Okay, I'm horrible, I know. I really am so sorry for not posting a chapter in so long. I had this online course I'm doing, ball hockey, I broke my fingers again (seriously, why), and had to deal with some personal issues. I don't know if this means I'll be able to post as much or not, I honest have no clue. I'm trying. Please bear with me. On the other hand, I'm glad that you guys are still around and still commenting on previous chapters, because that always motivates me to get working. I honestly adore you all. Enjoy this chapter, lovelies, you deserve it.
[Amanda]
A few hours later, I was lying down on the couch at the base, working on managing my database. Because of how much stress had been on it for the past little while, I needed to run some routine checks and updates to fix it all up. Miko was playing a solo video game, occasionally yelling at the tv, and Jack was still out with Smokescreen. Ratchet was doing... well, whatever Ratchet usually does, and Optimus was working on decoding the Iacon database. The other Autobots were getting a little restless, constantly popping in and out of the base. Everyone had gotten used to action at every turn, so waiting around was difficult. It was for that reason the engine roar in the entrance tunnel caught everyone's attention right away. Smokescreen and Jack pulled into the base, both of them laughing.
"I am so posting this tonight!" Jack laughed, showing Smokescreen his phone, which made the rookie laugh even harder. Miko and I exchanged a confused look while Arcee walked over to the pair.
"Arcee, check out Vince's car." Jack said, turning his phone to show her.
"The bully?" She clarified, not sounding impressed as she looked at whatever it was.
"Hey Vince," He said, giving Smokescreen a knowing look. "Did you want fries with that?"
They both burst out laughing again. Ratchet muttered something under his breath, Optimus didn't turn away from his work, and Bumblebee and Bulkhead still looked as confused as me and Miko.
"Let me get this straight," Arcee said, standing up. "You taught Smokescreen everything he never needed to know about fast food."
Jack shrugged slightly. "He passed driver's ed. Work hard, play hard."
"Yeah!" Smokescreen grinned. "No humans were harmed in the making of these photos. Honest."
I was still confused, and I didn't like being confused. As Jack walked up to the living area on the platform, he held out his phone so Miko and I could finally get a look. It was a picture of Vince's car... covered in fast food. I raised an eyebrow.
"What did Vince do to deserve that pleasure?" I asked.
"Threw a burger on Smokescreen's window," He explained, still smiling.
"I approve!" Miko exclaimed, getting her a look from me. "Oh, come on, A! He deserved a lot worse, especially after everything he's done."
I crossed my arms. "That doesn't mean you stoop to his level."
Jack shrugged, plopping down on the floor. "Still posting it, though. This is gold."
"Hey Jack," Smokescreen walked up to the platform. "Let's go on another drive. You know, more lessons."
Jack eagerly complied and soon they were gone again. Sighing, I turned off my laptop and headed towards Optimus, who was working as hard as ever. I didn't want to distract him, but the weary look on his face told me he needed a break.
"How's it coming along?" I asked, causing him to pause.
"I am nearly finished decoding the next Iacon coordinates," He replied, but a beeping noise cut off anything else he wanted to say. Ratchet walked up to the computers, peering at them.
"You may not need to complete your task, Optimus," The medic said as a map appeared on the screen.
"An Iacon locator beacon," I frowned. That wasn't right. The beacon was in an Indonesian forest area, but I didn't sense anything. Usually when a relic was uncovered, I got a flash about it. This time, there was nothing.
"It seems the Decepticons have already excavated the next relic," Ratchet continued.
"Triangulate the coordinates and activate the ground bridge," Optimus ordered. The other three Autobots approached the bridge, ready for action.
"Bring on the Cons!" Bulkhead exclaimed, barely containing his excitement. Just recently Ratchet had declared the wrecker made a full recovery and I did a quick scan with the powers of Cleona to prove it. Bulkhead was ready to head out and beat up some Cons.
"Where is Smokescreen?" Optimus asked before they entered the ground bridge.
"Out training again with Jack," I replied. "I'll give them a call and get them back here."
He nodded, but still turned to the open ground bridge. "We cannot wait. Autobots, transform and roll out!"
They did so, soon disappearing into the ground bridge, which Ratchet closed. I was still unsure of this new relic though. It didn't make any sense. Why wasn't I getting any flashes?
"Amanda?" Miko saw my frown and headed over to me. "What's wrong?"
"Something feels wrong," I admitted, explaining the relics and the flashes. Once I finished, even Ratchet was listening.
"Could it be that the relic is of Decepticon origin?" He inquired.
I shook my head. "I got a flash about the Tox-En, it doesn't matter where the relic is from."
"Maybe the Cons didn't dig it up yet." Miko offered.
"Then there wouldn't be a beacon." Ratchet countered, clearly thinking things over.
"Maybe-" She started again, but my vision went silver before showing me the flash I had been waiting for.
"My lady," A Prime had his head bowed, kneeling in front of Cleona.
"Rise, my warrior," The goddess said and the Prime obeyed. "It is time. The scales have tipped too far in the favor of chaos. I hesitated to create a power of this magnitude, but I fear we have become desperate."
She waved her hands in front of her, causing silver dust to fill the room. Once it cleared, a sword lay in her palms.
"It is called the Star Saber," Cleona explained. "It was created with my powers alone and will only respond to a Prime. I am entrusting it to you now, Solus Prime. Do not tell anyone of its origin; claim that you have created this weapon. Otherwise we will all feel the consequences." Specifically her. She was never supposed to create something so powerful, but desperate times called for desperate measures. She was in charge of ensuring the scales of the universe stayed relatively equal until the time came to vanquish the chaos.
The Prime bowed again, holding his hands out for the goddess to put the sword in them. "I will not fail you, my lady."
"I know."
I gasped, snapping out of the flash. Miko and Ratchet were peering at me, neither daring to interrupt the flash. Things were clear all of a sudden.
"The relic isn't there," I pointed at the icon of where the Autobots went. "It's near the Grand Canyon."
Ratchet frowned, but a beep from his computer confirmed my words and he contact the Bots. "Optimus, we just picked up a second Iacon locator beacon." Static. "Optimus, do you read?" More static, which made me very nervous.
At that moment, Smokescreen raced back into base, skidding to a stop. Just like last time, he and Jack were laughing at some joke they made. Unlike last time, we had a situation on our hands.
"Dude, my boss is gonna freak!" Jack laughed.
"That thing we stuffed in his tailpipe- what's it called again?" Smokescreen said.
"Pizza!"
"Do you guys mind?" I snapped, unable to take any more of their stupidity with fast food.
"Yeah!" Miko put her hands on her hips. "We kind of have a situation."
Ratchet muttered in agreement as he kept on trying to contact the Bots. "Arcee?" Static. "Bulkhead?" Static. "Bumblebee?" Static. "Can anyone hear me?" Even more static.
"Ratchet, what's going on?" Jack asked, all the jokes and laughter aside as a serious look slipped on.
"Our sensors detected a second Iacon locator beacon," The medic replied, glancing at me. "The proper locator beacon, but I can't reach Optimus."
Smokescreen stepped forward. "I'll go."
"Alone?" Ratchet scoffed.
"You have a better option?"
The medic glanced at me again and I shrugged. "Fine." He moved to open the ground bridge. I turned to Miko.
"Let's set up the comms on my laptop," I suggested. "Maybe we can get through to them with my satellite."
She nodded and we dashed to the living area, setting up my laptop. I pulled up two different screens; one to monitor Smokescreen's situation and the other to set up a comm link. We put our focus on the comm link, since Smokescreen was only supposed to be scouting the area and it didn't seem important to watch him too closely. We connected the comm link to my satellite, waiting for it to establish.
"One day, you have to show me how to do this stuff," Miko said.
I raised an eyebrow. "I didn't take you for someone who wanted to learn about computers."
"Who cares about the actual computer? I just want to wreck some havoc!"
Shaking my head, I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket and pulled it out to see it was Jack calling me. I frowned, scanning the area of the base, but Jack was nowhere in sight.
"Amanda, you gotta get Optimus here now," Jack said once I answered, panic in his tone. "Smokescreen went for the relic. I-It's called the Star Sabe-"
"Where the hell are you?!" I demanded, cutting him off because I already knew the information about the relic. "Don't tell me you pulled a Miko!"
"Hey!" She elbowed me lightly.
There was a screeching noise on the other end of the phone, along with panting and some crashes. It sounded like Jack was being chased, but by-
"Oh scrap," I realized. "Insecticons. Jack!" No answer. I put the phone down slightly, looking up at Ratchet, who was watching in concern. "Ratchet, you have to contact Optimus now!"
The medic turned to his computers, working rapidly. "Optimus, please respond!" Static. "I can see that you're alive, Optimus... Why won't you answer me?"
"Ratchet, we can't wait around forever," I stood. "Send me to Jack's coordinates. I can hold off the Insecticons until you get through to the others."
He gave me an incredulous look. "And put you in the line of fire?!"
"Jack is in the line of fire right now and he can't fight back! I can!"
He shook his head, muttered something under his breath, and then opened the ground bridge. I handed my laptop to Miko, telling her to keep trying to contact the Bots, and then dashed through the bridge. I emerged at what seemed like the edge of a forest, just in front of a ravine. I spotted several Decepticons within the ravine, but a screeching noise behind me made me turn to see the two Insecticons chasing Jack. I raced over there in time to see one Insecticon raise its foot to squash him.
"Jack, duck!" I yelled, summoning a blast of silver dust and slamming it into the Insecticon. It tumbled over, its friend whipping around to see another blast hit it in the face. I ran past them, grabbed Jack's arm, and we dashed into the forest.
"What were you thinking?" I demanded as we ran.
"It was supposed to be a quiet mission!" Jack reasoned. "But then Smokescreen jumped into the ravine and-"
"And so you were both idiots," I finished, stopping abruptly to hide behind a massive boulder. Jack stumbled, but then followed. "I just hope Ratchet got through to the others."
"Can't you take them out?"
I gave him a look. "You're joking, right? I can defend against a Cybertronian, sure, but kill them? Do you know how much energy that takes?"
"Okay maybe not," He peered around the boulder. "I think we lost them."
I didn't move though, just focused on my surroundings. It was quiet.... But almost too quiet. We should have at least been able to hear the Insections heading away. This silence could only mean-
"Move!" I yelled as an Insecticon smashed through the boulder we had just been hiding behind. I threw up a shield, protecting us from the attack before throwing that silver dust at the bug. It screeched as the silver dust pierced its body, whirling sideways, but was replaced by another one and its friend wasn't far behind. I kept up with most attacks, blocking them and blasting whenever I got the chance, but it wouldn't be enough. I couldn't keep this up forever. Everything I learned with Arcee and Optimus would only work so much with these Insecticons. They didn't fight the same way Autobots and Decepticons did. Just as my last defense almost shattered, the Insecticons were shot at, causing them to shift their attention to their new opponent.
Arcee was making a dash for them, jumping up to kick one in the face, which allowed me to slam the other with my silver dust. She was quickly followed by Bumblebee, and together they took down the Insecticons. Now that the threat was gone, I sunk to the ground, trying to catch my breath. Even though I had gotten better at using my powers, they still took a lot out of me. A shadow fell over us and my gaze shot up to see Arcee, which made relief course through me.
"Arcee!" Jack said, relief in his tone too.
"What could possibly have been thinking?!" She demanded in her overprotective tone.
I stood, the scene behind her making me forget about my exhaustion. "Oh scrap." Without thinking, I ran out of the forest, dropping into the ravine, which was now clear of Decepticons, and my eyes were still glued on what was happening at the top of the mountain in front of us. The Decepticon warship was carrying off the boulder that the Star Saber was stuck in, and Optimus-
Optimus was driving up the damn mountain to get to it. There were several Decepticons flying on his tail, Megatron included. I barely registered the others following me until the Decepticons almost reached the Prime.
"Can't we shoot them down?" I demanded, my tone clearly stressed.
"We can't risk hitting him or throwing him off," Bulkhead said, also worried.
All we could do was watch as Optimus drove to the top of the mountain, launching himself towards the boulder off of it using the tip. My heart leapt up, pounding so hard it was all I could hear. The Decepticons kept on trying to hit him, most missing though, until one of Megatron's shots hit the Prime. He transformed out of his vehicle mode and made a grab at the sword. Somehow, even though I couldn't see the details from so far, I knew he would miss. Without thinking, my hand shot out and a stream of silver dust sped through the sky towards him. I willed it to lift Optimus the extra inch or two, and he successfully grabbed onto the hilt of the Star Saber.
The moment the Prime grabbed the sword, it began to glow a bright, energon-shade of blue and it slid free of the boulder. Optimus began to fall and I hurried to send my powers towards his legs so that be could land without breaking anything. He did so, causing dust and sand to shoot up around him. I covered my eyes and so did Jack until the dust cleared to reveal Optimus holding the Star Saber, which still glowed blue.
"I loosened it for him," Smokescreen commented, but no one really paid attention. Everyone's eyes were on the sword the Prime held. It was about as tall as him, with a silver hilt. Then there was a massive crash as the Decepticon warship dropped the massive boulder it had been carrying. We all stared in horror as it hit the side of the mountain and began tumbling down towards-
"Optimus!" I yelled.
"Optimus, retreat!" Arcee was right next to me.
"Now!" Bulkhead finished.
The Prime himself was still staring at the sword, not aware of what was going on around him. I didn't have enough energy to throw him another blast of silver dust, so I could only watch as the boulder got closer, picking up momentum as it tumbled straight towards the Prime. A few moments after the three of us had yelled, Optimus looked up and slowly turned to face the boulder that was two seconds away from hitting him. He didn't bother to move, instead slicing upwards with the Star Saber and-
Sliced through the boulder. He sliced through that massive boulder as if it was nothing. The two slices slowed to a stop on either side of the Prime, nothing touching him. My jaw dropped.
"Did- he- just-" Bulkhead stuttered, sounding as shocked as I felt.
Bumblebee buzzed something and even without knowing what he said, I knew he was feeling the same way.
"No way," Jack said in awe.
Optimus still hadn't moved, his gaze now up, looking at the Decepticon warship. Without warning, he spun the sword once, twice, and then jerked to a halt, sending an electric blue blast of energy from the sword towards the warship, hitting its back engines. The hit rocked the warship, that was clear even from here.
"It can do that?" Smokescreen asked the question we were all wondering. Not two seconds later, the Decepticon warship was making a run for it, flying away faster than I had ever seen. It soon became nothing but a speck in the sky.
~~
"How epic was that?" Smokescreen said as we walked through the ground bridge and into the base. "I-I saw it with my own optics but I still don't believe it!"
"You know what I don't believe?" Arcee snapped, her tone deadly. "That after everything you've been told, you still put a human at risk. Two of them because Amanda had to cover for you!"
I was dead tired and sat on the bottom steps of the platform stairs immediately after getting into the base. Miko, being the best friend she was, handed me a water bottle before joining me.
"Arcee, it wasn't his fault," Jack stepped in. "I shouldn't have gon-"
She whirled on him. "Don't you even start with me! We'll talk tomorrow!" She turned to Ratchet. "Send Jack home."
The medic, clearly not wanting to get the end of Arcee's wrath, did as she said. Jack hesitated though, looking at Smokescreen.
"Green means go," the rookie said and Jack sighed, knowing he lost the battle, and headed into the ground bridge.
"She's pissed," Miko hissed as the ground bridge closed and I nodded, eyes slightly wide. "A, can I get a car here? My host parents want me back."
"Sure thing," I pulled out my phone and called the Jeep to the nearest road. Miko snuck out, not wanting to get in the middle of the fight, and when I got an alert that she was in the car, I sent it to her house and then back to mine.
By the time I refocused on what was happening, Arcee's tone was deadly again. "We've been in need of another Autobot in our ranks, not another child."
"Look, Arcee," Smokescreen's tone was somber. "I was wrong and I'm sorry, again. If you need to kick me off Team Prime-"
"Disregard for human safety- or anyone's safety-," Optimus stepped in, his tone almost as threatening as Arcee's. I could tell it was hard for him to keep his emotions in check at the moment and he was trying hard not to show his anger. "will not be tolerated. Do you understand?"
Smokescreen nodded, still serious. "Fully, sir."
"We must never lose sight of the fact that upon this Earth," The Prime continued. "We are titans, and such power must be used wisely."
The moment the last word came out of his mouth, I gasped as a surge of energy flowed through me, causing me double over and see silver for a second. When my vision cleared, I saw the Star Saber in Optimus' hands start glowing energon-blue again. Optimus lifted the sword, staring at it's blade.
"Whoa," Bulkhead said and I saw the others were torn between looking at me or Optimus. When I waved them away, we all turned to the Prime, who's optics had started to glow as well.
"Optimus, speak to me," Ratchet urged, noticing the vacant look on the Prime's face, but he didn't move.
"Optimus?" I stood and stepped forward, concern shooting through me.
Only then did he respond, his tone absent. "I am receiving a message."
Ratchet gave me a look, so I pressed for more answers. "From who?
"Alpha Trion."