Forever Alone: Transformers Prime

Chapter XVI

Beeping noises and surges echoed in the main room as Ratchet worked on the ground bridge. “Ratchet, are you turbo charging the ground bridge?” Raf asked.
“Tinkering. No need to get anyone’s hopes up just yet.” Ratchet said. “It is also a distraction all the same from the worries that fill my mind during the day.”
“You mean your worries about Julie or your worries about Optimus?”
“Perhaps both. The fact that Julie keeps mumbling the name of Primus makes me suspect that she may have something to do with Cybertron, but all the same we can’t know anything till she wakes up.” Ratchet said as he looked at Raf. “No need to bother the others about it just yet though.” Ratchet resumed working on the bridge as he was lost in thought.
“Ratchet! You awake? This is an emergency.” Agent Fowler cried on the monitor.
“Agent Fowler, is it Optimus?”
“It’s cons and they’re busting into the same military research lab they hit two months ago.”
“Again? What for?” Bumblebee buzzed.
“Another space bridge?” Bulkhead asked.
“For all we know, Optimus is riding with them.” Arcee commented.
“Roll out.” Ratchet said as he turned on the space bridge. He watched as the three went through the bridge and watched the bridge close behind them. He decided to go back to monitoring Julie who was still in stasis. “Julie, we need you to wake up.” Ratchet cried. He stood up and turned away just in time to see her tossing and turning about in the medbay. “Primus, help. Ares.” Julie cried as she was tossing her head from one side to the other. “Julie, calm down. Julie.” Ratchet cried as he tried to shake her a little bit to wake her up. “Unicron is in stasis. He’s gone. He can’t hurt you.” He cried as he remembered how he called Unicron, Ares in her own point of view. “Primus, help her. I don’t know what to do.”
“Ratchet, need a groundbridge stat.” Bulkhead cried through the comms. Ratchet sighed as he stood up and saw that Julie’s sleeping body had settled down. “Coming right away, Bulkhead.”
As soon as the bridge opened up, Bulkhead and Bumblebee came rushing in, but there was no sign of Arcee. “Where the heck is Arcee?”
“She jumped into the Decepticon's bridge. I told her to stop, but she didn’t listen.” Bulkhead confessed.
“She could be in trouble.” Bumblebee buzzed.
“Give me a minute, maybe I can track her signal.” Ratchet cried as he ran to the monitors. “I got her signal, it’s in the arctic. I don’t know how long she was out there, but I am opening a bridge to her coordinates now. Whatever you do, hurry, and be cautious.” Bulkhead and Bumblebee ran in and not long after they came running back with an ice covered Arcee.
“Ugh, I’d say take her to the medbay, but Julie is in there.” Ratchet roared.
“Don’t worry, I’m up now.” A voice said as Julie came walking out of the medbay. “Help her first. I will explain later.”
“Julie,..” Bulkhead started.
“Not now, get her to the bed.” Julie roared. Her worry was clear on her face. Bulkhead and Bumblebee nodded before they hurried into the medbay with Ratchet right in tow, but not without Ratchet throwing her a worried look first. “I will be alright. I’m not going anywhere.”
Ratchet walked into the room and waited as they set Arcee down onto the bed. After making sure her body temperature was close to normal she started to speak up.
“Were you able to get any information on the warship?”
“No, I was sent through a groundbridge before I could find Optimus.”
“You weren’t able to determine the Decepticon’s location? Or if Optimus was even aboard ship?”
“I couldn’t confirm.”
Bulkhead roared in anger in the medbay and destroyed a nearby machine.
“Bulkhead!!” Ratchet cried.
“What, you needed that? Only thing I need is our head honcho back. Not some pathetic girl acting like she is in charge.” Bulkhead roared as he crushed his fists together in a threatening manner.
“It’s not your fault.” Jack told Arcee.
“If any of us needed rescuing, Optimus would have found a way. I didn’t. Simple as that.”
“Ratchet, what happened out there? Reports indicate at least a dozen wounded. The heat’s on me to provide some explanation. You bots better get your act together or the pentagon will make me shut down your base.” Agent Fowler cried on the screen before cutting out.
“But where would you go?” Raf asked.
“Who knows? Maybe they’ll ship us out to some island or fire us into space, wouldn’t that be a welcome relief.” Ratchet cried.
“I don’t blame Fowler. Optimus would have evacuated all humans from the area before engaging the cons.”
“We can’t do anything without Optimus. It’s useless.” Bumblebee buzzed.
“We don’t actually know what Optimus would have done, because he’s not here. Instead we have Julie, such a waste of time listening to her.” Bulkhead roared.
“You’re pretty good at stating the obvious Bulk, anything else you’d like to mention that we already know.” Arcee cried.
“Nothing I can say in front of the children.”
“Hey, aren’t we overlooking one positive? Nobody’s talking about what the cons just got their claws on.” Jack asked.
“Yes, we managed to allow them to finally acquire a power source for their space bridge.” Ratchet roared. “And how exactly would that be a positive?” Arcee asked.
“We let them finish building their space bridge.” Jack said.
“Why, so they can bring more zombies back from Cybertron?” Bulkhead asked.
“No, so we can commandeer it and use it to send me to Cybertron.”
“Whoa, that’s a pretty good idea.” Miko said.
“Oh, well if Miko thinks it’s a good idea.” Arcee retorted.
“Nobody’s saying it will be easy, but you’ve seized a space bridge before.” Jack cried.
“We blew one up, that’s a whole lot different than the three of us seizing and holding one.” Bulkhead cried.
“But we don’t know where it is.” Bumblebee buzzed.
“Bee’s right, we’d have to find the thing first.” Arcee commented.
“Uh, hello. If it’s a space bridge isn’t it…” Miko pointed up above her.
“The term ‘space’ refers to its transport range, not its physical location and we’ve been monitoring earth’s orbit since the last one, we’d know if it were there.” Ratchet roared.
“So the bridge could be somewhere right here on earth.” Jack cried.
“Like trying to find a servo in a scrap yard.” Bulkhead replied.
“Then maybe we better start looking.” Arcee said.
“But the fact remains. We do not know what the decepticons have in store for Optimus, or if he’s truly safe from harm.” Ratchet said.
“I have had it with you guys. I have had enough.” A voice roared, echoing around the room.
“Julie?” Ratchet cried.
“When I finally have something to offer to you guys to trust me, in return I am ridiculed for who I am. Quote, “instead we have Juile,” right? “Such a waste of time listening to her,” right? You don’t need me clearly. Bulkhead made it clear enough.” Julie’s voice cried, yet no matter where they looked they didn’t see her. “Well, let me tell you this. Primus himself visited me. Now I for once know who I am descended from and how to help you, but instead people are too afraid of accepting things that are different.”
“I wasn’t meaning it as a complaint.” Bulkhead claimed.
“Oh, such a lie. The closest one here to accepting me is Ratchet, and even then it's very little. I’m leaving. And don’t bother trying to follow me. Did I mention that one of my skills is invisibility? Not that it matters to you, seeing I already am invisible to you guys even without my powers. I am going to find Optimus Prime, relinquish his title to him and from there….you’ll never see me again.” Julie’s voice cried. The lights around the room burst and everyone was surrounded by complete darkness. When there was finally some light they saw the groundbridge turn on and they saw Julie turn into a cybertronian before she ran right through the bridge.