Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers or anything connected to the franchise...but I do own Jaime! She is my original character-no touchie!-and I also own the plot of Free Falling!
Jaime strolled down the hallway, wondering if she should tell someone about her dream. But who should she tell? Will? Optimus? The girl decided there was no reason to tell Will, not yet. It wasn't like he could do anything about it. Maybe she should tell Optimus. Jaime frowned as she remembered seeing the Prime's worn face two days ago. It seemed that he was under a lot of stress lately with all the Decepticon attacks around the world. Jaime sighed, deciding not to bother the leader. He already had enough going on. Jaime ate a quick breakfast in the cafeteria and grabbed a green apple. She traveled to the far Southern section of the base. As she neared her destination, she began to pass large signs. She didn't even glance at them, already knowing what they said: NO TRANSFORMING BEYOND THIS POINT. STAY IN VEHICLE MODE.
Jaime reached the end of the hallway and opened the heavy door. She took a deep breath of fresh air and trotted towards the large building in the distance. It was a barn. Next to the barn was a large pasture. Jaime hopped up on the fence rail and whistled. Seconds later, a yellow streak raced toward the girl.
"Hey boy!" she laughed, giving Orion the green apple. The buckskin happily munched on the treat as Jaime scratched behind his ears. "Are you being a good boy?" she asked. The horse snorted. "Oh, is that too much to ask for?" Jaime spent the next few minutes, enjoying Orion's company. She was thankful that she had been allowed to bring Orion with her to the island. It had been difficult, but it had helped that both Will and Optimus agreed that Jaime may need company other than giant aliens and military personnel; she was the youngest person on the island. She was wondering if she should take Orion for a ride when she felt someone watching her. She glanced over her shoulder to see a purple motorcycle resting silently a few yards away.
"Hey Arcee," she waved to the femme Autobot. Arcee gave a low rev in response. A few seconds later, she activated her holoform. After settling in on Earth, Ratchet had helped her install her very own holoform generator. She wore black leather pants tucked into black boots. A purple biker jacket with black accents clung to her, showing off her lithe body. She tossed back her dark hair—revealing her glowing blue eyes—as she joined Jaime by the fence. Orion sniffed the holoform and whinnied before prancing away. Jaime chuckled. The buckskin didn't seem to care for the Autobots' holoforms, as if he could sense they really weren't human. There were only two exceptions. He was more tolerant with the holoforms of Prowl and Optimus. Both had been interested in the organic animal and asked Jaime a dozen questions. What does it eat? What purpose does it serve? How intelligent are horses? Why is there such a fascination for the creatures found in femmes? Jaime was brought out of her musings when Arcee's holoform spoke.
"You okay?" Jaime glanced at her. "You seem to have a lot on your mind."
"Eh," the girl shrugged. "I'm fine." She noticed Arcee's disbelieving look. "Seriously, I'm okay."
"Did you have another one of those 'dreams'?" Arcee asked. It was now common knowledge among the bots that Jaime would sometimes have dreams that were influenced by the Allspark's energy, usually pertaining to past events. Jaime didn't answer. Arcee sighed, realizing that the girl wasn't going to open up. "If you need anyone to talk to…" she offered.
"I can come to you," Jaime gave her a small smile. "I know." It wasn't that she and Arcee weren't close. They were. Mikaela Banes and Maggie Madsen were the closest Jaime had ever had to older sisters. But Mikaela was currently on the other side of the world. And although Maggie tried to make time for the girl, she was often times working. It was nice to have another female figure in her life that she could go to for advice or have fun with. What Jaime really liked about Arcee—and few knew about—was her mischievous streak which could rival Sideswipe's. The femme was just much more subtle. But that was Arcee, built for speed and stealth. The two enjoyed the silence of the beautiful morning, watching Orion playfully harass the gelding—brought along to keep Orion company—at the other end of the pasture. Jaime couldn't help but think of Arcee's arrival to earth a few months ago, while they were still located at Hoover Dam. It was because of her arrival that Optimus along with the U.S. government realized that a larger base would be needed
Jaime sprinted down one of the large hallways of Hoover Dam. At first she had been confused when she felt the presence. She hadn't realized it was growing closer until she accidently tugged it. She'd nearly fell off her chair in the cafeteria when she'd received an answering tug, and responded by slamming the connection closed. She reached her destination and waited impatiently for the metal door to whoosh open. Finally, Jaime stepped onto the catwalk and hurried over to Will, who was discussing something with the majestic Prime.
"Optimus!" she huffed. Both dropped their conversation to face her.
"Jaime?" Will frowned. "What's wrong?" Jaime hunched over and put up a hand, sucking in much needed oxygen.
"Call…the others…here…" she gasped to the concerned Prime. The girl assumed that Optimus had commed the others because by the time she'd caught her second wind, the other bots had entered the hangar. Bumblebee was the only one not present since he was fulfilling his guardianship duties with Sam Witwicky.
"What is it Jaime?" Optimus asked, leaning closer to the catwalk.
"I…I felt it! I didn't realize what it was at first, but I felt it!" the girl exclaimed.
"Felt what?" Ratchet asked, taking a step forward. Jaime twitched when she felt a scan wash over her.
"Ratchet!" she whined. "How many times do I have to tell you? Don't scan before asking!"
"Wha' did ya feel Jaime?" Jazz asked, trying to get the girl on track. Jaime placed her hand over her chest.
"I felt it…a tug," The bots looked at each other, trying to determine who Jaime was referring to and not understanding the significance. They sent her tugs throughout the day all the time.
"…And?..." Sideswipe prodded.
"It's getting closer!" Jaime's stressed. "I think we're about to get our first new arrival!" Before anyone could even think to refute her claim, a console next to Will began to beep. Will hunched over to peer at the screen.
"Jaime's right!" Will straightened. "An unidentified object just entered earth's atmosphere, and is likely to touch down in roughly twenty minutes." Movement erupted, Will started issuing orders, and everyone prepared to leave. Within minutes, Will had gathered a small group of soldiers, including Epps and Ricky. At the same time, Optimus and his Autobots were ready to go. The soldier piled into two military jeeps and Jaime hopped into Jazz's alt mode. Optimus lead the way, flanked by Prowl and Ironhide. Jazz followed with Ratchet and the military jeeps trailing behind.
When they reached the landing site, Jazz hung back with Jaime before it was confirmed that Jaime could approach. As soon as the saboteur popped open the back door, Jaime jumped out, eager to greet the new arrival. She paused when she noticed that there were three new arrivals. Jazz easily scooped her up and placed her on his shoulder. Jaime wasn't fazed whatsoever, completely familiar with the action. When Jazz joined the semi-circle of Autobots, Jaime got a good look at the three new bots. She was surprised to realize that they were, in fact, shorter than Jazz. Before she could mention her observation to Jazz, she paused. Jaime tilted her head. Not only were these three the shortest bots she'd ever seen. They were also so…lithe…and graceful looking. They weren't bulky at all. They almost seemed…curvy.
"Jaime," Optimus stepped forward, capturing the girl's attention. "This is Arcee." He gestured to the one in the middle, who smiled at her.
"Hello," she spoke, her voice sounded light and smooth.
"Hello," Jaime mimicked with a wave, recognizing that the bot had already downloaded earth's languages.
"And her sisters Chromia and Elita-One," Optimus continued, gesturing to the two on either side, with an indiscernible emotion in his optics. The two nodded at her and Jaime nodded back.
"Wow," Ricky murmured from below. "You three look so…" The three bots waited for him to finish. "…uh...graceful looking…"
"Tha's probably 'cause they're femmes," Jazz explained.
"Femmes?" Epps repeated. "Since when have you guys had femmes." Will elbowed his second in the side.
"Of course they have females," he whispered.
"You knew?" Epps raised an eyebrow. "Since when were you such an expert?"
"Honestly, an alien species having genders?" Will sighed, repressing the urge to roll his eyes. "It's not that hard to believe."
While the military men settled their differences, Jaime studied the femmes. She cautiously reached out to the middle one, Arcee. The femme's optics brightened and focused on the girl. Jaime fumbled a little, since the connection was very weak, and gave a short tug on the hot pink thread. Arcee gently tugged back as if sensing the girl's hesitation. Jaime allowed a small smile before focusing her attention on the femme to the right, Chromia. The girl reached out again. She frowned when she failed to sense a connection. Jaime closed her eyes, and was assaulted by the pool of threads that connected her to every Cybertronian. She sifted through the lights. She found Arcee's but could not find Chromia's and Elita's. Weird, she mused and opened her eyes. The more she studied the two femmes, the more uneasy she felt. It was like they weren't even there. After a year of being around bots, she had come to expect the snippets of emotion, the feel of their nearby presence. But she couldn't feel anything from the two strange femmes. Jaime found it rather disconcerting to be near such a large metal being without being able to discern its intentions.
"We'll head back to base as soon as the alt modes we radioed for are here. They should be here any moment," Will was saying. Not moments later, a military jeep pulled up with a trailer attached. In the trailer were three motorcycles. The three femmes viewed their choices: pink, blue and purple. Arcee chose the purple, Chromia chose the blue, and Elita chose the pink. After scanning their new alt modes, the femmes folded down until there were six motorcycles.
"Autobots," Optimus's booming voice called out. "Transform and roll out." Making a snap decision, Jaime grasped the royal blue thread that connected her to the Prime and gave it a tug. He turned to her and she sent him her need to talk to him over the bond. He gave a small nod and transformed into the Peterbuilt semi. Jazz set her down and—after Jaime had explained to him that she needed to speak with Optimus—collapsed into his Pontiac solstice.
It wasn't until after the convoy was hallway back to base, that Jaime finally asked her question.
"Why are they different?" Jaime had her legs crossed on the seat as she sat in the Prime's passenger seat.
"Who?" Optimus' voice filled the cabin.
"…Chromia and Elita," Jaime clarified. The Autobot leader did not answer. "I…I can't feel them like you guys. Why is that?"
"Because," the Prime sighed. "there is no spark for you to feel."
"What do you mean? They look just like Arcee," Jaime tilted her head.
"Yes…" Optimus paused, trying to decide how to explain. "But…they are not true Cybertronians. They are no more than above average drones. Arcee is the leader of the unit. Because of her superior processing speed, she is able to efficiently control three modes at once. Before my team left Cybertron, Arcee had decided to upgrade from her one form to three. It was decided that her two units would be disguised as Chromia and Elita."
"Why?"
"Elita is the femme Autobot commander and Chromia is her second, meaning they are each a rather large target to the Decepticons, especially since they are femmes."
"So somewhere in space are the real Chromia and Elita?" Jaime asked.
"Yes," Optimus sighed.
"So they're like clones, a diversion to keep the originals safe," Jaime concluded.
"Yes," The prime sighed again, sounding even wearier. The girl frowned at the dashboard.
"Hey," she patted the seat. "Stop being such a worry wart. They'll make it to earth. You'll see."
"…Thank you Jaime," Optimus responded, not sounding as dejected as before.
"Anytime big guy," Jaime grinned. "Now turn on those tunes would ya?"
Jaime stretched and hopped off the fence.
"I hear Major Lennox is interviewing possible instructors today," Arcee commented as they headed back to base, her alt mode trailing behind. Jaime groaned. She had hoped that by being on an island, she'd be able to skip school. But Sarah had been adamant that Jaime not get behind on her schooling.
"I don't know why they think they need to hire a tutor," Jaime grumbled. "I mean, Ratchet knows more about science than anyone I know. Optimus is like a giant supercomputer that can find anything about history. You could probably teach me English." Arcee snorted.
"I could teach you much more than English."
"All I can hope is that no one will meet the requirements or won't pass the heavy screening tests to get on base," the girl mumbled. They were inside now. They passed the doorway that lead to the Tech department side of the base. "See ya Arcee," Jaime waved before stepping into the large room. The room—dubbed the Control Room—was filled with rows of computers. Each one had a techie hunched over the keyboard, peering into the monitors. Jaime passed by all the workers, searching for one person in particular. Her eyes swept the room, but she was disappointed when she didn't spot a flash of blonde hair. She trotted towards the front to talk to someone who would know where Maggie was. When she saw that he was at his computer station, Jaime slowed and slunk around so that she was approaching him from the back. She silently crept up behind him until she was almost hanging over his shoulder. She bent down to whisper in his ear.
"Hey Glenn!"
"AHHH!" the overweight African American man screamed as he spun around in his chair. Jaime leaned back, unable to hide her amused grin, allowing Glenn Whitman to regain his composure. The other techies in the room either chuckled or rolled their eyes. Some people huffed in annoyance at the unprofessional behavior, but not many. Glenn attempted to muster a glare at Jaime, but the girl just snorted at his failed attempt. Glenn could be sitting atop one of Ironhide's cannons, and he still wouldn't look intimidating. "You gave me a heart attack!" he hissed.
"Watch your words Glenn," Jaime smirked. "or Ratchet will come busting through those doors to scan you." Both of them glanced at the door, waiting to see if the crazy medic would indeed come busting through the doors. It didn't matter how many times the CMO heard the human phrase regarding heart attacks. He'd always scan the person and then berate them for spreading such a false claim. After a few seconds, the girl turned back to the techie. "So where's Maggie?"
"She's in some kind of meeting," he shrugged, turning back to his screen.
"Oh," Jaime visibly deflated. Upon hearing the tone of her voice, Glenn glanced back at her.
"Uh…I can't get past this level…wanna give it a try?" he gestured to his gaming laptop sitting next to him on the desk. The techie would often times get stuck on a game level, and ask Jaime to give it a shot. Every time she would beat the level. The first time it had happened, Glenn had gaped at her and asked how she did that. She had just shrugged and said she'd been able to keep up with the game.
"What is it this time?" Jaime pulled up a chair and sat down. Glenn's eyes became animated as he explained the game, saying that it was the Apocalypse and earth was undergoing a zombie invasion. He continued by describing the objective of the level was to make it to a van so you could run over all zombies.
"But I keep getting eaten after the battery of the weed whacker dies," Glenn nearly whined.
"I'll see what I can do," the girl chuckled and turned to the laptop. She was too immersed into the game to notice Glenn's satisfied grin.
After beating the game level, Jaime spent the rest of the day with some of the NEST soldiers who had the day off. They were having a Just Dance tournament on the Wii, and Jaime had fun beating them. Since absorbing the Allspark, she'd become faster and stronger than a normal human being. She was also quick and agile. If she had two arms, she may have considered taking dance lessons. As the day came to a close, Jaime returned to her room and changed into her pajamas. She sent a goodnight tug to Jazz before falling asleep. Jaime had hoped to dream of the Decepticon prisoner that night, but it was not to be.
An ancient tribe of humans—warriors, Jaime realized—were traveling on a patch of rocky terrain. The girl watched them as they searched in a crude formation. Searching for what? Her unspoken question was soon answered when a tiger hurdled over a rock. The hunters raised their spears and charged the animal. The tiger bared his teeth before belting out a loud roar, and fled in the opposite direction. The band of hunters gave chase, leaping over the rocky terrain with surprising agility. The tiger disappeared in a long stretch of undergrowth. The hunters slowed and silently approached it. As one, the party sprang over the vegetation, expecting to see the tiger. Jaime could not believe what she was seeing. These crudely clothed humans had to be an ancient tribe that lived thousands of years ago.
Yet over the ridge, sprawled a giant metal structure, a giant Cybertronian structure. And that wasn't all. Dozens of Cybertronians—Decepticons, judging by their violently jagged bi-pedal forms—milled around the structure. Upon further inspection, Jaime realized that they were constructing the metal object. What it was supposed to be, she couldn't tell. But if it was being built by the Decepticons, it couldn't be good. Jaime's musings were cut short as movement caught her eye. One of the Cybertronians must have noticed the group of humans because it jumped onto the same ridge the tribe was standing. This one seemed different from the others. He carried a large metal scepter, which seemed to radiate power. The mech—it was definitely a mech considering it's bulky physique and considerable height—peered down at the tribe of humans with his blood red eyes with what looked like a sneer on his mouth plates.
Jaime gasped at what happened next. She knew Decepticons didn't care about humans. She was aware that they had killed before. She knew that, but it was different to actually witness it. The humans stumbled to the ground due to the force of the Cybertronian's landing. Helpless, the Cybertronian directed his giant pede toward the cluster of hunters. All but one human were able to avoid his foot. Jaime cringed upon seeing the man's lower body trapped by the metal foot. The Cybertronian merely regarded the human with a calculating look as it removed its foot. Jaime looked away as the human's body was tossed in the air and fell back to the ground, not moving.
The Cybertronian bent over and picked up a human, causing the poor person to scream and thrash. The mech seemed to quickly lose interest and flung the human aside. Jaime flinched upon hearing the body hit the ground, but refused to look to see if he moved. Instead, her gaze remained on the Cybertronian. He turned, and for a moment, his blood gaze seemed to penetrate her. His mouth plates opened in the shape of snarl.
The scene changed. The terrain seemed to be the same, dry and rocky. But it no longer appeared barren. Not with the hundreds of thousands of Cybertronians packed together. Clanks and hisses filled the air. At first Jaime expected to see the Cybertronians all transform. Instead the rushed each other. Mechs tried to pull each other apart, stab each other with their very claws. Jaime soon realized that she was witnessing an immense battle. It was near impossible to watch all the small skirmishes, there were so many. Her attention, however, was snagged by a Cybertronian in the middle of it all when he raised a giant scepter. The girl gasped, realizing it was the mech she had seen moments before. The mech held the scepter in one servo. In the other, it held a small gleaming curved piece of metal. The object seemed to pulse with power.
Suddenly, the Cybertronian was swarmed by other mechs and he tried to fend them off with his scepter. But he was unable to defeat them since he was outnumbered. Their own scepters pierced his body and thrust him off his rock. The gleaming object hovered in the air and Jaime was able to get a clearer glimpse at it. It wasn't smooth like she had expected, but comprised of numerous ridges. It was quickly grabbed though, and the group of Cybertronians that had defeated the previous mech fled the battle with the mysterious object.
As Jaime watched the mechs leave, a deep voice filled her head.
"The Fallen shall rise again." What? Jaime glanced at the fallen mech to see that he was watching his enemies escape. The mech clicked and hissed at them. Jaime knew he was talking because for whatever odd reason, she understood him.
"This is not over," the mech growled. Jaime felt a wave of trepidation upon hearing his words. As the scene faded, Jaime was left to wander what she had just witnessed. The dark ominous words reverberated in her mind.
"The Fallen shall rise again."
Angel wolf: Thank you! :D
RayVin The Fox: Awesome! Heh heh…sorry about that :) I'm so glad that so many people like Jaime! She's got such a growing fan base :D
Hawkie-Chan: Haha! Gee, thanks! :D Ah yes…Galloway. I shall take much pleasure in knocking down the fool head a peg or two *nod nod* Ha! Let's just say…Jaime will make sure he gets what's coming to him…It's cool, I understand. Thanks for your review! :)
ForgotMyName2Day: That's fine. I started answering reviews at the end of chapters because it was easier than PMing everyone separately (and to make sure I didn't miss a review, because I'd feel really bad if I did). But as more people review, the longer the answers at the end became. Which is completely fine! I love reviews. But the word count of the story wasn't as accurate because of that. I didn't think it was fair to the reader to expect a five thousand word chapter when two thousand words were simply answering reviews and the authors note at the end. I did not mean to sound like I was trying to exclude guests, because I'm not. I choose to leave reviewing open for guests because I understand that not everyone can have an account. I made that announcement last chapter with you, the reader, in mind. I will still answer guest reviews at the end. I was just letting people know that if they did have an account, that I would try to answer their review through a PM. Thank you for taking the time to share your opinion, and I hope you enjoy future chapters :)
Authors Note: Eh hem *clears throat and glances back and forth* First of all, I would like to apologize for the ridiculously long wait. It's crunch time at school and well…I've never written Arcee before. And every time I tried to write her, it came out wrong. *Mutters* It was like banging my head against the wall for two months…
Arcee: *Yells* What was that?
Me: err…nothing…
So yea, I just forced myself to sit down and finish this chapter. I hope I got the Arcee interaction alright, although I have to admit, I'm quite happy with the dream part at the end. As compensation for the long wait, not only are you getting this chapter, but a second one as well. That's right. I'm updating TWO chapters to make up for the long wait. Aren't you guys just so damn lucky? ;D So go on and read the next chapter already! What are you waiting for? :)
~Hubero