Tungsten's Story
Part 1
By Rachel Macari
Life is tough… But so am I. That's always been my motto; it's how I got my name after all. I didn't always have a name though. I used to respond to a specific sequence of code; we all did as a matter of fact. The funny thing is back then, naive as I was, I never stopped to think of why we all had numbers and not names.
The sad truth was for those of us built and sparked on the mining asteroid planes of the Axion belt, we didn't last long enough to be deserv'n of such luxuries such as a fullblown Cybertronian name.
Sure, life was hard, but we lived it to the fullest. What we had was the thrill of the dig, and each other. I remember how the lot of them used to talk about how the mechs who came to collect our daily haul were rich in wealth, but poor in spark. At the time I didn't know exactly what that had meant. Those were good and simple times. Even millennia later to this day I still remember the sequence— The one my brethren called me. I was known to them as W74.
"A42 get you and your subordinate's aft down to Subsection B on the double! The demos down there need help stabilizing the support pillars. You're my only chem mixer a Hic from there!" a booming voice laced with static crackled over the com beacon installed onto the side of A42's audio.
"What do you mean boss? I thought the group was doing retreat mining in that section. Isn't that the point: get rid of the supports?" A42 snapped back throwing a grin to his apprentice W74.
Not too far away W74 was chiseling away at a few raw ore deposits. As usual he loaded them onto a conveyor belt that would take them back to the surface to be processed.
"Don't get smart with me mech! Plans change like everything else in this pit of an asteroid facility." the boss bot replied irritably.
"So what you're meaning to say is that we didn't get clearance yet from the geo inspectors to collapse the site, and you figured we would go ahead anyways in hopes of speeding up progress, despite the dangers to us… again. But you ran into a snag… again, and you want us mecha-moles to clean it up for you... again." the other mechs mining nearby were listening in on the conversation frequency and snickered at A42's snarky assessment in amusement.
He was always a source of entertainment for his younger brothers. The mech seemed to find it his duty to bring light into a dark tunnel, W74 observed.
One thing about the mining colony, there were no luxuries like private coms. Word got around quickly fer that reason. That could be a really good thing, like save'n your skid plate when you had a million pounds of unprocessed slag lying on top of ya. Or, in that case, a really bad thing, as rumors and gossip spread like a plague and lasted forever. Needless to say for the pompous "Boss Bot"; as we all called him; that cycle was just not his shining moment. Not that many were—heh. I'd soon find out it wasn't going to be that great for me either.
"Get your aft over there NOW! I swear to Primus if you screw this up, your aft is on cleanup for the slag containment for an Orn! And that's if I'm in a good mood!" the boss bellowed before disconnecting the line.
The others grunted and laughed, pointing at A42 in the universal sign of "Oooo you're in trouble!"
"You know why the boss is sweat'n oil right?" A42 walked over to W74.
"Hurm? How come?" the younger mech leaned an audio closer to the number one troublemaker on base.
"It's because we have a bunch of operatives from Metrocon roam'n round the tunnels here. Seems they have an Optic on our little facility. Overheard them mentioned they like to observe it for a few breems." A42 replied.
"Why would the Metrocon Colony care about us? They have many contracted facilities working to supply them with energon and other raw ores." W74 asked, genuinely curious.
"No clue… the weird thing is they don't seem to be as interested in the ore as they are in us. I've watched them. They try to blend in with us, but they stick out like Bent wire. I mean they're as short as a bunch a cassettes compared to us, hah!" the other chuckled.
"What? That doesn't make any sense. You think they're lookin' for a reason to relocate us or somth'n?" W74 asked as the two walked down the tunnel, "I do admit, I wouldn't miss the boss and his reckless ways. It would be a good thing to see what's out there."
"No idea on that one." A42 replied.
He looked over at the cave walls as they walked on an overhanging pathway. Gleaming and sparkling below were energon crystals in their rawest state. Not yet fully formed to be of any value, but they held a different sort of value to the miners.
"If that happens we'll most likely will get split up and shipped off away from this place… I hope that doesn't happen." A42 stopped on the trail to look out.
W74 followed his gaze.
"This place is a lot like us ya know. Rough everywhere, not an ounce of polish to be found. Well, let's face it, we all look like slag'n scrap." A42 guffawed while W74 laughed. "But… search around on the inside and there's a core of the right stuff to be found." A42 grinned as he gazed down at the iridescent crystals.
W74 smiled as the other turned back to him and clapped a hand on his back before they carried on their way.
A42 had been around the longest, all the rest of his cast brothers having been cut down or buried by an accident by then. He was all that was left of that generation and I respected him for that, despite his crazy antics. I thought that I had known what he had been talking about that cycle. I thought it had been about the place in which we all lived. I was immature, I didn't listen to what he had been truly telling me.
Back then, my young spark longed for something more. What I thought I needed in life was energy, creds, and adventure. In reality I had what was most important all along. He had told me this was home. And now, as I look back, I see that miserable piece of scrap as my true home too. I realize that it wasn't the place that made the home, it was the sparks that lived in the pit with you. Because if you stop to think about it, even the wealthiest of us live in the same universe; the same refined materials. It's who you spend your time with that matters most. Pure and simple... like those energon crystals.
When W74 and A42 had arrived they were immediately put to work by the others, as always. The two of them mixed and applied bonding agents to reinforce the remaining support pillars holding the tunnels up. In the mean time, the site's team continued work in the tunnels branching off nearby. The sound of chisels and drills could be heard echoing and reverberating off the walls as they worked to dig their way to a newly-discovered, energon-rich vein.
A few chunks of rock broke away, falling around W74 and A42 as they worked.
"Figures, we always get the dangerous stuff." W74 muttered as finished applying bonding agent to an ominous crack in the cavern ceiling.
"You think they could stop drilling long enough for us to get this place stabilized?"A42 grunted as several large rocks detached from the ceiling and pelted his head.
"Those Z-class rookies— metal hides haven't even cooled from the forge yet." A42 sighed, not exactly pleased he was cleaning up after the boss again.
However, at overhearing W74 grumble prior, he chuckled.
"Get used to it W, the boss has it out for me. Sad to say you're next in line. Don't worry though, teaching you mixin' ain't the only thing I've been prep'n ya for, hah!" A42 answered as he sprayed on a special agent to harden the surrounding rock formations.
"And what's that?" W74 asked nonchalantly.
"To think for yerself and get his pressure hoses in a bind for me when I'm no longer here to do it hahaha!" A42's joyful banter mixing with the sounds of labor all around.
To W74 it was odd to hear such laughter when the environment they were working in seemed so tense.
"Yeah right! In your dreams! I'm not as crazy as you. No way am I getting on the boss's bad side!" W74 replied with a roll of his optics.
"I think it's a little too late fer that. Yer already on his 'to be slagged' list because of your association with me W. And where's your sense of fun? We don't live forever mech and you're supposed to be the younger one here! Phssh! It looks like I still have a lotta work to be done with ya, heh." A42 punched him in the shoulder in jest before inspecting his work.
"Everything reads stable now…" A42 nodded after doing a scan.
"Shouldn't we apply a few more supports before we head out? You know, just as a precaution?" W74 looked around then back to A42.
"Ahhh a mech after my own spark! Hah! If I didn't know any better I would 'a said you were from my same cast W." A42 nodded and went to fetch a few more support pillars for them to set up.
W74 puffed a bit with pride at the comment. Being called an A was the equivalent to being called wise beyond his years.
"Way to think for yerself W! I'll be right back. You need a special access code to get into the supply hanger and I'm the only one that's got one. So sit tight 'til I get back with the supplies." A42 called as he entered down one of the branching tunnels.
A42 always had a way of taking a bad situation and making it seem a little less stressful. Of course his methods usually entailed pranking me or cracking a joke that wasn't always in the best of taste. But he always succeeded in one thing and that was taking your mind off the slag you were in. And for that I miss him the most—no matter how annoying he may have been sometimes. But, then again, there's someone I know now that reminds me a lot of him. A younger, slag'n show off with a mouth that spins as fast as his drills… but still, he reminds me of him.
I wish I had never made that suggestion for more support beams.
BOOM!
The cavern lurched suddenly as fire and heat flowed through the tunnels, filling the cavern and consuming any air inside. W74 was instantly engulfed by black smoke as dark as the inside of a crank shaft. The younger mech scrambled in surprise ducking falling debris as the cavern shook. The support pillars began whining and groaning; a few giving out. Luckily for W74 a few more held true.
Rock and ore had fallen all around me as the cavern had shaken; though it was mere pebbles compared to the boulders that others were being buried alive by. I had A42's bonding agents to thank for that.
I could hear their screams of agony being quickly muffled and it had frightened me to my laser core. I had only experienced a collapse a few times at that point and each time it was as chilling as the first. Never before had there been an explosion such as that one. and at the time why it had happened, had been the last thing to cross my processors.
The only thing that kept pulsing through my mind over and over again was that my brothers and I were in deep trouble. Then it hit me like a sledgehammer to the faceplate—A42 had traveled down the very tunnel that now vented smoke and was consumed by destruction.
"A42!" W74 coughed out smoke filling his vents as he called.
He made his way slowly down the tunnel where the other had gone.
" A42! Can ya hear me?" W sputtered again.
He brought his hands up to his optics wiping the soot and dust from his lenses. It wasn't long until he had come to the collapsed section.
"Is there anyone in there?... Anyone ALIVE!" W called out and waited.
Until that moment silence was not something that filled the tunnels, but now the lack of sound was even more troubling. The more time went by without a response, the faster the feeling of dread overcame W74. However, just when he was about to turn around and head back, there came a faint call.
"Euugh w-we're here W! We're here!"
Instantly there was a ray of hope in a sea of darkness.
"I'm coming for you! Hang on!"
W74 didn't know how long it would take or even if the rescue teams could get to them, but time was of the essence. There was no telling if another collapse could occur as a result of the stress and shifting debris.
W74 knew the dangers in digging through a collapsed section; A42 had taught him that; but he couldn't bring himself to care at that moment. With a hydraulic hiss W74 released the locks on his leg spikes. Two mining picks stuck out from his shin plating for him to grab. Bringing them up above his head he lunged forward with all his might, sending them into the debris that lay between him and his buried brothers.
With every swipe of my picks I can recall wondering if that would be the swipe I buried myself and perhaps the rest of them alive in a secondary collapse. Primus must have been on my side that day.
"Raaagh!" W74 yelled as he put everything he had into his digging.
With one last swipe a boulder toppled away revealing an opening. Immediately, more smoke billowed through the hole and up into the tunnel W74 stood in. Clearing away what he could, he sent his scanners inside but was startled when a hand grabbed hold of his helm.
"Gah!" he shouted, surprised. But a familiar voice quickly calmed him.
"It's me mech! Guhh. You son of a glitch you found us…" A42's voice sounded weaker then normal.
" I can't see very well in this smoke, its mucked up my optics. Are you ok? There's more with you? How 'bout them?" W74 asked frantically as he worked to widen the entrance for them to get out.
As he did he began to spray the bonding agents he had mixed before to stabilize the tunnel he had just carved.
"I'm good enough. The others need assisting. Couple of 'em from Metro have no idea what to do down here— the soft pedes. Heh— uhhck." A42 tried to laugh but stopped in what sounded as a gurgling wince.
"You don't sound good A. I should—" W74 was interrupted.
"Just get them to the surface mech. I'll be fine. They take priority. They're our guests here, understand?"
W74 nodded reluctantly even though neither could see it in the pitch black. "What do you mean 'get them up'? Aren't you gonna help me! You're coming with us!" W74 crawled into the entrance he had widened and felt around the debris to try and help A42 to his feet.
What he felt caused him to pause in shock.
"Don't be surprised W… it is a cave-in... eucg, after all." A42 coughed out as energon dripped from his mouth.
W74 brought his arms up off the ground. He could feel the slickness of A's life on his hands. He felt the giant cold weight on top of the older mech. A sick feeling in W's tanks developed as he realized that A42 was crushed from the torso down by a giant boulder. There was hardly anything left of him.
"The others 'r behind that boulder in a cave over there. Most likely panicking by now. All of them are Metro's too."A42 groaned. "Frag'n ironic isn't it? None of our mechs made it out, but they somehow did. Must be them athletic types of theirs or someth'n. Eeuughaa" A42 gurgled and couched violently before gasping in the grunge filled air.
"I sealed them in there after the explosion and collapse. Heh uhng, darn fools were running toward me like a bunch a chickenoids with their heads cut off, so I shoved them into that crevice. Good thing too, just in the knick of euugh, time." A42 laughed despite shuddering in pain.
"A… you're…" W74 slumped forward shivering, wracking his frame as his hands splattered into the puddle of the others life.
His mentor's energon drenching his scuffed knees.
"Hey! Snap outta it W, the more time they spend down here the less likely they're getting' out eugnnhh. And that includes you… I'm not goin' to see my apprentice buried alive! Not when he finally got the hang of everything." A42 voice was but a whisper now and W74 looked up in the direction he knew his brother's face would be.
"Oh and… nice work euug with the bonding agent. Seems I ehuug, seems I don't have much left to teach ya after all." A42 chuckled out.
Weakly he brought his remaining good hand up to pat his apprentice on the shoulder one final time. Tears of optic fluid began to stream down W74's face. But despite what others of his kind would say, W74 wouldn't blame it on the smoke in the room.
"A… I promise I'll get them to the surface." was all he could say.
"That's my Mech." A42's optics began to fade further along with his voice. "Oh, and W… one last thing before I leave you to your job. Don't forget to rile up that clean-cut, crotchety, geezer for me while I'm away. Don't ever let him forget whose lives he's work'n with down here." W could not see it but he knew in his mind's eye that A was smiling as his spark finally passed over.
"I promise…" W choked out.
That cycle I learned for the first time what it felt to lose something precious… no ore, creds or energon cubes could have replaced that mech despite the popular belief that it could. Not to me anyways… one thing was for certain: never again, if I could help it, would a cave- in take another friend… another brother.
…
"Watch your step. This way…" W instructed the other Metrocon mechs as they followed him through the treacherous incline to the surface. This had been the second time so far that he had to bore a new tunnel to a preexisting one just so they could get through.
"That slag'n con." one of the Metrocon mechs coughed out while another assisted him as he limped on a damaged leg.
"If only I had known it was him I would have slagged him on sight!" another commented.
"Shh!" W74 responded at that. "I need to be able to hear! Your speaking is distracting and making it hard to navigate the mine's signals. Keep your vocalizers muted." he grounded out, not in the mood to hear them complaining about… whatever it was they were complaining about.
As they moved steadily forward, there was still the occasional shift in the damaged crust that resulted in tremors and minor collapses.
"There's got to be that mine hoverator somewhere down here. Primus, please let it still be intact." W74 thought to himself.
"You all stay here. It could be highly unstable up ahead. I got to go check it out first." he replied before moving on ahead.
The tunnels for the most part appeared to have remained intact through the whole episode; just a few more minor collapses here and there. Not to mention the smoke seemed to be dissipating just enough that he could see a few steps ahead of him. He kept walking and inching forward, but was beginning to lose hope in finding the elevation shaft. He had only been to this section of the mine on the rare occasion. However, just when he was wondering if he had made a wrong turn, he spotted it.
W74 immediately called back to the others. "Ok, It's safe! I found a way out! Let's move it! The longer we're down here the worse our chances are of get'n out." W74 repeated, a twinge of pain shot though his spark, knowing not long ago A42 had spoken those words to him.
As the others made their way slowly from the connecting tunnel to the hoverator there was a sudden yelp of pain that echoed. And not just any yelp one that was the result of surprise as well as agony.
"Slag! a collapse!" W74 mind instantly came to the conclusion as he hurried back to the others.
"I shouldn't have left them!" he berated himself. As he turned the corner, however, what he found was not a collapse at all. No, something even worse. There standing in the group of four was a fifth mech. Only this mech he did not recognize. He was much larger than the others and stood holding one of them by the neck, pressed to the wall with an energon blade imbedded to the hilt into the mech's internals.
"What the slag!" W74 thought as he backed behind the corner once more.
The dangerous mech had not seen him due to poor visibility or he just had not been looking for him.
"Let him go, Decepticon!" the one with a damaged leg shouted, unsubspacing a miniature, electro sword, while the other two weaponless mechs stood in a ready stance.
"Hah! You plan to fight me with that toothpick! You shiver in fear of me Autobot, I can smell it!"
Despite what the Con said the other did not back down.
"I have no fear of death. How about you hmm?" the Con smiled evilly. "You know it's thanks to you I'm here right now. If you had not interfered, I would be buried under the rubble like all the rest of these moles. I would be dead, having succeeded in my final glorious mission—this whole place was supposed to crumble by my hand not just one pitiful section!" the Decepticon yelled in rage before becoming eerily calm once more.
"But… I am alive and well and thanks to your interference you're all going to suffer, a slow, painful death!" the larger mech released the Metrocon mech who slid to the floor with a yelp, helplessly leaking energon from the wound.
"Y-your mad!" one of the other Autobots had shouted.
The Con poised himself ready to attack the remaining smaller mechs, "Am I now?" the con laughed, "Or am I just a mech with nothing left to lose?" he replied evenly before he pounced.
I found out later from the Autobots that, that Con was what they deemed a "Crasher"… he had been infected with a virus, notably a Con group. Most likely because he had ticked someone off. The virus was slowly eating his mind away so basically they give him the option to go out with a bang and be remembered as a hero for their cause, or fade away into insanity and be remembered for the crime he had committed to the group. A happy lot those Decepticons are, aren't they?
At first W74 had been frozen in fear. He had heard stories of the Decepticons that others told him when he was younger to scare him and joke at his fright. He was unable to move as he simply listened. The more he listened though W74 found himself becoming increasingly enraged at this Con's words. He had been the one who killed A42 and the others! He had made a promise to A42 to get these survivors up to the surface and that was what he was going to do!
The Decepticon laughed as he lunged at the smaller Mech with the injured leg. However, before he could reach him, something rammed into him with a force great enough to knock his weapon from his hand.
"GUHA!" the large mech yelled in surprised as he was suddenly tossed off the edge of a tunnel outcropping, ramming into the floor of a naturally formed cave below.
The surprised Con flailed and wrestled with someone much bigger then any Autobot he had ever faced.
"You're going to pay for what you did to A42!" W74 shouted, enraged as he pounded his fists into the Con below.
The mech yelped in pain but it didn't take long before the other kicked him off.
"Slag'n Mole!" the Con got back to his feet faster then W74 could act and jumped onto his back capturing his head in a crushing embrace.
"Guurrk!" W74 struggled to free his helm as the other applied pressure, causing the housing to crack. He had not expected such a fast recovery from the other.
Then again, he was a Decepticon; a trained killer!
W74 slammed the mech into the wall behind him, but it did nothing to loosen the other's grip. Spotting a sharp boulder W74 slammed the Con into the formation with all his might.
"GRAHH!"
The reaction was instantaneous as the Con cried out and his grip loosened from the sharp blow to his back. Turning around, W74 landed two solid punches into the Con's face causing him to sputter out energon with each blow. The Con was not through though, as he grabbed hold of W74 and forced his knee into the other's midsection in return.
W74 coughed out energon as the Decepticon continued to pummel him in the face back and forth. He fell backwards, his systems dizzy and his face throbbing from dents and cuts.
"Stupid mole, I'm going to bury you down here with the rest of your drone brothers! That's all you are, a bunch of drones digging away for your Metrocon masters!" the Con dashed over retrieving his fallen energon blade.
The Con walked up to the disoriented mech as he lay near the edge of an energon crystal formation, "It's too bad I have to kill you. With that stunt you just pulled, I'm sure the others would'a made a good Decepticon out of you; with that rage of yours 'n all."
W74 began to refocus just as the Con's blade sliced deep into his midsection like he had done to the other Autobot before.
"Aaahhhggg!" he cried out in pain as the Con twisted the weapon deeper into him before withdrawing it and sending it into his shoulder.
His arm went limp, the Con striking a nerve bundle. The maniacal mech chuckled as he crouched above him bringing his face uncomfortably close to his.
"Go on Mole, scream louder, It's music to my audios!" he laughed as he withdrew the blade and sent it into the other shoulder rendering it useless as well. W74 struggled and kicked to get away, but the Con had him pinned, and the Autobots were too damaged and too far up the path to help him now.
"Well, well, well, a mole without his dig'n arms— what a shame. What you gonna do now? Perhaps you are better off dead like me!" the Con gave an insane guffaw; much different than the hearty laughter of A42.
"How bout this! Grahh!" W74 yelled as the shoulder pipes on his back angled and shot out a corrosive chemical right into the Cons face and optics.
"GYEAAARRRAHHH!" the Con screamed out in fury and pain as he dropped his blade and stood up clutching at his optics.
"YOU, YOU blinded me! You destroyed my face you slagger Mole! You're dead! You're deaaahhhd!" the Con gurgled, metal literally dripping from his face as he stumbled around aimlessly in shock.
Before W74 could speak up however, the Con had stumbled his way right over the nearby ledge right into a crystal crevice below.
"AHHHHhhhh!"
SCREEECH!
The sound of the mech's frame being impaled by numerous energon crystals below was not a sound W74 never wanted to hear again. He decided he just lay there for a moment and rest.
However, the others called to him standing above him. How had they gotten down to him that fast? Or had he just been out of it that long? As he came to he noted how all four of them now looked down to him, concern on each of their faces. He couldn't exactly make out what they were saying at first as his senses were a bit fuzzy from being battered around. Soon, however, they began to return to him.
"We gotta get back up to the lift. C'mon son well help you." one of the Autobots helped him to his feet.
"Uhng th-thanks…" W74 replied and shook his head.
However, the throbbing pain in his abdomen and his shoulders did nothing to help him.
"You took quite a beating from that Con. We weren't sure you'd make it. Sorry we couldn't get down to help ya faster. Our medic had to stabilize our scout." one of them replied.
"Uhhg it's ok… I wasn't really expecting you—"
One of the others cut him off, "You know we were about to double team the guy when you came flying in at him. Now that was a sight! Bulldozer crashing into bulldozer." the mech laughed.
"Uhhg, well my head feels like its been run over by a bulldozer… oh yeah wait…" W74 answered a little less enthusiastic about the whole thing.
The group of them were almost back to where they had been prior to the attack.
"Haha! You hear that? Almost got slagged and this kid has still got a sense of humor!" the other laughed.
It was easy for them to laugh they probably had seen a lot more action than he had.
"That wasn't bad fighting back there, for someone untrained." another mech replied.
"Yeah, well, I'm disappointed I missed it." the one who had been stabbed replied.
"H-how did you… recover so…" W74 asked and nodded to the damaged mech.
"Oh he's the best medic this side of the galaxy. Got you working again for the most part after he got me back on my feet" Tungsten could make out the yellow patturn of the mech speaking to him as he pointed to the one on his right.
"Flattery will get you nowhere. Besides, I still need to finish the job once I get the proper parts." the medic grunted.
"Oh I see. Well, thank you." W74 replied to the medic.
"Your arms are going to need more work though. Both of your shoulder nerve clusters were destroyed along with both of your energon tanks being ruptured. It's gonna be a nightmare rewiring and fixing both of you reckless slagheaps up."
W74 glanced at the grumbling medic. He had never encountered a medic speak like that. If he hadn't known any better he would have thought the other fit right down in the mine with a mouth like that.
"When we get back to the surface I'll have to bring you back to HQ to use the equipment to get that fine-tuning work done on you."
"Huh? No, that's not necessary we have medics here. I appreciate your—" W74 was interrupted.
"Don't argue with me! You're coming! We owe it to you for what you did back there. Besides, they wouldn't know a fuel line from an air compressor those mine medics, bah!" the medic grunted and the others laughed.
"Oh, sorry by the way, we didn't introduce ourselves. I'm Highgear." the dusty red mech replied, "And the greens Beamblast, Crosshots the yellow mech standing to your left, and the medic Repatch is to your right." Highgear replied pointing to each.
W74 nodded, a bit surprised; he had never heard of such names before. He looked a bit confused at the others as the group was now nearing the hoverator that would bring them back to the surface.
"Well what's your name? We introduced ourselves it's only proper to do the same." Repatch inquired as they all walked onto the hoverator and Highgear activated the ascend controls.
"Oh uhh…W74 is my designation." he responded.
The others looked at each other then back at him.
"That's really your name?" Crosshot held back another laugh but winced as Repatch poked him in his patched abdomen.
"Ow!" he complained.
"It's my designation… I… I don't have a name as you call them." W74 replied not understanding what was wrong.
"Well there's no way, we're calling you W74. Geez! Sounds like a droid's name." Beamblast looked to the others, but Highgear slapped the other operative across the back of his head.
"Don't be rude to this mech! He and his friend paid a great price to save our lives." Highgear crossed his arms before turning to W74.
"Would you mind if you gave us a Cybertronian name we refer to you by?" he asked.
"Well, sure. I mean, I guess I could think of something. I've never thought about it before." W74 was really indifferent to the whole idea anyways.
"Choose something cool! Oh! Like Drillrunner, or Digmaster, Oh, oh or GroundCrusher!" Crosshot put in his two cents in.
"He can choose whatever he likes you glitch head." Repatch rolled his optics at the youthful scout.
"What should I think about when doing this?" W74 inquired.
"Oh, it's easy! Just think about what best describes you. If it helps; for example, your build is rather large and you have thinker armor than most. I suspect that Con had to apply a lot of force just to have stabbed you in the places he did. I noticed he chose places where your armor was not the thickest." Highgear surmised.
W74 just winced as the pain still shot through his circuits. Someone talking about it wasn't helping him get his mind off of it either.
"Yes, you didn't give up even when you were stabbed three times by that slagger." Beamblast added.
"Just pick something that fits you already! All this talk of stabbing is makin' me want to hurl something." Repatch huffed.
The more W74 thought about it the more he fancied the idea of having a Cybertronian name. He really didn't know much about how to name himself, but he did know mining. So, he supposed he should choose from something he knew. Something tough… something that described him…
"Tungsten." he answered with a nod of his helm.
"Ah, that free element is remarkable for its robust physical properties, especially the fact that it has the highest melting point of all the non-alloyed metals." Highgear explained to the other younger mechs who gave a blank look to Tungsten.
"Yes, heh! That makes sense, indeed. A fine name!" Highgear clapped his hands together.
"Well then it's nice to meet you Tungsten." Repatch also nodded.
"Heh, I'd shake your hand but ya know…" Crosshot laughed and Beamblast rolled his optics.
"You know after we get you back to HQ for repairs, I have and offer I like to make to you Tungsten." Highgear added.
And an offer he did make. Turns out the Cons had been attacking several of Metrocon's supply mines in a new tactic to cripple the Autobot forces. As a result the Autobots were now look'n for new recruits and I happened to fit the list of what they wanted perfectly. Imagine that. They needed someone with my knowledge on how mines were set up and functioned, and perhaps my build and size didn't hurt either.
After the attack they had stationed troops at all the facilities to prevent any further infiltration and ensure the miners' protection. Something I wish to this day they would have thought to do ahead of time, instead of sending a bunch of scouts and a medic to keep a look out. I guess their forces were spread pretty thin though. Or they just didn't think to invest enough time and resources for a bunch of moles.
At first I did decline the offer, I had to look after my brothers and help them fix up the mine after the Cons sent everything to the pit. Not to mention, I needed to get away from that insane medic. After get'n my repairs from Repatch I don't think I had any audios left from the time I spent recovering my arms' motor functions.
Never thought I'd become friends with that hotheaded son of a glitch, but somehow an understand'n or something had formed between the swearing and wrench throwing—but that's another story.
When I got back we had to dig up a lot of our fallen brothers. It was the highest fatality count in a collapse at Axion. I will never forget what the Cons did to them—what they did to A42.
Then the time came when I felt I wanted more outta life than the present provided. My naïve, young-self thought I could stand to gain from going out and seeing the universe with the Autobots of Metrocon. Yeah, I was stupid.
But I wasn't going to be joining any Autobot military without first makin' good my promise to A42. So, needless to say, one morning "Boss Bot" finds he's been painted a rather lovely; if I do say so myself; shade of pink, adorned with the mechly accent of purple polka dots. But that wasn't the best part of it. No, I think the best part was when I walked into his room and declared that I was leaving for Metrocon after he read my lovely parting note. The look on his plump, pink, purple polka-dotted face was priceless. A42 would have loved it, I know it in my spark.
"The name's Tungsten! And you Boss Bot, will watch out for my brothers while A42 and I are away. Or else yer gonna find these pictures of yer true colors uploaded to every archive this side of the Metrocon data feed! And that's a promise!"
Life is tough. But in my opinion, the guys had it pretty dang good after that.
To be continued…
