Whaaaaaat another chapter so soon? I know, I'm surprised too. I just realized though, we're in the end game of season two. As in, a few more episodes to go until season three. I can't believe this story made it so far, but that can be credited to you guys. Enjoy this one!
Episode 21 - Alpha/Omega
[Amanda]
Alpha Trion- as in the Alpha Trion- was contacting Optimus through a sword. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't surprised. Sure, the sword was the legendary Star Saber, created by Cleona herself a scrap ton of years ago. We retrieved it almost an hour ago, and it never failed to surprise.
"Optimus," Ratchet was still trying to get through to the Prime, who staring at the glowing, energon-blue blade. "What is Alpha Trion saying?"
I shook my head. "It's no use, Ratchet. He can't hear you."
"How do you know?"
I chewed my lip, then shrugged slightly. "I can feel it."
The medic didn't argue with that, so we waited. After a long moment, the spell was broken and Optimus stumbled back, caught off guard. He almost fell to his knees when Ratchet stepped forward, steadying him.
"Easy, Optimus," The medic advised and the Prime regained his composure. His eyes darted around, landing on me, and I gave him a worried look.
"So," Smokescreen stepped forward, his previous somber mood being replaced by his arrogant one. "Did Alpha Trion ask about me?"
Arcee was still mad at the rookie and looked ready to blow up, so I stepped in. "What was the message?"
"It is paramount that we recover the final four Iacon relics," Optimus replied. "The Omega Keys."
The name sounded so familiar and that feeling overtook me so powerfully I expected a flash to follow, but got nothing.
What the hell, Cleona? I thought I got a history lesson with every relic.
"Keys?" Arcee asked. "To what?"
The Prime paused, choosing the right words. "To the regeneration of our home planet."
I was stunned, grasping for something to say. The Autobots, however, were thrilled and immediately showed it.
"Pack your gear," Bulkhead said. "We're going back to Cybertron!"
Bumblebee buzzed something, sounding confused but mostly happy. Whatever he said made Ratchet actually laugh, stunning me even more.
"Well, believe it now, Bumblebee," The medic grinned. "Civilization at last."
"But I just got here," Smokescreen commented. I still didn't know what to say, the news catching me so much by surprise that I barely noticed I had stumbled back to sit on the platform stairs.
"Remember oil baths?" Arcee said, her previous anger gone as her tone went a little.... dreamy. "The first thing I'm going to do planetside is soak for an entire solar cycle."
Bulkhead laughed. "I can't wait to tell Miko!"
I think that was when everything set in. The good mood dropped as the Bots realized what going back to their planet meant.
"..And... Jack..." Arcee's tone was nothing like it was a minute ago. Even Bumblebee buzzed mournfully. They all glanced at me, but I paid them no attention because that fact was setting in on me as well.
If the Autobots revived Cybertron, they'd all go there. That was their home. They'd have no reason to stay on Earth anymore because the Decepticons would go back to Cybertron too. That meant no more car racing with Bumblebee, no more lob ball games with Bulkhead, no more training sessions with Arcee, no more lab time with Ratchet, and-
No more time at all with Optimus. No picking me up after school, no long drives, no stories of Cleona, nothing. It hurt to think about. I didn't want to lose the Prime, not after he became so important to me. He was the father I never had, he couldn't just go!
But he had too. This entire time, he was fighting for his homeworld. They were all fighting for their homeworld. Us- Miko, Jack, Raf, and me- we were just allies they met along the way.
"Uh, Optimus, keys open doors," Smokescreen said as he approached the Prime, who had moved to work on decoding the Iacon coordinates faster than ever before. "Can they really revive an entire planet?"
"While I am unfamiliar with the lore of these Omega Keys," he replied. "Alpha Trion knew many secrets, and the ancients possessed technology that has long been lost to what we consider modern science."
They turned to me then, looking for an answer. I snapped out of my shock, not allowing my racing emotions onto my face and into my words.
"Yeah," I said, knowing the answer because of Cleona, but not knowing it until the words came out of my mouth. "They were designed by Cleona and the original Primes just in case. Primus had foreseen his downfall and commissioned the construction of the keys. They'll work."
"Whatever their function," Optimus said, gratefully taking the attention off me. "This much is certain; we cannot restore Cybertron without all four Omega Keys in our possession."
"Which means we can't afford to lose a single one to Megatron," Arcee stated.
"Four sets of coordinates from Alpha Trion remain encrypted," The Prime continued. "It is logical to conclude that each corresponds to the location of one of the Omega Keys. I must not waver until I decode them all. The future of our home world depends on it."
Meaning there's no time whatsoever to spend together on what could be your last days on Earth.
Still, the excitement rose again. I was glad that the Autobots were happy and they really deserved to go back to their homeworld, but I couldn't help the sad, bitter feeling that rose within me. Shoving those emotions aside, I headed up the stairs of the platform, sitting on the couch in the living area with nothing to do. I wanted to go home, but didn't want to miss anything. More than anything, I wanted to sleep off these jumbled feelings, but didn't want to leave. These may have been the last few days I had with the Autobots, I sure as hell wasn't going to duck out. So I pulled out a granola bar from my bag, and lay down on the couch once I washed the bar down. Before I knew it, I was fast asleep.
"The devastation to our home world is worse than I remember," A Decepticon- Dreadwing- said as he and Megatron flew over the rubble that was Cybertron. "Curse the Autobots to the pit!"
Megatron didn't reply, only flying until he saw what he wanted and dove down. The pair landed in front of a building and Megatron forced the doors open with a screech.
"A tomb?" Dreadwing asked when his eyes landed on a casket in the middle of the building.
Megatron nodded, a wicked gleam in his eyes. "One known to contain the remains of Primes. Please, tell me you're not averse to desecration."
"It is just-" Dreadwing looked for the right words. "Being in such a place evokes powerful emotions, considered the fate of my twin."
Skyquake or something like that.
"Then you should delight in our purpose here," Megatron said. "To exact our revenge of Skyquake and of all our fallen brethren."
With that, Dreadwing grabbed onto the lid of the casket and began to pull it off to reveal the body of a fallen Prime. Megatron smirked evilly before unsheathing his blade, and then slammed it down on the Prime.
The sudden noise in the dream caused me to bolt upright, gasping slightly. I didn't know why Megatron was on Cybertron, but it sickened me to have seen him disrespecting the dead like that. I thought even he wouldn't have stooped so low. Shaking the thought out of my mind, I glanced around to see what the Autobots were doing. It was early in the morning now, but it was also a Saturday so the others wouldn't be heading to the base until later. I hugged my knees to my chest. I wished they'd come sooner, I didn't like being the only human around, but I didn't want to complain.
Ratchet was welding something, and when Optimus turned to give him a questioning look, the medic replied simply with, "You shall require a more practical means of carrying such a blade."
Optimus was still working on decoding the Iacon database, so my gaze travelled to the other Autobots, who were huddled in a little circle, talking.
"I feel funny saying this," Arcee was telling the others. "But I'm not sure I want to go back."
"Who knew we'd ever get so used to our new home?" Bulkhead said in agreement. Bumblebee buzzed something, which the wrecker nodded to. "Yeah, I don't think I'd ever want to leave Miko."
"We made friends here, family." Arcee said and that's what made me stop listening. I tuned them out, reaching for my phone and looking for someone to text. Miko, Jack, and Raf would all be asleep, but I knew one person who'd be up at this hour.
Me: Have time to talk?
The message back came thirty seconds later. Finn: Course. Whats up?
Me: The Autobots found a way to fix Cybertron
Finn: whoa whoa whoa start from the beginning
I explained what had happened as quickly as I could. Afterwards, I had to wait another thirty seconds before getting a reply.
Finn: That's... huge. Beyond huge
Me: I know. They're happy and all, and it's nice to see them happy, but at the same time I don't want them to go.
Me: They fought so hard for this, they really deserve it, but I want them to stay on Earth
Finn: Of course you do. The others probably do too. Hell, even I do and I'm not close with any of them. The bots are the closest friends you have. Obviously you dont want them to go
Me: But what am I supposed to do? I'm not going to stop them from leaving
Finn: Truthfully, I dont know. But I do know that you'll still have me, miko, jack, raf and fowler even after the bots are gone. We aren't going anywhere.
That was true. It may have been through the Autobots, but I had made connections to other people, connections I really valued now. I would miss the Autobots if they left, but I wouldn't be alone.
Me: You're right. Thx for that
Finn: Anytime. Want me to head over there?
I did, but I didn't want him to abandon his work because I was being a whiner. Me: It's fine, you should do your work. Come by later tho
Finn: Of course. Until then
Me: Until then.
"Autobots, I have decoded the first set of the final four coordinates," Optimus' announcement made my heart drop a bit. The Autobots broke away from their circle, moving to stand around the Prime. "Divide into teams in the event that I am able to decode another set before the first team returns."
Smart. That eliminates the scramble if another set is decoded soon.
"I'm on team one," Smokescreen said immediately. "Who's with me?"
"I'll go," Arcee said, her tone cold as she walked towards the opening ground bridge. She was still mad at Smokescreen for allowing Jack to accompany him to a battle, which ended up getting Jack and me almost turned into Insecticon chow.
"After you, sir-" Smokescreen said, but Arcee never paused in her step. "Ma'am. Commander?"
"This should be interesting," Ratchet muttered as the two Autobots walked through the ground bridge and disappeared. The bridge closed and the base went silent for a moment, before Optimus turned back to his work and the others dispersed. Ratchet was the one to set up the comm link and monitor the situation, so I was left with nothing to do. Slumping back against the couch, I went back on my phone and decided to look through the recent BeckIT administrative files. Might as well do something productive.
~~
I was so focused on the BeckIT files that I didn't even notice an hour go by. Getting up, I stretched my stiff muscles and my gaze went over the base. Optimus was still working on the Iacon coordinates, Ratchet was at his lab, and Bumblebee and Bulkhead were tossing around a metal ball. It seemed like everyone hated this waiting, except for the Prime because he had something to do. I walked over to him, standing under the computer his eyes were focused on. I knew I shouldn't distract him, but the weary look on his face told me I should.
"How's it coming?" I asked, eyes on the computer screen.
"It is slow," Optimus replied, still at work. "But I am almost done decoding these coordinates."
"It's good," I said. "The code, I mean. It must be good if even you take a bit of time to figure it out. Maybe I'll use something like this to secure my company's files, if you'd be willing to teach it to me."
That got me a half smile. "Of course, Amanda."
"Ratchet!" Arcee's voice came from over the comm, seriousness in her tone. "Groundbridge now!"
The medic hurried to the ground bridge controls just as my vision went silver, revealing a flash.
Megatron swung a glowing purple sword with a sickening power signature that could only be dark energon. The blast emitted from it knocked right into Smokescreen, sending him flying back towards a pyramid. There was a loud crash as the side of the pyramid erupted.
"Smokescreen!" Arcee called out, all the fight knocking out of her when she realized what had happened. Megatron loomed over her, pointing his sword at her throat.
"I would slice you in two right now," He said. "But I need you to deliver a message. Tell Optimus Prime that if he wants this relic, he must come and claim it himself."