Chapter Text
Rin had been sleeping when her phone and comm started to practically self-destruct with the amount of notification she was receiving. Wheeljack mainly, but then Drift and Ella and half of the base seemed to be trying to get her attention within a span of twenty minutes.
Expecting nothing less than an invasion, Rin threw on some pants, her eye, and her arm and sprinted for the lab, weaving around bot pedes as they all seemed to be rushing there as well. “What is the name of Unicron’s left toe,” Rin muttered, nearly getting stepped on by a Seeker.
When she did get to the lab, she was surprised to see Optimus and Ironhide holding back a chattering and protesting crowd of bots, all trying to peer in through the door. “Rin!,” Ironhide grunted, “Jackie and Perceptor are expecting you in the back.” She nodded and ran between his legs, getting into the lab through the human gate.
Upon entering, the first thing she saw was a swirl of bright green and purple lights coming from the-
Rin’s eye went wide, and she took a half step forwards in shock, not daring to believe her eyes. The Space Bridge was running. It was working. She felt Wheeljack lift her up before she heard him, but soon she was cheering excitedly with the science bots.
“How?!,” RIn yelped happily. “Accidentally mainly,” Perceptor laughed, “Wheeljack blew up another prototype, and one of the pieces accidentally lodged in the bridge’s frame. We pulled it out and boom! Space Bridge.” “Only you Wheeljack,” RIn chuckled, her smile unwavering, “So now what?”
Perceptor and Wheeljack exchanged a smile. “Now, we go through and we see if we’re going home,” Wheeljack said softly, “Some get your suit on kid, cause you and I will be the first to set foot on Cybertron in 4 million years.”
“Ready Wheeljack?,” Perceptor called from behind the blast zone in the lab. He nodded, Rin held firmly in his palm, dressed in a spacesuit she’d designed months prior. “Ready Rin?,” Wheeljack asked and she nodded. “Let’s do it,” she whispered and they both grinned.
Wheeljack started to slowly walk into the mess of color and Rin closed her eyes, tightly squeezing Wheeljack’s servo. It felt like cold air was blasting against her, but also like she was weightless. Rin felt like her organs were still on Earth as she traveled through space and time. And as soon as it started, it stopped. Opening her eyes carefully, she looked up and her jaw dropped. It was….breathtaking.
Debris and old buildings were sprinkled along as far as she could see, but still, the remains seemed to brighten as they arrived, basking in the company after nearly 4 million years alone. The glow of the stars and the galaxies overheard lite their path ahead, and Rin stared up in wonder at just how close the sky seemed to her. Like if she reached up, she could grab one of the stars and hold it to her.
She saw other worlds too, planets of green and gray in the sky, filling any space that the starlight didn’t quite fill up. Some stood out with golden hues or silvery rings around their forms. Each a place that she was the first human to gaze upon.
“It’s beautiful,” Rin sniffled, “So, so beautiful.” “I can’t believe how much is gone,” Wheeljack murmured sadly. Rin patted his hand soothingly. “We can rebuild Jackie,” she whispered, “ We will rebuild everything.” He gave her a soft grin and looked like he was about to say something before both their heads snapped to the open plains.
Something was watching them.
Slowly, Wheeljack placed Rin on his shoulder, reaching into his subspace for a gun. “Wheeljack,” Rin muttered, clutching the edge of his shoulder armor tightly, “What is it?” His eyes narrowed as he surveyed the open field of destruction. “I’m not sure,” he mumbled, flicking on his comm, “Wheeljack to base- could we get the bridge back-” His voice was cut off as a bolt struck near his pedes. Rin gasped as Wheeljack swore, both activating their weapons. “Who’s out there?!,” Wheeljack yelled, “Show yourself!”
“My, my,” a smooth voice said, sending chills down both the human and mech’s spine, “An organic and a Cybertroian? Back on Cybertron at long last….” “Show yourself!,” Rin shouted, keeping an eye on Wheeljack’s blindspot. A deep chuckle drifted in the breeze and Wheeljack jerked around to try and spot the carrier of the voice. But no one was there.
“The hell…,” Rin whispered before the cruel laughter came again, this time right behind them. Wheeljack jumped back around, this time facing a large, hovering, machine with a multitude of heads surrounding it. The heads rotated rapidly, one smiling, the next frowning, and next glaring.
“It can’t be,” Wheeljack said faintly as Rin aimed her arm at the forehead of the face currently on them. “Who are you?,” Rin snarled. “We are,” one head gurgled before spinning, “You little Cybertronian friends knows who we are, organic -”
“Move bridge coordinates two klicks northeast,” Wheeljack shouted into his comm before taking off sprinting, jumping over the edge of the small platform they’d been standing on. Rin yelped at the sudden movement, gripping his armor hard as the scientists took off. “Wheeljack!,” Rin yelled, “Why are we running? It was one weird floating head thing?!” “Not time to explain kid,” he hollered back, looking back anxiously as the purple lights of the bridge approached up-ahead.
“CYBERTRON SCUM!,” the head screeched from the distance and Rin had just enough time to shout in warning as a bolt hit the rock where Wheeljack had been in front of. Eyes wide, Rin saw a volley of laser fire behind them as Wheeljack dove into the bridge and it shut off behind them.
Wheeljack hit the ground hard and Rin flew off, landing painfully on her side and skidding across the floor of the lab. Groaning, she felt a hand yank up as Wheeljack’s form slid over where she’d just been laying.
“What the scrap happened??,” Perceptor demanded, handing Rin over to Optimus before helping Wheeljack stand. The usually chipper scientists didn’t respond, choosing to look Optimus dead in the optics.
“Quintessians,” he said firmly and Optimus’s topics widened slightly.
“Quintessa-what nows?,” Rin deadpanned.