I do hope you are enjoying this story! Just to clarify, this is only part 4, and part 5 will be coming out tomorrow! And to curb any questions, I basically have a bunch of parts already completed, I'm just simply keeping a pace for the sake of publishing and editing. So don't worry. There are more parts to this story coming soon.
Once Human, Part 4
Starscream was leading his Seekers, flying as fast as he could. Though he would have wanted to groan at the prospect of searching through a pile of rubble for something useful – whatever that means – he knew better. When Megatron came back, his patience only grew thinner. He knew what that meant: Megatron had a plan. A different agenda with that Dark Energon that he's making. What it is, he did not know… not yet.
"We're only a hundred nano cycles away from our objective, Lieutenant!"
Starscream heard Slipstream inform him, and he couldn't shake this feeling deep in his spark. At first, when they gave her that Dark Energon, she said she felt strange, only to feel perfectly fine. She was even saying that she felt great now. But it was something in her voice, in her looks, even in her way of flying… that Dark Energon was affecting her. Starscream just does not know how exactly.
"Lieutenant Starscream, I have three readings nearby!" Thrust said.
Starscream looked at his own radar, and Thrust was right: Three readings, all unknown signatures, were ahead of the Seekers… Right at the facility.
Starscream was right. It was the Autobots that were coming back to their facility. But he prepared for this case.
Starscream announced to his Seekers, "The Autobots are attempting to recover whatever they were doing there. Prepare for battle."
"Got it!"
Slipstream quickly flew ahead of the formation, a purple streak behind her as her engine roared.
"Return to formation, Slipstream! Slipstream! Scrap! Thrust, Thundercracker, reinforce her! I'll provide aerial support!"
"Roger!" They both said before flying toward Slipstream.
Starscream did not like this. The last thing he wanted was for Slipstream to be a test subject and a combatant! He had to break out some tech.
He activated a device in his bombing cavity.
On the ground…
"See anything!?" Jasper yelled out.
"Nothing yet!" Ironhide yelled back, moving some large rubble around easily.
"Be careful! Last thing I need is for my body to be more damaged than it already is now! Bumblebee, anything on your side!?"
Bumblebee simply responded with some beeps that lowered in tone each time.
"I'll take that as a no! I'm not done with my area, so take the one next to Ironhide, please!"
Ralph looked back at Bumblebee, who eventually listened and joined Ironhide in searching his pile of rubble.
"Something wrong?"
Ralph turned to Jackson, whose arm sleeves were rolled all the way up to show their dust and dirt.
"Jasper's been ordering the 'Bots nonstop, and it just seems… wrong. He should be easier on 'Bee and Ironhide."
Jackson stopped searching through the rubble as Ralph went back to it, and then said, "I may not ever understand what he's going through, nor may I ever want to… but I get it. And I think the 'Bots do, too. He had something taken from him, and he wants it back. And whether or not we can help him… that depends on if we find his body."
Ralph looked down, "I guess… you're right…" He then kept on searching through the rubble, still pondering…
Until he saw something unbroken.
"Sir, I found something."
Jackson looked at Ralph and saw him picking up large datapads.
"Ironhide, you know what to make of this?" Jackson asked.
Ironhide looked at Jackson and his datapads, and quickly picked it up, "It looks like datapads, but… the design isn't something I haven't ever seen…" he turned it on to show alien text, and cocked his headpiece, "And I can't read this kind of Cybertronian language…"
"A Decepticon cipher?" Jackson asked.
"Perhaps, but… I think I recognize this from somewhere…" Ironhide said, analyzing the text.
This got Jasper's attention, and he said, "What? Recognize what?"
But before Ironhide could answer, Bumblebee was beeping with positivity, and Jasper took in a gasp as he saw it: a familiar-looking container tube, just uncovered from the rubble.
The tube that kept his body.
"Yes, yes! That's it!" Jasper ran over, excited, "That's the thing my body is in! Oh, thank God you found it, Bumblebee! Come to me, my good old–"
Jasper turned over the tube, and found its display glass shattered, its contents empty. No body in sight.
Jasper's optics widened in horror, "No… no… Where is it? Where is it!? Where is it!?"
Over the shrills of Jasper's screams, the burning of jet fuel could be heard, and Bumblebee dove out of the way with Jasper in his arms. A missile struck where they were a second ago, decimating the area in a violent purple explosion.
"We're under attack!" Ironhide yelled out, readying his arm cannons.
Shortly after, they saw a jet fly in with incredible speed, transforming just as it hit the ground just next to where it shot the missile. Jasper's horror was shifted as he saw the familiar purple figure: Slipstream.
Jasper scrambled back as Ironhide and Bumblebee took to the defense, separating him and the other humans from the Decepticon Seeker. But unlike before, this Seeker looked… off. Less composed. More determined. More… predatory.
"Autobots… Of course, you'd come back to one of your losses… why wouldn't you…" Slipstream said, with a smirk on her cocked headpiece.
Jasper thought her words were strange. Did she mean… his loss? His body!? They have it!?
Bumblebee beeped in worry as he shielded Jackson and Ralph, the former human also shielding the latter.
Ironhide aimed his arm cannons at the Slipstream, "I see you've come back for more, huh? Well, I'm all for it."
"Oh now, Ironhide, I'm not here for you…" Slipstream said while looking at Jasper.
Then they heard jet engines approaching. About three more.
"They are."
Ironhide and Bumblebee had to dodge out of the way as a barrage of laser blasts rained down on them, and two of the Decepticon Seekers transformed as they landed: Thrust and Thundercracker. All the while, the gray-and-red jet kept flying around, getting ready for another barrage.
However, in the chaos of the newly-born battle, Jasper slowly backed away as he realized that Slipstream was still looking at him while approaching.
"You and your human pets are mine," Slipstream said, raising her arm to aim at him.
"Jasper," Ralph asked right next to his pede, "Transform… Now… Now… Now!"
Jasper snapped out of his panic and transformed into his truck form, quickly turning around as Jackson and Ralph entered his two front seats. He floored it out of there as Slipstream blasted at him with violet laser blasts, just barely missing the fleeing target.
"Get back here!" Slipstream said as she transformed and flew after him.
"Slipstream! Return and face the Autobots!" Starscream commanded from the sky.
"I am facing one. And soon, they'll be one Autobot less!" Slipstream said over the radio.
"Slipstream! Slipstream! Scrap!" Starscream yelled out, furious. Her stubbornness was not surprising, but the blatant disobeying of his orders was something else.
It had to be that Dark Energon affecting her. Scrap. Why did she have to volunteer to be the first test subject!?
"Jasper, wait!" Ironhide yelled out before being stopped by a laser barrage by the swooping Decepticon Seekers, "Scrap! Ratchet, triangulate Jasper's position! He needs a ground bridge out immediately!"
"Ironhide, I can't activate an exit ground bridge! There's some signal interference blocking me, possibly a Bridge Blocker! You need to hold out until reinforcements come in! Optimus is on his way!" Ratchet explained.
Ironhide gritted his dentas as he fired off his arm cannons at the assaulting Seekers and Starscream in the sky. He hoped that Jasper could at least run away long enough until Optimus could fend off Slipstream.
Deeper in the forest…
Jasper was driving as fast as he could past the crowding trees and rocks while the determined Slipstream kept diving in between them to fire a few purple blasts at him. All the while, a teeth-gritting Jackson held onto his seat while Ralph was looking in the side-view mirror to see a murderous jet flying towards them. He saw Slipstream steady her vehicle form.
"She's firing! Dodge!" Ralph sounded off.
Slipstream let loose a barrage, only for Jasper to drive off the beaten path and into another rocky road fraught with obstacles.
"She's persistent, I'll give her that," Jackson said, looking back, "Jasper, keep riding onwards! If it's what I think it is, then we just need to be out of range and we can retreat!"
"What do you think I've been doing!?" Jasper snapped back as he dodged more rocks and blasts.
All the while, Slipstream was feeling an anger building up in her spark. She knew, deep down, that she could catch up to that cowardly 'Bot. But these trees were getting in the way of her payback. But she stared ahead, her eyes on the target.
Ralph kept silently hurrying Jasper until he looked back, "Uh, Jasper!?"
"Yeah!?"
"Slipstream's not behind us anymore!"
"What!?"
Jasper turned his side view mirror to look behind him and, lo and behold, the skies behind him were empty. Void. Less hostile. Where did Slipstream go?
Suddenly, Slipstream's jet form flew down like a bullet and transformed just in time to land and shake the ground in front of Jasper's advancing truck form.
"Enemy ahead!" Jackson yelled out, gripping his seat tighter in surprise.
The three yelled out in shock as Slipstream pounded the ground in front of her, with Jasper just narrowly avoiding her strong servos. But Jasper was spinning out of control, and could only stop when his truck form crashed into a cliff, his two human passengers being hit by his airbags.
As the group groaned in pain, they could hear heavy pedes slowly advancing from behind them.
"And to think you were able to survive the last fight we gave you. I'll give you something, though: you were built to take a beating," Slipstream then flexed her digits at her sides, anxious.
Jackson and Ralph exited Jasper's form with difficulty, still feeling the pain from the crash. Ralph was the first to react.
"Uh, Jasper?... Jasper?" Ralph knocked at Jasper's metal.
"You look infested with vermin, 'Bot. Perhaps I should clean up this human waste." Slipstream aimed an arm cannon at Ralph, powering it up.
Ralph's fear forced him to a wall, but Slipstream stopped once she heard loud pangs on her helmet. Turning to the floor, she saw human bullet cases on the ground, and away from Jasper, was a Jackson with an empty, smoking gun aimed at the Decepticon.
"Oh, look at that, a brave vermin…" Slipstream turned her arm blaster at Jackson, ready to fire.
Suddenly, a large rock then flew to her helmet, sending her down to one knee in a daze. The humans looked to Jasper, who was transformed and lobbed the large rock in a seemingly impulsive move, surprising even him.
But Slipstream was furious. As she rose, Jackson took Ralph and ran to hide away, but she was looking right at the scared newbie Cybertronian.
Slipstream said no words as she charged forward, and Jasper knew what to do… and ran away as fast as he could.
"No, no, no!" Jackson took his radio out and switched frequencies, "Ironhide, Jasper's in trouble! Can you two help him!?"
In the Outer Forest…
Ironhide punched and missed a dodging Thrust before responding, "Unfortunately, my servos are full here!"
He then fired his arm cannons at Thrust, who dodged all he could. He spotted Bumblebee, who was putting Thundercracker into a close brawl, and thought to intervene…
Only for Starscream to fly from above and barrage them both with blasts, disrupting them.
"Scrap! Ratchet!" Ironhide called out, "How are reinforcements!?"
"Optimus is still on his way, and all I've got here is–"
"Ironhide!" Yelled out Aiko over the comms, "Are you in a firefight!? Where's Ralph!? Where's Jackson!?"
Ironhide shot back at a pestering Thrust and Starscream before answering, "Jasper had to take them away from us, but there's still a Seeker hunting them!"
Aiko's tone switched from concerned to angry, "I won't have any of that! Ratchet, talk with them and get them a ground bridge!"
Ratchet scoffed in anger before saying, "What do you think I've been trying!? They've got a Bridge Blocker, meaning we can't bridge them out of there!"
"Damn it!"
Aiko's exclamation was amplified by Starscream blasting under Ironhide's feet, sending him almost tumbling.
"Wait,... If we can't bridge them out… Can you bridge people in?" Aiko asked.
"That's… actually… In theory, the jammer's frequency was designed to prevent matter from exiting the area… so… If matter was sent into it–"
"I'll take that as a yes!"
"Where are you going!?"
"Making reinforcements!"
Ironhide was only getting confused by the conversation, and before he could ask what it meant, he spotted Bumblebee getting thrown down by Thundercracker after one too many blaster shots.
"'Bee!"
Ironhide fired off shots at Thundercracker, only to get a haymaker from Thrust. Though it didn't hurt much, it did knock him into the path of Starscream's blaster barrage, forcing him to his kneepads and to drop the datapads onto the rubble.
Thrust took notice of this and grinned, "Oh? Recovering some of your documents, Autobots?"
This only confused Ironhide before he tried to put up his arm cannon, only for Thrust to shoot him back to the ground. As he hit the ground, he saw that Bumblebee joined him shortly afterward as he was tossed next to him.
From the skies, Starscream flew down and transformed before hitting the ground, landing on his knee. Ironhide noticed that he was holding a device in his hand that had a great resemblance to a certain ground bridge jammer design he knew.
"Excellent, excellent…" Starscream said, a sly grin on his face.
"Lieutenant, I found these on the 'Bot." Thrust then handed Starscream the datapads, which he looked at closely.
"This should please Lord Megatron… though your destruction will make it all the better…" Starscream looked at the Autobot duo as he put away the datapads, "Deal with the Autobots. I need to get back our rogue Seeker."
Starscream flew off into the direction of Jasper and the others, while Thrust and Thundercracker both aimed their arm cannons at Ironhide and Bumblebee.
Ironhide looked at Bumblebee, who nodded back. Both got their blasters ready behind their backs. If they were going down, they would take down a 'Con or two with them.
But then, a large engine roared its way toward the forest clearing; A red-and-blue semi-truck loudly honked its horn as it charged at the Decepticons. Optimus transformed and let out a battle cry as he kicked Thundercracker through a few trees. Before Thrust could do anything, Ironhide blasted his chest and sent him flying right into Thundercracker. Ironhide and Bumblebee got up and quickly formed behind Optimus, priming their blasters for more battle.
"Retreat!" Thundercracker yelled out before flying away with Thrust to try and follow Starscream.
As they left, Optimus looked at his two soldiers and asked, "Are you okay?"
Ironhide held the side with a blaster shot and said, "Could be worse, Optimus."
Bumblebee beeped the same answer.
"Understood… Where is Jasper?" Optimus asked, a sliver of concern bleeding into his words.
In the Inner Forest…
Jasper could not be more terrified. Running in an unknown forest, no other human in sight…. With a killer Decepticon wanting to make him into a scrap heap.
With every step Jasper made in his bigger body, he could swear that Slipstream was covering the same distance as well, despite her smaller frame. What he was seeing was not a mere futuristic robot chasing him. No. It was an obsessed hunter, not wanting to stop until it fell dead from exhaustion. But Jasper did know that at this pace, he would run out of energy long before that.
So he ran as fast as he could, barrelling through trees with a soldier on his trail.
"Jasper!?"
Jasper's spark nearly stopped working when he heard Jackson's voice over his audio receptor.
"What is it, Jackson!?" Jasper yelled out.
"I can't keep my eyes on you. Is Slipstream still after you?"
Jasper glanced back in hesitation, instantly regretting it as he saw a pissed Slipstream with the closest look of bloodlust he had ever seen on a giant robot.
"Yes!"
Jasper kept running forward, turning a corner on a large boulder and nearly tumbling down a slope to a small valley with many other large boulders. But once Slipstream turned the same corner, she saw… nothing. But she could have sworn that he had no other way out, so perhaps…
"Are you hiding, Autobot? Is that it?"
Jasper cursed to himself as he kept himself hidden just behind a boulder.
Slipstream glided down the slope, a grin forming on her faceplate, "So then, you want to play hide and seek with a Seeker?... You really are scared, aren't you?"
Jasper was shaking as he whispered, "I'm stuck in a bad spot, Jackson. I could really use one of the Autobots right now."
"They're too far and distracted, and from what I'm hearing, using a ground bridge to get them here has been made impossible."
"Then what the hell do I do!?"
Jasper almost yelled out before hearing Slipstream blast behind a boulder, leaving a purple scorch mark.
"... Bring her down."
"What? Are you insane? She's a trained Decepticon with who knows how many centuries of experience. I have no chance of winning."
"Perhaps so… in a fair fight. But you've got two things on your side. Your sheer size, and surprise."
"You're telling me to ambush her? It won't work, it just–"
"No matter the power and experience an enemy has, it doesn't take away the power of a good surprise attack. Besides, you don't have many more choices, do you?"
Jasper was brought to silence as another blast was heard, this time at a boulder closer to his.
"I tire of this game, Autobot. I think it's time to bring it to an end."
Slipstream then headed towards Jasper's boulder, readying another blast. Jasper's servos were shaking, but Jackson was right. He couldn't run, or hide. So he clenched his servos as Slipstream rushed to the back of the boulder…
And nothing. That was odd. She was certain he was going to be–
Her thinking was interrupted by Jasper, who came from the other side with both servos balled up like a wrecking ball, swinging right at her headpiece. Slipstream's body was brought down in an instant, hitting the ground hard and kicking up a lot of dirt.
"I got her… I got–!"
"Don't let up, Jasper! They are more durable than you think!"
Jasper found that out as he heard a growl come from Slipstream as she stirred from her stunned state. He allowed her no reprieve as he kept hitting her over and over, using his forearms like an ape to hit her body. The hits were reckless and violent, yet Slipstream just wouldn't stay down.
"Stay down, stay down, stay down!" Jasper kept saying as he kept hitting.
But on one big hit, he felt both of his arms get grabbed at the same time, and he saw Slipstream's faceplate morph into that of fury, her optics glowing purple all the while.
In one swift move, she forced Jasper's arms above him, then kicked his chest piece with both legs at once, making him breathless as he fell back.
Jasper coughed out of reflex while Slipstream rose from the ground.
"I'll admit, you surprised me with that. And if this was yesterday, that could've worked. But I'm not the same Seeker from yesterday. Because thanks to this Dark Energon…"
She brought up her arm blaster and shot a purple laser at Jasper, who blocked it with his arm. He yelped out in pain, looking at his arm as he saw the blast site… disintegrating slowly.
"I'm much better."
From the trees above the mini-valley, Jackson finally arrived to view the fight, and it was looking bad. With Jasper on the ground and Slipstream slowly approaching him, readying another blast.
Jackson brought up his radio and said, "I need an Autobot here, now! Jasper's in deep trouble!"
Optimus rang over the radio, "We're on our way, but we're still too far from your destination!"
"But I'm not!"
Jackson was confused at hearing Aiko's voice before looking behind him at a glowing green light.
Slipstream kicked Jasper down and pinned his working arm with her foot.
"Make peace, Autobot," Slipstream whispered as she powered up her kill shot.
Jasper's optics were widened. Was he… was he going to die?
"Incoming fire!"
Slipstream turned to the sudden voice and was immediately blasted back into a wall by a large round hitting her chest piece. A confused Jasper looked to the source, and saw a familiar-looking heavy tank, with Jackson popping out of the gunner seat.
"Jackson!? How did you get the–"
"Do you think I would sit idly by and let any of you get hurt!?"
Jasper was surprised to hear Aiko's voice over the radio. Did she bring the tank here?
"Wipe that grin off your face. Crawl out the valley while you still can!"
As Aiko said that, Jasper looked back to see Slipstream crawling out of the rubble, looking dead at him. He didn't think twice: he ran for the steep slope and started climbing up to the tank, slowly but surely.
Slipstream aimed an arm blaster at Jasper, but machine gun fire from the LMG atop the tank pestered her. Slipstream looked right at Jackson, who was manning the LMG.
Slipstream started to laugh, "Okay, human, you want attention!?"
Slipstream then jumped and transformed into her jet mode, aiming her cannons at the tank.
"Here it is!"
Violet blasts flew at the tank, leaving it in a plume of purple smoke. Jasper gasped at the carnage, looking at the Seeker jet with gritted dentas. But as Slipstream started laughing, she stopped when she realized that as the smoke cleared, she saw a blue Energon shield over an intact tank.
Aiko then chuckled and yelled out, "What!? Did you think I would use a regular tank against you guys!? Wrong!"
Aiko fired another tank shot at Slipstream, narrowly missing her wing but still causing her to destabilize midair. She transformed just in time to grip onto a vertical rock wall, the surprise clear on her faceplate.
As Jasper finally cleared the top of the rock wall, he nearly collapsed, not realizing the pain he was in from that arm shot.
"Thank God the both of you were here! Now let's get out of here! Now!"
"Can't do that, Jasper! Ratchet told me that a ground bridge jammer is what's stopping us from bridging out!" Aiko said as she poked out of the tank's door.
"Damn it! What do we do, then!?"
Suddenly, a jet engine flew by them in the form of a red-and-silver Starscream that began hovering in sight.
"We hold off until the Autobots arrive," said Aiko as she went back into the tank, aiming the cannon at Starscream.
"Stay behind us, kid," Jackson said in an encouraging manner.
But Jasper was not encouraged. Far from it. He was scared. He backed away behind the tank, putting his hands to his head in a panic, only to hear that same static noise that he heard last night.
"Slipstream, I order you to retreat! You're too damaged to risk another attack!"
"I can get him, Starscream. I have him right in my sights."
Jasper was confused, and looked around to find a lurking Slipstream peering through the trees, her body looking as damaged as Starscream was making it sound like. However, that did not seem to deter her at all.
"Aiko, Slipstream's behind you and looking pissed!" Jasper warned.
Jackson took control of the LMG, and yelled out, "Make way, Jasper! I'll push her away!"
This was too much. One flying Starscream in front, one prowling Slipstream behind, yet only a cannon and an LMG to defend Jasper and the tank pair? Jasper was panicked. This was no game where he would have a gun and hold the enemy off, this was real life. He was in an advanced robotic body, yet all he had was a sword that he didn't know how to use? If only… if only he had a gun, any gun. If only…
He peered at the soldiers defending him. If only he had a form like that tank.
Then, surprising everyone present, Jasper's optics started scanning the tank's body.
"What!? No, no!" Jasper screamed out.
"What are you doing, Jasper!?" Jackson yelled out.
Jasper tried to cover his optics, but it was too late: the blue beams left the tank sparking and disabled. Before he could even think, Slipstream was already on him and punched him through a tree and into the ground. Jackson tried to use his LMG, but was forced to go into the tank when he saw Starscream transforming near the tank and reaching for him. Starscream thought to pluck the military man out of the tank's top hatch, but felt a sharp sting that stopped him in his tracks. In his sudden anger, Starscream grabbed the tank's barrel and ripped it off sideways, disarming the vehicle. But before he could do more, the tank suddenly put up its impenetrable shield; yet, it did nothing more than sit there like a turtle in its shell. Helpless.
Starscream felt victorious. Not only one Autobot, but two humans that know everything about the Autobots? That combined with the datapads…
"Slipstream!" Starscream yelled as he turned to the violent Seeker, "Stand down! We will take that Autobot prisoner!"
Starscream stared at Slipstream as her arm cannon was raised at Jasper, prime to fire. She looked right at Starscream, and though he was used to getting an occasional judgemental stare, this one with the Dark Energon glow looked unnatural.
But then Slipstream looked to Jasper and said, "Consider yourself lucky, 'Bot. You'll live your last days in one of our cells."
Starscream was eased from this. Aiko and Jackson yelled from their tanks to spare him. And Thrust and Thundercracker soon joined them. But all the while, Jasper was terrified all over again. To be the prisoner of an evil faction of robots? He couldn't… he didn't…
Why was he going through this?
Starscream with Thrust and Thundercracker, led the front by pushing the Energon-shielded tank onward.
"Soundwave? Call a ground bridge for us." Starscream said with a victorious tone.
Then, the green glow of a ground bridge spawned in front of them, leading them to slowly prod the tank onward.
Jasper was behind them all, Slipstream's arm blaster aimed for the back of his head. He was still stunned, still thinking of… everything.
"When we get there, Autobot, don't play tough: answer our questions, and we'll be good hosts. I don't care how tough your body is, it's not tough enough to test our patience." Slipstream told her prisoner.
Body… body… these Decepticons that want to make him prisoner, also have his body. They're the reason he was here, why he was dragged into everything… right? If they left well enough alone, he wouldn't even know anything about this. But he did know. And his life was turned upside-down because of them. And those thoughts replaced his fear with fury.
"... All your fault…" Jasper muttered.
Slipstream could not hear, and asked, "What was that, prisoner?"
Unknowingly to both of them, Jasper's visor slid down his faceplate…
And laser blasts flew at them from afar, shocking everyone there, especially Starscream.
"The Autobots!" Thundercracker pointed out.
The Decepticons wasted no time returning fire on the approaching Autobots, especially Slipstream. But Jasper's focus was on Slipstream, and he saw the opportunity: he swung right at Slipstream's head, and wrestled her to the ground. Jasper felt his hand change again into the hollow blade, and brought it down on the Decepticon, only to be held back by her. The struggle was great, yet Jasper's weight and position brought the blade closer to Slipstream's torso.
"Give me back my body!" Jasper yelled out.
Though in a tough spot, one noticed Slipstream's predicament. Starscream saw the Autobots closing in and glanced at Slipstream being held at bladepoint. It was obvious. They had to get out of there now. The humans would be enough for the interrogation.
No need for extra prisoners.
Starscream blasted Jasper's bad arm, causing him to recoil in pain. Slipstream quickly kicked him off and towards the Autobots, who were ever-advancing.
Optimus and the rest kept shooting at the retreating Decepticons, adamant on retrieving the humans. But as Optimus got as close as he could to the tank, Slipstream aimed her arm blaster… right at a vulnerable Jasper.
She fired off a violet blast, and Jasper only had the time to look up at the blast aimed for his headpiece. His optics widened…
As he saw Optimus tackling him out of the way of the blast, saving him.
"Farewell, Autobots!" Slipstream said mockingly before exiting through the ground bridge, which disappeared shortly after.
"Scrap!" Ironhide yelled out, breaking a tree with a swing of his arm.
Meanwhile, Ralph finally arrived, exhausted from such a long run.
"Where is… huh… where is Jackson?" He asked.
Ralph looked at Jasper, still processing everything while Optimus stood back up.
"They got him… and Aiko… the Decepticons got both of them. It's all my… all my…"
Suddenly, Jasper's vision went out of focus, and his arm injury flared up.
"I don't feel so good…"
Ironhide knelt down, and said, "Whatever made this wound, it's still affecting you. Optimus, we need to… Optimus!?"
Optimus was on his knee pad, groaning and holding his own violet blast wound.
"Scrap!" Ironhide said before using the radio, "Ratchet, I need a ground bridge here, stat! Optimus and Jasper are injured with an unknown Energon type!"
As Ironhide called for a medic, with Bumblebee and Ralph trying to help out a weakened Optimus, Jasper tried to stand up and push through the pain.
"Aiko… Jackson… Optimus…" Jasper muttered.
Jasper stopped moving towards the Autobot leader and fell down, his vision darkening around the edges. He saw as Bumblebee set Optimus down on his back, his breathing heavy.
"I'm… sorry…" Jasper finally said.
Jasper's final image was of a green portal opening up and getting closer. Then there was nothing.