, I've been pushing you a little too hard."
"A little?! I would say it's been more than a little." Reese raised her eyebrows at Bluestreak.
"Okay, okay, so maybe I've been pushing you a lot too hard. I just don't want you to get hurt. I want you to be strong enough to protect yourself."
"I appreciate the concern, but I'm not a little girl anymore, and I've taken care of myself for years. Sure, I still get into scrapes, but so does everyone else on the team."
"Optimus said something along those lines earlier. I guess it's just a little hard to accept. I mean, the last time I saw you, you were just a little thing."
Reese bit back a snide remark. She had already told BlueStreak she forgave him for abandoning her family. No need to make him feel worse about it.
"Do you resent me?"
BlueStreak's question caught Reese a little off guard. Her first instinct was to say no, so as to spare BlueStreak's feelings, but deep down the emotional wounds had yet to fully heal.
"Nevermind, don't answer that; the look in your eyes said enough. It was an unfair question," BlueStreak vented a little sadly.
"I…" Reese opened her mouth to speak, but Optimus messaged BlueStreak at the same moment.
"BlueStreak, we have arrived at the coordinates, though it appears we aren't the first ones to get here."
"Is it cons?" BlueStreak asked.
"It is. Reese and Chase, you are to remain here until BlueStreak and I return with the relic. It is too dangerous for you to get involved with the decepticons."
Reese and Chase climbed out of BlueStreak's alt-mode, shivering a little as they stepped into the subzero temperatures. Even with the winter gear they wore, it was too cold for any human to handle. Chase transformed into his cyberform, but Reese seemed to have a little difficulty. She was still figuring out how to transform on command.
"Reese, you need to be in your Cyberform, it's too cold otherwise," BlueStreak chastised.
"I'm trying, it's just not working," Reese grumbled, trying to focus all her energy on transforming.
"Perhaps I should call for a bridge back," BlueStreak offered, much to Reese's annoyance.
"No! I don't want to go back. We just got here. I can do it; just give me a sec." Reese closed her eyes and tried to think of nothing else but transforming. "Come on, transform already…" She muttered under her breath, growing more irritated by the second.
Finally, after what felt like ages, her eyes began to glow blue, and she could feel her skin shift into its metal form beneath her heavy coat. Once the process was done, she looked up at BlueStreak triumphantly. "See, I did it. No need to call for a bridge."
"We're going to need to work on your cyberform training some more when we get back. That should be our top priority," BlueStreak shook his helm a little.
"Great…" Reese's expression fell.
"Now stay here and keep hidden. We will be back in a bit."
The two techno-organics watched as Optimus and BlueStreak transformed, readying their weapons.
"Be careful," Reese said.
"We will," Optimus nodded, then he and BlueStreak headed forward, carefully making their way down the cliffside.
Reese and Chase laid flat on the ground, peeking over the edge of the ridge. Below, Optimus and BlueStreak had just engaged the decepticons. From what Reese could tell, they were talking with a large blue decepticon.
"I wonder who the blue con is? I haven't seen him before," she wondered aloud.
"The way you say that makes it seem like you have met other cons before. I'm kind of surprised. I didn't think Optimus would let you anywhere near them."
"I've only met a few of them, mostly by accident. Let's see, I've met Megatron, Knockout, Breakdown, and Starscream. Speaking of Starscream, he's down there too. But why is he in stasis cuffs? I thought he was Megatron's second in command?"
"Is he the silver one?"
"That would be him. He's the whole reason I met the autobots in the first place. I happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and was quite literally pulled into a battle between him and the bots. He used me as leverage against the bots to get the polarity gauntlet."
"What a jerk."
"Yea, he's kind of the worst. He's also the one that tried to destroy Bumblebee's T-Cog. It's a miracle Ratchet was even able to fix it. Needless to say, he isn't a well-liked Cybertronian. Though, from what it looks like, he doesn't seem to be on the best of terms with his own crew either. I wonder what he did to wind up in stasis cuffs."
"Who knows," Chase shrugged, but then he gasped as the blue con suddenly attacked Optimus. "Optimus and BlueStreak are being attacked! Why can't the con's ever listen to diplomacy?"
"I don't think Optimus has learned yet that cons don't listen to reason." Reese copied Chase's position, squinting to try and see through the snow, which had been stirred up by the battle.
Both she and Chase gasped as BlueStreak, Optimus, and the blue con went flying over the side of one of the icy cliffs below!
"Scrap, I can't see them anymore. What if one of them got hurt when they fell? We should go down and check on them!" Chase stood up, brushing the snow off his pants.
"You're joking, right? If we go down there, the cons will kill us for sure! That blue con wasn't the only one down there, remember? There were several vehicon troopers, not to mention Starscream!"
"It looks like most of the vehicons are incapacitated, see?"
Reese looked where Chase was pointing, and lo and behold, all the vehicons from before laid incapacitated in the snow.
"Okay, but what about Starscream? I don't see him, which means he could be anywhere."
"Well, if he's not where the battle started, then he could have gone over the edge too. There was so much snow kicked up in the air that it was hard to see what happened anyway."
"I don't know, we were told to stay up here…" Reese tapped her fingers indecisively on the ice. "But… you do have a point. Optimus and BlueStreak could be in trouble…"
"As long as we stay out of the fight, we will be fine. Come on," Chase held his hand out to Reese.
"Alright, as long as we stay out of the battle," Reese took Chase's hand and they quickly made their way to the ridge that Optimus, BlueStreak, and the blue con had gone over. They crouched at the edge of the ridge so as not to be noticed.
Below, BlueStreak and Optimus were still duking it out with the blue con. The con pulled out what appeared to be the Cybertronian version of a machine gun, and peppered Optimus and BlueStreak with bullets.
Optimus fell back a ways, then he turned and shot several blasts at the face of the cliff that Reese and Chase were watching from. Only after the shots had been fired, did he notice Reese and Chase crouched at the top. He quickly pressed a digit to the side of his helm and commed the two techno-organics.
"Reese, Chase, fall back! The ridge is about to collapse!"
Without a moment of hesitation, Chase grabbed Reese's wrist and dragged her back from the edge of the cliff. However, despite Optimus's warning, it was too late.
Both techno-organics felt the ice creak under their feet as the cliff face crumbled into an avalanche. Then, it gave way entirely, and the two found themselves being swept away by the snow and ice debris.
"Hold on, and don't let go!" Chase yelled, gripping Reese's arm with both hands. He tried to pull her closer to him, but the force of the sliding ice made it too difficult.
Reese held onto Chase's hand with everything she had, knowing that if she let go, the odds of them both being found would drop significantly. A particularly large chunk of ice hit the side of her helm, causing her to see stars and loosen her grip a little, but Chase only squeezed more tightly.
After being jostled around for a couple minutes, the two finally came to a stop, buried deep beneath the avalanche debris.
Reese tried to look around, but quickly realized that there was nothing to see. Well, nothing except a load of snow and ice. The only part of herself that she could see was her chest; everything else was buried. She attempted to move her arms and legs, but the heavy snow pinned them down, making movement impossible.
"I'm going to die down here. There's no way Optimus or BlueStreak could find me under all this debris. I'm going to die," Reese felt hot panic rose in her chest. Coolant welled up in her optics as she struggled futilely against the ice that pinned her down. "I don't want to die…" her breath came out short and raspy as she began to hyperventilate.
A gentle squeeze on her wrist broke through her panicked thoughts. Chase! That's right, Chase had been holding onto her wrist the whole time!
"Chase! Can you hear me?" Reese called out, but her voice fell flat, muffled by her icy prison. The isolating feeling this produced only furthered her panic. "Chase! Please say something! Anything," She screamed, frantically trying to free her limbs from the debris. This, of course, didn't work, and the more she struggled, the more she panicked. Nausea seeped into the pit of her stomach and her spark raced as her mind succumbed to the wave of fear that threatened to drown her.
Chase squeezed her wrist again, this time more tightly. He could probably feel her struggling. Could he hear her? She had no way of knowing, but the pressure of his grip was the only thing keeping her from completely losing it. She mentally latched onto that pressure like it was a life preserver in the middle of a stormy ocean. If nothing else, she knew he was alive.
Then, as if the universe had it out for her, Reese felt her body shifting back into its human form. "No. Nononononono, not right now! Stop it! Go back!" She yelled at her body, but it didn't obey.
The cold, that had been barely tolerable before, now bit into her skin. "Transform right now or so help me," Reese demanded, trying and failing to focus her energy on returning to her cyberform.
Another squeeze on her wrist drew her attention back to Chase, except this time, the squeeze was almost painful. His Cybertronian hand squeezed with more force than her human arm was quite ready for, and she instinctively tried to pull her arm away.
Chase seemed to notice that Reese's arm was no longer Cybertronian, and he quickly let up, much to Reese's relief. Unfortunately, he then let go of her entirely, effectively removing the only grounding keeping her from spiraling into sheer and utter hysterics.
"No, don't let go. Don't leave me alone!" Reese screeched, frantically reaching around for his hand from beyond the wall of snow and ice that separated them. Hot tears streamed down her face as she gasped for air. This couldn't be happening. She should have just stayed behind at the base.
Despite the fact that Reese didn't need oxygen to survive, she felt like she was suffocating. She needed to focus. To ground herself somehow, but in her panicked state, she wasn't thinking clearly enough to do this. She was so panicked, in fact, that she didn't even notice the sound of scraping coming from the opposite side of the ice wall, at least, not until the scraping started to break into her tiny ice prison.
She turned and stared at the hole that was quickly forming just to the left of her head. Then, her wide, watery eyes locked with Chase's concerned optics.
"I found you! You're okay," Chase breathed a sigh of relief as he continued to dig away at the snow and ice between them. After a few moments, he had dug enough away that Reese was even able to move her left arm; the one that Chase had been holding onto previously.
"Chase," Reese choked between sobs and gasps for air. she was also shivering and her lips had begun to turn a little blue. Yet, even in her current state, she reached out and grabbed Chase's hand with a visceral strength.
"Whoa there, I'm here," Chase leaned forward, brushing some of Reese's hair off her forehead. "Just try to focus on breathing. It's okay. Everything is going to be okay."
"You let go… Why did you let go?" Reese bit her lip as her tears continued to flow.
"I had to. I couldn't get to you otherwise. I'm sorry," Chase spoke soothingly. He was remarkably calm compared to Reese, who was currently a hot mess. "Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"
"I can't move…" Reese choked again.
"Okay, but are you hurt?"
"I… I don't think so."
"Good, that's all that matters. Now, you need to try to calm down. You won't be able to transform back into your cyberform until you can relax a little. Too much of your mental energy is being expended on panicking."
"I c-cant," Reese's teeth chattered and she squeezed Chase's hand even tighter, her heart still racing as she continued to gasp for air.
"Sure you can, you just need to take it one step at a time. First, focus on slowing down your breathing. Try to breathe in through your nose for four seconds, then breathe out through your mouth for four seconds."
Reese tried, but only was able to breathe in for a second or two before she choked on the air. "I…. can't…"
"Don't stop; Come on, do it with me, breathing in, 1… 2… 3… 4…; Now breathe out 1… 2… 3… 4...,"Chase coached. He repeated the steps with Reese for several minutes. There was a lot of coughing and choking on Reese's part as her respiratory chambers adjusted to the new rhythm of airflow. After a bit, though, her breathing finally came back into a more normal rhythm. "Good, good, you're already making good progress."
"I'm s-scared," Reese whimpered, shivering violently.
"I know, but Optimus and BlueStreak will find us. They will get us out of here. Don't worry."
"H-how do you know? They have n-no way of knowing wh-where we are…"
"Don't think like that. Look, let's just keep focusing on helping you transform back into your cyberform. You're getting too cold." Chase wiped some of the tears off Reese's cheeks with his glove. "Try not to cry. The tears will freeze to your skin."
Reese bit her lip but nodded; she knew Chase was right. "H-how were you able to get to me?"
"I was lucky enough to be caught in a small air pocket, so I had enough room to move around a bit. It's a good thing too, or else we would be in a much worse predicament."
"I'm… glad," Reese closed her eyes, suddenly feeling very tired. Panic attacks always took a lot out of her.
"Hey, you need to keep your eyes open. Try to stay awake," Chase ruffled Reese's hair a little to get her attention. "Let's try some of BlueStreak's cyberform training, okay?"
"Mmmmmkay," Reese nodded, forcing her eyes to open.
"Do you remember the first step?"
"Yea, I'm supposed to think about the first stage of transforming," Reese mumbled.
"Okay, then let's do that. Try to think about your eyes glowing blue. Think about the way your vision shifts when that happens."
Reese furrowed her brow as she brought to mind the sensation that usually accompanied the first stages of transformation. The way her vision would hyperfocus. The pulsing blue aura that would surround everything within her field of vision. These were the things she focused on.
After a moment or so, her vision actually did begin to sharpen, and that familiar blue aura filled her field of view. Even though she couldn't see herself, she knew her eyes were glowing.
"Good, good, now move onto the next step. Think about how it feels when your skin hardens into metal. Think about each molecule changing as the CNA becomes dominant." Chase continued to coach with a calm and gentle voice.
Reese closed her eyes and imagined each of the cells in her body shifting as the CNA took over. She imagined them coming closer together and forming a protective metal coating. As she thought about these things, she felt the sensation of her skin becoming harder and more metallic.
"There you go! You did it! Good job!" Chase breathed out a light chuckle, mostly out of relief that Reese was no longer in immediate danger of freezing to death.
Reese's cyberform did provide some relief from the cold, but she still shivered beneath her winter coat. She wished she could be at the base, wrapped up in a warm blanket.
"Hey, what I did I say about closing your eyes? I know you're tired, but you need to stay awake," Chase shook Reese's shoulder a little.
"Chase… what if we don't make it out of here…" Reese lolled her head to the side so she could see his face.
"Whoa now, don't talk like that. We will get out of here. It's not a matter of if, but when."
"But Optimus and BlueStreak don't have any way of pinpointing our location."
"Then we will just have to find a way to lead them to us."
"How?"
"Give me a minute to think about it. I'm sure I'll come up with something. It's my fault we are in this predicament in the first place, so I plan on getting us out of it. You know… this is twice now that I've put you in a dangerous spot. First on the warship, and now here… I'm really sorry, Reese."
"You forget that I agreed to come with you. I'm just as much to blame as you."
"Yea, but you wouldn't have had to agree to come with me if I hadn't pressured you to come in the first place. If we had just stayed up at the top of the ridge like Optimus ordered, we would have avoided this whole mess."
"Maybe… But if it makes you feel any better, I know I said we should have stayed up at the top, but deep down, I also wanted to get a closer look at the fight. If you hadn't suggested it first, I probably would have suggested it later… I'm honestly not as responsible of a person as you seem to think. I mean, just a week ago, I was the one convincing you to sneak out of the base to explore an off-limits outpost."
"Whoa, you never said that place was off-limits."
"I didn't? Huh, must have slipped my mind. Guess we're even now," Reese cracked the tiniest of smiles.
"I don't think that's how this works," Chase chuckled lightly, glad to see that Reese was doing at least a little better. "Now, I suppose we should at least try to comm Optimus and Bluestreak."
"Oh my gosh, you're right! Why hadn't I thought of that?" Reese dope slapped herself with her one free hand.
"You were kind of busy having a panic attack."
"Fair point," Reese sighed.
"Optimus… BlueStreak… Do either of you read me?" Chase held a digit to the side of his helm, activating the comm link.
Static.
"BlueStreak? Optimus?"
More static.
"Slaggit, I guess the ice is reflecting the signal," Chase cursed. "Guess we will have to find another way to let Optimus and BlueStreak know where we are."
"Hey, uh… do you think you could dig away some of the ice around me, first? I'm feeling a little claustrophobic without the use of my other arm or legs."
"Oh, yea I can do that." Chase went ahead and started digging away at the debris that pinned Reese down. Unfortunately, his digging only caused more snow and ice to collapse from the ceiling of their little cave. Most of it fell on top of Reese's chest and face, pinning her down even more.
"Ack!" Reese shook her head a little, trying to dislodge some of the snow that had landed on her face.
"Oops, sorry. It looks like the snow around this air pocket is a little unstable. I don't think I can free you without causing it to collapse even further." Chase brushed the rest of the snow off Reese's face.
"Lucky me," Reese deadpanned.
"Don't worry, we will get out of here soon enough. You're just going to have to sit tight till then," Chase said apologetically.
"Not like I can do much else," Reese sighed. "Do you have any other plans for getting the autobots' attention?"
"Maybe… You know how we can pick up energon signals, even if they are underground?"
"Yes… where are you going with this?"
"Well, if I turn off my energon cloaking device, then my energon signal should show up on the autobot's sensors, right?"
"Bad idea! It would also show up on decepticon sensors. That could get us into more trouble than we are already in," Reese shook her head vehemently. "Our signals show up as anomalous, because they aren't pure energon. The decepticons would likely get curious as to what would produce such an anomalous signature and send someone to investigate."
"Do you have any better ideas?"
"Not really…"
"Then this is the best I've got, so we're going to have to risk it and hope for the best," Chase shrugged.
"Your ideas don't exactly have a good track record, you know. Maybe we should just wait until a better option comes to mind."
"We might freeze to death first. I know my last two ideas haven't worked out great, but the third time's the charm, right?"
"I hope you're right…"
"Alright then, I'm deactivating my cloaking device… now," Chase said as he pressed a button on his cloaking device, its tiny blue screen turning off as he did so.
"Raf, I sure hope you're paying attention to Ratchet's computers right now…" Reese sighed as she and Chase began the waiting game.
Back at the base, Raf and Agent Fowler were busily helping the other relic retrieval teams. While Raf coded a virus to help Ratchet on his mission, Agent Fowler was in close communication with Bulkhead.
"Uh oh… Team, we have a big problem," Bulkhead groaned over the comm link.
"Bulkhead, what is it?"
"The relic was a cache of energon..."
"That's good, right?" Fowler sounded confused.
"No no no, not this kind... This stuff is known as Tox-En. It causes nausea and dizziness upon contact. Prolonged exposure weakens Cybertronians to the point of paralysis, and then it snuffs out our sparks," Bulkhead said grimly.
"Well, then what are you talking to me for? You need to get as far away as you can from that Tox-En stuff, Pronto! If it's as deadly as you say, the Cons won't want it either."
"No, they'll want it even more. During the war for Cybertron, Megatron found a way to refine raw Tox-En and turn it into a weapon of mass destruction. I witnessed an entire unit wiped out by the sickness. We can't let the cons get their grubby servos on this stuff. No matter what."
"Then bring it back here! Raf, open a groundbridge," Fowler turned to address Rafael.
"Forget it. Even if we had a safe place to store it, this stuff is way too potent to risk exposing to the rest of us- ugh, scrap! I'll call you back, Fowler," Bulkhead said, abruptly terminating the comm link.
"Yes, hang up on the person helping you. I see how it is," Agent Fowler grumbled.
"He wouldn't have hung up unless it was something that needed his undivided attention. Hopefully it's nothing too serious," Raf pointed out.
"I hope so too… That Tox-En stuff sounds like bad news."
"Yea…" Raf trailed off, distracted by something on Ratchet's computer. Chase's energon signature was blinking repeatedly on the screen.
"Hey, why is Chase's icon blinking? Isn't his signature supposed to be cloaked?"
"I thought so… Give me a second, I will try and contact him," Fowler pressed a few buttons on the computer, opening a communications channel with Chase. "Chase, do you read me?"
Static.
"Huh, that's strange, the signal isn't going through. Try calling Optimus or BlueStreak," Raf suggested.
"Good idea," Fowler nodded, pressing another button. "Prime, do you copy?"
"Yes, Agent Fowler?"
"Hey, we noticed Chase's energon signature pop up on our sensors. Is everything okay?"
"No, unfortunately Reese and Chase were caught in an avalanche. We are trying to locate them under the debris but haven't had much luck so far. Can you send us the coordinates of Chase's signature? He may have deactivated his cloaking device in order to lead us to him."
"Sending the coordinates now! Keep me updated, Prime."
"Will do. By any chance, do you see Reese's signature?"
"No, I'm sorry."
"Understood, hopefully she and Chase are close to each other. We will notify you once we have found them. Optimus out."
"Do you think they've noticed your signal yet?" Reese asked sleepily.
"I don't know. Let's hope so."
"I can't feel my legs or my pinned arm anymore. Chase, I'm scared… and I'm tired."
"I know, but you need to stay awake. If you fall asleep… well… You might..." Chase didn't finish the thought.
"I know…"
Chase hadn't mentioned it, but he could feel the subzero temperatures starting to get to him too. His joints were stiffening, and he could feel drowsiness settling into his optics. He shook his helm a little bit, trying to shake some of the sleep out of it.
"Hey Reese, let's do something to keep our minds occupied."
"Like what?"
"I don't know. Maybe we could speculate how the other bots' missions are going. Let's start with Bumblebee and Arcee. They went to New York, right?"
"Yea… They are exploring around in the subway tunnels. I wonder if they have found the relic yet."
"Maybe. I wonder what subway tunnels are like. I've never actually been in a subway before."
"Me either. To be honest, I don't even know if I've been in a city as big as New York. Actually, scratch that. I think my dad took my family to Crown City(1) once, when I was a kid. It's on the coast somewhere. That was the trip where I got to see the ocean for the first time. We didn't ride the subway when we went, though."
"Crown City, huh? I hear that Crown City University has one of the best medical programs in the country. I'd love to study there, but it's way too expensive."
"I hear ya. They also have a prestigious robotics program, but I'm in the same boat you are."
"Maybe we'll achieve our dreams one day. Who knows, if we help end the war against decepticons here on Earth, maybe the government will reward us or something."
"Ha, not likely. Especially considering that most of the world doesn't even know that a war is going on."
"True… but still, you don't know the future. It could still happen."
Suddenly the sound of scraping and digging came from above them.
"They found us! It worked!" Reese exclaimed.
"Don't celebrate just yet. We have no way of knowing who it is. For all we know, the cons could have found us first," Chase's brow furrowed.
"What do we do if it's cons? Neither of us are in the best place to fight back."
"We'll cross that bridge when we get there."
As the digging got closer, bits of ice and snow began to fall from the ceiling. It was clear that the air pocket would collapse at any moment. Chase leaned over Reese as best as he could, shielding her from any falling debris.
Finally, two pairs of servos broke through the ceiling, causing the little air pocket to collapse in on both Chase and Reese. The servos worked diligently, scooping the debris out of the hole. Once most of the debris had been cleared, Chase chanced a look up at their rescuers and let out a sigh of relief as he made eye contact with Optimus and BlueStreak.
"Chase! Reese! Thank the Allspark, we found you!" Bluestreak gasped, carefully reaching towards the boy and pulling him out of the snow. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
"Just cold," Chase shivered, his teeth chattering a little.
"BlueStreak, go ahead and transform, and turn your heaters up to high. I will finish freeing Reese," Optimus ordered. Then, he turned back to the hole. "Reese, just hang in there, I'm going to get you out."
Reese barely nodded. Her internal systems had already started shutting down from the cold, and she could feel the world around her closing in.
Optimus dug away the remaining snow and ice that had been pinning Reese down, then gently lifted her out of the hole, placing her now sleeping form inside BlueStreak's alt-mode.
"Do my optics deceive me, or was that thing you just pulled out of the snow that human girl I almost squeezed to a pulp so long ago? Since when did she become a robot? Don't tell me she's one of those repulsive half-breeds," Starscream, who was still in stasis cuffs and had been lurking in the background, spoke up in disgust. Apparently the autobots had taken him hostage while looking for Reese and Chase.
"She is none of your concern. Neither of them are. You should be more worried about yourself," Optimus turned to face the silver seeker.
"Your avoidance of the question gives me the answer I seek. I must know, how can you stand to associate with such vile creatures? I mean, humans alone are nothing more than aggravating pests, but a half human half Cybertronian? It's repulsive."
"They aren't repulsive!" BlueStreak spat. If he hadn't been in his vehicle mode, he probably would have decked Starscream.
"Starscream, if you were wise, you would keep your thoughts to yourself," Optimus gave the seeker a hard glare. Then, he activated his comm link to base. "Agent Fowler, do you read me?"
"Optimus, did you find them?" Fowler's anxious voice came in over the comm link.
"We did, but their core temperatures have hit the critical zone. Has Ratchet returned from his mission with Wheeljack?"
"No, not yet."
"Hmmm, I see. Reese and Chase will need to go through proper defrosting procedures as soon as possible. Please inform Ratchet of the urgency of the situation."
"You know, If Ratchet were to relay the instructions, I could probably take them back now and start the defrosting procedure. I have picked up a little Cybertronian medicine during my time here on earth, after all. Not like I had much else to do," BlueStreak suggested.
"Very well, return to base and make sure that Reese and Chase are stabilized. I will remain here and have Starscream lead me to the Relic's location," Optimus nodded.
"Whoa now, release me from these restraints and then I might consider leading you to the relic," Starscream held his cuffed servos out for Optimus to release.
"You will lead me to the relic regardless," Optimus transformed his servo into a blaster and shoved Starscream forward.
"Stay safe, Optimus. Let me know if you need any backup," BlueStreak cautioned before calling for a bridge back to base.
The scene BlueStreak found on the other side of the groundbridge was less than ideal. Bulkhead was in a bad place and in desperate need of backup. Looked like he was injured and had been exposed to high amounts of Tox-En. Agent Fowler was talking him through the mission, trying to keep the Wrecker focused.
Ratchet and Wheeljack were also in a tight spot. Raf was trying to upload a virus into Laserbeak, Soundwave's surveillance drone, while Wheeljack went after Soundwave directly. Needless to say, Ratchet wasn't in a position to give instructions on how to begin the defrosting procedure.
"Rafael, has Ratchet been informed of Reese and Chase's predicament?" Bluestreak asked, still in his vehicle mode.
"Yes, but he can't exactly walk you through the defrosting process right now. Lucky for you, I was there when he used the procedure on the autobots in the past, so I know how to set it up," Raf set his laptop down for a moment and ran into the med bay.
BlueStreak transformed, holding Reese and Chase in his servos. Chase was shivering violently. Reese stirred slightly but didn't open her eyes. "Are you sure you know how to do this? You're just a kid," BlueStreak eyed Raf dubiously.
"I might be a kid, but I've been around the base long enough to pick up a few things. Besides, Ratchet already told me what levels to calibrate the defroster to, so it's just a matter of plugging in the numbers and hooking Reese and Chase up to it."
"If you say so," BlueStreak vented, not having any other choice but to trust Raf. He laid Reese and Chase down on the large medical berth in the med bay, then turned to watch Raf plug some numbers into the defrosting machine and start it up.
"Alright, everything should be set up. All you need to do is attach these tubes to Reese and Chase," Raf pointed to a couple of hoses that extended off of the defrosting machine.
"Rafael, the attachments on these hoses are built for full grown Cybertronians. They aren't going to fit on Reese or Chase," Bluestreak ran a servo down his facial plating.
"Oh yea! Ratchet mentioned something about that. I think he said there might be some smaller attachments in the medical storage bay. He said something about them being "minicon sized"."
"Those will work. Thankfully, minicons(2) are only slightly larger than humans. Alright, show me where the medical storage bay is."
"It's just down the hall on the right. I would lead you to it, but I've already left Ratchet alone for too long. I need to get back to my computer."
"Okay, get back to helping Ratchet. I can probably find it on my own," Bluestreak nodded, heading in the direction Raf had pointed.
He searched through the medical storage bay, and eventually found the minicon attachments, thankful that Ratchet kept the storage bay impeccably organized. With the attachments in servo, he made his way back to the med bay and hooked everything up.
There was a slight hissing noise as BlueStreak attached the hoses to Reese and Chase's frames and started up the defrosting process. Once the process was underway, and he was sure they were stable, BlueStreak activated his holoform and sat down between the two techno-organics.
Chase turned his head to look up at BlueStreak. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" BlueStreak looked down at Chase.
"I… I disobeyed. If we had just stayed at the top of the cliff, we wouldn't have been caught in the avalanche…"
"Hmm, yes, that was quite reckless. I'm just glad that we were able to find you two, and that you are alright."
"Is Reese?"
"Is Reese what?"
"Is she… okay? She was pinned under a lot of ice. She said she couldn't feel her arms or legs anymore… Are you sure she's alright?"
"It's a little too early to tell the extent of the damage. Both of your core temperatures had reached well into the critical range, but I think she will be okay, as will you. Listen, why don't you rest and focus on recovering. Okay?"
"Okay…" Chase conceded a bit begrudgingly.
"Good. I'm going to go see how the others are doing, but I will be sure to check in on you and Reese every so often." BlueStreak deactivated his holoform and gave Chase a quick smile before making his way towards the main room.
He walked in just in time to see Raf open a groundbridge for Ratchet and Wheeljack. The two came through the portal, the latter looking a little worse for wear.
"How did it go? Did you get the relic?" Bluestreak asked, coming over to help Wheeljack into a sitting position.
"No, unfortunately we didn't… But, we may have gotten something else instead," Ratchet grunted, making his way over to his computer and pressing a few keys. "With Rafael's help, I was able to upload a virus into Soundwave's drone, Laserbeak. If it works, then when Soundwave accesses the Iacon database, the virus should upload it directly into our computer systems."
"That would be pretty useful," Bluestreak raised his eyebrows in surprise. "How'd you manage to get a hold of Laserbeak?"
"It's a long story. One that we can discuss later. Right now, I need to check on my patients. Were you able to set up the defrosting procedure? How are they doing?" Ratchet asked, leaving his workstation to check on the techno-organics.
"They are resting now, but they were in pretty bad shape when Optimus and I found them. Their core temperatures were dangerously low. I'm just hoping there isn't any internal system damage."
Ratchet ran his scanner across both Reese and Chase's frames. "I think you managed to get them stabilized in time. My sensors aren't picking up very much damage. They should be fine once the defrosting procedure is complete. They are lucky, that's for sure."
"Thank the Allspark. Optimus will be happy to hear that they are okay," Bluestreak vented in relief.
"Speaking of Optimus, is he still in the Antarctic?"
"Yea, we encountered some cons when we got there. There was Starscream, and another con who called himself Dreadwing. There was a fight, but Dreadwing was caught in the avalanche, and Starscream was in stasis cuffs. Optimus said he would continue after the relic while I returned to base with Reese and Chase."
"That was probably the wisest decision. I am not concerned, Optimus is very capable on his own," Ratchet nodded.
"Ratchet, C'mere! You've got to see this!" Raf's excited voice came from the main room.
"What is it?" Ratchet hurried out of the medbay and looked to where Raf was pointing. On the computer mainframe, line after line of coded information appeared on the screen. "Is that the Iacon database?!"
"Yea! It's downloading directly into our mainframe. Ratchet, the virus worked!" Raf bounced around excitedly.
"HAHAHAHAH YES! Raphael, you are a genius!" Ratchet laughed heartily. It seemed their mission hadn't been a total bust after all.
Raf blushed, smiling proudly. Ratchet didn't give out compliments lightly, so such a compliment meant a lot.
"Raf, open up a bridge and make it quick. I think Bulkhead is ready to come back," Agent Fowler interrupted the excitement.
"On it," Raf nodded, pulling up the remote groundbridge controls on his laptop.
"I can't wait to tell Bulkhead the news! This is great!" Ratchet beamed, turning to face the groundbridge as it swirled to life.
Ratchet's excitement was short-lived, because Bulkhead's return didn't go quite how everyone had expected it would. The Wrecker came flying forward through the portal, landing face down on the floor of the base. There was a smoldering blaster wound on his back plating.
Ratchet immediately knelt beside the Wrecker, trying to find for a sparkbeat. There was none. "We're losing him! Someone, get me the defibrillators, STAT!" Ratchet barked.
BlueStreak jumped into action, running into the medbay and returning shortly with a set of defibrillators, which Ratchet took and immediately used on Bulkhead.
As if things couldn't get any worse, Raf opened the groundbridge for Bumblebee, Arcee, Jack and Miko to return. No sooner had Bumblebee pulled into the base that the sound of screaming reached everyone's ears/audial receptors. Miko bolted from Bumblebee's alt-mode and ran straight for Bulkhead. Jack had to grab her arm and hold her back or else she would have been electrocuted when Ratchet defibrillated the wrecker again.
"WHAT HAPPENED!? BULKHEAD!" Miko screamed, struggling against Jack's grasp.
"Bulkhead! Respond," Ratchet pleaded, shocking the bot again. After the third defibrillation, Ratchet's scanner picked up the faintest sign of a sparkbeat. "That will have to do. BlueStreak, help me get Bulkhead into the medbay, Chop Chop!"
The two bots carried Bulkhead's unconscious frame into the medbay. Jack forced the hysterical Miko to stay behind with everybody else, knowing she would only get in Ratchet's way. How quickly victories could turn into tragedies, and everyone had to hope that this tragedy wouldn't end in Bulkhead's death.
(1) Crown City is the city of interest in the sequel to Transformers Prime, Robots in Disguise.
(2) Minicons are small cybertronians, only slightly larger than humans. They are used to enhance the abilities of other Cybertornians. While they are not mentioned in Prime, they are seen in the sequel, as well as previous Transformers series.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'm still in the process of getting the timeline all sorted out, but I was able to at least get this chapter done. We will see how quickly the next one falls into place. I have had to completely replot everything, which is super annoying. Hopefully everything in the chapter makes sense. Anyways, thanks for your patience and all the kind review you guys leave. I really appreciate them! I will see you all in the next chapter. In the meantime, God Bless - Lucy