transformers prime · optimus prime · cybertronian · sci-fi · leadership · team dynamics · reaction fic · heroic · paternal · animated series
The desert air over Jasper lay thick and still, cicadas droning in the distance. Inside Hangar E, the Autobots moved in the warm light of the groundbridge controls—Optimus standing silent and watchful, Ratchet fussing over diagnostics, Bulkhead telling a joke that made Miko laugh. High above, the Nemesis cut a dark scar across the twilight, Decepticons preparing their next strike. Then, without warning, a blazing blue-white portal ripped open in both bases at once, a violent suction yanking everyone through—Autobots, Decepticons, humans—all tumbling end over end into a sterile, featureless chamber. The Autobots landed first: Optimus, Ultra Magnus, Ratchet, Bulkhead, Arcee, Wheeljack, Smokescreen, Bumblebee, and the three human kids, Raf, Jack, and Miko. Seconds later, the Decepticon…