Hey everyone! I'm back with chapter 2 of Transformers One: Connected! First off, holy crap you guys I did not expect the first chapter to get so many likes already! Thank you all so much! So happy you're loving this story so far!
Anyway, here is chapter 2! I hope you like it!
P.S. Sorry for any grammatical errors.
Transformers One: Connected
Chapter 2: The Mines
Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers
(The Mines)
It wasn't long before the train reached the sublevel station. There the miners stepped out into the main section where huge amounts of mined energon crystals were being hauled onto a large conveyor belt and into a machine, processing the crystals into its liquid form.
Neon, Orion, and D-16 grabbed their jetpacks before taking off with their group led by their no-nonsense captain, Elita-1.
"Metal to the pedal, Drillbits!" the pink femme shouted from the front, "This is it! How much energon have you mined under my leadership?!"
"SO MUCH, ELITA-1!" Everyone loudly responded in unison. Well, all but Neon. She didn't like shouting and just quietly went along with everyone else.
"And how perfect is my mining record?!" Elita-1 continued.
"SO PERFECT, ELITA-1!"
"We are a mere thirty units of energon away from my promotion to supervisor! Are you happy for me?!"
"SO HAPPY, ELITA-1!"
"So happy, Elita-1," Neon said quietly.
The captain noticed the blue and green femme wasn't as loud as the others. "I can't hear you, Neon!"
Neon mentally groaned but tried speaking up. "S-So happy Elita-1!" she said a tiny bit louder.
"Sheesh, Neon, not so loud!" Orion teased her.
The other miners laughed, making the femme even more embarrassed as she angrily swatted Orion's arm.
Soon the group landed in a large section with the other miners. Once on the ground, Orion immediately caught up to Elita-1 as she kept moving. "Elita, I mean Captain, you are looking especially shiny this morning," he complimented, "New polish?"
Elita rolled her optics. "Orion Pax, I'm sorry that I somehow gave you the impression that we're friends."
"Apology accepted." he said with a smile.
The pink femme looked at the other miners. "Light up that wall, let's go, ten seconds!" she ordered.
"Happy to take the lead today, Captain," Orion continued as he, D-16, and Neon grabbed their tools. "Feel like I have enough power in me to drill down and touch Primus myself."
"You don't have the touch, or the power," she retorted before rushing off. "Ready positions, rust buckets! Let's go!"
Orion leaned towards D-16 once she left. "She's in a good mood today."
"Mm-hm," the silver mech agreed.
Neon shook her head at Orion. "You know she's never going to go out with you, right? All she cares about is getting promoted."
"Never say never," the red and blue mech said with a smirk, "you both ready?"
"Always ready," D-16 said with a smile.
Neon held up one of the deployable support poles she was caring. "Always here to support," she said jokingly.
The two mechs stopped and looked at her weirdly.
She grew embarrassed by this as she tried to explain. "Y-you know, because I help set up the support poles for you guys to, to..." She let out a loud vent as she frowned at herself. "Forget it, let's just go to work."
The two mechs chuckled at her as they slung their saws over their shoulders.
"Let's punch in," D-16 said before he and Orion fist bumped one another.
Soon the ground transformed before the miners, opening the channel for them.
"Here we go!" Elita said as they made their way in, "this one won't be open long! Raise it up!"
Neon and a bunch of others flew inside with their support poles and locked them in, keeping the tunnel open. Neon went further down to set up her three supports one by one. Once they were secured, she waved at Elita-1. "All set!"
"Lower channel is open!" Elita said as she motioned the team to go in.
Orion and D-16 took lead as the group made their way into the tunnel.
"Be careful!" Neon shouted at them as they flew overhead.
"Neon, make sure those supports hold!" Elita told her.
Neon did as she was told and inspected each support. It wasn't long before she and another miner pushed empty mining carts inside towards the mining crew. Grabbing the ones that were already full to the top with energon, they left the empty ones behind to be filled while pushing the energon out of the tunnel. All was going well so far.
Hours went by as Neon pushed her full cart towards the exit while humming a happy tune. Just then an unexpected sound reached her audio receptors, making her go quiet and stop in her tracks. She could feel the ground trembling underneath her pedes, giving her a very bad feeling. Immediately she turned around to see a huge explosion of blue and purple energy coming right at her and the others. Her optics widened as she and everyone else started running. They didn't get far as the blast sent them flying forward with much force. Neon grunted as she flew and tumbled across the ground, damaging her jet pack in the process before rolling onto her front. She released a painful groan before looking up at the tunnel. It was shifting around, becoming unstable.
"Everybody, evacuate immediately!" Elita-1 shouted through the comm unit, "this tunnel is closing! I repeat, the tunnel is closing!"
Scrambling back up, Neon helped a fellow miner onto her pedes before they both made it out safely. Soon the mining crew evacuated out of the tunnel in time... but not all of them.
Neon frantically looked around for her friends. "Orion?!" she called out, "D-16?!" Realizing they hadn't made it out yet, she ran over to Elita-1. "Orion and D-16 are still in the tunnel!"
Elita immediately tried contacting the red and blue mech. "Pax, you there?!"
"Jazz is stuck!" Orion shouted through the comm unit, "Elita, we got a trapped miner! I'm falling back to assist!"
"Negative, do not break protocol!" Elita argued, "Evacuate!"
"What's happening?" Neon asked her. She was only ignored as the pink femme listened to her comm unit. There was a pause before the captain tried again.
"Pax, what's happening?" Elita asked.
"Nothing much, just normal protocol following stuff, it's all good," Orion said halfheartedly.
"Are they hurt?!" Neon asked Elita.
"They're fine, Neon," she finally told her. She frowned as she sternly spoke to Pax through the commlink. "Orion Pax, could you please exit the tunnel of death?"
"Elita, it's about to get messy out there!" he warned.
The captain looked over as a huge wave of energy came shooting out at them. Everyone braced themselves as the force hit them. Whatever it was, it only made things worse. Elita and Neon watched as the tunnel walls rapidly started shifting itself shut. Some of the supports were starting to snap from the weight of it. Time was running out.
"Pax, the supports won't hold for long, you have to hurry!" Elita shouted.
Neon grew more and more fearfully as she saw more of the supports starting to break from the pressure. They needed more time. Grabbing an arm full of support poles, she ran back into the tunnel.
"NEON, GET BACK HERE!" Elita-1 shouted.
Neon didn't listen as she kept running. Getting close enough, she gripped three poles with both servos and deployed them all together, making the support stronger. She did the same thing the other side, using three like before. The poles violently shook as they tried keeping the tunnel from closing in. The walls were vigorously shifting, threatening to compact anything or anyone in the way.
Neon's spark rate went up as the metal ground creaked and moved around her. She started hyperventilating as she stepped back, hoping her friends will appear any second. One of the supports was already starting to break with the others following behind. She wasn't paying attention as the ground shifted under her, making her trip and fall onto her back.
"Oomph!" She grunted. She heard the shifting getting louder, making her look in horror to see the ceiling about to come down on top of her. Her life flashed before her optics as she braced herself. But before she could be flattened, a servo grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away just in time. To her shock, she found herself slung over D-16's shoulder.
"I got you!" he said as he held onto her.
Neon looked over to see Orion running beside them, carrying Jazz who was badly injured. The supports she set up had already been crushed to pieces. She fearfully clung to D-16 as the tunnel started closing behind them. The walls up ahead were even trying to close on the four, making their escape near to impossible.
Outside the tunnel, Elita grabbed a support and threw it inside the tunnel, trying to buy them more time. It managed to deploy and hold up the roof for them, but immediately snapped afterwards once they ran past it. Elita kept throwing more in as they got closer.
"Run, run!" Jazz yelled as another support snapped from the weight.
"We're not going to make it!" D-16 shouted.
"Go, go!" Orion yelled.
Neon tightly shut her optics, waiting for the end to come.
Using the last support, Elita used it to keep the entrance open as long as possible. The group immediately leaped under the support as Orion grabbed Elita and tackled her from being crushed. It was half a second before the tunnel completely sealed shut, sending the crushed support flying. All optics widened as it pierced into an energon fuel line, causing major damage as the machine shut down. One of the medical bots ran over to help Jazz who had lost his leg inside the tunnel.
Neon laid beside D-16 as she tried to get her wits together. Even though they were out of danger, she heavily vented as she felt her spark beating loudly in her chest. She slowly got onto her servos and knees as she looked at her friends, making sure they were okay.
D-16 sat up as he held his sore head. He then frowned at Neon who was looking back at him. "Are you crazy?!" he scolded her, "were you trying to get yourself killed?! If I hadn't reached you in time, you would have be-" He didn't finish as she slammed her smaller frame against his and tightly hugged him. She was so scared that tears were beginning to fall from her shielded optics.
"A-are y-you okay?" she asked, her voice trembling.
D-16 could feel her shaking, making his frown disappear. Venting, he hugged her back. "I'm fine."
Neon pulled away and then went over to hug Orion, the red and blue mech immediately hugging her back. They were all just relieved to still be alive.
Elita looked at the damage done before frowning at Orion. "What the frag, Pax?!" she snapped as she got back on her pedes, "I told you to evacuate!"
"I did, actually," he responded as he and the other two stood back up.
She wasn't amused by that. "If I get fired because of you-"
"Oh please, they're not going to fire you," he assured her.
Out of nowhere, a large bot flew over and transformed behind the pink femme. "Elita-1, you're fired."
Shocked by his sudden appearance, Elita turned around to face him. "What?! Why?! I followed protocol to the letter!"
"That is true," Orion intervened, "I was the one who broke the rules and-"
"No one asked you!" Elita snapped as she pushed him away. She pleadingly looked at the large bot. "Darkwing, please, I've worked too hard for this! You can't-"
"You are no cog bots with limited options!" he sternly said before pointing at her, "Report to waste management, immediately!"
Elita couldn't believe what she just heard. "Waste management?" Angered by her demotion, she turned around and stormed away.
"Elita-" Orion went to apologize.
"Next time, why don't you stop and think before you ruin someone's life?" she harshly said as she shoved him out of the way. She then pointed at Neon. "And tell her if she keeps sticking her neck out for you, she's going to get herself killed."
Neon shrunk down at this as Elita shot her a glare.
"I'm sorry!" Orion said as the pink femme stormed off without saying another word. Angered that his crush got demoted for doing nothing wrong, he turned around and frowned at the guard walking away. "Hey, Darkwing!" he called out, making the guard stop to look at him.
"Don't do it," D-16 groaned.
"Orion-" Neon worryingly pleaded.
Orion ignored them as he approached Darkwing. "I may not have a cog, but my finger can transform. Guess which one? I'll give you a limited option." He then made a transformation sound with his mouth as he slowly began extending his middle finger.
Darkwing of course did not like that. He angrily yelled as he went to punch Orion. Orion braced himself before D-16 caught Darkwing's fist in time. Both Orion and Neon vented in relief.
"Excuse me, sir," D-16 said to Darkwing, "Allow me." He then punched Orion in the face for Darkwing, knocking him to the ground.
Neon's jaw dropped at this as she glanced between Orion and D-16.
D-16 kept a friendly smile as he looked at his superior. "I apologize on his behalf for the disres-" He didn't get to finish as Darkwing punched him across the face with full force, knocking him to the floor out cold.
Neon stood there wide eyed at the sight of her friends down on the ground. Darkwing's shadow then loomed over her, making her even more scared. She nervously looked up at the giant bot who was glaring down at her.
"You got something you want to say too, No-Cog?!" he asked in a threatening tone.
Not wanting to end up like the two mechs, she fearfully shook her head.
He then got in her face and shouted. "Then get back to work!"
Neon staggered back as he turned around and stormed away. Her spark was beating loudly as she tried to pull herself together. Looking at her two friends, she pinched her brow and vented.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile back up top, a celebration was commencing. Within the city was the grand opening for the new sparkling activity center, ready to open its doors for the first time to the public. A large crowd of bots stood in front, not just excited about the center, but to see a certain femme take the stand.
Aurora felt she was about to fall into recharge as the owner recited her super long speech. The only reason she hadn't was thanks to Cogman who constantly nudged her to stay awake. She rested her head on her servo as she tried to listen.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the owner wrapped up her speech and began Aurora's introduction."And now I would like to welcome our guest of honor who graciously cleared out her busy schedule just to be here with us today..."
Cogman dusted Aurora off as she prepared to step out. "Remember to stand up straight and smile. Stay present, stay pleasant, stay proud." He said before stepping back.
Aurora grinned and gave him a thumbs up. "Wish me luck!" She shook her servos and took a big vent as she waited for her que.
"Please give a warm welcome to the daughter of Primes herself, AURORA!"
The whole crowd applauded and cheered as Aurora stepped into view. She smiled and waved at them as she made her way to the podium. She then shook the owner's servo before standing in front of the microphone. "Hello, everyone!" she said excitedly with a wave. "Thank you all so much!"
"I love you, Aurora!" a random mech shouted from the crowd.
"I love you too, random person!" She shouted back as she pointed at whoever said it. The crowd laughed at this as did she. "And please, give it up for our amazing host who made all this possible!" She applauded the owner as did the crowd, making her smile and wave back. Aurora then looked back at the crowd and continued. "It is exciting to be here with all of you today for this grand opening. I was given the honor to see the inside earlier and, I won't lie, makes me wish I was a sparkling again."
The crowd laughed.
"May sparklings come here not just to learn and play, but to make great memories with one another for many generations to come."
The crowd applauded again as she waved at them. She looked at Cogman who proudly gave her a thumbs up.
She grinned at everyone. "Now who's ready to get this party started?!" she asked as she gestured to the crowd. Everyone cheered with excitement as they clapped their servos.
Once the ribbon was cut, a stampede of excited sparklings rushed inside to check everything out. The center was soon filled with laughter and joy as the kids tried out the jungle gyms and other activities laid out before them.
Soon Aurora found herself shaking servos with everyone, even smiling for pictures with most of them. She even had a couple guards by her side at all times for her own safety. A couple hours went by as her cheeks started hurting from smiling so much. Once things settled down, she was able to step back for a breather and massage her face.
"I can't feel my cheeks," she groaned.
Cogman approached her with a plate of cubed energon goodies. "Well, you have been smiling for nearly two hours straight. That might be a record for you."
The femme took a goody and popped it into her mouth. "Was the speech good? I know I went a little off script there."
"Sentinel would be so proud," Cogman assured her.
She smiled as she looked around. Sparklings were still running around screaming and laughing as they played with one another. She admired the cool jungle gym along with everything else set up. There were even little stations scattered around for sparklings to learn different things while still having fun. "This place looks so cool," she popped another goody into her mouth as she kept talking. "What I wouldn't give to be a kid again."
"Oh, you're still one," Cogman said, "only now you're a bigger sparkling who thinks she's invincible and still talks with her mouth full."
Aurora frowned as she swallowed her food. But before she could throw a jab back at him, she heard the guards sternly talking to someone. She turned around to see identical twin sparklings trying to see her, only for the two guards to stop them. The two small femmes were scared by the guards and were sad being told they couldn't see the daughter of Primes. Feeling bad, Aurora walked over to them.
"Hey, hey, it's okay," she told the guards, "Let them through."
The guards listened and stepped aside. The two small femmes excitedly smiled as they walked past the guards and over to her.
Aurora warmly smiled as she knelt down to their eye level. "Hi there!" she said, "what are your names?"
"I'm Sprocket!" the orange one said happily.
The blue one was shy but managed to smile at Aurora. "I'm Luna."
"Those are awesome names!" Aurora complimented them.
Luna bashfully smiled as she looked at her pedes. "We really liked your speech."
"We think you're really cool!" Sprocket squealed.
Aurora gushed at the two of them. "Aww, thank you! You're both so sweet."
The carrier made her way over, embarrassed that her daughters just ran right over to her. "I'm so sorry!" she apologized, "they really wanted to meet you. Would it be alright if they get a picture taken with you?"
"Of course!" Aurora said. With the two sparklings standing in front of her, the three smiled for the holoscanner. Once it was done, the twins looked back at her, each with a happy smile.
"We want to be just like you when we're older," Sprocket said.
Aurora smiled. "You both can be whatever you want to be." She gave them each a hug before standing back up. "Now go have fun!"
"We will!" both femmes happily said in unison.
The flier watched as they walked away with their carrier, the two sisters giggling as they held servos. Though she was happy at the sight, she couldn't help but also feel sad by it. She thought what could have been if her twin and carrier hadn't passed. Would they have been that close?
"Are you alright, Miss Aurora?" Cogman asked.
Snapping out of it, she forced a smile. "Y-yeah," she responded as she turned to him, "I'm okay." Just then she caught something shiny in the corner of her optic. In the corner near the back were crates of energon for the guests. Propped up on one of the crates, there was a painting with a paint drip style. Aurora walked over and picked it up to get a better look. It was a painting of Solus Prime holding her hammer, surrounded by vibrant colors that were in a blended drip form. She had seen a lot of paintings of her carrier before, but this one... she LOVED it! She loved the style, the heroic pose, EVERYTHING!
She looked at the owner who was near her. "Excuse me!" she called out to her, "Who painted this?"
The violet-colored femme walked over to see Aurora holding the painting. "We're not sure," she said, "it was in the cart with the energon, but we have no idea where it came from. Someone must have just left it or thrown it away. Quite an interesting piece I must say."
The magenta femme studied it as she held the sheet up. She couldn't believe someone would just willfully toss out such a cool painting. "Did you plan on doing anything with it?" she asked.
The owner shook her head. "Not really. I was thinking of hanging it up somewhere perhaps." She looked at Aurora, seeing how much she admired it. She smiled at her. "But if you want it, it's all yours. Consider it a gift for being here today."
Aurora smiled and accepted it.
(Time skip)
(Sentinel's Tower)
Soon as Aurora made it back home, she went straight to her room to hang up her new painting. It didn't take long for her to find a spot above her desk. Once she hung it on the wall, she stepped back and admired it. She wished she knew who the painter was, that way she could ask for more paintings like it. She looked around at her room. She had her desk which was full of text data pads for her lessons, a display of swords on her wall for decor, a karaoke machine which was her guilty pleasure, a shelf full of different story data pads, and a huge window that had a lovely view of the city. Besides the swords and painting, she didn't really have much for decor other than a light on her nightstand next to her berth. It had a black sphere cover with tiny holes scattered all over that would allow the light to escape through them. Before she would go into recharge, she would turn it on and stare up at the small dots of light that covered her ceiling and walls in the dark. To her, those lights were the closest thing to stars she would ever see. She would just lay in her berth and stare at them, wondering if she would ever see real stars in person.
The sound of her door opening snapped Aurora out of her thoughts. To her surprise, a large blue and gold mech with gold wings walked in.
"Aah, there she is!" he said happily as he approached her with open arms.
A huge smile spread across Aurora's face. "Sentinel!" She immediately hugged him, happy to see he was back home.
The Prime chuckled as he hugged her back. "Happy to see you too!"
She pulled away and looked up at him. "I didn't expect you back so soon. Are you alright? Did you find the Matrix?"
His smile disappeared as he regretfully shook his head. "Still nothing."
Aurora was saddened by this.
The Prime smirked as he placed his servo on her shoulder. "Hey, don't worry. I haven't given up. The Matrix is out there somewhere and I'm going to find it. I won't stop until energon flows freely on Cybertron once again."
Aurora smiled at him. "I'm just happy that you're back home safe and sound." She looked over to see another bot standing in front of the door.
She was a tall slender black armored femme with spider features. She even had a row of eyes on each side of her head, allowing her to see everything around her.
Aurora smiled and waved at her. "Hey, Airachnid!"
The spider femme didn't say a word as she kept her many optics opened, scanning the room.
Cogman stepped in and gave Airachnid a look. "Always the conversationalist, aren't you, Commander Airachnid?"
The commander didn't even have to turn her head as she glared at him with her side optics.
Sentinel then noticed the painting hanging on Aurora's wall. "And what is this?" he asked curiously.
"It was a gift from the activity center," she said, "not sure who the painter is, but it looks so cool, don't you think?"
Sentinel studied it with slight interest. "Hm... Not bad." He then looked at the femme and smiled. "I got a treat planned tomorrow. Since everyone's been working so hard, I'm thinking we should do something special. How about, hmm, I don't know, say... the Iacon 5000?"
Her optics lighting up with joy, Aurora excitedly did a fist pump. "YES!" she cheered.
Sentinel laughed at her reaction. "I knew you would love it!" He wrapped his arm around her as they headed for the door. "Let's go! After I make my announcement, we'll have lots to set up, and then later, perhaps you and I can have a little sparring match. Cogman tells me you've been practicing."
Aurora grinned. "Of course! Have to make sure I'm ready to kick quintesson butt. Heck, I feel I can take down a whole squad of them!"
The Prime laughed again as they stepped out of the room. "We'll see about that."
Airachnid and Cogman followed behind as the door sealed shut behind them.
"I'm sure the quintessons were no match for you, commander," Cogman said to the spider femme.
"Nothing is," she retorted.
Cogman gave her a look. The two didn't say another word as they followed Sentinel and Aurora.
(Miner Barracks)
Once their shift was over, Neon, Orion, and D-16 were back home in the miner quarters. Both mechs were still recovering from their beatings as they sat on a bench rubbing their sore spots.
"That. Really. Hurt," D-16 groaned.
"What did you expect?" Orion asked, "he's made of metal."
"You know you were out of line?" D-16 asked the red and blue mech, "talking back to a superior like that?"
"Darkwing was out of line," Orion argued, "he deserves it."
D-16 vented as he rested his head on his fist.
"Aren't you tired of being treated like we're nothing?" Orion asked him.
"He had every right to hit me," D-16 said, "I interfered."
Orion smiled as he nudged him. "Hey... I appreciate you having my back." He placed his servo on his shoulder. "I'm glad you were there with me to... get punched in the face. It was fun!"
D-16 laughed. "Anytime buddy."
Neon soon arrived with cooling packs for each of them. "Here."
Both smiled as they took the packs. "Thanks, Nee," Orion said. The two mechs winced as they placed the packs on their faces, but soon relished the coolness as they vented in relief.
"I spoke with the meda-bot," the femme said, "Jazz is going to be alright."
Orion smiled at the news. "That's great to hear."
Neon folded her arms at Orion. "I still can't believe what you said to Darkwing. He could have done more than tried punching you."
"Darkwing is nothing but a bully," Orion argued, "I'm not going to cower to the likes of him like a scared sparkling."
Hearing that, Neon remembered how she backed down from Darkwing after he had punched D-16. She vented. "Yeah," she mumbled. She was quiet for a moment before looking at D-16. "Thanks for saving me in the tunnel."
The silver mech looked at her and vented. "You shouldn't have gone back in the tunnel, Nee."
"You both were still down there. I was trying to buy you more time."
"The tunnel was closing," he said with a frown, "You almost got crushed!"
"We all almost got crushed, D," Orion reminded him.
"I was only trying to help," Neon explained.
"You still can't just endanger yourself like that!" D-16 continued, "You know what, Elita was right. You keep doing stuff like this and you're going to get yourself killed!"
She frowned at him. "You both did the same for Jazz! How is that different?!"
"Because we can handle it! You can't!"
Neon shrunk at this as she held her arm and glanced away. She understood why he was mad. He and Orion always had been very protective of her. "I didn't want to lose you both. You're all I have left."
D-16's frown disappeared. Both him and Orion glanced at one another, knowing what she meant. Her guardian had died in an accident a cycle after Neon joined the mining crew. They were now the closest thing to family she had.
D-16 vented as he stood up and placed his servo on her shoulder. "You're not going to lose us, Neon," he assured her.
Orion smiled as he stood up. "Yeah, Nee! As long as we watch each other's backs, we're going to be okay."
Neon sadly vented as she looked at Orion. "But I'm not bold like you are. I can't speak up to someone like Darkwing without getting scared. I'm not strong like you two. I'm just... me."
Orion smiled at her as he placed his servo on her shoulder. "Remember when we first met you? You were so shy you could barely say a word to anyone. It wasn't until days later when D and I accidentally ticked off Darkwing. He was so mad that he refused to give us our energon rations that day." His smile grew. "After he left, you came over and shared your rations with us. It was the first time you actually spoke to us."
She bashfully smiled. "I remember. I felt so bad for you two that I wanted to share what I had with you."
"You may not be the toughest bot here, but you had our backs from the start. You have a good spark, Neon. Don't ever lose it."
The femme smiled at them both. "Thanks." She chuckled. "You know, when I first talked to you both I was scared you would think I was some kind of weirdo."
D-16 chuckled as he folded his arms. "Don't worry... you're our weirdo."
The femme playfully swatted his arm, making him and Orion laugh at her reaction.
Just then an alert went off, gaining the whole building's attention.
"Attention, all sectors," a computerized female voice spoke from the monitor, "stand by for a live transmission from Sentinel Prime."
"He's back?" D-16 asked excitedly, "he's back already?!"
"Maybe he found the Matrix," Orion said hopefully.
Neon, D-16, Orion, and the other miners went to the monitor, eager to hear the news their leader had for them. It wasn't long before a large hologram of Sentinel Prime appeared before them.
"Is it on?" The Prime asked whoever was off camera, "Okay, thank you." He brought his attention to the camera and smiled. "Hello, my friends! Hello, Iacon City! Hello, to our saviors, the industrious miners who toil selflessly to maintain our energon reserves. I celebrate you!"
The miners cheered at the praise given to them by the Prime. Neon smiled as she applauded.
"Humility, and presence!" D-16 said happily before nudging Orion, "That's leadership! Aw, nobody does it better!"
"Once again, I have narrowly returned with my fleet after another treacherous expedition across the desolate, dangerous surface of our planet," the Prime continued, "I departed with hopes of finding the Matrix of Leadership..." an image of the Matrix appeared before him, "the key to bringing balance to Cybertron..." A sad look spread across his face as the matrix disappeared. "I regret to inform you, that we've returned emptyhanded."
All the bots were saddened by the news. Even Neon sadly vented as her shoulders drooped.
"This is a setback, but not a failure," he clarified, "rest assured, I will find the Matrix of Leadership so that energon can flow again."
Hearing that brought everyone's spirits back up as some of them cheered.
"But that's in the future," he told everyone, "Right now, I think we all deserve a little fun! Tomorrow there will be no work, all shifts off, because tomorrow is the Iacon 5000!"
Everyone cheered as the sign appeared on the hologram.
"Woo-hoo!" D-16 cheered, "YES!"
"My favorite event!" Sentinel continued, "A high octane race all across Iacon City! Let's all see which competitor can prove they are truly more than meets the eye!"
Excited for the race, everyone continued cheering, D-16 being the most pumped. Orion however was soon lost in thought. A smirk formed on his face as an idea came to him.
Neon didn't share the same enthusiasm as everyone else as she watched D-16 still cheering.
"The Iacon 5000!" D-16 exclaimed. He looked at Neon. "Nee, did you hear that?!"
"The event where bots get severely injured just to beat each other in a race around the city?" she asked with little interest.
"Oh, come on, it's not that bad," the silver mech said.
"There was a flier that had his wings torn off last race!" she reminded him, "it's a miracle he's still alive!"
"Oh yeah, I forgot about Wingnut," he said as he thought out loud, "I wonder if he'll be racing again tomorrow?"
Neon only shook her head at him.
(Sentinel's Tower)
Once everything was set for the race, Sentinel and Aurora returned home for their sparring match. Both used training swords as they circled each other in the training room. Aurora charged as she swung her sword at Sentinel, the Prime only blocking it and swinging back. Aurora immediately jumped back before tucking and rolling away from his second strike. The two swiftly moved around to dodge and attack one another, Aurora even doing a flip to avoid getting hit.
"You're getting faster," Sentinel complimented as they got back into a stance. "I really am a good teacher."
"The best!" Aurora said with a smile. She lunged at Sentinel, both locking weapons with one another. Wanting to ask a question, Aurora cleared her throat. "You know, I've been thinking, you've really taught me so much about combat and Prime stuff and... I think I might be ready to... you know... maybe join you on the surface?"
Sentinel vented as he frowned at her. "Aury, we've been over this. You're not ready." He then stepped back and moved his sword away, making her stumble forward in surprise.
Immediately she regained her footing and turned back around with her guard up. "But I've gotten really good with my training. Plus, it might help if you have an extra set of eyes." She shrieked as she brought the sword up, using it to block his from hitting her on the head.
"That's what I have Airachnid for," he told her before swinging his sword, making her quickly react to block it, "You are getting better, I'll give you that..." He blocked her attack before spinning around to strike back, "but the quintessons are far too dangerous. And like it or not, you're still an amateur."
Aurora blocked his sword as she looked at him pleadingly. "But Sentinel-"
"I said no," the Prime said sternly, "besides, you know the rules. The day you prove you're ready... " He started attacking much faster, making her frantically step back as she tried blocking his attacks at the same speed. Then with one swift sweeping kick under her legs, Sentinel knocked her off her pedes, making her drop her sword as she fell flat on her back.
"Oomph!" she grunted as she hit the floor. She then looked up wide eyed at Sentinel standing over her, the point of his sword inches away from her face.
"Is the day you beat me," he finished.
Aurora groaned in defeat as she let her head fall back against the floor.
The Prime vented as he reached his servo out and helped her back onto her pedes. "Listen, I know you want to help, and I appreciate it very much," he then placed his servo on her shoulder. "But you're still my responsibility. Before your carrier died, I promised her I would take care of her sparklings. I already failed when I lost Iris. I can't lose you too."
Aurora sympathetically looked at him. "What happened to Iris was not your fault. You did everything you could to help her."
He had a look of sorrow as he glanced down at the floor. "Or maybe I didn't do enough." He looked back at her with a solemn expression. "I'm refusing for your own protection."
"But I'm not a sparkling anymore," she argued, "I just want to help anyway I can. I may be just an apprentice but there must be something I can do."
"You have a duty here. Your task is to take care of the city while I'm up on the surface. Someone needs to keep an eye on things while I'm away." He lifted her chin up. "And what is the most important rule of being a Prime?"
Aurora was silent for a moment before venting. "Primes are always there for the people no matter what."
He nodded as he released her chin. "No matter what."
Knowing there was no use in arguing, she quietly sighed before looking back up at him. "I... understand."
Sentinel smiled as he lovingly rubbed her head. "That's my girl."
Airachnid then entered the training room, gaining both of their attention.
"Somethings come up," Airachnid told Sentinel, "You're needed right now."
"I'll be right there," he told her. He smiled as he handed Aurora his sword. "Duty calls. Why don't you go rest up for the race tomorrow?"
Remembering the new cloaking device she got; she disguised her sneaky smirk with a smile. "Now that you mention it, I do feel very tired from such a busy day." She released a fake yawn. "I think I'll call it a night."
Sentinel chuckled. "In that case, I'll see you in the morning," he said before making his way to the door. "Love ya, Princess! Sweet dreams!"
Aurora innocently waved. "Love you too! Good night!" Once the Prime and commander were gone, a grin spread across her face.
(Miner Barracks)
About a couple hours after the announcement, Neon was at her locker grabbing some paint. While the outside of her locker looked plain, the inside had lots of artwork and decals all around. She even had a few decals of Solus Prime along her door. Out of all the Primes, she admired Solus the most for her creativity. Besides keeping her art supplies in there, she also had some data pads and an old toy of hers she kept as a keepsake. She received that toy from her guardian the day she adopted her. She kept it ever since.
Grabbing what she needed, she closed her locker... revealing Orion and D-16 standing behind it.
"Hey, Nee!" Orion greeted once the locker closed shut.
The startled femme shrieked as she nearly dropped her paint. She then frowned at the two mechs and swatted Orion.
"Don't scare me like that!" she snapped.
"And what do you think you're doing with that paint?" D-16 asked as he folded his arms at her.
She was confused by his question. "To go do some painting. What else?"
"Ooh no you're not," Orion said with a smirk, "we're going to the Oil House, remember?"
She looked at him in disbelief. "Wha- we had a near death experience today and you still want to go to the Oil House?!"
"Of course! I think cheating death is worth celebrating."
"Come on, Neon," D-16 said, "if I'm going, you're going.
Neon really didn't want to go as she tried talking her way out of it. "I don't know you guys. I'm not really feeling up to it tonight."
Really wanting the femme to join them, Orion tried bribing her. "Alright, how about this... Come with us this one time, and D and I will buy you that metallic red paint you love so much."
That got the painter's attention. She always used a certain type of red paint that was not cheap, but she loved the shine it gave off. She was at war with herself at the offer. After a moment of silence, she looked at Orion. "Two hours tops," she told him.
"Not a minute more," he promised.
The compromise made; Neon vented. "Alright, I'll go."
"WHOOHOO!" Orion and D-16 loudly cheered as they wrapped their arms around her. Neon's face turned dark as their cheering drew a lot of attention from the other miners, making her hide her face in embarrassment. Already she was regretting her decision.
(Sentinel's Tower)
Aurora made sure Sentinel and Airachnid were still occupied before making her way down the wall. She constantly glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was following her. Once she made it to her room, she shut the door and hurried over to her window. Now was her chance.
"Show time!" she excitedly said as she pulled out her cloaking device and attached it to her arm. Opening her window, she went to climb out before she heard a cough behind her, making her freeze in place.
"Going somewhere, Miss Aurora?"
Aurora turned around to see Cogman standing there. She vented in relief and laughed. "Sheesh, Cogman, I thought you were Sentinel!"
The old mech gave her a look as he folded his arms. "Just what do you think you are doing?"
"I think I'm about to jump out a window," she said with a smirk.
He raised his optical ridge at her. "You know Sentinel will look down upon you sneaking out."
"Hey, with Airachnid here, this is my only time window where she won't see me sneaking off. You know she sees everything!"
"Unfortunately," Cogman muttered.
"I'll be back before anyone knows I'm gone." Aurora went to leave before Cogman stopped her.
"And what's wrong with just walking out the front door with your usual security?" he asked.
"First off, not as fun," she responded, "Second, just once I want to go somewhere without a bunch of guards following me around. I want to blend in."
Cogman released a laugh. "Ha! You're the daughter of Primes! How do you expect to blend in?"
The femme grinned as she activated the cloaking device. Her magenta and yellow armor was soon replaced with minty green and soft pink. Even her armor design was different with a clear pink visor over her optics.
"Like so," she smugly answered.
Cogman looked her up and down. Though the disguise looked somewhat convincing, he still had his doubts. "Disguise or no disguise, it is very unwise for you to go alone."
"Oh, come on, Cogman-"
"Miss Aurora, I may be your personal butler, but I still work for Sentinel Prime," he argued, "And he will have me torn apart if I let you waltz on out of here without protection. I refuse to let you go flying about alone in that ridiculous disguise."
The femme sulked before a thought came to her. She then smirked at him. "You know what? You're right. I really shouldn't go alone."
The mech nodded. "Good! I'm glad you finally see it my way."
(Time skip)
"I can't believe you talked me into this," Cogman grumbled as he and Aurora flew through the city in their aircraft modes.
Aurora resembled a jet while Cogman had more of a helicopter mode. It was already dark out with the city lights glowing brightly to light their way.
"You're the one who didn't want me to go alone, remember?" she reminded him. "Besides, you deserve a little fun."
"I'm a servant-class bot," he said, "I don't do fun."
"You sound like Airachnid," she teased.
The old mech took offense to that. "You take that back."
Aurora smiled as the wind blew against her. She loved flying! If she didn't have such busy schedules, she could fly for days. "WOOHOO!" she cheered as she spun around in her jet mode.
"Need I remind you you're supposed to be keeping a low profile?" the helicopter reminded her.
"Don't worry so much, Cogman," she told him, "We'll be back before Sentinel finds out."
"And just where are we going exactly?" he asked.
"You'll see!" she said excitedly before flying past him.
The helicopter grumbled to himself as he followed after her into downtown Iacon. Right towards an oil house.
And that is chapter 2! I hope you liked it. So excited for the next chapter!
Shout out to zachsaur94 for suggesting Neon should be a fan of Solus Prime. Though she's not as obsessed as D-16 is with Megatronus, she definitely admires Solus for being able to create many things. Thanks, zachsaur94 for the suggestion.
Also, RIP to Tony Todd, the voice of Dreadwing and the Fallen from ROTF. I was so sad to hear he had passed. Thank you, Tony, for sharing your talents to bring these characters to life.
Thank you all so much for reading and if you're enjoying this story so far, please favorite, follow, leave a review and hopefully I will update this again soon. Until next time! God bless!