Rodimus strode down the corridors of the Lost Light, dead-set on catching up with his brother. He wasn't in as much of a hurry as he first was, as he figured he knew where, or at least narrowed it down, to where Bumblebee would be. Walking down the corridors of his mighty warship, he admired just how well kept it managed to be, even after all the millennia of war. 'Yeah, my ship,' He thought to himself, proudly. Optimus had thought it would be excellent leadership practice for his eldest creation to command his own ship. Of course, convincing Ultra Magnus to ceade one of the Autobots' most powerful vessels to an inexperienced youth was a challenge, but with his sire pulling a few strings, Rodimus had mostly gotten his way through the ordeal.
As he turned down the next corner of the of the corridor, he saw just the mech he was looking for. Leaning back against the wall next to the medbay, arms folded across his chest, was Bumblebee. He walked up to him quietly, trying not to startle him, and gently placed a hand on his brother's shoulder.
"How is the patient fairing?" Rodimus asked, in a more polite tone than usual. Bumblebee simply shrugged, and slid down the wall, resting on the cold metal floor.
*First Aid is doing the best he can, but he said if Magnus had gone on any longer, well, that poor bot wouldn't be online any more…* he whirred somberly.
Before he could even continue, Rodimus, in a rare sign of affection, embraced his younger brother.
"I know it's been difficult for you, after what that 'Con did to your voicebox, to see things like that." Rodimus said, doing his best to calm his younger brother down. He didn't necessarily care if any of the crew caught them like this, most of them have served under the two brothers long enough to understand the full picture.
*I just don't get why sire keeps that monster around. There are plenty of training dummies down in the rec room, why can't he take his anger out on those, and not his fellow Autobots?* Bumblebee buzzed, as small drops of cleaner fluid ran down his faceplate.
"I'm sorry, I know I should have stopped him the moment he raised his voice." The slightly older mech continued, patting his dismayed brother on the back. They sat in silence for a few more moments, though to them it felt like ages.
"Now, I have to go take care of arranging the next mission down to the planet. You sure you'll be fine?" Rodimus asked cautiously as he stood back up. He held out a hand, to which Bumblebee took to help get up.
*Yes, I'm better now.* he said neutrally. *Thank you, for putting up with me. I know it's not easy sometimes.*
"Hey, no need for thanks. I know that you'd do the same for me. And besides, those sessions with Rung have helped you a lot. I'm sure you'll be back to kicking 'Con tailpipe in no time." Rodimus said jovially, as he strode away.
As the purple mech walked down the halls, he commed a simple message to a certain slaghead SIC.
/You'd better be ready, meet me in the hangar ASAP./
…
In accordance with Rodimus' orders, Ultra Magnus had assembled his team and were currently en-route to their target destination on Earth. Onboard what would act as their mobile HQ for the time being, Ultra Magnus' crew were preparing themselves. Sharpening blades, cleaning blasters, and checking up on themselves, the assembled Autobots were selected because they had all stood out to Ultra Magnus. To his right, piloting the small craft was Wheeljack, his disgruntled but loyal weapons and engineering expert. Somewhere else on board were two more of his finest, that being Bulkhead, whos talents mostly consisted of A, building stuff, and B, breaking it twice as good as anyone else. And his direct subordinate, Seaspray. A fearsome boat-former from the time Cybertron once had water oceans, the old warrior had proven himself time and time again in the heat of battle. These three were the best of Magnus' old unit, the Wreckers. Other than the Wreckers, Ultra Magnus had brought along a few other Autobots he knew that he could rely upon. That being Cliffjumper, Brawn, Hoist, and Jazz.
The team's mission was to secure whatever energon they could find on this out of the way planet. Currently however, they were on their way to some mountain range, where an energon mining operation had already been set up. They didn't worry about being detected, as a combination of the dimness of the late-day sun, and the shuttle's cloaking technology, would surely prevent detection from anyone's sensors, human or Cybertronian.
With it having gotten so late into the evening, due to a combination of the kids losing track of time, and the Decepticons still adjusting to a shorter solar cycle, it was time for the kids to be taken back home. That afternood had been mostly spent introducing the humans to as many of the Decepticons that they could, and further answering any questions they had about Cybertron and their history. However, when agent Fowler showed up for an expected visit for on update on the Autobots, he was a little shocked at the presences of three youths, but after much explaining from Megatron, the special agent let the incident slide, so long as they did not get in harm's way.
Miko practically had to be dragged off the Nemesis when it was time for them all to go home. The ride back to her host parent's place was filled with loud rock music and more questions, now mostly focused on the topic of the 'Con she as speaking with, Breakdown.
"So, you and Knockout aren't from Cybertron?" she asked, turning down the music volume to hear his response better.
"No, we aren't, but I get why you'd be confused by that."
"Well, yeah!" she exclaimed, "Giant transforming robots don't sound like something that would just happen to exist on multiple planets!"
"A long time ago, Cybertron sent out colony ships to broaden their influence to other worlds, including ours. Velocitron, to be exact. Every speed-freak's dream, really. Our whole culture is based around racing, and everywhere you went there's just endless roads and racetracks running off into the horizon, with towns and cities dotted along the busiest routes."
"That's so cool, but uhh, no offence, you don't seem like much of a speedster yourself." Miko said questioningly, indicating to heavy-set frame of the Stunticon in question.
Breakdown chuckled at this. "No, your right. Speed was always Knock's thing, whereas I stuck to off-roading it most of the time. We might not have had such an oppressive caste system as Cybertron did, but Knockout sure started getting some strange looks when we first got together." Breakdown said, as his mind trailed off on thoughts of times gone by.
"Woah, dude stop!" Miko shouted, pulling Breakdown out of his trance. He braked hard, screeching to a halt in front of where Miko was staying.
"Almost went right past it big guy," she said in a jesting manner.
"Hehe, sorry about that. Got a little distracted."
"So, where ya' going next?" Miko asked as she got out of the orange armored truck.
"Nowhere, I'm on curbside duty in case any other Autobots come for you humans." he replied.
"Well, see ya in the morning big guy." Miko said, as she walked up to her house, and disappeared from sight.
…
Raf's ride home was fairly similar to that of Miko's, that being it was mostly a matter of getting to know their new guardians. When the conversation inevitably turned to the 'childhood' per-say of St-3, Raf was rather shocked with what he found out.
"A drone? That's what you and the rest of the Vehicons were meant to be?" Raf asked, dismayed at thought of all those individuals he'd met that day originating as cookie-cutter canon fodder.
"Yes, but thankfully that's not how things turned out for us." St-3 said reassuringly. "Sure, we all look alike, but every single one of us has some sort of tell, something that makes them unique. For most of us, we either have some sort of decals, like what you would call a tattoo. Some of us, myself included, go all-in on a new paint job we like. Rarest that I've seen though, are the few who get their frames changed entirely. Making themselves bigger, smaller, I wouldn't be surprised if at one point they tried to make a Vehicon combiner."
"So, what about your names? They are all just your batch numbers, has anyone chosen a 'real' name?" Raf asked.
St-3 pondered on this for a moment. He had never put much thought into giving himself a new name, as most everybot knew him, and during wartime it would get confusing to change one's designation, especially of a commanding officer.
"How about it then, a new name that is." he said after a while. "Got any suggestions, Raf?"
"Well, in some shorthand and informal text messaging, '3' is sometimes a substitute for an 'E', making your name 'Steve'." Raf replied, finding the idea of an alien taking on a human name funny.
"Steve, huh? I gotta say, I like the sound of it. And not too far off from my old name, either. Steve it is then." the newly-renamed Steve replied, jovially.
The rest of their ride was filled with further talks on how Earth culture and society functioned, along with similarities and contrasts with Cybertron.
…
Quiet. That was how one would describe Jack's ride back home. Other than the sound Airachnid's engine, and the rumble of her tyres on the asphalt, not much else was to be heard from either of the two. Out over the distant hills, the not-quite-yet-setting sun shone bright across the desert landscape, it's rays bathing everything in a sheen of golden orange.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Airachnid spoke up, unsure what else to say in the given situation. Jack looked confused for a moment, until he looked off and saw the bright light's radiance.
"Oh, yeah, sunsets are always pretty nice around this time of year." Jack replied, not picking up on Airachnid's mood towards it.
"I'll never get tired of seeing it. Reminds me of home." she replied, in a longing manner.
"Oxygen filled atmospheres always give off the best ones, really. The way the light danced and shimmered across the various colored metals and crystal formations of Cybertron is- no, was a sight to behold." she continued, more melancholic now.
"Wait, what? Your planet had an atmosphere? I mean, I know most planets do, but like, with air and ozone and all that stuff?"
"Yes, Cybertron did have what you humans would consider to be a 'breathable' atmosphere. And yes we do breathe, kind of. At the end of the day, we are machines, so our internal workings have to be kept cool. Venting, as we call it, allows us to cycle out fresh air, so that our coolant does not go stale."
"And you said something about Cybertron not being that way anymore?" Jack continued.
"Our weapons are far more destructive than anything you humans have made, and we were using them for four million years. Whole continental regions might never fully recover. You humans would probably die if you tried to breathe back home." Airachnid replied, in a matter-of-factly tone.
They rode in silence for a few more minutes, until they finally arrived at Jack's house. As they pulled into the driveway, jack pulled out his remote, and the garage door opened, and they drove inside.
"Roomy." Airachnid commented, observing the mostly empty garage.
"Yeah, well, make yourself at home I guess." Jack said, walking over to a worktable and set down his helmet, then closed the garage door.
Airachnid transformed, stretching out her limbs as much as she could confines of the garage.
"Let me guess, a minimalist? Never seen a garage so empty." Airachnid asked, curiously.
"Mom is, I guess. Doesn't hold onto anything she doesn't want for too long," Jack replied.
Just then, the sound of a car could be heard pulling up into the driveway.
"And speak of the devil…" Jack said, amused.
"I'll make myself scarce then." Airachnid said, transforming back into her alt-mode.
The garage door started to open, revealing a beige colored sedan now parked in the driveway. A woman with black hair, nurse's scrubs, and a bit taller than Jack, stepped out of the car.
"Jack? What is that… " June said, eyeing her son as he ran up to her.
"Mom, don't panic. I can explain." Jack said hurriedly.
"Can you?" she said, as she strode up next to the white and gray motorcycle. She kneeled down next to it, looking it over intently. "Jackson Darby, I did not expect this from you. I worry about you enough when you're not here, now I have to worry about you driving a motorcycle?"
Jack sighed, saying, "I'm sixteen, I can't be riding a ten-speed forever."
"How did you even afford this?"
"Um, it's used. It's, abused really. Needs a ton of repairs…" Jack continued, as he walked back over to the worktable, picking up his helmet.
"I may have been a kid when I bought this, but I'm not anymore. You always tell me to make responsible choices, so I chose her." he said, as they both stood next to the motorcycle. "And I'll be responsible. I promise."
"Her? I didnt think youd be bringing home girls just yet."
"I'd like to think she brought me."
"Well, I'm glad your starting to be responsible. You'll be good enough for the adult world soon enough." June said with a laugh.
"I still have a few more years I have to cross that bridge." Jack said, turning to enter the house.
"You go on ahead, I have some things I have to get out of the car first." June said, as she turned back. However, all she got out of her car was an old toolbox. She set it down on the garage floor, and opened it up. She grabbed a flashlight, and went back to the motorcycle. Checking the space between the body and the front wheel, she found what she was after; the bright red Decepticon insignia.
June couldn't help but laugh a little, though still making sure she wasn't heard, as she put everything away again. Before she went inside, she whispered something to the motorcycle.
"Take care of him, 'Nid. Or I just might scrap you myself." June said, lightheartedly.
The next day, it was a Saturday. The kids were excited at this, because it meant that they got to spend the whole day hanging out with the 'Cons. However, things at the Nemesis were very much different from how it was yesterday. It was as if it was a day off for them as well. Most of the Decepticons were either in their personal quarters, lounging in the various common rooms, or even just goofing around outside. Even the Constructicons had stopped their work on repairing the exterior of the warship for the day.
However, a small group of 'Cons and humans were up to something. In one of the empty corners of the fairly spacious bridge, Steve and Breakdown were working on setting up an elevated platform and a set of catwalks so that the humans could be closer to level with them. On his laptop, Raf had opened pictures of various buildings and monuments around the world, as the two Cybertronians had little knowledge of construction.
"So, this 'I-Fell Tower thing, is it some sort of antenna?" Breakdown asked curiously, as he placed another steel beam into position.
"'Eiffel', and it does have an antenna on top, but it was originally built for the World's Fair as the tallest structure in the world. Funny thing is, they didn't expect it to be set up permanently." Raf said with a laugh.
Sitting on top one of the supply crates, Miko looked up from where she was practicing on her guitar. "We have something similar back home, called the Tokyo Tower, but it's not as big. You guys should totally visit Tokyo someday, I can be your tour guide. It's a huge metropolis, just like the ones you described on Cybertron!" she said. In her excitement at the thought of showing the Decepticons around, she accidentally flung her arm across her guitar, and a horrible screeching noise emanating from her amp. Everyone on the bridge, except for Soundwave of course, was stricken with annoyance at this, especially a certain slacking seeker.
Skywarp bolted upright from where he had been sleeping away, face-down on his terminal's keypad. The purple seeker snapped his head around to see where that racket was coming from, but when he saw Miko cringing in embarrassment, his expression gave way to a grin.
"Look Miko, don't get me wrong, I like your tunes. But I can barely walk as it is, I'd rather not be deaf, too!" He said, jokily waving his walking cane in her direction.
Suddenly, an alarm went off, and Soundwave flinched back in excitement at what the scanners had picked up. Laserbeak chirped in excitement from her perch atop the terminal's monitor. Skywarp also let out a cheer after checking what had appeared on his monitor.
"What's going on? Alarms aren't usually something to be so excited over." Jack said, uncertain of what had gotten into them.
Soundwave turned around, and on his facial screen, a 3-D image of a glowing blue cube appeared. "Energon located." he said, for once his synthesised voice taking on a more gleeful tone.
"Woah, that's great!" Steve exclaimed, "Our reserves weren't gonna last forever."
Timely as ever, considering Soundwave always had the sense to alert Megatron, and the fact that his quarters are just down the hall, the big man in silver entered onto the bridge.
"Soundwave, how certain are you of these findings?" Megatron asked, cutting straight to the point, not even noticing the humans nearby.
"Margin of Error: Beneath 1%." Soundwave said.
"If it really is one of the old energon caches we sent here, why is it appearing just now?" Breakdown asked.
"Conclusion: Revealed by landslides." Soundwave replied, as his mask showed a satellite image of a seemingly collapsed mountain.
"Considering this is our first detection of energon on this world since our arrival, we must not miss this opportunity." Megatron said. He then turned to Breakdown and Steve, "Come, we ready ourselves. For if we have located this energon, I have no doubts the Autobots will have as well." he continued, as he strode towards the door to leave.
"Skywarp, I trust you will have no problem watching over our human friends?"
"Hey, no problem boss! Screamer's always saying how childish I am, so I'm sure I'm best qualified to handle the kids for a while." Skywarp said.
Megatron also commed Starscream and Airachnid, requesting that they come along in case an Autobot presence arrives.
Megatron and his assembled team of Decepticons stepped out of the swirling vortex of the ground bridge, finding themselves faced with a large range of mountains, surrounded by a vast forest. Luckily for them, there was no human settlement nearby to notice the anomaly of a mountain caving in on itself.
"Spread out, and report anything unusual." Megatron said, as he motioned for Starscream to come with him. Steve and Airachnid went for the other side of the ridge, leaving Breakdown to investigate the hole at the top of the mountain.
"Welp, better get hiking then." he said to himself, as he began his ascent.
…
As Megatron and Starscream made their way around the mountain, the side where the landslide had come down, their handheld energon scanners started to go off. Starscream sifted through the debris of the large mound of earth and gravel, and picked up a small, dark blue crystal. Not needing his scanner, he held it up to the sun. The few lines and cracks simmered in the light.
"Very pure, practically high-grade in a raw form." the red seeker said.
"Ah yes, of course. I sometimes forget that you are a mech of science as well." Megatron mused.
"That was before the war. However, I see no downside in staying sharp in all my skill sets." Starscream said with a smirk, proud of his intellect.
The two kept checking over the runoff for a while, until something caught Megatron's optic. He dug out some of the dirt with his hands, and pulled out a handheld drill.
"It would appear that we are not alone here." He said, as he showed it to Starscream.
…
Airachnid and Steve were stuck traversing through much rougher terrain than what they had anticipated. Here, the forest was more dense, and large rocky outcroppings made it even more difficult to maneuver around, especially for beings of their size. As they slowly trudged through the terrain, their silence slowly turned to conversation.
"So…" Airachnid said, trying her best at this point. "How have you been?"
Steve cocked his head, finding the question rather odd.
"Uh, good, I guess? Yeah, great even! All of us for the first time in half a century are united. The best of the 'Cons, together at last and all that, ya know? Also glad to see you managing fine. And meeting Raf, Jack, and Miko has been great too. I tell ya, if they weren't so small and squishy, I might have just tried to recruit them on the spot." Steve said joyfully.
"And what about you?" the blue vehicon continued. "No offence, but you can sometimes get a little on edge."
"I like to think I'm doing well. Sure, I have my less desirable moments, but don't we all? After all, Starscream is a prime example of being both a nervous wreck and charismatic."
The two of them had a laugh at their SIC's expense, who nearly worked himself to exhaustion under any form of pressure.
"There was also that time Megatron forced him to take a vacation, whilst we were in the middle of a battle!" Airachnid continued.
"No matter how great of a warrior he is, I wouldn't be surprised if he just slipped into recharged for a whole year once this is all over." Steve said with a laugh.
As they wandered on for a few more minutes, the trees started to thin out as they drew closer to the cliffside. And soon enough, they had stepped out into a clearing, where they could see a cave, drillmarks making it apparent that it wasn't natural.
Airachnid acted fast, activating her comms. "Megatron, we found something"
…
"Excellent work you two, we shall be over as soon as we can. Breakdown, how goes your investigation?"
"Reaching the top now, gonna get a closer look at this big sinkhole. I'll keep ya updated." the large orange mech said.
Needless to say, he was fairly winded when he reached the top of the mountain, and had a hard time keeping his venting to a minimum over the comms. After a few moments of rest, he carefully walked up to the edge of the sinkhole. Peering down, his optics went wide at what he saw. It may have been a long way down, but the paint scheme of the Autotroopers was easy to recognise. He went further ever so slightly, as he reached back to grab his binoculars to better survey the situation.
Activating his comms, he said "Ok, I've reached the sinkhole, and you aren't gonna like it. The place is crawling with AutobOTSSS!" he cried, as the ground shifted beneath him, sending him falling into the cavern below.
He landed with a hard thud, landing on something metal probably. In his dazed state, he looked around at the vast mining operation that the Autobots had set up.
A tall, beige and black mech strode over to him.
"Hello, Decepticon. Nice of you to drop in." Ultra Magnus said with an evil grin.