Disclaimer: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend.

Decepticons: *still in shock*

Authoress: ...Seriously is somebot going to let me down?

AN1: And here I am going to respond to the Reviews that are guest reviews.

Estella Prime: First, I want to say thank you for all the stories that you have reviewed. I do appreciate it! And the chapter here is going to have Lizzie taking her first 'baby steps' in her new life. It should be a lot of fun!

Chapter 29: Baby Steps

Starscream's 1st P.O.V.

This was all the proof that I ever needed. Lizzie Val was, by far, the pure embodiment of bad luck. The hum...femme now, not being human was all I needed. The entire time we were fighting in the mine, she had been up here fighting for her life. In a sense, she lost that fight. Lizzie was never going to be human again. Her human body was gone forever. In its place was now the giant-sized warframe femme that had yet to wake up. From vocal recognition performed by both Lord Megatron and Soundwave, we were positive that this femme was Lizzie.

Honestly, I wasn't sure how Lizzie was going to react when she was going to wake up. Being injured was one thing, but this would be an entirely new experience for her to get used to and to overcome. The height difference alone I suspect will be disorienting for her. Going from the size of the twins to the height of Lord Megatron, the femme was going to be in for one rude awakening.

The sound of the grate opening above me had me looking to see the twins coming down. They had been with the other bots while Soundwave had been checking on Lizzie. Surprised the frag out of all of us in there that Lizzie had been turned into...this.

Anyways, once the two mechs came over here and stood on the berth next to the femme, Frenzy spoke. "It's...a little weird." He then motioned to her. "Just the other solar, she was our size and sleeping in the same berth as we were. Now...she's like us...but bigger."

"Not like that is a bad thing," Rumble added quickly. "It's just...going to take some getting used to."

"That'll be the case for all of us," I agreed with him. "And imagine how she is going to react when she wakes up. She will have to get used to the fact that she is no longer the species she was born as. I think the rest of us will be able to keep our unease at the situation to a minimum. By the time that she settles into her new chassis, the rest of us should have had enough time to get used to her new size."

"Does this mean that she is going to have to relearn everything?" Rumble asked as we stared at her.

Honestly, while his question was good, there wasn't a really good answer that I could give him. This kind of thing happening to another being before was...unheard of. There was no precedent to her experience before and that meant that, as soon as she awoke from her stasis lock, then we were all on a learning cruise. What happened with her would be the first studies in this situation.

If she did have to re-learn everything that we had taught her, it would put a delay on our schedule. We had many relics that had been found, many due to her assistance, and we would have to risk losing those relics to make sure that our newest fighter was ready for combat situations. I did not doubt that, with her new form, Lord Megatron would place her on the field more and she would insist on being there.

Lizzie's loyalty to the Decepticons had been steadfast since the first solar of her acceptance into our ranks. Every breath that she had taken seemed to be to help us. Being on the field would push that drive in her even further. All of the combat training that we had been working with her on would be able to be applied against our enemy, and not just her strategies.

To answer Rumble, though. "I hope not. Not only would it start her new life in an awkward place, but Lizzie would be upset at the thought that she had placed the Decepticons in a bad spot because of this need to re-learn." A thought then came to me as I stared at her chassis. "Of course, she will have to learn about our systems. From what Knockout has spoken about his studies, humans cannot read their internal statistics like we are able. So, she will have to be taught to do that."

"Yeah, and drinking energon. She used to always wonder how we could intake the same stuff every solar. Well, she's going to have to learn!" Frenzy let out as a laugh.

He was right, of course. Lizzie made it no secret her confusion at our ability to survive on one substance alone. Of course, we had also teased her about her ability to intake so many different options as sustenance. That would be a change, albeit a small one, that she was going to have to get used to. "When she wakes up, contact Lord Megatron and Knockout if he isn't back. Both of them will need to know." They nodded at that.

A groan coming from the currently unconscious femme caused the three of us to tense. She was close to coming back to consciousness. I would give it another few clicks before she woke. Knockout had stepped out to confirm something he had found on her scans with Shockwave before he reported it to Lord Megatron. He, of course, wouldn't share that scan data with the rest of us.

The flickering of green optics caused me to look at Lizzie as her faceplate contorted slightly as she gained consciousness. Before she could focus completely, I motioned to the twins to contact Lord Megatron and Knockout. We had to ease her into this change.

"Ow, my head," The femme finally spoke. Her vocals immediately registered in my processor as Lizzie's, though they had a deepened slightly from how they were when she was human. She then looked over at me. "Starscream, what happened?"

Frag, she was already asking questions. While that was just like her, answering them might prove to be...difficult. So, I figured it would be best to go slow. "Lizzie...what do you remember?"

Her faceplate stiffened as she seemed to think about what happened. "I...I was looking for a relic...and I was talking to the twins. I found a canister I think...it was sticking out from below the cliff I was on. I grabbed it. I know I grabbed the canister. Then, I heard the bridge open from behind me…" Her optics widened at that. "Starscream, why are there words in front of my eyes? What's with the blinking? What's going on?" I felt panicked as her tone rose with each question she asked. Thankfully, she was strapped down so she couldn't sit up and look at her chassis. Actually, she was strapped down securely enough to avoid her seeing any of her chassis.

"Lizzie, I'll try to explain that in a click. Just try and remember anything,"

"In a click!?" She didn't look happy at that. Her optics were dilating slightly as I could see the panic set in. "It might be normal for Cybertronians to have words flash in front of their optics Starscream but it is not normal for humans to see words when they…"

It was unnerving when she suddenly froze. Was it her systems acting up? She could be about to glitch from the stress of what happened to her. So, I stood up to help her calm down. But, instead, her optics followed me and seemed to widen. "What...What happened to me?" The twins hopped down from the med berth at that point, and it was a good thing they did. She suddenly screamed as she started to pull against the restraints holding her. However, I wasn't too worried. Even as a war build, she would have difficulty snapping those bonds unless she was as strong as a triple changer or near Lord Megatron's str…

My spark skipped a beat when the straps on her helm and shoulders suddenly snapped. As I moved to hold her down, I realized that she was in a full-blown panic. "Lizzie, you need to,"

"Starscream you fragger what the fucking hell happened to me? What did they do to me? Who did this? What happened? What am I?" Her screams then devolved from words to just wordless panicking.

Finally, Knockout ran in and started to help me hold her back. "What the frag did you do?" He yelled at me.

"Nothing!" I barely got over Lizzie's panicked screams. "She woke up and panicked once she got her bearings!"

As the doors opened again and I saw Soundwave running over to help us restrain the femme, I frowned. I would have been the first one around when she woke up. And bots thought I screamed loudly?

Megatron's 1st P.O.V.

I smirked as I walked toward the medbay doors. An asset that I had been using to cause tension among the Autobots, as well as a strategist, had evolved. Her new metal form would be an improvement to many aspects of life aboard the Nemesis. Once it could be determined where her current skill level was, Lizzie could help cover areas on the ship that we currently could not. Even better, her being a war build was an advantage that I planned to take full advantage of. Knockout, I knew, was taking comprehensive scan data of the femme and would report to me once the scans were completed. Once I had those in my servos, then I would see all that Lizzie would now bring to the Decepticon cause. With her loyalty combined with her new form, then I did not doubt that the femme would become an instrument of destruction against our enemies.

However, she would not be keeping her past human designation. Her new form deserved a designation that would tell of what she went through to come to this point and strike fear in those who would hear of it in the future. Being 'Lizzie Xantara Val' would no longer be acceptable. However, I already had a designation picked out that would show her true,

Once I arrived at the medbay doors, I frowned when I heard said femme screaming. The femme must not be coping well with this new change. So, I opened the door and was only mildly surprised to see that the femme was indeed struggling. And screaming. Three of the five straps that were holding her down were snapped cleanly in half while Soundwave, Knockout, and Starscream were having to work together to keep the panicking femme from removing the last two straps.

Her power was certainly more than what we were guessing. Knockout's scans would show a more comprehensive reason behind her strength. Until then, though, it was time to remind the strategist how to control herself.

"Lizzie."

I hadn't even yelled the previous human's human name. Just her name leaving my vocals was enough for the previously screaming human to calm down and go silent. Her lime green optics were now focused directly on me. That was very comforting to see in the femme. Her observance of my presence was as strong now as it was when she was human. Of course, this trait in our Decepticon strategist would have to be observed as she grew more comfortable with her new form.

As she had calmed down, the others had released her, both from themselves and from the remaining two restraints. "My Lord," The femme started to speak as she moved to stand. However, I felt concern as the femme could not keep her pedes under her chassis. It was only due to Soundwave and Starscream stabilizing the femme that she did not fall to the floor of the med bay.

"We shall have time to discuss your new status among us once you familiarize yourself with your new chassis. However, from this nano forth you shall no longer be known as Lizzie Xantara Val." The femme and the others focused on me as I continued. "That was the name you were as a human, and thus no longer suitable to you."

"Yes, Lord Megatron," The femme spoke, saying my designation for the first time since her transformation. Her saying my designation caused a feeling of pride to swell through my circuits in a flash, though I was not sure why. "Then, if I may ask, what shall I be called?"

"You may," I answered the first part of her question before I decided to answer the second part. "Your metamorphosis from human to a Cybertronian was not a matter solely in the servos of fate. You were changed due to the pandemonium of the battle which we fought and the battle against the dark energon and energon which your previous form fought. Additionally, the malice of your enemies brought into play the dark energon that I do not doubt enhanced the change you underwent." I then turned and walked to the entrance of the med bay. Before I left, I turned to the femme and made sure to look at her directly in the optics. "From this solar hence, you shall be known as Pandimala."

Once I spoke her new designation, I noticed the femme's optics dilate slightly. Even though she tried to keep her faceplate neutral, I noticed Pandimala smile just so slightly. The sight of it caused me to almost lose my neutral composure. What was wrong with me this solar?

Once I left the hall, I allowed my thoughts to go to the new femme. Pandimala. With her current unfamiliarity with her chassis, as was seen when she tried to stand, I knew that she would need to have time before she was ready for combat.

And, now that she was now one of us, I realized that we could now discover the one gray area that our otherwise loyal femme had. How she came onto our ship. It was a point of mystery that needed to be answered. Now that she was one of us, her memories were now available for us to view.

However, with her transformation so new, it would be best to allow her chassis and processor to settle in this new life she was in. Becoming a new species, it would place stress upon her processor. Shockwave, the creator of the cortical psychic patch, had spoken of how stress on the processor made the experience of the patch much more difficult for both parties involved. So, we would wait and train with the femme. We would allow her to become familiarized with her chassis.

Then, once that was accomplished, I would personally go into the processor of Pandimala, to discover just what secrets she held.

Paul's 1st P.O.V.

Something was off. I knew that the timeline was irreparably misplaced. My brother was supposed to be the catalyst of season one, and it was through his defeat that Optimus would lose his memories and eventually set up the relic hunt for season two, which would be needed to find the keys and start the process toward reenergizing Cybertron to sustain life.

However, without a sign of my brother and us being through season one and into the second, I found myself worrying. This inactivity from my brother was unusual and the mech was planning something. I knew my brother for far too long to think otherwise. Inactivity from him usually meant that something big was coming.

And the changing moods of the Decepticons seemed to foreshadow that.

They were acting as a unified faction, for the most part, and that worried me. For events to unfold as they should, then the Decepticons needed to be a fractioned faction. Starscream, or another of the Decepticons currently at their base, needed to turn away from the Decepticons, temporarily, so that the keys would all end up together and events could take place as they should.

Even though I knew that she was just trying to survive on the ship, I also knew that Lizzie was the start of all the problems that I was facing. She had stopped Megatron from stabbing himself with the dark energon. That act alone caused the dark energon that the dimension needed to take a backseat. However, I knew that she needed to survive. That meant that she needed to make changes to make sure she stayed alive. That was especially with the other organic on the ship with her.

From what I heard about the battle, the Decepticons were on edge about any mention of Lizzie. Had something happened to her and they were avoiding answering? I wanted to contact the girl but, from how she cut ties with me, and with the reveal of the other organic on the ship, then it would be too risky, no matter what I feared.

"You look like you're going to freak out, Paul," Miko commented as she walked up. Once she was next to me, she nudged me. "You worried about everything with the lack of dark stuff?" I nodded. "Paul, don't forget what I found during the cave in."

It took me a second to realize what she was referring to. But, eventually, I remembered that she told me that she got lost and ended up finding a cave full of dark energon. While it hadn't played a role in this timeline like I wanted it to, it was at least comforting to know that it was there in the first place.

"Speaking on that, were there any other entrances that you noticed to get into that are of the cave?" I needed to know if bots would be able to have access to the dark energon. While I didn't want the Autobots to get it, there needed to be a way for the Decepticons to have access to the substance. It needed to be used since it was the dark energon that allowed my brother to take over which Decepticon was going to offline at the end of season 3.

Miko nodded. "Yeah, there were a couple that smaller bots might be able to get into. So, as long as one of the 'Cons find it, then you should be good." She then looked around the bot-less room that we were in. "Speaking about that, where are the bots?"

"Most of them went to the mountains to investigate an energy signal that was located there. With the increasing number in Decepticons, the Autobots go out with more of them to help lower any casualties," I explained to her. Since the Autobots were going into the mountains to investigate the signal, it made me wonder if this was the Forge of Solus Prime. If we could get this instead of the Decepticons, that would be a change that I could agree with.

"Paul," I turned to Miko when she started to speak. She looked focused already so something told me that she was not going to hesitate in saying whatever she was about to say. "I want you to start training me, like how you train with Pitch, Flamewar, Sentinel, Zarron, and Wheeljack."

My eyes widened at that. "Miko no. It is not safe for you. I only do it so I can keep an eye out on the different moods happening here in base. I can't let you put yourself at risk."

"Duh!" I was surprised when Miko answered me like that. I didn't think she would back down. "I'm not saying that I should join you all in training. I am asking for you to train me. I need to be able to kick aft if I have to. The Decepticons have two organics with them and, while Lizzie isn't there on her own free will, the other one seems to be. If I am going to be out in the field, I am risking encountering their organic. I need training Paul."

Letting out a sigh, I moved toward the railing. "Miko...you're right. With the situation as it is, then I am going to need you out in the field even more. That means that I have to make sure you have the training to defend yourself. I plan on us making many changes coming up. We need to make sure that the Autobots are the ones to restore and claim Cybertron. That means that we have to make sure that every battle that can will go in favor of the Autobots." I then looked at her, since she joined me. "I'll train you."

"Yes!"

Wheeljack's 1st P.O.V.

Where was he?

Since I had been one of the ones left behind here at the base, I had taken the time to check out my weapons to make sure that they were all in working order. After that fragging battle in the mine, we Autobots were hit hard. The extent of our injuries from the extent of the battle was worse than we thought. While I bet the 'Cons were just as beat up as we were, they had the resources to cover that up. While we had a few mines that we worked with the harvester, our numbers still caused us to struggle.

Once I finished checking on my weapons, I realized that Zarron had also been left behind and went to find him. I had now been searching the base for thirty clicks and I still hadn't located the mech. "Frag it all Zarron where did you slip off to?"

The only places that I hadn't checked were the training area and the area that we had designated off to view the training field. But, we were the only two bots at the base right now and so I doubted that the mech was training.

Sure enough, once I arrived at the viewing room, the two-wheeler was staring out toward the training field. "What are you up to Zar?"

Of course, the mech didn't seem surprised that I was behind him and simply turned to me, stared for a nano, and then turned back before motioning out to the field. "It seems that another of our humans has decided to get some training."

Wait, one of the kids was getting training? I didn't even think that Sentinel, Pitch, or Flamewar were at the base. I was panicked for a nano as I moved to see what the mech was seeing. However, once I did, I relaxed when I saw that, while it was Miko getting training, it was just Paul out there training with her. That was a relief. "That's a relief. You had me worried there."

"My apologies." He then sighed. "I have to admit, watching this training is much easier than it was watching Pitch, Flamewar, and Sentinel train with Paul the first time. This feels like training. That...well,"

"It felt like we were watching those three hunt Paul instead of training him?" I finished for him. "Yeah, this is easier, though Bulkhead won't be too happy to hear that Miko is doing this period. The big lug gets protective of Miko...sometimes too protective."

"Can you blame him with those three around the base?"

"...No. Not really. But, she needs this. If she is going to sneak out of the base as she does, I feel better with her having this than not." The two of us then stood there watching the two of them. Yes, this was much easier to watch. I had seen first-servo that Sentinel, Pitch, and Flamewar were chaotic Autobots that should only be let out in the worse situations. It was really bad during the synth-en mess. The fact that Flamewar didn't hesitate to fire at Zarron while we were at the base and the humans were in the line of fire was worrying. Then Sentinel had set off an explosion that could have offlined the two of us.

Speaking on that incident, there was something that I wanted to ask the mech.

"I can hear your gears grinding Wheeljack." Zarron suddenly spoke. "You can ask me whatever you want."

Well, since he opened the door, "Yeah, there is something that has been eating away at my processor. You said you were from Tarn, right?" He nodded at that. "I know a lot of the bots from there, like Kaon and Vos, went to the Decepticons. Why did you end up joining the Autobots?"

I almost felt accomplished when the mech looked surprised at my question. But, that surprise soon passed and the mech looked serious. "To be honest with you Wheeljack, I was very close to joining the Decepticons. All the rumors you heard before the war about those three cities, they didn't even touch the horrors that went on there. We were little more than scum that bots in the other city-states had to deal with. As a Tarnite, I was limited in travel between Kaon and Tarn, sometimes Vos if I was a bot in 'good standing' from Tarn or Kaon. If I went anywhere else, I was imprisoned and immediately sent back. I wasn't of privilege enough to travel to the other city-states."

"I didn't realize things were that bad." I knew that Kaon and Tarn were the worst city-states on Cybertron to be in, but I didn't realize that they were so limited in what they could do. I was always told they had the freedoms that I was used to and just chose not to better themselves.

"Yeah, most bots didn't. But, I met a femme who was from Polyhex who was a medic-in-training. She helped me see that, even though the Council was full of sparkless fraggers, that at least one bot from the higher city-states had a spark. When Megatron started his speeches, I agreed with many of the topics he spoke on. I wanted equality, and that seemed only possible through fighting." He then paused. "And then the war broke out."

He seemed lost in memory so, figuring he wanted to talk before the others could hear, I interrupted him. "What happened then?"

Zarron shook his helm before he spoke. "I was neutral at first. But, then I found that femme from Polyhex and saw that she was an Autobot. I knew that she didn't have the sort of fighting experience I had and I knew that I needed to protect her. So, I asked her to take me to the closest Autobot that could place me in the ranks. We met up with a mech she knew and, after that, I became an Autobot."

Well, that answered that. However, I did notice that Zarron didn't say who he was protecting the femme from. But, I wouldn't press that point. I got a lot of information from that question from the mech and I knew even more that I could trust him.

"Now it's your turn to answer a deep question." Zarron suddenly spoke, catching me off-guard. Of course, I should have expected it. He gave me deep answers and now I had to do the same. "How far are you willing to go to protect your values?"

I knew why he was asking me that. The mech was on a mission to discover bots who were falling away from the Autobot values, and values that most Autobots should hold. However, bots could be swayed from their values. Zarron wanted to know how far I would say I would go to keep mine. So, I answered him honestly. "I'll go as far as it would take. Nothing more and nothing less."

The two-wheeler stared at me for a few nanos before he smiled and nodded. "Good, and I'll make sure to keep you on that track, no matter what it takes...nothing more and nothing less." He then held up his clenched servo.

I smirked and met it with my own.

Authoress: *still in Skywarp's servo* Pandimala is born!

Megatron: Very good. This has been worth the trouble that you caused human.

Authoress: *nervously* So...I get to live?

Megatron: *nods* For now. Skywarp set her down.

Skywarp: Aww, but I wanted to play with her some more! *lets Authoress down*

Pandimala: *walks in with help of Soundwave* Well, this is not what I was expecting. But, I do wish to say thank you, Authoress.

Authoress: *smiles* Yeah! I did something good!

AN2: And here is the chapter! I know, I have updated so quickly on this one. But I felt like I shouldn't leave you off on a cliff-hanger so I decided to give you this! We see Lizzie become no more in this chapter and is given her new name by Lord Megatron! I wonder what is going through her helm right now?

Then, we get some time with the Autobots and we see that, while Paul is worried, finding out about dark energon being around still is calming. Plus, unknown to him, it has been used, so that is good...I think? We also get to see that Miko is going to be getting some training in. I wonder where that will go?

Then, we get some more background on Zarron. But, his answer makes me even more curious about the mech. Who is he protecting? And what is he protecting them from? Of course, we get a small bit about Wheeljack and how far he is willing to go to protect his values. It should be interesting.

The next chapter is another fun chapter filled with learning for Pandimala and some tension with the Autobots as they go after two relics, and one life is put into danger!

Oh, and to let you all know, the Autobots did get the Forge this chapter. I just thought I'd let you know.

So, the next chapters are!...

Chapter 30: Walking on Two Pedes

Chapter 31: Clash of Strategists (More bots coming here! Yeah!)

Chapter 32:...(Find out next time!)

And that's all for now. Please leave a review, or say hi if you want, and I will love it! Until next time though, TTYL! *planning out Halloween for this year*