I Swear I'm Not Crazy

17. Pillars

Song: Say Goodbye -Skillet

As it turns out, the pillars are meant to be a teleportation device, like a brigde across the universe. Only Sentinel can control it.

Bumblebee is sent with Sam to protect him, but I have to stay on base. I'm left bummed out, my brother and my best friend leaving to hang out without me. But Bumblebee tells Ironhide to watch over me.

"Come on, kid," Ironhide says. "Maybe you can read something out loud while I work."

I take him up on the offer, reading from The Book Thief as Ironhide fixes his cannons. Sentinel approaches me, then, holding out his hand for me to climb on. I do, and he holds me up to his eye-level.

"Yes, sir?" I ask, looking into his large blue optics. I get the feeling he's scanning me, but I ignore it. A human battery is quite the rarity.

"You're world is peaceful and majestic, young one," he tells me. "Optimus has shown me some of the beauties it has to offer. I wanted to apologize that our war was brought to your planet. That it has affected you so."

I smile a little. "It's ok," I assure him. "It wasn't your fault, after all. It's the Decepticons'. Besides, we seem to have handled ourselves decently, with the Autobots' help."

Sentinel nods, before handing me back to Ironhide. He says he has something to take care of and must leave the base.

Shortly after, we learn that the Decepticons are coming for Sentinel Prime. Ironhide, Sideswipe, and Dino are called to fight the oncoming attackers.

"Be careful," I call up from the ground.

"Don't worry, kid," Ironhide tells me as he transforms into his truck mode. "We'll take care of 'em. Be back before you know it. Then you can keep reading. It's an alright book."

And he's right about one thing. They are back soon, with Sentinel, Bee, and Sam. I rush out with Lennox to meet them. Ironhide is instructed to guard Sentinel, as he is the key to the whole plan. Whatever the plan is.

"Indeed I am," Sentinel agrees, transforming and standing. "What you must realize, my Autobot brothers, is we were never going to win the war. For the sake of our planet's survival, a deal had to be made. With Megatron."

Sentinel turns and shoots Ironhide through the chest. The bot lands before me and I fall back. He seems to be rusting away, but realizes something as he is dying. He looks at me with wide, pained optics.

"Run, El," he instructs.

I run as fast as I can on malnourished legs, but I don't get far. While shooting at Bee, Sentinel manages to grab me. Once he has the oportunity, he transforms, strapping me tightly into his passenger seat. He collects the pillars, and we're gone.

"Why are you taking me?" I ask in fear as I struggle against the tight seatbelt.

"You are the power source, Eleanor," Sentinel answers. "You are the key to saving Cybertron. You should feel honored."

Sentinel drives us in front of the monument of Abraham Lincoln and tosses me out onto the concrete. I groan in pain, before I am scooped up by none other than Starscream. I tense in fear as I remember the treatments. The torture.

"Let me go," I beg, tears falling down my face. "Please, just let me go."

"I can't do that, fleshy," Starscream chuckles. "Not when you're this important to the plan."

He shackles me to one of the pillars. The one glowing red; the control pillar.

"Stop!" I hear Optimus yelling. "No! No, Sentinel!"

But Sentinel ignites the bridge. I scream, feeling pain and energy surge through my body and into the pillars. Decepticons come pouring out of the space bridge. I hear Optimus yelling for the Autobots to retreat. There's no one to save me, then.

Optimus and Sentinel get into a heated battle, Optimus questioning why his former mentor would do this.

"For our home," Sentinel replies. "What war destroyed, we can rebuild, but only if we join with the Decepticons."

"No, it's not the only way," Optimus retorts. "This is our home! We must defend the humans! Instead, you bring torture upon a child!"

"So lost are you, Optimus," Sentinel laments. "On Cybertron, we were gods. And here, they call us machines. Let the humans serve us, or perish. You're lucky I didn't kill you. In time you'll see."

"It's not over," Optimus promises, but he has to leave. He has to form a plan with the rest of the Autobots.

Sentinel takes me down from the pillar, but I have a feeling they're not done with me yet.

I'm right, as Starscream takes me to a large building in Chicago. There, Sentinel and Megatron wait. I'm dropped on the balcony before them, and hear Sentinel talking to someone, telling them that to achieve peace, they must exile the Autobots.

Hours of waiting pass as Decepticons spread the pillars around the world. In the meantime, the US agrees to end all negotiations the Autobots. They leave at dawn on a spacecraft. Soon, then, as it is slowly getting lighter outside.

In the distance, I see what must be the spacecraft leaving the atmosphere. That's when Starscream takes off, without a word. As he disappears into the distance, I can only watch as the spacecraft is blown to pieces.

"No!" I scream. "No, no, no! How could you?" I turn on Sentinel. "They were your friends, you called them your brothers! And you had them killed!"

"Sometimes you must make hard decisions for the fate of your world," Sentinel replies.

"You didn't have to kill them," I cry. "They were leaving! They were doing what you asked!"

That's it, then. I'm officially alone. Bumblebee, Optimus, Ratchet... all my friends. They're gone. They're dead. There's no one left to save me. Just like no one could save them.

That's when I see another familiar face. Carly. She's with a man I don't recognize, and appears to be a hostage.

"Carly!" I call, rushing to her, just glad to know someone.

"El," she sighs, hugging me. "You're alive. What's Sentinel doing here?"

"He betrayed the Autobots," I announce in disgust, earning a glare from the large robot.

"Watch," the man tells us. "They're spreading the pillars around the globe. Soon, their gonna power them up and bring Cybertron into our atmosphere. The red one there controls the rest." He points to me. "They need her to power it. That's why they took her."

"Begone, insect operative," Megatron tells the man. "Your work is done."

"Your Excellency," the man says, before taking Carly away. I try to follow.

"Not you," Megatron clarifies, pulling me back with his claw-like fingers. "We still need you."

I'm still on the balcony, and I see only one way to stop this. They need me for their plan to work. As Sentinel said, sometimes you must make hard decisions for the fate of your world. Well, my world is Earth.

Not giving it any more thought, I run to the ledge and jump. If I die, they can't use me. But Megatron's clawed hand grabs me long before I would reach the bottom.

"Not so fast, fleshling," he chides. "We still need you."

I am strapped to the red pillar once again, but they do not turn it on. Not yet. They just don't want me dying before they finish their plan. Not after all the trouble they went through to get me.

From my high perch, I watch as Decepticons destroy Chicago. All I can do is watch and pray that as few people are killed as possible.