AN:
Sorry about updating. First, this entire chapter didn't plan to be as long as I thought it would be, so I ended up adding a ton of other stuff I didn't intend to... ANYWAY! I had a case of writers block, and the internet went down for a few days. Long story short, well, too late for that, here's the chapter:
I came into the rec room and found the kids playing a human game, basketball as they called it. So I sat down and watched as Jack, Raf, and Miko passing the ball around shooting into rings on stationed on the wall. After about three klicks Jack came over to the bench I was sitting on and asked me if I wanted to join in.
"I don't think it'd be very fair on your team, me being twenty feet tall now. I'm content just watching," I responded. I'd never played basketball much less heard of it, but now I knew what the younglings were watching on the television yesterday.
"Alrighty then. Let me know if you change your mind," he called back to me from in the middle of the main floor. The rec room was a large underground, well, room as you could guess. The ceiling was one hundred feet tall and the room was only accessible by the elevator in the main command center. There were plenty of other rooms underneath the base as well such as the target practice room slash weapons testing room, also known as the Alamo. Under that was the rec room, and beneath that was the storage quarters for extra energon not in the tanks and for crates slash boxes not currently in use... or for parts to repair 'The Hatchet's' broken parts. Under that were several other rooms I hadn't been to.
I watched intently as Jack lined up for a shot halfway down the floor and practically chucked it. I don't know how humans knew magic, but he made it in perfectly. Not that this wasn't exciting and all that, but I had legitimate other stuff I had to get done, such as my latest assignment from Ratchet, cataloging energon stockpiles in the storage rooms, so I pushed myself off of the long bench and stood up. I admit, it was certainly strange to look down on my friends who, only a month ago, were the same height at me. I walked over to the elevator made for Autobots and stepped into it pressing floor zero on the button pad and waiting as the machine carried me down stairs.
I found some interesting stuff down there while I was working, cool weapons, like a Path Blaster or two, and some other crap that didn't even belong there. I ended up organizing the whole 2500 square feet area. After I was done I was exhausted, so I marched over to the elevator and rode it to the fourth floor where my quarters were. I took a quick shower and walked in to the command room. I headed over to the computer terminal and I wanted to try something. I imitated what Ratchet did when he broadcasted the signal to my home when we tried to make contact. I sighed, then spoke into the microphone.
"This is Lotan of the species Conia. I request an audience with the surviving members of my species. Please respond." I waited several micro-klicks, then spoke again. "I repeat, this is Lotan on the planet known as Earth. I request the ear of my people. Please respond." No answer. Optimus and Jazz entered the room to see me hanging my shoulders and walked over to where I was standing.
"As I said Lotan, they may simply not be able to resp-"
"This is the current leader of the former Conians, Theton. We read you, Lotan, and it is great to hear your voice again," a man responded in my native tongue. I looked over my shoulder to see the communication system lighting up with the message. "I apologize if you attempted to contact us before, a... guest damaged our communications array," the man said and I heard someone in the background.
"Me Grimlock sorry. Me Grimlock not mean to," he apologized in English. Jazz perked up at the name. He jogged over to the terminal and spoke into it.
"Grimlock? Wow it's a small universe, good ta see ya, man."
"Me Grimlock hear him Jazz. Is that you Jazz?" Grimlock spoke through the comm array.
"Is there any other 'Tronian dat speaks like dis? 'Course it's me. What'r you doing with da Conians?" Jazz inquired of his long lost friend. According to the history pad, Grimlock was one of the dino-bots experimented on during the war. I felt bad for any old lug that had been messed around with on the insides, especially Grimlock now that I had heard him talk.
"Me Grimlock come here in pod after Cyber...tron," he struggled with the long word, "went dark. Him Swoop is here too," Grimlock explained.
"Ya all need to come o'vr here so we can have a big ol' get together. Do ya have a means o' transport off dat rock?"
"Pretty sure. Have to check. Me Grimlock have to go. Talk later." With that, Grimlock left the comm. for Theton and I to have a conversation for the first time in years. Jazz nodded and said a quick farewell before taking three steps back, then turning and walking over to the elevator, leaving room for me to step up to the mic.
"So what planet are you living on now, Theton?" I asked. I was generally curious to find out where in the galaxy my home was. Or even another galaxy possibly.
"We reside on another planet in our home system, Vevis. Surely you've heard of it," he responded.
"Vevis! So you're... Vevians?" I asked the other side of the call.
"Indeed. If it is contempt with you, may I ask to journey with Grimlock and Swoop to visit you on planet Earth? I grow tired of this planet," my old friend joked.
"I'll have to verify with Optimus, but it's a great idea with me. I'll be sure to contact you in one solar cycle with the answer. I have to take my leave now, but it was wonderful to hear you voice again, Theton. I shall see you soon," I replied leaving time for one last statement from the Vevis Leader.
"Agreed. I shall see you soon. Tak'motet," he replied in the ancient tongue.
"Tak'motet." With that, I closed the chanel and took a deep breath. I was relieved to see at least one of my friends was still alive, and it was wonderful to talk to him, but there was something... different about him. Couldn't quite put my finger on it though.
I walked off to the elevator and hit the third button taking me to the Alamo. I felt the machine beneath me chug its way down the shaft to the room directly adjacent to the main command room slash second floor.
I arrived to see that Jazz was already there shooting off a Lithium Blaster at his target at least fifty yards away – pretty impressive considering the limited range of that particular blaster. Being a saboteur, he was already a great shot, but I suppose there's no such thing as too much practice.
He carefully took aim, setting up his shot, then did something that scared the scrap out of me. He pulled the trigger and automatic shotgun fire plagued the dummy. He looked over to see me standing next to him with wide optics.
"Yeah, Ah got bored one day an' decided to mod' a gun. As ya can see, turned out for da best," he chuckled. "Ah know what gun Ah'll be using next time."
"That's... that's not even supposed to be a semi-automatic gun, what in the world did you do to it?" I was still staring at the shredded target. I feel bad for the next 'con to cross Jazz while he's carrying that monstrosity.
"Eh, just a lil' tweakin' ere and dere," he replied as he bent over to grab another clip of ammo for the gattling-shotgun. He fired another clip in rapid succession with the last.
"A little?! You know what, I'm not even going to ask."
"That'd be for da best. As Ah always say, never ask questions ya don't want to know answers fo'. So what beings you down 'ere, Lot? Ya know, ya need a cooler name – somethin Cybertronian, like... Dayracer- no no - Daybreaker... ya know... like day break-"
"Yeah yeah, I get it. And I'll take it into consideration when I'm fully Cybertronian. Just came down to get a little target practice. If I'm going to be in a war when I'm done with this transformation, I need to know how to fight. You having a good time down here?" I asked the silver red mech.
"Yeah, Ah guess. It's always fun for da first breem'r two. Speakin' of da transformation, any new information?" he returned with a question.
"Plenty, I'm just lucky it doesn't really come up in the middle of something. It's gotten so bad I started saying random things now too. I've been relaying them to Ratchet as they come to me. All in all, I'm doing well... thanks for asking."
"Ah ain't about ta lose one of mah own soldiers 'fore Ah even get 'em," he replied. I could tell from his character, he was a caring mech and watched out for those under his command. I'd bet he'd even give his life for them. I let out a little laugh then said a farewell before heading up to the command room.
Ratchet, Optimus, Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee – basically all of the other mechs besides Jazz – were in the battle room when I arrived talking about some recently acquired information, energon mines, Megatron – the usual. When the elevator door opened, I saw all of them staring at me. I looked both ways with my eyes and wrang my hands. Their stares were getting to me. Was I in trouble?
"Am I having a bad hair day?" I tried to lighten the mood. Optimus walked over to me and bent down to me.
"Lo- Daybreaker, we may have found a way to remove the ancient information occupying your mind."
"Lemme guess, Jazz told you to call me that," I guessed with a pretty good reason behind it.
"He told me that you had decided on a Cybertronian title. If you do not wish for me to refer to you as-"
"No, no, Daybreaker's fine," I interrupted him. "So what's the POA?" I inquired.
"A cordical psychic patch, which will be retrieved by a stealth team aboard the Nemisis. Once acquired, they will be Ground Bridged back to base. One end of the cord will be attached to your helm, the other to a computer. When your mind is access, Ratchet will attempt to scrub the datacores containing the information, after your transformation is complete," he explained.
I paused for a moment taking in the information. "Okay... but there's one small problem. The stealth team," I pointed out a small flaw.
"A two mech team has already volunteered: Arcee and Bumblebee," Optimus continued. I was taken by surprise that anyone would want to volunteer for me, much less two. What had I ever done for them?
I paused for a moment. "Okay, so when is this... raid?" I questioned.
"Early next cycle. It would be best if we were to attempt a rescue mission whilst they are recharging. Do you approve?" he questioned.
"Huh? Yeah, sounds good. Sorry I was having a information flash as I call them. Hey Ratchet," I called over to him and relayed the data transcribed to me. He nodded and typed in the information into the computer, adding another part on to the formula. At this rate, the equation will be done by next week, I thought to myself.
"Lot," Ratchet pulled me over to the med-bay. "I've calculated that, at the current rate of your metamorphosis, you will be fully Cybertronian in around three cycles, but what alarms me, is that the formula, at its current rate, will take longer than three cycles to complete, leaving 'x' amount of time after you're fully Cybertronian. Now, most of the information's power has gone into converting you from flesh to machine, but after that's through, I fear that the information will be transcribed quicker, which on one servo is good, but on the other, it could corrupt your processor causing your current mind to... dissipate," he rambled. I took in the information replaying what he had just said in my CPU.
"So... I won't be me," I put it in Layman's terms. He blinked.
"... Isn't that what I just said?"
"Right, well anyway, I've still got," I glanced down at my wrist then back up to him, "three cycles give or take. That's plenty of time. If the mission is a success, then we'll have the information out by the time it's completely taken over my mind, right?" I stated more than asked the medic.
"Well yes, but that doesn't mean you won't be spending most of your time in the med-bay," he replied.
I rolled my optics. "Ratchet, truth be told, what's that gonna help? I could be doing much more productive things like..." I was pretty sure if I said 'horsing around' or 'games', it would get me a bonk on the head with a wrench. "Cleaning?"
He scoffed. "Until I clear you for active duty, you can do whatever I say you can, so you better get comfortable." He turned around which was an unspoken signal that the conversation was over. I shrugged and walked out of the bay and over to where Bulkhead and Optimus were standing. The Prime was intently staring up at a monitor mounted to the wall while Bulkhead was scanning for energon signals.
He turned his head to see me standing next to him and greeted me. I responded with a question. "What's Optimus looking at?"
"Apparently, there's this old prophecy in a book about some mumbo jumbo going to happen when 'forty-nine spheres align'. Load of scrap if you ask me," he explained.
"... I see. Anything I can do to help?" I asked.
"Unless you have any information up in there about where a mine is, probably not. We're running kind of low on energon at the moment, and Optimus told me to keep an eye out. You can help watch if you want though," he offered. I grunted.
"Yeah alright." I took a step forward and glanced up to see the a grid on the screen. After about five klicks with nothing happening, I walked off to my quarters and opened the door. When I walked in I saw that my shelf had been filled with data pads.
:Optimus,: I called over the comm. :thanks for the pads you gave me.:
:You are welcome, Daybreaker. Now I must return to my work,: he replied. I nodded then I realized that he probably couldn't see that. I took three steps forward and picked the first pad off the shelf and activated it. It contained all kinds of science-y stuff that I had no idea what it meant. On to the next one.
The slightly green datapad was a literature collection and partially a poetry montage, which never really interested me even when I was Conian. After several more choices, I found one that caught my attention: mathematics. I scanned it over looking at the equations and trying to make use of them. Well it turns out that a race that's much more advanced than mine would probably have much more complex math. I'd need Ratchet's help on this one.
I eventually gave up and laid down on my berth for a total of about three micro-klicks until I realized I hadn't had my energon for the night. I sighed and sat up putting my pedes over the edge of the bed then I shifted my weight and stood up. I slumbered over to the desk to pick up my energon cube when I saw a blueprint on the table that I hadn't put there. I looked over it and found it was the plans for a custom weapon specially crafted for a mech my expected body size – forty feet. Ratchet had probably left it there by accident and I would return it in the morning.
When my cube had been filled I returned to my berth and sat down. As I drank I thought about the day's events, the mission, the volunteers, et cetera. I was shaken from my thoughts when I heard light pede steps outside my quarters. I turned my heard quickly and stood up taking one step. As my pede landed, the noise stopped. As far as I knew, the only bot who had a light enough stepping weight was Arcee, and she was already recharging, well, I bet Jazz could if he wanted to, but the question then would be why would he be sneaking around in the base? Regardless, I had to take a look. . After a few micro-klicks, the sounds continued moving away from my quarters. I decided to poke my helm out and take a look, so I tip-toed over to the desk and placed my cube down then walked over to the door.
I entered the code and the door opened leaving me cringing as it was slightly rusty making a small screeching sound as it was pulled along the track with pistons.
What I'd give for a silent alt-mode right about now... or any alt-mode...I thought to myself as I tip-toed along the floor following the sounds. They stopped just outside Optimus' quarters as I listened from around the corner. I stuck half of my helm around the wall and took a quick glance at two areas of distorted space lurking outside the door. Why they were there I had no idea. Maybe they didn't know that Optimus was in the command room still. One of them extended a warble of a servo towards the door and placed a line around then stood back. He pulled out a fully visible device and activated a button on it.
With in a nano-klick the line ignited and started cutting an area around the door. That was enough for me to get involved with a possible threat, so I unsheathed a servo-blaster and turned the corner firing a few shots at the intruders. They shifted quickly and I saw a slight glowing in one of their servos. I dived to the other side of the hallway barely dodging a sniper round.
:Optimus, we've got intruders near your quarters. I'll fend them off until you can get here.: I said quickly over the comm.
:Understood. Ratchet, wake the others.: I heard him say before the comm. channel was closed. I fired a rapid succession of shots towards the enemy apparently damaging one of their cloaks revealing a startled mech underneath who was frantically tapping his device attempting to make it work again. He was fully black with two red shaded eyes and a faceplate with a permanent war plate seared onto it. He made a few clicks before I hit him in the helm, offlining him immediately.
He must have been communicating with the other because it turned and the veil dashed the other way and around a corner. I cursed as it disappeared, finding them in plain sight was hard enough, with it roaming the base, no one was safe. I heard a clash and I sprinted around the wall to find that the mech had run straight into Optimus and currently had a blaster pointed right at his cloak of a head.
"Reveal yourself," Optimus ordered. It turned to run but he grabbed it's arm. It tapped a pad on its arm disabling the cloak. As it dissipated I stared at a mech similar to the one currently offline. "What is your designation and what were you attempting in my quarters?" It made nothing but a few clicks before it pressed a button dead center of his chassis. It started blinking more and more rapidly before Optimus realized what it was doing.
"It's a trap! Evacuate!" He ran towards me pushing me around the corner again before a blast detonated and seared the wall behind us and the ones adjacent to it.
:Ratchet. Gather everybot in the command room. We are having a conference.:
A/N:
Sorry about that long-butt update time thingy, I'm not even going to try to excuse it. I introduced a few new characters to look forwards to in later chapters. Speaking of later chapters, until then. ^_^