Tʜᴇ Rɪꜱɪɴɢ Dᴀʀᴋɴᴇꜱꜱ

The next day, after being picked up Bumblebee and Raf, Pan was standing beside Raf as they watched the bots. Miko swinging her legs as she sat on the couch.

“Optimus, I’ve pinpointed the coordinates of Megatron’s space bridge. High in earth’s orbit,” Ratchet said, drawing Optimus closer to the medic on the computers.

Optimus sighed, “Out of our reach,” he said grimly.

“Okay. So you guys don’t fly,” Miko started, making her way over to them,  “But couldn’t you just ground bridge there?” Miko asked, reaching the space next to Raf and Pan.

“The ground bridge has limited range. Stretched all the way into orbit, it’s vortex could snap and scatter us to the stars,” Ratchet explained gruffly. An annoyed look on his face, as if he had expected her to know.

“Since Megatron is likely already in transit, I’m afraid we must take that risk,” Optimus said as he looked at the ground bridge. “Reaching the space bridge first is our only means of stopping him,” he concluded.  

A car/motorcycle horn tooted as Arcee came speeding into base with Jack .

“Hey, guess who’s back,” Jack chuckled nervously. Pan smiled and gave the boy a small wave as the two beside her smiled their greetings to him. One more hesitant(and hoping that Pan would allow her to smirk trumpiantly at the boy) than the other.

“Autobots prepare for departure,” Optimus said as Arcee transformed.

“Where to?” She asked.

“The final frontier,” Miko spoke up from where she was by Bulkhead’s peds. Somehow both Raf and Miko miraculously managed to make their way to their guardians with Pan chilling on a small ledge by Ratchet who had barely glance at her.

“Space?” Jack asked, a nervous tint in his voice, “I thought they didn’t have a way to get there?”

Pan shook her head silently(as always).

“They don’t, really,” Raf told the older boy as Bumblebee placed him on the ground.

Jack looked up at his two-wheeler guardian, “Be seeing you?” he asked Arcee who gave him a smiled before getting ready to go.  

Ratchet walked over to the ground bridge controls and turned on the ground bridge.

“Be careful, Bee,” Raf told his guardian.

“Of course I will,” Bumblebee told his charge before walking away from Raf to join the other Autobots.

“I’m so jealous!” Miko told her guardian who immediately frowned at her

If Bulkhead’s faceplates could pale, they would have, “Don’t even think about following me,” Her warned her firmly. Although his optics softened upon seeing his charge’s pout before he too joined the Autobots.

“Optimus, if you leave me stranded on a planet teeming with humans, I will never forgive you,” Ratchet warned the Prime. The message embedded in his sentence causing the Prime to give his only friend a tiny smile.

“Until we meet again old friend,” Optimus said, nodding his head to the medic before his mouth piece slid over his intake.

“Autobots, roll out!” Optimus said as his mouth guard closed over his mouth.

They transformed before going through the ground bridge. The five watched anxiously as they disappeared at the end.

:[Autobots transform and gravity]: Optimus’s voice said through the comm link as Miko, Raf and Jack came up to the platform beside Pan who had left her guardian’s side.

:[Oh. Don’t look down. Or up. Or left]: Bulkhead said nauseously. A small grin appearing on Pan’s face.

:[So Megatron’s packing enough dark energon to raise Cybertron's dead?]: Arcee asked.

:[And since we don’t possess ready means of disabling the space bridge, nothing gets in or out]: Optimus commanded. There was silence over the comms for a while.

:[Well, what are they waiting for?]: Arcee asked. Miko biting her thumb as Jack frowned. Raf seeked comfort from Pan as she wrapped her arm around him.

:[It appears the Decepticons have sustained serious damage to their interstellar navigation system,” Optimus said. Miko who was beaming at her guardians work.

:[Ah, that’s my handiwork]: Bulkhead said shocked yet pleased at the same time.

:[Great job, Bulkhead]: Optimus told the ex-wrecker, :[Without the dish, Megatron will be unable to aim the space bridge at Cybertron]: Optimus said.

Pan and Raf shared a look  “Don’t the Decepticons know where their own planet is?” Raf asked, with Pan watching the orange mech curiously.

“Naturally,” Ratchet scoffed. “But Cybertron is many light years away. To reach their target, their aim must be astronomically precise,” he continued.

:[If Megatron went to the trouble to rendezvousing with his space bridge, he must have an alternate targeting system, a remote one]: Optimus said.

“From what I know of Earth’s technology, I doubt that there exists a single telescope dish on this planet powerful enough to pinpoint Cybertron,” Ratchet mused.

Pan coughed, drawing all the attention before motioning to Raf, “Texas,” her phone said.

Raf's eyes light up in realization, “Not one, but a whole bunch of linked ones,” he said, turning to a computer and typing quickly, bringing up an image of the giant array, “Like the giant-sized array in Texas,” He beamed happily as Pan high fived him.

“Zip, buh, buh, buh, buh! This is not child’s play,” Ratchet said, moving his helm closer to them, his optics barely glancing over the image.

:[Good thinking, Raf and Pan]:  Optimus commed.

Pan and Raf grinned proudly at the shocked look on Ratchet’s faceplates.

:[Ratchet, have Agent Fowler alert the array staff to the security hazard]: Optimus said to Ratchet this time.

“You, Soldier!” Agent Fowler said suddenly making all of the humans in base(other than the aforementioned man) jump and look at the man.

“You’re out of uniform. Put on some pants,” Fowler said before going unconscious again.

“That may be a challenge,” Ratchet sighed as Miko tried and failed to stifle her giggles.

Raf, after a confirming nod from Pan, turned back around to the computer, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration as his fingers flew across the keyboard.

Raf groaned when he hit a roadblock  “I can’t get past the array’s firewalls. They’re too thick,” he hit his fists on the desk as his frustration emerged.

Pan placed a comforting hand on his shoulder

Ratchet scoffed, “You actually think you could keep the Decepticons out?” Ratchet asked disbelievingly, inadvertently causing the silent girl to snap at glare at him,

Jack pointed his finger at the image on the computer, “Raf, what if we could get you all the way in? Like inside the building in?” Jack asked, catching Ratchet and Miko off guard at the suggestion.

“We could walk into their internal network on the other side of the firewall,” Raf said sharing a look with Pan who nodded, a confidant look appearing on her face.

:[The risk is too great. The Decepticons will be there, perhaps even on site]: Optimus said causing Raf’s grin to fall slightly.

“Oh,” Raf muttered, rubbing his arm awkwardly.

Jack stepped forward, “Optimus, with all due respect, you said it yourself this is bigger than the safety of four humans,” he motioned to Pan, Raf, and Miko, even though the mech wouldn't be able to see him.

“Yeah,” Miko chipped in, “If the Decepticons win, we are fragged along with everyone else on our planet.”

:[Raf?]: Optimus asked.

Raf looked up at Pan who gave him a small smile, “I want to give it a shot,” Raf said, confidante radiation from his voice.

:[So be it, Ratchet?]: Optimus asked the medic who had made it to the ground bridge controls.

“On it,” Ratchet told the Prime as he started up the ground bridge.

“Thanks, Hatchet,” Miko slanted the orange and white mech before darting through the green portal with Jack and Raf.

Pan paused before sending the bot a smile and following after the others.

Leaving a confused Autobot medic behind her in the missile silo.

Here's Chapter Seventeen.

I have no idea why I did those last two paragraphs, but they seem to work.🤷‍♀️

I'm so sorry for posting later than normal!!!!

Hope you enjoyed!
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