Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, they are the sole property of Hasbro, Marvel, Michael Bay and Takara.
Author's Notes: To my returning readers, I would like to extend a big thank you for all your support during the enterprises of 'Quick, But Not Quite Painless'. To my new readers, I hope that you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Much Love, Mission Accomplished
Chapter One
~125 centuries earlier on the planet Cybertron~
Optimus Prime found himself locked in yet another battle with a band Decepticons, to his right the steadfast Ironhide, on his left the ever-loyal Ratchet. They had been engaged in battle for some time now but the Decepticons in which they were fighting just seemed to keep coming. Drone after drone falling to the hard, unforgiving ground of their home planet, Cybertron, their sparks extinguished. They only had to protect this location a little while longer, their reconnaissance officer was due back at any moment. He hoped that no harm had come to the small robot known as Mixer.
He slammed the opposing robot into the ground, plunging his sword into the middle of the drone's chest. Its eyes flickered briefly before going out completely. He looked around; ready for the next attack however, none were forth coming. Had they defeated the enemy on this hill? He turned his attention to the growling Ironhide. The weapons master kicked at a fallen drone with disgust, sending the metal body flying a few yards away. Optimus admired Ironhide's fighting ability and his dedication to the Autobots, it was truly something to behold when he was engaged in battle. Optimus was glad to call him a friend and comrade. Along with the medically trained, Ratchet, who it seemed would usually rather stay away from battles. However, that did not mean that he could not fight.
"Mixer has not come into contact, I believe that we need to hold this position for a little while longer," Optimus stated in their native tongue.
"Did either of you sustain damage?" asked Ratchet, his instincts kicking in. They might as well take advantage of their prolonged stay in the area. Neither Ironhide nor Prime said anything for a moment, a peaceful silence fell over them, enabling them to relax slightly.
"I appear to have sustained damage to my intact valves," stated Ironhide, shifting rather uncomfortably as Ratchet approached him.
"Which intact valves, old friend?" asked the smaller of the two mechs, Optimus watched them from a distance; he would inform the medical officer of his slight damages later. He had more important things to worry about.
He looked off towards the direction in which Mixer had left them, wondering what obstacles might have been in his path. The odds of Decepticons being present there were slim, unless they had moved in during the night. Highly improbable; they would never come this close to Autobot territory in small numbers. Although the presence of drones made the leader think otherwise. He never should have sent Mixer out alone, something that as leader he should have thought about sooner.
"Mixer to Prime. Come in?" the message was garbled by static.
"Prime to Mixer, status report," Primes posture changed, gaining the attention of both Ironhide and Ratchet who had completed repairing the former of the two only moments before.
"I am injured, I encountered some Decepticon drones," this message was clearer, but the static still remained.
"Ratchet, how well stocked are you?" Prime asked quickly while simultaneously requesting Mixer's location.
Ratchet looked at him for a few moments in question before relaying that he was fully stocked, sans a few none essential items that he used upon Ironhide's intact valves.
"Let's move," Prime commanded as he broke into a run, his feet pounding against the ground. He sent another transmission to member of his team not by his side. "We're en route Mixer, stay put."
"Affirmative, Optimus."
They discovered Mixer leaning against a pillar, holding his metal right hand against his left side. Ratchet promptly began to repair him while Prime and Ironhide investigated the area, searching for any hidden enemies. Finding none, they rejoined the scout and the medic.
"Were you able to gather any information?" Optimus knelt down to level himself with Mixer who looked rather distraught. Although it could be accounted to the damage he had received, it was not, he had not been able to complete his mission as well as he was asked. However, the information he was able to obtain a few megabytes.
Mixer sent the file to Prime, the wound on his left side sending out a few sparks causing him to twitch. This in turn sent Ratchet off.
"Mother fragger."
Another silence feel over them, it was not often that they heard him swear and it was well known that when he did swear something was wrong. Even if he did not show it in his work, so naturally Mixer was rather concerned about this most recent development but was unable to voice his objections due to his own self-preservation. They allowed the medic to finish his work in peace, leaving them with ample time to rest for the journey back to their headquarters.
~A few days later at Autobase Delta~
Ratchet was busying himself with his latest project, a range of tracking devices. Wheeljack was by his side offering advice and acting as assistant in the absence of an actual assistant. Ratchet had felt the need to create tracking devices so that they would never again be forced to wait for a call from in field agents. It was never pleasant knowing that one of your teammates might lay dead or worse; in the hands of the Decepticons.
"Ratchet," queried Optimus as he entered the engineering lab, both Ratchet and Wheeljack turned.
"Yes, Optimus?" he asked, his tone a mixture of annoyance from being interrupted and curiosity. There should not be any reason for the leader to be coming to him now. He was rather certain that they did not have any pending missions, nor that they had any invaders.
"Security picked up unknown energy signatures near the south eastern perimeter. I am sending Ironhide and yourself out to investigate, he is waiting you at the southern exit," Prime explained, the seriousness of the situation was radiating off his body. Ratchet let out a mechanical sigh as he stepped away from the worktable and crossed the floor to Optimus. He paused before the large leader for a few moments, searching his face before walking into the hallway.
Wheeljack gazed at Optimus, "I take it that no one else is willing to go out with old Ironhide on a mission."
Optimus rubbed his temples when he replied, "You are correct. He has been restless lately, and I trust Ratchet to keep him under control. Or at least minimize damages."
Wheeljack laughed as he turned back to the worktable, Optimus walked over to him, watching as he began to clean up the scattered tools and miscellaneous parts. He was perfectly fine with a messy workstation, but after all the time he had worked with Ratchet he knew that a cleaner space would make him very happy. Optimus walked back out of the room, he was not entire content with sending only Ironhide and Ratchet to investigate but that was whom he trusted.
…
Ratchet turned down the last hallway to find Ironhide pacing back and forth, his footsteps echoing off the metal walls. He stopped when he saw the medic, an odd expression on his face he waiting until he was at his side before opening the exit hatch. They stepped out into the open air, it was still and empty compared to how busy the base was. Ironhide turned towards the east but did not start walking.
"Are your intact valves still causing you grief?" Ratchet asked as he placed a hand on the weapons masters shoulder.
"My intact valves are just fine, Hatch," grumbled Ironhide shrugging off the metal hand of his companion.
"Then what has made you so tense, old friend?"
"Something isn't right. And you are just as old as I am."
"Don't remind me," Ratchet replied with a sigh, "We have a mission to do."
Ironhide nodded and together they made their way towards the location indicated by security. Ironhide brought up his canons to full power as they crested the hill, the sounds of battle reaching their auditory sensors causing both of the metal beings to charge forwards. Ironhide fired two rounds from the canon that formed from his left hand, sending the two mechs locked in battle spinning away from each other.
The two Autobots paused, unsure of which one of the intruders to attack, or if they needed to deal with both of them. However upon closer inspection, Ratchet found that he recognized the slightly larger of the two. Ironhide also recognized them, or at least one of them as a Decepticon drone, the other he was not concerned about seeing as they were not trying to fire upon him. He lunged forwards at the drone, pinning the annoying thing to the ground before commencing to remove its head from its shoulders. The weapons specialist then turned his attention to the remaining mech, a few moments later it dawned upon him that it was a femme.
He powered down his weapons and took a step towards her.
"Ratchet?" the voice which came from the femme was low and pained, this fact caused Ironhide to stop and look at his companion.
"A friend of yours, Ratch?" he asked over a secure line, never taking his eyes off the swaying femme. Ratchet simply nodded as he moved closer to the clearly damaged female, his posture suggesting to his friend that he did not just know this invader, but had a past with her. What that past might be he did not know but he was going to find out.
"CircuitBoard, is that you?" Ratchet finally asked when he was few yards away from her. She nodded briefly, her entire body groaned and went limb, sending her crumbling to the ground, but not before Ratchet managed to get a hold of her under the arms. He lowered her to the ground slowly, once more made aware of how fragile they all really were. He felt Ironhide come up behind him and place a hand on his shoulder. The gesture touched him but it was unneeded.
"We have to get her inside, Ironhide," he said as he looked towards the base, he knew that Prime would not welcome her. None of them would welcome a neutral into their ranks, then again perhaps since he could voice for her, attest to her character, she would be allowed to stay among them. It was a chance he was going to have to take in order to bring her back.
"Ironhide, inform Prime and Wheeljack that I am bring her onboard," grumbled the medic as he struggled to get a hold of the limb but not quite light form of the female.
Ironhide helped him gently, "Prime is not going to be pleased with this development."
"She needs help, and is it not our duty to help those in need?"
"Hrm," the large mech turned and walked away, clearly angry with the choice of actions unfolding before him. He didn't like bringing in unknowns, neither did Prime. He looked over his shoulder one last time before entering into the base itself, Ratchet it seemed was only just beginning to return. The weapons master wasted no time in find Optimus Prime, Wheeljack however would just have to wait until later.
He stood before the Autobot leader, who was talking.
"What did you discover?"
"A femme and a Decepticon drone. Ratchet is bringing the femme inside now," replied the mech. He paused for second, "Permission to speak off the record?"
"Granted."
"Ratchet intends to repair this neutral femme, I do not believe that to be in the best interest of the company."
"Noted, I shall take care of it. I request that you accompany me," asked Optimus as he began walking towards the med bay. He hoped to Primus that Ratchet wasn't going to do anything that could jeopardize the base, not to mention their lives.
Ironhide followed after him, grumbling as he went; he found the whole thing to be a pain in the aft plate. Why didn't Optimus just order the femme out? But it was a femme, however the fact that she was neutral didn't sit right with him. Most femmes were affiliated with the Autobots, not free range agents. He would keep his doubts about her to himself until the right moment presented itself. Something that he felt was coming soon but with the feeling of truth came a horrible feeling of betrayal as well. Was the female going to betray them this early? Or was someone else going to betray them? None of the robots that he worked with were capable of such a thing, every single mech on the base was Autobot through and through.
"Ratchet, step away from the femme," ordered Optimus the moment that they entered the med bay. The startled medical officer turned, his metal features pained, worry emanated from him.
When he didn't step away from the frozen female on the table Optimus took it upon himself to help him. He stepped between them, blocking his view of the femme and consequently forcing him to move away.
"Optimus, please, she needs help," Ratchet said as he tried to step around the larger robot. But for all his efforts he could not for Optimus had sent a silent command to Ironhide to detain him. It grieved the mech to have to do so to his friend but it was in the best interest of them all.
"I cannot allow you to jeopardize the safety of this base for the sake of one unknown female," stated Prime, while his tone held every bit of conviction he knew that it was wrong.
"It is our duty as Autobots to aid those in need! She is in need, if we don't help her then she shall die!" Ratchet strained against the stronger mech, his gears groaning in protest.
"It is also our duty to protect, which is exactly what we are doing. We are protecting the base."
"From what!"
"We do not know if we can trust this female, Ratchet. Ironhide has told me that she is neutral, but there is no way of conferring that information," Optimus looked over his shoulder at the female, his spark ached as he watched her optics flicker. He knew that he had to protect the base but he felt the desire to aid her. A choice had to be made, a choice that only a leader could make.
"Slag it, get off of me!" Ratchet exclaimed as they witnessed the femmes optics fade out, they didn't come back on. Ironhide's grip faltered allowing him to rush forwards, shove aside Optimus and bend over the femme in concern.
"CircuitBoard, don't you dare," he grumbled as he feverishly began to repair CircuitBoard's damaged optical sensors. She needed more intensive repair but he didn't dare try them when he knew that at any moment he would find himself dragged away from her again.
Optimus and Ironhide watched in silence, frozen at his knowledge of the femmes name and the manor in which he had spoken it. When her optics flickered back to life a collective sigh of relief filled the chamber. And when she spoke it seemed as if the very atmosphere held its breath.
"Ratchet, are you going to fix me?"
"Yes, I am going to fix you."
Silence echoed for a few moments before Prime spoke, "I cannot allow that, Ratchet."
"Then explain it to her," the medic spat at him as he turned his back on Optimus and Ironhide.
Optimus was taken back by the outburst from his friend, never before had he witnessed such anger from him. Never before had he been on the receiving end of such anger either, unless one counted the anger from the Decepticons. He didn't know how to react in that moment and so stood there looking rather ignorant for a few minutes. Glancing over his shoulder he wasn't surprised to find that Ironhide had backed himself into a corner, most likely to limit the damage to his own being.
Optimus took a step forward and looked down at CircuitBoard, her white optics looking back up at him.
"I seek sanctuary," she said meekly, her voice was garbled.
He stared down at her dumbfounded, he knew what he had to do now, but did he possess the ability to do it? Yes, he did. Turning towards Ratchet he made his decision known, and with Ironhide as witness.
"Get her functional, once that is completed move her to the detention block."
"Why the detention block?" murmured Ratchet as he turned back to face his leader and ally.
"We do not yet know if we can fully trust her," Optimus placed a hand on the table beside her before turning and walking away. He paused and addressed Ironhide.
"Inform security that I want two guards on her at all times." He walked out of med bay, his full intentions on preparing a cell for their newest guest.
Ironhide continued to remained fixed to his location, his optics straying between Ratchet and the female known as CircuitBoard. He would do as ordered but he had questions.
"Get out, Ironhide. I have work to do and none of it is pleasant to witness," Ratchet stated coldly his back to him, when he didn't hear footsteps he turned to face him.
"I am going to personally watch both you and that femme," grumbled Ironhide as he made himself comfortable on an empty table.
"That is your choice, old friend," the medics tone had fallen back into one of peace and soothing. A tone that Ironhide knew well, it was often reserved for those severely damaged.
"Didn't expect you to call me that any time soon, Hatch."
"You were a good solider, you follow the orders given to you," stated the medic as he began to gather the tools and equipment needed to repair CircuitBoard. He would do more than get her functional, he would get her back to one hundred percent. Although with two guards looming over his shoulders that might be more difficult that it needed to be.
"And you care about life too much for your own good," he replied the weapons master gruffly. He narrowly dodged a flung wrench that was clearly aimed at his head. A rush of air escaped his intake valves as he picked up the offending tool and tossed it back towards the mech. "Next time I won't throw it back."
"Who said I wanted it back?" joked Ratchet as he gazed down at his friend. She started up at him blankly, she was clearly in pain but all of his scans had failed to indicate the location of all her troubles. It troubled him deeply knowing that he was failing at what he did best. How would any of them feel if they failed to save a friend?
His mandible moved upwards in the attempts of a smile as he fought within himself.
"CircuitBoard, are you able to run any self-diagnostics?"
Ironhide's attention snapped to Ratchet, he always knew what was wrong.
"No, most of my…" her body shuttered with a groan, "…systems appear to be malfunctioning."
"I was afraid of that," he said gently, placing a hand on her forearm. She nodded slightly, it was clear that the small movement had caused her distress. Ironhide stood up careful not to make any more noise than was robotically possible.
"Ironhide," Ratchet turned around to face him, "I need help."
"Then I shall get Wheeljack, Jazz with also be joining us."
"I was not aware that Jazz was performing security."
"Optimus just put him on full guard detail for the femme," it was clear by the mechs tone that his disapproved of her.
"Her name is CircuitBoard, Ironhide."
"All well and good, but I still don't trust her." He walked out of the med bay leaving Ratchet to ponder over his words.
Ratchet turned back to look at CircuitBoard, he remembered when he first met her, how slight she had been. How quick to jump at anything that even looked at her sideways. Which at the time happened to be himself. You could imagine his surprise when he suddenly found the full weight of a not quite yet full grown femme bot on top of him. He had refused to fight back, which to his utter amazement did not get him killed, instead it got him a friend and assistant for the short period of time that she associated herself with that small group of Autobots.
That was before things got worse and he found Optimus Prime and the others. He was glad that she was back again, although her choice in neutrality was one that would most likely get her destroyed. Either by the hands of some well meaning but ignorant Autobot, or by the hands of an uncaring Decepticon. He didn't want to think of what his life would be like if she disappeared again. While he didn't feel the pull of a spark mate, he felt a strong bond to her regardless. He offended wondered if that somehow they were related, created from the same pair of sparks.
It was impossible to tell unless you were told by the creator of the fact. And was pretty sure that no one had ever told him that CircuitBoard was family. And while he held Ironhide, Jazz, Wheeljack, and Optimus as family they did not have the same meaning to him as she did. She was precious to him.
CircuitBoard was struggling to cling to the image before her, to keep her optics functioning but it was growing harder with each second that passed. And the chill seeping towards her spark chamber was effecting her as if she was a sparkling again. It was cold, almost too cold, why didn't he feel it too, he must have been able to feel it. Unless more of her systems were failing. Already her intact valves were struggling to bring in the air she needed, her Energon was running dangerously low and the damage to her facial armor was beginning to make staying out of status lock nigh impossible.
She too, remembered Ratchet, but not as clearly as he remembered her. Her early days were a blur to her now, they had been ever since she tried to reformat without the proper equipment. A fact that he would most likely discover when he was finally able to get to work. A fact that would make Optimus Prime doubt allowing her safety. The one known as Ironhide was right not to trust her, she didn't trust herself anymore. Not since she gave up ranks and sides.
As a free agent she felt the impact of the war more so than those who were actually fighting in it. In order to get the much needed Energon one had to be willing to perform tasks ranging in difficultly and success rate. It didn't matter which side it was, they hated free agents because of nothing more than their ability to choose who to betray without aching for it later. Of course most neutral Cybertronians found themselves either bought or extinguished. She was one of the lucky ones so far, but she knew that her stay here could end one of two ways.
She could affiliate with the Autobots.
Or she could be flung back out into the vast empty wasteland that was slowly consuming their once beautiful home.
She would choose to remain with them, no matter what the cost of that might be. So long as she wasn't alone anymore she would be happy.
"CircuitBoard? CircuitBoard, slag it! Don't you dare!" Ratchet exclaimed as her optics faded back out to black, when they didn't come back on he began to lose control. Then over an insecure line was a message.
:I am still here, Ratchet.:
"Thank Primus," he said relief dripping from those two words.
:I do believe that the damage to my cranium has caused severe damage to many of my systems.:
"You are not mistaken in that assumption."
"Who is not wrong?"
Ratchet wheeled around, his pale blue optics falling upon Wheeljack and the other two companions.
"CircuitBoard, she has lost control of the systems located in her cranium, her vocal processors and optical sensors are down, although she still has auditory functions."
"Right, then let's go to work on that head of hers," Wheeljack said cheerfully, stepping up to the opposite side of the table.
:Do you trust the owner of that voice?:
:Yes, I trust Wheeljack.: He placed a hand on her shoulder for a brief moment before nodding at Wheeljack to indicate that he was ready to get to work.