Transformers Fan Fiction ❯ Cover Me ❯ Numbers Game ( Chapter 14 )

Cover Me

By Black Dragon Queen

Author's note: Hello everyone! Well, it's another glorious Monday, Tuesday for some, and here we have another wonderful chapter. Please Enjoy and REVIEW! ((hint, hint))

PAIRINGS REVEALED THUS FAR:

Wheeljack x Ratchet, Past Prowl x Jazz

Font Index:

“Speaking”, `Thinking', “-Radio Transmissions-”, “Cybertronion”

~*~

Chapter Fourteen: Numbers Game

Despite it being close to midnight by the time Sam and `Bee finally arrived at the base, the flood lights were still aglow, bathing the courtyard in a soft yellow hue. Sam smiled when he spotted both Will and Epps standing around the courtyard with the Autobots encircling the half built transmitter. The two rangers turned and waved at the sound of `Bee transforming and Optimus wandered over to the new arrivals. “You two made it!” the lager `Bot smiled at them as he took Sam so `Bee could hop over the small chasm.

`Bee grinned back at his mentor. “Who was it you heard from?” he instantly demanded as he accepted Sam back; the said human just rolled his eyes as his friends passed him back and forth like some bizarre accessory. “Did they tell you what happened? Do you know when they're going to arrive? What about Energon? Have they found any? Were there any more Decepticon encounters?”

Epps blinked at the rapid questions being fired at the larger mech as the small group wandered over. “Could you possibly slow down?” Epps called upward at the yellow `Bot. “You're making me dizzy and I don't even know what you're talking about!” `Bee shrugged his shoulders as he glanced down at the human and Epps just rolled his eyes again as he wandered over to his commander's side and out of the way of the hyper Autobots.

Will was smiling as `Bee set Sam down and he wandered over to the boy. “What are they talking about?” he asked curiously, jerking a thumb over his shoulder to the still chatting `Bots. “I've never heard Ironhide mention this `Energon' thing before.”

“They mentioned it once when Red Alert first arrived,” Sam stated with a shrug. “I was going to ask them about it but then when everything started happening I suppose I just forgot.”

“Mmm,” Will nodded as the three humans made their way towards the four arguing `Bots. `Bee still stood to the side and out of the way as he tried to determine what everyone was doing. They all looked at the quarrelling group and Will raised an eyebrow as he leaned down to Sam. “Perhaps we should ask them latter when they're not so… distracted.”

Epps was shaking his head in amazement. “For what has to be the most technologically advanced creatures in the universe, they sure suck at this don't they?” The other two humans chuckled as they watched the rather entertaining proceedings. “Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke,” Epps continued. “A gunner, a medic and a security chief all tried to build a radio…”

“I don't think that we should connect the blue wire.” Ironhide was saying rather loudly. “I think it's for the battery connection. Maybe we should try the green one. See if the green one works.”

“Now why in the Matrix would we want to connect the green one?” Ratchet argued. “It has nothing to do with the receiver! Only converting!”

“Well connecting the red wire was so much better! It short circuited the slagging mother board!” Ironhide scoffed as he leaned down and connected the green one, much to Ratchet's dismay as the medic threw up his arms in aggravation. Ironhide fiddled with the wiring for a moment before standing back up. “Hey, what do you know? He's right.” The other `Bots shook their heads in disbelief.

“What about this?” Red Alert asked innocently and the others turned to find him holding up what looked like a rather large microprocessor. Jaws dropped in disbelief.

“RED!” Ratchet shouted. “Why didn't you say you had that?”

Red shrugged as the medic snatched the piece out of his hand. “You never really asked me.”

Ratchet growled as `Hide began laughing. “Well, he does have a point Ratch'.”

“Surrounded on all sides by morons…” Ratchet muttered as he once more moved to the back of the transmitter to yet again remove the back paneling.

The assorted spectators all got a good chuckle from the dialogue when `Bee turned back to Optimus once more. “So whom did you hear from?” he asked again. “All I got from `Hide's transmission was insane laughter occasionally interrupted by a word or two.”

The larger `Bot just smiled as he watched the three lug-nuts attacking the transmitter with unrestrained vigor. “We really don't have many answers for you `Bee,” he explained as they watched the other's fiddle with the large machine. “We only got the one garbled transmission earlier this afternoon and haven't managed to find them since. We've tried all frequencies since then but they might have ended up behind the moon, blocking our signal. We couldn't understand anything definite but what we did recognize was Wheeljack's voice.”

“You heard from Wheeljack?” `Bee cried happily as he instinctively glanced over at Ratchet who, despite his small arguments with `Hide, was grinning idiotically. “I'm certain some were happier than others,” he smiled.

Optimus grinned as well as he watched the medic whap his friend over the head once again. “Indeed.”

Sam and the two Rangers shared confused looks but remained silent as Optimus made his way over to the three arguing `Bots to play referee and work some damage control before the fight got out of hand and evolved from petty arguing to a full out brawl. Sam glanced over at Will as the man prodded his shoulder. “Go ask him,” Will hissed at him and Sam frowned at the man.

“Why don't you go ask Ironhide?” he whispered back.

“'Cause `Bee doesn't have his weapons on standby twenty-four seven,” Will insisted. “That and he seems to be… busy.” Will pointed towards Ironhide who was waving his arms about madly as he argued with Ratchet about some point or other.

Sam rolled his eyes but a firm shove from both rangers had him moving as he stumbled towards `Bee. Shooting a glare over his shoulder at the two men he sighed in defeat and turned back to tap his friend on the leg in order to get his attention. Well, banged would be more appropriate to say. `Bee glanced down at him curiously and leaned down to once more pick Sam up off the ground so as they could speak easier. “Yes Sam?” `Bee asked evenly, bringing the boy closer to his shoulders. “What is it?” `Bee's tone dropped to a whisper.

Sam was confused for a moment before he quickly realized what it was that `Bee thought he wanted to discuss with him. Bumblebee had thought that he wanted to discuss Barricade. “No, nothing about that,” Sam whispered back at him as Optimus once more made his way to `Bee's side.

“What's up?” the larger mech asked.

“Well, the others and I were wondering what this `Energon' was,” Sam explained as he gestured to the men on the ground. “That's the second time I've heard you mention it and I was never told what it was and now you've mentioned it again and that the others were searching for it so we were kind of wondering…” Sam trailed off with a shrug. The two rangers said nothing, but moved closer to the two Autobots feet, listening intently.

Optimus looked startled by the question and `Bee brought up his unoccupied hand and smacked himself on the forehead, a habit he had acquired from all his time around the high school kids. “We never told you any of that have we?” Optimus asked surprised. “I never realized,” he trailed off in thought. “Well, that's another we have to discuss with Keller later on I suppose.”

“Great, what is it?” Sam questioned.

“It's our food.” `Bee explained. “Kind of like our version of fuel.”

Optimus nodded. “While we can live off your gas, we still need to find a source of Energon crystals to survive.”

The rangers were nodding understandingly though Sam was looking slightly troubled at the news. “What do these Energon crystals look like?” Will asked. “Perhaps we have them here on Earth.”

“I highly doubt that,” Optimus chuckled. “Unless you have neon pink crystals that are glowing that we don't know about.”

“They glow?” Will asked in suprise.

“Neon pink?” Epps bust out into laughter and bent over clutching his stomach as he went on hysterically. “PINK! Some of the most diehard soldiers I've ever met eat little pink rocks!” He fell to his knees and actually had to put one hand on the ground to brace himself before he fell over.

“We do not eat rocks!” Ironhide bellowed from the direction of the transmitter. “We grind them into a powder that we mix with Eltakin fluid and drink it you moron!”

“SLUSHIES!” Epps cackled with glee as he finally fell over and ended up cackling from the ground as he stared up at the sky, the occasional giggle escaping him.

“What are `slushies'?” Red asked as he looked up from where he was holding two paneling for Ratchet to weld together. The other `Bots all shrugged just as baffled.

“They're frozen fruit drinks,” Sam called out to the red mech with a smile. Red tilted his head quizzically but Ratchet snapped something at him and he went back to steadying the panels for the frustrated medic. Sam and the other humans snickered at the Autobots confused looks. “Never mind,” Sam told them. “So since you're on Earth now, are you going to stop looking since you have our gas now or what?”

“We can never really stop looking,” Optimus told him. “However, our main priority at the moment is to regroup with our comrades, then we shall deal with the subject of Energon. THAT IS IF WE EVER STOP ARGUING LONG ENOUGH TO GET THAT SLAGGIN THING UP AND RUNNING!” he bellowed the last part at the three mechs all still bickering by the transmitter. Sam and the other humans all clamped their hands over their ears and Optimus looked back at them sheepishly. “Sorry.”

Sam smiled at him as he glanced back at the others. “So do you think you'll get it up and running by tomorrow?”

“One can only hope,” Optimus sighed. “We're keeping a ongoing scan of the sky but I also have Red keeping track of all the human's emergency frequencies just in case there's a sudden report of incoming `asteroids'.”

Will nodded. “Smart.”

Optimus gifted the ranger with a wily grin. “Yes, I thought so.” Will smirked back at the other commander and they shared a secretive smile. Sam and Epps just rolled their eyes.

“So how many incoming `asteroids' are we watching for?” Epps asked curiously.

“Nine,” Optimus, `Bee and Sam all replied simultaneously. Both rangers just stared at the small group in complete undisguised shock.

“Nine?” Will gapped in disbelief. “I thought we were trying to be inconspicuous.”

Optimus shrugged. “I'm sure your government will come up with something to explain all these so called phenomenon's.”

Epps let out a scathing huff. “Have you actually listened to our government officials?”

Optimus tilted his head confused but said nothing as both Sam and Will rolled their eyes. “Thankfully it's an election year,” Sam muttered.

“Don't say that!” Epps yelped horrified. “Do you know how many flyers I keep finding under my windshield wipers?” The other two humans laughed at this and both `Bee and Optimus glanced at each other confused before they shrugged it off as yet another oddity of the humans.

They all watched the other three play around with the transmitter for a while before Will spoke up. “By the way,” he called up to Optimus. “Just how did Ironhide get all those dents in his head?” he asked and all of them were startled when Optimus burst out into laughter.

“Let's just say it's been an interesting few days,” Optimus smirked down at the Ranger. “Ask `Hide about it later. I'm sure you'll find it fascinating.”

“Hey Optimus!” `Hide voice followed the statement. “Do you know what this piece is for?” the gunner asked waving a large processor in the air. “We can't figure out where it fits!”

“Now you want my opinion?” Optimus called back amused. “How in the Matrix should I know?”

“Right then,” Ironhide turned back to the others. “Should I start an `unknown slag' pile?” Ratchet pointed to a somewhat clear spot in between his tools and other assorted items and thus a new pile was born.

Optimus shook his head at the group. “This may take a while,” he muttered and the humans snickered.

“Well,” Epps said as he stretched his arms above his head. “I don't know about you guys, but I can't keep up with the `Bots bizarre hours. I'm gonna go catch a few Z's,” he announced as he turned and began heading for the bunks. “Tell me how it works out!” The others all waved goodnight as Will trotted over to his friend, stating that he too was going to get some rest since there was nothing he could really help with at the time.

Sam watched them go longingly as he tried to stifle his own yawn. With all the excitement, he hadn't realized just how late it had actually gotten, but he was determined to remain up with his friends as moral support if nothing else. It was only a few hours later just before dawn when `Bee was startled out of his observations as Optimus gave his shoulder a gentle nudge. Optimus gestured down at the human with a slight tilt of his head and Bumblebee glanced down surprised to realize that Sam had fallen asleep in his hand.

“Perhaps you should put him to bed,” Optimus told him as they looked down at the slumbering boy. `Bee nodded and gave the boy a gentle poke with his finger.

“I don't want to go to school…” Sam murmured before he managed to open his eyes completely and stared at the stars above him. “What am I doing outside?”

The two `Bots chuckled at the human who was clearly not awake just yet. “Get him to bed,” Optimus ordered and `Bee grinned as he turned to take his human to the barracks.

Grateful that Sam always left his window open, `Bee managed to maneuver the human through the small hole and onto the mattress beneath it. Sam amazingly snored through the whole process and `Bee chuckled. “Sleep well Sam. You're safe here,” the yellow `Bot murmured as he pushed the window frame down, placing a barrier between the slumbering boy and the noise coming from the court yard.

~*~

Barricade groaned at the words that emanated from the communicator that he was using to eavesdrop. “Oh gag me…”

~*~

The bed was so comfortable; so soft and warm that it would have to be a crime to leave its soft embrace. At least that's how Sam saw it as he burrowed his face deeper into the pillow. A quick glance at his new wristwatch showed a bright three in the afternoon and Sam groaned as he rolled back over. Strange how the hardest bed could seem like the softest feathers when one was extremely tired. Sam rolled over and away from the window and the bright light that insisted on flooding into his tiny room.

He had just found a comfortable position when he was suddenly shaken out of bed violently at the resounding “boom” that was echoing from the courtyard. The sound of glass breaking was almost unnecessary as shards flew inward from the force of the blow, littering his bed and floor with the sharp, deadly objects. Cursing as he fell to the floor with a thud, Sam instantly scooted under his bed and ducked his head to protect himself from the raining shrapnel.

After a few moments of silence, he finally slid out and clambered to his feet, grateful that he had fallen asleep with his shoes still on as he ducked out into the hallway where the two half dressed rangers could already be found. Both of the older men were completely free from debris since their rooms were on the opposite side of the building and furthest from the blast.

“Sam!” Will exclaimed when he saw the few pieces of glass still in the boy's hair, instantly going into parent mode. “Are you alright? What happened?” he asked as he started picking a few of the larger pieces from the boy's mop.

“Window shattered,” Sam murmured, a little embarrassed at having the man fuss over him.

“Can anyone explain to me what the fuck was that?” Epps demanded as he tried to shove his bare feet into his boots before they got out the door and onto the dirt.

“How the hell should I know?” Will replied as he stopped grooming Sam and threw on his t-shirt. Sam would have snickered at the fact that it was inside out and backwards had he not been so worried for his friends. “Let's get out there and find out,” the captain muttered as they all made their way to the main door and stepped out into the bright sunshine.

Sam wrinkled his nose at the sudden smell of burnt plastic and scorched metal that instantly wafted over him and he pulled his collar up over his nose in an attempt to block the foul odor. `That's worse than the cab,' he thought with disgust as the three made their way to the main courtyard.

The two rangers had both pulled out their modified plasma guns and were doing an automatic sweep of the perimeter, instantly falling into a defensive formation. Sam slowed down to give the older men room to work as they moved ahead of him. “I don't see him,” Epps stated as he looked upwards at the sky, probably searching to see if Starscream was the cause of the mass explosion. Sam jerked, startled as he too looked up apprehensively for any sign of the disguised Decepticon. What they all saw however was a plume of smoke coming from the vicinity where the Autobots had been the night before. The rangers shared puzzled looks before they finally turned a corner and came across Ratchet, flat on his back in the middle of the roadway.

“RATCHET!” Sam gasped as he made his way towards the still dazed mech. Looking about the courtyard, Sam could see Optimus climbing to his feet dazedly some yards away and Ironhide climbing out of a demolished shed, cursing nonstop in Cybertronion. Will was already running towards his position and Sam noticed Epps wandering over to gloat over the security chief. Red Alert, it seemed had been thrown through the fence due to the force of the blast and into his own moat where just his feet were visible sticking out of the trench since the red mech had apparently gone in head first.

Sam would have snickered at the ironic sight had he not been so distraught as he looked around for his large yellow guardian. “'BEE!” he shouted, looking around frantically.

“I'm here!”

Sam whirled around to see Bumblebee quickly jogging over from the vicinity of the main hanger. “I was in recharge,” he stated as he too knelt down next to Ratchet. “What happened? Was it an attack?”

Ratchet let out a hacking cough as the younger yellow `Bot helped him sit up. “It was an attack alright,” he snarled as he finally managed to get himself upright. “Slagging piece of crap!”

Sam frowned at them before glancing out into the yard where a rather large crater could now be seen as the smoke finally cleared. He blinked in surprise at the hole. “What happened?” he asked as Ratchet finally managed to get back to his feet.

“I'll tell you what happened,” Ratchet snarled. “OPTIMUS PRIME!” he bellowed. “YOU ARE HEREBY BANNED FROM ANY AND ALL FUTURE PROJECTS! I swear you are worse than WHEELJACK!”

Optimus stared at his medic blankly, still slightly out of it from the force of the explosion. “ALL I DID WAS FLIP A SWITCH!” Optimus finally became coherent enough to holler back. “It was your slagging hack job that was the cause of the explosion!”

“Dented like a slagging slice of Swiss cheese, full of holes as my own team tries to kill me!” Ironhide was growling as he made his way over, Will now seated in the palm of his hand trying his hardest not to laugh at the situation.

Sam moved over towards Bumblebee for the Autobot to pick him up as they all made their way over to the crater. “That had to have been a hell of a fire ball,” Will mused as they looked down into the pit.

“SLAG IT!” Ratchet bellowed. “We have to start from scratch now! And who knows how much time we have with the others inbound.”

“Hey Ratchet,” Epps voice suddenly carried over the courtyard. “You better get over here!”

Ratchet looked up sharply at the human who was still standing next to the moat and the still unmoving security chief. The group hurried over to their side and Ratchet instantly jumped down into the pit to check on his patient. “Slag, he hit his head again,” Ratchet muttered as studied the other `Bots still form. “Help me get him out of here.”

Both `Bee and `Hide set their respective humans down as they scrambled down to assist the medic move Red to a more manageable position. Optimus leaned down and took hold of the red mechs arm and helped them haul him out of the moat. “I've got him,” Optimus announced as he helped shift the other mech upright and managed to lay him out on the ground as the other three climbed out of the moat.

All three moved out of the way as Ratchet immediately began tending his patient. “I can't find anything,” he announced as he looked at the different scans he was taking.

“Is he going to be alright?” Sam asked as he and the other humans all stood back from the working medic.

“Can't tell yet but I thin- Ack!” Ratchet jumped back as Red Alert suddenly bolted upright. He stared straight ahead for a while before finally turning to look from one `Bot to another.

“Um, Red?” Optimus called out tentatively. “Are you alright?”

Red turned his gaze towards his leader. “Why yes, Optimus Prime. Thank you for your concern but as you can see, it is quite unnecessary.” Everyone just stared in shock at the calm, steady tone that Red Alert was presenting to them. Red looked about innocently. “Did something happen?” he asked concerned. They all just continued to stare at him.

“Well I'll be.” Ironhide mused. “Seems like that last hit knocked some sense into him.”

Red Alert turned to look at the gunner in puzzlement before there was a sudden snapping sound and Red's head suddenly twitched to the left as his optics brightened. Red looked over at the courtyard and the large crater before he suddenly gasped. “PRIMUS! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK! EVERYONE TAKE COVER!” The red `Bot suddenly flipped over onto his stomach and belly crawled back into the moat. “Everyone! What are you doing? Get under cover! We're being attacked!”

Ironhide wandered over and looked down into the moat and the `Bot hidden there who was priming his guns. “Nope, I was wrong. He's still crazy.”

They all groaned as Red Alert poked his head out of the hole before ducking down again only to pop back up, looking for the entire world like some demented whack-a-mole game. The three humans snickered. “What?” Red Alert was asking the other Autobots. “What is it? We are being attacked, aren't we?”

“No Red, we are not being attacked.” Optimus sighed as he once again leaned down to help the other `Bot back out of the moat. “The transmitter just exploded.”

“Oh,” Red murmured as he allowed his commander to help haul him out of the ditch. He looked over at the crater once again. “So what do we do now?” he asked.

“Start over I guess,” Optimus sighed as he looked down at the wreckage toeing a still smoking piece of metal.

Ironhide sighed as he looked about the carnage. “Okay. Engineers, we are not.”

“We're all doomed,” Ratchet bemoaned as they all looked down at the crater. “Well, I don't believe that we're going to get anything else done today.”

“No kidding,” Optimus muttered as they all turned to troop back into the hanger. The three humans glanced at each other sadly. It was clear that the Autobots were completely dejected by the day's events

Red Alert was still looking down at the hole when he turned back to the retreating group. “What about the reports?” he called out after them.

“It's quite alright,” Optimus called back over his shoulder. “We don't really need to document this fiasco.”

“No, not that!” Red clarified. “I mean the human's!”

They all froze and slowly turned back to the lone Autobot still standing in the courtyard. “What?” Optimus asked puzzled.

“The human's reports! The one about the incoming asteroids!”

“WHAT?” everyone shouted as they all suddenly darted back towards the yard.

“Why didn't you say anything?” Ratchet demanded as he too activated his radio.

“What are they saying?” Ironhide demanded.

“Do they know when they're going to land?” Optimus added.

“Or better yet, where they're going to land?” Ironhide continued.

“I'm not picking up anything on my own emergency frequency's,” Ratchet announced as he too turned to the red mech. “Are they saying anything else?”

“No, nothing else so far,” Red declared as he went back to listing.

“Sam!” Optimus shouted as he turned to the humans who were still standing in the entryway of the main hanger. “Could you and Will get in touch with Keller? We need those incoming coordinates and we have to get there before the humans do.”

Sam nodded and Will cupped his hands around his mouth as he called out, “what should we tell him?”

“Tell him that the incoming asteroids could possibly be our comrades and that we need the quadrants for all nine-”

“Optimus!” Red suddenly spoke up fearfully. “They're only talking about five,” he explained as worry and panic beginning to creep into his voice. “They're saying that there are only five incoming asteroids.”

The other `Bots all looked at one another, completely horrified at all the possible implications that the smaller number could possibly mean. There was only one thought that flew through all their CPU's.

~*~

“Slag,” Barricade growled in the quiet of the Witwicky garage. He knew what had happed to the small convoy of Autobots… Decepticons.

-To be continued