Sacrifice
…
Aria awoke confused and disorientated. At least this time her memory came back a lot faster. She was in Egypt with an alien Blackbird.
The sun was already high above, beating down mercilessly on her exposed arms, face and neck. Her throat burned, never had it felt so dry before. She licked her chapped lips, desperate for water.
Aria propped herself up on her elbow and looked for the old robot, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Panic set in and she shot up to take in the surroundings. Still no sign of him. That dumb old robot had left her alone in the middle of an Egyptian desert. No food, no water, nothing!
"Jetfire!" she called, cupping her hands on either side of her mouth.
Now standing, she paced over to the edge of the rocks. Maybe he fell off the side during one of his intensely intrapersonal conversations. As she neared the edge, something wet squished under her boot, and she slipped on unexpected substance.
She let out a screech as the weightless feeling caused her stomach to flop. Everything happened in slow motion. Her limps flailed and hit the rocks as she fell. The ground came closer and closer, until finally, everything went black.
When Aria's vision came back into focus, it was obstructed by sand. For a moment her body was numb. All she could really tell was that she was laying face down on the ground. Ever so slowly, feeling returned to her body. Nothing felt broken, but she had a sneaking suspicion that there were going to be some cuts and bruises when she got a look at herself.
After another minute or so of gathering her bearings, she shakily got into a sitting position. She attempted to wipe the sand off her mouth with the back of her arm, but it only caused more sand to scratch at her face and lips.
Looking up, Aria was nothing less than astonished that she wasn't dead. Somehow she avoided most the sharp edges that jetted out all over the side of the rock formation.
Now she was curious about what she slipped on in the first place, she pulled off her left boot and examined its sole while sand poured out from the inside. The substance was dark and viscous, like oil but not quite. It was probably the same liquid that dripped from the old Blackbird whenever he moved, or talked for that matter.
How did she not notice, was she blind? She found herself reaching for her glasses on her face. Yes, they were still there, albeit a bit bent.
It wasn't until she pulled off her other boot that a stinging sensation crept its way down her arm. Twisting the limb to get a better look, there was a long jagged cut on her right elbow that stretched down to her wrist. Blood started to soak her uniform and run down her hand. That was going to get painful once the shock wore off.
After she pulled of her other boot and socks too for good measure, she raised her arm to get a better look. It was a pretty gross mix of blood, small rocks, and sand. She went to pull out the biggest piece of rock, gasping at the pain as she did so. At least she would die of dehydration before having to worry about the pain of an infection.
She stretched her legs out in front of her. The gentle breeze cooled her exposed feet, drawing her attention to how hot the rest of her body was. She shrugged off the stifling jumpsuit, revealing the simple sundress she wore underneath.
The breeze immediately cooled her down as it came into contact with her sweat covered skin. Blood from her arm smeared onto the white fabric. It would have been unfortunate, if not for the more pressing circumstances.
Not bothering to put the sweaty socks or boots back on, she began her search for Jetfire, leaving them and her uniform behind in the blowing sand.
…
The sun was now on the west side of the sky and Aria's shadow grew long in the sand. She sat against a rock and watched the sky for any signs of Jetfire, her injured arm cradled on her chest. It itched and stung, making her vision blur with unshed tears.
Her search ended hours ago. She didn't dare venture out of sight of the rocks Jetfire had sat the day before in case he came back, but he never did. Now she sat against them, praying for his return. Even if she wanted to search more, she was too tired to. Her stomach growled and her throat itched. It was already taking most of her effort just to keep her eyes open.
It was still difficult to believe everything that was happening. Aliens were advanced robot-like beings that could transform into human machines. Not only that, but they've been on Earth for millions of years, hiding in plain sight. Jetfire couldn't answer her question of how many here, so she was left to speculate. Seeing as they could hide as anything it was impossible to tell. Were there just a few, or were there thousands? Have they been seen before and covered up by the government?
Then there was the Mission City cover up that happened a few years ago. The media exploded about a government experiment gone wrong. Conspiracists came out of nowhere, claiming all sorts of ridiculous notions, alien invasion being one of them. Of course, like all other instances, Aria wasn't convinced.
And now, here she was, in Egypt because an alien accidently transported her here.
The sound of a jet flying overhead drew her from her thoughts. She craned her neck, and sure enough, there one was. However, it wasn't the telltale shape of a SR-71 Blackbird. No, it was another distinct military jet. An F-22 Raptor.
Did it have something to do with the star harvesting machine?
Her eyes followed the jet across orange sky. So the military was involved then. There was no way that an F-22 was flying over the Egyptian desert without reason. It was strange that they only sent one plane, though. She would have thought that a machine capable of destroying the sun would at least warrant sending a fleet for air support.
Then again, Jetfire seemed to think that a kid could save the world by reviving a Prime to defeat The Fallen, so what did she know?
It wasn't until the thundering sound of a second jet that she turned her head back towards the direction the Raptor had come from. This time it actually was Jetfire. He came back for her.
The matte black jet's nose was pointed sharply at the ground, its trajectory uncomfortably close to where she sat.
The pain of her arm forgotten, she jumped up and ran to the far side of the rock formation. She had yet to see Jetfire land, and severely doubted it would be graceful.
Not a second later, the ground shook with the plane's impact. She threw her arms up in attempt to protect herself. Sand sprayed her, feeling more like needles on her flesh. A moment later, everything settled and the only noise was groaning metal. She opened her eyes and lowered her arms. Her gaze fell on a tall cloud of sand and dust and the old alien robot, Jetfire, walking out of it unscathed.
"You're back!" she exclaimed.
Although anger would have been the more sensible emotion to feel after being abandoned, it was relief and happiness that filled her. She ran up to the confused looking alien robot who was gawking up at the rocks that he perched on the day before, scratching his head. He didn't acknowledge her yelling at him until he almost stepped on her.
Letting out a scream, Aria turned and ran the opposite direction fearing for her life. This is what bugs must feel like.
"Where're you going, fleshling?" he said.
The next thing she knew, she was being harshly lifted into the air by a giant hand grabbing her. She flailed her arms and legs screaming, further irritating her parched throat. Was he going to drop her?
"Stop that squawking!" The old robot spat, bringing Aria to his face. "What is this?"
Aria stilled as the massive alien brought her close to his face. His eye focused in on the bloody cut on her arm.
"Blood, eh? Trying to look like a proper warrior? I commend your enthusiasm, but, you're supposed to sustain wounds in battle, not before!"
"I am not a warrior! And more importantly, where were you? I thought you left me to die out here!"
Jetfire's face grew angry. "I told you already! I went to go look for Prime, but just as I was making headway, I realized that I had forgotten you! Don't you remember anything?"
That…didn't make any sense. If he told her he was leaving, he would have brought her along. He had clearly forgotten about her until after he left.
She attempted to reason with the Blackbird. "But you-"
"Don't you start with me, fleshling!" he interrupted, shaking her. "Now are you coming to see the Prime or not?"
Grandpa Blackbird was getting impatient. The constant swaying of his hand while he talked was making her motion sick.
Of course she wanted to see the Prime and the people, they were her only hope of getting home. But she also didn't want to be anywhere near the star harvesting machine, or The Fallen for that matter. The F-22 flying overhead also wasn't a great sign. There was guaranteed to be some sort of fight going on there, between either the alien robots fighting each other, or them fighting the military.
Then again, if the military was there she could get help from them instead. She could go there, immediately find the first soldier and ask them for help. Not like they could say no, she was a civilian after all.
She nodded her head.
The sound of pneumatics and shifting metal filled her ears. The hand she was it let go, and she was dropped into a seat while everything still moving around her. A seatbelt strapped her into position.
As the sound came to a stop, she found herself sitting in a cockpit, surrounded by hundreds of buttons, knobs, and gages. The lever on her right started move forward.
"Holy shit." She was in the Blackbird.
Didn't people train years for this? She was fine with stationary jets, but she had never so much as looked inside one unless it was on display. This, however, was crazy. In front of her was an oxygen mask. She hastily tried to put in on. Pilots wore space suits when they flew this jet and she wasn't even wearing shoes. Did the Blackbird even know what he was capable of in this form?
The jet engines came to life and everything rumbled and shook around her. It was unreal. She was sitting in the cockpit of an alien Blackbird.
The lever moved forward into the half way position, and the Blackbird started to pick up speed. Her body was pressed back into the weathered seat. The rumbling of the engines became more intense, the already deafening sound getting louder and louder. Needing something to hold onto, she grabbed at the control wheel, praying that it wouldn't upset Jetfire and cause him to crash.
"Oh my god," Aria continued to repeat to herself. This couldn't be happening. Could jets even take off in the sand? No no, he wasn't a jet, he was an alien.
The lever slid the rest of the way forward. The Blackbird that Aria didn't even think could fly as of yesterday, was about to take off. The jet went faster and faster and bumps got harder until the jet would leave the ground and then hit it again. Like an out of control rollercoaster launching into the sky. Bile rose to her throat. She was going to die before her twenty fifth birthday.
The Blackbird was now fully in air and continuing to climb, still increasing speed. Even with her eyes wide open, dark spots filled her vision from the intense g-forces. Breathing became difficult, but it was hard to tell whether it was from lack of oxygen or hyperventilation. Just remaining conscious was a battle.
Before long, Jetfire was rapidly decelerating. Her vision came back and her gaze fixed on the sight out the window. They were heading straight into a war zone.
Giant metal aliens scattered about old ruins, attacking each other. Bullets flew everywhere, landing with clouds of sand and smoke. Maybe she should have chose dehydration.
Before she could contemplate her death further, a voice boomed around her.
"Incoming!"
The seat disappeared as fast as the seat belt came undone. The cockpit came apart before her eyes and next thing she knew, she was in a giant hand still traveling at break neck speed.
The ground grew alarmingly close until finally the jolt of impact rattled her body. Jetfire must have rolled, because at one point she was upside down before being let go.
Aria barrel rolled in the sand about seven times before she came to a stop. The scrape on her arm burned as if it were on fire. She twisted her wrist to get a better look, sure enough it bleeding again and was filled with more sand than before. She slowly got up, still disorientated. When she shifted her focus to the surroundings, everything was blurry. She lost her glasses at some point during the fall.
Distant shouting of people echoed over the ringing of gunfire. Blasts and bangs of much larger guns and cannons stirred up walls of sand, making the ground quake. Dust in the air was filled with the scent of burning rubber and something metallic. There were tattered stone buildings scattered throughout the battle ground, many of them left in shambles, still smoking from whatever weapon caused the destruction.
A stray bullet whizzed past her, snapping her out of her trance and sending her in a bee line for a nearby half crumbled wall. Small bits of the old stone crumpled under her fingers as she peaked out from behind it.
Forget crazy, Jetfire was insane in bringing her here. How was she supposed to defend herself? Even if she did somehow still have the taser, it would be no use. Did those people seriously come here to revive the Prime?
Just past the old buildings were three massive pyramids lined up in a row. The Pyramids of Giza. On top of the largest one was the biggest robot she'd ever seen. It dug at the peak, sending chunks of stone tumbling down the sides.
She tore her eyes away from the monstrosity when she caught sight of Jetfire fighting another, much smaller robot. Well it wasn't much of a fight, the challenger was already in two pieces. The old Blackbird then had another under his foot and yelled something at it.
Aria couldn't make out his words over the constant gunfire. Sand barrowed up and another foreign looking robot flew out of the ground just as Jetfire crushed the other red eyed alien under his foot. It caught him around the middle and proceeded to drill straight through, bits of metal flying everywhere.
"Jetfire!" she yelled as the scorpion looking robot came after him a second time. The old Blackbird pulled it out along with most of his chest and fell over. He punched its head which splattered weird fluid all over the sand.
She broke out into a run towards the downed robot. There was no way he could die. After all this was over he had to go back to the museum where he belonged.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw a group of soldiers running away from a cloud of orange smoke among them were the boy and the girl from the museum. She stopped dead in her tracks. Did she go back to Jetfire, or get to the people?
Her decision was put on hold when a whistling sound from above dulled all other noise. It was planes overhead dropping bombs.
Jetfire's giant hand grabbed her, bringing her under him for protection. He hollered something, but Aria couldn't make out the words though the falling bombs. She covered her ears but it did nothing to muffle the sound. The first hits were the closest. As they went on, they got further away.
It was quiet for only a second before the next wave came down all at once. Whining, then impact, then explosion. The ground wouldn't stop shaking.
Finally, silence fell over the desert. The hand she was in started moving. Jetfire rolled to the side, looking at her. Everything was gone around them, reduced to nothing but rubble in the sand.
"-you listening to me, fleshling?" Came Jetfire's booming voice. Aria weakly turned her head to acknowledge the alien robot.
"What are you doing here? Get to your humans, damn it!"
If Aria wasn't in shock she would have laughed. "I can't," she said.
She couldn't leave Jetfire's protection. More bombs could drop at any moment. She could be shot, attacked, stepped on. It was hopeless. She was going to be killed. She would never see her family again. Never experience the rest of her life. She would die a janitor with no achievements other than a degree.
"Now's not the time to lose your spirit, fleshling. A warrior can never give up."
She lifted her gaze from the ground up to the old robot. "I told you before, I'm not a warrior. I'm just a girl."
"Girl, boy, human, Cybertronian, it doesn't matter! Being a warrior isn't about being strong. It's about having courage and perseverance. To overcome the odds not succumb to them!"
As Jetfire spoke, he staggered onto his feet. She couldn't deny the sincerity of his words, nor the effort of his actions. While she sat in defeat with nothing more than a scratch on her arm, Jetfire stood despite half his torso was missing.
He was right. Anyone had the capacity to become a warrior, but did she have what it took to achieve it? Between her and the others was a battlefield that she had to cross. All she had to do was make it there.
"Will…" She turned her gaze back from the fight ahead back towards Jetfire's piercing eyes. "Will you come with me?"
A selfish request, but she couldn't do this alone. All Jetfire wanted to do was see the Prime in action, but already his body was mangled from an unsuspected foe only minutes after arriving. Had he known coming here was a death wish? Was there an alternative motive to his actions?
"Let's go then, fleshling."
Aria walked beside the Jetfire, who now limped beside her. They headed through the clearing towards the people. She took each step slowly, as if the next could be her last. Her eyes were peeled, taking in everything around her.
There were two different types of robots as far as she could tell. Most of them were menacing, and… jagged, for lack of a better word.
The others, who were outnumbered were much more colorful and had bright blue eyes. The military didn't shoot at those ones. They must have been on the same side as Jetfire, then. Was one of them the Prime?
Her eyes landed on a dark robot in the distance. A bad one? The dark robot had guns the size of tree trunks mounted to its arms. It aimed with precision, firing on other bad ones. As it dodged and parried the others, it became clear that it was not a bad one. Yes, it had blue eyes. It was good.
A metallic roar screeched from right behind her. She and Jetfire reacted instantaneously to the noise. Aria whipped around and brought her arms up. Jetfire turned as well, and in the time it took her to process what was about to happen, he neutralized the treat. In a single movement, Jetfire swing his cane and decapitated it. The body fell, green liquid flowing from where its head once was.
Not a moment later, another red-eyed alien charged at them, gun poised to shoot. She turned and dug a foot into the sand preparing to propel herself away. Before she could take another step, the ground shook and the force of a blast knocked her off her feet.
Jetfire caught her mid air. He fired back at the assailant with a missile of his own. It made contact and blew the robot apart.
Jetfire placed her back on the ground. "Get to the others!"
He tilted his head toward a red and white helicopter not too far off in front of them. Men in uniforms rushed out towards people on the ground. It was the girl from the museum who was yelling at the boy lying on the ground. Off to the side was what looked like another robot lying under a green parachute.
Jetfire then stood taller than ever and faced two more approaching enemy robots. When she didn't budge, he gave her a meaningful look and a nod.
She turned and ran as Jetfire readied himself to attack.
Ahead of her, the group moved further away towards the tarp covered alien. The was up and looked to be carrying a glowing object, what it actually was though, she couldn't tell without her glasses.
Soldiers gathered around the sleeping giant, and a couple uncovered its top half, exposing its greatly damaged chest. The boy climbed up onto the robot, still holding strange glowing object.
She slowed to an eventual stop behind some soldiers. There were no enemies nearby, so she watched the boy.
"The Matrix of Leadership."
Startled by the sudden noise, she jumped. Behind her, Jetfire came to a stop and kneeled down. He looked worse for wear, leaning heavily on his cane. Aria took a few steps closer to him. Alien robots where new to her, but seeing him like this, he didn't have much time.
If his fate was inevitable, he didn't acknowledge it. Instead, he watched the scene ahead, transfixed like the others.
The boy raised the Matrix above his head and with a shout, brought it down into the robot's chest. As it made contact, static filled the air.
The robot made a strange sound like gasping and whirling air. It coughed sand from its mouth as the parachute blew off it, as if some unnatural force came from its mechanical body.
Slowly getting into an upright position, it spoke.
"Boy, you came back for me."
Its voice was…otherworldly.
"A living Prime! I don't believe it!" Jetfire coughed while crawling closer and bracing himself with the broken wall in front of him. Wires hung from his gaping chest wound.
So this was the Prime? It was big, but still dwarfed by Jetfire. Her eyes wondered over its entire form, taking in the vast differences between him and the Blackbird. Red and blue metal decorated its body, scratched and dirty from whatever it had previously been though. Though injured, it had an air of authority unlike anything else. And its eyes… its eyes were the brightest blue she'd ever seen.
The Prime looked up to the sky, Aria followed its line of sight to see another strange looking robot flying towards it. The flying thing disappeared momentarily before reappearing right in front of the weakened Prime. Was that The Fallen?
Just the force sent her, the Prime, as well as the other friendly robots and people around it to the ground. The flying robot then disappeared again, reappearing to attack some helpless soldiers. It stole the Matrix from the Prime, and once again disappeared. The Prime tried to get up, but seemed unable to.
"Oh no," Jetfire muttered, his red eyes fading as he looked on at the Prime.
Aria got back to her feet and placed her hand on his elbow. The dying alien looked back at her.
The moment was lost as the sound of gunfire and missiles returned. Aria plugged her ears with both hands. The military's guns were aimed at the top of the pyramid were a metal structure was now exposed. It must have been the Star Harvester. No wonder no one knew about its existence, the Egyptians built a world wonder around it.
The powerful flying robot lifted his staff like weapon. Tanks and rocks surrounding the uncovered machine began to float high in the air. A moment later, they fell back down to Earth when gravity returned.
That alien must be The Fallen. Like Jetfire, it could teleport as if it were an easy feat. And if what she just witnessed actually happened, it could also manipulate gravity. What could the Prime do to pose a threat to such a being?
"All my Decepticon life, I never did a thing worth living until now."
Her eyes shifted to Jetfire. The finality of his words was jarring. Was this the same Blackbird that she met yesterday?
He regarded her with dimmed eyes. "Aria, you're a warrior now. You remember what that means, don't you?"
"…Never give up?" she said.
"Even if it seems hopeless, there's always something you can do." he said and poked her chest with a finger. "Just follow your spark,"
Before she could even begin to formulate a response, Jetfire turned back to the Prime who now looked back at him.
"Optimus, take my parts and you will have a power you've never known," he said and reached into the hole in his chest. "Fulfill your destiny."
In one swift motion, he pulled a blue sphere out of his chest and held it out towards the Prime. He fell forward, landing on the ground. Motionless.
"Jetfire!" she screamed.
Things started to go quiet again, her vision fixed on the fading blue sphere. Everything that surrounded it faded to black until it was all that left.
He was dead. Just like that.
"Ironhide, get that girl out of here!"
A man's voice? No, it didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Jetfire was dead.
Her body was scooped up by an unknown source while two other robots, one yellow and one blue, came towards Jetfire's body. No, leaving him was out of the question. Never taking her eyes off Jetfire, she went to move her legs to no avail. Her body didn't respond, too heavy to move, too numb to feel. All she could do was stare.
The blue robot shot cables out attaching one to the fallen Blackbird and one to the Prime who was now crawling towards him.
The metal plates that made up Jetfire's body rapidly disassembled and attached onto the Prime's body, the red and blue parts now partially covered by Jetfire's worn black ones. It stood to full height with the stature of that of a deity.
"Let's roll," he said and took off into the sky. His alien allies following him into battle.
The hand that held her placed her back down on the ground further away from other robots. Her attention though, was back on Jetfire. All that remained of him was a metal skeleton. In his hand was still the blue orb he pulled from his chest. It was the only part the Prime didn't take.
She had only known him for a day. Completely senile at first, but then, his true personality began to shine through. He was old and wise despite his eccentric character.
He didn't have to tell her anything. Could have stepped on her or left her behind. But no, he helped her. A nobody.
Not only that, but he actually believed in her. Her, of all people. He called her a warrior, told her that she had the courage and perseverance that it took.
He stayed by her side, protected her, encouraged her. And then, he sacrificed himself for the sake of the Prime and the planet.
He was a warrior.
There was another explosion. Aria jumped at the sound and looked up to see the machine destroyed and the Prime as well as another alien robot toppling down the side of the pyramid. The once floating rocks falling around them.
With the enemies distracted, she bolted towards Jetfire, grabbing the sphere. The rusted metal shell broke apart, leaving a much small orb in its place. It was a foreign material that looked like some sort of mix between glass and crystal, the last of the blue glow coming from inside it. The least she could do was take it home and burry it in her flower garden.
She stayed by his body until the gunfire faded in the distance. No more enemy robots remained. Above, two jets took off from somewhere in the ruins. One was an F-22 with strange markings, but the other was unrecognizable. Alarms went off in her head. It wasn't a military aircraft. In fact, it wasn't a human aircraft at all. It must have been one of them.
Once the jets were out of sight, she got back up and looked around the battlefield. She spotted the nearest soldier and ran up to him, the orb cradled in her good arm.
The man turned to face her as she neared. Sand and ash clung to the sweat on his face. His eyes were tired, yet wide and alert.
"Do you need assistance?" he asked. His eyes scanned her body, zeroing in on her bloody arm.
"Yes, I need to get home. I'm not from here, and I haven't had water for almost two days now."
He nodded and pulled a canteen from one of his many pockets, handing it to her."Where are you from?"
"D.C.," she replied simply and took a very long drink. The liquid soothed her parched throat.
He gave her a weird look. "Come on, let's go check out that arm of yours, then we'll talk more."
"Alright," she said.
He glanced at her from over his shoulder. "My name's William Lennox."
"I'm Aria."
She paused for a moment and tuned to the battlefield. Her eyes landed on Jetfire's body one last time. Her whispered thank you, lost to the soft wind.
…
While the medic was bandaging her arm in the back of a medical vehicle, the victorious Prime emerged and came to stand beside a Sphinx's head, matching its height. It discarded Jetfire's borrowed parts, letting them fall to the ground around it. Soldiers and robots alike gathered around. The battle was over.
Aria thanked the medic and joined the crowd. She stopped when the Prime's gaze lingered on her for a moment.
She must have stood out like a sore thumb among the soldiers. She wasn't wearing any shoes and the right half of her dress had blood smears all over it. Her hair was no longer in any sort of pony tail and was more like a disheveled mass surrounding her sand covered face. Regardless, Jetfire had been right.
This Prime was pretty amazing.
...