Chapter 82
-0-Prowl
He stood in the hangar doorway, the moon overhead a sliver of bright light hanging in the sky. He'd been there several times finding nothing of import about it beyond a routing array of sensors, communications relays and a mineral they needed to make a flexible metal that was useful in creating medical replacement parts in Aerialbot's comm and sensor systems.
The moon had nothing for him. The tiny blinking red light nearby it did, greatly. Mars had his spark, his world, his partner and bond. Optimus was there and he wished to be the same even as he loathed going. All the suffering that symbolized their entire life was gathering there, chaff blown in the winds of war falling into their hands and safety at last.
He looked back into the building at the sound of footfalls, noticing Bluestreak walking toward him.
Stepping up behind him, Blue slipped his arms around Prowl, then lay his head on Prowl's shoulder.
Prowl's folded his wings to lie flat on his back for his Blue's embrace. Prowl squeezed Bluestreak's servo, swaying gently as they stood together.
"You're upset," Bluestreak said.
"I will be fine," Prowl lied.
"You can tell me," Bluestreak said.
"I could tell you many things," Prowl said. "I could tell you that you're my greatest treasure, that I'm proud of you and that I love you dearly."
"You just did," Bluestreak said with a chuckle.
"I did, didn't I," Prowl said with a slight grin.
"Our people are coming to us, to Optimus," Bluestreak said quietly.
"They are," Prowl said as he pulled Bluestreak's arms tighter around his waist.
"That bothers you?" Bluestreak asked quietly.
"Not that," Prowl said looking up at the sky, at the red star beyond the moon winking at him as it twinkled.
"The idea of it," Bluestreak said. "The idea of it?"
Prowl mused upon it for a moment, then nodded slightly. "Yes, maybe ... I think so," Prowl said quietly.
As they stood together, a camera snapped pictures and video rolled. It continued when Bluestreak stepped around his genitor and hugged him around the neck, the two holding each other for a while. It continued as Bluestreak said goodnight then walked to his quarters to recharge. And it continued until Prowl walked back inside himself.
-0-Ops Center, Autobot City, Mars
The older mech and several others told the same story. They'd been neutrals living in a colony on a planet on the flight path from Cybertron to Junk. They'd worked hard not only to establish themselves but to not take sides, preferring to keep the war and its destruction away.
When they were noticed they agreed to make munitions for the Decepticons in exchange for being unmolested otherwise. It worked for a time but Megatron could not maintain even the most trivial alliances without causing destruction and disaster to eventually undo them. They were enslaved, overworked, undernourished and abused. They were given greater and greater quotas to fill that became impossible. As the productivity fell, the abuse rose.
During an especially grueling orn, their guards had over energized and fallen into a stuperous recharge. The four oldest surviving mechs, these mechs telling the tale had gathered the fifty remaining members of the colony and slipped away on a stolen shuttle. It was a desperate measure and they barely stayed ahead of the Decepticons, sharing out their meager rations as they flew constantly. They were nearly at the end when a chance encounter with three Aerialbots, all on their way to a call issued by the Prime saved them from capture.
They flew onward, barely energized enough to continue, the Aerialbots taking turns carrying the greater number of mechs and femmes as the rest flew alongside to fight and scan. It was a miracle that they made it. It was a miracle that they survived. The Aerialbots were on their last legs when they arrived, facilitating a number of the more able and physically well mechs to step outside of the ships and make the final part of the journey in their transitional forms.
The senior Autobots listened, gleaning from the survivors as much information as they could and when they were finished telling the tale they were led back to their new temporary homes to rest.
"Jazz, I want the sensors monitored day and night with the idea that there are Decepticon interceptors following. I want more sensors in the Oort Field and I want the Aerialbots and Cosmos to make regular recon flights around the solar system with an emphasis on the solar well beyond. I do not want anyone coming up our tail pipes by surprise."
Jazz nodded as he glanced at Wheeljack and Perceptor. "That deep space sensor array that you want to mount in the clouds of Venus and Jupiter, we need to talk."
Both mechs nodded.
"I want a survey of the refugees' skills and training. I want it put into the skills database. We are going to be building housing sooner rather than later and I want to know if we have skills in this group that can be utilized. Also, our new arrivals when they recover will need to work at something and we could use extra hands building the city," Prime said.
Jazz nodded as he glanced at Mirage. "We can interview them as soon as you sign off, Ratchet."
Ratchet nodded.
"What is their physical status, Ratchet?" Prime asked.
"Well, very poor at the moment. All of the adults bear the scars of beatings and I think some of them were used for sport, either in shooting contests or gladiatorial events. Even the younglings and one of the sparklings show signs of systematic abuse."
The room was silent a moment.
Ironhide shifted with surprised rage as a soft growl issued unbidden from him. He turned around to look at Prime. "How do you abuse sparklings?" he asked, as coolant misted in his optics. "Younglings … sparklings … how do you hurt them?"
No one answered.
Ratchet took Ironhide's servo into his own, squeezing it gently.
Ironhide looked at Prime. "What are we going to do with the orphans? We have eight orphan mechs and one femme. They need guardians who will act as their genitors. What will we do, Prime?"
Prime considered that as the three little mechs passed through his processor. "We have them here and we will take care of them. I want to know more about them and if they have anyone before we allow them to be adopted or taken under guardianship."
Ironhide nodded. "We have a duty to them to see that they grow up better. I don't know what they must feel like after the life they've had but the sparklings … they don't make a sound."
No one spoke. It was silent on the command deck.
-0-Prowl
He waited for the link to connect, then Optimus's face was on the screen. He smiled at the sight, relaxing once more. "Hello."
"Hello," Optimus said, relaxing himself at the sight of Prowl.
"How is it? Are you all right?" Prowl asked with tension infusing his words.
"No one is going to the Matrix. Ratchet is a miracle worker."
Prowl nearly sagged with relief.
"What's wrong, Prowl? I have felt something sorrowful from you since the refugees showed up."
Prowl looked down and shook his head. "It's nothing, really."
Prime looked at Prowl with a frown. "You know better than that."
Prowl looked up. "What about the younglings, Optimus? What are we going to do with the little ones?"
Prime looked at Prowl. "Come here to Mars. I need you here."
Prowl looked around at the quiet command deck, half of the positions automatically manned. "I have to stay here. Who will run the Center?"
"Switch functions to here," Prime said soothingly. "I want you here. I'm sending Cosmos. Be ready."
Prowl opened his mouth to say something, then nodded. "All right," he said softly. "I'll be waiting."
Prime nodded, too, his expression soft with love for Prowl. "I'll be waiting for you here."
-0-On the tarmac
He stood by a jet, a real jet, leaning against its hard contoured side. A light in the sky signaled the arrival shortly of Cosmos. Prime had noticed what he had kept hidden and now he wanted Prowl to come. He wondered if he could talk about it, this long hidden torment. He never talked about it unless he was pressed to the wall and he was sure that Prime would be relentless.
The form of Cosmos began to materialize and when he set down with his side door opening, Prowl walked forward to climb aboard. Without a sound, Cosmos rose up and with a swiftness nothing else on Earth could produce was gone from the sight of man in nanokliks.
-0-Arrival
Prowl stepped off Cosmos, the big shuttle moving to park in the midst of the Aerialbots, five now huddled together talking on internal comm lines. As he walked forward, he saw Prime's outline in the darkness. Prowl walked into his arms as Prime reciprocated, holding Prowl in a tight embrace.
-0-Ironhide and Ratchet
They lay together on a cot in the back of the Med Bay, one designed for overnight stays by medical personnel. Ratchet lay in Ironhide's arms, tracing a circular pattern in the armor of the big brooding mech. "You should say what you feel, Ironhide. It makes it easier."
"I was thinking of our sparkling and how I'd feel if someone hurt it."
It was silent a moment.
Ratchet nodded silently.
"I'm going to find out the name of the mech who hurt that sparkling and then I'm going to kill him if we ever cross paths. I will do it with my bare hands."
Ratchet nodded again, the haunted eyes of the sparkling, a tiny undernourished infant named Rain passing through his processor before he repressed the memory with effort. "I'll help you, Ironhide," Ratchet said softly.
-0-Nearby
They drove to a nearby bluff, transforming to sit on a rocky outcropping. Prowl leaned against Prime, watching one of the two moons of Mars begin its traverse across the darkening sky.
"Will you tell me about it?" Prime asked as he slipped his arm around Prowl to pull him closer.
"It's hard," Prowl said "Its hard to think about it."
"I know but it will help you."
Prowl was silent a moment, then haltingly he began to tell Prime about Praxus, about the effort to find someone, anyone alive. Then he told him the tale of his son, the only known survivor of the Seeker annihilation, Bluestreak.