Legal Stuff: Transformers, et al., are not mine, only my OCs. This story isn't intended for sale.
A/N: A special thank you to my guest reviewer Teddy! Thank you for such a wonderful uplifting review! Is it crazy to admit it brought tears to my eyes? Well, it did! THANK YOU! I'm glad you like the story and Ellie. Speaking of, this chapter is going to focus on her because I can't quite flow the other players in and still make sense. If I can I will. Either way, I hope I continue to make this story enjoyable to read!
Cybertronian/Earth Time Reference:
Breem / about 8 minutes
Groon/about 1 Earth hour
Orn/about 1 Earth day
Decacycle/10 days to 3 weeks
Quartex/1 Earth month
Orbital Cycle/about 1 Earth year
Vorn/about 83 Earth years
Chapter 3 – Earth Campaign (Part 9)
– Chicago, Illinois, Accuretta Systems Bunker, one week later –
Ellie awoke and blinked feeling excessively tired and slightly hungry until she noticed something wrong with her vision. She blinked repeatedly and wished she could what was in her eye better and then the object in question increased slightly in size. Ellie sat up with a yelp and rubbed her eyes and blinked again.
FirstAid shot up off the berth and swayed slightly having been abruptly roused from a deep recharge, "what? What's wrong? Ellie are you alright?"
"There's something in my eye, it's growing and I can't make it stop. Wait, it just stopped. Okay, what's going on?"
"What does it look like," FirstAid asked having an idea of what was going on.
"It kinda looks like a… a flashing dot. It doesn't move with my eyes, it just seems to hover," she waved her arm in the air above her head.
"Oh, that. That's your HUD, just think 'system check'."
"What? System check? Oh my goodness," she sat up further. "Systems parameters: normal? FirstAid…? What's going on?"
He leaned over and said in his best 'berth-side' tone, "how do you feel?"
"Freaked out."
FirstAid nodded, "not exactly the answer I was looking for but understandable. How are you feeling physically? Do you feel tired or weak?"
Ellie continued to move her eyes to see if she could get the information to move, the initial shock slowly changing into a wary acceptance, "uhm, I guess I feel a little tired… How long was I under?"
She clasped her arms around her stomach when it made a rather large growling sound, "ugh, guess I'm really hungry."
"That's good, very good. You should eat and hydrate. Then I'll check your system and we can talk."
Ellie glared, "don't treat me like a child FirstAid. I want to know what's going on. To say this is freaky is an understatement." She found she had a lot more energy than she did before as she rolled off the cot she'd been resting on. With tentative steps she grew stronger as she wobbled over to the small refrigerator Gurmit had supplied and examined its contents.
FirstAid chuckled, "crankiness, another good sign. Alright, if you must know now, you've been under for about a week. I've managed to create the core we talked about and I believe it's working but, I'll need to run some tests to be sure…."
Ellie interrupted with a gasped, "a week? Holy…."
FirstAid continued to interrupt her swearing, "those tests will take some time so take care of your body's basic needs first, do you understand?"
"Yes, dad, okay dad," she said distractedly as she pulled out a pre-packaged egg-salad sandwich and a bottle of water. She reached over and tried to pull her cot closer to sit down.
FirstAid shook his helm at her and gently pushed the cot closer with his finger. She mumbled a quick thank you as she sat down and roughly tore open the plastic container. She stared at the sandwich distastefully but bit down and chewed. Her eyes opened wider and she let out a soft moan of pleasure, "mph, gud samwish."
She then proceeded to cram the rest into her mouth.
"Be careful! It would not do you any good if you choked yourself by samwish," FirstAid chided teasingly as he gently tapped her on the back when she started cough. She grinned at the bot as she drank water and continued eating the rest greedily.
"I can't believe how hungry I was, I swear I could eat another."
"I would not recommend doing so, I don't want you overly stressing your tank."
Ellie paused as she finished swallowing the last part of the sandwhich, "tank? Uh, you mean stomach?"
"Tank, stomach, whichever phrase defines that function. Do you not realize how complex double-definitions of anatomy are at times," he said bemusedly as he scratched the back of his helm.
"You know you're pretty cute when you're confused, but I bet you're even cuter without that visor or mask on."
"Drink," he ordered and turned away from her and walked over to the prone Decepticon. He sat down on the berth beside the femme and whispered, "hunger is a good sign for organics, I think. A good sign. While she refuels, lets see about your arms. Just promise me you won't hit me when I'm finished, alright?"
"Whatever you say… dad," Duststorm chuckled up at the medic. Then she canted her helm and gazed at the medic with a calculating expression, "you know Ellie's right, it is difficult assessing your moods. Will you ever show us your features, Autobot?"
He stood and walked over to where her parts had been haphazardly dumped pulled them over to her berth. He picked up one of her arms to examine the damage, "Gurmit's team did a terrible job of removing your limbs. This may take me longer than I thought."
"Is that a, 'stop asking me if you want your arm attached' threat because I noticed you didn't answer my question."
FirstAid walked up to the berth placed arm next to the shoulder joint and began attaching the unit. She tried to turn to look when he barked, "don't move! They did not remove your parts with care and moving is making it harder for me to get this limb attached. There that's better. I can't believe how shoddy Gurmit's work is. It's a good thing I came here after all."
Ellie finished the bottle of water and watched the two robots with a smile as Duststorm persisted, "you have not answered my question."
FirstAid transformed his servo into another tool and simply remarked, "and you haven't stopped moving. Perhaps if you stopped talking I might get this done faster?"
Duststorm surrendered, albeit tartly as she quipped, "fine."
"Good." FirstAid replied happy that his smirk was hidden behind his mask as he set about the task of reattaching her arm. Ellie slowly rose and dropped the empty bottle and sandwich wrapper in the bin and wandered to the restroom.
As she moved about with growing strength, FirstAid's spark felt lighter than it had in… well, in a long time actually… and he was loath to spoil the mood. He chuckled when he heard a small belch emanate from the tiny human coupled with a soft, "excuse me."
"The only thing that would make this day more perfect would be to find my brothers and be free of this place," he thought as he quickly completed attaching the limb.
Duststorm watched the process with growing admiration, not only was he fast, he was careful as he assembled the limb. It should've been painful and yet he'd managed the work with a minimum of distress to her. He stepped back and waved at her to move the limb.
With eagerness Duststorm slowly rotated her arm and then flexed her digits. She reached out and touched the mech on his arm when he had turned to check on Ellie's status. He froze, for a moment and regarded the femme as her face bloomed with a grin, "thank you! My arm feels perfect! I thought for sure the humans damaged it when they disassembled me."
"Nothing I can't fix," FirstAid said with confidence as he turned again to regard Ellie who had just returned from the restroom. He looked back at the femme, "I want to run some tests on Ellie. As soon as she falls back into recharge I'll come back and work on your other arm."
"I've waited this long," she said with a slight giggle as she waved her arm around in the air. "I never realized how pleasurable a simple gesture could be…"
FirstAid chuckled and walked back over to Ellie, "we should check your systems and then I'll explain your HUD. While I'm doing so, can you kindly explain to me why you keep referring to me as dad?"
Ellie's laughter echoed cheerily in the chamber as Gurmit entered. He noticed with relief Ellie's improved health but froze in horror when movement caught his eye. The Decepticon, for the lack of a better turn of phrase, had been re-armed.
The young Indian strode angrily up to the medic and hissed in a low voice, "what are you thinking?! You said she's the enemy, isn't repairing her dangerous?!"
Ellie looked at the doctor in shock and then over at the black femme in fear as she listened to the hushed conversation.
FirstAid knelt so he could speak softly to the doctor, "I understand your fears. If you will sit down, I will help you understand why this is the right thing to do."
"I didn't repair you for this," Gurmit hissed.
"You repaired me because your experiments failed and you no longer wished to be responsible for the loss of life your actions caused by trying to find a way to destroy my race."
Gurmit turned and threw himself into the rolling chair by the computer and clasped the arms of it in fury at FirstAid's words and sputtered, "who are you to judge my actions?"
"Not judgments, facts. I understand your distrust but there is one component you have failed to understand which is individuality."
"What?" Gurmit snorted at the change in direction, "I don't understand your point?"
FirstAid quickly interrupted him, "beings of identical thought or programming cannot war against the other because it isn't logical."
Gurmit frowned, "so, that still doesn't explain repairing your enemy. Besides your programming is highly advanced so it would not be improbable for two identical programs to vie for supremacy."
"Humans look the same, would you like me to view you in that manner?"
"You can't lump humanity like that, we're not computers," Gurmit said with a snort.
"And neither are we. Just because our structures and processes are similar to your computers doesn't mean we are. Don't fall into the trap of stereotyping. We were never designed to fight one another which means choice. I believe in Duststorm and trust that repairing her is the right thing to do. I think she will choose not to harm us because it's the right thing to do. It is true our factions are at war, but there is much more involved here that you don't understand that I do."
"That's easy for you to say! You can defend yourself against her if you're wrong. Look at me, Ellie, how long would either of us last if she chose to attack? Minutes, seconds? You bet I'm afraid and I've got reason to be so."
"I know," FirstAid said softly and sighed. "Fear is not something that is easily changed, even in the face of facts. What would you have me do, remove her arm again? I am a medic and that means do no harm. Do you not realize she is suffering? I cannot stand by and watch her suffer any longer."
Gurmit lowered his head into his hands and scrubbed the sides of his head in frustration and started muttering in Punjabi and then softly said, "I don't know what to do…"
FirstAid settled back on his berth, "you are in a difficult position. So why did you choose medicine? Was it not to help people?"
Gurmit looked up, "you don't understand. Her people, the Decepticons, have been here for over 40 years. Do you know how many lives they've destroyed already? Intelligence suggests they're planning something big. Humanity has no hope of defeating them. We're running out of time. I'm running out of time."
FirstAid tilted his helm, "as your prisoner you would expect me to say anything to save my life. Instead, I will be blunt. I want a fighting chance if what you say about Decepticons is true."
"Great, just great," Gurmit muttered as he stood up and stared at FirstAid, then Duststorm, and then Ellie, "I'll think on what you've said and come back later with a decision." Gurmit shook his head again and strode out of the room.
First Aid turned and walked over to the berth she was laying upon, "do you have any idea of what the Decepticons are planning?"
She frowned in thought, "how? I've been trapped down here the same amount of time as you. Besides, what would you do if I said yes, would you leave me here like this?"
He reached over and lightly rapped her helm with his fist, "of course not, I just said I'd repair you and I'm a bot of my word. I just won't repair your weapon's systems."
"Like that would stop a Decepticon," she snorted and then froze wondering why she said that when FirstAid grabbed her chin.
He held her face still and leaned in closer his voice lowered threateningly, "is that what you really want? To destroy me? Ellie?"
She grabbed his servo and tried to jerk her chin out of his grip uncomfortable with the entire situation but failed and finally let go of his servo. She stared at his visor and then shook her helm, "no. More than anything I just want to get out of here."
"Good. I'll finish your repairs after I've done a scan of Ellie," FirstAid released her chin and then turned about to stride to the stunned young woman.
Ellie looked up in fear and whispered, "will she really hurt us?"
Duststorm heard the young woman's words and the cut through her spark like a lazer. "No, Ellie," she responded. "I won't hurt you or FirstAid."
FirstAid nodded, "let me have your wrist, I just want to check your levels. We'll do a more thorough check after you've had a chance to rest."
She held out her wrist and quickly attached the lead. FirstAid spooled the data streaming from her core with pleasure, "looking good. If you think you can eat more, do so and then get some sleep."
FirstAid walked over to the femme, "as for you, I keep my promise so let's get back to work, shall we?" He released reached over and picked up her other arm and examined it before he started to make repairs.
Ellie sat on her cot in silence thinking about everything that was said and felt displaced and lost. She rose to her feet and walked over to the door, drawing First Aid's attention, "Ellie?"
"I…. I'm going to go to my quarters and shower, I need time to think too," she nodded and then slowly walked out of the room.
FirstAid turned back to the femme and continued making repairs in silence. Duststorm lay there watching the mech hovering over her, covered face still unreadable, and tried to think as well. What would the Decepticons want on Earth? FirstAid was being retrieved to repair Megatron, that would mean they lacked a medic or the damage was beyond the skill of the medic they possessed. Was Megatron still alive? Why were they here on this planet?
"FirstAid," she looked up into his visor again. "All I am aware of is that you were the intentional target of the raid. You were needed here for Megatron. Why? I don't know. I could guess that perhaps they didn't have a medic or his wounds were beyond that medic's skill. Past that, my training was seeking not war strategy. Ask me to find something tangible like energon and I will, past that, I honestly don't know what the Decepticons want or what they're planning."
"I guessed as much. Thanks for telling me. Are you able to sense energon?" FirstAid asked as he shifted his position as he lifted her arm and held it in place while he continued to attach it to her shoulder.
She shook her helm, "the only energon is in this room and that's us. I can't scan past these walls, they're probably shielded because my comms don't work either. How's Ellie?"
"Brief scan shows her system seems to be operating properly. But I'll know more when I can do a more detailed scan," he said as he continued working on the joint.
Duststorm sighed, "if you were successful, I'm afraid Gurmit won't allow us to live. We need to find a way to escape."
FirstAid sighed, "agreed. But first, let me finish repairing you and make sure Ellie is in a stable state. Then we can try to figure out a way to escape."
She winced, "ouch, easy there Autobot!"
"That's a good sign. The humans didn't ruin this arm as badly as I thought… they were just sloppy. There, try moving your arm," he said as he leaned back to allow her to move her arms and test her servos.
"Feels good, what's next?"
"Legs next. Your wing reassembly will be more complicated since I haven't worked on a seeker since before the war."
"Great," she said with a sigh and then flashed an optic at him, "about earlier. Uhm, I'm sorry. I don't know what got into me."
"A grounded seeker, tortured, with no easy means of escape, I'm not surprised you reacted the way you did," he mumbled as finished carefully examining her hips and then drug a leg over and started to examine the area where Gurmit's team had severed it from her body.
"Thanks… for understanding," she said softly. They fell into a companionable silence with only the sound of metal on metal as he worked on her limb.
– NEST Facility, D.C., Health and Human Services Front –
Optimus leaned back in his seat, recently built for him by Ratchet, as he looked at his datapad. Since his office hadn't been fitted with a door yet he was using it primarily as a prop to avoid answering questions in case someone stopped by. This gave him the opportunity to allow his processor to wander as he waited for his meeting with General Moreshower.
The noise outside the office echoed with activity as bots and humans moved about, working on various projects, improving the facility to better suit their needs, or training. It was a good sign, as far as the Prime was concerned. The humans weren't likely to waste the expense on this facility if they had no intention of continuing with their Cooperation Agreement. Although he had to admit the new director, Charlotte Mearing, was quite handy and sarcastic when she voiced her complaints about the cost, she was nothing like Galloway.
In comparison, Charlotte was a breath of fresh air. Well mostly arctic air, he thought with a chuckle, but he was used to officious bureaucrats, human and not so human. The Prime grinned when he remembered the excitement Galloway's reassignment had provoked. Sadly, Galloway was not completely gone from their lives, merely elevated into a higher position. A special cabinet position had been given to him by the President and he was now Director Mearings' superior which no doubt was the reason for some of her less than amiable moments. Although, Optimus thought with a chuckle, he wasn't entirely sure about that.
Frankly, he had a bit of a weak spot when it came to her. Her temerity, strength, wit, determination, and no nonsense character was so very similar to Elita's, how could he not?
He traced a digit over the datapad's screen and reviewed the latest intelligence update provided by Prowl. Megatron, although currently underground was still here on Earth and his forces were still mobilizing, their destination, Earth. Naturally Optimus had to rally his forces here or the Earth would fall. However, the United States, humanity in general, was rather… touchy… requests were increasing growing about asking them to leave. He would've thought the defacement of the pyramids on the Giza plateau would've left some sort of lasting impression as to why it was important they should remain, but humanity had a surprisingly short memory at times.
General Moreshower, gratefully did not. He possessed a clearer head than most of his political peers and it was to him Optimus was meeting and petitioning. With Earth now center stage, he wanted General Moreshower's acceptance for more Autobot troops, especially given the Xantium was one warp away and on standby waiting. Optimus hoped he would not be forced to use subterfuge to have the forces necessary to protect Earth.
He rubbed his chin, worrying never accomplished anything, but that never stopped him from doing so.
Thus far, the Arizona NEST station had adapted quite well with their Autobot members. Despite complaints, Skids and Mudflap were starting to take on greater responsibility and surprisingly, maturity. Who knew?
Bumblebee was occasionally keeping surveillance on Sam and thus far things seemed to be going well.
A chime on his desk had him reaching over and pushing a small button, a new intercom system they devised, "Prime."
"Sir, the link is up and ready when you are," a human voice responded.
"On my way," Optimus released the button. Primitive but much more advanced than what the humans had possessed prior to their arrival. He smiled, he had promised he would provide them with some of their technology. He just never promised it would be state of the art. By Cybertronian standards he'd given humanity the equivalent of a bow and arrow but it was sufficient.
He rose from his seat despising the fact that he had to play political games with the humans and he made no bones about it. They assumed it meant he lacked political acumen, which was not the case. Just because he didn't like it didn't mean he wasn't good at it and he was. He had been trained by the great Sentinel Prime himself and forced to deal face to face with the Cybertronian Council. Humanity had nothing on the Council, which for the Prime, was a good thing.
As he walked up to the elevated command center he waited for the airman stationed there to indicate the link was established. With a thumbs-up gesture the monitor's image switched from screensaver to General Moreshower, "good afternoon General, it is good to speak with you again."
"Same. So I hear you needed to speak with me," the general responded as he picked up a sheet of paper, read it and then placed it back down.
"I do indeed. I've received intelligence reports which indicate Decepticon movement…."
– Xantium –
"Omega One to the Xantium, please respond."
Mirage flicked open the comms, "this is Xantium go ahead Omega One."
"Go authorized, sending coordinates."
Mirage read the incoming data, "received Omega One on our way. Out."
Mirage switched comms, "we've just received authorization. I could pilot this thing myself, but I have a feeling…."
"You touch that pilot's seat and I'll have your aft dangling from the…." Topspin yelled as he strode onto the bridge.
"You," Mirage quickly interrupted the Wrecker before he got wound up. "Are the pilot here, I was merely offering my services. I would never get between a bot and his ship."
Topspin flung himself in the seat and then glared at the noble warily, "yeah… well… just you make sure of that."
"I will," Mirage said as turned back to the comms and let out a little puff of air. It would be a relief to get off this ship and put some distance between himself and the Wreckers. It wasn't that they were bad bots, they were just… abrasive, abusive, condescending, hot tempers. He felt a tap on his shoulder making him turn. His relief was in the form of Que.
"I'm up, you're relieved. Go get some recharge in case we have to deal with any Decepticon resistance," Que offered quietly as Mirage stood up.
In the background Topspin muttered as he worked out the new coordinates on the warp computer. Roadbuster and Leadfoot walked on deck and took their stations as Mirage strode calmly past them and once clear of the bridge quickly dashed towards the back of the craft where his temporary quarters were.
Topspin toggled shipwide comms as he spoke to those on the bridge, "okay bots, navcom's got our numbers. Engaging warp engines. We'll be warping into Decepticon held territories, so prepare for anything. Engines at 50, warping in half a breem."
Mirage hurried to his quarters and stretched out upon his berth as he initiated his recharge settings grateful Que had relieved him. He would have been thoroughly humiliated if the Wreckers discovered he suffered from warp-sickness. Unlike organic maladies, warp sickness was very rare illness that struck Cybertronians in a unique way.
Once the warp field engaged Mirage would lose some motor control functions and his optical and audio arrays would become unsynched, misaligned. Once that happened he would appear as if he were overcharged. The gamut of ghost sensations, misinformation, and discomfort was impressive and sadly, untreatable. The only solution thus far was to recharge.
Mirage snorted disdainfully as he made himself comfortable as best he could on the steel palette which served as his berth. Even the brightest minds in medical science offered him no relief. It was only after he enlisted, that a lower-ranked Autobot medic finally diagnosed why he experienced the illness, it was due to his upgrades.
Mirage's caste family had spared no expense to insure their newest scion would not be lacking. Intellectually, physically, nothing was left to chance or unimproved. To the lower castes, upper castes seemed to have an easy life of leisure, but there was a darker side. The Council, to maintain control and avoid being overthrown constantly manipulated the elite houses below them, since they were at that time the Council's only true threat to power. The nobles dutifully distracted focused on plots, assassinations, blackmail, anything to bring down another caste member to elevate one of their own. Upgrades were not simply affectations and beautification, they were essential to one's survival.
Many who met Mirage found him handsome and far from intimidating, the most humorous comment made about him was 'effete, ineffectual snob'. Instead of meeting mechs with his fists, Mirage would simply nod and walk away. Already well-trained prior to enlisting in the use of weapons and hand-to-hand combat, his military training only increased his skills to the point where he was sought after by different Autobot Commands, including Covert Operations.
Jazz was already studying Mirage for recruitment into his division when he learned something about the mech that wasn't included on his service record. The shoulder mounted disruptor Mirage carried wasn't a weapon but a photon manipulator that allowed Mirage to become either invisible or alter his appearance. It was a highly illegal upgrade that would've been confiscated had its true purpose been detected. That was until Jazz had been in the right place at the right time, Mirage smiled at the memory.
New recruits, to relieve tension occasionally staged war games or pranked one another. One mech made the mistake of targeting Mirage. Mechs, one and all, had various levels of vanity and Mirage was no exception and the prankster knew that. When Mirage appeared in formation speckled in multi-colored reflective paint Jazz knew by his expression the mech responsible would pay. So Jazz waited and watched to see what would happen.
As Jazz watched Mirage's unit barracks he stood up startled when Optimus Prime walked around the corner and entered the barracks. Jazz was at that moment monitoring command comms and knew for a fact that the bot who just appeared was not the Prime. He started forward fearing it was a Decepticon spy and then froze when the 'Prime' exited the building with a grumpy Sideswipe in tow. The Prime calmly handed Sideswipe cleaning supplies and ordered the mech clean his armor stating he was unfit for duty.
Sideswipe did as ordered and yelped in horror when the cleanser stripped the bright red paint from his frame. Sideswipe's complaints were loud enough to draw attention but instead of scaring the fake Prime away he stayed put and watched the mech finish his task. The barracks emptied of recruits who cheered as the notorious prankster suffered his own humiliation. When Sideswipe was completely free of color the fake Optimus nodded, took the cleanser and walked away. Jazz followed, weapon drawn, unsure if it were friend or foe. Once clear of any bots, image of the Prime turned and regarded for a moment and then nodded. Then the image shimmered and disappeared revealing a smirking Mirage. Jazz nodded approvingly as he holstered his weapon, he knew he'd found a perfect candidate for his espionage unit.
In short, the system upgrades that made him an excellent covert operative were to blame. The sensitive calibrations made him susceptible to intense energy fields which included warping. The medic who had realized the problem had started working on different treatments but sadly the evacuation of Cybertron had stopped any progress and until they ever met up again. So there he was hiding from the crew and forced to deal with his… sickness.
It was a mixed blessing that Que had learned of his illness. Although sworn to secrecy, Que was Que. Mirage wasn't entirely sure the bot could keep any secret given his friendly, chatty nature. But it was that friendly nature that mitigated his more annoying tendency to make devices that didn't always work or worse, explode.
Why was it, Mirage mused as his systems shut down, that Autobot inventors held a similar commonality in that their experiments usually exploded? That was why Coimmand made it a point never to assign research scientists together and why he was saddled with Que. Would it have been worse for the noble if he'd been assigned to work with Wheeljack? Or the femme Flareup? Mirage chuckled, well actually he thought, maybe being assigned to work with Flareup wouldn't be so bad. She was rather cute, the image of the young femme flickered across his processor before his systems quietly shut down and the space around the Xanthium shimmered as the great ship vanished.
– Chicago, Illinois, Accuretta Systems Bunker –
Ellie walked through the lab, not surprised that Gurmit wasn't there and continued on towards her room. She stopped at her door to place her hand on the security pad and waited for the chime. When it clicked she opened the door and froze in the entry surprised to find boxes neatly stacked near the door. She walked over to one and opened it to discover her things inside.
She looked around and noted that her shelves had been emptied of DVDs and books making her trot to the back of her quarters and the storage area. Empty. She opened her closet, empty. Chilled she dashed into the bathroom and opened up the cabinets, empty. She closed the medicine chest shut with a snap and then stared at her reflection.
The being who stared back gaped in horror. She was pale and gaunt, her normally warm brown hair was stringy and dirty from not being washed. She frowned and sniffed her underarm and pulled back in distaste. Spinning about she walked back into the living area and started opening boxes until she found her toiletries and piled them onto the floor. Grabbing another box she searched for bath towels. Once she found what she needed she tossed her toiletries into the towel and went back into the bathroom. Once she had arranged her supplies she flung the towel over the shower door, grabbed her soap, shampoo and conditioner and placed them on the shelf inside the shower and stood back to turn on the water.
She waited impatiently for it to warm up as she tried to push back the gamut of feelings that assailed her. Fear because Gurmit had far too easily accepted the possibility of her death. Anger because he had been so insensitive as to not warn her as to what he'd done to her things. Didn't he realize what she would think when she went back to her quarters and found her stuff packed? She felt like a number, a botched lab experiment easily forgotten and tossed aside, it made her sick.
The nausea she felt was real when she realized how close to death she had been, could still be. She'd left before FirstAid had an opportunity to run a more detailed test. When steam clouded the mirror she realized she was wasting water and stepped in. She sighed in pleasure, her emotions instantly calmed, as the steaming water pummeled her body and head. She wasn't sure how long she stood there and enjoyed the feeling of the warm water before she stopped to shampoo and complete bathing. As she scrubbed her head she thought about everything that had happened and wondered what Gurmit would do with her if she had survived. With what he learned, what would he do to FirstAid and Duststorm? Kill them?
In saving her life was it possible FirstAid created something Gurmit could use against him? She froze as she thought about FirstAid. Her stomach churned again. She couldn't let them harm him but what could she do? She leaned her head against the cold tile under the shower head and started to cry. She wasn't sure how long she'd been sobbing but stood there in gratitude that the water hadn't gone cold before she finished. Not wanting to test the limits of the building's hot water supply, she quickly finished her bathing and then turned off the tap.
As she dried she accepted there was nothing she could do and once she recognized that, the helplessness she felt slowly faded away. Acceptance was not defeat but she knew that to continue to focus on feelings of helplessness it would only push her down. She roughly towel dried her hair and then rubbed the steam away from the mirror as she fumbled for her toothbrush. She blinked for a moment in pleasure as she enjoyed the sensation of finally having a clean mouth.
Her stomach rumbled and cramped, almost making her double over with hunger. She quickly wrapped the damp towel around her, having forgotten to pull out clothing from the boxes. She padded into the kitchen to see if the food was gone as well. She opened the refrigerator and then closed it with a sigh, empty. She went back to the boxes and rummaged through them for clothing and quickly dressed and headed back to the lab, where she knew there was still food in the small fridge by cot near the bots.
Running her fingers through her damp hair she sped through the main lab noting distantly that Gurmit wasn't there and strode past the double doors into the main bay grateful Gurmit had at least updated the code so she could have access. When she entered, FirstAid was bent over Duststorm and her stomach rumbled again quite loudly which made the Autobot stop and turn, "ah, you're back."
"Yep," she said as she walked over to the fridge and grabbed another packaged sandwich and some water and headed over to the pallet where Duststorm lay.
"How are the repairs going," she asked and jumped back in surprise when Duststorm lowered her arm and opened her palm. Ellie stared at the servo noting it was smaller and more slender in appearance than FirstAid's. It was the pointed tips that were slightly disconcerting that made her pause.
"It's easier to see from up here," Duststorm said and waited for Ellie to decide. With a shrug the brunette stepped onto the silver palm. As Duststorm raised her up she fell over unprepared for the speed of the movement.
Duststorm blinked apologetically, "oh, sorry about that, I'm not used to picking up small things."
"Small things, right," she said as she stepped off of the Decepticon's hand and onto the palette. "Where's a safe place for me to watch?"
FirstAid looked up and tilted his helm, "if Duststorm doesn't mind crumbs, you can sit safely on her abdomen."
Duststorm reached over and picked Ellie up by her shirt and dropped her onto her on her stomach. Ellie yelped at the treatment as Duststorm mildly cautioned, "just don't make too much of a mess, it's been a long time since I've been clean myself."
"You bathe too?" Ellie sat down so that she could look at Duststorm's face and observe the repairs without moving too much. Once she was settled she tore open the plastic container and grabbed a triangle and bit into it without knowing what it was. She hummed as the turkey, lettuce, and tomato flavors rolled over her tongue.
"Why shouldn't we," the femme countered. "We get dirty just like any species and do enjoy being clean. That is when we can. I can't remember the last time I had a chance to have a deep cleaning."
"Why," Ellie managed to ask around a full mouth.
"Why? Why would I want a deep cleaning or why I haven't had the chance?" Duststorm looked at the human noting her puffed cheeks as she chewed with amusement. "Well, first deep cleaning is rather soothing and takes care of accumulated grime standard cleaning doesn't. But as an energon seeker that means long deep space missions, usually in uninhabited territories so there's no place to wash."
Ellie swallowed again, "so what's energon exactly?"
Duststorm smiled indulgently at what she considered was sparkling-like behavior, not that she'd interacted with many sparklings but that's what she assumed they would be like, "Energon is our food and the fuel that we use to power our weapons and machines. Energon comes in many forms, commonly it's crystalized and then processed into a liquid form. Energon can also be synthesized from different sources of energy. Trine units like mine were assigned territories to search because most of the resources near our homeworld were exhausted. We rarely left our search territories because the fuel we'd expend to return home would be wasted on travel when it would be of better use in feeding our troops. So, we sacrificed personal comfort to make sure everyone had energon."
Ellie swallowed and then drank from her bottle to clear her mouth to ask, "what's space like?"
"Space? Space is empty for the most part except in different galactic groups and systems. Rock, ice, comets, asteroids, stars, sometimes moons or planets, but rarely habitable planets."
"Trines?"
Duststorm frowned, "those of us who are flyers are called Seekers. Culturally, we have always formed groups of 3, called trines. I don't know why, that was just the way things were done so I never thought of questioning why. After my training I was grouped with two other seekers, Steadyburn and Longflight. I was grateful of the assignment because they were both really decent mechs to be partnered with."
Ellie paused in eating clearly enjoying the conversation, "mechs, I take it to mean, guys right? What are they like?"
Duststorm stared at the ceiling with a wistful expression, "Steadyburn , he's a little bit bigger than I. His armor is a very dark red and he can sometimes be rather proud of his appearance. Our design is common to Seeker noble classes and he was rather proud of that distinction. But he wasn't so proud that he was difficult to be with, he was actually rather funny and high spirited. You could always rely on him to lighten the mood."
"Longflight…, now he's a treasure. He's a large mech, he wouldn't be able to stand up in this room even without his wings. He's mostly white with purple markings. But what really makes him stand out is his ability to warp. He's also the oldest of us and at times can be very wise and patient. A lot like FirstAid just not as touchy feely." Duststorm teased and winked at FirstAid when the mech paused in his repairs to stare at the femme.
She grinned, "Longflight's been around a long time, you don't really realize how long because he doesn't rub it in your face like others do. It's a good thing he was selected as an energon seeker because I'd hate to see what the front would have done to him. Anyway, as a warping shuttle he was given command of our unit and that allowed us to search quadrants further from home. Longflight would store what energon we found and then warp when his hold was full. It was quite an efficient process."
"Wow. So, is warping is like Star Trek then?"
Duststorm hummed thoughtfully, "I don't know what a Star Trek is and I'm not a scientist so I don't know exactly how it works. I just know that his engines can go faster than light so he can get from one point to another quickly where others would take a quartex or several orbital cycles to their destination."
FirstAid muttered, "a quartex is about a month and an orbital cycle is about a year."
"Thanks dad. Does sound like Star Trek, pretty cool," Ellie said around another mouthful. Duststorm simply shrugged.
FirstAid shifted Duststorm's detached leg into position and then attempted to attach the limb, the move made the femme yelp with pain and surprise, "ouch, that hurt!"
Ellie spun her head to watch what FirstAid was doing when he stopped and looked up, "that did? Let me adjust your pain receptors because I have more work to do in this area. I'm sorry, they were really rough when they removed this limb so the repairs will be more challenging and I'm afraid more painful."
Ellie looked at her empty sandwich container in surprise and then quickly finished her water. Once she was done she stood up and walked over to where FirstAid was working and knelt down. She gaped at the speed his large hands worked as he gently rejoined torn wires. She placed her hands down to brace herself so she could lean over for a better look.
"Wish I could help," she muttered softly. "I never thought about mechanics as medicine."
"Once you understand the structure of a body part and know what it should look like, it's easy to try to put it back to the way it was. The only limitation is the ability to find the appropriate replacement parts," FirstAid commented as he worked not upset in the least that she equated medicine to mechanics.
"You heard me," she asked startled.
"We have excellent hearing," he said as he returned to his repairs. "Which we can adjust depending upon our needs, it can be quite useful."
"I'll say," Ellie muttered as she continued to watch. She wondered what the leg and hip assembly had looked like before the leg was removed when there was a flash that made her blink. After being distracted by so much that was going on she'd forgotten about the flickering spec in her eye. She wished it was bigger so that she could see what it was and the image obliged by increasing slightly. She rocked back onto her bottom in shock.
Neither bot noticed her behavior as she sat there stunned. She blinked and then thought about making the picture larger and watched in amazement when it did. Her mouth fell open as she repeated the thought again and watched the image increase in size a bit more.
Now, instead of a flashing dot it looked like a tiny picture of some sort. She blinked for a moment and remembered when FirstAid had used his fingers to increase the size of an image and thought, why not? She mimicked his gesture and then gasped in shock when the schematic filled her eyesight completely.
"Ellie, are you alright," FirstAid stopped working when he heard her tiny gasp and leaned closer with concern.
"You won't believe this," she said in an awed whisper. "I'm seeing a schematic in mid-air!" She reached up a finger and started playing with image as one might do on a data pad and watched as the image obeyed her gestures. She opened and closed her fingers making the image grow and shrink then she pushed her finger forward and watched as the image rotated making her realize that it was a 3d not 2d representation. Both bots watched the young woman as she made odd gestures in the air with concern.
She whispered with awe, "wow, this is amazing!"
"Ellie, would you give me your arm please?" Ellie held out her arm, she was so engrossed with the image she was barely aware of FirstAid as he connected his medical lead.
"Ah, now I understand that's what's going on. Your HUD activated."
"My what?" Ellie reduced the image and looked over at FirstAid with a frown. "What did you do to me?"
"HUD means 'Heads Up Display' it's how we access our systems so we know how we're doing, where we are, communications, transformation systems, weapons systems, it's hmmm, I've never actually tried to explain something so essential to a being that has never possessed one." FirstAid rubbed his chin thoughtfully and looked over to Duststorm for assistance. Ellie felt the femme shift as she shrugged equally unsure how to explain a natural Cybertronian system.
"The reason you have a HUD is more complex," he said with a sigh as set the leg down and sat on the floor.
He rubbed the back of his helm as he explained, "to allow your body to co-exist with the nanobots I had to create a Cybertronian core. I tried to keep most modifications to your frame to what I knew and kept experimental modifications at a minimum. I know how our core and system works so I designed a simplified version of what we have in the hopes your nanobots would recognize it and stop harming your body by trying to find one. So, what you're seeing is standard information of your body's functions."
"So, you… so I… I have a what in my body?"
"A core is like a mini-Cybertronian mid-brain. It manages functions in our bodies similar to what your brain does. It handles functions like blinking, breathing, heart pumping and the like. To do this I had to come up with a way to translate and transfer the information and processes controlled by a small portion of your brain into the core."
"My brain… so now a part of me is being controlled by a… a computer?"
FirstAid lowered his helm with a sigh as he read the increased stress levels in Ellie's body, "please, you need to calm down, you haven't fully recovered. Ellie, I had no choice. You know that the nanobytes were killing you and I had run out of options and time."
Ellie looked down at her hands and focused on her breathing, knowing that he would not have done this to harm her. When she calmed she looked at FirstAid, "well, it's definitely going to take some time to get used to. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, I'm not. It's just… disconcerting. Like, how am I able to see this schematic?"
"That is what I'm trying to determine," he said as he accessed her HUD.
"You don't know?"
He looked up, "we are both learning as we go along."
"Oh boy," she muttered.
– NEST Facility, D.C., Health and Human Services Front –
Bumblebee sat at the entrance of the hanger overlooking the tarmac as Sideswipe took advantage of the open space to race around in circles. He would've joined the mech, but he knew Sideswipe's more aggressive nature would lead to riskier racing than he felt like participating in at the moment. It wasn't that Bee couldn't hold his own against Sideswipe, he could, sort of. He just didn't feel like it, really.
To be honest, most of the bots were experiencing various forms of melancholy, due to a myriad of issues.
The impending arrival of the Xantium was a mixed blessing. The additional support was appreciated, even if the crew of Wreckers was a rough lot. It did at least give Prime's unit a functioning spacecraft but that also provided humanity an excuse to kick them off world.
Sideswipe was upset that the crew complement did not include his twin Sunstreaker. He was worried about him so that's why he was racing around the tarmac to vent his frustration.
Ironhide was both excited and frustrated. He'd run into trouble with Mearing regarding the new modifications he'd made to his weapon's systems. He'd been testing these new mods in the training area below ground level. The problem was the humans in the surrounding area were growing increasingly distressed by recent bursts of minute seismic activity not common to the area, which just happened to coincided with Ironhide's testing.
Mearing had complained to the Prime that these continuing seismic anomalies were becoming increasingly difficult to explain. Ironhide thought the complaints were ridiculous because the weaponry being tested was much needed firepower. Mearing did not and ordered the testing to stop.
Prime tried to turn this situation into an advantage and used it as another reason for an Autobot territory. A base of their own, far from major human settlements, where they could continue normal operations without affecting the nearby residents. The humans weren't buying it.
Bumblebee felt the ground tremble beneath him again and chuckled, obviously Ironhide wasn't buying it either.
Prime had grown more quiet and subdued as time progressed. Bee wasn't sure if it was due to Mearing's constant barrage of requests, orders, inquiries coupled with that of other government officials. Or the fact that Megatron's units deployed on Earth were keeping a low profile which usually meant something big was in the works. Prime hated having to guess what the Decepticon leader was plotting and lacking an ops agent as good as Jazz, made things worse. The arrival of Mirage might help the Prime, but the fact that he was also a bit of a snob wouldn't help things either.
Ratchet, out of everyone seemed to be handling things best, except when Sideswipe took it into his helm to bother the medic with pranks. Somethings never seemed to change.
Jolt was sending in occasional reports, the twins had fallen back to their old ways and were giving him trouble, which he expected. The fact Jolt was threatening to off-line them, was not. But, Jolt was able to report there were several areas in the southwestern United States that would provide suitable base sites.
Sam was too busy to visit. The government, to save money, had changed their financial arrangement regarding his college tuition. Instead of four years he would now be forced to either fast-track his degree into a two year program or have his father pay for the other two years. Bee didn't even need to ask Sam what his father's response would be. Sam immediately increased his class load, the demands on his time was starting to create problems with his long-distance relationship with Mikaela.
That and then Sam himself. He was recently invited to the White House to receive a medal from the President. Which did two very terrible things to the youth, one his ego grew exponentially and two, he met a lovely blond British diplomatic aide named Carly.
Bumblebee took great pains to remind Sam of Mikaela's love and when that failed reminded him that the Pretender was also a blond and he should avoid the femme at all costs. Bee puffed a huge gust of air as Sideswipe made another circuit of the tarmac. At least Sam would not be able to leave the campus to visit the woman. His class load was so extensive the teen was barely able to sleep.
Life in the hangar for the Autobots had become routine, bots and NEST running standard patrols or simply relaxed. The worst part was waiting.
Bee rose to his pedes, the interior of the hanger getting to him as he opened the main Autobot comm frequency, 'I'm going to do a little recon, later.' Not even waiting for a confirmation he disabled his comms and quickly transformed. He reached the main gate without pause and then cruised out into city traffic. He didn't have any plans, no thoughts, no destination, he simply wanted to find an open road and let the wind wipe his processor clean and that's exactly what he did.
– Sky Lynx - Wreckers –
Command Team: Ultra Magnus/Kup
Wrecker Crew: Perceptor, Springer, Bulkhead, Inferno, Hot Rod
Recovered Autobots: Gears, Huffer, Brawn, Windcharger
During their trek to the Sol System, Perceptor had discovered a small quantity of energon on an asteroid not too far off from their current course. Since Sky Lynx lacked the fuel needed to reach Earth, Ultra Magnus had altered their mission to retrieve the crystal. It wasn't exactly the most noblest of things an Autobot unit was forced to do but that never stopped Wreckers from doing what was necessary to get the job done.
So, the crew was currently mining the largest energon site on the asteroid, delving deep into the hard surface to extract the rare crystal.
Sky Lynx himself had separated his form leaving his Lynx ground unit comfortably settled next to the mining site. Perceptor worked inside Lynx refining the crystals into fuel. It was a delicate process that space flight would not safely accommodate so Ultra Magnus preferred they stayed and converted the crystals into fuel now rather than risk doing so in transit.
Sky Lynx's aerial form and Springer flew cover and scanned for other possible energon sites in case this one was unable to provide enough for their needs.
Windcharger leaned against the rocky wall and huffed to cool his systems. He'd been using his electro magnets to assist in moving huge piles of rubble to the surface, "how much more do we need to mine before we've got enough fuel to make it Earth?"
Ultra Magnus looked down at the small mech, "Preceptor will let us know. Until then, less talk, more work."
The large commander looked away and shouted, "Kup, is the area clear? I'm going to launch another missile."
Kup stepped out of the hole covered in dust, "yeah, we're clear. Fire away."
The commander nodded and fired a missile into the tunnel they'd been working on. The blast sent a plume of dust into the air as well as a rumble of falling soil. "Windcharger, would you move the debris?"
"Sure, sure, fine, I'm on it," the dark silver and red mech responded with a sigh as he energized his arms again and began the process of extracting the fallen earth. As he did he muttered, "just be grateful this soil is permeated with metallic properties or this'd take a lot longer."
"I am grateful, don't misunderstand me," Ultra Magnus said as he watched Windcharger levitate a huge pile of rock and then floated to a larger pile on the surface. "I'm just impatient to get moving, not that much that I'd risk your safety. I'm just eager to get going. If you need rest, let me know."
"No, I'm good," he muttered as he retrieved another load of rubble. Ultra Magnus regarded the mech thoughtfully and then silently commed Kup, 'keep an optic on Windcharger I don't want him overloading himself before we get to Earth.'
:'You bet.'
On the surface, several mechs were smashing the larger pieces while others were using pinpoint lasers to extract the crystal. Gears drug over a large bolder for Bulkhead and Inferno to smash as Hot Rod and Brawn worked on the smaller pieces with pinpoint lasers. Huffer was parked nearby and was impatiently rocking on his axels, his cargo hold partially filled with the blue crystals recovered thus far.
Hot Rod blasted a smaller piece taking care to dislodge the crystal and not destroy it. Once it was freed he placed it in Huffer's hold. The orange and blue minibot complained, "could you bots go a little faster?"
Hot Rod paused and glared at the mech. He'd already been chewed out several times from Kup for losing it on the minibots. In a surprising show of maturity the firey mech restrained his original retort and said instead, "why don't you take what you've got up to Perceptor and stretch your frame. See if this is all Perceptor needs."
Bulkhead regarded Hot Rod in surprise, "that's a good idea. I'd hate to waste time doing this if we've already reached full fuel capacity."
Instead of gratitude, Huffer simply grumbled, "oh sure, not only am I a drone to carry all this heavy slag, now I gotta play messenger drone too?"
Hot Rod rolled his optics and did his best to restrain his vocoder as he pulled aside another chunk of rock and lazed the crystal from its heart. Once Huffer had driven far enough not to hear, Inferno turned to Hot Rod, "good job there kiddo. Huffer's got a good spark you just gotta read past the gripe."
Gears smiled, "yeah, that's just his way of dealing with bad situations. It's pretty hard being a cargo bot and getting all this slag in your gears, bound to make any bot grumpy and uncomfortable."
Hot Rod nodded as he worked on another boulder and freed a small crystal and examined it tiredly, "it looks like this site is drying up."
Bulkhead nodded as the mechs working on the pile continued to extract smaller and smaller crystals.
Then Perceptor opened comms, 'you can stop working! I've converted enough crystal to fill Sky Lynx's tanks to capacity. Plus crystal enough to store for later.'
Ultra Magnus opened his link, 'thank you Perceptor for the good news. Sky, Springer, return to site. Let's close up shop, clean up, and get off this rock.'
Sky and Springer quickly returned. The triple changer quickly transformed and landed with a thud next to Bulkhead as Sky merged with his Lynx half.
Kup swiped at his armor, "ain't that the truth. I don't know what's worse dust or mud. Either way it gets into your joints and makes yer life miserable. Especially those tiny particles that get right up into the hardest to reach places…"
Ultra Magnus stared at older mech, "there isn't enough liquid aboard, so we make do."
Sky Lynx angled his large head, "well actually…."
The assembled bots groaned as the large mech continued, "there are several asteroids in the local area that have a large enough concentration of frozen liquid which can be used as cleaning fluid. I can easily heat the substance into liquid which will be more than adequate to clear the dust off. Frankly, I would rather not have such detritus inside my hold. So if you don't mind…." Without waiting the large shuttle ignited his engines and launched off the asteroid.
Ultra Magnus vented, "well…., so much for that. Alright, until the Lieutenant Commander returns we may as relax."
Springer sat down on a boulder and looked up at the starry sky, "we certainly won't get much of that when we get to Earth."
With various mumbles of agreement the Wrecker unit and recovered minibots sat and waited impatiently for Sky Lynx to return.
– Decepticon Space Carrier Group, Lead Carriers Primax and Triaxia –
Primax Command Team: General Dreadwing/First Officer Sharpfire
Triaxia Commander Team: General Skyquake/First Officer Starwing
Steadyburn hopped excitedly on the flight deck as he waited for Longflight to pop out of warp. He'd been shocked to learn that Starscream had actually allowed the reassignment instead of following through with the termination orders. Perhaps the Seeker Commander appreciated the dilemma Shockwave had put them in and waived the orders? Regardless, with Longflight under Dreadwing's command he was reassured no action would be taken.
The only thing darkening the soon to be joyous reunion was the knowledge that Duststorm would not be with him. A trine without a third, he thought sadly, would Longflight request a new member? A blip on his internal scanners indicated the arrival of Longflight ended his thoughts as he adjusted his optics to pick up the form of his commander.
It didn't take long for the shuttle to glide onto the flight deck and transform as he looked down at his subordinate with a grin. The two quickly turned and walked into the ship eagerly wanting privacy to catch up but were adhering to orders.
First, Longflight was to visit the medbay and get medical clearance. Once that was complete he was to meet with the Dreadwing as Steadyburn had. As they walked down the corridor, Steadyburn couldn't help the grin that spread across his features.
Longflight looked down at his companion and chuckled at his barely restrained excitement, "it's good to see you too."
"I don't want to ramble, I know you've been through a lot already, but I can't tell you just how glad I am to see you. It's been crazy wondering what happened. But I'm glad I was picked up by this unit, the mechs here are top flight and there are quite a few beauties in the mix….," Steadyburn trailed off as the image of Duststorm crossed his processor.
"There is much to say, but now is not the time," Longflight placed a reassuring servo on his shoulder. "Let's just get this medical exam over with. I hit some debris entering Earth's atmosphere."
"What's it like, Earth, I mean," Steadyburn asked.
"Wasn't there long enough, but it's very… wild. Quite a unique variety of organic life and topography, some of the planet is hospitable, most is covered in either liquid or frozen liquid."
Steadyburn nodded, he wanted to ask more but every question seemed to redirect itself to Duststorm. With relief both mechs entered the med bay, Steadyburn moved to stand by the wall as Longflight walked over to a larger berth the medic directed him to. As this crew was quite familiar with seekers, Steadyburn was not asked to leave as the examination began.
—◊◊—◊◊—◊◊—
Longflight stretched as he exited the med bay, "that wasn't entirely unpleasant."
Steadyburn chuckled, "yeah, not the gentlest of servos but not the roughest. I think you're going to like it here. I certainly do. It's nice, even the grounders seem to get along with us."
Longflight stared at his smaller companion incredulously, "really? Well… I am surprised. It will be interesting to see how this command handles a mixed crew."
"Dreadwing seems to be direct and a straight shooter. But, well, it's best to be cautious," Steadyburn advised as they boarded the lift to the bridge.
"I always am," Longflight nodded as he watched the light flick the deck levels as they rode the rest of the way in silence.
—◊◊—◊◊—◊◊—
Dreadwing was seated in the command chair and waited patiently for the arrival of command shuttle. He'd already been informed of the medical inspection and knew the shuttle was ready for duty.
The lift doors hissed open and Dreadwing rose from his seat and turned to face the two new arrivals. Dreadwing walked up to Longflight as the two stared quietly at one another. The silence was noted on the bridge crew as members turned covertly to watch. Shuttle mechs were notoriously aggressive and easily provoked when challenged and the crew was curious how the general would handle this new member.
Longflight was well aware of the scrutiny of the crew but continued to maintain optic contact with Dreadwing. In traditional circles, mechs of Longflight's age and stature were merited respect and courtesy. But that was then and now he had to apply to military protocol to ancient traditions. Longflight continued to regard the commander impassively, waiting for the appropriate time, as courtesy dictated and then slowly nodded his helm.
Dreadwing regarded the larger mech and waited the appropriate time after Longflight's nod to return the gesture. Formal seeker protocol having been achieved Longflight stood at attention and offered a crisp salute, "Commander Longflight reporting for duty sir."
The crew heaved a collective sigh which earned them a quieting glance from Dreadwing and a slightly upturned smile from Longflight. Dreadwing turned back and following seeker protocol responded, "it's an honor Commander to have you aboard."
Longflight relaxed, "thank you sir. Orders?"
Dreadwing nodded, "you've just arrived, take a decacycle to recover. While you're resting familiarize yourself with the Primax and her crew, especially the seekers assigned to my ship. My First will give you access to crew records so we can reassign a seeker to your unit."
Dreadwing caught the flash of sadness on the shuttle's features before he nodded, "yes sir."
Dreadwing nodded, "dismissed."
Both Longflight and Steadyburn instantly came to attention, saluted and then quickly exited the bridge.
Sharpfire approached the commander, "I thought things were going to get interesting there for a moment."
Dreadwing turned and grinned at his first, "you young bots don't remember traditions any more do you. And based on your answer you didn't spend time reviewing his record in detail either. That mech is one of the older ones and prior to the war was part of the highest Seeker nobility on Cybertron. Technically by Seeker law not Caste law, he outranks me. So the posturing was necessary to acknowledge both our ranks and in doing so avoided any potential future conflict."
Sharpfire shook his helm and responded with a sigh, "yeah, you're right. I didn't review his record and it's true I'm not versed in the old ways, that doesn't mean I need to work on that too now am I?"
Dreadwing laughed, "of course not but that doesn't mean we shouldn't observe courtesy nor forget our past and heritage. Longflight and I were created in the days when Seekers held to a noble tradition of values that I'd like to hang onto. But you're right, there aren't many of us left who remember the old ways. Perhaps in my spare time I should start documenting our traditions before they're completely forgotten. Just keep this in mind, Sharpfire, old does not necessarily mean outdated."
Sharpfire nodded, "yes sir."
Dreadwing smiled, "good answer, never argue with your elders. Especially when they can kick your aft."
"Yes sir," Sharpfire responded with a smile.
"Send me a list of those who could qualify as an energon seeker. If there aren't enough candidates to choose from comm my brother's ship and see if he's got any."
"Yes sir," Sharpfire saluted and returned to his station as Dreadwing continued to stare at the closed lift door. He returned to his seat with a smile. That had gone very well.
Steadyburn led Longflight to their new quarters, trine units were usually provided special accommodations and this ship was no exception. As they entered the large suite Steadyburn launched himself onto one of the berths, "alright, tell me what happened…."
A/N: Stopping here for now, I'm surprised I managed to get this much out. BUT, now I must pay the price and take care of all the things that slipped by the wayside. Thank you again for reading! Take care!
