Strongarm's idea of training … was this!?
We all crowded around a little rocking horse, Fixit poking it skeptically.
"And the lower appendages, or hooves, of a real horse can cause serious injury," Strongarm concluded her book report on a horse.
"Strongarm," Bumblebee eased. "Horses aren't usually aggressive unless provoked,"
"Perhaps not, sir, but given how many of the Alchemor's inmates are analogues to earth's animals, it is vital we understand any -"
"Enough!" Sideswipe silenced her, glaring at the femme. "The only way to train, is to actually train. Which is what I'm going to do. Right now,"
I got up to follow the bot, Grimlock excitedly raising his servo in the air. "Strongarm!" he questioned, before anything could be said to stop us. "Is it true kittens can swarm?"
"She's just trying to do her best, Sideswipe," I reasoned with him, even as twisted in the air, landing on his pedes. I eased beside him, deactivating my boosters just as we touched down.
"By teaching me what a horse is?" he scoffed. "I know what they are,"
"They're actually quite fun," I muttered, kicking into the air as Sideswipe took off again.
It took a while, before Sides paused long enough for us to pick up some crashing with our audios. I transformed, jetting ahead even with Sides close on my heels. When I arrived at the scene, there was a red plane hovering way below what humans consider safe, squaring off with a decepticon looking creature. I hovered beside the plane, watching the con closely.
He growled at us, before shooting blasts from his digits.
I dived right as she went left, the both of us transforming as we rolled. I dived forward, knocking the con out of the tree he was perched in, right below the new … femme?
"Lights out, kitty!" she cheered, launching an attack from her wings. The con crashed into a rock, myself watching it for a second to be sure it was down.
"Awesome take down!" Sides cheered, moving forward. He was covered in mud, and I couldn't even tell who it was.
"Freeze decepticon," she threatened lowly, her wings warming up threateningly.
I started laughing at the look of pure horror on his faceplates.
"Wait, wait wait wait," I called, trying to reign it in. "Wait, he's fine, he's with me,"
She turned towards me, a blade in hand as she held it to my throat. Sideswipe began to protest, but I held up a servo to stop him. "And who are you?" she questioned me lowly. "I haven't seen any sign of an autobot since I awoke, only cons. How do I know you're not one of them?"
"My name is Ancora Prime," I stated firmly, flicking her blade away. "Bonded to Optimus Prime, widowed, denied."
Her blade subspaced, the femme smiling at me and offering a hand. "Ancora, it's an honor," she smiled. "I apologize, that was -"
"Just you protecting yourself," I smiled, taking her servo. "No need to apologize," I gestured behind me, where Sideswipe was laying on the ground. Again. "That's Sideswipe,"
"Gotta hand it to you, slick," the femme smiled, helping the bot up.
"My name's Windblade," she declared, moving back towards the downed con.
"My teammates and I are hunting decepticons, too," Sideswipe tried, myself following the new aerial plane. "We have a base nearby,"
I moved to grab the con, but Windblade beat me to it. She heaved, hoisting the con across her shoulderplates. "So I don't have to haul Fancy Claws all the way back home?" she smiled, moving towards Sideswipe. She heaved, tossing the con into the bot's open arms. "Show me the way, slick,"
I laughed, hanging back with her. "So what's your story, Windblade?" I questioned.
"Save it," she stated, looking up at me. "I'd rather only tell it once,"
I nodded.
"Looks like this team you've put together has a pretty high success rate," she complimented, taking in the stacks of stasis cells. "A mark of good leadership," she shot Bee a knowing smile, which sent him into an awkward, embarassed phase.
He scoffed, rubbing his shoulderplates. "Well, you know I had solid, raw materials to begin with," he said, Strongarm looking as if she was about to glitch. I stiffled a laugh, settling into my usual spot on the ground.
"If slick here is any indication, I'd say that's probably true,"
"'Slick?'" Strongarm mumbled, even after Sideswipe shoots her an egotistical grin. "Can we, jump right to the important questions here? Like, where did you come from? The High Council wouldn't send just one bot to back us up,"
"And they didn't, Skepti-bot," Windblade smiled, not missing a beat. I like this femme.
"My name's Strongarm, not -"
"I was sent by Primus," she paused, looking at Strongarm's shocked faceplates. "Yeah, that Primus. On a mission of my own, thousands of years ago,"
"Wowsa," I grinned, scooting a little closer to her. "Care to enlighten us on that story?"
"Primus believed a terrible evil would one day focus on earth and threaten all life in this galaxy. He upgraded my tracking systems and sent me into stasis, ordering me to protect this world at all costs. When I awoke on the other side of this planet a month ago, I knew the evil Primus spoke of must be closing in. I've hunted down every con I've sensed since then, and when big, bad, whatever it is arrives, I'm going to hunt it down too,"
"That sounds a lot like the mission Optimus Prime gave to me," Bumblebee stated.
I groaned, kneading at my chest, before I spoke up. "And a lot like the mission the Primes gave to my Optimus," I finally muttered.
"Sounds like a team-up situation," Windblade smiled again.
"Can we!?" Sideswipe asked, and I barely caught the hopeful glance before he wiped it away. "I mean, uh, I think Windblade would be a great addition,"
Fixit rolled around me towards the new arrival with a grin on his face. Windblade twisted to peer around Bee with a smile. "You little spark-breaker," she cheered, halting the minicon in his tracks. "You look like the kind of organized minicon that would have a few maps,"
"Well, only the finest collection in this stellar quadrant," he smiled widely.
As we followed Fixit to the command center, I couldn't help but ask.
"If you were sent to protect earth from great evils … " I trailed off, looking more at the ground than the others. "Where were you at Darkmount? Or when Unicron threatened to wake?"
She paused, meeting my worried optics for a moment before I averted them again. "Maybe Primus knew you had it taken care of?" she offered.
I scoffed. "My Optimus did," I smiled, straightening slightly. "My Optimus knew of everything,"
"You're going to have to fill me in," she laid a servo on my shoulderplates. "I'm missing a few thousand years of history, maybe starting off at how you and your Optimus met?"
I smiled widely, Bee offering me a supporting glance.
Windblade left then, moving towards the map Fixit had pulled up.
"What's the matter with you?" I questioned him, stifling a laugh as he watched Windblade walk.
"Well, it's not everyday a new femme, a flier femme, comes in that's not your sister,"
I scoffed.
"I sensed another decepticon signal in this quadrant," she reported, pointing. "And I have a funny feeling our mystery con will be tougher than my last playmate was."
Strongarm laughed, leaning back. "Fixit scanned that area, there's nothing there,"
"It's true, I've found no energy signals," he reported sadly.
"Oh, it's there," she assured. "I haven't been wrong yet. It's one of my best qualities," she shot Strongarm a sideways glance, and I couldn't help but laugh.
"That's cruel," I muttered to her, even as Strongarm started complaining to Bee. "Should I assist?"
We met optics for a second.
"Nah,"
She turned to Fixit.
"Have you bounced your frequency arc off the troposphere? It decreases short-ranged interference,"
"That is an excellent idea!" he apparently did so, pressing buttons beyond my understanding. "Found one!"
"Shall we mobilize, fearless leader?" Windblade smiled, hopping beside Bee.
"Well, we got no other plans,"
"Alright," she cheered, turning back to the team. "Let's crank our pistons and cross some distance,"
Sideswipe and Grimlock cheered, Bee looking at me defeated. I laughed, even as Windblade raised her optic ridges.
"Bumblebee struggles with battle crys," I explained to her.
"You'll find it," she assured him, touching his shoulder before moving on, myself walking right next to her.
"Ancora, I need your help up top!"
I transformed at the sound of the comm, blasting high into the air. My paint glistened in the sun, the blue camo blending in with the afternoon's sky. I relished in it for a moment, before I caught sight of the target.
Windblade was flying beside one of the human's craft, not engaging, just simply flying beside it.
"The humans," she reported as I fell in line beside her. "They're being mind controlled by something, they're not flying as they should!"
"Bee," I commed. "You and the others get to a runway. The humans are being controlled by something, we can't risk having them run into something!"
"The others are already there," Windblade offered. "Hold on," She dropped, leaving the plane to follow me. I allowed it, already leading the plane around in circles towards the runway.
When I finally lost the plane, and found the others, they were standing outside of a hangar, Strongarm and Windblade arguing. I transformed, landing with ease.
"Finally!" Strongarm looked relieved. "Can you please, Ancora Prime, tell Windblade why we're preserving human life?"
"My Optimus was all about saving the humans," I stated, walking towards them. "He would never, ever, condone the loss of a single life. It was something I admired most about him."
"The loss of two human lives to save a planet is worthwhile," Windblade argued, looking more to Strongarm than to me. "Their lives are short anyways, what use are they?"
My processors froze.
Strongarm, Grimlock, and Sideswipe looked at me with a whole new feature across their faceplates.
"Allow me to introduce myself, Windblade," I stated slowly while transforming into my Optimus' mode. "I am bounded of the deceased Optimus Prime, leading a world where I did not originate from. I was homeless when I first met Optimus and his team, living day to day, searching in the trash for my next meal, sleeping in a drainage pipe." I activated my holoform, directing it to climb out. My long black hair flowed behind me, my electric blue eyes shining brightly as jeans and a cut off exposed my curves. "And, I looked a little like this," I directed the holoform to say, crossing my arms in front of my chest.
She looked at me with wide optics.
"We work to take down cons while preserving every human life," Strongarm finished her apparently earlier argument. "We don't take unnecessary risks like you were about to in there. And, my name is Strongarm,"
Bumblebee and Drift rolled up from the side, transforming as they got close. I deactivated mini self as I transformed, shooting a look to Windblade before turning to Bee.
"What'd you find, cadet," he questioned.
"I'll explain after we move from this hangar, Lieutenant," Strongarm replied.
"Lead the way,"
"Fixit," Bee called through the comm.
"Spark breaker here," the minicon replied drowsily. I stifled a laugh, even before the shocked look on Bee's faceplates.
"Oy," he vented a sigh. "Do you have anything on a bee-like decepticon?"
"Global rule would definitely match Zizza's previous MO." came the reply. "While on Cybertron, she built an army of mind-controlled citizens and tried the same thing. She might have succeeded," I scoffed. "But her toxin wore off, before she could consolidate her power,"
"Is there more information on this toxin?" Drift questioned, speaking for the first time.
"I'm not seeing anything on bile - vile , file!" he stammered. "The only cure seems to be time,"
"Thanks Fixit, standby," Bee cut the com.
Wait …
"Sir, I have an idea," Strongarm moved forward. "I've studied earth's Bees, and Zizza seems to behaving like a typical queen,"
"Just because Zizza looks like a bee doesn't mean she is one," Sideswipe argued.
"The planes protecting the decepticon are like drones protecting the hive. The mind controlled humans around her? She called them workers. Worker bees. Zizza even requires a hot environment to maximize her life functions,"
"Seriously Bee," Sideswipe argued again, and I had to swallow my laughter as I awaited my moment. "I'm not buying any of this bee stuff,"
"Hear her out, slick, she's onto something," Windblade silenced him, looking back to the cadet.
I soared high with Windblade, dodging the little planes and trying to herd them away. I tried not to laugh again as I caught sight of Bumblebee down below.
I saw Grimlock climbing atop one of the towers, swatting at the planes as they drove by, and I lost it.
"Bee!" I called over the comm. "Remember that movie we showed you, Kong!?"
"I don't see how this is important right now," he countered. "But yeah,"
"Grimlock!"
I paused, before I was met with laughter flooding my comm.
I flew in a few more circles, really just showing off and practicing barrel rolls.
"Guys, we have a problem," Bee commed after a short while. I twisted, and saw just what he meant. The planes were headed for a new plane, which was headed straight for us.
"On it," I reported, already moving towards the planes.
I hearded one down by hovering above it and slowly pushing down. When I got back up, Sideswipe was … riding, Windblade?
He jumped from bot to plane, preparing to attack the tail.
"Careful, Sideswipe," I called. "Don't want them to lose control,"
"Have a little faith!" he argued, bending the tail.
He bounced from plane to plane, doing just that, bending the metals. It was a solid plan, and all planes headed down. Except the new one, which began to reroute itself. A storm was brewing ahead, and metal and storms don't mix.
"Good job, bots," I smiled. "Return to the ground,"
"Aww…." Sides groaned, before jumping onto my wings. I wavered a little, before I adjusted to the extra weight.
"I have the decepticon in custody," Strongarm reported. "Backup requested, urgently!"
We redirected our course towards the transmission, finding Strongarm dangling from the bee very precariously.
"Backup has arrived!" Windblade announced. I transformed, throwing Sideswipe from my wings. He landed ontop of the bee, working his way around her. I hovered close by, firing at any open shot I had. Strongarm's grip failed, Windblade being right there to catch her.
"Unhand me, you ruffian!" Zizza growled, trying to shake Sides.
"Hey, Cara!" Sides called, grinning at me. "Ever tried to ride a bee?"
"Cara," Strongarm called. "Zizza has to hit the snowflake," I quickly located the vehicle in which she was referring to. "I'm grabbing Sideswipe, can you catch us?"
I transformed, already diving as Windblade rounded around. "Gotcha,"
Strongarm jumped from Windblade, knocking Sideswipe off his perch. They tumbled to the ground, myself skidding dangerously close to the ground before catching them on my wings. Windblade flew right behind me, having knocked Zizza out of the air, tumbling right for the truck.
The impact was hard, and the bee staggered out, shaking for a minute before collapsing under the cold. Strongarm jumped from my wings before I landed, placing stasis cuffs on four of her … appendeges.
"Sweet collar, Strongarm," Sides complimented as I transformed beside Windblade. "How'd you know about the truck?"
"Every airport has a cold foam truck used by the fire and safety crew," she reported proudly. "And bees don't handle cold well,"
I heard Bee and the others walking towards us, and I grinned.
"Hey guys, wanna help me with something?"
As the others got closer, Sides, Strongarm and I hid behind the truck, our servos deep in the cold foam. My circuits argued this treatment, but it was worth it.
"Look, fearless leader," Windblade called, allowing Bumblebee to move closer. "Your cadet did a fine job," he stood directly in front of us, observing the downed con.
"Perfect. On three," I whispered. "One … two …"
"Three!" We jumped from behind, attacking Bee. He twisted, surprise etched into his faceplates, then chill as we scrubbed the foam in between his armour, touching his protoform and chilling his circuits. We bounced back off just as quickly, myself unable to control my laughter.
"What the frag was that for!?" he demanded angrily, already shaking from the cold.
I only laughed harder.
"Bees don't like cold!" I laughed, rolling a little extra on the ground.
He glared at me, only to start laughing beside me.