Mediziner's Notes: We get a little training in this one... Not else I could say about this but also a tad bit embarrassing...
Enjoy!
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"...I was never allowed to leave my home, nor were Nightblade and I taught much despite we often were a bit of rebels... We often secretly bought data pads to learn more about the world and kept them hidden." Sunblade said laughing sheepishly as she earned a soft chuckle from Military Storm heartily. "I don't regret being away from my family at all, while this isn't exactly the best situation she and I have been thrown in, but it's better than being locked away from the world."
Military Storm grimaced, he knew it was in part his fault this had happened. He'd always obeyed the family's rules on the young Femmes and thus, had never taken them outside or taught them much about it. When the family became worried about the war, he'd offered to take the Femmes off planet and away from it all but they had refused his request.
He now deeply regretted not insisting that the Femmes be moved off world rather than locked up in a statis pod. If he had, the two Femmes wouldn't now be in danger or extremely naive about the world.
"No matter what, even if they protest... I will not return to the Sun and Moon family... I just want to be normal like every other Cybertronian with nothing keeping me from leaving. I don't care about wealth, power, all that as I may have said before, freedom is what I truly desire and nothing more... And of course, to someday put my Mechanic skill into good use someday." Sunblade folded her arms behind her back slightly.
Smokescreen seemed interested as he spoke up.
"Really? You plan to become a Mechanic? Not many Femmes like getting their hands dirty so it's rare to find any who plan to study that station."
"I love getting my hands dirty," She said with a giggle. "My Mother would faint if she saw us all covered in stuff, Femmes aren't meant to be anything other than spotless but that's what I like. After all, why should Mechs have all the fun?"
Smokescreen roared into a laughter as he agreed. "If Military Storm approves, I can teach you whenever you'd like."
"Really!?" Sunblade's sky blue optics sparkling instantly at the offer. "I'd love to learn all there is about being a Mechanic!"
Spinning around to face the old Mech, said exclaimed.
"Oh please let me study, I've waited so long for a proper teacher, this could be my one chance to become a proper Mechanic!"
"Hmm..." Military Storm began studying both Sunblade and Smokescreen for a moment silently, taking his time to think. Knowing SolarFlash and Lunarstreak will want his hide for this, he sighed in defeat and said:
"Very well, I permit it. As much as it is against Lady Lunarstreak and Lord SolarFlash's wishes, it's better if you learn what's all around you than be cooped up. While I can never understand how both your creators can handle it, I know Seekers and other Aerial types are known for always wanting to be in the sky, and absolutely hate being grounded. In addition, I myself had also wished that you learn new things."
She squealed with joy before flinging her arms around his neck, exclaiming.
"Thank you, thank you 'Storm!"
"Nngh...! The arm, Sunblade!" Military Storm grunted out as he clutched his shoulder slightly, however this caught the attention of Red Alert. 'Uh oh... Here we go again...' He thought to himself, he could feel Red Alert's optics staring onto his back.
While he knew himself Red Alert isn't as frightening as Ratchet would be back on Cybertron but Red Alert had a similar stern attitude that had at times remind him of Ratchet's.
"Ooh, sorry!" She said, quickly letting go of him.
"No, it's fine... I just haven't recovered fully yet-" Looking over to the side behind Smokescreen, he could see Optimus Prime who seemed to have wanted a word with him as he could see from his old friend looking at him. Frowning, he excused himself to speak with Optimus.
"Yes Optimus?" He said as they both stepped outside the Med Bay for more privacy.
"I am rather disappointed in you, old friend." Optimus began with a short pause before continuing. "You were not to leave the base until you were fully healed... You could have possibly run into Megatron if he slipped from my sights. He would have the advantage to tear you apart again if he spotted you wandering about, still injured."
Knowing it would come down to this, Military Storm lowered his head. "I'm sorry, sir. I would never had to disobey but Sunblade hadn't been... Responsive to you or the others, so I grew worried and had to do something. I'll need to teach Sunblade how to control her temper. Again, I never meant to disobey Optimus sir." He finished with a salute.
Optimus stared at him for a moment before nodding. "Sunblade needs to learn discipline, she cannot allow herself to be baited so easily and force others to rescue her. She won't last long I'm afraid if that keeps happening. But I do not want you rushing into battle unless it's absolutely necessary."
"Yes sir..." Military Storm replied, guilt swelling throughout his circuits, he then continued: "She's still very new to the world as with Nightblade, but I will be teaching Sunblade all that is necessary for her to learn."
"Teach her well my friend," Optimus advised. "It won't be this easy if more Decepticons join Megatron here or if we return to Cybertron."
"I won't let you down, Optimus sir! I will train her to all I can." The old Mech straightening himself up as he saluted.
"Good Mech," Optimus said, clapping him on the shoulder before saying gently. "I don't mean to be harsh on you old friend, I would rather prefer if Sunblade was protected and remain relatively innocent but I'm afraid it can't happen. Better that she be prepared otherwise when something bad does happen, she won't shatter so badly."
"I understand very well, Optimus." Military Storm acknowledged with a nod. "I'll be in the rec room getting a cube, I'm a little exhausted from the battle. Excuse me, sir." The Triple Changer taking his leave afterwards in the direction of the rec room.
Optimus watched him go before heading back into the Med Bay to see how things were progressing. Sunblade and Smokescreen were chatting animatedly while Red Alert was setting up an energon drip for the little Mini-Con. Optimus strode over and quietly asked.
"How is he?"
"Air Raid is currently stabilized, but it may take him a while to recover as I've done all I could. He'll just need rest now." Red Alert replied.
Optimus nodded, looking down sadly at the small Mini-Con. It wasn't right that such gentle beings like them were forced to fight and be weapons in this war.
Decepticon Lunar Base:
"Hold still," Nightblade commanded, she was currently patching up Starscream's wound.
The red and white Seeker struggled to keep still as best as he could, growling in pain. It had been a very long time since he had been this severely injured before and removing the remains of Smokescreen's crane hook had been no easy process and was extremely painful. The hook had been dug deeply into his back and partially his wing.
But, at least he finally had his own Mini-Con, so his pain was worth it. If he'd failed, then he would have been furious but instead, he had his Mini-Con which was a small comfort.
"Ouch!" He snarled as Nightblade delicately plucked out a piece of shrapnel of the hook.
"I told you to remain still," She reminded him just as Megatron appeared in the doorway.
The two Seekers looked in the direction of Megatron slowly.
"Megatron, had something malfunctioned perhaps? Or... What could be your business that you have here?" Nightblade asked. In truth she really did not want to speak with anyone after what had Scavenger told her, she wasn't sure even if it's what he said, would Megatron grow tired of how she prefers to keep herself around the 'Cons and perhaps have plans to break her out of her 'emotionless' state in the future? Either way, she waited patiently for the tyrant Leader's response while she afterwards resumed her work carefully, removing the remaining pieces of shrapnel of the hook as gentle as she can be.
He offered her a cold smile as he said. "Can I not check up on my soldiers?"
"Ah... Yes... My apologies, I am just a tad exhausted." Nightblade responded, formality slowly drawing in her tone before quickly added. "Of course, I am never exhausted from doing my job."
"Indeed," he said before turning to Starscream. "Well, Starscream. It seems you managed to recover the Mini-Con."
"That I have." Starscream said as his optics shifted to his Mini-Con, Swindle, who is currently getting checked up by First Aid.
Megatron smiled before saying. "I've been wanting a new Mini-Con to go with Leader-1."
Nightblade kept quiet as they chatted. Eventually she's finally finished removing all of the shrapnel of the remains of Smokescreen's hook and began proceeding to close the wound up entirely. She knew she'll need a nice energon bath as she's been slightly covered in Starscream's energon life force while tending to his wounds.
"You're not taking Swindle, we've already bonded," Starscream said sharply as Megatron chuckled. "No soldier, I'm not but if one of my men can bring me a new Mini-Con, they would be rewarded."
Eventually as the two Mechs chatted, First Aid finished checking on Swindle as he spoke in their native language that he's all clear, hadn't found anything out of the ordinary.
"What did you do before you were awakened?" First Aid asked curiously, he'd never met this Mini-Con before.
"Over-Run had me do maintenance while on board the Exodus when it was still functioning. Boring job, but at least I had something to do." The little red Mini-Con replied, shrugging his tire shaped shoulders.
"Is maintenance what you're qualified in?" First Aid questioned, completing his report on the new Mini-Con.
"Who knows? Maybe I was qualified for it, maybe I was not. Who's the Femme? I haven't seen Megatron go around with a Femme in his squads before." Swindle replied.
"Oh, she's formerly a Neutral who Megatron discovered while coming to this planet," First Aid explained. "It was too dangerous to send her to Cybertron so he has made an exception and allowed her in his squad. She is a Medic and my partner."
He paused before asking. "Were you a Decepticon Mini-Con before coming to Earth? Were you unable to finish your training for maintenance?"
"Yeah, Seems I still am, too." Swindle replied in a shrugging tone. "So the Femme has a name? You haven't said her name. On top of that, I don't think I've seen you among the other Decepticon Mini-Cons. Don't think I care either way but the Femme's name, I'd want to know."
"Oh, er, her name is Nightblade," First Aid said, while nervously turning away. How could he say that he'd once been a partner to an 'Autobot' Medic under Ratchet.
"Hm. For a Neutral, she's not too bad with her job. And is also the first time I've seen a Decepticon Medical Officer. Megatron never seemed to like Medics as far as rumours went years ago, no idea why, nor do I care." Swindle said with a sort of scoff, he was the type who hadn't had much care for others, but like back on Cybertron, he showed loyalty to Starscream and only him.
"How strange," First Aid said before Swindle said. "But wouldn't you know that already?"
"Uhh, no... I was always... Mostly lost in my work, so I have not... Known..." First Aid replied, stiffening in slight fear as he turned away, facing his work space.
"Uh huh," Swindle said suspiciously as Starscream suddenly said. "Swindle, come along, we need to train."
Looking at his partner with a nod, he stood up. Before the Indy styled racer Mini-Con left, Swindle gave another suspicious look at First Aid before walking over to the edge and hopped onto Starscream's hand with a big leap as the red and white Seeker along with him took their leave.
'Primus, that was close...' First Aid thought to himself, still a tad shaky as he stood up and walked on over to one of the Transformer sized data pads to study.
'But I don't know how long I can disguise the fact I was once an Autobot Mini-Con... And if given the chance... I'd happily return to being one'
Megatron still remained in the Med Bay, though his optics seem to be trailing about on towering stacks of data pads, just where did Nightblade find all of them? "Something troubles you, Megatron?" Nightblade couldn't help but curiously ask. She was slightly moving some stacks of data pads that were elsewhere in the room to another spot.
"What are all those data pads?" He questioned, moving closer to get a better look.
"Some are from studies First Aid and I did back on Earth during when no Mini-Con hunts were going on, sir. Again, it's a Medical Officer's job to do as much researching and studying for better solutions to tending to the wounded as to the best of our abilities. Some beings could possibly contain cures that can hopefully be extracted to help fight off Cybertronian viruses and illnesses as many would say back on Cybertron." Nightblade replied, moving more small stacks of data pads elsewhere then added. "I know I'm not much, but it's better to prepare for anything so First Aid and I have been keeping ourselves busy."
"Hmm," He said thoughtfully, looking at them. "I suppose that's fair enough, you may carry on with your duties."
As she nodded, he went to leave but paused at the door.
"You don't always have to explain yourself so thoroughly, you're not a youngling in school who might be chastised."
And with that, he left.
Nightblade hadn't said a thing but did raise an optic brow. Shaking her head with a soft sigh. 'First Scavenger, then Megatron... Lovely. This makes me hate my heritage even more.' Turning slightly, looking over at her partner. "I'm going to wash up, First Aid since I'm not needed for the time being." Excusing herself as she enters the wash room to prepare, closing the door behind her.
"Are you... Nevermind," He said sadly, his poor partner. She was so new to all of this and was having trouble adjusting to a life that wasn't her home.
'Tch... Just because I'm smaller than the average height a normal Femme would be doesn't mean I should be considered a youngling...' Nightblade grumbled to herself quietly, changing out of her armour after she had filled the tub. 'Oh well... Nothing I can do about it anyways...' Nightblade sank slowly into the filled warm bath, sighing as she relaxes.
'I highly doubt Megatron, possibly along with the others will ever think I'm a normal full grown Femme... Why do I have to be so small?' With an annoyed sigh, Nightblade reached for a sort of cloth to try to cleanse her wings.
She and her sister had always wished to be bigger but it had never happened. And now she knew why, they were two halves of a full grown Femme, of course they weren't normal sized.
'Oh well... I suppose in time... Some of the Sun and Moon family had ended up seeing me as a Femling so no blame on that... Perhaps it will take the Decepticons time, too just like the others.' Nightblade sighed as she struggled with the cloth a bit, having trouble reaching her wings.
"Curse it!" She exclaimed, she just couldn't reach. 'First Aid, could you come and help me please?'
'Very well, I'll be in shortly.' First Aid replied, setting his things down and making his way over towards the wash room. He's glad that his kind at least were built to not get injured from getting up or down Transformer sized furniture. He entered the washroom but wasn't looking at his partner. "I'm... Here." First Aid spoke up.
"Thank goodness," She said with relief. "I need help with my wings."
"Oh uhh... Of course..." First Aid made his way closer to the tub so that he could wait for Nightblade to lower her hand down, but continuing to not look at his partner.
"That's the annoying thing about wings, you can never reach the very back..." Nightblade complained.
"I can see that... I think..." First Aid wasn't sure how he could respond to that completely, he was only a normal Mini-Con and not a Seeker Mini-Con. "And... I suppose as to what you've tried having me do, when you have asked me at some point to figure out why your wings are... Indeed sensitive..." He waited after being gently scooped up by Nightblade as he was given a cloth, though seeming a bit big to him but he could somehow try to get every spot on her wings nice and clean.
"They do seem overly sensitive, primarily for Seekers," She sighed.
First Aid hadn't seemed to respond but began helping Nightblade with her wings once he was placed on her shoulder, he had to be very careful not to clean a little too light or too hard, he wouldn't want to trigger anything, especially at how small he is comparing to her. 'Curse my small form...' He thought to himself as he assisted.
"This may take a while," He apologized. "I'm too small to do this quickly."
"Not a problem at all." Nightblade responded, seeming to sigh in relieve as First Aid helped her with her wings, it felt very very nice, they also seem to shake very very slightly, showing how sensitive they are.
"Is that alright?" He questioned, a little worried he might be too rough.
"You're fine, First Aid." The Femme Seeker replied, giggling as she seemed to enjoy it very much. "Just be careful not to slip, it wouldn't be good if you got soaked in your armour." She quickly added afterwards.
"No, I remember last time," He said ruefully, recalling that embarrassing incident.
"Hmm... Is something on your mind, First Aid? I couldn't understand what you and Swindle were talking about hence both of you speaking in your native language but... The expressions you were giving off seemed troubled... Swindle hasn't said anything to hurt you, did he?" Nightblade asked softly, looking over her shoulder towards her wing where First Aid had almost finished, drawing close to the tip.
"No, no, he was just talking about what he did before coming to Earth," He explained. "He was a Decepticon Mini-Con before we were all forced to flee and he... Wanted to know what I did."
"Hmm... I see..." Nightblade began to stretch a bit, though unconsciously as she seemed to sit up just a tad bit to get more comfortable. "I don't think these Decepticons will see that I'm a full grown Femme... I felt like Megatron earlier just treated me like as if I were a Femling... Not everyone is the average height that's common..." She gave a heavy sigh.
"I uh... I don't think he thinks you're a youngling because of your height," First Aid said gently. "There are Mini Bots after all, they are Transformers who never reach a great height but are still a lot larger than Mini-Cons."
"Mini Bots? That's possible...? I do know there are Natives from Gigantion... They are a lot taller than almost any known Transformer..." Nightblade pondered, seeming lost in her thoughts.
"Indeed," First Aid said with a nod. "Some are so big that they can transform into small bases or vehicle carriers. I suppose Mini Bots would be dwarves in human terms..."
Nightblade watched as First Aid moved onto the next wing. "Into bases!? Can't believe there are so many things I've missed while being trapped in my home... I know though I do plan to never go back, someone else can take the lead than I. Freedom is all I want, and to learn..."
"I hope you find your freedom," First Aid said earnestly.
"I will, just simply need to complete something that's done before and hopefully I shouldn't have anymore issues with it... But of course... I don't have anywhere to go if I did complete the traditional challenge." Nightblade responded, sighing in despair.
"You'll find something," He assured her. "A lot of 'bots start off with no where to go, you can get rented accommodation and move on from there."
"True... Well there is a lot to think about, of course." Nightblade could feel the cloth removed from her wing, First Aid had finished as she glances at them then looks at First Aid again, smiling. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," He mumbled, still rather embarrassed by the fact she was naked and he was cleaning her beautiful form.
"Hmm... I should take the time to study more about the body... There is still much to learn for me." Nightblade idly said, thinking. After a few astroseconds, she looked towards her partner. "Well, since you are here, why not have an Energon Bath?"
"Oh uh, I don't want to impose," He stammered.
"If you feel that way, there is no need for force of course, I'm not like the others. I still have my honour as a Neutral." The Femme Seeker replied as she stretched a bit. sinking a bit into the Energon Bath.
"I don't mean to offend," He said quickly. "I just don't want you to think you must offer me a bath just because I helped you."
"Hmm... I suppose..." Nightblade carefully puts First Aid onto the side of the Energon tub edge as she climbs out, after draining the Energon. "I think I've spent enough now."
"How are you feeling?" First Aid questioned. "You were a little tense earlier."
Shaking her head, Nightblade replied: "No, it's nothing much... I'm just only tired of being looked down as a 'Femling' as I'm clearly full grown. First my family, then these Decepticons." Sighing in despair, she attaches her armour back on piece by piece."
"These Mechs are a lot older than you," First Aid assured her. "Especially Megatron and that Scavenger, everyone probably seems like a youngling to them."
With the last latches clicked in, armour now fully secured. Nightblade gently holds out her hand, lowering it next to First Aid for him to hop on. "True... I can only hope that someday I'll get things sorted out once I return someday... To Cybertron. I probably won't mind at all much anymore now if these Decepticon Insignias are stuck with me for the rest of my life once I leave them... Even though it could be a possibility the Autobots could mark me as a criminal, despite I haven't even killed anyone yet..."
"Well, if ever a cease fire could be orchestrated, your record would stand you in good stead," He assured her before sighing. "Although the chances of that are regrettably low..."
"Hmm... You did mention before that the war had been going on for a very long time... Even though I was supposed to sleep the war away, I often have to wonder how was I exactly found...? Then again, I still think I'm not... Real... Only just a..." She couldn't say it, she just could not say that she's only alive alongside Sunblade so Silverfang is kept alive herself, being the real thing out of her and her twin. With a heavy sigh, she walked back into the Med Bay with First Aid, setting him down gently near his workspace, then sat down at her stool.
"It's been going on ever since our power was discovered," First Aid sighed. "When bots realized what they could do with us, they started trying to gather us and things escalated until war broke out. Even when we were gone, that didn't stop the fighting."
"What...? Hm, both Autobots and Decepticons are strange..." Nightblade replied with an optic brow raised. "Now continuously before you guys were discovered, fighting over nothing... Anyways, I should get a cube, care to tag along?" Nightblade stood from her stool slowly, waiting for First Aid's response.
"Thank you, I think I will," He said with a smile.
Nodding, she then spoke. "Perhaps a bit of exercise could be in order... You should stretch your wheels once and a while, too. ...I'm just hoping Scavenger doesn't pester me already, or Megatron questioning me about..." Pausing briefly, biting her lip slightly. "Well... My partially true self."
"I'm sure they won't, we've only just had a hunt."
Nightblade watched as First Aid slid down the little ladder and transformed into his vehicle mode, speeding out at a regular speed as Nightblade herself starts off exiting her Med Bay and towards the rec room idly. 'I can only hope Scavenger's not in the rec room... He's already scaring me enough...' She had to resist gritting her teeth, especially revealing her fangs.
Thankfully, when they arrived, they discovered that Scavenger was no where to be seen. Nightblade gratefully entered and grabbed herself and First Aid a cube each before going to her dark table.
Sipping her cube, she stared out through the broken window of the base, a little bit of Earth was seen from inside... Perhaps it's dark where the Autobots are, though she knew she had to control her urges of bathing in the Darkness with the Moon's rays against her as she's already had plenty of it during the Hunt.
Sighing in despair, she swirled the liquid inside of the cube idly, her optics locked onto the cube. 'Ugh, just no use... With Scavenger being a part of the Decepticons, theres no way I can focus completely... I just know he'll make me a laughing stock by exposing my 'true' self... Grrr...'
She didn't know what to do, should she avoid him or confront him.
It wasn't long until she was snapped out of thought, hearing footsteps approaching the rec room. 'H-Hm...? Who's coming...?' Straightening herself up quickly, she had her back to the entrance/exit of the rec room, not wanting to bother who came in, trying to play it normal by pretending she hadn't heard who came in.
"Oh, I hope it's not Scavenger," She thought to herself, wondering if she'd jinxed it.
The footsteps grew louder and louder, though they weren't as loud as Megatron's or Scavenger's thank primus, though she couldn't make out who's footsteps were they until she heard a voice.
"Nightblade, where were you? Y-You were supposed to be training back outside." The voice belonging to none other than the Anti-Aircraft Tank himself.
"I was?" she said before almost smacking her forehead. "Of course, I'm so sorry Demolishor."
"We're trying a few tricks, I can show you once you're done with your cube, don't take too long." Demolishor replied as he left the rec room, Nightblade assuming he's returning back outside to the training area.
She sighed, rubbing her face as she said,
"I can't believe I forgot about that."
"We all make mistakes, Nightblade." First Aid replied, he had just finished his cube.
"You can go ahead and head on out if you'd like, I-" First Aid cutting himself off as he groans, spotting Leader-1 waving over at him from the exit of the rec room, knowing that means there will be more training. "Looks like I'll have to train too... Leader-1's here..."
"Oh... Good luck with that," She said, knowing he didn't get on very well with Leader-1.
She watched her partner leave with Leader-1, though she, too, would have to take her leave to see Demolishor, whom is to teach her more about blasters. Without anymore delay, she got up and took her leave towards the training area. However... Her mood was killed as soon as she spotted Scavenger on the far opposite side, seeming to observe everyone's training.
"Of course he'd be here," She groaned to herself.
Nightblade pretended not to notice Scavenger as she simply walked over to Demolishor. "Sorry for taking so long, I'm ready for what's there to learn about blasters." She said casually.
"Hmm," Demolishor said before he began his explanation on blasters.
"Before I start, are you willing to try heavier blasters...?" He asked before he could say anything else.
"I am," She said with a simple nod.
Without a word, Demolishor goes to fetch a suitable blaster, he would choose a rather nice full heavy blaster but instead, he had decided to choose a simple medium blaster not too heavy nor too light. The Anti-Aircraft Tank returned with a medium blaster of his choice. "Here, this one seems suitable." He gave the blaster over to Nightblade gently, being careful not to have the nozzle pointing at either of their faceplates.
"Thank you," She said, testing the weight and size of the blaster.
Unknown to the both of them, Scavenger's optics were on them, observing quietly. 'Now what's this here... Demolishor's teaching her how to use heavy blasters, hmm? Heh, lets see how this will turn out.' The old Mech smirking to himself.
He could tell she did not have a lot of experience with blasters so this would be interesting.
"Now larger blasters would have a lot more recoil than smaller ones, and overheat a lot quicker. I've been told it's much more harder to use in the air unless you're really experienced. This, I was told by a flyer. It is possible to charge medium blasters for a more powerful shot but they overheat too quickly before you could tell that you need to release the trigger." Demolishor said, pointing out different parts of the weapon as he explained to Nightblade.
"When you're in the air, you'll need to be more prepared to brace yourself, you won't have the ground to keep yourself in position."
Nightblade thought for a moment, then nodded. Taking to the skies slightly, only hovering as she positioned the blaster, ready to fire as she spotted a couple chunks of rock she could use the weapon on. She gained a bit more altitude, readying the blaster as she begins to prepare to fire.
"Don't forget the recoil!" Demolishor called up to her and she nodded.
With a pull of the trigger, the recoil was so powerful for Nightblade. Knowing that unlike Sunblade, she wasn't as strong as her younger twin is and that she nearly lost her balance in the air completely. 'Yeow, that was a strong recoil...!' Looking at where the blast had landed, it had missed the rock she was targeting. 'Missed...'
"Try again!" Demolishor instructed.
Nightblade tried to focus more as she slowly willed herself to land back on the ground. Aiming carefully, she fired a couple shots, the recoil was still very powerful and it was pushing her back slightly but did more better than in the sky.
"Hhn..." She grunted as she tried to hold herself steady and not go flying backwards every time she took a shot.
Somehow, it seemed now that it made sense to Demolishor, it had been putting to questioning himself if Nightblade would possess the same strength as her younger sister but it now seemed clear to him that she did not. He now knew Nightblade was more of a stealthy type of Seeker who's choice of weapons are small light weapons and light blasters.
Clearly, she would not be able to handle a heavier blaster, light to medium light were the blasters for her.
'Hm, I could make some adjustments to a medium blaster for her. An alt mode's blasters aren't enough.' The Anti-Aircraft Tank thought to himself as he observed carefully, he knows fully well sometimes Nightblade's small blaster wouldn't be enough, especially in critical situations.
She fired again and yelped as it was a bit too powerful and sent her flying backwards.
"Oww!" She yelped, landing on her aft.
Demolishor simply frowned, walking over and taking the blaster from Nightblade's arms. "Don't accept any offers that you can't handle, even if it's too heavy for you." He said sternly. "Hm, we'll need to see what we can do for you with a simple single handed blaster."
"Sorry," She said as he offered a hand and pulled her to her feet. "I'm not so good with heavy weaponry."
"We will stick with what suits you best, better than trying to make yourself look like a fool in front of the others." Demolishor said as he looks at the weapon he took from Nightblade's arms. "Hm... I could provide some adjustments to this, the type of weapon I've gathered for you seems possible to adjust to suit your fittings, making it lighter and easier for you to hold onto. But for now, we'll start with the usual like before. Go get a light blaster and I'll prepare some targets."
"Right," She said with a nod, hurrying to do as he'd asked. At least he didn't make fun of her for not being able to handle the heavier weapons.
As Nightblade returned with a light blaster of her choice, Demolishor had just finished setting up some targets, they were set up far out and were small, provided to be a challenge as he returned towards Nightblade.
"Have a go at these, you shouldn't have to worry about the recoil, just your aim," He told her.
"I'll do my best." Nightblade replied with a nod, getting into position as she carefully aimed and fires the blaster, trying to hit all of the targets.
"Just to focus on the individual targets before firing," Demolishor said.
He waited for Nightblade to relax, once she has, he began explaining as he taught her all that he knows. "What you should do is first relax, get used to the feel of your blaster and the recoils it may have, the more you use your weapon, the better you become used to the recoiling, never let your grip falter as which will allow the enemy to shoot it out of your hand." Demolishor instructed.
She nodded as he continued.
Scavenger meanwhile could not believe what he's seeing, he highly doubted Nightblade would fare in blasters if she couldn't even break his defenses in melee combat. Civilians... It would take her eons to become a highly skilled soldier. 'She's too hesitant in using weapons...' He thought to himself, slightly shaking his head.
She couldn't afford to be hesitant, she just needed to throw herself into the simulation with full concentration. You couldn't afford to overly think your moves, you needed to react fast.
Demolishor watched as Nightblade fired at the targets he had set up, she was slowly improving. He knew she seemed to fare well with a blade but unfortunately, melee weapons weren't exactly his specialty, knowing Starscream would be better at teaching her to sharpen her skills in blades. The Anti-Aircraft Tank continued to toss in a few hints and tips from time to time as he trained her.
Finally, he said. "That's enough, take a break and recover."
Lowering the blaster, Nightblade nodded as she gave the blaster to Demolishor. Once the blaster had been removed from her hands, she headed off somewhere not too far to simply sit down. Quietly, she looked all around at the other Mechs doing their own business. However, she hadn't like how Scavenger's actually looking in her direction, which had made her rather uncomfortable...
Had he been watching her whole training session? Did he disapprove, was he unimpressed that she hadn't been able to handle the heavy duty blasters?
Pushing that aside, Megatron seemed to be communicating with Leader-1, judging from seeing his lips move. Cyclonus as usual blasting at the illusional drones of Autobots, Demolishor had begun doing his own thing and finally Starscream with his wing sword.
'Speaking of that, I haven't used my daggers in a while... Last hunt I only used my vehicle mode's blasters.' She idly said to herself, thinking.
"I wonder if I could give them a go..." she murmured.
Nightblade thought for a moment then looked at her vertical stabilizers then to Starscream, would he still be up to teaching her more in the blade?
There was no harm in approaching him, perhaps if she started doing something she was good at, Scavenger might stop staring at her. She really wanted to shift his attention onto something else.
Getting up, Nightblade approached off to the side, watching Starscream practise with his sword for a bit, unsure if she should speak or not as he seemed very deep in concentration.
She decided to wait for a moment, see if he noticed her and perhaps acknowlede her presence. After a few moments, he turned and glanced at her, seeing that she was waiting.
"What is it?" He questioned.
"Oh err... I was wondering if... You would still be willing to teach me more there is with the blade?" Nightblade replied curiously.
"You want to train now?" Starscream rasped and when she nodded, said. "Very well."
Nightblade willed her daggers to form as the hilts slipped comfortably into her hands as she grips them firmly, showing she's ready.
"Good, come along," Starscream commanded, moving into a move open area.
Nightblade obeyed as she followed the Air Commander quietly.
"Show me the basics first," He commanded. "I will see what needs to be improved."
With a confirmed nod, twirling the blades backwards, she backed up to gain some space and performed the basics to the best of her abilities, however it seemed rather rusted, in a manner of she hadn't used her blades in a long while.
She grumbled, she didn't want to seem like a novice and forced herself to focus. She needed to show him that she could do these moves flawlessly.
Nightblade performed to the best of her abilities as she could, seeming to straighten up more as she showed Starscream. After eventually making a finish, she asked cautiously. "...How was that?"
"Not too bad but you started out extremely rusted. You must be able to perform instantly and flawlessly."
"Ah, I was afraid of that..." Nightblade frowned, straightening herself as she brought one blade up to look at her reflection a tad bit before bringing her arms back down again, asking. "What is there to learn? I'm ready to learn whatever there is to learn of course."
"Well, you must practise as often as possible, I would advise at least two times a cycle," he advised. "But for now, we shall focus on your defensive maneuvers."
"I shall keep in mind of that, very well. I'm ready to begin." Nightblade responded, adjusting herself to a defensive position.
"Move those blades a little closer to your body," Starscream ordered.
With a nod, she did as Starscream ordered, bringing the blades closer to her body cautiously.
"Better, the enemy has less chance of knocking your blades away," Starscream explained.
"Hmm... Yes... I think now that I think about it, I need to try to defend more from the larger blades... Sunblade's heavy sword is still a problem for me while I'm not powerlinkxed with First Aid..." Nightblade frowned, seeming to resist the urge to snarl.
"You must overcome that, you cannot rely solely on your Mini-Con partner," The Seeker told her sternly.
"Hm... Perhaps with a regular two handed weapon, I could practise defending myself, get used to the weight of it coming down against my daggers..." Nightblade seeming to trail off into thoughts, but still showed keeping a firm defense stance remaining strong.
"You should do that," Starscream said with an approving nod.
"I'm not sure if anyone else is skilled in the blade as you are... Well, Scavenger is skilled, that I know, but I doubt I'd be willing to train with him... Mysterious atmosphere to me that one has, of course obviously you would care less." Nightblade responded with a slight shrug.
He gave her an odd look at her choice of words but said.
"He is a strange one, but this is what old war Mechs tend to be."
"Hm... Aside from that, what else is there to learn?" Nightblade replied, seeming to relax her stance slowly.
"How to do with the situation if one or both your blades are knocked aside," Starscream told her promptly.
Nightblade wasn't sure how to respond, seeming very clueless. Curse it all, she wished she knew the answer...
"Try it," Starscream said. "defend yourself against me with one blade."
Nodding, she willed one of her blades back into her vertical stabilizer as she readies herself with her remaining blade.
She was nervous, Starscream was so experienced, could she defend herself? Her answer came when Starscream made a fast movement and her other blade was knocked from her hands. She gasped, staring in shock as the blade flew away.
Nightblade recovered but hadn't said a thing, only frowned, crossing her arms. She looked in the direction of where her blade went then back to Starscream.
"Well?" He said pointedly. "I could easily strike you down right now."
"Yes... I will need to learn to strengthen my grip on the blade, while avoiding attempts of being disarmed..." Nightblade replied quietly. "That, or only the extremely skilled know how to defend..."
"You also need to retrieve your weapon should you lose it," He reminded her.
Willing the other blade, Nightblade went to retrieve her disarmed dagger. Returning back to her spot after retrieving the dagger. "Seems I still have a long way to go... Especially with one blade..." Nightblade spoke again, looking at both of her daggers.
"You do," He told her. "And once you lose your weapon, you should try to retrieve it instantly, do not stand there looking shocked because you will be taken down."
Nightblade seemed to look more disappointed, antenna lowering slightly. Could she really be able to pull it off preventing herself from being disarmed at all?
"Come, let us try it," Starscream said briskly. "I will disarm you and you will try to retrieve it. As it's your first go, you won't be under any firepower."
She silently nodded, preparing herself again and readying herself in a defense position.
He nodded at her once before suddenly lashing out and knocking the blade from her hand, sending it once again flying through the air. Her head turned to follow it but that was a mistake as something hooked behind her knees before she could move and she found herself on her aft again.
"Not fast enough," Starscream abolished.
Nightblade sighed to herself in her thoughts, this was not as simple as she'd expected, how would she be able to pull off dodging such speed and prevent herself completely from getting disarmed before an enemy has a chance? Surely she must be doing terrible or let alone humiliating Starscream with her lack of the blade... Nightblade slowly got back up and retrieved her dagger again, then returned back to Starscream.
"Alright, now again," Starscream commanded.
Nodding, her expression turning serious as she positioned herself again in the defense position. She carefully watched and waited for Starscream to make his move, on full focus and alert.
He was still for a moment, obviously planning his move before lunging and smacking the blade from her hand. This time, she tried to move as soon as the blade was flying but ended up tripping and falling to the ground. However, she had managed to avoid Starscream's second swipe at her and tried to roll away as he attempted to stop her.
Nightblade struggled to get back up on her feet before she was completely pinned, she had to retrieve her other dagger quickly and it would not do her any good if she had to defend with one as it would break her defense rather easily. 'Need to... Get my dagger back before Starscream stops me...' She thought to herself, struggling.
She scrambled to get away from him before it suddenly occurred to her that she could fly. She activated her thrusters and tried to shoot up but he seemed to have anticipated this move.
'Frag it... He's so quick! Need to think of something...' Nightblade continued to struggle getting away and to regain her dagger but it seemed that Starscream is preventing her from doing so, she had to think of something before she was fully pinned down again with nowhere else to go.
The least she could do was not to remain on the ground, giving him an opportunity to pin her down to a point where she had nowhere left to run or get away.
'Come on, I'm a Seeker, this is one thing I was always allowed to do, practise my flying!' she growled to herself.
She watched as Starscream lunged forth in an attempt to disarm her other blade. At this speed thankfully wasn't too fast for her for once as she reversed her thrusters instinctively, skidding backwards as she quickly side steps to attempt to retrieve her dagger.
"Ahh!" She yelped as a quick turn only just saved her from being hit by Starsream who was mercilessly chasing her down.
Nightblade had to dodge a few times whenever the strikes Starscream threw at her were too fast, but she was able to now learn the patterns slowly, piece by piece of each of his moves. She blocked his wing sword and dodged certain swings that can't be blocked or were too fast for her to defend herself.
"Better," He said with a tight smile. "But you're still only just managing to escape, if I'm calling for backup, you've only got a limited amount of time to retrieve your weapon."
Nightblade silently nodded, she had to figure out how to get to her other dagger in a short amount of time, she would have more better advantage in defending herself better with both blades in her hands.
She decided to go on the offensive, suddenly charging at Starscream, slashing at him with her single dagger.
Unfortunately, because Nightblade was not as fast as Starscream, this allowed the red and white seeker to sidestep out of the way fluently and grab hold of Nightblade's wrists, bringing her arms behind her back, disarming her of her dagger without effort as she could not break free of his iron grip.
"Damn," She swore as he chuckled, holding her close.
"Nice try," he told her with a grin. "But you have to be prepared for your enemy doing that to you."
Nightblade looked over her shoulder at Starscream for a moment then gave a short silent nod, there were no more signs of anymore struggling as she remained still. 'Okay... I should wait until I have BOTH of my daggers instead of one... Perhaps...' She thought to herself.
Starscream lowered himself to the ground and let her go, allowing her to step away and rub her arms.
"This is something we must work on," He told her. "It's all very well being able to use a weapon but if you become completely helpless when you lose your weapon, then it's all pointless."
"Indeed." Nightblade replied with a slight frown, rubbing her arms slightly as she distanced herself from Starscream, going to retrieve her daggers.
"Do you wish to continue or stop for this cycle?" Starscream questioned.
"I can continue a bit longer, I haven't... Improved with my daggers in a long while... If that is alright?" Nightblade replied again, facing the blades backwards again after retrieving both of them.
"It's your choice," He said with a shrug.
"I'm willing to learn all there is in the art of using blades." Nightblade's tone turning formal instinctively, determination written on her faceplate.
"Right," He said slowly, a little bemused by her formal words. "Well, shall we try again?"
"Ready as always, whenever you are as well." Nightblade moved into a stance, showing she's ready as she waits for Starscream cautiously.
"Right," He said, flexing his shoulders as she tensed.
Megatron was watching closely by now, interested to know how well Nightblade would do this time.
Nightblade moved to a defensive stance, carefully watching as she's deep in focus. She was determined to try to get better and improve than before.
'I can do this' She thought to herself, ignoring everything but the Mech in front of her.
She resisted the urge to flinch as she saw Starscream took into action, making the first move as she quickly reacted, defending herself despite he was much more quicker than she is, having to dodge at times with every swift move or if a certain swing cannot be blocked. 'So... Fast...!' She screamed to herself in her processor, struggling to keep in the same speed as Starscream's.
'Primus... How could... I manage... Against more... Than... One!'
Not only Megatron is watching, but Demolishor and Scavenger were also watching, along with the Mini-Cons Leader-1, Swindle, First Aid, Crumplezone, and Blackout.
First Aid looked very anxious, as he always did whenever she trained with another. He hoped that Nightblade wouldn't push herself too hard to perform, she'd already fallen several times.
"The Femme Seeker seems to be improving little by little." Blackout said to his other fellow Mini-Con brethren before adding. "Though the other Seeker is much more agile and swift."
"He's one of the best," Swindle declared. "The other Seekers are jealous of his skill."
Leader-1 notices the slight worry and tensing First Aid was doing, he couldn't help but ask. "What is your problem, First Aid? You look like you're fussing over Nightblade could be sliced to nothing but scrap metal."
"She's my partner, of course I worry," First Aid retorted. "She is not an experienced warrior like the others, she has a higher chance of being hurt."
"Hah! You must have gotten a really bad partner then, First Aid." Crumplezone mocked, he was a type similar to Cyclonus, or it could have caught off of the crazy helicopter after being around them for a certain amount of time perhaps. "It must be terrible for you to be partnered with someone who doesn't even know scrap about fighting. You would be better off with another who knows how to really fight."
"She knows how to heal and that's what counts," First Aid said angrily. "All your partner knows is how to fire a blaster and crash."
"Grrrr, are you lookin' for a fight, huh!?" Crumplezone replied with a threatning tone, hands balling into fists. "You sound like an annoying little Autobot, you know that!" The Mini-Con snarled, he was itching for a fight.
"Heh, wow, getting a little tense." Swindle replied, backing up from First Aid and Crumplezone.
"How is pointing out that your master is an uncoordinated buffoon Autobot like?" First Aid said with contempt.
"That's... IT!" Crumplezone lunged at First Aid and attacked, Leader-1 stepped back as he tried to order the two to stand down but it was no use. "Swindle, help me separate these two, now." He commanded, struggling to separate Cyclonus and Nightblade's Mini-Cons.
"Why, they'll fight themselves out," Swindle argued as Leader-1 growled before turning to Blackout. "Help me!"
Blackout gave a slight shrug as he picked up both Mini-Cons by the scruffs of their armour, separating them then clobbering them together painfully as they cursed in their native language in pain then afterwards dropping them to the dusty moon's crust. "There, Leader-1. One end to a fight is complete." The bulky Mini-Con backing up and stood next to Swindle.
"Hmm," Leader-1 grumbled, that wasn't quite what he meant but nothing to be done now. Looking down at the groaning Mini-Cons, said. "Any more fighting and you will confined to the brig."
"Heh, I wanted to see who'd win, but whatever." Swindle said with a slight chuckle and a shrug of his tire shaped shoulders. "Anyways, looks like Starscream's showing no mercy to Nightblade at all." Pausing to look at his partner and the Femme Seeker before continuing. "The sparr feels a lot more tense than before, now."