Hi there! Itsa me, AuditoresGirl!
I know it's been a while, but it took a while to get off my lazy aft, and then another good long while to write all this down XD I know, I know, I should have just done it all in one night, but I got a little sleepy, and then REALLY sleepy, and it kinda escalated from there. The next morning, all the will to write was gone. How I got this idea?
So, in my class NCZ( sort of like Humanities), we are learning about the Holocaust. Now, this is a pretty sensitive subject, and I was thinking, this is a really good example of why humanity is strong, and how it was always rise above tyranny. And, well, I always just felt like the Autobots looked down upon the humans in more than one way, just because they were tiny and fleshy. I think even Optimus Prime did it, if subconsciously.
I was just thinking that, the Autobots need to learn a little bit more about the humans than just basic weaponry and language. They need to know the essence of mankind, that we really are not so different. I'm just on the roll here, with the Autobots experiencing more and more of humanity and its complexities.
So, here you go, just another one of my stories!
Optimus Prime was a very complex figure. He had had many issues over time, what with him being turned from Orion Pax into Optimus Prime. He had had to lead the Autobots into the heat of battle, even when the fight seemed hopeless, and had never backed down from a fight. He had had too stand tall, even at their darkest hour, to light the way of his comrades. He had to give up everything to become who he was today, the proud leader of the Autobots.
But, on the other hand, he wasn't really that hard to understand. His sole goal and purpose in life was to bring courage, heart, and fight into his friends. It was too defeat tyranny in whatever form it may come, Megatron or Unicron. It was to fight for his friends and comrades, for the right of all sentient being, and too free all nations and planets from the reign of fear and darkness. That was his sole goal with the planet earth, to make sure it and its inhabitants were safe, and too be able to defeat whatever was a threat and danger to mankind. He meant good, he really did. But he did not fully understand the human race. In fact, it would take eons to fully understand and comprehend the full nature of these small, fragile and fleshy being that stood even lower than his smallest Autobot. Hours and hours of processor over processor. These organics were much more complex than they seemed, by nature and mind.
The humans were really created with the same instincts as the Transformers. To eat, reproduce, and fill the basic needs of their kind. Many, many years ago, they had been just like the primitive animals on this earth, dumb as a box of nails. They hadn't thought of anything else than primal instincts. But, like them, they had somehow evolved into something more, into something grand. Over the course of many years, they had made so many things possible. First Mesopotamia, then the great city of Rome, then these gigantic skyscrapers that stood taller than even the all powerful Megatron. By some miracle, they had been the granted the gift of sentiency, of free will and the want to have knowledge. From the first spark of flame, to the meaning of space and life and gravity. The humans themselves had no idea of what they had become over the space of time. Because to them, it was just living. It was just another day in life, another day to add to the growing list of years. Another 'normal' day.
On that dull, windy Friday, Prime had been working on decoding a few transmissions. It was really boring work, actually. There was only roughly 89% chance that one of them would be any Decepticon transmissions in them, and that was putting it to a very rough estimate. After a few hours of this mindless decoding, the humans had come riding in, more somber than usual. They seems downcast, as if something had happened at their 'school', which, Optimus had just found out, was their learning base they were required to be at, at precisely 8:00 to expand their knowledge about Languages, History, Science, and much more.
On any other given day, the humans would have announced their arrival with shouts and laughing, waving their hands wildly at the Autobots and practically bouncing off the walls before final settling down to do their homework, or, in Miko's case, to play video games on the TV. But today, Something was different, off about their small organic friends. Miko hadn't even played her annoyingly loud guitar or played her racing game on the raised platform. She hadn't started watching the television either, but had started looking over Rafs shoulder, occasionally looking up at Bulkhead, who had more than once questioned his charge's mood, and what was wrong with her. She had said she was "fine", and only added that it was something to do with school. Everyone could tell that something was wrong.
Raf had plopped down in front of his laptop the moment he got in, murmuring a good day to Ratchet and Optimus. He had sighed deeply and ruffled his hair, adjusting his glasses on his face, and started typing rapidly on his little keyboard, occasionally opening and closing a website he had opened on the internet. His eyes grew more and more tired and dark as he kept typing and typing away on his document.
Jack was also looking odd today, with his hair practically drooping at his sad and dreary mood. He had also been very quiet over the space of time, and he had also brought his computer with him today, opening and closing documents and slideshows rapidly, as if searching for something in particular, before settling on a professional looking website, and opening a slideshow in another tab, and started writing text and posting pictures here and there. Optimus couldn't really see what as going on from where he stood, but he could tell that, either their work was very boring, or they were just very focused on their work.
Optimus looked up for what seemed like the hundredth time and glances over at Miko, Raf and Jack. He just couldn't figure out their odd behavior, or why this very normal and dreary day was different from all the other Fridays. Even with all that knowledge from the Primes and the additional knowledge from the World Wide Wed, he just couldn't understand their mood. They had seemed fine the day before. In fact, they had seemed to have even more pent up energy than last week, if that was even possible. Thinking back, Raf and Jack had mentioned something about starting a new subject in Humanities, something about it begin a big part in human history.
He was interested in their learning tasks, since he was always looking for more knowledge to broaden his processor. But, sadly, he didn't have much free time. He had more important tasks to do, like tracking down a stray Decepticon signal. It turned out though, it had been a decoy, as had been proven by Arcee. She had gone to check out the site, to be met by Soundwave in a clearing with a frequency beacon. she had escaped quite easily though, hightailing it through an old highway that had been constructed by the side of a desert, and Ratchet had ground-bridged her out of there. She had come out unharmed, so Optimus had found no reason to tell the little organics, and have them worry about them. Besides, he didn't want to distract them from their learning tasks.
As Optimus stared at the downcast humans, he caught Ratchets optic, who had also been staring at them with a worried look in his eyes. he had been performing a discreet scan on them, to see if there was anything physically wrong with them that had caused them to be so out of character, but his results had offered up nothing out of the ordinary. Ratchet glanced over at his leader and shrugged his shoulders quietly and shook his head. Even his medic didn't know what was going on here, and Optimus was growing increasingly worried. Never mind the transmissions he had received, his comrades had something on their processor, or mind, that they needed to clear up. Looking around he could see the same thing growing in Arcees, Bulkheads, and Bumblebee's optics. The same worry for them, and the same questioning glances at their leader.
"Is something the matter, Jack? You seem… off today, my friend." Optimus finally turned and rumbled in his deep and baritone voice to the little organics.
Jack, Miko, and Raf looked up at the Red and Blue Autobot leader with depressive eyes, and Miko cocked her head at the page on Rafs laptop she had been looking at. Raf shook his head and gestured for Jack to speak up, as if he didn't want to talk to the Autobots. Jack ruffled his hair on his head, and stood up form his spot on the floor, and took Rafs project on his laptop with him. He picked it up, simply saying,"Just look, Optimus."
Optimus cast a look at Ratchet, and motioned the red and white mech over. He turned his gaze towards the slideshow Jack had been making for the last few minutes or so, and was shocked by what he saw. Old black and white pictures littered the slideshow, with text written on the bottom of each one. Many of them were particularly gruesome, with a few of marching soldiers and of a man with a very strange mustache, and a steely, rock hard look on his face. He looked like the human version of Starscream, slick and sly, with a dark and gory side to him. He seemed very confrontational, judging by the other pictures of him standing on a podium and with his mouth wide open, yelling and gesturing wildly at a crowd of people.
But the one he found the most shocking was of a picture at the very top of the slideshow. It showed mounds and mounds of decaying corpses, all of them with no meat left on them at all, as if they had been malnourished and starved to death before being thrown on this mountain of corpses, as if they were just garbage that needed to be thrown out. Many of they had crusted blood and dark purple bruises littering their bodies, and they all had little to no hair on them, like some sort of hairless, deformed version of a human. A lot of them had broken bones and missing appendages, with some of them even having the actual bone sticking out from their flesh. Optimus could barely tell the males from the females.
Many of them had holes in their foreheads and rest of the body, and it seemed at if many had perished of blood loss as well as starvation. Some of the were fresh with blood slowly dribbling down the wounds and their mouths still open with the horror of whatever they had last seen before their deaths. There were just mounds and mounds of bodies, just like them, each one even more gory and un-human like than the last. This… This was as horrible as the war on Cybertron. No, no this much worse. The Decepticons had some sense of compassion, no matter what they would say or threaten to do. They didn't show off the bodies of their enemies like some sort of trophy. The humans who had done this, must have been sick of mind and sick of heart.
Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead moved closer, curious to see what had thoroughly shocked their leader so badly. Ratchet had twisted his face into a disgusted expression, and started to gag behind Prime, trying to get the bad taste out of his tanks and pipes." Oh dear Primus…" He heard him mutter behind him, and he heard another gag as the medic hunched over, clinging to the side of a wall for support. Bumblebee seemed apprehensive as he looked over at Ratchet, and trotted over to the red and white ambulance, patting his shoulder as if too comfort Ratchet. He beeped and clicked questioningly at him, asking why he was reacting so violently, and if he needed to sit down. Arcee and Bulkhead had backed away the moment they had seen the picture, and Bulkhead had tripped over his own feet as he rushed to get away from the horror from that one tiny little black and white picture.
Optimus backed away from the computer as he held up his servos and questioned the teenager." Jack, what in the name of the Allspark is that."
Jack gazed at the Autobots gathered around the little laptop, staring in horrid fascination at the tiny machine, and stated matter-of-factly," The Holocaust." As if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Raf and Miko gazed at Optimus, their childlike eyes staring up at the leader with pity in their eyes, as if they had seen this reaction many times this day. Miko slowly got up, pulling Raf with her, and crossed her arms over he chest and shifting her weight to her right leg." It's not a pretty sight, is it? Hey, Boss bot, did you ever see something like… this…. in the War on your planet?"
Optimus slowly shook his head slowly, wracking his memory core for anything that he could remember. He had seem a lot of things in his long lifetime, but nothing, nothing like this. Even Megatron and the Decepticons have a sense of dignity, a sense of pride. I had no idea, not even the faintest idea, that a human could do this kind of damage…" Optimus put his hands down and sighed deeply, pausing for a moment before questioning again," Why? Why would he do something like that? Are you not all the same species?"
Raf shrugged his shoulders dejectedly and murmured," So are you and Megatron, and yet, that doesn't stop him from killing innocent people. This guy," He pointed at the screen," Is called Hitler. Adolf Hitler. He was a German guy who had a very clear goal for himself, to mold a 'perfect world' for himself. He wanted to get rid of all the people who he thought weren't cut out for his empire, or didn't meet his standards. He would kill Jewish people, Homosexuals, gypsies, and the disabled. He thought of them as below his level, as the common dog, who they could do anything too, and have no consequences. He was a ruthless leader, and had no leniency or compassion for anything. Naturally, there weren't many who dared opposed him. He eventually died in 1945." Raf took a deep breath and looked down at his toes, adjusting his glasses again on his nose.
Arcee gagged as she stared at picture after picture of war and misery, and of starvation and death. She clutched her stomach as she tried not to empty her tanks, and gasped out," How could humans, of all species, be so violent?! And I thought Arachnid was bad… I have really underestimated this planet, Optimus…".
Optimus nodded gravely, still staring at the picture Jack had shown him. He closed his optics, and slowly turned towards Ratchet, giving him a confused and questioning glance." Ratchet, on Cybertron, were sparklings required to learn about The War? Did they have to be shown to what extend our fight had gone to?"
Ratchet gave him a glance as if too say, 'are you serious?'. He turned his revolted gaze back to the tiny laptop before him, and shook his head violently, exclaiming at the same time," Of course not, Optimus! The sparklings could not be able to cope with even the idea of a war! They would have been scared out of their processors if they had been shown what The War was like!" Ratchet turned his gaze to the human children, who had all ducked their heads to avoid the Autobots gaze. They looked up as Ratchet spoke to them." Why are your mentors showing you this?! Better yet, why would they require you to learn more about this 'Holocaust' if it was as horrible as this?! You should be learning how to play basketball, or how to write a long essay, not about a fragging war!"
Miko shrugged her shoulders as she grimaced." Well, everybody had to know who Hitler was at the very least, and they have to all make a slideshow or essay about The Holocaust. I guess, it's sorta required of you to learn about it. We learned about other wars like The Civil War, and the II World War in lower school, now we're moving on to more serious stuff."
Bumblebee beeped and whistled out a question to Raf, and picked him up to hug him frowned and twiddled his thumbs." NO, I'm not too young to learn about this 'Bee. I have to, to pass my class that I'm in. I'm already twelve, anyway." Bumblebee just beeped angrily.
After that, Jack and Raf had gotten back to their project with Miko tagging along to Raf, saying she was 'sharing' the project. And this time, she was actually doing something too. She had started to format the document with the text that Raf had written, and finding some pictures of The Holocaust online. Raf had monitored her carefully, and given a few tips here and there as he compiled more facts and data on some doctor called Josef Mengele. Jack said he was doing his project independently, and had started typing down some of the data from Hitlers childhood down on a document labeled, The Calm Before the Storm. He said he was doing his project on the early days of Hitlers life, before he started hunting the Jewish. He wanted too see if there was anything that had influenced him to start his campaign later on.
Night fell quickly for the Autobots and their charges, and they soon left to their houses to recharge. As the little humans left, they saved their projects on their computers and put all of them into Rafs backpack. As the little organics left, Optimus watched them leave, his optics whirring slightly as he focused intently on their expressions as they left. They looked… a bit more sobered up, as if they where taking things more seriously than before. He crossed his arms over his chassis and cocked his head at the three pairs of guardians and charges disappear somewhere along the horizon line. He turned back and headed into the the ground bridge control room, were Ratchet was staring at his monitors and screen as he looked up the humans history.
It just struck Optimus that, throughout their entire time with the human children, they had never bothered with more than the essentials of human culture and history. It hadn't been a crucial factor to the war he was trying to fight, and it hadn't registered in his logic processor as a very high essential. As he watched Ratchet scroll through those many wars, like the World War II, the Cold War, The Civil War, and many more, he realization starting dawning upon him.
This planet had experienced as much pain and war and death as his own planet before it died. Earth had once been but a rocky, jagged lump of rocks. It had had the chance of holding life, organic life, and it had evolved so much over the past millions of trillions of years. From the dinosaurs, to the Ice Age, through the Renaissance, and many more, all the way up to today. This planet had been given the one in a million chances, and had been given life, just as the Allspark had been given to Cybertron. These small organic beings, in their reign over this planet, had more love and pain, death and life, and destruction and hope than Optimus had ever imagined.
They had had so many times in history where they could have just died out, ceased to be. So many time periods were it could have gone all wrong, and the told would have gone to scrap, and the life would have slowly trickled out of the planet, and the humans could have been extinct before the Autobots even got there. And yet, they had kept fighting, kept the hope and spirit alive in mankind, and literally rebuilt their civilization from dust and ashes.
These humans were more than meets the eye.
And you just got the 'humans are awesome' speech from Optimus Prime. Yes, feel the epicness, it simply oozes off of the screen X3
I made this one-shot because I thought that I had been writing a lot of sadness, what with my Assassins Creed story and my Transformers Animated. And so I decided to write a mixture between extreme sadness, because of the Holocaust, and feeling of hope, because of the fact that humanity lives on. Yes, I know that the Holocaust is a sensitive subject, and I apologize if I unconsciously insulted or shocked someone.I just thought, as I said up at the top, that Optimus needs to know more about humans and their capabilities, good and bad.
Anyone who is reading this story, please do give me reviews, they give me the strength to keep writing, and if I get enough reviews, I might make series, and not just oneshots. It might take a while though, because I like writing these oneshots a lot, but I think I'll try and ease myself into the real deal. I'm not really planning on making scheduled updates, because me and schedules don't go together well. EVER. I just have random bursts of inspiration, and write stuff down. Alright, AuditoresGirl out!
Have a good day!