So... I got a little bit overboard. Instead of getting chapter 5 tomorrow, you get it today. How terrible I am, am I right?
And also, if anyone noticed, I changed the rating of this story from M to T. Frankly, it's because I looked at the whole story in my head, and realized something: at most, it has swear words that qualify it as PG-13. A lot of violence, but only between robots. Meanwhile, I see other Transformers stories that make me think that people really love shipping Transformers characters together. So... yeah, the story is now rated T. Shouldn't be a problem... hopefully.
Once Human, Part 5
Unknown Decepticon Mine - Mining Area
Within a large cave room lit by glowing blue crystals of solid Energon, Starscream moved past the servant-class Vehicons working on the Energon. His Seekers were just behind him, looking rather pleased with themselves as they had a broken yet shielded tank in tow. And the prize inside? Two humans that handle the Autobots and know of their base's location.
But even though Starscream should feel pride in a mission accomplished, he still looked back at Slipstream with disdain. One of his best Seekers was made more violent, more reckless, and more unpredictable, all because of that Dark Energon that fueled her. The worst part? The success of this mission may prove that the Dark Energon should be used more for all Decepticons. And if that were the case…
Maybe, just maybe, he can convince Megatron to be more cautious with this substance.
Finally, Starscream arrived at the cliffside of the upper levels of the mine, right near the Energon elevator, which stretches right from the top where a hole allowed sunlight in, all the way to the bottom level containing the Energon storage pit. Next to it was Soundwave who was working on a terminal.
"Starscream, report," Soundwave simply said.
"Waste no time, do you?" Starscream muttered before continuing, "The investigation turned into a firefight with the Autobots. No doubt they were there to scrounge up whatever they could from their site. We managed to acquire some datapads."
Starscream held out the datapads to a focused Soundwave.
"Is that everything?"
"Soundwave, you should always know that you save the best for last. May I present to you, the Autobot's little helpers."
Starscream presented the shielded tank, with Jackson poking his head through the top with vigilance.
"Once that blasted Energon shield of theirs runs out, we can wring out the location of those Autobots and their base, then we rid them from the universe once and for all."
"Excellent work, Starscream," Said Soundwave, almost unenthused.
"Y-yes… but there were some bumps in the road. I must speak with Megatron about this Dark Energon matter, and–"
"Speak with him yourself, Screamer."
Starscream turned to Knockout ascending from the Energon elevator with several crates of a purple-glowing Energon in his arms. And behind him? Megatron, who was looking intensely at Starscream.
"L-lord Megatron! I return from the Autobot's research site bearing gifts!" Starscream uttered, holding out the datapads, "And just as well, I brought back some prisoners with vital information on the Autobot's whereabouts!"
Megatron looked behind at the human in the shielded tank and grinned.
"Excellent work, Starscream. Perhaps you should show our guests some of our hospitality," Megatron said wickedly.
"Y-yes, but before that, I need to talk to you about your discovery. Dark Energon makes our weapons stronger, yes, but the effects on our soldiers could be catastrophic. They made Slipstream–"
"Made me what, Lieutenant? Worse?" Slipstream said defiantly, "I was able to seek my target with greater efficiency than before!"
"Your target was not the one I gave you! We do not hunt down runners when there are two dangerous Autobot soldiers at the front! You had an obsession with that 'Bot since they scratched your chassis!"
"I chased after the Autobots' weakest link, which included their human companions! And they may have damaged me, but I took all their hits, and paid them back double!"
"And what, I should thank the Dark Energon that you survived that!? That Dark Energon made you reckless! Disobedient! Above all, it made you–"
"Better."
Starscream and Slipstream looked to Megatron, who was closer than before. Starscream flinched, but saw that Megatron was only looking analytically.
"I oversaw what happened, Starscream. I had Knockout connect Slipstream's feed so I could see how the experiment fared. And it fared better than I could have thought. The Dark Energon worked wonders on Slipstream. And though she let her stubborn obsessions get in the way of her mission, rest assured…"
Megatron punched through a crate of Dark Energon, pulling out a shard of solid purple Energon. It emanated a violent violet glow, almost lifelike in a way. He raised his filled servo, aiming for his chest piece.
Starscream called out, "Lord Megatron, no! Not your spark chamber!"
Megatron stabbed his own spark chamber with the purple sliver, recoiling slightly. Starscream and the seekers were surprised, Knockout backed away, and Soundwave simply watched as their master arched his whole body violently… before relaxing and looking at everyone with violet eyes.
"I am a Decepticon that will destroy everything that gets in my way, no matter the cost."
Starscream looked at his altered master in silent fear. All the while, the human prisoners saw it all and huddled in their shielded tank: their enemy just grew more dangerous by leagues.
"These Autobots, these Decepticons, their fight is endless! They do it because they believe absolutely in the cause! Regardless of the number of people they offlined! Cybertron is but a husk thanks to them! If one side wins over the other, a culling would occur and they would be back to square one… on a whole different planet!"
"But no fear. For I know the problem. And for that, I created the solution."
"You… must save all Cybertronians… by… all…"
Autobot Hideout - Missile Silo
Jasper woke up in a fright, immediately grabbing his chest piece in pain. He was almost disappointed that he wasn't shocked by his metal body anymore.
"Easy, human, easy," Ratchet said, pushing Jasper back down gently, "You need to repair more."
Jasper looked around at the familiar setting: The medical room. But this time, it was more occupied by several Autobots, one human… and one patient.
"Optimus?" Jasper recognized the Autobot leader on the other operating table, his breathing slow.
"He will be fine, though whatever hit him affected him far more. Does anyone care to explain what happened in that battle?"
Bumblebee beeped in a confused answer, looking at Ironhide.
"I'm in the dark, same as you. Optimus got shot by Slipstream, and that's it. Whatever she was using as a weapon was really putting in the damage."
"But Ironhide, her blaster hits are different, just look at Jasper," Ralph said, pondering, "Two wounds, one from Starscream and the other from Slipstream. Yet he's still recovering from Slipstream's blast. Meanwhile, Optimus was made bedridden by it. But how?"
"It made me… weaker. That blast, it was different, just like her… wait… she said that… something changed her. Made her better. She called it… Dark Energon."
The room was silent for a second, and then Ratchet spoke up.
"Dark Energon? What in the Allspark is Dark Energon? I've never heard such a thing in all my eons."
Jasper hesitated to answer, "I– I don't know, I–"
"Dark Energon… The blood of the anti-Spark… The blood of…"
Everyone turned to a weak-sounding Optimus, rising from his table with effort. Ratchet quickly went to his side to slow him down.
"Easy, Optimus, you're still recovering."
"Dark Energon was an Energon variant discovered and quickly destroyed because of its dangerous properties. Though the way it was created was lost to time, it's clear that the Decepticons rediscovered it," Optimus said.
"Wait… Bumblebee, when Starscream left, he said that Megatron would be pleased, right?" Ironhide asked the yellow-and-black Autobot.
Bumblebee beeped affirmatively.
Optimus sighed, "So, Megatron has returned after years of silence… no doubt using the Dark Energon to fuel his darkest desires."
Though the Autobots held looks of concern, Jasper realized a different look on Ralph: one that came when his radio sounded off.
"I– Uh– I have to take this, right now."
As Ralph left, Ironhide said, "So the Decepticons have a new type of Energon. That's a problem, true. But we have an urgent one: Jackson and Aiko were captured by the Decepticons. No doubt they will be shipped right to Megatron."
Bumblebee beeped several beeps in realization and horror.
"Yeah, 'Bee, if they extract our location from them, it's goodbye, Autobots," Ironhide sighed, saying, "Why did they even come? They were mad to think they could help back there. We could have called for other agents."
Ratchet interjected, saying, "Though I would agree, everyone else is busy on their own assignments. And I knew of Aiko's plan. It was a good plan. Ground bridge in, secure Jackson and Ralph, then retreat. They even used the modified tank. I'm surprised they even got captured."
"It's my fault."
All the Autobots looked to Jasper, his gaze lowered in shame. Optimus fully lifted so he was sitting on his table.
"What do you mean, Jasper?" Ironhide asked, confused.
"They got captured because of me. While they were rescuing me, I got scared and… and I scanned the tank without even thinking. I didn't even want to, but I did for some reason because of this damn robot body!" Jasper slammed his own legs, hurting himself.
"Jasper, you never meant for it to happen. Do not hold only yourself at fault here." Optimus said.
"But it is! Accidental or not, they were taken by the Decepticons because I short-circuited their tank. They are in danger because of one simple, monumental mistake. And because of that, they could destroy you all, they could win, they could destroy this planet! All because I fucked up!"
Jasper put his servos to his face. He should be crying with how much guilt is weighing him down.
Jasper moved his servos to the sides of his head, saying, "It's all my fau–Aaaaah!"
Suddenly, he became overwhelmed by thousands of noises and words all around him. They sounded garbled, like the voices through a radio. Though he could make very little of the familiar-sounding military jargon, one conversation piqued his interest with a familiar voice.
"... Though it is unconfirmed, we have great suspicions that the Decepticon Leader, Megatron, is back on Earth and planning something with the Dark Energon."
That voice, it was… Ralph's?
"Of course those metal aliens would bring another problem here. Are there plans to deal with Megatron and his new doomsday weapon?"
"We are looking into it as we speak, General."
"Good. You have the green light to retaliate. I expect Aiko to send a report of the aftermath."
"... Of course, Sir. Over and out."
The conversation ended with a clack, and Jasper heard nothing more after removing his servos from his head. As he did, he realized that Ratchet was looking right at him with a light, with the other Autobots watching over him.
"He's stable. His optics are functioning." Ratchet said as he turned off the light.
"What happened there, human?" Ironhide asked.
"I… I don't know, I–"
"What is going on here?" Ralph asked, now back in the room.
"I… wait…" Jasper focused on Ralph, and asked, "You were speaking to someone, right? A general?"
Ralph was surprised by Jasper's question, and hesitantly answered, "Y…Yeah, how did–"
"Why did you not tell him about Aiko and Jackson being captured?" Jasper asked further.
Ralph was uneased, and said, "How… How did you know that!? I was on an encrypted call, I–"
"I was able to listen in on your call. In fact, I did it before on Slipstream, twice! I could hear her talking with Starscream!" Jasper pointed out.
"That's impossible! Decepticon feeds are always heavily encrypted! You're telling me that not only can you listen in on radio feeds, but you can decrypt them!?" Ratchet said in disbelief.
"...Yeah, actually…" Jasper said as he looked at his servos.
Then it hit him, and he got up.
"Everyone, I have an idea on how to get Jackson and Aiko back."
Unknown Decepticon Mine - Energon Room
"That goddamn kid!" Aiko yelled out as she slammed her fist on the tank controls.
Inside the tank, a furious Aiko was venting to a comforting Jackson, who was patting the Division Major's shoulder. He attempted to give words of encouragement, which went unheard over the loud sound of the Energon shield protecting them from many Decepticons happy to interrogate them.
"Calm down, Aiko." Jackson calmly spoke.
"Calm down!? We're being held for interrogation by the Decepticon's doctor! How can I calm down!?" Aiko yelled out.
"I'm not talking about that. I'd rather be back in the Mid-East than here, trust me. But you should lay off on the kid. He didn't know what he was doing."
"Yeah, and look where that got us," said Aiko as she peeped through the viewport.
The room they were in was clearly carved from stone, mostly barren barring a few scientific tools. Knockout was at a table, tinkering with something out of sight. Next to him was a stockpile of Energon crates, and some strange statue of metal with an ominous look on its face.
"The kid didn't mean for us to be captured, Aiko. You need to remember, he's no soldier. He's just a civvy."
Aiko wanted to talk back more, but couldn't. Jackson was right. Jasper wasn't even a combatant. He should have been far away from that firefight. He was only there by chance, not by choice. He should have been back home, looking for a job, playing video games, or doing whatever it was that college graduate boys do. He shouldn't even know what a transformer was, much less be one.
"Did you find his body?" Aiko simply asked.
"No. Just a few datapads, but nothing else. And now they have them."
As Jackson said 'they', two Decepticons entered the makeshift room: Starscream and Slipstream, the latter staring daggers at the humans.
"Knockout, why are our guests still locked inside their little Energon cage?" Starscream asked.
"Well, I've been reading its output, and it's impressive. No matter what I do, that shield repels it."
Knockout walked over to the tank, his steps shaking the two humans in it, and prodded the shield with an Energon shock stick. The shield flared in brightness but held strong as Knockout lowered the stick.
"This thing can shrug off most attacks with ease, but it works both ways. Nothing gets in or out of that thing while it's activated."
Starscream rubbed his optics in frustration, saying, "That isn't good enough, Knockout. Megatron wants what they know, and he wants it as soon as possible. Can you not deactivate it?"
"Moi? No. But I may not need to. All of that output does defend them, but it's extremely demanding. If they don't turn it off of their own free will, it'll run out of Energon, leaving them defenseless. I give them an hour, maybe two at most."
"That's too long, Knockout." Starscream said in disappointment before turning to the humans, "To make our master wait so long would be quite rude of our guests, and the consequences for that are rather… painful."
Starscream then crouched down to get a closer look at the humans, "But, if you come out of that shell and answer our questions, I'm sure Megatron will find mercy just for you. So, what do you say, humans?" He finished his sentence with a light grin on his faceplate.
Aiko steeled herself by clutching at her pocket, before turning to Jackson, who nodded in silent agreement.
Aiko peered slightly out of the tank hatch and said, "I'll say it once, perhaps in a way you better understand: Get. Fragged."
Starscream scowled as he lashed out with a scratch of his digits, hitting the blue shield and shocking Aiko. He frowned as he looked down at his digits, and back at Knockout.
"Find a way to break them out sooner, at once," Starscream said before he started leaving.
But he stopped once he noticed Slipstream getting a syringe full of Dark Energon.
"Slipstream, what are you–"
Starscream was surprised as Slipstream injected the dark substance into her body, her gaze becoming a deeper violet. She clenched her servos tight, feeling a newfound strength.
Then she approached the humans, her arm blaster aimed right at the shield.
"Slipstream, don't you–"
Starscream couldn't finish his sentence as Slipstream started lighting up the tank's shield with purple blasts, a non-stop barrage of damage aimed right at Jackson and Aiko. It rattled the tank within the shield, throwing around the two humans inside and causing many scrapes and bruises.
"If I give them an incentive, they might just get out of their own free will," Slipstream said.
"Slipstream, cease fire! You may extinguish them before that shield powers down!" Starscream yelled out, with Knockout stepping back in shock.
But Slipstream just kept firing, and the tank within was feeling the recoil, sparking and breaking in slight ways. Blaster smoke started forming from the repeated blast.
"Slipstream, you will stop firing! I am your commanding officer, and you will follow my orders! Slipstream!" Starscream was screaming now, trying to get Slipstream to listen.
Until a cold voice came from across the room, "Slipstream, cease."
Slipstream stopped firing her blaster, the smoke clearing to reveal the tank's shield slightly destabilized before reforming completely. But as Jackson poked out his head, he saw her face: it was slack and blank, unlike the usual animated, violent look she had. She had not even put down her blaster arm yet.
The Decepticon Commanders all turn to see Megatron at the doorway, his purple eyes glowing as he entered the room. Though Starscream and Knockout felt a sense of caution, Slipstream looked like she was… waiting for something.
"Return to the Nemesis," Megatron said to the Seeker.
Slipstream said in a restrained tone, "Understood," and then exited the room past Megatron.
Everyone else in the room was… perturbed. Especially Starscream. Such sudden obedience, without a hint of doubt or frustration? From Slipstream? It wasn't like her… it was…
Megatron walked over to the Dark Energon to grab another syringe of it and looked dead at the humans.
"Humans… take Starscream's advice… and give in. For the sake of your insignificant little lives," Megatron then injected himself with more Dark Energon, his purple eyes glowing brighter, "Knockout, work on breaking that shield."
"O-of course, Lord Megatron!" Knockout said with hesitation as Megatron left the room.
Starscream took the chance: he left the room as quickly as he could for the Nemesis as well. If he was right… this Dark Energon might have more potential than led on.
"Well, there goes the whole day…" Knockout complained as he grabbed a new tool.
Inside the tank, Jackson was pondering, wondering just what that was. And Aiko was sitting down, holding her shoulder in one hand, and pulling out her phone with the other. She turned it on… and saw her little baby girl, being held high by a younger Aiko.
Aiko took a deep breath… and started getting to work inside the tank. The last thing she would admit to was that she did nothing in her last hour.
Autobot Hideout - Missile Silo
On the operating table of the medical room, Ratchet was taking a scalpel to the unknown metal creature Optimus brought in. Its cylindrical body dripped with old Energon while its clawed tentacles twitched with every touch the scalpel made. Ratchet was both amazed and concerned.
"This is what took the human? What a strange creature," Ratchet said analytically.
"It never spoke. It didn't seem capable of higher functioning," Optimus said while trying to walk around without limping.
"Ep ep ep, Optimus! You need rest," Ratchet responded.
"I will be fine… do you see the Decepticon insignia on it?" Optimus asked.
Ratchet scoffed… then looked closer, "It doesn't have one, not anywhere, but… wait…"
Ratchet nudged the specimen around, revealing the other side of its cylindrical body to reveal… something new. An insignia, a pattern of metal raised from the body. An ovalish shape with two ovalish, analytical eyes, and a mass of squirming tentacles that almost form a chin and beard.
"I see this one, but… it's unlike any insignia I've seen before," Ratchet backed away and said, "Optimus, do you know what this means?"
"The Decepticons didn't kidnap Jasper. And we may have another force at work here."
Suddenly, a door opened and Ironhide entered, knocking over a medical tool that crashed into the ground.
"Ironhide, I needed that!" Ratchet shouted.
"Sorry, Ratchet. It's the human… er, Jasper. He's been at the comms for an hour, and he's looking exhausted."
…
In the main room of the base, Jasper was at one of the computers, running through many encrypted Decepticon frequencies. Breathing heavily, he focused on one frequency, and put his servos to his head. The messages entered his head all at once, and he sifted through them as best he could to hear about any mention of prisoners, or humans, or both.
But nothing.
Bumblebee was at his side, patting his shoulder pad reassuringly. Jasper gritted his dentas before grabbing the monitor to not fall over. Bumblebee beeped in a questioning tone.
Ralph said, "Bumblebee's asking if you want to rest."
Jasper was breathing hard, then took in one deep breath and said, "... Again."
Bumblebee beeped in slight annoyance, before seeing Ironhide arriving with Ratchet.
"Human… Jasper… You need to rest. You're overexerting your processor," Ratchet said.
Jasper was panting, his optics focused on the monitor, "I can… keep going… I'll stop… when I find where Jackson and Aiko are being held."
Jasper then took in the next frequency, the influx of information just as overwhelming as the previous frequency.
"He's going to drop before he finds that frequency. You gotta stop him, Ratchet."
"I know what you mean, Ironhide. I'll get something to knock him out."
"I can hear you!" Jasper yelled out before snapping out of the frequency, finding nothing again, "Damn it! Again!"
Jasper tried to cycle to a different frequency, but Bumblebee held back his arm, beeping a few deep notes.
"What are you–"
"Jasper, enough! What are you trying to prove!?" Ratchet asked.
"I'm trying to correct a mistake!... Do you think I want to be the one reason why Jackson and Aiko can't come back home? Why Earth and Humanity were all destroyed?" Jasper pulled his arm out of Bumblebee's grasp and continued, "I hate this body in its entirety. It's more trouble than it's worth. But if I could use it to help someone, then just let me do it…. Please…"
Ratchet wanted to say more. A lot more.
"You're not alone in this."
All three Autobots turned to see Optimus Prime slowly walking toward them, holding his shoulder.
"Optimus, you need rest," Ratchet reminded the Prime.
Optimus kept walking to the worried Jasper, who was looking at another frequency.
"Every day, we fight against the Decepticons not just for all Cybertronians, but for all humans as well. The Decepticons would sooner rule everything with an iron fist. But every one of us works tirelessly to stop them. Because freedom is the right of all sentient beings. And if you wish to find them, then I will be there to help you."
Jasper was stunned silent as he held his servos to his head. But his shock was quickly wiped away when he heard something promising.
"This is Knockout. I need an Energon laser for our human guests."
"I fail to understand, Lieutenant Knockout. Are you not located at Mine 4E in Quadrant 24?"
"Don't sass me. All of the onsite Energon lasers are to aid in Megatron's Dark Energon Project, and he's not sparing a single one. But I know you can get one elsewhere, double time!"
Jasper lowered his servos, "Mine 4E of Quadrant 24… some Decepticon named Knockout is watching two humans, it must be Jackson and Aiko!"
"Seriously!?" Ralph perked up and checked his laptop, "Quadrant 24, Mine 4E, that's a location code for… just south of Washington! We can search there!"
Ironhide patted a tired Jasper, "Ignore what I was saying, we need you to do some more radio-tapping."
"It's not just that… the mine is also a site where they're experimenting with Dark Energon," Jasper further explained.
"Then we bring back Jackson and Aiko, and destroy their project in one go," Ironhide said while bumping Bumblebee's shoulder.
Everyone's attention suddenly fell on Optimus as he stretched out his arm with a struggle, and suddenly changed his servo into a hook-axe combination weapon, then back to a servo.
"Ratchet, power the ground bridge. We're rescuing our human compatriots."
Quickly, everyone found themselves in front of the ground bridge as Ratchet flipped the switch. The green portal activated and swirled, shining the whole room in a green glow.
"Autobots, transform and roll out!" then Optimus turned to Jasper and said, "That includes you, Jasper."
Jasper watched as the Autobot trio transformed and trickled out of the ground bridge. He clenched his servos tight before transforming himself and letting in Ralph, then exiting himself.
Unknown Decepticon Mine - Radio Room
In a stone room isolated from everyone, Soundwave was working in silence on translating the unknown datapads. On the screens was the text of one datapad, though it was impossible for any Cybertronian to read in its current state. He worked non-stop while going through every cipher he knew in his processor, but nothing. Whatever the Autobots had on this, they wanted it kept top secret.
"Soundwave, I require your assistance on the Dark Energon."
Soundwave immediately answered Megatron's order with, "As you command, Lord Megatron." and left the room, leaving the datapads alone.
On one of the monitors full of foreign text, the screen suddenly glitched, and more of the strange tentacle insignia appeared over the text. The screen then flashed yellow, and reverted back to its text form.
In the Southern area of Washington…
Going down a road surrounded by thick forests, a troupe of Autobots was searching for the mine. Optimus was leading at the front with Bumblebee behind him, Ironhide was reinforcing the back, and Jasper was scanning frequencies in front of him.
"You know something strange?" asked Ralph in the passenger's seat.
"Uhhrg… What is?" said Jasper, still locating the target frequency.
"You said you scanned the tank, right?"
"I'd rather not be reminded of that."
"I know, but… when the Autobots scan a vehicle, they only transform into that vehicle. And yet you're back in this truck form. How is that?" Ralph started pondering, quite curious.
Jasper was tired of all the questions in combination with the mental strain of the scanning.
"I– I don't know, Ralph. I can also hear a radio in my head, too. I'm not exactly a normal robot… Cybertronian… whatever."
"Right, right… Well, who knows? Maybe we'll find your body in the mine, too." Ralph said, hopeful.
"Heh, I hope so…" Jasper suddenly heard one frequency that sounded very familiar, "Speaking of mines… Everyone, stop! I think it's here."
The Autobot troupe stopped in their tracks as Jasper was looking off to the side of the road, into the dark entrance of a forest opening.
Optimus reversed and transformed while facing the opening, "Autobots, move in."
All remaining Autobots, and Jasper, transformed and entered the opening. With Jasper in front, they all followed the frequency closer, and closer, until they saw a large clearing with a large cliffside that held a main cave entrance. Jasper grunted as he removed his servos from his head.
"It's got to be here. The frequency is deafening, and is coming from there."
"It must be the Mine… Optimus?" Ironhide primed his arm cannons.
"Right. Autobots, be cautious. Jasper, remain here."
"Right… wait, what?" Jasper asked, confused.
Optimus held out his servo, and Jasper saw… his phone?
"You've done your part, Jasper. And I won't put you in danger again. Ralph, have Ratchet call a ground bridge on your location. We will get them back."
As he got his phone back, Jasper was about to say something… but stopped. Optimus wasn't wrong… right? Jasper did his part. He was no soldier. That part was left to the ones with the guns.
So why…
"Autobots, move out!" Optimus said as he ran forward with the other Autobots following behind.
So why did Jasper feel like he did nothing?
Jasper fell back, sitting down on the ground with his legs splayed out as he saw the Autobots enter the cave.
Jasper looked down at his left leg to see Ralph climbing it with difficulty. Jasper nudged him upward with his servo.
"... Now what? You gonna call a ground bridge here?" Jasper asked.
Ralph simply sat down as well, crossing his legs, "No. I'll call one if there's danger. But for now, we'll just wait."
Decepticon Mine - Energon Room
Jackson, with a thick layer of sweat, flipped open a screen inside the tank and looked intensely at it.
"Energy level is at 24 percent. Estimated time until power down… one hour."
Aiko groaned upon hearing the news, lowering her sweat-glistened forehead on her project.
"So far, all I've got is this," Aiko raised her hand and revealed a small, modified blaster, "I've overcharged the Energon core massively, so it should stun a single 'Con before it blows up… so as long as that one 'Con just gives up and we meet no guards, we'll be golden," Aiko said, her tone turning sarcastic.
"Blast…" Jackson muttered.
"Blast!" Knockout said, breaking an Energon tool while tinkering with it, "Megatron's going to have my head!"
"At least the Doctor of Doom will have to wait before interrogating us," Jackson said, deadpan.
Knockout growled before putting a finger to his audio receptor, "This is Knockout! I'm still waiting on that Energon laser."
"It's on its way, Lieutenant Knockout."
Knockout did not like the answer and proceeded to slam his servos into a table.
"One laser. Just one laser could work wonders. But nooooo, they all had to be used to mine Energon to feed to that little statue. All to get this!" Knockout grabbed a syringe full of the purple Energon, "I would imagine getting rid of the Autobots is more important than some special Energon!"
Jackson and Aiko were mildly amused by seeing their captor have a near-meltdown… until he slammed the syringe right on their shield. Suddenly, the shield faltered and faltered, almost coming down before fully reforming.
In his shock, he looked down at the screen again, "Energy level went down two percent… we have fifty-five minutes left."
The two humans were left slack-jawed. Knockout, however, had a wide grin.
Just outside…
In the beginning, Jasper and Ralph watched the cave entrance with anticipation. But after ten minutes, all they felt was slight boredom.
Ralph sighed, "This is one of the worst parts of missions: waiting on the other agents to get it done."
Ralph laid down, and noticed the phone in Jasper's hand.
Ralph sat up and asked, "Is that yours?"
Jasper barely noticed as he was staring at it, "Hmm? Oh, yeah. Thing's looking like it's on its last legs."
"... You have someone to call?"
"A few someones, really. My two friends, Frank and Zane, are probably weirded out by my complete silence online. My parents are gonna tear me a new one the second I call them. And Roe…" Jasper trailed off as he thought about her, "She's either pissed, scared, or concerned about why I haven't talked to her at all… we had plans today. I'd love to call her, but I'd probably destroy the phone as I input my PIN."
Jasper sighed as he looked at his phone with a sad look on his face. Ralph could not stand seeing Jasper like this, but then he realized: this was something he could fix.
"I have an idea. I need your phone and your head."
Confused, Jasper gave Ralph his phone and a lift up to the back of his headpiece. Ralph pulled out a datapad with a cord and attached it to the phone.
"Great creatures, Cybertronians. Even their biology is more advanced than our technology. I once tested Bumblebee to run multiple instances of an Operating System at the same time. We had to stop at around 1,500 instances. So this little phone of yours…"
After tinkering with Jasper's phone, Ralph then took the cord and attached it to his headpiece. Suddenly, Jasper jolted, and something popped up in his vision: his phone, every detail just right, down to the five-year-old gamer wallpaper.
"If you want, Jasper, you can pull it to your vision with a thought, or close it the same. Now, we're not allowed to make calls during missions, but… I'll let you have this one. And don't worry… they're encrypted."
Beyond shocked, Jasper could only nod his headpiece to Ralph before immediately calling Roe's number. Every move that would have taken him a second as a human took only nanoseconds in this form. By then, Jasper was looking at Roe's profile picture as the call kept ringing… and ringing…
Until it clicked, "Jasper?"
Jasper gasped and said, "Roe! I… It's real good to hear from you."
"Yeah, it is. You do remember we were going out today, right?"
"Y–yeah, of course. It's just–"
"No, I know, I know. Orion told me you were doing an interview for a Cyber Security job, right?"
Confused, Jasper just rolled with the story, "Uh, yeah. It was an urgent one, had to talk with them quick. I was quite surprised myself, heheh… heh."
Why was he lying to her?
"I get it. I really do. But next time, tell me before you get me worried."
"... Right. Sorry about that, Roe."
"So… Cyber Security. Gotta admit, I'm proud of you. It's a good thing to do. Did you get it? Did you get the job?" Roe asked in anticipation.
"Oh… I'm, uh… still in the middle of getting it. But… I gotta be honest, Roe, I don't think I'm faring well. I made a mistake. A pretty big one."
"Oh my, Jasper. Did you fix it?"
"Ah… kind of. I pointed them in the right direction. There are people that know what they're doing about to fix it right now."
"Well that's no good, is it? Won't it look bad if you don't fix it yourself?"
"Sure, but… I don't think I want the job anymore, Roe."
"What!? Why?"
"It's the kind of job that… if you make just the wrong mistake at the wrong time, people could get hurt. Hell, if my mistake was a real one…" Jasper stopped as he looked at a sad Ralph.
Roe sighed over the phone, "It sounds like this job's an important one… I can't blame you for being intimidated. I would be, too. But a tough job makes for a tough employee. I mean, I may never see eye to eye with my mom, but the work she does in the military is something to respect. Even though she can't tell me what it's about, I believe her when she says that it helps people, and I believe that she's glad that she can do it. So you must ask yourself this, Jasper: Do you wanna help people, and be proud doing it?"
Jasper had no answer, and only heard the feedback from the phone link.
Then he heard a ground bridge opening, and saw one below near the cave entrance.
"What the!?" Ralph said as he saw the ground bridge.
"What was that, Jasper?" Roe asked on the phone.
"Roe, something came up! Gotta go! Thanks for the talk!" Jasper then hung up.
Both Jasper and Ralph hid low while watching the rogue ground bridge. They waited in anticipation to see… a Vehicon step through, bringing a large device with a needle and a few lenses.
The Vehicon put a finger to his audio receptor, and Jasper recognized this gesture well and put his servos to his headpiece.
"Lieutenant Knockout, I have arrived with the Energon laser."
"Excellent. Bring it to me. I know just the way to bring these humans out of their shell."
"I am on my way."
Jasper lowered his servos as he watched the Vehicon walk away from the cave entrance and walk elsewhere.
"What? What did he say?" Ralph asked.
"That Decepticon is going right to Knockout."
"What? But he's not taking the entrance?... Which means there's a side entrance." Ralph realized.
"There's worse news. Knockout said he knows how to break Jackson and Aiko out of the shield."
"No. No, no, no…" Ralph said as he pulled out his radio, "Optimus! Bumblebee! Ironhide! There's another entrance leading to Jackson and Aiko! You have to get there! They're about to break through the shield!... Hello!? Anyone!? Damn!" Ralph looked to Jasper, "The signal can't penetrate the cave… I'm going in."
"What!?" Jasper said as Ralph jumped to the ground.
"Ratchet has to man the ground bridge controls, and the others aren't responding, so… that leaves me to do something."
"But… But you're–"
"A human? Yeah, I am. Can't let that stop me, though."
"Ah–Eh–Argh!" Jasper couldn't come up with any argument…
Except one.
"You're not going alone."
Ralph stopped and looked back in shock while Jasper clenched his servos. He wanted Ralph to say no… but he much preferred he said otherwise.
Ralph looked to the Decepticon still moving away… and sighed.