Author's Note: This is what happens when I'm bored and have nothing to do. An update comes out in two days. Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Battle of Long Island (Part One)

The roll of the sea as the four ships sailed toward the openings in the bay around the island soothed Percy as the child of the Sea considered tactics. Percy walked Missy's deck as he surveyed the strengths and weaknesses of their hold positions. The child of Mycenaean Posieda shook his head as he looked over the holographic map of entry points to Long Island from the sea. Damn, Percy thought as his form flowed to female in his agitation. How many entry points can Mother's ships blanket with cover fire? The child of the sea looked for all the world an admiral as they paced the length of the ready room in thought. Reinforce the entry points we can with The Guardians. Meanwhile, Roman and Greek demigods bolster land crossings. I could ask the Ares and Athena Cabins to take organized strike teams with Hephaestus DOE kids to blitz entry points with Greek fire explosives if necessary for asset denial. Percy made a second circuit around the room as his mind worked in overdrive. Even with those four cutting off major entry points to the island, he tapped a few buttons on the console to show a satellite map of the area. There are still land access areas where we don't have enough troops to hold the entry points. Percy zoomed in on the most problematic land areas. Even with Rome behind us, we don't have the manpower to hold Manhattan. Percy looked over the readout of the map and tapped his chin in thought. Unless… "Missy, could we call in Team Prime to help us?"

Missy's holoform appeared next to the child of The Sea. "I can certainly do that, Percy, but we're going to need more than five Cybertronians to balance the scales of this war."

Percy's mind worked as he digested the information. If Arcee wasn't just boasting or bluffing when she said she could easily take down both Camps with little effort, and monsters gather around the strongest concentration of godly power in a mortal frame, we can trick them. Percy's grin was enough to make Missy shiver and take a step back. "Primes carry a small portion of the pure essence of Lord Primus within each of them. Right?"

Missy nodded, "I, my sisters, Optimus, and Jack all carry our Father's power within our Matrices of Leadership. Technically, Arcee is a Prime, too because she's Bonded to Jack, but she is a unique case. It's usually buried within layers of shielding to keep it from being detectable."

Percy nodded, "Call in Team Prime, please. I've got a plan."

Jack looked out over The Sound from Bama's deck. He could see Princess Andromeda as a speck on the horizon and felt a smirk pull at his lips as he remembered Luke's reaction to the shells rained down on her. Now, he's facing four ships rather than one; it will hopefully force him to execute an amphibious landing and march in towards Manhattan and Olympus. Jack shivered as thoughts of a Higgins boat hitting Normandy flowed into his mind as if he ran onto the beach during D-Day. If he focused, Jack could smell the foul mix of blood, gunpowder, and burning flesh. Damn you, fragging Krauts! Jack blinked, "Where did that come from?"

Arcee walked up to Jack and put a servo on his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Jack shook his head. "This isn't recon or a small-scale skirmish." Jack began. "It's true war, and I'm scared."

Arcee knelt to be closer to Jack. "Percy, Thalia, and Nico know how to fight these things; we don't." The two-wheeler smiled at her Sparkmate. "You bet your aft we'll support where we can." She grinned. "Primus knows they need the support from The Guardians. That will cut the forces the demigods must face significantly."

Jack shivered, "Yeah, amphibious landings are always a glitch and a half; that goes double…if you can bottleneck the enemy and force them towards a single entry point."

Arcee saw the glimmer of an idea in Jack's optics. What are you planning?

Call Optimus and the the rest of the bots, please. Jack grinned with a feral look in his eyes that looked somehow simultaneously alien and natural on his face. We need fixed artillery positions along the enemy's approach vector. Jack growled low as he continued to speak to Arcee. We need to force them to unload a distance away from the beachhead. Baring underwater mines, we need to blanket their landing zone with so much firepower, they try to run and can't.

Is that a Roman tactic? Arcee asked in curiosity.

Jack shook his head. World War II; Normandy, The Human Prime explained. The more down on the beachhead, the less we need to face inland.

Arcee nodded, but Jack felt a bit of unease pass over the Sparkbond. Are you sure this is the right plan?

Jack thought of the meat grinders of World War I trench warfare. "It will save lives and spare Olympus. Those who ally with The Crooked One to topple the gods have chosen their fate. I aim to save as many as I can, but…"

A flash of Tailgate then Cliffjumper ran across the Bond. "You can't save everyone." Arcee affirmed with an edge of steel in her voice that wasn't there a moment before.

On the beach, the Athena and Hephaestus kids rolled out bronze-tipped pit traps, trip-wire crossbows, and a few bola launchers hidden in the sand and enchanted to keep the sand off their mechanisms. In the shadows of the forest, Nico called a few dozen skeleton warriors from Hades' elite guards and made sure these warriors carried modern weapons with the bulk of the warriors from Word War II or later. Apollo kids decked out in forest camouflage supplied by Hermes kids. Demeter kids walked through the forest on the border of Camp and arranged for the dryads to do their best to snare and slow monsters within the lines of fire for Apollo kids who were setting up sniper nests in preparation for defending camp. Thalia walked back and forth around Camp and barked orders.

A glance at the hearth made Thalia breath a sigh of relief and smile slightly as Lady Hestia tended flames that surged with a protective aura. Eldest of the Olympians… The daughter of Zeus' mind raced. Family is more than blood. Percy, Grover, Annabeth, and all her friends at camp sprang to mind. Out of the conner of her eye, Thalia thought she saw the goddess smile. Thalia thought of something she hadn't before. How did Hestia aid in the fighting of The First Titan War?

Thalia felt odd as her body walked over to the hearth and sat next to the goddess with almost no conscious control on her part.

Hestia looked up from the fire with a warm glow in her kind, amber eyes. "Why do you fight The Titan Lord?"

Thalia closed her eyes and really focused on the question. Part of her wanted to say, "To please the gods, to please Zeus…" However, the thought made her stomach turn. Thalia held no love for her father. The mere thought made her face turn green. Unbidden, her mind cast back to that day on Half-Blood Hill. "The same reason I fought on that day. Annabeth, Grover, and…" The next name made her shake with sadness and anger. To think, Luke thought I would betray Annabeth and Grover to join… Her mind trailed off with a full-body tremor. .…the ones who want nothing more than to see the world burn.

A warm hand on her shoulder brought the daughter of Zeus out of her darker thoughts and greeted her with a loving smile. "The Titan Lord took one look at me and felt terror grip him, such that he began to eat The Elder Olympians, starting with me." Hestia shivered and looked into the middle distance for a moment before she came back to herself. "Do you know why?"

Thalia shrugged. "He tried to control Fate?"

"Yes and no, family is the strongest concept known." Hestia began to explain. "When it is healthy, family is unbreakable. That unity born of love and loyalty, not fear or coercion, cannot easily be crushed, and The Titan Lord knows this. THAT is why I was eaten first." Hestia smiled. "That is why I called in reinforcements personally and skirted the laws by invoking an ancient treaty from the days before my little brother usurped the throne from our sister with some help from Hades." Hestia hissed with rage which made her eyes glow dangerously as a passive thought reminded Thalia that Hestia was technically the eldest and arguably most powerful Olympian. These crimes the SHALL answer to after Father is vanquished again."

Thalia smiled as she put the pieces together. "Jack is the key."

Hestia nodded, "Two worlds brought together by a brave young man from Jasper, Nevada."

Jack grit his teeth as he looked over the beachhead. If he focused, the son of Primus could feel the waiting power in his Spark and those of his sisters as they took position. I hope Optimus doesn't say, "No." The son of Primus thought as he called Omega One. "Com'n, Ratchet."

The old medic picked up quicker than Jack expected. "Jack, what is it? How does the recon mission fair?"

Jack scratched the back of his hair in nervousness. "Honestly, Ratchet, I don't know how to explain what's going on without waiting time we don't have."

Ratchet's tone changed at the urgency in the young Prime's voice. He nodded, unseen over the comm link. "Focus on the data you want to send over the channel, nudge it towards the buffer, and your processor will handle the rest. Just focus.

Jack did as instructed and was about to ask if the data went through when he heard Ratchet gasp, "By The Alspark!"

Joined with Ratchet's exclamation, Bulkhead and Bee chipped in with their own stunned reactions. Jack could almost hear Raphael start clicking away on his keyboard over the link. Jack's heart and Spark thrummed in time as he waited for Optimus to weigh in on the situation.
"These Titans and monsters threaten the world if we do not stop them here and now?"

Jack shivered as a powerful wave of energy born of The Chaos Bringer slammed into him. You cannot fight me, arrogant gnat! I shall use these petty gods to bring this world under my boot! Then, I shall gather what remains and finish what my puppet started. Primus shall DIE in his ailing slumber!

Jack stumbled out of the trance with tears streaking down his face. Anger and fear boiled inside of him like iron ore in a smelting vat. "We stop both Unicron and The Titan Lord now, or all is lost." Jack whispered.

"Jack," June spoke into the call, sounding worried. "What is it?"

"Unicron is hoping to use The Lord of Time and his forces to subdue Earth. Then, he plans to Bridge the leftovers to Cybertron to finish off Dad while he sleeps."

Jack didn't even realize he ended the call as the young Prime sank to his knees and screamed wordlessly at the heavens. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, campers started yelling about an attack. Jack looked up with iridescent blue fire in his optics. If I die, I die on my feet! Jack's Roman blood toweled only for him to look up and start laughing at the familiar swirl of green and white split the air on the beach port-side. "Stand down!" Jack roared with joy as four roughly Cybertronian forms stepped out of the Groundbridge. "Friendly, I say again. Do not engage! Friendly!" Jack blinked as he counted again when the portal faded. Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Optimus, Ratchet, Mom, and… Jack felt an almost evil grin slide onto his face when he saw the final person arriving as reinforcements. …Miko, with The Apex Armor. Primus help the poor glitch who gets in her way.

PLease Read and Review. Honestly, what do you think will happen in Part Two?