Rise of the Predacons: The Legend of Bahamut

Chapter 2: Reunions

The Nevada Desert looked very tranquil as an unlikely convoy approached a broken mesa. Jack sat behind the wheel of the lead car. He can't wait for them to arrive at the space bridge. That facility was shut down due to conflict in interests by the politicians who wanted nothing but to profit from it. Interstellar travel, they say, but think about real estate on Mars. He gave out an exasperrated sigh and flipped a switch on the dashboard.

Good thing Fowler kept a key to the back door, Jack mused as the gates on the side of the mesa openned up for them. He led the convoy inside the dark atrium, coming to a full stop. He looked back at his sleeping passengers snuggled in the passenger seat.

"We're here, guys," he said.

Miko and Raf grumbled in protest. Miko screwed her eyes, trying to get her bearings. "Are we there, yet?" she yawned.

"We're here," Jack said, getting out of the car. He took out a remote from his pocket and switched on the lights, flooding the entire area in brightness. He had his team pull off the dust-covers from machinery that are far more sophisticated than what they currently have. As all of this happen, a tall blonde wearing a black uniform walked up to him with a case in her hand.

"Get the team ready, Angela," he said, taking the case and set it on the console. "Raf, get Ratchet on the..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Raf was already at the space-comm setting in the coordinates. Miko was at his side, working on getting their communications up with Cybertron.

"Just like riding a bike," Raf smiled and a display opened up before them. Ratchet was on the other end. "Hello, Ratchet. We're here."

"Just as I taught you," Ratchet said. Raf flipped a switch and the big tunnel behind them energized. They waited as shadows formed within the tunnel. Then came a flash of light, and when it was gone, a company of Cybertronians stood before them. Arcee and Bumblebee stood before a troop of Vehicons with Ratchet and Knockout not far behind.

Jack looked at their visitors with a bit of awe. "Hey, guys," he greeted them.

"What's with the entourage?" Miko asked. "And what is that thing doing here?" She pointed at Knockout standing beside Ratchet.

"Easy there, Miko. He's one of us now," Bumblebee said, holding his hands up to her. "Knockout's one of the best medic-bot around and Ratchet's supervising his rehab."

"Duh! I'll feel safer if that thing's in a scrap heap," Miko said heatedly. She couldn't forget when Knockout held her hostage to get back at Bulkhead.

"Believe me when I say that your suggestion sounds more promising than the predicament I'm in right now," Knockout said, sourly, as he dusted off an imaginary speck from his armor.

Miko gestured two fingers to her eyes and pointed them at Knockout, meaning, I'm keeping an eye on you.

"Now that the gang's all here, who's up for a desert tour?" asked Jack. Before anyone could react, he flipped a switch and overhead lights lit up across the bay, revealing what looked like a huge land vehicle. 

Raf gave out whistle. "It's finished," he sighed and dropped down from the platform. "The desert-cruiser is finished."

"Fowler knew this would come in handy someday," Jack said, motioning to the team to mobilize. "Angela here was trained to pilot it. We'll ground-bridge it to Arabia once we've cleared with main ops."

"But someone has to be here to operate the ground-bridge," Bumblebee said.

"One thing I've learned with Team Prime is that we automate," Jack said with a smile. "The desert-cruiser has access to the ground-bridge controls." Jack thought for a moment. "It's just like Soundwave's remote access to the Nemesis's space-bridge."