Transformers
Chapter 5
Starscream and his seekers carried their find from the frozen north to a warmer climate. Their old friend was still alive but only barely. His spark was weak from the many years of his energon being frozen. He had disappeared a few thousands of years before the death of Sentinal Prime, before the start of the war. They believed that he was dead.
As they carried him further south, the hard part was staying out of sight. Three jets in the sky were hard enough to keep from looking suspicious, but add to that a giant robot being towed between them and that was bound to attract attention. So they made sure to stay away from any areas populated by humans.
They set him down in a heavily wooded area and waited for his core temperature to warm up. It was still cold where they were but at least it was above freezing. Starscream transformed and sat next to his friend. “Please be alive, Jetfire.”
They were close friends during Starscream’s time in Nova Cronum. Very close. Jetfire was from Uraya but didn’t look down on the three young seekers, instead he treated them as equals. Starscream admired him. Jetfire left to search out more energon but was never heard from again. Soon after that, the council started in on their stricter regulations and Starscream was kicked out of Nova Cronum. And then the uprising started.
“I can’t believe he’s been here all this time,” Thundercracker said, kneeling down on the other side of Jetfire. “If it weren’t for the war, we might have been able to search for him.”
“Megatron’s gonna be pissed if we don’t get back soon,” Skywarp warned.
“We did the survey that we said we were coming out to do,” Starscream reminded him. “I’ve already worked out how we are going to get the fuel out from under all of that ice. And we’re bringing him back a new soldier. What is there to be angry about?”
“What makes you so sure that Jetfire is going to choose the side of the Decepticons?” Skywarp asked. “Jetfire was against violence and he loved organic life forms. How do you think he’s going to feel knowing that Megatron killed off a few of his favorite organic worlds? Megatron is a ruthless killer. I really don’t think Jetfire is gonna wanna throw in with him.”
“Maybe if I explain the situation,” Starscream tried to argue but Thundercracker shook his head.
“You know as well as I do that if Jetfire was around for the start of the war, he would have joined the Autobots. He was a privileged bot. He didn’t see the universe the way we did. Turn his beacon back on. Let the Autobots find him.”
“He is our friend,” Starscream snapped. “Do you really want him on the side of our enemy?”
“Do you really want him to be subjected to Megatron,” Skywarp countered. “Remember what he has done to you. Imagine what he will do to Jetfire.”
Starscream sighed, placing his head on Jetfire’s chest. “I don’t…. Can you give me a moment?”
“Yeah,” Skywarp nodded and left with Thundercracker.
Starscream moved up Jetfire’s large form so that he was closer to Jetfire’s head. Leaning down, he pressed his forehead to Jetfire’s. “I hope one day, when this war is over, you will understand why I fought on the side of the Decepticons and that you will forgive me. If I led the Decepticons, things would have been different. I tried but no one would listen to me. Megatron is a fool but they all rally to him anyway. He’s the reason this war exists, that so many have died. One day I will overthrow him and the Decepticons will finally fight the noble fight. The real reason we banded together. Equality.”
Jetfire’s optics flashed but he remained dormant. Starscream had no idea if Jetfire could hear him or not. He reached down and turned on Jetfire’s beacon. “I love you,” he whispered and then stood up. “Alright, let’s go,” he yelled before transforming and taking to the air.
…
“This is the place,” Bumblebee said as he pulled up to the building. His voice came in loud and clear over Ironhide’s radio. The two generals were given the task of picking up the parts that they were able to order over the internet but were unable to have delivered to the Ark. Ironhide was given the added task of pulling a trailer to haul the supplies.
Ironhide’s door opened and his avatar stepped out. He had chosen a middle aged, fair skinned, man with a medium build, brown eyes and brown hair. They wanted inconspicuous and unable to stand out in a crowd, so that was what he had selected. He wasn’t like Mirage, looks meant little to him so long as it got the job done.
Bumblebee, however, decided to go with a younger, sleeker human form for his avatar. It was also male but had a more olive complexion, black hair and green eyes. Bumblebee had selected the name ‘Brian’ for his avatar and was supposed to call Ironhide’s ‘Steve’.
The day before, the two had worked on their conversation skills through the avatars, making sure that their movements were fluid and believable. Wheeljack watched them interact, giving pointers every so often. The ship’s mechanic had spent a lot of his free time watching the human’s television programming. He said it was all in the name of research but Ironhide suspected that he found it to be entertaining as well. It wouldn’t be the first time for him to get addicted to an organic culture’s form of entertainment.
Brian was dressed better attire than Steve since they were playing that Brian was the buyer and Steve was the hired help. Ironhide had not problems letting Bumblebee take the lead on this mission.
“Ready?” Bumblebee asked as they walked up to the building. “This is the make it or break it point.”
“It’s not like this is our first time using avatars to interact with organic life,” Ironhide pointed out.
“Yeah,” Bumblebee agreed then added, “but, usually, the ones we are interacting with know what we are.”
“It will be fine,” Ironhide waved his hand, brushing Bumblebee’s concern aside. “All we gotta do is show our order form and get the stuff then leave.”
“I hope you’re right,” Bumblebee sighed then knocked on the door.
They didn’t have to wait long before the door opened to reveal a portly man with dark brown skin and a shaved head. He looked bored with his line of work and simply held out his hand then said, “Papers.”
Without a word, Bumblebee handed them over. The man looked them over then nodded, “Garage number three is where all your stuff is being held. Do you need help loading it?”
“That won’t be necessary,” Bumblebee shook his head and hoped that it looked natural. “I have someone here to help with all of that.”
“I’ll open it up then,” the man handed the paperwork back to Bumblebee then closed the door. A few moments later the garage with a large number three painted on it, opened.
Bumblebee looked at Ironhide, “I guess it will be easier if you backed the trailer up to the garage.”
“Good idea,” Ironhide said and then turned to walk back to where they were parked. He maneuvered the trailer, backing up the driveway so that the trailer opening was as close to the mouth of the garage as possible.
Meanwhile, Bumblebee was in the garage, looking over the purchased supplies. He was looking through one of the crates as Ironhide walked in. “I will finally be at ease once we get this stuff loaded and back to the… uh… station.”
“I think we’ll be okay,” Ironhide tried to reassure him. The Decepticons had been keeping themselves low profile for the time being, a fact that had Optimus worried. It wasn’t like Megatron. He had destroyed worlds for less than what he was after on this one. Ironhide reached down and lifted one of the crates, “But, let’s get this done as quickly as possible anyway.”
“I agree,” Bumblebee nodded, closing the crate he was inspecting.
As they carried their first load to the trailer, Ironhide noticed a green construction vehicle drive past. Something about it didn’t set right with him so he picked up his pace. Bumblebee noticed Ironhide’s haste and followed suit.
Bumblebee placed a crate into the trailer just as another green construction vehicle passed. “I’m going to alert the others,” he said and headed to where he was parked.
“Right,” Ironhide nodded and turned to head back into the garage to get another crate. As he walked up he heard one of the employees telling another about an old tape deck that he had found.
…
Tracks sat parked a few blocks away from where Bumblebee and Ironhide were picking up the supplies with Prowl parked on the other side of the street. Tracks had selected a female avatar, it just felt right, but he was starting to regret it. He had thought that the female he had selected was average looking. She had a dark complexion, dark long hair, and brown eyes. The clothes she had on were not too tight and covered her slender form.
All he was doing was sitting at a coffee shop, reading a book and drinking coffee but the human males continued to flirt with him. Some simply cat called him as they passed. It took all of his control to keep from punching a few of them in the face.
Tracks’ cell phone started to ring and he reached in his pocket to answer it. It wasn’t really a cell phone, simply a communicator that was disguised as a cell phone. It was an open communicator with all of the Autobots who were on standby, just in case anything went wrong with the pickup.
As soon a Tracks answered, Bumblebee’s voice came through the device. “Be on alert. We believe we have seen a few Decepticons in the area.” There was a moment of silence then Bumblebee yelled, “Correction. Decepticons are here!”
Prowl was off like a rocket before Tracks could even stand. Tracks managed to take a few steps before his hand was grabbed by a human male. “Where you off to in such a hurry?” Unbelievable. Tracks pulled his hand out of the man’s grasp and continued on his way. “Why you gotta be that way, baby? I just want to be friends. Where did you get a car like that?” the man called out as Tracks started his engine.
It was a short drive to the location and when he got there, the action was already in full swing. Soundwave stood back while Rumble and Frenzy attacked Bumblebee. Frenzy lived up to his name, moving a bout like he had gone mad. Tracks used to believe that Frenzy was that way because he was a poorly built Sub-bot and that his madness was only proof that the council was right about the sparks created by those like Soundwave. But now he understood that Frenzy’s spark belonged in a much larger body. It was the fact that it was confined to such a small body that drove him mad.
Prowl was fighting with Longhaul while Scrapper fought with Ironhide. At least all six of the combiners weren’t there for the fight. It was bad enough that there were giant robots fighting in the streets but Devastator would be seen for miles. They didn’t need a crowd of humans endangering themselves in their attempts to catch the moment on their phones.
Tracks had a sinking feeling that they weren’t going to remain hidden from the humans for too much longer. To make matters worse, as Tracks transformed, he noticed that the employees all had their cell phones out, taking videos of the action. The fools were going to get themselves killed if they stayed too close.
But, that was the least of their worries. Even though Soundwave stood back from the action, he was there and Tracks wasn’t going to let the opportunity to go by. Tracks raced through the action on a direct course to Soundwave.
He managed to avoid Rumble and Frenzy then stopped just out of arm’s reach from Soundwave. Holding up his hands, Tracks spoke, “Prime is sympathetic to what you are. Come back with us to the Ark and the sparks you create will be placed in protoforms. They won’t be Sub-bots.”
Soundwave took aim but Tracks was able to roll out of the way before he was able to fire a shot. Tracks rolled to his feet and looked up at Soundwave. “So we’re not going to talk about this? You’re going to stay with Megatron? I understand why you went with the Decepticons from the start but Opitmus isn’t like the council. You and the sparks you create won’t be deprived of your rights.”
Without a word, Soundwave shot again and Tracks dodged it.
“Fine,” Tracks huffed. “I gave you your chance. But I will not let Megatron build his army.” He moved in close to Soundwave and the two grappled. From what Tracks understood, the secondary spark chamber was located in the same spot for all creators. So that was where he took aim.
As they all fought, Starscream and his seekers flew down to grab the crates. Ironhide managed to break away from his fight with Scrapper long enough to shoot Thundercracker before he was able to hook the trailer.
Skywarp fired into the group just as Rumble started to shake the ground, causing everyone to fall over. In the momentary confusion Tracks pulled out a small energy blade and plunged it into Soundwave’s right side, right where the secondary spark chamber should have been.
With a cry of panic, Soundwave kicked Tracks, sending him back and on top pf Rumble. Soundwave got to his feet and inspected the damaged area. “Murderer,” Soundwave roared and opened fire on the Autobots. Tracks was able to move out of the way and the shot meant for him hit Rumble. “No!” Grabbing Rumble, Soundwave took to the sky with Frenzy following after him.
“Where are you going,” Starscream called out after him. “Leave the Sub-bot to die. We haven’t got what we came for yet.”
“And you’re not going to get it,” Tracks said, firing up at Starscream.
Freed from his fight with Rumble and Frenzy, Bumblebee got to his feet and joined Tracks in firing up at the three jets.
“We’re not going back empty handed,” Starscream bellowed. He dropped down and managed to hook one of the crates before flying away. “Let’s go.”
As the other Decepticons ran off, Bumblebee looked up at Tracks. “Why would Soundwave react like that to a simple side wound? It’s not like there are any vital circuits there. And what did he mean by calling you a murderer?”
Tracks’ hand settled over the secondary spark chamber within him and he wondered if Soundwave had had any infant sparks within his. Looking down at Bumblebee, Tracks lied, “I don’t know.”
“That’s not important now,” Prowl said, pointing to the humans. “We’ve been exposed.”
“Should we confiscate their devices?” Bumblebee asked.
“It’s likely that whatever video they’ve taken is already on the internet. Let’s get the supplies and get out of here,” Ironhide said rushing back over to the garage. “We can handle the publicity later.”
They loaded the rest of the supplies into the trailer and hitched it back onto Ironhide. They managed to leave the area just as the police sirens could be heard in the distance. It wasn’t like the humans had the ability to stop the four Autobots from leaving. They just didn’t want to deal with the drama.
It was a long drive back to the Ark and the four Autobots did it in silence. Tracks listened to the news over the airways for any mention of them and he knew that the others were doing the same.
It took less than an hour for every radio station to start reporting on the large robots and their fight in front of a storage facility. The grainy cell phone footage was being aired on several television stations and was flooding the internet.
Prowl had already messaged the Ark with his report of the situation so the news was not a surprise for them. Prime was probably already starting to work out what to do next.
As they drove, Tracks couldn’t help but feel guilt over what he had done to Soundwave. He kept telling himself that it was for the greater good but he knew that he had just doomed any spark that Soundwave created to die as soon as it was brought to life. Was it better that they die than to fall into the hands of Megatron?
He knew one thing for sure. Opal was going to be angry.
