Generation lost in Space.
(…) Oh and there we were all in one place,
a generation lost in space
with no time left to start again (…) - "American Pie" Don McLean.
Warnings: Appearance of character not pictured in Transformers Prime cartoon.
Timing: Post season 2 finale, in my very own Beauty of the Beast Prime timeline.
Rating: K
Pairings: Optimus Prime and Elita-1.
Disclaimer: Transformers Prime © Hasbro. Story's plot and OC's © me. There may be some OC's that aren't mine – they belong to their respective creators.
oOo
Autobot Temporary Base. Area 51. Nevada. August 31th.
Optimus Prime watched as June walk into the Groundbridge that would lead her to her home. The woman complained a bit about Megatron insisting on her having at least one Vehicon bodyguard to drive her around everywhere she went. The only place she was allowed to go without any guard was Autobot Base and only through the Groundbridge. Normally Optimus would deem such precautions as an overkill, but Airachnid was dangerous and she had June in her clutches once before. In this case it was just better to safe than sorry, especially that no one doubted that the Spider-Femme would not only kill June just for that previous failure but also used the woman to het to Jack, which she also held a grudge against.
The Prime vented a heavy sigh, Megatron acted a little like mother hen (as human would call it) but Optimus understood him perfectly. June wasn't a warrior and Megatron clearly cared and didn't want the tiny organic femme to get hurt. Optimus knew he would act the same if not for the fact that Elita – 1 was one of the deadliest warriors in Autobot ranks and didn't need protection. That was odd because Primes' mates were usually very calm femmes, supportive but remaining in shadow. Elita – 1 was their opposite, she was supportive but never stayed in shadow of Optimus and while just as composed as he, she was known to rip her opponents into shreds and cut through enemy lines like laser scalpel through soft rubber.
Ratchet noticed that the Prime stared at the point that the Groundbridge closed behind June and immediately knew what Optimus was thinking about.
"You could always try to contact her." The Medic said calmly. "It's not like she's deactivated. She probably waits for you to give her a call."
"I wouldn't want to reveal her hiding place." Optimus moved his heavy stare to Ratchet. "It is vital that the planetary resistance remains well hidden."
"Optimus, please. And who would be there to track the signal?" Ratchet shook his helm. "Shockwave is on Earth and Soundwave can't track receiver from here even if he wanted to. The few Decepticons still on Cybertron are not that tracking savvy; they're just bunch of goons. And even if there was one of the D.J.D or even Lockdown and his crew, they would have to know that there's a signal to track in the first place."
"It is best to be too careful than to risk Elita's headquarters to be uncovered." The Prime stated firmly. "I do not wish to endanger her and her forces more than necessary."
"I see, this is your way of protecting her." Ratchet nodded. "But, just for the record, you do realize that she managed to avoid Shockwave and his Vehicons for all this time while repeatedly attacking them and looting Shockwave's laboratories for energon and spare parts?"
"What are you saying, old friend?"
"She's a strong and wise femme; you should have more faith in her ability to defend herself."
"I will consider contacting Cybertron." Optimus said in his calmest voice.
Ratchet only sighed; one could trust Optimus to put everyone and everything before his own needs and wants. He was like that as Orion Pax and continued to be like this as Optimus Prime. The Matrix only strengthened his resolve to act like that.
oOo
Cybertron. Ruins of City of Iacon.
The room was dark, the only source of light were Cybertron's twin moons. There wasn't much of furniture inside. Just two chairs and computer console. Windows had heavy shutters attached but they were now opened to allow some of the moonlight in.
One of the chairs had an occupant but the shadows wouldn't allow recognizing their shape. The only part of the Cybertronian was pair of bright blue optics that would blink every now and then. The Cybertronian vented lightly and made no moves at all. All was quiet and eerie.
All of a sudden a door hissed open and some bright yellow light seeped in but disappeared as the door was quickly shut close. A single figure slipped in and made its way to the windows to close the shutters. The heavy metal curtains unfolded and sealed the room that was now completely dark. Another pair of blue optics flew slowly to the other side of the room, the first pair observed them in silence.
Then the light went on and two Cybertronian figures were revealed. Both femmes. The one that stood near the light switch looked just like Arcee's twin, but she was taller that the two wheeler. Upon closer look there were other differences as well. There was not a trace of pink on her and she only had four digits. Her armour was lighter shade of blue and where Arcee had pink markings she had pure, shining chrome.
The other femme was direct opposition of her companion. She was all metallic pink and silver. When she got up she stood taller than the blue femme and her helm was adored by a pair of straight horns pointed diagonally upwards and slightly to the back. She had smooth figure, her plating curved elegantly around her chest and hips. She had long legs ending with pointy pedes and with tires on her heels. There was another pair of wheels on her shoulders, very similar to what Bulkhead and Knockout had. She also had long and thin double winglets just like Arcee.
"What do you need, Chromia?" The pink femme asked in tired voice.
"I need you to stop moping in darkness." The one called Chromia answered. "It's all you do lately."
"It is my right to have a bad mood." The pink one replied. "I worry."
"And what do you worry about, Elita?" The blue femme rested her servos on her hips. "Our energon supplies? Scavengers? Insecticons? Shockwave and his marry band of Vehicons? Or perhaps HIM?"
"I worry about everything. I am a leader; it is my job to worry." Elita-1 spoke in slightly stronger voice.
"We have enough energon to last us for some time yet and we are always looking for more shards of Decepticon facilities to loot. And if everything else fails we can always mug some scavengers, Primus knows that it's only fair to snaffle their stash. Insecticons stay clear out of Iacon at all times and we haven't seen or heard of Shockwave for some time now. You can see it's safe enough." Chromia enumerated on her four digits. "This only leaves him."
There was silence for a moment as Elita-1 observed her blue companion.
"He is fine. Some time ago I though he was gone, but he's still on-line and seems to be all right." She said in calm and even voice. "There is no need to worry about him."
"Come on, you can't fool me." Chromia smirked. "You miss him and you worry about him. It's only natural. Give him a call. What do you have to lose?"
"Shockwave can track our signal."
"He's hasn't been seen since some time now. We don't even know if he's still alive." The blue femme dismissed her commander's doubts with an optic roll.
"The mech survived Spacebridge explosion." Elita-1 reminded. "Moonracer reported that the building where he had his lab collapsed and he still survived. And that was when we last saw Arcee."
"Arcee's a loner, you know she chose to go solo after Tailgate, maybe she just flew away like she always do." Chromia shrugged. "And Shockwave just vanished. Call him; we can make the connection from outside of the base. You know it's a lot calmer outside since Shockwave went missing."
The pink femme sighed heavy vent. There was no discussion with Chromia.
oOo
Autobot Temporary Base. Area 51. Nevada. September 1st.
Arcee took large marker pen and using her thumb and index digit to hold it scribbled in particularly ugly handwriting on the side of a crate. The packing was almost finished. In a month or so they would move to their new base. Military safety committee was performing their last round of safety inspection to the empty base. They wanted to be sure that it was secured, safe and wouldn't just collapse during exploitation.
Ratchet was observing monitors in silence. The children were with Bulkhead, helping Jack to gather rocks, sand and random minerals for his school project. The green ex-wrecker being ATV was best fitted for this kind of activity due to the fact that gathering various samples involved off-roading and there was no way that any of the human younglings (especially Jack) could be left unprotected with Airachnid on the loose.
Optimus reached and lifted the freshly marked crate on a pile of similar crates. They haven't had much, most of the things were looted from Harbinger (both halves) or the Plague Ship and decontaminated on Harbinger. Most of these things were now packed and secured inside of wooden crates. These crates would be transported via the Groundbridge. The 'bridge itself would be taken apart by Ratchet and Wheeljack and transported by plane (courtesy of humans) to their new lair. That would be the most dangerous part, the location would be revealed for short time, but one would have to look for it and actually know where to focus the searching.
The communication console chimed in pleasant tone and Ratchet jumped when he saw where the connection came from.
"Optimus! You have to see this." The Medic hollered. "It's Cybertron!"
Optimus froze in place, he knew only of two beings that were on Cybertron and had any reason to call for him.
Alpha Trion was one of them but the old mech was probably dead. Optimus after receiving the Matrix of Leadership gained certainty to his mentor and caretaker true nature, nature that he could only suspect before he became Prime. Alpha Trion was one of the Thirteen; Alpha Trion was a Prime though he never bore the title (as not every one of the Thirteen Original Primes was called a 'Prime'). The mech who sighed himself as 'A3', he who could not only foresee the future but also manipulate it to some extent. But he was not immortal and after hearing and learning what happened with Smokescreen, him being knocked out and bearing the fourth Omega Key, Optimus was pretty certain that Alpha Trion met his end.
The other one was Her, his designated mate and best friend from youngling hood. Their bond was arranged but it worked pretty well, considering that they knew and were truly fond of each other. They met when Optimus was still Orion Pax and she was still Ariel, and when Optimus was proclaimed a Prime, she was rebuilt and named Elita-1. They were really well matched couple, which wasn't as common as it seemed even among those who chose their significant others for themselves.
"Answer it, Old Friend." Optimus approached the console and waited to see who will appear on the other side.
The monitor blinked and Optimus felt himself holding his ventilation, it was familiar pink helm with pair of slick silvery horns and pair of shining blue optics.
"Elita." The Prime exclaimed.
"Hello Optimus." The femme smiled. Normally she would smirk, but she missed him a lot. "New look I see?"
Optimus looked down, remembering his new paintjob. "Yes, I had… and accident and lost my previous paint."
"I felt it." She admitted. "And I wouldn't call it an accident, I felt as if your Spark was to extinguish."
"It was very dangerous event, I admit." Optimus said almost hesitantly and ignored Ratchet's snort. "Luckily Ratchet is a great Medic, and we had some additional help." The mech silenced for a moment, taking the sight of his bonded. A Conjunx Endura. "I am surprised that you contact me directly."
"Blame Chromia, she convinced me to take the risk." Elita's smile widened. "Shockwave went missing, Insecticons aren't very apt at tracking signals and scavengers are minimal threat, they usually are too busy to care."
"Shockwave is here, on Earth, with Megatron. But do not worry; we have a truce at the moment." Optimus explained. "It looks like it will last for some time."
"Really? This is some news." The pink femme face expressed her astonishment. "I take it that if Shockwave is with you, then he had to build himself yet another Spacebridge in place of that destroyed by Arcee?"
"No, Decepticons have a Spacebridge on this end." Optimus shook his head gently. "They have been using it for some time now. I take that you wonder about what happened with Arcee?"
"Yes, she's missing. Chromia claims that she just gone spider hunting."
"Chromia has scraplet's brain module!" Arcee's voice came from behind Optimus and the Prime moved slightly to allow Arcee to enter the camera range. "I and another 'Bot blew up Shockwave's Spacebridge but before it went off we managed to come to Earth."
Elita laughed upon hearing one of her more volatile soldiers. "So, you finally managed to find yourself another partner? How is he?"
"Dead. By Starscream's servo." Arcee's frown deepened. "Don't say you're sorry to hear it, I have yet another partner now, I focus on the future."
"I see." Elita's optics softened. It was tragic, Arcee went through so much in this war, she deserved something good happening to her for a change. "But it is a relief to see that you are alive and well. I was worried that you died in that Spacebridge explosion."
"I lived." Arcee sighed heavily. "But Chromia was right on one thing, we're currently on spider hunt. Airachnid's on Earth as well."
"She's there?" Elita-1 optics grew round in surprise. "It would seem that everyone's there except for me. How are you doing? Tell me everything."
Arcee smirked and looked at Optimus. "Optimus will tell you everything, I believe you have a lot to talk about and make up for."
Elita nodded once understanding what Arcee was saying. And then there was the two wheeler's voice yelling at Ratchet to go on a patrol with her, the roar of two engines and then Optimus was alone in the hangar.
"Where do you want me to begin?" Optimus asked observing his dearest bonded.
"From the start, Orion, and I want details." There was slightly naughty smile on the femme's lip plates.
"Agreed, but then you need to tell me everything that happened on Cybertron." Optimus' optics softened and became visibly less tensed.
"You have yourself a deal, my dear." Elita giggled like a naughty femmeling.
The connection between Earth and Cybertron lasted for over three hours and none of Team Prime came close to the hangar at that time. The Prime needed some privacy for once.
The End