The Power of Sisters

Chapter One

Blaze

"I wonder if Ma will let us join Team Prime," Echo says quietly, drawing Cybertronian hieroglyphics in the soft Earth under us.

I sit up from my spot where I was leaning against the rock wall. It was a good thing to do, join Team Prime. If we join, we wouldn't have to always be on the run. I grinned to myself at the possibility of me working with the Optimus Prime. What a dream come true! If I with work the Prime, then I would have done everything in the universe. Of course Ma doesn't view working with Prime that much of a big deal. So she's going to take her time in deciding our next course of action.

"I hope she does," I say, watching the small line of Cybertronian poetry my sister was creating. My little sister may be a bit annoying sometimes, but she sure does know how to make a work of art. I mean, I can't make a poem right from the top of my functions if I wanted too, and I doubt Ma can either. I guess Echo gets it from Dad.

"It would be a great opportunity to, um, you know, meet other Autobots," Echo continues.

"And meet Prime," I add and I beam as my sister laughs at my words. "What? I can't help that it's a one-in-a-lifetime experience! Do you know how heroic he must be? Oh, he must be a mech of honor and nothing else!"
"Is that the only reason why you want to join?" Echo asks. "I hear Bumblebee is on Team Prime too."

I stare at my sister with bright optics. "You mean the Bumblebee? The Bumblebee whose scout skills are legendary? The Bumblebee who...who...if he would have failed his mission in Iacon, the war would have been won to the 'cons?"
Echo tipped her head to the side. "That last sentence you said, I don't think made any sense. But, you being my not-the-brightest-color-in-the-circuit sister, I understand. Yes, that Bumblebee."

"Shut up," I say. "At least I'm not a 'shyling'."

"Whatever," Echo replies just as Ma comes from up in vehicle form.

My sister and I scramble to our feet, excited for to hear our mother's decision. Ma, whose name is Violet (but to Echo and I, it is simply "Ma"), looks beyond us at the tall trees that seem to go on as far as the eye can see. Echo and I are both the impatient type, which we get from Ma herself.

"What are we gonna do, Ma?" Echo asks eagerly.

"Will we get to meet Prime?" I ask.

"Will we meet Bumblebee?" Echo chirps excitedly.

"Aren't you excited to see Team Prime?" I giggle.

Ma sighs. "We are going to the military base located in Jasper, a human populated area due south 15 miles from here," she says. "And to answer your boisterous questions, yes, yes, and no."

"No?" Echo and I gasp.

"Yes, no," Ma grumbled. "I don't like working with others, Prime or no Prime. And don't get your hearts set on staying their forever. I've already made it clear we may leave before our first day is cleared up."
I don't think Echo and I were listening. We were just happy to be around other Autobots. After spending the last decade with nobody but Ma and ourselves, we long to socialize with others. Of course, Ma isn't the socializing type. I suppose Echo and I get our love of socializing from Dad.

"Anyway, let's go," Ma says. "Fowler is waiting on us and he'll lead the way to the Autobot's base."


The next hour was spent in silence for Echo and I. We didn't do much talking. At the very least, we said our hellos to Fowler when Ma introduced us. After that, we were as quiet as overly oiled bolts. Fowler explained to us about Team Prime, who knew of their whereabouts and what their goal was. Everything was obvious. I mean, why wouldn't Optimus not want to strive to end Megatron's cruel rule? Only until we began to travel towards the Autobot base with Fowler riding in Ma's passenger seat (Ma never did like any one behind her wheel.), was Echo and I unable to maintain our silence.

"What's Optimus like?" Echo begins the questionnaire.

"Is he really big?" I chime in.

"Is it true that Bumblebee is the best scout around?" Echo takes her turn.

"He's the best scout around," Agent Fowler says. "And Prime, he doesn't have not a single bad circuit in him. And, yes, he's huge. He's about, oh, I'd say perhaps somewhere around 30 feet tall."

"Oh, wow!" I exclaim. "That's huge!"

I sense Echo reaching out to me in a private comm link. What?, I ask.

Do you think he's, um, you know, nice?, Echo asks.

Of course he's nice, I say. He's the top leader of all Autobots. And he's merciful. Why wouldn't he be nice. I'd hope that he's nice. If he isn't, Ma will have us leave before we even get a chance to speak with him in person.

You're right, Echo says. But, even if he is mean, I still don't wanna leave Team Prime. I mean, we've been on our own too long.

"Just keep driving at that cliff, Violet," Agent Fowler says.

"Just keep driving at that cliff?" I gasp. Was he trying to kill us?

"Anybody could tell that you guys are new here," Agent Fowler comments.

"Girls, just follow me," Ma says. She leads the way towards the cliff and I'm scared if the Team Prime thing was a gag and this is just a trick. But, suddenly, right before we crash into it, the cliff opens! I don't have no other way of putting it. It opened. Inside is this tunnel that curves towards the right and we follow it until we find ourselves in a different area. We are inside the cliff now and it's no doubt the base Fowler was telling us about.

"Girls, this is it," Fowler says. "This is the Team Prime base." He climbs from out of Ma's interior.

"Hey, Fowler!" says a human voice. A slender, tall boy appears from on top of a ledge of stone. He is wearing a black shirt with dark blue jeans and his hair is jet-black.

"Humans," Ma says cautiously. Fowler must have heard her tone of voice.

"Don't worry, ," he says. "Jack wouldn't hurt a fly. And Miko, just watch out for her singing rehearsals. And Raf is the smartest kid I know."

"I see," Ma says, sounding no different.

But Echo and I were excited. We transformed and quickly began to take in our new surroundings. Ma reluctantly transformed, looking around in a dark glare.

"Wow!" says a female human. "We've got new bots?"

I hear Ma mutter something about human youths not being mentioned on Team Prime. Something tells me Ma doesn't like humans. She's been stiff with them ever since we came to Earth. Echo shyly ducks her head behind me for some reason. I cock an optic ridge at her and she nods beyond me. I turn and look and see the largest Autobot I've ever seen in my whole life. Echo and I stair with our optics even brighter than an energon explosion.

The mech was at least the size of me and Echo standing on top of one another and he had a beautiful color of hot red and deep blue. He had long arms and legs. And his optics were pure icy color and displayed a sincere attitude. I feel Echo beside of me stifling a giggle. I do the same. Ma must have seen us because then she whispered, "Mind yourselves."

"Prime," Fowler says. "Meet Violet. And these two are her daughters Echo and Blaze. They're new to the team."

Prime nods at Fowler then looks at Ma, Echo, and I. Echo, who is smaller than me, ducks her head shyly while I try to make myself appear smaller. Ma stares Prime right in the optic and holds his gaze. She is so brave! Prime speaks:

"Welcome, Violet, Echo, and Blaze. I am Optimus Prime. I am the leader of all Autobots. They are my team and we are called Team Prime. He is our scout, Bumblebee. Over there are two Wreckers, Wheeljack and Bulkhead. Arcee and Smokescreen are two of my very loyal warriors and finally, last but not least, Ratchet, our medic."

I'm pretty sure I was too busy gaping at Prime to answer because I felt Echo pinch one of my small circuits in my back. I tense up immediately and turn to Echo. Echo grins shyly.

"You should have seen how bright your optics were," she smiles.

"Thanks," I say lamely.

"Greetings, Prime," Ma says while me and my sister talked. "Echo and Blaze, don't be rude. Say hello."

Echo freezes behind of me and I freeze too. I don't think we're ready for talking to Prime yet. Maybe later. Unfortunately, I'm unable to tell that to Ma without embarrassing myself. Ma gives Echo and I that look that means we're walking on thin ice.

"H-hey," I manage to say. With my elbow, I give Echo an encouraging nudge. And I'm jealous that she doesn't stutter like how I did. Prime must have pretended to not notice our nervousness, which I am grateful for.


"So, what do you guys do here? Like other than going out to kick some conbutt?" I ask as Arcee- an older fembot who is half my size, but nearly the size of Echo- leads me to the sleeping quarters where I'm supposed to share with her.

"We just normally hang out if we don't have any duties to attend to," Arcee replies as she punches in the entrance code. "I hope you have good memory."

"I'm average when it comes to memory," I say. "I mean, it's not as bright as my sisters's. She gets that from Ma, I think."

"I see," Arcee says. "I'm glade. The code is 81713741210."

"That's a long code," I commit, feeling my spark drop. It was longer than what I expected. Arcee must be a mind-reader.

"Don't worry," she grins. "After a few times of entering the recharge quarters, it'll be fresh in your mind."

"I hope so," I say. I follow Arcee into recharge quarters. It isn't a big area, only big enough for the two of us. It is a plain area, but that's how I like my recharge quarters any way. Plain and simple. If there is more in common between me and Arcee, we may just get along well fine.