The Final Hope - Transformers Prime (3)

Chapter Thirty-One

   Nemesis Prime was staring right at us, but thankfully its eyes weren't seeing anything. Though its power was shut off, it was clearly the same deadly weapon that the Autobots had once faced, right down to the evident impersonation of my own Prime, except this knockoff's color scheme was the obvious difference. MECH didn't even bother trying to replicate Optimus' color scheme, instead opting for a pitch black imitation, which made it look like a shadow against the factory wall.

   "Scrap," I repeated.

   "We need to take that thing out," Finn whispered, but I could hear a slight waver in his voice. I gave him a firm look.

   "We will, but we can't rush in," I said. "Not yet. Look how many soldiers they have down there."

   He looked down at the main floor and saw more than two dozen MECH soldiers roaming the floor, all heavily armed. If we were going to get anywhere near Nemesis Prime, we'd have to go through them first.

   "Attention my fellow agents of MECH!" A female's voice echoed through the factory, causing silence to fall over the entire building. My eyes darted to the source of the voice, seeing that it was the same woman who had met Finn in the clearing.

   "Lauriana," Finn muttered under his breath, and I saw his hand start to shake a bit. Without thinking, I slipped my hand through his to stop his shaking and in hopes of calming his nerves. It was clear that in some way, he used to be close to this woman. If she was leading MECH now, she had to have been high up in the ranks when his parents were in charge and even when Silas was, so she was bound to have known Finn personally before.

   "All of our hard work has paid off, my friends," Lauriana said. She wasn't wearing a full uniform this time- her helmet was tucked underneath her arm- allowing me to finally get a look at her. She looked like she was in her forties, but she clearly had a strong, muscular build underneath the rest of her uniform. She had short, dark blue hair that barely reached her chin, stark against her coffee colored skin. As much as I wanted to analyze her, I couldn't get past the fact that her entire aura was commanding and she'd use her brute strength as her main weapon in a fight.

   "We have successfully recreated our dream," she continued. "After the death of our brave leader and the destruction of our facilities, it seemed like we were done for. Yet we have risen from the ashes, like the phoenix, and we will blaze to glory in the exact same way. We've taken the broken pieces of MECH and used them to rebuild our most powerful weapon, one that successfully destroyed an entire US military base in the past. But now, with our new improvements and stronger technology, no one will be able to stand against us."

   "But who will lead us?" A voice called out, causing others to voice their similar concerns, and Finn went dangerously still beside me.

   Lauriana's expression went dark. "The last remaining Bishop has refused to join our cause. Silas' nephew, as you all know, was taken from us by the military shortly after his uncle took up the mantel as MECH leader. We have Ingrid Beckett to thank for destroying the Bishop legacy, as she was the one to keep Finley from us."

   At the sound of my mother's name, the MECH agents all frowned, scowled, and one soldier even spat. I clenched my jaw, making a mental note to break that soldier's nose.

   "I've taken the post as acting leader for now," Lauriana continued. "Until we can place Finley as our leader or end the Bishop line, I'll be your temporary leader."

   That sent a wave of cheers to echo in the factory. Lauriana smiled- a scary sight, really- before she turned to the group of scientists who had been working with the energon.

   "Now, my friends," Lauriana spread her arms. "We begin our phase two."

   As MECH agents continued to cheer, a pair of scientists hoisted their chunk of energon and made their way to Nemesis Prime. I stood abruptly, pulling out my pocket staff but Finn stood and grabbed my arm.

   "What are you doing?" he hissed.

   "We can't let them activate Nemesis Prime," I whispered back. "We don't have backup like last time, remember? It was Optimus who took that thing out, and if they upgraded it, then we're in a lot more trouble and don't have the option of calling in the big guns."

   "So you want to charge in there?"

   "Finn," I put my hands on his shoulders, seeing that his protests stemmed from his slight fear. "Listen to me. We're the only two who can stop them right now. We can't afford to wait and every second we hesitate is a second they're closer to achieving their goals. I get that this is personal, and I get that it's hard for you to face them, especially now, but I need you to be here with me. It's just you and me against all of them. I need to know that you'll have my back the same way I'll have yours."

   He took a shaky breath, looked over at the main floor again, before meeting my gaze. "Okay."

   I smiled and released him. "Good. Now get ready, things are about to get messy."

   Spotting that pair of scientists with the energon were at the base of Nemesis Prime, I wrapped my hand around my pocket staff again and extended it all the way before throwing it like a javelin. My aim was a bit off, but I used my powers to guide it, and it struck the chunk of energon, sending it to the ground and shattering it. Every single MECH agent whirled around to look up at me and Finn, and I suppressed the urge to feel satisfied about their shocked expressions.

   "Show time," I said, giving Finn a look as though to ask if he was ready. He nodded firmly, and that's when the rain of bullets began.