Hey everyone, I'm back! This is the last chapter of Darkness Rising. I hope you like it. :)
Transformers Prime: The Medic's Assistant
Chapter 9: Darkness Rising Part 5
Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers Prime
(Autobot Base - The next day)
The very next day, everyone, excluding Arcee, was in the main area while Ratchet continued searching on the computer. The humans were also present as they stuck close to their guardians.
"Optimus," Ratchet finally said, all eyes/optics now turned to him, "I've pinpointed the location of Megatron's Space bridge. High in Earth's orbit."
"Out of our reach," Optimus said.
"Okay, so you guys don't fly," Miko said, "but couldn't you just ground bridge there?"
"Uh, that's a big no no," Stormracer told her.
"The groundbridge has limited range," Ratchet explained, "stretched all the way into orbit, it's vortex could snap and scatter us to the stars."
"Since Megatron is likely already in transit, I'm afraid we must take that risk," Optimus said as he looked at the groundbridge, "Reaching the space bridge first is our only means of stopping him."
A horn honked from down the corridor, making everyone look to see Arcee returning... with Jack!
Soon as the motorcycle came to a stop, Jack hopped off and took off his helmet. "Hey," he said with a smile, "guess who's back."
Seeing her friend back, Sierra couldn't help but smile herself.
"Autobots," Optimus said, "prepare for departure."
Jack's smile disappeared as Arcee, now in robot mode, looked at her leader in confusion. "Where too?" she asked.
"The final frontier," Miko said, walking over to them.
"Space?" Jack asked, "I- I thought they didn't have any way to get there."
"They don't, really," Raf said as Bumblebee placed him on the ground.
Jack looked up at his guardian, "Be seeing you?"
Arcee gave him a smile before walking over to the ground bridge while Ratchet started it up.
"Be careful, Bee," Raf said to his friend.
"I will," Bumblebee buzzed before making his way over to the ground bridge.
Miko looked up at her guardian. "I'm so jealous!" she said.
"Don't even think about following me," Bulkhead told her before joining the others.
"You got this, bots," Stormracer said, giving them a thumbs up.
"Optimus," Ratchet said, looking at the Prime, "if you leave me stranded on a planet teeming with humans, I will never forgive you."
"Until we meet again, old friend," Optimus told him. Bringing his battle mask forward, he then gave the order. "Autobots! Roll out!"
The medic, assistant, and humans watched as the four bots transformed and drove off through the groundbridge.
"Please don't snap, please don't snap," Stormracer prayed, hoping the vortex was strong enough.
The groundbridge then shut down, making everyone look at the computers.
"Did they make it?" Raf asked.
Sure enough, the bots' signatures popped up where they're suppose to be, making everyone cheer.
Ratchet opened the commlink channel so they could hear their teammates, "Optimus, can you read?" the medic asked.
"Loud and clear," Optimus replied. "We have arrived at the space bridge, but so have the decepticons."
"So, Megatron's packing enough dark energon to raise Cybertron's dead?" Arcee asked.
"And since we don't possess ready means of disabling the space bridge... nothing gets in or out."
While the others looked at the screen, Sierra looked over at Jack, standing right beside her. "Hey," she said to him, "welcome back."
He looked at her and smiled, "Heh, thanks," he said with a shy chuckle.
The six quietly waited on the other side of the line, waiting for the cons to make their move.
"Well, what are they waiting for?" Arcee asked, breaking the silence.
There was a slight pause until Optimus said, "it appears their interstellar navigational system is still damaged."
"But don't the decepticons know where their own planet is?" Raf asked.
"Naturally," Ratchet said, "but Cybertron is many light years away. To reach their target, their aim must be astronomically precise."
"But if their navigational system is still broken, why are they at the space bridge?" Sierra asked.
"If Megatron went to the trouble to rendezvousing with his space bridge, he must have an alternate targeting system," Optimus said, "a remote one."
Ratchet scoffed. "From what I know of Earth's technology, I doubt there exists a single radio-telescope dish on this planet powerful enough to pinpoint Cybertron."
"What about a bunch of linked radio-telescope dishes?" Raf asked as he typed away on one of the smaller computers, bringing up an image onto the screen, "like the giant-sized array in Texas?"
"Zip buh buh buh buh!" Ratchet spouted, dismissing the boy's theory, "this is not child's play."
Optimus however thought differently. "Good thinking, Raf. Ratchet, have Agent Fowler alert the array staff to the security hazard."
"You, Soldier!"
The six individuals looked over to see Agent Fowler sitting up on the gurney, still very much out of it, "you're out of uniform!" he said as he pointed, "put on some pants!" With that said, he flopped back down into unconsciousness.
"... That may be a challenge," Ratchet informed the Prime.
Raf turned around and started typing again. "I can't get past the array's firewalls," he said in frustration, "they're too thick."
"You actually think you could keep the decepticons out?" Ratchet asked.
"Maybe," the young human said, "if I could get in."
"Uh, wait, wait, wait, Raf," Jack said, approaching his friend, "what if we could get you all the way in, like inside-the-building in?"
Raf's eyes widened in realization, "I could walk into their internal network on the other side of the firewall."
"The risk is too great," Optimus said, "the decepticons will be there, perhaps even on sight."
"Optimus," Jack said, "with all due respect, you said it yourself. This is bigger than the safety of four humans."
"Yeah," Miko agreed, "if we let the cons win, we're fragged along with everyone else on our planet."
"I'll even go with them," Stormracer said.
Ratchet gave her a stern look. "No you are not," he argued.
Stormracer looked at her boss, not wanting to back down. "The others are off world and you have to stay here. And if there are cons at the array, someone has to make sure these kids are safe."
"You don't even have a weapon."
"No, but I can get the humans out of there and call for a bridge ASAP."
"You will still be in danger."
"We'll all be in danger if we don't stop Megatron," she argued before letting out a vent. "Ratchet, please, I can do this."
Ratchet wanted to keep arguing, but he knew she made a good point.
"Raf?" Optimus asked the young boy, "do you want to do this?"
Raf looked at the others before making his decision. "I want to give it a shot."
"Ratchet?" the prime asked.
Ratchet looked at his assistant, seeing the look of determination on her face.
"... Permission to let Stormracer accompany the humans," Ratchet asked, looking at the screen.
"Permission granted. Stormracer, if there's any sign of trouble, get the children and yourself out of there and back to base immediately."
"Yes, Optimus," she said.
"Uh oh," Bulkhead said over the commlink, "here comes the welcoming committee." The sound of blasters being fired soon followed.
"Let's go," Stormracer said. She looked at Ratchet and gave him an assuring smile. "We'll be okay."
She and the four humans rushed to the ground bridge. Soon as it was fired up, the five took off into the vortex, leaving the medic behind with a very disoriented Fowler.
"Please be careful," Ratchet murmured worryingly.
(The array)
Stormracer was the first to step out of the portal, looking around at her surroundings.
"So far so good," she said, seeing no sign of any decepticons.
She heard the sound of groans behind her, making her look to see the four humans looking very sick while the portal closed behind them.
"Whoa," she said, looking down at her friends, "You okay?"
"That'll take some getting used to," Jack groaned, holding his head.
"I don't feel so good," Sierra groaned.
"You were fine the last two times," her guardian said.
"Yeah, but I think I was too jumpy to even notice."
Soon as the humans recovered, the five took off towards the building.
"You four go inside," Stormracer said once they reached the building's doors, "I'll keep a lookout out here."
"Be careful," Sierra said as she and the others went inside.
Optics scanning around, Stormracer quietly walked around the area, peaking around every corner to make sure no one was around. She then contacted Sierra's phone.
"All good out here," she reported once the girl answered her phone, "How're you doing?"
"Raf's getting into the system now," Sierra said, "I'll put you on speaker."
Stormracer kept moving while she listened in to what was happening.
"I'm in," Raf said, "and so are the decepticons."
"What?" Jack asked, sounding very concerned.
"How can you tell?" Miko asked.
"Schematics," Raf said, "with the same alien math we saw on their ship. But this time, I can download it."
"That could come in handy," Stormracer said as she kept her optics open. She heard the computer making beeping noises on the other end.
"It's gotta be the space bridge," Miko said.
"The decepticons are syncing it to the dishes," Raf said, "but I can sync to them."
"Will they know?" Jack asked.
"Even if the decepticons see that I'm in the system, they'll have no idea I'm in the house."
Stormracer looked over to see the dishes shifting upwards. "The dishes just moved," she said.
"They're locked onto Cybertron," Raf reported, "But not for long."
Stormracer watched as the dishes shifted back down, away from the coordinates.
"Alright, Raf," Sierra cheered.
The femme let out a happy laugh. "You're doing great Raf. Keep it up," she said as she walked over to the bigger part of the building. Just then, she heard a noise coming from inside, making her stop in her tracks.
"Hey, are you four in the bigger section of the building?" she asked.
"No, we're in one of the smaller rooms," Sierra said, "Why?"
"... Hang on a moment," the femme said.
Growing suspicious, the assistant activated her grappling claw and shot it up to the roof, latching it onto the side. Ever so quietly as she could, she reeled herself up to the top of the building. Once up there, she looked over to see a roof window... broken in the middle.
Quietly making her way over, she got down on her servos and knees and peaked through. Her optics widened in horror when she saw Soundwave there, operating the computer with his two tentacles.
"Scrap!" she murmured.
Soundwave's helm snapped up, making her worry if he heard her. She then watched as he turned around, sending one of his tentacles through the doors leading into the hallway. Her optics widened even more when she saw the security surveillance on his face screen... revealing the kids.
Immediately, she put her digit to her audio receptor, trying to warn the humans. "Get out of there, now!"
This got the decepticon's attention as he looked up and saw her. Before she could do anything, he used his other tentacle to quickly reach up and grab her. The femme let out a shriek as she got pulled in through the window, slamming down hard into the floor. Painfully groaning, she was unable to move as Soundwave continued to move his other tentacle into the other room.
Inside the room, the humans heard Stormracer's warning before hearing a crashing noise very close to them.
"Storm?!" Sierra exclaimed worryingly into the phone, "Storm, are you there?!"
"Something's wrong," Jack said," we have to-" he then saw something in the corner of his eye, making him look to see a robotic tentacle now in the room. "Ah!"
The tentacle lunged at them. Sierra, Jack, and Miko soon found themselves hanging onto it as it whipped them around in the air.
"I won't let them lock on again," Raf said as he continued to fight back on the computer.
The tentacle tossed the three humans off one by one against the wall before making its way towards the young boy. Knowing he had no choice, Raf quickly hopped onto the table to avoid the threat, taking out his flashdrive in the process. The tentacle went to strike again, making Raf leap away as it knocked everything off the table.
While Soundwave was busy dealing with the kids, Stormracer painfully tried getting up.
"Stop!" she pleaded, "please, they're just kids!"
Her pleas were ignored as she watched what was happening on his screen visor. Seeing the tentacle about to attack Raf, she immediately activated her grappling claw and fired, coiling it around Soundwave's tentacle. She gave it a good yank, trying to reel it away from the boy.
"Leave them alone!" she shouted as she pulled.
Soundwave brought his focus on her, using his other tentacle to attack.
She tried to dodge, but the tentacle latched onto her, giving her an electrical shock. Letting out a painful cry, she slumped to the ground into unconsciousness.
Removing the claw, Soundwave brought his attention back to the kids.
Back in the room, the four humans were able to find time to recover when the tentacle got yanked back all of a sudden. But it wasn't long until it came back towards them.
Miko grabbed an axe from behind her and charged. "Hiyah!" she shouted as she hit the tentacle with a clang!
The tentacle only swatted her back against the wall, making her drop the axe. The other humans checked to make sure she was okay as the tentacle then grabbed the axe and held it up in front of them.
"You handed it an axe?!" Jack exclaimed.
"Oh scrap," Sierra said fearfully.
But just when they were fearing the worse, the tentacle pulled away and exited the room, the axe still in its possession.
Bringing his tentacle back into the room, Soundwave locked the dishes back onto Cybertron before slamming the axe down into the hard wire. His job now done, he got up and made his way onto the roof.
The humans rushed through the door, just in time to see Soundwave about to take his leave. He turned around and looked back down at them. Miko immediately took out her phone and took a picture of him. He responded by taking a picture of them before transforming and flying off into the sky.
The kids heard a groan coming from the side, making them look to see Stormracer regaining consciousness.
"Storm," Sierra said, rushing over to her guardian, "are you okay?"
"Yeah," she said, rubbing her helm, "what about you four?"
"Shook," she said, "but alive."
"I don't get it," Miko said, "why did he leave?"
Raf walked over to a hard wire, now split in two. "He cut the hard wire," he said, "the dishes are locked onto Cybertron…. for good."
Stormracer and the others looked at the cable, upset over their failure.
"We need to head back to base," Stormracer said as she got back up, "now."
Once they made it through the portal back to base, Ratchet was standing there waiting for them.
"What happened?" Ratchet asked, noticing his assistant was slightly limping as he went over to help her.
"Soundwave," Stormracer said as they walked back over to the computers, Ratchet having her sit down, "he was there. He cut the hard wire so we couldn't get the space bridge off course."
"Are you five alright?" Optimus asked, still on the commlink channel.
"Yeah," Jack said, "but that decepticon was not happy we were there." He looked at the screen with worry. "Did the cons send the dark energon through?"
The room went silent, answering his question.
"Sorry, Optimus," Raf apologized, feeling like he let him down, "we failed."
Stormracer vented. "and I'm sorry you kids had to deal with Soundwave," she apologized, "I was suppose to make sure you'd be safe. I failed big time."
"Raf, Stormracer, the important thing is that you all came back safe," Optimus said, "I am honored by your courage. All of you."
This made the five feel a little bit better.
Stormracer looked over to see Agent fowler back on his feet, still not looking all to well.
"So, how do we beat a whole planet of the undead?" Bulkhead asked.
Something then came up on the screen. "Optimus," Ratchet said, "I'm registering a rapidly expanding mass in their space bridge vortex, one with a peculiar energy signature."
"Dark energon," Optimus responded. "Ratchet, we must destroy the space bridge. There's enough live energon coursing through it to achieve detonation, but we lack the firepower to ignite it."
"If I knew how the space bridge was engineered, I might find a technical way of accomplishing that feat," the medic said.
Raf pulled out his flash drive for Ratchet to see, "Um, would schematics help?"
Ratchet looked at the boy then back at the screen. "Optimus, I must say the space bridge is our sole hope of ever returning to Cybertron. Are you certain its destruction is the only option?"
"I am afraid so," the Prime told him.
"Then by all means, let us light our darkest hour."
"Autobots, take your positions and follow Ratchet's lead... while I make my stand."
Raf immediately plugged in the flash drive, getting the schematics up on the screen.
"These things are getting closer," Agent Fowler said, looking at the purple mass on the big screen, "that's bad, right?"
"Ratchet," Arcee said over the commlink, "We're in position."
Looking at the schematics, Ratchet begun instructing her. "Arcee, pay close attention..."
While he was instructing Arcee, Stormracer looked back over at the bigger screen, seeing the large mass of dark energon getting nearer. She felt sick just by looking at it.
Please let this work, she prayed.
She turned her attention back to the schematics as Ratchet continued.
"Now follow the line from the flow regulator to the energon pump," the medic instructed, "There should be a valve."
"I see it," the blue femme said.
"Good. To turn all that power against itself, all you need to do is reverse the current."
They heard the blue autobot grunting on the other end as she turned the valve. It wasn't long until she reported, "current reversed."
"Yes!" Agent Fowler cheered, "right?"
"I'll ready the groundbridge," Ratchet said as he made his over to the ground bridge controls.
Stormracer looked at the big screen, watching the purple mass about to pass through the space bridge. She shuddered to think what the others were seeing.
"Optimus," Ratchet said, "the groundbridge is ready and waiting."
"Autobots, jump!" Optimus ordered.
Stormracer limped back over to the others as they waited for their comrades to return. They waited for a long while, making them worry.
Raf looked at Ratchet. "Do you think they're-?"
Ratchet looked at the screen installed in his arm. "Four life signals," he said, then grimly added, "one very faint."
It wasn't long until Optimus came through, battle damage all over his armour. The next to enter was Bulkhead with an upset expression on his face.
"Bulkhead!" Miko exclaimed happily as she rushed over to her guardian. Th green mech knelt down on one knee and brought his servo forward, allowing the 15 year old to hug it.
Soon Bumblebee rushed through and stopped... holding an injured Arcee in his arms as the groundbridge closed behind them.
"Arcee," Stormracer murmured, her spark feeling sick with worry.
Jack hurried over to them. He sadly looked at his guardian as she remained still. The other humans walked over to the older boy, Sierra placing her hand on his shoulder.
"We lost one this week," Ratchet said, looking at Arcee, "by the AllSpark, don't let it be two."
Jack made his way over and placed his hand on Arcee's much bigger servo. Just then, she opened her optics, seeing her human friend there.
"Arcee," Jack said, happy his guardian was okay.
"Jack. really?" she said weakly with a smirk, "there are other motorcycles in the world."
He smiled at her. "But you're my first."
Everyone else smiled to see Arcee still online.
Ratchet looked up at Optimus. "And Megatron?" he asked.
"Not even he could have survived ground zero," the Prime said.
"Prime!"
Optimus looked behind, seeing Agent Fowler standing in front of the elevator door.
"I didn't get to thank you bots for the save," he said as the door opened, "I owe you one." He walked into the elevator, looking back at the prime. "We all do." The door then shut as the human liaison ascending up to the roof.
"So... does this mean he won't be so hard on us anymore?" Stormracer asked.
"I'll believe it when I see it," Bulkhead said with a smirk.
Bumblebee set Arcee back on her pedes, allowing her to stand up as she smiled down at the kids.
Realizing something, Miko made her way over to Optimus. "So, is this the part where you say goodbye and tell us we need to forget we ever saw you?" she asked.
Optimus looked at the kids while everyone else looked at him, wondering what he would say.
(Five days later)
The dismissal bell was minutes away from ringing as Stormracer, Arcee, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead waited outside the school for their human friends. Stormracer fidgeted with anticipation.
"Calm down, Storm," Bulkhead told her. "I'm sure Sierra aced her science test. You did help her study after all."
"I know, but I'm so excited," she said, "she studied really hard for it. Come on bell, ring."
It wasn't long until the bell finally rung. The bots watched as students poured out through the doors while they waited. Finally, their human allies appeared and rushed over to their guardians.
"So, how did it go?" Stormracer asked Sierra once the red head approached her.
"Okay, I guess," Sierra said in a gloomy tone, "it wasn't great."
The teal femme's spark sank. "Oh no. And you worked so har-"
She was interrupted by Sierra's laughing
"Kidding!" the red head said as she held up her graded test sheet with a big 'A' on it , "I aced it!"
Stormracer immediately lit up with excitement. "Yes! Woohoo!" Remembering she's still a robot in disguise, she brought her voice back down. "Oops, hehe," she laughed sheepishly before saying to her friend, "I knew you could do it."
"That's because I had the best study buddy," the girl said with a smile.
"Come on," Miko said as she hopped inside of Bulkhead, "lets head out already."
"You all go on ahead back to base without us," Stormracer said with a big smile, "If you need us, Sierra and I will be doing victory donuts in the desert."
Sierra laughed as she hopped in. Pulling out of the parking lot, both the femme and human girl let out a 'woooohoooo!" as they drove off down the street.
"Nice to see those two bonding," Arcee said.
"You know, I got a B+ on my exam," Jack said as he got on the motorcycle, "maybe we could-"
"Nope."
The older human let out sad sigh as he put his helmet on. "can't blame a guy for trying."
(Later that day - Autobot Base)
After dropping Sierra back home, Stormracer returned to base, planning to spend the rest of the night watching funny cat videos Sierra suggested to her. But as she entered the main hangar and transformed, Ratchet was there waiting for her.
"Stormracer," he said, gaining her attention, "I need a word with you."
Wondering if something was wrong, she walked over to her boss with a look of concern. "Everything okay?" she asked.
"May we speak somewhere privately?"
Looking over to see the others talking off to the side, she nodded and followed him down the hall and into one of the larger hangars.
"What's up?" she asked.
"Current events, that's what's up," he said.
She looked at him questionably. "Can you be a bit more specific?"
He let out a vent. "Even though Megatron is no more, the decepticons are still a problem, meaning certain precautions must be taken."
"...What do you mean?"
"Even though you spend most of your time here assisting me, I know there will be times that won't be the case." He looked at the ground a moment, not wanting to say the next bit. "And..." he said, looking back up at her. "there may be moments where your assistance may be required outside of base."
She was surprised at what he said. "Really? I mean, you're okay with this? Cause, last time I tried to help, I didn't do so well."
"That's because you weren't fully prepared." He paused for a moment. "I should have done this a long time ago, though I had hoped there wouldn't be a need."
"For what?" she asked.
The medic walked over to a box off to the side, pulling something out of it. "You will need more than just a grappling claw to defend yourself."
Walking back over, he handed the item to his assistant. She was shocked at what she was holding.
"Your EMP generator?" she said as she held the small generator in her servos, "but... I thought it was damaged."
"It was," he said, "After my fight with Lockdown, I couldn't get it fully fixed. I ended up putting it in storage, figuring I could use it for spare parts in the future. It wasn't until after the space bridge battle that I pulled it out and started tinkering on it again. It can't get higher than thirty percent, but, it can give off a pulse that can cause a bot to become dizzy and disoriented for a short while." He looked at her, releasing a vent. "I want you to have it, just so I know you have something to defend yourself with. I figured you would prefer it over a blaster."
She looked at the generator then back at Ratchet. "But, you said this should never be used as a weapon."
"That was when it was fully functional," he said, "and since I now can't use it for medical use, it's now a tool for self defense. If a decepticon were to come at you, aim it at their helm. They'll be out of focus long enough for you to get away."
She looked at the generator again then back at Ratchet. "I... I promise to use it responsibly."
"I know you will," Ratchet said, "now if you don't mind, I want to install it as soon as possible."
They walked back into the main area where Ratchet could install the generator into her arm. As she laid on the medical berth, waiting to be put in stasis, she recollected everything that had happened so far. They lost a friend, but gained four new ones. Megatron returned, only to be defeated. She faced decepticons, and managed to survive. they destroyed a way to return to Cybertron, but managed to save their new home.
She let out a vent. Ratchet was right. Even without Megatron, the decepticons were still a threat to Earth. Meaning, when the time called for it, she would do her part to help her team.
This was her last thought before slipping into stasis.
And that was the last part of Darkness Rising. And as you can tell, Stormracer will be involved in most of the action. I initially had something else planned out for her at the end, but decided against it due to certain limits of the show. So I decided to take an idea given to me by one of you and gave her an EMP generator. And I know, some of you are probably thinking, why did write it so its broken? Why not have it so she could put a bot into complete stasis? Here's the reason. If I did that, then she would be able to take out pretty much anyone at anytime, and lets be honest, that doesn't give us much of a story if the villains get taken down just like that. But even though it doesn't work at its fullest, it will still be enough to help Stormracer out, despite its limitation.
Hopefully I will update the next chapter soon, which will be Masters and Students. Until next time! God bless!