Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.
Authoress: *dancing in the back*
Pandimala: *nervous* I don't like this new show she is watching.
Knockout: *confused* Why? She's happy. Happy Authoress is good Authoress.
Pandimala: *motions to Authoress* Just listen, dear.
Authoress: *sings* Wouldn't it be super to see more of Hell?
Knockout: *realization hits* Oh.
Chapter 3: Experiments
Pandimala's 1st P.O.V.
Even with him in my arms, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. This shouldn't have been possible. But I was holding the proof. He didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve this! While I knew MECH were not the good guys, I didn't think they would stoop this low! To take away their humanity…
"Pandimala," I tore my optics away from the bot in my arms and looked to Jazz. "We have to get him out of here. With the warehouse clear, we can have Soundwave send you back to base."
"And we can help the others hold the line," Thundercracker added.
But, I shook my helm. "No, don't help the line. Contact the other teams and inform them about the change in our situation." I wanted to scream. I wanted to tear MECH apart for this. For this atrocity that they had not hesitated to commit, I wanted to see their blood spill. But getting the kid to safety was more important. "And then you split up and help them clear out their warehouses. The others have to be here."
They both nodded. "When we find the others," Thundercracker started again. "We'll make sure Soundwave sends them back with a medic."
I nodded and stood, holding the smaller mech close to me.
"You heard them, boys," I glanced at Fanzone as he spoke up. "They'll meet up with the other infiltration teams. We provide cover and help those outside."
The others on his squad started to approve, but I wasn't listening. I had to get him back and get to work. Their transformation was not like the one I went through. I had to see what sort of complications we were looking at. Any faulty programming, inferior cabling, and wiring could cause pain in the future. By Primus, I would not allow them to suffer any more than they already had. Once I was outside, I immediately opened a comm with Soundwave. "Soundwave, I need a bridge back now! Contact Knockout for details."
Thankfully, Soundwave didn't hesitate, and a nano later, a ground bridge was opened next to me. Once I was through, I could hear the surprised sounds of the troops. But I didn't have time for them. I needed to get this mech to the medical wing we had set up. It wasn't perfect, but it was the best we had. It had to be enough.
Once I entered the medical warehouse, I immediately set the mech down. However, as I stared at him, I felt myself freeze. Looking at him like that hurt more the longer I did so. He didn't deserve this. He didn't. It wasn't fair! He was supposed to have his whole life ahead of him. The kid was supposed to grow up, make mistakes, and live a full life. And those monsters…they ripped that chance away from him! They waited until they were vulnerable and then took them.
A wave of sadness crashed over me as another thought came unbidden into my helm. They were vulnerable because we left them. I left them and didn't think twice. We left, and the troubles our war brought to them were just supposed to magically leave with us? We were careless, and they had to pay the price. What kind of beings did that make us?
"Frag it, Pandimala, pull yourself together!"
I flinched when Knockout's voice pierced through the thoughts I was having. "But Knockout,"
"No buts!" He interrupted me, and I could tell that he was upset. "Could things have been handled differently? Always. But we can't fragging change the past. What we can do is mitigate the damage. Now pull yourself together and get working on the kid." A bout of concern cut through his anger. "I'm with Team Gamma, and we just found another one. He looks older, so I'm going to guess this is Fowler. I'll be back with him soon. Joe is going to go help look for the others."
Another. It wasn't just him that they changed. I knew the odds were high that MECH had done this with all of them, but I still had to hope they hadn't. But, as Knockout said, I couldn't change what happened, just help with the after-affects. It was what I was trained to do, and I would not fail. "Thanks, K.O.," I said, thanking my mech before I started to take scans of the mech in front of me.
No, not just any mech.
Raf.
He was surprisingly similar to Soundwave. MECH had been watching the Decepticons more than we realized they had been. His frame was slim and maneuverable, reminiscent of the intelligence officer's. Given the lack of wheels and the large arms similar to Soundwaves, Raf would be a flier. At least he had plenty of bots who could help him with that. Learning to fly wasn't easy, and I didn't have nearly the experienced bots Raf was about to have.
His coloring was interesting. I wasn't sure if MECH was responsible or if his spark activating brought out his coloring, but it wasn't what I expected. The base color was a dark gray with streaks of violet and yellow accenting his chassis. Wait, not dark gray, but a dark violet. It was so muted that it looked more gray. But, as my scanner's light moved across his chassis, I could see the color shift.
A ping from the scanner caused me to focus as the first results came through. There were going to be a lot of scans before we were past this. For now, at least, it looked like he was stable. His spark level was slightly lower than I would have liked but was not spark-threatening. Energon levels were also down, but hooking him up to a drip should keep him steady as I worked on him.
As I hooked Raf up to said drip, I heard pedesteps enter the room behind me. "Put him there and then get out. We have a lot of work to do, and as more of us return, we will need the space here."
Once the line was set, I glanced at the berth next to Raf's. Yeah, that had to be Fowler. He was mainly brown, though he had a fair amount of dark green on his chassis, and his faceplate showed his older age. Of course, I thought that as if he looked super old. But, if I had to give him an equivalent, he looked about the same age as Ultra Magnus.
"How's the kid?" K.O. asked as he started his scans on Fowler.
My scans were still sending me data, but from what I saw, we were lucky. "Extremely lucky. From what I'm seeing, MECH took a different approach with their transformations than we saw with Silas' symbiosis." I furrowed my optics ridges as more reports came across my vision. Something wasn't adding up. "Knockout, from what you heard, what information did Starscream give MECH?"
I couldn't be seeing what I was seeing. Maybe it was due to their origin. They were from Earth, so it made sense that I was seeing that…right? But I felt like I was in denial. I couldn't afford to be in denial. So, I would go with a second opinion before going to that extreme.
Knockout's confusion leaked through the bond as he answered me. "I wasn't privy to his deep report, but the rumor mill picked up a bit. Plus, Soundwave shared some of it. From what 'Scream told Megatron, he told MECH how energon worked and taught them how to differentiate the signal from other Earth minerals that might be masking it." He then paused, and I assumed that he got the report I just got. My mech was more efficient in his abilities than I was. "By Primus, I didn't think he told them about that."
As my final scan came through, I turned back to my patient. "We will have to ask Soundwave for a full rundown of that report Starscream gave. If he did tell MECH…our fight against them just grew more serious." As I began to fix some of the injuries MECH's scientists must have inflicted through their 'experiments', I kept thinking about that result. For in their lines was the same substance that instigated my transformation.
Dark energon.
Prometheus Black's 1st P.O.V.
How did they find me so quickly? We were one day, one fucking day, away from testing the control programming that we were developing, and those fuckers were attacking now? Damn it! Heads would roll for this. Our security systems were top-of-the-line. I had access to every security structure and ensured that MECH's was far superior to theirs.
And the aliens. My inside sources said nothing about their return in their reports. Either they returned in the past 72 hours, or my moles were turning into traitors. Damn them all! Either way, we were taken by surprise. As the car I was in moved further away from my base, I allowed myself to let off a low growl. Showing emotion was a sign of weakness, but that was what this attack exposed. Weakness. That weakness should have died when Silas did. Instead, I was facing those same problems now. The aliens were back, and they interfered with our plans.
"Mr. Black, sir," I glanced at the car's other occupant. I couldn't afford to lose Arkeville. Not now, at least. With this delay in the project, I would need him safe and securely on our side before I even thought about cutting him as a loose end. "While we lost the control data we were going to test, I secured a copy of the transformation file. Once operations can be set up, I can return to work on the control program again."
"We lost the control program?" How could they have been so careless? That was the pinnacle of our research, and for us to leave that behind was asking for disaster. Fuck!
Arkeville looked nervous but seemed to collect himself. "We planned on inserting the program into the youngest today to begin the testing. However, their attack pulled us away, and we could not recover it before the attack got to that warehouse."
His saying that made me realize that this was a highly organized attack. If the aliens had only been on the planet for a few days, they must have been informed of the hostages we had immediately on arrival. We would have to increase security at our next location. Somewhere, there was a weakness that I had not been aware of. A weakness that exposed my project to them.
We were so close. The perfect meld of man and machine had been realized. Now, we just had to get it under our complete control. Once that was done, MECH could achieve world domination within the year. Yes, that was a reasonable goal—one year. The world would be my oyster in one year, producing pearls like none had seen before.
And then, we would expand. I could not allow such perfection to stop at Earth. With the aliens here, proof of life beyond our atmosphere was here. What other organic species could we use this on? What other precious assets could be out there, just waiting to be put under my control? I would become a god to them, and they would cower beneath my heel.
"Dr. Arkeville, once we arrive at our new base, I want you to begin your research immediately. Nothing else takes priority for you. I want the control feature finished within the month."
"A month, sir?"
I growled at the man's impertinence. "Perfected in a month. I've seen miracles done in less time. Plus, you should know somewhat about what was on that programming that you lost." He flinched away slightly at my assertion. "Perfect the control program in a month, and then we will be back on track. The universe is out there waiting for us, doctor. We should not keep it waiting any longer."
I smiled in anticipation. Yes, the universe would be mine, and my godhood would be recognized by all who existed.
Paul's 1st P.O.V.
The base was in chaos.
After four hours on the field, the last fighters had just come through the bridge. Thankfully, there were no fatalities as of yet. However, there were plenty of injuries to go around. In total, there were five bots injured and thirteen humans. While the humans were being seen by their medical staff, the bots were either seeing non-medics or they had to wait. The four trained medics that came with Pandimala's group were focused on examining and fixing the kids, Fowler, and June.
A shiver went down my spine at the thought of what MECH did to them. While the medics were silent about what they were discovering, I sensed the dark energon on them as soon as Raf had been brought in. I'm sure that they knew about it as well. It wasn't hard to find on a scan, and three of the four medics there knew how to look for it.
Thankfully for us waiting out here, the medics updated us on their conditions every hour. Most of them were stable, though the one they thought was June seemed to have trouble with her inner wiring that concerned the medics. However, all four of them were working together to stabilize them and get them on the way to a full recovery. We just had to be patient.
Which, given the present company, was easier said than done.
"What did they do to my baby?" Mrs. Esquivel asked, more to herself than to anyone. She had already asked that, and we had explained how they were discovered. At this point, she seemed to be more in shock than anything. Thankfully, she had her kids to keep her stable. Of course, they didn't look that much better off. The one that seemed to be taking it the best was Gabriel, which was probably helped by the time he spent with Pandimala and the others before the mission started.
The Jones had been relatively quiet, though I had seen them talking amongst each other occasionally. However, they seemed to be holding themselves together pretty well. Mrs. Jones was over with the Esquivels, helping to support them while they all waited.
"She's going to be okay," I glanced over at Mr. Jones, standing beside me. "Miko's strong. She'll pull through this."
I nodded and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "She will be. I saw it so much during our last stay on Earth. I've seen the strength that they all have. I do not doubt that they will make it through this." A sigh escaped me, which caused Mr. Jones to look at me with a worried look. "What we have to be ready for is the aftermath."
"You mean how they react to being…well, that now."
"Exactly," I agreed with him. "We'll have to see how each one takes to the transformation that they have just gone through. Be patient with them. I'm sure Miko will act as if she is fine, though she will struggle with this. Pandimala did."
When I dropped that fact about Pandimala, Mr. Jones looked at me with a look of realization. They had been told about her past state as a human, but it was easy to forget, given how she acted. There were solars that I forgot about that fact. She just took to her role so naturally now that I forgot how she struggled initially. "How did Pandimala take it?"
Shaking my head, I looked toward the doors that led to the medical warehouse. "She tried to put on a brave face when we were with the group. There were even times around me when she would try and act like everything was fine. But she struggled. There were times that she was unsure as to how to move forward. Even when she first woke up, she was trying to put on that act. Walking is just different enough between the species that she had struggled with it, though she had thought she wouldn't. It was a blow to her pride that she hadn't thought she would take, given what she had woken up to." I then let out a sigh. "Something tells me that their experience will be worse."
"Worse, how?" Mr. Esquivel asked as he walked over to us.
Shaking my head, I motioned in the direction of the medical warehouse. "We don't know how MECH did this to them. We don't know how much they were awake for, how much pain they endured at their hands." I had to squash a bout of anger that threatened to rise. Now was not the time for that. "All we can do is support them. That is what they will need most from us. The bots will help them with all of the physical changes that they are going to experience. However, having us here supporting them will go a long way. It helped Pandimala, and I know it will also help them."
More talk was put on hold as the doors to this warehouse opened, and Red Alert, Joe, and Knockout walked in. "How is Rafael?" Mrs. Esquivel asked immediately, followed by Mrs. Jones asking about Miko.
Knockout held up a servo. "They are all fine. For now, they are resting and are not to be disturbed. None of them have awoken yet, and it can be dangerous when they do."
"Dangerous?" Mr. Esquivel asked.
Joe nodded. "From what Pandimala told me, when she first woke up, she wasn't even conscious and tried to attack everyone, thinking that Megatron was still attacking her. Without knowing what MECH did to them to cause this, we have to assume they will wake up in a similar state. If they don't, that's great. But for caution, only us medics are allowed in the medical warehouse. None of the other bots or military personnel are allowed in the building. General Bryce already signed off on the order."
There was a tone in his answer that told me that they were worried about something else, though they must not want to tell the parents right now. Not until later. "For now," Red Alert spoke up as she motioned to us. "You all should get some rest." When the families looked as if to argue, Red Alert motioned behind her. "They will need you at your best to help them through this. It isn't something that happens every solar, and a lack of recharge will make you vulnerable to anger that they may mistranslate as being toward them."
That made them realize Red Alert's point, and one by one, they all left the room toward their quarters. After a few minutes, it was just me and the bots. "Okay, what weren't you telling them? Why is Pandimala still in there?"
"It's nothing that concerns them," Knockout started. "But, we are still on alert for infiltrators in Unit E from MECH. So, we are taking shifts in the med bay to watch them. We didn't want to cause alarm in their families when they needed to be ready to help them. Unlike Pandimala, none of them have any clue as to what they are about to have to learn. She at least had the fiction from her past. They shouldn't be worrying about trouble from MECH right now."
"And from other places," Red Alert added. "We don't know how long Cybertron will take to track us down to Earth. While the Decepticons with us might make them look in Decepticon space, they will eventually come here to look. And if they aren't prepared, Cybertron will try and take them."
That caused Joe to growl. "They'll have to get by me first. Pandimala fought for freedom, and I won't let theirs be taken as yours was, Paul."
Even though his motivation was still Pandimala, knowing his thoughts were on the right path was heartening. When I first arrived in this dimension with Lizzie, I never thought that the drones would amount to much of anything, let alone a skilled medic as Joe was. And the others who had come with us were just as skilled in their fields.
After Pandimala sacrificed herself, many drones left the planet to spread Pandimala's will to Decepticon space. While I had worried for them, they had been sure about their heading. Those that remained were Joe, Nemo, Frost, and Steve. It had surprised me that Carl, Florian, and Flare had left with the others, but they were looked to as leaders of the drones and felt that their presence was needed with them more than with us. Given the challenges they were bound to face, I agreed with them.
"While we all agree that we won't give anybot up without a fight," Knockout agreed with a calming motion toward Joe. "It is still a scenario we have to prep them for. However, that will come with time. For now, we will need to focus on the important things. Basic skills are key. Transformation is not as easy as Pandimala seemed to make it when she first changed. Again, if it weren't for her memories, she would have taken much longer to get the hang of her transformations. Her processor was flexible enough to accept all the strange quirks of being a mechano-based being."
"For now," I said, "We should rest. Tomorrow will bring enough challenges, and we should all be ready for what it may bring."
The medics agreed with me, and so we went our separate ways. As I walked to my quarters, however, I couldn't let go of the worry that I was feeling. MECH's troops were the most important issue we faced, followed by Cybertron. However, I noticed that none of the bots were talking about the broader expanse of the galaxy and the political powers that may come into play. I would have to sit down with General Bryce and the bots to prepare for all these enemies bearing down on us.
After all of the pain and struggles we had gone through for this, I would give whatever power I could to ensure we did not fail. MECH, Cybertron, and the other powers in the universe may strike against us; we would fight them all if we had to.
Pandimala's 1st P.O.V.
Knockout tried convincing me to sleep in our room, but I couldn't. I didn't want them to be alone when they woke up. I remembered how scared I was when I woke up, and I had the bots around me. I wasn't sure about anything. Being swept up in all of this…it was intimidating at the easiest parts. Humans grew up sheltered. We knew nothing of the greater expanse out there. And, like me, the five of them would have to make choices. Some of those choices were not going to be easy.
They would have an even harder time at this than I was going to. Sure, we were fine now, but what about in the future? Fifty years from now? A hundred? Centuries are going to pass us by, and we are going to have to move forward. I didn't have the emotional ties that they all had. I had already sacrificed those who knew about me and gave them up to come here. Honestly, the five of them were probably the only ones that would have affected me when they died.
But now? Now, they were going to have to suffer through that loss. Watching their loved ones grow and pass in what would be a sliver of their existence. How would they react to that? How was I going to react? I acted so sure, so ready for everything. But, I made connections easily. I already felt close to Raf's brother. What would happen as the years passed, and he eventually fell to time?
And that was just the beginning. That didn't even bring into question the dangers that I knew the universe could bring, let alone anything I didn't know about. Monsters that would make our nightmares look tame by comparison. I at least had my memories to help me through this. I knew of the Quintessons and their manipulative ways. I knew of shrike bats, drillers, sharkticons, and many other species. And there were going to be some that I didn't know either.
And who knew how they were going to handle this? What memories were now ingrained in their processors? Whatever MECH did, they would remember. They would remember it for the rest of their existence. That kind of trauma wasn't something that any being just forgot. It's not something that just fades away with time.
A wave of cold suddenly settled in my spark as my processor flashed back to that solar—the solar when my life changed. I had been so prepared for the day. I knew what was to happen. I had been ready for things to play out as they were supposed to…and then I saw him—Megatron outside of Cliff's rear window. I had been so hopeful that, with larger numbers, he would just leave. Show that he knew where we were and that we were at his mercy if he wanted us to be. And then he started to fire. I hadn't even thought about my safety at the time. I had been worried for Raf. And then that purple light was all I saw. That poisonous light changed everything. It was so cold…
No. That was then. Megatron was a much more serious threat than MECH could ever hope to be. This time, it was different. I knew there was a chance I would get in trouble when I went out that day. I fragging knew it. But for them…
A noise caused me to look around the room. Something was in here with me. Whether that was a rat or someone else, I wasn't sure yet. But I wasn't alone. So, instead of calling out to the being, I set my scanners to scan for carbon-based lifeforms and began sweeping the area. As I was moving my gaze toward one of the exits, it suddenly opened, and a lone figure ran out. It was male, middle-aged, and light-skinned, but that was all I saw. MECH had infiltrated Unit E.
While my first instinct told me to run after the person, I held back. It could be a ploy to get me to leave the bots here unattended, and I would not put them at risk. So, I immediately got on my comms. "Prowl, you there?" He and Barricade were on the first watch in the main hub, and they would be better able to react.
"I'm here, and so is Barricade," Prowl responded.
"I just had a middle-aged man try and sneak into the room with me. I'm not sure how he got in, but he just ran out of the south exit." Frag MECH to the pits for this. I would see them all burn if I could. But I had to remember human politics were in play. I couldn't just go blasting at beings that got me angry—at least not humans, anyway.
I heard the sound of running on the other side as Prowl spoke. "I'm trying to find him on the feeds, but he must know how to avoid the cameras. It's good that you were in there with them, though. Barricade is trying to investigate the halls right now to see if any humans who aren't supposed to be up and about are up and about. General Bryce's office has been informed of the breach. However, I was told the General cannot be contacted now due to a security briefing in this country's governing center."
So, he had to go to D.C. to inform the big boys about us and our recent mission. At least that was being taken care of. But, for now, we needed to keep things under control here. And that meant hunting down the MECH infiltrators among us. While I didn't get a good look at the man who had just run out, I had a general idea about his description. That would narrow down our list of suspects. And once we found him, we would watch him. He would be the poisoned rat we would follow to the other traitors.
"'Mala," I turned and watched as Knockout walked up to me. "We will make sure they stay safe. From now on, there will be two of us in here—not medics, but two bots at all times."
"K.O.," Once he stopped next to me, I looked down at him in confusion. "How did you get here so quickly?"
I didn't fight him as he guided me to sit beside him. "I was already on my way here. Your thoughts were leaking through the bond like crazy, and I figured I would come and see you since I wouldn't be getting any recharge."
"Sorry," I hadn't realized I had been broadcasting over the bond. I hadn't wanted to wake him. He had worked so hard on the five of them, and I knew he was exhausted.
My chassis flinched when he flicked his digits between my optics. "None of that, femme. We are bonded—for better or worse, as humanity says. And for you, it will always be better."
Emotions welled in my spark as I smiled at him. "I don't deserve you."
Knockout chuckled. "I think you got that backward, but I'll let it slide for the night. We have a few more cycles until the next shift comes in to relieve us. Then, we can get some recharge." But what about the traitor? "And in the morning, once we recharge, we will meet with Prowl and the others to see what they discover. For now, we watch our patients. Don't forget, we are medics."
"And as medics, our patients come first," I finished as I leaned against the wall, staring at the five berths before me. Whatever the future held, I knew that it would all be alright. I had Knockout with me, and with him as my support, I knew we could do anything together. Tomorrow was a new solar cycle, and we would take it on together.
Authoress: *smiles* Oh, so much inspiration here!
Pandimala: When I find the being who showed her this, I will tear them apart.
Knockout: *grins* And I will help you every step of the way, dear.
Authoress: *hums while writing with a giant grin on her face*
Knockout: *shivers* As long as we stay out of her way.
AN: And here is the long-awaited next chapter! It was a struggle at first, but once I got going, the chapter went flying! I don't plan on updating this one as much as the others (I blame the muses in my head). Perhaps once I finish the arc I am on in Awakening Resolve, I'll focus here. There are no guarantees, but I'll plan on that for now. I have a better idea of where this sequel is going, so that is a great start. And it will be quite the doozy of a story, that's for sure. For those of you who are wondering, I plan on having this story take place between the end of Prime and the 2016 RID. The Epilogue might touch on RID, but that will be it. I am planning on a third for this story, along with the other 'of One' stories.
Back to this one, we got the five back from MECH. However, everyone is uncertain about what will happen when they wake up. Plus, they are starting to think about the bigger galactic picture. Don't worry; we won't see anything from the bigger galactic stage for quite some time. But they will be brought into conversations. For now, MECH will be the big bad for this first arc. After that, though? Well, we'll see then.
And full disclosure: I didn't plan on writing that adorable scene with Knockout and Pandimala, but I'm glad it came out. They needed some together time.
Well, I should stop writing for now. I might give away something. So, here are the names of the next chapters.
Chapter 4: Coming to Terms
Chapter 5: Rising Threat
Chapter 6: ...(find out next time!)
So there we are! I hope you all enjoy my works as much as I enjoy writing them for you. Oh, and if you couldn't tell from the song blurb I did earlier, I'm obsessed with Hazbin Hotel. I love the story, songs, and characters. Surprisingly, Rosie has become my favorite over the main cast. There are so many good characters, though, that they are close to my favorite. However, Rosie gets the top despite her limited screen time. Until next we meet, TTYL! *vibing with Ready for This from Hazbin Hotel*