Transformers Prime—Part 6: Your First Mission
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Thud thud, thud thud, thud thud.
The dull pounding of the two Decepticons carrying you and your friends snaps you out of your reverie. The Decepticons had found you, Jack, and Raf hiding behind a big boulder, just after you learned that Miko had gone with Bulkhead. When you were planning to rescue her by sneaking onto the Decepticon Warship, this is not what you had in mind. You look over your shoulder and see Jack and Raf being held by one of the Cons’. Assessing your situation, you think of ways you can escape.
The Con holding me has a pretty tight grip, almost too tight, so squirming might not work. Besides, if I get loose, the other Con could use Jack and Raf as leverage against me.
Your brain raced through possible ways to escape, making you almost miss what the Con’ holding you was saying.
“Bring them to the brig. Commander Starscream is keeping the other human there.”
Starscream is here too?! Oh, not good.
Just then you hear the roar of an engine and grin as Arcee and Bumblebee race through the hallway, crashing into the Decepticons holding you. You are knocked out of the Cons’ large hands and would have crashed to the ground if Bumblebee hadn’t caught you. You thank him and then he sets you on the ground gently.
“We appreciate you clearing the front door for us, but storming the Decepticon Warship was not on the activities list,” says Arcee, a stern look on her face.
Yeah no kidding. Rescue missions were definitely not on the list. If only my parents could see me now. They would probably freak.
You follow Arcee and Bumblebee as they begin walking through the hallways of the Warship, jogging to keep up with their brisk pace. The walls of the ship are a dark black, and lights placed at regular intervals along the ceiling cast eerie shadows along the ground. The ship is very cold, and smells like rusting metal and oil. Arcee turns around a hallway and almost runs into Bulkhead, Miko perched on his hand.
“You brought the humans, huh?” Asks Arcee.
“You try getting them to stay behind!” Defends Bulkhead.
“We need to find Fowler and get the kids out of here,” says Arcee.
“He’s in the brig,” you, Jack and Raf say at the same time.
Arcee nods once and starts running down one of the hallways, Bulkhead and the other kids following behind. You jog past Bulkhead, matching pace with Arcee. She glances down at you quickly before focusing on finding the brig. You had no problem keeping up with Arcees’ quick steps, running being one of the school clubs your parents made you sign up for back in Colorado, but as you glance behind you something you see makes your heart speed up. Three purple Decepticons are running behind you, hands transforming to form guns.
“Arcee! Behind us, three decepticons!” You yell up to her.
“Yeah, and three more in front of us!” She says and to your horror you see the ones she’s talking about.
Arcee, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead leap into action, and you find yourself, once again, in the middle of all the action. Streaks of blue and red light whiz pass you and your adrenaline kicks into high gear. Jack, Miko and Raf are clustered together, with you standing a few feet away.
And here I am again, in the middle of a battle with these horrible purple bots. Rescue mission turns to survival and escape. But hey, on the plus side I’m on a spaceship, so I guess that’s cool? If we survive this I’m so going to kill Miko!
A red bolt of energy rushes past you and explodes, flinging you to the ground and causing your head to hit the ground. You sit up slowly and everything seems to move in slow motion. Your head feels fuzzy, like a wad of cotton balls has been shoved into your head. You can hear a loud ringing in your ears, roaring like a waterfall, but the rest of the sound around you is quiet. Jack crouches next to you and is yelling something at you, but you can’t hear what. All you can do is shake your head and stare helplessly at his empty moving lips. He frowns and then grabs your arm, pulling you up and then lets go, gathering Miko and Raf. Another explosion rocks the hallway and the head of a Decepticon crashes down next to Raf. Jack grabs your hand and Rafs’ in the other as he drags you all out of the way of another Decepticon as it slams down in the spot you were at just moments before. You can feel your heartbeat hammering and the tightness of your chest as you soar on a wave of adrenaline. A Decepticon rams his hard metal fist into Bulkhead and he crashes to his knees, making the ground around him rattle. The force knocks you to your butt and you land hard, closing your eyes as you wait for it all to stop.
Your head aches and the ringing in your ears won’t go away and everything is spinning out of control and you want it all to stop.
And then, slowly, it does.
The fuzziness goes away in your head and the loud ringing quiets to a low hum, still there but not as bad as before. You slowly open your eyes and the first thing you notice is Jacks’ arm around you. Miko and Raf are next to you, also in Jack's protective arms. You look around you and see the carnage of the other bots, purple bodies strewn around you. Jack and the others step away and you take a deep, steadying breath before standing up. You follow Arcee as she sprints to a door, opening it and running inside, shooting at any Decepticons in the room. Bulkhead and Bumblebee follow behind her and within minutes they have the room Con’ free.
“Clear,” states Arcee. “Wait in here,”
Bumblebee says something and looks at Arcee.
“They’re slowing us down and they’re easy targets. They’ll be alright in here as long as they stay put,” says Arcee firmly.
Ugg she’s such a mom.
Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee jog out the door leaving you and the others alone in the large room.
And then there were four. No protection if a Con’ shows up.
“That…was intense,” states Miko.
“Was?” Asks Raf.
“It’s your fault we’re stuck in this intensity!” Jack explodes. “What were you thinking, Miko?”
“Did I ask you to follow me?” She shoots back.
“You wanted us to be in a band. Doesn’t that usually mean playing together?” Asks Jack.
Jack and Mikos’ yelling starts to make your head hurt, so you quietly slip away, unnoticed by the others. A large purple computer screen catches your attention, filled with strange symbols that you’ve never seen before. To get a better look, you climb up onto the keyboard part of the computer. Large triangles and circles dominate the screen with various other symbols which you assume are letters scattered about. The symbols look similar to the ones on Ratchet's computer back at the Autobot base, but not entirely the same.
They must be in the Decepticon language. It makes sense, Autobots and Decepticons having different languages. Wait a minute, this looks like a formula of some sort.
“Y/n?” Miko calls out, snapping you out of your thoughts.
“I’m here!” You reply, waving from the top of the keyboard.
“Whatcha doing?” She asks, walking over to the bottom of the keyboard.
“Wait, how did you even get up there?” Asks Jack.
“I think I found something important. Raf, doesn’t this look like a formula to you?” You question, pointing back to the screen.
Raf tilts his head and stands next to Miko, adjusting his glasses as he stares at the screen as well.
“Seriously though, y/n, how?” Asks Jack again.
“I climbed up the side of the table, but never mind that, what do you think Raf?”
“I think you’re right, y/n. It’s important. Really important,” he says.
“We should get this to Optimus, don’t you think?” You ask.
“How do you know it isn’t just a recipe for space nachos?” Asks Miko.
“I know math when I see it,” says Raf, coming closer. “And that is one serious equation.”
“Can’t you download it?” Asks Jack, looking from you to Raf.
“I’ve got a flash drive,” says Raf, pulling a small silver stick out of his backpack. “But I don’t see anywhere to plug it in. Is there a port up there y/n?”
You look around the keyboard but don’t see anywhere to plug in the flash drive.
“No, there’s noth—“ your words trail off as you think you hear something outside the room. You straighten up and strain your ears, listening for a sound you’d rather not hear.
“What is it, y/n?” Asks Miko, noticing the abrupt shift in your demeanor.
“Umm, guys?” Starts Raf, staring at the door.
It opens to reveal one of those purple Decepticons.
And here we are without an Autobot to come save us. This…should be fun.
Jack and Miko notice the bot and start running under the table you are still standing on. You watch as the Con’ notices the bodies of the other bots lying motionless on the ground. With a lurching realization, you remember you are still on the keyboard, just feet away from the robot. You look down, calculating the risk of damage you would receive from jumping off of the table, when you see that Raf had forgotten to grab his backpack. He was standing out in the open and slipping the loops around his shoulders. Unfortunately, the Decepticon also sees Raf because he transforms his hand into a gun and begins shooting at Raf.
Without even thinking, you begin jumping up and down and waving your arms, trying to get the bot's attention. “HEY! Hey big bot! Over here, leave Raf alone!”
The bot focuses his attention on you and that gives Jack the time to tackle Raf out of the way. The Con’ starts walking over to you and reaches his other hand out towards you.
“Well, I think this plan went a little too well,” you mutter to yourself.
“Miko, take a picture!” Says Jack, looking up at you and the Decepticon reaching for you.
“Great idea!” She says, and snaps a picture of you leaping over his arm just as he was about to reach you and then off of the table, rolling once your legs hit the ground to relieve your knees of the pressure and jumping back up. You felt like some sort of pro parkourist as you ran to the other kids.
“Not of y/n, of THAT!” Exclaims Jack.
“Oooh,” Miko says, taking a picture of the formula with a bright pink flip phone.
Once she takes the picture you lead the others as they make their escape out of the room. Unfortunately the Decepticon also follows and you can hear the whir of his guns charging up, ready to fire. Your shoulder tingles as you remember getting shot by one of those blasters before. It still hadn’t healed properly, instead leaving a few off-white colored scars. Just then you hear a car horn and relief washes over you as Bulkhead transforms and flies over your head, body slamming the Con’ that is coming after you. Arcee and Bumblebee pull up on either side of you, Raf and Miko hopping into Bumblebee and Jack swinging onto Arcee.
“I told you to stay put!” She yells as you swing your leg over Arcee and place your hands on Jacks’ shoulders.
Arcee, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead get off of the Decepticon Warship and you drive back to the base in silence. Your adrenaline rush is slowly fading and you realize how tired you are. Who knew rescuing your impulsive friend from behind enemy lines was so exhausting?
***
You watch with a worried expression as Ratchet finishes putting a brace on Cliffjumpers’ leg, matching the one the medic has on his own arm. You cling to the balcony railing so tightly you don’t even realize your knuckles have turned white until Optimus turns to you and says “Y/n, Cliffjumper will be alright, you needn’t be concerned.”
“I did the best I could do, but it will take a while for him to heal completely,” says Ratchet modestly.
“I’ve come back from worse. I’d like to see a few measly warriors take down the Bull!” Says Cliffjumper, pumping his fist in the air.
Your mouth twitches slightly but you can’t help but frown, despite Optimus and Cliffjumpers attempts to make you feel better.
“What happened to you guys anyway?” Asks Miko.
“We engaged an army of undead Cybertronian warriors,” says Ratchet grimly.
“Zombies? You fought zombies, and I missed it?” Miko blurts.
“So, some zombie cons’ messed up your leg, Cliffjumper?” You ask curiously.
“It wasn’t my finest hour,” he says.
“Bulkhead, you exercised extremely poor judgment in allowing the humans to accompany you,” says Optimus, and his demeanor reminds you of a disappointed dad.
Even the way Bulkhead looks down at his feet instead of at Optimus when he says “It won’t happen again, Optimus. I promise,” reminds you of the way a child would react to doing something wrong.
“But it wasn’t Bulkheads’ fault!” Miko defends.
“Miko, please!” Says Bulkhead in a strained whisper.
“And check it out, recon!” Says Miko proudly, pulling out her flip phone.
“Hmm. Ratchet, have a look. It could be of importance to Megatron,” Optimus says after leaning down to get a better look at her phone.
“Whoa, Megatron’s back?” Exclaims Jack. “That’s really bad news, right?”
Ratchet also leans down to look at Mikos’ phone, but frowns and says, “I don’t understand.”
Miko looks back at her phone, then swipes to the next picture. “Oops, that’s the Con’ that tried to blow Raf away. That is, until y/n totally saved him by distracting the Con’! She was flipping over the Con’ and rolling out of the way, she was a total rock star!”
You look down at your shoes and you can feel the heat rising in your face, embarrassed by the complement.
“Whoa, y/n, is that true?” Asks Cliffjumper excitedly.
“W-well, maybe not the flipping part,” you stutter quietly.
“But you did that cool barrel roll once you jumped off of the keyboard,” reminds Miko, and you look up at her.
“That’s awesome! You’ll have to give me the blow-by-blow later, ok?” Says Cliffjumper.
His animated face beams and his smile can’t help but make you smile too, if only a small one. You nod slowly and he winks at you.
“Miko, Raf was almost killed!” Blurts out Jack, arms crossed in annoyance. “This isn’t a game! When are you going to get that through your thick skull?”
“Hmm, we were all almost killed, Jack. You, me, Raf, even y/n! Even them!” Says Miko, pointing at Optimus, Ratchet, and Cliffjumper.
“Well, if this was just an average day with the Autobots, then I don’t want to be a part of it. Not anymore,” says Jack, and you can’t help the small feeling of shock.
Jack’s gonna leave the Autobots? Like, for good? Can he do that?
Optimus leans down so he is eye level with Jack and says, “Jack, putting you in harms way was never our intent. However it is no longer the safety of you four that is at risk but the safety of all humankind. We will respect your decision if you wish to leave.”
All of a sudden you hear a whirring sound and look over to see that Ratchet has powered up the ground bridge.
“No point in long goodbyes, here’s the door,” says Ratchet flatly.
Ouch. Sounds like he’ll be missed.
Jack turns around to face Raf. “Come on, Raf.”
Raf looks at Jack and then to Bumblebee, who looks down at the floor.
“I’ll be ok, Jack. See you at school,” says Raf in a small voice.
“Sure thing,” Jack nods and turns around, but you can see the hurt in his face.
Jack walks over to you, and now you note a flash of…something else, but you couldn’t tell what.
“Y/n? Will you come with me? Please?”
You shift uncomfortably from foot to foot and twist the hem of your tee shirt around one of your fingers.
“I-I’m sorry, Jack. My place is here, with them,” you say, looking at Cliffjumper and then back at Jack.
“I understand. I guess I’ll see you around,” he replies quietly, turning away from you to walk towards the ground bridge.
As he’s walking Arcee comes over and says something to him, but it was too quiet for you to tell what she said. You watch helplessly as Jack walks into the swirling light of the ground bridge and disappears.
For good.
You immediately push away the thought, but it lingers in the back of your head, among other thoughts you have pushed away.
What if Jack won’t ever come back? Isn’t this my fault? I mean, if I hadn’t found Cliffjumper and those Decepticons in the first place, they wouldn’t have followed me, right? And if they hadn’t followed me, I wouldn’t have had to drive to the parking lot where Jack was. And then the Decepticons wouldn’t have found him with me. Is this my fault? Everything that has happened to Jack, Miko, and Raf have all happened because I found Cliffjumper, right? Everything that has happened since I found Cliffjumper that day has dominoed into Jack leaving. Is this all my fault? Could I have stopped this? Am I to blame?
You rub your temples and shake your head, instead looking around the base in the hopes that something would distract your racing thoughts. Miko and Bulkhead are watching tv, Raf is showing Bumblebee something on his laptop, Cliffjumper and Arcee are talking with each other, and Ratchet is typing on his computer. You look around for Optimus and see him walking to the tunnel that leads out of the base. You quickly walk over to him, curious as to where he was going. As you walk up Optimus looks at you, and his piercing blue eyes seem to be studying you. You feel like he can hear every thought racing through your head, and you wonder if these strange alien robots can read minds.
“Is there something I can help you with, y/n?” Asks Optimus in his smooth baritone voice.
“Umm, well, I-I was just, um, wondering where you were going? All the others are hanging out and I, er…” You let the sentence die out, unsure of how to finish.
“I was just going out for a drive. I find that it helps clear my mind,” says Optimus.
“Hmm,” you hum and nod a few times, but find that you can’t look him in the eyes, so you look back out at the others.
How are they all just sitting back and acting like nothing just happened? Like Jack didn’t just leave because he was almost killed? Twice.
“Would you like to come with me?” Asks Optimus, and again you wonder if he can read your thoughts.
“Only if I’m not bothering you,” you say in a timid voice.
“You would not bother me. Besides, you seem like you also need the chance to clear your mind,” Optimus says, offering you his hand for you to climb into.
You hold onto his large black fingers as you climb over the rusting yellow railing and sit in his palm. You see that instead of having knuckles like humans, Optimus’ fingers use hinges to connect the different sections of his long and slender fingers. Optimus lowers his hand and transforms around you, placing you in the passenger seat. Once you reach over to buckle your seatbelt, Optimus pulls out of the base and onto the road, where you take the time to look around the cab of his alternate mode. The first thing you notice is how clean the interior is; the dashboard, with all the instrument panels, levers and dials are all shiney.
The brown leather seats are sturdy and free of any tears or stains, and the tinted windows are clean. His steering wheel is a light gray color with the Autobot symbol placed in the center of the wheel.
You look out the window, enjoying the scenery of the Nevada desert. You missed the mountains of Colorado, but the large mesas towering over the road were pretty cool. The cacti were nice too, since Parker, the town you were from, didn’t have them. You begin wondering what the planet Optimus was from looked like. Cybertron, was it? You hadn’t thought to ask about the Autobot’s home.
Sitting in Optimus’s cab and listening to the steady hum of his engine, you let your mind wander back to the events of the day as you looked out the window. Miko running off with Bulkhead, following Jack through the ground bridge to rescue her, getting attacked by the Decepticons, Jack leaving.
Jack leaving.
You can see him walking to the ground bridge, you can see his face, the disappointment.
Once again your mind races with questions, blame, and guilt.
Is this all my fault? Could I have stopped Jack from leaving? Should I have left too? What if-
“Y/n, is there something wrong?”
Optimus’ voice pierces your thoughts, breaking the tranquil silence in the cab. You look at your reflection through the side mirror and see that your face looks grave and contemplative.
You twiddle with the end of your bandage for a moment before you slowly ask, “Optimus, do you think this is my fault? I mean, Jack leaving?”
Optimus is quiet for a moment and you wait on baited breath for his response.
“Why do you believe you are the one to blame?”
“W-well, I mean, I was the one that led the Decepticons to the parking lot where Jack was, right? If I hadn’t found Cliffjumper, those Con’s wouldn’t have followed me the next day, and I wouldn’t have had to go to the parking lot to hide. And then we wouldn’t have been chased to the place where Raf was. And then the day after that at school when Cliffjumper was waiting for me, I walked away and he followed me, which is how Miko found us. And if Miko hadn’t found us she wouldn’t have run away to follow Bulkhead and then me and Jack and Raf wouldn’t have had to save her, and Jack wouldn't have left and—“
“Y/n,” Optimus interrupts, and you realize you had been slowly talking faster and faster, not even pausing to take a breath. You take a deep breath to calm down and are silent.
“I do not want you to believe that any of this is your fault. All of these events would have come to pass, regardless of the way it occurred,” Optimus says.
You frown as you think about what he said.
After a moment Optimus asks, “How did you meet Cliffjumper?”
“Well, I was riding my dirt bike through the woods when I slid down a crater and came across Cliffjumper fighting a bunch of Decepticons. He was outnumbered and so I threw a rock at one of the Cons. Cliffjumper was able to use the distraction to take them out,” you say, smiling to yourself as you remember the look Cliffjumper gave you when he first saw you across the crater. You can see him blink once when he notices you before nodding gratefully and then turning to fight again.
“What do you think would have happened, had you not been there to give Cliffjumper the distraction he needed to defeat the Decepticons?” Asks Optimus.
“I-I don’t know. Do you think he could have been…killed?” You ask in a hushed whisper.
“Perhaps. You may have saved Cliffjumpers’ life that day,” says Optimus.
“So if I hadn’t driven into the parking lot that Jack was in, the Decepticons might have found Jack anyway since Arcee was in the parking lot. He could have been hurt too,” you reason. “But what about Miko running after Bulkhead?”
“Had Miko not run after Bulkhead, with you following to rescue her, you would not have discovered the formula on the Decepticon Warship,” Optimus says.
Everything was coming together now, fitting snugly like the pieces of a puzzle. But one piece of this jumble of questions was still missing.
“But what about Jack leaving? Could I have stopped that?” You ask.
“Y/n, the choice to leave was Jacks’ to make. You can not stop that as much as you can stop the tide of an ocean from leaving the shore. But, just as the tides can turn, I believe that if Jack chooses to, he will come back,” replies Optimus.
You sit in silence and let the words of Optimus sink in as you watch the scenery go by. Distantly you hear Optimus turn the radio on, but you're too deep in thought to pay attention to the lyrics.
I may not have been able to stop Jack from leaving, but could I do something to bring him back? Could I turn the tides, as Optimus said?
And then, an idea strikes you. You recall Arcee saying something to Jack before he left, and think that she is the perfect person for your plan. Or rather, the perfect bot.
***
Optimus pulls into the base and opens the door for you to get out. Once he is sure you are out he transforms and starts walking towards Ratchet.
“Optimus, wait,” you say, looking up at the tall leader.
He turns around and crouches down on one knee to see you better with a questioning look in his eyes. “What is it, y/n?”
“I just wanted to say thank you. For helping me clear my mind. You were right, driving does help with that,” you smile up at Optimus, and it feels like a huge weight has been lifted from your shoulders.
“I am glad to hear that,” says Optimus, and you think you can see the ghost of a smile on his face. “If you ever find that you need a ride, please, do not hesitate to ask,”
“I’ll let you know if I need one,” you say, nodding.
With a determined face, you stride over to where Arcee and Cliffjumper are still talking.
“Hey kid,” says Cliffjumper with a big smile on his face. “Whatcha been up too?”
“I’ve just been talking with Optimus,” you say, looking over at the wise bot.
“Ah, so that’s where you and him disappeared to,” says Arcee knowingly.
She and Cliffjumper share a look while you frown.
“Did he give you some sort of wise quote?” Asks Cliffjumper with a smirk on his face.
“Or some sort of life advice?” Adds Arcee, also with a smirk.
“Yes he did,” you state matter of factly.
“Did he give you the one that’s like, fate chooses you?” Asks Cliffjumper in a terrible impression of Optimus.
“That’s not how he says it!” Says Arcee. “He says ‘Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing’. Clearly you weren't paying attention.”
“Yeah, well—“ starts Cliffjumper, but you interrupt him.
“Are you two done? I need to talk to Arcee.”
“What, first you leave with Optimus to sort out some life crisis, and now you're all chummy with Arcee? I thought we were friends, y/n,” replies Cliffjumper, placing a hand over his heart.
“Ok first off, I never said I had a life crisis, I was just talking with Optimus. And second, I just want to talk with Arcee for a bit. It’s not like we’re partners or anything! You can’t get rid of me that quickly, Cliff,” you say, crossing your arms over your chest.
Arcee snickers as Cliffjumper looks taken aback.
“Sure thing. What’s up kid?” Asks Arcee once she finishes laughing at the expression Cliffjumper has on his face.
“I was wondering if you could drive me over to KO Burgers,” you say. “There’s someone I want to talk to.”
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