I only own my oc's!
Coyote's Reactor
We pull back into the Shatterdome to find the Arcees, apparently waiting for me. I climb out and set Zuma on the ground before getting Star out. I wait for her to get a good distance away before Bluestreak and I transform, then turn to the Praxian. "I've got to get to the bays. They've got Coyote's reactor done, and I'm the one drafted to put it in."
"You're sure you'll be all right?"
I lay a hand on his arm. "I'm fine, Blue. Trust me."
"Sheyenne?"
I look down before kneeling to my fellow femmes. "What's wrong?"
The triple-spark looks up at me as one. "Sideswipe."
I groan. "What now?"
"He's got Ironhide on the warpath over his latest prank, and Prowl's trying to find him so he can lock him in the brig."
"And I've got to handle this?"
"Prowl's too busy with Sideswipe, Ratchet's preparing Coyote for his new reactor, and First Aid's preparing the last of the frames for you to revive."
"One: when did you three become my messengers?"
Arcee, the dark pink one, groans. "Apparently today."
"Then you're off-duty, and I'm talking to Prowl. If I have to have a Lady in Waiting, it's not going to be our only femme combiner team. We need you three in the field." I sigh. "Two: when did Sideswipe become my responsibility?"
Chromia, the blue one, crosses her arms. "Apparently when you revived him."
"Then Prowl will just have to live with him. He's an asset we can't lose." I shake my head. "Three: Since when isn't Ironhide on the warpath?"
Elita-One, the purple one, sighs. "He never is, and Optimus put us on this duty, not Prowl. He's Optimus' Second-in-Command."
"And he thinks I need someone too." I shrug. "That's… actually helpful. Okay, then. Come on."
"What are we doing?"
"Calming Ironhide. Arcee, I need you to check with Aid about those frames, then check in with Security. Chromia, check with Ratch, then with the Rescue teams. I'll be in within the hour for his reactor. Elita, I need you to stay with me for now. I'll need someone to get Optimus if I can't calm Hide on my own."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"And none of that. Starlight, please. You're older than me—you three practically raised me. Just call me Starlight." I sigh heavily. "Okay…"
"Ironhide."
I look down to the purple motorcycle. "What?"
"We were heading to deal with Ironhide."
"Yes." I sigh heavily. "I hadn't forgot, I was just running through what I have to do."
Training room
We step inside to find Ironhide shooting the new training dummies. I have to shout to be heard over his cannons. "HIDE!"
He looks over his shoulder before turning to me, returning the cannons to their place. "What?"
I look over his plating, where I can see traces of white and pink paint. Instantly, I know why he's mad. "Just because some frontliner paints you like a femme doesn't mean you can shoot up the training room! Femmes aren't any weaker than mechs—not even with humans!"
This time he looks confused. "What?"
"Joan of Arc, was a soldier, in the Middle Ages. She was killed at nineteen, the excuse given was cross-dressing, which was excused in necessity." I look down to Elita. "Besides, I'm a femme, and you've seen me fight just as hard as you do, on several occasions." I sigh as I turn to walk away. "Why do I even bother talking down hotheads, 'Lita?" She sighs, but otherwise remains silent. "I mean, sure, it's a good ability to have, but Aid and I can't be everywhere at once."
"First Aid's ready when you are, and Red Alert's fritzing, but Charlie Burns said everything was all right."
"Ratchet's waiting, and the rescue teams are good. They'll have their reports ready before the meeting tonight."
I turn to the recently-returned femmes. "Thanks." I sigh. "Guess I need to get to Ratch. Elita, find Optimus. I want to know why I suddenly need ladies in waiting. I'm a soldier too, after all. I'm not helpless."
"You've accepted—"
"I'm carrying, so I need a little help, but that's just for a few weeks." I sigh. "Arcee, keep Blue out of the bays. I don't need him stressing over me, and my armor's enough protection. Chromia…" I sigh heavily. "Take Ironhide, and go find a better place for him to vent. I can't be repairing the training room again—not when I have other things to do, as the Star Healer."
"Yes, Ma—" I glare at her. "Starlight." We step into the bays. "All right. I need to get to work. You need to get to Optimus." We flinch as a cannon blast shakes the walls. "And one of you tell Chromia that it's better to have Ironhide vent outside, before he tears down the Shatterdome. Someday, this may become our base."
"If you ever get humankind to accept us."
I smirk. "That's in the works, Ratch, but right now, we've got kaiju to deal with. We'll worry about the alliance after we've taken them down for good." I step over. "Now, let's get this taken care of. How's Coyote?"
"He's in his jaeger form, and he's under. Tamsin and Stacker are waiting for news. We're just waiting for you."
"Sorry I kept everyone, then. I had to get Star from school."
"We understand, Sweetspark."
Bays
Once we're done, I update Stacker and Tamsin, then start for the training room. I've got a mess to clean up, thanks to Ironhide, and I'm not looking forward to it. On the way, I'm stopped by a familiar soldier. We've gotten close, thanks to a certain dark green Topkick, and how I've been raised since fourteen. The military became my life, after all. I sigh heavily, and shift down to my human form. "What's wrong?"
He shakes his head. "Nothing. Sarah wanted to know where you were sending Star."
I sigh heavily. I never did try to remember the name of the school, since it's in another language, but I have memorized the way. "It's a private school, away from the shoreline—within the safe zone. I can have Sunstreaker take you in later. He knows the way."
"Where's Ironhide?"
"Judging from the lack of canon fire, I'd say he's either in the woods with the Dinobots, or, trying to wash off the last of the paint."
"Paint?"
I nod. "Yeah. Apparently Sideswipe painted him like a femme during the night. Since I have to leave before most of them are up, then was on the shore with Blue and the Paw Patrol, I didn't hear of it until I got back from picking Star up." I sigh as I lean back on the wall. Like Will, I'm wearing camouflage fatigues, but mine are my usual pink. Lennox explained when we brought him out that it was because I'm one of the special "War Machines". I was pretty upset when we first learned of that particularly painful betrayal. We're nothing but weapons to them. "Apparently Optimus thinks I need Ladies in Waiting. Mech forgets I'm a soldier too—they all do, sometimes."
"They're used to you being their little Princess." He sighs. "I'd have trouble looking at Annabelle like she was a soldier, too."
I sigh heavily. "I don't think you're the only one…" I was actually the first to notice, at fourteen, that Ironhide looked at his human partner's daughter as his own. Part of me wonders when he and Chromia will have a child of their own—then I remember how small Chromia is, and how dangerous it would be for her. If they were to have a child, Hide would have to carry, and I can only imagine how that would turn out… From what I've seen… Not. Good. At all.
"Did you know he raised Bumblebee?"
"Bee told me, years ago. Hide looks at Bee the way you would Annie, and Optimus does me: like we're still kids. Bee's still a youngling, yes, but he's practically an adult, I am an adult, and I don't think you'll have to worry about Annabelle anytime soon. She's still only thirteen. You've got five years to sway her away from the Army."
"I'm not sure I want to."
We start walking, if only to have something to do. "What do you mean?"
"If she wants to fight, who am I to stop her? It's her life, and her choice. I don't want to tell her she can't follow her heart, while I'm fighting a never-ending war with an alien partner."
I shrug. "Good point." I sigh as the femmes return, not surprisingly, without Chromia. "Well?"
Arcee sighs. "Now Bluestreak's pestering Prowl."
I roll my eyes. "Joy." I shake my head. "Let him know I'm done with Coyote, and that I'm fine. He needs to get to work. He's got a patrol in…" I check my watch. "Less than fifteen minutes."
Arcee nods before starting to roll away. "I'm on it."
I turn to the purple femme. "And Optimus?"
"Cybertronian law, according to Mirage. Optimus said you needed a Second in Command if you're going to lead, and Mirage insisted on your having a Femme in Waiting, so Optimus combined the two and gave us the order."
I nod. "That's acceptable." I sigh softly. "Though why he chose our only femme combiner team is—"
"We're the only surviving femmes. I used to lead a group of seven on Cybertron, but now we're down to my sisters and I."
"Hopefully, we'll get your numbers back up." I shrug to Lennox before walking off with Elita in my Cybertronian form. "I assume that was Megatron's doing?"
"Partly. Femmes are rare to begin with."
I nod. "That much I know."
She sighs. "Sorry if I interrupted anything back there."
I shake my head. "Nope. We were just talking about Annabelle." I sigh heavily. "How far did Chromia take Hide, anyway? I haven't heard his cannons since before we got started on Coyote's reactor."
"Down to the basement, last I knew."
"Hmmm…"
"Starlight?"
I turn to the femmes. "Find Prowl and get whatever paperwork about medical issues, or the Jaegers."
"Why?"
"Medical documents are supposed to be confidential, and I'm the Ranger here. Prowl shouldn't have to do everything, and you seem to be the calmest of the three, and you used to lead, so you'll handle that. I'll get you an office as soon as I can."
"What about the others?"
"I'll have Chromia doing combat training with Ironhide, and Arcee will help me with anything else." I shrug. "At least it keeps you all somewhere you'll be safe. We need you three." I sigh heavily as Elita rolls off to find Prowl. "Arcee, when you tell Blue I'm done, tell Prowl to get Sideswipe out of the brig and into the training room. Have him clean up Ironhide's mess, since he's the one that set the hothead off in the first place by painting him pink."
"I'm on it."
I sigh heavily. "I'll go find Hide and apologize."
"Why?"
I turn back to the soldier who had wound up following us. "Because I lost my cool with him when I saw him destroying the training room. He didn't deserve that."
Lennox sighs. "I'll have Sunstreaker take me to that school tomorrow. I've got to get back to Sarah and Annie."
I nod. "Understood." I sigh. "I'd better check on Star, too."
"I'll do it."
"Huh?" I look at the soldier as if he's grown another head.
"I'll check on Star for you. You've done so much for my family, and there's no way I'll ever be able to repay you. The least I can do is help out."
I shrug. I'm not going against my commander, even if he's trying to get me to let him be another servant. "Thanks, Major. She'll be in my suite with Graham." I sigh. "Has Ironhide updated you on the situation?"
"Not that I know of…"
I sigh heavily. "Okay, we're testing to see if a human—male, or female—can carry a Cybertronian child to term. Graham and I are testing it on both of us. I'm two weeks in, Graham is the other subject, and is over three months. We're keeping this among my part of this team, so the jaegers aren't supposed to know, besides Star Warrior, and she rooms with us. Watch out for Blue, he's staying in there too. Cee should be handling him, and caring for Sides' punishment detail."
"Got it."
I nod before starting to the elevator. I've got a mech to find.
"Starlight."
I turn to find Chromia. "Where's Hide?"
"We found a large training room downstairs."
'That's good, both for when the jaegers leave, and good for our training now.' I smile at her. "Thanks. You'll be on combat training with Hide later, but for now, you can get some energon. I'm going to talk to Hide, alone." I step onto the elevator and hit the button before shifting forms.
