CHAPTER 2: DARKNESS RISING II
NORMAL P.O.V
The Decepticon Warship hovered down slowly above a mountain, opening up its' underbelly to reveal a tube-like elevator heading into the opening of the mountain. Bypassing levels and levels full of working Cybertronians, it became clear that this was no longer just a mountain. It was a mine full of Decepticon miners stripping the place of its' blue crystals known as Energon, the lifeblood of all Decepticons and Autobots alike, resting, waiting to be collected by the miners.
"Of all the Energon deposits we have located while you were away, Lord Megatron, this one, by far, is the most significant."
"Since the discovery, the drones have been mining without pause during your absence and have amassed quite a stockpile."
As Starscream boasted proudly over his achievements regarding the mine, a Decepticon miner carried a trolley of mined Energon into the elevator tube. As soon as he was ready, the floor of the tube lifted up to take the miner to the Nemesis to store the Energon before returning to the deposit to pick up and once again to store more of the Cybertronian Lifeblood, a process he would likely continue to follow until the stripping of the mine had been completed.
"You there! Fetch me a sample!" Starscream barked at a Decepticon miner with a wave of his hand.
"Starscream." The silver and red Cybertronian jumped when Megatron called his name, appearing to his side with Slipstream, "Now that I have returned, I will issue the commands."
"I understand, Lord Megatron," Starscream nodded reluctantly, stepping out of the way for him to oversee the progress of the Decepticon miners.
Her leader looking over his shoulder at her, Slipstream gave a silent nod. The same was to be expected of her. "Then as your humble servants, shall we ready the Spacebridge?"
"Ahh yes," Starscream agreed, "To bring forth the Decepticon Army you have surely gathered during your three years in space?"
"My army will come." Megatron's answer halted Starscream's excitement. "But my time away has yielded a more… intriguing means of materializing them." The Warlord brought out a purple crystal similar to the solidified form of their lifeblood. "The solidified form of the matter the Ancient Texts refer to as the Blood of Unicron."
"Unicron the Destroyer?" Starscream gasped.
"It is said that his blood is the anti-spark." Slipstream stepped away in wariness.
"Plucked from Cosmic Shores, gaze upon Dark Energon."
"Legend tells that it holds the power to…" The silver male seeker glanced up to his leader, voice lowering into a whisper, "Revive the dead."
"We require only a cadaver to be certain." Megatron turned to Starscream. "Are you willing to make the ultimate sacrifice?"
Slipstream stifled a laugh of amusement, keeping her composure while her twin laughed nervously.
"That may not be necessary. If I may, Lord Megatron…"
The elevator floor floated down to their level, revealing two Vehicons standing behind a stretcher holding the recently deceased corpse of the fallen Autobot Cliffjumper. At the end of the stretcher stood Rebecca Rose, who's snapping of fingers made the Vehicons bring the stretcher forward before the Decepticon leaders.
"It's been a long time, Lord Megatron." At his nod, she spun around to face the deceased body. "Please, consider this a welcome home present for you."
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
"And since now you know of our existence, I fear that as of last night, the Decepticons know of yours."
"Got it. If we spot any strange vehicles, call 911. Can we go now?"
I blinked several times at Jack's eagerness to leave… if only that were simple.
We had never come across humans outside of base like this before, so this was all new territory for us too, not just him and the other humans. And on top of that, if the Decepticons were really aware of them like Optimus suggested, then it was certainly going to be more than just being allowed to leave at their own instruction.
"Are you insane?!" Miko suddenly squeaked to Jack, "I am living a dream here in Botswana!" She threw an arm around Carly. "And we're not gonna allow you or anyone else to shatter it! Right, Carly?"
The other girl shrugged Miko's arm off of her shoulders and glanced up at Optimus cautiously, as if she was deciphering what he was referring to, "I don't believe that it's as easy as 'being cautious' to weird vehicles and 'living in Botswana'."
Finally, some common sense…
"It is best that you four remain under our watch. At least, until we can determine our enemy's intentions," Optimus agreed.
Jack didn't want any part of this, we understood that, but this was out of his control. We needed to know what the 'Cons were up to first before any of us could say it was okay to leave.
"Optimus, with all due respect, the human children are in as much danger here as anywhere," Ratchet warned quietly.
"Children?" Jack and Carly gasped in a whisper like they were offended.
Maybe they were the eldest of the four? How does the human age work on this planet anyway?
"They have no protective shell. If they get underfoot, they will go… squish." He took a warning step towards them as if to prove his point.
All four of the humans stepped back in response to his 'warning'.
…That was a little harsh…
I turned my attention away from the humans to Ratchet, "That was a little mean, don't you think, Doc?"
His response was to glare at me for the nickname I referred to him as.
"Then, for the time being, Ratchet, we must watch where we step." I smirked smugly at Optimus' response.
Sudden bright green lights began flashing slowly on and off in the room. A loud alarm noise blared alongside it…
There was only one reason why that would be happening…
"What's that?" Jack asked nervously.
"Proximity sensor from the roof," Bumblebee whirred in response.
"Proximity sensor," Rafael provided for the others.
"It means someone's nearby on the roof, right?"
Wait… both Rafael AND Carly could understand Bumblebee?! Primus, none of us thought it was possible a human could given how our soon-to-arrive visitor didn't…
"It's Agent Fowler." Ratchet brought up the security footage from the roof of our base onto the screens. The Agent had just stepped out of his helicopter and was entering the elevator that was going to arrive down here any second.
Primus only knows what he wants from us…
...It could have something to do with what went down yesterday. He's going to be livid.
"I thought we were the only humans who knew about you guys."
Scratch that; if he sees the humans, he's going to be more than livid…
"Special Agent Fowler is our designated liaison to the outside world. As he tends to visit only when there are…issues."
"The word 'issues' is an understatement," I couldn't help chiming in, "Might be best if you guys don't meet him today."
Immediately, the four humans scattered to a stairwell nearby me. One by one, they all ran in behind me and near the stairs.
The elevator doors opened nearly at the same time as their hiding. The male human that came out was wearing the same gray suit he wore nearly every time he came to 'visit'. Today though, he arrived with a face full of frustration…
He really looked as livid as I had expected him to be.
"Seven wrecks, Thirty-four fender-benders, a three-hour traffic jam and a particular note: numerous reports of a speeding motorcycle of unknown make. And a black and yellow custom muscle car."
I glanced over at Arcee and Bumblebee sharing a look. But as I went to look back at our Agent, I saw Jack peeking around the corner as if he was trying to get a look at Agent Fowler. I took a step to the side, similar to how Ratchet had done, but only in warning to him to remain hidden.
Jack seemed to take my advice, as he returned to hiding with the other humans.
"So anything you'd care to get off your tin chest, Prime?" Agent Fowler demanded as Optimus knelt to his level.
"We have the situation under control, Agent Fowler."
"They're back, aren't they?"
"If you really thought for a klik that the 'Cons were gone, you are so incredibly mistaken, Agent Fowler," I scoffed.
"I wouldn't start to get mouthy with me. I also happen to have reports of another unknown motorcycle-make speeding through the outskirts of Jasper with a fighter jet on its tail."
I rolled my optics but chose to keep my mouth shut.
"Windswept is correct. I too have doubts they ever left. Your planet is much too valuable"
Earth was far too rich with Energon veins for them to even consider leaving despite their leader not being with them. They would've spent all that time mining those deposits to make sure we don't get to them first.
"Then it's time to wake up the Pentagon," Agent Fowler intently suggested.
"Hear me, Agent Fowler. We are your best – possibly, your only – defense against the Decepticon threat."
"Says you."
It didn't matter what we said, Agent Fowler was always going to assume the worst of the situation. He always believed we wouldn't be able to handle the day the 'Cons would strike Earth with harm…
"Hey, fleshy!" We turned to Bulkhead piping up behind us. "Did anyone get splattered on that free-way? Team Prime knows when to use force." He ripped off a part of a project Ratchet had been working on. "And how much to use." He squeezed the item long enough for it to snap in his servo.
"BULKHEAD! I NEEDED THAT!"
"Enough." Optimus returned his attention back to Agent Fowler before either Bulkhead or Ratchet could do anything. "Military involvement will result in catastrophe." He stepped back to full height as if he was asserting his stance on the situation. "Perhaps you can condone widespread human casualties, Agent Fowler. I, however, cannot."
"Then do us both a favour and handle this, Prime. Under the radar." Agent Fowler requested as he returned to the elevator. "Or I will." The doors slammed closed in front of him.
"Pretty big bearings," Bulkhead commented beside Optimus, "For a human."
"Agent Fowler is concerned for his world, Bulkhead. As he should be."
Optimus was right. Agent Fowler was concerned about his planet because it was their only planet. He didn't want to see it burn as ours did… It made sense for him to be protective of the situation.
It would've been nice if he wasn't an aft about it all the time though…
NORMAL P.O.V
The newly returned Warlord of the Decepticons stood before the stretcher where the deceased form of Cliffjumper rested, raising his Dark Energon shard up. "Let us see if power born of darkness can reignite the spark."
He stabbed the corpse with the shard, and as soon as the purple mist began erupting from the area where the shard had hit, the two seekers and the enhanced human backed away from the scene in concern.
The Dark Energon crystal seeped into where Cliffjumper's spark chamber would've sat, his wiring and circuits filling with the purple liquid almost immediately. He groaned as he began to awaken, a ferocious growl erupting from him. Eyes snapped open, revealing that he was no longer Cliffjumper; now a soldier of the undead. He began to break free of the restraints pinning him to the stretcher, causing the Vehicons to activate their weapons in preparation. Once the undead Cybertronian caught sight of them, he ripped off the last restraint and charged menacingly toward one of them, tackling him down and quickly throwing punch after punch at him.
Terrified for his life, the Vehcion tried to fire at the Cybertronian in an attempt to throw him off. It only caused the latter to rip off his blaster weapon with a snarl, the weapon landing in front of the four Decepticons watching with a mixture of intrigue and fear.
The undead Cliffjumper squeezed the Vehicon's head to kill him off but was soon distracted by the other Vehicon firing toward him. The former snarled once more and tackled the Vehicon further into the mine and sent more punches onto him.
"This is your plan?" Slipstream observed with concern.
"Bring Autobots back from the dead to attack us?!" Starscream screeched in addition.
"That is no longer an Autobot; just a mindless beast. It's only instinct to destroy anything in its path."
The 'mindless beast', now finished with both Vehicons, soon changed its target, and with another feral cry, charged toward the Decepticon leader. With Starscream, Slipstream and Rebecca scampering away in different directions to avoid what could potentially come, Megatron only activated his sword and sliced through the oncoming soldier's body.
Broken into two, the Cybertronian monster fell off the cliff while the Warlord deactivated his sword, "There, Starscream?"
As he spoke, a hand suddenly appeared from the edge of the cliff, the top half of the undead Cybertronian attempting to climb onto the flat surface. But without the other half of his body, it was impossible for him to climb back up.
"Rise the indestructible seed of my army. The ultimate weapon." With force, Megatron shoved off the remaining half of Cliffjumper into the mine, watching him bounce off the tube and onto a platform below.
A small snort came from behind the blaster weapon that once belonged to a Vehicon soldier, followed by Rebecca Rose rising up from her hiding place. Walking around the weapon to snatch her cap that had fallen to the ground during her fleeing over of the Dark Energon-infused Cybertronian, she sat it on her head, "Once you learn how to control it, that is."
WINDSWEPT'S P.O.V
"Blasted Earth tech." I whipped my helm to Ratchet cursing at the monitors. "Cliffjumper's life signal popped back online!"
What? But he's gone?! Offline! Rusting in peace?!
I looked up at the monitors, the center one showing Cliffjumper's identification image appearing on the center screen…
He was indeed back online… But how?
"Who's Cliffjumper?"
"How is that possible?" Optimus' question overthrew Miko's curious one.
It was not the time for that discussion. Not if Cliff was still somewhere out there...
"It isn't. Another bug!" Ratchet grumbled, "The system's chock full of them."
"If there's any chance Cliff's alive…"
I locked my optics with Arcee's. Regardless of whether this was just another bug or not… we needed to know if he was really gone… I couldn't bear the thought of him still being alive somewhere and us not doing anything about it.
"Ratchet, prepare sick bay. We may need it."
The sound of Optimus' mouth guard sliding over his face was enough of a confirmation that we were going in blind. There could be a chance it could be a trap, and if it were, we needed to be prepared for it, let alone the chance that Cliffjumper could truly be alive.
"Hey!" I turned away from the Groundbridge at the humans, who were now on the human balcony. Carly looked as if she was tugging on Miko's arm from doing something, but she wasn't listening. "What can we do?"
"Remain with Ratchet."
"Awwhh…"
"Ughh…" That's what you get for trying to intimidate the humans before, Ratchet.
The familiar blue rings of the Groundbridge tunnel came to life, soon followed by a green bubble that blew up to create the portal. This was going to take us to where Cliffjumper's signal was emanating from.
"Autobots, roll out!"
At our leader's instruction, we raced into the Groundbridge portal and transformed into our vehicle forms on our way to Cliff's location signature.
Primus, please let this be him.
NORMAL P.O.V
"What just happened?" Jack gasped in disbelief.
His eyes, like the rest of the humans, were wide with both intrigue and fright over what the portal in front of him had just done to the Cybertronians who had rushed into it and had quickly disappeared.
"I transported them to the designated coordinates via the Groundbridge."
"W-What's a Groundbridge?" Raf questioned.
Ratchet moaned in the annoyance of having to explain everything to the humans, despite being aware of them not knowing much about Cybertronian technology. "A scaled-down version of Spacebridge Technology," He grumbled with a sarcastic know-it-all attitude, "Since we don't currently possess the means or the Energon required for intergalactic travel…"
"You're stuck here," Carly realised as she walked to the protective bars, "On Earth."
"With the likes of you, yes." The medical officer turned toward the open portal he had created, "But I constructed the Groundbridge to enable travel from here to anywhere on your planet." He was proud of himself over the feat, despite the difficulties he had incurred along the way.
"Whoa..." Raf gasped, turning to Ratchet, "Does it work for humans?"
"Naturally."
"You mean, I could just shoot on over and visit my parents in Tokyo?" Miko asked curiously.
"Within moments." Ratchet jumped at the idea, bowing down to meet face to face with the young female teenager. "In fact, allow me to send you there immediately. All four of you." He was beaming at the thought of sending the humans away from their base and out of their lives.
Miko only glared at him, mockingly placing her hands on her hips, "Watch it, Ratchet."
The Autobot could only look back at her in surprise at her attitude.
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
The Groudbridge portal opened up to our destination. Once Optimus had jumped out first and transformed with his weapons activated, I wasted no time following suit alongside the rest of the team. We stood in a formation, preparing for anything that may have been waiting for us.
"Energon mine." I glanced around our surroundings at Bulkhead's observation. We had arrived in a cavern filled with raw and unmined Energon.
"Judging by its scale, the Decepticons have been tunneling here for quite some time."
The place was huge and so carved out, it was possible the 'Cons could've been here for stellar cycles just mining away while they waited for their leader's return.
The sounds of drills and saws filled my audio receptors. I looked in front of me where the mine continued; there was a large rock formation that could cover us. We walked up to it and through the gaps in the rocks, where we could see many Decepticon miners mining at the Energon. There were many storage containers that were likely filled with Energon too.
This area looked like it went for ages, and there was still much raw Energon at the 'Cons disposal.
"Let's find Cliffjumper."
We joined Optimus in approaching the Decepticon drones at his command. It wasn't long until they had spotted us and immediately began attacking. One of the miners pulled their drill and began heading towards us at rapid speeds. Bulkhead soon knocked it out of our way so we could continue our fight in getting past these drones so we could get to Cliffjumper.
I rushed towards a couple of the miners firing at me. I leapt up and fired down upon them, easily taking them both down. Their designations were under the miner category; because they weren't fully equipped and prepared for a fight, they were going to be easy to take down...
It was only necessary because we were in a rush to find Cliffjumper. On regular days, we wouldn't be as brutal…
I managed to land on a drill another of the drones was controlling. I punched the drone out of the cockpit, but the drill continued on.
Suddenly I felt it being stopped and pulled upwards, making me jump down from it. Optimus had picked it up and threw it upside down to stop it from driving uncontrollably. With him, we continued marching forwards and firing at the miners.
Where are you Cliffjumper? Please be here…
NORMAL P.O.V
"What is this, anyway?"
"Broken. Don't touch."
Miko pulled her hand away from the Cybertronian tech she had been eyeing up, curiosity and boredom getting the best of her as the group waited for Optimus and his team to return back from their mission in finding Cliffjumper.
With Ratchet back at his workstation, Miko returned her curious gaze at the item and reached out her hand toward it once more.
"Don't touch that either."
"It's like he has eyes in the back of his head or something," Carly noted, walking up to Miko with Jack.
"Is there anything in here we CAN touch?"
Ratchet turned to the eldest boy to respond in frustration about why much of the Cybertronian technology lying was not to be touched. The sound of an error message appearing on the center screen, followed by a red cross stopped him from doing so.
"How come you are using human computers?" Raf wondered.
"It certainly isn't by choice. it was handed down from the previous tenants when we inherited this former missile silo," Ratchet grumbled, "I make modifications as I see fit." As he went to work on removing the first error message, multiple ones with the same red cross lit up all three of his screens, making him groan in even more irritation.
Carly glanced up at the screens, "I think I know someone that could fix that." Her brown eyes switched their attention to her younger brother still up on the balcony.
Raf nodded at his sister's hint and immediately ran to take out his laptop from his school bag.
"Really? You know this is complex technology, don't you?" The young boy had plugged in his computer to the system as the medic scoffed at the idea of the humans being helpful, and was quick to begin typing multiple commands into his laptop. "I mean, it isn't a child's toy."
Once he was finished, Raf simply smiled up at the Autobot, "Now try."
Ratchet looked back at the screens in an attempt to humour the human child 'trying' to help. Suddenly, all the error messages and crosses turned into positive messages of said errors being fixed and green ticks, disappearing off the screens as quickly as they had appeared. In their place returned the work the medic had placed on the screen.
"Ese es mi hermano pequeño," Carly cockily smirked.
Ratchet glanced back at the young boy with thought.
Maybe not all humans were annoying, after all…
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
Wave after wave of Decepticon miners had continued to charge at us, but every time we had dispatched them with ease. Nothing was getting in the way of us getting to Cliffjumper.
Bulkhead smashed another mining drill heading towards, sending the miner up towards Optimus, who immediately blasted him down and out.
We came together to walk towards the next wave of drones and drills coming our way.
This was taking too long. They were slowing us down too much. We needed to get to Cliffjumper now.
"Maximum overdrive!"
We transformed into our vehicle forms and charged toward the oncoming last wave. Optimus took down most of the last wave with Bulkhead and Bumblebee, as Arcee and I were unable to due to our smaller vehicle size. But that way, it was a lot quicker to get past this group and out of this Primus-damned place.
The end of the mine came up and we entered what looked to be the central hub of the mining operation. We transformed, taking to some Energon carrying crates nearby for cover. Up above, there were more miners transporting more Energon carriers into an elevator.
There were levels and levels full of more miners and carriers.
"Quite the operation."
If there was any faction that could pull an operation as large as this, it would be the Decepticons, without any doubt.
Sudden firepower hurling toward us caused us to duck away. Bulkhead's appreciation of the mine had obviously signaled to the 'Cons of our presence. We immediately retaliated with our own blasters.
My optics couldn't concentrate on if I was firing precisely at the 'Cons. I was more worried about Cliffjumper.
Where are you, Cliff?
NORMAL P.O.V
Unaware of what was occurring in the mines, the Decepticon leader stood before the closed holding chamber of the large crystal of Dark Energon he had discovered throughout his three-year hiatus. He was immune to Slipstream's curious, but concerned stare at him from the other side of the chamber.
She could see the wonder in his optics and more, especially the hunger of wanting the crystals for himself.
"Blood of Unicron, how might I fathom the depths of your mystery?" The Warlord leant his body toward the raw crystal, his red, piercing eyes seeking answers to his questions, "Become worthy of wielding your astonishing power?"
"Lord Megatron, intruders have been detected in the mines!" Starscream appeared on a monitor nearby.
"Optimus?"
"Indeed."
Slipstream glanced at the video feed. If Optimus Prime was indeed just below them, that meant one thing. "And Windswept?"
"Patience Slipstream," Megatron warned, "You will have your second chance soon enough." His stare returned to the Dark Energon briefly in thought, eventually turning to Starscream. "I need more time to prepare an appropriate reception for my old friend. Ready the ship for departure."
Starscream flinched in horror at the idea, "B-But the Energon I've mined! The Autobots will seize it!"
"Then BLOW the MINES!"
The screen showed Starscream deactivating the video feed, prompting the Decepticon leader to turn toward his second in command, "Our time with our mortal enemies will come. For now, do go and see fit that Starscream does what he has been instructed."
Slipstream nodded at the order, and immediately set off towards Starscream's location. She knew better than to disobey an order of her Masters', no matter how much her urge to fight raged within her.
WINDSWEPT'S P.O.V
My optics struggled to remain focused on the task at hand. More and more miners kept piling in to fight against us, but I was more concerned with where Cliffjumper was…
Maybe Ratchet was right… maybe it was just his system playing up again…
Something red caught my vision, on one of the mining levels to our left.
…No way…
I helped Arcee beside me duck from a blaster shot before I pulled her up and pointed toward my findings, "Look."
"It's Cliff," she immediately assumed.
"Optimus, we have a visual," I announced
"We'll cover you both," Optimus told us, "Go!"
Arcee and I climbed over the Energon carriers and ran toward the elevator. Transforming into our vehicle forms was going to get us to Cliff quicker, which was what we did. We swerved left and right to dodge the blaster fire raining down upon us before we began coming upon a ramp. We drove off the ramp and transformed mid-air to get to the platform we saw the red figure from. There was more jumping up e were forced to do to get to his location, but barely, we got to the platform he was on.
Arcee gasped beside me. She must've had the chance to check on Cliff before I did.
I climbed up onto the platform and finally looked at… what was left of Cliffjmper…
He had been sliced into two, and only the top half of him remained. He was covered, lying in a purple liquid…
...Primus is that what I think it is?
There was more firepower coming down onto us, which wasn't making our mission into getting to Cliffjumper any easier. We were being forced to duck out of the way from being hit.
There was a creaking noise, which caused me to look up at the platform Cliffjumper was on.
It was collapsing from the Decepticon firepower.
"CLIFF!" Arcee reacted first, diving to grab onto Cliffjumper before the platform completely collapsed.
I joined her in trying to help pull up what was left of our teammate, but there were rocks raining down around us. If we didn't move soon, this place was gonna self-destruct from all the firepower going back and forth.
"Let's get you home, partner."
Cliffjumper looked up when Arcee spoke to him… but what stared back at us wasn't Cliff… His optics were now the same purple as the puddle of liquid we had found him in. He looked deranged, monster-like, snarling like a feral dying Cybertronian…
Arcee's gasp was enough for the hold she had on Cliff to loosen. He tried to take advantage of that and began shaking our servos off. I tried to regain my grip on him while Arcee recovered from her shock.
…But Cliffjumper freed himself from our grip…falling down into the unmined Energon below…
There was nothing we could do…
Cliffjumper was gone…truly gone…
My spark was hurting. He deserved to rest properly, not to be tainted and used as an experiment by the 'Cons… Primus, please find a way to let him rust in peace.
A loud cackle ruined our mourning. "Prime." Starscream.
"And Windswept." I looked at my name, gritting my denta. Slipstream.
"We'd love to stick around. But… we're squeamish."
Starscream and Slipstream lifted up two items in the air, activating a ticking sound and dropping them. They both leapt down into the tube and transformed into their jet forms, flying in tandem back out of the mine.
"The joint's gonna blow!"
They had dropped bombs on the sight. If they couldn't have the Energon, no one could.
I grabbed Arcee's shoulders and helped her stand, "We need to go."
"Autobots, roll out!"
My friend seemed to come out of her sadness when Optimus gave the command. I followed her into transforming into our vehicle forms and racing down the ramp to join Bumblebee and Bulkhead with our leader after us.
"Ratchet, bridge us back!" Optimus instructed, "Use the arrival coordinates...NOW!"
The Groundbridge suddenly appeared in front of us just in time for us to enter it. With the speed the remnants of the explosion were going, I had a feeling it was going to be a close call.
The main room of our base appeared in our view. Ratchet closed the portal as quickly as he could before any more of the blue mist could flood the room. I skidded down one of the hallways to stop myself, where Optimus had transformed and had the humans gasping in awe.
"Cutting it a bit close," Ratchet remarked, "How about Cliffjumper?"
I lowered my helm and I felt my winglets droop at his question. The atmosphere in the room had changed so drastically, Ratchet would've likely figured out the answer himself.
"What was that explosion? Was there a fight? Can I come with next time?!"
My optics hardened at the teen asking careless questions. Now was certainly not the time for any of this.
"Look." Based on Arcee's growl, I could tell she felt the same.
"He-hey, Miko, let's go see what the bots hide in their sock drawers." Jack wrapped an arm around her shoulders and began dragging her away from us.
"Seriously?"
I could tell she didn't really want to leave, but she didn't seem to fight him off once she saw Carly directing Rafael the same way.
"Arcee, Windswept, what did you see?"
I looked at Arcee curling in on herself, "Not Cliff. At least…not anymore. He was mutated, butchered like something from those 'Con experiments during the war."
She suddenly fell backwards onto a nearby crate like a wave of dizziness had crashed over. I made a move to help her as Bumblebee whirred, questioning if she was okay.
"I'm fine." Arcee held out her servo to stop us. "Just dizzy."
"Bots who get dizzy."
"Robots with emotions."
"Robots who can die."
"They're just like us."
It felt like my spark had sunk into my stomach hearing the humans say their thoughts. Maybe we were more alike than any of us had ever thought.
As Bumblebee and I helped Arcee sit on the crate, Ratchet bent down in front of her and began scanning her. The blue beam from his built-in scanner was blue until it hit her servo where it scanned a violent red.
"What is this?"
On my friend's servo was a patch of purple liquid, the same stuff we found Cliffjumper in.
I scanned my frame with my optics to check for any of the purple stuff on me. It was also on my servo, the same one I had used to try and pull Cliff up before we recognised he was no longer Cliff…
I scrubbed it off my servo.
Ratchet didn't need to worry about me right now. Arcee was our main priority. Besides… for some reason, this liquid did nothing to me the way it did to anyone else…
"Don't know. Cliff was covered in it."
"He was leaking it," I added.
Ratchet pulled out a scalpel and gently brushed some of the liquid onto it, likely to be using it to research. "Go take a decontamination bath. Now."
I helped Arcee up with Bumblebee, but that's as far as I went. She didn't need to be crowded over.
"What about you?" I looked up at Ratchet. "You were not affected?"
I scanned over my form again as if I was doing it for the first time, "I don't think so."
He looked at me like he could see through me.
"Optimus, I don't mean to pry, but uhhh…" I looked over at the humans. "We have no bars on our phones." Jack was beside Carly waving the same device he was using to speak with his Mom earlier like he was trying to prove her point.
I went to look at Ratchet, but he must've headed off to his research station. I was off the hook regarding the purple liquid… for now…
"A security precaution. The silo walls isolate all radio waves."
"Well, if I don't call my Mom like NOW, I'm pretty sure the cops will come looking for me."
"Have you broken a law?" Optimus knelt slightly to meet optic to optic with Jack.
Why would the cops be looking for you if you haven't done anything except be here all afternoon?
"Uh, curfew. It's after ten pm."
"I'd better get home too, or I'll be grounded for a year," Rafael piped in.
"Me, two years." A few of us glanced up at Carly, who gave a shrug, "I'm older than him. Therefore, harder punishment."
Their family sounded a little strict…
"Earth customs. I haven't considered," Optimus returned to full height with a hum. "But the issue of your safety remains." He turned towards one of the others behind me. "Bulkhead, accompany Miko home."
"AWESOME! My host parents will freak!"
"And maintain covert surveillance in vehicle form."
"Curbside duty. Got it."
Miko moaned in disappointment as if she had wanted Bulkhead to be out and about on the streets in his Cybertronian form…
…We were in enough trouble with Agent Fowler as it was. Bulkhead prancing along the human streets late at night would likely get us kicked off this planet for good…
"Bet your parents are gonna be freaking out when they see an all-terrain vehicle parked outside their house," Carly giggled beside her friend.
"Not as much as I wanted them to."
"Bumblebee, you'll watch over Raf." Then Optimus glanced down at me. "Windswept, you'll be taking Carly home."
I looked over at Carly, who shyly waved at me…
It was a bit odd to have both Bumblebee and me protecting two members of the same household… but it also made sense… You never know, after all.
"Ratchet?"
"Busy!"
Ratchet happened to wave Optimus off just as Arcee returned from the decontamination showers… There was only one human left, and only one Autobot to choose to be his guardian…
"Arcee, you'll accompany Jack."
"Still dizzy." Her voice went up a pitch. She was trying to fake it.
Spending the last few stellar cycles with her had made me tell easily when she was lying.
"You're fine, says your physician."
Arcee sighed in what I presumed was annoyance at Ratchet.
This was what she wanted, right? To protect humankind? …Probably not quite from the distance like we always had, but it didn't matter. This was something we all had to do now, regardless of our stance on it.
I hated the thought of it, but maybe Cliffjumper's passing was destined to happen. As a 'Bot who was a firm believer of things occurring for a reason, maybe these humans were meant to enter our lives at this time at the same time as Cliff's offlining.
Whatever it was, they were our responsibility now while the Decepticon threat remained. Forever how long it took, they would be safe with us.
Once all of us had gotten into the town of Jasper, Bulkhead and Arcee turned to the opposite directions of where Bumblebee and I were heading. We flashed our headlights to them as a promise that we would see them in the morning.
It was refreshing to be able to be out of the base, albeit it wasn't for the reason of going out to mess around the town. Those days had been over for a while now, but they were well and truly gone now that we had the humans… and now that Cliffjumper was no longer with us…
Primus… it hurt so much to think about what the 'Cons had done to him… who had done it to him… It wasn't fair.
"Windswept, are you okay?" I flicked my mirror up at my passenger looking down at my dash.
"Yeah I… I have a lot on my mind," I ended up replying.
"Were you and Cliffjumper close?"
"Not as close as he and Arcee, but yeah, we were close." I would've been shaking my helm if I was in my Cybertronian form. "This kind of thing happens. We sacrifice ourselves for the greater good, whether we want to or not. This is what we work with. We just have to accept it and move on, even if we don't want to."
Arcee and I were gonna have to move on from Cliff's passing quickly. Now that the 'Cons were back, and maybe better than before as Slipstream had warned, we had to be cautious at whatever came our way…
Carly had fallen silent after what I had to say. I moved my mirror up to her face, her human version of her optics flickering around town like she was trying to avoid starting up another conversation. I inwardly shrugged it off - I needed some silence anyway.
Bumblebee slowed to a stop in front of a house nearby. This must be where Carly and Rafael live.
"Where do you want me to park?" I asked.
"There's room in the garage if that's okay?"
I wanted to cringe at the thought, but maybe it might be a good thing? Bumblebee could keep watch on the outside and if I needed to grab the siblings' attention, I could do so from inside their home… kind of?
Of course, I had never entered a human home. I wouldn't know…
A large door a few kliks down from Bumblebee slid open. This must've been the garage I was going to be recharging in from now on. I drove up into the area and pulled up alongside what appeared to be a minivan to my right - I was told once it was Ratchet's first prototype vehicular transformation choice before he decided an ambulance was more suited for him. It would've been amusing seeing him roll out as one though.
Carly hopped off me and switched on a light switch nearby. With the light on, I could see there were picture frames on a workbench alongside a dull blue helmet. It looked like it had been sitting there for a long time based on the dust that was covering it, but I could still see the gold, fancy-lettered name just above the visor.
Alejandro.
"I'm sorry for your loss," Carly spoke up as she closed the large door.
"It's okay, Carly. As I said, offlining is an inevitable thing to happen in war," I reminded her.
"Offlining?"
They don't call it that on this planet?
"Uh, you know… the Cybertronian version of... kicking the bucket?" Surely that was a common saying here, right?
"Ohh, you mean death… or la muerte in my language."
The term 'death' sounded a lot harsher on this planet…
I had to change the topic, because there were more important things to talk about, "You know you can't tell anyone about me or the others, right?" Her eyes shot up to my form. "That includes the rest of your family."
I felt bad for asking her of this, but we didn't really have much of a choice. Agent Fowler was supposed to be the only human, apart from his superiors, to know about us. If he figures out that we revealed ourselves to more of this Earth's inhabitants, only Primus knows what he'd do.
None of us wanted to know that answer.
"I've never lied to my family before about anything-"
A sudden BANG! interrupted my thoughts. A door on the other side of the room behind the minivan had opened up loudly, revealing a human woman taller than Carly. She had caramel brown hair wrapped up at the top of her head, and wore very similar red-rimmed glasses to Rafael.
"Carlotta Zita Esquivel, where have you and Rafael been?" Based of how Carly and Rafael were siblings, the way Carly was addressing this human... she had to be a paternal figure of them.
"Mamá por favor cálmate" She walked up to the other human. "We were just out with some friends."
Her... mother, I think the internal database said, raised her optic ridge like she didn't believe her own daughter, folding her arms across herself, "Amigos?"
"Yeah, like Miko and Jack-"
"Jackson Darby." Carly's Mamá suddenly had a grin on her face. "It's been too long since you have mentioned him." She was walking around the minivan heading in my direction.
Don't come over here… don't come over here…
"Mamá…"
"He's always been a nice boy to you. You never told me what happened betwe-" Her eyes found my motorcycle form. She silently turned back to Carly. "Mi querida hija." I could feel the air shift tensely. "What is this sitting in my garage?"
Carly walked over to me and leaned on my handlebars, "Oh… this old thing? I-"
"Carlotta Esquivel, this family has not seen any motorcycles under this roof since Alejandro for good reason."
"Mamá please…"
"What has gotten into your young mind?" Her tone was shaking with anger, but she was remaining as calm as ever. It was fascinating to watch her keep her cool.
"I… Mamá, Alejandro made a mistake not wearing his helmet that day, but I'm not going to. I'm sixteen now, I can make my own choices. Please let me keep her Mamá."
The fold in her Mamá's arms loosened slightly, but she kept an unimpressed look on her face, "Her?"
Carly looked like she was working in overdrive to try and keep her mother calm while making her come around to the idea of my motorcycle form under her roof, "Strong, fierce… like yourself Mamá."
Oooh, that's a good line.
Her Mamá looked over at the dust-covered blue helmet with 'Alejandro' written on it and picked it up to push toward Carly, "If this bike is gonna be under my roof, you will need to wear this as reminder of what happens when we don't take our lives seriously."
Carly started beaming. I could feel my intake releasing.
"But if you fall off this bike even once, it's out of this house!"
"Mamá!"
"Come on." The elder woman wrapped an arm around her daughter and directed her towards the door she had come from, "I have been worried about you and Rafael."
The lights turned off, and the door closed quietly behind them, leaving me to bask in the silence and let it lull me into recharge…
So this was my new normal, huh?
I ran up to his still frame lying on the ground. I ducked away from a few of the blaster shots and skidded to his frame. I glanced at his face, grabbing his cheek plates when his optics remained dull, "Spitfire! Wake up!"
I scanned his body for injuries... that's when I found it. The gaping hole in his chassis where his spark chamber would've been.
"SPITFIRE!"
I startled myself awake from my nightmare.
I'm not at base?! Where am I?!
My optics from inside my vehicle form dashed around the room. Minivan, workbench, photo frames…
Carly and Rafael's house…
Yesterday really did happen, huh?
Above the workbench on my left, there was a window that showed bright sunlight streaming in, lighting up my motorcycle form and the side of the minivan closest to me.
It's morning already? It was time we got to base.
I revved my engine up loudly. I needed to get the attention of both the siblings so we could get out of here and get our day going properly. Just because our situation had changed with the inclusion of the humans, it didn't mean our clocking in and Energon rations hadn't!
The same door from last night slammed open again. Two familiar faces appeared around the corner of the minivan.
"Windswept! What are you doing?!"
"Do you know what time it is?!"
"Time for us to get to base!" I retaliated at their hisses of complaint, "You think all we do is just stay parked up all day? Come on! Let's go!"
Carly and Rafael looked at each other then returned their unamused faces back to me, "It's Saturday!"
It was trippy how similar they sounded when they were in agreement.
"I'm sure Bumblebee would love some company watching his cartoons back at base. Now, let's go!"
They both seemed to finally realise that they weren't going to be getting to do whatever they wanted to do on a Saturday as they began walking back to the door that probably led back into their home.
"Leave a note for your Mamá! She worries you know!" I couldn't help adding.
Totally wasn't because she was scary when she was angry… No way at all…
NORMAL P.O.V
The Decepticon Warship known as the Nemesis appeared through the dull, gray clouds framing the sky. Clouds as this colour tended to hold water and it was as if they were waiting for the perfect time to begin pouring down on the Earth below. Much like how the feeling inside the Warship felt, as the Decepticon leaders tried to decipher what to do next.
"I don't think you need worry about further Autobot interference, Master. Not with Optimus AND Windswept gone."
"And what evidence do you present of this fact?" Megatron questioned in disbelief, circling around the holding chamber where his Dark Energon findings remained stored.
"I destroyed the mines as you instructed."
Rebecca folded her arms with a snort, "Are we talking about the same Optimus Prime and Autobot Windswept?"
Starscream narrowed his blood-red optics at the enhanced human below him in annoyance.
"Optimus is not so easily destroyed," Megatron agreed, "We have millennia worth of battles behind us to prove it."
"Windswept is one of the few Autobots I have failed to extinguish the spark of," Slipstream added, glancing toward Starscream's direction, "I would know. I keep count of my records, unlike you, who can only count his tally on his digits."
Starscream growled at his twin's truthful words, but instead of retaliating, the Seeker returned his attention toward his Master, "Maybe you should take a break, my lord. I worry that too much contact with the Dark Energon might allow its properties to adversely affect you."
Slipstream couldn't disagree with Starscream's words. Megatron had barely moved into the next room away from his Dark Energon supply. He was so obsessed with it already that she was convinced her leader was already deeply affected by it mentally.
"Or perhaps, Starscream, I have not permitted myself contact enough." The Warlord dove his hand into the chamber and plucked out a shard of the solidified Energon.
Slipstream stepped forward at the sudden change of events, "Wait! Lord Megatron!"
"Not your spark chamber!" Rebecca protested immediately.
"You do not know what it will do!" Starscream reminded him urgently.
Their protests went unnoticed as Megatron stabbed his spark chamber with the Dark Energon shard. The effects were noticeable in the way his form had slumped over slightly, followed by the glowing aura of purple erupting inside his form from the Decepticon insignia over his chest.
Soon followed by the switch of colour in his eyes…
Ratchet had continued to work tirelessly throughout the night in an attempt to identify what the purple goo he had found on Arcee was. He continued to look at its properties through the periscope at his workstation, the monitor beside him revealing new information as his search continued.
"The base elements of this goo are like nothing I've ever encountered," Ratchet hummed, stepping away from his periscope, "It must be extremely concentrated to have affected Arcee so rapidly." He picked up the tongs he had been using to move the slide of the purple liquid around so he wouldn't accidentally spill it on his own form. "Unfortunately, complete results are slow-coming without the use of proper diagnostic tools. Thank you very much, Bulkhead."
As the medic made his way into the medical chamber with the slide, he failed to notice a small droplet of the goo slip off the slide and onto the manipulator arm Bulkhead had destroyed the day before.
The purple liquid seeped into the tool, immediately glowing purple through the seams. It suddenly became alive, transforming into a tiny robotic, spider-like Cybertronian creature. Its' lone purple eye searched around its' surroundings…
Looking for something in its' path to destroy.