I don't own Transformers or the Riordanverse; they belong to their owners.

Chapter 5: First Encounter

Starscream tapped his foot impatiently as Megatron talked with Soundwave over the public records they were going through.

He knew this was a waste of time. They should be heading out there to find the Autobots or the Allspark. Who cares about this planet's history? They were going to demolish it anyway.

Its history didn't matter right now. And soon it wouldn't matter at all.

Starscream finally lost patience and walked up to Megatron. "Well?!" he asked.

Megatron growled. "Well, what!?" he asked.

"When are we going to begin the assault!?"

"There won't be an assault, Starscream." Megatron said, "Not yet."

"Why not?"

"I've looked through this planet's history. We are not the first invaders from another world to come here." Megatron explained. "And every single time, they were fought off."

"What?" Starscream asked in disbelief. "This planet? Has fought off multiple alien invasions!? How!?"

"It would appear, Starscream, that there is more to the inhabitants of this world than meets the eye," Megatron said.

"So what does this mean?" a nearby Skywarp asked.

"It means we're going to intact infiltration protocol," Megatron stated. "I've had Soundwave gather up data on this world's vehicles. We will all adjust our alternate modes to accommodate them."

"Oh great, so we're gonna have to sneak around in ugly disguises then..." Skytread muttered.

"Relax Skytread." Megatron assured, "There's plenty on this planet that has some bite..."

After a few minutes, all the Decepticons had finished picking out their Earth-based alternate modes and were looking over the changes to their bodies.

"Gah. I feel unclean just wearing these." Skytread muttered.

"I know what you mean..."Skywarp muttered.

"I don't know." Thundercracker shrugged. "I kinda like mine."

"Yeah. These, erm...what are the natives called again, Soundwave?" Quake asked.

"Humans," Soundwave answered.

"Right, these humans may be tiny, but they can make something that can pack a punch." Quake transformed into his new Russian tank mode. "WOO!" he shouted as he fired his main cannon at the wall of the ship. The blast made a huge dent in the hull.

"Quake, knock it off!" Ordered Barricade.

"So what's the first order of business, "Mighty Megatron"?" Starscream asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"Take Skywarp and Thundercracker and scout the area Starscream." Megatron ordered, "Make sure no one has detected us. The rest of us will stay here and get the Nemesis repaired. Then we start the search for the Allspark."

Thundercracker nervously shuffled.

"Is something wrong, Thundercracker?" Megatron asked.

"Well, it's just... what do we do if someone has detected us?" Thundercracker asked nervously.

Megatron narrowed his eyes. "Use your imagination," he ordered.

"Hey, cheer up, TC!" said Skywarp. "Maybe a good fly will get you in a fighting mood."

"Yeah. Maybe..." Thundercracker muttered.

"Just come along, you two, and let's get this done," Starscream murmured.

The three seekers stepped outside, transformed into their new F-22 Raptor alt modes, and took off into the air.

Miles away, Hot Rod was still sitting down with his new human friends.

"What's taking them so long?" Hot Rod muttered.

The kids seemed to be getting a bit bored too. Luke tapped his foot impatiently, and Thalia drummed her fingers on a nearby log. "Um. Mr. Hot Rod?" Annabeth asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah?"

"I know you said you couldn't answer all our questions, but... how are you speaking English?" Annabeth asked, "You said something about a translation?"

"I can tell you that... you see, it's this program we have," he explained. "We adapt to fit in our surroundings, so the program picks up local transmissions and can create an approximation..."

He saw the blank stares the three kids were giving him.

"...It's magic?" Hot Rod said sheepishly.

Before anyone could say anything else, they heard the sound of a jet engine—three, in fact.

Above them, three F-22 Raptors flew through the air above them in formation.

"What's the Air Force doing here?" Luke asked.

"Maybe they came to investigate the crash," Thalia suggested.

Hot Rod's optics widened. "That's not the Air Force," he said.

One of the jets—a black and purple one—swerved around and started heading back toward them.

"KIDS HIDE!" ordered Hot Rod with a hint of panic.

"What why?! What is it!?" asked Thalia.

"Just do it!"

"Come on, Thalia!" Luke yelled.

"But-" Thalia protested, but Luke grabbed her and Annabeth and rushed them into some nearby bushes.

Thalia tried to get a glance at what was happening through the leaves; she watched as the black jet transformed into a robot, similar to Hot Rod.

It landed on the ground with a thud, giving a wicked grin toward the kid's new friend.

"Is that one of Hot Rod's friends?" Annabeth asked in a whisper.

"No, I don't think so." Thalia said.

"Hey, Hot Rod," the black robot said.

"Hey Skywarp," said Hot Rod nervously.

"Payback time," Skywarp said sadistically.

"Look, can we save it for later?" Hot Rod asked, "I've had a long day, and I would appreciate-" He didn't get to finish before Skywarp flew forward and shoved his fist into Hot Rod's abdomen.

"No!" Thalia cried.

"Thalia, stay down!" Luke begged as he held her in place.

"But-"

Skywarp grabbed Hot Rod and threw him into the nearby treeline.

"Come on, Autobot! Fight!" ordered Skywarp.

"If you insist," Hot Rod said. He jumped back onto his feet, but before he could make a move, he grimaced. "URG!" he groaned in pain.

Skywarp laughed. "You're pathetic.". He gave Hot Rod an uppercut, causing the Autobot to stagger.

Hot Rod wiped some energy from his mouth. "No. I'm just... I'm just-" Hot Rod mumbled.

"Yes?" Skywarp asked cheekily.

"Just die..." muttered Hot Rod as he threw a punch.

In the air, Thundercracker and Starscream circled around the clearing and watched as Skywarp beat up Hot Rod.

"Should we help him?" Thundercracker asked.

"Nah. I think Skywarp's got this." Starscream added.

"Well yeah, but..." Thundercracker paused as he picked up something rustling in some nearby bushes.

"What is it, brother?" Starscream asked.

"I think I saw something."

"Then go see what it is!" ordered Starscream.

Thundercracker angled down, flying towards the bushes, and transformed into his robot mode. He loomed over the shrubs, trying to see what had caused the rustling.

Out of nowhere came a voice. "RUN!" it shouted, and then three small creatures, two with yellow on their heads and one with black, ran out of the shrubs.

"What the?" Thundercracker leaned forward and picked up one of the yellow-headed ones. It shrieked as he lifted it up to his optics level.

"ANNABETH!" screamed the black-headed one.

"Let her go!" screamed the other yellow-headed one as it brought out some silver club and swung it at Thundercracker's legs.

The club bounced off the leg ineffectively.

For a moment, no one said anything; the only sound came from the whimpering of "Annabeth.".

Thundercracker then kicked the one who attacked him, hurling him into the tree line.

"LUKE!" cried the black-haired one, and she ran after him.

"NO!" cried Hot Rod. He tried to rush forward but was restrained by Skywarp. "Nah, ah, ah. Let's see what my buddy Thundercracker has in mind."

Annabeth continued to whimper as she looked into the eyes of "Thundercracker". He and "Skywarp" were clearly of the same race as Hot Rod, but why were they fighting each other?

Thundercracker looked over her curiously.

"Please let me go..." Annabeth pleaded, her eyes glistening with tears.

Thundercracker's face softened a bit, but before anything else could happen, another robot with the same body type as Thundercracker and Skywarp landed nearby. "Did you find something?" he asked.

"Yeah, this," Thundercracker said, holding Annabeth out. "I think it's one of the natives of this planet."

"But it's so...small..." Starscream noted.

"LET HER GO!" screamed Hot Rod.

"Silence, Autobot piece of scrap!" Starscream shouted, and using a wrist-mounted gun, he shot a laser right in front of Hot Rod.

Annabeth couldn't take it anymore. She burst out into tears.

"Mommy. Help me," she begged quietly.

"Gross. It's leaking." Starscream noted coldly as he inspected the creature.

"So," Thundercracker began. "Should I just let it-"

"Wait!" Starscream yelled. "The symbol on her chest."

"What? My shirt?" Annabeth asked, confused. "It's just something I took from my dads-"

"We need to take her to the Nemesis!" Starscream announced.

"WHAT!?" Hot Rod screamed. He tried to fight himself out of Skywarp's grip again, but he was still too weak from his crash landing. The stranglehold the con had put him in was too strong.

"Yes, sir," Thundercracker said with a hint of hesitation. He started to transform into his jet mode. Annabeth squealed as the environment twisted around her until she found herself inside Thundercracker's cockpit. She looked out of it just in time to see Thalia come back with the battered Luke. Their eyes widened in horror.

"Annabeth!" Luke shouted.

"HELP ME!" Annabeth pleaded, pressing her face and hands against the window of Thundercracker's cockpit.

"LET HER GO, YOU PIECE OF JUNK!" Thalia yelled as she brought out a can of mace. She pressed the top of it, and it elongated and sharpened until she was holding a spear in her hands. She and Luke rushed forward towards Thundercracker, but it was too late. With a roar, Thundercracker took off into the sky. Annabeth's screams were deafened by the jet engine.

"NO!" cried Thalia, and she swung her spear at Starscream, who leaped over it.

"How cute." Starscream laughed. "The insects want to play!". He slammed his foot downward on Thalia, pinning her down.

"AH!" she cried.

Hot Rod struggled and groaned as he tried to break free yet again. Luke picked up his club and tried to swing it at Starscream, only for Starscream to pick Luke up in his grip. "Oooo. So squishy." Starscream remarked as he felt the child in his fist.

"When I'm at full strength, I'm gonna get you pieces of fragging slag!" Hot Rod shouted.

"As if you'll ever be at full strength again!" laughed Starscream. Then he looked at the human in his grasp. "Anything to say, bug?"

Luke glared at Starscream. Then he spit in his face.

"URG. Gross." Starscream muttered as he wiped the saliva off his face with his other hand. Then he began to tighten his grip on Luke. Luke growled in pain.

"Stop it! PLEASE!" begged Thalia.

"Oh, don't worry. Soon, it will stop! When he's-"

At that moment, a burst of laser fire came through the treeline and shot Starscream right in the back.

"Gah!" Starscream staggered and released Luke from his grip, dropping him to the ground. His foot lifted off Thalia, allowing her to crawl out.

After Luke hit the ground, he looked to where the laser fire came from and saw two green robots running into the clearing with their guns out.

"Who are they?" he asked.

Hot Rod smiled. "Those are my friends," he said.

"Sorry, we're late, Hot Rod. Let's say hi to the cons!" yelled Brawn as he leaped towards Starscream with his fists outstretched.

"Oh no..." Starscream muttered nervously.

Brawn grabbed Starscream by the neck in midair and flipped over him, pulling Starscream head over heels and smashing him to the ground. "Might over microchips!" Brawn shouted with bravado.

Upon seeing his teammate get taken out, Skywarp started to loosen his grip on Hot Rod; it was the chance he needed. Hot Rod slammed his shoulder into Skywarp's abdomen.

Skywarp gave an oof and was thrown back. He looked forward just in time to see Hound's fist slam into his face. The impact staggered him back even further.

"Starscream I think we need to get out of here!" Skywarp exclaimed.

"Don't need to tell me twice!" Starscream yelped as he transformed into his jet mode; Skywarp followed suit.

The cons flew into the air,

"NO! Don't let them get away!" shouted Thalia.

"There's nothing we can do..." Hound said, "We don't have any fliers with us right now-" He paused. "Are you the natives of this planet?" he asked, his eyes going wide.

"Yeah, Hound they are." Hot Rod explained as he struggled to keep standing up. "But that's not important right now."

"What? Why?" asked Hound.

"Yeah, what's wrong?" Brawn asked as he dusted his hands off.

"They took our friend." Luke explained, "They took Annabeth..."

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