Chapter 21 - Foundation
(WPOV)
"Optimus?" Will called out in a resigned tone. Today was going to suck.
"Major Lennox," Optimus replied calmly, transforming and striding carefully to communications central.
"You're going to hate me in a minute," Will groaned, burying his face into a hand. This absolutely sucked.
"You have been ordered to pass on information that I will likely find distasteful," Optimus rumbled calmly. "I shall not hold it against you."
"Well I'm sorry anyway," Will sighed, "here goes, are there any upgrades to our weapons technology that you would be willing to share as yet? I'm sorry, the higher ups are crawling up my ass on that."
Optimus surveyed him for a long moment. Will prepared himself to get reamed out.
"Relax," Optimus ordered sternly, "you may tell your superiors that if they wish to hear my answer they may ask me personally. I will not ream you out for something you have no control over."
Will sighed in relief.
"Well, that's one less party that's going to ream me out," he muttered.
"Give them the Hummer," Ratchet stated blandly. Optimus glanced over at his medical officer with a raised brow ridge.
"We've got hummers," Will frowned.
"No, the one Kae built," Ratchet snorted. "She didn't just re-build it, she improved on most of the flaws I've observed on your vehicles."
"Oh come off it!" Mikaela snorted, glancing up from a jeep she was working on, "anybody with half a brain could figure out what's wrong with the setup. Controlled obsolescence, what would happen if we built 'em like they used to? Car companies would go out of business."
"Wait what?" Will stared at the young woman, up to her elbows in jet black grease. She looked up in surprise.
"I'm a mechanic," she stated gently, "as far as I'm concerned, these things were built to break down, which is friggin' criminal really." She shrugged patiently and touched a few wires together, the engine started.
"I'll second that," Ratchet stated, looking back at the twisted pile of metal and wires he was working on.
Shocked, Will stared at Optimus before pounding down the steps and jogging to the mechanic's corner. The big man turned and knelt down, bringing himself more to the human's level to continue the conversation.
"What do you mean they're designed to break down?" Will asked in a shocked tone.
"You didn't know?" Kae looked at him in shock. "here, come here." she grabbed his hand and dragged him to an engine she'd dismantled. "Look at that, what do you see?" she asked in a firm tone.
"Um, an engine block." Will stated with a frown.
"Alright, now feel, what's that?" Kae growled, pressing his hand over a part of the engine. Will frowned.
"Um, a rough patch?" he asked, feeling incredibly stupid.
"Oh dear," Kae sighed, reaching up and rubbing her brow, it left a black smear across her forehead. She walked to the wall and picked up a sledge hammer, slung it over her shoulder and walked back to him.
"Right, look very carefully right here, do you see that line?" she asked patiently. Will frowned.
"Is that a crack?" he asked curiously.
"Hairliner, this engine will run with it still, but not very damn well. Put those glasses on," she commanded brusquely. She swung the sledge hammer and brought it down on the engine block. It split in half. More than half, it shattered.
"What the fuck!?" Will bellowed.
"It's useless anyway," Ratchet shrugged.
"How the fuck did you break that?" Will shouted, staring at Kae, "How the hell am I supposed to send my men into battle with an engine that a 120 pound girl can break? No offence," he added quickly.
"None taken," Kae shrugged. Thank god. "Now here's the problem, look at the metal, it's specified to be a high tolerance alloy. This is friggen monkey metal, you can't weld it, fix it, anything. The best I could do with it in the field would be to pack it with glue. Which would last all of five days. Maybe.
"Sope, if you want something to tell the superiors? Tell them to check the weapons they're already making, 'cause if the companies are cranking out cheap shit engines when you guys are facing an enemy that's equipped with a fuck-ton of speed? You need to run, Will, either to fall back or chase after. In a broken car. Now what kind of guns are they sending?"
"Mikaela, I want you to find another engine like that..." Will trailed off as Mikaela casually pointed to a line of vehicles, newer vehicles at that.
"Take your pick, that's my write-off line." Kae stated flatly, she walked back to the jeep she'd been working on.
"What's the difference?" Will asked softly. Kae... laughed? And walked back to him, carrying a chunk of metal. Close inspection showed it to be a piece of a different engine block. She casually dropped it at his feet.
It bounced, and rang like a bell.
She shoved a piece of the shattered engine block off the slab it had been resting on.
It clunked.
"You can hear the difference quality makes, the design doesn't mean shit if the metal doesn't hold up" she shrugged, wiping the grease from her hands. "Give me your gun."
"Um..."
"Hey," Mikaela grinned, "I'm not going to fire it, I just want to show you something."
"Okay..." Will frowned, handing over the gun.
"Semi-automatic .45 glock, military issue?" she shot at him calmly.
Will nodded and watched in astonishment as she deftly cleared the chamber, broke it apart and held up his trigger.
"The most important piece," she murmured, "if this breaks, your gun is useless."
She dropped it at his feet.
It clunked.
Will sat down hard. Kae promptly put his gun back together, turned it around and offered it to him.
"Being a mechanic is not simply knowing what parts looks like, or how they function. It also means knowing how and why they're going to break, and what happens when they do," Kae stated softly. Will holstered his gun automatically.
Oh yeah, if a civilian could tell him that, he had a hell of a lot of material to stall with.
"So what all would you need to repair that engine absolutely?" Will asked Mikaela quietly, looking at the shattered engine.
"Fix it properly, or fix it so it'll run again?" Kae asked over her shoulder, already elbow deep in the jeep again. "Both are friggen expensive, even when I'm working for free."
"Okay, both," Will grinned as Optimus snorted behind him.
"Okay, if I'm going to continue to use that monkey metal? I'd need..." she frowned and looked around the shop. "A crucible, sand-mould setup, a way heavier duty grinder/polisher... probably some other stuff, oh, and a guy to run the equipment, because I've never done it before," she grinned at him cheerfully.
Will stared at her.
"Oh come on Major!" Mikaela laughed, "I'm eighteen! I just gave you the same demonstration my own father did when he taught me what a hairliner is. I know where the parts come from, what they're made of, and how they're made. Not how to make them."
"Okay fair enough," Will laughed, leaning back in his seat. Her laughing admission admittedly making him feel a great deal better. "So hypothetically, if you were building the engines from absolute scratch, to your standards what would you need?"
"Mmmnn..." she hummed, seeming to stare at her chest for a moment.
"Oh go on Kae," Ratchet grinned. "You already know."
Mikaela snorted and glared at her mentor.
"Alright fine, if I'm building them from absolute scratch I'd need the Peterbilt factory." Mikaela stated with an absolutely straight face.
"Wait what?" Will asked with a laugh.
"The Peterbilt factory, or at least their setup," Mikaela snorted, she trotted over and promptly climbed up Optimus' leg to his chest. "Optimus did a brilliant job emulating their engines, they're made to last forever, I mean, look at his intakes alone!" she promptly pointed to a part in his abdomen as the mech snorted. "Optimus has a damned good sense of taste. Diesel engine. Not named after the fuel, named after the inventor, Rudolph Diesel. Right here is a massive amount of power, properly fitted together and made to run long distance with as little maintenance as possible. The only limit on the power is the strength of the material, and the only engine that I can think of to beat him is maybe a Rolls, and only because they're good enough to make jet engines."
Will watched in amusement as Kae ducked in to kiss Optimus' bared engines before dropping back to the floor.
"I'm pretty sure you'd squash me if I did that," Will called over to the big man with a laugh as the Mech watched Mikaela with amusement written plainly on his face.
"Only because he fell over in shock," Ratchet called back with a snort.
Mikaela laughed and closed the hood on the jeep, reaching up and stretching. It was a shock to listen to her joints popping.
"C'mon Kae! You're eighteen, why're you walking around like a popcorn bag?" Will asked, only half teasing.
"Don't say the list!" Mikaela immediately called out to Ratchet, turning around to point at him. The mech closed his mouth with a small glower.
"Why?" he rumbled in a dangerous tone.
"Because every time I listen to the list I start feeling bloody ancient," Kae snorted. "I have problem children to fix, and nobody to do my back."
"Say the list," Will stated firmly as Jacobs wandered over, "Major trumps civilian."
"Fractures and advanced wear to her hands and feet, pin in her left femur-"
"Car accident!" Mikaela chimed in.
"Her right arm has been broken three times, left wrist once, three gunshots to the stomach, and a hairline fracture in her right hip. On top of the fact that her muscles are somewhat stronger than her skeletal frame is built to handle easily."
"Fuck Kae, you're creeping up on my list," Jacobs rumbled with a snort. Mikaela sighed and twisted her body somewhat, her spine popping.
"At least my odds are on dying young," she grumbled, "I seriously don't want to grow old and have all of this coming back to haunt me."
"That's horrible," Jacobs grumbled.
"True though," Kae snorted, "Emancipated at thirteen because neither dad or I wanted me to wind up in the system? The foster system stats put me at dead by 25."
"What about staying with your mom?" Will frowned.
"Dead," Kae shrugged, digging into another jeep. "You play the cards life deals you."
"We're keeping her so we can try to get her past 26," Jacobs stated firmly.
"If we don't wind up getting her killed before then," Optimus rumbled sternly. Mikaela glanced up at the mech with raised eyebrows. "You deserve the chance to live," he rumbled, frowning down at her.
"We all deserve the chance to live," she stated calmly. "That doesn't mean we all get that chance." she shrugged. "Like I said, play the cards life deals you, and don't let the past define you. I'm not going to fold, hell if I die young, I die knowing I got the chance to meet the species that I want to be in my next life." she grinned up at Optimus.
"Oh, Amen to that," Jacobs laughed. Out of the corner of his eye, Will could have sworn he saw Ratchet shoot a long glance at Optimus.
"So Kae," Will stated, "would you mind if I dragged a few of my superiors here and you can give them the same demonstration?"
Mikaela glanced over at him and snorted.
"Have at," she chuckled, "but before they show up, don't forget to brief me on how finicky they are on language."
"Done!" Will stated with a grin.
(RPOV)
Ratchet eyed his assistant as she watched Will with amusement. The Major went back to communications central, making phone calls to his superiors.
She glanced up to see Optimus still frowning down at her.
"What's wrong?" Mikaela asked calmly, and jumped slightly as Prime onlined his holoform in front of her, gently cupping Kae's shoulders in his hands.
"Kae, you have my word. We will do everything to keep you safe," Optimus rumbled gently.
"My safety is a non-issue," Mikaela stated calmly. "When the time comes, you will take me to Cybertron and you will heal your world."
"I will not sacrifice-" he growled at her.
"You will not sacrifice me," Mikaela growled, interrupting him. "I will sacrifice myself for your home, just as you damn near did to save mine."
"This is not up for discussion," the holoform snarled softly. "Nor is there any question, I will not allow-"
"Me to die?" Kae interrupted him again. Ratchet glanced at Ironhide, the mech was smirking slightly at the blatant lack of visible fear in her. "Optimus, I'm human, at best I'll last eighty years, if that. I'm not repairable. You don't want to believe me ask your medical officer. I know my fragility, I know my fate. One way or another I will die."
Ratchet's spark flared. That was the true problem, their human counterparts were so blasted fragile. So short lived.
Their bodies simply weren't built to last.
Optimus opened his holoform's mouth, and Kae calmly covered it with her hand.
"Hush, just listen," she stated softly, she took a deep, shuddering breath, looking down for a moment. "The vast majority of Cybertronians won't know of me. I won't be remembered. But let me go with honour, Optimus. Let me die with my boots on and my head held proudly, when I go let me go with dignity. You saved my life, my planet. I owe you a life debt, do not condemn my soul by letting it go unpaid."
Ironhide straightened, shock in his optics. Ratchet remembered a time when the Weapons Master himself had said much the same thing.
Every last auto-bot in the hanger heard her. They couldn't help but hear her.
But those words...
Those words, spoken so softly, so calmly...
It tore at every spark that heard it. She was ready, even if they weren't. Mikaela turned back to her workstation and started up on another service, evidently not noticing them. Ratchet knew better now, she always knew when one of them were looking at her. Somehow, she simply knew.
Anyone could see the hurt in Optimus' eyes. Not that she had in any way rejected him, it was the absolute opposite, now. Anyone could understand that hurt. She was prepared to die for him, for all of them.
For a world that in this form, she would never see, never know. But as sure as the pitfire burned, they weren't prepared to let her go yet.
But they didn't have a choice, not really. An orn spanned two weeks for her, Ratchet could scan her to his spark's desire, and he did. Every day, every hour, every astro-second. She was that much closer to her death.
"You are wrong, Kae," Ironhide drawled softly. Mikaela turned to look at him, several of the bots did. "You will always be remembered."
Yes. Yes she would.
Mikaela smiled at him, visibly struggling to make it the happy smile that made people smile around her. That tore at his spark, too. Instead he knew, somehow, that even she knew it was a wry, saddened half smile that crossed her face.
"There is no better, Ironhide," Mikaela murmured.
Bumblebee onlined his holoform beside her.
"Big-sister," he whimpered softly.
"No matter where I am in this universe, no matter what dimension, what life, you will always be my little-brother," Mikaela whispered, reaching out and cupping his face in her hands. "And no matter what happens, little-brother, I will always, always love you. In life or death, my spark will always be with you. You remember that Bee."
His holoform was taller than her. Pit, his body was twenty-eight times her size.
But it was instantly recognizable, the second they touched, the way her arms wound around him and his face buried it's way into her shoulder. He really was her little brother.
Then a sound, so low the soldiers wouldn't be able to hear, so low Ratchet could barely hear it. A soft, comforting croon.
Kae was rocking her little-brother, crooning to him.
"Now you listen to me, my little-brother," she murmured gently, rocking him. "I'm not dying today, and I'm not dying tomorrow. For every second that I have in my life, I'm staying right here beside you. Whether you want me to or not. Brat."
Bumblebee snorted.
"That's no fair," the holoform stated in soft indignation.
"Oh what, making you laugh?" she asked with a small smirk.
Bumblebee pouted at her.
"What have I told you about that face?" she demanded sternly, Ratchet jumped.
"Pouting makes me look like a kid not getting his way," Bumblebee pouted. "Which I am. I don't want you to die!"
Mikaela pursed her lips, looking severely at him.
"We don't always get what we want, little-brother," she told him sternly. "Life is unfair like that, sometimes. It means we need to work hard to get what we want."
"But Kaaeee!" Bumblebee whined softly.
"But Beeeee!" she whined right back at him, which sounded ridiculous. Bumblebee snorted. One point Kae. "Come on Little-brother! Face the facts! You feel how squishy I am!? This is a pretty good holoform! Look at you little-brother! You're all squishy!"
She promptly began tickling Bumblebee, the scout's holoform immediately trying to bat her off as she did. He was failing spectacularly at it, she somehow managed to duck and dodge any and all of his swings.
"What? What are you laughing at?" she teased him as Bumblebee's holoform snorted and giggled under her ministrations. "Come on Bee! Tryin' to be serious here! What are you laughing at? Huh? Huh? Hey Bee? Guess what Bee?" she teased him cheerfully, ducking around and tickling him.
"What? What what what?" Bumblebee laughed outright.
Mikaela punched him lightly in the side.
"You're it!" she shouted, and took off.
Primus, for such a tiny creature she could move at one pit of a pace, her oversized boots lay forgotten behind her. But what was priceless was the way Bumblebee squawked and transformed, driving after her.
The hangar stood in silence.
Ratchet looked around and snorted, rising and striding after them, Optimus, Ironhide, Sideswipe and the femmes close behind.
They made it outside the hangar doors just in time to watch Mikaela run over top of Bumblebee as he drove carefully toward her.
"Alt form is cheating!" she shouted with a laugh as she scampered away again.
"Is not!" Bumblebee played the soundbyte with a laugh.
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
"It is too you over-horse-powered little brat!" she squealed, the two of them laughing as she ran over top of him again.
Bumblebee squealed around, his tires smoking the second she was far enough away, driving after her again. She turned and made to run over top of him.
Instead, Bumblebee transformed, catching her in his hands.
"Gotcha!" he chirped gleefully as she squirmed in his hands.
Except then somehow she was free of his hands, jumping to his chest and scrambling to his shoulder.
She began messing with his helm. Bumblebee sat down on the ground and laughed, gently poking at her.
There were soldiers gathered around Ratchet's feet now, he looked down and almost snorted in amusement at the shocked looks on their faces as the comparatively giant mech and tiny femme continued to mess with each other's armour.
A minute or so and Kae slid down his chest somewhat, wrapping her arms around Bumblebee's neck struts.
"I love you, Bee," she said with a gentle smile.
"Love you Kae," Bumblebee said with his own voice, quickly offlining his vocal processor again to cut the static. Now that was impressive.
They sat there for a long time.
Ratchet looked at his assistant with curious optics.
Curious, because her mood had shifted so quickly. Eventually, Bumblebee stood up again, grinning as he walked back to the hangar with Kae nestled into his shoulder.
Ratchet shot his assistant a curious glance.
But then he looked into her optics... eyes...
She knew precisely what she was doing. Her pain didn't go away so quickly, but she'd be damned if she was going to let others feel that pain.
Especially her little-brother.
Ratchet felt his already considerable respect for the tiny femme up itself several notches on the scale. It was the way he would always remember her.
He glanced at Ironhide.
::. She...:: he sent on the private channel that had grown between them.
::. Is living the way she wants us to remember her by.:: Ironhide sent back to him gently most especially, the way she wants her brother to remember her as.::
::. You...:: Ratchet sent with some surprise. Of course the bot knew what he was thinking, they always did. That's what a friend of three hundred vorn did.
In his memories, Kae would always be his favourite assistant. The femme who would always stop to take care and cheer up her little-brother, who'd scold him right back when he wasn't taking care of himself.
::. Yeah, me too.:: the Weapons master sent silently.
Bumblebee set Mikaela down beside her boots.
"Kae?" he murmured softly, looking at her.
"Bee?" she asked, looking at him cheerfully. Bumblebee's optics took on a mature cast that Ratchet hadn't really seen in the scout before. It was the maturity of leaving youngling-hood behind without regret.
"You don't really gotta do that all the time," he said softly.
"For you Bee?" Kae murmured, reaching up and cupping his cheek gently. "There isn't a have to, I'm going to do it anyway."
She leaned forward and kissed his cheek.
Optimus watched them with an unreadable expression as Kae turned back to her work, and Bumblebee wandered back to the hangar doors, transforming and driving off to patrol.
(OPOV)
Optimus roused himself somewhat as Mikaela walked on silent feet to her workstation.
"Still not sleeping?" he murmured, onlining his holoform behind her.
"Just because I'm not, doesn't mean you shouldn't," she retorted with a small smile, craning her neck to look up at his holo. He reached forward and laid gentle hands on her shoulders, noting the tension beneath the smooth skin. He began rubbing the muscles idly as she hummed.
"No wonder you are not sleeping, Ratchet would tear me down to my protoform if I were carrying half the tension in my neural fibres as you are in your tendons," he rumbled sternly.
"Yes well, I don't have anyone to do my back anymore," Mikaela shrugged lightly beneath his hands, reaching forward with the screwdriver.
Optimus snorted softly and promptly picked the tiny femme up, carrying her lightly to the cot tucked into the mechanic's corner.
"You could simply ask," he rumbled with amusement, laying her down. "On your stomach, miss obstinate."
"You carry me to bed and call me obstinate?" she shot back at him with a low laugh, obediently rolling onto her front. Optimus sat his holoform down and ran firm pressure up her spine, eliciting a low moan from the femme.
"Am I hurting you?" he asked in concern.
"No, gods that feels good," she mumbled, eyes closed in bliss as he continued to knead her muscles. "Just so you know, you're under orders to tell me how I can return the favour."
"Yes Ma'am," Optimus rumbled with a snort, the dear little femme. "Despite the fact that I owe you several already?"
"What the hell for?" Kae snorted, humming the next second as he began working the knots out of her shoulders.
"Well, you shot Director Galloway's arguments down, specified your loyalty was to me, despite my having almost gotten you killed multiple times, gave back my own feeling of worth, honoured all of us with your trust. You've allowed us to isolate you from your life without complaint, and got Ratchet laughing again, that's a feat in itself." Optimus chuckled softly.
"That's not hard," Kae chuckled, "Ratchet is so much like my dad it's like I'm working with him again."
"Oh?" Optimus murmured interestedly.
"Dad didn't exactly sit me down to explain engine parts," Mikaela murmured, "he taught me the same way he was taught. Paddy started it though."
"How?" Optimus asked curiously.
"Well, it was summer, dad was yelling and swearing at an engine that he couldn't figure out what was wrong with. I was scared, mum was gone. Paddy noticed and walked over, picked me up and murmured, 'ask him how it works.' then he set me down in a tall chair next to dad and walked away. I didn't notice it at the time, but while I was watching their faces, Paddy hauled off and gave dad a kick in the arse." she giggled. Optimus couldn't help but laugh softly, that sounded like Ratchet and Ironhide's interactions, vorns ago.
"Then what?" Optimus chuckled.
"Well, I said 'daddy? How does it work?' and dad just sort of looked at me for a long moment and began quietly talking aloud, working his way through the engine. When kids were learning that the knee bone connects to the leg bone, I was learning that the battery leads connect to the starter. And all the while he fixed that engine, and then the next, he said it aloud. That was our favourite interaction after that. Dad would talk, and I would listen, and then he was quiet one day, so I sat down on the floor beside him and recited every single engine part as he touched it."
"You miss him," Optimus murmured.
"I miss all of them," Kae whispered, "but when you love someone, they're never truly gone, I'll carry a part of all of them to the day I meet them again."
Optimus' spark flared at the gentle, absolute truth in those words, he leaned down and slid his arms around Kae, she turned in his arms and hugged him back, automatically soothing the un-spoken hurt with the natural movement.
"What was it like, growing up on Cybertron?" she asked softly, looking directly at him, rather than the holoform.
Optimus pulled forward slightly and transformed, moving as quietly as he could he sat down as Kae grinned, walking on silent, bare feet after him. With a contented sigh, Optimus laid down on the floor, letting Kae curl up on his chest plates. He reached up and settled a gentle hand over her before offlining most of his motor reflexes.
He onlined a holoform of Cybertron, images of the beautiful world he had grown in before it had been destroyed by war. And he spoke, he spoke freely and openly of the loss of his planet, of all the incredible things. He didn't notice when he slipped peacefully into a full recharge cycle, unhampered by remaining in his truck form, and he didn't notice when Mikaela curled up a little bit more in his hand, sound asleep listening to the gentle hum of his spark.