Chasing Rainbows Chapter 4

Chapter Title: What You Need

A/N: And we're back! Hope you all enjoyed last chapter. It was kind of a filler so I apologise for that but the big reveal shall be well revealed, I guess, in this chapter! Yippee! We also get to greet Sir Director douchebag Galloway this chapter too. I've got plans for that guy. I'm not his biggest fan in case you haven't noticed so expect him to be a total pain in the arse for Miya and the Autobots. So yeah I want to share my hatred with you guys. Aren't you lucky?!

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-HeroesandVillians: thanks for the feedback my friend! Means a lot!

Key

"Speaking"

"Cybertronian"

Thoughts

.:Com link:.

"Bond communication."

CHASING RAINBOWS…

Miya had been returned to Ratchet after her little exploration attempt. Once she had settled back down, she had been pleased to surprise the CMO by finishing all her tasks before dinner had even started being served. The work that took every other candidate just over two days to complete.

The medic had checked and then re-checked the girls work. It was all completed to perfect standards.

Ratchet wasn't a technology expert by any means but he was the best they had. So he was stuck with the task of trying to stop the Decepticon hacker. Which also meant he was in charge of overseeing the human trying to out hack the enemy's communications chief. Oh how he wished Blaster was around. That mech was their Soundwave and could've stopped him without even batting an optic lid.

A secretly impressed Ratchet allowed the girl to grab some food and have another break, with the promise of no exploring of course, whilst he made plans to meet with Optimus and Lennox. They both would be extremely pleased with the progress.

CHASING RAINBOWS…

Miya was happy to admit that she was feeling pretty chuffed with her work. She had finished everything in half of the time everyone had expected. So she thought she should allow herself a bit of pride at that.

Quietly, she made her way inside the wreck room. She had briefly been in the room yesterday when she was talking to Dino, Bee and Shawn, so she thought it would be the best place to go to get some company. Miya's steps were shy as she entered the hanger. Confidence was never something she really had as a trait. So voluntarily going into a place to talk to people she barely knew was kind of scary. But she supposed that would be the same for most people. Especially in a Military base that was at an unknown location.

Dino was sat on the sofa chatting away about an old story from way back when on Cybertron when he paused suddenly. He could sense a new presence in the room. Once he shared a quick look with Sideswipe's holoform next to him, he knew that the front-liner did as well. The pair turned their heads to see the new girl walking in. She gave them an awkward wave and smile before moving her right hand to rub up and down her left arm, as if she were cold. These human's and their strange nervous habits.

"Hey, Miya. Wanna join us?" Sideswipe said in his typically smooth and deep voice.
"Uh, yeah sure. Thanks." She joined them on the couch, taking a seat next to Shawn, which he had politely offered her. "So… What have you two been up to?" she did her best to start a conversation and thankfully, the boys had no trouble taking over and talking at the girl about random stuff they did throughout the day. Shawn's favourite being that he pranked Ratchet's med bay and was still waiting for the medic to return to his haven so the prankster could laugh at his reaction before he ran for dear life from the Hatchet. All in a day's work.

CHASING RAINBOWS…

"Starscream! You worthless, incompetent, pathetic waste of metal! I gave you one simple instruction! Find some of the scattered Decepticons and bring them to me! A mission that I thought not even you could fail. More disappointment it seems." Megatron's voice boomed across the desert, sending even the most notorious of animals running for the hills. The tyrant quickly tightened his grip around the seeker's throat before dropping him to the ground in a choking heap.

Once he had finished with his SIC, Megatron moved onto his most loyal soldier. "Soundwave, report." the communication's chief looked up at his leader. His face was unreadable under the blood red visor and permanent battle mask.
"Decepticons: Located." The monotone voice was music to Megatron's ears.
"Very good, Soundwave. I see it was smart of me to assign you Starscream's task as well. You are an example to the troops." He cast a glare over at the seeker who was hiding under a tree. "Whether they choose to follow that example is another thing entirely. Who have you found?"
"Designations: Barricade, Skywarp, Shockwave, Widow Maker." Starscream perked up the tiniest bit at the news of his trine mate.
"Anything on Thundercracker?" the seeker questioned. Their bond hand been a little strange over the past couple of months. Given the fact that Thundercracker had been MIA since Egypt wasn't a good sign. The trine had a strange relationship, Starscream bitched about them and at them all the time. But he does care for them in some twisted and somewhat reluctant way. He blamed that stupid bond.
"Negative." Soundwave replied simply.

Megatron was pleased to hear about his troops. Barricade was a fine scout who took on any mission without question. Skywarp was simple minded and bonded to Starscream, two negative points. But his teleportation was rather useful, he provided air support. Not to mention he was stupidly loyal, meaning he was worth keeping around. Widow Maker was their newest edition, he hadn't seen much of her back on Cybertron but he had heard many stories and was curious as to whether she was as merciless as others made out. And then there was Shockwave, his chief scientist. As well as one of his most trusted subjects alongside Soundwave. He was ruthless, cold sparked and logical. Together they would have plenty troops to take on the Autobots. When the right opportunity presented itself.

"Soundwave, have the human's rebooted their communication systems yet?" Megatron returned to Soundwave for one final thing.
"Negative: They proceed with caution."
"They must be planning a retaliation. Continue to monitor the airwaves. The Nano click they re-establish their network I want you to perform a cyber-attack and shut them down permanently. This so called N.E.S.T. will learn the true power of the Decepticons."
"Affirmative: Lord Megatron."

CHASING RAINBOWS…

Back at N.E.S.T. Miya was rather enjoying herself. Dino and Shawn were funny and could talk for God knows how long. They were all currently laughing about an old prank the pair, and someone called Jolt, had pulled. In between laughs sideswipe finally got around to asking a question that has been playing on his mind since he first saw the girl. "Hey Miya, I gotta know. What happened to your eye? You look like you and Hyde could be twins." Dino sighed as he wacked the back of the prankster's head at his question. "Ow! What? I was just asking. She doesn't have to answer." Miya gave the pair a small smile.
"It's fine Dino. I was pretty shocked I didn't get any questions when I first arrived." Without realising, the girl ran her hand over the wound which ran down her left eyebrow to the apple of her left cheek. She was sure that the black eye had gone down but feared that the wound would leave a nasty scar. "I'm guessing that you both know that I was locked up for a little bit. Well the people inside weren't the nicest. Not to mention that I'm a weak tech lover. I was the ideal target. I never fought back. So whenever they were bored of taunting me, they hit me instead." The pair of Cybertronians just looked at each other before back to the girl. "I spent six months as a punching bag. I'm surprised they didn't do more damage." She gave an awkward chuckle to finish of her story.

Sideswipe easily felt like the biggest aft in the world. He should've kept his mouth shut like Mirage said. He could see the hurt that flashed across the girl's eyes as she thought back on the memory. "Damn, Miya. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked." The holoform apologised with downcast eyes. She just smiled at him
"No it's okay. Really. If I'm being honest. It's kind of nice to talk about it. That way I know it's in the past." Dino place a supportive hand on the girl's shoulder before moving onto a more uplifting topic.

CHASING RAINBOWS…

"Director Galloway, I understand that it's taking time to get the network fully operational again. But you are the one who told us to put every candidate through tests so they wouldn't risk national security." Lennox said to the liaison who was contradicting himself. "These tests take time. After tomorrow she should be finished and then she can move onto the real objective. Which could take up to a week, but I have a good feeling about this girl. She has a history of coding that beats any of the other people we've had here." Galloway was about to reply with a snarky retort when a knock sounded from the door. "Come in." Lennox called to the visitor.

The door opened to reveal Ratchet's holoform. Politely, the medic nodded at the pair in greeting.

Galloway looked at the man confused. He'd never seen him around the base before. He was blonde with a few grey streaks in his hair; his aged face showed signs of countless years of stress which made it hard to gauge how old he actually was. The unknown man also sported a pair of black, worn combat boots, deep navy jeans, a yellow-green t-shirt which was mostly hidden beneath a black bomber jacket. As Galloway looked a little closer he noticed a badge on the man's right jacket sleeve. It was red with a white cross in the middle, along with the red Autobot symbol which was centred on the badge. And on the other sleeve was the all too familiar N.E.S.T. 'Global Alliance' patch.

Ratchet crossed to room and went straight to Lennox, ignoring the questioning gaze from the director in the room. As a rule, the medic did his best to avoid the liaison at all times. After the whole Egypt fiasco, which was still fresh in all their processors, he would be lying if he said that his opinion of this man was anything close to pleasant.

Colonel Lennox had also noticed Galloway's confusion and decided to defuse the strange tension in the room. "Director, this is the Autobot's medic, Ratchet. He is projecting his holoform around base, the human representation of himself, so he can assist Miss Scofield with her tasks without giving us away. Per your orders… again." The 'again' came out as a last minute addition under his breath, earning him a small smirk from Ratchet and a scowl from Galloway.

Seeing that Galloway was going to speak, Ratchet quickly cut the man off. "Speaking of Miss Scofield. I'm here to tell you that she has finished." That served to shut the liaison up and it even managed to shock the Colonel. "I have yet to speak to Optimus but, I believe telling the girl today would be a good idea. We have to get communications back online soon and I trust that she is capable of doing so. Telling her now gives us the advantage of having tomorrow as a full day to work and she has tonight to, as you would say, 'sleep on it' so she wouldn't be as likely to break down after the reveal."

Lennox listened intently to the Medic's words and nodded once he had finished. "I agree. Let's find Prime, talk to him and let the girl in on the secret. And hope she doesn't faint like the last guy did."

CHASING RAINBOWS…

Thankfully, Optimus had agreed with Ratchet, which lead them to where they were now; walking through the corridors of the base in search of the girl.

Things were moving so quickly that Galloway wasn't getting his opinion in a lot. Which was a blessing for the members of N.E.S.T.

Logically, the first place to look for the girl would be the wreck room. If she wasn't there then their next stop would probably be the canteen, and then a number of other places.

As the group entered the wreck room, they were welcomed with the sounds of hysterical laughter. That brought a small, pleased smile to Optimus's face. He could tell it was Mirage and Sideswipe, along with a female who he was guessing was Miya. He understood how young both the spy and front liner were and was constantly worrying about the pair, along with the other young members of the team. Fearing that one day, the war might become too much for them. But deep down he knew that wouldn't happen. They had all matured well beyond their years and were fantastic warriors. But it was nice to see them enjoying themselves and acting like the 'teenagers' they were.

They rounded the corner to see Dino and Miya with their heads thrown back in laughter and Sideswipe lying straight across one of the other sofa's, laughing so hard that tears fell from his eyes. Primus knows what got them into this state.

At the sight of the four superiors, the laughter died down as they took in the looks on all four's faces. Optimus had a small smirk on his, Ratchet was rolling his eyes beneath a raised eyebrow, Lennox stood there with his arms folded and a raised eyebrow but happily smirked away and then there was Galloway who gave Medusa a run for her damn money.

Galloway seemed unamused with the situation. Although they had yet to find a situation that he looked at differently. The liaison was staring at the teenagers with a hard set face that was supposed to show that he didn't approve of their behaviour but the two young Autobots just brushed the look off with a smile.

"Mature, soldiers." Galloway scolded the two young men in the room, who he couldn't actually identify again. Probably more Autobots he mused to himself. Ratchet and Optimus just turned to look at the man.
"Director Galloway," Optimus started, his voice calm and level as always. "They are both soldiers from my division. And given their constant training, which they both complete to high standards, I gave them each some time to themselves. Which I say they deserve so do not scold them for following my instructions." The prime defended his troops with pride and a strength that Galloway knew not to try and fight against.

Moving past the tension in the room, Lennox spoke up. "Miya, we have something to show you."

CHASING RAINBOWS…

Miya was lead back into that hanger with the gorgeous cars again. Except this time a few were missing. The Topkick, three motorcycles and the Camaro were all gone for some reason. Maybe repairs?

It turns out that they were walking closer and closer to the cars. What the hell did Lennox have to show her?

They came to a stop a couple of metres away from the vehicles and that's when the colonel turned to face her. "Okay… So as you know we are a secret government organisation. What I am about to tell you is beyond classified and does not leave this base, understand?" she nodded before signing a contract which was slid her way. She placed her signature at the bottom before handing the legal document back. There was no point in her reading it, she got the gist. Do not breathe a word of what you are told or you will committing an act of treason, blah, blah, blah.

After quickly glancing at the paper, Lennox spoke again "Right, well I don't know if you remember quite a few weeks ago, there was this strange transmission everywhere asking humanity to hand over a boy." Miya nodded, how could anyone have forgotten that? It was damn creepy. Besides, it related to why she hacked the government in the first place. "Well, what we are about to tell you will relate greatly to that. The being that sent that transmission was in fact real, it wasn't a government hoax. He was a sentient alien robot. I know that sounds completely crazy-"
"No. I believe you. It was too thorough for the government to have done it." She wasn't too sure about this whole alien robots thing. But now that she thought about it, that was what that thing on the transmission looked like. Besides, they brought her here for a big reason and all this secrecy was helping their case quite a bit. Something that big would need to be hidden from the world. Even if the secret had been thrown out the window after that transmission.

"Right, well he is not the only one there is. He's gone now thankfully, but he was part of this alien civil war. A civil war which has now been brought to earth and N.E.S.T. was set up to aid the good side in their war."
"So you fight evil alien robots?" he chuckled slightly at her question.
"It sounds like a sci-fi movie doesn't it? But essentially yes. And the real reason you're here is because our enemy has hacked into our network, shutting us down temporarily."
"And I'm here to counteract it and get you up and running again." Lennox nodded.
"But their technology is much more advanced than ours so we need someone who is open to trying to understand things we didn't even believe were possible." She nodded again.

Don't get Miya wrong, she wasn't gullible or stupid. It was obvious to even the most oblivious person, that this all sounded so unrealistic. But, Lennox was a highly trained soldier/commander, who was in the presence of a government official. As well as Rian and Ratchet who were too professional to pull a prank like this. Plus all that urgency they had when they recruited her really meant that the situation was pretty big. And you didn't get much bigger than evil alien robots. As much as the whole thing didn't add up. At the same time, it kind of did add up… Yeah so that doesn't make much sense but still.

"I know this all sounds ridiculously crazy, but I do have proof. Like I said, N.E.S.T. aids the good side in their war. They call themselves Autobots. In fact their leader is standing right next to you." Miya's head whipped around to look at Rian. His unnaturally bright blue eyes shining in the artificial light of the base. She already knew not to bother with that government guy. That attitude that radiated off of him already screamed 'stuck up politician'. Ratchet was standing next to Pax but she knew it wasn't him. He was a medic after all. But Rian had been introduced as the commander of a special team within N.E.S.T. Which therefore made him the most logical candidate.

Rian nodded at the girl before speaking. "You should know Miya, that we are not actually human. Ratchet and I are both Cybertronian, or 'alien robots' as you would say. I believe it is best that we show you our true forms." Miya just blinked at the man. Not actually human… Okay she believed that if they were supposed to be robots. But what she didn't expect was for the pair to disappear, leaving behind some static-y particles, and for two of the cars behind them to start making sounds and begin shifting shape.

After a few seconds. The beautiful Peterbuilt semi and the eye catching rescue hummer had both changed shape into two towering robots. The one she was guessing that used to be Rian, was the semi. He was easily the taller of the two. Standing at what Miya guessed was over 30ft. That left Ratchet who was slightly shorter than his leader but definitely no less intimidating.

Everyone turned to look at Miya to gauge her reaction. She just stood there, staring up at them so much that they could all practically feel the ache in her neck.

The two Autobots remained silent, not wanting to shock the girl even more than they already had. Their blue optics staring back at her wide, green eyes.

Miya didn't speak for about a minute, but it felt like a lifetime. Standing in front of her were two freaking robots! When they told her Rian was one of them, she thought that he was like the terminator or something. Human sized, can't-tell-if-you-are-one kind of robot. So when the cars started coming apart she found herself lost in the action. Her eyes followed every movement from both vehicles. The way things unfolded. The way their finger joints flexed as the came apart from their bodies. The way both of the transformations were so different. The way those two tiny vehicles turned into skyscraper-height robots. It was insane to say the least.

"Holy shit…" she breathed out whilst still staring at the huge beings. She hadn't even blinked yet…

.:Prime. Her vitals are rising to near dangerous levels. Should I prepare a stretcher?:. Ratchet asked his superior with a questioning gaze. Optimus chuckled and shook his head at his medic. The girl would be fine, she just needed a second to let it all sink in.
.:No, old friend. That shouldn't be necessary..:.

"So, you really are real?" It was a rhetorical question so no one bothered to answer her. "And… are you laughing at me?" she raised an eyebrow at Optimus who shook his head again.

"No, Miya. Forgive me for laughing. Ratchet had asked me something, that is all." The Prime explained whilst moving to kneel down before the young woman. After working for the humans for so long, he understood that their natural Cybertronian height could be quite intimidating. So he had learned to lower himself down to their level, in a show of respect.

A quick update from Ratchet told the Prime that the girl's vitals were still very high, but slowly calming down. Which was, of course, a good sign.

"I didn't hear him talk though?" she would be lying if she said she wasn't baffled by the whole thing. How on earth did her life end up here, with her talking to a giant alien robot? Ugh, my head hurts.

Quickly, the Prime went on to explain the Autobots' internal communications link. Surprisingly, she took the information in well and instead of questioning it, Optimus could see the girl growing more and more curious. Like she wanted to know all these strange alien things just because she could. Because she wasn't scared of the unknown, she wanted to embrace it.

That was the moment when Optimus knew she was going to be perfect for the job.

Ratchet finally got a few words in and began a rushed explanation of everyone's real designations and who the members of the Autobots were. Trying her best, Miya absorbed as much of the information as she could. She was still feeling a little dazed and was pretty sure that she would get a shock in the morning when she remembers all of this. But that didn't stop her trying to accept the situation in front of her.

However, she did pass up on dinner in favour of sleeping. A decent nights rest should probably help everything to sink in.

On her way back to the temporary sleeping quarters, Lennox handed her some of their training gear, in her size, so she could have a fresh change of clothes after having a shower.

CHASING RAINBOWS…

Mikaela bumped into Miya on her return from the showers. She'd been informed by Lennox that Miya was being let in on the secret and was curious to see how the girl would react. "Hey, how'd you take it?" the mechanic questioned.
"It's pretty overwhelming. I'm still trying to comprehend it all." Mikaela chuckled at that.
"Yeah. Well if it helps, that feeling never really goes away completely. They still find ways to confuse you after you've known them for a good number of years. Trust me on that. I've known them since they first arrived and Ratchet still can't explain some things to me." That caught Miya's attention.

"You've known them since they first arrived? How long ago was that?" the girl's curious eyes were looking into Mikaela's.
"You signed the contract right?" after Miya nodded, Mikaela continued. "Do you remember the disaster in Mission city back in 2007? That was their civil war back when it first kicked off on earth. I found out about them a day or two before that. My soon-to-be-boyfriend at the time bought a Camaro which happened to be a transforming robot that needed Sam's help to get an ancient relic of theirs. It's a long story. But I can tell you all about it tomorrow if you're up for it."
"Sounds great. If I get a break from trying to stop this evil alien robot from taking down your network that is."
"Decepticons." At Miya's raised eyebrow she thought she better explain herself a bit more "The 'evil alien robots' are called Decepticons. And the one you are trying to stop is called Soundwave. Apparently he is one of the best hackers that Cybertron, their home world, has to offer so you've got your work cut out for you." The girl in front of her groaned at the news.
"Wow, this just keeps getting better and better. Totally no pressure or anything." The pair shared a few laughs before Mikaela let the younger girl get some rest. No doubt she needed it.

The second Miya's head hit the pillow, she knew she was out for the count. She welcomed the lazy darkness of sleep and let her thoughts drift to the two Autobots she met just an hour ago. Tomorrow, she had more to meet and a Decepticon to stop. That's when the real work started. She just hoped that she could help these people. They were all relying on her and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't nervous. But she had to do it. She'd always said to herself that one day, something important would happen to her. Something that would bring adventure and action into her life. Now that it was here, she was scared, nervous but in her head she knew she was ready. And in the end, that's all that really mattered.

A/N: Apologies for the late update again guys. But we are getting somewhere now so yus! Lemme know what you thought. Thanks for reading ;)