Transformers Prime: Project Predacon

The Call

"Should we follow it, sir?" I asked Ultra Magnus, calling him 'sir' really wasn't my cup of tea but I did anyway, didn't want to make him any more grumpy than he already was.

"I think Optimus would be okay if we went on without him. And you, Starstrukk, no flying, you'll disturb the prints." We all continued on foot, with me staying a safe distance from the prints and treading lightly, making sure to mind where my tail was going. We walked for awhile, and awhile meaning nearly a half of an hour before the tracks stopped suddenly. I looked closer and seemed to recognize it, a few of the others did as well.

"Isn't that what happens when you take off, Starstrukk?" Arcee asked. It was exactly what the marking was, deep scrapes in the ground and a tiny, almost flat hole where the sand would be blown away from the wind coming from wings.

"It's much too small to be my own, but yes, that's exactly what this is." Ultra Magnus studied it for a bit longer, coming to a slow conclusion.

"So she walked a distance and then Predaking came and picked her up? As you said, the markings are much too small to be your own, but why walk such a distance? Surely if you were flying you would see him."

"That's just it, they took the chance to take her into the air, and walking so far would be the reason why we didn't hear anything. It was probably done at night as well, when none of us are alert enough to hear or see anything out of the ordinary." At the same moment I finished my sentence Optimus commed us, letting us know that Bumblebee had returned and we were to get back ASAP. Considering the fact that we were quite a distance away from the Harbinger, I decided I would fly and it would also be nice to know how many bots I could carry at a time, just in case the emergency ever came up and I needed to carry as many as possible.

"Arcee," I asked. "Did you want to get off so you don't have to go through the horrors of flying?" She didn't have to say anything and got off all on her own, at least she was somewhat acrobatic and not clumsy, which would have ended in a few broken bones if she had jumped down like she had. Bulkhead and Smokescreen were the only two left and I needed to push myself to my limits.

"Wheeljack-"

"Hey, Jackie!! You wanna tag along up here?" Bulkhead had beat me to asking him, but somehow I knew I could never convince him myself, he still had that grudge against me. Wheeljack shrugged, asked himself what could go wrong without answering the question, and then crawled up my leg. The three of them weren't heavy when I was standing, but I could only imagine how it would be in the air. Smokescreen was shoved in the back, probably the most dangerous place to be. Bulkhead and Wheeljack accompanied the front of my back, just in front of where my front legs joined at the shoulder. I could feel Wheeljack, he was nervous, but the adrenaline over triumphed his fear and he grinned, gripping the spike in front of him to keep himself steady.

"Hold on tightly, I don't know how smooth this flight will be. Bulkhead, you wouldn't mind keeping a hand on Smokescreen? It makes me nervous with him sitting so far in the back." There was a bit of shifting before Smokescreen started yelling something about 'stop grabbing my leg' which was quickly retaliated with 'stop squirming and maybe I won't grab your leg'. I waited patiently until they had found comfortable positions and had a hold of something, whether it was me or the bot in front of them. I braced myself, crouching and keeping my head to the sky. Thoughts of falling to my death filled my mind but I pushed them away, negativity would only make me more anxious, and I was literally carrying the lives of three Autobots on my back. 'Too late to go back now' I thought to myself. I unfurled my wings halfway and took a deep, reassuring breath before jumping as high as I possibly could. We hung in the air and started to drop for a nanosecond but I pushed myself to keep us in the air, it would be easier once I got into the air somewhat. We were nearly vertical in the air when I heard alarmed yelling. I couldn't look back, I needed to concentrate on getting us further into the air, but I could feel Smokescreen and Bulkhead sliding down towards where my wings connected with my spine and they both stopped suddenly, seemingly to have gotten a hand on Wheeljack, who wasn't moving at all. I flapped desperately, which quickly tired me out but after a few scary seconds I had managed to get us high enough where I could straighten myself out and the relief wasn't much. The three of them did weigh me down a bit, but at least I was still aloft and we were all alive. Now I could take my attention off flying for a bit and check to see if everyone was alright.

"Wheeljack, is everyone alright? I heard yelling." Wheeljack screamed something to Bulkhead before answering with a 'everyone's fine'. I relaxed a bit, not too much, just in case I started falling. I made my way towards the Harbinger, leaving Arcee and Ultra Magnus in the- er, dust. It wasn't long before I landed heavily on the ground near the entrance of the Decepticon ship. I was exhausted from just a small flight, but then again, I was carrying three full size bots. Smokescreen started crawling around on me, making his way down my spine while Bulkhead and Wheeljack hopped off, not as gracefully as Arcee did before we began the short lived flight. Smokescreen had made it to my tail, so I flicked it gently, throwing him off. I watched him screech with fear from the two foot fall to the ground.

"Hey! That hurt, you meanie." I transformed and stepped up to him, holding my hand out to help the fallen bot up. He glared and me but took my hand, getting to his feet and rubbing his aft.

"Ouch. Aren't you going to say sorry?" I smiled with amusement.

"You should've taken the hint, Bulkhead and Wheeljack were already off and gone." He pouted, sulking away into the command room. I followed, listening to Arcee and Ultra Magnus as they began to catch up finally, the sound of motors filling my conscious. I suddenly regretted the thought of being a Predacon, driving would be pretty peaceful, but then my thoughts turned to flying. It would be a pity to give up the view from the sky and I definitely treasured being in the air, but not this time. My shoulders were sore already and it was painful to stretch. I made my way into the control center, hot on Smokescreen's heels. Sure enough, there was Bumblebee and Raphael, who was standing up by the computer Optimus was typing on. Unfortunately for us, Optimus didn't write the number down or type it into the computer system, so I repeated it for him while he typed it down.

"We're trying to figure out which numbers could go together as coordinates, can you think of any patterns that might suggest a hint to discover where the Nemesis may be, Raphael?"

"Um. . . " Raf began, looking at Optimus strangely, "That's a phone number, you know? You can call people with that."

"Oh," I blinked, feeling like a fool for not figuring it out ourselves. "Do we dial the number and trace it, then?"

"Well, yeah. I suggest you calling, StarStrukk. If it's Megatron, he won't recognize your voice, you sound way different speaking telepathically." I stared at the human sparkling, it was probably a logical answer but I would probably stutter my way into the conversation through a phone. I stared blankly ahead in horror and anxiously as Raphael and a few of the other bots set up a microphone for me to talk into and they linked the phone into the computer, turning the volume up.

"All you have to do is talk into the mic, it should only pick up what you're saying but we're not taking any chances, so if you want to ask us something, cover it with your hand so the person on the other end can't hear us." I gulped, already terrified for the outcome. I watched ahead of me as Raphael dialed the number. My spark skipped a few beats as the phone rang, once. . . twice. . . and then third time before someone picked up. My stomach flip flopped and I looked at Raphael desperately for help. 'Just say hello', he mouthed to me. I took a tiny breath and squeaked a small hello into the microphone that sat in front of me, waiting for the response.

***Hey guys, I really have nothing to say at all except for how awesome this part is because, um Smokescreen is awesome, and that's all there is to it honestly. Hopefully this one gave you a laugh, because it did to me everytime I read it. 

I Live To Serve

~SummerLeighanne