#was not expecting them to actually be conjunx endura but that works for me

[short-circuit-the-great]

Dying Sun / A Hundred Thousand Stars / Ch 3 / Speaking Hand

AO3 link | Previous chapter

Warp Drive meets with Windsnarl in the park to learn ways to communicate.

--

Chapter 3: Speaking Hand

From what Warp Drive heard, the executive order reached Burnout and the stoplight was installed. No more collisions, and the same went for the intersection in Delta. She had more meetings about more problems around Velocitron, but she didn’t think much about them because she was still preoccupied with the meeting in the park the week before.

It was certainly an event.

Warp Drive had arrived at the park as soon as the sun went down, which was really determined by where the city moved, but the cities tended to time their movement and speed with the length of a day anyway. She waited on a park bench by a wish fountain, which was built into a statue of a long-dead robot. Maybe it was something called a Prime. Warp Drive didn’t know. She didn’t believe anyone with power like that could have ever existed.

Windsnarl turned up a short while later, immediately apologizing for being late.

“My sparkling wouldn’t go to sleep until I read him a story,” she said. Adopting newly forged robots was relatively common—Warp Drive wouldn’t do it herself, as she believed they should fend for themselves all the way from the beginning as she had, but she knew a lot of people with sparklings. 

“I won’t waste any of your time,” Windsnarl said. “Let’s get started.”

She pointed at the bench and said, “May I sit here?”

Warp Drive nodded, and Windsnarl sat beside her. It was weird being this close to someone—a good, interesting kind of weird that Warp Drive liked. Windsnarl’s engine had just been running, so she was hot—no, her temperature was high. There, that was a better way to say it. Warp Drive could feel the heat coming off her metal, and it was nice against the chill of the night. She was still working on piecing together a mental picture of what Windsnarl actually looked like, and in the moments before she spoke, she admired the bulk of her shoulders and the sharp curvature of her back. Wait, why was she admiring that?

For visualization purposes.

“We’ll start with something easier—I like this one better,” Windsnarl said, and Warp Drive focused instead on the blur of heat that was her face—she wondered what it looked like. “My Conjunx is deaf, so this is how we talk.”

Oh.

Conjunx.

Warp Drive shoved her disappointment (disappointment?) away, which presented physically as one of her antennae dipping downward at the end. Of course Windsnarl had a Conjunx Endura. Why wouldn’t she? How wouldn’t she?

Do you want two?

HUH?

All of Warp Drive’s antennae twitched as she pushed that thought away too. No. Do not ask Windsnarl that. Where did that thought come from, anyway? She’d just met her!

But she acknowledges me and respects me and tries to understand me. No one’s made that effort before.

Everyone expected Burnout to translate, and Burnout lied about what the signals said and spun them in whatever way she wanted. Windsnarl, though? Windsnarl tried to find a way they could both communicate, together, and she respected the power Warp Drive held, the power she’d won in the race for First Senator.

Windsnarl respected her as a leader.

And that was incredibly new.

So really, Warp Drive couldn’t blame herself for wanting to marry the first person who was nice to her. It was an extreme reaction, speaking to just how desperate she’d been to be listened to, but it was a reaction to be expected.

Just don’t talk about it.

It’ll go away.

Windsnarl would be a great friend. No, she wasn’t going to want to be friends with the First Senator. She would find that unprofessional. She definitely would.

But she was on Warp Drive’s side.

That was close enough.

That’s all I’m gonna get, so don’t entertain the idea of friendship.

Certainly don’t entertain the idea of anything else.

“Give me your hands,” Windsnarl said.

WHOA.

So much for that.

Warp Drive was glad she didn’t have a face for once, and she held out her hands, which shook anyway. Windsnarl wouldn’t be able to tell she was having weird thoughts she couldn’t put a name to. What the hell was all this? This had never happened before.

Because I’ve never been this close to someone before.

Windsnarl took her hands. “This is called chirolinguistics, or speaking hand,” she said, and Warp Drive struggled to focus on what she was saying, definitely nodding too much. “It works by stimulating nervecircuits in the other person’s hands and wrists. I can see you picking this up quickly if you direct your electromagnetic pulses to your hands so that they will go to mine.”

Windsnarl knew about the electromagnetic pulses? Warp Drive had never even tried using them to communicate with her.

Windsnarl looked up and said, “If you don’t like this, I can also teach you Cybertronian Sign Language, which we talked about earlier. Snowcrush and I use a Velocitronian variant that’s simplified, so it goes faster.”

I want to learn as much as I can, Warp Drive wanted to say, but she didn’t know how to say it yet, so she just started jumping.

Windsnarl laughed but quickly stifled it and turned it into a cough. Warp Drive wished she hadn’t, but again, they weren’t here as friends.

But I want to be.

If that could happen.

“We pick up languages quickly,” Windsnarl said. “If you were to land on another planet, as soon as you heard the native life speak, you would be able to speak and understand their language. It’s one of the many benefits of being a robot. Lucky for us, this works with any language—to an extent. You might need more practice with these before they click due to their physical nature, but I promise they will make sense fast. Look, I’ll say something in hand for you.”

Various points in Warp Drive’s hands and wrists tingled the same way they did if they went numb and the feeling would start to come back, and the meaning was stunningly clear:

MY. NAME. IS. AIR. MOVEMENT. GROWLING.

“It’s not perfect,” Windsnarl said. “Names can come across weird if you don’t hit the nervecircuits perfectly, but you get the idea.”

Warp Drive nodded several times and tried to say something back. MY. NAME. SPACE. FAST.

“Nice to meet you, Space Fast,” Windsnarl said.

DRIVE. FAST. SPACE.

“You’re getting closer,” Windsnarl said. “Good.”

SPACESHIP. GO. FAST.

“Almost.”

WARP. SPACE.

“Remember what you activated to say drive,” Windsnarl said.

MY. NAME. IS. WARP. DRIVE.

“Perfect,” Windsnarl said. “See, you pick it up fast. Try to say something else.”

ENERGON. PUNCH. TASTE. POORLY. Warp Drive stared at the outline of their hands clasped together. I WANT TO FIND. The words were coming out faster now, clearer. A NEW RECIPE.

ME TOO, Windsnarl said. YOU SHOULD COME SEE IF SNOWCRUSH KNOWS ANY.

She should what?

IF YOU WOULD LIKE, Windsnarl added. OF COURSE, SHE WILL WANT TO KNOW WELL IN ADVANCE. 

The speaking hand gradually became more natural, less unsettling to Warp Drive’s nervecircuits.

Snowcrush will want to clean the entire house before hosting the First Senator, Windsnarl said, but if you are interested in meeting her for recipes, I can let her know.

Yes, Warp Drive said a little too quickly. I would like that.

Immediately she added, To meet your Conjunx, I mean. And to get recipes for Energon punch. Yeah.

PRIMUS’S CORRODED ROBOT NUTS.

Why did Warp Drive talk like that? Why was it so awkward? Why?

If it makes it easier, Windsnarl said, pretend I am just Windsnarl of Catalyst. Pretend we don’t work together. Meet me as a fellow Velocitronian.

Warp Drive was startled into silence. Meet her as a fellow Velocitronian? Then that meant…

No.

Don’t get your hopes up.

She doesn’t want to be your friend.

I will let you know what Snowcrush says soon, Windsnarl said.

A week later, Warp Drive still hadn’t heard anything, and she was wandering the halls after another boring senate meeting with the old rich robots where Burnout misrepresented everything she said. She was no closer to changing anything about Velocitron other than stoplights. It was looking like nothing was ever going to change, and on top of that, Windsnarl still had so much to teach her.

But Windsnarl hadn’t said anything.

Of course, Warp Drive hadn’t seen her at all, and she knew Windsnarl was busy. They both were. But Warp Drive wanted to learn more—they’d never gotten to Cybertronian Sign Language, and she really wanted to learn that.

And she wanted to see Windsnarl again.

The weird thoughts had only gotten worse, and every thought Warp Drive had led back to Windsnarl. Well, not all of her thoughts, but most of them. A concerning number of them. She still didn’t have a name for whatever was going on here, and she knew it would only get worse if she saw Windsnarl again but at the same time, not seeing her was even worse and even more distracting. She wanted to be her friend so bad. Right? That was what this was. Right?

Yeah, it was. 

But it was also something else and RRRRRGH NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NOT ABOUT THE SHERIFF NOT ABOUT THE SHERIFF OF DELTA. Not about Sheriff Windsnarl, Sheriff Windsnarl with the SHOULDERS WARP DRIVE REALLY LIKED FOR SOME CRAZY REASON.

She was well aware she was slamming her head repeatedly into the wall, knocking down a few tapestries. Good. Maybe that would get rid of these feelings she didn’t want. Or did want. She didn’t know. But wait, she couldn’t want them regardless because Windsnarl was married. Happily married, by the sound of it, and with no interest in Warp Drive. Warp Drive wasn’t going to steal her away.

So maybe it was better if Windsnarl forgot about her.

Warp Drive’s comm link pinged, and when she answered, the voice of one of the Citadel guards said, “First Senator Warp Drive, Sheriff Windsnarl is requesting to speak with you.”

YES. NO. WAIT. How was she supposed to feel about this? Warp Drive smacked her head into the wall one final time and stumbled down the hallway, trying to communicate to the guard she would be at the door soon. It took several flights of stairs—no, many flights of stairs—but Warp Drive finally reached the front lobby. The people always walking through there, whether they were entering or leaving, moved to make room for her, and she made it to the top of the stairs outside the door, where she saw several heat signatures waiting at the gate below. She hopped down the stairs, taking them three at a time, to meet Windsnarl, who was the biggest signature.

“Hello, First Senator,” Windsnarl said, saluting her, and Warp Drive bounced for a good five seconds before realizing she should return the salute. She did, and her hand was shaking again, but it would have been shaking with excitement anyway.

Why was she excited?

Why was she so excited?

It can’t be for that weird reason it can’t be for that weird reason it can’t be for that weird reason.

Once again, Warp Drive was insanely grateful for not having a face.

No one questioned them when they left together, and as they walked down the road, Windsnarl said, “Snowcrush says you are most welcome in our house today if you would still like that.”

Warp Drive nodded, and Windsnarl said, “I can teach you some signs while we walk. Of course, it is entirely up to you and I am more than happy to drive if that is more convenient.”

Warp Drive shook her head and bounced again, and Windsnarl said, “All right. We’ll start with some basic signs. Like with chirolinguistics, it should click fast—not as fast as a spoken language, but still fast.”

Windsnarl taught her several signs on the way to her house, and by the time they arrived, they were able to have basic conversations with it. Warp Drive preferred chirolinguistics, but she understood the advantages of signing instead—you couldn’t always grab someone’s hands.

Windsnarl knocked on the door. “Snowcrush? I’m here with our guest.”

A white robot opened the door, and she was built like a tank, though she evidently didn’t turn into one because there were no tank tracks anywhere on her body and she had skis instead. Her alt mode must have been a snowmobile, which Warp Drive imagined was useful if she wanted to leave the city and drive around on the actual planet surface—provided she was on the nighttime side where there was almost always snow and ice.

Snowcrush waved politely and signed, It’s a pleasure to have you in my home, First Senator Warp Drive.

Warp Drive signed back, The pleasure’s all mine. Thank you for having me.

As promised, Snowcrush shared her drink recipes with her, and Windsnarl stuck around for company and offered to share some snack recipes she knew. It was a long conversation, but a strangely comfortable one, and Warp Drive found herself sharing some things for the first time—her favorite tracks to race on, her favorite places to climb up to and look at the stars, the kinds of books she liked reading. She’d never been able to talk about any of this stuff with anyone before.

It was wonderful.

You are welcome to visit us any time you like, Snowcrush said when it was getting dark.

Thank you, Warp Drive said with the drink and snack recipes in her pockets, for everything today.

Then she transformed and drove off as fast as she could, not out of awkwardness, but happiness.

#transformers dying sun #tf fan continuity #transformers #maccadam #transformers fanfiction #writers on tumblr #WarpSnarl

[radioactivepeasant]

Fic Prompts: Transformers Tuesday

(Returning to my Shattered Glass Prime characters, but this time we get a look at what was happening on the other side while Megatron was stuck in the reverse polarity Prime world. Introduces a character who seems to have been implied but never introduced for SG)

Soundwave was worried. It had been well over a month now with no sign of Megatron. Starscream hadn't left the Bridge bay in Arizona more than twice in that time. He was still trying to recreate whatever had gone wrong with the Transwarp Bridge before.

Considering the Autobots hadn't been any quieter, Starscream's absence on the field was starting to cause some tensions in the Con ranks. Especially with Sephie and the Trine. Soundwave was starting to fear that Sephie would do something drastic again.

"HMM!" Ravage bounded up to perch on the edge of the water tower beside Soundwave. "THERE'S NO BOTBOTS HERE AIFINKSO. MAYBEE I CAN ASKS DAT SPAYCESHIP, K?"

Soundwave twitched. He bent down and scooped up the excitable Deployer. "Dude, what spaceship?"

Ravage butted his head affectionately against Soundwave's chin, pushing his visor towards the sky. "UM, DAT WON, BOSS."

It took a moment to access the right satellites, but eventually Soundwave saw what Ravage was talking about. The craft was small -- by the standards of a Cybertronian -- and sleek; it seemed to be made for aerial combat. And it was headed for the atmosphere a little faster than Soundwave thought was advisable.

"OoOooOH. IT'S IN OUR AIRS, VOYDIN ITS WARRANTEE!?" Ravage fretted, hopping down from Soundwave's arms.

Soundwave hastily contacted the Nemesis. "Like, HQ, we may or may not have mondo unidentified dudes incoming. Uh...we got any like, IDs on these bros?"

Airachnid's irritated voice crackled over the comms. "Soundwave, if you don't stop butchering that surfer language, I'm telling Sephie to burn your cartoons."

"She totally wouldn't!" Soundwave gasped, outraged.

"She will if I bribe her. Give me the coordinates of the UFO?"

"You're like, the worst." Soundwave grumbled as he transmitted his location. "How come you get to say uncool stuff like UFO but like, I can't have any fun?"

"Because I'm older than you." For a moment, there was silence on the line. When Airachnid came back, she sounded tense. "Soundwave, that's a Decepticon signal, but that ship was registered as destroyed before we evacuated Cybertron. Keep your guard up. I'm sending Skywarp to your location."

"Stealth mode, got it," Soundwave agreed.

"I WILL BE ALL THE QUIETS!" Ravage loudly added.

The ship landed hard, shaking the water tower and plowing through the asphalt like soft earth. It came to a stop three miles from Soundwave's perch, leaking fuel from damaged engines.

"Well," Soundwave muttered, "If it wasn't totally busted before, it is now."

He dropped to the ground and crept closer. Until he could read life signs, he would refrain from broadcasting his presence. For all he knew, there could be Autobots aboard. Or pirates. Maybe even Cosmic Rust. Hopefully not Cosmic Rust.

A hatch on the port side buckled suddenly. It seemed like the mechanism was damaged, unable to open. A muffled shot barely rose above the hiss and groan of the wrecked ship, and then the hatch was forcefully kicked open. A formidable frame forced its way out of the damaged hatch and kicked its way clear of the rubble. Soundwave instantly relaxed when he saw a familiar red brand on the being's chassis.

"Yo! Over here!" Soundwave jogged up to offer a hand to the Decepticon. Belatedly, he realized that he was much smaller than the hulking warrior, and probably wouldn't be much help.

"What planet is this?" the stranger asked. Her vocoder buzzed oddly, clearly experiencing some kind of crash damage.

"Earth, Sol System," Soundwave answered quickly. "It's rad, full of cute little organic dudes with nasty tempers. So watch where you step."

"Earth," the femme repeated. "Good, that's good. What is your designation, soldier?"

Soundwave couldn't help standing just a little straighter as he answered, "Soundwave, Communications and Morale, ma'am."

"AND RAVAGE! U SEE ME? I AM WAVING!" Ravage interjected before getting distracted by the reflection of sunlight off of metal. "OOH!"

The femme nodded. "I am...well, the Quintessons who healed me, bless their embers, could think of nothing more than Mega Magna. Now the Autobots have begun to designate me "Mega-Empress", unfortunately."

"Mega...empress?" Soundwave tilted his head and flashed a confused emoji onto his visor. "That's um...that's..a name, alright."

"Commander Magna will do," the Decepticon sighed. "To avoid confusion with my conjunx endura."

Something tugged at Soundwave's memory. A story Starscream had told him about the origins of the Decepticon faction vorns ago. But the pieces hadn't quite fallen together yet.

Mega Magna turned back to the wreckage of her ship and called down the hatch, "Girls! Let's go! Don't worry about the ship, it's all salvage now."

Two smaller femmes, probably no older than Skywarp -- or maybe even Sephie -- at a glance, scrambled out of the wrecked ship. The black and pink one scurried up behind Magna and clung to her arm nervously. The black and blue one primed a path blaster and stared warily at Soundwave and Ravage.

"Satellites indicate a lot of Autobots on this planet," the blue one warned.

"Acknowledged, Moonheart." Magna appeared to be unbothered. "Any sign of Megatron?"

"I think I hate this place," the pink femme mumbled, "I wanna go home."

"We just totaled home, Luna," Moonheart snapped.

Soundwave looked back and forth between the newcomers and reluctantly commed Airachnid again.

"Uh, good news and bad news, dudes."

"What is it, Soundwave?"

"Good news is, they're Cons! Bad news is, they're looking for Mega-Boss."

"Well. Scrap." Airachnid mumbled a few more choice words under her breath, then added, "Bring them back to HQ. Shockwave can fill them in."

Magna frowned sternly and took a step forward. Peering down at Soundwave she asked a single question.

"Where is my husband?"

#transformers tuesday #HASBRO WHY DID YOU NAME HER MEGA EMPRESS??? #HASBRO WHY???? #She was a redeco of Pyra Magna so I renamed her Mega Magna because typing Mega Empress over and over would get old fast #Lunaclub #Moonheart #Megatronia #shattered glass #transformers shattered glass #tfp #megatron sg #sg soundwave #sg airachnid #apparently Mega Empress was 'originally' going to be named Titania and have the Elita-1/Ariel backstory #while Megatron was Tronus as the Orion/Optimus backstory #was not expecting them to actually be conjunx endura but that works for me #fic prompts #writing prompts #Ravage made me actually look up old Lolcat memes #that sure was a Time for internet

[imagine-the-energon]

The "flirt fights" between Dreadwing and Autobot!s/o got me blushing hard when I found it in tfp tags. If possible, would there be a part 2?

((Hi, my name is Ashley and I just tried to make a full on chapter out of this. No actual smut, sadly. That’s for a part 3 if there’s a request for it.))

PART 1

“Wait!” You called out as Dreadwing started to walk away, making everyone startle except you two. “He’ll offline you, you know that, right? Your honor demands vengeance, but is it worth getting killed long before you can even start the task?”

“Commander?” Smokescreen asked as you stepped away from the ranks, and Dreadwing turned.

“What would you know about honor and vengeance?” The ex-con finally asked.

“Because I lost my sister to Megatron, and I once had the exact same thoughts as you. I acted on them, and had Jazz and a few other sabetours not been there, he would’ve almost immediately offlined me. Please believe me when I say you won’t be online long enough to watch him offline if you continue this way.” You offered your servo, smiling at him hopefully. “Please, rethink this.”

When all of you had returned to the base, you were quick to explain, for the most part, why you were able to convince Dreadwing rather than Optimus. As expected, the humans gave you hell for it because they didn’t know Cybertronian customs, but everyone else…

You had to explain your spark had essentially chosen him as a mate, and vice versa. Apparently Dreadwing either didn’t care, or didn’t know about it, because he had all but locked himself in a spare berthroom as soon as everyone had gotten back. You weren’t really surprised. An enemy base is now your only chance to live? You’d kill yourself if you had to seek refuge on Nemesis.

When the briefing as over, you were quick to go to your berthroom, thankfully an entire hall away from the one Dreadwing had chosen. But yet, recharge didn’t let you rest easy, simply because no matter how many systems you shut down, you were still awake, spark pulling and insisting to see it’s mate again. Venting, you stood and slunk out of the room, cloaking device automatically turning on. You couldn’t get attached; he was an ex-con, after all.

Entering the code for the spare room – as it used to be a get-away room for you if you were compromised and didn’t want anyone to find you – the door slid open and you saw the mech look up, optics narrowing. He probably saw the glitch you’ve been unable to get out since the last time you two fought. “Why are you here?” he grumbled, turning away.

“I couldn’t recharge,” you simply said. “And I have a feeling you couldn’t either, even if you are in Omega Base 1.” He just glanced at you before staring at one of the view screens, showing the stars above. You stared at him, spark calm, and it made you angry. Why couldn’t it have been Bumblebee?

“Do you know?” He said suddenly, looking at you.

“Yes. Well, if you’re talking about our sparks, yes.” You were stumbling. You didn’t like it. Crossing your servos and shifting your hips, you raised a browplate at him. “Was that what you were talking about?”

“Yes. We cannot…” he paused, most likely looking for a word.

“Court?” You offered, rolling your optics. “Glad we’re on the same page then.” Your spark lurched again and it made you grimace. “Optimus will probably wish to speak to you tomorrow. Don’t let Magnus get to you; he’s just concerned for our younger members.”

Pushing off against the desk, you walked out of the room, spark all but tearing apart. You had to do this. You had to prove you were stronger than instincts.

You sat at the mouth of the cave as the rain poured, unable to take your optics off of the crater your Amica had willingly flown into. “He gave himself up so that others may return home.” You didn’t jump at his voice. Everything was just too… numb. “The war is truly over then.”

“There will be those who wish it to continue,” you mumbled, digits playing with your shin armor. “And rebuilding will take… centuries.” Without processing, you reached out through your Amica bond and winced back, curling deeper into your frame. Even when Optimus had been Orion, the bond had still been there. Now… it was just… gone.

The seeker settled down beside you, following your gaze. “I was wrong,” he finally said, tone quiet. “I joined the Decepticons to follow Skyquake. I believed that he would choose the best option for us, the most honorable one. Now I see that he was forced to discard those when Megatron set his sights on us. Optimus Prime was, in no doubt, a mech with high morales.” he then turned his gaze to you. “And he was right to choose you as a Commander.” Something in his voice made you swallow and turn towards him. “I was wrong… about everything.”

Shuttering your optics, you couldn’t think as your lip-plates brushed, sending sparks down your frame. Suddenly, you were being pressed against the ground, your hands dragging over the mech’s wings as he nibbled and sucked on your neck cables, making you gasp and moan. Everything came to a screeching halt, however, when you caught sight of the crater. In an instant, you pushed him back, shaking your head. You two already made your bed; you agreed not to court. “I’m sorry,” you muttered, gathering your senses and fleeing the cavern, heading towards the ruins of Iacon.

Rebuilding, so far, was going excellent. Those Decepticons wishing to help immediately flocked around Dreadwing, and so far, they hadn’t caused any incidents, for which you were grateful. Within 10 earth years, everything in Iacon was starting to look like it had before it was bombed, and you kept in contact with your human allies to the best of your abilities.

“So,” A now 24 year old Miko said, chin in hand as she smirked. “How’s your relationship with Seeks going?”

“We’re not in any type of work relationship outside of work, and that is only when workplace incidents happen,” you replied. You had fallen back into your old lawyer job easily, but there were days where you almost… missed the war. No, that wasn’t it…

You missed Dreadwing. You missed the surprise attacks, and always encountering him when you were scouting. You missed the days where neither one of you could bother to fight and just sat down and talked. He had stolen your spark, and you were too ashamed to admit it. Rumor was that there had been femmes asking to court him.

“And yet that expression says you want something more,” Miko pointed out, eyebrow raised pointedly. “Look, I was young, stupid and brash when I first met you guys, but you helped me open my eyes! I know, compared to humans, you guys live forever, but what you two have… find each other in the opposite faction, him being there almost every time you went out scouting, him willingly leaving his cause behind because of you… that’s something you will only find once. Don’t push it away just because you two fought a couple times.”

“It’s… not that simple Miko,” you said, finally and truly gazing at her. The pink highlights in her hair were gone, and she wore it loose and curly. Laugh lines decorated her face, making her look 34 instead of 24. Where had the impulsive 14 year old you had always saved gone? “This war… Almost everyone now was born into it, there abouts. I was one of the few who saw Cybertron in it’s Golden Age. I can tell, for certain, that Dreadwing was not. And he had a twin.” you shook your helm, spark aching. “It won’t work out like one of those stories you’re telling me about.”

“Because he had a twin?” Miko asked in disbelief.

“Cybertronian twins aren’t like human twins. Almost all of our twins are Split-Sparked; one being, two bodies. If one dies, the other will follow unless they’re determined to avenge their fallen half. If I were to court him, it would only be half-filling and twice as waning. We could not fully become Conjunx Endura; spouses.”

“Jack and I have known each other for 10 years, and we’re completely ok with not marrying. June and Fowler aren’t married, but they’ve been together for almost 14 years! You don’t have to marry to be happy. Cybertronians are different, I know, but surely that has to be similar, right?”

You pondered her words, digits resting lightly on your facials. “I suppose…” you started slowly. “A bond could form similar to an Endura bond, but not quite an Amica one. It has happened before… and we’d still get legal rights as a Bonded Couple…” Sparing a glance at the human, you grinned at her, hope igniting. “Thank you, Miko.”

The woman laughed and grinned herself. “Go get your mech,” she said before ending the call.

((Thank you for the ask, and I hope you like it!))

~~Ohma~~

#Transformers #Transformers Prime #TFP #Dreadwing (TFP) #Dreadwing #Reader S/O #Autobot S/O #Autobot Commander #Autobot Reader #S/O #Reader #Miko (TFP) #Miko #Jack Darby #anonymous #anon #nonnie #End of the Month Special #Naughty 'Cons #Naughty 'Bots #Thank you for the ask!

[renaroo]

Twisted Legacy (10/25)

Disclaimer: Transformers and related properties belong to Hasbro Warnings: Canon-typical language and violence, Psychological torture and horror, Post-war politics, Canon divergence/Loose canon, Hospitalization and illness, Cultist indoctrination Rating: T Synopsis: [Canon Divergence from MTMTE and exRID #54] The legacy of the Primes has had a tainted past, one that weighs heavily on Optimus, his supporters, and those who seek the legacy for the future. But as they look forward for themselves and for Cybertron, a darkness looms that threatens to further corrupt the unsteady peace of their planet with its curious claim to be the Hand of Primus himself.

It’s up to Optimus, Windblade, Rodimus, and their teams to try and save all Cybertronians from this mysterious threat and, perhaps, change the future for the better if they can.

A/N: Again, sorry for the time lapse but it’s better than last time at least!! Right? Right? -__- Ah well. We’re officially at the end of Part II, though! So yay for that!!! 

Special thanks to @secretlystephaniebrown, Isame, and squiggol for the feedback! I really appreciate it!

Part II: The Fire Down Below Chapter 2.5: Acolytes of Primus’ Light

Velocity trusted Nautica, Rung, Nightbeat Rewind, and Chromedome, and she knew that the quantum engineer was confident in the warp drive of Ultra Magnus’ ship, but it did not make her feel any less queazy to arrive at Cybertron’s main port and be met with the amount of scrutiny and security measurements that they had in place for them.

First Aid had requested her services, and Velocity was obliged to assist him -- she was just as responsible for the lives of their crew as Ratchet and First Aid were, perhaps even more so seeing as how she was left in charge of the Medbay just before the mutiny and all. 

And he had warned her in their brief communication that Cybertron was going to be very protective given all the recent events. 

Still, the compartment search was more than unnecessary.

“They’re all medical supplies,” she assured the guards as she hugged her arms and watched them go through each item she had brought in her subspace compartment. “I am a doctor. It’s what I’m here for. I thought, given everything that’s happened, that Cybertron would be more happy to have an increase in medical staff. Including psychologists.”

“You’re from the Lost Light, ma’am, and that was infiltrated by the terrorist organization,” the tiny guard argued strongly. “And you brought four friends who are not doctors.”

“One is our quantum engineer,” she said, nodding to Nautica to make her point. “And Chromedome was requested to come by the Prime himself, and of course he should be able to bring his Conjunx with him.”

The tiny guard tilted his helm and pointed to where Nightbeat was unloading several unusual and unexplainable items from his own compartments. “And that one?”

“He thinks there’s some sort of mystery to unravel,” Velocity shrugged. “Solas Prime couldn’t keep him off our ship once he got whiff of a case. But if you need more reason, he’s my Amica.”

That caused the bot to take pause, look back to Nightbeat, then to Rung, and then to Nautica before falling back on Velocity herself. His optics were nearly squinting at her. “You are third to claim that.”

With suspicion laden in his voice, Velocity sighed and knew she was going to have to waste more of her precious time conversing with the security rather than assisting her mentors with the Lost Light’s patients. It was threatening to put her in a mood. 

“That would be because there are several of us who are all joined Amica Endura together,” Velocity explained testily. “One of which happens to be in the medical ward at the capital, and after everything we’ve been through, we would prefer to go on our way, help who we can, and check on our loved ones.”

“You can’t have multiple Amica,” the bot dismissed with a wave of his servo.

Velocity couldn’t help but bristle. “Absolutely one can! And I do. Obviously. I just explained.”

“Figures you mechs would throw such a thing around so easily,” the bot shook his head and began writing something down on his datapad before shoving all of Velocity’s supplies back to her. 

Thrown off by the tone, Velocity pressed her lips together. “You mechs?” she asked thinly. 

“Camiens,” he clarified. “It’s just... obscene to have more than one Amica. Unnecessary. It devalues it.”

“Then I’m happy, both as a mech and as a doctor, to be from Caminus, where one’s spark is large enough for all the world if you let it be,” Velocity responded, taking her supplies and quickly placing them in her subspace as the rest of their motley crew at last made their way over to her. “Are we ready to go to the capital?” 

“Sure, I’ll lead the way,” Nightbeat said, somehow managing to still have cheer in his voice despite the general mood. He then transformed into his altmode, only to get a few coughs from Rung and Chromedome. 

"Some of us do not have the most applicable of altmodes,” Chromedome said, a firm hand resting on his Conjunx’s shoulder.

Rewind vented and threw up his hands halfheartedly. “Here we go again about the altmodes.”

“And I’m afraid my scooter wouldn’t be quite as fast as those of us with wheels,” Rung added. “Not to mention those of us who have different modes of transportation entirely.”

Nautica gave a worried smile and shrugged. “Point me at Cybertron’s nearest lake and we’ll be ready to go.”

“Sorry, Nightbeat,” Velocity picked up, closing her subspace, now filled once more with her medical supplies, “You’ll need to point us in the proper direction of the capital without the tour on wheels.”

Without another word, Nightbeat transformed and showed a slight grimace on his face. “Well, that’s not nearly as fun.”

“Story of my life,” Chromedome joked lightly as he and Rewind joined the others in walking out of the security kiosk in botmode, ignoring the less than amused shaking of Rewind’s head. 

While she was no Cybertronian and her experience with the planet had been fairly limited to her short visits thus far, walking the streets toward the capital building still managed to be eye opening for Velocity. 

The already unsettled and curious atmosphere of the planet had shifted rather prominently to something far more uncomfortable. Like the pit one could swear their spark would fall toward within their sparkchamber that simply wasn’t there. 

Last time she had visited, there were groups and couples who were all about each and every corner, with the streets busy with activity. 

Sparse a cycle later it seemed that the bots all huddled in doors of buildings and indoors all together, nothing but straight, direct traffic lining the streets, and hardly anyone but the Lost Lighters themselves on the actual sidewalks. 

Cybertron felt like an unhappily cold place at that point. It almost pained Velocity to her spark. 

Nightbeat dutifully led them to the capitol building and once more they were met with the most unhelpful looking guards imaginable. All stood strongly opposed to letting the group forward even a single micrometer. 

“Hold up, we need to inspect each of you before you come anywhere close to entering these restricted areas!” one of the guards growled out, his broad servo held up making it very tempting to smack it down.

Immediately, the entire group broke out in groans aside from Rung who merely cleaned his lenses with a soft vent. 

“This is getting ridiculous!” Chromedome said, putting a hand against the side of his head. “We were asked to come here.”

“Velocity is a doctor and they need her talents immediately!” Nautica added, coming up to Velocity from behind and grabbing her by the shoulders so as to better position her up front of the group. 

Velocity did not struggle against the pushing but she did give a strained glance back toward her old friend. 

“Is this true?” the guard asked, tilting his helm. “We are allowing further medical staff through. But the rest of you will need a thorough search.”

“It’s true,” Velocity answered quickly. She glanced back. “Sorry everyone, but if I can help the injured--”

“Absolutely,” Nightbeat nodded.

“Do whatever you can,” Rewind urged. 

“We absolutely support you, dear Velocity,” Rung assured her, leaving Velocity to turn back on her heels and offer her credentials to the guards. 

They took a moment to examine her but not a moment more, waving her through the doors. Velocity ducked her head, sent a swift thank you to her friends, and rushed on in, hoping that the inside of the building would be simple enough for her to navigate and find the medical bay for. 

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like Primus was on her side with that one.

Velocity circled a corridor at least twice before running into the same, scraggly looking beastformer with large buckteeth took notice of her and grabbed her by the wrist.

“Hey, you supposed to be here or are they lettin’ scrap wander in from off the streets again?” he demanded rather testily.

“What is with how rude this planet has become?” Velocity demanded, wrenching her wrist back. “I was requested here. I’m a doctor and my services are very much needed--”

“You, uh, from the Lost Light?” he asked, tilting his helm. “Well then. My sincerest apologies! Let me just lead you to the laboratories so you can deal with those overbearing bots instead’a me for once.”

Velocity cycled her optics and nearly stepped back from the bot. She hadn’t expected that reaction whatsoever. “Oh! Yes. I mean, yes! Thank you!”

“Eh, don’t thank me ‘til you work with them,” he snapped with a flip of his wrist as he led the way.

Frowning, Velocity began digging in her subspace for her medical kits. “If it’s Ratchet and First Aid, I think I already have something of a preview of what is to come.”

“Heh, if that was all there was,” the bot replied. “What was your designation again?”

“I didn’t say it,” Velocity corrected. “But it’s Velocity. And you’re--”

“Pfft, like you don’t know Lord Starscream’s righthand bot by sight,” the mech responded dismissively before finally leading her to the room. “Alright, do your stuff, Doc. And for your sake, I hope you’ve got some real talent because these guys? They’re high strung about every single spark in there.”

She gave him a glance before continuing in. “As doctors I would hope they would be...” she replied lowly. 

“You bots from the Lost Light have some weird bond or something, huh? The way you all act when just a few of ya are banged up,” he said before waving some guards off from the laboratory entrance. “You guys know that’s really not normal behavior.”

“I’m really not comfortable with what Cybertron seems to consider being normal then,” Velocity said tiredly. “Thank you for showing me the way—“

The beast former was gone in an instant, and Velocity could not pretend to be anything but relieved about it as she carried forward through the room and was inducted into another bout of absolute chaos that being on the Lost Light had made her far too familiar with.

The laboratory that they spoke of was, without exaggeration, a research lab first and obviously retrofitted for medical needs second. That was made abundantly clear as she pushed past several pieces of equipment that had been haphazardly shoved together to the other side of the room and toward the entrance in order to make way for the medical beds and cryochambers that had been placed on the other end.

She could still smell the distinctive tang of soldering stitching meeting paint jobs, and there were plenty of ticking clocks letting her and all of the available medical staff know just how desperate the states of some of the sparks in their care were.

It was a horror show as a physician to approach the slabs and see once familiar faces dented in and crushed, scorched in various places with metal twisted and broken where it wasn’t melted and malformed entirely. Her spark screamed out in empathy toward them all.

“Primus,” she whispered.

“Velocity!” First Aid’s familiar voice called, turning her toward where Ratchet and some other, less familiar mechs were all standing. “I called on you ages ago, did you just get here?”

“Security on Cybertron is not the easiest to navigate,” she answered, coming up to the various doctors. “First Aid, Ratchet, what happened down there?”

“We haven’t the first clue,” Ratchet answered somewhat angrily. “But the first one to wake up is going to have a lot of questions to answer, that’s for sure.” He then looked more directly to Velocity, his expression tightening in that way that all of them who had been on the Necrobot planet and made it off tended to do however unknowingly. The face of being completely reserved while knowing a shared secret. “The lot of us have been working around the clock to keep everyone we could online, and the few of us who lack field experience could use some reprieve.”

Two of the physicians by Ratchet and First Aid’s sides immediately bristled at the jab.

“After watching the utter hack jobs you two performed on those frames, you think we are the ones who are misplaced?” the red doctor scoffed. “On Velocitron, that sort of sloppy work would have had your credentials taken away within a cycle!”

“Which makes it lucky no one here’s performing for the boards of Velocitron,” Ratchet snapped, his irritation already seemingly at an all time high.

Velocity glanced between the mechs a few times over before focusing on her mentor. She stepped up to First Aid, gripping her medical kit. “Did we lose anyone?”

He looked at her gravely. “We did,” he answered stiffly. “We have three still hanging in there but… It’s a bit of an intergalactic incident now. A lot of the dead were colonists.”

In truth, Velocity could not have cared less about the politics of it all, her spark sank at the very thought of losing anyone among their crew. Whether she knew them personally or not. But then again, there were the ones she knew personally.

“Brainstorm?” she asked quickly.

“One of the least injured,” Ratchet spoke up. “We’re expecting him to come online first. Whatever attack it was, he seemed to be hit and taken out of the action early on.”

“Who are the other two survivors?” Velocity demanded.

“A new member of the crew named Fang,” First Aid answered. He then brought his servo to his faceplate and hummed slightly. “And… well, Rodimus.”

Hearing that their co-Captain was among the survivors should have sent Velocity into a wave of relief, but she could hear one of the doctors — the red one again — vent loudly as he crossed his arms and looked toward the CR chambers.

“If you consider that living,” he said rather harshly.

Inside of her, Velocity felt her insides twist and turn at the comment but her curiosity had been piqued. Either this particular doctor was one of the crudest physicians she had ever met — a feat considering she mentored under First Aid and Ratchet — or the hesitation First Aid had shown earlier was for good reason.

Without waiting for further briefing, Velocity walked toward the CR chamber and nearly gasped at the sight.

Surviving the onslaught of the DJD and the seemingly endless amount of former Deceptions they had gathered at the Necrobot’s planet had prepared her for some fairly gruesome sights — namely when it came to the very bots she cared most about. But Rodimus’ current unconscious form seemed to bring those experiences into question.

His outer armor was nearly melted down to his protoform beneath, and there were scorches across what remained of his armor. But most terrible of all was the way his protoform and faceplate were burned down to their barest layer over the side of his right face — a handprint etched into the very barest layer of his body in truly horrifying fashion.

“Solas Prime,” Velocity said, putting her hand against the glass of the CR chamber.

“It looks bad, but he’ll make it through.”

The voice took Velocity by surprise but she was relieved when she saw that in the shadows just beside the CR chamber it was simply Drift. She was not the most familiar with him of their crew, but she knew him and respected him enough to trust him. And there was some comfort in the way he was sitting prepared in the shadows of Rodimus’ chamber. Like a guard on vigil.

“He has to,” Drift said, as if it were a matter of complete fact.

“Of course,” Velocity answered quietly.

“Until his vitals change, Rodimus’ healing is up to the CR chamber,” Ratchet announced from behind Velocity. “I’ve been keeping my optics on it. But we could really use an extra hand with the other two. Give these guys a real break. Including First Aid. He’s lacked a good recharge since before we brought this load of work to his doorstep. Researching that Red Rust outbreak and everything.” He looked at Velocity warily. “Are you ready for the responsibility?”

“Of course I am,” Velocity answered matter of factly. “I’ve been taught by the best.”

Chromia was still in recharge as Windblade looked out upon Metroplex from their capitol suite. The cityspeaker was still attempting to process all that had happened in just the short amount of time since they had been contacted by the away team of the Lost Light and all hell had broken loose in order to get them safely to Cybertron.

Starscream’s initial anger had been anticipated — even looked forward to in a sick sense that Windblade tried not to think of as speaking for her character. But the calm that had followed and his silence on the matter since then.

He was up to something, and as usual Windblade felt hopelessly behind in their game, barely scraping by in her attempts to catch up to a master manipulator while still retaining some sense of the morality she once wore as intimidatingly as armor.

There was a yawn from behind her that brought Windblade out of her thoughts and she looked instead toward her partner and bodyguard. Chromia stretched before pushing off from her habsuite and beginning to stretch and exercise in her usual routine.

“Did you recharge at all?” Chroma asked. “You know you’ve gone through the ringer lately, you could use more recharges. Especially more than I do.”

“I’ve been through nothing compared to those poor bots,” Windblade corrected with a frown.

Chromia’s optics nearly rolled. “Those poor bots were lucky that you and the Prime seem to be the only mechs with half a processor firing on this godforsaken planet, Windblade. If you two weren’t there to defy Starscream—“

“We defy because he continues to allow us to defy him, Chromia,” Windblade said, hugging her arms. “Can’t you see the politics at play here?”

“I don’t have a mind for politics,” Chromia shrugged. “That would be why I’m the bodyguard and you’re the delegate here.”

“By letting Optimus Prime and myself carry out these rouses against his orders, he is both the strong leader who is unyielding on his policies, and able to stake claim to good that the Prime and we do against the orders of the Council, along with all of the repercussions falling on our shoulders,” Windblade explained.

“Then, when there aren’t lives at risk, you and the Prime need to force Starscream’s hand, make him break his own ridiculous laws,” Chromia answered simply.

“There are always lives at stake here,” Windblade sighed, looking back to her window. “Always. This planet truly is a constant conflict.”

“Must be why I feel at odds with its charm,” Chromia replied, resting against the window with her arms crossed. “I prefer when the only one at risk for hitting things is me.”

Windblade gave her old friend a small smile. “Same,” she said somewhat cheekily. “Still, I just wish that doing the right thing didn’t also always mean doing the wrong thing. It’s getting a bit…”

“Annoying?” Chromia offered.

A reply was ready on her lips, but Windblade stopped and stared at the city square below instead. She felt a cold chill splash through her fuel tank as the news screens lit up with a hauntingly familiar and all too terrifying face once more.

“Chromia,” Windblade said lowly. “Error.”

“What?” Chromia asked, not following.

“Error,” Windblade repeated, pointing on the glass toward the vliewscreens lit up with his face. “Why is he on the news again!?”

“When since the attacks have the news stopped being about him?” Chromia tried to rationalize.

“Not like this,” Windblade admonished before opening the windows of their room and focusing to listen on the speakers down below.

“Citizens of Cybertron and its claimed worlds—“

“By the Primes,” Windblade gasped, optics widening. “It’s another live broadcast.”

"I have warned your people and your lands before of my power. The power to cleanse Cybertron and all its systems of those not worthy of the Prime’s hand,” Error proclaimed on all the screens and all of the speakers of Cybertron, drawing a silence over even Windblade and Chromia.

Windblade watched, optics wide, barely glancing as Chormia stepped forward to shield her from the invisible threat between her and the screens below.

“First I weeded us of the weak and unworthy,” Error explained, backing away enough to show more of his bulk than just the frame of his head. Then he held up both of his hands and immediately shot a powerful, blinding flame through them both. “Now it is time that the Hand of the Primes baptize you by fires. And we have already begun.” 

“The Lost Light crew,” Windblade realized out loud. 

“No doubts there, Cityspeakder,” Chromia muttered. 

“And I shall begin by cleansing our religion, dearest Cybertron,” Error declared. “By taking what is the right of any true Prime -- by taking the Matrix of Leadership for myself. And burning all the false prophets who have tarnished it.”

They watched as all the screens went blank with the end of the threat, and then all of Cybertron let out a terrified and confused screams.

“We have to find Optimus,” Windblade said quickly.

“I was afraid you’d say that,” Chromia sighed, grabbing her lance. 

While the cynicism in Chromia’s voice was not lost on Windblade, she concentrated on getting to Prime as soon as possible instead. There was little time, at least in the cityspeaker’s mind, for playful banter even as they raced down the halls and toward the science labs where Prime had been spending most of his time since the emergencies from Eukaris. 

There was a mech speaking to Optimus that Windblade only faintly recognized from being surrounded by more familiar faces -- Camien faces that she knew were Lost Light crew members now like Nautica. 

The one standing in front speaking to Optimus was locked hand-in-hand with a minibot who was practically radiating his displeasure toward the Prime.

“Even if I wanted to help you, Optimus, I can’t anymore,” the tall mech said with a defensive shake of his head. “I don’t even have my needles anymore. I’m... I’m recovered from the craft. Had Ratchet himself remove them. And judging by his reaction to the last time I used them... I find it hard to believe that you ran this idea by him first.” 

“I am sorry if I have offended you by making such a dangerous request, Chromedome,” Optimus said lowly.

“We flew all the way from the Lost Light just because of your request, too. I think we need an apology for that, too,” the minibot raged.

“Rewind,” Chromedome attempted to say soothingly only for Rewind to shake his head angrily.

“Don’t Rewind me, Domey! You almost died right in front of us! We saw it! If you ever thought of doing it again after what we went through? After it basically killed you? I... I’d have to extinguish my own spark. I’ve not helped you at all,” Rewind cried out.

“That couldn’t be further from the truth,” Chromedome said achingly, grabbing the minibot’s other hand and lacing fingers. He then vented strongly and looked to the Prime. “I cannot perform mneumosurgery for you, Optimus, Sir. It’s not possible. I wouldn’t do it if it were still possible. I wish I could help you some other way with finding out what Rodimus and our other crewmates encountered, but that’s more of Nightbeat’s business.”

"Thank you, but seeing my options as they are currently, it seems my next step has been made for me,” Optimus vented.

“Prime!” Windblade yelled out, not waiting a second more since the conversation between the Prime and the Lost Lighters was all but over. “Error has returned -- he’s making demands and he’s specifically focusing on you and the Matrix this time! We have to get you out of danger before he makes a move.”

Optimus looked at Windblade and Chromia for a moment before placing his hands on his hips. “Then it seems Starscream’s assignment to me must have been even more opportune for him than he realized.”

“Starscream?” Windblade questioned, unable to prevent her nose from curling at even just his name.

“He has charged me with determining what happened to Rodimus and the Lost Light crew on Eukaris. And since I cannot do that while remaining here, I will do so where I can,” Optimus explained. “And keeping myself far from the public will do well to keep it safe if this Error truly plans on acting on his words. I will not be defending myself in the streets of Metroplex.”

Windblade narrowed her optics. “After all of this, you’re going to Eukaris? To be slaughtered like this crew?”

“No,” Optimus said with a shake of his head. “The Counsel is very outspoken about keeping the various colonies and Cybertron separate until they have an answer. I will be setting foot elsewhere. Getting answers from the Lost Light itself.”

Windblade’s mouth opened but she did not have a ready reply. 

Only a feeling deep in her spark that something was still very, very wrong.

Megatron was receiving information from the medical station on Cybertron as quickly as the data could be carried between the stars, and it still felt far from enough.

Even with non-affiliated and even former-Decepticon members of the crew on the rise, the Lost Light remained a specifically Autobot ship. And his position on it remained purposefully precarious. And with his co-Captain among the injured — well, it was difficult to say what his position even was anymore.

The Lost Light had always been restless, but weeks after a mutiny, a plague, and now weathering an away team’s near decimation might prove to be more than the crew could bear to stomach under a Megatron ran ship.

Perhaps Optimus was going to receive the retribution he had always thinly veiled through the bogus position and the watered down Fool’s Energon.

“Just for sport,” Megatron said lowly at his Captain’s desk, reading through the filtering in reports, “I won’t break so easily, Prime. You’ll have to try a bit better to take advantage of our second darkest hour.”

Still, he hoped that the bar was still packed with that low-grade shrill water Swerve was posing as high-grade. The less drunks they had on the ship, the less likely they would have a medical emergency at the one time that they had exactly no one on the medical staff.

Still staring at the documents on his tablet, Megatron waited for something to pop out at him — good news, bad, something that resembled a clue as to what happened before threats of an official inquiry against the Lost Light were actually made. He knew his own crew at the bridge were still scrambling under the orders he gave them to find anything and everything that could be relevant to the events on Eukaris.

So far no one had come to his office to tell him they had found nothing from the ship’s various files. Megatron figured this was more of a sign of fear than of the new bridge crew’s undying need to find answers for themselves.

He was more than ready to give up on his reading when, finally, a knock came to his office door.

“Finally,” Megatron said, setting aside his tablet and leering at the door. “Enter.”

It was unsurprising to be met by Ultra Magnus’ face. He was both the only crew member left who made up for what he lacked in fear of Megatron with respect for positions and order, and the only mech who seemed even more personally dedicated to the current mystery than Megatron himself.

Magnus was the former duly-appointed enforcer of the Tyrest Accord. If that meant anything in these days.

“Word from Cybertron I suspect,” Megatron said crisply, doing little to hide his anger and irritation at even the possibility of receiving contact from Starscream again after last time.

“There is that,” Magnus answered, coming in and quickly shutting the door behind him — which was more than enough to put the captain on edge. “Though it is not what I believe you think it to be, Captain.”

“I will have to look at that as a positive then,” Megatron replied.

“It seems that Starscream saw it fit to send someone to the Lost Light in search of any answers we may be hiding from their current inquest,” Magnus explained. Then he added, “It would appear the one chosen for the task is Optimus Prime.”

“Of course it is,” Megatron snapped before he could catch himself. “I’ve never known the bot to sidestep an opportunity to dig the blade a little deeper.”

There was a twitch on Magnus’ face, one of the only tells the second in command ever gave when he was irritated or put off by his captain. It was better than most, Megatron supposed.

“It almost makes it appealing to know that we won’t be able to give him what he’s looking for,” Megatron said, glancing back to his reports — still no further updates.

When the silence carried on a moment too long, he glanced back toward Ultra Magnus. There was unease in those robust shoulders.

“Or am I wrong?” Megatron asked.

“We have found… something,” Ultra Magnus answered lowly. “Badly damaged audio from a failed attempt to hail the ship while the signal was being blocked by… some sort of technology more advanced than our own.”

Megatron tilted his helm. “The Black Block Consortia?” he asked.

“Not that I’m aware of,” Ultra Magnus replied, unease continuing to grab at Megatron’s attention. “It does appear Cybertronian in origin. But different. Colonial perhaps, but it is advanced — centuries in advanced to our own.”

Tapping his fingers against his desk, Megatron scowled. “It’s safe to presume such advanced technology would not naturally exist on a colony planet that seems more interested in trees than electricity.”

“That would be a safe presumption,” Ultra Magnus answered.

“Alright then, on with it,” Megatron sighed, rubbing at his optics tiredly. “I know there is bad news already, Ultra Magnus. It cannot possibly be worse than what we’ve been going through for the past several hours—“

“You need to listen to this audio. So far only the sound technician and myself have heard the deciphered and cleaned up version,” Ultra Magnus interrupted, highly unusual for him and enough to make Megatron lean back in surprise. “I made certain to bring the only copy to you first. To determine what your course of action will be with it.”

Staring at Ultra Magnus, Megatron allowed the graveness of his second in command’s tone to fully reach him. Then he set aside his reading tablet. “Tenser the audio to me directly. It will be erased as I listen to it so that your copy remains the only one. I trust your judgment — if you deemed it necessary, it must certainly be necessary.”

“I fear it is,” Magnus replied before complying with the demands.

Continuing to look at Magnus suspiciously, Megatron internally accepted the audio file and began to lean back into his chair, listening avidly and even shuttering his optics to keep complete focus on the sounds of their crew. It did not take long into the May Day for the screaming to begin. Then for it to be clear who, in the background of the audio, was making threats. Threats that turned into demands. Demands that turned into pleas. Pleas that turned into screams. Not of pain, but of terror.

Not even halfway done, Megatron stopped the transfer and looked to Magnus. “No one else has heard this other than the sound technician, yourself, and me?” he demanded sharply.

“Yes, Sir,” Magnus answered just as sharply.

“Can you ensure any backups are deleted?” Megatron pressed.

“I will ensure it,” Ultra Magnus nodded. “As for the file?”

“Well,” Megatron said, folding his hands together. “I suppose that entirely depends on determining what side Optimus Prime is playing for when he arrives.”

“Rodimus means a great deal to him,” Ultra Magnus attempted to explain. “I am certain he will be more understanding—“

“He will side with whatever he deems just no matter what friendships it lays bare in its wake,” Megatron corrected. “No one knows Prime more than I do, Ultra Magnus. And you are not to give him that recording until I explicitly give you permission. No matter what threat to your honor that gives you.”

“I understand, Sir,” Magnus said thinly.

“We are the only things protecting Rodimus now,” Megatron reminded him. “Until we know who our allies truly are, this is the way it must be.”

Ultra Magnus nodded stiffly then headed out the door.

Megatron vented angrily before throwing his tablet across the room and shattering it against the adjacent wall, its pieces littering the floor and the smaller, engraved desk that Rodimus had shoved in the corner — co-captain labeled on the top marker.

The former warlord slumped in his chair and rested his helm in his hand. “Damn,” he uttered lowly.

#writing #tf fic #TF: Twisted Legacy #Velocity #Windblade #Megatron #Chromia #Ultra Magnus #Ratchet #Chromedome #Rewind #First Aid #Nightbeat #Nautica #Drift #Rodimus #Rattrap #Knock Out

[boomtanknotboombox]

Mending the Bridge

Blaster: -pokes at-

Harbringer: -Looks over and grins- Yes?

Blaster: -pokes again- You're on my desk.

Harbringer: I know. I like it here.

Blaster: Seriously. You're on my work too.

Harbringer: I know. -Not moving- You tell anyone about what we spoke of?

Blaster: Tell them of what again?

Harbringer: -Squints behind his visor- About the thoughts of you being a carrier. Once a decision has been made.

Blaster: Oh!....oh. I knew I forgot to tell them something...

Harbringer: Not quite their concern until a decision is made... What did you tell them?

Blaster: ...I don't remember?

Harbringer: What's the last thing you remember?

Blaster: Red Alert yelling about 'chaos entities' and demanding I get checked by either Ratchet or Sunstreaker.

Harbringer: And did you?

Blaster: Well, Sunstreaker came by, so yes? He was as confused as me though, but whatever you said to Red Alert did not sit well with him.

Harbringer: Well there was pretty much everything he didn't like. I might of admitted and let him figure out what I am. With a mention about 'fixing' your spark. So that might be the cause for your check up.

Blaster: -scowls at- Is that why he also insisted on being outside the door? Because you've gone and made an already jumpy reflex several times worse?

Harbringer: . . . accidentally so, if you'd believe me.

Blaster: ........-covers face and sighs- whhhhhy

Harbringer: -Moves over, datapads simply floating about him rather than being shoved to the floor, so he could pull Blaster's servo down- I wanted to talk to him.

Blaster: -huffs, but doesn't fight- Now he's gonna be several times worse than before, you know

Harbringer: Least he cares about you. In a different way than I do.

Blaster: I know...he does. But...I don't think you should talk to him for a bit. Just to avoid more...uh...reactions like that

Harbringer: This isn't going to be something he's likely to forget. You on the other hand... how could you just forget that detail?

Blaster: I didn't forget, I just forgot I didn't tell them...a lot of things come to think of it.

Harbringer: When did you start forgetting things this badly? Can you remember that?

Blaster: ...uh...When I hit the multiverse? I think it's just been so much to keep track of...that I kinda drop things

Harbringer: That would do it. -Shakes his helm- And I only learn of this now?

Blaster: Well, it didn't seem important?

Harbringer: -Sigh-

Blaster: ...what?

Harbringer: This is something important I should of been made aware of..

Blaster: Oh. Sorry. I didn't think it was...

Harbringer: -Rubs below his visor- If you forget small things, you'll forget big things, you could forget mechs if this got bad.

Blaster: -puffs- It's just balancing things, that's all. I'm fine, I swear

Harbringer: -Shakes his helm-

Blaster: You don't believe me?

Harbringer: Not entirely. I can't see what you may forget and remember. It doesn't help that fixing these 'broken' areas are quite troublesome.

Blaster:...sorry...

Harbringer: -Sighs and shakes his helm-

Blaster:...sooo....

Harbringer: -Looks back up- You'd have many mechs trying for my helm if they learned of this… -Moves off the table. Motions for the other datapads to settle- I need to talk to someone. Focus on some work for now. I'll be back.

Blaster:...huh? What do you mean? -watches and tilts helm- Okay? Bye now?

Harbringer: I'll tell you when I get back. And tell Red Alert once I'm gone that his teleport protection needs work. -Casually vanishes and reappears near the med bay. Outside at least before he made his way on in- Sunstreaker, where are you?

Blaster: He's gonna flip out again! -just as Harbringer vanishes-

Sunstreaker: -has no idea who it is, so waves a servo from around a curtain separating the medi-berths-

Harbringer: -Walks over and peers around the curtain- What, or rather who, are you working on?

Sunstreaker: -finally glances up from cleaning to see who's in the room-

-And is on the other side of the berth almost instantly. Just about hissing at the avatar- Out!

Harbringer: -That was actually impressive. Blinks to register the speed the medic possessed- Nope. We need to talk. And don't call that murderous twin or yours or Red Alert. I don't need them trying to "forcibly" remove me.

Sunstreaker: I said ' Out! ' I mean Get! Out! I do not want to talk to you! -is actually hissing at him now, like a cornered cat-

Harbringer: -That would of been adorable any other time. It was almost there- It's about Blaster.

Sunstreaker: What did you do?! -hello watch him jump to conclusions as he backs up and snarls-

Harbringer: -And adorableness gone. Optics narrowed as he growled- I did nothing to him. Blaster just told me he's been having memory problems and no one bothered to let me have this piece of information.

Sunstreaker: -wasn't trying to be adorable- He is having memory problems because his mental state is still fractured. And you were not told because you neither asked nor made it apparent that you had suddenly become his caretaker.

Harbringer: -Scowls- I've been helping him deal with his nightmares. Knowing he was having more problems than just those would of been vital to know before I started.

Sunstreaker: -frowns- Fine. You have a point there. But, my point still stands. How were any of us supposed to know you needed to know, when we were told nothing?

Harbringer: -Snorts and rubs below his optics- It did not occur to me, as Blaster neglected to mention this, nor did Sideswipe even offhandedly mention this, to ask. It was not a priority. Nor did he show signs of this beyond what I could pin on his nightmares as plausible cause.

Sunstreaker: -huffs- Well, now you know. Happy?

Harbringer: Why the frag would I be happy to learn he has memory problems?

Sunstreaker: -scrubs face- Never mind.

Harbringer: -The "sarcasm" was lost on him this time around- Tch... You see the dilemma I'm in. I don't know whether or not this will lead to... issues down the line.

Sunstreaker: You speak for all of us, then. Blaster is not 'whole' in any sense of the word. He has been broken and put back together multiple times, some sloppier than others. Memory problems may be the lesser of the problems, or they may just be the worst ones. Or even passing. Normally a Carrier does not survive long after trauma like that....and Blaster would not have either. This is territory neither Ratchet nor I have been in. In all scenarios Blaster should have very well been offline by now. The shock from lost bonds to sever depression, or just general brain-death from being unable to cope, one or all three should have done him in.

Harbringer: . . . what loss?

Sunstreaker: ...He is a carrier frame. Symbiotes. Each relationship is different, but they all tend to form shallow working bonds. Some, like Blaster, form closer family bonds with theirs. He formed six of those. And in less than a joor he lost all six to the detonation of his base. Along with the mech whom he was preparing to call his conjunx endura. Did he not tell you any of this?

Harbringer: -For once, for the first time in a very long time, he was quiet. There was no response from him. Not even a movement was made as he processed this. So... no, Blaster never told him. Neither here nor in the prior universe had he been made aware of this fact. One more obvious than the other to him-

Sunstreaker: -Stares at for a moment. Did he break the mech? He hasn't moved....oh Primus he did. That meant...- Scrap. He never did.

Harbringer: -Eventually he came back around and covered his face. For a brief moment Sunstreaker would of caught wind of what sounded like a sob before it was cut off and he spoke as if nothing happened- Why would he bother mentioning this... Sideswipe certainly never did... Red Alert neglected t-

-Lowers his servo- Red Alert. This is what he meant... Picking up the pieces if I had left.

Sunstreaker: -That noise concerned him. Despite how quickly it was cut off. And he really had no idea what to do with this situation anymore-...Sideswipe would not bring something like this up. And Red Alert...he knew what happened, but not the consequences. I do not mean to sound cold, but what you did threw all of us into uncharted territory, medically speaking. We have no idea what to expect from Blaster's condition anymore.

Harbringer: What I did was merely repair the physical damage caused so he wouldn't perish. I worked with him on the nightmares. -Scowls once more- I never touched anything in his helm while I've been with him.Hnn... Can I still trust you with her...

Sunstreaker: I know that. But the physical damage should have killed him, end of story. But because of you, it did not. Because of you he has lived where he should have died. This is akin to myself outliving Sideswipe. Almost...the point is that no one would know what to do, because it has not happened before and I would be the first case.-Huffs- And thank you for that. But that is not what I meant about his mental state. And 'her' who?

Harbringer: -Growls. More or less at himself. Is he just destined to get so close to something only to have it ripped out from beneath him? To have power and be unable to stop it? Turns his helm to stare at Sunstreaker for a solid minute without speaking. When he does, his voice is softer than before- The one who once called me "Feathers."

Sunstreaker: -stares at again, curious as to why Harbringer is growling. And having said Avatar stare back wasn't helping, and he almost jumped when he was spoken to-...I take it, you cared for whoever she was. And she has something to do with Blaster. -sighs- His mental state is still fractured, but it is improving from when I first talked to him. I am sure some of that is your doing, and it does stand a decent chance that it will continue to do so. Bar any further trauma.

Harbringer: Let me put it this way... I would rip the very fabric of reality apart to get her back. And in a way... I've done so. There are few mechs in my long life I've cared for. Fewer still whose deaths I mourn. She managed to find the spot in my spark I didn't think existed. This knowledge about Blaster complicates things... I will not lose her again... -Growls- I will not lose Blaster.

Sunstreaker: -hums thoughtfully- I can see that. She left an imprint on you. And...if you continue to help him, you will not lose either. I am not going to tell you what to do, but right now...he needs someone there for him. And neither myself or my twin can be there. If you are working through his nightmares, then .....Then you should have already known this? His nightmares are not about the destruction of his base?

Harbringer: No. Never about this loss. Something worse has plagued him than that. What that is, is not for me to tell. Even I believe this would do more harm than good. I'm not risking him losing the mechs he considers his friends to reveal his past.

Sunstreaker:...very well. I will not ask further. But I will talk to Red Alert and Sideswipe about being a bit more...lenient with your presence. If you are as serious about this as you sound.

Harbringer: Five.

Sunstreaker: Five?

Harbringer: How many attempts have been made on Blaster's life. There are a surprising amount who do not wish him to be the leader of anything. How many has Red Alert noticed? Has he told you?

Sunstreaker: Ah. He has said something about 'disappearing intruders' and possible glitches in his system. Those were you, correct?

Harbringer: -Nods-

Sunstreaker: Ah. Then I will speak to them, the next chance I get...and thank you for what you have done.

Harbringer: You should tell him to listen instead of shriek and pass out when I give him advice then. -Turns to leave and then pauses. Glances over his shoulder- Tell your sibling to let you look at that gift I left for him. Perhaps you'll respond better than he did. Only time I tried to do something nice and he broke down.

Sunstreaker: -snorts- I will, regardless of how much of a losing battle it will be. I will try, nonetheless. -nods- I will speak with him. And good luck.

#skype rp #Mending the Bridge #thelordoflight

[petitelepus]

A Simple Femme In Beast’s Suit, Part 1

Okay, so this work is on my AO3 user PetiteLepus and this work is inspired by Zekkoss. Check them out, they’re awesome. I’ll tag @rocksinmuffin, my Senpai, and everyday inspiration since I want her to name the Reader! But enjoy the story!

It was a regular day in Lost Light, or at least it would have been if it wasn’t for Swerve. The metallurgist had heard a broadcast sent to the whole ship by Rodimus about how they were passing by an artificial planet called Ovika 1.5 and the minibot couldn’t be in a greater rush. So he abandoned setting up his bar for the night and told Ten to carry him with his bigger legs to the observation deck. They came in, doors busting.

”Captain,” Swerve called, but was silenced by the sight of both Rodimus and Megatron staring out in the space until the smaller mech had burst in. He fixed his mistake quickly, ”I- I meant, captains! W- we must visit that planet, it’s my life long dream, besides managing a bar, please let’s go there, even for an hour or half, I’ll give you both free drinks and energy treats for tonight!”

Rodimus’ optics widened and mouth formed to a smile, but before he could agree Megatron stepped in, ”Swerve, that planet is abandoned. There is nothing there. It’s just dust and dirt covered artificial cyber asteroid floating in space.”

”That’s exactly it!” Swerve smiled broadly and jumped down from his bouncer’s arms and made his way to his two captains.

”I’ve read about Ovika 1.5 when I was back on Cybertron studying and I know it’s an artificial cyber planet that had historic and highly rare and these days NON-EXCITANT energon chips planted on it for harvesting high functioning ancient energon, way more powerful than normal energon!” The white and red mech beamed excitedly.

”Wait, hold on, I don’t get this.” Rodimus interrupted before Swerve could start again and glanced him and Megatron in confusion, ”If this Ovika 1.5 is so great, then why it’s abandoned light-years away from Cybertron?”

Swerve was about to explain, with extra details that weren’t asked, but Megatron folded his arms and shot him a look. The metallurgist shut down immediately, even covering a little. The former warlord huffed and turned his grumpy look to Rodimus, ”The Ovika 1.5 was abandoned because it showed no sign of growing energon. Instead, it started to grow organic life forms. At that time it wasn’t wished result for such an expensive experiment so Council decided to launch it off to space and destroy all the data of it to cover up their mistake.”

”But the legend about the rich energon filled planet never died and mechs all around the Cybertron told stories about it and its location! I always wanted to find it and harvest the rich energon to make amazing new drink combinations that not only bring people happiness but nurse them also! They say that ancient energon can cure weak sparks, fuel mechs for a week with one sip, and even prolong life!” Swerve piped excitedly and clapped his hands, ”It’s also highly valuable! Worth millions!”

Rodimus brightened up like a light bulb and turned to mech in charge of controls. ”Park the ship here, we’re taking Rodpod and go take a look at that little planet!”

”Rodimus!” Megatron snarled and turned to his co-captain, ”This is not a good idea and you haven’t even consulted Ultra Magnus about this!”

”Relax, Magnus is having his armor checked by Brainstorm and Perceptor so he won’t a notice a thing if we disappear for an hour or two! We just get a couple mechs with us, get to the Rodpod and take a quick peek! If there is this ancient energon then we grab some and, well, let’s see what we’re doing then. For now, wham-bam in the van, let’s go! Swerve, you’re coming with us.”

”Yes!”

~~~

”This is remarkable!” Brainstorm shouted from the bottom of his chassis as he threw his arms in the air as if he was expecting the planet to embrace him. Mechs exited the Rodpod one by one, but he had to be the first one on the land. Nautica was close behind him and once she was next to her best friend she copied him perfectly, ”This is amazing!”

The artificial cyber planet had grown into a beautiful organic looking planet. The grass was tall like a meadow’s no matter where it grew, flowers as big as minibot’s head and strangely reminding some of them from tentacles as they hang from a bulb looking like an onion…?

The trees looked like Earth’s palm trees, but they were even taller than normal mechs were and leaves were fuchsia-colored and flowers brown like they were almost dead, but still alive. The sky was bright blue, but that had to be the only normal thing on that planet since even the clouds were light green. Heavier clouds were almost poisonous looking.

”Okay everyone, I’m giving you all a job!” Rodimus shouted, getting everyone’s attention.

”Brainstorm will do his science thingies and Nautica accompanies him.”

The nerd duo high fived.

”Rewind takes records from this place and you watch after him Chromedome. I don’t want to put anyone in danger.”

”I’ll guard him with my life.” Chromedome said as he leaned over his smaller lover's shoulder to nuzzle his facial mask against his Conjunx Endura’s own. Rewind returned the sign of affection with as much love, ”Oh Domey…”

Rodimus cleared his intake, averting his gaze from the lovely dovely couple and fixed his optics on Skids and Swerve, ”You two take a look around and see if you can find anything. Remember to report back to me. And for all of you make sure to scout the area carefully! Don’t leave a stone or a twig turned and report everything to me by our comms if you find anything!” Rodimus shouted and made a pose, ”Until all are one, so go wild!”

”YES!” And just like that everyone except, Rewind, Brainstorm and Nautica, transformed and went on their different ways. Rodimus drove to the South, Skids and Swerve drove to West, Chromedome took Rewind on top of him and they drove to North and Brainstorm and Nautica went on their ways to East, each one on their own mission.

~~~ At East ~~~

”Look at this bug Nautica! It’s amazing! Not the biggest I’ve seen, but it’s still pretty amazing!” Brainstorm squealed excitedly as he used his sample taker to poke the beetle that he had kneeled down to inspect. The femme was right beside him, looking curiously the beetle that reached to their knee joints. It made cricking sounds and shook its shell each time Brainstorm poked it.

”I wonder why it’s shell is bright red… and what are those orange spots on it? Wouldn’t it be better for it to camouflage to its surroundings? There must be a reason for its absurd coloring!” The scientist said as he poked the chubby beetle straight between its antennas and suddenly the beetle hissed and-!

”Watch out!” Nautica screamed and quickly yanked Brainstorm out of the way danger’s way. The beetle spat a spray of bright yellow spit at him, but thanks to the mech’s best friend’s fast reflexes, the spit flew past him and hit the ground, and just like that, the beetle bolted and run away to the lush grass. The duo watched after it, then each other and finally the spit on the ground.

”I think it doesn’t need camouflage to hide.” Nautica noted. The spit hissed as it melted a giant hole on the ground and killed all the plants around it. Brainstorm squealed again and quickly got out his vials and took samples, ”Of course! It’s not trying to hide, but warn the predators that it’s dangerous and someone not to mess with! I must document this and run some tests on this acid to find out its composition to create more of it! Then I can mass produce it for my weapons! Imagine the possibilities!”

Nautica chuckled as she watched her friend blabber over how he needed to analyze the acid’s composition to create more of it and talk about all the great weapons he could create with it. While he took samples, she took a look around. The planet was weird but very pretty on its own way. Nautica couldn’t almost believe that it was accidentally created by Cybertronians, but if the massive animals were any indicator about their roots then it matched.

On the corner of her optic, she noticed a big bush shaking couple steps farther from them. She was curious to see what caused the shaking and since Brainstorm was busy, she decided to investigate. Nautica didn’t expect to find what she did.

”Uh, Brainstorm? You might wanna see this.”

”Oooh, what what, what is it? Another critter?” The scientist giggled and ran to his friend. Nautica shook her helm, not averting her eyes from the show bestowed before her. Two rodents that looked like super hairy fluffy puff rats with longs green lizard’s tails were mating like there was no tomorrow. Interesting, but kinda gross also…

”Yew… Neat, but still, yew.”

”I want to take them back to the ship!”

”No you don’t.” Nautica chuckled and walked off to look for something else magnificent. It wasn’t hard. Actually, wherever she looked they saw the planet’s habitats… Being all over each other. Avians with leathery wings, bugs with bright colors, mammals with their weird six eyes.

Noticing that Brainstorm was still watching critters bang, Nautica went to her friend and pulled if away, ”C’mon you, dork, let’s give those animals some privacy!”

”Noooo! I want to take them with me…!”

”You can take that ancient energon once we find it.”

”Even better! Let’s go, let’s go!” The scientist laughed as he bolted straight into the wilderness, trying to find the ancient energon. Nautica chuckled at her friend when she noticed a flock of avians circling the sky not so far away from where Brainstorm had run off to. She followed her friend to the flock of birds and she almost couldn’t believe her optics.

Bones. Giant bones everywhere. Bigger than her and any basic mech. The avian vultures pecked the squeaky clean bones, trying to find something to eat from them, but they had already been cleaned from meat.

The avians must have been hungry since they would only change a skeleton when Brainstorm went to inspect one of them.

”Nautica! This is amazing, these bones are gorgeous!” He squealed like a sparkling and straight out lifted one from the ground, ”So heavy, but almost hollow! This creature had wings to fly with, but the size of a fighter!”

He threw the bone away and went to inspect the skull with enormous sharp fangs. ”These fangs indicate that this creature was a carnivore because it lacks the blunt molars to grind it’s the food like herbivores do to plants. These fangs were purely for ripping meat apart!”

As Brainstorm rambled on, Nautica started counting bones and how many creatures they had in their pedes. According to skulls at least three giant carnivores. She couldn’t help but wonder why these animals had died.

”Hey Brains, you got any idea why these guys died?”

”I thought you would never ask!” Brainstorm giggled and jumped over the skull he was investigating to take a look at its neck.

”Look look! This one’s neck was crushed with such force that it not only snapped the cervical vertebrae but it CRUSHED IT! It’s in pieces! This monster had no chance against its competitor when it had its neck in enemy’s jaws!”

Nautica nodded as her friend made his way to another skeleton, disturbing vultures as he went to its ribs. ”Suspecting by the crushed sternum, this one received a fatal blow to straight into its heart! A real kill shot, am I right!?”

Brainstorm jumped to the third corpse, rolled over a giant skull that was more damaged than other skulls. Not only was it’s front almost black, but there was a huge hole in the middle of the forehead. He pulled servo through the skull’s black part, only to smudge his servo. ”These burnt marks are so deep, that this one had its whole face burnt before something smashed it’s head inside!”

Nautica nodded, eyeing the corpses. ”That sounds interesting Brains.”

”It is, isn’t it!”

”You do know what this means, don’t you Brainstorm?”

”That there is a giant creature here, vicious enough to crush competitor’s neck, strong enough to pierce a chest and able to breathe fire or strong acid through its mouth!”

A silence fell over them as two of them thought what was just said. And just like that, they both quickly opened comm links.

’This is your Captain? Did you find anything?’ Came Rodimus’ voice through the comm.

’Captain, uh, Rodimus? We have a problem!’ Nautica was saying when she was interrupted.

’Yeah, no shit. I found something. Something is seriously-! Hold on, Chromedome is contacting us.’

’This can’t wait-!’

’Rodimus? Is Brainstorm also on this comm?’ Came Chromedome’s voice.

’Nautica is here also!’ Brainstorm cheered.

’Hi Chromedome! We got the news! Bad news!’

’They can’t be as bad as our news!’ Rewind joined the link, ’There are hundreds of capsules here, from Cybertron!’

’Okay, that beats my news.’ Rodimus said, ’Nautica, Brainstorm, Chromedome, and Rewind, let’s all meet back at the Rodpod. I’ll contact Skids and Swerve and tell them to return-! Hold on, they’re just contacting me.’

’We’re in trouble!’ Skids yelled straight into comm link.

~~~ At North, Quarter Earlier ~~~

”Seeing anything Rewind?” Chromedome asked as he kept driving through the tall grass that seemed to go on and on forever. The minibot kept his visor and camera on the horizon, trying to see anything worth filming or noticing. Like a big rock that was coming up.

”Turn left to avoid a rock coming up-! No wait, it’s a sheep. It’s a sheep that looks like a rock. Just drive past it!”

”On it.” Chromedome drove past the sheep, only to hear unholy screeching behind him and Rewind’s hold on his roof tightened. ”Oh frag, it wasn’t a sheep, but a ram and it has big horns and it’s angry!”

The bigger mech laughed, ”How bad can it be, it’s organic. It won’t catch us-!” Chromedome had to swallow his words before they got past his vocalizer as hard and pointy horns rammed against his rear bumper.

”Frag!”

”What did I tell you!” Rewind shouted, but there wasn’t even a hint of malice or sassiness in his voice as it was only laced with laughter, until the ram rammed against his lover again, almost knocking minibot off from him. Without another word, Chromedome sped up until they left the ram eating dust.

”This planet is weird! I love it!” Rewind laughed as he filmed over his shoulder how the ram was left behind. Surely mechs on the ship would love to see them getting chased by a rocky organic.

Chromedome laughed, his engine rumbling with mirth. Then his lover noticed something and patted the vehicle’s hood to get his attention. ”Domey, there is something in the distance.”

”More rams perhaps?”

Rewind focused his optics behind his visor and used his camera to zoom in. He saw many round things in the distance, but he couldn’t tell what they were. ”No, they look like them, but it’s not it. I don’t get any signs of life from there.”

”Should we check it out?”

”It wouldn’t hurt.”

The duo made their way to mysterious objects, only to be shocked out of their minds. Rewind got off from his Conjunx Endura so Chromedome could take his normal mode. The minibot was about to approach the mysterious round objects, when the bigger mech stopped him, pushing him behind himself and approaching objects first.

”What on old Cybertron…?” Chromedome muttered as he touched the weird grass-covered object. When nothing happened, he swiped his servos over the grass, pushing it to the side. He felt his optics widen behind his visor and without his notice Rewind creeping beside him. ”Primus. Domey, do you realize what these are?”

The bigger mech nodded before wiping both his hands over the plants, getting rid of them, and uncovering what they hid there. It was a capsule. Old as time and rusted through every protective layer of metal. Chromedome put some extra pressure on the rusted surface and the rotten metal shattered under his servos like crystal. He couldn’t almost believe what he saw.

A protoform of a cybertronian sparkling, not even fully evolved. It still had its white soft armor, black outlines, and nonexistent head. There were no other details in it that growing sparkling would have. Chromedome extended his hand and carefully felt the protoform. It was stone cold and not emitting any field.

”Rewind… what are these?” The big mech asked without looking away from the cybertronian baby.

”I heard rumors back in old times when the Council decided to get rid of Ovika 1.5 that they used it also as their way of getting rid of failed power spark experiments.” The minibot explained.

”Power spark?”

”They wanted to create an artificial spark that was stronger than normal cybertronian’s spark that could carry much bigger loads than other mechs’ sparks could. Imagine a mech who actually is as big as Ultra Magnus’ armor, but can put on armor much bigger than that.”

”Primus… Those would have changed the whole war.”

”Yeah, but they said that experiments went wrong. Sparklings took deformed forms, grew too small, became predacons, some were weaker than real sparks, and died out before even growing optics. I heard that all the protoforms were destroyed, but I guess that meant that they sent them off into space with Ovika 1.5…”

Chromedome grew silent. He took a look at small protoform, barely grown enough to form a face or alt mode. It had died in a locked capsule with no chances of ever seeing stars or life itself before its life was suffocated. He took a look at hundreds of other capsules and he could already tell that each one had a dead cybertronian sparkling in there.

”That is horrible…”

Rewind nodded, ”I tried to ask about it from Dominus, but he said his lips were shut and denied everything. Of course, I knew he wasn’t able to talk to me about everything but to hold this as a secret…”

The lovers gave a moment of silence to dead cybertronians that didn’t even see light but darkness before they probably starved to death. The moment was finally broken by the big mech. ”We should report to Rodimus and the rest of the crew. They should know about this.”

Rewind nodded and the duo contacted Rodimus through comm link. They connected to comm but were immediately met with Nautica saying something about waiting to the comm link.

’Rodimus? Is Brainstorm also on this comm?’ Chromedome asked about his friend.

’Nautica is here also!’ Brainstorm cheered through comm.

’Hi Chromedome! We got news! Bad news!’ Came Nautica’s voice.

’They can’t be as bad as our news!’ Rewind joined the link, ’There are hundreds of capsules here, full of protoforms from Cybertron!’

’Okay, that beats my news.’ Rodimus said, ’Nautica, Brainstorm, Chromedome, and Rewind, let’s all meet back at the Rodpod. I’ll contact Skids and Swerve and tell them to return-! Hold on, they’re just contacting me.’

’We’re in trouble!’ Skids yelled straight into comm link.

~~~ At South, Ten Minutes Earlier ~~~

Rodimus drove like a madman through the wilderness. For once he was in a planet where there were no speed limits and he wanted to let go a little bit and be wild youngster that he was. There was no Ultra Magnus telling him to slow down or Megatron nagging at him.

The wildlife ran as soon as they heard his motors revving and going off so there wasn’t danger of hitting anyone. He had even left the grassy landscape behind him to avoid rocks or other things that could have been hiding in tall grass.

Rodimus kept driving, occasionally stopping to drift a little and leave his tidemarks on the ground until he saw something rising in the distance. The colorful mech made his way to the object and transformed.

”Wow. Well, you don’t see this every day.” Rodimus whistled. A giant pillar of teal-colored energon grew straight from the ground, growing few heads taller than. It was even so wide that he wouldn’t be able to wrap his arms around it.

”This has to be that ancient energon Swerve was talking about.” The Captain muttered by himself as he eyed the impressive monument. Who would have thought that little chips could grow so tall? Rodimus took a look around the pillar, trying to see if there was a crack or small piece anywhere, and there just happened to be a tiny piece of energon on the ground, just by pillar’s base.

”Hmm, might as well taste this and figure out what so great about this stuff.” Rodimus hummed as he picked up the tiny piece and propped it into his mouth and bit down.

”Ouch! Frag!” The mech cursed and spit the energon out. ”Frag…! That hurt, what I tried to eat? A piece of diamond!?”

Rodimus felt around his mouth, trying to feel if he had cracked a dental plate, but everything seemed to be still intact. He sighed in relief. His perfect smile was still flawless. Then he noticed something. Teal powder at the base of energon pillar.

The Captain wiped his servo over the powder and felt it between his servos. A very fine energon powder. Despite anything he had learned during his life, he licked the powder off from his servo.

Rodimus moaned in delight. That had to be the best energon he had ever tasted in his life! So sweet like energon treat, but not overly sweet and it melted on his glossa like softest oil cake ever. How something that gorgeous tasting could be as hard as a diamond?

The captain looked up, wondering where the powder came from because he wanted to see where the powder came from and he saw four deep grooves just above his head in the pillar. He felt his spark drop. Whatever had left such marks to a energon that hard wasn’t normal.

He had to contact others. Something was seriously wrong on that planet. Rodimus was just about to open his comm link and contact others when he was contacted first. According to incoming information it was from Nautica and Brainstorm.

’This is your Captain? Did you find something?’Rodimus asked.

’Captain, uh, Rodimus? We have a problem!’ Nautica was saying something, but Captain beat her to it.

’Yeah, no shit. I found something. Something is seriously-! Hold on, Chromedome is contacting us.’

’This can’t wait-!’

’Rodimus? Is Brainstorm also on this comm?’Came Chromedome’s voice through comm.

’Nautica is here also!’ Brainstorm cheered.

’Hi Chromedome! We got news! Bad news!’ Nautica said, only to be cut off again.

’They can’t be as bad as our news!’ Rewind joined the link,’There are hundreds of capsules here, from Cybertron!’

’Okay, that beats my news.’Rodimus said,’Nautica, Brainstorm, Chromedome and Rewind, let’s all meet back at the Rodpod. I’ll contact Skids and Swerve and tell them to return-! Hold on, they’re just contacting me.’

’We’re in trouble!’ Skids yelled straight into comm link.

~~~ At West, Five Minutes Earlier ~~~

”Oh my Primus! Skids, look!” Swerve shouted and pointed to the distance. The blue mech turned his attention from two banging giant crickets to look at what his friend was pointing at and he almost couldn’t believe what he saw.

Energon. Pure, brightly glowing energon crystal pillars that were almost as big as Skids raising from the ground in bundles. They were gorgeous, glowing with soothing strong teal color as no other energon glowed. Skids turned to Swerve whose blue visor practically shined in excitement. ”Skids, we found the ancient energon!”

”We sure did.” Skids chuckled as his friend yanked his hand, trying to get more speed to him so they could inspect the mysterious pillars. After the third tug he walked to energon with his friend. As soon as they were next to pillars Swerve let go of him and touched the energon.

”Primus, it’s smooth! I’ve never seen pure energon this smooth! Usually, they’re like unpolished rocks, diamonds, or gemstones. Ragged and sharp! This is almost like it was made to look this perfect!” Swerve babbled excitedly as he felt around the energon pillar like it was a beautiful mech before him.

The metallurgist actually tried to crack the energon with his fist, only for it to bounce back to him. ”Man, this is hard! I think we might need a laser drill or something to get even a piece of this back to ship with us! C’mon, help me with this, find a rock or something!”

”Whatever you need buddy.” Skids shook his head, but turned and started to look around for a rock. Meanwhile, Swerve kept inspecting the pillars, going multiple times around them, taking in every detail he could get.

”Did you find anything?” The red and white mech asked without looking at his friend.

”No, not yet.”

”Keep looking, there must be something that can crack this beauty up! There are already some marks on it!”

”Marks? What kind?”

”I don’t know, I’m not a wilderness professional, I’m a metallurgist, and I know by this hard energon that there is something even harder than that that left these marks here.” Swerve said excitedly, before he ran to his friend’s side, ”Imagine everything we can make with this much ancient energon! We could maybe even grow it on Lost Light, and imagine all the drinks I can make with it!”

”Okay okay!” Skids laughed and snatched a nice sized rock from the ground and turned to face Swerve. ”I think we should try with this rock…” Skids grew silent in a way of danger. A large shadow rose over two mechs as a monster, bigger than Skids had ever seen climbed on top of energon pillars.

The monster was huge, sharp jagged scales black as endless space adorning its body and long tail whipping behind it, enormous wings folded over it’s back and bright crimson lights glowing from scales’ seams over its chest and legs. Big and sharp horns grew from beast’s head, the couple from jaws and it didn’t even have lips to cover sharp looking fangs. Skids was officially scared.

”What? What is it Skids? You look like you saw a ghost!” Swerve laughed, completely oblivious of what was behind him. Until there was a deep gurgling growl. The minibot froze in his place and glanced over his shoulder and Skids saw his friend’s visor flicker.

Bright crimson eyes glared down at small metallurgist and monster’s claws tightened around the energon and it actually cracked under the sharp claws that sank into it, like it was soft energon gelatine.

”Swerve… Back up slowly towards me and don’t take your optics off from that creature…” Skids instructed his friend quietly, trying to stay calm in a dangerous situation. Swerve slowly did as he was told, backing up away, careful not to take his optics off from the monster before them.

The monster stared at them, but when a twig snapped under Swerve’s pede, it growled again and Skids acted. He threw the rock with all his might at the beast and the stone hit it straight to its shoulder. ”Let’s get out of here!” Skids yelled to Swerve and friends quickly transformed and hit the gas and drove away as fast as their tires could take them.

The monster screeched behind them, but the mechs didn’t stay to listen to it, but kept driving. If they were fast they could lose it.

That hope died when the familiar giant shadow landed on top of them. The monster was flying after them. Skids did the right thing he knew was right and opened comm link to the rest of his friends.

’We’re in trouble!’ Skids yelled straight into comm link as soon as he got the line open. ’There is a giant monster chasing me and Swerve!’

’Monster!?’ Came Rodimus’ voice in the comm.

’That’s what we tried to tell you, that there is something seriously dangerous in this planet!’ Nautica screamed to comm link.

’Okay, everyone, get back to the Rodpod, and let’s get out of here! Skids, can you and Swerve lose the monster after you?’ Rodimus asked.

’I don’t think so! It’s flying after us!’

’It can fly!? Interesting! Can you shoot it?’ Brainstorm asked.

’Okay, new plan, Brainstorm get to Rodpod and send an emergency signal to Lost Light! Skids, lead the monster towards South to me! Everyone else, get to the Rodpod and we buy you time to get there before joining you!’

’Got it!’ Everyone shouted and put the plan in action.

”Swerve, head to the Rodpod! I’ll be a decoy so you can get to safety!” Skids shouted over monster’s roaring and Swerve was quick to do as he said. ”Got it, on my way, be safe!” Skids and Swerve made quick turns, each in a different direction, and Skids even flashed his rear light to get the monster’s attention.

Two of them went to complete different directions and Skids did everything he could to get the monster to follow him… but to his horror, the monster ignored him completely. It went after his bartender friend.

Skids tried to turn on all his audios, trying to get a monster to come to him with noises, but the beast only showed interest towards the speeding minibot.

”Frag!” Skids cursed and made a quick U-turn and drove after his friend. He quickly contacted Rodimus.

’Rodimus, plan failed! The monster is after Swerve and heading towards Rodpod!’

’Pit! Okay, try to get that creature’s attention at any cost! I’ll be there in a second!’

’Roger that!’

Skids tried to catch up with his friend as best as he could, but the distance between them had grown too big. He tried to contact Swerve with comm link, but something was jamming the connection. The blue mech cursed and drove faster than he ever remembered driving, but it was too late.

Rodpod came to view and so did all their friends waiting for them there. Chaos hit them all like a shooting star. Everything happened in such a short time that no one couldn’t almost understand it. There was a roar and all of sudden the monster was just before them and glaring each one of them that it saw as invaders.

When Rodimus made it to the scene the beast roared again and surprised everyone by shooting a long stream of pure bright blue flames towards the sky. The heat was overwhelming, even if it wasn’t directed at any mech on the scene and for bots who didn’t feel heat or cold like organics, it was a great shock.

”Primus, it’s enormous!” Nautica shouted.

”Be careful everyone! Get to the ship when you get the first chance!” Rodimus shouted, getting next to Skids.

The monster whipped its enormous head towards Rewind with a growl and Chromedome was in front of his Conjunx Endura in a second, shielding him with his whole body and being, ready to bounce at the monster with empty hands. There wasn’t even a hint of fear of death in his actions. Not towards his death though. If he was to lose Rewind when he had just gotten him back then he would have truly died.

The monster dug its claws into the ground and focused its optics on Nautica and Brainstorm who were standing side by side. When the crimson eyes made contact with the scientist’s optics, he squealed like a mouse and hid behind Nautica, who stood her ground bravely, ready to protect her friend.

The black beast turned its attention on the rest of the group. Rodimus and Skids were side by side, ready to fight together against the attacker, their fists clenched and arms in the right position to throw punches as powerful as possible. For a second, it appeared that the monster was going to back out. It didn’t stop growling, but it raised it’s head off from threatening snapping position and even took a step back to retreat… until its eyes landed on Swerve.

Small, weak, and vulnerable Swerve was hiding behind a tree. That didn’t seem to launch the upcoming attack, but the fact that Swerve was alone.

The monster roared and in a blink of an eye rotated it’s head in a circle, shooting flames all over itself. Mechs ran away from the danger and the monster used the panic it created for its advantage as it ran straight through the fire towards Swerve.

”Swerve!” Skids shouted and ran towards his friend, but the monster whipped around and hit him with its tail, sending him flying straight into the air. Swerve got down on his knees when the monster got to him, trying to appear as small as possible. The beast swiped its claws through the air and with that move sliced the whole tree in pieces.

”Oh Primus, Skids, Captain, somebody!” Swerve screamed in terror as the monster’s claws wrapped around him.

”Hold on Swerve!” Nautica and Rodimus yelled and ran to save their friend. They had no time to waste. The beast turned towards them, roared and with a flap of its great wings, sent a surge of wind at them, knocking them on their afts.

The beast roared again and took off to the sky, Swerve with him and screaming from the bottom of his chassis. ”HEEEEEEELP!”

”Swerve!” The Autobot’s got together, Skids already in a motion to save his friend.

”Where it’s taking Swerve!?” The blue mech shouted, looking at his friends and then towards the black dot on the sky, ”C’mon, we got to follow it before it hurts him!”

Rodimus, Chromedome, and Nautica nodded in agreement.

”Okay, here’s what we do! Brainstorm, you fly after the beast, me and Skids follow behind you while Nautica takes Rewind and Chromedome back to Lost Light and comes back with Megatron, Ultra Magnus, and Whirl!” The Captain shouted orders, ready to transform to go after the monster, when Brainstorm got in his way, ”Wait wait, hold on!”

”Brainstorm, what the frag!?” Rodimus shouted at the scientist, ”That beast might drop Swerve at any given second or rip him apart! We must hurry, now!”

”I know I know, but listen! Me and Nautica made some important findings when we were exploring the planet! You see, it’s the start of the Spring season on this planet! Notice how flowers are blooming and those ancient energon bundles are glowing?” Brainstorm asked and pointed at each thing in his speech.

”Cut the chase Brainstorm and tell us what it matters!” Chromedome snapped, still holding Rewind tightly against his chassis, not showing any signs of letting his loved one touch the planet’s ground anymore. The scientist cleared his intake as a lousy cover up to his giddiness towards science, ”It’s animals’ breeding season! Me and Nautica took notes on many animals fragging in the safe places!”

Everyone glanced at Nautica and she nodded, ”Brainy tells the truth. We even saw a weird rodent with reptile tails doing it.”

”So what you’re saying is that-!”

”That’s right!” Brainstorm giggled like a madman, ”That monster saw a potential mate in Swerve, snatched him, and took him with him so it could breed with him!”

#reader #Reader insert #My Story #transformers #eventual smut #writing #Rodimus #Swerve #Nautica #Brainstorm #Chromedome #Rewind #Skids #simple femme