I don't own Transformers Prime.
Chapter 15
In a thick forest covered area near the base of a mountain a Ground bridge opened and out came Optimus and Smokescreen in their vehicle forms. They followed an old gravel road to what looked to be an abandoned base of some kind. Amber who was sitting in Optimus's cab gasped and gripped Prime's seat as she recognised the place. "Amber what it wrong?"
"This- I don't believe it, this is the base where I grew up." she told him well he parked and let her and Casper out before he and Smokescreen transformed. Amber looked around at the rundown buildings and abandoned vehicles. Optimus could feel Amber's conflicted emotions as did Casper as he was whining at her feet looking at her worried. "Amber I know that this may be hard for you to be here but you are the one who brought us."
Amber took a deep breath and nodded, turning to the mountain. "I have a feeling what we're looking for will be located in the mountain. I- I always felt sort of drawn to it but was never allowed to approach it." She led them through a hole in the old fence and into the forest that surrounded the base, to the roots of the mountain. They were only in the mountain for a few moments before Amber felt a pull that came from the relic around her neck. Following the pull they soon found themselves standing at the mouth of a huge cavern. Smokescreen could walk in and have just under a foot of room left, which meant that Optimus had to bend over to simply enter the cave.
"It might be better if both of you transformed back to your vehicle forms for the time being. I don't know how high the cave roof is further back we go." Amber said pulling out a flashlight, shining it down into the darkness letting Casper off leash so he could sniff around. They slowly headed further into the cave, daylight soon behind them but both Autobots used their headlights to light the way. The cave soon sloped down to a tunnel that was too small for the bots to go through but she knew it was the right way. Telling Optimus this she was not surprised to feel his worry through their bond. "I do not believe this is the best course of action. It might be best to head back and have agent Fowler join us."
"Optimus I know that this whole thing puts you on edge but I have to keep going now." Amber said feeling restless and dare she say excited. It was an odd combination that she had never felt before and she was not ready to have it taken from her. Feeling this for himself Optimus agreed that she and Casper could continue on but to stay in communications at all time. "If the connection is broken at any point I want you to turn back-"
"You know I could just use the bond to keep in touch instead." Amber reminded him with a smile before she and Casper walked further down the tunnel.
On the Decepticon Warship
"Lord Megatron. I may have some interesting information for you." Knockout said well he walked on to the bridge.
"What is it Knockout?"
"I have just come from having a bit of fun with Silas and he began to ramble incoherently. During which he started spouting some co-ordinates where a weapon of some kind was being kept safe and… about his daughter." Megatron raised an eye ridge but otherwise not all that interested, so Knockout continued. "He said that it was incomplete but could very well case great devastation and that it was created by one Amber Star Bishop. I believe that it is the same Amber who is under Optimus's care."
Megatron looked interested by this news, a smile growing on his face plating. "Interesting but how sure are you that it is true?"
"Why that is very simple. Allow me to investigate the location Silas gave me and I will see what I find. It may perhaps give us a means to get the Autobots to surrender." Knockout said with glee, especially since he could see his lord's thoughtful consideration. He was over the moon when he was given permission to investigate but was not so pleased when Megatron ordered Dreadwing to go with him. It was no secret that the two did not get along with each other, especially since Knockout held the second in command responsible for Breakdown's death. They ground bridge to the location Silas had provide, frowning at the old human base looking very deserted. "Well this does not look very promising at all." Knockout said looking around in disgust at all the rust and dirt that could get on his finish.
"This looks to have been abandoned long ago." Dreadwing observed well he looked around, very bored by what he saw before him. That was until he spotted fresh Cybertronian sized foot steps leading away from the base. "What would Autobots be doing here of all places?"
"This just furthers my theory that the girl Prime cares for is Silas's Sparkling." Knockout said with glee.
"Would that possibly mean that the Autobots are in fact in league with the human terrorist we have in our possession?" Dreadwing asked confused. It was no secret that neither Cybertronian group had been on MECH's side.
"That is the part that I cannot piece together myself, hence the reason we are here. Perhaps the girl is leading them to the weapon?" Knockout offered well he pulled out a scanner, turning it on and calibrating it to pick up low energy fields. He was delighted when he did but soon realised it was under their feet and not the mountain that the Autobots trail appeared to lead. "I'll locate the device and see what it actually is." Dreadwing agreed and said he would begin setting up a surprise for when the Autobots returned.
-o0o-
Amber sneezed when falling dirt or dust landed on her face, Casper right behind her. "Yeah I know buddy, the air is thick with dust but if what the Light is telling me is right it shouldn't be much further." she told him well setting over a hole in the middle of the tunnel floor. Not long after leaving both mechs behind the pull she felt from the Light of Primus had intensified 10 fold and she was shacking with excitement. Why she was so excited? She didn't know but it felt important and… life changing. Going around a bend Amber blinked in surprise as there was a light up ahead. Carefully stepping forward they entered a huge cavern that was brimming with Energon Crystals of different colors. Most were blue but she did see a few red, amber and surprisingly turquoise colored ones but it was what took up most of the chamber that had her attention right away.
It was a large glass sphere that was clearly thick as she could make out the edge well looking at it from below. It was wedged in between all the crystals which suspended it high off the floor above hers and Casper's heads. Inside the sphere it looked to be filled with a moving metal of some kind that seemed to have no pattern to it. It would move fast for a few moments but than it would slowdown letting her see its moving components but it also looked like it was liquid. Also its shape kept changing, to different shapes and sizes. Sometimes taking up the entire space in the sphere and other times to the size of her head or that of a handful of marbles. Staring it Amber couldn't make heads or tails of what she was looking at it but then when she and Casper were standing right under it something changed.
The object the sphere stopped moving and a glow began to come from it. Trying to get a closer look at it Amber saw what looked like Cybertronian glyphs appearing all over its surface, winding and bend on the strange object. Then it once again changed shape till it was a long pole about the side of a rod with a very sharp point on the end point down, right where she was standing. Panic filled her well the glass of the sphere began to crake at the pole's tip, making Amber shouting at Casper and running for the tunnel that had come in. They were almost in it when the glass broke and the object changed into an odd lumpy pool on the cavern floor. Casper growled at it, putting himself between the strange thing and Amber who was staring at it. What she didn't see was the glyphs on her relic had also begun to glow, but it was white.
The object seemed to notice as it started to slither towards the girl and dog. It ignored Casper's angry bark, the pace of its slithering, and the size of it shrinking once again. When it was a few feet away from the pair it was only a little bigger than Casper and it jumped. Amber knew she should have reacted or moved in some way to avoid the thing but she was rooted to the spot. She didn't feel any sort of fear or anger when it hit her and began to wrap around her body, the force in which it hit her sending her flying back. Instead she heard a happy voice shout in the back of her mind. 'Sister!'
The voice was not Optimus, who she could still feel though for some reason the bond had faded to the back of her mind. Nor was it the other one that had talked to her when Unicron had been awakening, as that had been calming and commanding at the same time. Amber felt her body hit the floor of the cavern but the impact was not painful in anyway. In fact it was a very gentle landing, almost feeling like she was cushioned in some way, well the object wrapped around her in what almost felt like a hug from a long forgotten relative. The voice once again spoke, and this time she noticed it was not only male but a much higher pitch than Optimus. 'My relic has been waiting for so long for you to be reborn and arrive at this place, just like Alpha said you would. The scythe is yours to use till we see each other again and know that we your brothers are all with you in the hard times ahead.'
The object shifted and then settled over her shoulders and down both of her arms, covering them in a sort of armor plating that ended at her wrists. Amber lay there on the ground staring at the crystal covered ceiling dazed, even when a worried Casper entered her field of vision. He began to lick her face which brought her out of her daze and it was than she realised that Optimus was shouting at her through both her com watch and the bond. (("Amber are you alright?! Answer me please daughter."))
"Yeah Optimus I'm alright, just a bit confused and winded is all." She told him well sitting up and giving Casper a reassuring scratch.
(("What happened? We lost you there for a few moments")) Smokescreen said sounding a bit worried himself.
"I-" Amber's voice cracked well she looked at her arms in awe, not really sure about what had happened. "I'm not too sure how to explain it save Casper and I are in a huge chamber full of different colors of energon and there had been a hug sphere of glass that was holding something." she went into further explanations of what had happened a few moments ago save leaving out the voice that had called her sister. She could feel that it had been one of the thirteen that had spoken to her and knew it was best to keep that information to herself. Once she was done with her explanation Optimus instructed her to see if she could gather any samples of the different energon crystals in the cavern. It was his hope that Ratchet could study them see if they could use the energon, if they could find a way to excavate it. Amber was happy to do this, carefully pulling out a few large crystals about the same size as her arms, hoping it would be enough for Ratchet's tests but not too big for her to carry on her own. She was just wondering how she was going to carry all of them (4 crystals total) when she felt a pressure on her shoulders. Looking at her back that best she could over her left shoulder she saw that the relic armor had expanded from her shoulders, down her back and had made a sort of open carrying space.
Smiling she ever so carefully loaded the crystals in the space which shrank some to secure the sample once all 4 were inside. Amber was just turning to head back through the tunnel and head back through the tunnel when a small grouping of crystals caught her eye. It was a small grouping of 5 crystals no longer than 3 inches each stuck together. 4 where each a different color of crystal she had seen in the caver but the last one, the one in the middle of the grouping looked like it held all 4 colors. It looked like someone had painted the crystal all of the colors in an attempt to make it look like a rainbow. Bending down Amber was able to get the grouping out of the wall in one piece and held it well walking back.
Optimus's vehicle form looked like it was shaking well his holoform paced at the mouth of the open tunnel when Amber and Casper rejoined them. Casper of course ran up to him first, his bark in greeting drawing both Prime's and the rookie's attention. Optimus happily gave him scratches and looked at Amber relived that she was back but his look of relief change to shock when he saw the armor now on her arms and back. Smokescreen's holoform whistled in appreciation well he walked over and gently took the crystals on Amber's back. "Whatever this is it looks old. I can't even read the glyphs all over it."
Optimus had Amber move closer to his real body, using his head lights to get a good look at the mentioned glyphs. Amber than picked up the surprised shock in his mind when he realised he could read them. "What is it dad?"
"This is a relic of the thirteen Primes. I believe it maybe the Scythe of Amalgamous Prime." Optimus informed them, his voice full of awe.
"Wait what?!" Smokescreen shouted. "H- How can it be? Other than the Forge of Solus Prime or the Starsaber that once belonged by Prima, the very leader of the thirteen, no other relics of the first Primes have been found."
"But Smokscreen the Light of Primus was created by Solus." Or my former self I should say she thought to herself but Optimus heard it and meat her gaze both of them having the same thought to why she had found this new relic. With Amber and Casper back they left the cave and headed back to the old MECH base.
It looked the same when they arrived but something felt off to Amber well she looked around the base, noticing that one of the old jeeps had moved from where it had been when they arrived. "Someone had been here since we've arrived." Amber said, looking around worried and forgetting for a moment that Silas had been taken in by the cons. Or that he had killed all his men before trying to join the other team.
"But who could have been here? This place is a forgotten dum-" Smokescreen's words were caught off when he stepped on a piece of scrap metal and activated a land mine. The rookie was sent flying while Optimus moved to cover both Amber and Casper. He didn't need to as the new relic in Amber's care quickly shifted to make a shield that covered not only her and Casper but him as well.
"Amber get to safety. Now." Optimus ordered when Dreadwing appeared from out of nowhere and charged at Optimus. Amber didn't have to be told twice as the Scythe retracted back to armor on her well she and Casper ran for the nearest building. Running through the halls she subconsciously let her feet lead her. Before she realised where she was going she was slamming the door to her former bedroom/cell.
Breathing hard Amber looked around her old room, which simply held a bed, one old book shelf and a locker that she had used as a closet. There was no window or any other way out of the room save the door she had just come through. Dust covered everything, even the made bed that she recalled was military straight and clean. Snorting in disgust Amber walked over to the locker and easily pushed it aside revelling a hole in the floor. In the hole was an old ammo box that made Amber smile well she pulled it out put it on the bed, opening it. Inside was a few toys, books, her diary and her most precious thing. She pulled out a worn in places but the colors still bright, a fluffy uniron stuffy that she held tight to her chest. "Hey Uni. sorry it took so long to get back to you my old friend."
Hearing an explosion outside made both Amber and Casper jump and she put not only Uni back in the box but she put the crystals in it as well. Picking the box up, she ran out of her old room and headed instead for the armory. She had a vain hope that any sort of weapon had been left behind, though she knew it was a long shot. She soon arrived at the armory and was surprised to see that someone or more pacifically a certain mech was already there. "Awe scrap!"
"Well isn't this a nice surprise." Knockout said making to grab her but she dodged him and was able to get an old shelf unit between her and the con. "Correct me if I'm wrong my dear but is your full name by chance Amber Star Bishop?"
Amber glared at him well Casper growled. 'Dad Knockout is here in the armory and he knows my full name.' Amber told Prime and he could feel her fear. 'It seems that Silas isn't dead yet and has been telling the cons things. That is so not like him.'
"Come now my dear tell me about this weapon you were helping MECH make." Knockout said well trying to get around the shelf unit fast enough to catch her. Amber was able to climb through the shelf and further from him.
"If you recall Project Damocles is gone."
"No not that failure. I'm taking about the project called Chimera."
Amber stopped running at that point, turning to look at the Decepticon doctor who was a bit taken back by the horrified look on her face. "If you know what is good for you, you will forget about that thing and return to your ship. Nothing good will come from it being unleashed." Knockout looked down at her confused by her words but he was left with no more time to think it over as Smokescreen appeared and opened fire on Knockout. With him busy Amber led Casper out of the building, contacting base. "Ratchet I need a bridge and I think Optimus and Smokescreen need back up. Dreadwing and Knockout are here."
Activating her beacon she took refuge behind an overturned truck, Casper at her side when the ground bridge opened up. Seeing Bulkhead, Arcee and Bee run out and engaging the two cons Amber and Casper ran straight for the bridge. Arcee was the first to see the two heading their way and she ran over to cover their escape into the bridge. The moment Amber and Casper were in base Ratchet shut down the Ground Bridge and approached them. "Are you injured in anyway?"
Amber shook her head well trying to get her breath back, slowly walking over to the stairs and sat on the steps. Jack, Miko and Raf ran down to the main floor to check on her but stopped in their tracks when they saw the armor on her arms. "Whoa! Cool you got armor?!" Miko shouted picking up one of Amber's arm to get a better look.
Ratchet frowned and knelt to get a good look for himself, well scanning the armor, and the readings made his jaw drop in shock. "This is… I don't believe it. You have a relic of-"
"It's the Scythe of Amalgamous Prime." Amber said cutting him off, finally having caught her breath and putting the ammo case down. Just than Optimus requested a ground Bridge and the rest of the team returned to base. It was then that Amber, Optimus and Smokescreen shared all that had happened and like Ratchet the others were all surprised that a relic of the original Primes was on Amber's person. "What I don't get is that not only was the co-ordinance for this relic not in the Iacon data base but it was near the very same base that MECH held you for years." Arcee said confused.
"Oh trust me Arcee that coincidence was not lost on me too." Amber said opening the ammo case and pulling out Uni and holding the stuffy in her lap.
"Awe I never took you for a girl who like unicorns." Miko teased well pinching one of her stuffy's ears. They were all taken back by Amber removing Miko's hand and growling at her to not touch it. Miko wasn't all that bothered by her protectiveness of the stuffed animal, figuring it was one of the few childhood comforts Amber had been allowed as a kid.
After that they all moved on to other things, like giving Ratchet the crystals to examine and test, especially the small cluster Amber had held on to. "It's unusual for different energon crystals to bond together, as they have different compound-"
"Boring." Miko shouted cutting Ratchet off, making the mech glare at her but he did drop the subject.
It wasn't long after that it was time to head home for the kids but that did leave one problem for Amber to figure out about the way the Scythe had attached to her. They all knew that it could not be left the way it was on her arms and shoulders, since it would draw too much attention to herself The relic seemed to pick up on that and started to change shape. It withdrew off her left arm and back and settled on her right wrist taking the form of an intricate bracelet. It looked like it twisted around her wrist, the language of the Primes giving it a simple but beautiful look.
"That is so awesome!" Miko shouted gushing overseeing the Scythe transformation.
"It would seem that it does not wish to part from you." Optimus observed before he transformed and let Amber and Casper into his cab. It was during the drive home she was finally able to share what Amalgamous Prime had said to her when his relic had attached to her. "It would seem that the Primes of old are still looking out for their one and only sister."
Amber scoffed at the fondness in his voice but she smiled all the same glad to know that despite all the things she had been through she had people out there that cared about her. It was before getting out of Optimus's cab that she showed him one of the precious things she kept hidden in the ammo case. It was a picture of her mom and her, with her mother's team right before she had died. Amber's three year old self was smiling well perched on the shoulders of one of the marines that stood next to her mother. It had been years since she had seen the picture and it was still in good condition. Frowning at the photo Amber did wonder where they were all now.
A/N: I have to admit a lot of what happened in this chapter was a bit unexpected and it almost seemed that Amber herself told me what to write. I'm not really sure about how this chapter turned out but I didn't want to change a thing about it either. Let me know how I did.