Author's Notes: Oh boy folks… This story is definitely going to be longer then six chapters after all. Probably no more than ten. Honest. Well, you can never have to much Rescue Bots and the adorable recruits so I suppose there is nothing wrong with that!
In this chapter things really heat up for our team of heroes! They are forced to set their Decepticon hunting to the side for a time in order to save a city from literal nuclear melt down… But this city isn't Griffin Rock. The humans who live here have never seen Bots up close. How will they react to their arrival, even if they are here to save the day?
As always, share what you think with a comment, and of course enjoy!
Part Five
Looking for Some Hot Stuff (Bot, Bot Tonight)
Location: Maine, Rescue Bot Academy
Wedge
This was it. The time to show themselves to the world and prove they weren't a bunch of flailing idiots.
Amid the Decepticon nonsense, Wedge could admit he had almost forgotten about the original message that unveiled their existence to the world. It just fell to the bottom of the list when compared to two hundred Con convicts running around like their rivets were on fire.
But then the message came through from Washington. The humans in higher places had decided to utilize the Rescue Bots for a mission, and it was going to be in the public light. Sort of. Technically, they were still waiting for the final word from said higher ups before they could officially roll.
It was a dangerous mission not ideal for humans. The Burns would be working at a distance. In spite of this, their human partners were already on the scene helping local rescue workers as much as they were able. They were human and not giant alien robots, so they didn't need special clearance just to show up. Wedge would be more excited for the impending action if he wasn't horrified by the concept of Decepticons jumping out of every shadow and sewer grate to ruin the rescue.
There was no time to worry about Cons… They had a guy for that now.
After Medix got Hoist back online, he had yet to stop shaking, even without the notorious Dinobot in view. But he was lurking somewhere in the Academy, just out of sight but at the ready if there were any more Decepticon sightings, as per Heatwave's orders. Because if Decepticons would cause the humans to panic, they could, under NO circumstances, see Grimlock. Even in 'normal' bot mode, he was a horrifying sight to behold. Standing three times taller than their professors, and even towering over what Optimus Prime used to. And that was just his height. His bulk was the stuff from Unicron's nightmares, and Wedge almost didn't want to know why he wore a dark, knowing grin most of the time.
Wedge logged all of that away for the time being. Like all the other problems they had, he shelfed that concern and hurried as fast as he could (with his limited mobility) down the hall and into the commons room where they were going to be briefed for the mission, and wait for those in Washington to finally stop stalling and send them in.
He was being helped by Whirl, cursing the cast he still had to suffer. He was slowing his team down. "I'm assuming I'll stay back with the Burns in this upcoming escapade." He grumbled just as they arrived at the commons room.
"Which would still be a help." Whirl was sure to remind him with a stern look.
He nodded. Right, he was being juvenile. No need to act like Hotshot. The Academy, or the planet for that matter, did not need two Hotshots.
"Look alive team!" Heatwave said as he came in right behind them. "Fixit is scanning for Decepticons with Grimlock, so we have some time to focus on our mission. A fire has broken out at a nuclear power station in Virginia. The blast doors have kept the fire from reaching the reactor core. But for whatever reason, the flame retardant didn't activate, and all personnel needed to be evacuated."
Hurriedly, Boulder intoned, "They are considering sending us in because there is a chance of nuclear melt down, which would of course devastate the whole city. We have the best chance of stopping that. radiation doesn't affect us as fast as it would a human."
"But radiation does affect us eventually." Blades very quickly added. "So, we are not going to let it get to that point."
"Affect us 'eventually'?" The accented scoff interrupted, coming from their most recent guest. Casually sipping on his allotted medical grade Energon was the minibot Decepticon Lefty. His many spindly servos were bent inward, lounging on top of the stasis pod where the rest of his collective that made up the combiner Chop Shop, recovered within. "That's a bloody understatement mate. I worked loads with radiation. Can scrap you're ZNA on a micronomic level if ya frag with it wrong. True, ya won't melt into a sloppy puddle like the fleshies, but that's about all the good I can say about the stuff. Tell the humans to stick with Energon. At least when it blows up, it takes ya out quick."
Wedge, and the other recruits, looked from the Con back to their professors. Heatwave was notably irritated. But his mild exasperation didn't even come close to the visible denta grinding annoyance Chase harbored for the Decepticon camped out in their break room. "Thank you, for that input." Heatwave growled.
Lefty rose the cube of Energon to him and nodded. "Cheers."
"And will we be leaving our esteemed guests with the new hire while we are not here to supervise?" Chase grumbled. He wasn't trying to hide his distrust in the slightest. As if the few free roaming Cons already had a stockpile of stolen goods hoarded in the walls.
Lefty heard the comment and grunted a grim laugh. "Ya mean that Con killin' monsta lurkin' the halls? You leave me with that one and I'll stuff myself into stasis before he can rip my limbs off and pick his denta with them."
Frankie spun around in her chair with a huff. She was sat alongside Cody, observing the Burns's progress on the rescue in Virginia on the wall mounted monitors. "Now guys. We're working together, remember? Part of that is trusting each other." She reminded them all.
"The Autobot started it." Lefty said in his defense. "I was just tryin' to help, since I have expertise in the subject. Didn't have to even do that… I was just in a life-threatening spaceship crash. I was traumatized." He gave his cube of Energon a long, condescending sip with Chase locked in his smiling sights.
Frankie sighed at their combined shenanigans. "No time for dissention! War's over, you're all big bots, and it's time to move on. It has already taken me and Cody the better part of two days to convince Ransack and Crumplezone to calm down back in the med bay. I don't need any fights backtracking that hard-earned progress!"
That was an understatement. Frankie and Cody had to basically present the still screaming Con and his angry friend a whole PowerPoint presentation with supporting facts about the war's conclusion. It was tedious, but it was also coming from a source that wasn't an Autobot. It finally brought an end to Ransack's screaming and Crumplezone's cursing. Then much like Lefty, the restraints were able to be removed. Now the pair were weary, but cooperative. The Sharkticon Hammerstrike, however, was having none of it. It was determined nothing anyone on Earth or in the universe said would convince him. Grimlock shoved that one into a stasis pod without much effort.
"So, let's keep things positive." Frankie said with a sweet smile. "Chase. Say something nice about Lefty."
Chase's whole expression soured. But under Frankie's determined stair, he soon vented in defeat. "He, nor his cohorts, have violated any laws in the past two days, to my knowledge."
Wedge felt Hotshot nudge him in the side before he received a private comm. /Only because the rest of him is knocked out in stasis./ Hotshot pointed out. Wedge tried to shove down the snicker.
Frankie turned to Lefty, and the Con's smug smile evaporated. "Now your turn. Say something nice about Chase."
The Decepticon took a comically long time to think of something. The pause was either done on purpose to further insult Chase, or complimenting others was simply not a common addition in his daily vocabulary. "He's… Blue." He finally settled on.
"Blue is a nice color." Boulder agreed.
Wedge caught Heatwave roll his optics before he addressed Chase's original concern. "Grimlock is going over the Alchemor Prisoner Manifest with Fixit. He can't botsit."
"And we're here." Cody added, not looking away from his own screen where he watched his family struggle to get a blazing fire under control. "You guys focus on the mission. We'll hold down the fort."
The monitor's beeping startled Cody into a stark upright position. "Heatwave! It's the go ahead!" He gasped while at last spinning around in his chair.
"The Higher ups finally made a decision?" Hotshot gasped in mock shock.
Heatwave didn't respond to the snarky comment, reading over the mental comm he would have received from Cody's console updating him and the other professors about the mission. Wedge didn't like the seriousness overtaking their entire auras. It didn't bode well. "They can't contain the fire. It has spread to the whole facility."
Boulder picked up the thought right where Heatwave left off. "And even with the blast doors protecting the reactor core, the fire is compromising the structural integrity of the entire building. If it collapses onto that room, it could melt down."
Wedge nodded along, trying to keep the growing worry off his features, and out of his own energy field in general. Professor Heatwave was right. This was a dangerous mission. More so then most. He wasn't sure if anything could push the stakes higher… But of course, there was more.
Heatwave's optics darkened. "They just learned about a school tour going through the facility before the fire broke out. They weren't among those that evacuated. They are trapped behind those blast doors in the reactor room."
"That is comically bad luck." Hotshot deadpanned.
"And those kids are gonna be scared of us, right?" Hoist said.
"Not as scared as they are of the fire I'm guessing." Heatwave corrected. "Hoist is right though. We'll have an audience team, but don't let that intimidate any of you. We've done this kind of fire rescue before, and I know we can do it again."
Wedge's teammates were fired up despite the stakes. But the cast imprisoning his ped was a very heavy dampener on his own self-confidence. He didn't have time to wallow in it. "Now, let's roll to the rescue!" Heatwave raced into one of the Academy's quick shoots that led directly to the Space Bridge Hub, followed by his team and the recruits.
"Go get em' Blue!" Lefty shouted after Chase, failing to hide his own snicker as he did so.
Chase grumbled a quick, "That better not be a persisting moniker," before he vanished into the shoot.
Wedge was the last through his own, no matter how fast he attempted to limp. He clung to Cody and Frankie's encouragement that followed him into the shoot. By the time he arrived at the Hub, the Ground Bridge was fired up with most of his team already through. He reminded the ache in his Spark they didn't have time to wait for him on this mission. He hardened his resolve and jumped through after them.
Bright blue sky draped over a crisp Virginian day greeted him on the other side of the portal. Wedge made a habit of taking a quick mental note of each scene they arrived at, no matter how chaotic. This was no different. In the first few seconds, he spotted Chief Burns, lockstep with local police and other military trying to form some sort of perimeter. His daughter Danie scanned the skies from a copter, her voice booming over her intercom, ordering people back to a safe distance. Heatwave's Partner Kade was with the local fire fighters, trying to contain the blazing inferno devouring the whole front half of the massive building. By the looks of things, they were having little luck. His audios caught the voice of Graham chatting with workers from the plant who managed to escape, all combing over blueprints. Those blast doors protecting the power core, and the school kids, wouldn't hold for much longer at this rate.
And then Wedge noticed the people. It was about the same time the people noticed him.
The gasps were audible even over the roar of the inferno. The already impressively sized crowd behind the police tape, currently disregarding the order to retreat shifted its collective focus from the flames and found the massive metal forms who had appeared on scene.
Well, maybe this could work in their favor. If people ran away screaming, they would still be safe. whatever got the crowd to disperse and away from the danger. But to Wedge's surprise, that wasn't what happened. Many were scared, that was clear enough to see. But the fascination held everyone captive. Fingers pointed; hands slapped over agape mouths. Hundreds of phones flew from pockets, greedy cameras eating up their images. And here they were, not in vehicle mode. Just, out in the open.
All part of the plan. Chief Burns's shouts for everyone to leave for safety might as well have been a buzzing fly the crowd was shooing away. Wedge felt his anxiety start to get the better of him all over again.
"Alright team, focus up!" Heatwave's order shook Wedge back to reality. "The local fire rescue will back up once we engage. First, we get the fire under control enough to get into that front building! Whirl, the river!"
"On it, professor!" Whirl burst into her copter form, to the clear amazement of their audience. She snatched a large hose and pump and raced to the river just adjacent to the facility.
Wedge took a step back, trying to determine his best course of action. Heatwave and Hotshot begun bombarding the fire with their water cannons. Whirl was getting more water for when they inevitably ran out… Boulder left to find Graham. He would be downloading the schematics of the facility from the workers. Graham had to help, as they were rather distracted by Boulder's presence to get the task done in a timely fashion.
Medix was trying to assess any injured who escaped the plant. Most had a hard time talking to him, but he did his job well enough even without words.
Blades was already in the skies along side his own partner, redirecting traffic or dissuading more curious pedestrians from coming towards the smoke. But that was a losing battle. Because the moment their group had been spotted, Wedge was sure their pictures were now splashed across the internet. Most of the small city probably knew, and wanted to see them, even despite the impending nuclear danger.
This was clear when Chase, in his most authoritative voice, came up behind Chief Burns and ordered the crowd to disperse for their own safety. The number of people had grown in the short time since they had arrived. The people gasped in fear at the massive alien's approach. They backed away from him, but did not leave. Phones continued to record and flash. Now news vans screeched up to the scene, pushing their way to the forefront of the crowd.
It was at this moment Wedge recognized he wasn't surveying the scene. He had frozen up. This never happened to him. Not on a rescue. He felt his heavy casted ped sinking into the muddy ground, further weighing him down into spiraling anxiety. He felt the whole world watching him fail at his job. The least he could to is get out of his team's way, maybe jump in the river.
"Wedge?" Hoist was shaking him by the shoulder. His friend looked very concerned, so who knows what his faceplates looked like.
"I…" Wedge stammered. "I can't transform. I'm going to slow you guys down."
"You don't need to. I need your help." Hoist insisted.
Wedge had a hard time believing he or anyone needed his help, but he wasn't willing to leave a friend hanging. He limped after Hoist, arriving to the city firetrucks nearest the smoldering building. "Tires stuck in the mud, and I can't aim my hook in the smoke. I need you to attach it for me so I can tow them to safety."
Wedge nodded numbly. It earned a smile from Hoist before he transformed. Ok... that was a simple enough task. No way he could mess this up like he did on the ship crashing mission. He appreciated Hoist for not totally giving up on him despite the pity party. Either he really needed help seeing in the smoke, or he was just giving Wedge a confidence boost.
He attached Hoist's hook to one of the stuck truck's tow clamps, then sent an affirming ping. Hoist yanked the truck away through the mud and ash, leaving Wedge waiting with the last one. If he could have transformed, he would have just pushed it with his scoop claw… The people watching them screamed. Wedge hurled himself around in time to see debris fly into the air. A portion of the plant's roof collapsed. They were running out of time. He grit his denta. He didn't need his scoop claw, he still had two servos and one good ped!
Without waiting for Hoist to return, and making sure Medix didn't see him pull the stunt, he lifted the stuck end of the fire truck. He grinned victorious as it rolled back. He was able to place it back down and start pushing it away from the heat of the building. This way they could wholly focus on getting into the building- "Ow!" He stumbled to a stop, leaning heavy into the truck and fully taking all the weight off his cast when pain jolted up his ped. He must have stepped on it wrong, or sunk into the mud too deep… Ok, so he wouldn't do that again. But now he worried he had somehow rebroken a hydraulic. Wouldn't that be his luck to rebreak his ped right in the middle of a deadly rescue with a whole city and a class full of school children on the line? If the radiation didn't kill him on this mission, then Medix definitely would.
Hoist was back, and he masked the pain so he could hook up the truck. "They're still struggling with the fire." Hoist said. "I wonder what caused it to get so out of control?"
"I guess we'll find out once it's out…" He looked around the scene, wincing against the sting in his ped when he stumbled. He hadn't tripped on his own cast that time. It was a hose not in use and half sunk in the mud. More water would come in handy. He followed it with his optics to the street and found the yellow coat of a firefighter struggling to loosen the lock on a hydrant. It was Kade. He could help with that too.
He pushed the potential of a renewed injury from his mind and hurried as fast as possible to Kade's side. The hydrant wasn't far from the police line, so this was the closest he had gotten to the crowd. They could practically touch him, gasping, whispering, looking up at him with terror in their eyes. 'Ignore it, focus on the mission.' He thought, kneeling despite his cast and his now screaming ped. "I thought you guys were supposed to fall back?" Wedge said.
Kade just scoffed at that assertion. He continued to stubbornly wrestle with the wrench on the hydrant. "And let you Bots get all the glory? No thank you. If we are all getting melted by radiation, I want to go down as a hero, Gah!" He kicked the hydrant. "But now that you're here, twist this will ya. I'll make sure to file a formal complaint with the fire chief here in the city, cuz there is no way they have had this inspected recently."
Wedge went to open the lever, smiling over his shoulder at Kade. "And by formal complaint, you mean you will be treating him to your famous colorful language?"
Kade snorted a laugh. "Damn right."
There was a commotion in the crowd, and the next thing Wedge knew, there was no longer a police line.
A camera crew had materialized before him. The woman with the microphone aimed upward was shouting at him over the uproar. "Are you with the initial invasion that sent out the worldwide message across Earth?"
Another man with his own news crew attacked right on the end of her sentence. "Will there be more of you coming? How many of your kind are on Earth right now? How long will they remain hiding?"
Wedge blinked, and more had materialized. "Was the US government really complacent in the secret like you claimed?"
"Was Russia in on the conspiracy?"
"Is this an invasion?"
"Why are you here?"
"What do you want with Earth?"
Like a pack of Scraplets, they were edging ever closer. The rest of the crowd was right behind them with their own prying eyes and cameras poised to eat Wedge alive. He was frozen again, his voicebox choosing now of all times to stall and his ped pulsing painfully. He, had to say something, right? But he was a Rescue Bot, not an ambassador for his whole people. He was going to incriminate himself and his friends or get them all locked up in a lab somewhere underground or start an interplanetary war.
A flash of yellow jumped in front of his vision. Kade had come to his rescue. "Hey! Back behind the line! We're working here!" He snarled at the crowd. Kade was human like them, so he could be as nasty as he wanted with no consequences. Chief Burns finally arrived with more police tape, and the false barrier was restored once more. But now Wedge was very cautious, recalling how easily that fake peace of mind could crumble.
Wedge forced his focus back down to his task, pushing the hydrant's lever down and starting the powerful waterflow. Those news crews were still yelling at him, but behind that line again, he was able to pretend they were just part of the crowd. An amorphous mass with no individual queries trying to pick away at him.
Kade and the Chief were talking, worried about the ever growing mob. Military trucks had now arrived, trying to force people to disperse. The Chief was quick to try and stop that, arguing any show of force would be seen as connected to the Bots. The last thing they needed was the world seeing the Cybertronians as any more threatening than they were already perceived as being. Kade redirected his aforementioned foul language towards the military personnel to give his dad back up. Wedge decided to make himself scarce from this scene. He'd leave this to human hands and return to somewhere safer for him, like the burning nuclear power plant.
He winced against his ped, using a light pole to stand. Yeah, he would definitely need Medix to scan his ped again after this was over. He was not looking forward to that conversation.
"Are you ok?"
Wedge wasn't even sure how he had managed to hear that one query over all the other chaos, but he had. And somehow he knew it was directed at him.
Once again, someone had breached the police line, but his questioner was not a Energon thirsty news reporter or terrified citizen. It was a woman, having broken free from the amorphous mass of the crowd and regaining her individuality. She was hesitant to get much closer, but still approached more then any other had, even the reporters. Wedge recognized her uniform. Colorful scrubs adorned with cartoon ponies. She was a nurse. He recognized that same concerned healers look. Medix had it.
"You understand me?" She ventured, edging ever closer. Behind thick black rimmed glasses, she flicked her gaze from his own, to his cast. "Are you hurt?"
He looked down at his cast. She had recognized his injury. She may have even seen his struggle with the firetruck. Or him wincing in pain just a moment ago. Had more people noticed it too? Should he be embarrassed?
"Y-Yeah. I'm fine." He promised. The nurse was a bit startled. She was probably amazed he spoke English. But then she gave him a little nod, retreating back before the military forces caught her past the line. Before he lost sight of her in the crowd, he gave her his best attempt at an assuring grin in the situation. "We space folk are built tough. But thanks, for the concern." He limped back towards the building; wincing, because he was now sure the sentiment was as awkward as it felt when he said it. But it had meant a lot. That random human had swallowed primal fear and approached a massive alien robot, with a burning nuclear powerplant as a backdrop. All to make sure said alien wasn't hurt. He could kick himself with his last good ped for not getting her name… but that probably would have made things even more awkward.
By the time he had returned to his team's side, the front of the building was extinguished. It was enough for them to move in. Boulder transformed and rammed into the massive blast doors with his scoop claw. It only took a few good hits to break the door down. More flames greeted them, but Heatwave and Hotshot blasted through them.
Wedge tailed the back of the party, studying the blueprints Boulder had sent everyone via commlink. He helped keep an optic out for structural damage caused by the fire with Boulder. He couldn't transform, but he would find every other way to help. He could carry out kids. He'd throw himself on top nuclear rods if he had to. Whatever it took to save the city. That nice nurse lived here after all.
Thanks to the blueprints, Wedge was ready for the hallway to split. The left would head straight to the power core where the kids were, and the right was a detour to the same room. What he wasn't ready for, was the main hall to be blocked by fallen rubble. The longer way around to the right was consumed with flames.
Heatwave started on the flames with his reserve water, "Recruits! There are holes in the rubble. You should be small enough to fit through. Get going! We'll be right behind you once the flames are out."
Of course, fate would separate them from the professors. No use crying over it now. Wedge rushed to the smoldering rubble alongside his fellow small rescuers. Heatwave was right, there were spots in the fallen wreckage where they could squeeze through. He got his servo pistons into the small space and shoved them open even further. He made sure to keep the weight off his bad ped.
"Thanks Wedge!" Whirl said as she slid through the opening.
"Knew you could do it." Hoist whispered as he rushed through.
"Don't strain yourself more then you have to!" Medix snapped in place of praise as he ran by.
Hotshot gave his straining shoulder an assuring pat, "How about that! You found a way to be useful after all!" and he ran off after the others.
Wedge growled after him, squeezing through the same tunnel. "Gee, thanks Hotshot."
Even through the smoke, the Bot sized shadow snatched Wedge's attention. He spun around to face whichever of his professors would be there, perhaps in need of more back up on their end. But it hadn't been them. He spotted his professors fighting the blaze down the other hall, almost out of sight in the haze of ash and flashing alarms. He shuttered his optics, trying to run a scan through the smoke. That shadow was too big to be a human still trapped. He was sure he saw another bot…
"Are you coming Wedge?!" Hotshot's voice shouted from the other side of the makeshift tunnel they had burrowed through the rubble. "We need more muscle here! I was just joking about the whole 'useful' thing, if that's what's slowing you down! Ow! What was the slap for Whirl?"
Wedge gave the spiraling smoke one more hesitant glance before he pushed his way after his teammates. He came out the other side faced with another blast door and more fire. Medix was trying to pry the door open with his jaws of life after Hotshot had extinguished most of the blaze. The jaws of life bit jagged openings for everybot present to get a hold into the spaces on either side of the doors and attempt to pull them apart. But as Hotshot had said, they needed one more. Wedge cracked the pistons in his knuckles. He could handle this too.
He got a good grip on the doors alongside the others and pulled hard. The door screeched in protest against their combined strength. But it yielded at last, screeching on its track.
"I loosened it for ya!" Hotshot assured Wedge as they continued their tug of war. Wedge grinned. So that was how it was going to be? Challenge accepted. He yanked on the door harder, planting both peds on the floor to get a better angle, now determined to get his side open before Hotshots- "Ouch!" He jumped off his bad ped, recognizing his mistake and regretting it instantly.
Hotshot's competitive smirk vanished. "What's wrong?"
Hoist winced. "Was it because you helped me with moving the firetrucks?"
Medix spun around as if he were on a turntable, murder in his optics. "You moved firetrucks?" he demanded with a hiss.
"Yell at me for it later." Wedge grumbled while trying to wait out the sting in his ped. "The doors are open. The kids getting out, and not having the city melt is more important."
Medix stood up. He subspaced away his tools while fixing Wedge with a glare that promised the conversation between them wasn't over. But they did carry on, squeezing in between the now ajar doors. Smoke didn't bellow from the room. So, no fire for once. Small victories. The power core was safe. For now.
The room matched the plans Boulder had shared. Multiple pools of deep water, containing the specialized nuclear rods in its depths were situated in the center of the large space. Railed walkways bordered and crisscrossed each pool, control towers and panels looming over each. It was all a delicate web of wires and tubes that would throw everything into catastrophe if more then a few fail safes felt like deteriorating. And if this day, and the fire, had proven anything, Wedge wasn't willing to take any more chances in that department.
"Visual on the kiddos!" Whirl exclaimed with sudden glee. She pointed a finger to a huddled group hiding under one of the closest catwalks. Thirty small whimpering forms clung to each other or one of the two teachers, both trying to keep them all calm. So far, the children and their caretakers had yet to notice the Bots. The noise of the ever-present alarms or churns of the facility and its machinery must have drowned out the commotion they caused getting the blast doors open.
"Alright!" Hotshot said, clapping his hands. "Let's get them out! Bonus points if we get it done before our professors get here." He started towards the catwalk, then halted, pointing an accusing digit at a hardhat wearing man typing vigorously into one of the many machines. He hadn't noticed them either. "Who in Primus is that guy?"
Wedge shrugged. "Maybe the acting tour guide for the kids before the fire?"
Hotshot scoffed. "Then why didn't he get the blast doors open?"
"He couldn't." Wedge stated. "Not alone anyway. In the event of a facility wide emergency, the blast doors slam shut, no matter who is inside the main tank. It's to protect the city just in case of a meltdown… You would know that if you read over the plans."
"Reading plans is why we have you around." Hotshot said with a wink.
"Doesn't matter, we'll save him too!" Whirl insisted. With fluttering rotors, she skipped over the grated flooring towards the pack of scared children. "Hey kids! Sorry your fieldtrip tanked in the most colossal of ways, but no worries! We're with fire and rescue! We're here to get you all out of here!"
Finally, the kids, teachers, and the hardhat man, heard that. And then the humans turned. The man pulled his focus from his machines and the children from their teachers. And they all zeroed in on the Bots. It was like someone dropped a rock into the cooling pools, sending surreal ripples of pure confusion through those they intended to rescue.
Reality slammed into Whirl first when at least half of the children shrieked out in terror. Some originally whimpering children now broke down into open sobs while others scrambled to better hide behind their teachers. The two adults of the group stood stunned and in disbelief, but still trying to protect their large group of children. Protect them from the Rescue Bots.
Whirl had frozen in her tracks the moment the children started to scream. She took a step back, then settled on not moving at all when each tiny flinch caused a renewed panic in the human group. "Right… This isn't Griffin Rock. I'm scary here." She realized. Seldom had Wedge seen Whirl so utterly Sparkbroken. Her sorrowful yellow optics twitched about the room as she thought. "Um… Help me out guys. How do we rescue them if they are scared of us?"
Hotshot sucked in a regretful intake. "Um, pick them up anyway and apologize later?"
The look she gave Hotshot was enough to say that was unacceptable. "Maybe vehicle modes will be less scary… Hey kids! Look look look!" As slowly as she could manage, she transformed into her copter form. Then she shifted back, smiling, then transformed again. Not great for her T-Cog, but not even Medix was complaining in this instance, because the kids were entranced. "I'm an alien helicopter from outer space! Isn't that wacky?" She shifted back to bot mode, still showcasing her most winning smile. "I came all the way to Earth with my friends because I heard it was the coolest place to live! You know I'm in school just like you! A rescue school to help people. That's why we're here, to help you all get out of here so you can go home to your families! I promise, we won't hurt you!" Silence answered her. But they were listening, and no longer screaming, so that was a start.
The building rumbled, dust and small fragments raining down onto them and into the bright blue pools. Every pair of optics and eyes looked to the ceiling.
"Supports may be giving out." Wedge stated to the room.
"T-Th-that is what it was." Confirmed the hardhat wearing workman. He was currently pressed to his workstation, as if trying to phase through it to get away from the bots. His focus was torn between the aliens a few feet away from him and his monitors at the station as they counted down to impending nuclear doom. With a great deal of effort on his part, he shifted his gaze to the teachers. "The doors are open now. We need to get out, before it collapses."
"We cleared a path to the exit." Wedge assured the adults. Him talking made all three of them jump. "Yes, we are alien robots. But more paramount to you, we are here to help."
"No one else is coming." Hotshot felt the need to add. "It's too dangerous. Ya know, because of the radioactive rods in the swimming pools over there."
Another, much more violent rumble in the building was the deciding factor. The teachers started to coax the children from their hiding place under the grated steps. Whirl made herself so low to the ground to appear nonthreatening she might as well have been laying down as she showered the kids with praise. "Great job guys! You all make a perfect single file line. We are almost on our last year of rescue school and me and Hotshot still struggle with that."
"I can stand in a single file line." Hotshot objected.
Wedge was limping over to the control console, but he made sure to laugh at that assertion. "I'm sure Professor Heatwave would have a lot to say about that Hotshot." He tried to ignore the hurt in his Spark as the Hardhat man almost jumped over the guard rail to get away from his approach. With feather light touches (so not to break it) he tapped at the console to bring up the main reactor cores diagnostics. Luck finally decided to cut them a break. Everything was still intact. Of course that was subject to change any klik if the roof felt like giving out. "Where did the fire start?" Wedge asked, focus still skimming through the diagnostics. When the Hardhat man didn't answer, he glanced over. The human jumped in surprise. He must not have assumed he was talking to him. "Was it some new hire microwaving tinfoil in the breakroom? I'd hope not, seeing as what you all are working with in here. Unless you're that desperate for new hires. I would hope the standards are a little higher." He was trying desperately to lighten the tension between human and bot.
The man seemed legitimately surprised Wedge understood human concepts like break rooms or microwave mishaps enough to reference them. "Um… No. The fire started in the storage room adjacent to the reactor core. We, don't know what started it… We were investigating reports of unauthorized access and then the fire broke out. And due to the proximity of the fire, is why the blast doors locked so fast. It was to protect the reactor core and the rods, but that trapped us inside. Only a manual override from three codes could get them open," He gave the heavy doors a glance where the Rescue Bots had pried their way in. "At least, to get in the normal way."
"We're unconventional." Wedge said with a shrug.
"That's one word for it." Hoist snickered, halfway through pulling up a beam that had fallen into one of the pools.
The man gave the creaking support beams above them another suspicious glance. "Leaving won't make a difference. Nowhere in a massive radius will be safe if the ceiling caves in on this chamber and the core melts down." With that bleak outlook, he gave the children a forlorn look.
"No worries. Our professors are almost here." Wedge promised. The man gave him yet another curious, mostly cautious expression. "Their tools and bodies are bigger than ours. Plus, they have stabilizing foam for this exact kind of situation. Something back home tries to melt down or collapse in on itself every other week, so we have plenty of that foam. Once the whole darn island almost fell in on itself and they needed to reinforce it. They'll keep the roof from collapsing while we get out of here."
The man's features wrinkled. "There are, more of you?"
Instead of being offended, Wedge shot him back a playful grin. "Lucky for you."
"I'm worried about the smoke levels still in the hallways and currently coming into this room." Medix interjected. Wedge saw he was stationed near the blast door, beeping device on his servo holding his focus in a deep frowned. And indeed, black noxious smoke was poring into the once safe space of the power core chamber through the hole they made. "The humans won't make the trip through the halls because of it."
"Not with that attitude." Hotshot quipped.
"Our vehicle modes!" Whirl gasped loudly. She sunk back down, reigning in her outburst when many of the kids jumped in surprise. "Everyone can ride back in us and be safe."
Medix contemplated that. "That should work." He did a quick helm count. "Even without Wedge, There should be enough of us to take everyone in one trip… If our would-be passengers will remain calm with that concept?"
The Hardhat man gave Wedge a very weary look. "What concept?"
"You saw my friend change into a helicopter, right? We can all do that." Wedge explained. Of course, the man, and both the Teachers were less then thrilled with the plan when they put two and two together.
"Or you can stay here and wait for the smoke to fill the room." Hotshot added bluntly.
"You couldn't have found a gentler way of putting that?" Hoist murmured.
"Sure, when we aren't in a burning nuclear reactor." Hotshot transformed on the end of that sentence, opening all his doors, and revving his engine. "Metal to the petal guys!"
Whirl rolled her optics. "How about a game, kids? Whichever Bot you ride with has to tell you their favorite alien secret!"
"I never agreed to that!" Hotshot protested.
The next rumble cut the chatter to an end. A massive chunk of ceiling ripped from its supports. Wedge was to far to catch it. Like Whirl, who shielded the children with her chassis, he threw himself over the Hardhat man to keep the other chunks raining down from bludgeoning him. Hoist managed to shove the largest ceiling piece off course before it splashed into the water where it would have crushed the rods at the bottom.
Everything settled, and the silence between each party was suffocating. The Teachers thawed from their wide-eyed fear and finally started shepherding the kids towards Hotshot's open doors.
"You guys are so brave! I'm jealous!" Whirl praised before transforming into her wheeled vehicle mode too and popping open the doors. Medix was right. They should all fit, even with limited seats and a large class. Wedge could curse his stupidity and his cast for the tenth time that day but decided there wasn't much use in wasting time doing that.
"I can't leave the console in case of a meltdown." The Hardman reported morosely.
"My professor Boulder will be able to fix any problems when he gets here." Wedge promised. "I'd grab a ride before there aren't any left."
"Can you, not change into a car too?" The Hardhat man ventured, starting down the steps towards the others.
Wedge vented. "Under normal circumstances, I can." He grumbled, giving his casted ped a shake. He watched from the sidelines as his fellow recruits all transformed and loaded up their small passengers. Lots of the kids had to sit on each other's laps due to the limited seats. Stupid cast not letting him transform…
A shrill cry jolted Wedge from his sulking. What had gone wrong? Almost all the children were in a Bot, every one of his teammates having transformed and loaded up passengers.
He hurried as fast as he was physically able with his temporary disability. "What's going on?! One of the rods break?"
He arrived on the scene. Medix, in his vehicle mode and unable to revert back to bot mode due to his passengers, was trying to talk to the one teacher still out of a seat. She was knelt under the grate steps where their group had once sought refuge. She looked like she was trying to coax a final crying child out from hiding. Wedge wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. If she was scared, he was sure one more bot crowding the kid would not help… And then he saw the truth of their situation. The little girl whimpering in the shadows of the staircase had a thick leg cast running from her knee down to her foot. Its straps were tangled in the grated floor under her.
Medix was asking about a million medical questions. When did she break it, what type of break, was she in any more pain after she tried to get up from the ground, etc… He was probably trying to determine if it was healed enough for them to just remove it so they could get her out. Of course it wasn't that easy. The teacher revealed she had just broken it a few days ago. If the cast came off, they risked rebreaking it.
Medix vented loudly under his hood. "Ok, everyone out again. I need to handle this."
"We don't have time for you to unload and transform and then load up again." Wedge pointed out. He was now looking up at the smoke as it filled the room, inching ever closer to them. "I'll just bend the grate floor off her leg."
Medix grumbled under the rumble of his engine, not committing to the idea.
"You can yell at me if I overstep anything." Wedge promised.
"Deal." Medix conceded.
The teacher stepped out of Wedge's way, and he wasted no time bending the stairs away from the girl. He knelt slowly, taking in how badly the cast was tangled in the floor grating. She sniffled, watching as he looped a single digit between the metal rungs of the flooring and prying them apart.
"Hi, I'm Wedge by the way." He greeted.
"Alexis." She just scarcely whispered.
Wedge offered her a quick smile before reverting his gaze back down to his work. "Hey Alexis. Hope me and my friends haven't scared you guys to bad."
The little girl only shook her head, perhaps in an attempt to be polite. "Is this wasting too much time because of me? Will the rest of my class be able to get out?"
"No wasting time at all." Wedge insisted, breaking away another grate from her leg. "And we're all leaving together. No one get's left behind. It's not how we do things."
The girl sniffed. "It ruined my life." Wedge glanced up at her, not at all sure what she meant. She was fighting back more tears. "I can't swim on my swim team for months or play with my friends at recess. All because I thought I could jump out of a tree and roll like they do on TV… And now we're gonna burn to death, then radiate until we explode, all because my stupid cast got stuck."
Wedge hesitated. Well… This sounded oddly familiar. He broke away the final grate and made sure to support her cast so it didn't fall into the large gap he had just created in the open floor. "I can relate." Before he intended to lift her, he shifted so his own ped was in focus. "I didn't take really basic safety precautions on the way to a rescue, all because I thought I could get there faster then the rest of my team. Now I can't transform like my friends for a while… But it's not forever. We both can live and learn, right?" Alexis was hyper focused on his own broken ped. She was far too surprised to be sad anymore. Wedge held out his other hand. "Alright. Time to go." The little girl nodded her consent, and he gently scooped her up.
She clung to him for the brief moment she was in the air. Soon he was lowering her down into her teachers lap in Medix's passenger side seat. The door slammed shut before she could say thank you. Alexis pressed against the window, eyes fearful as the smoke started to swallow Wedge. He bent down to give her a reassuring thumbs up before she would lose sight of him in the smoke.
Almost at once, Medix pinged in his audio. /Wedge, report in please. Everyone is crying because they are convinced you have perished./
Wedge tried to refrain from snickering as he made his way towards the blast doors through the smoke. He activated his commlink, knowing his faceplate would pop up on Medix's and everybody else's dashboards. "Wedge reporting in! No worries, we're headed out."
/No need for tears guys! I promised alien secrets! I'll start!/ Whirl said, humming loud over the commlink as she thought. At least it was distracting their passengers from the rumbling building and swirling smoke. /Oh! Ok, this is super-secret, and the professors can't know. But I've been impressing Professor Blades with a lot of really complicated helicopter moves lately… And I maaaay have learned them from an off-world friend, who is, lets say, sort of a pro./
/Who is it?/ Hotshot asked.
Whirl hummed again. /He was, a Wrecker for a while./
/You know a Wrecker?!/ Hoist demanded, sounding betrayed for Whirl withholding such vital intel. /Since when?/
/Since, forever, actually./ Whirl admitted.
/Though awesome, this doesn't sound like something that's secret worthy./ Hotshot said with a scoff. /Why keep it from the professors?/
/Yeah…/ Whirl said, tone now bordering very guilty. /Wedge, do you remember when we first met, and You said, 'Hi, I'm Wedge!' and I said, 'Hey Wedge, my name is Whirl!' and you said, 'Whirl!? You mean like that insane one opticed Wrecker lunatic that was so crazy he was even kicked off the Wreckers?' And I said, 'No, I'm a different Whirl.'?/
Wedge blinked. "Yeah?"
/Weeeeell. NOW I'm talking about that Whirl./ She clarified. "Professor Chase must NEVER know. Big Whirl, or Papa W, as he dubbed himself, is the exact opposite of the concept 'doing things by the book'. Or by any laws of common sense."
/You are introducing us to him right after this./ Hotshot informed her.
/Only after you spill your own secret!/ Whirl informed him. /Come on now, I did it. It's your turn./
/I'm terrified of Dinobots./ Hoist offered up. /Does that count as a secret?/
/You trying to sell that as a secret?/ Hotshot scoffed. /Don't worry, we caught the subtle hints when you fainted after meeting Grimlock./
Wedge put his shoulder into the blast door and pushed hard, making more room for the team's wider vehicle modes to fit through. "Then how about you Hotshot?" He said between shoves. Though the ridiculous topic was hardly 'rescue' related, it was doing a great job keeping the kids distracted and giggling as the robot alien cars bickered back and forth. "Let's hear your secrets."
/Please. You guys already know everything about me./ Hotshot insisted with a snort. /I guess I've probably broken more Academy rules Professor Heatwave still hasn't found out about. But there's nothing shocking about that./
Sounds of disappointment came from over the commlink from within Hotshot's cab. Wedge tisked in mock disapproval as he continued to work on the door. "Wow Hotshot. We promised the kids alien secrets and you let em down? Not like you to disappoint fans."
As Wedge assumed he would, Hotshot stammered, desperate to come up with something so he wouldn't fail to impress. /I really don't… Um, uh, there was that time I painted Professor Chase's office green using Cody's paintball gun and then blamed it on Bad Luck Chuck!/
Medix let out a snarl in their lineup. /I knew that was you! The professors had me try and run three diagnostics on Chuck to find the supposed "paintball" glitch in his wiring!/
Hotshot didn't have time to apologize because he was already on a roll. /I like to add random stuff to the human museum that Heatwave tells me to throw out but I don't want to! I don't care if it's technically 'trash' it's cool!/
/I was wondering where those ten boxes of Gijoe toys came from./ Hoist surmised.
Hotshot far gone, now more in his own helm. /,Oh, and we're almost done with our final year at the Academy, and I still haven't admitted to my crush-/ He yelped, as if suddenly remembering where he was in space time and returning to his senses before he said anything more. /Um, forget that last part./
Whirl gasped, her excitement so great Wedge worried she was about to explode. /Hotshot… You have a CRUSH?! Who is it!/
"Yeah, you messed up by sharing that one. You need to spill it now." Wedge snickered.
Hotshot stammered. /No, It's… I can't! Not even-they…/
/That was not a cohesive answer, or decipherable English./ Medix informed him.
Even without Hotshot's assistance, Whirl attempted to crack the code. /Is it one of your Cube teammates on Cybertron? No, you mentioned the Academy, so it's here… Hotshot, is it one of us?/
/Please stop guessing!/ Hotshot pleaded.
Wedge finally forced the door open wide enough for them to all drive through, though he was sure the most relieved among them was Hotshot.
The grin fell from Wedge's faceplates as he stopped just outside the door, the parade of vehicles stalling behind him.
"What's wrong?" Hoist demanded, trying very hard to keep the tremble from his voice for the sake of the kids.
Wedge adjusted his optics against the thick smoke. There was movement. He had seen it again, and this time, he was sure. Down the adjacent hallway… The Hardhat man's words about something causing unauthorized access in the facility, and mysterious fires rung in his head as the shadow moved through the smoke, drawing ever closer. He squared up, preparing for anything. His teammates couldn't transform without exposing their passengers to the deadly environment outside their cabins… This was all up to Wedge.
Relief hit him like a semi truck, and he smiled. "No worries about the facility melting down, backup has arrived." He reported, mostly to the Hardhat man as the massive shadow on the wall became four. Heatwave, Chase, Boulder, and Blades crashed through the smoke; the final wisps of flames doused by the firebot. They had finally made it around the long access way.
Their professors spotted Wedge moments after he saw them. "The kids?" Heatwave inquired.
"And the final personnel currently being evacuated as we speak!" Wedge reported with a prideful grin.
Even through the smoke, Wedge caught Boulder mirror his own enthusiasm. "Told you they would do fine, Heatwave." He murmured.
Heatwave didn't acknowledge that, only patting Wedge on the shoulder as they passed him going into the reactor core. "Good work recruits. Get them out while we reinforce the roof over the reactor. We'll be right behind you."
The four of them vanished back into the smoke of the massive chamber, leaving Wedge to lead the way out of the facility. He made sure no one split off or was separated in the twisting hallways until the bright light of day broke through the black wall of smoke.
Wedge stepped off to the side, allowing his teammates to drive out of the fumes and towards the Burns and other awaiting rescuers near the sidewalk. He followed, suddenly in aw as he took in the sheer size of the crowd that had amassed while they were inside the burning facility. Humans clogged the streets in every direction for whole city blocks. They lined every nearby rooftop and stood on cars. The adjacent river had amassed a swarm of boats, all loaded with people wielding recording phones or just wide, curious eyes.
It appeared; the citizens had not taken the military's advice to remain at a distance. The moment word got out the aliens everyone was abuzz about were helping in the rescue, no amount of potential nuclear melt down could keep people from seeing them. Wedge was feeling light helmed again.
But they still had a job to do, and Wedge pretended not to notice how he was the primary focus, being the only bot not in disguise. He stopped alongside his teammates, intending to help unload the kids alongside Danie, Kade and the Chief. At least they had more than just police tape to keep the crowd from descending on them now. The military had set up a perimeter of vehicles and concrete barriers around the sidewalk, guarded by armed gunmen. That detail made Wedge more than a little anxious, but much like the gawking crowd, he tried to tune it out.
Hotshot, Whirl, Medix, and Hoist's doors opened, the first few kids started hopping out. Wedge thought the facility must have collapsed when the crowd bellowed a collective cry. But he saw the smug smile on Kade's face, and he felt the exhilaration rumbling through the streets. Then it clicked.
They were cheering. Pure celebration for the retrieval of the children, and the survival of the city from nuclear radiation. At the moment, it didn't seem to much matter if the saviors of the day were alien. Of course, that was always subject to change when adrenaline wore off. But for the moment, Wedge allowed himself to bask in the victory.