Disclosure : I do not own Transformers Prime, it's characters, the storyline, or anything of the sort. I am simply borrowing it to place a piece of my mind in it. I only own my OC, and I will, in a sense, carry the one. I give full credit to those who have created this wonderful series, and Hasbro. Read and Review, my loves!
Alright guys, it's another episode like before. Two things are happening at the same time, and instead of splitting it up like I did before, in order to give you some Cara time, I'm going to pretend that they happened at different times. Can we manage that, do you think? I hope so, I'd greatly appreciate it c:
Read and enjoy loves!
-Lizzzard
Everything burned.
That was the only thing I could think of while laying on a surprisingly comfortable surface. For some reason, I knew that my optics weren't ready to online yet. I couldn't tell you why, just that they simply weren't ready. However, my audios picked up on a conversation happening not far from my position, and a familiar presence by my side which eased my spark.
"On behalf of the President and the Joints Chiefs," a familiar voice called out proudly. "I thank you all for your selfless heroism in defense of this planet. I'm only sorry that the world can't know of your undying dedication, because I, for one, owe you my life, my liberty, and my future," the slamming of a shoe's sole connecting with metal followed, the ruffling of a shirt next.
"Sir," another familiar voice directed this comment in my direction. "I am honored to relinquish command of the autobots to you,"
Oh. I knew who that was then…. "Welcome to Earth, Ultra Magnus," a reassuring baritone rumbled to my left. My spark filled when I recognized his name. "And, to Team Prime,"
"Okay, somebody's got to say it," a young, feminine voice sounded. Miko. "Optimus 2 - point - 0 is rad! Imagine what the Forge could do for your bod," she finished, no doubt directing that comment to her own guardian. Oh… what was his name?
A familiar scoff followed, the shuffling of pistons suggesting a movement of two bots. "Is it true that the Forge has been drained of its power?" A silence confirmed the doc's question. "Then any hope of rebuilding the Omega Lock has truly been lost,"
"I.. did what I thought was right," a voice I hadn't heard in a long time. Smokey.
"And your instincts have again proven to be quite sound," the doc confirmed, pride hidden in his vocals.
I strained against the lump in my throat, searching for the words I was looking for, in the language I wanted. "Damn. …. Right," I muttered, my voice weak and breathless.
The room fell silent, and a servo laid on mine. "Carabelle?" My Optimus rumbled close to my audios.
Fighting every indication that I shouldn't, I onlined my optics. The brightness of whatever hangar I was in caused me to lift my servo angrily to shield against the lights. A frustrated growl escaped as my arm fell heavily back down to the berth I rested upon. Optimus' neon blue optics appeared before my own, shielding the light for me. I leaned back, allowing my optics to adjust as a soft smile appeared on my lip plates. "Hello, .. love,"
An unknown vehicle approached the door of the hangar that Team Prime now resided in. I was still seated on the berth, under strict instructions not to stand and attempt to walk without someone by my side to assist. The transition from human to femme was a lot harder than I would've imagined. Due to my center of gravity being thrown off, I was still very unsteady on my pedes. Most importantly, I had so much trouble concentrating on walking, I forgot to watch where I walk. And the last thing I wanted to do was trample over those which I love far below. At least, the one good thing, my frame fit perfectly inside of Optimus' welcoming embrace, despite the fact that the Forge of Solus Prime had enhanced his body mass profusely. I am taller than the bots, only shorter than Optimus himself, which I am alright with.
The massive vehicle rolled to a stop, Agent Fowler hanging out the window to shout up at my Optimus, who stood from my side to greet him. "Prime," he called in a tone that made me not want to growl in annoyance. "What we have here is an experimental All - Terrain Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, designed by the finest engineers in our MASK division," The thing towered well above normal human height, and pulling up a visual of Agent Fowler to compare it on my HUD, I could see the massive size difference. Perfect for my bot.
"Thank you, Agent Fowler," he rumbled in response, preparing to scan the vehicle. I tuned my optics in to watch him, curious about how my own T - Cog worked. "This will most certainly do." A blue light shown from his optics, scanning the vehicle from the ground up, taking in every crevice, every seam. When it completed, it fell, and Optimus' form folded in on itself, the red and blue replica resting where he stood not ten minutes before.
I grinned, looking around for a bot to take with me. Perfect. "Hey, Smoke!" I called over to the bot who was leaning against the wall of the hangar watching the ordeal. "Give a femme a servo, will ya?"
He smiled, walking over. "Where you going, sis?" he asked me, taking on the new nickname I had given him and Bee permission to call me.
"Ratchet," I called out as Optimus transformed, watching Smokescreen lace an arm under mine curiously. "Can't bots transform into three different forms? Bipedal, vehicular, and something else?"
"Yes," came the grumbled, annoyed response. "However I advise against it, as that is a task even a mech of centuries age has a difficult time mastering."
I rolled my optics, meeting Optimus' as I stumbled past him, trying to avoid leaning to much into Smoke's embrace. "I've always wanted to fly…" I winked at him as I exited the base.
Ratchet had explained to me that without my armor, I was, in a sense, naked. However, I didn't feel naked, I felt free. Besides, I didn't know what kind of armour I wanted. Did I want the thick, protecting kind such as Bulkhead and Optimus, or did I want the sleek, femme armour such as Arcee?
I figured choosing a vehicle mode would help make my decision, Ratchet had both the plans drawn out, all it would take would be the time to weld them onto my protoform. I was faced with a mass of military - grade airplanes, ranging in various forms and functions.
However, one caught my eye. "Fowler!" I called out to him, pointing as he approached me. "What's this one?"
"That is a prototype," he responded. "Its not ready to be -"
"Like Optimus'?" I challenged, leaning against Smoke heavily as said bot peered through the hangar doors.
"Uh…." He chuckled nervously. "Well, it's an F 32 fighter jet. Its camouflage custom paint job and its massive NK-32 engine makes it the fastest little bird Uncle Sam currently holds."
I grinned down at the plane. "I want it,"
"What color should I pick, Bee?" I asked the bot as Ratchet instructed me to place my armor on.
"I believe we should focus on one task at a time," the doc scolded me. Optimus had left on a mission, and I had decided to surprise him.
"It is a highest honor to have a mate choose to wear the same colors as the other," he buzzed, sitting beside me watching Ratchet work curiously.
I thought about it for a moment. "Think I could do a red and blue camouflage?"
"Camouflage is supposed to disguise you, not make you easier to find." Ratchet scoffed as he placed the last piece of armor - a third layer over my chest. "However I do agree with Bumblebee: Optimus will feel the highest honor if you include his colors on your frame somewhere."
Ratchet and Bumblebee both offered me a servo and hauled me to my pedes. Bee wrapped his arm under my own and helped me walk inside. They let me sit down leaning against the catwalk underneath where Jack and Miko stood. "Hey, guys," I called up to them. "What kind of camouflage paint can I get where I can still be unseen but also include Optimus' colors?"
Miko puzzled over it as Jack held up his hands. "You could do digital camo," she offered with a smile. I raised an optic ridge at her and she laughed. "Get a normal camo base coat, and then along the lines of your wings and nose and such, a digital camo."
My HUD proved to be helpful again as it pulled up blue and red digital camouflage. I shrugged at it appreciating the thought, but I wanted something. …. Me in it. I did a search of black camouflage as Ratchet and Raf tinkered with the makings of a ground bridge, opening and closing bridges to different locations across the globe. Scrolling through the pictures, I found one that caught my eye.
"Hey Bulk!" I called, peering around to find him. "You want to give me a hand?"
"Sure," he grinned, walking up to me. "What are we doing?"
I smiled widely. "Scanning and painting!"
He helped me to my peds, just as Ratchet called an all clear to Ultra Magnus. Said bot drove through the open ground bridge, his vehicle mode being that of a semi, a fact that I wasn't thrilled about.
Once Bumblebee unloaded the single energon cube he was hauling, he transformed to address Ratchet. "We didn't find much else in the rubble of the former base,"
"You call this 'not much else,'" Wheeljack grinned, holding up what I knew to be the lob ball. He lobbed it to Bulkhead, who deflected it away from me and it headed straight for Miko.
Before I could even get a scream out, Jack pulled her onto the ground, where the ball smashed into the metal wall behind it.
"Wheeljack!" Ratchet growled. "You could've caused some serious damage."
"To me!" Miko placed her hands on her hips, presumingly okay.
"What in the Sam Hill?..." I heard from behind the door. Shit. The door behind the lob ball opened, and Fowler shouted through it. "A little help here?"
Magnus pounded forward. "What were you thinking soldier?" He demanded.
I groaned loudly, earning a disapproving glare from the commander. "Well," 'Jackie defended himself. "I was thinking Bulk would catch the lob,"
"Allow me to make myself clear," he continued again, and I slouched against Bulkhead, groaning loudly through the beginning of his rant. "As Optimus Prime's second in command, I have no intention of tolerating Wrecker behavior."
I cleared my throat beginning to speak as Wheeljack hung his helm. "As Optimus Prime's femme," I called, challenging Magnus. "And as an honorary Wrecker, I fully support this 'Wrecker behavior' as it is very uplifting to those around them," Ratchet scoffed, and I shot him a smile. "To most of us," I corrected myself. "As I do believe Wheeljack should've used greater precautions, I do not believe it was intentional, and no one got hurt. So further disciplinary actions will not be taken, 'Jackie is doing a fine job." I smiled at him and he grinned sheepishly.
Magnus growled furiously, and Bee halted in his tracks. "Need I remind you that it was Optimus Prime himself who assigned me to command the Wreckers back on Cybertron and they those loose cannons under control?"
I could feel Bulkhead tense up while he was holding me steady. I ignored the fear building up inside of me, offering the angry mech a smile instead. "And if they were any worse than they are now, I'll congratulate you and say job well done. But they're a unit. And this is not Cybertron."
"An effective combat unit begins with discipline." He argued.
"I disagree," I stated. "Growing up with my foster parents, I wasn't given any discipline that was worth anything. And I believe I turned out just fine,"
He growled, before turning to Ratchet. "Any word from Optimus?"
"He's investigating recent decepticon activity," came the reply. "We didn't have a solid ground bridge access at the time, so Optimus flew."
"Hopefully he finds an energon mine…" I mumbled, Bulkhead tugging me the other way, in the direction of the outdoors.
"Hey, Cara," Arcee called to me. "Did you ever consider that maybe Optimus wants to be the one who helps you learn to scan a vehicle mode?"
I growled, bowing my helm. I never thought of that. Bulkhead chuckled softly, helping me to sit back down on the ground underneath the kids.
"How rad would it be if you all had jet packs like Optimus?" Miko cheered, looking at the others.
I sighed, rubbing my temples with my digits. "Miko, no one has said 'rad' in years," I groaned.
"Quite rad, Miko," Ratchet agreed. I groaned again, throwing my head against the catwalk behind me. "But the Forge has been depleted of its power to do that." Said hammer leaned against the catwalk nearest to Ratchet, things being just tossed in the new, crowded base.
"Now it's only good for pounding out dings," Bulkhead mumbled to Arcee.
The sound of Smokescreen's engine revving filled the hangar as a slick, blue and yellow painted car squealed his tires to a halt at my pedes.
"Smokescreen?" I raised an optic ridge at him as he transformed.
"Aw, what gave me away?" He asked, a smile wide on his face plates. Arcee mimicked my look. "Come on!" He encouraged. "'Robots in disguise,' right?"
Ultra Magnus pounded in front of him, the younger bot backing away slowly. "Where have you been, soldier?" he asked.
"Scanning new war paint," he shrugged. "Thought it'd be proactive to follow Optimus' lead… and Bumblebee's," he turned to the mech who was laying down the energon cube recovered from the old base.
"Don't be pulling me into this," he buzzed, turning towards the two of them.
"Now you can look your best while stacking those empty cubes," he gestured towards the pile of empty cubes scattered across the floor.
Smokescreen bowed his helm, looking up sheepishly. "Yes, sir…" he muttered, walking towards it. I was about to argue with Magnus again, when my audios picked up on something Smoke muttered under his breath. "I was nearly a Prime, but somehow I'm still a rookie,"
Ratchet apparently caught up on it too. "What was that about 'a Prime?'"
He froze in his steps. "Uh… no, time," he turned towards the medic who was tinkering again. "Time to stop acting like a rookie." he turned back to the empty cubes.
Ratchet shrugged it off, but Arcee came to stand next to me.
"Smokescreen was the only one who went back," she mumbled down to me. "If it weren't for him,..." she trailed off, looking down at me with wide optics.
"Optimus may not be with us today…." I finished for her, my spark wrenching at the thought.
"We were under the strictest of orders," Ratchet turned towards us, pulling away from the thing he was messing with. The three of you had your partners to protect - and you had Cara. But … we are fortunate that Smokescreen is inexperienced enough not to have followed protocol."
I shot a wry glance in the direction of a certain mech who was strict on protocol.
"Rafael," came my loves voice over the com system. "Is the ground bridge operational?"
"Yes sir," Raf typed away on his computer system next to Ratchet, grinning widely.
The bridge opened, and Optimus pounded through, cradling something delicately in his servos. I smiled up at him as he approached my position, but as I was about to say something, Ratchet spoke up. "Optimus," he cheered, a smile plastered on his faceplates. "Did you find energon?"
"No, he rumbled, turning towards them. "But I did uncover this," he laid whatever it was he was carrying on the table below him. The bots gathered around whatever it was, and I peered around, trying to catch a glimpse of it.
"It cannot be," Ratchet gawked at it.
Optimus backed away from the grouping around the thing, turning to face me. "My spark," he rumbled to me, holding a servo out to me.
I smiled up to him, grabbing ahold of his servo as he helped me to my feet. He leaned down, placing a light kiss to my forehelm before helping me walk over to the others. Laying on the platform was something like a dinosaur bone, a skull of some sort.
"Be what?" Jack asked from the catwalk by the monitor by Ratchet's screen.
"The ancient remains of a predacon," Optimus rumbled, hugging my shoulders close.
"Though it remains unclear why such a skull would be found on your planet,"Ratchet paced in front of the skull as the kids gathered around to peer at it. "Its presence reveals all too much about the predacon which Megatron recently sent in pursuit of us,"
"You mean that dragon bot we put on ice?" Miko turned to him.
"Except the predacons have been extinct since. … well…." he trailed off, losing his words.
"Since before most life began on Cybertron," Smokescreen finished for him.
"So, like the dinosaurs?" I offered, looking down at the kids.
"Which means, for you guys," Jack offered. "Running into one of them is like us meeting a T-Rex."
Miko scrunched up at Bulkhead. "So what were Dinobots?"
"Totally different," he said.
"With Megatron's seeming new interest in the excavation of prehistoric skeletons, and a certain scientist back among the decepticon ranks…"
"Scientist?" I looked up to Optimus.
"It would stand to reason that Shockwave cloned the beast from one such find," he rumbled.
"Okay….." I trailed off. "That doesn't answer my question, but this sounds a little too much like Jurassic Park to me."
I was met with the bots staring at me with blank expressions and the kids laughing up at me. "I was thinking the same thing." Miko laughed to me.
I looked up at my bot, who was raising an optic ridge at me. "I'll explain after you," I smiled at him.
"Shockwave was a scientist in Kaon in the early stages of the war," Optimus explained to me, his voice settling into storyteller mode. "He was swayed by Megatron into joining his forces against the High Council, however he only follows one true master; logic. He became Megatron's second in command."
"I thought that was Starscream's post," Raf looked up at him curiously, the other two kids rushing to his side.
"Shockwave's passive nature counteracts Starscream's more aggressive tone," he continued on. "He was thought to be killed on Cybertron by Arcee and Cliffjumper,"
My optics widened, remembering the story that she told Miko and I a while ago. "Okay, my turn," I smiled at him. "Jurassic Park is a movie series about an island inhabited by dinosaurs for the public to come see. It's like a zoo. They pulled DNA from mosquitoes who held the Dino's blood."
"We'll have to watch it one time," Miko cheered, looking up to her bot.
"Back to the task at hand," I smiled up at him. "Megatron cloned the dragon - con,"
"And now he's looking to clone another," Magnus spoke up.
Wheeljack scoffed. "What makes you think Buckethead would stop at just one?"
"We could have beast wars on our hands," Bulkhead finished.
"And if Shockwave only requires a single strand of CNA from which to clone a beast…" Ratchet turned to my bot to look at him with sore optics.
"He already possess that in which he needs to engender this one," Optimus raised his helm to the others, straightening his frame, holding me close to his hip. "Autobots, we must become beast hunters."
"One thing still doesn't follow.." Smokescreen argued, breaking the silence. "Predacons went extinct on Cybertron, so what would their bones be doing here?"
Ratchet turned to the screen, the others following him. Optimus looked down at me with an amused look. "What?" I asked him, smiling myself as I leaned further into his shoulder.
"You still can't walk on your own?" he teased, grinning widely.
I scrunched my face up at him as his chest shook in a deep chuckle. "I'm learning." I defended, walking with him as he walked after his team. "By the way…. I picked a v - mode,"
"Did you now?" he kissed the top of my head. "Would you like if I were to teach you?"
"That's what I'm waiting for you oaf," I giggled as we came to a stop. Ratchet had pulled up images of predacons.
"From our historical texts," he called, gesturing towards the pictures above. I studied them as Jack spoke what I was thinking.
"But those are metal versions of creatures from our Greek mythology and Medieval literature."
"Not dinosaurs," Raf argued.
"It would stand to reason that Predacons did indeed walk upon this earth in ancient times," Optimus turned to face them on the catwalk, pulling me with him. It was weird seeing the kids down there instead of the other way around. "As the seem to have been the basis for much of humankind's folklore."
"Showing again that the histories of both earth and Cybertron are forever intertwined," I stated, looking down.
Optimus pulled me away from his frame, allowing me to find my balance before encasing my servos in his. "You ready?" he nudged, smiling at me. I shot him a wry glare, looking at the floor below. It didn't look like it was far down, but I knew it was. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was going to faceplant. "Do you trust me?" he asked, bending down low to meet my optics.
"Of course I do," I muttered, feeling the pistons in my leg move. "It's me I don't trust,"
He laughed, stepping back again so that our arms were stretched straight between us. "I believe in you," he encouraged, smiling at me.
I groaned, looking at my pedes. They were small compared to my massive protoform, and they made a feather - light thud when I scampered on the ground. I vented a sigh - an action that was very weird feeling (the bots didn't breathe) - and instructed movement in my left leg. Trying to remember back to before, of how I walked then. My knee lifted in the air, and I kicked my foot forward. It fell ungracefully to the floor, but my right leg mimicked the same motion, and I moved closer to Optimus. "That's it," he encouraged, smiling at me. "Keep going!" he took a step back, my legs awkwardly moving after him. I grinned, my spark swelling in glee as I was walking towards him.
"Hey," I smiled, as his grips on my servos lightened, before they fell away completely. "Optimus, I'm walking!"
He stood, watching me scamper towards him proudly. My ped caught something on the flooring, and I tumbled over. I braced myself for an impact with the ground, however it never came. Optimus' arms encased me the next moment, and he cradled me close to his chest plates. "It's a start," he smiled, kissing my forehelm.
I vented a sigh again, wrapping my arms around his waist, a task that was proven to be more difficult despite my growing in size. "Do I need to walk in order to scan a v-mode, do I?"
"No," he laced an arm around my waist, supporting me as I practiced this walking thing. "I will show you,"
A blue light shown from my optics. The joy of actually accomplishing this part threatened to distract me, something that my Optimus had told me couldn't happen. I directed it to shine over the fighter jet in front of me, the schematics of it appearing in my optics as the blue light faltered. "Okay…" I trailed, analyzing the plan thoroughly.
"Right about here," he rumbled, his voice dangerously close to my audios. I felt his warm digit dig through my armor, bracing the circuits of my protoform, and something inside me flared. "Is your T - cog,"
"That thing that Bumblebee had torn from him?" I offered, remembering what the organ looked like before.
"Yes. The biomechanism that allows Cybertronians to transform." He pulled away, moving in front of me. "You may not be able to right away, but a single nudge of that organ should send you into a transformation."
I nodded, offlining my optics as I concentrated. I visualized the biomech, and thought of all the times I'd seen Optimus and the others transform. The familiar sound filled my ears, and my metals pulled apart. It wasn't uncomfortable, it was just like I was cuddling into myself. When I onlined my optics, it was strange. I wasn't looking ahead, but I could see everything surrounding me. I saw Optimus in front of me, but I also saw Smoke and Bee in the hangar doors behind me, watching with smiles plastered on their faceplates. Optimus transformed, Orion climbing out of his cab and approaching me.
"You make a wonderful jet, my spark," he smiled at my nose, trailing his soft hands across my metals. A shudder raced through my frame as he climbed up and into my cockpit. I searched for the command to open it to give him access, however it did so with just the thought. My interior wasn't painted, as I was still to decide on my colors fully. Orion took a seat, running his hands across my leathers. My frame shuddered again, feelings of direct pleasure racing into my spark. Something within my frame grew fiery hot the more he did so. "Payback," he grinned again, raking both hands, nails included, across the seating below him.
I growled in fury and pleasure, my T - Cog flinching and transforming again. I felt the weight of Orion within my cab, and I focused on transforming around him. He landed in the air, my servos reaching to grab him. His ass thudded softly in my hands, his face smiling at me innocently. "This is weird and backwards." I grinned, scrunching my face at him.
"I don't think I mind it," he smiled, before disappearing. His truck transformed below, his massive frame moving up to wrap his servos around me. "You make a sexy jet," he rumbled to my audios, weakening my knees.
He helped me walk back to the base, myself weakening slightly as he chuckled at my reactions to his words. Raf, Miko and Jack were spread out on the couches stationed on one of the catwalks, fast asleep. Magnus was working on a computer screen near them, Wheeljack close by. Ratchet was again tinkering with something, to which Optimus took interest in. "Synthetic energon?" he rumbled in question.
"Indeed," came the reply. "I am concerned that without access to any energon reserves since our base was destroyed, our ability to deal with impending crises will be severely hampered."
"A wise decision, old friend," Optimus beamed at him.
"Just please…. Manage your expectations," he gestured to the table beside him, where many old, worn out human computers laid out before him. "I am working with even more rudimentary hardware than before."
"Prime!"
I growled, glaring at Agent Fowler who had moved forward on the catwalk in front of his disheveled office. "Satellite surveillance has picked up two signs of decepticon activity: one near an oil field outside of El Paso, the other near the Hebrides bluff in Scottland." Bee, Arcee, and Smoke moved towards as Miko woke slowly on the couch nearby. It was weird to be able to process all of these things at once. "So don't forget to pack your kilts,"
I scoffed, looking at my Optimus. "You'd look good in a kilt," I muttered up to him.
"We must divide our resources," he ordered. Right. Prime mode. "Ultra Magnus," he turned to face the mech, who was standing with Bulkhead and Wheeljack close by him. "Lead the Wreckers to the bluffs,"
I groaned for 'Jackie, earning a look from Optimus. "They don't get along," I whispered to him, which he ignored.
"Yes, Optimus," he confirmed, looking up at me curiously. He moved forward slightly, looking at Optimus. "What's a kilt?"
Optimus looked between him and Fowler, before leaning down slightly. I strained my audios to listen to his response. "Agent Fowler can, at times, be oblique. I find it best to simply nod and mobilize,"
I laughed as Magnus turned to bark orders at the Wreckers. Optimus looked at me curiously. "A kilt is a man skirt," I laughed, still not being able to wipe the memory of his faceplates from my front processor.
Magnus slowed to a stop in front of a certain dead hammer. "Optimus," he turned towards us. "I know there are many emotions tied to the Forge,"
"This is no time to stand in ceremony," he rumbled, assumingly realizing what he meant.
Magnus nodded, grabbing ahold and lifting the Forge into the air threateningly. "I would be honored to put this to some practical use,"
"I wish to accompany you," I turned to face Optimus with pleading optics.
"Carabelle," he rumbled to me. "You barely know how to walk, let alone work your vehicular mode. There is much you must learn before you can wish to join us on any of our missions,"
I growled, crossing my arms in front of my chest. He chuckled, kissing my forehelm. "You seem to enjoy that," I told him in a lowered tone.
"What?" he asked innocently, kissing me again. "This?" I nodded. "It brings me great joy that I am able to properly," he smiled. "I cannot wait to show you the … things we can do now,"
I shuddered, turning to face him. "Like completely our spark bond?"
His frame froze, and I watched as his optics watched me carefully. "You would be willing to…"
I stretched up, planting a kiss to his frozen lips. "Silly robot, of course," I smiled.
Ratchet opened the ground bridge, Smokescreen and Bumblebee waiting by it. He pressed his lip plates against mine firmly, smiling during our embrace. "I will return shortly," he told me, before leaving my side.
I reached for the catwalk to balance myself as he walked away from me. "Leave a comm open for me?" I asked him with wide eyes.
"Of course," he called behind him, before the three of them transformed and drove through the bridge.
It closed behind them, and I unsteadily walked over to the communications hub near Ratchet.
"I will search this quadrant," Optimus told the other two. The sound of his jet engine taking off filled the comm next before it died down.
"How's it looking, babe?" I asked him after a few moments.
"Nothing out of the ordinary," came his reply.
Bumblebee's comm opened as they scouted a mine nearby. "Hey, Bee," he asked. "You .. ever thought you might want to be a Prime?" I quizzed at it, raising an optic ridge at Ratchet, who seemed to be paying no real attention to it.
"Now?" came the reply. "There's no way I hold the skill and mindset to -"
"Not now," Smoke interrupted. "Someday."
"Eh. My real goal, right now, is a warrior."
"'Warrior,' yeah. You and me both. But I've seen you in action, Optimus knows you can scrap with the best of them! Why won't he just promote you from scout already?"
"It's not him; he made it my choice and I said no,"
"Your choice? Hm…. so why wait?"
When Bumblebee responded, I could feel the pain in his voice, remembering everything that transpired the past few days. "I would rather graduate on Cybertron, where those before me did."
"Guess it would be more meaningful to graduate back home on Cybertron, you're one patient guy. I should take a cue,"
I looked back down at Ratchet, confused as to why he wasn't responding to the conversation going on. The signals on the screen moved forward, and there were a few purple decepticon signals moving to surround them. "Guys," I called out. "Watch your backs!"
Blaster fire echoed through the comms, the two of them splitting up. They engaged in battle, and I turned to Optimus' signal. "They found something," I told him as he turned back towards their direction.
"Like I said," Smoke stated as the two of them neared each other again. "You got nice chops for a scout."
A massive explosion rocked the area, the two mechs flatering away from the source. "Ratchet?" I asked him, looking down.
"Cara," he reasoned with me, looking up. "They're battling. They'll be fine until Optimus reaches them, at least."
"I don't know how you do it," I exasperated, leaning against the catwalk behind me for support. "This is way to stressful. You didn't even comment on the conversation they had!"
He raised an optic ridge at me. "What conversation?"
I was even more confused. A few more explosions echoed through, Bee and Smoke barely escaping one of them. "How epic was that?" Smoke asked. The two of them then engaged in a pursuit of a single decepticon signal. My Optimus soard in the next moment, exchanging blaster fire with the con signal below. "Whoo! And that's why he's a Prime!"
A ground bridge opened, a new decepticon signal flew through, releasing blaster fire on the bots. "Soundwave."
The two mechs below engaged with the con on the ground while Optimus engaged with Soundwave in the air.
"Enough!" Optimus demanded dangerously, before turning and firing at Soundwave. My spark swelled with pride as said con was hit, falling to the ground slowly. However, that changed as he was hit. Something was on him, and I heard him growl in pain before his jetpack failed, falling to the ground slowly. He crashed to the ground, shaking a bit. Not shortly after, Optimus fired his jet pack again, racing for something right above him. A ground bridge opened, assumingly catching whatever it was that he was reaching for. "No…"
"We have all that we need," a deep, sinister voice responded from one of the others. The two signals disappeared through another ground bridge, Optimus' landing between the two mechs.
"'A single strand of CNA,...'"
Idk if y'all noticed... I posted a one shot of Cara's transformation, titled Transformation. Go check it out c:
