Fic: Tipping Point 11/?
TITLE: Tipping Point, part 11
SERIES: Imperfection Deviation
AUTHOR: Macx
RATING: PG-13
DISCLAIMER: None of the characters belong to me, sadly. They are owned by people with a lot more money :)
FEEDBACK: Loved
BETA: okami_myrrhibis
It felt like a religious ceremony to Sam as he watched the assembled Autobots looking at the huge screen that showed them their home planet. He was fascinated by the alien world, too, but for a different reason. For him it was something new, something he had only ever seen in files or through Bumblebee’s memories. For his friends it was home. There was a longing surrounding all of them that he didn’t need to be a technopath to feel. Their world - dead, ravaged by war, hanging on by its teeth, so to speak - was so close and yet unattainable.
::Bee?:: he queried softly.
The yellow Autobot seemed to pull himself out of a trance. ::Sorry:: he apologized.
Sam smiled. ::No need for that. I kinda understand::
The Decepticons had disappeared, but they all knew that they hadn’t gone far. It was only a matter of time that they resurfaced. For now they were beaten, stunned the same way the Autobots were, and probably just as much reeling from the impact of the fate of their world. Trapped, frozen, there but not there.
“What are we gonna do?” Ironhide rumbled.
“There isn’t much we can do,” Perceptor spoke up. His image was on another screen. The Constructicons could be seen in the background. “For now I don’t know how to reverse what happened. But we’re working on it.”
Optimus nodded slowly.
“It is like our hope and our worst nightmare in one,” Jazz murmured.
“Even if we can breach the reality bubble,” Scrapper pulled their attention to him, “there is no telling for now what it would do to Cybertron. Our aim should be to send our planet back to its original position, not to leave it in this solar system. Currently it’s neither here nor there and the longer that continues, the higher the risk of permanent… annihilation.”
“Can we use the space bridge array?”
“We’re currently looking into that,” was the Constructicon leader’s reply. “It was damaged and partially destroyed. It would take a while to repair, and even then we would have to go very close to the bubble’s fringes. It’s highly dangerous for the ones approaching, as well as the planet.”
Sam tuned out the conversation as he leaned against Bumblebee, just looking at the image of Cybertron. He had wanted to go there one day, see the metal planet for himself, even if it was a war-ravaged place. He had wanted to see Bumblebee’s home.
Now he could and it wasn’t how he had dreamed of it.
The military was in uproar over what had happened and Sam understood their reaction. Suddenly there was a new planet in their very own solar system and if the Decepticons managed to get to Cybertron, who knew what they could and would do? Soundwave had wanted the metal planet here for a reason. There had been a plan involved.
Sam really didn’t want to change places with Optimus right now. This was a political nightmare, and if someone pointed their deep space telescope the wrong way they would find a whole new planet. Of course, AIDDE was trying to prevent that, but even they couldn’t be everywhere. The whole landing and take-off procedures of the Ghosts in the past couple of days had been hard enough to cover up anyway. Optimus was seriously considering permanently stationing both Ghosts and their crews on the Ark. Human life could be sustained aboard the space station and the human crews had already agreed.
Sam felt a wave of emotions wash over him, all alien and mechanoid in origin, and he brought up better shields. There had been a lot of those emotions in the past days and he had increased shields now and again. Bumblebee touched him gently through the bond, offering to anchor, and Sam didn’t even protest. It was better this way and guaranteed less headaches.
::Want to leave?:: Bumblebee asked.
::Yeah:: Sam answered without having to think about it.
There was nothing they could help with right now, least of all Sam. He had to pull his mind back together and that was best done with his partner and away from the base where every mech was currently in an emotional upheaval of one kind or another.
* * *
Lennox sat outside the base, away from the lights that would disturb a clear view of the cloudless and star-filled night sky, and was gazing at the darkness above him. He had scored a large plate of Mac n’ Cheese from the small kitchen area that still existed at the base. Despite all the changes, despite all the soldiers at the base, despite the mess hall facility, there was still the small private area used mainly by Lennox’s old team and Sam. And of course Will himself. Jones had handed over a microwaved literal tub of the delicious macs and grinned when Lennox had thanked him.
“Hey, we know you love the stuff.”
Now he was forking up the last pieces, cheese drawing strings. Will could have stayed inside to watch CNN or any other kind of news channel that ran 24/7, but he didn’t want to listen to the problems of the world, especially since the world knew so little of what was truly going on.
But maybe soon it would. Maybe soon the secrets would spill over and things would get really hot. And interesting.
He smiled to himself. It didn’t mean that he could stop being dead and a secret. He would always be a secret and once dead meant he had to stay dead. What would he tell Sarah anyway? Hey, baby, I’m back, look like a freak, and meet my Cybertronian bonded?
Yeah, that would go over well.
Lennox’s eyes were on the sky again as he swallowed the last of his dinner.
Somewhere out there, at the far, far edge of their solar system, was the mechs' home world. Cybertron was too small to be seen from here, just like Pluto. But it was there; they knew.
And if someone pointed their telescope the wrong way they would see the anomaly.
Will smiled a little.
Anomaly.
That's what it was called by the military and everyone associated. An anomaly that might end tragically. No one knew what the reality bubble was doing to the metal world because there was no way to take readings.
"It's what you get for playing with ancient technology," Hook had only commented throughout the last tele-conference.
The Ghosts and the Spook were by now stationed at the Ark and frequently dispatched to check on the reality bubble. SI satellites were positioned at a wide enough distance to the bubble to monitor changes. Whatever came too close was zapped and Perceptor was worried what shifts in the energy field were doing to their home world.
Solutions to the problem came and went. The best and the brightest were working on it, many of them scientists under contract by the military. They had the highest clearance and had been sworn to secrecy.
Two weeks had passed already and nothing had changed, except the density of the bubble around Cybertron. It was worrisome, but no one wanted to speculate on what it meant. Several SI satellite drones had lost their existence to scanning attempts when they had been maneuvered too close, and from what Scrapper had said, the danger zone was growing.
“Stargazing?”
He looked up into the dark face of his partner. “Thinking.”
“Dangerous occupation.” Ironhide settled down beside him.
“Yeah, maybe. But everyone is, including you. We’re all thinking about Cybertron and what’s happening.”
Ironhide gave a soft rumble.
“You have every right to be worried. It’s your home, ‘Hide.”
“It’s a home that died, Will. And that isn’t Cybertron. It’s a shadow, a ghost. It’s encased in a reality bubble and we might never get to it.”
“What if you can?”
Blue optics met his quizzical gaze. “I’ll think about it if that happens,” was Ironhide’s answer.
If. The big two letter word.
Will nodded and went back to his ‘stargazing’. After a moment Ironhide’s blunt fingertip stroked over his back and Lennox smiled to himself, leaning into the comforting touch.
* * *
On one of the larger asteroids Ravage sat in his raw beast mode, red optics on his home planet. Cybertron wasn’t far away, but despite its closeness, it felt like light years. The reality bubble didn’t allow any kind of interaction. The planet itself was present, but it didn’t influence gravitational fields, which meant that none of the closer asteroids were attracted to it. It was there; Ravage could see it. But then again it wasn’t.
With a soft whine he lay down, optics never leaving the metal planet. He knew it was dangerous to be so close, but he was small and well-shielded. The danger didn’t come from the reality bubble, but more from the regular patrols of either the Autobot ships or Blaster’s symbiotes. They were both scanning the planet and keeping an eye out for Decepticon activity.
Lazerbeak landed and settled down, looking as glum as Ravage felt. There was no news on removing the reality bubble, the winged symbiote transmitted. Soundwave hadn’t found a way so far. It wasn’t his strong point either. They needed a mech like Shockwave to work the science, but Shockwave had last been heard of from Cybertron.
Ravage looked at his fellow symbiote and Lazerbeak hummed softly, then launched himself off into space again. Ravage remained behind, looking at the planet that had been his home once.
A ghost. A specter. Not real but there. No one could touch it, but it looked real.
And if he looked very closely he thought he saw ghosts drifting over the surface, faint echoes of reality, of mechs really there.
* * *
Optimus was in his office, optics on the pixel streams of Cybertron as the SI satellites delivered image after unchanging image. His home; here. So close and yet untouchable. It hurt something deep inside him to just sit and wait for a verdict.
"Optimus?"
The tentative question had him look up and he nodded a greeting at Rodimus Prime.
"Come in," he told the younger Prime.
"General Morshower called. I took the call. The Whitman team found a rise in rumors about aliens and the like on the internet. They're containing the matter, but it seems that on top of it all, humanity is slowly becoming aware of us."
Optimus gave a rattling sigh. "They have ever since Mission City. The military won't be able to keep our presence here secret forever, but whatever slack we can get, we take."
"With the take-offs from the shuttles that's rather hard," was the wry reply. "Someone noticed. Too many nutcases make for a sane story."
The older Prime smiled. "Yes. We take what we can get, but preparations have long since been made for the moment our presence will be revealed."
"Can't wait," Rodimus muttered sarcastically. "I hate hiding, but some of the humans are rather... paranoid."
"Yes, they are. They unite whenever there is a threat, but afterwards they drift back to their old habits."
Blue optics in a young face narrowed. "We have many allies already."
"And enemies will follow. Those who will ask for weapons, will exploit, will pin the worst of this planet on us. We will be walking a very fine line. But for now I worry about other matters."
Optimus glanced at the screen again.
Rodimus nodded. "No solutions yet, and no sign of the Decepticons. Soundwave disappeared, probably to figure out a way to get to Cybertron before we do."
If there was one. It was one of the big questions that none of the scientists working at the problem had been able to answer.
tbc...
SERIES: Imperfection Deviation
AUTHOR: Macx
RATING: PG-13
DISCLAIMER: None of the characters belong to me, sadly. They are owned by people with a lot more money :)
FEEDBACK: Loved
BETA: okami_myrrhibis
It felt like a religious ceremony to Sam as he watched the assembled Autobots looking at the huge screen that showed them their home planet. He was fascinated by the alien world, too, but for a different reason. For him it was something new, something he had only ever seen in files or through Bumblebee’s memories. For his friends it was home. There was a longing surrounding all of them that he didn’t need to be a technopath to feel. Their world - dead, ravaged by war, hanging on by its teeth, so to speak - was so close and yet unattainable.
::Bee?:: he queried softly.
The yellow Autobot seemed to pull himself out of a trance. ::Sorry:: he apologized.
Sam smiled. ::No need for that. I kinda understand::
The Decepticons had disappeared, but they all knew that they hadn’t gone far. It was only a matter of time that they resurfaced. For now they were beaten, stunned the same way the Autobots were, and probably just as much reeling from the impact of the fate of their world. Trapped, frozen, there but not there.
“What are we gonna do?” Ironhide rumbled.
“There isn’t much we can do,” Perceptor spoke up. His image was on another screen. The Constructicons could be seen in the background. “For now I don’t know how to reverse what happened. But we’re working on it.”
Optimus nodded slowly.
“It is like our hope and our worst nightmare in one,” Jazz murmured.
“Even if we can breach the reality bubble,” Scrapper pulled their attention to him, “there is no telling for now what it would do to Cybertron. Our aim should be to send our planet back to its original position, not to leave it in this solar system. Currently it’s neither here nor there and the longer that continues, the higher the risk of permanent… annihilation.”
“Can we use the space bridge array?”
“We’re currently looking into that,” was the Constructicon leader’s reply. “It was damaged and partially destroyed. It would take a while to repair, and even then we would have to go very close to the bubble’s fringes. It’s highly dangerous for the ones approaching, as well as the planet.”
Sam tuned out the conversation as he leaned against Bumblebee, just looking at the image of Cybertron. He had wanted to go there one day, see the metal planet for himself, even if it was a war-ravaged place. He had wanted to see Bumblebee’s home.
Now he could and it wasn’t how he had dreamed of it.
The military was in uproar over what had happened and Sam understood their reaction. Suddenly there was a new planet in their very own solar system and if the Decepticons managed to get to Cybertron, who knew what they could and would do? Soundwave had wanted the metal planet here for a reason. There had been a plan involved.
Sam really didn’t want to change places with Optimus right now. This was a political nightmare, and if someone pointed their deep space telescope the wrong way they would find a whole new planet. Of course, AIDDE was trying to prevent that, but even they couldn’t be everywhere. The whole landing and take-off procedures of the Ghosts in the past couple of days had been hard enough to cover up anyway. Optimus was seriously considering permanently stationing both Ghosts and their crews on the Ark. Human life could be sustained aboard the space station and the human crews had already agreed.
Sam felt a wave of emotions wash over him, all alien and mechanoid in origin, and he brought up better shields. There had been a lot of those emotions in the past days and he had increased shields now and again. Bumblebee touched him gently through the bond, offering to anchor, and Sam didn’t even protest. It was better this way and guaranteed less headaches.
::Want to leave?:: Bumblebee asked.
::Yeah:: Sam answered without having to think about it.
There was nothing they could help with right now, least of all Sam. He had to pull his mind back together and that was best done with his partner and away from the base where every mech was currently in an emotional upheaval of one kind or another.
* * *
Lennox sat outside the base, away from the lights that would disturb a clear view of the cloudless and star-filled night sky, and was gazing at the darkness above him. He had scored a large plate of Mac n’ Cheese from the small kitchen area that still existed at the base. Despite all the changes, despite all the soldiers at the base, despite the mess hall facility, there was still the small private area used mainly by Lennox’s old team and Sam. And of course Will himself. Jones had handed over a microwaved literal tub of the delicious macs and grinned when Lennox had thanked him.
“Hey, we know you love the stuff.”
Now he was forking up the last pieces, cheese drawing strings. Will could have stayed inside to watch CNN or any other kind of news channel that ran 24/7, but he didn’t want to listen to the problems of the world, especially since the world knew so little of what was truly going on.
But maybe soon it would. Maybe soon the secrets would spill over and things would get really hot. And interesting.
He smiled to himself. It didn’t mean that he could stop being dead and a secret. He would always be a secret and once dead meant he had to stay dead. What would he tell Sarah anyway? Hey, baby, I’m back, look like a freak, and meet my Cybertronian bonded?
Yeah, that would go over well.
Lennox’s eyes were on the sky again as he swallowed the last of his dinner.
Somewhere out there, at the far, far edge of their solar system, was the mechs' home world. Cybertron was too small to be seen from here, just like Pluto. But it was there; they knew.
And if someone pointed their telescope the wrong way they would see the anomaly.
Will smiled a little.
Anomaly.
That's what it was called by the military and everyone associated. An anomaly that might end tragically. No one knew what the reality bubble was doing to the metal world because there was no way to take readings.
"It's what you get for playing with ancient technology," Hook had only commented throughout the last tele-conference.
The Ghosts and the Spook were by now stationed at the Ark and frequently dispatched to check on the reality bubble. SI satellites were positioned at a wide enough distance to the bubble to monitor changes. Whatever came too close was zapped and Perceptor was worried what shifts in the energy field were doing to their home world.
Solutions to the problem came and went. The best and the brightest were working on it, many of them scientists under contract by the military. They had the highest clearance and had been sworn to secrecy.
Two weeks had passed already and nothing had changed, except the density of the bubble around Cybertron. It was worrisome, but no one wanted to speculate on what it meant. Several SI satellite drones had lost their existence to scanning attempts when they had been maneuvered too close, and from what Scrapper had said, the danger zone was growing.
“Stargazing?”
He looked up into the dark face of his partner. “Thinking.”
“Dangerous occupation.” Ironhide settled down beside him.
“Yeah, maybe. But everyone is, including you. We’re all thinking about Cybertron and what’s happening.”
Ironhide gave a soft rumble.
“You have every right to be worried. It’s your home, ‘Hide.”
“It’s a home that died, Will. And that isn’t Cybertron. It’s a shadow, a ghost. It’s encased in a reality bubble and we might never get to it.”
“What if you can?”
Blue optics met his quizzical gaze. “I’ll think about it if that happens,” was Ironhide’s answer.
If. The big two letter word.
Will nodded and went back to his ‘stargazing’. After a moment Ironhide’s blunt fingertip stroked over his back and Lennox smiled to himself, leaning into the comforting touch.
* * *
On one of the larger asteroids Ravage sat in his raw beast mode, red optics on his home planet. Cybertron wasn’t far away, but despite its closeness, it felt like light years. The reality bubble didn’t allow any kind of interaction. The planet itself was present, but it didn’t influence gravitational fields, which meant that none of the closer asteroids were attracted to it. It was there; Ravage could see it. But then again it wasn’t.
With a soft whine he lay down, optics never leaving the metal planet. He knew it was dangerous to be so close, but he was small and well-shielded. The danger didn’t come from the reality bubble, but more from the regular patrols of either the Autobot ships or Blaster’s symbiotes. They were both scanning the planet and keeping an eye out for Decepticon activity.
Lazerbeak landed and settled down, looking as glum as Ravage felt. There was no news on removing the reality bubble, the winged symbiote transmitted. Soundwave hadn’t found a way so far. It wasn’t his strong point either. They needed a mech like Shockwave to work the science, but Shockwave had last been heard of from Cybertron.
Ravage looked at his fellow symbiote and Lazerbeak hummed softly, then launched himself off into space again. Ravage remained behind, looking at the planet that had been his home once.
A ghost. A specter. Not real but there. No one could touch it, but it looked real.
And if he looked very closely he thought he saw ghosts drifting over the surface, faint echoes of reality, of mechs really there.
* * *
Optimus was in his office, optics on the pixel streams of Cybertron as the SI satellites delivered image after unchanging image. His home; here. So close and yet untouchable. It hurt something deep inside him to just sit and wait for a verdict.
"Optimus?"
The tentative question had him look up and he nodded a greeting at Rodimus Prime.
"Come in," he told the younger Prime.
"General Morshower called. I took the call. The Whitman team found a rise in rumors about aliens and the like on the internet. They're containing the matter, but it seems that on top of it all, humanity is slowly becoming aware of us."
Optimus gave a rattling sigh. "They have ever since Mission City. The military won't be able to keep our presence here secret forever, but whatever slack we can get, we take."
"With the take-offs from the shuttles that's rather hard," was the wry reply. "Someone noticed. Too many nutcases make for a sane story."
The older Prime smiled. "Yes. We take what we can get, but preparations have long since been made for the moment our presence will be revealed."
"Can't wait," Rodimus muttered sarcastically. "I hate hiding, but some of the humans are rather... paranoid."
"Yes, they are. They unite whenever there is a threat, but afterwards they drift back to their old habits."
Blue optics in a young face narrowed. "We have many allies already."
"And enemies will follow. Those who will ask for weapons, will exploit, will pin the worst of this planet on us. We will be walking a very fine line. But for now I worry about other matters."
Optimus glanced at the screen again.
Rodimus nodded. "No solutions yet, and no sign of the Decepticons. Soundwave disappeared, probably to figure out a way to get to Cybertron before we do."
If there was one. It was one of the big questions that none of the scientists working at the problem had been able to answer.
tbc...