One day after the events of Chapter 2…
—-
Megatron visits the medbay for what seemed to be the 3rd time ever since the… discovery was made. This was, by far, the most he's ever been to the place in a single day. And he wasn't even injured or needing medical attention for any of those three times. The Decepticon warlord was simply… interested in the current developments that had to do with the recent discovery. But a certain flashy red Decepticon in charge of monitoring the discovery had a different reason in mind for his leader's practically constant visits.
As the sound of the automatic doors opening reached Knockout's audio receptors, the doctor couldn't help but grin a little as he turned around to greet his Master. He was probably here to see if the newly found femme had awoken from her unconsciousness. So far, she hasn't. But that didn't stop Megatron. In fact, nothing stopped Megatron. Even from doing the things he did yesterday. Though it was unbelievable for Megatron of all people to have done them, he still did do those things. And what did he do that was so unbelievable?
Well…
—-
Yesterday…
CLUNK!
Every single Decepticon in the room widened their optics as the once conscious femme blacked out all of a sudden. So many questions in their heads were running through their processors. But they knew that none of them had the right answers. But the most important question was uttered by Airachnid.
"How is that femme still alive!?"
Knockout grimaced as he grabbed a scanner from his inner compartments and began examining the femme. Breakdown busied himself with returning the drills to where he got them. While Megatron and Airachnid approached the red medic and his patient.
"To answer your question, Airachnid: I do not know. Her spark signature is faint. Nothing short of a flicker. But it's there. Which defies everything I know about Cybertronian biology. Her energon reserves are nonexistent! But she still lives. We can only ask her once she wakes up, I suppose." Knockout answered as he retracted his scanner and returned it back to his compartment.
"Well…if she wakes up." Knockout corrected himself.
"If?" Megatron asked with a growl. He didn't like uncertainties. Be it in battles and decision making. He hates it even more in this case.
"W-well. You see, Lord Megatron. My scanners showed that she has ZERO energon! Her spark is on its way to the Well by this point and there's this large h-" Knockout tried to explain but was stopped by his leader's shout.
"Then do something about it! Or is your title of 'doctor' just that, a title?" Megatron hissed. His glare penetrated the red medic's helm. The fact that their faces are inches close to each other didn't make the Decepticon warlord any less menacing.
"A-as you wish, Lord Megatron!" Knockout saluted. He was so into his panic mode that he didn't even ask himself why Megatron wanted to heal this random femme that was trapped inside this coffin of sorts. But that will be something future Knockout will concern himself with, so Present Knockout need not worry about it now.
"I will just lift her off the box aND?! Grrrr! Come on!... Huff huff huff… Breakdown! Get over here. I didn't expect this femme to be this heavy." Knockout shouted. His entire body was exhausted from trying to carry the strange femme.
"And big." Airachnid said as she flashed a light at the purple femme. The light illuminated the femme's entire body and what the Decepticons saw was that the femme was Huge. She was easily the height of Dreadwing at the least and probably exceeding Megatron's height at most. Her armour looked thin - which was strange since no smart Cybertronian would be wandering around without heavy plating protecting their soft areas - but it looked to be very strong and durable. And as the light passed by the femme's torso, the 'Cons noticed something weird about the femme.
"Is that a… is that a hole on her torso?" Breakdown asked. Which caught the attention of Megatron and Airachnid. It also made Knockout sigh in relief.
"Hah… finally someone sees. It must be a trick of the light for you to not see it at first. But the femme is seriously wounded. That, and compounded by the lack of energon and faint spark, proves that she wouldn't live to see the light of day." Knockout reasoned as he moved aside for Breakdown to carry the mech to the medbay as per Megatron's asking.
"Is that defiance I hear, Knockout?" Megatron challenged. Making the red medic run behind his blue assistant for cover.
"N-no, not at all. My liege." Knockout replied.
"Good. Now hand me the femme, Breakdown. You cannot carry her." Megatron demanded with authority.
"Oh-uhm. As you wish." Breakdown relented. Carrying the femme over to the warlord's arms even though he could carry her himself. All three lieutenants had various alarm bells ringing at the order. But no one was brave enough to address it.
I will not tolerate just standing around and doing nothing. Return to your posts!" Megatron shouted as the doors that lead out of the room opened themselves and closed up once the Decepticon leader was outside. Leaving all three 'Cons to register what happened. It was Knockout who spoke first.
"...Unbelievable."
The other 2 shared his sentiments.
—-
"Knockout. How is our newfound guest?" Megatron asked for the third time today.
"She's doing well, Lord Megatron. Her energon reserves have reached adequate levels and are about to peak in a few hours." Knockout replied as he hid a mischievous smile. He watched with great interest as his leader approached the medtable where the femme was sleeping.
Megatron stayed silent. Like he had for the past two times he has been here. All he was doing was walking around the room. Just… observing the resting femme. And Knockout couldn't blame him. Their new guest was easily the most pleasant bot to look at. Her beauty is unmatched. Even Airachnid (and trust me when I say this, if she wasn't crazy I might have tried to hit on her - Knockout) couldn't compare to her. Both beauty wise and physically wise.
That's the one thing that baffled the doctor. How can a femme be so huge that only Megatron can equal her in height and size?
"Knockout. Do you have any… theories that might answer how this femme got into that coffin and still live?" Megatron asked in a way that seems like an order to start thinking.
"Well I-uhm…" Knockout stuttered. He's been like this ever since yesterday and he can't help but hate his addled processors for it. He might get punished if he keeps acting like this! With a short cough to reorient himself, the medic answered with his theory. One that has been in his head for a while now.
"Ehem. Forgive me for my stutter, Lord Megatron. But as per your question, I believe I have one theory of mine. One that has been backed by a considerable amount of evidence."
Megatron shifted his gaze away from the femme for the first time since coming to the medbay. Intrigued at what Knockout had to say.
"Explain." Megatron commanded.
"Right. Going on to that." Knockout hastily replied as he reached for his holo computer situated at the left side of the patient's medtable and redirected the hologram monitor to where Megatron was so that the warlord could see it.
"Is that the Ununtrium container from yesterday?" Megatron asked aloud. Wondering why that thing is meaningful to the conversation.
"After I sorted my patient with the adequate care and fixing she needed - that large hole at her side being the most significant I had to deal with - I went down back to where the container was and scanned it. I was merely seeing whether or not the box was made of true, unalloyed Ununtrium. For military purposes of course. But we will discuss that later-"
"Oh? But you have already caught my attention with the metal. Why don't you enlighten me with that first?" Megatron asked. His eyes gleaming with a newfound interest in the container.
"R-right! Of course." Knockout replied. Clearly not expecting his leader's reaction. "Moving on then. Ununtrium has great qualities that can make most mechs who use it for armour incredibly resistant to blasterfire and physical attacks. I say most, since some would prefer to forge weapons out of the metal due to its amazing ability to maintain an extremely sharp edge without the risk of shattering. If we had the proper tools, we could utilise the container and break it into ingots that we can use-"
"To increase my power tenfold." Megatron said as envisioned himself armoured with the Ununtrium and stabbing his enemies with his blade made of the same metal. He clenched his right servo right in front of his chest as he said it.
"Yes, I was alluding to that." Knockout said but inside he was patting himself on the back for stopping himself on time since he was about to say, '-[that we can use] to make medical tools that lasts for more than a century.' He dodged an ion blast there, that's for sure.
"Now, what were you saying about your true findings?" Megatron asked as he looked again at the holo-monitor.
"According to the metallograph in my scanner, the container…" the warlord could see his lieutenant's optics widen at the revelation his monitor was showing him.
"What is it? And why are you working on the metallograph now when you could've done it yesterday?" Megatron asked. Impatience imbued in his voice.
"I simply let the computer do a longer computation of the data to get a more precise reading, Lord Megatron. I hadn't taken a proper look at the results until now, you see. According to the computer, the container is aged around 10-13 Million years." Knockout replied. Masking his surprise as he read through the data. He even brought it up on the holo-monitor that was in front of Megatron to show the leader that the calculations weren't wrong.
"...What?" Megatron thought out loud. Still reeling from the implications of the data. Because if Knockout's readings were true (which was being proved as true as he read through the holo-monitor), then the patient he was looking at right now might be someone educated (which is a veritable fact since everyone knows that femmes were always at the higher castes in Cybertronian society and always gets proper education) from the Golden age of before that. The era during the reign of the Primes isn't out of question if the coffin is 10 or 13 Million years old. If he could somehow revive her, Megatron could have access to ancient technology that would - not could, would - be the strategic advantage he needed to end this war. Who knows?
He might finally have a good reason he can use to rationalise his sudden… interest in the femme.
—-
"The Decepticons have been quiet recently."
"Indeed, Arcee. However, that cannot allow us to be complacent. We must continue our search for Energon. Bulkhead, come in. Have you found the cave?"
"*static*"
"Bulkhead. Report."
"*static*"
"He and Bumblebee might be in trouble, Optimus."
"Then we must be wary of any further surprises as we head to them. Follow me, Arcee."
Suddenly, the last Prime transformed into his alt mode and drove on the desert road. They were at the Gobi desert after Ratchet located an energon based signale there. After some deliberation, Optimus found it to be worth their time and groundbridged himself and his crew. It had been 4 hours since then. With Bulkhead and Bumblebee taking the north and Prime and Arcee taking the south.
Arcee had been healing for a while now during the past 2 weeks of Decepticon silence. She was itching for a fight ever since the battle at Castle Peak. Ratchet was adamant that she stay at the base to ensure a complete recovery, but she couldn't bear being cooped up in the base while the others scouted for energon. So, Optimus found a compromise: she must always stay by the Prime's side to ensure her safety if she was to go on this mission. A mission that was basically a milk run with how little Decepticon presence was here. The lack of 'Cons to fight was annoying to Arcee. And boring too. She might as well find something to alleviate her boredom. Otherwise, she might go crazy. Fortunately, she did have something in mind. It was a passing curiosity, but at this point she might as well go for anything. Who knows? It might be of value to her soon.
"Optimus. Do you mind answering a question?" Arcee asked through their telecom link.
"What seems to be the problem?" the Prime asked.
"Solus Prime. How much do you know about her?" Arcee asked. Which caused the Prime to perk up in curiosity.
"What brought this question to mind?" He asked as he took a right turn with the blue femme following suit.
"Well, after what you did with the Forge - both on the mountain and Bumblebee's T-Cog. I had a sudden interest in her. You seem to know a lot about the Primes since you are one, after all. So tell me, who is Solus Prime?" Arcee asked again.
Optimus grimaced inside. It was simply a genuine curiosity of a subject that became recently relevant. That's all. But he couldn't quite explain who Solus was to Arcee without it having felt as if he knew her personally. Truth be told, memories of a past that was both his and not his at the same time began plaguing him everytime he saw the Forge. It reminded him of the one he once called family so much that he decided it was best to hide the hammer in the hall of relics they just made to avoid melancholy.
Because as much as he remembered Solus' life. He still felt the pang of hurt as he remembered her lifeless husk being lowered into that coffin. Never to be seen again.
"Optimus? You've been quiet for sometime. Are you there?" Arcee asked in concern.
"Do not worry Arcee, I was merely remembering what I know of her." Optimus said. Half lying while half telling the truth. With the memories from an Ancient time, the last Prime began telling his story.
"Long ago, there were the 13. Beings of immense power who battled Unicron for eons until he was once again banished from this plane of existence. Cursed ever to stay dormant within this rock we now call Earth.
After the victory of the Primes, they all helped Cybertron flourish. Building the foundations that were needed for our people to live on our planet. Solus was one of the more creative of the Primes. She was incharge of constructing the infrastructure needed for future cities to thrive on. Alpha Trion always commended her for her brilliant innovations that paved the way for Cybertronian Civilization. However, he was most vocal of her contributions to the birth of Iacon above all."
"Wait, Iacon was made by Solus Prime?!" Arcee asked. Suddenly having a newfound respect for the Prime.
"Not in the way that you are expecting, Arcee. Solus was simply the creator of what we now know as the Iacon Hall of Records. Or rather, the structure that stood before the Hall became what it is we know today." Optimus continued. He was about to explain what he meant when all of a sudden, Bulkhead's signal came alive once more. He activated the comlink and began to speak.
"Bulkhead. Report." Optimus commanded once more. Increasing his speed as he worried that they might be in trouble. Arcee sped up as well.
"Sorry about that, Optimus. I couldn't answer your call because we caught some 'Cons at the cave sight. Finished them off while you were reaching out to us. Ratchet's signal was no joke. There's a lot of energon in here!" the green Wrecker exclaimed.
"I'll have Ratchet open a groundbridge." Optimus offered. Even as the danger was settled with, Optimus did not slow down. He thought it would be best if he reached his squad members on time.
"No need. Bumblebee called out to him right after the fight ended. He's now hauling
Crate after crate with us. Meet you up soon." Bulkhead said as he lifted 3 crates and began walking towards the groundbridge portal.
"Good work, Bulkhead." And with that, Optimus ended the comlink.
"Mind if we continue this discussion after the mission?" Arcee asked. Still fully invested in the story. She waited for the Prime to make a decision. And once Arcee saw a green and yellow blur at the horizon, she heard Optimus answer.
"Very well."
—-
"You mean to tell me that Alpha Trion knew that Solus Prime built Iacon?"
Optimus felt a sense of deja vu when he heard the words of Ratchet. And a sense of exasperation when he had to provide the real truth. Team Prime was now in the confines of their Base in Jasper, Nevada. The humans were sitting at the couch, totally enraptured by the story Optimus had told. And apparently so were the other Autobots, since their reactions mimicked Arcee's when he was recounting his tale.
"Again, Old Friend. It was not Solus who built the city. She merely built the Hall of Records where the epicentre of the city is. And as time passed on, the city we now know as Iacon grew around the Hall of Records." Optimus corrected.
"O-oh… I see. Forgive for not understanding." Ratchet said sheepishly. Earning a chuckle and a few snickers from both the humans and the Autobots in the room.
"Optimus, who's this Alfred Triad and how does he know about Solar Prime?" Miko asked innocently. Knowingly saying the names wrong to annoy both Jack and Raf. But she unknowingly set off Ratchet as he did not appreciate the joke.
"Miko, Alpha Trion was the mentor of Optimus Prime. Before and after he became a Prime. Alpha Trion was an ancient mech. If I am old to Bumblebee, then Alpha Trion is old to both Optimus and I in comparison." Ratchet replied.
"Alpha Trion taught me everything I know when it comes to archiving. I assisted him during the period before the war. Storing records and monitoring the artefacts in their respective holds. It was during this time that I encountered the Forge of Solus Prime and subsequently my discovery of its contributions to building the Iacon Hall of Records." Optimus added. Consciously adding the last part to dissuade any other thoughts or theories as to how he knew so much about Solus. Since his knowledge about his sis- predecessor might be assumed as a strange overfamiliarity concerning his fellow Prime that might bring up… unwanted questions. There is no reason to hide it from them other than it isn't the right time for them to know, or so Optimus thinks.
"Ooohhhh so your teacher told you about it? How did he get it anyways? Why is it so Strong?! Did you ever meet Solus Prime, Optimus? What was she like? Would she be as tall as Arcee or as HUGE as you? Also-" Miko's flurry of questions was suddenly stopped by Jack's hand that clamped the exchange student's mouth.
"Okay, that's enough of that, I think it's about time we went home. Don't you think so, Optimus?" Jack asked. Hinting at the fact that it was indeed late in the evening as well as blessing the Autobots with some sort of reprieve from the boisterous teenage girl.
"That I must concur. Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Arcee, you three must send your charges home." Optimus ordered. To which all three bots obeyed. Transforming into their alt modes and calling out to their respective humans to protect. He watched as the three Autobots drove through the large exit of the base. A calm silence blanketed the main room as they left.
"She had a point, you know."
Optimus turned towards his longtime friend. Who was fiddling with his computer. The medic's attention fully towards the holo-monitor in front of him.
"How did Alpha Trion know about Solus Prime's involvement in the construction of the Iacon Hall? If my processors recall correctly, he was the only Head Archivist of the library ever to work there. You and I both know that he's ancient, but by how much?" Ratchet asked again.
Optimus kept his face neutral throughout the medic's questioning. But inside, he applauded and grimaced at his friend's sharp mind that hasn't dulled a bit. He can't play dumb, since… Well, when has Optimus ever played dumb? He might be dumb at it if he tried it now. But Ratchet can't know the full truth… not yet at least.
"We can only guess, old friend. I only know what Alpha Trion taught me as well as whatever wisdom the Matrix of Leadership has provided me. He is a man of many secrets, after all." Optimus replied. Hopefully his answer was enough to dissuade the medic from asking anymore.
"Sigh… yes you are right, Optimus. We truly can only guess. Might as well stick with the present rather than the past." Ratchet said.
"I will leave you now, old friend. It has been a long day." Optimus said as he walked towards where the berth rooms are.
"See you tomorrow, Optimus."
—-
"Breakdown! Have you fetched the things I need?"
CRASH!
"Oh for Primus' sake. Breakdown, I needed that!"
The two Decepticon lieutenants were up and about in the middle of the night experimenting. It had been half a day since Megatron visited the medbay. During that time, Knockout made a startling discovery. One that caused him hours upon hours of research, analysis, more research, and more analysis until he could - without the benefit of a doubt - confirm his suspicion.
The femme lying on the medbay table wouldn't wake up. Even if she's fully stocked up on energon.
"I can't believe that I spent so much time caring for you that I didn't notice that your spark of all things was the real problem." Knockout muttered as he gazed at the unconscious femme. Pissed off that he didn't see this sooner. If you confused the red medic's behaviour towards the situation with compassion for a bot that was doing everything he can to shame someone halfway into the Well of Allsparks (the fact that he developed a sense of caring for the femme since he spent a lot of time with her in the medbay highlights this notion), you'd be remiss of the full truth.
"Lord Megatron will personally tear off my spark if I don't get you awake. He specifically ordered me to do anything to get her to wake up." The doctor groaned as he helped Breakdown with the things he asked the blue mech to fetch from storage.
"So that's why I brought these things here?" Breakdown asked as he plopped the items on his servos onto the table situated at the right side of the medbay table the femme was on.
"Yes, that's correct. These things are the tools I need to test out a certain theory of mine. A theory that if proven right, can help this poor unfortunate bot's spark restore itself." Knockout then started the arduous task of creating the machine he needed using the items on the table. With a specialised welder at hand and the know-how in his processor, the medic began combining certain pieces, cannibalised other items for the parts he actually needed, and then plugged it into an energon tank - the most important thing he asked Breakdown to get.
"I better not waste any Energon. That scouting party I sent this morning to that desert barely gave me the amount I needed. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers." Knockout shrugged
"Why do you need it anyways? And what is that thing you're holding?" the blue mech asked.
"This is an energon fueled tool that I am pretty sure humans call a defibrillator. It's designed in such a way that it can accelerate a cybertronian's spark pulses. Through my thorough research, I concluded that the femme's spark was far too faint to be able to automatically get her out of stasis. She needs some sort of external force powerful enough to - in human terms - jump start her spark." Knockout explained.
"Why are you always using human terms?" Breakdown asked. That part of Knockout's explanation bugs him a bit.
"Human's have the incredible ability to have phrases that help dumb down intellectual talk. Since you have the equivalent of a cinder block for a processor, human terms are very useful for you to understand what I am saying." Knockout jabbed.
"Say that again?" breakdown requested as he glowered at the red medic whilst brandishing his hammer.
"N-nothing! As I was saying… All the defibrillator needs to do is to send energon charged pulses straight into the femme's spark chamber, and voila. She'll awaken." Knockout then walked towards the subject matter's medtable. Calibrating the defibrillator so that the right frequency was inputted.
"And if she doesn't wake up?" Breakdown asked as he sheathed his hammer.
"Then, nothing. What harm will energon going into her spark chamber give? If anything, it should simply just pass by her frame harmlessly if it doesn't go as planned." Knockout answered. Clearly showing that he had an educated guess at what a failed result would look like while showing how totally unplanned he was for a failure situation. He hid it well, but the medic was sweating inside. His life was on the line, after all. He needs to go big or go to the Well. And he'd rather go big this time around.
"Right… so. Commence charging of energon defibrillators." Knockout said out loud as he pressed the on button of the two devices in his hand. It looks like 2 highly advanced irons in the hands of the red Decepticon. Instead of glowing red in heat, it began glowing a bright blue as the energon liquid was transformed into a form of power. It glowed brighter and brighter until Knockout deemed it was ready to be used.
"I know this is simply the stuff of human films, but I've kind of wanted to say this someday… CLEAR!" Knockout shouted.
ZAP! THUD
Both mech's couldn't believe their eyes that it worked! The body of the femme reacted to the energon pulse. It meant that the spark chamber received the jolt Knockout needed to wake her up!
"Do it again!" Breakdown exclaimed. The doctor happily obeyed. Gleeful at the success of his theory.
ZAP! THUD
ZAP! THUD
"It's working, that's the good part. But I don't know if the energon tank can dish out more of these energon charges. Knockout worried. If he could break out a cold sweat, he would do it now. It's not like he could get more energon now. Who, in the middle of night when everyone's recharging, would want to go out to some random place and get energon for Knockout of all people. He only managed to get those grunts to do so since they owed him for saving their sparks from a fatal encounter against the Autobots.
(Ironic how the mech who saved their lives caused them to die in a milk run gone wrong.)
"Tank's still half full, Knockout. And don't worry. Fourth time's the charm, as the humans say." Breakdown said. His servo patted at the tank right beside him as he spoke.
"Alright, alright. Fourth time's the charm…" the doctor repeated. He prayed to Primus for some miracle to happen so that she would wake up. He then charged the defibrillators up with as much energon they can carry and unconsciously mimicked the films he saw from the Internet by rubbing the two devices together in an up and down motion. With a quick inhale, Knockout shouted.
"CLEAR!"
KRA-KOOM!
The energon tank beside Breakdown blew up. Azure flames encapsulated the mech and the surrounding area of effect. Knockout was blown back towards the table he worked on. Tossing the table with him towards the metal wall of the room. Breakdown was busy patting the flames off of his body. He looked battered, but he was okay still. The femme-
"Oh no… Breakdown! Do you see what happened to her?" Knockout shouted. The plume of smoke from the energon tank's explosion impaired his vision of the medtable and the femme. He was curious to see if his plan worked.
"Umm… Knockout?" Breakdown said. A hint of worry and confusion donning his face.
"What is it? Did something happen to.. the… femme…" Knockout's question ended with a gaping jaw. Still lying down on the ground with his back to the wall, his optics had the full view of the medbay. And what he saw stunned him into speechlessness.
"What?" the medic whispered.
For Solus Prime - the femme that was halfway into the Well of Allsparks was standing confidently in front of him. Looking irritated, inquisitive, and very very confused.
"Who are you, and where am I?" the purple femme demanded with great authority that it shook the room. Or was it just Knockout shivering at such a powerful voice? We will never know. Nor will the medic say to anyone. Ever.
—-
Somewhere in the USA, a slumbering giant of a mech awoke abruptly. His servo clutching to his chest as a pang of something that he couldn't identify spiked inside the Matrix of Leadership. It cannot be ignored.
"Ratchet. Wake everyone up from recharge. Something has happened and we need to find out what… and why."
Optimus then reoriented himself before heading out of the berthroom. His processor was heavy with the memories of the dream he had in his recharge state as well as the many questions that were on his mind. For now, he had to set those things aside. He needs to figure out what that feeling was and what it meant.