Optimus cleared his throat and looked at his teammates, who were occupying themselves with various tasks around the base. It was a little quieter than usual, as the human children were home.
"Autobots. I have completed the first set of coordinates to the Omega Keys." He informed them. "And, I believe I can finish the next set of coordinates before the first team returns."
"You want us to split up?" Arcee asked.
Optimus nodded, "That would be the best way to get all of the keys as efficiently as we can. Hopefully the Decepticons are having a more difficult time keeping up with decoding the database, but we will still need to be on alert."
"Can I go?" Smokescreen jumped forward eagerly.
Optimus nodded, "With someone else."
Arcee smiled coldly, "I think Smokescreen and I are due for some bonding."
Optimus turned to the groundbridge and began setting up the coordinates, ignoring the pointed look that Ratchet was giving him. Firefly glanced between Arcee and Smokescreen and winced.
"Can I accompany them?" She asked, looking up at the Prime.
Optimus paused, but then nodded, "I don't see why not."
The three of them went into the groundbridge, with Arcee bringing up the rear. Soon after they were through, Ratchet shut the bridge down and Optimus returned to his work decoding the next coordinates.
It was about fifteen minutes later, and Optimus was near finished finding the new location, but he paused as the comms activated.
"Ratchet!" Arcee's voice rang through the base, "Open a groundbridge now!"
The old medic immediately went to the controls and opened one at her coordinates, but neither she nor the others came through and only silence came through the comms.
"Arcee?" Ratchet glanced at Optimus worriedly.
After waiting just a second longer, Optimus ran through the swirling green-blue transporter with Bulkhead and Bumblebee at his heels. They looked around, frowning at the emptiness of the area, and then they heard Arcee holler from the other side of the pyramid.
Running over swiftly, they found Arcee sitting in the sand, her face etched with horror and guilt.
▪️◾◼⬛◼◾▪️
"Mighty nice of these humans to put a bunch of rocks around our relic." Smokescreen commented as we walked back towards the entrance.
Arcee nodded, "They must have thought it was a gift from the gods."
"A pretty useless gift." Firefly rolled her eyes.
"What do you mean?" Smokescreen asked.
Firefly shrugged, "It's a giant key. What could they possible have wanted it for?"
"Some people just appreciate cool stuff, Firefly. It doesn't have to be useful." Arcee stated.
Firefly made a small noise of disagreement and then they continued walking toward the exit of the pyramid in silence. The relic was in Arcee's servo.
Just as the tips of their pedes hit the sand outside, someone landed heavily in front of them, his mouth twisted in a cruel smile.
"Autobots."
Firefly quickly pulled her sword from it's sheath and glared at him, while the others activated their blasters.
YOU ARE READING
Flame Factor
FanfictionBattle was not foreign to Firefly. She wasn't from Earth or Cybertron, Firefly was born on a planet called Zenthara, where her father and her were the chief protectors. She had been trained for war since the death of her beloved mother. When th...
