POV Corona

Earlier

"Please? Just this once?" Amy asked, her brown human eyes begging as she sat on Drew's Cybertronian shoulder.

"That's more Optimus' call than mine," I said, not even looking up from the datapad to look my hybrid (God I hated that word) brother and sister in the eye. I flinched as Ratchet ran the scanner over my wings again for my required check-up. Scans don't hurt most bots, but Seeker wings are known for sensitivity. It was kind of a racial stereotype on Cybertron that Seekers don't like doctors. There's an obvious reason for this. I may be human at my core, but some things tend to stick.

"What are the younglings wanting now?" Ratchet grumbled in exasperation, having only caught the tail end of the conversation as he came back from storage.

"They want me to tell Optimus they have my permission to go on recon mission unsupervised."

Ratchet raised a brow ridge, "What?! They're still sparklings by our standards for Primus' sake."

I pursed my lips. It was strange how Rachet said "our" rather than "Cybertronian." Part of me didn't like the subtle reminders that I was as much Cybertronian as the rest and yet my siblings still counted as "just" human.

He turned to the two, "Six months is still not enough time to adjust to your new bodies."

"Then we'll go as humans," Amy said.

Drew nodded, interrupting her. "We'll take one of the small handheld scanners and…"

"That's even worse! At least as Autobots you have inbuilt weapons," he put up a digit warningly.

I smirked at the kids, already knowing what he was going to say next.

"Which, by the way," he continued his lecture, "Bumblebee said neither of you are nearly ready enough for me to upgrade those to combat power."

Amy glanced at her hand before the eight-year-old momentarily remembered she was still in her human form. And on her older brother's shoulder. She almost lost her balance as Drew crossed his servos and glared almost cross-optic at the doctor's metal finger.

"What's that supposed to mean," the stubborn girl demanded.

I almost winced at the incoming "brat tone."

"Despite being a much better shot than your brother, you still can't hit a moving target…"

"I did!" Drew quipped, not even flinching when Amy angrily hit an antenna.

Ratchet gave him a look.

"Don't interrupt your elders, Whiteout. You and I both know that was an accident," he said, using my brother's Cybertronian designation and subsequently my sister's, "Bluescreen, you can't hit a moving target yet. You're doing even worse at melee. You still have a long way to go. It would be irresponsible to…"

"What would be irresponsible?" Arcee said.

Ratchet jumped, his plating clamping down audibly with funny little clicks.

My siblings and I snickered.

I briefly recounted the conversation.

The femme grimaced. "I don't think it's a good idea either…too many things can go wrong." She glanced at me, "They're so young."

"I'm actually considering it," I said.

The other two adults looked at me.

"They're kids, Cora," Arcee said.

"I know," I said, "But I remember having to sign off on Bumblebee as a Scout when he was a youngling almost the same maturity level as them."

It was ridiculous, I knew. My brother and sister were eight and ten years old. Physically at least. How could I think this was a good idea? I wasn't stupid enough to send them after Decepticons, of course. But it isn't like I'm just dropping them off in the desert and saying have at it.

Amy and Drew glanced at each other before looking at me hopefully.

"That was the middle of the war," Ratchet muttered. "He started training before he was even old enough to transform."

"We've been practicing," Drew said respectfully.

Arcee sighed, hot air whooshing out her vents. "Look, we have to go pick up Jack, Miko, and Raf and Optimus is out on patrol. When everyone's back…you bring it up with Optimus…alright?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"You're free to go, Corona," Ratchet said, sharply waving me off the medbay table. "Your turn Amy. I need to see Bluescreen."

My sister groaned.

Switching from human to Cybertronian and vice versa wasn't pleasant. It hurt a little, like accidently shocking yourself when you stick something in an electrical outlet, except the sensation is throughout your entire body. I had long gotten over it, but though we got these abilities at the same time, I had millions of years of experience as a Cybertronian to their six months.

As such, I hate time travel with a passion. Hate it.

Switching was tiring, which is why Whiteout hadn't turned into Drew in a couple days. But he had to soon, or risk getting stuck.

Don't be confused. It isn't like our Autobot forms and human forms are two different personalities, we just like having two interchangeable names. Amy and Bluescreen are the same. Drew and Whiteout are the same. Anita and Corona Pax are the same.

Kindle and Rapids are the same…

It wasn't confusing as it sounds. Ratchet especially found it useful to have a method for differentiating between our human biology and mechanical biology.

I ignored the blue glow of ignited energon infused blood as Amy turned into Bluescreen and I walked with Arcee towards the exit. I didn't have as much freedom to roam as she did. That's kind of what happens when you're a Seeker. You can't exactly hang out in Jasper when you're a fighter jet.

She looked up at me. "Are you sure they're ready?"

"Pfft. No. I'm not asking we just drop them in a search grid and say, 'have at it'," I snorted. "But…you know time runs differently between universes. They've been putting in a lot of training in Epsilon when we aren't in this universe. They haven't realized it, but they've been Dimensional Jumpers for nearly a year in personal time already."

Arcee frowned, "They've been here six months…"

"And for every day here, they've spend roughly twenty-four hours in Epsilon or going on small missions with me with no time lost when you see us again. It adds up before you notice."

The two-wheeler's scowl deepened. "They have to be partners though. You realize that right?"

"Of course."

We both flinched at the sound of Amy shrieking at Drew for touching her sketchbook while Ratchet held her still for the scan.

Partners…

I looked up at the clanging sounds of Bumblebee and Bulkhead laughing about a bad joke as they came from the hallways, not particularly caring about the sibling spat and annoyed medic they walked right by.

"Where were you two?" Arcee snapped. "I tried comming you."

"Sorry 'Cee," Bumblebee apologized. "We were sparring so we didn't pick up."

Arcee glared at him. "You're just lucky it wasn't an emergency."

"Lighten up a bit, 'Cee," Bulkhead sighed, "I'm not about to forget when we pick up the kids."

"Speaking of, oh would you look at the time?!" I said in sarcastic mockery.

Bulkhead snorted and jokingly pushed my shoulder.

I just rolled with it, despite almost being knocked down by the big ex-Wrecker.

"See you when you get back. And remind Miko to bring the Linkin Park music I asked her to get."

"Whoever that is. Fair warning. She's going to beg you for another ride again."

"…Not after she puked the first time. I'm not a thirteen-year-old she can bully again."

"Thought so."

"Six months, time travel, and five-million years tend to give me the seniority."

"I heard you the first time."

I went back to reading my datapad. It was my day off technically. We couldn't reasonably have me doing patrols every day, even though I could find energon far faster than anyone else. The name Seeker isn't for looks. There just wasn't enough energon for me to fly for hours at a time at the chance I might pick up a signal. Optimus would rather have me conserve energy for battle. Seekers had better energy efficiency but there really isn't enough energon for everyone to have a full tank at any one time.

Blue and White didn't know this. They were young so Optimus and everyone were making sure they were at full power. Youngling need more energy to grow. Us adults could handle a little starvation.

The others were back a half-hour later and in that time Optimus had returned as well.

They drove in just as Bluescreen and Whiteout were finishing their little speech to the Autobot commander.

"And we'll be sure to keep an open comm the whole time," Whiteout finished, practically begging.

The Prime was silent for a moment as he considered it.

He glanced at me. "Corona?"

I frowned. I hated when he did this. There was nothing in his voice to reveal whether he thought this was a good idea. Did he want me to not let them go? Or was this a good opportunity for them?

"You… are aware that even though you never see us leave, we aren't staying in this universe all the time. We're always going back to Epsilon every day."

There were a couple nods.

Jack seemed a confused as he took his helmet off, not sure what we were talking about. But he, Miko, and Raf didn't interrupt.

"That's still weird."

I smirked at Bulkhead as he and Arcee walked up. "They've put in a lot of practice in Epsilon's training center, both as Cybertronians and Humans. After you all are done with them, they've come home and done everything you've put them through a dozen times over. Last week they stole my ID to use the ViroMet."

"Stole your ID?" Optimus raised a brow ridge and frowned at my suddenly very nervous brother and sister.

I waved him off. "It's alright."

"…What is a ViroMet?"

"A holographic training room without safety features. I'm a little mad. It's dangerous. But they both handled it surprisingly well, alone and as a team. With a few, mistakes." My optics narrowed at them warningly. "So…no…they aren't ready for Decepticon's, of course. But I'm willing to let them try a scouting mission."

Optimus was quiet for a moment.

"Optimus, you aren't seriously considering letting them go?" Ratchet asked.

"Perhaps I am."

I glanced over at the others at the kid's area.

Miko, in particular, was straining to hear what we were talking about.

Ratchet's optics twitched. "This is a terrible idea."

"I take responsibility," I said automatically, then jumped as Optimus put a servo on my shoulder.

"No Corona. This is my decision. They may be your siblings, but I am responsible for the safety of every Autobot. If I allow this, do you really trust they are mature enough to go out alone?"

"…For the third time, Sir. Yes," I said.

Optimus looked toward Bluescreen and Whiteout. They weren't very big, a little smaller than Arcee, but neither of them was two-wheelers. Whiteout at least might get to Optimus' own size. They were growing, and they're weren't sparklings. The Prime nodded.

"Yes!" they cheered.

Blue squealed and hugged her brother excitedly.

"Ow. OW! Get off!" Whiteout complained. "You just yelled at me for touching your stuff. THIS," he gestured up and down, "Is my stuff!"

I snorted while Amy stuck out her tongue at her brother.

Optimus didn't look convinced about the maturity thing.

Ratchet huffed. "Fine. Get over here you two. I need to recalibrate your sensors."

I stared at them as my little brother and sister immediately went to the med bay.

"DUDE! How come they get to go on missions?!"

I jumped and looked to my side at Miko.

She, Jack, and Raf had come over to the platform closer to us as we talked.

Bulkhead sighed. "Miko…"

"No. Come on, they're kids. Hey Drew!"

Whiteout's helm perked up.

"How old are you?"

"Ten…"

"I'm eight!" Bluescreen butted in helpfully.

Miko jutted out her hand. "If fourth and third graders can go on missions alone, why can't we?" She gestured to her, Raf, and Jack.

Jack started. "Whoa. Don't pull me into this." He threw his hands up.

"Or me!" Raf added pushing his glasses.

"Though…" Jack admitted, "She does have a point. They're kids, like little kids."

"And I'm still legally just six months older than Raf," I said pointedly.

"But…" Jack looked at me.

I wasn't human at the moment. I'm still fourteen as a human, though that was never my mental age the entire time I've known them. What Jack remembered that was that I practically I grew up on Cybertron, and my Cybertronian form aged with me, though it shouldn't have. That's why I am Corona the majority of the time. People wouldn't treat me like the adult I really was unless looked like an adult.

"They can last more than a half second against a Decepticon," Arcee said bluntly.

"Having super-powers helps…" Miko scowled and crossed her arms.

"Miko…" I huffed while my wings twitched. She was fifteen. I was more mature at twelve(BACK HOME) then she was at the moment. "It's not so much that we have 'super-powers' is more how much time and effort they've put into controlling those abilities and learning how to fight without them."

"Well, I could do that too."

Bulkhead chuckled. "Aw come on Miko…they're from another dimension. They don't age."

"Time is optional to them," Arcee interjected.

"They can spend days practicing moves, and when they show up here again, it's only what? A couple seconds to us?" Bulkhead continued.

"We do have a bit of an unfair advantage," I added, even as Bumblebee nodded vigorously. I glared at him lightly. "I mean we still have to put in the work and time…but deadlines don't matter much."

"Speaking of…there's a History test tomorrow…" Jack said with a smirk.

"Ha! Nice try, Jack. No, you can't come study in Epsilon."

"Scrap," the teen snorted.

Nearly an hour later, I stood leaning against a wall as my brother and sister stood in front of the Groundbridge terminal busily hopping foot to foot in excitement. At least Amy…um…Bluescreen was.

Drew was his usual self.

"Calm down you crazies," I joked,

"We'll be back soon," Whiteout assured.

I blinked at him. Damn. I thought I wasn't showing any worry.

Optimus glanced at me before nodding at Ratchet.

With the sound of a thousand waterfalls, the blue and green light of a twisting contained wormhole opened up in the tunnel.

I straightened and glanced to the side where everyone else watched.

Arcee, in particular, looked a little jittery but stared at my siblings with a steely eye.

I didn't blame her, she can be pretty caring, though she'd never admit to the mothering type.

Bee gave my siblings two big thumbs up.

"Knock em' dead kids!" Bulkhead encouraged.

"Given how they will not be encountering Decepticons, I sincerely hope that isn't the case," Ratchet grumbled by the computer.

Optimus knelt so he was optic-level with the children, probably something he hadn't had the chance to do in a while.

"This is not a fun outing, children. This is a mission."

"Yes sir," they chorused. They almost never say things at the same time on purpose. They hate doing that.

That's how I knew they were serious.

I was half surprised Blue didn't roll her optics.

Optimus nodded, "Though you may be searching for energon, understand that failure of this mission will only result from either of you coming to harm. Do not hesitate to comm in if there is an issue. Am I clear?"

Whiteout answered for both of them. "Yes sir," he barked.

"Whiteout. You are the elder brother, I expect you to look out for your sister, correct?"

My brother nodded while Blue frowned and glared at him as if to deny he was in any way the boss of her.

"Bluescreen. You have a responsibly to your kin as well. You may be partners, but he is the lead. Listen to orders and watch his flank. Understood?"

Bluescreen squinted slightly but nodded, "Yes…sir."

I watched as Optimus' mouth twitched into slightly less of a straight line and stood to his feet. "Autobots."

They snapped to attention, and I couldn't help but grin.

"Roll out!" The Prime ordered.

There it was.

Immediately, I heard the clanking of t-cogs and transformation systems activating and the rev of engines as I watched my siblings transform mid-turn and speed off into the groundbridge.

Ratchet turned it off the moment they were through as we congregated by the main computer.

I tapped my claws on my forearm. I felt…a little nauseous honestly.

"Three dollars say he forgets to…" Miko started.

"~Whiteout to Omega One.~" Someone cleared their throat. "~Do…do you read?~" came Whiteout's voice through the comm system.

"This is Omega One. Reading you Whiteout," Ratchet said, "Confirm coordinates?"

"~We're in the middle of freaking Australian, the land of everything-wants-to-kill-everything-else! What coordinates?!~" Amy said sarcastically with a whisper, completely forgetting how comms work.

"~Shhh. Shut up! Shut up!~" Whiteout snapped, knowing she could be heard.

"~I'm just saying, we're fifty miles in the middle of the Outback. A few coordinates off isn't going to matter.~"

"Guys?" I chuckled. "You're on VOX…"

There was a sharp crackle and I can imagine Drew popped Amy on the side of her helm.

"~Sorry Omega. We're in the right place. Confirm regular check-in at 15-minute intervals?~"

He suddenly sounded a lot older than ten.

"That is correct," Ratchet said stiffly with a glare.

"~Affirmative. Whiteout out.~

I made sure the mic was off before snipping playfully. "Don't tell him this, but I was thinking of dipping him in white paint so that he'd have to say, 'white Whiteout out'."

Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Miko snorted while everyone else just sighed, snickered, or rolled their eyes.

Optimus didn't of course, though I could have sworn I heard a slight huff.

Ratchet however sighed, rolled his eyes, and added a disgusted groan to the mix. "That wouldn't work in Cybertonian," he muttered.

"You sound just like my older sister," Raf groaned.

"What…did she dip you in white paint?" Bumblebee asked.

"Worse mi hermana made me be the back end of her burro costume at our family reunion."

I snorted. "Sorry."

"Alright, I'm bored already," Miko said. "Can we put a movie on or something?"

I stayed near the computer as everyone else went back to work or went to mess around at the kid's platform.

Ratchet passed me on the way back to the med bay.

I glanced up at him before looking away. "I'm on comm duty."

"I expected so."

Things went well the first hour or so, Whiteout and Bluescreen taking turns checking in every fifteen minutes to complain about sand and Outback dust and shrubbery in places there shouldn't be. They stuck to schedule remarkably well, almost to the dot.

All I did was look up from my book, say "Copy," then go back to reading.

Sometimes they would forget to switch the comm off and spend the next five minutes talking about random stuff.

Once, they almost mentioned the TV show, as Keepers and Dimensional Jumpers tend to do when they think they're alone in the universe of the very fictional work they're talking about. Rookie mistake. I interrupted by asking how the weather looked to let them know I could hear and they shut up quickly enough.

They didn't question why I was on the comms instead of Ratchet. I guess they were a little relieved about that. Gotta love that Australian weather.

Then it got a little quiet. Too quiet. I looked up from my datapad and checked my chronometer.

Whiteout was a minute late. And a minute can be a long time.

I stood up from the box I was sitting on and stood in front of the computer terminal.

Their spark signals were still where I expected them, beating strong in the middle of a desert. Maybe too strong. Cybertronians "heart rates" didn't necessarily change like a human's due to stress. Though it could. But my brother and sister weren't born Cybertronian so they had a few human traits that didn't really coincide with Cybertronian biology.

Maybe they saw a snake. That could scare their rates up. Especially if they forgot a venomous snake doesn't bother alien metal much.

I panicked. Just as I thought this, Amy's "spark-rate" was a lot faster than it was a second ago while Drew's dropped to a scary low level.

"Autobot Outpost Omega One to away team, come in," I ordered.

Everyone looked up at my voice.

Static silence.

"Omega one to away team. Whiteout come in," I said, a little louder, as if that would do any good.

I was dimly away of the others approaching and Optimus behind me. But I was also a little preoccupied by the gnawing coldness that hit my insides.

"Bluescreen. If this is a joke you are so grounded. As in no more flying lessons. Amy. Drew. Come in damn it."

Optimus reached a hand around me to type a few keystrokes, opening up the comm signal controls.

He didn't need to say anything. I immediately started typing. Living as an Archivist for cover on Cybertron had its perks. It didn't take me long to find the signal that was jamming us, despite needing to shift through thousands of radio and subspace frequencies and whatever else was floating around interfering with the comm.

I recognized that jam. Not necessarily the signal, but I knew the style.

"Scrap. Soundwave you fragging…" I looked up at the screen, just in time to Whiteout's signal go out completely.

I almost lost it for a second as my breath caught.

"Is he…!" Raf started while Jack stiffened and gripped the railing.

Miko paled.

They were kids.

"No," I reminded myself. "Just masked."

"Ratchet. Ready the groundbridge," Optimus ordered, his voice stiff. "Corona, get that signal clear."

I nodded, a little too angry to answer properly as I connected the signal to my personal comm and onboard computer to keep working. Maybe not as powerful as the base's computer but at least I could debug and fly at the same time.

I was out the bridge first despite the rule that Prime takes point, missing the human calls of "Be careful!" But I'm not going to listen to protocol while my brother and sister are in danger and I was a Seeker who was itching to shoot a few Decepticons in the face.

I got the signal clear, though Soundwave wasn't actively flooding it with interference anymore.

"~Crackle shhhhhhhck…ga one….Come….one….Come in Omega One!~" There she was. At least Amy sounded a lot angrier than scared.

"~Optimus to Bluescreen. What is your status?~"

"~Who cares! They took Drew!~"

"~Yeah. Got that bit,~" I replied as the hot updraft of the desert hit my underside. I adjusted easily enough. "~Are you hurt?~"

"~No! Drew was an idiot and pushed me in ditch. We ran into group of Decepticons and I think they took him.~"

"~Stay where you are.~" Optimus ordered. Thanks to his skills at prioritizing, he didn't ask my sister why they didn't call for help. Or how Drew ended up pushing her in a ditch.

"~That's…not going to be a problem,~" the eight-year-old moaned.

I found my sister first.

Sand and slate rocks are tough to land in and keep your balance, by the way. I had to touch down at a flatter area a little way away, then walk to the small gorge she was struggling to climb out of.

She caught sight of me at the top and waited for me.

I didn't say anything as I hooked my arms under hers and shakily flew upright out of the pit where the others just arrived. That made me wish I had stabilizer fins at my feet rather than high-heel-looking shock absorbers.

And flying upright looked stupid, not that I really cared at the moment.

"I'm really sorry…" Bluescreen murmured upset, even as she glared at the dusty earth..

"Tell Optimus everything," I said seriously, then backed up a bit and transformed, using the almost canyon like ditch as a take-off drop.

"W-where are you going?!"

I didn't have time to answer and immediately took off.

Thankfully, Optimus answered for me at my sister's hurt expression. She looked about to cry, in her own way.

The Prime even turned on the comm as he explained. "~She's hoping to catch up with the Nemesis, Bluescreen. Did you ever see the ship?~"

"~No. They used a groundbridge to leave, but I think it was close. I heard one of the flyer Cons tease a grounder about complaining about the drive. That means the Nemesis landed and is close right?~"

"~Yes. Very observant. Do you know what they were doing here?"

"~Energon, like us. I think. But there wasn't anything on our scanners.~"

"~Or the base's,~" Ratchet cut in from the base.

Optimus' tone changed. "~We need to continue this conversation at the base, Bluescreen. And you need to tell us everything. Corona, do you read?~"

"~Affirmative. I'm comm for back up when I find them.~"

"~Copy that. Optimus, out.~"

Optimus was partly right. I was trying to find the ship before they took off and got too far away. If they have landed, Megatron is going to get them in the air as soon as possible so keep us from finding my brother. But it's a huge ship. It takes a while to get airborne, so I had a chance.

But that wasn't the only reason I left so quickly. I'll need to apologize to Amy later. I can't have any eavesdroppers. Not Soundwave. Not the Autobots.

I opened another signal, one that took a friend and me ages to figure out how to cast as Cybertronians. Eventually, we had to let another friend put a device in our Cybertonian systems that allows us to tap multi-dimensional frequencies.

Epsilon signals just don't mesh with any other kind of technology very well. It's not supposed to.

Soundwave wasn't hacking this.

::Corona to Rapids::

I waited, the wind roaring in my audio receptors as I pushed my engine.

::COMMANDER Anita to Lieutenant Kindle!::

::Kindle if you don't answer right now, so help me…::

::Sup, Autonot::

::DO NOT SUP ME Decepticlown. Where's my brother::

::About that…I just saved him from Starscream. You're welcome::

::Thanks::

::Wait what?!::

::Megsy put me in-charge of "interrogation." Screamer and Spider lady wanted in on the "fun." I got Arachnid off my back, and Whiteout's, for now. But I had to suck up to/kick Screamer out of the cell::

::I cannot describe how sick it makes me that they think it's acceptable to torture a kid. I'm ripping optics out today::

::And you call us sick… KO's going to make ME put those optics back in::

::At least it's just optics currently. I'll go easy if you break him out::

::…::

::They're watching me Anita. It's too much of a coincidence if Drew just disappears on my watch. They think I've completely betrayed you. End of story. I'm not human anymore. Megatron even made it a capital offense to mention my humanity. Which is oddly…nice? If you look at it a certain way::

::Well, I'm not leaving my little brother at the hands of someone who ordered an airstrike on a sparkling center two-million years ago. If anyone's going to kill my brother, it's going to be me::

::That was both depressing and dark and oddly funny all at once::

::I know::

::I'll send you our coordinates and try to stall for Drew, but he's a bit of a loudmouth. You better hurry. And DO NOT get me caught::

::DO NOT let any psychopath hurt my brother. Including you::

::What?!::

::Especially you::

::That's better::

::Till all are one. Corona Pax out::

::Till all are one. Rapids out::

We stopped talking, though the messaging system is always on.

Kindle isn't a real psychopath. She's actually really protective of my siblings. Psychopaths don't care about other people selflessly, much less sacrificially.

But she likes everyone to believe she's a psychopath. It makes her job easier.

Mine too. I can threaten my enemies with her. They look one way and BAM! The prissy Master Keeper of Epsilon politician lady blindsides them (that's me). That's only for the really annoying people. She gets everyone else for all I care. It helps the hype.

Tell all are one

Rapids out

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