Chapter Published: Nov 5, 2020.

Update #1: Sep 27, 2021.

Fixed some spelling errors I missed when publishing this chapter and added/changed some things in some paragraphs.

I also slightly changed Miko and Jack's appearances a little as well as add some small new details to them.

—

Their was much activity within the Insecticon chambers. The bugs are looking upon the two cocoons in the center that contain their future members of the hive. There was some excitement amongst them at the prospect of the hive growing and none were more exited than Mandible.

Mandible himself was typing away on the terminal that's connected to the pods with a sense of glee. He was putting in the correct commands and data for how the humans new forms will turn out. The codes for the girls Insecticon body was already in but that now left him with the boy to work with.

Unfortunately Mandible does not know what to do when it comes to Jack's new body. He couldn't just make him look the same as his brothers cause that would throw away a golden opportunity.

So he left the decision up to the one who requested his abduction and conversion.

"What is the form you wish for the boy to take Master?" Questioned Mandible as Megatron gazes upon the pods. Their master arrived only a few cycles ago after Mandible asked a similar question concerning the boys outcome. He watches as his master lays a hand on one of the pods and rubs it lightly.

"My plans for the boy require him to be a powerful weapon. So make sure his new form is... destructive." Said Megatron as he locks optics with Mandible. The Insecticon quivered slightly under his gaze but quickly composed himself. "When the time comes I want him to be a force of destruction, one that this world will come to fear!" Megatron exclaims with a wicked grin. Mandible nods to his master and begins typing in the coding needed to mold the boy into what Megatron desired.

He had just the form in mind.

—

"What do you mean we can't go after them?!"

Arcee and Wheeljack has just arrived back at base and they weren't happy, especially since Ratchet just forbid them from chasing after the Insecticons.

"The Insecticons are more than likely back on the Decepticon warship by now, giving chase would be both pointless and foolish." Ratchet explains. He wasn't happy about the situation either, but he knew that there was nothing they could do now.

"But we can't just sit around and do nothing!" Wheeljack exclaimed. His energon was boiling and he wants nothing more than to show those Insecticons what happens when you take someone precious from a Wrecker. A quick glance to the side showed him that Bulkhead was thinking the same thing if the green lugs scowl was anything to go by.

"I know, but until we can pinpoint the location of the Decepticon warship we can do nothing." Said Ratchet. The medic then turned his gaze to the only femme in the room. "Arcee, was June there during the attack?" Questioned Ratchet.

"No. She's working one of her all-nighter shifts at the hospital." Arcee informed. The two wheeler couldn't even imagine how devastated June will be when she fines out that Jack's been taken.

"Then I suggest you go and watch over her for the time being. We don't want to risk her being taken as well." Ordered Ratchet. He could see Arcee hesitate for a moment before transforming and driving off. Once she was gone he turned his attention back to Wheeljack.

"And what about me doc, what can I do for the time being?" Asked Wheeljack.

"I'm still mad at you for that stunt you pulled with Miko. Going after the Insecticon that practically crippled Bulkhead was beyond stupid!" Ratchets glare was practically burning a hole through the wrecker, but Wheeljack didn't show that he was affected. "But now's not the time for holding any personal grudges against one another. So I want you to go and join Bumblebee in watching over Raf. We DON'T want him to be taken as well." Ratchet ordered. They had already lost two children tonight, he will not allow another to be taken.

The Wrecker nods before transforming and driving off to join the scout in watching over the youngest of the children. With him gone Ratchet returns to his console and quickly makes a call.

"Optimus do you read, we have a situation."

—

As the hours tick by Mandible and his brothers were becoming a bit anxious. Both pods had grown considerably after the codes for the children's new forms were put in. Miko's pod was roughly the same size as most Insecticon pods so that meant the codes for her were working as intended. Jack's pod on the other hand was twice as big as the girls and it showed as the two pods sat together.

The boys pod made Mandible and the other Insecticons present a bit nervous because of its sheer size. Such a big pod meant a big Insecticon and that was gonna be a bit difficult to rein in, especially if he's pissed.

"I'm starting to think taking the boy was a bad idea."

Mandible looks to the side and fines Venom standing next to him. The blue bug nods to his brother in agreement.

"We wouldn't have taken him if Megatron had not ordered it." Mandible reply's. He only wanted to take the girl but their leader only allowed it if they also got the boy.

"But WHY does Megatron want the boy?" Questioned Venom. He doesn't understand why their lord wants boy. Does the boy have a history with Megatron or is it something else?

"Don't know, you'll have to ask him yourself." Mandible answers with a shrug.

"And get a hole blown through my chest? No thank you." Venom quipped.

The sound of metal tearing apart ended the twos conversation. Looking to the pods in the center of the room they can see the girls pod begin breaking. They, along with every other Insecticon in the room, watch as the pod comes apart and reveal what's inside.

As the final pieces fall off a full grown Insecticon femme was revealed. She looks similar to her new kin but with a slimmer build, smaller waist, smoother plains, and a more erect posture instead of being hunched over like them. Instead of her head being forward of the body like the other Insecticons it was instead more erect above her shoulders and had no visor. Her silvery face plate resembled that of her human face with lips instead of exposed denta. Two mandibles were on the sides of her face instead of the regular four the Insecticons had. Her helm looked to resemble that of a royal crest with the way it curved atop her head. The color of her armor was a mixture of purple and pink with the latter color acting as a highlight or a simple secondary color.

The Insecticons marvel at their new queen and her appearance. Many were pleased that she looked quite similar to them but had a few small differences to differentiate herself. When she opened her eyes they all saw a pair of glowing yellow optics that looks at them all in confusion. That confusion quickly gave way to fear as Miko realizes just what she was looking at. Seeing this Mandible slowly approaches the girl with his hands raised to show he means no harm. This doesn't work as planned as Miko tries to back away from him but only trips and falls to the ground with a loud clang.

"Insecticons?! Stay back or-" Miko stops. She notices that the Insecticons she's looking at aren't as big as she remembers, in fact they look to be about the same size as her. This greatly confuses Miko as she knows that humans were basically ants to these metal titans, and yet the bugs look to be around as tall as herself. Curiously she attempts to get back on her feet to see if she really did match the Insecticons in height... only to fall back down to the ground. Her legs felt different, unfamiliar even, like they weren't the way they should be. She looks down at them to find out why that is. She inhales sharply as she sees that her legs were no longer made of flesh and bone but instead of metal. Reaching out to touch her new legs she discovers that her hand suffered the same fate. Panicking slightly she gives herself a once over and quickly fines that she was no longer human. Now in a full blown panic Miko grips her head, touching her new mandibles on accident, and begins hyperventilating.

As this was happening Mandible watches, unsure of what exactly he's suppose to do in this situation. Thinking quickly he slowly approaches the girl again with hands raised and when close enough he places them on her shoulders. Miko jolts at the touch and stares at him with fear in her eyes.

"There no need to be afraid hatchling, you are safe." Mandible reassures. He can see that his words had some effect as Miko begins to calm down slightly. "Yes, calm yourself. Do not let your emotions control you." Before long Miko was out of her panic attack and looking at him questionably but with small hint of fear.

"What did you do to me?" Miko questioned.

"We have turned you into one of us." Mandible answered.

"But why?" Miko questioned again.

Now this gave Mandible pause. If he told her their true reason for her conversion was that they needed a new queen then complications would arise. One such complication is her loyalty to the Autobots, if she learned how to control the hive she would more than likely turn them on Megatron. Not wanting that to happen he comes up with a half-truth of sorts to answer her question.

"To replace the warrior you killed, Hardshell"

That got Miko to fidget a little as her face twists into a scowl at the mention of his name.

"He tried to kill Bulhead" Miko growled out. Her hatred for that Insecticon was set in stone after he almost killed Bulkhead.

"And you killed him. Now you are to fill his place within the hive."

"What makes you think I'll go along with this?"

"You don't have a choice"

Miko looked ready to continue the argument but was stopped by a loud cracking sound. Everyone looked to the source of the noise and found that Jack's pod now had a crack on the side. That crack quickly gave way to a massive three digit claw that bursts through the pod and snaps at the air. Then another one burst out the other side of the pod, in seconds the two claws tear the pod apart and freeing the one inside.

There stood a titan of an Insecticon that towered over everyone in the room and with an appearance that looked nothing like the other Insecticons present. He stood with a more erect posture that showed his broad, boxy build and some of his finer details. His armor was mostly black in color, but there was some red and gold bits here and there. Attached to the front and back of this boxy shoulder pads were two gold duel canons with a red streak down the middle of said cannons and what looks to be a pair of flat four barreled missile pods on the sides of said shoulder pads. His hands were nothing but massive three digit claws with what looks to be a pair of gold blast shields on the sides of his forearms. His pedes resembled that of two digit clawed feet that were gold in color with red curved spikes on the end of each digit and had what looked to be a pair of gold hydraulics connecting the back of his pedes to his forelegs, most likely for stabilization. Each of his shins also appear to have two pairs of trapezoid shaped missile pods with the inner portions of them being red. His helm was also red with horns on the sides that curved upwards and his face resembled his human one, but was gold in color and was sporting glowing red optics. Lastly he had a massive black tail that curled up behind his back and ended with a wicked gold stinger.

Many of the Insecticons present were a bit intimidated by both his appearance and the arsenal on display, but they were also impressed by it. When Jack's eyes lit up many of them became tense and readied themselves for a potential fight. Jack looked around at his surroundings and briefly took in his own appearance, appearing rather calm about his new body, before landing his sights on Miko and Mandible. A tense silence hanged in the air as they continued to stare at one another, before Miko decided to break it by approaching Jack.

"J-Jack, is that you?" Miko hesitantly asked, hoping it was really him.

"Mi... Miko?" Jack recognized her voice, but wasn't sure if it was really her.

"Jack!" Miko shouted with overwhelming joy as she brought him into a bone crushing hug.

Despite the size difference Miko was able to lift Jack into the air and begin crushing him with her hug. Jack's body groaned in protest from the pressure of the hug and he made his discomfort know.

"Miko let go of me, your breaking my spine!" Jack shouted. He could literally feel his spine, or the equivalent to it, being crushed by the girls hug.

Miko's eyes shot wide open as she realizes what she was doing and quickly lets go of Jack, much to the boys relief.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you!" Miko said apologetically.

"Ugh, I forgot how much of a grip you have." Jack grumbled while rubbing his back to ease the pain. Now he knows it's Miko, only she has the unexplainable strength to nearly break his bones.

As this was happening the Insecticons in the room couldn't help but find the whole thing amusing to watch. Seeing the two interact this way brought back memories from before the war, when they lived deep beneath Cybertrons surface. Those memories were short lived however when the door to their chambers opened and Megatron strode inside. Mandible quickly greeted his master with a bow while Jack and Miko became tense.

"What brings you to our chambers master?" Mandible asked, genuinely curious as to why Megatron was even here.

"I've come to see the new additions to the Insecticon ranks." Megatron answered as he drew closer to the children. He watched as Jack pulled Miko behind him, standing protectively in front of her. Megatron found the boys action both amusing and promising. "And it seems you've done what I asked concerning the boys form." Megatron stated as he examined Jack from a distance.

"You wanted him to be a powerful weapon, so we made him into one." Mandible replied.

Megatron was pleased by this as he looks upon his new weapon. His gaze was not well appreciated by the so called 'weapon' who scowled and even snapped a claw at him. Megatron wasn't fazed by this and instead bared a sinister grin that unnerved Jack.

"Very good Mandible. Now take them to the med bay to receive a checkup from Knockout. We don't want to risk any complications going unnoticed." Megatron ordered before turning and departing from the room.

Mandible nodded to his master fleeting form and motioned the children to follow him. Jack and Miko were hesitant to follow, but eventually did. They were quickly accompanied by six other Insecticons, just in case the children decided to get any bright ideas.

As the group made their way down the hall a awkward silence fell over them. Mandible and his brothers continue to guide Jack and Miko to their intended destination while said children silently follow. Wanting to break the silence Miko decided to start up a question.

"So Mandible, what's stopping me and Jack here from just running off and trying to escape?" Miko asked. Her question got a snort out of Mandible.

"Simple really, where would you go." This caught both of their attention. "I'm certain you don't know the layout of the ships interior and even then what's the point. The Nemesis is hundreds of miles in the air so there's really no way for you to even get off the ship." Mandible stated. The Nemesis was always in the skies above the clouds and even if they were crazy enough to jump off the ship it would most certainly lead to death.

"What about escape pods? I'm pretty sure this ship at least has those." Miko asked in a hopeful tone. If there's at least a small chance to escape she's willing to take it, even if she had to fight her way out.

"Yes this ship does have escape pods, but you won't be able to access them." Mandible said as he looked at Miko. "They are signature locked and only Decepticons are able to access them." Whatever hope Miko had for escape was killed by his words.

Miko twitched slightly when she felt something grasp her left shoulder. Turning her head she sees that what's grasping her shoulder is one of Jack's claws. Jack was trying to comfort her the best way he could think of, given their unfortunate situation. Miko appreciated the gesture and returned it by grasping his claw and giving it a squeeze.

The remainder of the trip was silent.

—

Ratchet had just finished informing Optimus on the two children's abduction and was met with silence from the prime. Normally the medic wouldn't think much of it but given the circumstances he was worried for his old friend's reaction. It wasn't but a few moments more before the prime actually spoke.

"Open a groundbridge"

The medic did as ordered and opened up a groundbridge at prime's coordinates. Within the swirling vortex Optimus walked through and entered the base. Ratchet shutdown the bridge and turned to his friend but notices his expression.

His once calm demeanor was replaced with blazing optics that Ratchet had only ever seen on the prime back on Cybertron, when Megatron had ordered Trypticon shoot down any ship that tried to leave their dying world.

"Where are the others?" The prime asked as he approached his friend.

"Arcee went to watch over June and I sent Wheeljack to join Bumblebee in guarding Rafael." Ratchet answered. The medic turned to look at the wrecker lying down on a berth in the medbay. "Bulkhead is still recovering from his injuries and won't be on active duty for some time." Optimus looks to the wrecker as well and sighs.

"As much as I want to try and save the children from the Decepticons we have more important matters to attend to. The Iacon relics must be found before the Decepticons find them and do far worse then taking the children." As the prime finishes speaking he walks to the terminal and continues decoding the Iacon database.

Meanwhile Ratchet looks from the prime to the groundbridge and frowns.

"Stay strong children."

—

Now that I've finished the update for this chapter I shall now begin work on the third chapter for this story.

Also if your curious as to what Jack's appearance is based off of it was of the MAKETOYS BLACK ZARAK toy model.

Stumbled upon this awhile back and thought 'why not make it Jack's Insecticon form' so I did.

As always like if you enjoyed and leave a comment if you want to.

Later everybody.