Transformers: A New Age
Vivian Wembley narrates to a new group of students in the local museum:
"Thousands of stories have been written. History is filled with them. What we don't know is why. Why are we writing such fantasy? Maybe because it's not fantasy. We've seen events that prove that all of this is real. Transformers are real."
Meanwhile, a ship leaves Cybertron and heads toward a castle in England. Cade Yeager comes out with a little girl in his arms, Cogman right behind them. Optimus steps out first, followed by Bumblebee and Hound. Cade put down his little girl who then ran up to the transformers with a laugh of glee. Optimus and Bee looked at her worriedly, but Cade quickly spoke up.
"Don't worry guys, she's smart." He trailed off with, "Really smart."
This point was almost instantly demonstrated as the little girl quickly scaled Bumblebee up to his shoulder where she sat down and laughed. Optimus quickly picked her up and she giggled before looking up and gasping.
"Optimus!" She said in a childish voice. Optimus couldn't help but chuckle softly as he began to set her down.
"No!" She cried and clung to one of his digits with everything she had. He quickly realized she wasn't going to let go.
"Don't worry, Prime. Just… set her on your shoulder." Cade said, somewhat hesitantly.
Optimus regarded him for a moment then raised her toward his shoulder. She laughed with glee again and literally jumped from his digits to his shoulder, making him gasp with worry, but she simply laughed again and clung to his metal with a firm grip.
"Cade, I do not think…"
"Prime, calm down. She's not going to fall. She's done this since she could crawl. She loves heights and transformers. I swear, she is really smart and knows exactly what she's doing. Don't you Elizabeth?" He called up to his daughter.
"Yes, Daddy." She called back.
"She's a little too smart for her own good." He then called to her again, "No flying."
"Aww! But, Daddy, I love flying!"
"Remember what I told you about new people?"
"They're transformers, Daddy, not people! They're not human!"
"Defensive little thing. She loves her transformers." Cade muttered. Optimus hummed and followed Cade into the courtyard of the castle. Little Elizabeth fell silent as they spoke about getting supplies for rebuilding Cybertron.
Optimus and his team left later in the week, leaving poor Elizabeth crying. In the years to come, they came back, finding Elizabeth to be growing up. She always ran up to Optimus and scaled him like a monkey, and Vivian was trying desperately to get her down. Little Elizabeth would not stay down, not while her mother's back was turned. Optimus's warning tone was the only thing that the little girl listened to, but then thought she was never allowed to climb again.
The next visit did not go the same. Elizabeth didn't greet them like she once did. Instead, she hung back with barely a smile that didn't reach her eyes. Her brown eyes were dim, filled with a longing and a sadness.
Optimus was sitting in the courtyard when he offered to take her up, but she hesitated, and at the warning of her mother, shook her head and dashed away. Optimus rarely saw her that week and felt an ache in his spark. Cade had gone inside to speak with her, but only got that she wasn't allowed to interact or play. Cade then argued with Vivian, but even when that was solved, they couldn't get little Elizabeth to come out again.
Two years later, the team returned, only to find the castle nearly destroyed. The courtyard was riddled with bullets, blast marks, and a sad sight. Optimus finally called out to any transformers in the area.
"They're all gone, Prime." Cogman reported while immerging from a hole in the wall.
"Where's Elizabeth?" Optimus asked.
"She's alive, if just barely." He disappeared for a moment and came out with a wounded twelve year old girl in his arms. Her legs were gone below the knee, though wrapped tightly. The pain on her pale face was as clear as day and her breaths were uneven. Optimus nearly reached for her, but stopped short, his hand out and ready to take her.
"What happened?" He asked, almost desperately.
"A new organization. Vivian and Cade have been tracking their movements for over a year now. They caught on a week ago, and attacked this morning. The round table was taken along with everything else. Vivian and Cade were executed, but Elizabeth had hid in the secret corridor, which was blasted by one of their own transformers."
"Their own?"
"They came with a whole slew of them! They were everywhere!"
"No, Cogman, they weren't." Elizabeth spoke softly, "They only surrounded the castle. None entered the courtyard. The humans had a cannon, just as powerful as a Cybertronian one. I know what I heard."
Optimus stroked her head gently, she gripped his digit and brought it closer to her. Tear began to fill her eyes as she spoke once more.
"I should have taken the chance to…stay with you last time. I won't be able to now."
One of four of the twelve knights that joined Optimus came up behind her and spoke in Cybertronian to let him see her. Optimus obeyed and turned around, holding out her broken form. The knight then spoke of a process that they could do that would change only one person. If this person was so truly loved, then she could become one of them.
"One of us? But…" Optimus stopped. He knew of this power, but had discarded it as practically useless, but maybe…it wasn't.
Optimus nodded and said, "I understand." He then turned to Cogman and said, "Would you accompany us back to Cybertron?"
"And go see my home planet? I wouldn't miss it for the world."
They quickly boarded the ship and took off, Elizabeth cupped safely in Optimus's hands.
"Hold on, little one." He said softly to her.
She clutched his thumb with as strong of a grip as she could manage, though it was substantially weaker than it had been eight years ago. Optimus made sure to hold her in place while bringing her closer to his chassis. A jerk of the ship caused her to cry out in pain, and Optimus quickly drew her away to make sure her wounds hadn't reopened. Cogman too, was worried and quickly double checked them, but they were fine.
Elizabeth whimpered once Cogman left her alone and Optimus held her under his shadow a little more. She clung a little harder to him, which he was grateful for. The ship landed, but not without another jerk which caused her to cry out again. The pain quickly made itself known by the expression of her face. She slight relaxed when Optimus shifted her legs up and off of his digits, preventing the wounds from getting jarred again. He then followed the knights out and to a slightly distant structure, one that had been closed off for an unknown purpose.
As they approached the entrance, the rest of the twelve knights joined them. Elizabeth was beginning to fade and she focused hard on Optimus. Her mind tumbled through the process, but the word she wanted to say, finally came out.
"Optimus."
He looked down, noting the tired expression on her face. Her voice had been so soft that he just barely heard it.
"Hold on, little one. Just a little longer."
"I don't know if I… can."
Her breaths were beginning to shallow and become less frequent.
Optimus broke into a run, being careful not to jostle her.
"My brothers, she's fading!" Optimus called.
The knights then broke out into a run and opened the door just before he entered. The special machine was up and running within a few more moments.
"Just hold on, little one." Optimus said, looking down at her. Her eyes were glazed over, a sign of barely being aware of her surroundings.
"Prime." A knight called.
Optimus quickly approached the machine and placed her in the middle of a large metal circle. The platform raised up at the contact of her body and blue electricity flowed toward her. Her scream, as it made contact with her body, penetrated the air, causing Optimus's spark to clench. A stream of the electricity shot toward him and penetrated to his spark, causing him to cry out.
The knights held him as the power coursed through his frame. It was more painful than when Quintessa Prime had zapped him and changed him to Nemesis Prime. Maybe that was why it hurt so much. Maybe he was resisting it.
Optimus tried to vent through it and relax, but that was when he realized that some of the pain wasn't his, but hers. He tried to send comfort and reassurance through the new bond. He then found that her screams had ceased. Her breaths were ragged, meaning she was still in pain and he could feel it, but it wasn't as bad. He sent more comfort, hoping to reduce the pain further, but it didn't. The effect his comfort had was the relaxing of her body. Her mind was nearly screaming in fear and he could practically hear it as it traveled through the bond. Her fear was almost tangible and he wanted to reassure her, help her know that she was safe and that nothing would hurt her. That's when he began seeing memories, but not of Cade and Vivian.
The girl with the same first name played with her three brothers. She had been the oldest of the four. He watched as images from different years seemed to pass, and then he saw something else. A cartoon came into focus. Names were spoken, and then a toy came into view. The toy was himself. He couldn't believe it. As he watched, symbols from many different languages on Cybertron came up. He saw that she could distinguish between letters and numbers and some words from the Language of the Primes. He still couldn't believe it, especially when he felt her need to learn the language of the Seekers from Vos.
More years passed, and that was when he began to feel the heartbreak she carried. He watched as she woke up and exited a burning building, which he didn't know was burning until she came around the building. It was a white, two story house with a big window, and it was all burning. He could hear her thoughts at that moment.
"Why is it burning? There was nothing in the house to catch on fire!"
He could feel her confusion which bled into the heartbreak that he could understand, but it was so strong. The feeling was just overwhelming.
He suddenly came back to the present, and energon tears fell down his faceplates. He stared at a femme on the table, her blue optics staring back and energon spilling over onto her face. She looked so young, yet so mature. Why did she look like she had just entered her third frame? No, not her third frame. It was her second frame, but she looked so mature. She felt mature in nature, but there was a strong underlying current that screamed child. He couldn't believe what he was experiencing, but he relaxed and accepted it for what it was.
The knights let him stand and he went over to the table. She stayed there, not seeming to be willing to move much less walk. He gently picked her up, one arm under her knees and the other around her waist. She moved to grab onto him, clinging like he was her lifeline. Her spark now beat with the need of comfort and reassurance. He sent it over the bond, almost as much as he could give, and she relaxed almost instantly.
He took her out of the building and toward the one he and his Autobots had commandeered. He then took her to a room that was secretly connected to the main one. The door transformed into the walls and revealed a large open space with a large flexible berth off to the right. She was looking on in awe as he brought her over to the berth, and she was hesitant to leave his arms.
"Do not worry, my daughter. You will not be harmed here."
She seemed to relax slightly as he crawled onto the berth with her. She knew some of the customs of Cybertron would be different, and quickly accepted that he would sleep with her and keep her safe that way. She didn't mind one bit and cuddled up to him for his warmth, which she seemed to be lacking at the moment. He was pleased that she accepted the custom so readily and made sure to wrap her in his strong arms as he once did with his sparkmate Elita-1. His spark twinged with pain, and he felt her sympathy and care for both him and his offlined sparkmate.
"Sometimes I think of her, wondering what it would have been like to meet her and have her as a mother." She said softly.
"She would have loved you and cared for you as her creation." He said gently back. Elizabeth just hummed as she shuttered her optics. Both went into recharge before too long. Primus knew they needed it.