Optimus was looking intently at a pad in his hands, scrolling through lines of code. Teletraan was in a standby mode and Swoop, Ratchet, and Tails were helping out as were G.U.N technicians. Pretty soon, Optimus got the systems report. All green. “SLAGGIT! NOTHING!” he roared as he hurled the pad. Swoop didn’t even flinch as it landed near him.
“You know, I can get you some anger management classes,” he joked. “They helped us out when we needed them, and we needed them a lot.”
“There’s nothing wrong with his systems! There’s nothing wrong with his programming!” vented Optimus. “What in the Pit’s going on with Teletraan 1?!”
“Maybe he’s just being overtaxed lately,” guessed a technician.
“That COULD be it,” conceded Optimus, “but he hasn’t said anything about it.”
“He IS a machine with free will,” reminded Tails. “It may be that there IS something wrong and he doesn’t want to worry us.” Optimus was about to give a rebuttal, but the secondary computers beeped. Someone wanted to talk.
“What now?!” protested Ratchet. He accepted the call. Shadow’s face filled the screen. Judging by the background, it was safe to assume he was in a jet.
“Shadow, what’s up?” asked Optimus.
“I’m not, at the moment!” snarled Shadow. “Eggman and Shockwave shot my plane down with the intent to make a grab for the Dy.N.Ge.S!” (Pronounced Dingus) Everyone stifled a laugh.
“The…what?” Optimus managed to get out.
“Dynamic Nuclear Generation System,” explained Shadow, knowing full well why they were amused. “Professor Sumdac made it.”
“That explains the name,” chuckled Ratchet. “Hey, remember his Bi-directional Unified Transit Terminal?!”
“The computer terminal that helps out his Fully Automated Rapid Transit System?!” laughed Tails.
“You wouldn’t be laughing at names if you knew the gravity of the situation!” shouted Shadow. “The…nuclear engine…,” he didn’t want to cause anymore laughter, “is a prototype. If this thing goes into meltdown, it will irradiate 1/10th of Northern Imperia.” All humor vanished.
“Er…did you say which part of the continent you were on?” asked one of the technicians, a female Mobian Duck.
“I’m a sitting du…” Shadow stopped as he saw the Duck glare at him, “er…I’m in a tight spot,” he corrected. “I need a Bridge to the testing site.”
“Out of the question,” replied Ratchet. “Even if Teletraan was fine, I don’t recommend transporting such a volatile device through a Ground Bridge.”
“Why not?” asked a male Mobian Beaver.
“If there was an accident during transit,” explained Ratchet, “the radiation could propagate throughout the Ground Bridge vortex and infect the entire continent and beyond.”
“Any other options?” inquired Tails.
“My trailer!” cheered Optimus. “It’s got radiation shielding! Sit ti…stay pu…don’t g…I’ll be right there.” Shadow’s expression went sour as Optimus was telling him to stay put. Like he had a choice!
After the engine was loaded up, Shadow headed to Optimus’ open canopy. He then leapt into the driver’s seat. He was about to grab the driver sticks when he heard an “Ahem!” Shadow looked up to see Optimus’ holo-form sitting on the nosecone. Optimus made a motion for Shadow to pick a seat that wasn’t the driver’s seat. Shadow rolled his eyes as he moved over to the seat on the right. Optimus sat down in the driver’s seat and closed the canopy. After that, he headed onto the road, following Shadow’s directions. After a while, they were stuck in front of a pickup truck. Because of the nature of his cargo, Optimus couldn’t go into the air, so he was stuck. Vehicles with trailers on Mobius can’t pass other vehicles, so other vehicles have to move aside. The pickup in front wasn’t moving. Shadow then pressed a button in front of Optimus and it activated the horn. He pressed it repeatedly. “MOVE IT!” he bellowed.
“Is that really necessary?!” protested Optimus as he swatted Shadow’s hand away.
“Don’t tell me you drive by the book!” snapped Shadow. The pickup moved aside, and Optimus picked up some speed. Soon, he was going the legal limit for a vehicle with a trailer. “In all honesty,” rasped Shadow, “I AM grateful for you getting me out of this fix.”
“Anything for a friend,” replied Optimus.
“What were you doing before I called?” quizzed Shadow.
“The Teletraan Fixer Team and I were spinning our wheels, trying to figure out what’s wrong with him,” answered Optimus.
“Teletraan Fixer Team?” repeated Shadow.
“Ratchet, Swoop, and I didn’t want us to be called that,” sighed Optimus, “but we were outvoted by the G.U.N techs and Tails.”
“So, no luck with Teletraan?” asked Shadow.
“Not an ounce,” confirmed Optimus. At that point, a laser blast flew by them.
“Not again!” roared Shadow.
“What does Eggman want with a nuclear engine?!” yelped Optimus.
“Probably some WMD,” guessed Shadow. “Shockwave and Metal may have built it.”
“Let’s see what shot at us,” declared Optimus as he released a Sky Spy. The pictures showed a fighter jet instead of a flying robot. “Okay, since when did Eggman need a jet?” asked Optimus.
“Get a close up on the symbol,” directed Shadow. Optimus typed in a command and the Sky Spy zoomed in. It wasn’t Eggman’s face that was on the wing. It was a gear with a blue M in the center. “Oh no, it’s MECH,” groaned Shadow.
“Was really hoping not to meet those guys,” sighed Optimus. His comms buzzed. Optimus accepted the call and a man in shadows came up.
“Surrender the nuclear engine immediately,” he demanded.
“That’s…quite a directive, whoever you are,” remarked Optimus.
“I am Silas, leader of MECH,” introduced the man. “And you’re the infamous Optimus Prime, correct? I had forgotten you had sided with the Fuzzies.”
“That slur was uncalled for!” snapped Optimus. “Return to your territories! This does not concern you!”
“It does,” argued Silas. “That technology is best suited for a human’s skill, not an animal’s!”
“You guys wouldn’t have a paradise without the Mobians!” argued Optimus.
“Their Heaven is our Hell!” roared Silas. “You have 30 seconds to consider your surrender.”
“I don’t need ONE!” declared Optimus as he accelerated.
“I urge you, surrender!” insisted Silas. Two more jets appeared alongside the first and they were matching Optimus’ speed. “Consider yourself as you undertake a lost cause.”
“If the cause is just and noble,” countered Optimus, “I’m prepared to give my life for it.” Silas chuckled.
“I expected more from you than an idle threat,” he laughed.
“Then, you shall have it,” replied Optimus. “Autobots, NOW!” Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Prowl, and Ironhide came out and transformed, landing on the jets.
“Ladies and Gentlemen,” quipped Ironhide, “we’re about to encounter some turbulence, make sure your tray tables are up and your belts are fastened.” He then punched the rear of the jet. As it went down, the pilot ejected himself and opened his parachute. Bumblebee and Cliffjumper shorted out their plane’s systems, causing the second pilot to leave. Prowl jumped up, grabbed his plane, and brought it down. He then shook the pilot out and tossed the plan aside.
“Tell me,” quizzed Optimus to Silas, “are you REALLY that much of a threat?”
“You still won’t survive our assault!” replied Silas.
“We already took down your planes,” said Optimus. At that point, larger laser fire came over him. “Aaaand you have tanks,” Optimus guessed.
“Did you think I would come unprepared?” asked Silas.
“Scrap,” Optimus swore. “Jazz, I need you to take over ahead of schedule!”
“Got it!” confirmed Jazz. Optimus picked up speed, then released his trailer while going faster. Once there was enough room, Jazz came in, first overtaking the trailer, then matching its speed and hooking up. Soon, he was taking it to the test site and Optimus kept the tanks off Jazz’s back. “Better not say anything,” thought Jazz. “Don’t wanna push my luck since the mission’s still on.” At that point, a giant, humanoid mech suit came down. “I DIDN’T SAY A DAMN WORD!” Jazz shouted to the general direction of Cybertron. “COME ON, PRIMUS!” He then transformed and got his nunchaku out. The mech suit got into a ready stance. Jazz held his ground, giving it a steely glare. The mech then charged and swung a straight right punch. Jazz swatted it to the side with his weapon and kicked it in the chest. The mech said “oof!” Jazz arched an eyebrow. The mech then kicked Jazz aside.
“I don’t want to sound racist,” growled the mech in Silas’ voice, “but you might want to scurry on back where you came from, Boy.” The mech was sucker-punched by Ironhide.
“Pretty sure you DO sound racist,” countered Ironhide, “when you use the word ‘boy’ in that context.” The mech put its hand of the area Ironhide punched. “You’re a Mobius bot, how can YOU feel pain?!” asked Ironhide.
“The neural transceiver,” replied the mech in Silas’ voice. “A human pilot is inside with a suit that connects to the nervous system, relaying everything.”
“Even pain?” quizzed Jazz. “Okay, I don’t know why you’d design your mecha to have pain receptors. Kind of comes off as an intentional design flaw if you ask me.”
“Don’t you criticize my methods like you understand the neural system!” shouted Silas. “Pain is imperative to recognize when you are in peril, to give the human mind con…” Jazz gave a knife-hand strike and severed the mech’s right arm off, “…TEXT!” screamed Silas as the mech clutched its stump before forcibly ejecting Silas.
“So, contextually speaking,” joked Ironhide, “how fragged are you?” At that point, the trailer gave a green glow inside.
“The nuclear engine!” shouted Silas. “It’s been opened! The area will be contaminated! All units, fall back!” I will give Silas this, he covers the retreat instead of leading it. “Know this, MECH will remember what has happened here today! You have denied us a prize and sided against us in battle! And we will neither forgive nor forget!” He followed the MECH soldiers and soon, they were gone. The Autobots checked themselves over, then Optimus opened the trailer. Instead of the Dy.N.Ge.S, Team Dark was inside. During the fight, Shadow had used Chaos Control to get inside the trailer, then used it again to get him and the nuclear engine to Ratchet, who was at another point 20 miles from the test site with Rouge and Omega, then used it one more time with his teammates to show that the transfer was a success. Soon, Prime’s comms beeped. Optimus accepted the call.
“This is Ratchet. Transport complete,” called the medic.
“Good work, Ratchet,” praised Optimus. “Let’s head to base. Teletraan, open the…oh, yeah, still offline.”
“Well, we’re stuck for a bit,” sighed Jazz.
“Er, you guys DO realize that I can operate the Ground Bridge?” quizzed Tails’ voice over the comms.
“…Oops,” mumbled Optimus as he remembered. “Tails, we could use a Ground Bridge.”