Ah, we meet again. I'm sorry for the delay for this chapter. The main reason for it was I was doing research on every bot and con I wanted to use in this story. Unfortunately, I fell down several metaphoric rabbit holes in deciding which versions of what characters to use, making it worse. That said, I hope you enjoy the chapter and hope it was worth the wait. As a side note. It has been nearly twenty years since I last saw a psychologist. I cannot guarantee the therapy sessions I write will be anywhere close to accurate.
Megatron nodded as the last of the new Decepticons disembarked from Astrotrain. The moment the last one was clear, the triple changer transformed back into his bot mode. "Eleven Decepticons, as ordered." He said with a metallic echo to his voice.
"Excellent." He replied. "Decepticons, welcome aboard the Nemesis. As you are no doubt aware, this pitiful backwater world is fated to be the battleground for the final conflict of our war. When the time comes, I expect you all to fight admirably, to the bitter end."
A purple and beige Decepticon with a blue face stepped forward. "You needn't vorry lord Megatron." He started before his face spun to a red one with an orange visor and pronounced chin. "When you say charge, vee ask 'how hard!" The face spun again to what looked like a demented black jack-o-lantern. "And zen vee can do arts and crafts with zee spare parts." He finished with an insane giggle, maintaining a German accent through all three faces.
Megatron repressed a twitch in his left optic. As much as he appreciated Shockwaves' work, he'd definitely gone a little overboard when modifying Blitzwing. He never believed the scientists' claims that he was like that before the experimentation. "Indeed Blitzwing, but for now, refuel and see Starscream for your assignments."
A behemoth purple and aqua Decepticon with a singular red optic knelt before Megatron. "It shall be done in your glorious name, and it is good to be back under your direct command Lord Megatron." Lugnut proclaimed before rising and following the others.
Megatron grinned. After all the backstabbing that had been going on lately, having Lugnut around would both be a blast of fresh ventilation and a deterrent to anymore attempts to usurp his command. He was broken out of his reverie by Soundwaves' entrance. "What is it Soundwave?" He asked.
Soundwave simply tuned his mask to a communications channel, Galavars' face appearing on the screen. "Ah, Lord Megatron." He began in his usually oily voice. "We are ready to enter the planets orbit, but we have discovered an Autobot ship attempting to do the same." He grumbled. "Would you like us to attack? The ship is too large for us to destroy, no, but with the mayhem attack squad onboard, I believe we can ensure a crash landing with casualties, yes."
Megatron narrowed his optics. "Do what you must Galavar. If Optimus Prime has called reinforcements, then it is in our best interest that he not get them." With any luck, the squad would kill most of the bots on board with the crash finishing off all but a few of them.
"It shall be done lord Megatron, yes." With that Galavar disconnected.
Laying back on Rungs' psychiatrist couch Miko stared at the ceiling and sighed. "Sorry doctor, I got no idea how to start this." She'd never been to a shrink; her parents couldn't accept that their daughter might be anything less than perfect.
She'd been surprised that her appointment with the Autobot psychologist had been moved up. Then again, maybe she shouldn't be. Jack and nurse Darby had been worried about her after the debacle with Doubledealer, and she suspected that one or both of them requested it. She knew Jack had originally been next on Rungs' list.
Rung gave a smile. "No problem Miko, can I call you Miko?" At her nod he continued. "How about this, how have you been feeling about your new body?"
Smiling, Miko sat up and looked at him. "Honestly, I love it." She looked down at her hands and flexed her fingers. "I can't remember the last time I felt this happy."
Rung quirked an eyebrow. "Not even as a child?" He may not have been overly familiar with human culture, but he knew most civilizations cherished their young.
Miko pulled a face. "I should probably get this out in the open now." She sighed. "My parents were focused on three things in life. One was growing their company, then each other, the third was portraying an image of a happy family." She finished with a bitter note.
"I'm judging by your tone that they were more concerned with portraying that image than actually living it?" He asked narrowing his optics.
"Good guess." She replied. "I don't know how much you know, but my parents were home maybe one night every other week. Most of the interactions I had with them was 'Hello daughter, now go play' or 'Your grades have dropped daughter, we're very disappointed in you.' I was tutored privately until I decided to become an exchange student." She decided against mentioning the arranged marriage aspect for now.
"Have you tried to talk to anyone about their neglect?" Rung queried. He had only known about the adult Nakadais for a few moments and was already disgusted with them. And he thought the way Mirages' guardian treated him was neglectful.
"I tried, but usually my parents either bribed any officials involved or I was just met with apathy." She sighed. "Those ones really hurt too, because to them I was just 'poor little rich girl'. Some people think that because you're rich, you can't have problems."
Rung gave her a sad smile. "Sadly, I know that to be untrue. I won't use names or details, but I had a wealthy patient whose guardian had left him with serious emotional scars. He was rejected by two psychologists before me because of that fallacy."
"Thank you." Miko said, smiling at Rung. "I mean it's behind me now, legally I'm dead and as far as I'm concerned, they're dead to me." She gave a sigh. "I won't lie and say it doesn't still hurt, but I have a new family, one that loves me for me."
"Well then that brings me to my next question." Rung replied. "I was given some background about the six of you, and you are described as a 'risk taking thrill seeker'. I don't really see a problem with it but I have to ask. What were you thinking when you jumped onto a nuclear missile?"
Mikos' jaw dropped a little. Was that what this was about? "I was thinking I could disarm it, or worst-case scenario blow it up in the atmosphere. Not that I needed to, my teleport took care of it and that Two faced Tweety Bird."
Rung gave a heavy sigh. "I see where that could be an idea, but both options carried a high risk of death from radiation or an explosion. How do you think your new family would take the news that you died?"
With a start Miko realized the reality of her actions. She hadn't cared if she'd been hurt before because she felt like she had no one who truly cared about her aside from Bulkhead. But now she had brothers and sisters in both the Autobots and Maximals, and a caring boyfriend in Jack. Not to mention a true Mother figure in June. With a sinking feeling in her stomach, she realized just how badly hurt they'd be if she was hurt or killed.
Seeing that he'd made his point Rung looked Miko in the eye. "Now, I did not bring that up to make you feel guilty, that's not what I'm here for. All I want now is, going forward, whenever you plan to do something truly reckless, think if hurting your loved ones is worth whatever could be gained. Yes, you did was heroic, but it could also have killed you."
At Mikos' shocked expression he continued. "From what I've read, and what you've told me, you're not used to having people care about you. Consequentially, you take risks that could get you hurt. My suggestion is, when heading into a dangerous situation, remember that you do have loved ones to come back to and think about how to get the mission accomplished, and come back alive." He finished.
Miko looked wide eyed at the floor. When put that way it made her sound almost suicidal. With watery eyes she looked up at Rung. "Th-Thank you Doc, I'll try to remember that." She stuttered, fighting back tears.
Rung crouched down and put a comforting hand on Mikos' shoulder. "You don't have to hold back here Miko, you're far from the first person to cry on my couch. And I really don't believe you'll be the last one either." Seeing a few tears start to fall he asked. "Would you like a hug?"
Giving a nod Miko opened her arms, allowing him to hug her. The comfort of it, in addition to the revelations he'd help her uncover caused her to start bawling.
Rung held her for several minutes as she cried herself out. He had a sinking suspicion that Miko might have a form of depression from her upbringing on top of her PTSD. Hopefully this'll be the start of the healing process for both.
Pulling back, Rung smiled. "I think that's enough for today. If memory serves, the Lost Light should be due to arrive in less than an hour." He spoke.
The ship messaged them in the early hours of the morning. According to Rodimus; Wheeljack, Jetfire, and Brainstorm had hooked the phase shifter up to the ships' wiring. At the right moment, Cosmos would boost the shifters power while Blaster amplified the frequency to cover the whole ship. From there they'd just have to set down in the cavern beneath the base. Afterwards they'd just have to blast through the cavern wall to the shaft that the Army Corp of engineers had been digging towards the cavern and having the Autobots' engineers install a lift to bring them to the surface.
Entering the communications room Miko spotted Jack talking with his mother and Fowler. Sneaking up behind him she wrapped him in a tight hug causing him to start. "Oh, hey pretty bird, what's this about?"
Miko smiled and nuzzled into his back. "Nothing Jackrabbit. Just in a hugging mood." She replied as Fowler and June exchanged a knowing look.
Before he could reply Optimus called for everyone's' attention. "The time is upon us. Within the next half hour." His full speech was cut off by the console cutting on.
"Lost Light calling team Prime, Lost Light calling team Prime. We are under attack, repeat, we are under attack." Came Rodimus' panicked voice.
The collective team rushed to the console. "Rodimus, what is happening?" Optimus asked.
"Right as we cleared Earths' moon a Decepticon battle cruiser latched onto our hull and a squadron of Decepticons boarded and damaged our space bridge." He explained. "They seem to be making their way to the power core. We're mobilizing to counter them but if we are to stand a chance, we must perform the maneuver with the phase shifter immediately." He turned to someone off screen. "Blaster, tell all science and medical staff to hunker down in their locations, and send the Protectobots to recover any wounded.
"Very well." Optimus replied. "Try to keep the Decepticons from reaching the power core. We will be on standby upon arrival."
Rodimus nodded grimly. "Understood, Rodimus out." With that the line disconnected.
Optimus turned to the group. "Everyone evacuate to the safe point. Ratchet, when the ship arrives there will probably be wounded to care for."
Ratchet sighed. "Hopefully between myself, First Aid, and any other medical staff, we can keep casualties to a minimum." He looked at Raf. "This might be your first foray into the medical field, just remember what I taught you and you'll do fine." Raf swallowed, but nodded.
With that the group transformed, June and Fowler jumping into Bumblebee as he did. On their way out the door Jack looked up at the sky. "Stay safe Arcee." Jack said, worrying about his partner.
Meanwhile onboard the Lost light, mayhem reigned. More specifically Galavar and the mayhem attack squad reigned. Smirking to himself, Galavar transformed into his tank mode and fired on the blast door that was blocking their way. "Such shoddy workmanship, yes." He commented as the door began to melt.
"All the better for us to be destroying." Bellowed Stranglehold. The mustached, overly muscled white, yellow, and green squad member was the size of Bulkhead and every bit as strong. His favorite technique was to squeeze an opponents' neck until their head fell off, hence the name. "Those first two bots where hardly challenge." He grumbled, his Russian like accent coming to the fore.
"Aye." Agreed a yellow and green bot with a purple dive helmet and tentacles protruding from his arms and back. He reached up and yanked two security cameras down. "However, we got us a ship to scuttle, so we best move it." Octopunch commented.
Bringing up the rear, Bludgeon nodded, the samurais' skull face showing no emotion. "Indeed, this is so. Our enemy knows we're here. We must meet our goal." He commented, his unique speech pattern presenting itself once again as Galavar switched back to bot mode.
Moving through the hole they'd made they were met with resistance. Rodimus, Arcee, Wheeljack, and Smokescreen, in addition to a few others of the Lost Lights crew had gathered together to block the way to the power core. "Trailbreaker, use your forcefield to keep the big one in place." Rodimus ordered. "Skidz, Wheeljack, you're on the swordsbot. Nightbeat and Smokescreen, the tentacle terror, and Arcee and I will handle the last one."
The black, blue visored bot raised his hands and generated a yellow force field. Focusing, he used it to pin Stranglehold into a corner. "That oughta hold him." Trailbreaker smirked, until his captive gave the field a mighty punch causing a sharp pain in Trailbreakers' head. "For a minute." He grit out.
Wheeljack barely got his swords up in time to meet Bludgeons'. "Another swordsbot. On this day you'll know defeat. With honor you'll die." The two leapt away from each other as Skidz aimed a punch that Bludgeon barely dodged.
Skidz grinned. "I was watching you on the monitors. My outlier ability allows me to learn anything by seeing it once. Your Metallikato skills were easy enough to replicate." He aimed a kick at Bludgeon, who leaned back to dodge.
Grabbing Skidz' ankle, Bludgeon swung him around and threw him into Wheeljack who'd tried to sneak up on him. "Your skills are stolen. And your tricks are sad to see. A swift victory." He commented, charging the two as they got back up.
While the swordsbots were locking blades, Smokescreen and Nightbeat were having problems of their own. Every time one of them got a lock on Octopunch, one of his tentacles would get a good blow in. "How do we get close to a bot with that much reach?" He asked, dodging another blow.
His powder blue and yellow partner smirked. "With an old detective trick." With that he subtly deployed his handgun and lunged forward, only for a tentacle to wrap around him and bring him close to Octopunch. He gave Nightbeat a sick grin, bringing his harpoon gun to bear on the detectives' spark. A second later Nightbeat fired his own gun, damaging his opponents arm and causing him to be dropped to the floor. "Sometimes the fastest way to get to your enemy is to let yourself be captured."
Arcee and Rodimus were having a different situation. Galavar had took one look at Arcee and with a cry of "You!", the purple and black Decepticon jumped at her, wrapping his fingers around her throat and ignoring Rodimus completely. "After all these eons, you dare show your face to me!" Galavar screamed at her.
"Put her down!" Rodimus yelled. Galavar sneered at the Autobot captain and threw Arcee at him. "What is his problem with you?" He asked, helping her up.
Bringing the shoulder cannon that became his tank cannon to bear, Galavar fired a low power plasma blast directly at Rodimus' chest. "This is between me and my 'sister'." He said, slurring the last word. Rodimus was flung backwards into the wall where he passed out.
Rubbing her throat, Arcee looked from where Rodimus fell to her advancing opponent. She narrowed her optics in concentration before they flew open wide. "Galavar? Broth-." She was cut off as a stronger plasma blast hit her square in the shoulder.
"You lost the right to call me brother long ago Arcee." He bellowed, firing another blast, this time into her hip. "You lost that right when you-" He was cut off by his comm. "What!?" He screamed.
"Galavar, the ship is about to enter the planet's atmosphere." Came Mesothalus' raspy voice called over the comm. "We need to detach in the next ninety seconds or risk the ship burning up in the atmosphere."
Grimacing, Galavar aimed his cannon at Arcees' chest. "This is not over Arcee, no. When we next meet, I will destroy you utterly, yes." He lowered his cannon a bit. "In the meantime, however." With that he fired another plasma blast right into her midsection, causing her to curl in on herself in pain. "Decepticons, retreat." He called, firing a blast at Trailbreaker to free Stranglehold who joined the retreat.
Shaking his head, Rodimus rose to his feet in time for his comms to signal. "Yo cap, this is Blaster reporting that the Cons have blasted outta here."
Seeing the damaged Arcee at his feet he called back. "Get First-Aid and the Protectobots here on the double, we have wounded. Once they're secure in sick bay prepare to-." He was cut off by a sudden shaking of the floor. "What was that?"
Nauticas' voice came on next. "Those were the engines captain, they're hit." She came back on a few moments later. "The main engines are down, but we can still use the auxiliary engines on impulse power to control our decent."
Rodimus nodded. "Lightbright, handle that with Nautica as best you can. Blaster, Cosmos, prepare to engage the phase shifter." Looking up he saw First-Aid, Hotspot, and Rook enter the area. "We're alright, just cuts and dents, but Arcee needs your help. Get her to sick bay and get her stabilized."
First-Aid nodded and transformed into his ambulance mode. Rook, Wheeljack, and Smokescreen proceeded to load her up. "We already have Swerve and Hound in Sick Bay. They're pretty banged up but not as bad as Arcee." With that he sped off, Hotspot, Wheeljack, and Smokescreen following.
Looking at the remaining Autobots Rodimus called up Blaster. "How long until we go intangible?" He asked.
"We got roughly two minutes, local time." Blaster replied over the PA system. "Everyone get to your designated safe zones now."
"Alright everyone you know where to go, roll out." He spoke. Exiting the hall, he made his way to the bridge.
Back on Earth, the assembled bots, Maximals, and humans stood on a rock outcropping overlooking the base. Naturally, Bumblebee spotted the ship first, beeped and pointed to let the others know its' location.
Raf squinted in in the direction Bee was pointing at. "I see it Bee." He narrowed his eyes at the smoke trail. "Is it me, or are the engines smoking?"
As the ship got closer, they could see that the engines were indeed smoking and as the ship got larger it developed a blue shimmer around it. "That's the phase shifter, they should pass right through the ground and into the cavern." Ratchet explained.
The Lost Light performed an about face as four engines on the ships' underside flared to life in controlled bursts, slowing the ship down and guiding it in. Right as it would've hit the ground the blue aura around the ship intensified as the auxiliary engines fired to increase deceleration. In a matter of seconds, the Lost light disappeared under the ground. "That's one way to get a good parking spot." June quipped.
Moments later Optimus received a call on his comms. "Optimus, this is Rodimus. We've landed safely and gotten the fire in the engines taken care of, but we need Ratchet here fast. We have some wounded from the Decepticon attack and one of them is severe. We'll have the entrance to the cavern open in a few minutes, please be on standby."
Ratchet butted in. "Understood Rodimus, who's the patient?" He asked.
"We have Arcee in critical condition." Rodimus replied.
Ratchet didn't wait to hear anything else. "Rafael, come on." With that He and Raf transformed and bolted back to base, Jack and the rest of the team not far behind. Heading into the hangar that concealed the entrance to the elevator shaft they transformed back and Ratchet addressed the group.
"I'm sorry, but until the elevator is complete Rafael and I are the only ones going down there." At Jacks' mutinous look he sighed. "The decent is dangerous, and Arcee wouldn't want you getting hurt trying to get to her Jack."
Jack screwed up his face and nodded, his eyes slightly wet. Transforming into his lion mode he curled up off to the side, Miko and June sitting down next to him in an act of comfort.
Optimus looked at Ratchet. "Keep us informed, old friend."
Seconds later there was an explosion at the bottom of the shaft. "Oh Magsy, I'm home!" Came a voice dripping with promised malice.
Ultra Magnus groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. He'd forgotten that Whirl was on the Lost Light. He had not however forgotten how much said mech liked to push his buttons.
Ratchet sighed. "On my back Rafael, I believe that's our cue." He and Raf walked over to the opening of the shaft, and used the sides of the ladders the corps of engineers used to slide down to the bottom and into the ship, Raf on his back.
Moments later feminine voice called up from the shaft. "Erm, greetings Optimus Prime and Team Prime. My name is Nautica and I'm the Lost Lights' lead engineer. Most of the elevator has been prefabricated and we're going to begin the install now. Between myself, Brainstorm, and Beachcomber, our geologist, we should have it ready in about forty minutes."
Optimus was surprised. He'd never heard of this femme before. She must've been one of the ones Rodimus said he'd picked up. "Welcome to Team Prime and Unit-E Nautica." Optimus replied. "We shall see you when the elevator is operational."
"Beachcomber just marked our starting point." Nautica called up. "See you all soon."
"See, that wasn't so bad." Came the gentle voice Optimus knew belonged to the scientist Brainstorm.
"I almost threw up in my mouth twice."
"Our little secret." He replied, causing the Maximals to laugh a bit.
Jack however was in no mood to laugh. He didn't even know how Arcee was injured let alone her condition outside of critical. He felt Miko squeeze his hand. "Don't sweat it Jackrabbit, if Bulkhead can come back from Tox-EN, she can pull out of whatever happened to her. She's a tough old bike." She finished, giving his hand another squeeze.
He gave a sigh. "I hope so Miko, I've never lost someone close to me, and I really don't want to find out what it feels like today." He said, choking a little at the end. Miko and June wrapped him into a hug.
The next half an hour was a tense wait for the group in the hangar. There was no news on Arcee, and the only sound was coming from the elevator shaft. Although that was mostly what sounded like a wrench and the occasional swear word. Finally, around the edge of the shaft they saw paneling being attached before a pair of purple hands reached over the edge and out climbed a purple and yellow femme bot with blue optics and a pair of turbine wings on her back. An advanced looking wrench was strapped to her hip.
Nautica saluted Optimus and Ultra Magnus. "Greetings, I am Nautica, the Lost Lights lead engineer. It's an honor to finally meet you after everything Rodimus said about you." She reiterated, trying to be formal.
Any further words were halted when a gray and aqua colored mech with an orangish yellow face climbed out. "Okay Beachcomber, send it up." Taking a control console and podium into his hands he hoisted it up and plugged it into a port in the side of the shaft. "Alright, controls are in, I'm Brainstorm by the way." He flipped a switch, activating the elevator bringing up a dark blue and gray Autobot. "And this is Beachcomber, our resident geologist."
Beachcomber however was looking out the hangar doors. "This world is more beautiful than the intel packet hinted." He said in a somewhat melancholy voice. He quickly saluted Prime and Magnus. "I'm happy to see you all again, but if you'll excuse me." He transformed into what looked like a dune buggy. "I think I'll go familiarize myself with the area." Activating a human hologram, he took off out the door.
Brainstorm watched him go. "Sorry sirs, he gets like that sometimes. He'll be back."
Rung went over to Jack, Miko, and June. "Come on, I'll take you to the sick bay to wait. Together the four walked to the center of the lift. Right as Rung pushed the button, Nautica gave a squeal.
"Aww, are these little cuties the hybrids we heard about. They're so adorable." she said, kneeling down to get a closer look at Vince, Sierra and Allison. Depthcharge took a step back to stay out of reach. The rest of the introduction went unheard as the elevator descended.
When it came to a stop, they were faced with a tunnel that led to an open hatch at the end. Entering the ship, June and the Maximals got a reminder of just how big their alien friends were. The hallway they entered was enormous.
"Right." Rung began. "If I remember correctly, the sick bay is that way about two miles." At their surprised looks he continued. "That's not too far for most Cybertronians. Mrs. Darby, I'd recommend that one of us carry you, since it is a long walk for a human." He also made a note to have the science crew whip up something to make moving around the ship easier on their human guests.
Jack transformed and lowered himself so his mother could climb on. June took a firm grip on two tufts of Jacks' mane. "I feel like She-Ra." She muttered to herself.
Snorting, Jack commented. "Don't you mean He-man?" He deadpanned, causing Miko to laugh, earning a hard tug on the hair from his passenger. "Ow, okay, we're going." With that the group took off down the hall.
Upon reaching what Rung said was the sick bay a red and orange mech with a yellow spoiler exited. "Ah, Rung, good to have you back." Rodimus said. Looking over he saw the other three of the group. "I'm guessing you three are here to see Arcee? They just brought her out of stasis a few minutes ago. Between Ratchet, First-Aid, and Rhinox; they were able to neutralize the damage and get her stabilized in record time."
"True, she should be strong enough to move soon, but I'd still like her to wait for a couple days before attempting to transform. That last Plasma blast scorched her T-cog and I'd like to make sure it healed properly." Came a voice from the open door. Looking through it they saw a red and white medical bot that wasn't Ratchet running a scanner over Arcee who was now laying back on her berth.
"Hey partner." Arcee said groggily, waving from her berth. "First-Aid here was giving me a final checkup." She was cut off because once June got off Jacks' back, he transformed and hugged his partner and friend. "Woah hey, easy Jack, I'll be all right." She said tiredly. "Rafs' CR pulse actually accelerated my recovery time. I'll be back on my feet in about a day."
First-Aid looked at her. "You'll be back on your feet when you're back on your feet. No matter how tough you think you are." He looked over to another berth. "You feeling any better Rhinox?"
Looking over Jack, June and Miko saw Raf was in beast mode and appeared to be fighting exhaustion. June and Miko went over. "Raf, honey are you okay?"
Ratchet came over to them. "Rafael was extremely helpful in Arcees' surgery. Although he did end up overusing his CR pulse, leading to his current exhaustion."
Raf looked up. "I welded, it helded." He slurred before finally succumbing to sleep.
Ratchet shook his head. "He'll be fine after some sleep and some food. First-Aid, could you go topside to inform Optimus of Arcees' status. And perhaps bring some food back for our hybrid friends."
"Coming right up." First-Aid replied. "I'm a doctor, not a messenger." He grumbled to himself as he left.
Jack looked at Arcee. "Who did this to you Cee?" He knew it took a lot to catch Arcee off guard. Even more to hurt her.
When Arcee didn't answer excepting the sad expression on her face, Rung interceded. "It was him, wasn't it?" He asked. Rung had treated Arcee long enough to know when she didn't want to admit something.
Arcee gave a sigh and nodded. "It was Galavar." She took a deep breath. "My twin brother Galavar, has become a Decepticon." She said sadly.
A/N: Okay, bit of a smorgasbord of new characters here. Personally, I loved Blitzwing in Transformers Animated. So, when I did started planning this story, I just had to use that version of him. Otherwise, most of them are mostly a combination of the old G1 versions, or IDW publishing with an accent or unusual speech pattern thrown in for flavor. That said, can anyone guess Bludgeons speech pattern? Anyone who guesses it will get a shout out in the next chapter.
Next time. Arcee is back on her feet in time for her scouting mission with Jack. Unfortunately, while they're hunting for energon, a couple of bots are hunting them.