For any that wondered, this fic is currently in between Orion Pax and Operation Bumblebee, but I will get there soon, never fear. Thought I'd try and spice things up this chapter, and I know you guys are itching for some 'Cons, so…Onward!
….
~Crystal's POV
It was hard to believe, but thanks to Miko, a lot of my memory had been returning. It was getting better too, little things I'd see or hear would now help me remember other things, and a lot of my past before I'd come to be with the Autobots was now restored.
The day after I'd spent the night with Miko (it was a long night, but I have to admit, it was lots of fun to have some girl time with someone fairly close to my age.) I was bored out of my mind and watching Ratchet tap away at his terminal was doing no help. He noticed me where I was perched on the railing to the platform and raised an optic ridge.
"Don't…" he started when I cut him off.
"What, fall? Like it would hurt me anyway, right?" I said with a smile. Ratchet rolled his optics, though good-naturedly.
"Is there something you need?" Ratchet asked. I nodded, but I was unsure of how to word what I wanted to say.
"I want to be a part of the team, and not just like the player that's always benched on the sidelines, I want to help." I said. Ratchet stepped away from his terminal and came up to the railing.
"Crystal, you are helping just by staying here at the base." Ratchet said. I cocked my head.
"Yeah? How?" I asked. Ratchet was silent for a few moments, and I knew he had been hoping I didn't ask that question.
"That's what I thought. Come on Ratch, talk to Optimus about it, please? I heard Arcee trying to convince you I'd be a good scout after I had that line of crap code cleared out of my head." I said. Ratchet looked like he wanted to refuse me, but I gave him the best 'Pleeeeeasse!' look that I could and he sighed again.
"I must be out of my processor… Alright, but before we do anything, we're going to have to okay it with Optimus and if he does, you are going to train extensively with all four of the others before I'll even think of letting you run recon by yourself." Ratchet said. I knew I had one of the biggest grins ever, and just to freak Ratchet out a little and show him up, I jumped off the railing to the floor about 25-30 feet below, rolling when I hit the concrete and dusting myself off as I looked back at Ratchet with a smile.
"Warn me when you're going to do that so you don't give me a Spark attack." Ratchet said.
"Can we go talk to Optimus, like, now?" I asked, excited and impatient. I saw Ratchet smile faintly and look behind me.
"Talk to me about what, my young friend?" Optimus' deep voice said from behind me. I turned around and he knelt down more to my level. I had to admit, for being one of the biggest Autobots he could be quiet when he wanted to be.
"I, uh…" I said, suddenly losing my eloquence with words that I'd had with Ratch.
"She means to say, she's expressed to me a will to join our team not just as a friend, but a full Autobot. As reluctant as I am…I believe she has the strength and potential to become able to hold her own, and I admit her size makes her a good candidate for a scout." Ratchet said from behind me. Optimus stood back to his full height, a considering look on his face.
"I believe you are right, old friend. Ordinarily, I would be quick to dismiss this, but after Crystal's transformation she does seem nearly as powerful as one of us. With training, I think she'll be able to run recon by herself in a short time." Optimus said with a small smile. I looked between him and Ratchet from the floor.
"Wait, so is that a yes?" I asked tentatively. Ratchet smiled and Optimus gave a small nod.
"Yes, young one, you are granted full rights as an Autobot and soon I will be trusting you with your own recon missions. First though, you will need training, as we all did when we were younglings." Optimus said, looking out to the main hangar and calling in Bumblebee.
"Bumblebee, as our scout and a strong warrior, I think it is best if you teach Crystal some basic skills before the rest of us give her further instruction." Optimus said. Bee whirred and dipped his head, gesturing for me to follow him. I, elated, did, and Bee led me further into the base than I had wandered by myself and entered a large, warehouse type of a room.
"What's this place?" I said, walking in and looking around to the concrete walls and high ceiling.
"Our training room." Bee surprised me by saying. I realized he had spoken through the radio, he'd definitely gotten good at it.
"Nice. So, what have you got to teach me?"
"Like …said, some basic training." Bee said, unable to find a word for Optimus over the radio. "I'm gonna teach you to defend yourself, and fight back if you have to. Your size doesn't come close to the strength you have, and I think your only danger on the battlefield will be dodging fire and avoiding being picked up. You are strong, but still small, a 'Con could grab you easily." Bee said. I nodded.
"Okay then, teach, show me what I need to know."
…
My time at the base was now far from boring. For probably a solid week now, I'd been training with whoever of the bots had free time from nearly dawn until it was solid black outside short of the moon and stars. I was exhausted at the end of every day, but it was a good feeling. I had more than noticed my far increased stamina, not to mention strength.
Bee had taught me evasive maneuvers, Arcee instructed me in hand to hand combat, though obviously modified it since I was only five and a half feet tall. Bulkhead, of course, taught me about using my strength, and I found that whatever Bulkhead could throw or pick up, I could easily match it. Optimus taught me strategy and how to use my head and my heart in a battle. Sometimes a fight didn't end in a victory, and he explained when it was time to retreat and when to stand and fight. Ratchet was my last teacher before I was allowed on a mission, he gave me a bit of medical advice and then basically reviewed everything that everyone else had taught me. Of course, then he had to go all mother hen on me when we headed out to the ground bridge.
"I'm giving you a commlink so you can call for backup if you have to. If something happens, do not be a hero, got it?" Ratchet said. I rolled my eyes, taking the commlink, which looked a lot like an ear bud, and putting it in my ear.
"Got it. Anything else?" I asked. Ratchet nodded, activating the ground bridge.
"Yes, your weapon, and something else." Ratchet said, handing me a future-tech looking gun and kneeling so he could run through the basics of it.
"I kept it simple. There's the trigger, there's the safety, and the thing is always loaded so don't point it at something you don't want to kill." Ratchet said. I nodded, flicking the safety on and tucking it through my belt.
"I can make a holster for that while you're gone. One other thing, you can't get around the landscape as fast as the others and I can, so take this." Ratchet said, handing down a silver, circular disk with a button in the center of it. It fit easily in my palm and I looked up at him in curiosity.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Push the button and find out, I'll explain." Ratchet said with a small smirk. I did, and a light shot out of the device, forming a silhouette before a familiar form took shape. I gasped as a lavender Toyota Supra shimmered into solidity and I stepped over to it, tentatively touching it and expecting my hand to pass through it, though to my surprise my hand met solid metal. I turned quickly to Ratchet, who had a smile on his face.
"Oh my god, how did you do this!?" I said, opening the door and running my hand over the steering wheel.
"It's a holoform, like a hologram, but solid. As long as that device I gave you remains undamaged, your car will appear and remain until you press the button again." Ratchet said. I still thought it was amazing, and Ratchet gestured to the ground bridge.
"That'll send you to an area we've been scouting for a while, we've been picking up a large energon reading but so far we haven't been able to locate its source. Good luck." Ratchet said. I gave a small nod, getting in the car and gunning it through the ground bridge.
On the other side, I was confronted by a woods, though the spaces between the trees were more than wide enough to permit the passage of my car. Smiling, I went to work scanning the area.
…
A good hour later, I had gone deep enough in the forest I had to leave my car's holoform and deactivate it before I continued on foot. Soon, I felt something odd, like something was drawing me in a direction I hadn't been heading before. Curious, I followed it, the feeling getting stronger and acting as my guide. It led me to a cave in the side of a rise, and I tilted my head, calling Ratchet.
"Hey Ratch, when any of you guys checked this place out, did you find a cave?" I asked. Ratchet called back quickly.
"No…not as far as I know." Ratchet said.
"I'm gonna check it out, I've got a good feeling what we've been looking for is in there somewhere. I'll call you if I find anything." I said. Ratchet affirmed, disconnecting, and I headed into the cave. I expected to need a light, but evidently that was taken care of by my changed body as well. Normally my eyes gave off a faint light like the Autobot's optics, and in the cave I found that I could see as easily as it were daylight, there were just longer shadows. Still following the feeling, I ran into the end of the cave and searched thoroughly, the pulling feeling stronger than ever when I came to a small crack in the cave wall.
I squinted into it, and just caught a glimpse of an iridescent blue crystal beyond the layer of rock. Bingo. I called Ratchet back, happy that my first mission was a success.
"Hey, good news! I found an energon deposit…and something else…I think I have the ability to detect it too…" I said.
"That's wonderful, I'm sending a bridge, Arcee and Bulkhead are coming to help bring it back. Nicely done Crystal. As for your ability, we will explore it's capabilities soon." Ratchet said. Before he even disconnected, a bridge opened inside the cave.
"Wow, that was fast." I commented over the commlink. Ratchet answered, though his voice sounded grave and somewhat desperate.
"Crystal, that's not ours! Get out of there now!" he called. My chest tightened, panic rising as I told him I couldn't, the enemy bridge was blocking the way out.
As I backed from the green, swirling portal, it shimmered with someone about to come through. I fumbled with my gun and flicked the safety off as I took a shooting stance. I paled though, when a giant silver 'Con stepped through the bridge, a troop of dark colored bots behind him that all looked the same.
The silver mech sneered at me, exposing a mouth full of sharp teeth.
"Well, this must be Knockout's little failed science experiment. Looks like you've got some bearings, insect, pointing a gun at me." I wracked my brain for what his name was, and cursed myself when I realized it could only be Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons.
"Damn straight." I said, squeezing the trigger repeatedly. Megatron ducked aside with a speed I didn't think possible for someone of his size, though his troops weren't so fortunate and a few of them staggered with gaping wounds in their armor. I got off a few more shots at Megatron before he, with his unnatural speed, knocked my gun out of my hand.
I backed away, my Spark hammering, and Megatron smirked.
"Now…to crush you like the bug you are." he said, raising his foot and bringing it down over me. I let a small smirk of my own cross my face, and then stopped his foot easily, shoving it backward.
"Who you calling a failure?" I said, darting forward and smashing my fist into his foot. My hand sunk far into his thick metal armor and he snatched his foot back, a dark look on his face. I knew the wound would only enrage him, but at this point I was in waaay over my head.
"It appears Knockout has some research to do. I tire of this, insect." Megatron said. He snatched me from the ground, pinning my arms to my sides in a grip strong enough it pained my reinforced body. He turned to his troops, pointing at the wall I'd just been at.
"I want this being mined before I return, any injured may return but repairs will be delayed." Megatron said, turning with me in his grip and walking through the ground bridge. A few troops followed, holding wounds given to them by my blaster. On the other side, I stopped squirming merely out of fear.
I was on the Decepticon warship.
Megatron walked down a few halls before I kept up my struggles, fighting like I was possessed though there was nothing I could do. The leader of my enemies walked through a door that slid open when he approached it, and inside was a setup that chilled me.
Hospitals had always freaked me out, but it was worse when your 'doctor' was a certain cherry red 'con with questionable medical training. Knockout looked our way when we entered, recognition spreading on his face when he saw me.
Megatron dropped me on a table in the center of the room, pinning me with one hand as he looked at Knockout.
"Lord Megatron, to what do I owe your appearance?" Knockout said with a cocky smirk.
"I trust you remember this young femme. It also appears your experiment wasn't a total failure. Her strength is extraordinary for someone of her size and she managed to give me the dent in my foot…I want her examined thoroughly, call Soundwave to record your findings as you work. And Knockout…" Megatron said, his cold gaze locked on Knockout's.
"Yes, my liege?" Knockout said.
"I want her alive. Should she die or be harmed more than necessary you will answer to me." Megatron said, lifting his hand. Before I could scramble to my feet, Knockout's clawed hand slammed me back to the table.
"Of course, Lord Megatron." the medic said in his smooth tone. After Megatron had left, Knockout reached over to a console and programmed something while still holding me down. Suddenly, a tight pressure snapped over my wrists and ankles and Knockout released me. I couldn't move, however, I was cuffed to the table.
"Well…this should be fun." Knockout said, pressing another button on the console. He hummed a bit sadistically as he gathered tools from around the room, most of them sharp, and laid them all on a tray, making sure I saw.
"What did he mean by 'thorough examination?'" I asked, glaring. Knockout smirked.
"Oh, just a full exploration of your internal structure." he answered, examining a scalpel. I paled, and my attention was drawn to the door when it opened again. A tall, purple and black mech stepped through and Knockout smiled in fake welcome.
"Ah, Soundwave. It looks like we can get started." Knockout said. I struggled and screamed and shouted every insult I could remember, but the medic still snapped a stasis line to me.
"Night, night." Knockout said, waving as he pulled a lever. I couldn't fight the inducement, and I crashed under the black wave of unconsciousness, more scared than I'd ever been in my life.
...
~3rd person
Knockout smirked as the small female on the table lost her fight quickly and her eyes rolled back in her head. He waved a hand in front of her face to see if she was truly out before he turned to Soundwave.
"You recording?" Knockout asked the always silent mech. Soundwave gave an almost imperceptible nod and Knockout gave his trademark smirk again, picking up a scalpel and placing it against Crystal's skin. With a slight increase in pressure, it sunk through and Knockout noted that energon, and not a human's blood, welled around the wound. Also surprising to him, his scalpel grated against metal after he'd gotten through her skin.
"Well, well…that's interesting. Let's see what else our little friend here has to offer…" Knockout said, digging in the scalpel and slicing boldly down the length of Crystal's body.
…..
Crap for Crystal DX! Hope you enjoyed, tell me what you think. Aurrawings out! ^~^