So, to explain simply: I don't own the rights to Transformers. Big surprise. I simply make this because I like the story that's in my head. And hopefully, you enjoy it as well.
A different disclaimer: I only truly know of the Bayverse movies, Transformers: Prime, and the G1 cartoon. I have not watched more past that. So if you see similarities, don't be surprised: this is more of an amalgamation my empty head came up with.
Once Human, Part 1
In one corner of Washington State, deep in a forest connected to a small town called Kamilo, an alien facility was hidden in the green. No daylight was bleeding into the facility's laboratory, as its internals were dimly-lit by blue. There was clutter everywhere, on large tables and on large shelves, of many tools and scavenged parts that were stained by a glowing blue.
From the hallway connected to the lab, something crawled on many claws connected by metal tentacles. From the body of this metal creature, a deep droning was calling out to something.
"Oh? You found a potential test subject?" An ice-cold voice asked from the dark lab.
The creature responded with one long drone.
A different, crazed voice then called out, "Well then, what are you waiting for!? Go out in the night and take it. Take it! Take it! Before it's too late!"
The creature nodded in somewhat fear, and ran off into the hallway.
"Be happy, but patient. All can go wrong if we're not careful," Another, more excited voice called out, "Remember what we strive for."
From the dark, a clawed metal tentacle reached for a scrap part leaking blue from the shelf, passing by a small glass tank, and a massive hulk of metal.
"Compliance breeds flaws, and flaws lead to termination!" A furious voice spat out from the dark, "Just look at those pathetic Autobots and Decepticons who destroyed their own planet!"
The metal claw then placed the scrap piece right into the hulk of metal which powered it up, with lines of glowing blue crawling up from the ground to reveal massive, metal legs. The glow kept creeping up the legs to reveal more of a daunting metal body.
"But you will be the first of our flawless creations!"
Every voice rang out at once with ambitious finality, as the body was fully lit up, with only its optics remaining dim.
In the Town of Kamilo…
In the same corner of Washington State, in the small town called Kamilo, a human lived his last day with his crush.
Jasper Judge just graduated from college with a Bachelor's in Computer Science, and he couldn't be happier. He was a well-taught man who powered through the best and worst classes he could find, and he was finally done with them. He could find his path and simply live.
However, he was not alone.
"I still think it was your grad hat that bonked me on the head, Jasper."
He was following his friend home. Roe Brooklan was a short woman, barely 5'4", yet her sass and smarts could barely fit her thin frame. She was of Asian descent, with a rounded face and a cute button nose. She graduated with him, went through the same classes with him, and was even the first person he bothered to be friends with since moving here.
But he wanted to be more. The question going through his head, though, was did she want the same with him?
"C'mon, really? You think of all of those hats, mine managed to headshot you?" Jasper said with a mischievous grin.
"Oh, wipe off that shit-eating grin. Doesn't matter though, because," She turned around and waved her degree in the air, "We got it!"
Roe hugged Jasper quickly, and he quickly picked up on it and hugged her back, tugging at her robes as she tugged his. He knew that today was the best day to say it.
They broke the hug and kept walking to her apartment building, a place with barely three floors and the crappiest parking. He knew it too well every time he went to her place to study.
"Man, those classes damn near got us sometimes."
"Uh, they nearly got you. I was good." She said as she looked back, the grin now on her face.
"Look, I won't deny that you did a lot of heavy-lifting, but I helped as well."
"Don't think I can't recognize code done by AI."
"That's untrue!" Jasper lightly punched Roe's shoulder, "I did my own work… most of the time."
"Yeah, I can't deny that. You still got a few brain cells in there working. Get some more, and you'll get your dream job in no time."
"Ha ha," Jasper said sarcastically, "Maybe I'll take some from you. You got enough of them to make a whole new coding language. Just please, make it read out like it makes sense. You still can't present code to save your life."
Roe sighed, "I really do need to work on that. But no, I'm not making a new language. I'm thinking of something in Cyber Security. My mom says that's in high demand, and the Military will pay top dollar for that. What about you?"
They started climbing up the stairs as Jasper pondered, "I'll say… whatever pays enough and doesn't make me wanna go out like Cobain."
"Dark. But yeah, I'd rather be paid to do something I like… and here we are."
Roe was in front of her door, leading to her second-floor apartment that Jasper can recall like the back of his hand.
"Care to join me with a celebration drink?" Roe asked.
"I'd love to, but no. Gotta get on home and join the boys for a gaming session."
"Such priorities. Well, in that case, see ya."
"Wait," Jasper grabbed Roe's shoulder, and she turned back, "I wanna tell you something."
"Yeah?"
Jasper started speaking, but stopped. The words started to scramble in his head. What would he say?
"Uh… Um…" He stopped, and took a deep breath, "Roe… do you wanna go out somewhere tomorrow… together?"
She didn't say a word, and simply looked at him. He froze up, like a deer caught in headlights.
"My oh my, are you… asking me on a date?" She said, like she was surprised.
"Uh, I mean, it doesn't have to… no, no, I am. I am asking you out, Roe. What do you say?"
Her eyes went wide, if not for a second, before she beckoned him down to her level.
"What?" He said after lowering his head.
"Closer."
He lowered his head further, and found himself face-to-face with her. He was looking directly at her lovely brown eyes, which gleamed with… excitement?
Roe got closer to Jasper, then, her lips just inches from his ear, she said something.
"I thought you'd never ask."
Before Jasper could react, Roe quickly moved her lips on his and stole a kiss. He was surprised, but he reciprocated and kissed back, grabbing her head as they kept going. He could taste the strawberry she ate before attending the ceremony. He swore, if he woke up now and found it to be a dream, that he'd bash his own skull against a wall.
They finally broke the kiss, Jasper's hands still on Roe's face, and she gave a small chuckle.
"You know, I could have saved that for the first date."
"I'm glad you didn't."
"Easy, lover boy. Don't you have somewhere to be?"
Jasper's eyes widened upon realization, and said, "Oh shit, my friends! Look, we can talk over the phone about tomorrow, but I gotta go now!"
Jasper quickly kissed Roe and rushed off, earning a laugh from her.
"I've got just the place in mind! See ya, lover boy." Roe said before entering her apartment.
Jasper rushed down the steps… and stopped. He did it. He not only asked her out and got a date, but also a kiss from her! She liked him.
He couldn't hold it in: He jumped high while in the parking lot and kept yelping out 'yes' in a hushed tone. He was too excited to notice that he was too close to a black pick-up truck, and accidentally bumped into it. The alarm blared as he cursed himself, looking over the truck to see if he could do something. A dumb thought, but he was in a panic.
As he looked over the frame, the alarm suddenly stopped.
"Watch it, punk."
Jasper looked up in shock, and saw a man in the driver's seat. He was well-built, with arms like tree trunks and a barrel chest. His curly, dirty-blond hair went down to his shoulders and covered his olive-toned skin. He was intimidating. But what intimidated Jasper the most was his face. He was grizzled, and gave off a stare that was almost staring past Jasper. It was kind of… haunting, how his words were in a low tone, but his stare alone meant trouble.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, sir, I didn't see y– I mean I didn't noti–"
Every time Jasper tried to finish his sentence, the man simply kept staring on, impatient.
"... You know what? I think I'll just go."
Jasper pointed behind him nervously and rushed off. Although it was strange. He did see the truck, but he could have sworn there was no one in the driver's seat seconds ago.
As Jasper disappeared from the man's view, the man simply looked around and disappeared in a blue light, like a switch suddenly turning off. The truck's screen turned on and a map revealed blue waves coming from somewhere outside the town.
"This is Ironhide reporting. Energon readings are still not exact, but it's coming from the outskirts of the town. Somewhere in the forest. Might be a new Decepticon mine."
A deep voice came from the radio, saying, "Understood, Ironhide. Proceed with caution. And if you do find a mine, wait for reinforcements."
"So wait around until I get rust…" the truck named Ironhide sighed, "Roger. But you better get here soon, Optimus. Over and out."
The screen turned off, and Ironhide drove off, away from the apartment complex and onto the street.
Somewhere in the sky…
High in the air, above the clouds, a formation of four fighter jets flew with incredible speed. The front fighter jet sported dark red and silver colors while the others were mostly purple. But every one of them was adorned with a purple symbol on their back wings: the symbol of the Decepticons.
The front one spoke over the waves, saying, "Another day, another pointless sweep." His rough yet eloquent voice dripped with sarcasm.
However, upon hearing a call notification, he answered it to hear a strange yet familiar voice that sounded like it went through a thousand different voice modulators.
"Starscream, report." The voice said.
Starscream sighed, saying, "Ah, Soundwave, what an apt time to call. I'm about to complete the sweep. You will be shocked to discover that we have spotted no Autobots."
Soundwave ignored the sarcasm, and said, "Complete your task entirely. We must learn the Autobots' plans and find them."
"Of course, Soundwave. Over and out."
Without another word, Soundwave ended the call.
"Easier said than done. It's a shame that Megatron put him in charge when he could have given the position to me. At least then, I wouldn't have to do so many processor-melting tasks."
Suddenly, on his HUD, Starscream could see a sudden blip of blue.
"Oh, now? Just as I say it?" Starscream zoomed in on the blip, and saw it was coming from a town called Kamilo.
"Hmmm… Autobots trying to get Energon from under our noses? Of that, I say otherwise. Seekers, we're investigating the reading at once!"
"Yes, Lieutenant Starscream!" They all said at once.
But suddenly, a different blip came up on Starscream's HUD: One much closer to all four of them. A fighter jet, a human this time, spotted them and is flying close behind them.
"Ah, scrap. We got spotted." Starscream groaned before tuning the radio waves and spotting a warning signal.
"This is a restricted airspace. Identify yourself and designate your affiliation, or we will fire on you."
Before Starscream could question it, two more jets popped up and supported the enemy jet.
"Hmm… very well," Starscream said, amused, "I am Lieutenant Starscream, of the Decepticons."
There was silence over the waves before the human continued, "Designation unknown. Land your craft or we will fire upon you."
"Oh, I have a better idea."
Suddenly, Starscream flared his jets to make a very tight loop above him, ending with him tailing the three human pilots.
"What the hell!?"
"Surprise!" Starscream said before firing off two missiles at the left and right enemy jets, blowing off their wings.
"We're taking fire! I repeat, we're taking enemy fire!"
The remaining jet careened as quick as he could, turning away from the Decepticons.
"Stand down and I will fire upon you," Starscream said mockingly, before shooting the jet with heavy auto fire, peppering it until it exploded.
Starscream laughed hard as he corrected his position, but cursed to himself upon realization.
"Scrap. We've drawn too much attention to ourselves. Everyone, return to the Nemesis so we can report our find. We will investigate it tonight."
"Sir!" Starscream's underlings said.
Quickly, they turn around and fly at max speed to an unknown location, all the while Starscream pondered as to what his discovery might entail.
Back at Kamilo…
"Hunters are behind the door!"
"I'm runnin' outta magazines!"
"Health is low!"
There was chaos in Jasper's house, as he played his favorite game, No One Will Live, on his PC with his friends online. Just today, they were attempting to complete a level on the highest difficulty: Hopeless. And that name was very apt. So many cyborg enemies were spawning, they couldn't get much of a chance to breathe. His character closed the door behind him, and he could hear the monsters clawing at the door through his headphones.
"That'll buy us some time from those stupid bots! Quick, Jasper, use the terminal! We gotta heal up!" said Jasper's friend, Frank.
"Roger!"
Jasper accessed the in-game terminal, and furiously typed in commands.
"Uh, uh, what am I looking for again!?"
"Item 5CD2! Once we get that, we're evacuating immediately! Get to it, computer boy!" Jasper's other friend, Zane, said as he was healing Frank.
Jasper recalled the code, but was in a silent panic. He was trying to recall all the command lines the game would allow, and was starting to mess up his spellings.
"Damnit!"
"What's taking you, dull man!?" Frank asked.
"What's the pinging command again!?"
"You kidding!? 'Ping Object', idiota." Frank said, baffled.
"Right." Jasper then corrected his code and finally pinged the objective, "Two rooms forward!"
"It's too late! They're breaking through!" Zane alerted them.
Jasper turned his character back to the door as it broke, and readied his gun at the cyborg hunter enemies… only to see a tall, thinly bot, with a massive cannon on his arm.
"A Buster!" He told them, but it was too late. It shot Zane in the chest, killing his character instantly.
"Shoot off the cannon arm!" Frank yelled out, and they both focused fire on the arm, attempting to blow it off.
But by the time that arm was gone, the hunters took advantage of their numbers and overwhelmed both Jasper and Frank. By the time Jasper realized a red barrel he could shoot, they were already swarmed, and their HP dropped to zero in mere seconds.
K.I.A.
"Damnit!" Jasper exclaimed while the other two groaned as they reached the main menu.
"Jeez, that's 'Hopeless'? How are there people that solo these types of missions?" Jasper asked.
"Well, they probably use stealth properly, and know their console commands," Frank said, accusingly.
"Hey, it's not easy. I don't use those things often."
"Aren't you a computer science major?" Zane asked.
"Shut up. There was also a red barrel we could've used, but it doesn't matter. We can try again another day. It's getting real late."
"Alright, alright… hey, Jasper, you said you graduated today, yeah?" Frank asked.
"Yeah, I did. Why do you ask?"
"Y'know, man, we can celebrate. Out of the three of us, you were the only one still without a degree."
"Yeah, and hey, you can also help me move my couch after we celebrate." Zane said jokingly, though Jasper knew he probably also meant it.
Jasper pondered, and said, "Good thought, but it can't be tomorrow. I've got…" He stopped.
"What? You got what, Jasper?"
"I'm just gonna be unavailable, 'Kay? Imma go. I'm killing for a snack and the convenience store is about to close."
"Alright, fine. Hey, before you go, check this out. Go to the conspiracy channel."
Jasper groaned slightly, as he knew what Zane meant. He closed the game and went to his communications app, Chaotik, and opened the text channel labeled '#conspiracy'. There, he saw many pictures, often out of focus or out of frame, of giant, humanoid robots just in random settings. Jasper laughed as a new image was posted; a giant robot, mostly yellow with some black, hitting his head on a lit street lamp.
"Come on, man, what are you gonna say? That's clearly fake."
"What!? That's the clearest pic I've pulled. And if you were to find it again, it doesn't exist. Don't you see!? Robots are among us! Isn't that awesome!?"
"It would be… kinda. All the more reason it's fake. It's just too good to be true. Now seriously, I'm hungry, I'm gonna go. Bye."
"Bye." Said Zane and Frank.
Jasper disconnected from them and rubbed his brow, and chuckled. Giant robots among us? And we haven't seen them? Crazy.
Jasper walked down the dark street, humming a tune in his head as he tossed a bag of chips up in the air. As he reached the bridge to his house, he thought about a lot of things: What jobs can he find? What new home can he get? Should he tell his parents?...
What place is he going to with Roe for tomorrow?
He stopped once he heard a garbage can cluttering. He paused as he stared at it, only to see a couple tiny paws try and climb out.
"What? Oh, Rascal, you're trash diving again?"
Jasper went to the garbage can and pulled out a small tabby cat, who seemed plenty comfortable in his grasp.
"I swear, you don't learn a thing, little boy… girl? I still don't know. Now look," He knelt down and pulled out a little piece of jerky, "I still can't take you in, my apartment has a strict 'no pets' policy. So I implore you to hold out for a while, 'Kay?"
Jasper petted the cat behind the ears, and heard it purr happily. It brought a small smile to his face.
Suddenly, though, the cat got defensive. It stood with its side facing forward, its hair puffed up as it growled. It was scared.
"What? Was it something I said?" Jasper asked until he looked behind himself, where the cat was staring at a bush.
What was in there?
Whatever it was, Rascal didn't like it one bit. It ran as fast as its four paws could carry it, and Jasper could only stare at the bush.
"Maybe… I should just go." He proceeded to speed walk away from the bush and over the bridge. He looked back in a panic and saw… metal, tube-like tentacles, reaching from within?
He had to get out of there.
He started running, and as he reached the crux of the bridge, he looked forward to find a different set of tentacles smacking him in the face. He was stunned completely, and could only see that those tentacles were attached to some strange, head-like machine, looking at him with red, glowing eyes.
Then all he could see was the river below the bridge, quickly approaching him. No… it was him approaching the river at lethal speeds. He barely had the chance to scream before he crashed into the water, and everything faded to black.
Color would return every now and then. One moment, he was being dragged on the cold forest ground. The next, he was being thrown into some strange, metal building hidden within. And the next…
Agony.
Every time he awoke, it was pure pain that led him to being knocked out. And he would be brought in and out of consciousness, seeing new tools being used on him, scanning him, hurting him. Around him were only more tentacle machines, operating on him.
He yelled out for help, but he could barely hear himself over the machinery of the building. In front of him, he saw two things: a tube-like structure with a glass display window, and a giant, metallic body that never moved an inch.
He blacked out again, and found himself in the tube. Looking out, he saw a figure of many metal tentacles, yet the face never stayed the same. He merely looked at him with curiosity, and asked one question:
"How will you turn out?" A cold, judgemental voice said.
Confused, Jasper barely noticed the tube filling up with a blue liquid, and panicked as it reached his mouth. He held his breath as long as he could… until he couldn't.
A different voice of fury spat out, "Your pain is well-deserved, fleshling. Not because of what you've done, but because of what you must earn. For power always has a cost."
The figure then activated a switch, and Jasper felt the worst pain he ever felt in his life. Like the power of a million lightning strikes focusing on him, his vision fractured, looking the same, yet… different. Smaller. He struggled the best he could, but his restraints were too much. He had to keep trying, though. The pain was overwhelming. He had to get out. Get out. Get out! Get out!
He had to get out!
Suddenly, an explosion. The ceiling started to break apart, and rubble fell to crush many tools and tentacle bots. One piece of rubble fell on Jasper's left restraint, breaking just enough for him to wrestle his arm free. He punched at the other restraints holding him, feeling a strength within him that he never had before. He had to get out!
The last restraint destroyed, he ran around the hallways, desperate for an escape as rubble kept falling on him. He was breathing hard, looking around in a panic, until he found it: an exit to the outside. He jumped through the door, and felt the cold forest mud cooling down the pain still lingering within. He wanted to stop right there, to rest, but he couldn't. That explosion wasn't random, it was an aerial strike! Planes were flying down and practically carpet-bombing the area with missiles.
Run. Run!
Jasper ran, faster than he ever thought he could. Trees passed him by faster than he's ever seen them pass by him even with a car. Yet strangely, he felt… slower. Less agile. He didn't bother to think about it as he ran from the bombings, hearing the explosions lower in volume, but he never stopped.
Eventually, the surge of energy Jasper felt was gone, and was replaced with a horrid exhaustion. He felt heavier than lead. He suddenly fell while still at full speed into a forest clearing, water from a river washing his face. Somehow, the cold water didn't make him uncomfortable.
Jasper groaned, and got up with a struggle. He couldn't stay still, despite his exhaustion. He had to find home… wherever it was. He had to get home, call the police, and hold up there until he was safe.
Breathing hard, he reached farmland. One with a wide-open field, a relatively new-looking barn, and a farmhouse. Yes. He could ask them for help.
He walked to the house, and thought it strange that he was getting closer to it too quickly. How messed up were his eyes? He rubbed his eyes with his hands… and stopped as he noticed his own hands were pure metal.
He screamed in shock, backing up too much until he barrelled through the barn doors, falling into the mud and hay. The animals got spooked by the noise as Jasper groaned in shock.
What? What!?
He looked at his hands. They really were pure metal. His arms were even metal. He felt upward, and his whole body was the same: metal. Jagged, gray metal. What… What happened to him!? What happened to his body!?
"Daddy, help! A monster!"
Jasper turned to the broken barn doors and saw a girl hiding behind the door frame, horrified at the sight. He was mortified when he realized the kid was tiny… way too tiny. The barn, too. The animals as well. So they couldn't be tiny, but he… he was gigantic.
What is this!?
"Darling, step back!" A man ran around the corner, and recoiled in horror upon seeing Jasper, "Good God! Get behind me!"
Jasper went wide-eyed when he saw the shotgun the father was aiming at him. Jasper put up his hands.
"Wait, no–"
Bang, one shot right at his chest. Bang, another shot in his head as he covered his chest. Jasper fell to the ground, expecting more pain and massive gunshot wounds… but they weren't there. The shotgun pellets never even penetrated his metal body and fell to the ground. He felt… nothing.
Jasper's thoughts ran wild, but he was brought to one thought when he saw the father begin to reload his shotgun:
Run.
He booked it the other way, breaking through the barn's back doors. He ran even more, the exhaustion racking up unbelievably, but he was in the middle of the forest again, without an idea of where he was.
He looked down again, horrified at the look of his, no, this body. He looked around and found a small stream. He scrambled to it, and peaked into his reflection… and the sight made his heart sink.
It was a face, one that kind of resembled his own, but it was not of flesh and skin. It was metal. All of it was cold, gray metal. The face contorted into that of horror, and he backed up. It showed what he felt. It was his face. But why!? Why was it metal!? Why was he metal!? What in the hell was going on!?
"Freeze, Autobot!"
Jasper's head jolted to his left, and he saw… an odd purplish jet plane, hovering above the forest. He quickly raised his hands in surrender.
"Wait, stop! I'm not gonna hurt you! I just need some help! I have no idea why I look like this, but… but…"
Jasper stopped when he took a closer look at the plane, and found it… empty. No pilot in the cockpit or anything like that. Was it a drone? And what was that purple symbol on its back wing that just looked… menacing?
"We don't do well with threats, Autobot! Stay still or I will shoot you!" said a voice coming from the airplane.
"Autobot? W… what's an Autobot?"
Jasper put his hands to his head… and felt a massive influx of information. People talking all at once, giving commands and orders. But somehow, he knew that many of them were going and coming from that jet.
"Starscream, I found an Autobot! He's playing dumb, but I've got him stuck in place! I need reinforcements to take him down!"
"Understood, Slipstream. Thrust and Thundercracker are close by, I'm finishing up at the Autobot facility."
What?
"Hey, 'Bot, time's running short for you. Just make your choice. Stay perfectly still, and we'll take you with us."
"Starscream?... Slipstream… Thrust… Thundercracker… What kind of callsigns are those?" I asked, confused.
The jet stayed silent, but more static-like voices came from her.
"This 'bot knows our names!... He's listening in on the radio! Where are you, Thrust and Thundercracker!?"
"We're right here."
Suddenly, a noise came from the air, as two other jets flew in to hover around Jasper, surrounding him. Jasper's surprise was palpable, and only grew as the jets got closer to him.
"What the… what the!?" Was all Jasper could say.
"Reinforcements have arrived. Let's take down the 'Bot."
"Finally," Slipstream said, almost excitedly.
And then Jasper saw something insane. He looked around and saw all the jets folding in on themselves, their parts adjusting to form something different. They kept doing so, getting bigger and bigger, until they landed on the ground on two legs, as humanoid robots, their parts whirring and wriggling with life as they closed in on Jasper. They were mostly slim and curved with a cockpit cover acting as their chestplate, while their heads were akin to a blocky helmet. Attached to their arms were slim blasters, which they pointed right at Jasper, sounding primed and ready to fire.
"What!? What!?" Jasper could only ask the same question over and over.
"Let's take him down, Seekers!"
All three of the Seekers started running at Jasper, aiming their blasters at him.
Jasper looked around in a panic. Guns everywhere were pointing at him. Whoever, or whatever, these things were, they wanted to capture him. That thought alone made his new heart… pulse? And his hyperventilating breath never sated his need for air. Nothing… Nothing made sense!...
Of course… It's just a nightmare. And soon enough, he'll be woken up and not even recall any of–
His thoughts stopped when the Seekers' blasters fired him with pulse beams. And unlike the shotgun, these beams pierced through his armor, and he felt it. He felt pain.
This… this was real…
Slipstream was the first to connect with Jasper by colliding with him, and both she and Jasper fell to the ground. Slipstream quickly punched Jasper, making him feel the hardest hit he felt in his life.
"You're not putting up much of a fight, are you now, 'Bot? You already gave up!?" Slipstream yelled out as she aimed her blaster at Jasper's face.
This was real… all of it was… which meant that, if they got what they wanted, Jasper would… Would he die? No… No, he couldn't die. He had to find out what happened to him. He had to find out what these robots were. He had to… to…
He had to get back home and see Roe.
Suddenly, his fear turned to anger, and something clicked within Jasper's new body. A visor slid down his metal face, covering it with a black and curved pane of glass, like a helmet. The visor gave him a HUD, analyzing Slipstream and her blaster.
Jasper grabbed the blaster to his face, and pried it away just in time as it fired into the ground, leaving a blueish scorch mark. Out of nowhere, his hand folded into itself and out came a strange blade, hollow within yet razor sharp. He swung it at Slipstream, who was surprised by the sudden aggression, and she backed away with a slice across her torso. Jasper then shook the blade everywhere, forcing Thrust and Thundercracker back as well.
Slipstream looked down at her new wound, and growled, "Big mistake." She pointed both arm blasters at Jasper.
Jasper looked down at his strange hollow blade still stained with a blue substance. But the substance seemed to get… absorbed into the blade. And Jasper felt a shock of energy wipe away his exhaustion. He suddenly felt lighter, faster… better. And just as he looked back at the three Seekers, he felt something else.
The need to fight.
But just as Jasper thought about stepping in, he was shot in the back by a different blaster, then another, and another, until he was being peppered from all sides by pulse shots. He was brought back to his senses, only to be forced to the ground by all the pressure.
And just as Jasper thought that he would die, he heard… An engine throttling?
Out of nowhere, a black pick-up truck flew in and crashed into the one known as Slipstream, sending her flying back. That pick-up truck… hasn't he seen it before?
"Three on one… I like those odds. How about you three? You feeling lucky, punks?"
Even that voice was familiar. Was it… the truck from the parking lot at Roe's place?
Slipstream growled, saying "Bring down the Autobots!"
The Decepticon Seekers charged at the pick-up truck, only for the truck to also transform into a robot. One built wider and stronger, with fully-formed cannons attached to the top of each arm.
Ironhide's first attack was a gut punch to Thrust, followed up by his arm cannon blasting him back. He used that momentum to swing around and hit Thundercracker's head, stunning him. Slipstream jumped onto Ironhide's back, blasting him repeatedly. He grabbed Slipstream's blaster arm, and threw her to the ground, only to then throw her to her Seeker allies.
Ironhide looked at Jasper, screaming out, "Go that way, to safety! I'll follow behind!"
Jasper didn't question a damn thing and ran in the direction. He was just glad this robot wasn't shooting at him. As he looked back, wondering if the robot would be fine, he saw the robot back in his vehicle form, driving well ahead of him.
"What are you doing, punk!? Use your alt mode!" Ironhide yelled out within the truck.
"What the hell does that even mean!?"
Ironhide groaned, before saying something over the radio waves.
"This is Ironhide! I have a Cybertronian of unknown affiliation, and we're both being chased by Decepticon Seekers! I need a groundbridge, stat!"
Confused, Jasper looked back in dread and found out he was right. The Seekers were after them, chasing behind while aiming their blasters at them and firing off.
While Jasper was scared out of his mind, he also felt the exhaustion. He was slowing down, despite his best efforts.
"Keep the pace up, comrade! We're getting to that groundbridge!" Ironhide said.
Soon enough, Jasper and Ironhide cleared through the trees and found a cliffside leading to an exceptionally high fall. Jasper brought himself to a stop, while Ironhide skidded right at the edge.
"How is this helpful!? Now we're trapped!"
"Wait for it!" The truck said, before Jasper picked up another radio signal, "Ratchet, any time now!"
Jasper was shaking with fear, only to be hit in the back by another blaster shot and fall down. Ironhide transformed and aimed his cannons at the Seekers, but all three of them had their weapons trained on him.
"End of the line, Autobots!" Thrust said, menacingly.
No… this can't be how…
But then, just behind them, a green portal opened on the cliff's edge, leaving Jasper to stare and marvel at the light. Ironhide sighed in relief, hearing something over the radio waves.
"Ironhide, step aside!"
Ironhide understood the command, and tackled Jasper to the ground. Quickly after, blaster fire came from the portal, hitting the Seekers with great force. A silver cannon emerged from the portal, then a robot of a red-and-blue color scheme, looking to be even taller than the big, bulking Ironhide. His every step sounded of a heavy weight, yet his movements weren't wasted as he aimed both cannon arms at the Seekers.
"Decepticons, cease fire!"
The red-and-blue robot's voice was deep and resonated greatly within Jasper.
"It's Optimus Prime!" Thrust screamed out, his fear clear.
Optimus?
"Don't just stand there, attack!" Slipstream said before firing off her blasters, the others joining her.
Optimus simply put up his battle mask, and fired at the Seekers while rushing to the side to shield Ironhide and Jasper. The Seekers found themselves being hit more often than not, and with Ironhide joining in, they found themselves in grave danger.
"Retreat!"
Slipstream then transformed into a jet with only one back wing and flew off, with Thrust and Thundercracker just behind her.
Jasper took in a breath of relief. They were gone. He was safe… right?
"Look at them go… Your timing couldn't be more perfect, Optimus."
Optimus slid back his battle mask, then looked at Jasper.
Optimus then looked at Jasper, and asked, "I am sorry for the trouble you had to go through to get here. I am Optimus Prime. What is your name, comrade?"
Jasper suddenly found himself on one knee, the exhaustion overtaking him, "My name is Jasper Judge… Please… Help me."
He then fell to the ground, his vision darkening just as he saw Ironhide and Optimus Prime surround him. He only completely blacked out as he was being carried towards a green light.
Decepticon Warship - The Nemesis
In the dead of night, a behemoth of a warship floated above the clouds. A figure of dark, sharp metal, glowing slightly of purple, armed to the teeth with anti-air cannons and many Decepticon Vehicons. It was the Nemesis, the Decepticon's Flagship.
Through the Nemesis's halls was the control room, with several Decepticon Vehicons typing away on the consoles. But at the end of the room was a throne, and sitting on it was a massive blue and gray boombox, attached to several consoles with tubes. Whatever it was doing, it was doing it fast, as the consoles could barely keep up with its processes.
Suddenly, an alert sounded off. All consoles stopped computing as they opened a map of the earth, spotting a purple Decepticon indicator.
The boombox then immediately transformed into a mainly blue humanoid robot, his boombox front now its chest, with one visor to act as his eyes, a sound cannon on his right shoulder, and a permanent battlemask on its face.
"This is Soundwave calling all Decepticons. Report to the Spacebridge. Lord Megatron will soon return."