Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Transformers. I just play with them. I only own my OC's.

Time:

Astro-second = 1.258 Earth seconds

1 nanocycle/nanoklik = 10 seconds

1 cycle/klik = 60 nanocycles/nanokliks 120 seconds

Breem = 15 kliks 30 minutes

1 joor = 1.3 Earth days

Solar cycle/orn = 24 joor 31.557 Earth days

Vorn = 10 orn

Groon = 8 vorn

Orbital cycle = 12 groon 83 human years

Deca-cycle = 10 orbital cycles

Centi-cycle/Mega cycle = 100 orbital cycles

Meta cycle = 1,000 orbital cycles

Communication:

:: comm. link ::

- Bondmates/sparkmates -

~: creator/creation bond :~

: sibling bond :

~ spark twin bond ~

Thoughts/memories/flashbacks/dreams/singing

[symbiot/symbiot carrier]

Seeker Cant


Jazz tried repeatedly to reach the Autobot base in Polyhex. Bladestream had left to locate the jammer that the Cons were using. He was getting very concerned. The younglings were able to hold out on their own for the short term, but they lacked the stamina of the more seasoned Cons.

He sent his worry to Prowl. Prowl told him that they were already on the way the moment he felt Jazz's pain. Jazz was thankful, but it was still going to be a while before they showed up.

:: I got it! You should be able to put out a clear signal. ::

:: Thanks, Bladestream. :: Jazz looked to the Con ship and saw a faint trail of smoke coming from the roof of the Con warship and Bladestream returning to the battle on the ground with Cons hot on his tail. He was now able to contact Optimus and Polyhex for reinforcements.

:: Jazz … :: Wing Saber's voice come on the comm. He didn't like the sound of it. She sounded like she was having difficulty speaking and it was filled with barely suppressed fear. Her tone was a drastic difference from the confident Seeker at the start of the battle.

He quickly scanned the battle field for her. :: What's wrong, li'l lady? ::

:: Please … help … ::

He finally located her and saw that she was a ways away from everybody else, and Megatron was standing between her and the others.

Jazz panicked. Holy Primus, he thought as began to run for her location.

:: Saber, listen to me, do not engage him. I repeat; DO NOT engage him! Find a way around him, run, get into the air, something, but DO NOT engage! :: Jazz nearly screamed. He commed Optimus to get his aft over here because Megatron had arrived.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Easier said than done, Wing Saber though. She would have to avoid him at all costs. He was nearly three times her size and more than triple her weight. He was also a professional gladiator, the best of the best. If he got close, she would be on the defensive and it wouldn't be a very good defense.

When he started to advance towards her, she bolted.

One of Wing Saber's strengths was that she was sure-footed. She was once again thankful for the rubber lining on her pedes. It gave her better traction against the sand. But it couldn't increase her speed enough to get around Megatron. In two strides, he had effectively cut her off from the others and advanced towards her. She ignited her thrusters to put some distance between them. And put more distance between her and her sibling in the process.

Megatron closed the distance between them easily and drew his sword. Wing Saber had only a nanoklik to bring up her blades to stop Megatron's from slicing her in half. He pushed against her crossed swords, trying to break through her defenses. Wing Saber pushed back. With her strength depleting, it was extremely difficult to do so. Gathering some of her energy, she pushed Megatron's sword away with a cry.

He stumbled back a step and came back with a horizontal swing of his sword. She dropped to the ground, rolled between his stabilizers, leaped up behind him and a swift kick to his aft sent Megatron off-balance and he got a face-full of rusty sand. He heard the sounds of transformation behind him. He stood up and grabbed the young Seeker by her tail fins, flinging her away from the group.

She transformed into her root mode and planted her pedes, skidding to stop. She looked up to find Megatron running towards her, letting out a battle cry. She leaped out of the way and when he brought his sword down, she tried to slice of his right arm. Her swing did not have enough power behind it, so she ended up rendering his fusion cannon useless instead.

Megatron cried out in pain as burning arcs of energy from Wing Saber's sword licked up and down his arm. He looked at his prized fusion cannon and growled. Knock Out was going to have to take it off completely in order to fix it. It might not even be able to work again.

Megatron turned to Wing Saber with an enraged glare. Instead of scaring the femme further, she acted like Ravage whenever he got startled by something. Wings perking, optics widening, her frame jerking a bit like it had gotten shocked by static buildup. The only thing that betrayed her terror was her EM field, which shrunk away from him a bit.

No more games. Megatron thought as he slowly stood to his full height, puffing out his armor to make himself look bigger and charged at her, deciding to treat the femme like a rookie fighter back in the Pits. He would not terminate her, though. Just wound her enough to render her useless.

Uh, oh, Wing Saber though. Megatron advanced towards her and went on the offensive. He stepped up his game and Wing Saber had to work hard to keep from getting possibly permanent altercations to her frame. She did her best to block his attacks while taking a swing at him herself, but her reach was not anywhere near as long as Megatron's so most of her advances merely sliced the air and when they did hit him, they simply scratched his armor. She tried to aim for joints and gaps, but Megatron's armor so thick and the armor plates overlapped each other, making it extremely difficult.

Where Megatron had size, strength, and long stabilizers, Wing Saber had short bursts of speed and used her small size to her advantage. However, much of her own stamina had already been spent, so you had a tired rookie fighter going up against a seasoned expert gladiator who was used to fighting for his life. The odds were in favor of Wing Saber losing.

Every time their swords clashed, Wing Saber's defense diminished little by little and it was getting harder and harder to meet Megatron's swords with her own. Her arms were burning again, so she levitated her swords about a foot away from her body and spun them, giving her arms a break. Megatron's swords clashed again and again against the makeshift shield as Wing Saber took a breather. At the last minute, she leaped out of the way, calling her swords back to her. Megatron lost his balance and went down on his knees.

She needed to get back to the others. Megatron was a little slow at getting up, so she turned and began to run back. In her hurry, she didn't look at where she put her pedes and stumbled over a piece of someone's detached limb in the sand and fell. She rolled and used the momentum to bring herself to one knee, but that was all the time Megatron needed to catch up to her and drive his sword through her left shoulder.

She cried out and dropped her swords, the blades evaporated into a golden mist when they hit the ground. Her servos flew to the sword, gripping it tightly as her stabilizers gave out, putting her weight on the sword. She squeezed her optics shut as she tried to control the pain

Her spark subconsciously began to fling energy through her bonds to her siblings, broadcasting her pain along with it. The bursts of energy activated something within her siblings. They would soon rush to her aid, determined to destroy whatever caused her harm.


Pain seared his left shoulder. Bladestream winced and grabbed it. Strange, he didn't feel any impact. He looked at his shoulder. No scorch marks, no embedded blades, no exposed wires.

Wha … what is this? What happened? He thought.

He prodded his frame for irregularities. His spark was surging with energy and he saw Megatron looking at him, then his optics turned to his … no, Wing Saber's … shoulder which now had a rather wide arm dagger embedded in it. Her vision went white as Megatron used the dagger to lift her off the ground. More pain and energy assaulted his spark in waves as his true vision returned.

He zeroed in on her location in Astro-seconds. He turned and saw Megatron had indeed driven his sword through Wing Saber's shoulder. What was at first shock, quickly became fury … vengeance … no, this isn't the place for tunnel vision. He growled, his fists clenched. No one touches those in his care … no one.

With a war cry, he quickly cut down the last of the Cons around him. Drawing upon the last of the energy emitting from Wing Saber, he raced to her aid.

Cons fell on him from every side, but they may as well have been flies for all he cared. Nothing scratched him, nothing stood in his way, for they all fell before him like wheat during harvest.


Time slowed and the battle paused as the others felt pain and rage through the shared bond. Energy that was once there was quickly being drained away. The movements of the Cons around them became sluggish. The siblings looked at each other. They heard a shout from afar. When they turned to look and saw Bladestream and Megatron at a standoff. And Wing Saber was lying on her back on the ground. Fear rose up within them as they ran to Wing Saber's side.


It hurt! She had never felt pain like this. Her shoulder felt like it was on fire. She let out a small sob. She was beginning to lose control over her left arm and it was starting to shake. She tried to readjust her grip on the sword without getting her own digits, but ended up getting small paper cuts in the rubber on her servos for her trouble.

She saw stars as Megatron lifted her up on the sword. Her weight on the sword was magnifying the pain, making it hard to think straight. Megatron was saying something to her, but she couldn't catch what he was saying. Something about having plans and "you, you, you" and the "future", but she couldn't piece anything together. All that was on her processor was the blinding pain.

She felt anger, extreme anger and it wasn't hers. She looked to her right and saw Bladestream coming at a run.

Using the last bit of strength she had, she gingerly repositioned her grip on Megatron's sword and pushed off of it before Bladestream slammed into Megatron.

She hit the ground on her wings and jarred her shoulder. Her mouth opened in a silent scream as she placed her right servo over her shoulder. Her wings were screaming at her, her HUD was red with alerts and the world of color was starting to blend with the world energy like static on an old TV. She slowly curled up on her right side, energon freely flowing out the wound, down her back and servo. She shut her optics and gritted her denta as she felt the ground vibrate with pedefalls.

She opened her optics to see Jazz and her sisters' worried faceplates. She faintly heard Wind Dancer calling her name and she saw Jetstorm shooting at something out of her field of vision. She whimpered when Jazz started to mess with her shoulder. Jazz and her sisters were speaking quickly in anxious tones. Every now and then the world of color would replace the world of energy.

The ground was rumbling. Not with pedefalls, it was steadier. She turned to look over her shoulder and saw what was probably a dust cloud coming from the direction of Polyhex.

Energon levels were low. Energy was leaving her at a rapid rate. She was getting tired. She closed her optics for a moment and then someone was shaking her. She opened her optics to find Wind Dancer's teary faceplate very close to her own. Her side of the bond was panicked and her spark was flaring.

She actually got a good look at her sister's spark. Its core was a blueish white while the outer mantle a shimmering silver. She looked past Wind Dancer and saw the sparks of some unknown Cybertronians who had just arrived. Some cores varied in color from whitish yellow to orange. One spark's core was more on the red side of orange. Some sparks were larger than others and the outer part of each spark had a different color for each individual. Sparks are like stars … Wing Saber decided. You can tell their age by the color of the core. Wing Saber looked at her own spark. Her spark's core was pure white with a gold outer layer … corona.

Tired … so tired. Her shoulder still hurt, her muscle cables ached, her processor felt too light. She closed her optics only to have her wing pinched harshly.

She heard the sounds of transformation and more shouting. A strange EM field fixed with her own as large servos leaned her back against a pair of knee struts. She turned to look behind her and saw a stocky mech with a light green corona and a redish orange core leaning over her his field was steady and strong, though she could detect a bit of panic laced within it. He was wiping the energon of her shoulder and he didn't seem to care that he was being too rough with the punctured metal surrounding the wound. She let out a whimper and curled tighter. Words came from the mech, the tone calm and soothing. Perhaps the roughness was necessary to get the energon off.

Energon levels critical …

The mech was digging into her shoulder now, the stinging pain he was causing was quickly soothed by the heat of a torch. She was struggling to keep her optics open. The world of energy was being replace with the world of color more and more.

Stasis lock, imminent …

She could feel her frame shutting down. She closed her optics again. She heard the mech behind her shout something. A new presence entered her EM field. She opened her optics as a large servo cupped her helm and lifted it above the ground. A deep voice vibrated her frame as her hair was stroked away from her neck and audio. She looked up and saw a large red and blue frame in her field of vision. Their optics locked for a klik before he looked away at the mech's shouts. As he looked away, she was drawn to his spark. His spark was a deep red with a core of white, with a very slight yellow tint to it. The tint was barely noticeable, so this mech wasn't much older than she was.

She felt the torch run along her armor plating and she winced. The mech behind her was digging around again. Her optic shutters were just too heavy to keep open. The red and blue mech with the red spark was still talking. His tone implied that he didn't like her falling asleep, but she couldn't help it anymore. She was already half-way to stasis as it was. She just couldn't stay online anymore, nor did she want to. She let out a sigh as her world was covered in darkness and all sounds faded to silence.


Bladestream slammed his shoulder into Megatron. Megatron grunted as he was pushed a great distance before pushed Bladestream off. Bladestream stood between him and Wing Saber. His optics blazed with anger. Megatron stood up and readied his sword. Bladestream didn't wait for the warlord to attack first.

Bladestream sprung toward Megatron and brought down his long sword at an angle. Megatron caught it easily with his own sword. There was a short power struggle before Megatron pushed Bladestream away swung at him in a counterattack. Bladestream brought up his arm and blocked the sword. Bladestream's armor was literally made of weapons, making his armor near impenetrable. He rotated his wrist, grabbing Megatron's, and kicked the warlord in the abdominal plating, sending him flying across the sand.

Bladestream advanced again and used his speed to bring his sword down faster than the more experienced warrior. Megatron soon found it difficult to block or parry the youngling's blows. He had greatly underestimated the strength of the triplechanger.

Bladestream used a combination of martial arts and swordsman skills to rain hell on the mech who attacked his sister. He could almost see what Megatron's next move was before he made it. He pulled on the power and energy Wing Saber was throwing out. He used his enhanced speed and strength to keep Megatron on the defensive.

Megatron had armor that could withstand most attacks, but it had a few weak points that Bladestream sought to exploit. He noticed early on that Megatron's armor over his spark chamber. The spark chamber itself was delicate and easily injured. The spark, when exposed, was as susceptible to the elements as a newborn baby. If he could chip at the armor surrounding the spark chamber enough, Megatron would most likely leave to save his own hide. Or, Bladestream could run him through.

Every time their swords clashed, Bladestream managed to slowly nick away at Megatron's chestplates. He gave the warlord cuts in other places as well, mainly at joints or main energon lines. He even attacked Megatron's broken fusion cannon, if only it cause him more pain.

Again and again, Bladestream kept chipping at the same spot on Megatron's spark chamber, chipping away at it until a piece of armor fell off and the spark chamber itself was exposed.

Megatron was getting sluggish, his charges and swings losing power. One more good hit to the chestplates and his spark would be exposed.

He unleashed a flurry of moves, taking a smaller sword off his long sword, onto the tiring warlord. With a cry, he broke through Megatron's defenses and punctured his spark chamber, right above where the human heart would be.

Megatron cried out in extreme pain and Bladestream struck him in the helm with the pommel of his shorter sword, dazing him. He then kicked Megatron in the chestplates, effectively knocking the wind out of his vents. Megatron went down on his knees, one servo covering his exposed spark, out of strength and out of breath, defeated.

Bladestream stood over Megatron, his cooling fans working overtime to cool his frame. His fuel pump was racing, coolant drenched his frame like sweat on his old human skin. His intakes heaved as the adrenaline began to run thin. He lowered his swords, knowing that Megatron was spent and was no longer a threat.

He felt eyes watching him. He turned to find the Autobots looking on him in shock. Since when had they gotten here? He thought. Many of the Autobots had their mouths hanging open.

"You … have … done well, … mechling …" Megatron panted. Bladestream turned to face him as Megatron rose onto shaky stabilizers.

"Few have ever been so lucky as to defeat me. Trust me when I say, it will not happen again."

"My victory was a matter of skill, not luck." Bladestream said.

Megatron laughed. "You honestly think that you have the skills to defeat a gladiator from the Pits of Kaon? I admit, this time, you have caught me off guard. The next time we meet, it will not be me on my knees. Unless you decide to return to the fold …" he said in a hinting tone.

Bladestream bristled. "We will not return to something we were never apart of in the first place."

"Very well. Just remember, you and your brethren belong to me."

Before Bladestream could retort, Megatron transformed and flew off. Bladestream's energon boiled.

He briefly considered going after Megatron to teach him a lesson when he remembered Wing Saber and he turned to find a strange red and white bot poking around in her shoulder.

Wing Saber's optics occasionally flicked between glowing ice blue and the deep sapphire blue that was their normal color. She winced and whimpered as the mech dug at her wound, cursing under his breath.

Bladestream's guardian protocols were still running full blast and his processors didn't recognize the mech as a medic, but as another bot trying to harm his sister.

He was about to tear him off when a black mech taller than him got in his way and grabbed his shoulders. Bladestream tried to shove the black mech away, but the mech was prepared. The mech let go of him for a nanoklik and let Bladestream's momentum knock him off balance before getting behind him and grabbing Bladestream's upper arms. The mech then kicked the cables behind his knees, causing Bladestream's stabilizers to give out. The black mech put his weight over Bladestream, preventing him from rising.

"Cool yourself, youngling! Ratchet's a medic. He's trying ta make sure she doesn't leak all over the desert." The black mech said. "Just let 'im do his job. He tryin' ta save her life!"

Those words managed to break through the programming and Bladestream relaxed. He watched as Ratchet tried to patch his sister's still bleeding energon lines.

"Optimus, get over here! She needs energon now and I can't have her slipping into stasis in this state! You'll have to donate!"

A red and blue mech that looked like Optimus Prime came over and knelt in front over Wing Saber, Stardust and Wind Dancer scrambling out of his way.

"Take the fuel line from your hip and connect it to the port in her own. Keep the flow of energon slow. I don't need her overcharged on top of all this.

"And keep her online as long as you can. I can't have her slipping into stasis."

"Understood." he replied. He did as Ratchet asked, then took Wing Saber's helm into his servos and stroked her hair, keeping it out of Ratchet's way. The movement caused Wing Saber to open her optics and gaze onto Optimus's.

"Optimus, pinch this line, I need to seal it."

The red and blue mech complied and Wing Saber stared at his chestplates. Even when Optimus went back to talking to her, all she did was stare at his chestplates. Bladestream could feel her fascination with his spark, but could not tell why.

Wing Saber was growing weaker. Even with the new supply of energon, she lacked the strength to stay online much longer. Her optics were dimming and making Bladestream anxious.

Fortunately, Ratchet finished patching Wing Saber's shoulder and transformed his servo into a needle and syringe. He injected its contents into one of the cables in her neck and she slipped into stasis with a sigh.

"Alright, I need to get her back to base. She is dangerously low on energy. I need to get some energon in her systems before I operate on that shoulder joint. Fragging glitch nearly severed it."

"Ratchet, we have younglings present. Please refrain from using foul language in their presence." Optimus scolded.

Ratchet looked between Wind Dancer and Jetstorm then rubbed his faceplates. "Right. My apologies."

"It's alright, Ratchet." He put a digit to his audio. "Prowl, send us a bridge."

A bright blue and green spiral portal opened up. Optimus gently lifted Wing Saber into his arms and followed Ratchet through the portal. The black mech let go of Bladestream and walked off. Bladestream picked up the swords that had fallen from his grasp and stowed them away. He looked at the swirling portal. Several Autobots went through it. His siblings looked at him. He set his shoulders back and followed the other Autobots through as the black mech waited for everyone to enter.

The siblings, however, had never gone through a ground bridge before and were unaccustomed to the effects. When Bladestream exited the portal, he doubled over with dizziness and nausea. His siblings fared no better and Wind Dancer looked a little pale.

"You'll get used to the effects," the black mech chuckled. "Most bots purge their tanks for the first few times."

Bladestream watched as Optimus turned a corner. He and his siblings followed with Jazz and the black mech close behind.

Optimus walked through a set of double doors. Bladestream walked through as well. He watched as Optimus laid Wing Saber down on a large metal slab near the left wall filled with cabinets. Ratchet had Optimus roll her onto her right side and he began to hook up different machines to her arms and neck. He glanced up at his visitors. Without stopping what he was doing, he told them to have a set on the berths along the opposite wall.

Once seated, Wind Dancer began to put her hair in a spiral bun.

Bladestream was now feeling the drain on his systems from the battle. He was noticeably tired. And hungry. He wondered if he should ask for energon.

Ratchet spoke, drawing Bladestream from his thoughts. "Other than severe energy depletion, energon loss, and minor cuts, Wing Saber will be fine. Her shoulder joint, however, is another story. She won't lose it, but it will take time and physical therapy to heal properly. Her wing hinges have been strained, so she won't be flying for some time. She will be in stasis for a couple solar cycles or so until her strength returns. She will have to recover some of that strength before I can operate on her shoulder."

Wind Dancer breathed a sigh of relief. She was going to be okay.

"In the meantime, I will see to your injuries. Starting with you." He said, gesturing to Bladestream.

Bladestream, however, was not prepared for the sharp pain in his helm the moment he sat down on the berth Ratchet gestured him to sit on.

"OW!" he cried, servos flying put to hold the hurt place

He heard laughter and looked to see Jazz and the black mech laughing.

"Ain't been here more than a few kliks an' you've already gotten Hatchet's wrench." The black mech said, finding Bladestream's plight hilarious.

Ratchet visibly bristled. "Can it, Ironhide, or you're next!" he said, waving the wrench he had just wacked Bladestream with.

"What was that for?" Bladestream asked, holding his helm in his servos.

"That is for taking Megatron on by yourself. Do you understand how foolish that was?! He could have sent you to the Well!"

Bladestream glared at Ratchet. "I would not have fought him if I didn't believe I couldn't effectively protect my family. I have the power to take him out, but that's not the point. I needed to neutralize a threat to my family and I did just that. Wing Saber would have thrown a fit and a half if I had killed him."

"Why would she not want ol' Buckethead off-lined?" Ironhide asked.

"Ask her. It's a bit complicated." Bladestream answered.

"Only a few scratches and low on fuel. Jazz, fetch me a case of energon."

Jazz hopped off the medberth. "Before ah go, Ratch, ah need ta give this ta ya. It was givin' ta meh by the medic that was treatin' them. Said ta give it ta ya."

Ratchet took the datapad and set it on a nearby counter. "I'll look at it later. I want to make sure that they are healthy."

"Ratchet," Jetstorm said as Jazz left the medbay, "Wind Dancer and I can't have regular energon."

"I know that, youngling, and given the fact that your sister's feeding lines were active, I can guess she was acting in place of your creators. Having her feeding protocols online so soon after maturing and be suckling her sibling no less, is not healthy for any of you. It's alright in an emergency situation, but it needs to end. I will need to find you two surrogate creator."

"Prime, Chromia and ah would be willing ta take 'em in." Ironhide said.

"Are you sure, Ironhide? It will not be the same as raising Bumblebee."

"Ah know that, Prime, but Chromia will kill me if ah didn't at least offer. It will stop her from nagging me ta kindle a sparkling with her. She hasn't stopped asking since Bee was weaned." Ironhide said, crossing his arms.

Optimus looked to Ratchet for his input. "Ratchet…?"

Ratchet looked at him. "Because they have already raised Bumblebee, their feeding protocols should online in the presence of hungry younglings … after I turn their sister's protocols off. As long as hers are online, even in stasis, it won't work."

"I'll ask Chromia ta come here." He said.

Bladestream's spark was poked by Stardust. : Wing Saber would love to see Bumblebee! We should ask where he is and see if they can meet. :

Bladestream looked at her and opened all bonds with his siblings. : They don't know we know about the Transformers. We can't let on that we know without knowing the repricutions. As far as they know, we just met them. For now, Bumblebee is a stranger. :

Ratchet waved at Bladestream. "You're done. Next?"

None of the others made a move. After a nanoklik, Stardust shrugged. "Guess I'll go."

She took Bladestream's place on the medberth.

"Ironhide," Wind Dancer asked, "who is Bumblebee?"

"He is a Praxian me 'n my sparkmate raised after Megatron bombed the youth sectors."

Ironhide had four sets of confused optics staring at him. Frag it, he thought. He forgot these guys were newsparks. They probably didn't know about the youth sectors or the difference between Praxian and Polyhexian.

Fortunately, Optimus picked up on their confusion before he did and, thank Primus, decided to do the explaining.

"Bumblebee is among the last generation of Cybertronians to emerge from the Well of Allsparks before it went dark. This generation was born well into the war and was taken into various youth sectors within neutral territories. The youth sectors were both orphanages and education centers combined, set during the Cybertron's Golden Age for Well-born sparklings.

"One orn, Megatron decided to attack the neutral youth sectors, terminating all sparklings and younglings before they had a chance to grow up and become his enemies. He also sought to terminate all femmes."

Ratchet interrupted, "In every culture on this planet, femmes are considered blessed by Primus himself, due to the fact they can reproduce almost as fast as petro-rabbits. They are extremely rare. For every hundred thousand mechs, only one femme is born. The gestation period of a sparkling in a femme is a third of the gestation period in a mech, making femmes effective breeders."

"To stop the Autobots from breeding more soldiers, he began to terminate all femmes, starting with neutrals, then terminating Autobot femmes as well.

"When Megatron bombed the Praxian youth sectors, we believed there were no survivors. However, Ironhide found Bumblebee, whom had yet to receive his youngling upgrades, under some rubble, safe in the arms of his offlined caretaker."

Ironhide smiled fondly. "Little runt's doorwings were almost as big as he was; not to mention he was so covered in dust ya couldn't tell what color he was."

Jazz chuckled. "Bee had such a death grip on 'Hide that Ratchet had ta examine 'im attached ta Hide's chestplates!"

Ironhide glared at Jazz.

"Praxians are the descendants of grounder/Seeker hybrids. They are grounders with doorwings." Ratchet said. "Praxian society revolves around traditions, though not near as much as Seekers. Many of the traditions that involve courting and raising creations come are similar to Seeker traditions."

"Ironhide oversaw much of Bumblebee's training as he matured," said Optimus, "Bumblebee is now a scout and works under Jazz."

"Bumblebee will be thrilled when he finds out that he's no longer the youngest bot." Ironhide said, turning to Optimus.

"I'm sure he will, Ironhide." said Optimus, smiling a little.

Ratchet dismissed Stardust and addressed Jazz, "Jazz, did you get that case of energon?"

"Righ' 'ere!" said Jazz, leaping off the box he had been sitting on.

Ratchet typed in a code on the side of the box and the lid retracted. Ratchet took out three bright blue cubes and brought them to the same counter where he had placed the datapad. He opened a cabinet to his right and took out several small bottles and placed them on the counter. He then opened a drawer below it and took out what looked like measuring spoons. He turned to his left and opened another cabinet and grabbed a bowl out of that one. He proceeded to put the various items in the bottles in measured amounts into the bowl. He then mixed its contents. He opened the cubes, added some of the bowl's contents to the cubes and brought two cubes to Bladestream, and one to Stardust.

"These cubes have additives specifically for Seekers. Your frame type will require 2 – 3 cubes each time you refuel, while your sisters will only need one."

"Wing Saber can't consume an entire cube in one sitting," Bladestream said, "She will only drink half at most." He started to take a sip of the energon.

Ratchet frowned at Bladestream. "She should be drinking more."

"If she does drink anymore, she will need to recharge a couple joor. She will usually consume a cube over the course of several joor. Too much at once and she will recharge." He took a sip of the energon. The energon tasted a little powdery compared to the river back in the desert, but his servos stopped shaking after he drained the cube half-way.

Ratchet pointed to Jetstorm. "You, on the berth."

As Jetstorm sat down on the berth, a small femme who came up to Ratchet's shoulder in height entered the medbay, her faceplates bearing a troubled look. She was a pretty deep blue with chrome grey highlights and black protoform. Her frame was identical to Arcee from the Transformers Prime TV shows the siblings used to watch back on Earth.

"What's wrong, Hide?" she asked and then saw the siblings.

"Nothing, Chromia, just thought you and I could take in a couple o' younglings." Ironhide said.

Chromia looked about the medbay before her optics fell onto Wing Saber.

"What happened to her?" she asked.

"Clash with Megatron," Ratchet said, running his scanners over Jetstorm's frame. "Slagger nearly severed arm to the shoulder joint. She has suffered from severe energy depletion. She will need to recover from it before I can operate on the shoulder. She is in stasis at the moment. She is the eldest of this lot."

"All of them are siblings." Optimus said.

Chromia's optics got huge as her faceplates lit up. "Who are the younglings?"

"Win' Dancah an' Jetstorm," Jazz said, pointing to each one. "Bladestream's da second oldest wit Stardust in da middle. Then its Jetstorm an' Win' Dancah."

"You'll be needing an upgrade soon," Ratchet said to Jetstorm, "Your protoform will soon experience a grow spurt. You will likely reach your brother's height, if not taller. Be prepared to be called a femme until your frame gets some bulk. You're done."

Jetstorm ignored Ratchet's last comment and grinned as he went over to his brother. "See, Bladestream? I will be taller than you!" he said, pouncing of his pedes, winds fluttering.

"No, he said you "might" be taller." Bladestream corrected.

"He said likely! That means I will!"

Bladestream smirked, putting his servo on Jetstorm's helm and shoved the youngling away from himself. Jetstorm giggled and shoved Bladestream. Bladestream chuckled and the two started shoving each other around.

Ratchet stopped examining Wind Dancer and threw a couple of wrenches at the two, hitting them both in the helms, effectively breaking up the wrestling match. "NOT IN MY MEDBAY!" Ratchet shouted.

Jetstorm gave Ratchet an ugly look.

Ironhide still thought that Bladestream getting wrenched was funny.

"Come on, mechlings. I'll show ya the training room. Ya can spare till yer sparks' content." He said, putting a servo on Bladestream's shoulder.

"They'd better not come back with dents!" Ratchet shouted after them as they left.


"I'll be in Prowl's office, Ratchet. Comm me if you need me." Optimus said, leaving the medbay.

Ratchet muttered and affirmative before moving behind Wind Dancer to check the sensers in her wings.

Wind Dancer tried hard to keep her wings still as Ratchet moved his large servos over the expanse of her wings.

Ratchet hummed in approval. "Nothing oversensitive, wings in correct proportion to your frame size. Whoever had been massaging your wings has done a thorough job with them. Your brother's wings are also in good condition." He said, patting her shoulder. "Sorry, I don't have any energon goodies. It's been a long time since I had younglings in my medbay."

"It's okay." Said Wind Dancer.

"Now, I will need to offline your sister's feeding protocols so that Chromia and Ironhide can suckle you instead. Wing Saber should not be suckling anyone so soon after coming of age." Ratchet grumbled.

Wind Dancer looked at Wing Saber still lying on the medberth. It bothered her to see her sister so hurt.

Her wings picked up Chromia coming up behind her and the femme placed a servo on her shoulder.

"Come on, let's go find your brothers." said Chromia, coaxing the young femmes to leave the medbay.

Wind Dancer wasn't ready to leave just yet. "Ratchet?" she asked.

Ratchet looked up from Wing Saber's side.

"Is she going to be okay?"

Ratchet's optics softened and he nodded. "She will be fine. She just needs energon and rest to recover her strength. I will repair her once she can handle it."

Wind Dancer nodded and followed Chromia and Stardust out.


Ratchet sighed as silence fell over then medbay. He turned to the Seeker femme lying on the medberth. She came dangerously close to entering stasis lock. Fortunately, he was able to get enough energon into her systems to stave it off long enough to close her wounds. He would still keep her under, for now.

He transformed his right servo into a torch and tuned it almost to its lowest setting and held the torch close to the seam of the femme's chestplates and dragged the torch down the seam. Her chestplates parted from the stimulation. Ratchet looked for a small medical port beneath her spark chamber. Finding it, he uncoiled a cable hidden in his wrist and plugged it into the port. Wing Saber's stats filled his vision as he searched for the right code to offline her feeding protocols. It would help her frame recover if it wasn't making youngling energon. Finding the code, he forced it offline. Her frame would now absorb the energon already in her feeding pouches and use the energon where it was needed most.

Ratchet went to his cabinets and mixed up more additives and repair nanites. He then opened a drawer and took out a large syringe and filled it with the additives and nanites and injected them into the energon drip near the berth that was feeding energon into the major fuel line in her right arm.

Ratchet stood up and looked at his patient. Her frame was filthy and energon stained. Tomorrow, he'd clean her up. Tonight, he had reports to file … … and a datapad to read. The contents of that datapad would probably make his existence a whole lot easier.

He walked over to the counter, picked up the datapad, and went into his office in the back of the medbay.


Well, that's that. One more chapter left.