Transformers: Gateway to New Beginnings

Chapter 3

Heyy y'all!!! Hope you're enjoying my story so far. Any feedback would be great! Thanks for reading this little story, and I hope you have a great day/night wherever you are! If you have any questions, suggestions, or ideas, just lemme know! If they catch my attention, I may use them! 

(I also refuse to write a chapter under 1000 words XD)

Windblade looked out from the Skyblade's newly rebuilt Bridge. She sighed. Repairs were coming along well, but it would take them a while to get enough Energon to have the Skyblade fully functional. She turned and walked towards the center of the ship, pausing at 'The Vault' as she'd officially named it. With a shuddering intake of her vents, she pressed the combination of buttons on the keypad to unlock The Vault and step inside, the door shutting and locking behind her. She walked up to the lone stasis pod in the middle of the small room, medical equipment and a control panel that monitored the conditions of the stasis pod on 2 sides of the room. Windblade set her servo on the glass of the stasis pod, the active pod's glass frosted over, blocking the view of the familiar femme inside. Windblade didn't need to see the femme to know who it was: Wayward.... her twin.

   "Kai-Lyn. Activate the Wayward Protocol," Windblade ordered the AI. A hologram fizzled into existence near Windblade as the Protocol activated. The hologram stretched, seeker wings raising up higher beyond their regular position, then settling back down. Windblade smiled sadly at the hologram, "hey, sis.... it's hard not being able to hug you, ya know?" 

    the hologram nodded, the familiar white and gold seeker femme smiling just as sadly as she spoke through several speakers in the room, "I miss being able to chat at any time of the blasted solar cycle..." she laughed sorrowfully. Windblade's own wings lowered, showing her sorrow, "I feel like I've failed you, Wayward...."

   "You haven't failed me!!! we're just... working on it!" Wayward protested, reaching towards her twin, hovering her holographic servos on Windblade's shoulders, "We're going to figure this out, Windblade. Together." 

   Windblade let out a shuddering vent, while Wayward stepped back to give her some room to vent. Her systems were fluctuating wildly again, immense sorrow and blinding rage coursing through her as she clenched her servos. She looked back up at her twin, "I'll find a way to bring you back... if it's the last thing I do...." she whispered.

   Wayward let a faint smile cross her face again, knowing she couldn't calm her sister down, and that Windblade would never give up, no matter what happened. Even if it killed her. Wayward touched her twin's spark before her hologram faded away, the room going dark as the 'Protocol' deactivated. Windblade cried out, feeling the intense pain of loss inside her as she fell to her knees, her wings as low as they could be.

   "I promise, Way.... I WILL find a way to save you.... I-I can't live without you....." she whispered, feeling the warmth on her spark where her sister had touched her. She stood, trying and failing to compose herself before leaving the room, double checking that it locked behind her, then leaving the ship, transforming into her F-18 Super Hornet alt mode and blasting away before anyone could protest, especially Starfleet or Hammerhead.

   Starfleet grew worried. Windblade had been gone for 6 hours, without checking in or even giving them a way of finding her. He clenched his servos, feeling helpless. He'd seen the look on her face when she left. The tormented... haunted.... no. scarred look that caused her expression to go blank. She always blocked everyone out when it happened... even Junebug, and that was unusual, considering how fiercely she protected the scout.

Windblade was training high in the mountains, far away from any of the natives of this planet. She skillfully wielded her sword, slicing through boulders and trees. She let out an enraged yell as she cut a tree in half lengthwise, watching as the halves fell away from each other before collapsing to the ground on hands and knees, dropping her sword. It landed with a few clangs, but she clenched her servos into the dirt, sobbing softly. She screamed, finally letting all the pent-up feelings out. 

   As she felt the loss of the pain, exhaustion hit her harder than a Dinobot punching a Minicon. Windblade fell over, passing out as her systems overheated from stress and exhaustion.

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   Starfleet finally lost it to his panic a day later and contacted Team Prime.

   "A-autobot Outpost O-omega 1..." he started, then banged his fisted servo on the control panel, "Scrap.... Prime, Commander Windblade's missing. She's been missing for over a day, with no contact. We don't even have a way to track her."

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   At the Autobot Base, Optimus Prime blankly stared at the screen for a moment before getting control, his expression betraying nothing of his thoughts, "Stay calm, Starfleet. We will help you search for Commander Windblade."

   Starfleet's voice shuddered as he vented, trying to compose himself, "Thank you, sir. I'm going to be setting up search parties."

   Optimus nodded, "Understood." 

   He understood just how much their team was held together by the skilled Warrior. They closed off the link, and Optimus explained what was going on. Soon Team Prime was scattered over the world at every possible sign of Windblade's location.

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   Starfleet flew over the Sonoran Desert, trying desperately to find their Leader. Half of the Fighters were out searching, and half of those searching had run into 'Cons and had to fight. He vented, turning east to continue towards the mountains. He transformed, landing on the mountaintop, and commed the Skyblade, "No sign of anything, Hammerhead... I'm sorry." 

   "It's alright, L.C. Starfleet. We're all doing the best we can," the tired and worried Medic replied, pinching his non-existent nose bridge as he tried to ignore the growing headache. Soon after he coordinated with the teams to bring them back for some much-needed recharge, he left the control panel to recharge himself, knowing everyone, including himself, needed to be at peak condition to find their leader. She was a master of staying hidden when she didn't want to be found, which made it all the harder for the Sky Fighters to find her.

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   Optimus drove through a forest in the Eastern United States, looking for any signs of Windblade. The Sky Fighter wasn't one to go and abandon anyone. He knew that from all the times she'd mentioned not abandoning her twin.... even with her... offlining. He thought back to the week he and Windblade had formed a close friendship, before she had to leave Cybertron. He'd found her on the roof of the Hall of Records so many times, just trying to accept what had happened to her. He closed his eyes, thinking. When he opened them, he knew: She would have gone to the highest place she could find. 

"Rachet, open a Groundbridge! Autobots, return to base immediately," Optimus ordered.

He knew where to find Windblade.