Thanks to all you amazing reviewers! I got eight for the last chapter: I'm delighted to see so many people taking an interest!

There are two guest reviewers known as 'Guest', so- XD

Guest (April 20th): True... But this is just my attempt to tell that story - although, by the way, I have three alternative versions running around in my headcanon. It's weird. But this one is the best amongst them.

Guest (April 19th): Thanks! Glad you liked it. I hope you continue reading.

SpiritFighter208: Nobot is pure Autobot. Bumblebee is kind of portrayed as the embodiment of that spirit (aside from Optimus, of course) but he's not everything he's made out to be. In the show, they've portrayed him very simply, something I didn't really like. So I gave him a Decepticon past. Besides, he and Ratchet clearly have a history besides the field medic thing- he was the first to be hugged when 'Bee realized that he had gotten his voice back.

Game-Watch: Yep, he was brave, but only after a lot of pushing. Still, he's growing.

RoboDiamondDragon09: Thanks! He's always 'supposed' to do that, so...

unicron1000: Here's your update.

Sidekicks-anonymous: Maybe. Maybe not. I don't know... But Bumblebee narrates this over the course of a single night, so we won't see her here... Most likely. If, of course, she wasn't one of the many casualties.

child of Jon snow: Actions definitely do speak louder than CNA. Thanks, I'm glad you like it!

Enjoy!


Entry #15

Today was, like the twins said, "Absolutely gob-smacking 'Con-killin' sensationally slagging spectacular." We won Kalis! Can you believe that? It's the first Autobot victory in really, really long time. WE WON KALIS! (I'm still wondering what slagging means, though. And nobot is ready to tell me!) The Wreckers decided to throw a party to celebrate. Jazz helped them to jazz it up. (Did you get that? Highlander came up with that one.)

Anyway, the news that the Autobots had succeeded in getting to hold the city came in at around 1400 hours. Everybot in the medibay started cheering and hooting, even the injured ones. Then, a few moments later, news came in that the Decepticons had retreated. How awesome is that? The yelling was so loud after that, that I had to cover my audio receptors.

The party was organized in the Great Hall. I lost count of how many times Ratchet warned us not to touch the high grade before he was willing to let Axis, Highlander and I go. He threatened us that if we so much as went near it, he would have us cleaning the wash racks for an entire groon. Then he sent us to Arcee so that she could have us all ready, since he was still stuck treating the injured. I felt kind of sorry for him, but he said that he would come, just a little late. So Arcee first made us wash, then helped us to buff so that our armor was all nice and shiny. Then she got ready herself.

The party was huge. There were loads of 'Bots of all shapes and sizes milling around. It finally started at 1800 hours. Optimus Prime came in and gave a short speech, saying that while we would all like to celebrate, we should have a microcycle of silence to honor those who had fallen for our victory. So we all stood. There was complete silence in the hall. Then Optimus said that there is a time for speeches and a time for celebration and now it was the latter, so we could go enjoy ourselves. I looked at Highlander and I realized that she was crying about her carrier's death , and so was Axis. So I decided that it would be best to distract them. So we walked around for a while.

The music was ridiculously loud. We passed an area where some younglings were playing some kind of a game. They had little guns in their servos which they were using to shoot darts at each other. We asked them if we could join, too, but they refused and said that it wasn't for sparklings. The mech over there was pretty mean about it. So we continued wandering.

Then we spied the fuel counter. We got a drink each (low grade, of course!) and we walked on. There was even a counter full of energon treats. We attacked the place and cleared at least half of them, I'm sure. That distracted Highlander and Axis and they seemed a little better.

We spied Arcee sitting at a table sipping some energon, so we went over to say hi. But she seemed down. Highlander asked her if she was okay. She said that she was fine, but nobot believed her. Finally, I looked in the direction that she was staring in and I realized what the problem was. Tailgate was off dancing with another femme.

I took Axis and Highlander aside and pointed this out to them. Highlander wanted to go there right away and shout at him, but then Axis pointed out that this was technically between Arcee and Tailgate and that we shouldn't interfere. I kind of agreed, but then Highlander said that nobot deserved to be sad on a solar cycle when the Autobots had had such a huge victory. Besides, friends ought to stick up for friends.

So we went to talk to him. I pulled him out of the dancing area. Once we were on the side, Highlander told him that after the 'Cons, he was the meanest person she knew. 'Gate just rolled his optics and commented that she had an awful lot of ball bearings to be talking like that to somebot ten times stronger then her. I chipped in too, and said that he just liked Arcee for her finish and now that he'd found somebot with a better one he'd made Arcee sad.

That made him angry and he was about to shout at us when Axis cut him off, saying that if he didn't go cheer her up, she would tell Ratchet and Ratchet would come after him with his wrench. That made him zoom off pretty fast, since everybot knows that she's practically Ratchet's pet. (He just likes her because she says that she wants to be a medic when she grows up.)

Anyway, the rest of the party was pretty nice. We talked a lot and ate lots of energon goodies. Later, Axis spotted the twins and we went over and danced with them. I'm starting to like dancing. Maybe it's 'cause I realized that I'm not so bad at it after all. Axis dances okay. Highlander's really good at it, though.

So now I'm thoroughly tuckered out... I hope that the next solar cycle will be just as amazing as this one. Bumblebee out!


"I remember studying that victory." said Smokescreen excitedly. "We won mainly due to the lack of Decepticon air support."

"I've always wondered why they weren't there at the time." said Ultra Magnus thoughtfully, gazing pointedly at Knockout. Knockout shrugged. "I wasn't there. I was just a medic. They didn't tell me anything. I guess it was a need-to-know thing."

"Seriously, Knockout?" Arcee was thoroughly skeptical. "You were an important officer on board the Nemesis. Everybot knows that. Why bother bluffing?"

Knockout glared at her, irritated. "That was after I went there, because there were few offices left in the first place. Starscream was the one who promoted me from Chief Medical Officer to Second-In-Command while Megatron was all but offline-"

"And you attempted to kill him off properly." Arcee cut in. "I remember."

"Yes. That." He continued offhandedly, while Smokescreen, Wheeljack and Ultra Magnus stared, utterly confused. "Then I was obviously demoted when he came back to life with the help of your little scout."

"Bumblebee? What is he talking about?" Ultra Magnus asked, scandalized. 'Bee sighed."It's a story for another time. Besides, it wasn't my fault. I'll tell you later." He was secretly hoping they'd forget about it as he continued. They did.


Entry #16

Today Ratchet was on edge. Since we captured Kalis just yesterday, there's been another tiny lull in the War. Both sides are recuperating, especially the Decepticons. Ratchet's predicted that the peace won't last, though. When there's a small break like this, everybody keeps tensing up like there's a grenade around somewhere, about to blow. You can just feel it in the air.

There was a huge electrical acid storm today. It started in the early morning and went on for the rest of the solar cycle, so we couldn't even go out and do anything interesting. There were no battles. It's as if even the Decepticons got bored today. Maybe they were feeling depressed 'cause they lost. Ratchet didn't have anything much to do, either. So he tried to give us some extra medical training.

That got so boring that eventually Highlander told Ratchet straight off that she wasn't getting a word he was saying, was utterly bored and didn't want to do a thing more. She has guts. I would have never have had the grit to do that. Ratchet blew a gasket, 'cause he wasn't used to being spoken to like that. That scared Axis into crying, who is usually Ratchet's pet. So it just turned into a big mess.

A little while later, Prowl came in and told Ratchet that he had an order for him from Optimus Prime himself. That's when I suddenly realized that I'm not so scared of him any more since Highlander pushed me into asking him about my origins. Now I feel glad that she did. I really am a bit of a wimpy little sparkling sometimes. Just a bit.

Anyway, Prowl announced to Ratchet that since there was nothing especially important to do today, he wanted him to check Highlander and Axis' (I like putting that little apostrophe at the end. It looks so cool. But Highlander says it looks elitist and stupid. Hmm. Axis'. Axis'. Axis'. Never mind.) biological ages. Ratchet pointed out that this would be much easier if they just looked in the records or even asked them when they were sparked.

But Prowl said that he couldn't access the records since Praxus, the city they're from, has been destroyed. Besides, it was better to check medically, since they wanted to create a new record altogether for them, in order to move their status up from 'refugee' to 'Iaconian citizen'. That made Ratchet angry, 'cause they'd never asked Highlander and Axis whether they wanted to become citizens or not. That didn't make any sense to me. Why would anybot not want to be a citizen instead of a refugee? But then I learned that a citizen like me has to undergo compulsory military training in some form when I become a youngling, whether I like it or not. You have to become an Autobot. You can't even be a neutral. That's why so many Iaconians are Autobots. The rest are lawbreakers.

That seems unfair to me. I mean, shouldn't everybot have a choice? Even if the 'Cons are evil, you still deserve to choose. Ratchet always says, "I may not agree with what you choose, but I'll defend your right to choose to my death." and he said it now. Prowl just glared at him and pointed out that this law, made after the 'Cons were officially recognized by the High Council, was part of the reason that the Autobots had enough forces to resist the Decepticons in the first place. But I don't think that's right. If we take away the right to choose, how are we any different from the Decepticons? Prowl and Ratchet then started arguing really loudly.

Finally, Highlander shouted that she was okay with it and it was fine if she and Axis became citizens. Ratchet reminded her that this is a decision she can't take on her own 'cause they're both still sparklings. But Prowl said that it was the rule and so it didn't matter whether they agreed or not. So Ratchet was to find their biological ages for the record, and this time, it was an order. So he did it, but he wasn't very happy about it.

We found out that Highlander is a bit less than half a stellar cycle older than me (and much more older than me in maturity, she said. I told her to shut up.) Axis is four vorns younger than I am. That means that Highlander's almost the same age as I am, 'cause as everybot knows, one vorn is equal to 12 stellar cycles and she's nine stellar cycles old, like I am. Weird, huh? She'll be a youngling soon, when she turns ten vorns old. And then she'll be shipped off to the training centers and Axis and I will be completely bored, 'cause we'll only have each other to play with. But then I'll become a youngling after that and poor Axis will be left all alone.

...And that was the most interesting thing that happened today. Nothing much happened after that. Arcee paid us a visit and we talked for a bit, but she had to leave pretty soon for some indoor exercises. Then Ratchet forced us to do some more chores. Then we got bored again. Then we just decided to go recharge, 'cause there wasn't anything for us to do. By then, Ratchet was complaining about how we wanted something interesting to do every moment and how we wouldn't be able to sit still even if he paid us to do it. I could, I think. I don't know about Highlander and Axis, but I could. But I don't think Ratchet would pay me for it anyway.

I hope that tomorrow will be exciting again like yesterday. Then again, I suppose we couldn't have a party every single solar cycle. If we did, we'd get bored of those, too. Well, Bumblebee out.


"That was such a boring solar cycle." Wheeljack grumbled. "Yes, well, some ones are boring and some are exciting." Bumblebee pointed out. "Anyway, apart from that, I stopped after I wrote this entry-"

Bulkhead's optics widened. "You mean that that's it? You stopped writing?"

"Is that the end?" chimed in Smokescreen. "How anticlimatic." added Knockout.

"Not permanently." Bumblebee cut in, annoyed at their interruption. "Just for two groons. Then I started again. Cut me some slack, those times were depressing. You 'Cons-"(adressing Knockout) "-were going slow but steady, the result of which was that far more 'Bots were going in the medibay than were coming out."

"And support for the Decepticons was at its zenith."Continued Ratchet. "Morale was low, and there were even traitors and deserters within the Autobot ranks."

"But why?" asked Smokescreen curiously. "I mean, we'd just scored a major victory. We captured Kalis. Morale should have been high."

"True." agreed Ultra Magnus. "But if you studied the history of Kalis thereafter - or experienced the whole fiasco, as I did - you would know that the Autobot had few resources to manage the city. To capture an area is very different from holding it. A lot of resources, including energon, were caught up in red tape and corruption and wasted. Most of the population ended up in Iacon as refugees. The newly awakened High Council ordered a probe once the scam came out into the open, which reached a dead end, and was eventually forgotten as the War grew steadily worse. It was a sad affair."

Bumblebee sighed. "Well, let's go on." He pressed the next button.


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