Transformers Prime

Rise of the Maximals

Disclaimer: I do not own transformers or the characters from the show, I only own my OCs and the plot.

Chapter 4

"For the Love of Primus, Stand still you slagging.. Sparkling! Before I weld your aft to the berth!" Ratchet bellowed as he struggled to do a a basic check up on his latest patient.

"I can't help it! It tickles!" Joan, the aforementioned patient complained. To her credit, she was trying to remain calm about the whole ordeal. She had only broken down in tears and rage three.. okay four times if she was being honest with herself. And decking Mirage and throwing him across the room didn't count. Call her an animal? With that snooty attitude? It was entirely justified! Sunny and Sides, as he came to know them, even agree!

Finally, Ratchet managed get his diagnostic plug into the port in the back of Joan's helm. It had been tucked away at a very inconvenient hunk of armor for who knows what reason, and it made it difficult to insert the plug. "There we go, now lets get a readout on what the frag is going on in there.. It would just be Shockwave's style to leave some sort of sludge-coated nasty surprise behind." ratchet grumbled as text started scrolling by.

"Am I supposed to be seeing a bunch of text scrolling through my vision?" She asked as she struggled to read the rapidly scrolling text.

"Thats normal, what isn't is that you're lacking everything beyond basic driver software and your code base is a tangled mess. Its like he didn't bother writing any code at all! Just slapped on mods and left you to stew. There is a very.. very basic Cybertronian dictionary.. which is the only reason you are even able to understand the readouts at all... but it was simply loaded in there, its a small miracle you are even able to access it!" Ratchet snorted.

"Code base..? You mean I'm not a brain in metal box attached to a robot?" Joan asked.. worry creeping into her face.

"What? No! And before you get any half sparked ideas, you are the real you... I don't know how he did it.. but he somehow converted you into a full fledged Cybertronian. The only good thing out of all this, is that at least I know how to treat the problems that came with your conversion." Ratchet paused and tapped on his data pad. "Your vision is gonna flicker out for a moment, so hang on.. I'm uploading the missing software and some firewalls to go with it. After that I'm looking at your hardware, see if anything need correcting." Ratchet grumbled. "Its like you're an oversized sparkling."

"Whats a- oh.." she paused mid sentence when the reboot hit... then shook her head as her systems started coming back online. "Whoah that was weird.. so.. yeah.. what is a Sparkling? You keep mentioning them."

"To put it in human terms, its a baby... but not always quite the case. Any newly sparked Cybertronian can be considered a sparkling. There are.. techniques... to generate a spark in an adult frame. Those are usually coupled with carefully crafted personality matrixes.. in order to 'simulate' a mature mind that the spark will grow into. It.. doesn't always work very well. Only Vector Sigma had the ability to bring adult Cybertronians online with no personality issues." Ratchet explained as he watched the new software load and unpack for the first time.

"Had? Is he dead?"

"It was a powerful super computer with direct access to the Matrix. Unfortunately it has been lost for quite some time now. It also contained many secrets from the earliest parts of our history, few know what it may have contained. Iacon's historical archives, if they remain intact, could tell you more." Ratchet's finger hovered above the data pad. "I'm going to enable your internal Comm unit. Brace yourself, theres a lot of comm traffic going on right now and its going to ping every signal it detects to get an ID. Happens every time with a new comm unit. After that I'll set the unit to manual, so you aren't pinging random bots all the time."

"Okay.. ack!" Joan cringed as she felt the onrush of data streaming into her head. Her fans whirred to life as she breathed a brief sigh of relief with the onslaught abruptly stopped.. only to clutch her head again as she received what sounded like a resounding "hello!" on all the channels her comm pinged. "Now my head hurts..."

"It'll pass. Now go and set up your preferences and filters. I'm sure you don't want to be hearing all you comm messages simultaneously. I'm going to check your hardware now, so please lay down while I remove some of your armor." Ratchet instructed as he guided Joan down on the berth. "Oh, and put Prime, Prowl and myself on your high priority list. You can reset your ID at any time if you like, but its set to "Joan" already. Name changes with reformats is a Cybertronian custom, but we don't expect you to follow it."

Joan arched a brow as she navigated the odd interface in her vision. "Reformat? Is that what you call this?"

"Yes, anytime a bot gets a complete redesign or rebuild like this, its called a reformat. New body, new name. Some bots choose to ignore the tradition.. for multiple reasons. The Dinobots.. who you will meet.. are a perfect example of this. They and you share a.. similar history in some regards." Ratchet explained tiredly as he carefully unbolted a piece of Joan's armor to get a look inside.

"Why do you want me to meet them?" Joan asked as she glanced down to see Ratchet peering inside the opening with a flashlight and a electrical probe. "Thats.. really disconcerting to see.."

"Most bots look away and try not to think about it. And I want you to meet them because they've been at Shockwave's 'mercy' as well." Ratchet scoffed at the term 'mercy' in regards to Shockwave. "They're some of the few bots who understand what you went through.. and they have centuries of experience in coping with it."

"What Ratch' isn't telling you is that it'll also throw Grimlock for a loop and hopefully make him a bit more.. personable when he meets Prime." Wheeljack interjected as he stepped into the medbay. "Evening Joan, I'm Wheeljack." He smiled. "Ratch' I got the parts you requested."

"Just set them on the table, I'll sort them when I'm done here." Ratchet replied as he poked a few connections. "Very solid connectors, no wonder you didn't knock anything loose when you ran into Sideswipe. I wonder if the Predacons are built like this too..."

"Heh.. That makes you the third 'Jack' I know. I met Agent Jack Darby earlier.. and I have a friend that goes by "Madjack" online." She looked at Ratchet again. "Okay, what exactly are Predacons? Every time I hear about them, Its in comparison to me."

"Predacons used to be an extinct species of ancient Cybertronian. That is, until Shockwave started cloning them... and they went rogue on him." Wheeljack supplied as Ratchet continued his examination. "And.. well they're big.. and powerful.. Miko says they look like Dragons and Griffins. Actually that might explain your.. ah.. design." Wheeljack fidgeted in place.

"That would make a lot of sense." Ratchet added. "If he's trying to perfect a new form of Cybertronian to combat the rogue Predacons. He wouldn't care if the test subjects are willing, so long as if he can get one that meets his standards in ability. He'd likely try and brainwash later test subjects.. willing and unwilling."

Joan cringed at the thought before finalizing the settings on her comm unit. "So he's some psycho robot space Nazi scientist?"

Wheeljack responded as Ratchet started to replace Joan's armor. ". . . That actually.. sums Shockwave up rather well. Just.. don't go calling others 'robots' unless you mean it as an insult. 'Bot' gets kind of a free pass.. cause the.. cultural meaning's a bit different." Wheeljack threw up his hands "Don't ask, I just speak it. But robot and 'sparkless drone' kind of have the same connotation as being called 'soulless' or 'heartless' in your language."

"You can explain more things on your way to Prowl." Ratchet stated as he unplugged his diagnostic tools from Joan. "I'm done here and need to write up a report on my findings. You're as healthy as I can determine, now OUT." Ratchet insisted as he helped Joan to her feet and pushed the two bots out his door.

"So how many times did he have to hit you to sit still?" Wheeljack grinned as he un subspaced a data pad and handed it to Joan.

"He tried.. once.." Joan chuckled. "Turns out the stuff on my head isn't a vanity plating covering some armor. Its armor.. covering armor. I dented his wrench."

Wheeljack snerked. "So its safe to say.. you're hard head-" Clang! "Ow! Hehe.. You pack a punch." Ratchet rubbed the newly formed dent in his arm. "I'll pop this out myself later, save Ratch' some frustration."

Joan grimaced. "Sorry ever since I woke up.. something just set me off like I'm off my meds or something."

"Probably a side effect of the reformat.. you'll get it under control eventually.. even Grimlock's been able to learn how to sit through one of Prowl's lectures without throwing something." Wheeljack shrugged. "Anyways, Jazz asked me to give you that. He came up with a list of things for you to look at and some stuff to download. Read the first file and then subspace it until after the meeting with Prowl."

Joan looked at the data pad. "Subspace and how to use it?"

"Thats the one!" Wheeljack chuckled.

Joan arched a brow and went silent as they walked toward Prowl's office before she finally placed the data pad in her subspace. "Its kinda like a pocket.. I guess."

"Yep! Or a video game inventory system." Wheeljack mused.

"Why didn't Ratchet mention it?"

"Low priority, plus he probably didn't want you picking anything up that you shouldn't keep in there." Wheeljack explained before stopping at Prowl's office and knocking. "Hey, Prowl, Joan's here for your lecture!"

"You mean that list of things that was labeled "Unless you're Wheeljack?" She asked just before the door slid open.

"That's the one! Now try and have fun, I'm going back to the lab." Wheeljack smiled and walked away before Joan stepped into the office.

There were two bots, and one human sitting at the desk.. with an open chair, presumably for her. "Go ah head an' sit. Prowler will be with ya in a minute. I'm Jazz by tha way." Jazz grinned.

"And I'm Agent Fowler. I just have a question before Prowl gets started." he stated as he paced on the desk.

Joan nodded as she took the seat. "Okay?"

"Namely, on the night of your kidnapping, A Mr. McGrubber was seen in your house, bearing an axe, it looks like you subdued him before being taken. Is this the case? And would you like us to pursue legal action on your behalf?"

The memory triggered a deep well of anger t spring up inside her. Yeah, she remembered him forcing the door open, threatening her with the axe. She remembered grabbing.. something.. and hitting him over the head with it... before things went blurry. "Yes, and that man shouldn't be allowed back on the streets.. he was trying to kill me!"

"Got it, and thank you for your time.. I'll come back later when things are more.. settled.. to discuss other matters." Agent Fowler smiled as he headed to the small stairway build into the desk. "I hope things start looking up for you soon."

"You and me both." She glumly replied. "It feels like I've hardly had time to think!"

"At least you can think, though you'll have plenty of time to do that after they get all the necessities out of the way." Fowler replied as he made his way out the door before it slid shut behind him.

"And that is why I'm giving you a briefing now." Prowl replied. "To get these things done as soon as possible so that you have more uninterrupted time to 'adjust' to your new status."

When Joan nodded, Prowl launched immediately into a detailed explanation of base rules and regulations. A long and boring explanation, that made her want to craw out of her chair and slink away to hide from it.

::At least it ain't the 'birds and the bees' right?:: A message, labeled 'Jazz' popped over her comm system. ::Use encryption code 347X-beta to respond.::

Joan tried to keep her expression neutral as she entered the code in her comm unit. ::Hello?::

::There ya go, femme! Yer a fast learner!:: Jazz replied. ::Don' worry about tha' lecture, all new bots tha' arrive here have ta hear it even if they 'eard it before, but its mostly common sense stuff regardin' what not ta do around humans and basic 'don' cause trouble' stuff. There's a bit of ah game going around abou' causin' trouble though.::

::Is that why you had me subspace the pad before the lecture?:: She asked.

::Ayep! Ah figure' Ah best give ya the tools an lay o' the land before somebot tries an tell ya different as ah prank.:: Jazz smiled, just out of Prowl's sight. ::Good job smackin' Mirage, by tha way. How'd yah know where his face was at to punch? Tha cloak of his is pretty solid.::

::Something weird with my hearing now... I can triangulate sounds apparently... so I just punched where I thought his voice was coming from.:: She tried not to smile and had to cover her mouth to hide it.

::Huh, I'm goin' to have ta see about duplicatin' tha' Mah audios are sensitive enough, but ah don' think ah can target like tha' withou' software. Ah think mos' 'umans can do it natively too.. somethin' about tha' shape of tha' audios tha' species on this planet has. Bot's don' do it well 'cause we rely on other systems too much:: Jazz rambled.

::That would explain his surprise. He totally deserved it though.:: Joan re-affirmed.. taking a moment to nod to one of Prowl's questions.

::He's a snooty ex-aristocrat. T'was nice ta see him taken down a peg.:: Jazz grinned.

"And that conclude the Briefing.." Prowl stated. "Any questions?"

"Nope!" Joan hopped up, eager to escape.

"Ahm gonna take her ta get some fuel, an maybe some paint. Primer gray, jus' ain't your color, femme." Jazz offered.

"Very well. Jazz, try and keep both you and her out of trouble. Also, Joan, you have a meeting with Prime tomorrow. It would have been sooner, but a large number of base personnel are currently combing the Darkmount 'catacombs' for the the other abductees. Prime is among the searchers." prowl noted before pressing a button his desk to open the door.

Jazz took that as an invitation to hop over Prowls desk, much to Prowl's annoyance and grab Joan by the hand. "Sure thing Prowler!"

Prowl grumbled and sighed as they left. He just knew trouble was coming.

Hound frowned as he knelt down at one of the open chambers.. the sickly green fluid seem to be everywhere.. but there was no sign of the victim that should have been there, save fro a few foot prints leading off into the dark. "So much for being dead. Looks like it picked itself up and wandered off on its own, Nightbeat."

"Found the room Joan was held in. And the remains of a drone she shredded." He looked around at the dimly pulsing tubes of Synth-En lining the ceiling. "I don't buy that this is just a lab. Way too much Energon. But its not really a stockpile either. We know its producing it, but from the rate of flow.. either this building is expanding really fast.. or its all being stored somewhere for something else."

"Who knows what Shockwave is up to? Perhaps it needs to be this big to be the incubation chamber for his new army?" Hound supplied as the headed down the corridor.

"Maybe. Or maybe its also to keep us busy and confused while he attempts something else?" Nightbeat asked. "Like you said, who knows wha-" He stopped as he heard a horrific wailing coming from the dark.

"I got a bad feeling about this..." Hound mumbled as he shone is light on a massive claw mark on the walls.

"I have a worse one." Nightbeat added as he pointed to the floor.

Scrawled in putrid green ichor were the words. "I am Abominous.. and I live.. to DESTROY!"

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Deleted lines:

"So the Autobots are taking in stray animals now?" -Mirage, before he got punched.