Chapter Ten: A Trip to the Past

Mila screamed as gunshots peppered the ground. "Get her inside!" Optimus shouted to Prowl.

Prowl scooped up Mila, running inside the ship. Mila was hugging herself tightly. She was absolutely petrified.

Prowl made a beeline for his office, closing and locking the door once inside. He gently set Mila on his desk, frowning when he saw her eyes misted with tears. "Mila, are you alright?" he asked gently.

"Who... what... why..." Mila gasped out, unable to form a coherent sentence.

"Decepticons," Prowl answered gravely. Mila gasped and her heartbeat sped up in alarm.

Prowl sighed softly. He really did understand Mila's fear. He remembered his own first Decepticon attack. "Mila, calm down. You'll be fine," he attempted to comfort.

Mila sniffled. "I... I need a distraction," she paused, looking up at Prowl hopefully. "Could you tell me about your first Decepticon attack?"

Prowl seemed a bit taken aback by the request. It wasn't something that a child should really hear. Mila sensed this from his expression. "I can handle violence, Prowl."

Prowl sighed, "Very well."

Mila smiled, sitting down with her legs crossed. Prowl sat in his chair, optics dimming as he pulled up a stored memory file.

Prowl was a young recruit. He had just been promoted to Chief Tactician of the Autobot Army by Optimus Prime himself, which was a great honor.

It was such a great honor, especially for a rookie like himself, that Prowl had devoted all his time to being the best tactician he could be. He refused to fail Optimus.

But it was the ultimate test when the Decepticons attacked.

Prowl had been going over a datapad containing strategy ideas when the alarm in the Autobot's base in Iacon went off; an obnoxious blaring sound accompanied by a red flashing light. It was enough to make Prowl instantly spring into action, his battle computer already online.

He instantly headed for Optimus' office, bumping into said mech halfway there. "Prowl, the Decepticons are attacking a small town nearby! They're slaughtering everyone except for the mechs they can recruit, and I need your input on the best course of action."

Prowl felt nervousness and fear come to the forefront of his emotions. He needed to be able to focus, so Prowl turned off his emotions with his emotional damper. Instantly he was focused; strategies running through his battle computer at near lightning speeds.

"I believe the best course of action would be to expel the Decepticons from the town as quickly as possible. Anyone with medical training, basic or not, should come along to save anyone who can be saved," Prowl stated, his voice lacking any emotion, making it flat.

"I'll inform the troops," Optimus stated. He paused, looking at Prowl seriously. "Turning off your emotions will only cause you injury."

"Will all do respect sir, I know."

Optimus sighed. He couldn't waste time on this right now; innocent lives were at stake. So he settled for a pat on the shoulder in passing, causing Prowl to look at him oddly. "Come on, Prowl. We need to get moving," Optimus stated as he continued walking.

Prowl nodded, following after Optimus. He would do everything in his power to help save lives and help the Autobots achieve victory.

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When the Autobots got to the town most of the civilians were already offline. The Decepticons were still running rampant, however. "Autobots! Drive the Decepticons out!" Optimus called.

There was a roar of affirmative as the two sides clashed in a heated life-or-death match. Prowl felt a trickle of fear get past the emotional damper before he pushed it back. He had Decepticons to fight.

"Autobot!" a voice shrieked.

Prowl looked up just in time to be barreled into by a red, white and blue Seeker. His databanks revealed the Seeker to be Starscream, Megatron's Second-In-Command.

The two crashed into the ground, the impact denting Prowl's hyper-sensitive doorwings. Prowl shoved Starscream off him and hissed in pain as he got up. Starscream smirked, raising his null ray. "Say goodbye, Auto-"

Prowl cut off the Decepticon with an acid pellet to the shoulder. Starscream snarled in pain and rage as processed energon began to flow from the wound. He aimed a punch at Prowl who dodged easily enough. Prowl retaliated with a punch, which missed it's original target but his Starscream's wing. Starscream's optics narrowed as he was filled with the need for energon – Prowl's energon.

Starscream opened fire on Prowl, who returned the fire with determination. Prowl was cold and calculating, but not all of his shots hit the mark. Starscream was fast – fast, nimble and lithe. Therefore when Starscream decided it was time to end the fight, Prowl couldn't dodge.

Too quickly for Prowl to block, Starscream punched him right in the chassis. His blue hand went right through Prowl's chassis, and he grabbed a handful of wires. Prowl cried out as Starscream pulled the wires out with one hand while pushing him down with the other.

Prowl began to fall, processed energon pouring from the gaping wound at an alarming rate. He crashed into the ground, hitting his head on a stray piece of debris. The last thing Prowl saw before falling into stasis lock was Starscream cackling madly above him.

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Prowl awoke a day later with Ratchet hovering over him. "You glitch! I almost lost you!" were the first words out of the medic's mouth.

Prowl winced, but didn't respond. He didn't know how to. What was he to say? I'm sorry?

"I've fixed your chassis and replaced the wires. However... there was a complication," Ratchet said somberly.

"L-like what?" Prowl stammered.

"Now it's not life threatening, so calm down. Since you had your emotional dampener on, when you hit your head on the debris it... well, it caused a glitch."

"A glitch?"

"Yes, a glitch," Ratchet glared. Prowl wisely stopped talking. "Your logic center, which is right next to the emotional dampener, fried. A wire snapped, causing it to short out. I couldn't do much to fix it without causing more damage. Basically, when faced with illogical situations you'll short out."

Prowl felt his spark sink. He was no good now; he would be kicked out of the Autobot army for sure.

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Optimus and Prowl sat across from each other at Optimus' desk. Prowl had recovered physically, weld marks the only evidence of his previous injury. However, mentally he was still damaged.

"Prowl, we did very well on that mission. We even managed to save four lives, thanks to your plan. So I would like to know-" Optimus smiled, "-If you would be willing to be my Second-In-Command as well as Chief Tactician."

Prowl gawped. "Sir, I'm honored. But I have a glitch..."

"Yes, Ratchet told me all about it. It won't hinder you in your work Prowl, and therefore you are a perfect candidate for the positions. Now what do you say?"

Prowl smiled, "It would be an honor, Optimus Prime. I accept."

Optimus' optics twinkled. He and Prowl shook hands, sealing the deal.

"Please," Optimus said in a friendly manner, "Call me Optimus."

Mila sat, staring at Prowl in awe. He overcame the Decepticon attack and got promoted! "Wow," she breathed.

Prowl gave her a small smile. "If I can overcome that, you can too. Don't worry; everything will work out."

Mila smiled at Prowl. She was feeling quite a bit better, and was not as frightened. 'I trust him,' Mila realized with a start. She trusted his words and himself in general.

"Thank you, Prowl," Mila said.

Prowl nodded once, shifting in his chair. The two drifted into a comfortable silence, waiting for any word from the battle and hoping that the Autobots were doing alright.

End note: I can't write action scenes to save my life. Sorry!