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

Pandimala: So, an entire chapter focused on us. I feel honored Authoress.

Authoress: Well, I originally planned on some Autobot interaction in here but this first point of view took longer than I thought it would and got me into a Decepticon only mood. Paul will just have to wait until the next chapter to have some fun.

Pandimala: Really? What's happening in this first part?

Authoress: *smirks* Well, read and find out.

Oh, and can you all go and check out the poll on my profile? It is somewhat important for me that you all get your opinion in on this question so please go and give your answer!

And here is where I am going to be responding to guest reviews!

Estella Prime: Well, thank you for the compliment. I enjoy Shadow's work as well and I am glad that you look at mine in the same good light. =) And yes, Megatron seems to be viewing Pandimala in a new light with her change. Not really in this chapter, but we will see more of that develop as we move along through these chapters. It should be quite fun. =)

Chapter 30: Walking on Two Pedes

Pandimala's 1st P.O.V.

"Now, what is the gauge in the upper-left corner of your vision?"

"That...would be the gauge that informs me about my current energon levels."

"And when you see a blue light in the lower-right corner of your vision?"

"I have a private message. Focusing on it will tell me who it is from and then focusing on that again will open the message."

"And how do you focus on an object?"

"I focus on whatever object is in my field of vision and my systems will register to magnify my view."

"You've remembered your basic lessons from the previous solar." Shockwave finished as the two of us continued to work on decoding more of the Praxian Database. Starting from when I woke up two solars ago, I had been on the fast course to, not only re-learn the basics of life, like walking, running, and any movements with my chassis but, learn about the basics of being a Cybertronian. The others were being great with helping. If it wasn't for Vox, then I would probably still be having problems walking.

"I want to get back to full use as fast as I can Shockwave. That means that I have been doing whatever practice and research that I have been able to. I don't like how I am behind the rest of you like this. I had just earned my place in the Decepticons, and now I feel like more of a hindrance than a help."

Shockwave's typing at the console stopped and, for a nano, he just stood there. It was unnerving and it was strange to see the different statistics race across my optics as I watched him. Most of those statistics were saying that my spark-beat was picking up and my chassis didn't like that. Of course, nothing my systems could show me would describe what I was feeling as Shockwave continued to stand there.

"My hesitation there was a hindrance," I jumped when Shockwave just said that. "This is the third solar cycle since you woke to discover your evolutionary metamorphosis. Turning from one species to a separate one would probably be a strain on your systems as it is. However, you also changed from an organic species to a Cybertronian. A large learning gap is to be expected from such a change and we have adjusted to such." He then continued to type so I did as well before he continued. "From all expectations, you seem to be progressing faster than was anticipated."

I was? Frag I still had coordination issues when I ran but, if Shockwave was saying that I was progressing faster than I was projected to, then I wouldn't argue it. Of course, as I continued to work on the database with the mech, I realized that part of my 'ease' to adjusting was due to my past. I practically grew up with information about Cybertronians, from many universes, surrounding me. Some of the information was difficult to processes first-servo, but understanding the basis behind the information I was given did give me an advantage.

And I had to find out how I was to tell them. I couldn't just ask to be given a cortical psychic patch out of the blue. I shouldn't know what those were yet. Surprisingly, in all the time I had been here, they hadn't been brought up. So, I had to bide my time.

I was going to tell them. I had decided before I was shot that if I was ever given a way to show that I wasn't completely insane about explaining my origins to my fellow Decepticons, that I would. Being turned into a Cybertronian, and Pandimala to boot was unexpected. However, it did give me the ability to prove the insanity that my life became at the moment when Paul sent me the invitation to come and have a job interview.

Pandimala. When Lord Megatron had said that he had a name picked out for me, I had been tense. I hadn't had a clear glance at myself before he came in, due to my panic that realizing what happened. However, I had seen enough to guess that I was like my old OC from the stories I used to write. I had hoped to be able to name myself. However, I would not go against Lord Megatron and his wishes.

So, when that name came out of his vocals, I had tried to hide the utter joy and excitement that I had felt. However, I had slipped a small smile at the revelation. Pandimala. I ended up being called her regardless of my wishes. That just showed that my loyalty to Lord Megatron was well placed. Fate was practically reaffirming that with having him name me that.

The flashing of the gauge in the upper-left corner of my vision caused me to realize that I had spent all morning working here with Shockwave and I had yet to intake any energon since the ration I had when I first woke. "Uh...Shockwave. Where can I get some energon? My levels are low."

This time when Shockwave stopped typing, he immediately turned to me and seemed to study me for a nano. "So, Knockout forgot to explain the functionality of your sub-space when he was giving you your check-ups. This should not surprise me." He then studied me. "Did Knockout remember to explain to you the idea behind using a sub-space?"

"Yes, he spoke on it for a few moments. But then we had a rush of injured drones come in from an attack by the Autobots on one of the mines." I defended Knockout.

Shockwave didn't comment on my defense. Instead, he reached by his side and seemed to pull two energon cubes out of thin air. I knew it was from his sub-space, but seeing it used was a different experience. "As Knockout should have explained, a sub-space is an extra-dimensional storage space that we Cybertronians can access to place items that we may use inside of. The items inside a sub-space can vary widely from weapons to data-pads, to trinkets, energon, and many other uses. For this lesson, we are going to focus on using it to store an energon cube."

"Can living beings be put in sub-space?" That had been a question that was debated in my old universe. My personal belief in the system was that, while it could not be used to store a person inside directly, it may have transwarp frequencies that may be overridden for personal transport.

"No." Well, there went that idea. "The energies inside the sub-space area cause feedback to all living beings, both organic and non-organic. However, the transwarp frequencies have been used for the transport of small beings and objects. However, those have been rare cases."

"That's good to know," I added in.

He nodded before continuing this lesson. "To use the sub-space, you must start the necessary programs in your chassis to access them. Then, it is a simple matter of reaching to your side and placing the item inside or thinking of the item you wish to retrieve." He then set the two cubes down before he picked up a blank datapad. "Take this and focus on accessing your subspace. Place it inside. Then, I want you to take it out again."

Taking the datapad, I focused on the program to access the sub-space until it started to activate. It almost created a warmth on my sides that I had never expected to experience. Well, that seemed to be the right time. So, I moved the datapad next to me before acting like I was placing it in a pocket. It was so weird to see it disappear from view once I let it go. I then waited for a few nano-clicks before reactivating the program and moving my servo to my side. My optic ridges furrowed in confusion, though, when my servo grabbed a cylinder-shaped object. I should only have the datapad in my subspace...shouldn't I?

"What the frag?" I let out when, instead of the datapad coming out, I pulled out a slagging black broadsword! I mean, I knew my character Pandimala had them, but she usually had them on her back, hilt facing downward for easy access. Not in her slagging sub-space!

Shockwave's optic seemed to readjust itself for a nano before he spoke. "I am assuming that neither Knockout nor Hook bothered with a scan of your sub-space." I shot him a look that was a no. "Focus on your sub-space program." I did. "Now, focus on what is all in your sub-space. A medical scan would be faster at this, however, both Knockout and Hook are planetside on missions."

While I was curious about what missions Hook and Knockout were on, since I doubted that the two medics were on the same mission, I knew that I needed to find out what I was carrying around with me. So, I did as Shockwave said and focused on what was inside my sub-space. The program seemed to hesitate and move slowly. However, after a few clicks, words appeared in my vision. As I was able to read them, I read them to Shockwave. "One broadsword, one datapad….and that's it." Well, at least it was short. With the reveal of the first broadsword, I wasn't so surprised about finding the second one in there. But, since I wasn't quite prepared to discuss my origins, I acted surprised once I finished reading the list of two.

"So, you have two broadswords. This will be good practice for working with your sub-space however. Return the sword to your subspace." Shockwave ordered. Nodding, I did so. "Now, I want you to focus your thoughts on retrieving the datapad specifically."

I knew I couldn't waste time so I focused on the subspace program until it reactivated. Once it did, I thought on just the datapad as I reached toward my side. To my relief, I felt the slim feeling of the datapad in my servo. When I pulled it out, I handed it toward him. "This doesn't seem too bad."

Even though trying to read a faceplate expression on Shockwave was impossible, I would swear in front of any deity, and to any deity, that anybot wanted me to that the mech in front of me had a smug look on his faceplate before he spoke. "In a battle situation, you will not have all of this time to access your sub-space." He then motioned to me. "Again."

This was going to be a long solar.

Skyquake's 1st P.O.V.

I shook my helm as I walked the halls of the Nemesis. It was hard for me to imagine that the same, small human that used to always be found wandering the halls was now a femme who stood even taller than I did. It didn't seem like it should be possible. Now, I was glad that she was still alive no matter what form she now had, but getting used to Pandimala's presence on the ship was still a work in progress.

And that was why I currently found myself moving toward one of the spare comm rooms that were on the ship. The specific one, room B-56, was currently designated as the operating room of DIGS or Drone Information Gathering Squad. They had been created, though not named when Lizzie was just beginning to receive her training as a strategist. They focused on watching rising threats from humanity, and one threat in particular.

"Skyquake, what are you doing down here sir?" Drone 7-U4K aka Turk, spoke as he walked next to me. The eradicon had been a part of a group of eradicons that had been coming to us flying officers for training in better flight skills. Something Lizzie had wanted all officers to get involved with was the focus on training drones when they came to us, and with how they were able to work with her for her final assessment, they were worth the time. Turk had been especially enthusiastic about flight training with us officers.

He had only missed one session of training that his schedule would allow him and I had been concerned that the drone hadn't been there. It was strange that I was so concerned and, before Pandimala came into our ranks, I wouldn't have given any sort of attention to them. But, her changing our views on them caused me to hunt down the drone's location. Turned out that he had caught a solar-virus and was quarantined by the other drones for the safety of the ship. Turned out, the drones were just as unused to being so open with us as we were with working so closely with them. Whenever drones had been inflicted with viruses like this in the past or even worse viruses, the drones refused to find any medical help from the officers. If they might miss a medical check-up, another drone went in their place and none were the wiser since they weren't monitored tightly.

That had caused major changes to be needed for how medical checkups went. Drones were now required to give their serial numbers and be scanned for verification. However, a solar-virus like Turk had would have been able to be avoided and, if I hadn't gone to check on him, the drone would have suffered all solar instead of simply going to Hook. Said medic gave him an anti-viral injection and the drone was fine in four cycles. After that incident, the drones seemed to start becoming more familiar with the idea that they were not just tools on the ship.

To answer Turk's question though. "I was curious about how DIGS was moving along so far. And you?" I knew that this was one of his shorter breaks so no flight training. However, I hadn't expected him to be down here.

The eradicon motioned toward the doorway I was heading to. "Sorrel is going to start his short break coming up here and we are going to spar with each other for a bit before I go down for a scouting assignment." He then opened the door and the two of us walked inside.

"John do you have confirmation on that information?"

"Yeah, I do. Got it from a trace we put on their network on our last run."

"Ethan, I want you on your network getting extra confirmation on this project information. I am not going to be forwarding this information until we have complete confirmation from multiple sources on this!"

Seemed like something had happened here. Berg was not the sort of drone to yell often so I must have walked into them finding out some serious information about MECH. "Berg, what is going on?"

The sound of my question caused the leader of DIGS to stop, though the other drones in the room continued to work on their monitors like their sparks depended on it. "Lieutenant Skyquake, sir. We do not have enough proof to make an official report on this. However, five clicks ago, John came across a file called Project Chimera. The information contained in the file shows specs for the creation of a non-autonomous version of...well, us. But, we are making sure that the information is accurate before we send it on."

While that was normally a good idea, finding this information on the human organization meant that they had more contact with our kind than we thought they had. Something must have transpired between them and the Autobots if they have enough information to work on a project like this. "Keep looking for more information, but forward what you have to Lord Megatron, Starscream, and Soundwave and make sure to mark it as an incomplete report."

The fact that MECH even had a project like this was worrying enough. We knew from when Pandimala was Lizzie that humans could make great impacts in our fight with our technology at their disposal. If MECH was able to use our technology in this project of theirs, then they would pose a great threat to Lord Megatron and our cause.

The drone nodded and did so. I knew that Soundwave liked to have any information about reports even if they were incomplete. Plus, given how MECH was able to take down both Vox and Breakdown, I knew that the higher command needed to be kept up to date on any major information that the team here came up with.

As Berg did that, Sorrel moved up to me. "Lieutenant Skyquake, sir," The drone seemed very hesitant about what he was about to say. "We were all wondering...well...how is Pandimala adjusting?"

"Pandimala? She seems to be moving forward at a nice pace." I answered the drone, only surprised that I was asked now, and not that I was surprised in general. I knew that Pandimala, when she was Lizzie, was close with the drones and most of them were close to her. Them wanting to know how she was adjusting was something that we were all expecting.

But, I was surprised when Sorrel shook his helm. "No, sir...I mean, I am glad to hear that, but I meant more along the lines of how she is mentally adjusting to being one of us. We...I mean, she was always so worried about all of us and...well, we just want to know if there is anything we can do to help...if we can help."

I had to readjust my optics for a nano when he rephrased what he meant. I knew that the drones cared for her, but I didn't realize it was on this deep of a level. From the looks that were on the faceplates of the other drones, even Turk, they were all wanting to know this answer. Pandimala had made an even larger connection to the drones than any of us realized. If Pandimala wasn't as loyal as she was, more loyal than my brother and me if I had to put a marker on it, then I would be worried that this loyalty from the drones would be a danger to the loyalty on the ship to Lord Megatron.

However, with the knowledge that Pandimala was an extremely loyal femme, I wasn't worried.

"She is doing alright. The experience is even newer to her as well as us and we all need to make sure to help Pandimala when she needs it. Only when she needs it." They all nodded toward me. "Now, you all get back to work. MECH isn't just going to give us the information that we want."

The DIGS drones nodded before continuing their work while Turk waited by the side. I took the chance to leave the room and make my way toward the flight deck. As I walked, however, I made sure to take notice of the drones. Each of them seemed to have a worried look in their visors. Pandimala's impact on the ship was great and I was glad that the femme had support behind her.

Breakdown's 1st P.O.V.

"Come on Pandimala, I thought you triple changers could hit harder than that?" I taunted the femme as we worked on some servo-to-servo training.

It really shouldn't have surprised me, receiving the message from the femme about wanting to practice. Before her change, Pandimala spent about half of her time in training rooms. Even though it had only been a couple of solars since her transformation, the femme was already trying to get back into the swing of her regular life on the Nemesis.

And that meant that I was now on the other side of punches from a triple changer.

To be fair, though, the femme was still getting used to her chassis, so I was taunting her to try and get her to feel out her boundaries. See how far she could push her chassis before she went over her limit. But, I also had to be careful. The femme was still getting used to her chassis and causing damage to it so soon after she received it would not put me in anybot's good books.

Pandimala let out a laugh at my taunt before throwing a right hook. "Don't worry Breakdown. Give me a few solars and I'll be throwing you all over the practice room here."

I blocked her attack and flinched at the power behind the punch. Nowhere near regular triple-changer strength yet, but it was more powerful than the last. However, I was already seeing improvement in the femme during this training session. She seemed to be more used to her chassis as we went over basic moves. Dodging my strikes wasn't throwing her off balance nearly as often as it was at the beginning of this session.

Of course, this was a field that she was familiar with. Glancing at the femme, and more directly at her shoulder cannons, I knew that parts of fighting that she couldn't train for before, such as firing her cannons, transforming, and systems reading, those were going to take longer for her to adjust to. I had heard that the femme had worked with Shockwave this solar on working with her subspace while the rest of us went to retrieve two relics.

Each side had come away with a different relic. The Autobots had managed to take a relic that was called the Gift of Primus. It was said to have the ability to save a bot from the brink of offlining. Of course, from the damage the two-wheeler mech took from Lord Megatron's cannon as he tried to come after the relic we had been able to claim, the Autobots might have had to use it on him or he would probably be offline by now. Autobots didn't let their own offline like that so we probably didn't have to worry about that.

When we returned to the ship, it was found that we had recovered the Skyboom Shield. According to legend, the shield could nullify any attack that came against it that was anything less than Primus or Unicron themselves. Of course, that was just a legend. However, it would help us in the fight against the Autobots so it was well worth losing the Gift of Primus. We just had to make sure to keep any of us from offlining.

Finally, the buzzer we had set up went off, letting us know that we needed to take a break. I didn't want to be stressing out her systems, despite the drive that the femme had to keep improving faster and faster. "Good job Pandimala. You're improving."

Instead of looking excited, I could see worry pass across the femme's optics. "So everybot keeps telling me."

I knew what this was. Before she had been attacked, the femme was improving by leaps and bounds and earned her spot among us. Now, she barely did much outside of relearning the basics and learning about her new chassis and how it worked. She went from immediately being able to jump in with the answer to being the one behind the learning curve.

And, while she had probably heard this before, I knew that there was only one answer. "Femme, you are moving faster than we thought. We went from barely being able to stay on your pedes two solars ago to already being in combat training. Honestly, I've been wanting to ask you how you've been adapting so quickly. You've gone through a huge species change and yet you are pushing forward as if it doesn't phase you."

The femme seemed to hesitate and, for a nano, I saw that she might want to argue with me. However, instead, she shook her helm and sat down. "Honestly Breakdown, this is affecting me. Waking up to stare at hard metal instead of the flesh that I was born with, it shakes me every single time. But, this might answer your question about how I have been able to adapt so quickly. See, humans, as you know, aren't the only species on the planet by far. The only truly sentient species but not alone. What allowed us to evolve was a need to adapt. If humans didn't adapt, then we died."

I didn't know what to say. Yes, what she said made sense. Her past as a human, being able to be killed by numerous things, would force the species to have incredible adaptability if they didn't want to be killed off.

Before I could say anything on that, the doors to the training room we were using opened and I was surprised to see Blitzwing walk in. "Vhy vasn't I told about a group song?" Random asked.

Pandimala laughed as she stood up. "Sorry Random. I'll let you know next time."

From the look in Icy's optics, since he just took over, I had a feeling that he was down here for more than just having fun. "What can we do for you Blitzwing?"

The triple changer glanced at me before he focused on Pandimala. "Lord Megatron has requested that I start Pandimala's training with her shoulder cannons."

"Really?" Panidmala asked excitedly.

Blitzwing nodded. "Of course really! Do jou zhink zhat I am some idiot who lies about orders?"

"I can't wait!" Pandimala was practically bouncing from pede to pede as she said that.

I just felt relief. The femme had been down only a few clicks ago and, with just the idea that she was getting some new training in, she was back to her regular self. I stayed in the room as Blitzwing showed Pandimala how to use her cannons and the basics behind aiming them. Of course, saying how to use them and the femme using them were two very different things. I was pretty sure that there were dents in the wall surrounding the entirety of their target...and none in the target itself.

Pandimala, of course, seemed upset about it until random let slip about his first try with his cannons as a youngling. That had caused Pandimala to laugh and she didn't seem upset when she said that she was going to her new berth-room for the solar. Said berth-room was near Lord Megatron's and Blitzwing's.

Once the doors closed behind the femme, I motioned toward them. "Blitzwing, you've trained with Pandimala now. Do you think that she is going to keep improving?"

"Of course she vill." Hothead started their answer before Icy took over. "Zhere is no doubt in my processor zhat Pandimala, just as she did as Lizzie, vill alvays make sure zhat she is improving."

From the tone in his vocals, I could tell that there was more that he wanted to say, and not a positive. "But?"

"But," He continued. "I am vorried about how she is going to grow mentally vith her physical growth. Triple changers like us, as ve grow into learning about our chassis, usually have a time when ve become overconfident in ourselves and zhink zhat nozhing can defeat us. I went through it, and Astrotrain never got out of it. I worry about how Pandimala will react to it."

When he first started to speak, I had been worried. I had heard about that problem in triple changers. It was something that they were sparked with and, while I was sure Lord Megatron would understand Pandmala going through it, the femme herself might be a different case.

My thoughts then returned to the talk I was having with Pandimala before Blitzwing arrived and I smirked while shaking my helm. "I don't think we'll have to worry about that Blitzwing."

"Vhy not?"

"Because we aren't just dealing with any triple changer." I then motioned to where Pandimala had just left. "Unlike any other tripe changer, Pandimala used to be humans. Humans, a very good source recently told me, live their lives learning to adapt just to survive. That sort of life would be ingrained into her very circuits as a Cybertronian. She might grow confidence, and that would be good for her. However, her past as a human, I think, will stop her from having any issues seeing Lord Megatron as anything less than her superior."

Blitzwing smiled. "I think you're right Breakdown." He then smirked before changing faces. "Now how about ve put up our dukes?" He then cackled as he raised his fists.

Well, I could always use some practice.

AN: And here is the next chapter of this story. I honestly didn't plan Pandimala's interaction with Shockwave to be so long but it just happened! I did have a lot of fun writing that. Then, we move on to Skyquake (haven't seen him in a while) and we get a look at how the drones are doing and we get to officially meet DIGS! A part of the reason they return is to remind you all that MECH is still a player in this story, though their interactions seem to be more with the Autobots than the Decepticons. However, the Decepticons are keeping an optic on them. Also, Skyquake has some concern about the loyalty of the drones to Pandimala and it is only through her loyalty that he isn't more worried. Looks like Pandimala has a little army of fans. XD

Finally, we get to that training session with Breakdown. Pandimala seems to be struggling with being so far behind the other Decepticons now. But, Breakdown gives her the blunt reminder that Shockwave gave her earlier. Also, we get Breakdown learning some things about the femme and her drive to learn as quickly as possible. It makes him feel better about the situation Blitzwing brought up after he worked with her on her shoulder cannons.

The next chapter will have a lot of fun in it with new bots arriving on both sides, and if you have read some of my other stuff then at least one fan-favorite to boot. As a reminder, I know that there are a lot of bots in this story, but I need the bodies for an event that is coming up in the future. I'll only be focusing on a few of them, though they all should get mentions from time to time.

Anyways, the next chapter will also see some tensions rising in the ranks of the Decepticons, and maybe something not going as you all might think it will. Of course, that has been this whole story so you all should be used to it by now!

So, without further ado, here are the next chapters!

Chapter 31: Clash of Strategists Loose Cannons

Chapter 32: A Long Road Crossfire

Chapter 33: ...(Find out next time, though I will say that this chapter is going to start some big changes *evil laugh*)

And that's all folks. Please leave a review, or say hello, and I will appreciate it. Well, until next time, TTYL! *trying to stay warm*