Hello again, to those who read the first chapter, thank you. Sorry I left you on a cliffhanger. Oh, before I begin, I did toy with the timeline a bit for story's sake. Namely how Team Prime regroups, and Shockwave's arrival. Also, I hope this new format makes this a little easier to read. Note: edited 3/15/22
Megatron grinned at the screams the Autobots' human pets made as the cyber matter consumed them. If this experiment succeeded, it would be a turning point for the Decepticon cause. He'd already been in contact with the fleshling government to convince them that they were only looking to settle on this planet.
'The fools' He thought to himself. As soon as they'd amassed a strong enough force, they'd march on their capitol. Ultimately his plan would be to subjugate Unicron beneath the surface using these hybrid soldiers, but one thing at a time.
Almost the second Knockout engaged the Enigma something started to go wrong. It seemed that there was energy flowing back and forth, from the Enigma of Combination to the subjects, and back again. "Knockout, what is happening?" He roared as the computers began to make a deafening racket, energy beginning to crackle against everything in the lab.
"Something's wrong," He screamed back. "Somehow the subjects are interfacing with the Enigma!"
Several monitors began to explode. "Then shut it off!"
As knockout went to pull the plug connecting the tubes there was a moment of near deafening silence. What followed was a massive explosion of light, semi-formed cyber matter, and broken glass, forcing both bots to turn away. When Megatron turned back standing in front of the now destroyed tubes was a singular being. There was no sign of the humans anywhere.
Megatron had never seen anything like this new being in front of him. It was about a full head and shoulders taller than him, composed of a grayish white alloy. It wasn't fully Cybertronian, but not wholly organic either.
The face seemed almost androgynous, perhaps a side effect of using both genders in its creation. Broad shoulders, strong looking arms, and dense legs, this might have made quite the opponent back in his days as a gladiator. In its' chest was what looked like a trio of windows showing three bright young sparks.
"That, is downright beautiful." Knockout exclaimed as he looked it over. "It's like a naturally forged combiner."
At this statement, the being opened its' eyes. The three minds that made up its' conscious now linked. Looking at the Decepticon warlord and medic it took a battle-ready stance. Inside the newly minted mind, Miko and Jack 'smirked', causing the new being to as well. "Ready for round two?" It spoke, sounding as if all three teens were speaking in synch.
In the back of their collective mind Raf was strategizing. The first objective was to get by Megatron and Knockout and get out of the lab. Second, locate and rescue Wheeljack, his experience could only be a help. Third, navigate a way out of this fortress and somehow reconnect with the Autobots. This plan was readily agreed upon by the other two, although Miko hoped there'd be a chance to scrap some more Decepticons along the way.
Megatron glared at the warrior and deployed his sword, silently cursing his impatience in not having his fusion cannon reconnected. "You wouldn't be the first combiner I've destroyed."
Knockout attempted to intercede. "Now now, Lord Megatron, I'm sure we can reason with-" he was cut off as he was picked up over the combiners' head. "Not the finish, not the fin-." He gave a rather emasculate scream as he sailed through the air and into the destroyed displays.
Megatron swung his sword at the warrior, but it sidestepped the blow with a speed that belayed its' size. It followed up with a roundhouse kick in the small of Megatron's back, Sending him across the room. He turned back and lunged blade first. The combiner reached behind it's back and pulled a large broadsword in front of it, parrying Megatron. For a moment, the two seemed evenly matched in strength before Miko got an idea. From the metal on either side of the combiners' chest formed a series of small bult-in cannons that fired in the warlords' face, temporarily blinding him. Rearing back in pain from the unexpected attack his opponent turned and ran from the lab, broadsword held firmly in its' right hand.
As they made their way away from the lab, they found themselves in what looked like a prison. Apparently the Decepticons had no qualms about using prisoners of war as test subjects. From an overhead intercom they heard Knockouts' pained voice. "All Vehicons report to the prison lab, test subject has escaped, I repeat, test subject has escaped." The three began to wonder how to escape they heard a loud crack down a hall to their right. As they cautiously made their way down a red, green, and white Autobot exited a cell.
"Wheeljack!" They called, getting the wreckers' attention. Seeing the large, sword bearing warrior, Wheeljack deployed his face mask and drew his own swords. "Wait it's us." They called taking a step back. Wheeljack retracted his mask with a puzzled look but kept his swords handy. He knew those voices.
"Who are you?" He asked cautiously. "It's Miko, Jack, and Raf." They replied, resting their broadsword against the wall. Miko provided proof. "You told Miko you only carry one grenade at a time after she used the Jackhammers' weapons to slag Hardshell." Wheeljack sheathed his swords, definitely them, but. "How did this happen?"
They picked up their sword again. "We'll explain later, we need to get out of here." Wheeljack nodded, he could get answers later. As they ran through the halls, they encountered a group of four Vehicons responding to Knockouts' call. Throwing themselves wholly into the fray Wheeljack ran one of his swords through one Vehicon while taking the head off another.
Seeing this, the trio fired their cannons at the third Vehicon, simultaneously blinding it and shooting its right arm off. The final one made the mistake of trying to leap onto them. Jack quickly raised their sword in front of them and swung, slicing their attacker clean in half from helm to aft. Wheeljack whistled. "Not bad kids." They nodded, panting, and took off back down the hall.
Meeting no further opposition in their journey they reached a room with a space bridge gate in it. Walking up to it Raf began using their hands to program in coordinates. "Once we're through the bridge, its computer is programed to erase it's entire coordinate history."
Wheeljack nodded. "It's just lucky that the higher ups are spread thin at the moment." He turned around to make sure they weren't followed. Last thing they needed was another squadron of Vehicons or worse, Megatron or Soundwave to make an appearance.
Stepping back from the control panel the trios' combined form gave a lurch. Turning to Wheeljack he saw the three spark chambers move apart a bit before their whole body came apart. With a cry of surprise they shifted and split until three new forms, two mechs and a femme, laid on the ground before Wheeljack. One of the mechs seemed to be a bit larger than the other two. Although even he only came up to Wheeljacks' shoulder.
The femme groaned, sitting up. "That, was a rush." Came Mikos' voice.
Wheeljack was both surprised and annoyed. He still didn't know what happened to these kids, but now was not a good time for this. He cleared his throat. "Are you three alright, because we still need to escape."
The larger mech stood up and looked at him. "We're just a little disoriented." Came Rafs' voice, surprising the wrecker a bit. "It's a little disconcerting going from a collective mind, back to our individual ones." He took another breath. "I think the more we fight in that form, the sooner we'll have to separate."
Wheeljack turned to see the other mech helping Miko up. "I think we'll be fine after some rest Wheeljack, but we need to evacuate now." The third, Jack he realized, looked up at Raf. "Where will the space bridge put us?"
Raf went to adjust his glasses before realizing he didn't have them. "About fifty clicks northeast of here." He replied inciting a nod from Wheeljack. Before the Jackhammer had been destroyed, he'd seen a copy of the Autobots' escape plan. He knew that Bulkhead was in that general area, and how to signal the other wrecker without drawing undue attention to himself or the kids.
The space bridge portal flared into life as thunderous footfalls began to resound in the room. "Go, now!" Wheeljack yelled. Not needing to be told twice the three ran into the portal, Wheeljack slowly backing up to it. Looking back the way they came they saw Megatron Enter the room flanked by Starscream and Soundwave. As much as he wanted to taunt the warlord, he knew those kids needed him more. With that he jumped backwards through the portal causing it to close.
Megatron was still seething from the fight with that combiner. In his mind, they'd won with a cheap shot. To vent his frustration, he'd screamed at Knockout to go back to Cybertron, via the Nemesis' space bridge to try and salvage the Omega lock. Having Starscream and Soundwave meet him they headed for the spacebridge, knowing it was their only way out. They'd arrived in time to see the captured wrecker escape through the portal.
"Do we have the coordinates they bridged too?" He asked Starscream. The Decepticon second in command looked at the screen. He shook his head. "They erased the entire coordinate history; I can't even connect to the Nemesis." Megatron glowered in rage.
"However," Starscream continued. "I do have a backup plan." He held up a small receiver. "I had a tracer planted on the wrecker before he reactivated." This news caused Megatron to grin wickedly.
He turned to Starscream. "Prepare a squadron of flyers and go after them." He ordered. "With any luck, they'll lead us to the other Autobots." He walked over to Starscream and looked him in the optic. "I want any Autobots found to be brought back here for questioning before termination, and I want that fleshling experiment found and brought back as intact as possible."
Starscream nodded as the space bridge portal activated, surprising them all. A few moments after activating, Knockout stepped through. Megatron growled, he'd literally just sent Knockout to Cybertron. He was about to voice his displeasure when Knockout spoke. "You won't believe who we just found." He said stepping aside.
From the space bridge portal stepped a tall purple mech. Left forearm replaced with a laser cannon and a single, central red eye as his only facial feature. Megatron grinned at this turn of events as Starscream subtly left. Either to follow orders or from discomfort he didn't care. He gave a hearty laugh. "Welcome back Shockwave."