Chapter 144 – His Mentor and his Mate
(SePOV)
"While we're at it, you're seven vorn overdue a physical." Medic Ratchet stated aloud, grinning him. Sentinel rolled his optics and Optimus snorted beside him, standing and hauling him to his feet. Prime or not, he knew better than to try to argue with Ratchet. Bossy scrapping Medic would get his way no matter what argument he used; up to, and most certainly including simply switching his motor controls off. They walked back to the Med-bay.
"Sorted?" one of the multitude of humans in this place called up to Optimus curiously, jogging beside him a few paces.
"Sorted," Optimus rumbled, nodding to the man. "Join us, Colonel?"
"I'd be honoured," the human grinned, hopping into the hand Optimus idly offered, the man squirmed to his shoulder, visibly taking care to not tug or stomp on sensitive metals.
"Sentinel, may I introduce Colonel William Lennox, our human ally on the battlefield for six annum." Optimus rumbled calmly.
The Colonel turned to Sentinel, offering his left arm formally.
∂Gladly do I greet you, Sentinel Prime.∂ he stated formally. Ironhide cheered.
"Atta boy!" the mech grinned at Will.
"Did I say it right?" Will grinned.
"Right down to the last syllable," Ratchet chortled as Sentinel stared, the camaraderie was evident among them. A rarity for the weapons master, and moreso for the medic.
"Who coached you this time?" Ironhide grinned.
"Nobody," Will smirked, "I told you we'd figure it out eventually."
"Kae coached him," Ironhide snorted.
"Okay I blew it past her before I said it," Will snorted.
"That's the truth," Archangel stated placidly, not even looking up from her work.
"Oh, by the way, if one of the humans offers you a targeting hand, they're not targeting you," Ratchet told Sentinel cheerfully. "The size of humans doesn't vary enough for them to have the same greeting as our own."
"Getting better though," Will snorted.
"True, you haven't accidentally targeted one of us in two years," Ironhide snorted.
Optimus' scout poked his head around the door.
"I'm taking Sam, Carly, Wheels and Brains out now," he reported. "Did you want dailies or hourlies?"
"Hourly, tell me when you get to base, daily after that," Optimus ordered calmly.
"Drive safe little brother," Archangel added, glancing up from her work to smile at the scout.
"You gonna drop by and visit sis?" he grinned.
"I may," Archangel nodded regally. "Visit with them in holoform, bring you some proper fuel and whatnot."
"Seeya later then sis," Bee grinned, he looked at Optimus and Sentinel himself. "Sirs," he nodded formally before taking his leave. Sentinel glanced around to see his former pupil trade a glance with his mate, she canted her head to the side slightly, Optimus nodded.
"What'cha building Kae?" the Colonel asked curiously as Optimus set him down on her worktable.
"Rule twenty four," Archangel stated calmly.
"Boyscout one?" Will asked with raised eyebrows.
"Always be prepared," she nodded. "They're evacuation packs I suppose."
"You wish a synthesis unit," Sentinel stated interestedly, walking carefully toward her and looking at the schematics she was idly working on.
"Portable by humans," she nodded calmly. Sentinel stopped and stared at her before looking at the Weapons Master.
"She intends to play to the strengths of all of your allies?" he demanded in shock. That was a move he had not even considered. He needed to discover the precise strengths of the humans if that was the case.
"She's young, but well trained, her ancestors are commanders," Ironhide rumbled comfortably, lounging beside Ratchet.
"We got a battle coming," Will stated calmly. Sentinel looked back at the human, evidently, he was far more perceptive than he'd previously been willing to admit.
"It may not happen," Archangel stated just as calmly. "However we must be prepared for the worst."
"What should I be working on?" Will asked with a frown. Archangel leaned back slightly, looking at him.
"Schematics, every major city in the world so that if we ever have to evacuate a city, it is set up in an entirely different area in the same formation." she stated firmly. "Get the techs working on it. Connected string diagram with your major points the hospitals, secondary are high populace buildings, third are outlying."
"Gotcha," the man nodded, "I'll get them moving, anything else?"
"Scan areas around the cities, drop off points." she stated calmly.
"To put the civilians out of the battle zone?"
"If it ever comes to that," she nodded. "Keep it quiet, though."
"Got it," the man nodded firmly before sliding down a pole extending from the young Prime's workbench.
Sentinel watched the man exit the med-bay in astonishment, then walk back in again.
"Sorry, last one. File?" he called up.
"New file, double encrypt, here, I'll make it," Archangel stated calmly, wirelessly connecting to the computers and building a new archive space. Will stood calmly in the doorway, watching her.
"Right," she nodded as the archive completed itself. "Apocalypse file, password is the first one you put in there."
"On it," Will nodded, turning and carrying on down the corridor.
"Good man there, good fighter," Ironhide rumbled amicably.
"You wish to add the beacons to your synthesis units," Sentinel stated calmly, looking at the Femme. "When they are placed in order, you can get the people to where they are safe, with the necessary equipment for survival."
"Precisely," Archangel nodded, Sentinel looked at her for a long moment, feeling a grudging admiration for her tactics.
"I redact my statement," Sentinel stated, looking at Optimus. "She is a femme worthy of your spark, young warrior. To work."
Archangel smiled at him, and Sentinel could plainly see what had attracted his former pupil to her. The kindness of a healer flowed through her circuits beside the killer instincts of a predator. She idly snapped a levitation field around a bench and drew it to her worktable, indicating it to him with a questioning gesture.
Sentinel sat across from his friend's femme.
"Now then, Archangel," he started.
"Kae," she stated calmly. He looked at her curiously. "You have seen my spark, as I have yours. If I may call you friend, you may call me Kae." she said with a small smile. Sentinel could not help but stare at her formal entreaty, recognizing immediately the rarity with which she offered her friendship.
"Kae," he stated slowly, secretly enjoying the brief, easy way it flowed. A battle name. "Your synthesis units will have to be remarkably powerful to maintain their efficacy as beacons."
"Indeed," she nodded firmly, hovering schematics over the worktable. He looked at them for a long moment and reached out, lightly shifting their makeup.
Out of the corner of his optic, he noted Optimus standing straight with pride. He looked at the young warrior somewhat curiously.
"Scrapping honey," Ironhide snorted, lightly whacking Optimus.
"My mentor and my beloved are capable of working together," Optimus rumbled placidly.
"Harmony remains, blah blah blah, I still want to see what happens if they go at it verbally, can you imagine the sheer amount of learning inherent in one of their arguments?" Ratchet snorted. "Which reminds me, ∂Daughter∂, you need to refuel."
"Luxury after the work is done ∂Father,∂" she replied, sounding as though it were an automatic response.
"Can't very well get the work done if you fall asleep halfway through," the old Medic stated comfortably.
"I'm good for another three days and you scrapping well know it," she stated in amusement.
"Which'll turn to one once you've started producing... which will put you back in sync with Optimus' schedule. Brat." Ratchet snorted.
Sentinel watched in amusement as Kae levelled a benign smile at the Medic before it dawned on him that she'd effectively won the argument before it had even had the chance to get started properly. He narrowed his optics slightly and tweaked her schematic into a minor error. She looked at it with a frown.
"That won't work." she stated calmly.
"Why?" he rumbled intently.
"The cross wiring between the beacon and synthesis unit will cause it to error out," she stated firmly, tweaking the schematic into an entirely different form. He had to give her credit, it was a remarkably efficient setup. He nodded and began changing the beacon as she fit her synthesis unit alongside it effortlessly.
"The receiving units won't need to be as complex," Sentinel murmured, enjoying himself as he worked alongside her. "The sending is far more important than the receiving."
"We can't have an error in the receiving," she challenged him mildly. "Carbon based units are far more reliant on their forms than we, each life is precious, their limbs and functions far more difficult to right than our own."
Sentinel hummed in deep thought and began revising his receiving beacons, Kae watched his schematics interestedly, occasionally reviewing minute systems and simplifying them beautifully.
Finally, in a remarkably short time, they meshed their holographic schematics together and began running tests on it.
Every system she had modified worked flawlessly with the others. Sentinel was at a loss as he ran his own trials against it.
"It is so simple," he murmured in awe. "incredibly complex in it's simplicity."
"Great things are created of many working together," Kae shrugged. "They call us insects, but underestimate the true capabilities of hive minds, taken in perspective, an anthill is a deeply sophisticated piece of engineering, done entirely by collective instinct."
Sentinel stared at her, he couldn't help it.
Kae raised a hand and brought up a holo, it looked like a schematic of a city rather like Teletran.
"Which city complex is that?" Ratchet asked curiously. Kae... snorted?
"Now who's the insect? This is a schematic of a giant anthill," she chuckled. "So if our insects build your cities, just how dumb are your bugs that Megatron calls me insect and means it to be an insult?"
"That's a pretty good question, did we even have bugs?" Technician Jolt piped up cheerfully from the doorway. "I remember a good few insectoid bots, but they were driven by the larger controllers."
"Scraplets," Optimus rumbled darkly.
Sentinel shuddered and cupped his shoulder, remembering all too well the damage a scraplet could do.
"Scraplets?" Mikaela asked quietly, looking at Optimus.
Sentinel looked at the femme in shock. She looked back at him impassively.
"How do you not know what a scraplet is?" he asked curiously.
"I was born on earth," Mikaela stated calmly. "Born and raised as a human here."
"Most of her knowledge of our languages and traditions are secondhand, passed to her by the All-spark," Ratchet stated quietly.
"I'm still integrating her knowledge," Mikaela stated softly, looking down embarrassedly.
"How long have you been trying to recall everything?" Sentinel asked interestedly, leaning toward the Femme.
"Two annum," she groaned, reaching up and rubbing her face tiredly. "Right now we're both trying to change my thought patterns enough to become compatible with each other."
"What!?" Optimus demanded, looking at his femme. Sentinel looked around at them.
"I'm the younger," Mikaela stated in amusement, looking at her bot.
"But I do not wish your thought patterns to change," Optimus rumbled worriedly, looking down at her with concerned optics.
"Well, I don't have much choice," Mikaela stated wearily. "Have you ever tried to get a personality several thousand vorn your senior to change just enough so you can understand them? Change isn't alien to Mico, without change comes stagnation and extinction, but her thought processes are so scrapping..." she trailed off helplessly. "I know most of the important things now, she placed the method that I need to use to bring Cybertron back to her glory in my mind while I was still human, but it's the rest of the histories that I'm having issue with."
"Perhaps I can help," Sentinel stated calmly, looking at the femme with interest. "Your ability to grasp these mechanics are strong, there is a chance that I may be able to help you translate or sort the information properly."
"Well, I suppose that means I'm going to have to refuel," Mikaela stated in amusement, looking at Ratchet. "Next cycle I'm going to sync to yours," she added, kissing her bot's jaw.
"How are their days not in sync?" Sentinel asked in amusement, looking at the Medic.
"Well, Kae's scrapping stubborn at the best of times," Ratchet snorted. "We had an emergency come up a few months ago while the Primes were recharging so we had to wake one of them up. Mikaela convinced Optimus to return to his recharge, he needed it more anyway, except the seven minute emergency turned into a five sun-cycle campaign."
"Optimus slept through the first few days," Ironhide snorted.
"Which I am still irritated about," Optimus grumbled.
"Well you woke up in time to join us fresh and strong," Ironhide stated with a grin. "It'd been one pit of a different ending if you'd not been at your best."
"Mikaela fought far more strongly with a tenth of the rest," Optimus grumbled.
Sentinel looked at the femme just in time to see her rolling her optics.
"You disagree?" he asked the femme curiously.
"I functioned at one quarter capacity, and had to rely on Chance to fly me there while I caught just enough shuteye to keep standing," she snorted.
"Mikaela!" Ratchet stated in shock.
"What?" she asked innocently.
"You mean to tell me your only rest period was when you were flying humans!?" The medic demanded sternly.
"Not just any humans," Mikaela laughed. "I flew with the pilots I trained to fly me properly. Do you mean to tell me that you've never let one of the humans take control of your vectors while you're scanning?"
"Well... yes... but I'm on the ground!" Ratchet protested.
Mikaela looked at him in amusement.
"What!?" Ratchet demanded.
"You're forgetting the atmosphere again," Mikaela stated in amusement. "When I'm going fast enough through this atmosphere, my airfoil changes the speed of the air going over and under me. The air feels as solid beneath my wings as the ground beneath my feet. Chance, Jacobs, Jaques and McGarrick are just as intent on me not crashing as I am."
"With good reason," a human stated cheerfully, wandering into the med-bay toward Ratchet. "Not only do both our lives depend on her not crashing, but Kae's still a one of a kind plane. If we crashed we'd never get to fly with her again."
"Why not simply fly a different plane?" Sentinel asked intently, the human looked up at him incredulously for a second.
"I think I'm gonna need help translating, but here goes, have you ever driven in something, or flown in a particular ship that simply put every other means of transportation you've ever used completely to shame?" the human asked curiously.
Sentinel looked down at the man in surprise and nodded.
"Kae's alt form is that means for the lot of us. Her build, her flight style, her form is the most graceful, responsive, stable and swift of anything that I have ever driven or flown. We'd tend to say that she's stiff competition for even the best of our models, but that's inaccurate. There is no competition and no comparison to flying with her. And believe me, I've tried, compared to her, flying an F-22 is like trying to get pinpoint accuracy with a blimp!"
"Blimp?" Sentinel repeated blankly.
"Like comparing the Xantium with a mark five planet-hopper," Ironhide snorted. Sentinel stared at the weapons master and completely failed to bite back the snort of amusement. The mark five had been a complete scrap up, and that was saying something.
"That is so sweet," Mikaela stated teasingly to the human.
"Sweet nothing, it's the god-sworn truth," the man stated earnestly.
"Love you too big-brother," she smiled down at him. Chance grinned and looked around.
"Crap, I almost forgot why I came in here, Ratch, I'm supposed to annoy you until you tell me what we puny humans are supposed to do about the latest shipment."
The old medic snorted and rose from his bench.
"The usual, energon scans to make sure there's nothing hiding in there playing dead and then into the storage bay to await teardown. Here I come."
"Got it!" Chance grinned, turning and sprinting back out again. He came to a screeching halt. "Colonel." he saluted.
"What did I miss?"
"Get them to explain a mark five planet hopper," the lieutenant grinned. Ratchet snorted in amusement, stepping carefully over the humans.
"Mark five planet-hopper?" the colonel asked in amusement, walking casually in.
"Let me explain it this way," Optimus snorted. "I am not a spacer, but I could easily use a space launcher, arrive at the next planet and land in the same condition as the mark five."
"Correction," Sentinel rumbled with a snort. "You would land in better condition than the mark five."
Ironhide let loose a hearty guffaw at that.
"Kind of comforting to know that they have just as many Hindenburgs as we do, isn't it?" Mikaela stated with a small smile.
"In a sad kind of way, yeah," the Colonel snorted.
"Hindenburgs?" Sentinel asked curiously.
Mikaela gave him a half smile and onlined a holoform in front of them.
"What in Primus name is that contraption?" Sentinel snorted in amusement.
"We call them blimps," Mikaela stated calmly. "One of our earlier methods of flight and carrying weapons. The bag was filled with purified gasses lighter than the general state of our atmosphere, and then passengers and munitions were carried in the carriage beneath."
"Except on the maiden voyage of the Hindenburg, it managed to arrive to it's destination safely, then crashed into it's docking tower." the Colonel took up the story. "The problem was that the light gas they used to float it was hydrogen, which is flammable. Needless to say it caught fire. Several people died in that."
Sentinel shook his head tiredly.
"There are a multitude of gaseous elements in your atmosphere that are non-flammable," he rumbled tiredly.
"Well, we know that now," Will shrugged. "For the most part we use helium now, but it's rather disheartening that so many lessons need to be learned the hard way."
Sentinel nodded heavily. The colonel looked out of the med-bay doors.
"By the way? If you're planning on skipping the medical, now's about the time when you two should make a speedy exit." Will stated with a grin over his shoulder. "Ratchet's gone into the storage area, and we all know how picky he is on sorting that stuff out."
"He'll be in there for an hour," Mikaela snorted.
"Anyway, I'm off to bed, you recharging for the next couple of days?" Will asked Optimus casually.
"I am," Optimus nodded calmly.
"Right, good recharge Optimus, I'll see you in a couple of days," Will grinned. "Sir," he nodded to Sentinel.
"Night Will," Kae called out with a smile.
"Night Kae," the colonel called out cheerfully, making his exit.
Kae stood and gently pulled Sentinel back to his feet, she stood back and scanned him. He looked at her in surprise.
"When you two get back from your drive I'm going to have to do a repair on a couple of your hoses, and perhaps get a few of your patchups..." she trailed off and frowned at his shoulder. "What the scrap is that?" she demanded.
"What the scrap is..." Sentinel began with a frown.
"Shoulder plates off," Mikaela commanded brusquely. Sentinel stared at her. She looked at him and rolled her optics. "Sentinel Prime you are in a safe place with friends to guard you. Please disengage your armour for the purpose of medical attention." she stated calmly.
Optimus snorted his amusement off to the side.
"Optimus?" Sentinel asked curiously, even as he shrugged out of his shoulder plates.
"She always forgets the traditional request," Optimus rumbled with a laugh.
"Traditional request my foot, shouldn't need it when the preservation circuits haven't been tripped. It's a mouthful," Mikaela grumbled as she quickly examined his armour. She reached out and caught his bared shoulder.
It was a shock to feel just how gentle her hands actually were.
"Does it hurt, right about here?" she asked with a frown, her fingers were immensely gentle, but the spot she touched still ached. Sentinel flinched.
Her touch had hurt, badly.
"No." he rumbled regardless.
Mikaela snorted.
"And now I know where you got that one," she stated over her shoulder at her mate. Optimus looked at her innocently.
Sentinel looked at the two of them in amusement, he couldn't help it.
"Are you going to make me do the same thing I have to with Optimus?" Mikaela demanded of him. Sentinel looked at her, there was laughter in her optics.
At a loss, he looked to Ironhide.
The Weapons Master was a familiar, old friend.
"It'll be completely worth it to say yes," the bot drawled with a grin.
"Yes?" Sentinel stated curiously.
The next moment Mikaela had him flat on his back on the reclined berth.
She was straddling him and delicately working on his shoulder.
The fact that she could do that, was incredible.
Powerfully strong femme. Wow.
The fact that she was in fact, straddling him didn't register until he shifted slightly.
She was straddling him.
Gorgeous femme straddling him.
"Primus!" he squeaked.
Squeaked!? A Prime did not squeak! It was undignified! Un-Primely-
"Thank you," Mikaela stated placidly above him.
And suddenly, in the position they were in now, he realized just how much potential was in that voice. A superbly built body, a brilliant mind, gorgeous voice, gentle hands...
Sentinel couldn't help but internally shrug as his processors cut out before they could short. Blessedly, someone had the courtesy to tap on his helm.
(OPOV)
Optimus watched with a smile as his Kae rapidly scanned Sentinel, looking for any major damage that couldn't wait.
"When you two get back from your drive I'm going to have to do a repair on a couple of your hoses, and perhaps get a few of your patchups..." she began listing off calmly, she trailed off and frowned at Sentinel's shoulder. "What the scrap is that?" she demanded.
"What the scrap is..." Sentinel began with a frown.
"Shoulder plates off," Mikaela commanded brusquely. Sentinel stared at her. She looked at him and rolled her optics. "Sentinel Prime you are in a safe place with friends to guard you. Please disengage your armour for the purpose of medical attention." she stated calmly.
Optimus snorted back a laugh. That was his Kae.
"Optimus?" Sentinel asked curiously, even as he shrugged out of his shoulder plates.
"She always forgets the traditional request," Optimus rumbled with a laugh.
"Traditional request my foot, shouldn't need it when the preservation circuits haven't been tripped. It's a mouthful," Mikaela grumbled as she quickly examined Sentinel's armour. Optimus couldn't help but wince slightly as he noticed the rough edges of a scraplet trail. She set the armour down and reached out, catching hold of Sentinel's bared shoulder.
Those powerfully strong, gentle hands. Optimus could see the recognition of that in Sentinel's optics. He couldn't help but smile.
"Does it hurt, right about here?" Kae asked with a frown, lightly prodding at an area. Sentinel flinched slightly.
"No." he rumbled.
Mikaela snorted.
"And now I know where you got that one," she stated looking over her shoulder to shoot a wry glare at him. Optimus shot her an innocent look.
Sentinel was watching them with amusement.
"Are you going to make me do the same thing I have to with Optimus?" Mikaela demanded of the older bot. Sentinel looked deeply confused.
At a loss, he looked to Ironhide.
Good move, Optimus thought, biting back another snort of laughter.
"It'll be completely worth it to say yes," the bot drawled with a grin.
"Yes?" Sentinel stated curiously.
The next moment Mikaela had him flat on his back on the reclined berth.
She was straddling him and delicately working on his shoulder.
Optimus looked over at the weapons master. The two of them struggling not to howl with laughter at the shocked look in Sentinel's eyes.
Anyone could tell the old bot was overwhelmed with sensation, information and the strength of Optimus' Kae. His mate was a force to be reckoned with.
"Primus!" Sentinel squeaked. He immediately looked furious with himself. Ironhide had given up the battle of simply biting back his laughter, he was covering his vocal processors now.
"Thank you," Mikaela stated placidly.
Sentinel's processors clicked out.
Ironhide promptly began howling.
Optimus chuckled and passed a gentle hand over his Kae's body before settling down beside the berth. He lightly tapped on Sentinel's helm.
"Welcome back, old friend," he rumbled with a smile.
"No that's cheating," Ratchet stated cheerfully.
"What is?" Sentinel asked curiously.
"I shut your motor controls down. Kae just blows your processors and leaves you there till you're fixed." Ratchet stated cheerfully. "Which is cheating."
"No, it's a blessing. What's cheating is her having Chromia blow my processors so she can get me in here." Ironhide rumbled with a grin.
"Or Arcee," Ratchet snorted.
Optimus couldn't help it, he simply laughed at them.
"Don't worry about squeaking, she just makes you do that," he rumbled, shooting a mockingly irritable look at his mate.
"What kind of Femme can't make her bot squeak?" Mikaela asked placidly.
"A badly trained one," Arcee replied calmly, striding into the bay. "Which I can proudly state that you most certainly are not. Welcome to our home away from home Sentinel," she stated cheerfully.
"Arcee," Sentinel replied, nodding respectfully to her.
::. Bumblebee reporting, we're safely at Sam's place.:: Bee sent calmly. Optimus nodded and sent the reply.
"Bumblebee is in position," he rumbled aloud.
Mikaela nodded and frowned at Sentinel's shoulder.
"Ratchet, do you guys get cancer, or scar tissue... teratomas?" she asked with a frown.
"Teratoma?" Ratchet asked blankly.
"It's a type of tumour in humans, containing one or more types of tissues, but in entirely the wrong spot." Mikaela stated musingly, Optimus looked to see her gently digging in Sentinel's shoulder. The bot was grimacing slightly. "They're known to have hair and teeth, at times." she finished before reaching deeply into Sentinel's shoulder. "Got you you little bastard. Now what the hell are you?" she murmured, holding up a dead scraplet and frowning at it.
"Scraplet!" Ironhide roared, his cannons coming online.
"Is that what it is?" Mikaela asked calmly, examining it patiently. "Nasty looking little thing, what the scrap was it doing in your shoulder?"
"It burrowed its way in," Sentinel grunted.
"Huh, really nasty little things then." Kae murmured with a frown. She offered it to Ratchet. The medic promptly gave her his patented 'are you kidding me?' look.
"It's dead," Mikaela snorted. "Fine, here, if you're so worried about it, here." she promptly levitated it and caught it with a disintegrating beam. "Now then," she continued, gently poking at Sentinel's shoulder, reconnecting wires and repairing the damages.
Sentinel promptly turned to stare holes into Optimus' armour.
"Sentinel?" Optimus rumbled gently.
"Your mate is exquisitely beautiful," the bot choked out. "And she is also straddling me."
"She does that," Optimus nodded calmly. "I find it makes getting repaired quite tolerable." Sentinel stared at him. Optimus laughed. "My old friend, you are struggling to not stare at my mate, I would advise against it, she is quite proud of her body."