Chapter 1- Soaring

Well, hello, hello, hello. Yes, I had Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events in my head when I wrote that first sentence. So, this is the first chapter to Within the Ranks, the DOTM part to the Spade Quadrilogy, which sadly, is almost over. But, when it does end, it will not mean that I'll stop writing altogether. So, let's get to it!

Warnings: violence, language, innuendo, language, darkness, etc. Did I already say language? I don't know if I'll add in more sexual content, so it'll be rated M just to be safe. And for the language.

Disclaimers: I own Spade and the plot. Transformers belongs to Hasbro. Lucky bastards… And I don't own any High School Musical songs that were horribly sung in this chapter.

Enjoy!

"Um, Spade? Why exactly did you bring me up here?" Mikaela questioned.

"Because I need someone to witness the amazing awesomeness that's going to take place today."

Mikaela and I were currently standing on the roof of the new base in Washington D.C. We moved here after Annabelle was captured because the 'Cons knew of our location, but we still didn't know how. But this base was much better. It used to be D.C.'s Department of Health and Human Services. There was a lot more room for the Autobots and NEST soldiers and it was also a great cover.

I brought her to the roof because I need her to witness the amazing awesomeness, as stated before, that was going to take place on this very day. Starscream mentioned a few months ago that as the vessel of Allspark, I should be able to do more than create orbs and shields. I didn't want to admit it, but he was right. So, with vigorous training and practice, I learned how to do even more.

I'm sorry, I lied. It was all accidental.

A small group of Autobots and NEST soldiers, including me, left the base when an energon detector (courtesy of Wheeljack) went off in New Jersey one day. Chromia was standing next to me, fighting against the Decepticons, when she was shot in the side. The wound was nearly fatal and she was losing energon quickly. I became worried and tried to protect her by creating a shield until the battle was over, but instead, I ended up healing her with Allspark's power. On accident. Of course, Ratchet and every other Cybertronian and human on that battle ground were shocked.

Then, I learned how to use energy beams instead of orbs all the time. On accident. Two civilians - a mother and her young daughter - were trying to get off the battleground. We thought that the entire area had been cleared out. But the mother said that she refused to leave until she found her daughter, who ran off while she wasn't looking. They ended up hiding in one of the stores in the city in which we fought, but once it was nearly blown up, they tried to escape. It almost didn't end well. The two reminded me of Sarah and Annabelle, so when a Decepticon fired a shot at them, I quickly ran in front of them, any regard for my own safety lost. Instead of creating two orbs, in my haste, two energy beams came out of my hands. They destroyed the shot that was fired, as well as the 'Con that delivered it. And, like the last accidental discovery, we were all shocked.

Over time, I also gained the ability to make larger shields. Optimus-sized shields. Needless to say, they're freaking huge.

But there was one last power that I've always wanted to have, ever since I was a little kid. The power of natural flight. I wanted to fly the way Superman could, without planes or gliders or any sort of technology, even though I was fully aware that he was just a made-up character. So, my plan was to jump off the roof as many times as I could to see if instead of falling, I would hover or something like that.

"Amazing awesomeness?" Mikaela snorted. Her legs were dangling off the side of the roof. "What incredible stupid-ness are you planning on doing?"

"I'm gonna jump off the roof to see if I can fly." Mikaela looked less than surprised. Actually, she looked like a mix between amused and pissed.

"You brought me up here so that I could watch you kill yourself?" she asked incredulously. I gave her a shit-eating grin and got ready to jump off the roof. "Wait a minute. Do not jump. Do you have any idea how crazy you sound?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Do you have any idea how crazy I sound every day? Do you have any idea how much you people ignore it because you know it's completely normal for me? Even Ratchet got over it."

She stood up and crossed her arms over her chest, looking at me condescendingly. "No, no, no. I refuse to witness this."

I sighed and faced her completely. "Look, this is a great idea."

"No, it's a terrible idea."

"No, here's how it's a great idea. See, if I can fly, that'll give us an edge."

"The Decepticons have Seekers! How will one flying, small-ish being give us an edge against multiple flying, large beings?"

"You just said it. I may be eleven feet tall, but I'm still considerably smaller than the other Seekers. If learn how to fly, I can assault them constantly while they're in the air, and they'll never see me. In fact, they might shoot at each other when they think they see me, but end up hurting each other. It's ingenious!"

"No, it's dumb. Spade, Optimus could get here at any minute!"

"What are you talking about?!" I began to yell. "They're in freaking Russia!"

"Ukraine."

"Same thing!"

"No, it's not. Look, they radioed in and said that they entered restricted US airspace an hour ago. Do you know how close we are to the airport? You have ten minutes tops. How do you think he's gonna feel when he sees his eleven-foot tall girlfriend jumping off the roof like an idiot? How do you think he's gonna feel when sees that his girlfriend's best friend just watched while she did?"

I stopped for a minute to think about the real reason as to why she didn't want me to make the jump. And then, it hit me. "Ohhhhhh. This isn't about my safety! This is about you not getting chewed out!" I accused. She didn't look surprised or offended by accusation in the slightest.

"Exactly! It's not like I don't care about you, but Prime's already pissed! Lennox said so."

I jumped up and glared. "Not my Optimus!"

Mikaela glared back. "Oh, what? Just because he's him, he can't get mad?"

"Exactly!" Then, I sighed and turned to face the edge of the building. "Look, I'm wasting time by arguing with you. I'm making the jump."

"Spade," she said warningly. I took a few steps back narrowed my eyes in determination.

"I'll get a running start. Make sure you watch, okay?" She stood up and blocked my way.

"No," she growled. I huffed and looked her in the eye.

"Now, Mikaela. This can go one of two ways: either you move aside calmly and let me do this, or I can run right into you, jump off the roof, and take you with me." She remained quiet and her glare didn't falter. But as I stared her down, she eventually sighed and gave up.

"You're a stupid idiot," she murmured defeatedly. I snorted and tried not to smile.

"Hey, that's a little offensive. Most of my body is made of metal. I'll be fine." With that being said, I began to run. When I got to the edge of the roof, I jumped and tried not to look down. For a second, I thought I was actually flying and excitement bubbled up within me. But then, I was falling. Dammit. I screamed as I fell to the ground. The roof was a good 40 feet high, so when I landed, I startled a few of the patrolling soldiers.

"Ow!" I yelled. After muttering a string of colorful words, I stood up and dusted myself off, smirking at the Spade-shaped imprint that was left in the asphalt. I looked up at Mikaela bashfully, ignoring the frightened, staring soldiers. Considering the fact that she was on top of a building that's about 40 feet tall, I had to yell up at her. "It didn't work. But I left my mark on the world!"

"Yeah, and I hope that proves that you can't fly! And that you're a stupid idiot!" she yelled down. I huffed and narrowed my eyes.

"So I've been told," I replied sarcastically. "I'm gonna try again!" Her eyes nearly bulged out their sockets.

"Spade, why the fuck would you try again?!" she screeched.

"This is an experiment, Mikaela! In order to get valid results, you have to make repeated trials! Don't you remember science fair?" I responded.

She stared at me blankly. "I failed science fair."

"So did I, but I still know the basics! I'll be up there in a minute." With that being said, I walked into the base and found the stairs. I was greeted by several humans and 'Bots that had taken a like to me. As I went up the stairs, I thought about the limited amount of time I had, so I ran instead of walked. Once I got there, Mikaela was waiting impatiently. I stopped a few feet away from the edge and got a running start, repeating the steps from my first trial.

When I jumped, I only fell again and could imagine Mikaela rolling her eyes. For the last time, I climbed the stairs and went to the same spot that I stood in for the previous two trials. Three's my lucky number, so I'm hoping that this will be my lucky trial.

"Spade, seriously?" Mikaela said, exasperation evident in her tone. I glanced at her briefly.

"This is my last trial. I'm gonna do it a little differently, though."

"You aren't supposed to change anything."

"Oh, so you do know you're experiment rules," I teased.

"I give up," she sighed. Her phone vibrated and she checked to see who it was. "You have three minutes before they get here."

"I got this." I ran straight for the edge for the last time. But instead of just jumping, I concentrated on Allspark's power. I don't know why I didn't try this before. When I first learned to use his/her power, I had to concentrate on the energy coming from him/her to create the orb. So, it should be the same for this right?

When I jumped, I closed my eyes and extended my arms as if I had just jumped out of a plane, all my concentration on Allspark's power. And, instead of that terrible feeling of falling, I felt as if I was only suspended above the ground. Opening my eyes slowly, I looked around and saw that I was… flying. Holy shit, I'm flying!

"Mikaela!" I screeched. While in the air, I changed from 'Superman' position to a regular standing position. I turned in the air, careful as to not fully lose concentration. Mikaela stood on the roof, jaw on the floor, eyes bulging out. Another shit-eating grin was plastered on my face. "I'm flying!"

Focusing on flight, I went back into 'Superman' position and propelled my body forward, gaining speed as I went along. I flew higher and higher, above the clouds and into the sky, hooting in delight. This is flight. Natural flight. I've never felt so accomplished! At inhuman speeds, I was soaring through the air, looking at the world from a different point of view, reveling in the feeling of the wind whipping against my face. At this point, I felt like singing a High School Musical song.

"I'm soarin', flyin'! There's not a star in heaven that I can't reach!" I sang loudly. I changed the lyrics a little bit, but I was the only one flying here. "Don't know the words! But I feel so free, I feel so free!" Suddenly, I got a comm from Ratchet. Over time, Allspark continued to change my body and I was only a few months away from becoming a full Cybertronian. I just got my comms last month.

"Spade, Prime and the others have arrived."

"Copy that," I replied. Then, I grinned. "Hey, Ratchet. Guess what?"

"What is it, youngling?" he asked warily. In his experience, whenever I said 'guess what', it was something bad. But not this time.

"I'm flying. Right now. Come outside." On the other end, I heard startled grunts and other noises, so I shut off the comm link and turned around, flying back in the direction of the base. Then, I realized something. I don't know how to land. Shit, this isn't gonna go well. My altitude steadily dropped as I got closer and closer to the base. Ratchet was standing there, looking in the sky for me with a skeptical look on his face.

"Ho! Ratchet!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. Oh, wait. I don't have lungs anymore. At that realization and the look on Ratchet's face as I got closer to the base, my grin widened to impossible width. "I'm flying! But you might wanna get out of the way because I don't know how to land!"

As I got closer and closer to the ground, I closed my eyes and braced for a painful impact. And painful, it was. I crashed into the asphalt, picking up some chunks of the road as I came down. I didn't stop until I ran into the tire of a truck that was parked outside. I groaned and picked myself up slowly, glancing around at everyone and doing a basic systems check to make sure nothing was dislodged from the landing. Several soldiers were looking at me the same way Ratchet was, awe, shock, and disbelief on their faces. There was some murmuring amongst them as I smiled cheekily at all of them and crossed my arms across my chest.

"So… who pissed off my mech?"

When I entered the base, Optimus was in his alt mode, sitting quietly. Everyone was trying to get him talk, but it was no use. Honestly, I was concerned about what happened in Ukraine. It takes a lot to piss Optimus off. I walked over to the Prime and sat down on the ground next to him. I didn't try to get him to talk, however. He needed to calm down a little bit before he was willing to talk.

"Hey," I said quietly. To my surprise, he revved his engine in response. "I don't know what happened in Ukraine, but it was obviously bad. It takes a lot to make you mad. I'm not expecting you to respond, but I wanted to let you know that I love you. And that I missed you. And I'm glad that you're back." My voice softened to try and calm him down. Just when I thought he was going to say something, Charlotte Mearing, our new-ish liaison, entered the base with her assistant, talking away on her phone.

She looked furious, but I think that that's just the way her face is fixed. Her assistant pulled out some tennis shoes and laid them on the ground for her. Mearing took her feet out of her uncomfortable-looking heels and slid them into the tennis shoes instead. Then, she kept walking and hung up the phone.

"Look, she's mad, you're mad, I'm mad because you are… but it won't solve anything if you ignore us. Mearing probably has the answers you're looking for, so I think you should talk to her. Okay?" I stood up and patted his door. Once again, he revved his engine.

I walked over to Mearing and stopped her for a second. "Is this important, Miss Witwicky?" she asked impatiently. I ignored her tone and knelt down.

"Yes. I, uh… I'm sure you've noticed that Optimus is in a bad mood. So, we were kinda hoping you had some answers for him. I don't know why he's mad but… he's our leader and we all care about him. And we don't like it when he's upset," I said kindly. When I speak to her, I avoid using the word 'ma'am' because I know that she'll react negatively to that.

Mearing didn't say anything, but she looked Optimus and sighed before walking over to his alt. I smiled and rose to my full height. Unlike Galloway, Mearing actually had a heart, even though it was pretty hard to tell most of the time.

"So, what is this? This silent treatment?" Mearing asked sarcastically. I frowned but laughed lightly. This is how Mearing shows that she cares, even a little bit. I strolled back to Optimus and sat down next to him again.

"We've seen that and this is not that," Ironhide replied.

"Definitely not," Wheeljack said.

"This is worse. Spade, do something," the weapons specialist said. I smirked and turned my head to the side.

"Orion," I whispered. "She's gonna give you the answers you want. But you gotta say something." I slid over a few feet to give him some room to transform. And when he did, he slammed his hands down on either side of Mearing, his joints hissing as smoke was released from his smokestacks. Yep, he's pissed.

"You lied to us. Everything humans know of our planet we were told had been shared. So why was this found in human possession?" he growled, pointing to some strange piece of technology sitting on a small table. I saw fear in the director's eyes for a fraction of a second before she covered it up quickly.

"We were in the dark on this also. It was Director Only clearance at Sector Seven until now." She looked back at her assistant. "The bag."

The young woman fumbled with the multitude of bags in her arms. "Which bag?" she whispered.

Mearing narrowed her eyes and growled out, "Hermès. Birkin. Green ostrich! Oh, my God," she shook her head as her assistant gave her the green bag. I snorted and put my hands in my pockets. In case you were wondering where I got clothes that would fit an eleven-foot-tall female, well… Lennox made a call and that's all he told me. I was given 13 outfits, considering I was supposed to grow another foot in about 14 days.

"This is a secret few men knew, and fewer still remain alive. Allow me to please introduce to you two of NASA's founding mission directors and astronaut Dr. Buzz Aldrin, one of the first two men to step on the moon."

My head snapped up when she mentioned Buzz Aldrin's name. He's here? Right now?! I've always wanted to meet him! The retired astronaut entered the room, along with NASA's founding mission directors. He looked up at Optimus with awe in his eyes. Optimus straightened and his optics softened. When Aldrin saw me standing next to him, his eyes widened even more.

"Sir? Optimus Prime," Mearing introduced.

"From a fellow space traveler, it's a true honor," the astronaut said.

Optimus smiled gently and nodded. "The honor is mine." Buzz looked at me, his smile widening.

"And you must be Spade Witwicky. I've heard a lot about you and your brother," he said. I smiled and nodded as well.

"Sir. It's an honor to meet you."

"Our entire space race of the 1960s, it appears, was in response to an event," Mearing said.

"Our astronauts investigated a crashed alien ship. No survivors on board," one of the mission directors added. Beside me, Optimus frowned and I couldn't help but think that he knew who was on the ship.

"We were sworn to secrecy by our Commander in Chief," the retired astronaut stated.

"A total of thirty-five people knew the real plan at NASA."

"Soviets managed to land unmanned probes. Somehow they must have… picked up that fuel rod."

"We believe the Russians deduced that the rod was a fissionable fuel assembly, believed they had it mastered and tried to harness it at Chernobyl."

"We landed six missions in all. We took hundreds of photos and samples, locked them away forever when the moon program was shut down."

I tried to pay attention, but honestly, my brain shut down after Mearing started talking.

Ironhide arched an eyebrow ridge. "Well, did you search the crash vault?"

The four of them were silent and the question remained unanswered, leading us to believe that the answer was no. Optimus sighed and closed his optics. "The ship's name was the Ark. I watched it escape Cybertron myself. It was carrying an Autobot technology which would have won us the war. And… its captain… my sire… The great Sentinel Prime, the technology's inventor. He was commander of the Autobots before me."

Well. This is… new… Wait, how long has he had a father?!

"It's imperative that I find it before the Decepticons learn of its location. The Xantium will be able to take us there and… you must pray it is in time."

Mearing nodded and pulled out her cell phone. "I'll have the Wreckers contacted. Hopefully, you'll be able to leave sometime this week."

::Spade, can I speak with you privately?:: Optimus commed me.

::Yeah. I kinda need to talk to you.::

The two of us went to his office, which was considerably larger than the one he had in Diego Garcia. He shut and locked the Autobot-sized door and gazed at me, regret shining in his optics. "Spade, I'm so sorry about early."

"Eh. I would have been mad too. Forget about it," I waved him off dismissively. "Though… it would have been nice to know that you had a father and all…" I trailed off, looking down at my hands.

"I'm sorry. I know I should not have kept that from you. As my mate, you deserve to know," he said remorsefully, bowing his head in shame. I smirked and shook my head, leaning against the wall.

"I'll forget about it… if you let me go to the moon with you," I said slyly. Optimus sat down behind his desk and tried his best not to smile. "And if you take me flying when you get the chance. I have something to show you."

"In the sky?" I shrugged and my smirked widened. As we spoke, I privately commed everyone that knew of my new ability and made sure they kept their mouths shut unless they wanted an orb shot up their ass or aft. Even though he struggled to do it, Optimus pulled his lips into a thin line. "You want to go to the moon?"

"Who doesn't wanna go to the moon?" I replied, letting out the laugh that I'd been holding in for a while now. "Come on. I'm small so I won't take up that much space. And I can be quiet if you ask me too. And if we run into any 'Cons, I can help! Pwease?" I gave him the puppy dog look that even Ironhide gave in to. Chuckling lightly, Optimus sighed and looked down at me.

"I'll allow you to go with Ratchet and me to the moon." I whooped and did a small dance. "But I'll have to think about flying."

"Now, when you say think, do you mean actually thinking about it? Careful consideration and long thought processes? Or does it mean you say you'll think about it, but in reality, you were always gonna say no?" I questioned. Optimus smiled warmly.

"The former, actually. I know that you've never been flying before, excluding the plane crash. But I believe that everyone deserves a decent flying experience. It almost makes me want to be a Seeker," he admitted.

I smiled widely. He thinks I've never had a decent flying experience. Boy, do I have a surprise for him. "Thank you, Orion. I promise I won't get in the way or do anything that's too stupid." I hummed and strolled over to his desk. "Orion Pax," I mused. "You know, on Earth, 'Pax' means peace. So I'm gonna start calling Orion Peace."

"Are you, now?" Optimus asked, clearly amused.

"Mmm-hmm. Hey, it could be worse. I could call you Constellation Peace. Orion's Belt, you know?" I grinned. He smiled at me coyly.

"You say that now, but if we were human, Pax would eventually be your last name," he countered. I gasped and dissolved into laughter. After pulling myself together, I stared him down.

"I've come to a conclusion based on that statement."

"Oh?"

"Yep. It's obvious you've been spending way too much time with me."

I have completed two whole chapters, both of which total up to about 8000 words, in about three or four days. I'm finishing them way too fast, and it takes so long for Wednesday to come around. *sighs* Oh well, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Because of my eagerness, I might give you another chapter today because I have another one ready. So, reviews make me happy and they fuel my chapters and now, my updating speed. Well, only good ones. Later!

Denali Prime out!