I have returned from the West! It was AMAZING! I loved it! I would love to go cave exploring and be a ranger. We saw 13 bears at Yellowstone! Two grizzlies and at least five of the black bears were cubs! Eleven black bears! So many buffalos and only a few elk. We saw ram horn sheep and caused as backup line. It was wonderful!
Continuing, we have Aqua's start of her new life! And I really want a blizzard right now but I have to type!
Ch. 18: Aqua's Past
The shot echoed throughout the room, leaving the girls once again stunned at the loss of their sweet hearted sister. Kinetix looked over at Beta forlornly before she spoke up.
"What did she do?" Kinetix asked. It shocked her that Aqua had died next. She had expected FireRose or at least herself to have died before Aqua.
"She died protecting you girls just like Radioactive. Her pain did not last long." Beta said softly as Aqua's body disappeared.
The room turned a blinding white before a tsunami of a wave engulfed the femmes. The femmes fought to stay afloat and not be dragged down into the swirling waves.
"This is just cliché. Not funny Primus! Very sick humor right here!" Radio commented as she sputtered out water.
"Water? Really? Aquamarine's change makes some sense but yours Radio, was a fragging puzzle!" Rose ranted as she was dunked under by the riptide. She thrashed her arms and gasped for air when she resurfaced.
"So you're gonna burst into flaming rose petals?" Nightblade jinxed from her position in the swirl of waves.
"Sweet! KYA!" FireRose commented before they were forced onto dry land. The girls were left sputtering and hacking up sea water as they slowly regrouped on a beach.
Bombs and cannon fire filled the area as the charges flew right through the girls. They stood up in awe of the mass chaos that was forming around them.
"That feels funny." Radio giggled as a cannon blast went through her.
"See that blue femme with red waves on her arms? That is RainFire." Beta pointed out.
The nimble femme was dipping, weaving, and dodging the bullets before firing expertly at the unseen enemy. A new mech came up from behind her but instead of attacking her, he fought with her.
"The mech is Thundershift, her sparkmate. Ultra Magnus is on the other side of the field holding back as many Decepticons as he and Sentinel can. He told them to run and find their youngling before it was too late. It is this time in the war that younglings and femmes are being killed by the Decepticons." Beta explained. Her optics dimmed in sadness and unknown to the girls, she was reliving her past as a warrior in the beginning of the war.
Thundershift was a black and green mech of lean features. The girls could tell he had more of a Cliffjumper built which went along with his sparkmate's slim, small built. The girls could tell this was behind Aqua's small frame design, though why the other girls were smaller frames when their creators were of regular sizes was a cause of confusion to come with the girls.
Thundershift was quick to dodge bullets with his mate in perfect sync. The two scouts rushed towards a destroyed building a ways away from the battle.
"Aqua, sweetspark, come out. It's time to go!" Thundershift called over the sounds of the battle. His blue optics scanned over his small aqua blue femmeling checking for injuries and memorizing her as if he would never see her again. The youngling crawled out of a pile of rubble with only a bit of dirt and grime on her frame.
"Opi!" She squealed as she rushed into Thundershift's arms. Bombs bursting around them causing the femmeling to cry out and hide her face in her opiluk's neckwires.
"Shh. Sweetspark. We're getting ya out of here." RainFire cooed as she gently brushed her servo against Aqua's helm in a loving caress.
'Oh, Aqua is so cute. This means something bad is gonna happen doesn't it?' Radio said gravely as they watched the trio rush through the destroyed harbor city to where the girls could only guess was a waiting ship.
A flash of light glinted near the trio that was caught by Rain's key optics which widen in fear.
"BOMB!" She cried moving to block the last from hitting Thunder and Aqua.
Aqua screamed as her bond with her danni was ripped from her first followed by her opi. The bomb was big and the shrapnel from it impaled both bots as they used their bodies to shield Aqua from any damage. Aqua had only a few dents, scratches, and her armor caked in muck.
"Run Aqua. Get to the ship." Thundershift shuddered out before his optics offlined and his spark joined the Matrix with RainFire's.
"NO! OPI! DANNI! COME BACK!" She screamed as she tried to shake her opi awake. Magnus almost rushed past the fallen group had it not been for Aqua's pleas for her creators to awaken. Quickly, he scooped Aqua up under one arm as the other fired his plasma rifle behind him as he ran in the direction the trio had been running.
"NO! NO! NO! LET ME GO! I WANT MY OPI N' DANNI!" Aqua shouted as they ran across the battle ground towards a grey blue ship. She continued to fight Magnus as they boarded the ship and blasted out of the range of fire.
Magnus sat her on her pedes on one of the boxes in the back of the ship and bent down to be optics level with the small youngling. He was slightly amazed that she was smaller than his own Radio.
"Femmeling, you need to calm down before you overheat. You are safe now. Your creators wanted you to come with me because they knew you would be safe with me. Would they want you to be like this?" Magnus asked doing what he usually did when attempting to calm down Radio. Give the facts, speak to her calmly and direct, do not treat her like a sparkling, and be gentle and firm. She gave a sob and then a sniffle before she looked up with watery optics at the kind mech.
"No. What I gonna do now?" She sobbed. She had never been away from her creators for very long or at least she always had one or the other with her while the other was gone. Now, she was alone and her spark to ache a great pain.
"You will come with me to a place where you will be safe and well cared for. You will train and as I promised your creators, it will be some of the best training available." Magnus replied with a solid promise backing his words.
"Where?" Aqua asked as she rubbed her optics to dry her tears. Magnus smiled softly down at her.
"Somewhere safe. Your designation is Aquamarine, correct?" Magnus asked as he turned off the autopilot and began to pilot the ship himself.
"Yes sir." Aqua answered as she took a seat next to him and cuddled into the seat for the long ride to Kaon. Suddenly, Magnus remembered the strange movie Radio had found from a planet far, far away, he just needed to tweak the wording a bit.
"Your quest is to become one of the greatest Autobot scouts, correct?" Magnus continued.
"Yes sir." She answered with a confused tone that caused Magnus to smile.
"This last question is very important. Are you prepared to answer?" He asked smirking to himself when her too big for her faceplates optics went wide.
"y-Yes." She said in a quivering tone. She had never been asked a very important question before.
"What-he paused for dramatic effect- is your favorite color?" He asked in all seriousness. The femmes broke into giggles at the Monty Python reference.
'Who-who-hahha who knew he had it in him?' Shadow cackled as she held her sides.
"Blue." Aqua answered honestly but still confused.
"You have passed the test." He said lightly. Aqua's optic ridge went up in the girls' famous 'da frag' look before she broke out into a fit of laughter.
"Silly mech! Hahahhah!" She giggled uncontrollably as he too, began to laugh.
"We will be at my secret base by next lunar cycle. That is where your training is going to take place. I have another femmeling 'bout your age there. She would love to have a friend." He said after he got over his own fit of laughter.
"A friend? I never had a friend before. Too young. Danni said I go to academy and make lots of friends." Aqua commented letting Magnus know a bit of her life.
"She's never had a friend before either." He added. "She would be more than happy to help you get all this muck off you and give you a tour of our base."
"Okay Ultra Magnus sir." Aqua said with a yawn. After awhile, she slipped quietly into a light recharge.
'What were her sparkling years like?" FireRose asked remembering seeing practically every moment of Radio's life.
'She had a homely life. Her creators were some of the best scouts and best parents. She was raised with love and she was an opi's femme. This was her first battle and a major moment in her life. We are showing you girls key moments in your new past that has a direct impact on what questions you may be asked.' Beta stated and was about to continue when Kinetix's scream cut her off.
'RADIO! You're fading!' Kinetix exclaimed.
'What!' Radio gasped looking down at herself. FireRose walked up to her and moved her servo through the center of Radio's body causing it to move through as if Radio was a ghost. 'Hey! Rosie!' Radio shouted covering her body with her arms. It felt so weird.
'She is half here with us and half in the memory. You each will go through it the more you come into contact with the memory stream.' Beta explained.
'Cool.' Swift commented.
'I want to be a ghost femme.' Shadow joked with a chuckle that made the girls wonder if she was really joking or not.
'Hey! Something's happening!' FireRose pointed out as Sentinel, Magnus, and Aqua walked down a dirt and rock made tunnel that could fit a whole ship in.
Sounds of 'hahs!' and 'kyas!' could be heard as they approached an entrance to a large cavern that was used as the main training room of the underground base. A small, but taller than Aqua, femmeling was practicing in the middle of the training mat. The moves were a bit off but they were done in determination and with an attempt at gracefulness.
Radio, the one with the girls, pointed excitedly at the sight of her younger form and her mouth moved but no sound came out, leaving her and the rest of the gang confused.
'What is wrong with her Beta?' FireRose demanded, worried for her friend.
'Her voice is in the memory and cannot be here with us at the same time. She can only watch.' Beta informed before the group turned back while a few snickered at the now miffed Radio.
"MAGNUS! You're back!" Little Radio squealed as she bolted towards Magnus and glomped the big mech in a big hug making him laugh.
"How did everything go while we were gone?" He asked holding her up in the air.
"Decepticons enforcing work on rebuilding destroyed sections of their base. I sent the report to Iacon base; just like you told me to do." Radio reported with a cheer.
"Great job sweetspark! We have a bigger job for you now." Magnus said causing her optics to brighten at the prospect of gaining a bigger job. Magnus directed her gaze to the small muck covered femmeling at their pedes before he spoke. "This is Aquamarine. She is living and training with us as of now." He informed. He bit back a smirk at the affronted look that crossed Radio's face as she turned her ire onto Sentinel.
"SENTINEL! Did you throw her in the med? For shame Sentinel." Radio growled. Her accusation stemming from past experience in dealing with Sentinel. "Hello!" Radio chirped turning her attention to the new femme as she jumped down from Magnus's arms. "I'm Radioactive. Wrecker Radioactive at your service. You can call me Radio." She did a twirl and a bow ignoring Sentinel's death glares.
"Hi….I-I'm Aquama-rine. I'm gonna be a scout." Aqua introduced herself shyly.
"Neat! I don't know what I wanna be but a scout sounds awesome. Um you don't have to be but um are you going to be my friend?" Radio asked timidly as her nerves caused her to blush. For all her courage, she was scared of new people. They were unknown factors that could affect her negatively or positively. She prayed that this was going to be positive not negative.
"Friends? Really? I would like that." Aqua agreed giving Radio a sweet smile that Radio mirrored.
"I'm gonna call ya Aqua, K?" Radio said taking Aqua's servo and dragging her away from the mechs.
"Where are we going?" Aqua asked not answering Radio's question as she looked back at the mechs uncertain if this was alright or not.
"To the wash racks silly. We need to get that gunk off you. You're too pretty for dirt." Radio giggled as they ran off.
The memory reel sped by as visions of the girls studying, playing, and messing with Sentinel. The two girls were connected at the hip and more than once Aqua had to drag Radio away from getting into a battle with Sentinel when Magnus was not there to bail her out. Sometimes Radio just jumped too high when you gave her the chance but with Aqua there, her adventures were a bit toned down. That is until they discovered the ventilation shafts and how easy it was to prank Sentinel from up there.
Slowly the visions faded to black as Radio came back to being whole. To which she promptly smacked the back of Shadow and FireRose's helms.
"OWIE!" "YEOCH!" They cried out as they gripped their helms.
"What was that for?" Shadow moaned as FireRose glowered at Radio.
"For teasing me. Now let's find Aqua." Radio said nonchalantly. The group began to search for their missing scout.
"Over there! I see a pool with…AQUA!" Swift shouted as she broke into a sprint with Kinetix and Radio at her heels.
They pulled Aqua's partially submerged body out of the water. She sputtered out water as the girls gathered together. Her bright blue optics gazed up at her friends from her spot on the ground and she gave them a relieved smile along with a tired chuckle.
"Thanks for the memories Radio." Aqua said before falling into a fit of giggles with Shadow and Swift as the others shook their heads fondly as a few chuckled.
"Who is next Beta?" Swiftwing asked turning their attention back to their hostess.
"The Seekers." She answered causing the two flyers to look at each other nervously.
"Joy." Shadow grumbled with a slouch as Swiftwing gave an exasperated sigh.
"let's get this over with." Swift huffed with an irritated twitch of her wings.
Sorry for such a short one. I am trying to give the girls' their spotlight.
COMING UP NEXT ON OPERATION: FEMME FATALE: SHADOW'S AND SWIFTWING'S PAST IN ONE! WHO WILL BE AFTER THEM AND WHAT LIES IN STORE FOR OUR FAVORITE SEEKERS? TUNE IN NEXT TIME!
-Wrecker Radioactive