Rebooted and Rewired (TFP fan-fic)

Part 20

The strange team walked through the canyon, Ratchet and Optimus leading the way. Miko sat on Bulkhead's shoulder, and Raf and Jordan sat on Bumblebee's opposite shoulders. Jack walked alongside Arcee. The group traveled in silence through the canyon. Ratchet held a small scanner in his hand which he was using to track the Energon. As they walked, Jordan looked up the walls of the canyon. She couldn't help but feel something was wrong.

"You okay, Jordan?" Raf asked. "You're real quiet."

"I'm fine, Raf," Jordan replied. "I mean, I feel like something is, wrong, almost. I don't know what is it, but it feels weird."

"Maybe you're just excited," Miko said. "I mean, come on, who wouldn't be? We're going to find a huge amount of Energon!"

Jordan nodded. She should be happy that they were going to find the Energon, but something worried her. She couldn't quite place it; until a ground bridge opened in front of them.

"Um, Optimus?" Jack questioned.

"Stand ready, troops," Optimus ordered, his hands turning into guns.

Bumblebee quickly placed Raf and Jordan on the ground next to Jack and Miko, whom Bulkhead had also removed from his shoulder.

"Stay behind us," Arcee ordered them.

A large group of Decepticons walked through the ground bridge. They parted down the middle to allow two robots to step out in front. When they stood in front of their troops, the ground bridge closed. Jordan gasped.

"Megatron," Optimus said.

"Optimus Prime," the robot said. "We meet again. And on a hunt for Energon, it would seem. Starscream told me about your, earthling scout. She seems to have information that we need."

Bumblebee glanced at Jordan, who stared at the Decepticon leaders. One was larger than the other, build wise. The smaller one, Jordan recognized immediately.

"Starscream," she muttered to herself.

"You aren't going near the humans, Megatron," Optimus said. "Not while we still stand."

"Then we'll just have to fix that, won't we? Decepticons!" The evil robots stood ready. "Get the human girl!"

"Autobots," Optimus said, "protect the humans."

"Come on!" Jack shouted. He grabbed Jordan's wrist and pulled her behind a large rock. "We have to stay hidden. We would only get in the way of the fight."

"But what about the Energon?" Miko asked. "That's what this is all about, right?"

"In a way, Miko," Raf told her. "We're trying to find the Energon, just like the Decepticons. But the only one who knows exactly where it is, is Jordan."

The three turned to look at Jordan, who stared at the fight before them.

"This can't go on," she said. "The Decepticons will overpower us in minutes."

"The Autobots are tough," Raf said. "They can handle it."

"And if they can't?" No one answered her. "We're going to want the extra muscle."

She ran out from behind the rock and ran towards Ratchet.

"What are you doing?!" the robot shouted at her. "You're putting yourself in danger being out here!"

"I know, Ratchet!" she told him. "I know! If there's going to be the slightest chance of us getting to the Energon first, we're going to need more help. Is there anyone else you can get here through the ground bridge?"

"Of course there are more! But do you think I have chance to bring them here when we're under attack at this moment?"

Ratchet punched a Decepticon in the face as it tried to reach for Jordan.

"Well, looks like you have a moment, Ratchet," she said.

Ratchet nodded and pressed a button on his arm. A moment later, four bridges opened and a robot walked through each one. The bridges closed once they were through. Jordan recognized each of them, even though she had never seen them before. The largest one was similar in appearance to Optimus (he was mainly blue, with red here and there) and was called Ultra Magnus. The second Autobot, Smokescreen, was blue, gold, and white. Wheeljack was the third robot, who was red and white with a scar across his lip. The last one, who was previously a Decepticon, was Knockout. He was mainly red, with hints of silver and black.

"Ratchet," Smokescreen said. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Take a look around," Jordan said. "We need to find Energon, but we have our hands full with some Decepticons here."

"And the only one who knows where it is," Ratchet said, "is Jordan."

The robots looked at her.

"We're relying on a human to point us in the right direction?" Wheeljack questioned. "How do we know that she even knows what Energon is?"

"Because," Jordan said, "I have the memories of Wildstrike, one of your fallen comrades. He gave me the information and I have been kidnapped twice because of it. If the information wasn't real or right, none of this would probably be happening right now."

"You have a point," Ultra Magnus said. "We will hold off the Decepticons."

"Jordan," Optimus said, "take Bumblebee, Knockout, and the other humans with you to find the Energon. We will meet up with you as soon as we can."

"Alright, Optimus," she said, nodding.

Optimus and Ultra Magnus hurried off to fight the Decepticons. Jordan watched as Smokescreen and Wheeljack hurried to join the fight.

"Bee!" Jordan called. Bumblebee turned and when he saw her, blasted a Decepticon in the face then hurried to join her. "Come on," she said. "Let's go find that Energon."

Jordan hurried away from the fight, Bumblebee and Knockout following behind her, their hands turned into weapons to stop anyone who tried to follow them. She quickly gathered the other humans and they hurried down the canyon. Jordan forced herself to remember the Energon's location. Once she remembered, she directed them through the canyon.