Rise | Transformers Prime fanfic

Chapter 76

Bulkhead aimed his blaster swiftly into the deeper part of the cave. "Who's there?" He asked as a familiar ped stepped out of the darkness.

Miko grinned widely. "Starscream!" She exclaimed, running to the seeker. He scoffed. "Couldn't you get your own cave to rust in?" He asked, a hint of amusement in his voice as Miko stopped at his peds while Bulkhead lowered his blaster and transformed it back into his servo.

"Man, is it good to see you! Four days without a familiar face besides Bulk's is a long time!" The Japanese girl said excitedly. "It's worse when there's no one." Starscream said. "How'd you get here?" Bulkhead asked as he approached the second in command Decepticon.

"What do you think? A little bit of flying, a little bit of driving when Unicron's forces picked up on me for a bit. Damn savages." Starscream growled angrily. "Why here though?" Miko asked curiously. Starscream looked at her.

"I'm going to coordinates that only a few Decepticons know about, I was just about to leave again after resting."

"Where is it? In fact, where are we?" Miko

asked as she gazed out the cave. "We are in New Mexico, and I need to get to Mexico where there should be others." Starscream explained as he walked toward the entrance of the cave and stopped before turning to them.

"So, are you coming or not?"

~

"That should be enough Energon to get us up and running." Breakdown said as he watched Knockout pour the last of the harvested Energon into the cylinders. "So, what's the plan once we start this ship up? Won't Unicron notice it?" Raf asked from where he stood on the controls. Knockout shook her head.

"The Harbinger was a transport ship made with Decepticon engineering. It's priority goal was to make sure it wasn't noticed." Raf frowned. "How do you know?" He asked and Knockout sighed.

"I worked on it, same as Soundwave. We were transported from Cybertron on this ship, and we went down with it when we were approaching the coordinates Megatron gave us." Knockout explained as Soundwave showed a map on her screen that the others observed.

"How did it go—" Raf trailed off when he realized the answer before he even finished the question. "Autobot fire." Bumblebee said quietly from where he stood while hooking the main cable to the Energon cylinders.

Knockout nodded wordlessly as she went over to the controls, not looking down at Rafael as she began typing. Raf stared up at her with sorrow in his eyes and she noticed him. She looked at him and he gave a small, sad smile.

The doctor hesitated before giving one back and Raf looked more relaxed. Bumblebee locked the cable in place. "Ready to go, Knockout." The scout said with a thumbs up. Knockout nodded and turned to the controls before pressing a button.

The lights flickered as they heard a generator turned on, followed by the faint warm up of an engine. The Cybertronians looked hopeful. "Aw yea, gettin' shit done." Breakdown said before the lights suddenly cut off and the generator shut down, leaving the ship to be filled with silence.

Bumblebee dropped the cable with his wings dropping sadly. Knockout sighed in frustration as she turned around. "Let's try again." She mumbled as she nodded to Bumblebee to hold up the cable again before a figure stepped into the room.

"You're doing it all wrong."

~

"What happened to you? Nobodies heard from you since Cybertron went dark! How did you find your way to earth?"

Ultra Magnus looked unhappy. "Soldier, may I remind you that though we are not on Cybertron, military protocol still remains." Arcee stood up straighter. "My apologies, sir." She said and Jack looked confused. "Sir?" He whispered.

"Advise the native life form to watch its tone as well."

Jack looked offended. "What? Who is this guy?" Jack asked, not caring if he heard or not. Arcee leaned down to him. "Ultra Magnus was Optimus's key lieutenant during the war. Very 'by the book'. Just roll with it." His guardian told him and Jack nodded.

"But, to answer your broader question, my story is like all Autobots since the exodus. I wandered the space ways in search for others. Reuniting with some, often to only see them fall at the hands of the Decepticons."

"Until you detected the blast, and you followed it here." Arcee said and Ultra Magnus nodded. "If you're referring to the massive energy blast, you are correct. As I arrived it became evident that this planet had been invaded, and my scanners also picked up Autobot life signals, yours in closest proximity."

Jack lit up. "Signals, as in plural?" He asked excitedly. Ultra Magnus stared at him as if unimpressed. Jack straightened up with a sigh. "Sir." He forced out and Ultra Magnus nodded. "Five more, to be exact." Jack sighed in relief.

"But, you didn't pick up any other Cybertronians?" Jack asked and Arcee suddenly tensed as Ultra Magnus looked confused. "He means, uh, just any other Autobots, sir." Arcee said quickly. "It did not. But come, we must get moving." Ultra Magnus turned and went to his ship.

Jack looked up at Arcee. "What're you doing? We need to know if the Decepticons are alive, if they're safe." Arcee kneeled to him. "You think I don't want that too? I know that, Jack, but you don't understand how 'by the book' Magnus is." Jack frowned.

"What do you mean?"

Arcee sighed. "Back on Cybertron, there were a few Autobots that would befriend Decepticons. Just by accident. But it just, wasn't allowed. So, if you were found associating with them...you are just, abandoned. Left to fend for yourself." Jack opened his mouth to try and say something but all that came out was:

"Wow."

Arcee nodded sadly. "If we mention the Decepticons had been working with us, Ultra Magnus could turn on us if he thought we were negotiating or befriending with the enemy." She told her partner. "Former enemy." Jack told her and she smiled slightly.

"Yea Jack...former enemy."