Please note that these characters belong to their original creators as do any songs used in this fiction, not me, this is just my take on what might happen enjoy and let me know what you think.
also i am still trying to fix any mistakes that i might have missed in past chapters (i.e spelling, grammar and so on)
Now that they had been parted and the mood had been dampened, both Autobots headed outside to clear the air a little. With the threat of Galloway's plan knocked of track for the moment Sam at last started to take in his surrounds fully. Autobot city though only partly built was an impressive sight to behold, the last few times he had been out and about for any length of time he had his mind on things other than what was around him. The few buildings that had been fully finished were a stark contrast from the images Sam had seen in Optimus hologram of the killing fields where Megatron had made his home. The buildings were of course much larger than those normally seen on earth, with doors taller than the average house located on the ground level of most buildings. Some structures had doors built into them far from the ground most of which faced what would be more buildings. Sam was really puzzled by this design concept as he asked "why are there doors in the sides of buildings, they just lead to nowhere?". Bumblebee pointed at one of the doors and said "if you scan it you will find that there is a retractable platform at the same level as the bottom of the door, when the companion building is finished the two will be able to connect to each other allowing access between each on that level, some buildings will only have doors far above ground level to prevent intruders with the first building serving as a security check point for the second". The more Sam looked at the buildings the more he noticed how different they were from human designs, only the most modern structures were built differently from the standard oblong shape on this kind of scale. But here it was as if every new design had been given a home in one place, the buildings that had been completed were mostly made up of complex geometric designs. Each structure looked more complicated than the last almost as if each was a test as to how far building construction could be pushed in complexity.
Most structures were made of the standard materials but some looked like they had been built using new composites probably created by the Autobots in an attempt to make the buildings stronger. This gave these buildings an odd finish of dulled gold which was a stark contrast to the grays and silvers of the remaining buildings. Sam's optics soon turned to a large structure that was far from finished, it sat almost central in the city and looked like it would be some form of huge five sided tower that would stand far taller than the rest when finished. "do you know what that's going to be?" asked Sam. Bee looked to where Sam was pointing and replied "I have no idea sam, the design and position indicates that it will be important in some way but I don't think it's a command center or anything, usually things like that are shielded under ground for protection". As Sam thought about what it could be he caught sight of a smaller tower near by covered in dishes and antenna, "well that's the com center close to it, and it looks like many of the buildings will be connected to it for some reason because of all the doors on it's finished levels" said Sam. Bumblebee followed what Sam was saying but still couldn't think what this building could be "well unless optimus has decided to try a totally new approach to building a command centre I don't know what else would need that kind of connection to the rest of the city" said Bee now as curious as Sam. "well I don't think it's a power station" said Sam thinking aloud, "no our buildings have their own separate power supplies so the city can't be blacked out by one or two failures in a main system" replied Bee.
For some reason Sam found him self being drawn to the unfinished building, something in him wanted to see it up close and personal. "come on bee" said Sam as he transformed and drove off towards the central tower. Bumblebee quickly caught up with Sam and said "why do you want to see it sam, sure it's weird but you could just com some one and ask what it is with out driving over to it like this". Sam had no real explanation as to why he wanted to see it like this he just knew that he wanted to get as closer look as possible at the strange structure. Soon they were passing a more familiar section of the city, namely the Med bay. As they drew closer Ratchet stepped out of the main door and flagged them down. Both young Autobots knew that if they didn't slow down they would be taking to Ratchets wrench in a few seconds. Sam came to a stop at a distance far enough from Ratchet as to give him self room to outmaneuver any incoming wrench attacks. Sam transformed and said "I'm taking it easy, so is bee, you don't need to worry ratchet", the Med-bot just tilted his head and looked at Sam then Bumblebee and replied "I'm glad to hear it, but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about prime, we need to discuss a few things before any more time passes".
Being called Prime out in the open like this felt very strange for Sam, Apache had mostly called him sir and Optimus chose called him brother. But hearing the name Prime spoken as if it had always been his name was getting to be very unsettling for Sam "just call me sam ratchet, you've known me long enough" said Sam. The Med-bot let out a small grunt then said "fine, if that's what you want, at least your not trying to get me to call you sir like others have in the past". Sam found it hard to imagine anyone trying to get Ratchet to call them sir, especially if they knew him and his famous temper. "sam I need you and bumblebee to step into my med-bay for a minute, no it's not another test or repair before the two of you decide to make a run for it" said Ratchet as he walked back inside. Sam followed Ratchet and Bee did a quick scan just in case the Med-bot was trying to trick them to come in for some kind of check up, "bumblebee, I can detect you scanning the building from inside you know, it's not a trick or anything I just want to talk, when I want you here for a check up I'll simply drag your aft in here my self now get a move on" yelled Ratchet from inside the Med-bay. Bumblebee quickly but cautiously headed into the Med-bay, just in-case Ratchet was lying about this not being some kind of trap.
Once inside Bee looked round the room carefully before he decided it was safe and closed the door behind him. The first thing that hit Sam when he walked in was Apache laying on a large table, the aerial Autobot was deep in stasis with lots of machines connected to him and several armor panels opened up so that his internal components were clearly exposed. The first thought that sprung to Sam's mind was "is he ok?, he said that there was nothing seriously wrong with him", Sam hadn't meant to say it out loud but the shock of seeing someone he had been talking with a few hours before like this was to much to let him think straight. Ratchet looked Apache over for a second then replied "I've fixed most of the damage to his systems, he just needs to rest while the repairs take hold, he must have been in a bad fight before he got here, most of the damage looks very old and untreated by anything other than his auto-repair". "ratchet if I knew I would have never let him take any risk while we flew down here, I would have insisted that he be transported in a plane or something not fly down under his own power" said Sam worriedly. Ratchet just chuckled lightly as he noticed how protective Sam was acting towards Apache "just like optimus" thought the Med-bot. "apache is unfortunately just like the pair of you when it come to his health, he thinks he knows better than a trained med-bot and takes risks while on missions" replied Ratchet. The Med-bot looked over some more readouts then said "apache should be up and on his feet in a day or two and ready to resume active duties in about a week, that is if you want him to sam".
Sam was a little confused by this latest statement and asked "why should I have any say in the matter?". Ratchet pulled up a chair and sat down as he answered "before I put apache in stasis he asked if I would speak to you on his behalf, he wants to be assigned to you as one of the bots under your command, I tried to tell him that you don't really have any bots working with you at the moment but he insisted that you should be his commanding officer from now on". Ratchet paused as he looked over another readout, "I asked optimus about all this a few hours ago, he said that you were aware of your true status now and that the decision should be yours given that apache feels so strongly about who he's assigned to, now sam I know that you don't have any assignments of your own right now other than learning about command and your responsibility's but I seriously think that you should accept his request, not because of your self but because of him, apache needs time to take things easy and recover and for the moment you shouldn't be doing anything that would place a strain on him".
Sam had been struck silent by all this, he had learned about being a prime less than twenty four hours ago and now he had a bot requesting to be transferred to his command like he had been doing this for years. "I don't get it ratchet, apache knows that I'm only just learning about being a prime, he even knows that I wasn't born an autobot, why would he request me as his commander ?" asked Sam. The old Med-bot simply smiled and answered "because he trusts you sam, you may not know it but you made an impression on him when you met and that only increased the more you talked to him, he trusts you sam and I get the feeling that you are the first bot he's trusted like this in a long time". "I didn't do anything special ratchet I was just my self" said Sam "and that's why he trusts you sam, it was the same when we first met you, your actions and choices showed us who you really were and are" replied Ratchet. Sam found an empty chair and sat down, "this is a lot to take in ratchet, I don't even think this is my first official day on the job and here you are telling me that I have another bots life in my care, my choices and decisions will directly affect what happens to him, risking my life is one thing but ordering another into battle to risk his life is another, I mean I kinda expected it at some point but this fast it's to much, I don't want to get him hurt with the wrong decisions and..." Sam trailed off as he remembered what Optimus had said the night before.
"well you don't have to worry to much about things like that sam, not for a while anyway, I don't think that optimus will be asking you to lead combat missions for some time and he's not going to let you run into anything that will cause you or any other bot harm, for the moment your just going to be learning about command and most of that can be done right here in autobot city" explained Ratchet. The way Ratchet talked things sounded so simple and easy but this was a bigger step than Sam had expected to be taking so soon. Sam had a lot to think about, it was true that one day he would have to command other bots regardless of his fears but that was supposed to be far from now when he had learned more about what it meant to be a Prime, after Optimus had taught him what he needed to know about commanding others both in and out of battle. Bumblebee opened his com-link to Sam and said "I know that you scared sam, this is a lot to take in for you and you have no way of knowing if anyone will get hurt, I know what your going through, I had all these feeling the first time I watched you head off into battle, even though I was right beside you I could have lost you and there was nothing I could do about it, you need to trust that you will make the right decisions when you lead others sam and I think this is one of those lessons that you have to learn on your own, but like I said if things get to rough I'll take the weight from your shoulders and carry you along with it".
Sam had no idea how he had made it through life before Bee came along, here he was worried about how he would cope with all this and Bumblebee just said what he needed to hear at the right moment and the best part was that the yellow scout meant every single word of what he was saying. If Sam was in trouble Bee would have carried the whole world on his shoulders to keep him safe while laughing and joking like it was nothing at all so long as Sam was safe and happy. "your right bee, this is one of those lessons that optimus can't teach me, I have to learn it for my self no matter where it takes me or what I have to face along the way" commed Sam as he took hold of Bumblebee's hand. "ok ratchet, tell apache when he wakes up he's got a commanding officer and that he's made the choice at his own risk, but with any luck the near future will be very boring and uneventful" said Sam as he got up to leave. Ratchet just chuckled and replied "you've passed at least one test today sam, you care enough to worry about those under your command like family there are a lot of dead bots out there who didn't pass that test when they were faced with it". Sam allowed him self a small smile as he left the Med-bay followed closely by Bumblebee who gave a small wave good by to Ratchet as he left. "optimus" commed Ratchet, "go ahead" replied Optimus "sam chose to accept apache as one of the bots under his command, but he didn't jump at the decision in any way, he put the well being of apache first and I'm sure that he will do the same with any other bot under his command" commed Ratchet. Optimus was silent for a second before he replied "with luck his life up to this point has taught him much of what he needs to know about being a prime, let us hope that we can teach him the rest, he has no idea that his lessons have already begun"
