Rise | Transformers Prime fanfic

Chapter 77

"Where's the next set of coordinates, sir?"

Ultra Magnus looked at his map, zooming in on the author signal. "About 30 kliks from here." He said before zooming back out. Jack jumped off Arcee's servo, landing on the control panel of Ultra Magnus's ship. He looked unpleased with it, but said nothing.

Jack looked at the map and mumbled to himself for a second before frowning. "There's seven signals." He said, turning to Arcee. She nodded. "There's only six of us." Jack told her as he turned and pointed at it. The motorcycle gazed over his shoulder.

"See? You and Magnus are here. That's two. One of these is Bulkhead, one is Bumblebee, one is Ratchet and one is Optimus. That's six." Jack said while Ultra Magnus gazed over as well. Both Ultra Magnus and Arcee looked at each other in slight confusion.

"Then who's the seventh signal?"

~

Breakdown whipped out his hammer as Knockout let her knives out alongside Bumblebee aiming his blasters before almost immediately lowering them back down.

"RATCHET!" The scout ran over and hugged him, making the doctor whine in protest. Raf grinned widely while Breakdown and Knockout put away their weapons as they relaxed.

"Put me down, Bumblebee!" Ratchet said sternly and the scout let him down while beeping happily. "Oh, Ratch! It's so good to see you!" He exclaimed and the doctor smiled gently. "The same for all of you." He said while glancing at Rafael.

"How'd you find us?" Knockout asked as she approached him. "Well, when I went through the groundbridge, I remember the Harbinger being abandoned by the Decepticons long ago, and figured it was my only shot of getting some technology I am familiar with." Ratchet explained as he went past them and to the controls where Raf stood.

"But, you're doing it wrong. This should do it." He said, beginning to type without looking down. Raf smiled up at him, his heart racing still from the excitement of seeing the medic he had grown close to.

And the medic looked down, seeing the young boy grinning up at him and couldn't help but simply smile back before continuing his work.

~

As Ultra Magnus landed slowly on the ground of Earth, Arcee walked toward the entrance and exit of the ship, standing on it. Jack followed her, but was stopped. "A human does not need to get in the way of this mission." Ultra Magnus said, pushing him back with his servo.

Jack angrily glared before shoving Ultra Magnus's servo out of the way, which caught the Autobot by surprise. Arcee smiled. "Trust me, sir. Jack will be fine." She said as the young boy hopped onto the panel with her.

He didn't look happy, but Ultra Magnus simply stood next to Arcee and pressed a button on his arm that lowered the floor. He glanced wearily at Jack, who noticed and held up his arm, popping out the panel in it that showed his Energon levels.

"Cybernetic arm." He said when Ultra Magnus got a surprised look on his face. "It's a long story." Arcee said, watching Jack smack the panel back into his arm before hopping off the floor underneath them once it touched the ground.

"Keep your optics open, it could be a Decepticon trick." The commander said as they inched around slowly, blasters raised. Jack followed them, gazing around the tall trees around them as he mumbled a "Yea right." Quietly.

"The beacon should be about—" Ultra Magnus stopped. "Here." And they gazed around, all of them clearly confused. Arcee opened her mouth. "Then where's the—"

"AHHHHHH!"

Something suddenly fell on top of Arcee, pinning her to the ground. She aimed her blasters up, while her attackers aimed theirs down at her. Jack tensed and readied himself while Ultra Magnus aimed his blasters at the attacker.

The white and blue Cybertronian vented heavily before he looked down at Arcee clearly and optics widened. "You're an Autobot?" He exclaimed. Arcee glared. "No scrap genius!" She exclaimed before shoving off the Autobot and getting up while wiping the dirt off herself.

"Soldier, I expect you recognize who you're dealing with before engaging next time." Ultra Magnus said sternly as he transformed his blasters back into his servos. Jack relaxed while seeing the Autobots talk to each other, knowing now the new one wasn't a threat.

"I, uh, sorry, Ultra Magnus sir! I just landed, and I didn't know where I was so I just...acted before I thought." The Autobot said. Arcee looked annoyed, but otherwise unharmed from the attack, so Jack was more relaxed now but still pissed off at the new ally.

"What's your name, soldier?" Ultra Magnus asked as he placed his Servos on his hips. The Autobot saluted proudly. "Smokescreen, sir!" He said with a smile. "Smokescreen, where have you come from?" He asked.

Smokescreen paused for a moment as he dropped his Servo. "Truthfully, I dunno. I was in stasis lock for awhile until I woke up, scorching through the atmosphere of..." he gazed around. "What planet is this even?" He asked. Jack approached next to Arcee.

"Earth." He told the new Autobot, who looked at him. "Are you one of the native life forms? I heard about you guys—I didn't realize you'd be so...tiny." Smokescreen said as he stepped in front of him and kneeled down.

"I'm not a animal in a zoo, stop staring at me like I am one." Jack said in annoyance and Smokescreen chuckled. "Sorry dude. My bad. What's your name?" He asked and Jack dropped the annoyed look.

"Jack." He said gently and Smokescreen smiled. "Nice to meet ya." He said as he stood up. "And you're the famous Arcee." He said and the motorcycle nodded. "That'll be me." She said dully.

"So, uh, why're you two on Earth?" Smokescreen finally asked with a look of confusion on his face. Ultra Magnus motioned to the way they came as Arcee started to walk back toward the ship.

"Why don't we explain on the way?"