The dragoness tried to encase herself in her wings, and failed due to her grounding. She had embarrassed herself by even hinting at the situation. 'I apologise for my suggestion' she said through a private comm link between Ratchet, Prowl and herself.
'It was your nature to do so. You cannot apologise for base programming' Ratchet replied into the shared link. The Sorceress rendered herself invisible. The link was also severed.
"I may have been too hard on her, I guess that I'm happy that she also chose you instead of, one of the twins for example," the medic said. The higher ranked mech looked at him.
"You're happy that I got chosen? To tell you the truth I was looking forward to a life as a three" Prowl said, "where is she?"
"I haven't got the slightest clue. She may be protesting" Ratchet said, and then he was patched into a very brief comm line. "Prowl, the sparklings" he said, both mechs rushing to medbay.
The remaining bots had temporarily abandoned their posts and waited in the main room, a light blue bot stood in a corner. "I've not seen the Sorceress yet. The prospect of a few sparklings running around is great! What do you think Ironhide?" The light blue femme asked.
"I can't wait to meet them, remember that they're hybrids so won't be as much work" he said smiling at his daydream of the future youngsters. The prime also smiled.
"We'll have to wait a little longer, Prowl's opted in to help raise the sparklings. As per the reason why he is in medbay" he said.
The medbay door opened to reveal said Autobot. "You may come in, the new parents are content for you to see them," he said. A quiet excitement flooded the room. They walked in and saw Shannon, laid on the ground, and Ratchet sat beside her. She was curled around them. The light blue femme found herself at the front, next to the new parents. It didn't surprise her that the sparklings were encased in shell, the intricate swirls on the eggs' shell showing good health. "Empress, Ratchet, congratulations to you both," she said. The dragoness smiled at her.
"You can call me Shannon. What is your name?" Shannon asked.
"My name is Arcee" she replied. The bots seemed to take turns at looking at the small family. The twins, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker greeted them before being replaced with the other set of twins. Mudflap bent down and inspected an egg. "May I?" He asked. Ratchet became alert and the dragoness nodded. The mech then stroked a finger down an egg. He pulled back unexpectedly, looking shocked. Shannon smiled. Ratchet understood. "Did the sparkling just try to communicate with me?" Mudflap asked.
"Yes, Sorcerers develop their base knowledge whilst in the mother. And also develop their telepathic skills through touches to their egg" she replied. Ratchet took it as his cue to gently hold the blue egg. He broadcasted the conversation.
'Hello my little sparkling' he thought.
'Chirp chirp beep' was the reply. He took away his hand, 'chirp?' It replied through its mother.
"I have a constant telepathic link with them," she said. Optimus looked over the three eggs that lay beside their parents.
"When will we meet them?" He asked.
"Should be one month more, time for them to pick up a bit of language. During that time I would ask for your language to be as clean as possible," she said. Prowl was stood behind them, guarding the young parents and their brood. They all agreed and most of the bots returned to their posts. Prowl sat and touched an egg, "such beautiful things, any idea on what they'll look like" he said.
"They're hybrids so I wouldn't know," Shannon replied.
The gentle tapping woke Shannon from her sleep, Ratchet stirred when Shannon's wing was no longer around him. She sat looking at the eggs, one of which had toppled over. The medic sat next to her as it rolled before a crack was made in the shell. There was a small squeak, which its mother lowered her head to greet it, as it wriggled out of the shell. His brother and sister got out in the same fashion.
The small female sparkling clicked and lay carefully. The most part of her was organic green scales. Her wings, front legs and tail were mechanical. She had an odd mechanical fitting on her face.
The male that began playing with its own shell was purple. Its wings were part mechanical and his tail spike was.
The remaining one was dark blue, his head was full mechanical and so were most of his limbs. The occasional blue scale reminded everyone that he was a hybrid.
They walked around uneasily, getting used to their legs. Their mother watched intently. "Once they get used to walking then they'll scatter. A dragon is expecting for a month and in the egg for 8 months. A Sorcerer is the other way around, but the energy in the egg can last for 8 months. The surplus energy is in the baby, causing hyperactivity at birth.
The reason for that evolution is that the dragons would hunt young Sorcerers. The babies would be born with enough energy to flee if needed," she said. The green female was the first to look stable and jumped onto Ratchet's stabilising servos. She chirped at her achievement. "Only 10 minutes into this world and already climbing" a familiar voice said.
"Prowl! Come my sparklings, meet your Uncle Prowl," she said as the three hid behind their parents. They became excited and the green female and the blue male ran over to him. The purple male looked at his mother with a young wisdom. He spread his small wings and tried to fly as he too bounded over. Prowl smiled sitting to be closer to the sparklings. "What are you naming them?" He asked.
"I was thinking maybe Astra for the female" she replied, getting a chirp from the young dragoness in question. Shannon looked at their father. He looked at the blue male that paused, in mid sweep of Prowl's hand. "Nightshade maybe" he pondered. Both parents, and the purple male, looked expectantly at Prowl.
"Crossflight perhaps" he said as the blue dragon bounced. The dragoness telepathically called all three sparklings and they curled up in between their parents, Prowl opted to watch the room. "Astra, Nightshade and Crossflight" she said kissing Ratchet.
A couple of months on and the sparklings grew a bit. They formed a two tier hierarchy; with Astra being the alpha and the other two as omegas. Ratchet returned to their room from medbay. Shannon was teaching them how to use their light element. He smiled at the scene as Crossflight turned himself invisible, apart from his tail. "Practice makes perfect my dear," Shannon said, noticing that Ratchet had returned.
"Dad!" The sparklings shouted in unison. Prowl was in the doorway. After greeting the children, Ratchet bent down. "Would you mind if Prowl took you around the base?" He asked them. The sparklings had just developed a low level of English and clicks.
"We don't mind, *click* we would love to stay with Uncle Prowl" Nightshade said. They bounded away with the mech, while he gave the couple a knowing look.
The children had gone and the dragoness nodded at Ratchet. They walked outside and sat at their favourite spot, next to the lake where Shannon had confessed her love for the Autobot. They cuddled as Shannon controlled the water, making numerous patterns with the waves. "Prowl said earlier that we deserve time alone since the sparklings are older" he said.
"I agree completely, they can be a hand full at times," she agreed. She nuzzled the bot and he held her closer. They leaned in to each other.
The ambush was too fast. Shannon curled her wings around her mate to take the attack. She noticed a blur, no three blurs. She smiled at her realisation. She decided to play along with it. She pounced towards the three dragons that had ambushed them. She snarled in mock anger. The sparklings jumped at her and embraced their parents. Prowl made an appearance. Ratchet let loose a long sigh. "I thought that you were with Uncle Prowl?" He asked.
"We were, and then Skids gave us the idea of finding you," Astra said.
"I apologise, these are hard work to keep put-" Prowl said. The dragoness blew dust on the sparklings, sending them to sleep.
"That's why I have dragon dust," she said. The sparklings clutched to Prowl. Astra and Nightshade were draped over his shoulders. Crossflight was in his arms. He bid them farewell.
The dragoness lay up to her mate. "Shall we resume?" she said. He leaned down. A snap of a branch had both of them startled.
"Primus, I thought that they were back," she said.
"Why are we acting like this my dear?" he said. She groaned in distaste.
"We didn't have sparklings then, Prowl does his best but can't keep them put for the life of his spark" she said. He chuckled.
"Maybe we could ask them, their base knowledge should cover it," he suggested. She resumed her original seating.
"Something tells me that you're nervous," she said.
"We should keep a 'PG' profile while the sparklings are hinted at being near," he said.
"They'll be asleep for an hour, we won't be disturbed by them" she replied, kissing his cheek plate. He wrapped his arms around her and laid her over him, they began to kiss gently. She groaned as his hand ghosted over her back. She wrapped her tail around his left stabilising servo. "They're gone for two minutes and you're at it already," Ironhide said. The couple turned their heads to look at the weapons specialist. They had nothing to hide from this bot.
"We were just savouring our time together, our time is scarce. The sparklings will be back in an hour-," Shannon said.
"-and why are you two acting as if you're never going to touch each other again" Ironhide said, "I can imagine the amount of frustration that can arise from being constantly disturbed by your offspring".
Ratchet groaned. "Please excuse us Ironhide, whilst I sort out my mech," she said, nuzzling the medic.
"Be quick about it, our Prime wishes to talk with you two," Ironhide said walking to get out of earshot. The dragoness looked at her mate. He vented a bit faster at the wild look in those blue eyes.
Ironhide sat on his own; he heard two groans and looked at the stars. Shannon was the first to return. "Ratchet will be here in a second," she said.
"I didn't say to sort yourself out like that. You have Sparklings that are three months old, don't try for more" he said. Ratchet walked over, venting deeply. The black bot smiled. The medic stared at him. "You're both covered in each other's energy signature. It's obvious what you've been doing," he continued.
"And just to put things straight, we've got enough with three sparklings" the medic said when he had recovered. They began to walk back to the base. "Anyway 'hide, what are we wanted for?" She asked and his spark jumped at his new nickname.
"It is not my place to say," he said. They entered the base as both parents sighed. The sparklings were awake, and running around as usual. Only this time Grimlock, the dinosaur Autobot, had joined in. They looked around and saw Optimus sat on a container and he looked at them.
"Shannon, I was given more information about your mechanical side. And I can see that you have your own energy signature, even if it is mixed with Ratchet's now. And you, Chief Medical Officer, I say the same to you" the prime said. There was stillness in the room.
"I can explain my prime," Shannon said bowing, "we were spending time together".
He kneeled down to her. "You don't have to apologise, either of you, you are mated. Moreover, I understand that you wish to spend time alone, but your sparklings are a nuisance around the base. The humans are visiting tomorrow and I wish for your little ones to behave," he said. Shannon looked shocked,
"I thought that the representatives of the Rebellion Empire were to visit tomorrow?" She asked.
"Yes, and so are the humans. Although they are coming later so that you may explain the situation," he said. She was dismissed and found the sparklings. She hummed and got their attention; they sat in line. "What's up Mum?" Nightshade asked.
"Your father and I got into trouble with prime for your antics. The Humans are coming tomorrow, as well as representatives of the Rebellion Empire. You have to behave, or do I have to use Guardian techniques," she said, not expecting the excitement at her threat. She guided them into their room. She got the sparklings in line. "Right my children, can you stand tall?" she said. Nightshade had his wings drooped. Astra's tail dragged on the floor and Crossflight's head was low. Their mother transformed into a human and corrected their stance. Ratchet walked in and saw his sparklings stood in a line. "How?" He asked bewildered, the young Sorcerer-Autobot hybrids looked straight ahead of them and turned their heads with professionalism. "A bit of Guardian training. I was trained in the same fashion, now everything is ready for tomorrow. Their only terms for it was if they could go out for a walk. I agreed, you can stay if you wish," she said. She transformed, he embraced her and leaned her over as he had learnt from the humans.
"I'll come along, we ought to go as a family," he said. He kissed her. The sparklings' training had them still at attention.
"The first thing about the Guardian training is that you must know when to act like yourselves," she said. They walked to their parents as they parted. Their series of jumps showed how their mechanical limbs had enhanced the natural spring of a Sorcerer. Astra had jumped to half perch between Shannon's horns. Crossflight sat on her back and Nightshade sat on his father's right shoulder.
"Mum?" Astra asked.
"What is it?" She asked back.
"What is a Human?" The sparkling asked.
"Well Astra they look similar to my alternative form, which I also describe as human, but without the wings and tail" she replied.
"I haven't had the chance to ask. Who are you Rebellion Empire representatives that are coming?" Ratchet asked.
"King G'hidon of Garlcia, Garnet of Zephyroque, Jack of Cannis and Spiros, former king of Avalaria" she replied. The sparklings tired and yawned. "We best get back" she continued. The couple carried their brood to their room.