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❝ CHAPTER 17 ──
DESTROYING SUNS ❞
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━━━━━ STEPHANIE SCREAMED AS she went flying through the air. She landed in the sand, and proceeded to roll down the sand hill. The blonde had managed to catch herself, allowing her to stop rolling down the hill. Stephanie stood up in the sand, looking around to see where everyone else was. Hero was near Daisy, the two weren't far from her. She took off running down the other side of the hill until she eventually made it to Hero. She pulled him into a hug upon impact, happy to see that he was okay. He did the same thing, hugging her tightly.

"Are you okay?" Stephanie asked after pulling away from the hug.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What about you, are you okay?" Hero asked her in return, seconds after answering her question.

"Yes, I'm okay." Stephanie paused looking around to see if she could see the others. "Sam!" She shouted, still looking around.

"Stephanie!" He shouted back, she sighed in relief knowing he was okay.

The two and Daisy took off running trying to find their way back to the others. After they all reunited with each other they proceeded to head towards the rocks where Jetfire waited for them. Stephanie sat next to Hero, her head resting on his shoulder as Simmons stood in front of them, getting ready to yell at Jetfire for what he had done.

"That really, really hurt. You're just lucky that I didn't get hurt! People could have gotten killed, okay? And if I would have gotten hurt, you would have heard..."

"Shut up. I told you I was opening a space bridge. It's the fastest way to travel to Egypt." Jetfire told them.

"What? When did you... When did you tell us? You didn't tell us anything." Sam said, picking himself up from the rock he had been sitting on. "You didn't tell us anything. Why are we in Egypt?"

"Don't you get snippy with me, fleshling! You were duly informed!"

Stephanie watched as Jetfire sat back down on the rocks. "Can you just stop for a second? Can you focus? Can you tell us why we're in Egypt so we can all have a little bit of semblance of peace of mind?"

"This planet was visited by our race once before, by our earliest ancestors, millennia ago. They were on an exploratory mission to harvest Energon, the lifeblood of our race. Without it, we'll all perish, oxidize and rust, like my wretched self! Do you have any idea what it's like to slowly fall apart and die?"

"Let's not get episodic, okay, old-timer?" Simmons said.

Stephanie stood up looking at the new Autobot. "You brought us here for a reason, didn't you?" Stephanie asked him.

"Beginning, middle, end. Facts. Details. Condense. Plot. Tell it." Simmons added walking towards Jetfire.

"Somewhere buried in this desert, our ancestors built a great machine. It harvests Energon by destroying suns." Jetfire informed them.

"Destroy suns?" Sam asked.

"You mean blow them up?" Leo asked soon after. Hero stood up and walked over to the group looking at the Autobot.

"Yes. You see, in the beginning, there were seven Primes, our original leaders. And they set out into the universe, seeking distant suns to harvest. The Primes set out with one rule, never destroy a planet with life, until one of them tried to defy this rule. And his name forevermore was The Fallen."

Jetfire held out his hand showing them a hologram of what The Fallen looked like. Stephanie placed her eyes on the hologram, staring at it in disbelief. Mostly because she knew that Megatron was exactly like The Fallen.

"He despised the human race and he wanted to kill you all by turning on that machine. The only way to activate it is with a legendary key called the Matrix of Leadership."

They all continued to watch as the hologram changed, showing them what had happened a long time ago.

"A great battle took place over possession of the Matrix. The Fallen was stronger than his brothers, so they had no choice but to steal and hide it from him. In the ultimate sacrifice, they gave their lives to seal the Matrix away in a tomb made of their very own bodies, a tomb we cannot find."

The hologram disappeared, and Jetfire looked at each of the humans as they awaited for the rest of the information to be given to them.

"Somewhere, buried in this desert, that deadly machine remains. The Fallen knows where it is and if he finds the tomb of the Primes, your world will be no more." Jetfire finished explaining.

"Okay, so how do we stop him?" Mikaela asked him.

"Only a Prime can defeat The Fallen." He answered.

"Optimus Prime?" Sam asked Jetfire.

Jetfire lowered himself looking at Sam. "So you've met a Prime? Why, you must have met a great descendant. Is he alive, here on this planet?"

"He sacrificed himself to save my sister and I." Sam informed him, looking over at Stephanie. A sadden looked washed onto her face, and she in return looked down at the ground.

"So, he's dead. Without a Prime, it's impossible. No one else could stop The Fallen."

"So, the same energy that's gonna be used to reactivate the machine, could that energy somehow be used to reactivate Optimus and bring him back to life?"

"It was never designed for that purpose, but it's an energy like no other."

"So, then how do you get us to the Matrix before the Decepticons get to me?"

"Follow your mind, your map, your symbols. What you carved in the sand, it's your clue. When dawn alights the Dagger's Tip, Three Kinds will reveal the doorway! Find the doorway! Go now! Go! That was my mission. It's your mission now. Go before the Decepticons find me and find you."

Stephanie and Hero took off running down the rocks, the others following behind them. The blonde jumped off the last rock landing in the sand. Hero of course followed behind her as did the others. Then they took off running towards the Autobots who shifted back into their car form. Stephanie climbed into the driver's side, Daisy shutting the door behind her once she was in. Hero climbing into the passenger side. Daisy closed the door, and once the two were buckled she took off following behind Bumblebee, with the Twins following closely behind them.