Transformers Fan Fiction ❯ Cover Me ❯ Everybody Panic ( Chapter 15 )

Cover Me

By Black Dragon Queen

Author's note: Yet another glorious chapter with our favorite group of disguised robots! I apologize for the lateness, but it's been a crazy weekend for me in RL.

PAIRINGS REVEALED THUS FAR:

Wheeljack x Ratchet, Past Prowl x Jazz

Font Index:

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

~*~

Chapter Fifteen: Everybody Panic!

“What do we do?” Ironhide demanded hysterically. “What do we do? The transmitter's scrap and our personal radio's can't do long distance sending into space!”

“Well, we don't have time to build another one,” Optimus replied just as frantic. “We'll just have to think of something else.”

“Think? Prime, I'm not paid enough to think!” Ironhide shouted back at him. “In fact, I'm not paid at all!”

“Slag it! Who cares whether or not you think?” Ratchet shouted angrily. “Optimus, help me gather my things! If any of them are injured I'm going to need them!”

“Now hang on,” Optimus called out, halting the EMT unit in his tracks. “We still don't know the situation-”

“Slag the situation! I'm not about to lose him again Prime! I'm not!”

“Ratchet, we know he's alright. We heard him-”

“We didn't hear anything!” Ratchet cried out frantically. “All we got were garbled phrases!”

“How will we get their trajectory?” Ironhide suddenly questioned. “If the humans get there first-”

“We just have to ensure that they don't!” Optimus replied doggedly.

“I think that's you cue.” Sam was startled when the phrase was suddenly whispered into his ear. “You should really go contact Keller,” Will continued as they watched the Autobots arguing. “Let him know of the situation before these guys go out by themselves and get into trouble.”

“Me?” Sam cried out in disbelief, becoming near hysterical himself from the spreading panic. “Why don't you go contact him? You're an adult; you should have an easier time of it! Besides, they never listen to me!”

“Aren't you the Autobots dignitary? This is your job, not ours,” Epps argued seriously.

“But I have no idea what to say!” Sam protested.

“Well, to start with, he's going to have to do some damage control so those wigged out scientist don't start studying those incoming `asteroids' too closely,” Will began.

“Oh hell,” Epps growled. “I didn't even think of that. Those geekazoids are going to be all over the place aren't they? What with this being a `historic phenomenon' and all.”

“That's why we have to get in touch with Keller,” Will explained. “Also, I think we need to get some different cars for ourselves so they have something to imitate when they arrive-”

“Ironhide! Stand down, slag it!” Optimus suddenly bellowed drawing the humans attention back to the still panicking `Bots.

“But Prime!” Ironhide protested but nonetheless powered down his cannons. “We have no idea what happened to them! It's best to go prepared!”

“There's no proof that there's anything wrong!” Optimus argued as he placed a hand on `Hide's shoulder keeping the gunner firmly in place. “It could be that Prowl decided to split up to search for Red Alert.”

“Optimus, we don't know that,” Ratchet came to Ironhide's defense. “It could be that they were attacked en-route. For once, I agree with him. It's better to be safe than sorry.”

“Did anyone stop to think that it's possible that the incoming mechs aren't the others but rather incoming Decepticons instead?” Red suddenly muttered off handedly. Everyone just froze in their tracks and all of them turned to just stare at Red Alert. He glanced around at their flabbergasted looks in surprise. “Well we don't know that it's Prowl and the others… right?”

Ironhide glanced over at Ratchet. “Just how hard did he hit his head?” Ratchet shrugged.

“You know, he could be right,” Will called out to the mechs. “It could explain why it's a smaller number.”

“That could be what Wheeljack was trying to tell us! That the Decepticons are inbound!” Ratchet cried out going back into panic mode.

“SLAG IT!” Optimus bellowed, startling his two companions standing next to him. “THAT JUST MAKES IT EVEN MORE OF A PROBLEM! SAM!”

Sam snapped to attention. “Yes sir?”

“Now it's more important than ever for you to get in touch with Keller. If it isn't our comrades and it's Decepticons, then any humans in the vicinity could all be possible targets!” Sam nodded and grabbed hold of Will's sleeve, tugging the ranger with him. Will in turned grabbed Epps and the three made their way to the radio room.

“Red, help me with my guns!” Ironhide shouted behind them.

“We still should bring my things!” Ratchet repeated. “They should be a higher priority, right Optimus?”

“This is not a camping trip!” Optimus hollered at them.

~*~

“Morons,” Barricade muttered as the bickering faded when Sam went into a building. "The whole lot is slagging crazy!"

~*~

“-We're still not sure where exactly they're going to land,-” Keller was saying over the radio some time later. “-Some of the scientists have projected somewhere in the High Desert in San Bernardino.-”

“That's a two hour drive!” Will exclaimed in dismay.

“-Well that's what NASA is saying though it's just a projected location. No one knows for sure, but we do know that they'll enter the atmosphere within the hour.-”

“Damn it,” Sam muttered in dismay. “They're not going to be happy.”

“Well, look at it this way. We don't have to worry about any people being in the area,” Epps added sourly.

“Thanks' John,” Will said into the microphone. “We'll try to figure it out from our end.”

“-No problem,-” Keller replied. “-I'll try and get some damage control going here as well. They won't be happy, but we'll try to classify that area a no fly zone and ensure that it's quarantined off but it's becoming difficult. As space programs from around the world are wanting entrance into the US to examine these phenomenon's.-”

“Great, not only are we getting more egg heads, but foreign egg heads,” Epps scoffed.

Will elbowed him in the gut and Sam said good-bye as they severed the connection. “Well, who wants to tell the Autobots?” Will asked cheerfully.

“Not me!” Both Sam and Epps replied in unison and both of them glared at one another.

Will looked back and forth at the stare down. “Well, someone has to tell them!”

“Sam?” `Bee's voice suddenly echoed through the open doorway. “Did you get in touch with him yet?”

Sam startled at his friends uncanny timing and he glanced at the two other men who were already shutting down the radio system. With a sigh, Sam stood and made his way out the door, the rangers' soon following right behind him. “Yeah, we did,” he confirmed to the large `Bot as he stepped into the sunlight.

`Bee just looked at him expectantly. “And?” `Bee prompted.

Sam glanced back at the adults who were both standing some distance behind him, leaving him alone to explain the situation. He sent them a nasty glare. “It's not good,” Sam admitted to his friend as `Bee leaned down for Sam to climb up. “He said the projected crash zone is in southern California in San Bernardino.”

`Bee did a quick calculation. “But that's miles away!” `Bee shouted, already turning around and instantly began jogging towards the main hanger. Sam struggled to maintain his balance as `Bee entered the building. “Optimus! We have trouble!”

“What now?” Optimus muttered as he set down Ironhide's spare cannon and made his way to his youngest cadet. `Bee simply lifted Sam upward and when he was finally able to get somewhat situated, Sam repeated Keller's message. “Slag,” Optimus muttered before turning back to the other three. “GEAR UP! We have to go now!” he called out, already stepping out of the building.

The other three all glanced at Optimus surprised, then at one another before they quickly grabbed the last of what they could and followed their leader out the door. Optimus didn't even pause in his steps as he bent down and grabbed hold of the two rangers who were only just arriving at the main hanger after having jogged all the way there from the radio room. The rangers didn't even complain as they were hauled around like luggage as the group all trooped out of the complex as quickly as possible.

Passing Epps and Will over to Ironhide once on the opposite side of the moat, Optimus instantly began shifting. Ensuring that the three humans were out of harm's way the others quickly followed suit, changing into their own alt forms and soon an assortment of different vehicles sat in their place. With a quick pause to allow Sam to climb into `Bee's cab and for the rangers to both pile into Ironhide the five vehicles were soon on their way in the direction of the main highway.

“Who do you think it is?” Sam asked as soon as they were on the road and somewhat away from the others.

“Wish I could tell you,” `Bee muttered as he maneuvered around the dips in the road leading away from the base. “We all just assumed that it would be the others. That it could be Decepticons…”

“You're worried there could be a fight,” Sam guessed as they all flew down the road.

“The only ones who even know that the slagging war is even over are the ones that were here for the last battle against Megatron,” `Bee explained as they coasted down a rather steep hill. “Our companions don't even know there's no longer anything to fight over.”

Sam slouched down in his seat guiltily and gave the steering wheel a comforting pat. “I'm sorry,” he whispered.

“Oh, no. Sam it wasn't your fault. You just did what you had to do. It was what Optimus wanted you to do- ensure that Megatron didn't get a hold of the Cube. Though shoving it into Megatron's spark cavity instead of Optimus' was a stroke of genius…” `Bee trailed off and Sam nodded sadly when he suddenly blinked in surprise as something shiny dropped past his vision.

“Dang it,” Sam muttered as he reached up and found some glass still in his hair.

“What is it?” `Bee asked.

“Oh, it's nothing,” Sam groused as he flipped down the visor and began carefully picking out the small clear shards. “When the transmitter went up, it blew out my windows,” he explained as he rolled `Bee's window down to pitch the glass out.

“WHAT?” `Bee cried out in shock. “What do you mean it blew them out? Are you okay? Were you injured?”

“Nah, I'm fine,” Sam muttered as he picked out some more glass. “Still in the same clothes as yesterday too…”

“Err, sorry about that,” `Bee felt the need to apologize.

“Not your fault,” Sam told him gently. “I understand that you've had other things on your mind.”

`Bee sighed and began drifting back, allowing the others to pull ahead of him so they may speak more privately. “I'm just still upset about… things…”

Sam sighed himself and he slouched down into his seat. “I know,” he murmured as he watched the sun setting in the distance, “and I know how much it cost you to swallow your pride and allow our… `guest' over.”

“It isn't so much that,” `Bee admitted as they finally pulled onto the highway. “Just that, well, we don't know anything about him and he is a Decepticon…” Bumblebee trailed off as he suddenly realized that he did know something about Barricade. That was if the `Con's conversation with Judy Witwicky was really the truth or just some elaborate lie.

“We may not know anything about his past, but we do know his present,” Sam insisted, oblivious to the `Bot's thoughts, “and right now he wants nothing to do with Starscream, same as us.”

“But how long will that last?” `Bee persisted doggedly. “Who knows what's going on in that malfunctioning processor of his? He could just be waiting for the other Decepticons to arrive so they can overthrow Starscream and he can take over as leader of the Decepticons himself!”

~*~

“Hmm, tempting…”

~*~

“'Bee,” Sam murmured unenthusiastically, tired by the repeating argument. “I have to admit that I don't know a lot about your war. But I just couldn't leave him to die. I couldn't have that on my conscious. Not after Mission City.” There was a pause. “Not after Jazz…”

There was silence for a long time when Bumblebee let out another sigh. “I'm sorry Sam,” `Bee finally muttered. “I do understand why you wanted to help him, I really do but it just that he's done so much in the past. He's harmed my friends, comrades. Nearly killed some of them…”

“Nearly?” Sam repeated. “Never succeeded?”

Bumblebee was quiet for a while before warm air wafted into the cabin. “I don't think he's done so outright. I'm not quite sure.”

Sam looked down at `Bee confused. “What do you mean? I thought that he was your opposite on the battlefield or something.”

~*~

“Or something…”

~*~

“Well, um. To tell you the truth…”

Sam glanced down at the dash, confused. “What? What is it?”

`Bee sighed. “I actually was in very few battles on Cybertron,” he admitted softly. “The others like to be very… overprotective of me.”

“Really?” Sam asked surprised. “Why? You're a solider too, aren't you?”

“Well,” Bumblebee paused, clearly embarrassed at what he was saying.

“Oh no, you're not getting out of this,” Sam told him sternly. He wasn't about to let his guardian off that easily. Not when it could mean learning something else about his large friend.

“Well… To tell you the truth, I'm actually one of the youngest if not the youngest Autobot in existence,” `Bee suddenly confessed.

“You are?”

~*~

“He is?”

~*~

Bumblebee let out a depressed sigh. “Yeah, I believe I am. I think even the twins are older than me… They don't act it but they are.”

“Wow,” Sam murmured, stunned at the admission. “I didn't realize…”

“-Look alive everyone,-” Ratchet's voice suddenly wafted through the radio. “-My scanners just picked up the incoming asteroids entering Earth's outer atmosphere.-”

“-What's the status on those scientists and alien groupies?-” Optimus asked.

“-Keller came through,-” Ratchet announced. “-Police are being dispatched to block off the area from all civilians.-”

“-Which means we'll have to go in through the back door,-” Ironhide groused.

“-We'll figure it out when we get there. All right everyone,-” Optimus' began. “-This is it. I want everyone on full alert when we reach the desert. Ironhide, Bumblebee, I want you to get the humans to minimum safe distance before engaging contact with the incoming mechs and- -”

“-SLAG IT ALL TO THE PITS!-”

Everyone was forced slammed on their breaks as Ratchet, who was leading the pack, suddenly threw on his lights and let loose his siren full blast as he screeched to a halt and pulled a u-turn right there in the middle of the highway. A few humans out and about blared their horns, but when Red Alert soon followed suit and activated his own sirens and lights as he pulled around and took off after Ratchet, everyone pulled to the side of the road and out of the way of the two emergency vehicles.

Each of the other Autobots had to scramble to suddenly turn around and take off after the two fleeing mechs. “-What in the world happened?-” Ironhide bellowed as he gunned it to catch up to Ratchet, much to the enjoyment of his two passengers. Sam just held on and tried not to throw up at the increased speed.

“-One of the units suddenly jerked off course!-” Ratchet explained frantically. “-And the others all turned to follow that one!-”

“-You mean we have to go all the way back to the base?-” Ironhide lamented.

“-Worse!-” Ratchet cried out. “-They're heading straight for the city!-”

~*~

“Slag,” Barricade muttered as he opened the garage door and pulled out into the driveway. Activating his scanners, he could already see the five incoming mechs heading straight for the city's skyline. `Still an Earth's thirty minutes away before they land,' he concluded as he calculated their trajectory. `Just where they'll land is still anyone's guess.' He still didn't know how far out the Autobot First Arrivals were, but it was probably still quite a ways off even with Ratchet and apparently Red Alert clearing the streets as they made their way back to the city.

“To go, or not to go…” he muttered as he watched the other four lights trying desperately to catch up to the one spiraling out of control. “I don't want to go,” he muttered, “but I got to go… Slag it.” He glanced around at the quiet neighborhood where a majority of the humans were just sitting down to dinner or settling down in front of the television. “Oh slag,” he muttered and with one quick glance around the neighborhood, the mustang took that daring first step and pulled out of the driveway and into the street.

Ensuring to stay on the back roads and in side alleyways, Barricade made his way into the city slowly but surely while keeping a spare scanner on the lookout for Starscream possibly hovering over the city. He weaved his way throughout the maze of the city streets and made his way towards the city's small park. Finding an out of the way parking lot, he moved himself into a corner and dimmed all his lights as he watched the five asteroids. He managed to send out a single ping towards the group and the returning signal was defiantly a different frequency than any Decepticon he knew of. Clearly, these were Autobots.

“Well, at least Starscream is still out numbered,” he mused as he watched a minivan suddenly jerked to a halt while attempting to slow down. It was quite amusing to the `Con as humans suddenly slammed on their breaks as they spotted him in his dark little corner and Barricade couldn't help but flair his lights once as a group of teenagers speed by. They nearly took out a fence in their hast to slow down.

`Morons,' Barricade snickered as he watched them go at a more sedate pace. With one more scan of the area, Barricade sighed as he pulled out of his little hidey-hole and made his way towards the edge of the city. “This better be worth it…” he muttered as he rolled along.

“-Ratchet,-” Optimus' voice suddenly blared over the transmitter turned watch he was using to listen in. “-How much further is it?-”

“-We should be at the city limits in ten Earth minutes,-” Ratchet replied, his voice still carrying over his amount of panic.

“Still not enough time,” Barricade mused aloud as he pulled over to the side of the road to watch the five bright lights in the sky. “SLAG!” he suddenly yelped as the one wavering light suddenly shifted once more and tilted downward at what had to be a thirty degree angle and barreled towards the Earths surface. Two managed to stay on his tail but the other two couldn't shift their angles that fast and flew past the rapidly falling three and went further out into the city.

“Well, this'll be entertaining,” Barricade mused as he flicked on his lights and headed towards the plummeting three, as they were the closest. Now if only he could get there without drawing any more human's attention.

~*~

“-They've hit!-” Ratchet announced as he put on some more speed, which Sam didn't even think was possible as he clung to the arm rest for all he was worth. `Bee had some great shock absorbers but the speed was still making him ill as the scenery just blurred by. “-One of them was defiantly in trouble too!-” Ratchet continued.

“-How could you tell?-” Ironhide demanded.

“-One of them couldn't control his decent. It was more like he was freefalling than actually flying.-”

“-Could you tell what's wrong with him?-” Red Alert suddenly piped up frantically, fear evident in his voice.

Ratchet suddenly realized that while Wheeljack could be all right, it could just as well be Inferno who could be damaged. “-Still unknown. I'll have to see for myself what the problem is.-”

“-Did they all land in the same vicinity?-” Optimus asked.

“-Negative,-” Ratchet replied instantly. “-Two went further south.-”

Optimus' sigh could be clearly heard by everyone else. “-Alright. Ratchet, which group was the one that had the problems?-”

“-The group of three,-” Ratchet replied already making a turn towards that vicinity of the city.

“-Right then. We have no choice but to split up. You, `Bee and Red will go check out the first three, see what you can do. If it is Decepticons, do not engage until I say so. Ironhide, you and I will go pick up the strays.-”

“-Fun,-” Ironhide grumbled as he pulled up the city maps and turned down a side street.

“-Good luck!-” Red Alert called out as he and the other two turned left towards the western part of the city as Ironhide and Optimus turned right towards the east.

“-Where did they land?-” Bumblebee sent out, wondering where it was that they were actually going as they speed along.

“-From what I can tell, they landed in the community center,-” Ratchet announced as they raced through the streets, cars moving rapidly out of their way.

“Which one?” Sam asked puzzled as he grasped `Bee's steering wheel as they turned a rather sharp corner.

“-The Carrolton,-” Ratchet replied absently as they turned another corner.

“You're kidding!” Sam gasped in surprise before he began laughing hysterically.

`Bee ran a scan over his human curiously. “What? What is it?”

“You'll never guess what event they're having there this month!”

“What?” `Bee asked utterly confused. “What are you talking about? What event?”

~*~

“`Exotic Car Show'…” Barricade read the sign aloud. “`Exclusively for one month by invitation only'...” he backed up and looked at the smoking hole in the roof of the building. “Well, not any more…” he mused cheerfully. Passing a scan over the building and he could detect the three mechs smack dead center inside the building. Two of them were hovering over the third that was obviously in trouble and in need of medical attention.

The sound of sirens soon echoed in the distance and with a sigh, Barricade backed up and drove across the street into an out of the way ally. “Either those `Bots have uncanny timing… or they're just plain lucky. If it were Decepticons arriving, it would have been a slagging Star Trek convention…”

Settling down, he once again switched off his lights and got ready for the show.

-To Be Continued.