AN: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend. :D
Vox: Wow...you are actually updating quickly.
Pandimala: *impressed* Yeah, I thought that the Pit would have to freeze over twice before that happened again.
Authoress: *frowns* You know, you two aren't as funny as you think.
Zarron: Of course they aren't. *pauses* They are even funnier.
Authoress: *sighs* I can't win no matter what.
Ch. 3: Boot Camp 101
Pandimala's 1st P.O.V.
A groan escaped my vocals as my internal alarm blared in my helm. I didn't like early mornings and, after glancing at my internal alarm, I saw that it was set for zero five thirty. Why was I getting up this early? I was pretty sure that we didn't have a prank set up and I had stopped intense training with Warpath and Skyfire almost forty solar cycles ago. So, that meant that training was not the reason that I was being pulled awake by my late-night self. Since nothing was coming to processor, I went to activate the snooze program for my internal alarm. I could surely recharge for another ten clicks or so.
Thwack!
My optics immediately onlined and I bolted up when I felt the force of a servo helm slap the back of my helm. What was going on? I turned, still half in recharge, and I was surprised to see Zarron standing there and motioning for me to hurry up. "Zar…give me five more clicks." I groaned but made no move to lay back down. Once Zarron hit you, then he would make sure that you were up and moving…unless he said that you could lay back down. But, since that didn't happen very often, then I was pretty sure that I was going to have no other choice then to get up. Hopefully whatever he was waking me up for would be worth it.
"'Mala, you are impossible to deal with in the morning." Tana laughed and it was only then that I noticed that I was the only one that was not up and moving. What was going on? Now I knew that I was forgetting something but, like always, I was not very logically awoken in the early morning.
Thankfully, Vox came to my rescue. "'Mala, we are at the Academy. This is our going to be our first solar cycle of boot camp."
"Yeah, unless you take forever getting ready." Tana laughed out to finish off his explanation.
…I was awake now.
"Frag I have to get ready!" I yelled as I jumped out of my temporary berth and ran to the wash racks that we all shared. Why was I always the last one up?
Didn't matter. Once the water was running, I grabbed my rag and immediately went to work in making sure that I was completely clean, wings and all. I couldn't leave a single particle of filth on my chassis. It wasn't because I was a clean freak…I loved to get dirty when I had to. But, this solar cycle I wanted to be at the top of my ability to show the instructors at the Academy that I would be a large help to them.
…I paused for a click, letting the hot water rinse my chassis, as that last thought stayed in my helm. No…I wouldn't be at top ability. I didn't want the instructors to raise me in the ranks solely because I was a triple changer. That I could fly when other Autobots couldn't. I wanted to excel because of what I was capable of doing, and not because of what I was created to do. Thankfully, I knew exactly what I was going to do to make sure that did not happen.
Once I turned the water off, I made sure to dry off thoroughly, especially my wings, and set my towel to the side before activating my programming for my flight capabilities. After a few clicks, my wings twitched slightly in protest before the slid into compartments underneath my back plating and I felt covers slide over my thruster openings in my pedes. To make sure that I did not get promoted due to being a triple changer, I would hide my flying capabilities for this first solar cycle. I knew, from the studying we all did when we were younger, that the first solar cycles of boot camp were usually very rigorous. It was designed to weed out those who wouldn't make the cut on the battlefield. After the first solar cycle, then my wings would stay out.
When I walked into the other room with the others, I noticed all of their optics move to my wings…well, where my wings were supposed to be. I rarely hid my wings and this would be the first time in thirty stellar cycles that I did so. The last time I had to hide them was during one solar cycle of training wit Warpath when he wanted me to hide them while we worked so I would know how to fight if I didn't have my wings to gather information about the air around me.
"Pandimala…why did you put away your wings?" Tana asked me with a concerned look on her faceplate.
I knew that I had to ease their worry quickly. So, I answered her with a smile as I checked my two swords. "Don't worry about it bots. I just hid them for the solar cycle. I wanted the instructors to be impressed with me and not the fact that I can do a couple of loops in the air."
Tana looked like she wanted to argue with me but Zarron helm slapped her before he said, "That sounds like a smart idea 'Mala. It's…just weird not seeing your wings. They are a part of you and it's just…odd."
Well, Tana punched Zarron's shoulder in repayment for the helm slap before she sighed in defeat while checking her morning star. "Yeah, fine. I guess it makes sense now that you explained it. Most bots on Cybertron would look at your wings and think that you would have an advantage using them. Better to keep it on the quiet side for now."
She then turned to her berth to check her flail, so it wouldn't dangle while she checked it, and Zarron moved back to his berth to check his wrist compartments for his darts. I replaced my blades once I was sure that they were secure and removed my shoulder cannons to get a closer look at them. Warpath had taught me how to remove them so I could make sure that they weren't clogged. This was especially important after we found out that I could shoot ice and fire out of them. The ice might remain in the chambers and damage it or the fire could damage the inside. While I had coatings on my cannons to help prevent this I still checked them just in case.
"You do look a little weird." Vox commented as he stood next to me and started to look over his rifle that was normally on his back. "Of course, you look a little weird normally."
I let out a laugh and nudged him to the side a little while saying, "You would know all about that Vox." He laughed at my return quip and the two of us worked together on completing our self-inspections. It was nice working next to Vox.
As he returned his rifle to his back and I replaced my shoulder cannons, I couldn't help but remember that first solar cycle when we met. Primus I had been so scared. When I was at home still, I had never met another bot even close to my age before. I was alone and I was used to being near carrier and sire. But, after everything that happened the solar cycle before, I was stepping into a whole new world. This was something that I was going to have to get used to. But, I had been scared and then Tana had, what I thought, charged at me so I had evaded her and hid under the table. At that nano-click, I had just wanted Ultra Magnus to come and take me away again.
But then Vox had come to the table. He sat down in front of the table but he let me get used to him on my own terms. He was a really great friend…even before I knew he was. With his help, I was able to meet Tana and Zarron and that was the solar cycle that the three of us started our friendship. Without Vox, I wasn't sure that would have been possible. But, that didn't happen and we had to focus on boot camp.
"We need to leave now!" Tana yelled in a panic.
I jumped at her yell before looking at my internal clock. Immediately, panic set in when I saw the time was zero five fifty-nine. We only had sixteen clicks to get to the training grounds and, from the information we got last night, they were twenty away walking normal. "Scrap we're late!" I yelled as we all ran out the door.
Unknown/Remcy's 1st P.O.V.
Nine, four, two, one. These were the four numbers that were racing through my processor as I stood at attention next to four other bots who would be a part of my boot camp. They seemed nervous as well and, given the reason for the numbers, I didn't blame them.
Nine were the total number of trainees that were supposed to be here. Four were the number of us trainees still unaccounted for. Two were the number of minutes left before the four other trainees who were supposed to be here were late. One, finally, was in reference to our instructor who looked ready to murder each and every one of us.
Our instructor, who my sire and carrier told me a lot about, was an old war veteran called Kup. He had a cygar in his mouth and I could tell by the way he was smoking it that he was getting angry. Hopefully I wouldn't get on his bad side like the four of us who were close to late were going to be. I felt sorry for them and hoped, for their sake and maybe ours was well, depending on how Kup reacted to late bots, that they showed up soon.
"Where are those fragging housing bots?" Our instructor grumbled as we all stood there waiting.
Two bots who were on his sides, who he had introduced as assistants who would one solar cycle have his job, looked to each other before the femme, who was colored tan with light blue optics, spoke. "They may have gotten lost. Their temporary housing for last night cycle was on the outskirts of the academy compound." Kup looked like he was about to answer when the ground began to shake.
As much as I wished that saying the ground was shaking was simply a figure of speech…it wasn't.
At first, the vibration was soft and I thought that there may be some vibration from construction. They were doing some near the Academy grounds and so I thought that maybe that was where the vibrations were coming from. But, as the seconds ticked by, the vibrating grew stronger and stronger. I felt, for the first time since I used to watch scary vid movies with my sire when carrier went to bed, fear race through me as the vibrations grew stronger and stronger. What was coming? I glanced at my internal clock and saw that the four missing bots had one click to get in formation before they were counted as late.
"We are not going to be late so help me Primus!"
Everyone turned to the east and I felt my jaw plate drop when my optics landed on the group of four bots who were now in view. In the front of the group were two mechs. One was a lithe two-wheeler who was black with blue flame decal and next to him was a tall car mech that was colored dark blue and dark gold. Behind them was a silver vehicle femme with black stars on her shoulders. She had wide shoulders and I could tell from how she moved that she was really racing to get here.
However, it was the final femme that caused my jaw plate to drop. She was a giant! I had seen Ultra Magnus a couple times in my life, due to my sire's work in cyber-engineering, and I was sure that this femme was even taller than he was! As the four of them slowed and fell in line beside the yellow green femme, who had told me last night cycle, when we had talked, that she wanted to be a medic, I took in the final femme better. The tall tank femme was black with lime green tips on her cannons, digit tips, and the nodes on the top of her helm. She had a light gray faceplate and, to my biggest surprise, she had lime green optics that were shining…probably from the run that the four of them just had.
But, another surprise was that they were already at attention and intaking less rapidly than I expected. These four must have had training before boot camp and they were already in shape. That would be a good thing for our boot camp training. Glancing at my internal clock, I was relieved that there were still ten nano-clicks to spare.
"Hmph." Our instructor, Kup, said as walked up to us all and, more specifically, the four bots that had cut it close. "You all like to cut it close huh? Better make sure you don't let this happen again."
"Yes sir." The tank femme and the dark blue and dark gold mech responded for their group. Guess they were the spokes bots.
Kup looked them over for a few clicks before he took a drag from his cygar and blew out the excess toward the four new bots. After the smoke dissipated, Kup moved to the front of the line where the yellow femme with the designed helm and stared at her before he said, "Alright, what can you do?"
I could see confusion on the new bots' faceplates and I was surprised that they looked this way for a click. But, then my memory chips caught up with me and I remembered that those four bots already had designations and I was curious as to what they were.
The yellow femme looked up confidently before saying, "I can clone a bots mods if I make contact with them."
Kup nodded and seemed to study her before saying, "Hmm…you'll be Elita One. You better work constantly to earn that." She nodded, though I saw nervousness in her optics as Kup moved to the next bot. It was the red and blue mech who had decent height. From when we talked, I knew that he wanted to become a Prime and lead his own team. "What about you?" The blue and red bot showed that he had some grapplers, an energon ax, and a coolant foam that could probably put out fires. Our instructor seemed stuck because he asked the red and blue bot another question. "What is your goal for going through the Academy?"
The red and blue bot stood at attention and said, "Sir, I wish to one solar cycle become a Prime and lead my own team."
The old bot studied the red and blue mech, though this time there was a strange look in his optic that I couldn't identify, before he finally spoke. "I believe that you will be called Optimus. If you get out of my boot camp in one piece, I think you might just make your goal." Wow. Encouragement on the first solar cycle of camp. That had to mean something amazing.
Our instructor then stopped in front of the big chinned blue and orange mech next to me and looked him up and down. "What sort of mods do you have and what do you wish to be when you get out of here?"
From next to me, the big chinned mech brought out a lance and shield before saying, "Once I get through this, I'm going to work my way to being a Prime and eventually Magnus."
Pretty ambitious for a bot but who knew? Maybe he had the skills to get through. I only met him last night cycle and, even though first impressions weren't important, you didn't judge from them. But, from how he was continuing to act, this big chinned bot was really pompous and I really hoped that he didn't become Prime…or I wasn't on his team at the very least.
Kup grew a slight frown, only visible for half a nano-click, before he said, "You will be known as Sentinel. Stay on guard from your own pride and ambition and you should go far." Well, guess Kup liked to give advice.
I couldn't focus on that, however, as Kup came to stand in front of me. Nervousness flowed through my systems as he seemed to study me with a hard look. I didn't like being studied like that. Most bots my own age studied me like that. I liked to get information from anybot I could and I like to know things. In return, I didn't have many friends that I could say were really friends…actually, I didn't have any friends. This look that Kup was giving me was exactly how they would all look at me. Calculating, cold, and judging. It made me very uncomfortable.
"So, what are your mods and what do you want to be?" Kup asked me directly before taking a puff from his cygar.
Knowing that I had to respond to him quickly, I transformed my left arm into the cannon that I could replace it with and aimed it at a practice dummy before firing. Once that was done, I shifted it back to my regular servo before I turned both of my servos into blades. Then, I returned them back to my servos before I spoke. "It is my dream to become an intelligence officer once I finish my academy training sir." I then stood at attention and waited for him to respond.
Thankfully, he didn't wait long. "You'll be known as Remcy. Should be fitting if you can make anything out of your career goal." Remcy. My designation was Remcy. It sounded right and I was going to make sure that I earned it.
I then watched as Kup stopped in front of the yellow green femme next to me, and the last of us five that were here early. The femme seemed to be really nervous as Kup studied her and I could see that she was probably going to be the one to break first. Every class up to now had one that couldn't last boot camp and she seemed like she would be it. She was so nervous. It's a shame because I was sure she would be a fun bot to get to know.
"And you?" Kup asked the femme.
She seemed nervous and stood there for a nano-click before she transformed her left servo in a blaster before turning it back and then turned it into a scalpel before she changed her right one, to my utter surprise, into a buzz saw. She then changed both back before she spoke. "I…I really want to become a medic some solar cycle sir."
To my surprise, Kup's expression softened somewhat before he said, "I know you. You're the creation of Cryal and the offlined mech Diff…correct?" Wait, those were the two that were really famous for having a sparkling on their own and didn't get it from the well. Guess the yellow green femme next to me was that sparkling.
The femme nodded slowly. "Yes sir."
"He was a fragging good medic, your sire was." Kup said more to himself than anything before he straightened back up. "Alright then. You will be known as Balm. If you got even half of the medical programming that your sire had, then you will earn your name no problem."
Balm smiled hesitantly and nodded. "Thank…thank you sir."
Now I really focused as Kup moved to the first of the bots that had just arrived. The silver femme with black stars on her shoulders was just shorter than I was but she looked like she was strong and I could see confidence in her optics. "So now we are on you lot. Show me your mods, give me your designation, and tell me what you want to do…in that order."
"Yes sir." The femme responded before she transformed her right servo into a morning star, an impressive weapon, before she transformed it back and took out a blaster from her subspace. It wasn't large and would be easy for her to handle. Then, she put it back and held out her left servo before she transformed it into a…
"You have a flail mod? I don't see that often." Kup commented to himself.
"Ever since I have been created sir." She responded before she continued. "My designation is Tana and I want to become a strong warrior when I get out of the Academy. My biggest dream is to one solar cycle join the Guardians."
The Guardians? She was going to have to work even harder than most of us to get that goal. It had been hundreds of stellar cycles since the last bots were accepted into the Guardians, the twins Hindsight and Foresight, and that was the most exclusive group of warriors out there. It was easier to become a Wrecker than a Guardian.
Kup raised an optic ridge at her response but didn't say anything else as he moved to the next bot in line. It was the two-wheeler mech that looked like he would probably be joining the cyber-ninja school after boot camp. Looked like he would do good there. "What about you? I'm going to guess that you are going to be aiming for the cyber-ninja school when you leave." Guess Kup saw it as well.
To my surprise, the black two-wheeler with the blue flame decal let out a laugh before he started to show his mods. He pulled two scimitars off his back and gave them a twirl before he put them back and paused. "Sir, to show my other mod, I'll need to borrow an awake bot. I promise that what I'm about to do is non-lethal but a test dummy won't show the full potential of my mod. I have a shot that will reverse the effects for use in case of emergencies." He then pulled out a needle with a liquid in it that I didn't recognize.
What could this mech possibly be able to do to a bot? I stayed quiet, though, as Kup took the vial from the mech and scanned it before getting a curious look on his faceplate. "An adrenaline shot? Well, let's see what you can do." He then turned to his two assistants, who had moved closer, before motioning to the yellow car mech. "Boombox, come here so this cadet can show us what he can do."
Boombox, guess that was his designation, moved over to stand next to Kup before Boombox said, "Well, let's see what you can do cadet."
I felt nervous at the knowing looks Tana and the other two from their group gave each other before the mech flicked his right wrist and a small dart shot through the air at an incredible speed before it struck Boombox's neck cables. Instantly, Boombox's optics went dark and he fell over into stasis. He could shoot knockout darts? That was kinda scary. He was going to make a fragging scary cyber-ninja.
Kup knelt down next to Boombox and administered the adrenaline shot, which would wake him up, before he said, "Stasis darts. That will help on being a cyber-ninja for sure."
While Boombox woke up and started to stand up, the mech in front of Kup sighed. "Sir, my designation is Zarron and, I guess this will be a surprise to you, but I don't want to be a cyber-ninja. My dream for when I get out of boot camp is to become a scout."
Really? There were so many scouts out there that it was hard to get yourself recognized. This Zarron would have had better luck being noticed if he would have chosen to be a cyberninja. Our instructor seemed surprised as well, for he choked slightly on the drag of smoke he had just taken, before he said, "Really? Well, I guess you are going to have quite the challenge ahead of you then." Kup shook his helm as he went to the final mech of the group. He was the tallest besides the tank femme and he was a good helm taller than I was. "What about you?"
In return, the dark blue and dark gold mech took of a rifle off of is backplates and shot at the target in front of Elita, showing that he could actually use it, before he returned it and took out two long knives, though they weren't long enough to be classified as swords, and test swung both to show that he could use them, before he put them away and spoke. "My designation is Vox, sir, and when I finish here then I want to become an intelligence agent." Wow. He wanted to be the same thing I did. Maybe I would get to know him and we could work together in that goal. There were many branches of the intelligence work and I doubted that we wanted to be the same thing in intelligence.
"Well, you sure seem positive in yourself." Kup commented.
Vox was quick to respond. "Yes sir I am."
Our instructor paused and studied Vox. "Yes…I see that." Kup then moved to the final bot in our group and I was anxious to find out just who this giant femme was and what she could do. I mean, she had to have a ton of mods. War builds, like she was, usually did and they were usually powerful…very powerful. "You aren't what I was expecting." I was surprised when Kup started with that before he said, "Well, what do you have to do and say?"
The femme had a wide smile on her face, which seemed very strange on her, before she pulled out two huge broadswords and swung them around in her servos to show Kup that she could use them. "That's the melee weapons." That…was it? "For my cannons I'm going to need an extra practice dummy in front of me if you could sir." Wait…she didn't even have any blasters? What kind of war build was she? Something wasn't adding up but maybe this demonstration would show me why.
Kup studied her and said, "Not much for being a war build but let's see what else you can do." So he had the same thoughts I did. If I thought that the femme was going to look upset by his reaction then I would have been surprised when she just continued to smile. "Anvil, set up another test dummy for the cadet here."
The tan femme, who I was guessing was Anvil, nodded and moved one of the dummies over to stand near the one that was already in front of the tank femme. Once Anvil was out of the way, the tank femme lowered her cannons and set her pedes before firing a powerful shot from them. Well, shots since there were two cannons but the two shots seemed to merge together half way to the target to become an even bigger shot. The test dummy on the left didn't stand a chance.
Then, the war build paused for a nano-click and, while she did, I noticed her friends took a step back before Vox looked to us. "You all might want to take a step back."
Well, they knew her better than we did for now and so I wasn't going to ignore advice so I took two steps back and watched the femme. I noticed that pressure seemed to be building around her cannons and, after a click, she smirked and my jaw fell off its hinges.
…Well, not really but that is what I felt like after I watched a stream of fire come out of each cannon and engulf the extra test dummy that was there. Guess that was why she needed the extra one. It was really impressive that she was able to shoot fire out of her cannons. That would be pretty helpful during training here. I had to make sure that I got on her team.
"Very impressive." Kup stated as he blew out an out-take of smoke. "Optimus, use your coolant and,"
However, it seemed like the femme wasn't finished. "One more nano-click sir. I like to put out the fires that I start." That got some chuckles from her friends and I had a feeling that she must have a story to go with that saying.
Kup raised an optic ridge but didn't say a word as we all waited. Thankfully, the wait wasn't long but I was pretty sure that I was not going to be putting my jaw plate back in place any time soon. For, from her cannons, ice shot out and froze the burning dummy. Well, she did put out her own fires. I glanced at the other four that were here early with me and I saw that they all looked equally as surprised. Then, I glanced at our instructor but, instead of surprise, I saw worry. But, like the last time his expression changed, he didn't keep it on his faceplate for long before he returned to his neutral look. "Are you quite done now?"
Thankfully for my racing spark, the femme nodded with a smile. "Yes sir. My designation is Pandimala and, when I graduate from the Academy, I wish to become a Prime." She wanted to be a Prime? Well, with that kind of arsenal she may just have a chance. This Pandimala seemed like a femme that I should know.
Kup studied her for another nano-click before he said, "Alright cadets, you have thirty clicks to get to know each other. After that, then the real fun begins." He then turned back to Pandimala. "Cadet Pandimala, a private word." What did she do? I didn't notice anything wrong but she must have done something to have our instructor pull her aside already.
Balm's 1st P.O.V.
I looked around nervously and saw that Remcy had gone over to talk to Zarron and Vox. Guess they were going to have a lot to talk about. Remcy had said that he wanted to work in intelligence and the bot Vox did as well and everybot knew that scouts and intelligence agents worked closely with each other.
"So you're Balm right?"
I jumped and let out a small nervous shriek when the voice suddenly addressed me and so I turned to see the other femme that was almost late, Tana, was standing in front of me with a smile. She looked intimidating but, honestly, she was a lot less so than the tank femme Pandimala. Now that femme was just terrifying.
Nodding, I held out my servo to the femme in front of me. "Th…that's right. You're Tana right?" Tana nodded slowly toward me. "It's nice to meet you. I hope we can be friends." I added at the end before covering my mouth. Most bots didn't like to meet others and have them assume that we were going to be friends. Well, me and my big mouth again. When I could get a sentence out without stuttering, I always ended up saying something stupid like…
A shriek came out of my vocals when Tana suddenly grabbed me in a giant hug and started to spin around in a circle. "You bet we are going to be friends! I can't wait to get to know you better!" She then continued to spin.
Wait…she didn't mind that I had said that? Most bots looked at me funny when I did that. But, this femme had been so accepting of the idea of being…friends. I smiled finally and looked at her. Yes, we were going to be friends. I was so excited for this that I forgot everything around me and gave her a hug as well.
Thwack!
"Tana stop smothering the poor femme."
A shriek escaped my vocals and I immediately let go of the warrior in training and saw, to my surprise, that the three mechs had joined us. Zarron, since his hand was still up by Tana's helm, was the one that I think helm slapped her.
Tana didn't take to well to that. "That's it Zarron you're going down." Then, to my horror, she lunged at Zarron and the two started fighting.
"Isn't anybot going to stop them!?" I asked out loud, but to no one in particular.
Laughter came from Vox, though I could see that Remcy was worried as well, before he walked closer to me and said, "Don't worry Balm. This happens almost every solar cycle. If it didn't, then I would be worried. They won't hurt each other much. We grew up together so we act like siblings a lot of the time." He then held out his servo to me. "The name's Vox just in case you didn't get it earlier. You are Balm right?"
I nodded slowly, though my optics never left Tana and Zarron as the wrestled on the ground. "Y…yeah that's me. How long do they normally go at this?"
Vox pointed to where Pandimala was talking with Kup before saying, "Usually when Pandimala over there steps in and separates them." He then sighed and put a servo against his forehelm. "I swear, those two act like sparklings at times."
Both Remcy and I looked over to the tank femme that Vox motioned to before Remcy asked a question, "So, that Pandimala...what is she like?"
Vox's smile faded slightly as he looked away from the fighting two and over to Pandimala. He seemed to study her for a nano-click before his smile came back. That made me feel better about what he was going to say. I was worried when his smile had faded. Maybe she was some kind of bully. "Pandimala? Well, she's one of the nicest bots that you're ever bound to meet. She's like a giant scraplet without any teeth. Well, no teeth if you are nice to her and her friends. The teeth come out if somebot messes with her friends."
"Really?" I asked, surprised. I figured that she would act like Sentinel did. He was very arrogant and prideful and I thought, given that she was a war build, that she would be like that as well. But, I guess first impressions were wrong.
"Really." Vox affirmed. "There was one time we were at a park and this bigger youngling started to pick on Zarron since he was so thin when we were younger. Before Tana and I even got close to help, Pandimala was there shoving the mech back. She might be the youngest out of the four of us, but she has always been taller than us. That older youngling booked it out of there so fast that he left skid marks behind him." Vox was laughing at this point. After a click, he calmed down and said, "But honestly, if you would have asked me if Pandimala would have turned out to be like this when I first met her, I would have laughed."
That confused me. Was she not always nice? "What do you mean?" Remcy asked before I could. "Did she used to be mean?"
Immediately, Vox shook his helm. "No, nothing like that. No, when Pandimala first came to the housing unit…well, she acted a lot like you do Balm." She acted…like me? "She was so nervous around all of us that I was surprised that we got her designation out of her. But then, Tana went and tried to give her one of her famous hugs."
"So it's n…not just me?" I was relieved to hear that. This was something that Tana normally did and that meant that she was really that nice of a bot.
"Yeah, Tana has always been one to hug first. I'm surprised that she let you two shake servos first." Vox commented before he continued his story. "Anyways, Pandimala was so scared that Tana was attacking her, instead of hugging her, that she dodged Tana before she sprinted and hid under the table. Confused the frag out of Tana too."
"Though that doesn't take much!" Zarron yelled during a pause in their fighting before Tana laid a hit on his jaw plate and he had to focus on the fight again.
I laughed while trying to picture a younger looking Pandimala hiding under a table and being afraid of Tana…of anything really. I couldn't help it. It also gave me hope. If someone who seemed as confident as the Pandimala that introduced herself was could have been, at one point in her existence, as nervous as I was, then maybe one solar cycle I could be confident as well.
"And I have you to thank for getting me out from under that table Vox."
Another shriek escaped my vocals and I jumped back slightly when I turned and noticed that Pandimala had, somehow, got over here without any of us noticing. I could say that because both Vox and Remcy jumped when she said that…though I was the only one that shrieked.
Vox, thankfully, was the first to vocalize a response. "Frag it Pandimala why do you have to be so sneaky? I still think it should be impossible for a bot as big as you are to walk around so quietly."
Pandimala let out a laugh, and I thought it sounded nice, before she said, "I do it just to keep you on the tips of your pedes Vox." She let out another laugh before she turned to the two of us and held out her servo. "Sorry for not getting over here sooner. I am Pandimala and I hope that we can become friends. I can already see you are getting there with Vox."
She wanted to be my friend? Maybe boot camp wasn't going to be as bad as I originally thought it was going to be. I had heard so many stories about mean bots coming to boot camp but, besides the big chin from last night and the yellow femme, she didn't act very nice though we hadn't actually talked yet, everybot seemed so nice and friendly.
Remcy took her servo first and shook it before smiling. "Nice to meet ya Pandimala. I'm Remcy. You're really tall you know that?"
I was nervous when Remcy was so blunt with commenting on her height and I was about to say something against that when Pandimala let out a laugh. "Yeah I know that. Makes it so I can access the better hiding places for my energon goodies so a certain warrior femme can't get to them so easy." She then turned to me and held her servo out to me.
Hesitantly, I took it before shaking it and saying, "It's…it's nice to meet you Panidmala. My designation is Balm and I really hope we can become friends." Scrap there I went again! I got lucky with Tana but I wasn't sure that,
"Sounds great!" Pandimala excitedly responded.
…Wow.
These housing bots…they were so nice and I found myself smiling back at Panidmala. We stayed like that for a few nano-clicks before we let go of each other's servo and Pandimala looked to the two wrestling bots. "Well, I better go break that up. We can't afford Zarron using one of his darts and putting Tana asleep. She wouldn't wake up in time and Zarron would be too stubborn to give her the antidote until the last click."
Pandimala then let out a sigh before walking over to the two fighting bots. At first, she just stood there. But, they seemed really into their fight and so we could hear Pandimala let out another sigh before she reached down and snatched Zarron up. He immediately stopped moving, though I wasn't sure why, and glanced behind him with a smile. "Oh, hey 'Mala. Didn't realize you had come back over."
"Obviously." Pandimala responded with a chuckle before looking at both him and Tana. "Now, are you two done wrestling in the dirt so we can go and relax with our fellow cadets. I would like to get to know them better if you wouldn't mind."
"Fine." Tana huffed as the three of them stopped in front of us. She didn't even hold out her servo to Remcy but, instead, engulfed him in a giant hug like mine and said, "Nice to meet you Remcy. I'm Tana and we are going to be friends!"
Pandimala then let out a laugh, which drew the rest of us into laughs, before she said, "Alright Tana, put the mech down. We've only got five clicks left and I can see that the others are already at attention."
I turned to the lineup and, sure enough, Elita, Optimus, and Sentinel were already standing there and I could see Kup walking over to where we were supposed to be. "Guess we shouldn't cut it close a second time this solar cycle." Tana laughed.
We all nodded and so the six of us ran back over before we lined up at attention again. I ended up standing beside Remcy and Tana again but, this time, I was as nervous. If these five bots really did become my friends, then we were going to get through this camp.
"Alright bots," Kup, our instructor, started, "now that you have been able to get to know one another a little better, it's time for training to begin." He then motioned behind him, where there were nine openings into an area, before he smirked and said, "And your first test will be to get to the heart of the maze and shut down the lasers before they take all of you out."
And my nervousness was back full force.
Tana: So many new friends! I'm so loving boot camp already!
Pandimala: Yeah, and I know that we are going to have a lot of fun with this training exercise!
Balm: *gulps* Right...fun. That was the word I was looking for. *nervous*
Authoress: *comforting* Don't worry Balm. The chances of somebot getting hurt aren't nearly as high as normal...I think?
Vox: *frowns* That was helpful...not.
Authoress: *shrugs* What? I can't help what happens. That's for you all to decide. *walks off*
Remcy: *huffs* Doubtful.
AN: And here is the next chapter! Look! I can update somewhat quickly! I feel so proud! *crickets* *coughs* Anyways...I hope you all liked this chapter! I was originally going to have the entire boot camp scene in this chapter, like I did in the original story, but introductions caught up with me and the chapter is already over 7,000 words. So, I have decided that the next part of the boot camp scene will be in the next chapter! That means extra stuff for all of you. I hope you all have realized by now that knowing the previous work does not mean that you are going to be prepared for everything that happens. I've already made a change in the fact that Pandimala is hiding her wings for now. Also something that changed was that Kup, who was their instructor in the original but was never mentioned as such, is here on the first solar cycle and so we get a different atmosphere here than in the original.
Next chapter is going to be a lot of fun but I have to update some other stuff before I can get to that. So, you are going to have to be left on this cliffhanger for now. Please leave a review, even if it is to say hi, so I know people like this story. I'm going to keep writing it but I'm just curious. Well, that's all for now folks. Until next time! TTYL! *works on prank with some bots in the background*