Chapter 4: Awakening

A huge thank you to the creators of Transformers! I can't believe I'm saying this, but thanks Michael Bay. *mumbles* No matter how much you fragged up the movie continuations… I will admit that I am not looking forward to Transformers 4, but I'm still holding on to the hope that Jazz is gonna be revived. I still don't own it… Cuz if I did, I'd probably make the movies reeeaalll slashy… Read on!

"Bond talk"

"Comm link"

My use of Cybertronian time:

Astrosecond: 0.273 seconds

Breem: 8.3 minutes

Cycle: Full day

Decacycle: 1 year

Joor: 6 hours

Klik: 1 minute

Mega-cycle: 93 hours

Nano-klik: 1 second

Orbital-cycle: 1 month

Solar cycle: 1 day

Lunar cycle: 1 night

Stellar cycle: 7.5 months

Vorn: 83 years

THANK YOU to Wrecker Radioactive for these!

"Hey Nova, you're the last one! Hurry up, Primus has something important to tell us!" Nightstar waved to Nova. The other femmes were gathered near her and Nova quickly jogged up to them.

"Did I miss anything?" Nova cycled her intakes as the outline of Primus' form began to appear in the silver mist that filled the place they were standing in. The femmes shook their helms as Primus fully materialized in front of them. They bowed their heads in respect before looking up.

Primus' optics were crinkled in the way that the femmes could tell that he was smiling. "Let us begin, shall we? As soon as you wake up, the ones gathered there will question you thoroughly. One of the questions they will ask is how you appeared on the battlefield so abruptly. Your story will go like this. Each of your Creators was offlined during the war and Elita-One took you in when you were younglings and trained you. When you were old enough and had completed your training, Elita sent you to Earth to scout for Energon. I am sure you have your favourite music from Earth stored in your processors, so you can say that you took a liking to certain Earth cultures and music." Primus stopped to answer Crystal who had raised her servo. "Yes, what is it child?"

"So it won't be weird if I suddenly play any songs?"

"No, it will not. However, I know that a few of you have songs about the Transformers, so try not to play those kinds of songs. Back to how you got to the battlefield. So you were supposed to return from scouting for Energon one or two stellar cycles ago but your ship malfunctioned and you had to stay longer. When your ship was up and running you all travelled back to Cybertron. On the way, your ship accidentally hit an asteroid, you had to abandon ship and fell right into the middle of the battle. To six of you, Elita is like a mother or close friend to you. You are more or less very attached to her as she is to you. Since you had completed your training, she left you to train each other. It's time to wake up now. Good luck!" Primus finished and melted into the mist.

"Okay femmes. We'll just try to answer the questions as best we can, okay? Go with the flow, don't act suspicious and please don't fangirl if you see your favourite mech." Nova ordered as they disappeared one by one.

"Nova… Nova… Get up sleepyhead. You're the last femme to get up." Nightstar poked her commander as she turned over and swatted her servo away, still not fully awake.

"Five more minutes mommy. I'm tired." Nova grumbled. A devilish idea popped into Nightstar's processor and she gestured to the twins. Swiftstreak and Shadow nodded in understanding and each pulled out an air horn from subspace. Swift shot Shadow a cheeky smirk and counted off on her fingers.

"Three… Two… One…" They pressed the buttons at the same time.

"MY UNCLE IS A UNICORN!" Nova shot straight up, arms flailing as soon as the horns blared. Unfortunately, Nightstar was leaning over her when she woke up and both of them clashed helms.

"Ow… Watch it!" They said at the same time, rubbing their forehelms.

"Who dares disturb my slumber? Who dared incur my wrath?" Nova said lowly with a hint of amusement in her tone.

"Oopsies!" The twins pretended to hide the offending weapons behind their backs, the slag-eating grins on both their face plates giving them away. Of course, Nova noticed this and her visor glinted dangerously.

"PITIFUL WORM SLAVES! I SHALL MAKE YOU SUFFER!" Nova tackled both of them, bringing them down quickly amidst giggles from each femme except for Shadow and Icewhip.

"Where are we?" Nova blinked from her position on the floor, not recognizing her surroundings.

The Med Bay door opened as Prowl, Jazz, Ironhide, Chromia, Optimus Prime and Elita stepped through.

"Hatchet's Med Bay. You've been out for about five cycles." Nightstar narrowly avoided getting hit by a wrench, quickly raising her own to parry the blow. "En guard medic! I am not afraid of your wrenches!" Ratchet looked at her in shock as every femme in the room erupted with laughter. Crystal was laughing so hard that she almost fell off her berth, Energon tears streaming down her cheeks as she held her sides in pain from laughing too much.

"How *gasp* are *gasp* you guys?" Nova's intakes cycled furiously as she inquired about their health.

Ratchet huffed, still miffed that someone had insulted him. "You are all back at peak condition but you will still be sore for another few cycles."

"FEMMES! I've missed you so much!" Every bot in the Med Bay looked at Elita in shock. The femmes quickly remembered their backstory and there was a near stampede as almost all the girls rushed towards her.

"ELITA!" Crystal squealed as she glomped her. Nightstar and Swiftstreak stood on each side of Elita, each trying to talk at the same time while they talked at speeds that very nearly rivalled Blurr's. Icewhip was worriedly telling Crystal to get down before she hurt herself while Shadow and Nova were standing nearby, seeing as Elita was rather occupied.

"Ha ha ha ha I trust that you femmes have been staying out of trouble when you were on Earth?" Elita laughed lightly as she placed Crystal down.

"Yes ma'am!" The femmes replied with sparkling optics.

"But you arrived back far later than expected. What happened? And why did you appear on the battlefield like that?" Gone was the merry twinkle in her optics, replaced with worry and concern for the femmes.

"Ah… Our ship malfunctioned and we were stuck for a while on Earth. Once we fixed it up and were on our way here, we kind of hit an asteroid and had to abandon ship…" Swiftstreak rubbed the back of her helm sheepishly.

"I told you to go left! But did you listen to me? No." Icewhip grumbled. Swift stuck her glossa out childishly at Icewhip.

"We are invisible, are we not?" Nova joked from her spot behind the overexcited Nightstar. Shadow grunted and looked elsewhere.

"Nova, Shadow! You didn't miss me?" Elita smirked at the duo.

Nova gasped and placed a servo to her forehead overdramatically. "You jest! Why, I have written over a thousand sonnets about how much I wished to meet you again."

"I missed you too." Shadow said.

Optimus suddenly cleared his vocal processors, gaining every bot's attention and silence. "I would like to take this opportunity to say welcome to the Autobot base in Iacon. I apologize for cutting your reunion short. It appears that you are familiar with the commander of my femme troop."

Nova turned and began to sneak off when a wrench connected with the back of her helm and two familiar femmes were dragging her back. "I see you still have not grown out of that habit, Nova." Elita commented while standing on the side-lines and trying not to laugh.

Nova shot her a look that clearly said "Help me" as her second and third in command hauled her into the limelight, each taking a position on either side of her to prevent her from escaping. "I just can't win, can I?" Nova sighed through the bond.

"If you're quite done, our honourable commander, we are in front of higher ranking officers and should you want to further tarnish your reputation, by all means please carry on with your antics." Icewhip said emotionlessly. A stuffed rabbit soon came in contact with her face.

"Killjoy!" Nightstar pouted. Every femme burst into laughter once again at the unamused look on Icewhip's face plates.

Icewhip noticed how short they were compared to the others. Nova and Nightstar, who were the tallest among the six of them, only reached up to Elita's chin while the others were only a little bit shorter than both of them. Obviously, Crystal was the shortest while Icewhip and the twins were about the same height.

Once the laughter had died down, Icewhip stepped forward and spoke up once again. "So my great leader, it looks like I have to take over command for now. I apologize for the banter just now and yes, we are familiar with Elita. She is almost like a mother to us. My designation is Icewhip, third in command and tactician of the femme troop under the command of Ultranova Prime." Another bash was heard and the bots turned their helms to see Nightstar dragging their leader back by her pedes, a new dent in Nova's helm.

"I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times. You won't be able to escape from these sorts of things." Nightstar chastised her leader lightly. When she neared the group, she handed Nova by the pedes over to Icewhip and introduced herself. "Hi! I'm Nightstar, second in command and medic of this group! ALL HAIL THE EVIL BRAIN MONKEYS!" Nightstar saluted, doorwings fluttering as she gleefully noted the amused and worried expressions on the Autobots' face plates. Elita just covered her optics with her servo in exasperation.

"I know what you're thinking. No, Nightstar's processor is not glitching. She's been that way forever, so do not be surprised if she yells unrelated things at certain times. I'm Swiftstreak, the motivator of this team and this is my twin Shadowhunter, the team's interrogator. Don't worry if she doesn't speak much. Talking isn't her best strength. Just don't make her mad. Her death glare can scare the living slag out of you. We're both front-liners by the way. You can call me Swift and Shadowhunter Shadow." Shadow nodded coolly and Swiftstreak grinned widely.

"I'm Crystal, their communications officer." Crystal said quietly and waved. She was quickly smothered by a cuddling Nightstar.

"That's our little Crystal! Adorable and absolutely fluffy!" Nightstar was slowly squashing her to death as Crystal squealed in protest. When Nightstar finally let go, she gestured to her commander, whom Icewhip had released from captivity a few kliks ago. "Last but definitely not the least, put your servos together for our venerable commander!" She said in the tone of a game show host.

Nova looked like she wanted to offline there and then. "Someone shoot me now." She pleaded through the bond.

"No can do Nova. Good luck!" Swift cheered through the bond.

Nova cycled a deep intake before speaking. "My designation is Ultranova Prime, leader of this division. You can call me Nova. Any questions you have you may pass over to my second and third in command." Her face plates turned blue behind her mask as soon as the words left her mouth, shyness kicking in as she shuffled awkwardly on her pedes.

"Welcome to Iacon, all of you." Optimus said, his optics never leaving Nova.

Nightstar nudged Swiftstreak discreetly, grinning mischievously. "I bet you that he'll say 'I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots.'"

"I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots."

"I CALLED IT! DID I NOT CALL IT?" Nightstar fist pumped and ran around in circles, much to the chagrin of Icewhip and Nova who both face palmed.

Optimus shuttered his optics in shock before continuing unfazed. "This is Prowl, my second in command and tactician." The femmes felt a twinge of excitement from Icewhip's part of the bond and snickered. "Jazz, my third in command and head of Special Operations." A squeak from Nightstar's part of the bond had the femmes on the verge of laughter. "Ratchet, our Chief Medical Officer and Ironhide, our weapons specialist with his sparkmate Chromia, the second in command to Elita, and I am sure you know Elita, our commander of the femme troops."

"Congrats on making it to the top!"

"Thanks femmes. Anyway, don't worry. Nova, you're still going to lead your sisters on missions while I lead the other femmes. I know you all too well." Elita reassured them.

"Well, we're all a family and many call us sisters. We are; just not by Energon." Nightstar explained to the others gathered there.

"OW! Damn it Swiftstreak. Did you have to stun me?" Shadow glared at her twin.

"The end of the world has come! TAKE COVER!" Swift dived behind Ironhide. Ironhide flinched as Shadow's scathing glower cut through him.

"Hey! Don't give Ironhide a spark attack!" Nightstar threw another stuffed rabbit at Shadow, who easily caught it and threw it back. Her expression melted back to normal and she walked back as if nothing had happened.

"This is why we leave interrogating to Shadow." Nova vented and shook her helm.

"I pity the Decepticons." Ironhide grumbled.

"Well… I'm sure that we will have to stay at someplace?" Icewhip clasped her servos together, filling the silence that had settled in the room. Optimus turned from Nova abruptly, as if brought back from a daydream.

"Ah yes. We will find rooms for you to use immediately." Optimus quickly regained his composure and acted as if he was not staring at Nova.

"Ooooh… I hear lovebirds in the air! I think Optimus fancies you!" Nightstar teased through the bond.

"Shut up! Femmes are rare now. Why else would he stare at one?" Nova snapped. "Besides, doesn't he have Elita?" There was a strained tone in her voice.

"That's where you're wrong Nova. When he introduced Elita, he didn't say sparkmate, did he? You still have a chance with that mech!" Swiftstreak reasoned.

"I hope so…" Nova vented.

"Hey guys, I like this place! We should give everyone a chance, shouldn't we?" Crystal piped up.

"Hey! It's rude to hold your own private conversation! Just because you have your private bonds doesn't mean that we're invisible!" Elita poked Nightstar who poked right back.

"You have private bonds?" Ratchet raised an optic ridge.

"Yeah, you can say that. Since we were very close-knitted in the beginning, we've grown until we're really close. With that a femme bond or link was somehow created and it is only heard by us. No bot else can. However, we still can feel the femme bond from the other femmes besides us." Nightstar explained.

"Hey… Nightstar ain't it? Thanks fer savin' meh on the battlefield." Jazz gave her a winning smile.

"Ah… No problem Jazz. It's mah duty as a medic! I just hope that the others I saved are alright now." Nightstar waved off his praise, face plates turning a light shade of blue.

"Oooooh! Jazz and Nightstar are such a beautiful couple!" Nova teased. Nightstar thwacked her on the helm with her wrench.

"Wait, it was you who helped to repair the rest of them on the battlefield?" Ratchet had both optic ridges raised at the news.

"Yes?" Nightstar replied warily. "Is there a problem?"

"Most of those repairs required skill and precision. I am glad to say that yes, they are all functioning; quite well I may add. You have a gift, one that can be honed to perfection. Repair-wise, I would say that it is better than my other apprentices, almost up to my level." Ratchet looked impressed.

"See? All those courses you took at the School of Horrors actually paid off!" Swiftstreak sent.

"At what cost?" Nightstar replied jadedly.

"Come on. We'll have to introduce you six to the rest of the femmes." Elita broke the awkwardness that had settled in the Med Bay, smiling as she held servos with Crystal, Nova draping an arm over her shoulder and Chromia linked arms with Swiftstreak and Nightstar. Icewhip and Shadow were deep in conversation. The femmes exited merrily, Swift chatting up a storm with Chromia about weapons, leaving the mechs behind in the Med Bay. Optic ridge raised in incredulousness, Prowl stared at Optimus whose optics never left the femme with the visor.

"Optimus sir, are you still fully functional? Or is it normal for you to gawp at a pretty femme who is also designated as a Prime?" Prowl stated, receiving a shocked look on his leader's face as he momentarily lost his balance, optics shuttering in disbelief at what was asked of him.

"W-what do you mean Prowl?" Optimus stuttered trying to regain his self-control once more.

"Optimus, you were nearly drooling Energon when you saw her." Ironhide snickered, his red armour shaking from the effort of trying not to laugh at his old friend. Optimus crossed his arms over his chest plates.

"Is there a problem?" He asked sternly. He didn't like where this conversation was heading.

"Oh, Prime. It is funny because we have been nagging you for orns about getting a sparkmate and suddenly an unbonded femme who is also a Prime pops up out of nowhere." Ratchet chuckled deeply at the now annoyed Optimus.

"Ah get it; ya've got a crush on this new femme who shares a role of leadership like yerself." Jazz grinned mischievously as soon as he realized that fact.

"Optimus, you have the same look in your optics that I had when I first met Chromia! You're helm over pedes in love!" Ironhide hooted as he clenched his sides and collapsed on the ground laughing.

"Ironhide, don't go on comparing your moments to Optimus's." Ratchet tried to scowl and raise his wrench threateningly but failed miserably as he, himself, began to shake with laughter.

"What's so funny?" Crystal asked aloud as they headed through the corridor, the sound of mechly laughter echoing from the Med Bay.

"Mechs will be mechs, Crystal." Elita answered with a light laugh. The young femmes were captivated as the silver walls seemed to melt perfectly into the burnished bronze ceiling tiles glowing with an unseen light source.

"The work shifts are almost over so we will introduce you to the other femmes then we'll all head over to the main lounge where the other mechs will be." Chromia explained. As if something clicked, Icewhip and Nightstar shared a look before seizing their soon-to-be escapee.

"I'm getting tired of this, Nova. Are you going to keep doing this?" Icewhip said testily.

"Yes, and it would help me immensely if you loosen your grip just the teensiest bit." Nova unabashedly begged her TIC to let her flee from her fate.

"Ha. Very funny. Up and at 'em soldier, look lively." Icewhip unsmilingly said as they neared the room.

Hey guys! Sorry the chappie ended so abruptly. Ehehe… Please R&R!

-Love, Nova