Shadowfire

Chapter 35

"We've got incoming- unidentified cybertronian" Smokescreen, our usual scout, announced. Screamer nodded his helm to Barrage and Barricade, who slipped into their alt forms and peeled off, tracking lines of dust through the desert landscape.

Quarter of an hour later they were returning, a yellow car between them. Jazz threw himself to his feet and staggered forward.
"Bee!" In an instant the two of us were charging forward, expecting him to transform to greet us, but he remained firmly in his alt form.

The door opened and three humans piled out. I barely recognised my closest friends. Mikaela had shorn her hair off short, Sam and Epps were sporting beards- all looked various shades of disheveled and travel sore.

"We hauled aft when we got your message" the ex-serviceman announced, embracing the holoform I rushed to activate "what's going on?"
"Let's get caught up" Jazz said "and then we're going after the sons of glitches that did this to us"

Epps grinned, a manic sight that was too many teeth and not enough cordiality.
"Now that's the best news I've heard in a long time"

___________________

Over the next few days we were joined by Autobots and Decepticons alike- as many of our allies of old who could make it. Some came alone, others in small groups, the divide between the two factions had began to melt away in the face of what had happened and it saddened me to know that this was what it took to make that possible. There were some Cybertronians who arrived that I'd never seen before of course, old friends of Optimus' who'd somehow made their way to this planet at some point, 'cons who owed their allegiance to neither Starscream nor my sire, but had answered my call.

Surprisingly, through there was some tension, Autobots and Decepticons mingled freely. Few of the Cybertronians accepted the presence of Sam, Kayla or Epps, but those who had known them before vouched for them. The real problem were the two Yagers- whom no one trusted. These days the inclusion of random humans was liable to get one deactivated and handed a one way ticket to Primus, and no one was willing to take Optimus at his word that they were reliable. They were a new variable to the equation, untried and untested, none of us wanted to risk it.

Things came to a head with the arrival of a posse of mechs that owed their allegiance to nether fraction, but had heard the call of the Primes. 

"I'm Hound" said the stout mech, loaded down with armaments, chewing on shell absentmindedly.
"Crosshairs" supplied the lean, green mech. A pause, Hound slapped the final member of the trio upside the head and the sword wielding cybertronian finally consented to give us his name- Drift.

"The Primes have always had our backs, we didn't fight in the war and they let us be; we owe it to them- to you, Optims and Shadia, that we help now"

___________________

"So where do we start?" Jazz asked, looking around at the assembled Cybertronians, anyone with say in the various assembled factions. Optimus and I, Screamer, Bee, the trio of loners and a few other mechs and femmes, 'bots and 'cons alike; joined by all the humans.

Yager Snr. spoke first.

"KSI- defence, aerospace, government contracts. They're the company that designed this drone, they're the one they've been taking you for scrap" someone made a grinding noise as gears shifted low in their throat, menacing, but I didn't know who and even so- I wasn't inclined to disagree.
"We could you in, some human help-"
"We don't need help from the likes of you" someone spat, and there was a chorus of assent. Epps put a hand on the man's shoulder, none to gently.
"We get it, you want to help, but how 'bout you leave it to the professionals"
"I want my life back" the man snapped "I want my daughter to be able to go to college, to have a future"
"Then leave"