Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC Siren and any alterations to the original storyline plot she creates to various readers amusement everywhere across the globe to various readers amusement everywhere across the globe.
Transformers One: Siren Chapter 2
By the time their group made it to the assigned section the rest of the team was there preparing for entry.
Elita-1 is deadest on acquiring the last 30 units of energon she needs to be promoted to supervisor. The position Elita-1 has been working toward for a very long time. And she's not afraid of pushing the rest of them at their hardest in order to get it.
And, as per usual, Orion is being his annoying self and pushing Elita-1 to her last nerve before work has even begun.
"Elita, I mean Captain, you are looking especially shiny this morning," complimented Orion. "New polish?"
Rolling her eyes at Orion's persistence in being so unprofessionally friendly toward her, irritated, Elita-1 said "Orion Pax, I'm sorry that I somehow gave you the impression that we're friends."
Elita-1's attitude not bothering him, smiling, Orion said "Apology accepted."
Siren slapped a hand over her optics in reaction to Orion's behavior. Either he's deliberately pretending to be oblivious to Elita-1's dislike of him or he is clueless. It's been cycles and he's still not getting the message.
Lightly nudging Siren in the arm, D-16 said "Bet you two energon cubes that Elita-1's going to punch him out today."
"You're on," said Siren, laughing.
Siren's laughter sounds like golden bounds. The sound instantly makes D-16's optics soften upon hearing it.
Raising her voice so all of them could hear her, Elita-1 ordered "Light up that wall! Let's go! Ten seconds!"
Grabbing a saw from a mining cart, Orion said "Happy to take the lead today, Captain. I feel like I have enough power in me to drill down and touch Primus myself."
Scoffing, Elita-1 retorted "You don't have the touch or the power. Ready positions, Rust Buckets! Let's go!"
Watching Elita-1 with a smile, Orion said "She's in a good mood today."
D-16 lets out a hum, deciding not to say anything about that.
Picking up a bracer, Siren said "Orion, you really need to stop that. One of these days Elita-1 is going to make sure you're demoted just so she doesn't have to hear your voice anymore."
Waving a dismissive hand, Orion said "Oh, Elita-1 would never do that. She likes me too much."
Siren bands her forehead on D-16's arm, causing him to chuckle.
Hefting the saw over his shoulder, Orion said "You guys ready."
"Always ready," said D-16, confidently. "Let's punch in."
The whole team rushes into the newly crafted tunnel to extract as much energon as possible before it closes back up again.
Siren is on the bracing team, so she helps make sure that the shape of the tunnel remains open and stable while Orion and D-16 go elsewhere, deeper down into the lower channel. They and the other drillers painstakingly dig into the walls, taking out chunks of energon with the glow emanating from the substance itself and headlamps being their only light.
Hours pass by as cart after cart after cart is filled to the brim with chunks of energon and brought out to be passed onto the processing assembly line.
All appears to be going according to plan and on schedule until another miner on the team called Wheeljack punches into an unstable vein which makes the entire tunnel begin to destabilize around them.
Following an explosion resulting from this Elita-1 calls for an immediate evacuation.
Siren had just been pushing a full mining cart near the entrance with Arcee, so she was one of the first out. As everyone else made their escape Siren kept an eye out for D-16 and Orion, but they never appeared.
Siren's fear mounted when supposedly the last person came out and they weren't there.
Siren quickly learns from Elita-1 that on the way out another miner, Jazz, had gotten stuck. D-16 and Orion had stayed behind to try and get him out, ignoring Elita-1's by-the-book command to just evacuate. Knowing the both of them, Siren suspects it's Orion who is really behind this. If he sees someone in trouble, he always must help. It's the sort of reckless and impulsive actions Orion is known for down there. Somehow, they managed to break Jazz free, but the shockwave created by a jetpack overloading knocked out the remaining bracers that hadn't been extinguished. Even with Elita-1 tossing others in to create an opening the three of them barely made it out with their lives.
The whole time other miners had to restrain Siren from diving in after them. As soon as they emerged Siren broke free and ran to them.
Siren reached Orion first, jumping into his arms and hugging him close. She then reaches out an arm and brings D-16 into the embrace. She's immensely relieved her friends made it out of there with only a few scratches, but Jazz wasn't so lucky. He lost a leg in there and would have to go into medical for some serious repairs.
And Jazz isn't the only one.
One of the bracers had been launched out of the tunnel and pierced one of the energon fuel lines powering the machines. This was going to hurt production.
As if Elita-1 didn't have enough to worry about.
Elita-1 is furious that they broke protocol, worried that this entire escapade is going to get her terminated from her position and demoted.
Orion is quick to assure Elita-1 that she's not, but the ramifications of all this are significant.
No sooner does Orion say that one of the mine's most hated supervisors shows up.
Darkwing.
"Oh no," hissed Siren in dread.
Speaking in his booming voice, Darkwing said "Elita-1, you're fire."
Spinning around to face him, indignantly, Elita-1 exclaimed "What? Why? I followed protocol to the letter."
Interjecting when he shouldn't be, speaking in Elita-1's defense, Orion said "That is true. I was the one who broke the rules."
Tugging him back at the wrist, Siren said "Orion, stop."
Snapping at Orion furiously, Elita-1 said "No one asked you." She then turns to Darkwing and returns her tone to something more respectful as she pleads to keep her position. "Darkwing, please, I worked too hard for this."
"You are no-cog bots with limited options. Report to waste management immediately," said Darkwing, uncompromisingly.
"Waste management," said Elita-1, gapping in disbelief. Elita-1 is forced to concede, unable to protest and do anything other than comply. She walks away, aiming an infuriated, fuming, and resentful glare at Orion all the time.
Trying to apologize, Orion said "Elita-."
Adding in a hot-tempered shove for good measure, Elita-1 said "Next time, why don't you stop and think before you ruin someone's life."
"I'm sorry," said Orion, remorsefully.
No one speaks to Elita-1 as she departs.
Orion's not about to take this injustice lying down.
Angrily moving to confront Darkwing, Orion called "Hey, Darkwing."
"Don't do it," urged D-16, shaking his head.
Covering her optics in dreadful anticipation, Siren said "I can't watch. Tell me when it's over."
"I may not have a cog, but my finger can transform. Guess which one. I'll give you a limited option," said Orion, emphasizing the word "limited" and making transforming noises as he raised his fist and lifted the middle finger in disrespect.
Not tolerating the insult Darkwing moves to punch Orion into next week.
Instinctively, D-16 intervenes, catching Darkwing's fist in mid-punch.
"Excuse me, Sir. Allow me," said D-16, landing a punch on Orion's head instead. "I apologize on his behalf for the dis-."
Since Darkling couldn't punch Orion, he decided to take it out on D-16 instead. Darkwing nailed D-16 with a direct hit in the face.
Cringing, hands covering her lips upon impact, Siren said "Should've expected that coming."
Later, when they're shift was over the three of them were in their assigned barracks, relaxing with all the others after a long and strenuous day.
Orion and D-16 are still licking their wounds from what Darkwing did to them.
"That really hurt," groaned D-16, rolling his head and rubbing his aching neck.
Shrugging, Orion said "What did you expect? He's made of metal."
"You know you were out of line," said D-16, firmly, rubbing his jaw where Darkwing solidly clocked him. "Talking back to a superior like that."
Justifying his actions, Orion sighed "Darkwing was out of line. He deserved it. Aren't you tired of being treated like we're nothing?"
"He had every right to hit me. I interfered," perceived D-16.
Placing a grateful hand on D-16's shoulder, smiling, Orion said "Hey, and I appreciate you having my back. I'm glad you were there with me to get punched in the face. That was fun."
"Anytime, buddy," chuckled D-16, smile broadening when he spots Siren returning with their rations of energon for the evening. "And speaking of that punch…"
"Here you are, guys. Fresh energon," said Siren, handing them each a separate box with energon cubes.
"Ah, finally. I'm starving," said Orion, digging into his with gusto.
D-16 is more controlled. Instead of immediately consuming his energon. D-16 holds an expectant hand out to Siren with a snicker on his face.
Pausing as she was about to bring a cube to her lips, Siren said "What's that for?"
"I believe you and I have a little bet to settle. That'll be two energon cubes please," said D-16.
"Excuse me," said Siren, brow raised.
"You heard me," said D-16, arms crossed.
"What's this about," asked Orion, curious.
"Siren and I had a bet that you'd get punched out today and I won. So, pay up, Siren," said D-16, victoriously.
"Hey," said Orion, playfully.
But D-16 won't be getting those cubes from her. Oh no. He's forgetting a very important piece of information. And Siren is all too happy to remind him of it.
"Oh, I won't be doing anything of the sort. You seem to have forgotten something, D," said Siren. "Yes, Orion did get punched, but the terms of the bet were if Elita-1 hit him today. The punch he received came from you."
D-16 freezes, the satisfaction vacating his face as he realizes she's right. He didn't win, she did. D-16 grumbles in displeasure as he buries his face in his hands.
Orion's optics trail back and forth between them throughout this entire exchange.
Siren reaches out and steals two cubes from D-16's ration box. Maintaining eye contact with him, Siren puts one after the other in her mouth with him watching wide-eyed and slaw-jawed.
Orion's shoulders shake from suppressed laughter as he struggles to hold it in witnessing this.
At the end of it, pure mirth is sparkling in Siren's optics as she fights to contain her own amusement at D-16's expense.
"Oh, you think it's funny do you," said D-16, placing his rations down to go after Siren.
Siren releases a shriek and runs away with D-16 in hot pursuit. Other miners in the vicinity get out of the way as D-16 chases Siren around the barracks.
Eventually, D-16 catches Siren around the waist from behind and spins her around as she lets out carefree and blissful laughter.
Orion bears witness to all this while eating his energon with a beaming and self-satisfied expression on his face. Quite pleased with himself about this progress.
Shouldn't be long now in his opinion.
Authors Note:
I really do need more options on what Siren's vehicular mode should be. I'm really in a bind about this.
By the way, when D-16 picks Siren up and spins her around it's like how Troy did with Gabriella in the 1st High School musical movie.
Do you think Siren should be tricked into competing in the Iacon 5000 alongside Orion and D-16 or should she be in the stands along with everyone else?
I hope you all like this one! I certainly did while writing it for your vast enjoyment! ;D
For those of you just starting out with my stuff there are other works on my profile that may catch your interest. I highly recommend you take a look as soon as the opportunity presents itself to you. Who knows, you may be pleasantly surprised by what you discover.
Stay safe everyone. Especially with all of these crazy natural disasters occurring a lot lately due to global warming and climate change everywhere for sure. I swear it's like they're getting worse and worse all the time and it's like officials are simply just ignoring it or pretending it doesn't exist entirely just to go on with their daily lives. Especially those in multi-million dollar companies that rely on certain elements of our planet that we rely on to naturally keep us safe instead of adapting and finding new safer ways to keep in business. There are so many options out there where they can adapt, but they just refuse to see it because all they care about is money. Climate change is altering so much faster than anyone can really keep track of.
So, in light of all this, it is important to live life to the fullest as much as anyone can.
I know I am. ;) See you guys next time.