A simple camping trip leads to something much bigger. Sunset is not the only alien visitor to Earth.
Sunset Shimmer and her friends in the human world are ready for spring break! They have a week to do whatever they want and for the first three days they have decided to camp in the woods near Applejack's family farm. After what happened at Camp Everfree, they are making sure that this trip isn't interrupted by any magical phenomena. Too bad what they discover isn't magical in nature but rather mechanical and extraterrestrial. Earth is being secretly invaded by a faction of hostile aliens and the group which has any hope of stopping them is on the run across the stars. Now, Sunset Shimmer and her friends need to help stop the invasion of Earth while keeping the whole thing a secret.
I know that "I wouldn't say heroes...." is nowhere near finished (its only got three chapters as of writing) but this idea poped into my head last night and I had to write it down. My plan is to update both this and "I wouldn't say heroes...." at about the same time so if you see one gain a chapter then expect the other to receive a new one a few hours to a day later. You have permission to shout if I forget.
The gore tag is for the series I'm crossing over with. It's not that bad (for humans, anyway) but its better to be safe rather than sorry.
Spring break had begun for the students of Canterlot High and they all more than ready to begin. Most were planning wild parties or were heading abroad for a luxury vacation. Sunset Shimmer and her friends, though? They were going camping. Rainbow had been the one to suggest it. She made it known that she felt they deserved an actual camping trip with no magic or real danger or anything similar after the events of Camp Everfree. Applejack had agreed and suggested they use the woods near her family's farm. She told them that it was isolated and that no one ever went in there. It would just be them for the duration of the trip. Sunset thought it was a good idea, as did Twilight. The others had plans already, unfortunately, and couldn't come. They wished the four who were going the best.
Applejack was the only one of the group who were heading into the woods with a driver's licence. This, obviously, meant that she would be driving the truck. They had met at the farm house, packed the vehicle and set off. Some hours after they had entered the woods and found a suitable spot to establish camp.
"Well, ah reckon we've got ourselves a fine living space here." Said Applejack, wiping her brow and placing the hammer she used to pin her tent up on the ground. Sunset, Rainbow and Twilight all looked at her with an expression that clearly said 'are you joking?' and gestured at their own tents, still either crumpled on the floor or falling over. Applejack laughed, nervously, as she remembered that she had much more experience with this kind of thing than her friends. That and her new super strength had helped.
"How about you help the rest of us get ready, Applejack?" Asked Rainbow, annoyance in her tone as her tent collapsed for the sixth time that in that hour. Applejack scratched the back of her head before moving forward to help the other three get their own tents ready.
"We DO have a place to wash, right? I'm already starting to sweat and believe me when I say that I get really bad B.O." Said Twilight with an awkward laugh.
The rest looked at Twilight for a solid five seconds before Rainbow told her that there is a river in the next clearing over.
Two hours later, they had the living space set up and a good fire going. Applejack was cooking some burgers over the fire while the others were planning what activities the group would do the next day.
"Well, how about we go swimming in that lake? That would be fun!" Chipped in sunset. The rest of the group agreed and began eating there meals. The group spent the rest of the evening discussing what they thought of the events from the previous school year. Before long, they had retired to bed.
The next morning the four friends had dressed and made their way through the woods toward the clearing. Rainbow had loudly declared that she would race the rest of them there. The remaining three watched as Rainbow sped off into the forest before suddenly stopping completely still and dropping into cover behind a fallen log. Before anyone could ask her what was wrong she lifted a finger to her mouth in a shushing motion then motioned for the rest of them to run over to her position.
The remaining three sprinted over and dropped down behind the same log as the blue girl. Rainbow pointed over the log with a shacking arm. Her eyes were wide and her breaths, through quiet, were ragged. Suffice to say, she was terrified by what ever was over there. Slowly, they looked over and saw something that shocked them.
Three large robots. One, black and silver. Another, Green and Purple. The last was red and silver. Two of the robots had glowing purple and very menacing symbols on their chests while the red one had a much kinder symbol that glowed a light shade of red. The green and purple one was holding the red one down while the black and silver one continually punched the red one in its face, chest and stomach area. An imposing, deep and sinister voice rang out over the area.
"That's enough, Barricade. I'll take it from here."
From the shadows on the other side of the clearing walked a large robot, taller than all the rest, with what looked like a cannon strapped to its arm. Its eyes were a piercing red and it was covered in scars. On its back rested a massive sword that looked impossibly sharp. It was silver with its joints painted with purple highlights. The same symbol as seen on the one called 'Barricade' was on its chest, glowing a much more sinister purple.
It knelt in front of the red one, which was now restrained by both of the other two.
"Now, Ironhide. I'm only going to ask this once more. Where are the rest of the Autobots hiding?"
Ironhide raised its head and replied with a defiant tone.
"Frag off."
The large silver one smiled then stood up once more.
"That was so very unwise."
Ironhide then received a fist in his stomach that struck with such speed and power that it sounded as though the air was knocked out of him. The girls could tell that these were not simple robots and very likely could feel pain. They all winced at the crushing sound the colliding metal made.
"Is there anything else you would like to add?"
Ironhide spat out a glob of a blue liquid which glowed on the ground. Again, the silver one smiled, then laughed. It was a dark laugh. One more along the lines of an evil chuckle than a laugh. It turned around walked two steps before speaking once more.
"You are an honorable warrior, Ironhide. You deserve much more than what life has given you. I can respect your loyalty to the Autobots and to Orian." Said the robot as it clicked its claws. The other two released their hold on Ironhide (who fell face first onto the floor) and walked over to their apparent leader. "Its for that reason that I have decided to let you go."
Ironhide pushed off the floor and onto his knees. He looked up at the large robot's back with shock clear on his face.
"Is what I would have said if you were not an Autobot."
Then, quicker than any might have thought, the large silver robot drew the sword from its back and sliced Ironhide in half from shoulder to hip. The body slowly split in half as more of the blue liquid spilled onto the floor and the red lights on Ironhide's body dimmed out alongside his eyes.
The large silver bot began speaking to its companions as it put the sword back on its back.
"We learned nothing from him. It seems we must use alternative methods. Barricade, scout the organic town nearby but do not reveal yourself. The local primitives need not know of our presence on this planet until I deem it necessary."
The black and silver robot responded with a 'Yes, sir' before falling apart. That alone nearly caused the four watchers to scream if the violent execution hadn't made them cover their mouths out of fear of being found.
When the robot reassembled itself it looked like a police cruiser.The only way they could tell it wasn't a real police vehicle was the fact that the same symbol found on its chest as a robot was on its back bumper and the words 'to punish and enslave' replaced the usual 'to protect and serve'. It drove off into the woods and towards the road.
"Onslaught, you will help me drag this corpse back to our base. Perhaps Shockwave can find something inside Ironhide's processor."
The green and purple robot, now known as Onslaught, gave a reply of "Yes, Lord Megatron" before moving to pick up the top half of the recently dead Ironhide. The one who had been revealed as Megatron picked up the lower half before calling for a 'space bridge' from someone called Soundwave. A large green, swirling vortex opened up and the two walked through. It closed afterwards.
The girls stayed completely still and very quiet until they were sure that they were alone. They then ran and ran and didn't look back. They had to tell someone what they had just seen.
Mars-The red planet. It is Earth's closest neighbor and has been a subject of study for many years. Is there life on its rocky surface? Did water once flow freely? Will humans ever have the opportunity to settle there? All these questions were frequently asked by many different people over a long period of time.
In 2003, during the months of June and July, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration launched two rovers to Mars in the hopes of gaining some in depth and highly accurate data readings. It was unfortunate that a week after they landed, they were both destroyed. It was entirely unexpected and the obvious answer was that they were short circuited by solar radiation or were crushed by a falling rock. Some people believed that something else happened, however. They believed that the rovers were destroyed by aliens native to Mars which did not wish to be found.
They were somewhat correct. The sudden destruction of the rovers was the responsibility of aliens, but they were not native to Mars.
Mars has been home to a research and development/military rendezvous outpost for thirty nine years. This outpost belonged to a group of mechanical aliens with the strange ability to shift their appearance into a vehicle. This group called themselves the Decepticons. They were responsible for huge amounts of terror and conflict across multiple galaxies. They believe that their race, the Cybertronians, were superior to all organic creatures in the universe and felt that it was their duty to either purge or enslave everything that was made of flesh.
But before they became the universe's strongest and most terrifying power, they were a humble civil rights organisation. There home world, Cybertron, was home to an oppressive cast system which beat down the lower tier while raising those on top higher and higher. From this cast system came D-16. He was a humble mining drone whose whole existence was centered on mining Energon deep beneath Cybertron's surface.
One day, about 16 million years ago, D-16 was sold to the gladiatorial arena in the lower caste city of Kaon. It was here he earned the name Megatronus. In no time at all he gained a reputation for being unbeatable and became something of an idol to the poor sparks stuck at the bottom. He showed how they could rise above what their frames are designed for and become something better.
It was at this time that he began writing political journals and letters. These writings gained him more fans from all across Cybertronian controlled space. Soon enough, these many voices were heard by the council which was at the head of the Autobot Commonwealth. This council began to demonize this new movement by branding them as Decepticons. They hoped that this would cause the citizens of the Commonwealth to turn on the movement. It did not.
These activists took the insult on as their official name and grew even more. Entire cities on Cybertron declared their loyalty and six of the thirteen colonies threw in their support.
Soon, Megatrounus and his close friend and ally, Orion Pax, came before the Autobot high council. Talks between the council and the Decepticons quickly broke down and both Megatronus and Orion Pax were accused of treason despite the fact that Orion was apprenticed to Alpha Trion, the head archivist at the grand archive. They were left with no choice but to fight their way out. This is seen as the start of the Cybertronian civil war. Before long, the entire commonwealth was set ablaze as fighting between Autobot loyalists and Decepticon rebels increased.
Orion himself began to see that Megatronus, now going by Megatron, was becoming stressed beyond belief. He and his elite were progressivly becoming more and more brutal until their ideology went from moderate socialism to complete fascism. They saw themselves as the rightful rulers of Cybertron and grew violent toward the organic nations they shared their home galaxy with.
This combined with the fact that Zeta Prime had abolished the High Council and had reformed the Commonwealth into a more equal and free nation led to Orion's defection to the Autobots.
This outraged Megatron. He and his most loyal saw this as the ultimate betrayal. Many now believe this is what led to the founding of the elite head hunter team known as the Decepticon Justice Division. In response, the Decepticon uprising invaded Iacon, the Autobot capital city. It was here that Zeta Prime met his death at the end of Megatron's sword. While Zeta's commanders attempted to chose which one of them would take up the title of Prime, Orion rallied the Autobots fighting on the front line and was field promoted to the position of battalion commander when the bot in charge was killed by a sniper.
Eventually, Sentinel Prime rose to lead the Autobots and he made Orion, now a decorated war hero, his second in command. For a while it seemed as though the tide was being turned. This changed with the battle of Vos.
The Autobots thought that if they could take the flyer city from the Decepticons then they had a clear shot at Kaon, the Decepticon capital. It was here that Megatron would kill his second Prime and steal the Matrix of Leadership from the Autobots. Now, Orion was left as supreme commander of all Autobot military forces. He did go through the ceremony of being named Prime but without the Matrix many, including Megatron, refused to call Orion by his new name-Optimus Prime.
The Decepticons began putting the pressure on the Autobots, even more than before. Soon, Iacon's inner city area was the final Autobot controlled area. The rest of Cybertron and all of the colonies had fallen and were under Decepticon control. In one final push, the Decepticons forced the Autobots off the planet and scattered them to the stars. Megatron and his personal unit took to hunting Orion's band of fighters across the universe. All other Autobots were slowly being wiped out but every time Megatron found Orion, he and his team were able to escape.
The tides had turned and the roles had been reversed. Now the war was between the Decepticon Imperium and the Autobot resistance.
Eventually, the Decepticons launched invasions into all the organic worlds they could find. Earth was next on the list and from their base on Mars, they plotted.
Megatron and Onslaught had returned to Decepticon Outpost Omega-1 and made their way towards Shockwave's laboratory. The room was dark and the only light came from the computer terminals on the walls. Two large surgery tables were in the middle of the room and they were both stained with Energon. The two warriors placed the remains of Ironhide on the tables and stood until Shockwave, busy in his work, turned to look at them. Megatron chose to dismiss Onslaught, mainly due to Onslaught's status as a gestalt team leader. His presence in the halls would make sure that anyone who Soundwave didn't catch slacking would know not to do so less they are dragged to the Combaticons' shared quarters and used as a punching bag.
"Shockwave, I have something I need you to do."
The dark lord's voice caused the scientist to address his master with his one glowing red optic still focused on whatever was on his terminal. His voice was deep, not as deep as Megatron's but still intimidating, and completely empty of all emotion.
"You wish for me to use a cortical psychic patch to enter the dead Autobot's mind and find the location of their base on the planet." Shockwave stated, not missing a beat and barley moving at all.
"Indeed. Is it possible?" asked Megatron. Normally, he would not ask such a question but to his knowledge this had never been done before and Shockwave was likely the only bot who knew the answer.
"Yes, though it is incredibly dangerous. I will have Knockout do so soon but for now, with your permission, I would like to show you something I have found. Something incredibly interesting." Responded Shockwave as he turned to look at his liege.
Megatron nodded and stepped forward to look at the terminal the chief scientist was working on. Two things were on the screen. One, a chart showing readings of energy spikes and the other was a picture of seven humans.
"The data on the right shows readings of a previously unknown energy source which appears to be concentrated in and around the settlement you found Autobot captain Ironhide hiding in. As you can see, having control of this energy would give the Decepticons a major advantage over any resistance we may encounter in the future." Shockwave explained.
Megatron raised an optic ridge before asking if the energy could be weaponized in such a way.
"It would be logical to assume so. However, not many of the local population appear to know of this energy's existence. Of the ones that do, these seven are the most knowledgeable on the topic. At least, others seem to believe that, if the posts on the private information sharing network used by the educational institution they attend is any indication," Shockwave continued while pointing toward the picture on the left. He had the computer zoom in on two of the humans before speaking once again. "These two humans, known as Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle, appear to know the most from the previous group shown. Many think that the energy follows them around. However, Twilight Sparkle may have a twin with whom she occasionally trades places with as it appears that sometimes she knows all there is to know and at other times she is as unknowing as we are currently. I recommend finding both."
Megatron was thinking. Now, to those who know him this is not a surprise but whenever Megatron begins thinking as deeply as he was in that situation, bad things happen. His mouth slowly formed into an evil smirk as he thanked Shockwave for the information and left the room.
Barricade was patrolling. Nothing new there as he had been patrolling for the past thirty nine years. Ever since he had come to this mudball of a planet he had been patrolling. The business with Ironhide had been his only break from patrolling in all that time. His communications unit sounded. Maybe he was getting another break.
"Barricade, I have a mission for you." Came the voice of Megatron through the radio. Barricade's holographic disguise of a human police officer smiled before responding.
"How may I be of service, Lord Megatron."
"I'm having Soundwave send you a picture of two humans living in the city you are currently located. These two know of an energy source which, if properly harnessed, could be of great use to the Decepticons. Find them and bring them to me."
Barricade laughed before yelling 'as you command!', turning on his siren and speeding down the road.
What he didn't notice was the red Ford GT slowly lower the small satellite dish back into its rear before driving in the opposite direction. He also didn't hear it say "This is Cliffjumper to base. We may have a problem. A big one."
Sunset, Rainbow, Applejack and Twilight all sprinted back within their camp's perimeter. Out of breath and sweating, they each lent against a tree or a dropped to their knees in Twilight's case. After a few minutes they had regained some semblance of composure and got their breath back. Twilight was the first to speak.
"D-did we.....did we really see that? Or was it a hallucination?" she asked, gulping down air between words. She looked up at her friends, awaiting an answer.
"We definitely did. I just....haven't ever heard of anything like that. At least not in Equestria. Those things aren't normal here, right?" Responded Sunset. Her face was red with exhaustion and sweat dripped down her forehead. Her eyes were wide with uncertainty.
"Ah think you've been here long enough to know that, Sunset. Do you think they was more magic thingamajigs or-"
Applejack was cut off by Rainbow. She'd been uncharacteristically quiet up until that point.
"They were NOT magical, Applejack. Did you not here what they were saying? They were going on about galaxies and primitives and locals,"
Rainbow looked at the rest of the group with a shocked and unbelieving expression.
"I think......I think those were aliens, you guys."
The rest of the group looked at her like she had gone completely insane. Applejack opened her mouth to speak when, again, she was cut off.
"Come on, you all know that those weren't made of magic like all the other stuff we've seen. They weren't nearly as glowy and they.....ya know.....didn't get along like the other things we've seen. If they were magical wouldn't they be on the same side?"
It dawned on the other three that their multicolored companion was, as unbelievable as it might seem, right. Each had a difference in reaction. Twilight began hyperventilating again, Sunset fell deep into thought and Applejack simply slid down the tree she was leaning on and wrapped her arms around her legs.
"We have to do something. Right now." Sunset suddenly spoke up. She had a look of grim determination.
"What? No, no, no. We all agreed that we wouldn't let anything interrupt this trip a-and besides, what are we gunna do? If we tell anyone what we just saw then they'll think we're crazy!" Rainbow said. Her tone was stubborn. She wasn't willing to be argued with. An argument broke out soon after.
In the end, the four of them chose to try and forget anything had happened at all. What was the chance they would ever see those 'aliens' again, anyway? Even then, maybe what they witnessed was misinterpreted. For all they know, the red robot, 'Ironhide', had been more than deserving of what happened. Maybe it hadn't even been killed.
It had been six days since the events of the woods. Sunset tried to forget what happened. She wanted to believe that it was a dream or something similar but she just couldn't get it out of her head. What made it worse is that she felt like someone was watching her whenever she was walking through Canterlot. That feeling got much worse whenever she was alone.
She and Twilight had gone into town one day. This was mainly to talk and theorize about what they saw. After the shock of what happened had past they had both began to freak out at the thought of alien life on Earth. The both of them agreed that it was likely that the interrogation and execution they had seen had been either a peacekeeping action or politically charged. It was far more probable to be a political action (a civil war, maybe?) with the two sets of symbols seen on the machines. If these beings were locked in a war among themselves, what were they doing on the planet? Why did the war start in the first place? They had many questions and not enough evidence to build a suitable hypothesis. They left the small cafe they had been chatting in. They had decided to avoid Sugarcube Corner when discussing the A word in order to keep it a secret from as many as possible.
It was dark outside the building and the street was deserted. It was late, about ten minutes to midnight, and most people were in bed or out near the creek in the Everfree for a party that Pinkie was throwing. The girls were about to begin making their way out there when a police car turned the corner at the end of the road.
Slowly, it drove up the street until it was right along side them. The window rolled down and an officer leaned out. He looked both of the girls in the eyes before speaking.
"What are you doing out so late?"
"We were just going to our friend's party in the woods. That isn't a problem is it, Officer?" responded Sunset.
"Cade. Barry Cade. I really hope you don't mean the party out by the creek cause that one's being broke up. Its violating a law, only recently introduced mind you, that's kind of a curfew. No teens are to be out past eleven o'clock. That means you are violating that law, too,"
The two students adopted a sheepish look which put a slight smile on the officer's face.
"I'ma need you to get in the car, girls."
Twilight moved to open the back door of the vehicle when Sunset noticed something odd about the car in front of her. Near its trunk, next to the door Twilight was about to open. Instead of the usual City of Canterlot Police Department sigil was a menacing symbol, bearing resemblance to a face with a permanent glare. Next to that was a phrase which was the exact opposite of what should have been there, 'To Punish and Enslave'.
"Twilight," Sunset said, dread beginning to cover her face "Run."
For a moment, Twilight looked confused then noticed the same things as Sunset and did just as instructed. Barricade vented, deactivated his holoform and drove after the two of them.
It was a very tricky chase. Barricade would find a place to cut them off then they would duck down an alley which he couldn't fit through. All things come to end, though. Barricade had them cornered. Behind them was a lake, on one side was wide and open road were he could easily catch up and on the other side was a ditch which lead toward a construction site. Anyone who fell down there would be knocked out and made easy pickings for their enemy.
Barricade revved his engine and began racing toward the two. The thoughts going through their heads were of fear, regret and sorrow. There was so much they had yet to do!
Before the speeding law enforcement vehicle could get within range of doing any damage, it was hit by a yellow and black Urbana 500 which continued driving and threw it into the ditch. Pulling up in front of the girls was a deep red Ford GT. Noticeably, it had no driver. The door opened and a male voice sounding suspiciously like Nolan North spoke to them.
"You too are in extreme danger. You need to come with us, for your protection."
Sunset placed herself between the car and Twilight, taking a defensive stance.
"Why should we trust you? For all we know, you want us for the same reason that one did!" Sunset said with distrust and accusation in her voice.
The same voice as before spoke back.
"You should trust us because unlike him and the bots he's with, we actually care about innocents. Trust me, we're the galactic good guys." It reassuringly told them.
Sunset's next accusatory question was interrupted by Twilight stepping out from behind her.
"I trust them Sunset."
Sunset turned to look at her with surprise and shock on her face. She demanded to know why the hell Twilight would trust them.
"I just....do, Sunset. I have this feeling."
The Urbana 500 drove up and out of the ditch at that moment. A fresh dent decorated its hood and the wheels were covered in mud. It came up towards the group and informed them in a young yet experienced male voice.
"He's not gunna be down for long. We need to move right now if we want to be gone by the time he gets up."
Sunset looked between the two cars and her friend. She sighed, knowing this was probably a bad idea, before climbing into the Ford alongside Twilight. The doors closed and the cars drove off into the city, and in the direction of the highway.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Megatron sat upon his throne located in the center of the Decepticon base on Mars. He had been reading through reports from Decepticon teams all over the universe until he was interrupted by a communication from Barricade. It contained only a few words.
"Mission failed. Targets escaped with Autobot assistance."
Megatron let out an enraged yell and slammed a hand onto the arm rest of his throne. He then activated his own communication unit and spoke in his usual commanding tone.
The ride was silent along the highway heading out of Canterlot. The two humans were too busy thinking to speak and the robots with them gave no indication that they were all too chatty either. The silence was broken when a swirling green vortex opened up in front of them, startling Sunset and Twilight, and the cars drove through. To say the experience was disorientating was would be an understatement. Ever had really bad vertigo? Take that, times by a thousand and through in some whiplash for good measure. Twilight had to cover her mouth to stop herself from puking up everything she'd eaten that week. Sunset was more composed but her face did take on a slight green tint.
The doors of the car they were in opened and they rushed to get out as quickly as possible. They heard the sound the aliens made when they transformed while they tried to compose themselves. Soon, they felt a number of eyes on them. They looked up and saw a group of the robots watching them. Each had a different color and all had the same red, glowing face-like symbol somewhere on them.
Twilight raised a hand and let out a shaky "Hi?" to break the awkward silence. The largest one raised its own hand and replied to her.
"Hi! I'm Orion Pa- uh, Optimus Prime." He (as the voice indicated) said. This one was mainly red with blue arms, a blue kind of helmet thing and white legs with blue markings above the knees. The one stood next to him patted him on the shoulder and whispered something along the lines of 'you'll get it eventually' before returning its attention to the little organics.
"Thanks, Ratchet. Anyway, yeah, I'm the current leader of the Autobot resistance. This is my team." He continued with a gesture at those gathered.
The one called Ratchet was mainly white with red highlights running down his limbs and chest. He looked older than the rest and, seeing as how Optimus had already said his name, appeared to dismiss himself to a console near the other side of the room. The next along in the line was mainly red and yellow. Flame decals ran up his arms and legs. He had a large smile on his face and looked very excited.
"Hey! My names Hot Rod! I'm the team sniper!" He said, clearly holding back on what he could have continued with.
Another bot, this one smaller and yellow with black stripes, stepped forward. His parts indicated that he was the one who rammed the cop car previously chasing them. He got down on one knee before introducing himself as Bumblebee, an Autobot Scout-Captain. After him, his partner introduced himself. He was entirely red and called himself Cliffjumper.
The last bot in the room let out a humph and crossed his arms, looking away.
"Longarm, come on." Whined the Prime.
"Fine, I am Longarm, Autobot intelligence chief. If you have to be here then please, don't bug me." The dark green and black Autobot spoke with a condescending tone of voice.
"Autobots, you can go back to what you were doing. I'll answer any questions these two might have." Ordered Optimus. The others all spread out amongst the area, talking and using consoles. Optimus gestured for the two humans to follow him. "You don't have to introduce yourselves. We've known who you are for a while."
"How, exactly?" asked Sunset, not really trusting the situation.
"We've been tracking a strange energy source found in a few select areas of the planet. You and your friends are apparently some of the only humans who know about it and the only ones in the public eye." Optimus explained. He stood by a console and brought up a map of the world. Some areas where highlighted in red. "We think the reason Barricade, the bot who looks like a police car, was chasing you is because the Decepticons know this as well."
"The Decepti-whats?" Inquired Twilight.
"The Decepticons. They're the group that we are at w-"
Optimus was interrupted by a continuous beeping coming from Ratchet's console. The medic called out to the rest.
"Someone is contacting us. Its an Autobot signal!"
"Patch 'em through then, Docbot." Responded Hot Rod, eager to hear from some of the others. Ratchet pressed a button on the console and sound began to filter into the room.
"This is Autobot Unit-Captain Arcee transmitting on all Frequencies," a female voice was heard. She sounded panicked. Fighting could be heard in the background "The Decepticons are breaking through our lines on Caminus. If anyone can hear m-" The voice let out a pained scream as the sound of metal tearing and denting filled the room.
A malicious laugh could be heard in the background as the sound of a body hitting the floor was heard. A scratchy, male voice spoke up after.
"If anyone can ME, feel free to listen in as I execute your comrades!" More gunfire, screams and laughter echoed after that. Ratchet, quite calmly, turned the broadcast off.
All the bots in the room looked both horrified and unbelievably furious. Hot Rod could be heard muttering 'Starscream' with murder in his voice. Both Twilight and Sunset saw the pure emotion in each bot. Sure, they could see that they were sentient and could feel pain but actual emotion? Neither actually believed they had that until that moment.
"Uh....anyway. The Decepticons are our enemy. We've been fighting them for millions of years in an effort to stop them from conquering the universe and enforcing tyranny upon everyone who lives in it." Continued Optimus, sadness creeping into his tone.
"Why are you fighting though? If these 'Decepticons' are trying to conquer things for your species, then why fight them?" Questioned Twilight, clearly disturbed by what she had heard. Before Optimus could answer, Longarm did.
"Because the Decepticons are a band of rebels who got lucky! The only, ONLY, reason we're know as the 'resistance' is because the Decepticons took Cybertron and killed it! Our home is dead and our 'glorious' leader, Optimus 'Prime', Isn't even a real Prime! Megatron has the Matrix which gives him more right to the title than YOU, Orion Pax!" He shouted with fury and accusation in his voice. Everyone was silent. Longarm turned and stormed out of the room.
Optimus sighed before apologizing for Longarm. He explained how the intelligence chief was a staunch traditionalist and was put under a huge amount of stress on an almost daily basis. Part of that stress was the fact that his beloved commonwealth (the name the Autobots had when they were winning) had been fractured by the war. He also told them about how Longarm was very much against the reforms the Autobots had adopted.
Twilight looked at the time and asked if there was a way that the Autobots could get her home. Her curfew was coming up soon. Bumblebee offered to drive her back. Sunset opted to stay and learn more about the extraterrestrial visitors, citing the fact that she lived alone as her reason for staying.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The ride was quiet. Twilight couldn't think of anything to say and Bumblebee didn't want to say anything. They pulled up at a red light and it felt as though they were sat there for hours. The light simply would not change. Then they heard the sound of an engine speeding forward. Another car smashed into Bumblebee and pinned him to a wall. The sound of a transformation could be heard and volts of electricity ran over Bumblebee, forcing him into stasis and knocking out Twilight.
Stepping away from the two forms, the white and navy blue Decepticon shut down his energon prod and activated his comlink.
"This is Deadlock. Mission accomplished, send me a bridge. I've captured both one of the human females and an Autobot!"
