Thank you so much for the reviews. I really loved reading them all. Kimmie98 and Bee4ever thank you for following all my stories. I really appreciate it and I hope you like this story as much as you loved my others.
I find all the reviews, even the more critical ones interesting so please let me know what you think as long as you are respectful. I love to read them and I have even used one or two in my writing. Yes, this story is not going to be rainbows at first but it will have a positive outcome even if it doesn't seem that way. All I ask is that you remember that they are all Cybertronians at spark and unity whether under the decepticons or autobots is the goal.
If you are just starting to read, then please take a moment to review even if it is short. It lets me know what my readers like and don't like. Enjoy!
No one had come for her. She waited trying to send pulses of feelings and emotions into her bond with Soundwave but he was too far out into space to receiver her summons and pleas. Arcee feared that they were on Cybertron because it only made sense that if keys were made then they would be used either there or here on earth. She worried for her friends and found herself praying to Primus, though it had been a while since she had thought about religion and the afterlife.
She heard a click and then the door opened and she jumped up from the chair that she was sitting in.
"Good morning my dear spark. Soundwave sends his greetings. I am here to deliver your morning energon." Knockout looked at her with all smiles and then brought something out from his subspace. "Oh, this is from Lord Megatron, himself. You have made a good impression on our fearless leader and he thought you might want to light weight armor for protection. It's not much but I designed it with Soundwave's input and even that was limited because Megatron wanted it… how shall I say this without offending you… Ohm… let's just say that it will cover… barely." Knockout walked over to the neatly made berth and set the pink armor down and Arcee had to hide the cringe that attempted to consume her tiny frame. It was armor, Megatron could have picked red, blue, or even black; but it was a beginning and better than walking around in the hallways in just a thin robe and nothing else.
"Soundwave will be here in a few hours. He does send his apologies but I was the only one that had medical override, though I assure you that he will recode his door." Knockout backed away as he talked. "Well, I shall see you later; oh and Soundwave has scheduled you an appointment but it is not with me. We have a new medic though he is most reluctant. You'll see soon enough." Knockout walked out as Arcee blinked. He didn't even give her a chance to reply to any of his comments.
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"Soundwave I commend you." Megatron stated as they watched the Autobots be loaded into a transport sent from the Nemeses. It was rare for Megatron to use it, but with his newly built Dark Mount on earth and the restored buildings of Kaon, the Omega Lock was doing well to reform and revive the burnt out planet of Cybertron. Soundwave nodded silently from the praise of his master. Optimus had looked on with sadness as he was cuffed with the others, but Megatron was taking no chances of the young Prime changing his mind. Soon they would be integrated into the ranks, Ratchet already be given to Shockwave so that he could be put to work in the science lab and mad bay, and Optimus would soon be his forever as his bond mate. The humans would be given back to their respective guardians but the humans in general would no longer have the assurance of the Autobots.
Megatron smiled as his thought drifted over his intentions for earth. They would bow to the decepticons or they would be enslaved as an inferior race to do their bidding. He would take Prime's wishes into consideration but Megatron would allow the humans to dictate terms to him. He was Megatron, Lord High Protector, and with Prime they would spark a new generation of Primes, mighty and great that would rule Cybertron and beyond.
"Autobots secured; Transport ready at your command." Soundwave stated as he looked on to the right of his master after receiving the communication concerning the transport.
"Are you sure that he will be accepting?" Megatron asked softly, concerned for his future mate.
"Optimus Prime honorable mech; will honor his word." Soundwave assured him. Megatron watched as the transport lifted off.
"Have Starscream ready the Nemeses for docking at Dark Mount. I want to establish my rule on earth first. Shockwave will be joining us permanently there while I will be assigning Dreadwing to govern Cybertron until we are ready to return. He and Starscream do not get along and with good reason. It is better to make sure they are separated, and this will give us time to acclimate the Autobots without any of them falling victim to unnecessary deactivation." Megatron turned to look directly at Soundwave. "We need to return. You have a mate to attend to. At least you will now be able to make more time for her."
"Thank you my lord." Soundwave droned before transforming and flying after the transport and then going through the space bridge after it. Megatron leapt off the ledge from where he was observing before transforming into the massive Cybertronian aerial machine that he was and followed his third in command through the space bridge. They returned to earth to rendezvous with the Nemeses as Megatron landed after his third in command. Vehicons were scattered everywhere working furiously to prepare for docking with the newly built Dark Mount and Megatron was pleased with how quickly everything was progressing.
"Soundwave have Starscream finish directing all orders. Send out a communication that the war is over. Prime has surrendered and that if all remaining Autobots surrender then no harm shall befall them via agreement that I have made with Prime." Megatron declared. He looked at Soundwave. "After the communication, go take care of your mate."
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Arcee stood as the door opened once again several hours later. Soundwave walked in and Arcee quickly went to him and wrapped her arms around him.
"Please tell me they got away." She whispered as he returned the embrace but Arcee felt the remorse through the bond and Arcee sobbed against his armor.
"The war is over." Soundwave whispered though it would not be the outcome she would want to hear. "Prime surrendered to Lord Megatron." He felt Arcee shake and Soundwave quickly gathered her into his arms as she cried out and surrendered to the darkness that enveloped her.
"Soundwave to Knockout." Soundwave commed immediately.
"Yes, what is it!" Knockout snarled back. "You know I hate being interrupted while doing repairs." That meant that Knockout was polishing himself while waiting for vehicons to report in.
"Need medical assistance immediately. Is Ratchet ready?" Soundwave asked. He felt that Arcee would do better with a familiar face plate.
"That old grouch is ready. Shockwave has sent him to me though why Megatron would salvage him is beyond me." Knockout stated as he finished his work.
"Send him with you. I need a complete medical scan of Arcee." Soundwave informed him and then cut the communication. He gently lad Arcee on their berth finally noticing the delicate pink armor that adorned her. She would hate the color. Soundwave would have a talk to Knockout about the color.
Soundwave ran his claws over her delicate protoform that the armor left much uncovered but Arcee did not shift or startle awake. Soundwave couldn't feel anything from their bond but he felt confident that her crash was from stress of not knowing the outcome and that she was possibly carrying and yet not realizing the changes within her body.
It didn't take long before Soundwave was pinged and he let both doctors in.
"If you think for a moment that I am going to help you then you can just shoot me right now!" Ratchet growled threateningly. Soundwave would have laughed because they may have removed his weapons, but somehow he had retained his wrench which he was waving it threateningly.
"Soundwave not in need of assistance; mate needs scan." Soundwave stated and Ratchet looked at the berth.
"Primus!" He exclaimed as he rushed to the aid of the femme. "What happened to her armor? No, don't tell me. I don't even want to think about that." Ratchet stated as he immediately went to run scan after scan. "What did you do to her to cause her to crash?" He demanded more than asked though he never took his optics off of Soundwave's mate.
"She was informed of the surrender." Soundwave replied to his question.
"So, it is true." Ratchet stated heavily, his shoulders slouched downward. "I was afraid that Optimus might if it meant saving his soldiers." He scanned her thoroughly before casting Soundwave with a raised optic look. "You have been busy."
"Arcee is my mate." Soundwave stated evenly. "She is sparked?" He asked though Ratchet probably figured out that he suspected.
"Yes, she is." Ratchet said glaring up at him after sitting up from running the scans.
"My, my Soundwave, you have been busy." Knockout said mockingly. "You always did like having a family. These sparks will be full sparks if I am not mistaken, not symbiotes."
"Yes, the spark is fully formed with two CNA patterns that are registering. If they were symbiotes then we would only have one pattern which would make them completely dependent on the main spark."
"So, these will have the potential to be fully grown mechs or femmes unlike Laserbeak." Knockout said out loud in thought.
"Laserbeak is not a drone?" Ratchet asked.
"No, she is a partial spark formed from my spark." Soundwave said as he watched Ratchet care for his mate. Though his tone may be gruff, he was very caring and tender with her which belied his vocal tone.
"You are bonded?" Ratchet asked as confirmation. "I mean I know what Megatron told Prime but it is true."
"Yes." Soundwave confirmed.
"The spark is about a week old and is progressing well. With the proper care and energon she should have no problems sparking it." Ratchet said as he turned and looked at Soundwave. "If you hurt her in any way I swear by Primus that I will make you pay." Ratchet's tone was low and very serious.
"She is well cared for." Soundwave promised as Ratchet used a gentle oil solution to revive her. It would clear the neurons in her CPU so that she would wake up. It took a moment after Ratchet injected it in a port in her neck and Arcee started to stir. Her optics brightened slowly as she woke to the familiar face of her old friend.
"Ratch… Ratchet!" She slurred his name as she fought against the fog that had infiltrated her cortex. She reached up to grip her aching helm as she never once took her optics off of Ratchet's face.
"Yes youngling, I am here unfortunately." He said softly as she suddenly gripped his arm. Ratchet her let her touch him since her knew that she must have missed them terribly.
"How?" She whispered her optics misting over.
"It seems that our base has been infiltrated. I was taken and placed under the care of Shockwave." Ratchet stated in his usual glorious tone and Arcee winced.
"They remove your weapons and t-cog?" She asked him quietly.
"Yes and Knockout is not the most gentle medic." Ratchet dryly added.
"I never said I aim to please." Knockout responded in his usual sarcastic tone.
"What about Prime?" Arcee asked. Her helm swam from pain and she lay back down now that she was sure that Ratchet wasn't a mirage.
"I haven't seen any of the others." Ratchet said quietly worry evident in his vocoder.
"They arrived on our transport and are being processed by Shockwave. I am sure that once Knockout is done here that he will be removing the necessary components that Lord Megatron will ask for." Soundwave stated. He could feel the misery that Arcee was experiencing through their bond and Soundwave sent comforting pulses to help her with her grief. He needed her to be strong because Prime would need her help adjusting. He only hoped that this moment of weakness was due to the stress on her body from carrying. It was standard that carriers would tire easily in the early stages and stress made them sometimes overload and crash which had happened to Arcee just moments ago.
"Ratchet, what must I do to help her in the early stages of carrying?" Soundwave asked to help get them off the subject of Prime for the moment.
"I will make a list for Knockout to send to you. You know that I was very proficient at deliveries before the war. If you accept my medical care then I would love to be her doctor unless Megatron has other plans." Ratchet stated gruffly.
"It was my suggestion that you remain Prime's main medical doctor as well as assist Arcee with her needs." Soundwave said as he stepped back to let the doctor up so that he could leave with Knockout.
"Yes, well thank you I do appreciate the compliment even if it is coming from a con. Make sure she rest before having any energon or she may purge it. I do recommend extra refined energon since her systems may reject the regular. She will also need medical grade energon starting once in the morning until the second trimester of carrying which she will have to increase to twice a day." Ratchet turned to Knockout. "I guess I am ready. I don't agree with t-cog removal but if it means saving some discomfort of my friends then I will assist if necessary." Soundwave almost smirked at Ratchet's tone. He was glad that he was not Knockout because it was clear that Ratchet wanted to be close enough to whack Knockout should he cause his friends unnecessary pain. Ratchet quickly turned back. "No spark merges, at least not until the spark separates and travels to the gestation chamber. It is too new and would cause the spark to reabsorb. Once the sparks reaches the gestation chamber then it will attach to the protoform's spark chamber to help finish the development of the sparkling's body and CPU."
"Thank you for the spark education Ratchet. I am sure that Soundwave will heed your advice since he loves his offspring." Arcee said some of her fire returning and Soundwave smiling with amusement.
"Just make sure that you take care of yourself." Ratchet said as he followed Knockout out of their quarters and the door closed. Arcee blinked her optics.
"Did that just happen or am I dreaming?" She finally asked and Soundwave sat down next to her on the berth.
"Rest. Ratchet is right. You need to take care of yourself." He said it softly. "Did you drink your energon this morning?"
"I did. You can check the waste receptacle. I wasn't sure if that was okay to dispose of my cube but I was hungry this morning so I drank it all." Arcee said suddenly very tired. Her helm still ached from her CPU crash and didn't try to hide the tiredness.
"Rest." Soundwave said softly.
"Are you leaving?" She asked as her optics started to power down.
"No, Lord Megatron let me off to care for you." He whispered gently to her.
"Good. As much as I hate to say this, I need you." She told him. "I don't think I will recharge after hearing about my friends."
"What do you want me to do?" Soundwave asked her as he gently massaged her helm and shoulders.
"Stay with me?" She asked softly. "Please?"
Soundwave nodded to her even though she could not see him and lay down next to her to spoon against her. She finished powering down as Soundwave listened to the gentle rise and fall of her intakes.
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Megatron walked into his quarters. Optimus lay on the berth in forced recharge. Ratchet had removed his weapons and t-cog under Knockout's supervision. The medic was efficient even though his movements showed his agitation at having to degrade his friend and Prime in such a manner. Megatron walked closer. It would be a while before the sedative would wear off but Megatron was in no hurry. Optimus had surrendered, his troops were being processed and soon would be given a place to work, and Ratchet had informed him that he had accepted the position to be Prime's and Arcee personal physician if Megatron agreed to it which would help ease Prime through the bonding process. He had also been informed that Arcee was carrying which Megatron would send a personal congratulation to Soundwave the next time he saw his communication officer.
Megatron reached down and ran a claw over Prime's chassis as he savored the young mech's attractive lines. Optimus moaned while in recharge and Megaton smiled. Soon the carrier would be his and bonded to him for eternity. He could wait while his intended slept; after all, Prime was tired after losing his fight and the war.