The Guardians: Our Missions

The First Mission

   It's been about a month since the Autobots left Earth. The Guardians weren't even settled into their new base when their leader announced their first mission. Apparently, Rouge had discovered an energon signal within the woods after she and Asher had a pain-staking task of rebuilding the base's energon detectors. It was suppose to be a recon mission for precaution. Their leader was almost one hundred percent positive it was a Decepticon, either unearthing energon or wounded and leaking energon. That's why only half the team drove off into the trees.
Blue was left in charge, while Blink was ordered to stay and guard the base and humans. Shadowshock was dispatched, frankly because Rouge insisted he needed more field experience. Chuck was also brought along, in the event of wounded. Asher and Rouge sat in his tail bed, keeping watch as the team arrived at the coordinates.
   The F150 slowed to a stop, allowing the humans to climb out before he transformed. He was followed by Shadowshock, who groaned out of aggravation when his pistons played a hissing song. He rested his monster of a sniper against his hip and examined the surrounding area. The forest looked undisturbed. Emerald leaves danced with each other as the birds chirped a happy tune for them. This whole mission was a waste of time.
   "Are we here ta find a Decepticon or ya lil' Earth mammals?" The mercenary spat irritably.
   "Quiet, 'Shock! Scouting missions require the minimum amount of talking! I'm gonna scout the perimeter. Y'all stay here and be alert," Rouge ordered just before she stealthily slithered into the shrubs.
   Chuck came up and swatted Shadowshock on the back of his helm before growling, "First mission and the mercenary's already griping."
   "Ya're one ta talk," Shadowshock barked back. "I haven't gone a day witout hearin' ya complain 'bout tha joint not havin' nuff oils, ya drunk!"
   "Dang it, will you two shut up! You're gonna give us away!" Asher shouted then slapped a hand over her mouth, eyes blown wide as if she was trying to impersonate an owl.
   Both Chuck and Shadowshock stared at her in confusion. She wouldn't move, wouldn't even breathe. It was only when they turned around that they understood her paralyzing fear. Their sparks nearly seized up at the sight of the mech before them. He was much larger, towering over Chuck and Shadowshock. The paint on his frame was charred as if someone had taken a flamethrower to it. There was a wild glint in his optics that put the trio on edge.
   Shadowshock was already throwing up his sniper, and that set the mech off. He had tackled Shadowshock, mowing down full grown trees like twigs as they fell. On instinct, Chuck snatched up his charge and dropped her off behind a row of bushes. He demanded that she stay out before he went to assist Shadowshock.
   Pulling out his blaster, Chuck threw a couple of warning shots that clipped the strange mech on his shoulders. When he looked up, Chuck had already jumped, landing a top the larger mech and wrestling him off of Shadowshock.
   Out of nowhere, a howling cry rattled the forest. Birds fled from their nests as Rouge dove from the branches, her dual blasters leaving trails of bright yellow and smoke. Shadowshock and Chuck scattered when she came charging in. Her target was the stranger, and anyone else who happened to be in the way was an undesired casualty. Just as she was about to pounce, the mech caught her by the shirt and tossed her like a rag doll.
   "Well, if it isn't the Autobots' human pet. Thought you would've been six feet under by now, since your government had taken to the sport of hunting all Cybertronians," the stranger mocked with a chuckle.
Chuck and Shadowshock moved to advance on him, but Rouge shook her head. Getting back on her feet, she said, "Out of all the times we've tumbled, Breakdown, I thought you would've learned by now. I'm tough to kill."
   She gave the two Guardians a look of attack and all three rushed at Breakdown. Rouge was the first to jump when Breakdown swung his signature hammer weapon, while Chuck grabbed at the larger mech's other servo. He was instantly thrown off his pedes. Shadowshock leapt from the ground, kicking his leg out and striking a blow to Breakdown's mid-section.
   The Decepticon went stumbling back, leaving the Guardians to pin him down with their weapons. Rouge looked around, finding Asher appearing from the greenery. With a nod from her friend, Asher pulled out her weapon, along with a portable gadget she had invented. It was a cylinder-looking object that, with the push of a button, sprung out into a long rod with a taser welded on each end.
   "Filthy fleshling, you think a primitive weapon like that can har–" Breakdown's sentence was cut off when Asher shoved the staff into his optical sensor, causing him to thrash and cry out as sharp volts jolted through his body.
   When Asher finally pulled the rod away, Rouge patted her on the shoulder and said to Breakdown, "Nice right? Not your ordinary taser. Asher here made some modifications. It gets up to 1.5 million volts now. Perfect weapon for a slab of metal like you."
   The one optic that wasn't fried slowly lit back up and Breakdown groaned, "After the last human, I'm surprised you've brought in another one to get scrapped."
   Something suddenly snapped, like the crack of thunder after a strike of lightning, and Rouge snatched the staff from Asher. Rage contorted her face as she stabbed the rod into Breakdown's mouth.
   "Rouge!" She could hear Asher shout out.
   He spasmed again, but Rouge wouldn't let up.
   "Rouge!" That sounded like Shadowshock, but she couldn't tell. All noise was going away.
   She held the staff against him until the electricity started to melt the plating on Breakdown's face. The other three members of the team had to back away as the charge became dangerously powerful. It was only when Chuck yanked Rouge away from the Decepticon did his torture finally end.
   "Easy, killer. Think he got the message. What tripped a nerve?" Chuck asked gruffly.
   Rouge closed the rod back before handing it to Asher. "I just...really hate Decepticons. Let's restrain him and take him back to base."
   Before the Guardians could retrieve the incapacitated Breakdown, the sound of jet engines screamed through the clouds. Asher and Rouge looked up to spot six alien-looking aerial vehicles transform in midair and land just behind Breakdown. The Guardians went into defense mode, and Rouge snarled at the newcomers.
   "Thought all you Eradicons were thrown into the smelting pit. Oh well. Guardians, engage them!" Rouge hollered, leading the charge as they clashed with the new enemies.
   Asher stayed relatively close to Rouge, until she would decide to throw herself at more than one Decepticon simultaneously. Then Asher would scrambled to hug at her Guardian's side. Seeing all the carnage up close opened her eyes. Now, fighting against humans seemed more like playtime, but she wasn't about to just be a liability. With her new invention, Asher was able to shock and distract these "Eradicons" long enough for the others to get upper hands in their fights. That was, until Chuck was left vulnerable by her absence. He was jumped by three Decepticons at once.
   "Chuck!" Asher cried out, rushing to aid her Guardian, but she was snatched up into the claws of the enemy before she could reach him.
   Rouge had just taken out one of the Eradicons and charged in attempt to rescue Asher. However, in her narrow focus, she was caught unaware of the second Eradicon racing up to her and swatted her like a fly. Rouge went soaring, until she came in contact with a tree branch that slightly broke her fall, but she didn't even have time to hit the ground before another Decepticon had her in his grasp.
   Stunned from impact, all Rouge felt was the suffocating constriction of something around her ribs. It hurt. She thought her ribs were going to snap at any moment. Then, she spotted Shadowshock and immediately cried out, "Shock! Help them! Help them!"
   The mercenary was doing nothing. He wouldn't engage the enemy. Rouge couldn't understand if fear had him paralyzed or if it was something else entirely. Then she felt it. A rib had cracked or broken completely. The only thing she was certain of was the pain. The world was turning into a blur. Rouge thought this was it. She gave Shadowshock one last seething glare, and the next thing she knew, she was on the ground, balling up with pain.
   "Rouge!" She heard Asher yell and soon felt the touch of her good friend's hand. "We need to get outta here! Chuck, Shock, help! Shock, behind you! Watch out!"
   Asher panicked at the sight of Shadowshock flailing around as if he was half crazed. Why wouldn't he fight back? Why was he just running away? She tried to haul Rouge to her feet, but abruptly, an Eradicon found his way back to the two humans, despite Chuck's effort to try and keep their attention all on him. Asher could see the glow of this Eradicon's blaster, and her heart went ice cold. On instinct, she cowered down over Rouge. This was it. This was how they were going to die.
   When she heard the blast, she nearly jumped out of her skin, but something was off. Why was she still breathing? Asher first looked at Rouge, who was still laying under her, in pain but alive and frozen with eyes as wide as saucers. She saw what Rouge was so aghast over the minute she turned her head. Barricading them from the enemy was Chuck, with a blast hole the size of a back tractor tire through his chest plating. Sparks showered them from the F150 as he came crashing down on his side. The Eradicon that had taken him out was still on both legs, until Shadowshock put a bullet through his helm with his signature sniper.
   Asher, forgetting about everything that was happening around her, was by her Guardian's side in three steps. One of his hands was up to the blast wound, hovering as if he was debating on touching it or not. Through the plating, gears, and wires, she could find his spark sporadically pulsing.
   "Chuck..." She wanted to tell him to get up, to fix himself because he was good like that, because he was a fighter. He was too stubborn to die.
   "Peasant," croaked the medic. "I've not been the best vehicle to ya or the best Guardian."
   Asher closed her eyes to futilely stop the tears from burning down her cheeks, but the sting was there, right behind her eyelids.
   "You're gonna go on and do great things, kid. I know ya will," Chuck heaved while static filled his voice.
   "Dang it, Chuck. Will you stop that! Now c'mon! Pick yourself up, fix yourself! I'll give you all the oil you want if you just get up!" Asher nearly pleaded.
   The F150 shook his helm. "Not this time, kid. But I wouldn't mind a swig...just to ease the pain."
   Asher was scrambling to find Shadowshock, who had apparently chased after the Decepticons that were still alive, and when she passed Breakdown's body, she could see it. Oil cans, attached to his hip platings. With all her strength, she tore a can away and ran back over to Chuck. Asher had to help tip it back in order for him to drink out of it properly, but when he finished the can off, a thin smirk pulled at his face.
   "Not too shabby, Peasant. Not..too...sha....." Slowly but surely, he voice wound down like that of a record needle being pulled off of the record. The blue light in his optics flickered until it burned out to blackish-gray, and his spark was extinguished. That oceanic hue with whirls of green had died. That life, his life, had slipped away.
   Asher sat back just at the blaster wound on Chuck's empty husk. She didn't care now. She let the tears shower like a heavy thunderstorm of fire. A stone of reality sat in her heart. Her Guardian was gone. What was she going to do now? He was her other half, her protecter. Without him, what good was she?
   "Ash," came the subtle tone of Rouge, who was hobbling up with one arm wrapped around her ribs. "Let him go."
   Asher looked down, seeing Rouge's outstretched hand. She didn't want to take it, she didn't want to let go, but she did it anyway. Sliding off of Chuck's body, she took Rouge's free arm and threw it around her shoulders to brace the smaller woman. By that time, Shadowshock had returned with energon staining his paint. It flung in every direction when he transformed for the women to climb in. Asher helped their leader into the passenger seat before settling herself in the driver's seat.
   "We'll have a ceremony tonight in honor of his bravery, and perform the Rite of Passing," Rouge decreed, without a word from Asher. No manner of closure or condolences could ease the ache in her heart, but Rouge stayed true to her word.
   Later that night, after the news was broken to the rest of the team, they filed out in a single line back to the spot where Chuck fell. Blink carried a multitude of rocks that were used to pile on top of Chuck as a makeshift grave. Blue and Shadowshock lit broken off tree branches and stuck them in the ground to serve as torches. All the humans focused on comforting Asher in the best way they knew possible as they all listened to Rouge's eulogy.
   "It's only been a month, yet we've already lost one of our own. He was a fine Guardian. We couldn't have gotten along without his medical expertise. I wouldn't be standing here with you today if it wasn't for Chuck. However, he knew the risks. As do we all. War is harsh, unforgiving, and it takes things from you that you're not willing to give. We must rise above this tragedy though, for Chuck's sake, and we must carry on. We must fight twice as fiercely now, in Chuck's name. He was a trooper to the end. Despite his pessimistic attitude toward our situations, he still chose to fight along our side. Chuck of Earth, your light will forever reach those you've left behind. I commend your spark to the Allspark, and the Allspark is one spark, and the one spark is your spark, and in this way, we are all connected."
   When the ceremony was completed, the rest of the team returned to base. All except Asher. She sat at the foot of Chuck's grave, counting the minutes absently as they passed by until the torches finally died out, leaving her enveloped in darkness. Fitting. It matched the darkness surrounding her heart.

The End