His eardrums rang as the shrill scream of Miko was quickly overpowered by a thunderous explosion. Burnt bits of dirt and rock rained over them as Jack pulled the younger Japanese girl along. Blue and red laser rounds ripped through the air. Tree trunks exploded into thousands of tiny hot splinters. Holy shit! Jack gasped, throwing up his jacket to shield them. Splinters harmlessly bounced from the jacket as they ducked behind a fallen tree trunk. Miko gripped his arm tightly as red laser rounds blazed overhead.

"Low risk my ass!" Jack hissed, peering over the log.

Behind them he saw both Arcee and Bumblebee trading shots with a group of Decepticon drones in the distance. What had been supposed to be a routine patrol had devolved into a shootout that he and Miko were now stuck in.

"Where's that ground bridge!?" Miko streaked as a laser blast wizzed too close for comfort.

"How the heck am I supposed to know? Maybe we're being jammed or something." Jack responded, also wondering about it.

It was only a matter of time until the Decepticon backup showed up. Jack didn't dare think of who else could show up with them. He wasn't exactly Megatron's favorite when he restored Orion Pax's memories. I can't believe I'd rather take Airachnid over him. Jack thought, grimly. Sticking around was a death sentence and Jack knew it. They had to get out of sight before more Decepticons showed up. There's nothing that could be done to help the two Autobots.

"Miko, we've gotta run." Jack told her.

Miko looked at him with wide eyes as she quickly realized what he meant. Jack hated the idea too but there wasn't another option on the table.

"We can't just leave them!" Miko shrieked at him.

"If we don't run they will die for nothing, Miko! Do you really want that?!" Jack countered, gripping her by the arm.

Miko fell silent, looking as if she was about to cry. Jack was about to haul her up to her feet when a loud crack sounded some distance behind. Both teens looked back and saw the swirling green and blue portal of the Ground Bridge. Both held their breaths as a tall figure emerged from the portal.

"Autobots, covering fire!" The familiar deep booming voice of Optimus Prime ordered.

Jack released a sigh of relief as the Autobot leader ran past with blasters deployed and firing in quick succession. Optimus was quickly followed by Bulkhead who charged headlong into the Decepticon formation. Miko's eyes lit up on seeing her guardian Autobot.

"Kick their asses, Bulkhead!" she cheered, loudly.

"Let's get outta here." Jack said, looking towards the battle.

Optimus and Bulkhead continued their charge, drawing the attention of the enemy. Jack then turned towards the ground bridge. Suddenly Miko broke into a full run towards the swirling portal of the Ground Bridge. Jack had never seen Miko run so fast in his life. Especially away from danger. He had lost count of the amount of times he had chased Miko in the opposite direction. Note: try out for track. Jack told himself as he began towards the Ground Bridge. Suddenly the log behind him erupted sending Jack to the ground. He threw his jacket over his head as flaming splinters rained down on him.

"Jesus Christ, that was close!" Jack howled, crawling across the dirt.

Jack could feel his heart pounding away in his chest as he struggled to get his breathing under control. Mom would kill me if I died here and now. The image of June in an all black witch outfit filled his mind's eye as he continued crawling. Jack couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdity of the idea. He then pulled himself up onto feet and sped towards the swirling green and blue portal. As he entered the Ground Bridge, a red laser round raced overhead deeper into the portal. Without warning the whole "earth" shook as the portal suddenly shifted to red mixed with hints of blue.

"That's…" He trailed off panting for breath. "not good…" as a loud screech sounded from all around him.

Run! He ran as fast as he could, the Ground Bridge spinning faster and faster as he sped down the collapsing corridor. He hadn't seen the Ground Bridge behave like this before and certainly didn't want to be at the center of it. Where is the end? Jack began to wonder, looking down the seemingly endless corridor. Wind suddenly rushed past him, Jack was suddenly thrown forwards down the tunnel. He went flying out the tunnel's inevitable end. The light flashed his eyes as he tumbled through the air. Gravity gripped Jack and he began to fall. The Earth quickly rushed up to meet him, plunging head first into darkness.

Jack's head throbbed as he slowly returned back to reality. I must've hit my head or something. He didn't know how long he was out while slowly opening his eyes. Uh oh! Above he saw an aged wooden ceiling that quickly put a sinking feeling into his gut. Nowhere in the base had wood (except for the human area) but nothing he had seen looked like the ceiling he was currently staring at.

"You're finally awake," A voice shattered Jack's train of thought. "How are you feeling? Anything broken?"

Is that a French accent? Jack looked at the voice. She looked to be around his age with blue eyes and dark hair with a tint of blue to it. What she wore caught Jack by surprise. Her clothes were a mix of dark brown and tan with makeshift armor composed mainly of household utensils. So many questions began racing through his mind, making it hard to grab a hold of one and get it out. Jack decided to start out simple.

"I think I'm good. Where am I?" He replied, softly.

"Terra Gale," The girl stepped closer with a tea cup in hand. "Here, you must have a lot of questions."

Jack took the cup and sipped. It tasted like regular tea. Not his favorite but didn't care about that at the moment. He needed more answers.

"Do you have a phone I can use?" Jack asked.

"A what?" The girl asked with a confused look.

The sinking feeling in Jack's gut multiplied as he looked around the room. He couldn't spot a single bit of modern technology aside from a small radio in the corner. The radio itself looked like one of those old transistor radios he had seen in thrift shops and films. He knew exactly what he was going to ask next. He also knew he wasn't going to like the answer. Slowly sitting up, Jack turned and planted his feet onto the floor.

"What planet am I on?" Jack asked, softly.

"Atmos," The girl responded. "I figured you weren't from here since you came outta the spinning tunnel."

Jack's jaw slacked as he looked at her in shock. He couldn't believe it happened again. For the second time in his life he had actually ended up in a Ground Bridge accident. This one had sent him farther away from home than he even thought possible. Before he could dwell on it further, the door flew open and in walked a short statured older man wearing stove armor. Best not drink the water. Jack thought as the door closed behind the old man.

"So, is he a Cyclonian or not?" said the stove man as he crossed his arms across his breastplate.

Under normal circumstances this wouldn't have bothered Jack. Unfortunately for him these weren't normal circumstances. Nothing had been normal ever since he had gotten involved with the Autobots.

"I don't know what a Cyclonian is," Jack paused before standing. "I'm stuck god knows where and I haven't a damn clue how to get back!"

The old man's gaze seemed to soften as he stepped a bit closer. He then extended his hand for a shake. Jack grasped the gentleman's hand and shook it.

"My apologies. Me and Dove aren't on good terms with the Cyclonian's," he explained. "What do we call you, boy?"

"Jack… Jack Darby."

"You can call me Wren," The old man smiled at him. "Sky Knight at your service!"

Jack raised a confused eyebrow at 'Sky Knight'. He brushed his confusion aside and softly smiled. He made a mental note to learn about that later.

"So, Wren… any chance you need a farm hand?"

End Chapter