First day on the job, Judith settled in her work quarters, leaning against the wall next to Rumble, who had his arms folded and his head turned to the side. Judith sighed.
"Nobody's come in today." She spoke to Rumble, whose lack of response resulted in an awkward pause between the two. "Kind of a good thing, though." She perked up a small smile. "That means nobody's gotten badly hurt."
"We haven't even gotten to another planet yet." Rumble replied in a cold tone. "What did ya expect?"Judith's smile dropped and she stared down at the floor.
"Um… well, Decepticons often get into brawls with themselves, don't they?" The woman replied. "I've never seen the brawls in person myself but reports on Earth would say as such. The photos they'd show would be quite brutal." Judith let out a small chuckle. "Maybe they just like wrestling or they get into intense arguments? Or they're in dire need or war?".
Judith's eyes widened. "I-I didn't mean it in a bad way! What I'm trying to say is that a determined group like you guys have been around for so long fighting that it might've… become a driving force. Okay, that came out wrong…"
"You're really bad at small talk. You know that?" Rumble replied in that cold voice again, and this time it really destroyed Judith's reason to smile. She slumped down until she was sitting on the floor, laying her arms over her knees. Rumble turned to see the human on the floor and he let out a groan. "Whaddaya want now, fleshy?"
"… you're welcome to go exploring around the ship." Judith dolefully said, staring deep into her thoughts. "I'll be fine on my own."
"As much I'd like to, I can't leave your side or Starscream'll turn me into a tin can." Rumble scoffed. "Unless you're willin' to tag along."
"Sure." She carefully stood up while Rumble sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose upon realisation.
"Okay, but stick close." Rumble commanded the human. "Don't go wanderin' around unless ya wanna end up like pancakes."
"I won't." She shuffled a little closer to the Cassetticon. "We could always say we're fetching some Energon or something."
"Sure." He agreed passively, walking up to the doors hissing open as he checked the outside surroundings. "Okay. Coast's clear."
The two wandered through the halls of the ship, both scanning their surroundings. Rumble eyed his surroundings with stoic silence and upright posture, while Judith had her hands together, shoulders raised and a furrowed frown.
"So… what's Cybertron like?" Judith rubbed her arm.
"It wouldn't be somethin' you'd be interested in." Rumble replied.
"On the contrary." Judith perked with interest. "Back on Earth, I was told of how amazing it was by the folks in Maccadam's. It's an Autobot bar my dad works in. I hear it's now glowing with a golden aura."
Rumble chuckled. "If there's a big upside to Starscream being our leader, it's that we don't have to deal with Galvatron anymore." Rumble smiled a bitter smile. "That loony almost scrapped all of Cybertron."
"Hm." Judith nodded. "I'm surprised it took this long, though. Has there been previous attempts at overthrowing him?"
"Well, there's Octane and Scorponok, but Octane's in hiding and Scorponok? Eh, who cares." He shrugged. "I didn't expect Starscream of all 'cons to finally do it."
"How did he come back to life?" Judith walked up a little closer until she was right next to Rumble.
"Like an idiot, he made a deal with Unicron, and Unicron gave him his body." Rumble explained. "And like a genius, he betrayed Unicron while he was powerless."
"Oh, good." Judith let out a relieved sigh. "At least he wasn't nuts as Galvatron there. He would've fed Cybertron to Unicron without a second guess."
Rumble threw his head back and laughed. "Yer right! Bullet dodged there!" Judith joined along in his laughter before the two entered a room where Decepticons sat at their tables, chattering and drinking Energon. Upon seeing the tiny Decepticon and the human, the room went silent and they were met with red stares.
"Um… maybe we can get some Energon elsewhere?" Judith said to Rumble.
"Yeah. We'd hate to disturb." The two backed away, only to hit against a sudden metal wall behind them. They raise their heads and saw the Decepticon Astrotrain right above them, blocking their path.
"Ah, scrap." Rumble remarked in a deadpan as a giant hand leaned down and grabbed the human. "Hey! Whaddaya think ya doin'?!" Rumble rushed after the 'con as he brought the shaking human over to a table, placing her in the centre of it as the other Decepticons huddled around her. Judith had her hands over her mouth as the Decepticons stared down at her, and she closed her eyes in a flinch.
"The fleshy's with me!" Rumble held out a blaster and pointed it at the group.
"Ah, cool your jets, tiny." The blue coneheaded jet Dirge said to the angered cassetticon. "We ain't gonna hurt the leader's newest recruit."
"Not much, at least." Astrotrain smirked, resulting in Rumble shooting a laser blast at the giant's foot. "Hey!" Astrotrain turned his attention to Rumble and chased the little guy around while the other Decepticons kept their attention on the human.
A stray hand came up and poked Judith on the cheek, and another came and did the same. "Hehehe, she's just as squishy as any other human." One of them laughed. "This one's supposed to help fix us?"
A random finger stroked her hair. "Kinda soft on the top, too." One commented as one stroked her face and tickled her chin, resulting in a small sneeze from the human. The Decepticons threw their heads back laughing.
The white coneheaded Decepticon named Ramjet gave close observation to the human's sniffling face, noticing a red flush on her cheeks as she wiped her nose with a wrist.
"Didn't know humans could change color." Ramjet commented to his Decepticon comrades. "I've seen 'em turn green before expellin' some stuff outta their mouths " the red conehead remarked. "And some would turn white before fainting. Maybe she's sick or somethin'."
"I'm fine.." Judith waved a hand. "I mean, a red face would sometimes mean a bad thing, but…"
"D'ah! My eye!" Astrotrain yelled in the background, covering his face with a hand.
"And I'll take the other one too if ya don't hand over the fleshy." Rumble threatened as he pointed his gun at the group.
"Huh. Look at mister tough guy here." Thrust said to his cohorts while Judith eyed the giant purple Decepticon.
"Is he okay?" Judith pointed to Astrotrain. "He hasn't taken his hand off his eye yet."
"Ah, those blasters are just pea shooters." Dirge huffed.
"Wanna bet?" Rumble smiled, pointing his gun at Astrotrain, who slowly removed his hand to reveal that his right optic had a large crack in it. All the Decepticons dropped their jaws. "Soundwave gave me a lil upgrade lately." The cassetticon proudly swung his blaster cowboy style. "Too bad I ruined the surprise too early. I was gonna use it on you bozos in case ya tried somethin' durin' a mission."
"Golly…" Judith frowned, taking a couple steps and leaned forward. "May I have a closer look?"
Astrotrain's eyes narrowed, but the hulking giant headed towards her while the jets got out of his way. He kneeled down and brought his face towards the human, who held her hands out, but took them back before she could even lay a finger on his injury.
"It doesn't hurt too much for me to touch it, right?" Judith asked. "I can get this fixed." The woman assured.
"I should certainly hope so." Astrotrain grinned as his hand came over her and picked her up where she stood, exiting the room with the human.
"Oh, for the love of…" Rumble threw his head back and smacked the corner of his head before running after Astrotrain. "Put her down or the other eye's next!"
The purple giant entered Judith's work quarters and dropped her down a few feet from his palm right next to her tools. "Let's see if you really as skilled as our new leader believes."
The Decepticons rushed down the hall as Rumble gave chase, running past another Cassetticon Frenzy, who stood in surprise upon witnessing what he believes Rumble scaring off the horde of giant Decepticons. "Yeah! Show em whatcha made of, Rumble!" Frenzy chanted and raised a fist.
The Decepticons stood in front of the door and watched the human at work. Astrotrain laid on the giant metal bed and Judith was adorned with an oversized protective visor and glove.
"Glass can be quite complicated to fix." Judith explained to her patient while she prepared a special adhesive. "But considering your biology, the nano cells can help reconstruct your optics as long as they can find where they can reconstruct. However, since you're on a voyage that would cause potential danger, you will need to recover faster, and what I'm applying may do just that for you."
Meanwhile, Starscream leaned on the arm of his throne while he gazed out the wall length window, admiring the vast and endless galaxy before him. Despite its timeless beauty, the Decepticon leader couldn't bring himself to enjoy it. He turned to his hand on the other arm of his throne and tapped his fingers in a sequential manner. He then tilted it to view his palm.
Starscream sighed and got up from his seat, heading towards the exit. "Soundwave had better find a planet soon or I will go mad with boredom." He growled as he headed down the halls of his ship. "Perhaps I shall go check on the human." The seeker smiled.
As Judith constructed his eye, Astrotrain would let out a small grunt, which would have Judith stroke her hand against his cheek. The act itself would calm the giant while the human healed him, and while she was repairing his eye, Astrotrain saw a cracked vision in his damaged optic piece together until that vision shifted into a lovely human woman.
"All done." She gave his armor a pat and distanced herself to allow Astrotrain to sit up. He reached his hand up to his face until he heard the human's protest. "Don't touch your face yet. It should take at least 6 hours to properly heal itself."
The giant stared down at the human in silence while the other Decepticons chattered to themselves.
The grunting Rumble squeezed himself out past the Decepticons' legs until he was right inside of the medical quarters. "The fleshy better still be in one piece when I get up there!" Rumble flew from his spot and landed next to Judith. From her point of view, the cassetticon could see the patch job she did on Astrotrain's eye. Rumble set his blaster down.
"Huh." Rumble stroked his chin. "Hey, lunkhead. Can ya see me?"
Astrotrain suddenly swiped a hand at Rumble, pushing the small 'con back against the wall. Judith gasped in shock.
"Consider that payback for the eye." Astrotrain smirked before turning his attention to the human. "As for you…" he poked her belly. "I can see why our leader has chosen you as our medic, but don't think you've fully proven yourself. You have to show us how far you will go to fix us. Broken arm, lost limbs, all of what our leader promises."
"I'll do my best." Judith nervously laughed as Astrotrain turned to the door, the other Decepticons backing away for the largest of their group to give him space. The door closed, leaving Judith alone with Rumble once again.
She climbed down her platform and rushed towards the groaning cassetticon. Judith checked his back. "No visible damages." She let out a relieved sigh before reaching for his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"Keep your fleshy hands to yerself…" Rumble snarled, head hung low. Judith stepped back from the cassetticon, the woman's core convulsing as she stormed off to the other side of the room. She slumped against the wall and rubbed her forehead.
"Things will get better… things will get better…"
The doors hissed open again, Judith immediately raising her head before her eyes widened at who had just arrived.
"Oy…" Rumble sighed. "If you're here for my eye, you can forget about it, Astrotrain!"
"I'm not here for any eyes, Rumble." Starscream sneered, the cassetticon shooting up onto his feet in surprise.
"Lord Starscream?!" Rumble cried. The seeker turned with a blank stare to Judith before returning his attention back to Rumble.
"I suppose you have an explanation?" The seeker's shadow cast over Rumble while a blue hand reached out to him, but just before he could lay a finger on the tiny 'con, Judith suddenly stopped right in the way of Starscream's hand.
"Rumble protected me." Judith responded, locking her green eyes against Starscream's crimson optics. "There was… a brawl that went out of hand and one of the Decepticons got injured. I made repairs while Rumble stood watch."
Starscream's intense stare pierced through the human's soul while his hand came closer to free Judith. But instead of enclosing his digits around her, he used one to stroke the top of her head.
"Must've been quite a brawl to have left a dusty mess on your head." A bit of the dust fell onto Judith's nose, who suddenly sneezed. Starscream chuckled.
"Still, Rumble did a good job protecting you." He turned to the cassetticon. "It's definitely not safe for our medic to wander these halls on her own."
"We just need some Energon." Judith continued. "I couldn't find some in here so…"
"I will have Frenzy retrieve them immediately." Starscream stood, eying the human beneath him. "We still haven't found any planets yet, and the rest of the crew will start acting out of hand. I'll make sure they don't do so again." His optics glowed before he left the room, Judith sighing with relief.
Rumble stared at the human while she kept her back facing him.
"I.." Rumble spoke before being cut off.
"Things will get better, Rumble." The woman rubbed her arm, head tilted downwards. "They'll always get better."
The human climbed up to her platform. "If you need any medical help, I'm here for you. I'm here for all of you… whether I like it or not."