Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Two weeks ago—————-

You never forget your first time in space, alone and drifting in a quiet abyss. There's no noise, you're weightless and completely isolated in the sparkling expanse.

The sparkling knew, because thay was how they woke up.

The first thing they remembered when they opened their optics was that dazzling sight around the.. 

It was dark, but there was soon a glistening cosmos. Blue, pink, yellow, and purple swirled in masses among the twinkling stars.

They was floating in space.

The young bot took in a small breath and reached out, trying to grab at them. They flexed what looked like metal servos in front of them, watching the gears move and joints strain with each bend. Getting a feel for them, they then looked down at the rest of my body.

Robotic limbs stretched out and an armored frame that was completely light grey with very few details. Looking behind them, they spotted a dual pair of wings on their back, the lower ones smaller than the mains that stood up and out. There was a small tail fin on each calf, jutting out to the side.

A smile stretched across her face as she flexed her servos again, rolling her neck and feeling all the different systems coming online. The femme was aware she was alive right now, her mind naturally trying to figure out what to do next to keep it that way. She needed somewhere to stay and some kind of fuel.

But how the heck was she s upposed to get anywhere?!

She was floating in the middle of nowhere far from anything that could help her!

"Ok, just calm down," She thought, looking around. The sparkling had what looked like crosshairs darting around in her vision wherever she looked as well as a small map that showed she was somewhere far away from everything.

Wonderful

The flier frowned and tried running a diagnostic test. It took some figuring out but she finally managed to. This just left her more confused as they all popped up in a weird text, none of which she could read or understand. What made her worried though was she could see a little thermometer, probably her core temperature, going down slowly as a result of free-floating in space.

The might have been able to move better, but then remembered she knew nothing.

"Somebody find me!" Her mind yelled into the abyss but of course, her voice was drowned out and got no reply.

The sparkling shivered a bit, rubbing her arms and looked around desperately.

There was no way sh'd been born just to die right away, not like this at least!

Tears formed in the corners of her optics at the thought of this slow death, but she quickly whipped them away.

No, no crying. 

Shehad to preserve what fuel she had.

But minutes dragged into hours, and the youngling was getting weaker by the second. The red and yellow biolights that lined her frame were getting dimmer as their power was automatically rerouted to other systems.

"Someone, please," She whispered, though her words were swallowed up by nothing.

She thought someone like her was supposed to be able to survive in space. Surely robots could? Either way, she clearly wasn't going to for much longer.

Thw femme closed her optics and curled up, just wanting this to be over with.

Then salvation came

She was suddenly bathed in light, so blinding it made her shield her face. A ship had appeared behind her, able to arrive unnoticed thanks to the lack of sound in space. Her optics shone and she felt her sparkrate pick up as she laughed weakly, unable to believe it.

Guess her luck was finally picking up.

A small door on the side opened and a blue and red bot with door wings and wheels on his shoulders jumped out, a rope attaching him to the ship.

He flashed a grin as he got closer and waved, holding his hand out to her. The flier looked at it for a second before reaching out and taking it, then being pulled back towards the blinding light in the ship from where he'd jumped out.

The present——————

The femmeling could still remember the glow from that day, the mech's warm smile as he pulled her back to safety. But now, she was floating again in complete darkness, alone with her thoughts. And then...

Pain

That was the first thing her mind registered as her systems came online. That and the weightlessness was gone, replaced by an immense crushing sensation all around her. The last thing she recalled was the explosion, so she cried out and opened my optics, trying to see where she was.

Everything around her was black and even the slightest movement made pain flare in horrible bursts so all she could do was lie as still as possible. Soon, the sound of muffled cheering reached her ears and she realized the battle was over, which meant now she had to wait.

She ran a scan and felt her spark drop when it sent back the reading of what was around her.

Rock stretched almost 30 feet to the surface and in every direction. She was all alone and everyone else was on the surface.

How could she even alert anyone where she was? There was no way she could even reach her left wrist and even if she could, she was more than sure it had been crushed from the crunching sound when she moved it.

The femme coughed violently which jolted her body around, some of the rocks around her loosening. However, something wet now seeped from her stomach and pooled under her.

Squinting made her realize that her face was now tight from the energon stained and dried on it.

The young flier cried out to them, trying to shout but all that came out was a crackling noise and static. She panicked and yelled desperately, tears swelling in her optics and running down her face, cutting through any energon that was fresh but static just came.

She heard the loud cries and shouts above her, but never once did she hear her name being called frantically by someone looking for her. Not once did a message pop up on my internal hub, asking where she was or for her location.

Soon, the noise started dying down and she heard ships taking off, everyone departing from the battle and going separate ways...

They all left without her...

They... they'd all forgotten about her.

She screamed her voice box raw and flailed around, the world going white with pain until she passed out again.

When she woke up, it was still pitch black but all the noise was gone, silence descending around her. The femme groaned and tried shifting around but a rock had dislodged and now rested on her chassis and pinned her to the one below.

Her chronometer told her a whole two solar cycles had passed, and she was now truly alone.

Who was she kidding when she tried to be tough? She was just a damn weak sparkling who couldn't do a single thing worth anyone's time or to even save her life.

Oh Primus, she was going to die here. Not even half a jour old and she was going to die a slow painful death on a planet that was uninhabited.

The femmeling sobbed and screamed again, tears burning her cheeks as the crackling static burst from her mouth. She tried pulling my limbs free, hating being cramped like this and just wanting to stretch out. All she managed though was to get an arm free and stretch it towards the surface as face as she could before the dirt crumbled and then trapped her like that.

Her panic turned to pure rage and the noise grew louder and more furious. She thrashed and cursed all those on the Ark.

How could they be so oblivious?!

She hated them all!

They never gave a single scrap about her so why did she expect they'd care where she was?!

She stopped and panted as she felt herself about to pass out. Her mind calmed down and more coolant fell.

It wasn't their fault.

They'd just come out of a war and had an important mission. No one had time to look after or baby her. Maybe it was her fault for being forged.

Maybe it was better if she died...

She gave a sob, just wishing she could have at least seen those three one last time before she joined the Allspark...

——————

A cool breeze brushed over the tips of her digits and jolted her awake. She'd lost so much energon she couldn't even move, the only thing that did was her chassis heaving up and down as it tried to cool her overheating frame.

Her processor was sluggish but it finally registered that she was actually feeling the wind. Hope sparked in her mind and she did another scan.

The surface was 2 feet away...

The femme sobbed and couldn't help but cry when something brushed her servo and scraped against her arm, digging her out. A raspy and deep growl called out, soon followed by dull thuds of someone walking and the ground shifted around her.

Slowly, the weight on her frame lessened until she felt the rocks being moved away completely. She gasped and inhaled deeply, feeling hee vents finally able to fill properly. It still hurt to do so but she couldn't care less at the moment.

The sparkling looked around desperately but the world was still completely black. Her optics had probably been damaged in the explosion, so she couldn't see who was there.

The ground next to her shifted and she flinched a bit when a servo rested on her arm.

"Can you hear me?" A monotonous mech voice asked, but she could hear the concern in their tone and felt it as his field washed over her.

She tried to say yes but her voice box had shorted out completely by now so her lips moved silently.

"That's ok, I know what you're saying." He said, "Just hang on, young one."

He picked her up, hooking one servo under the back of her knees and the other around her arm. She was brought close and her helm rested against what seemed to be cool glass.

"This one's lost a lot of energon, Sounds," A soft yet rough voice said close by her head, "He may not make it."

"She," The mech holding her corrected as she felt him start walking and her consciousness faded, "And she is going to make it. I'm going to make sure of that."

Chapter Text

Two weeks ago

The blue mech flashed a grin as he got closer and waved, holding his hand out to her. She looked at it for a second before reaching out and taking it, then being pulled back towards the blinding light in the ship from where he'd jumped out.

It wasn't even 30 seconds before the door closed behind them and she felt the effects of gravity weighing down. The sparkling tried to stand but her legs wobbled and gave out from lack of use.

The mech quickly caught her and looked back, making her follow his gaze. A purple femme and a white and light blue mech with a yellow face mask and wings ran up behind him.

"Awright thare kiddo. Welcom tae th' Ark," The mech holding her grinned, "Name's Skids."

"W-what?" She asked, my voice box still adjusting.

"Ye'r oan oor ship noo," Skids smiled, a thick accent in his voice, "How'd ye end up floating in space? 'n' jimmy, ye'r aye ainlie in yer base armor? Howfur lang hae ye bin lik' this? "

"I... I don't know" She said as he helped me sit up. It took her a second to figure out what he was saying with the accent, "I um... think I was just forged. I don't really know or remember anything."

"Just forged? Your plating makes sense now, but then how in the Pious Pools did you get out into the middle of nowhere?" The purple femme asked, leaning over his shoulder to look at her.

She just shrugged and the light blue mech butted in, rambling off so quickly she didn't understand what he was saying before quickly slowing down when he saw her confused face.

"Maybe he was one of those who had a spark implanted in him after his body had been made? I don't think he was constructed cold, do you?" He said, "You know, like how Animus always used to say he was made. Spark put in right on a ship and then dropped onto the battlefield. Maybe he was part of one of those but somehow got separated? I know the Cons did that, which would make a lot more sense seeing as she has their insignia on."

"She," The spakrling quickly corrected him, "I'm a femme."

"Ooh, I see it now," He said, looking my frame up and down.

The other femme laughed and helped her up so she could hug her, "Looks like we have a new girl on board!" She grinned, "Not just me now! Do you have a name?"

"A name? I hadn't even thought about that yet." She admitted, her brow knotting, "How about... Novus?"

"As in New?" Skids grinned and pat her back, "Weel ah think it suits ye, lassie. 'n' ye kin aye chaynge it efter whin ye'r nae sae freish anymair ."

"I'm Nautica, and this is Brainstorm. This ship is the Ark as Skids already said. You'll probably meet everyone soon though you will need some time to adjust to this life." The purple femme rambled off.

"Um, I can't read either," Novus said, looking down in embarrassment.

"Ok, that may be a bit of a problem," Brainstorm said, "That means you'll have to go through one of Mag's classes."

Classes? She frowned, not liking the idea of being confined to a desk for long periods of time. It sounded like three kinds of boring.

"Don't worry, it'll be fun!" Nautica laughed, "For now, let's just get you settled down. We'll meet with the captains, get you a room and everything, and show you around the ship."

"Yeah, I'd like that a lot," She grinned.

The present——————

For the first time in days, Novus woke up feeling completely comfortable. The pain was gone and all that remained of it was a dull throb. She pried her optic lids open and blinked at the lights, gingerly sitting up and looking around.

As soon as she did though, something was wrong.

The sparkling looked down at her servos, her optics widening as she saw something that made her spark stop. Everything was just a blurry blob, so much so that she couldn't make out any details.

"W-what's wrong with me?" Novus choked out, her voice hoarse and frail. She looked up and around the room but it seemed the further away things were, the more fuzzy they got. Only the little crosshairs that always danced around her vision were clear but that just made her more frustrated.

She cried out and rubbed her optics desperately, seeing if it made any difference.

It didn't.

The young femme sobbed and pressed her palms into her optics so hard it started to hurt, her vents starting to come in short and frantic and she felt my digits starting to dig into her faceplates.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps running into the room was heard and someone grabbed her by the wrists, tearing her servos away from her face. Novus froze in shock and slowly looked up, but just made a pitiful noise.

A red visor and white mouthguard were in front of hee. The mech was mostly dark blue with a few red and white streaks. Something black with red optics hopped up on the berth next to her and what looked like a bird and something else purple landed, but they were just blobs to her.

"Deep breaths," The blue bot said, slowly lowering hee servos, "You took quite the hit back there."

She knew his voice. He was the one who had rescued her.

"Who are you?" The femme gasped, looking at him with fear pumping through her, so much he probably didn't even need to feel it in her field.

"I am Soundwave. I found you a few days ago and have been waiting for you to wake up," He said and guided her servo down to the black animal next to her.

She felt along the sleek head, brushing down its neck and back. The animal suddenly started vibrating, making her jump and the blue mech laughed, "Don't worry, he's just purring. This is Ravage."

The cat-like being walked over and laid his front paws and helm on her lap, looking up at the young bot. After didn't do anything, he lightly nipped her servo and looked at her expectedly. Realizing what he wanted, she quickly resumed stroking him, feeling him start to purr again.

"What happened?" Novus asked, tears coming to my optics as she lifted her free servo and put it over one. She heard Soundwave sigh as he moved the bird and sat next to her, holding it on his lap.

"I did what I could, but the blast seems to have done more damage than what is beyond my healing capabilities," He said regretfully, "I'm sorry, Novus, but I don't think you'll be able to see properly even if we get you to a medic."

Hee breath shuddered in her throat as she stared down, feeling the tears run down her cheeks. Slowly, a sob built in her chassis and she felt her frame start to shake violently.

With everything that had happened, the bubble that had been expanding inside of hee burst again and brought forth every emotion she'd experienced since she'd been on the Ark. Coolant streamed down her face at an alarming rate as Ilshe cried her spark out, wanting nothing more than to just curl up and let it all pour out.

She wanted someone to hold her and tell her it was ok, to actually comfort her.

As though he read her mind, Ravage got off the femmelings as Soundwave reached over and pulled her onto his lap, enveloping her in strong arms, and pressing her face to his frame.

"It's ok," He said softly and hugged Novus tightly, putting his servo on the back of her helm as she clutched his plating and sobbed uncontrollably into his chassis, "Let it all out. Let yourself fall apart."

"I'll hold you together."

Chapter Text

Two weeks ago

"This is... most unusual," Optimus Prime, the captain of the ship, muttered as he walked in a circle around her. Nocus stood up straight, trying to look as professional as possible as they examined her, "I have not seen someone in their protoform stage since the beginning of the war."

"Having someone constructed right now is definitely strange," A bot named Perceptor said, lifting one of her arms, "Besides, most means are unavailable so it would be quite difficult, though I wouldn't put it past the Decepticons to have hidden that kind of technology,  but something thay big would have been difficult to hide. That and the fact you were just floating in space, out of reach of any planet or ship."

She gave him a questioning look while the medic, Ratchet, guided her over to the berth, sitting jer down while a whole bunch of wires were connected to her.

The femmeling felt a slight rush of electricity that made her sit up straight.

"Don't move, I'm just getting a read on you," He said, looking down at a scanner, "It's true, she's barely a solar cycle old, though appearing like this means she couldn't have been constructed cold either. Probably came from one of those recently ignited hot spots," The medic said and walked around to them, "External and some internal damage due to long exposure in space without the proper armor or protocols. Should be easy enough to install along with proper terminology."

"There were a lot of looters around those recently," Perceptor said, looking up from his datapad, "It is not impossible someone ordered new sparks to be harvested and taken without us knowing. All they'd need then is to properly construct a body and put it in."

Optimus walked over and stood right in front of her and leaned down, "Novus, you said your name was? Do you remember anything?"

"No, am I supposed to?" She asked, not liking him this close to her and just being intimidated by his gaze, so instead looking down at the purple insignia on her chassis, "And I don't really know how to do anything. It took a few tries just to run a scan and I can't even read it."

"Contact Magnus and have him arrange lessons for her," The blue mech said to Perceptor.

The red bot looked at him uncertainly, "He's been quite busy recently since everyone seems to have gone on a rebel streak, including Whirl," He said, "Ultra Magnus may not have time to teach her."

Ratchet sighed and waved his servo, "We'll figure something out then." He said, "How hard can it be to teach someone from scratch?"

The present——————

The next time Novus woke up, she was still in Soundwave's arms, her optics feeling puffy and sore. She heard his voice as well as another she didn't recognize, a bit higher pitched. The blue mech stilled and she felt him look down at her, making both of them go silent.

"Are you awake?" He asked quietly and all the femme did was nod and turn her helm to see who was now there with them. A stocky green mech with a blue visor and yellow mask stood by the berth, holding his servos like he was going to nervously ask something. Only he held one up in a wave.

"Hi," He said, "I'm Cosmos, one of the three crew members on board."

"One of three?" She mumbled, looking between them while stroking Ravage's helm. He and Soundwave made two so that meant there was someone else she had yet to meet.

"Needlenose," The blue mech holding her said, "And we'll introduce you soon enough, don't worry. And give you a tour of The Tempest."

"That's this ship?" Novus asked and ran a proximity scan, measuring out its size, "It's quite big."

Soundwave laughed and nodded, "Indeed it is. It was made to carry many bots over large distances. An exploration vessel if you will."

"So you're explorers?"

"Not yet we aren't," Cosmos grinned, "But after today, we'll be getting enough members for our crew to be able to be considered."

"So once they arrive, you're going to all be going?" She asked slowly, biting her lip as she looked between them.

Soundwave shrugged, "Essentially, yes. This planet is just a meeting point and we still need to gather supplies back on Cybertron before we properly take off."

"Speaking of which, it's almost time," The short green mech said and tapped his forearm, "The others will be expecting the message pretty soon."

"Then we start now!" Sound barked, "Go get Needlenose and tell him to prepare everything! We'll be expecting company soon."

The green mech nodded and waved to her once more before hurrying out.

He gently put the sparkling down and stood up, his symbiotes leaving and standing with him. Panic suddenly flashed through her and she grabbed his servo. Surprise flickered through his field and he turned to look at the youngster.

"What's going to happen to me?" Novus asked in a small voice, trying to ignore the feeling of tears prickling at the corners of her optics, "Where am I going to go?"

The black panther growled something and Soundwave translated it, "You could stay with us?" He suggested, "I have a feeling you aren't planning on going back to the Ark anytime soon."

She opened her mouth to say something but then froze, realization dawning over her, "Wait... I never mentioned anything about the Ark," She said slowly.

However, he just nodded like he'd been waiting for her to put the pieces together, "Indeed, but you didn't need to say anything."

"You're a telepath," She whispered, her optics widening. If he was a telepath, that meant he could read minds. And if he could read minds, that meant not only was he probably listening to this internal conversation but every other thought of doubt or fear swirling in her processor.

"Yes I am," He confirmed, kneeling so he was closer to her height, taking her servo in his gently, "I know everything but, do try to limit it sometimes. Everyone needs their privacy."

However, hie words were like dynamite, blowing up the dam that had been trying to hold the tears back, but she felt them running down my face. "Please don't leave me," She said in a small voice, already feeling my throat closing up, "Please. I don't want to be alone again."

"From now on, you won't be. Here," Soundwave said softly and lifted his servo, resting it on the back of her neck. He brought her forward so their forhelms touched lightly, holding it there for a few seconds before letting go, "That's my promise to you. You're part of this ship and my crew, forever and always."

Novus looked at him and sniffed before throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him. He stiffened a little but soon hugged her, slowly patting her back and standing up.

The sparkling was set down after a few seconds and felt him loop her servo around the crook of his arm as he started walking to the door, guiding her so she didn't accidentally trip or walk into something, still trying to adjust to this new scrappy eyesight.

He walked her down long hallways and she squinted to try to make out the details on the doors and in the rooms they passed.

From what she’d been able out map so far, just outside the medbay were at least 2 storage rooms followed by some berth rooms. Some bigger ones were down the opposite way but she couldn't quite figure out what they were.

Finally, after many turns, they came upon two doors which automatically opened as they approached. They led into a large, circular room, onto a raised platform with a chair-like throne on it that looked down over on a much lower level where many computers and various stations were laid out.

"Welcome to the Control Deck." A voice said from below and she looked down, recognizing it as the one that had been with Soundwave when he found her.

"Novus, this is Needlenose," The blue mech introduced her as the silver and purple aerial bot came up to greet them, skipping steps as he climbed them with Cosmos right behind him, "Navigation specialist and cartographer."

"Nice to meet you," She smiled and shook his servo, his grip strong yet gentle as though he knew just how much force was enough not to hurt her.

"The pleasure is all mine," He said, "Though I will admit I was hesitant you would survive at first, the idea of a new spark around now warms my own spark. How are you feeling? Did we do a good enough job patching you up? Apologies, but we're all there is until we get a medic."

"Don't worry," She reassured him, raising her servos, "It's one hell of an improvement compared to what I just came out of."

"That's a relief to hear," He smiled, "Will you also be accompanying us after this?"

"I think so since I don't really have anywhere else to go," Novus said with a small chuckle, "At least that is if you're ok with that. Soundwave already said I could stay."

"Would be more than happy to have you around kid," Needlenose said and rubbed her helm.

While he did, he fished something out of his subspace and handed it to Sounds, "We're all systems go by the way. All thats needed is to activate it."

"Excellent work." The telepath nodded and looked between the three of them, "Let's not keep them waiting any longer."

Cosmos helped steer her out and down the halls to the flight deck where the ramp was lowering.

"So what is that thing for?" The sparkling asked the green bot, pointing at the cube device in Sounders servos, "Some kind of signal?"

"Basically, only it will transmit a message across the universe," He explained, "Took a lot of engineering and stops on trade planets to make that little thing. We're not really the science type." He laughed.

She frowned and ran up to the blue mech, Cosmos and Needlenose behind hee. "So how do you plan on getting everyone here without interference?" She asked curiously, squinting and looking over his shoulder at the boxy-looking thing he had in his servos, "Won't a message to everyone attract unwanted attention?"

"Indeed, which is why it will not be conveyed through words AND, not sent to everyone," Soundwave said, choosing a spot far away from The Tempest in a wide open area. He pressed a few buttons and set it down on the ground before backing away, Needlenose following suit before he quickly pulled Cosmos with him, the green bot dazing off.

Novus heard a few beeps coming from it before a small red ball held up on an ariel that protruded up from it and started to glow brightly. It flashed, quickly expanding in the blink of an eye and disappearing.

"A single symbol sent to those I have already scouted out. If anyone else were to see, they would not know what it means," He said as she blinked and rubbed her optics, "I've been planning this since the war ended, for almost a year now, finding suitable candidates and proposing a brief version of my idea, letting them mull it over."

"Why?" Shebasked, tilting her helm.

"Because, I know that right now, the four of us are not the only ones longing for change," He said, not taking his optics off the sky, "Who want to be free."

Who want to be free? 

She raised my eyebrow and looked at him curiously, wondering to what extent that statement was implied. Was it complete freedom as in away from everyone and everything or in a more philosophical sense? Thankfully, she didn't fall too deep into that train of thought before it was interrupted.

"They're coming out of hyperspeed!" Needlenose warned and she turned her helm up just as many white and colored blobs that were ships suddenly appeared in the atmosphere, starting to circle where they were.

"That was quick," The femme mumbled.

The purple mech next to her laughed, "Well, we did tell them to be ready for when we sent the message out. We need to gather them as quickly as possible and leave before someone discovers this. No doubt the authorities would love to get something like this into the news headline."

"Huh," Was all she said, knowing he probably wasn't wrong from what she'd seen and heard so far.

"Ready to meet your new crew?" Cosmos grinned, lightly nudging her as the first ship touched down not too far away, the doors opening the second it did. Novus gave a shy smile and continued to look up.

"I hope so."

Chapter Text

A week ago

I groaned and slumped down onto one of the couches in the wreck room, my stomach clenching with embarrassment that flared in my field for everyone to feel. I'd just made a complete and utter fool of myself trying to speak with the other crewmates. Nautica and Skids tried to introduce me which had gone smoothly enough but the conversation soon turned.

They started speaking and joking about things I didn't understand. I tried to chip in but my vocals had glitched halfway through and made it so all I spoke were small chirps, causing them to all stare, and then laugh at me when I couldn't get them to turn back.

It had only added to my ever-increasing reputation on the ship.

Not only did I not know how to be a Cybertronian, I was probably the worst at being one. I still couldn't figure out how to transform, I couldn't fight to save my life, and despite having a natural feel for how to hold a gun, my aim was terrible. The crosshairs in my vision never stayed still and always tracked where I looked, which is where my aim went.

I'd also been given proper armor now but that just made things even more awkward. I constantly felt weighed down and slow, frequently tripping and trying to shift my weight to make it more comfortable.

Not even lessons were enjoyable for me. I maybe got Magnus if I was lucky and that was just straight-up torture.

Anyone else was nowhere qualified to be teaching, everyone who was being busy. I noticed a pattern starting to form. Those who came in to teach were what I'd call the troublemakers of the crew. They always seemed bored and annoyed to be there, giving me insane amounts of work I didn't understand and then spending all night doing it, basically falling asleep the next day only to find I had a new teacher and new work.

My whole life had been a laughing stock. Everyone I spoke to seemed to sympathize me being forged right now but let's be honest, none of them knew what to do with me.

I felt like a damn puppy that everyone just tolerates being there because it was cute but no one wanted the responsibility to take care of. I couldn't relate to any of the crew and they couldn't relate to me.

Only Skids, Nautica and Brainstorm didn't seem to hate when I was around. I actually felt like I belonged with those three but of course, they had other friends who didn't think the same of me.

Part of me felt like they were heroes I should look up to. But every time I did, I felt myself sinking down further into false realities.

And I couldn't stop.

So I just sighed and rubbed my optics, looking around only for my spark to drop. Everyone who had been sitting around me on the other seats were suddenly gone, having moved to different locations in the room.

I bit the inside on my cheek to try stop the tears that were threatening to form, looking across at all the other groups and how the laughed, talked and joked with each other. And I was here...

Alone...

I jumped when someone suddenly slapped my shoulder and turned, staring right into the yellow optic that had appeared next to me. "Come on crybaby," Whirl said and dragged me to my pedes, "It's battle time. Show us what you can do."

"I'm not a crybaby!" I growled, glaring at him as I walked around and hastily wiped my optics.

He just laughed and waved his claw, coming past and purposely bumping into my shoulder, "Just tell that to the tears I see," The cyclops said and turned, "Try not to embarrass yourself in front of everyone, ok?  You've been doing a pretty good job lately."

Whirl let out another loud chortle, getting some mechs to join in with him as they walked down the hall and around a corner. 

"Aft!" I yelled after him but knew he was either out of earshot or didn't care. I clenched my fists and stormed out, cheeks burning with shame and embarrassment as I felt so many gazes on my back.

A warm, gentle servo then rested on my shoulder and I spun around, about to yell some more but caught myself just in time. Nautica gave me a sad smile and softly led me to the shuttle bay where everyone was gathering.

"Don't listen to Whirl,"  She said, taking my servo and steering me in between bots, "He's as much of an aft as you say he is."

The present——————

"This is all of them?" I asked, lifting my servo to my mouth and chewing on the tip of my thumb, a habit I'd developed when I got nervous.

"Indeed, it would seem everyone took the message seriously," Soundwave said, his servos behind his back as he watched all the mechs get out of the ships that had just landed. To me, blobs of color were just walking over, but I could tell they were all mechs from the way their fields pulsed and flared with different emotions.

I tilted my helm slightly as one white mech, much taller than the rest of them stood close by, feeling his optics on me every now and then as well as all the others as Cosmos, Needlenose, Soundwave and I stood on the ramp of the Tempest, looking down at them.

"Alright Soundwave, so what is this about?" A rough voice called out from the crowd and I managed to follow it to a tall red and black flier close by.

"Well Black Shadow, you already know when I spoke to you previously," The blue mech said calmly, "You all know why you have been called here."

"Yeah! Life right now sucks!" A deep blue bot called.

Cosmos sighed next to me, "You can say that again Mainframe."

Soundwave shook his helm but held up one servo, "He's right, and I'm sure we all see clear as day why. It is no secret the war ended, and I'm sure we all know how things were supposed to go. The terms in the treaty were that both Decepticons and Autobots would unite to rebuild Cybertron to its former glory. The system of hierarchy would be dissolved and all decisions would be made by a council of mechs chosen by their factions."

"And what a load of scrap that was," A bright red mech by me said, leaning on his much taller and buffer friend, a blue mech with orange face plates.

"Indeed it was," Soundwave said and looked at them, "My fellow former Decepticons, what justice have you faced since the end of the war? None! We are still treated like criminals for choosing a side we believed would help give us a better chance at life. No one wants to employ us! They act as though we are diseased or will kill them."

He turned and pointed at the red mech who had spoken earlier, "Knockout. You are in training to become a professional medic, correct?" Soundwave asked, "Before the war you were working under Pharma himself, one of the greatest to have lived, someone who was able to produce prodigies such as Ratchet and First Aid. But now?"

"Now I won't even be employed by the smallest clinics!" Knockout cried and dramatically threw his arms into the air, "Can you believe that?! Moi!? I haven't been given an ounce of respect and have even been denied to race in multiple tournaments! And even Breakdown here was turned down by the Wreckers when he requested to rejoin them!" He jerked his thumb at his partner.

"Exactly," Sound said and pointed at Black Shadow, "You were once one of Megatron's best soldiers! Now, bots clear the streets and mock you when you walk down them! Nautilator! One of the finest scouts and underwater search and rescue bots, now reduced to a sewer cleaner!"

"Hey! Stop readin' my mind!" The black and red mech yelled while the one called Nautilator just nodded sheepishly.

Soundwave ignored him, looking down at the Decepticon insignia on his chassis and putting his servo over it, "I was with Megatron from the very beginning. I watched him rise to power, following his dream for equality for all!"

His face darkened and his field flared with anger, "And I was there, at the Battle of the Wastes, where he lay down his weapons to Optimus Prime and surrendered, giving up everything we had worked so hard towards. He ignored my cries and gave up the fight. I have cassettes whose sparks will never beat again because they perished fighting for what they believe in! Rumble, Frenzy and Ratbat will never walk free or get the chance to be younglings again because they are now with the Allspark! They died in vain!" Soundwave yelled, "All the soldiers who fought did!"

He let out a shakey breath and lowered his voice, "From there on I realized..."

"Any chance we had at freedom was gone! Thrown away!" He called to them and ripped the Decepticon insignia off his chassis, holding it up for them all to see, "We were labled to suffer from the start! A hierarchy has risen up and it has trodden on all those who wear this! Because of this symbol and what it stood for!" The blue mech said and threw it to the ground.

"Look around," Soundwave said, waving his servo to them, "We all entered that war looking for a way to make our lives better, to help fulfill our dreams. And what has that done for us? Made us into soldiers. Even the Autobots themselves suffer! Jetfire, I remember you were looked over as a shuttle-former, not even taken seriously when presenting your ambitions of being a scientist."

The large white mech scoffed and crossed his arms, muttering something about being a glorified taxi for both sides.

"Mainframe! The best pilot in the aerial forces now working at a desk and forced to be contained! You, Needlenose and Cosmos had to give up what you loved in order to rebuild this 'perfect world' we were promised!"

The two next to me nodded, Needle with his arms crossed and glaring at the ground.

Soundwave turned to them again, "Most of us came out of this war worse than we went into it. Those left do not know how to properly treat their comrades and enemies anymore. Even the new generation suffers for it."

He turned to me and held a servo out. I felt my digits tightening on my arm at the thought of standing with everyone's attention on me, but I walked forward anyway. The blue mech put his servo on my shoulder and I looked out at the crowd.

"This is Novus. She was one of the first new sparks to be forged after the fighting ended, an event usually called for celebration, and yet she has been given the same amount of respect as the service drones." Sound said and I sensed a chill go through the gathered mechs, "From the moment she was found by the Autobots, she was looked down on because of her lack of knowledge and experience. Only three stepped up to look after her but even they were distanced by the ones around them."

I looked down and bit my glossa. What I wouldn't give to see Nautica, Brainstorm, and Skids again. They were the only ones I didn't blame. They actually cared for me.

"She was brought into this battle, not even having proper training or education, yet played a vital role unseen by everyone," Soundwave continued and my spark felt light when I saw how he puffed up with pride, actually acknowledging what I'd done, "Under our very pedes, the enemy was planning on detonating a bomb that would have wiped theirs and our forces out. She caught wind of this and pursued them on her own, taking out the foe and stopping the explosion."

A blue bot with an orange face whistled and clapped in the back, making them all break into applause. I blushed and looked down, not really knowing how to accept it.

Soundwave held his servo up after a minute or two to silence them, his voice growing dark, "But she was gravely injured and alone, blind, mute and paralyzed. She waited for the battle to end and someone to come looking for her, but once the sound of guns fell and cheers rose up, she was forgotten."

I squeezed my optics shut and grabbed my arm so hard it dented, trying not to cry as I remember feeling so alone.

"No one remembered her, no one called her name or tried to find her," He said, looking out among the now completely silent bots, "They all left carefree, with a sparkling not even two weeks old dying beneath the ground. Had I not decided to come and arrange this as our meeting point, she would have perished."

His grip on my shoulder increased ever so slightly and I looked up at Soundwave, feeling the annoyance and anger radiation off of him.

"That is the unfairness in the world we will never be able to vanquish, no matter who rises up and tries to do so," The telepath said, "The rules are ignored and the ones that are enforced are not fair. They oppress in a way that raises some and crushes others."

"We are the ones who are crushed! We are the ones who stand out, who society takes advantage of," He called, raising his fist in the air, "We know what it is like to be betrayed and to lose trust, but we shall be those no more!"

"We shall be the ones who ignore the limitations now! We will go and live our lives, making our name known and opening our arms to all those who share the same fate as us! The rules of this unfair society will not apply to us, for we shall go by our own!"

He reached into his subspace and pulled out a new insignia, one that was a combination of the Autobot's and Decepticon's, lifting it into the air for them all to see.

"From now on, we shall be known as The Radicals! We will reject the world!"

I wasn't sure what I expected their reaction to be, but I knew I was inspired. Soundwave was a mech I wanted to follow. He knew what he was talking about and I could feel he meant every word he said.

Cheers immediately erupted from the mechs standing in front of the platform, some even sending shots into the air. Soundwave pat my back and I looked up at him in awe. His visor tilted up slightly in a smile, making one stretch across my face.

"Radicals!" I yelled, throwing my fist into the air and getting another round of cheers from them.

I looked at the blue mech next to me, "Soundwave sir?" I asked, "Do you think I could change my name? For some reason, I don't think I want to be Novus anymore. That name... it feels like I've left it behind with the Autobots, and in the rubble."

He held one of my servos and smiled, "Of course you can," He said, "Whatever you choose, you will belong to whichever side your spark chooses."

My chassis puffed up and I looked at the bots in front of me, my mind going to the past few days and all that had happened, "I'm a Radical from now on," I confirmed, holding my fist over my spark. I turned and grinned at my new leader.

"And you can call me Renegade."

Soundwave smiled and pat my helm, getting me to grin, "Suits you well," He said, "Now let's hope you're not to defect again."

"Don't worry, I don't think I'll be going anywhere any time soon," I said, looking at the mechs as they continued to cheer around us.

Chapter Text

A red dot suddenly appeared on her screen so she turned and looked behind them. One organic was running off, away from the battle. At first, Novus thought he was running away but then he turned sharply and ducked into a hidden door which her sensors told her led to a massive room underground.

"Hey! That guy just-!" She called and turned to get someone but no one was paying attention. She ran over to Skids and shook his arm, "Skids! One of them just disappeared into some kind of bunker!"

"Dinna fash yirsel. He's likelie juist hiding," The blue man grinned and patted her helm before shooting down one of the large armored beings, "Dinnae think aboot it."

But that's all she could do. Something nabbed in her spark so she determinedly ran off in that direction. Approaching, she found a metal door that led to stairs and a dark passageway. Novus took a deep breath and went down it, holding up the gun she'd been given.

Keeping one servo on the wall, she slowly made her way down the steps, almost tripping and falling a few times until she was about 30 feet underground. The ground evened out and led to a longer passage until she could see light coming from the room in which it ended.

The femme crept along it, peeking into the room. The green organic she'd seen earlier was there, standing next to a pale blue one in a lab coat with some kind of glasses on its head. They both stood in front of a massive device. A clear glass cylinder rose up all the way to the ceiling, some kind of black liquid swirling around inside of it.

She didn't know much, but she knew a bomb when she saw one.

The present——————

Renegade let out a small exhale and looked around the room that was deemed her own. It was small but bigger than my one on the Ark. It was square with a platform that went straight up, the only way to access it being four steps carved in going up to it with a desk next to a window. One wall in the far left corner was slanted, a berth fitted to flit the slant and ended where the platform rose. A second empty one was to her left, pushed into the corner furthest from the door.

The right wall was caved in to make three shelves that cascaded down in steps. The rest of the room was bare and empty, ready to be decorated with furniture and personal belongings.

Only she had none as well as no Shanix to buy things.

Still, she walked over and lay down on the berth. Ironic how it was laid like this. Pushed into an alcove to make it like a cozy nest, just how she liked it. All she needed were some blankets and pillows and she'd fall asleep the instant she lay down.

The femme blinked, feeling a smile coming onto her lips and reaching up to the ceiling for no reason.

Was this it? Was she safe at home?

Renegade couldn't help but start laughing, her servo flopping back down onto the berth as her couldn't fully process that this was real.

"Sooo, you sure you ain't going insane?"

She jumped at the voice in her doorway, having forgotten to close the door behind her.

The mech called Black Shadow stood there, arms crossed as he leaned in the frame and grinned at her.

"Sorry, I just can't believe this is actually happening," She laughed, getting off and walking over. He towered over her, basically two helms taller and she had to crane her neck to look up at him, "Can I help you with something?"

"Yeah, Soundwave wanted me to check ya over and evaluate yer level of fighting skills." He said with an accent that sounded kind of like it was from one of the cowboy movies Rewind played, "Since everyone else's currently findin' what they can do, he figured I could help ya since I taught bots back in the war."

"What? You're a teacher?" She asked, tilting her helm.

"Something wrong with that?" He queried, leaning down close to her.

"No, not at all," Renegade said, raising her servos, "You just don't look the type."

"Yet I'm gonna be the one teaching ya how to fight, so unless ya want old me to go hard on ya, I'd like a little respect."

She smirked and stood up straight like a soldier, saluting him, "Sir yes sir!" She yelled.

He rolled his optics but smiled, "Not that much respect kid. This is still a somewhat toned down training course but I ain't a drill Sergeant."

The femmeling just laughed and followed her out into the hall. The room she'd chosen was right at the end of the corridor, the left and right sides lined with occupied and unoccupied berthrooms. They were mostly double rooms with only a few singles though those had quickly been claimed.

They took a spiral staircase up to the next level up, living and wreck rooms being on the lowest floor, as well as the engine room but that was so big it opened up to both stories at the rear end of the ship.

The training room was towards the middle, thankfully close to the medbay and next to one of the many storage rooms. She followed Black Shadow into the room and the second she stepped onto the mat he grabbed her wrist, yanked it up, and swept his leg around, knocking her off her pedes.

The sparkling yelped as she fell, her free servo shooting out and her legs acted on their own, her pede connected with something. I heard him grunt as she hit the floor, able to stop her fall a bit. She still groaned and rubbed the back of her helm, lifting herself onto one elbow and looking up in surprise. Shadow was massaging his jaw.

"Nice job kid. Actually managed to hit me," He grinned, wiping away a bit of energon.

"I did?" Renegade blinked. She remembered kicking out but she didn't remember her mind telling her leg to.

"Yeah. Interesting," He said, helping her up before walking over to the weapon rack on the far wall and getting a large sword off, "Now hold this and point it at the target."

She tilted my helm and took it, hoisting it up and having to rest her elbows against her frame to support its weight. She turned and pointed it at the target he gestured to, "Do I swing?"

"No, I'm just looking at somein'." Shadow said, walking around and looking at her, not doing anything for a couple of minutes, and then, "Ok, now spin around like yer on a battlefield and tryin' to hit someone."

She raised my eyebrow but did as he said, lifting it over her helm and bringing it down, trying to spin on her heel as she did.

Black Shadow scowled and narrowed his optics as she swung the sword. "Stop!" He barked, making her freeze altogether. The black and red mech walked over and poked at different points on her arms, making her nervous as they started to shake.

"Hmm, something's wrong," He muttered, lowering her arms and taking the sword, weighing it in his servos, "And it's not just one thing. Seems to be that it's one problem that leads to another."

"You have good reflexes. Which is all those times your body has reacted before you've thought about doing it. Example A," He spun around to punch me, she blinked, and the next thing she knew, her frame arched back and she was staring up at his fist, inches away from her nose. Renegade felt her frame start to tip backward and he caught her by the collar, pulling her back up.

Shadow clicked and pointed at her without even looking up, "Go see Knockout." He said. She started to protest but he held up his servo, "Now! Don't make me come over there!"

The femme rolled by optics but did as he said, walking out and dragging her pedes on purpose to annoy him. Luckily the medbay Knockout and Breakdown were currently in was on this level, so she didn't have to worry about falling down the stairs. So far, someone had always been there to help her but she wasn't taking any chances.

She kept one servo on the wall next to her as she followed the passage, feeling the cool metal under her digits until they stopped over the familiar shape of a doorframe. She gave a swift knock, something resembling a tune.

There were footsteps and it opened, her vision was greeted with a bright red and white.

"Can I help you?" Knockout asked and Renegade felt his optics on her as he moved aside so she could walk in, "There's no way you already got injured and I'm sorry but I'm not at the skill level yet to fix your optics."

"Er... no, this isn't about that," She said, looking around and trying to get a feel for the room, "Black Shadow sent me. He had me train a bit but said something was wrong and I needed to come see you."

"Finally!" Knockout cried, making her jump as he was suddenly right in front of her, face right by hers as he circled and looked at her frame, "I thought I felt something was off the second I saw you!"

She felt his sharp digits poking at different pieces of armor, "No, no, no, no, no, and definitely no! This is all wrong."

Renegade didn't try hiding her expression as she looked down at him, not even close to understanding what he was saying.

"Hmm, what frame did you say you were given?" Knockout asked, walking around her with his digits on his chin, poking at her arms.

"I think it was an F14-class," She said, rolling my shoulders at the uneven weight on them, looking down at her frame.

"Ha! So they had you under heavy-weight fighter class! They just went for the most simple one!" The medic said with a short laugh, "Anyone in their right processor knows you always assess frame type before choosing armor. No wonder you look so awkward when you do anything."

He came over and started removing the pieces until she was nothing but a bare protoform again, feeling a bit self-conscious. "Lucky for you, your frame kept rejecting the plating. One more mega cycle and you would've been stuck with this clunky thing."

He circled her, taking a measuring tape out and going over every square inch of her frame.

"Aha! Just as I thought!" He grinned, looking at the results he'd jotted down, "Complete opposite of what you had. Runner type, lean even for a flyer, and built for stealth. Breakdown! Get me a lightweight RG6!"

He snapped his digits and his assistant went running off to one of the storage rooms.

"Wow, you really know your stuff," She said, watching him go, "And seem to have set up very quickly."

"Please, I'm a cosmetic surgeon, darling, it's what I do," He smirked and brushed some invisible dirt off her shoulder, "Though I have recently taken an interest in healing."

"Want to be a medic?" The femme grinned as Breakdown came back in with a large box.

"I do, but lack of training and someone willing to teach me has my expertise... falling short." He muttered, taking the box and setting it down, opening it to expose various pieces of silver armor.

"I'm sure you'll find someone who can teach you," She smiled, watching as he made her hold her arms out to the sides so he could start attaching the armor, clipping it into place, "Soundwave said we'd be going all over the galaxy."

"I hope you're right," He smiled, gently moving her wings to attach the back plate.

Minutes went by and she looked around as he finished putting everything into place. It took about as long as she'd expected it to but man she hated standing still like this.

"Voila!" Knockout soon cried and backed away, nodding his helm and grinning as he looked her up and down, "Nothing short of perfect if I do say so myself. How does it feel?"

Renegade swung her arms around and paced in a few circles, a smile growing as did, "A hell lot better," She said and turned to face him, "I feel like I can actually move."

"You can move and will look flawless doing so!" He proclaimed, turning and digging around in a drawer behind him.

"Uh oh, here comes the artist and perfectionist in him," Breakdown grinned, crossing his arms and leaning back against one of the medical berths as Knockout got a spray brush out and filled it with paint, looking back at me occasionally.

He walked back swiftly and paced around her, muttering to himself. "I'm going to need just the right tones for you," The red mech said, tapping her biolights, "Something to go with these yellows. I've got it!"

Breakdown just watched in amusement from the side as KO hummed happily, running around her in circles with the brush spraying paint onto her armor, creating a ticklish sensation. For someone working so quickly, he was incredibly precise and neat, not a drop spilling or messing up.

It was quite dizzying to watch him go and before she knew it, he was done.

"One femme, painted and ready to slay the sparks of all in her way," He laughed, one servo on his hip as he looked at her.

Renegade looked down and squinted, checking out at the new shade of darker blue her armor now consisted of. The darker silver had been replaced with dark grey and there were a few bright yellow and lighter blue streaks and highlights.

She looked up at Knockout as he twirled the spray paint brush in his digits. "Well?" He asked with a grin, "Did I do a good job or not?"

She laughed and ran forward, catching him off guard as she hugged him but he soon chuckled and accepted it, holding her back, "Just watch the paint kid," He said, making her giggle.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" The femmeling cried, not letting go just yet as the massive smile was plastered on her face. When she did, she immediately turned and ran over to Breakdown, launching herself up and throwing her arms around his neck.

"Woah! Someone's full of energy!" He laughed and tossed her up so she was sitting on his shoulders, "All that raw agility hidden by the wrong type of armor?"

"You have no idea how much it can impact a bot," Knockout smiled and walked over, watching us both laugh, "Remind me to have a stern word with Ratchet if we ever see them."

"You won't have to, 'cause I'm never going back!" She yelled happily, throwing her arms into the air and leaning back with a giggle, Breakdown holding her pedes so she didn't fall.

The Command Deck——————

"Sir, we have three signals coming from the West, not too far away," Mainframe said, tapping Soundwave's shoulder and showing him the data pad he was holding.

The blue mech turned and leaned down, wondering what it could have been. They were just about to take off and there was no doubt there was no one else coming to join. They were all here.

"And they're on the move," Needlenose added from below, looking at a much larger scale of the map, "Probably a group of bots. Scans show they're Autobots but all three have faint Decepticon signals as well. Must have changed sides."

"Hmm, then we may need to look into this," Soundwave said, turning and nodding to Jetfire and Nautilator to follow him, "We'll go make sure these three won't get in the way of our flight and see what they are up to. The rest of you, prepare for the launch. And send a notice to the others that departure is now delayed."

He turned and walked out, followed by the other two.

"Let's go have a chat with them."

Chapter Text

A week ago

She didn't know much, but she knew a bomb when she saw one.

Novus bit her lip and snuck in, ducking behind one of the many pillars that went around the room in a circle. She poked she helm out as they started talking in a different language, the scientist gesturing to the bomb and giving an obvious laugh.

She  looked at the diagrams on a board by them, showing a map with a pin in it and then a large red circle drawn around it. That was the freaking blast radius?! It was massive!

Oh scrap! It would take out everyone above them on the surface!

"Hey!" She yelled and ran out without thinking, making the two of them spin around and look at she, the green one shouting. He had a whole bunch of scars on his face and his lips pulled back in a snarl, revealing shark-like teeth.

She gulped and raised she gun, "Get away from that!" She called, "Or I'll shoot!"

They seemed to realize she wasn't going to open fire immediately and both started laughing.

"I'm serious!" Novus shouted and raised it higher but could barely focus with the crosshairs dancing in front of she gaze.

Before she knew it, the green one charged at her. It ducked down as she shot and grabbed her gun, causing the bolts to bury themselves in the ceiling. Sharp claws dug into she side and she screamed, her elbow reflexively coming down and hitting its arm, though it was slow but she just got it.

The organics wrist caught in the plating and as she pulled it back, she heard a sickening snap, followed by an ear-splitting screech. It backed away, holding its arm and snarking at her, absolutely pissed now.

"Oh frag," Was all she could say before the punch connected with her face, denting her cheek. It grabbed the fliers wing and spun her around, throwing her across the room with surprising strength. She cried out when she back hit the control panel.

The blue one screeched at its partner who just ignored him and grabbed her gun which had fallen out of my servos. She coughed and used the metal box to heavily drag myself to she pedes, she face illuminated by the neon lights that lined the inside of the chamber that contained the swirling black mass.

She didn't even think when the shot went off behind she. Something clicked in she processor and by itself, she whole body jerked to the right. Not even a second later, a shot went past, grazing the side of she helm and connecting with the glass cylinder.

The blue organic screeched and took off, his friend soon doing the same as the crack in the glass kept fracturing and growing, creating a web across the surface. The ground started shaking and rocks fell from the ceiling.

It was going to blow.

Novus yelped and looked around desperately at the panels to see if there was something to stop it but nothing made sense. Instead, she quickly followed a cable off to the side where it extended up the side to some kind of housing in the wall.

She used a wrench lying around to break the lock and pried it open. Inside, a large cylinder bigger than her helm stood, connected to the box by clips that were glowing with green electricity.

Having no time to think, she plunged her servos in and grabbed it, trying to pull the power source out. Electricity shot through her frame and she screamed but her digits locked up and wouldn't let go. Bracing her pede against the wall, she gave one last sharp tug and it came out, sending her crashing to the ground.

The wind was knocked out of her and the battery went rolling off. She coughed and got onto shakey servos and knees before staggering to her pedes, her breathing labored as she looked up.

The black mass was still twisted and jerked around but it was definitely smaller. She probably had reduced the power of the blast a bit. Now all she had to do was-

It exploded.

Heat and pain came rushing at her, hitting her face and frame. Explosions deafened her and there was a large crack as the ceiling gave out, falling down and burying her in seconds. Something connected with my helm and the next thing she knew, she passed out.

The present——————

"She's nae doon 'ere!" Skids called, climbing back up the rope out of the hole.

Nautica grabbed his servo and pulled him out while Brainstorm stood off to the side, fiddling with something he was holding.

"This is hopeless!" Nautica yelled and kicked a rock, sending it flying, "We should have done this days ago! Why didn't we immediately go looking for her?! She's probably already dead!"

Hearing herself say that, she burst into tears, burying her face in her servos. Skids quickly hugged her, "We dinnae ken that," He said softly, rubbing her back, "Nae 'til we kin fin' a body at least. Th' ark kin come 'n' drag us back if thay waant bit Brainstorm aye picked up th' signal. Though..."

"Don't doubt my genius," Brainstorm said, wagging one digit at Skids, "These things never lie so when we do find her, I expect a full apology from both of yo-" He didn't get to finish as the device exploded in his face.

"Aye, genius," Skids sighed and looked out among the remains of the battlefield, "Ye think a' body's clocked we're gaen yit?"

"They probably will soon," Nautica sniffed and rubbed her nose, "Jazz will get suspicious when you don't go in for your usual drink with him which he'll then babble to Prime about which will lead to them looking for us."

"Well, we're not leaving," Brain said, wiping the soot off his face, "And when not leaving, I mean not going back at all. You've seen what the Autobots have become now that the war's over. All it took was a year and the system's already corrupt. If they were still a faction, I would have even suggested we rejoin the Decepticon."

Ignoring the noise of protest Nautica made at him, Skids rolled up the metal rope, his face dark. "Nae," He said firmly, turning back and looking at them with sad optics, "Ah'ament gaun back tae be thair tools again. Ah wis Deathsaurus' puppet lang enough 'n'... Ah cuid ne'er forgive masell or tak' back th' hings he made me dae."

The blue mech turned and looked at them fully, "Dae ye pure think we kin gang tae either side noo? We've changed tae mony times. Wha wid trust a murderer, a spy, 'n' yin o' starscream's tap lieutenants?!" He gestured to himself and the two of them, both looking down in shame, "Na yin wid, that yer answer. We dinnae hae anywhere tae gang noo. We git th' bairn 'n' we tak' aff, tae th' farthest reaches o' th' galaxy, whaur na yin kin reach us."

"In my defense, Starscream tricked us," Nautica grumbled, crossing her arms and looking away.

"Aye, fur they'll tak' that as an excuse," Skids sighed and stood up, storing the rope away.

"Someone's coming!" Brainstorm suddenly said, spinning around and bringing out a small handgun.

The three of them turned, Skids pushing Nautica behind him and narrowing his optics when they saw who it was.

A blue truck with a navy mech sitting on top and a white jet were making their way over. "Is that...?" Nautica asked slowly.

"Soundwave," Skids said, watching as the two transformed a few meters away, "'N' parntly Jetfire 'n' Nautilator."

"Hey Jet," Brainstorm waved happily, greeting his former fellow scientist. The shuttle former looked and nodded to him, crossing his arms and lifting one servo in greeting.

"I remember the three of you," Soundwave said, his gaze shifting between them, "You all joined the Autobots after first being Decepticons."

"Aye, bit we're nae wi' thaim noo," Skids said, stepping up, "Keek, a dinnae ken whit yi'll waant bit we're nae 'ere fur trauchle. We're juist keekin fur someone wha wis 'ere. We... We hae a lot we need tae say tae thaim 'n' apologize fur. Then we're goin awa a' body 'n' everything behind."

"Ooh, sounds pretty much like all of our stories," Nautilator grinned, nudging Jetfire, "Why don't you guys join the Radicals?"

Nautica looked out at the three of them and blinked when she saw the strange insignia on the former Cons chassis. Soundwave followed her gaze and nodded as though he was answering a question.

"It seems you came to the right place then," He said, looking at them as Ravage curled around his pedes, "I just started a crew that is of either faction or affiliated with them. Care to take a look?"

"Thanks but we need to find our friend first," Nautica said, looking behind them at the battlefield, "We're worried they're badly hurt."

Nautilator looked at her, then to Jetfire who shrugged and both turned to Soundwave in questioning. He turned to the two and nodded, making both mechs stare at the three Autobots in front of them.

"Then come back and my crew can help you look for her," The blue mech offered, "We have some long-range scanners that might help. Then you can find her and decide if you want to leave or stay."

Skids turned back to his friends. "What choice do we have?" Brainstorm asked softly, "They may be our best chance right now until I can fix this."

Skids sighed and turned to look at the group in front of them, nodding, "A'richt, bit dinnae huv a go double-crossing us. We fin' oor mukker 'n' then we're gaen."

"Or staying," Nautica piped up behind him as the three transformed and sped off. Brain and Skids did the same, the blue mech letting the femme ride on his alt-more because of her aquatic alt-mode.

"Yeah, but just remember what's most important." Brain said as they raced after the trio.

At the Tempest——————

"I must say, this is very entertaining," Mainframe laughed, crossing his arms as the crew stood outside and watched as Renegade tackled Needlenose to the ground. The young femme was found to be extremely energetic now that she was no longer weighed down, the two rolling in the dirt as they brawled, both looking like they were enjoying themselves.

Black Shadow was yelling at her from the side while they waited for their captain to return, instructing her how to pin a bot down. Cosmos and Breakdown were both cheering for the two of them, Knockout just cringing every time one of them got punched or scuffed.

The bots on the side looked up as there was a screech above them, Laserbeak circling in the air.

"He's back!" Cosmos called, looking at the sight of dust being kicked up and getting closer, as well as the white jet approaching.

"Looks like ther's company with him," Black Shadow said, lifting a servo to shield his optics, "I'm see'in a'nother white jet and a purple mech on a blue car."

Renegade stopped, waving her servo for a time out and then getting up, running over to him. She squinted but couldn't see.

"Describe them to me." She said.

"Hmm, sleek white and light blue jet with four wings and thin guns that stick out the front. Dark blue and red car with biolights on the hood and kneeling on him is a purple mech with a visor and what look like circular propellers instead of wings."

"The purple bot is a femme," She said softly, watching them come forward. Shadow looked down at her but did not say anything, watching his student go through her own little turmoil.

Soundwave screeched to a stop, Nautilator hopping off, running over, and waving happily, "Hey guys! These three are looking for someone they lost in the battle here and they seem really worried so captain wants us to help them find this person. Also, he asked if they wanted to join so we may be getting more guys."

"Juist haud yer horses," Skids said, transforming and walking over, "We dinnae ken whit happened yit sae dinnae git ahead o' yersel'."

Renegade blinked, hearing his voice. She'd know it anywhere, with the burr of an Earth language called Scottish that he'd liked and picked up when he first visited. She clenched her servos, feeling them start to shake for some reason.

"Who is this friend of yours?" Needlenose asked, stepping forward with his servos on his hips, "And surely if you lost them in battle, it would have been wise to look right after. The conflict on this planet has been over for a week and yet you are only here now."

The three fell silent before Nautica spoke up, looking down, "We don't have any excuse. We should have done just that," She said, "But by the time we realized she wasn't with us, it was too late and the Ark had taken off. We spoke and tried to convince them to turn around but they kept telling us we didn't have enough resources to go back and then make it to Cybertron."

"So we left," Brainstorm continued for her, stepping up, "And we don't plan on going back. We didn't intervene as much as we should of when she was with us so we hope this will at least make up for it. We just... hope we weren't too late."

"Don't worry about that, you weren't," Soundwave said, getting all their attention and turning their gaze to him as he lifted his arm for Laserbeak to land on.

"Whit urr ye gaun oan aboot?" Skids muttered, looking at him, "Ye say dat like ye 'av already foond her."

Jetfire cleared his throat, getting the three to then look towards him with questioning faces. "I think I can just say that your search is over." He said and stepped aside, showing Renegade.

"What... you don't mean...?" Nautica asked slowly, looking at the young femme in disbelief.

"Don't worry if you don't recognize her. I made some adjustments to her frame to be better suited to her," Knockout pipes up, putting one servo on her shoulder, "That and changed it to a much more pleasing colour."

The three looked at her, none moving. Their fields pulsed with shame mixed with nervousness, unsure whether they should go to her after they abandoned her when she needed them most. They weren't sure if she even wanted to see them.

"Hey, Novus," Skids said softly, "We ken ye likelie hate us richt noo bit... We felt as though we coudnae see ye again wi'oot at least apologizing fur ehat we did. Ye didnae deserve ony o' it 'n' we shuid hae helped ye mair. We ken if ye dinnae accept it bit please, juist letus say cheerio the nou at least afore ye gang an bide a better lee"

He bowed his helm and closed his optics, waiting for her answer. He stayed, expecting a slap or for her to start yelling at them and he was fine with that.

He kept telling himself they had it coming.

Instead, he felt thin arms wrap around him and a face burying itself into his chassis. He blinked and looked up, seeing the blue femme hugging him tightly. 

"You don't have to apologize for anything," She mumbled, gripping onto him so he couldn't pry her off, "It wasn't your fault. None of it was. I'm just happy I can see you guys before anything happens. I missed you so much!"

She cried, tears starting to run down her face. Nautica and Brainstorm ran forward, joining the hug and embracing her, the older femme crying as well.

"I think that answers the question as to whether they will be joining us or not," Breakdown grinned as he watched the four of them turn into one weeping pile. 

"Indeed it seems that way," Cosmos laughed, turning and walking back into the ship, "Come on. Let's go get everything ready so we can take off as soon as they're done."

The others nodded and laughed, following him back inside. Soundwave looked to the former Autobots as they hugged the femme tightly, humming gently to himself as he went up the ramp and into the ship.

An hour later——————

"Oh, man! Just look at this! It's all a blur but it's still so pretty!" Renegade said in awe, pressing her face up against the glass of the window in the Command Deck while Cosmos and Nautica were right next to her.

The Tempest slowly flew through space, leaving the dusty planet behind them and throwing the new crew into a world of bright colours and stars.

"I believe this is the Kenugi cluster," Cosmos said excitedly, "Which means we're heading right back to Cybertron."

"Woah! You can tell where we're going just by looking at stars?" The young femme asked excitedly as she looked over at him, "I wish I could do that!"

"We're going back to Cybertron? Is that the best idea?" Knockout asked, leaning against the wall and looking to Soundwave who sat in the captain's chair, observing everything, "Aren't you and most of us wanted criminals there?"

"Maybe, but there are some things we still need to get from there," Needlenose answered for him, turning away from the projection of the solar systems and celestial bodies around them that were hovering above the central controls which looped around in the middle of the lower deck to form a small island, "Well, some things and someone. We need someone who cannot only repair but can also make spare parts for us. While I don't doubt anyone here, it would still be in our best interest to get a blacksmith while we stock up on supplies for our journey."

"I've got you covered there!" Mainframe called, spinning around in his seat, "There's the perfect guy currently living there who I know would be more than happy to join."

"Then that settles it," Soundwave smiled and clapped his servos, standing up, "Jetfire, Needlenose. Keep an eye on things here and call me if you run into any trouble."

He said and then turned and left without waiting for an actual answer.

Soundwave walked down the flight of stairs that led to the second last floor of the ship and opened the large door, immediately being bathed in soft blue light.

In front of him, in a large glass cylinder, was a big orb of glowing blue light that shifted and glowed in a mesmerizing way. He grabbed a data pad and analyzed it, making sure the power source of the ship was running smoothly. It had an unknown origin and he'd spent almost all his shanix getting his servos on a Nexus this big, but the benefits that came with were worth it. He smiled and pressed his palm against the glass, feeling the gentle hum of the power source with relief, and joy coming from him at the reality that everything was finally looking up again.

He didn't even turn at the footsteps behind him that entered the room. 

"You wanted to speak to me about something?" He asked, closing his optics under his visor while listening to the mech's firm and steady breathing and spark rate, his thoughts very well organized while at the same time, a swirling mess.

"Aye, fur someting's bin nipping at mah mynd fur a bawherr noo. Ye knew, didnae ye?" Skids said, looking at him, "Ye knew she wis th' bot we wur keekin fur. Back then, ah ne'er mentioned ony o' her pronouns 'n' tis a typical fur someone tae assume we'd be keekin fur a mech, sin thare ur mair o' thaim in lur race. Yit ye knew she wis a femme."

"It was not difficult to figure out and if I had to be honest, I had no intention of telling you we'd found her," The telepath said calmly, "I know what she went through and have already promised her and myself that I will never allow that life to take her back."

He opened his optics and turned, facing the former Autobot who now bore the same insignia that he did, "When I discovered you were also from that ship, I decided to at least check if you had any ill will towards her. Of course, I already knew Renegade was very fond of you, but I wasn't taking any chances. She is a Radical now."

"Aye? Weel, jalouse wat? Weel, jalouse wat? sae am ah, ao you'renotthe ainlie yin trying tae protect th' lassie," Skids said, thrusting one thumb at himself, "Ah aye hae a lot tae mak' up despite howfur muckle she tells me ah owe her hee haw. A'm follaein ye richt noo fur ye claim this wull be guid fur us, that we kin stairt ower 'n' bide th' wey we wur forged tae."

He walked over and put one digit on Soundwave's chassis, "Sae th' seicont ye decide tae gang aff 'n' dae something different, ah wull na langer ca' ye mah captain 'n' lea this ship wi' mah mukkers. Sound fair?"

Soundwave hummed again in thought and then nodded, clasping his servo, "Fair enough to me," He said, "And thats why I'm also counting on you. No matter the situation, whether it's in the most important battle of our lives or at the end of the world, I will be counting on you to set me straight."

"That's guid wi' me," Skids grinned, "Dae ye hae ony specific ways yi'll waant me tae remind ye?"

"Slap me as hard as you can across the face."

"Deal."

They shook hands and smiled before Soundwave let go and walked back, leaving the other mech looking at the Nexus.

"Ah will be haudin' that tae ye by th' wey!" Skids called, turning his helm slightly to look back at him.

"I have no problem with that. As long as you give us your all and contribute what you can to this journey," Sound said, glancing at him. 

"Dinna fash yirsel Captain! Ah wull!" He heard the new member of his crew say, "Juist keep yer promise, a'richt? Gies whit a' body else coudnae."

The former TIC didn't say anything. He just turned back to him and beat his fist twice over his spark before throwing it into the air. Skids laughed before he repeated the action as Soundwave turned and walked away.

"I promise with every fiber and nerve in my mind, I will make that happen." He whispered to himself.

Chapter Text

"So this is Cybertron?" Renegade asked, walking out and looking around as their ship landed.

Tall buildings rose up at the edge of the landing pad and glistened in the lights all around them. Every now and then, jets flew over them, leaving streams of white clouds behind them.

"Yup. It's been a while since I've been here," Cosmos said, looking up at the tall buildings, "It's surprising how quickly most of these have gone up considering how recent the war was. You wouldn't have thought that not even a decade ago most of them were in ruins and uninhabitable."

"Indeed," Mainframe said with a small grimace, "Just like before the war. It seems like nothing has changed and I don't say that in a good way."

"Which is all the more reason as to why we need to get moving," Soundwave said, walking out behind them and down the ramp. He had Laserbeak and Ravage tucked away in his chassis and a long brown cloak with a hood draped over his helm and shoulders. Black Shadow came out behind him with a similar dress, the fins on his helm causing the fabric to stick up.

"What's that for?" Cosmos asked, picking up a corner and looking at it, "We're going underground aren't we?"

"We're not exactly wecom' here or there," Black Shadow muttered, crossing his arms and looking around, "Forma cons' like ourselves stand out even in places like tha'. We risk gettin' arrested and taken tah prison."

"And it's just until we get somewhere sheltered," Soundwave said as Skids ran down the ramp and joined them.

The others were staying on the ship and working on the engines. Some like Brainstorm and Jetfire would have been easily recognized and drawn attention to themselves which would cause more problems considering the fact most of them were considered criminals who would not easily be excused from their 'war crimes'.

"Now, I have his address but it's still pretty far from here," Mainframe said, taking out a small data pad that easily fit into his palm with something written on it, "So I would suggest getting down to the rails and using those. You two just keep your helms low."

They nodded and started walking, crowding around the two former Decepticons as they followed Mainframe to an escalator at the edge of the platform that took them below the surface. Here, many of the planet's industrial districts were located. The streets were grimy and most of the scarce lamp posts were dim and flickering but most of the lights came from the bright shop signs.

"At least we dinnae hae tae worry muckle aboot lighting 'ere," Skids muttered, looking up at the big flashing signs above them that were blinding to look at.

Renegade tightened her grip on Soundwave's arm to keep herself from falling over, her world becoming disorientated with all the colors merging in her vision and throwing off her balance.

She felt his servo rest on her back, in between her wings to help support her as they took a turn into a station on a platform that led to a large train on rails that perched high above more streets many stories below.

The small group quickly boarded and found a dull corner, trying to draw attention away from themselves for now. It wasn't easy, their bright paint standing out from what seemed to be the normal dull colors of everyone else.

Black Shadow pulled his hood down whenever gazes looked his way, the mech knowing the reputation he'd built for himself in the war which was now coming back to bite him.

"We get off the next stop," Mainframe said back to them softly, "We've got watchers."

The others nodded discreetly, all now seeing the two dark grey mechs with weapons that weren't properly concealed from view that were staring at them, swaying ominously with the movement of the train.

As soon as the sound of the engines dulled and the whole space jerked as it stopped, Soundwave herded them out, dragging Cosmos as the green mech nearly got swept away in the crowd.

Mainframe walked calmly ahead of them, looking from his data lad to street signs. He stopped at one and waited for them to catch up but didn't look back.

"The're followin' us," Black Shadow muttered, looking down while pretending to wipe some dust off of his belt.

"I know," Main said, thankful for his mouthguard and the fact it hid his lips moving, "I know how to ditch them but you all need to stay close. This place is like a labyrinth if you don't know where to go."

"Leid th' wey," Skids said as they started walking again. Their pace was relaxed and they slowly melted into the crowd, hoping that would be another barrier between them and their stalkers.

As soon as they were sure they had been blended in enough, Mainframe waved his servo and broke away to the side into an alleyway. The others followed and hurried into the narrow space where at least they were away from the crowd.

As soon as they turned the first corner, the blue and orange mech broke into a sprint. The others followed, Black Shadow grabbing Renegade and lifting her onto his back in one swift motion.

There was yelling behind them followed by running but the footsteps quickly faded the deeper they ran into the maze of alleys and boardwalks that spanned between streets and housing units.

After 15 minutes of running, they burst out into an empty street and slowed to a walk, panting as Mainframe signaled they were getting close. It wasn't even another minute before he stopped and turned to a small shop tucked in-between ones. Its sign had fallen off and what was left was so faded it was illegible.

"What is this place?" Cosmos asked, looking up at the sign above them, dwarfed by all the others around it that were flashing in neon colors, "Doesn't look like much."

"Never judge a place based on the exterior," Mainframe said and went to the door, ignoring the closed sign outside it, "This guy owes me a favor and as far as I'm aware, hates his life, so he'll be perfect for this crew."

They followed him inside, Black Shadow having to duck down because of the low ceiling and lowering the young femme to the ground. Even though there were only five of them, it was pretty cramped inside the shop.

A beige and orange mech with tinted blue goggles was sitting at the main counter which rose almost to the top of his chest, his whole frame covered with scratches, dirt, and ash. He was fiddling with something cylindrical and welding it together, with his gaze only flickering up for a second in annoyance, "Can't you read?" He sneered, "The sign clearly says I'm closed right now. And if you're here to collect the Shanix I've already told you, I paid and ain't giving another cent!"

Mainframe held his servo up for no one to say anything and walked forward, going over and leaning on the counter, "I'm not here for your money, man," He said with a slight grin in his voice, "What? Can't even greet your old rescuer properly?"

Upon hearing that, he paused and looked up before a small smile tugged at his lips, and he pulled his goggles up, "Well I'll be scraplet," He said and stood, shaking servos with the blue mech, "Been too long, Frame. You're lucky I chose today not to bring my blaster in. Hey Glitch! We got visitors!"

There was rustling and the door behind him opened, a red mech came out. Their eyes widened at him, a single yellow optic hooded in his helm and claw-like servos gripped the door.

"I see you two haven't parted ways ever since we got you out," Mainframe laughed and shook his helm before turning to the others, "Everyone, this is Fulcrum. Blacksmith and explosives expert. The red mech is Glitch who was an entertainer in Vos. The three of us were teammates for a bit after my crew rescued them from one of Shockwave's labs."

"Shockwave's labs?" Soundwave asked, tilting his helm as his field pulsed with concern, "You don't mean-?"

He was cut off as Fulcrum gave a sharp laugh and leaned on the counter, "Yup. After Sector 10 shut down and the furnaces went cold, they deemed everyone there to have outlived our usefulness to old Bucket Head and so, we were sent for 'upgrades'. I met Glitch while I was there and we've stuck together ever since."

"Ye wur tortured." Skids said quietly, his optics widening, "Ye twa wur yin o' his experiments?"

"Eh, tortured, experimented on, the same thing," The mech called Glitch shrugged but sighed, "All I know is we're not sure whether we're lucky or not to be alive."

Renegade frowned and looked at him, squinting to try and see what his reason was, "Why?" She asked, "You're alive, aren't you? Isn't that enough?"

Glitch turned his gaze to her and just chuckled, shaking his helm, "It's one thing to be alive, but to reenter society not only as a former Decepticon but as one of that cyclops's test dummies? We didn't stand a chance the second we set foot back on this planet."

"But there's nothing wrong with you," Cosmos said, stepping forward and looking him up and down, "I mean besides the one optic and claws, you guys look perfectly normal to me."

"Looks can be deceiving at first glance," Fulcrum sighed and stood up straighter, turning and walking around, "Now be completely honest with me, do you know anyone besides the insecticons with these?"

A collective gasp went around the small shop as they got a proper look at him. Sure, he was normal enough. Average height with a normal-looking frame...

Except for the second pair of arms protruding from his sides, placed further back than the top pair but they were there nonetheless, crossed over his stomach while the first two rested on his hips.

"Ah, I see why no one likes ya now," Black Shadow stated bluntly, only to get elbowed by Skids.

"No, he speaks the truth," Fulcrum shrugged, "No one wants to know anyone who has two pairs of arms or who is an empurata victim and so we're outcasts."

"Empurata?" Renegade asked, tilting her helm and looking at Glitch.

He raised his claws and clicked them, "It's what happens to bots deemed as criminals," He explained, "We get our helm and servos replaced so that we can easily be spotted. I'm surprised you've never heard of it."

"Renegade wis ainlie forged recently," Skids said, putting one servo on her helm, "Thare aye a lot she doesn't ken."

"Well, just be glad you weren't forged back then. Heck! Even now's a bad time!" Fulcrum said, "At least you don't have to worry about this happening to you."

He held out his servo to Soundwave. The mech tilted his helm but shook it. At the same time, the beige mech jerked his arm away and... "That happens!" He cried.

It took their processors a moment to process what had just happened but Cosmos yelped and jumped back, Mainframe, Glitch, and Fulcrum bursting out laughing as Soundwave still held the blacksmith servo, completely detached from his wrist.

"The heck?" Black Shadow asked, watching as the blue mech released it and the servo flew back to him.

Fulcrum grinned and held his arms out for them to see, "Neither of my bottom two servos are really attached, that's just an illusion," He said, obviously enjoying himself, "Don't ask me how they're somehow still connected, I don't know what science scrap was done to me."

"That's so freaky," Renegade said, waving her digits in the gap between where his wrists should have joined, "But also cool."

"I know right?" He laughed and flexed his servos, "Really helps out with what I do and a nice little party trick. Though it does just freak people out for the most part. Now," His expression became serious and he pointed at Mainframe, "We made an agreement that we'd find each other should an opportunity come up or if it's the end of the world. Which is it?"

"Luckily, not the second one." Main said, "Very recently, Soundwave here established a new faction and I just so happened to become part of the crew. It's pretty complete, but we need a blacksmith."

"And you want us to come with?" He asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing both pairs of arms, "Why?"

"Dude, I do not need to spell it out to you," Mainframe grinned, "I know you're not happy here and want to get out. This is your opportunity to get out and come with us! Explore the universe and be free!"

"I don't know about you, but I'm basically for it at this point," Glitch said, looking at his friend, "That sure sounds a scrap lot better than what we have going on here."

Fulcrum nodded and turned to Soundwave, pointing at him, "I don't know what plan or scheme you have if there is one, but something about this sounds too good to be true. What's the catch?"

"There is none," The blue mech said simply, taking his hood down so he could look at the shorter mech properly, "You join my crew and provide your services so we can live free from the rules of this new society and control of those who call themselves our superiors. You are free to leave any time you want, as well as object to and question decisions made if you feel they are wrong. You will not be ostracised but we will send you off with any supplies you need."

"Well damn, I wasn't expecting that," The beige mech said, his eyebrows going up in surprise, "Frag man, you really know how to make an offer. I'm starting to understand the phrase, 'A deal you can't refuse.' How could we say no to that?! You're not allied with anyone, are you?"

"We are only allied to ourselves," Soundwave said, "I have proposed we help anyone who asks but only if they are willing to pay us for it. So no, The Radicals are free and owe loyalty to no one."

"And you just sold the idea to me," Fulcrum grinned and grabbed his servo, shaking it, "So when do we start?"

"We wull be goin awa as soon as ye'r duin," Skids grinned, crossing his arms, "Th' ithers ur back at th' ship, making sure tis a' duin tae gang bit otherwise, we ur gonnae boost as quickly as ye can."

"That's what I like to hear," Fulcrum laughed and clapped his servos together, "I've only got a few things here worth coming with me. All of you, there is a smelting pool in the back and I want you to throw any weapons you find around here into that. No one's using my tools without my consent."

They nodded and the two mecha quickly went into the back, packing their supplies up and carrying out four large boxes. Black Shadow took two while the others went around, grabbing a variety of guns and swords and throwing them into a small pot above a pool of lava that had been carved into the wall.

Fulcrum then ran through and grabbed the bowl, quickly cooling it and taking the large half circle of metal, handing it to Skids who ran out with the others into the street.

Laserbeak flew through carrying a hammer which the blacksmith caught as tucked into his belt, sighing as he took one last look around the now empty shop.

Glitch put one servo on his shoulder and nodded to the door, "Come on," He said gently, "This shop wasn't going anywhere anyway," He said, "Let's go do something worthwhile."

"Yeah, I did always want a life on the road," He smiled and looked at his one-eyed friend, "Let's leave this scrap heap behind."

They hurried out, not even bothering to lock up as they filed out into the street.

"We have a housing unit not too far away from here," Glitch said, "There are a couple of things there we need to get and then we'll have everything."

"Got it, but we need to get going," Soundwave said, pulling his hood up and quickly turning to walk away, "Those guys that were following us earlier are getting close and will probably see us soon."

"Oh yeah, you're a telepath right?" Glitch said, looking at him, "I honestly didn't believe that when I heard it at first but now, I'm a believer."

"Indeed," The blue mech said and studied him for a moment, "And it would seem you have some tricks of your own up your sleeve."

Glitch giggled and put one claw to the bottom of his helm where his mouth would have been, "It shall be revealed in good time, my friend."

They made their way over to a large building that was a good few stories tall.

As soon as they got there, Soundwave's helm snapped back to the road and he then pushed everyone inside when yells were heard, "Let's make this quick! They're coming!" He said, closing the door behind them.

The group nodded and turned, not even taking the elevator but instead sprinting up the stairs to the apartment on the third floor. Fulcrum basically kicked the door down before running in, grabbing a box, and throwing it down before chucking things in.

The others ran in and Black Shadow slammed the door shut, Skids pressing his helm to the metal, "We're gonnae need tae barricade it!" He yelled, "They're comin' up!"

"Ok here! Switch with me!" Fulcrum said, grabbing the blue mech by the shoulder and pushing him toward the boxes. He looked at Black Shadow as he pulled his goggles down, his other hands grabbing something off his belt that was connected to a thin pipe that went around to his back, "Hold it and look away!"

That was all the warning he gave before he held the welding gun up and started sealing the door shut.

"Well there goes the rent value," Glitch laughed as he looked up at his friend, passing a box to Cosmos and pushing him to the far end.

There was yelling on the other side of the door and something banged on it, shaking the frame. Black Shadow grabbed the blacksmith and pulled him away to the others.

"I didn't finish!" Fulcrum cried, scowling at him.

"Well, ya ran outta time!" The red and black mech growled, pushing him to the far wall, "Now we gotta fight our way out!"

He quickly turned and used his body to shield the group as the door was thrown off its hinges and fell down, the mechs on the other side grinning as they saw they had cornered the bots.

"Well isn't this fantastic?" The lead one said and walked in, powering his gun up and lifting it in line with their helms.

"Glitch! Take care of them!" Fulcrum yelled to the red mech. He nodded and ran, dropping to the floor and skidding out from in between Shadow's legs.

"Whit urr ye daein''?!" Skids yelled but Mainframe held him back.

Glitch quickly got to his pedes and dropped to one knee, holding his servos out. Electricity danced along his claws and he cried out, his optic flashing white as he released a charge of power that enveloped the mechs in front of him. They yelled and backed away, shooting but missing the one-eyed mech by inches. Their optics and visors were now white as well and they screamed, firing at an unseen threat and falling over each other trying to escape.

Fulcrum grabbed something out of his subspace and looked to Soundwave, "How against violence are you, because I've been wanting to use one of these fraggers for a while now."

"Do what you have to do to get us out of here!" Soundwave called, "Remember, their rules don't apply to us anymore!"

A sparkle came into the beige mech's optics and a large grin spread across his face. Using all four servos, he yelled to Glitch, the red mech jumping aside as he threw grenades at the guards. They exploded upon impact, sending them flying back and breaking them out of the illusion as the empurata bot lost his concentration and ran back.

But by the time they looked up, Black Shadow blasted the wall and the group was jumping out of the building. The red and black mech transformed, Renegade grabbed onto a hook that extended behind his front wheel, and they flew down. Cosmos changes as well into a small green flying saucer, Mainframe grabbing onto him. Soundwave and Skids jumped across the alleyway and to the opposite building, grabbing onto a ledge before dropping down and to the ground below. Fulcrum jumped and caught the drain pipe, sliding down with Glitch right behind him.

"See ya never, tin can trash for brains!" The blacksmith yelled with a laugh, chucking up one more grenade as they all took off running down the street, explosions sounding behind them.

He whooped and jumped, punching the air. His carefree attitude caused the rest of them to burst out laughing as they slowed to a walk as soon as they made it out into the busier street.

"This is what I've been missing in my life!" Fulcrum grinned, jogging to catch up with Soundwave, the blue mech's field pulsing with an excited energy they'd never felt before, "I'm having zero regrets right now!"

"And we made the right decision comin' to get ya!" Black Shadow laughed, ruffling Mainframe's helm, "I can tell things are gonna be one hell of a party now!"

"Scrap that was cool! What did you do?" Renegade asked with a grin, walking next to Glitch.

"Mass hallucination," He explained and clicked his claws, "By touching someone or getting a group of bots in a small confined space, I can manipulate their processors into seeing something that isn't there but big groups can give me a helmache after. I'm even able to incorporate sound and touch into the visions to make them more believable."

"Oh! Do it on me!" Cosmos said excitedly.

The red and yellow mech laughed but put one servo on his shoulder. Nothing happened for a second but Cosmos soon laughed and looked around, "This is freaky! They're so real!" He reached out and looked as though he was touching something in front of him, "It even feels real! That's terrifying."

"See? Right now he can see Sky Wraiths flying next to him." Glitch grinned, "And before you ask, no, there isn't a size limit to these things. My limit is the bots processor."

"That's freaking awesome! I wish I could do something like that!" Renegade said, "I wouldn't care about being rejected if it meant I could mess with people."

The one-eyed mech laughed and looked at her mischievously, "Already ahead of you on that. You have no idea how satisfying it is to get offended by someone and then immediately make them regret it."

"Only you need someone there to save your aft when they figure out it's just an illusion!" Fulcrum called back with a grin while they got onto the train, "How many times have I had to bail you out of trouble?"

"Hey! We're not counting!" Glitch yelled but laughed.

Cosmos giggled and shook his helm, breaking out of the illusion as they stood, taking in the city as they left it, their transport spiraling up to the surface and the brighter city above. The sudden change to brighter colors made them all blink and look around.

Fulcrum jumped off and stood on the platform, inhaling deeply, "You better not be pranking us Sounders, otherwise, I'm gonna be pissed."

"Do not worry," The telepath laughed, walking and leading the way back to the Tempest, both new mechs gasping when they saw it, "I may have been a Decepticon, but I will not deceive my crew."

He smiled and looked at Nautica and Brainstorm who were working outside waving at them happily, the femme on Jetfire's shoulders to reach a panel.

"You are Radicals now, which means you will be closer to these bots than anyone else," He said and handed them both new insignias, "Welcome to the family."

Hours later——————

Renegade watched from out the corner of her optics as Glitch and Fulcrum burst out laughing at a joke Needlenose had made with Knockout and Breakdown, the two laughing almost in sync like their minds were joined, nothing but happiness coming from their fields.

She looked back down and focused on her energon, watching her finger tapping at the blurry glass and letting her mind wander. Thankfully, she was able to hide those feelings from the others at the table.

The femme wanted to go over and talk to them, but would they even like her? Sure she'd spoken to them a few times and they both seemed like nice bots, but maybe they didn't want someone interrupting their fun time.

She gripped the glass slightly tighter. Memories of the same scenario happening on the Ark and the outcome of the humiliating situation burned into her mind.

So she stayed there at the table, not saying a word while the others chatted and discussed what to do now that they were free. Skids rubbed her back and smiled at her, managing to lift her mood.

Once or twice, she felt someone's gaze on her but everything she looked up, no one was looking in her direction. Of course, it was hard to tell with the visored mechs, but she doubted it was any of them.

An hour passed before Soundwave stood and clapped his servos together, getting everyone's attention.

"Alright mechs and femmes!" He called, looking out at them, "We arrive on Isascar tomorrow so I'd suggest packing it up and heading off to your rooms. I think a few of you know what happens when you don't sleep the night before something important."

They all laughed and Nautilator yelled out with a grin, "So what if I overslept during The Battle of the Wastes?! I still made it!"

"But that entrance you made was quite spectacular," Brainstorm laughed, "I mean, I was on the edge of the fighting and even I saw it."

Renegade smiled and leaned over to Skids, "Remind me to ask you about retelling that story to me," She said, "I want to make sure I get the non-biased version."

"Sure thing, lassie," He grinned and ruffled her helm again, making her give him a playful scowl as they got up and started packing everything away, stacking the cubes to be cleaned and refilled tomorrow.

The young femme continued to watch the two new mechs as they all went down to their quarters, Soundwave was the only one staying on deck as he volunteered to be the first to pilot the ship until his shift ended.

Fulcrum and Glitch spoke excitedly with each other the whole time before heading into their shared room. She sighed and watched the others disappear as well before half-heartedly banging her forehelm against her palm.

Things were going to be different this time. This was a new life, and there was no way in hell she was just going to give it up.

Chapter Text

Years ago, The Middle of the GreatWar——————

Banging of metal on metal echoed up the large factor from all over, bots working on various weapons and tools. They all had welding goggles and helmets on, their faces lit up by the massive furnaces and sparks from their work.

A particularly older mech walked down the narrow walkway in between workstations that were a good few stories off the ground, metal mesh all they had as ground.

He turned and made his way to one where a young beige mech was working, his face obscured by the visor that went from his forehelm to his chin, a dark glass where his optics were. He was hammering away at a sheet of metal that glowed orange, trying to get all the dents out.

Of course, this one looked almost identical to all his comrades except for his longer than average torso, the blacksmiths all sharing a common frame type, but he was special to the old mech. This was one of his newest and most gifted protege so far, only forged a few stellar cycles ago and had already moved up to one of the highest ranks in Sector 10.

"How are things going here?" Calliper asked, pulling his blue goggles down and standing next to him. The beige mech took the sheet of metal and plunged it into a large vat of water, causing the liquid to hiss and bubble.

The younger mech pushed his face shield up, revealing bright yellow optics and a cheerful grin despite the harsh conditions of the factory. "All good sir," Fulcrum smiled, pulling the metal out and showing his mentor while he wiped some soot off his cheek, "I think this is my best one yet."

Calliper took it from him and held it up so he could see from the light of the fires, nodding, "Very well done, Fulcrum," He said and pat the other mech's shoulder before turning and started to walk back down the catwalk, the beige mech behind him, "Keep this work up and I have a feeling you're going to save this place."

It was no secret Sector 10 was falling behind in production after one of the nuclear reactors erupted, taking 3 dozen mechs with it as the radiation took out almost a third of the plant. So far, statistics read they were next on the chopping block.

And they all knew what they meant.

Their only saving grace was the fact the next cut wouldn't be for three deca-cycles so they had until then to pass Sector 5. As much as he hated it, Calliper knew part of him would rather sacrifice that place than this one. Most of the mechs he had raised from the second they came from the forges, bringing them up like his own sons with Fulcrum being the newest.

The two slid down the ladder, not even using the rungs. They landed on the floor and turned, moving in between the humongous cylinders that towered to the high ceiling and over to a big space where a group of five mechs were busy assembling a large bomb.

"Last piece coming through!" Calliper called, bringing the sheet of metal to where they were connecting wires.

He jerked his helm to Fulcrum who nodded and hurried over, taking a blowtorch off the table next to them.

The old mech held it in place while it was welded closed, all the circuits now tucked inside.

They were halfway through the last scene when everything went dark.

The sound of everything powering down echoed throughout the space. Calliper ran over to one of the furnaces as its fuel supply was cut and the flames immediately started to die. He desperately blew on them, trying to keep the fire alive but it died out quickly.

"What the frag just happened?!" He yelled up to a mech on the level above him who was frantically tapping away at a data pad.

"It's not a problem here sir!" He called down with a worried look, "Our supply from Kaon just shut down. They... they just cut us!"

The bomb was moved away to make space while everyone filed into the space, talking and looking around with confusion and fear.

"Its too early for this! What the scrap?!" Someone yelled from by the furnaces, causing a chain of complaints and cries from all over the crowd.

"Everyone calm down!" Calliper yelled, his voice booming which made the all jump. He lowered it and stepped up on a small block so he could be seen by everyone, "I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation for all of this. Megatron wouldn't do this without explanation."

"Indeed. There is a logical explanation."

Calliper spun around, glaring at the purple mech that walked towards them from the entrance, his single red optic on the leader of Sector 10. "Shockwave," He said bitterly, stepping down and walking over to meet him, "Mind explaining what the hell just happened? It's too freaking early."

"Oh it's quite simple," The cyclops said, holding his good servo behind him, "You fell below satisfactory production level and due to the crumbling state of Cybertron, it has been calculated our cause will last longer if an earlier cut is made. That means all of you are no longer in use to us."

"That's a bunch of slag!" Someone yelled, making them all start yelling and run forward. Suddenly, a bunch of large armoured mechs flanked Shockwave and started shooting. Calliper shouted for them to back down but by the time he was able to stop the crowd, a good amount of bodies littered the ground.

Shockwave remained the way he was, not having flinched an inch or shown any emotions, merely surveying the carnage.

"Now, your services will be used in other ways to contribute towards the cause," He said and turned to the side, providing a path to the outside, "All mechs older than 20 stellar cycles, please exit the factory and board the shuttles waiting for you. Everyone else, you are to remain here until called."

"And just where are you taking them, you fragger?!" Fulcrum yelled, his servos balled into fists. He stood at the front of the crowd by Calliper, in full view of everyone waiting for them.

Shockwave walked over and struck faster than he could react, punching the young mech in the side of the helm and sending him sprawling down in front of them. His face shield broke off and clattered to the floor next to him. Fulcrum choked as he was grabbed by the throat and lifted off the ground so his pedes were then dangling in the air.

"They are going to serve Lord Megatron in the only way they can now," He said, holding him close to his red optic, "Whereas you," He surveyed the mech, looking him up and down, "You will be useful to me."

He dropped Fulcrum, the beige bot crumpling to the floor. A few others quickly ran and helped him up to his pedes, glaring at the scientist and helping their friend away from him.

The young blacksmith shook them off, still shooting death glares at Shockwave as he started filling the older mechs out. Someone stepped into his vision, making him look up. Calliper just smiled and took his goggles off, taking Fulcrum's servo and putting them down into his palms.

"Sir..." He said softly, looking up at his mentor.

The old bot just put a servo on his protege's helm and looked at him with a sad smile, "Don't get in over your processor, Fulcrum," He said and started to walk away, "I've taught you all I know. You don't need me anymore."

"Calliper!" Fulcrum called, reaching out after him while holding the goggles to his chassis. One of the guards who came with Shockwave stepped in front of him, holding an electric prod in front of the mech, making him back up to the small group of blacksmiths left behind.

"Now, for the rest of you," Shockwave said, a mech twice his size walking up and transforming into a military truck and opening the doors leading into the back. "Hop in."

The 15 mechs left were shoved into the closed space, basically squashed in to make way for two guards as well. Fulcrum ended up sitting on the floor by the door, looking up as the engine roared to life under them.

The vehicle moved out of the factory, the ride quickly becoming bumpy as they crossed from the flat ground onto the dunes that bordered the Sea of Rust. The beige mech turned his helm and gazed back at the factory he grew up in, now dark while dust swirled around it. The last of the weapons they made were being taken out and Sector 10 was already being demolished by the Constructicons. It was all soon swallowed up by the storm, leaving their view.

He looked down at the goggles servo and clutched them tightly, squeezing his optics shut.

Weeks later——————

The guards basically dragged him down the dark hall, his pedes scraping on the dusty floor behind him. His wrists were shackled and he was almost completely depleted of energon, most of it having been spilled out on the operating table.

There was the sound of a keypad and then a heavy metal door opening before the restraints dropped off and he was thrown into the cell which was sealed behind him, plunging the beige mech into darkness.

He screamed in agony as he hit the ground, flipping over onto his back and writhing as the white-hot pain in his sides seemed to spread to every inch of his frame. He wasn't sure if the scientist had something against him or if this was regular treatment, but he always seemed to be awake when he went in for his 'operations'. After a few minutes, it faded enough so he wasn't yelling anymore, instead just laying there and panting heavily.

There was slight shuffling next to him and someone crawled over but he didn't have the strength to open his optics and look. Someone gently opened his mouth and soon, liquid hit his derma. He registered it as energon and started gulping down greedily, whoever was helping him lifted his helm so he could drink.

"Slow down, you don't want to throw it all up later," The mech said softly.

Fulcrum just gave a weak nod and sat up, groaning as he leaned against the wall. There was a small flicker and the lights on the other mechs chassis lit up dimly.

"Sorry, I'm also low on fuel as well so they won't go any brighter," He said and Fulcrum could get a good look at him.

It was a red and yellow mech, about the same size as him but just a bit shorter. He felt a twinge of sympathy looking at his face. The guy didn't have a face, just a single blue optic and not even face plates. He asko had three claws on each servo instead of proper hands.

An empurata victim, something that only happened to the worst criminals.

"Yeah, it's not pleasant to look at, is it?" The mech said, looking down at himself, "Worst part was that I didn't even do anything. They did this because they thought I was dangerous and needed to be contained. At some point Shockwave caught wind of my exsistance. My own boss sold me off to him. I've been here for about a stellar cycle now. Name's Glitch by the way."

"Fulcrum," He introduced himself and nodded, shifting slightly. He groaned as he did and held his stomach, only for his servos to brush something on each side of his torso. The beige mech froze, slowly looking down before he gagged at the sight of himself.

Still freshly welded on and coated with energon, was a second pair of arms, just below the first.

These things moved when he willed them to, though it sent pain shooting up into his frame.

"What did that fragger do to me?" He choked out, staring at the second pair of servos.

They were... wrong. It made him sick just looking at them.

"I'd be thankful if I were you," Glitch said softly, leaning back next to him, "It's not as bad as what happened to the other guys. Most of my cell mates died hours after they were thrown in here. One guy had two helms."

Fulcrum started hyperventilating, hugging himself the best he could. All his friends were dead, he knew it. They'd all died mutilated and experiments and for some sick reason, Primis had saved him.

Not that he believed in such beings.

Glitch looked at him sadly and moved closer, putting one claw on his cellmate's shoulder.

The second he did, the beige mech gasped and looked around as sunlight hit his face and there was the feeling of grass under him.

"What-?" He choked out. He was no longer in the dark cell but now in a bright field, large yellow and black flowers stretching over rolling hills that stood against a bright blue sky and fluffy white clouds. He reached up and felt on his shoulder, still feeling Glitch's servo there.

"This is why I'm here," He heard the red mech's voice next to him but there was no one there, "I'm an outlier who creates illusions. Its useful to bots when they don't want to die in here. I can take them home so they can pass to the Allspark there. I don't know where you're from, so this is all I could come up with."

Fulcrum didn't say anything. Instead, he just leaned back against the invisible wall behind him and looked up, closing his optics and drinking in the warmth of a sun for the first time in his life.

"It's ok. This is perfect. Thanks man."

A week later——————

Both bots shot up at the sound of gunshots and explosions. The cell they were in shook and Fulcrum quickly got up, shielding Glitch from the debris as it rained down on them.

"What's going on?!" The red mech yelled, looking around frantically. His new friend ran to the door and put his helm sideways against it, trying to listen.

"Cant quite tell, but i think this place is being raded," Fulcrum said, looking back at him, "I hear yelling."

Indeed, the sound of shouts soon echoed down the corridor outside, followed by running and more shots rang out, hitting the metal doors and bouncing off them.

Fulcrum ran and grabbed a long metal pipe he'd ripped out of the wall the day prior, holding it like a sword. His second pair of arms hung uselessly, the mech trying not to acknowledge them to the best of his ability.

Glitch scrambled to his pedes behind him, leaning against the wall. Both were weak from lack of energon, barely even able to stand, but still holding their ground against this new potential threat.

There was the sound of buzzing on the keypad outside and the door hissed as it swung open, flooding the room with bright light. Both mechs cried out as it pierced their optics. Fulcrum shoved the welding goggles he had over his optics, standing in front of the red mech and blinking as he looked through the stained glass which provided him relief from the light, holding the pipe up.

Someone hurried in and he yelled, lunging forward and swinging the makeshift weapon.

"Woah!" The other bot cried and there was a clang. Fulcrum blinked, squinting at who was in front of him.

A blue, white and orange mecn stood in front of them, his gun raised to block the attack. Fulcrum glared at him but backed away when he saw the Autobot insignia on the mech's chassis.

While his face was covered by a visir and mouth guard, they could feel the shock and surprise in his field.

"You two are Decepticons," He said after a minute of silence, "I didn't know they were imprisoning their own."

"Surprise," Fulcrum said bitterly. He raised the pole and pointed at this new bot's chassis, keeping himself in between him and Glitch, "Who are you and what the frag is going on?"

"Well you can call me your salvation, but I mostly go by Mainframe," The blue mech grinned and held his servo out to them, "We got word of this place and we're here to rescue you from Shockwave's hell hole."

"About time," The blacksmith grumbled and his legs gave out. Mainframe ran forward and caught him, calling back to other bots outside. "Hurt him and I'll make you regret it," Fulcrum growled, nodding his helm to his cellmate.

More rushed in and also helped Glitch out, taking the two into the passage.

Fulcrum looked up and regretted it, seeing all the bodies of his friends being taken out, none moving and all twisted in ways he couldn't imagine. Someone came over to help Mainframe, jostling his sides and causing him to cry out at the sudden pain.

He was carried out through the laboratory, almost breaking free from the bots and running to the entrance as he felt the wind on his frame.

They managed to get the two bots out just as Fulcrum started to pass out from everything, pain, and just the relief of the nightmare being over. He pushed the goggles onto his visor, turning his face up to see the outside where more Autobots were fighting.

"This way," Mainframe yelled next to him, back to all the bots carrying others out. Blaster fire flew over their helms and bots let out long bellowing war cries as they ran past and fired at the enemy.

The former prisoners were taken to a large ship, a transporter that was already loaded with deceased mechs from another sector of Shockwave's facility. Surprisingly, none of the bots already there were shown to have any alterations to their frames, all just grey and lifeless.

"We found them in pods. Seems the cyclops drained their energon to fund his own projects," Mainframe mumbled as they walked past the dead mechs.

Fulcrum froze, digging his pedes into the floor and making the two carrying him almost fall over. He suddenly felt awake, his systems whirling into life as he shook them off and stumbled to one of the frames, collapsing to his knees next to it.

One shaky servo reached out and clutched the cold, grey one, almost in disbelief. The beige mech inhaled with wide, frightened optics as he looked down at Calliper, his mentor still and unresponsive.

He was silent for a few more seconds before he started screaming, his optics flashing white before he passed out from pain with the sound of bots running to him.

Present day——————

Someone was shaking him in his sleep, forcing him back to reality. Fulcrum sat up groggily, grabbing his berth to anchor himself while the hum of the engine of the Tempest reminded him he was far away, in a new life.

He inhaled, feeling his breath tremble slightly as he opened his optics, his frame lit up gently in blue light.

"You had another nightmare," Glitch said softly next to him, "That day again?"

Fulcrum rubbed his face and sighed, "What else?" He mumbled, "That's the only time I've ever been scared. I'll never forget it."

"I know," Glitch said, remembering the sight of his friend screaming and passing out, "But that's all behind us now. We're not there anymore."

There was a chirp from the red mech's shoulder which made the blacksmith smile and look over at the small pair of orange optics looking at him, reaching over and patting the little animal's helm.

"Need an escape?" Glitch asked, raising one servo in offering but Fulcrum just shook his helm.

"Nah, don't worry about it," He said with a sigh and turned his gaze to look out the window of their shared room, "I don't need one anymore."

Chapter Text

Renegade jumped and sat up as loud noises suddenly woke her from her sleep.

She grumbled and lay back down, pulling the blanket Nautica had found her over her helm, trying to block it out. But that only seemed to make it get louder so she sighed and gave up, pulling the chords that were connected to the berth out of the back of her helm and dragging herself out of bed, shuffling to the door.

She stuck her helm out and turned her gaze to the speaker located in the corner at the top of where two walls met. She listened to the weird sounds coming from it soon followed by someone talking in a strange way that seemed to flow together.

"Say my name and his in the same breath, I dare you to say they taste the same. Let the leaves fall off in the summer and let December glow in flames!"

"What the frag is he on about?" She muttered, hearing the words and not comprehending what they meant.

The door to the room next to hers opened and Black Shadow walked out, looking pissed off at the speaker. "I'm startin' to remember why I hated him." He grumbled.

"What's going on?" Fulcrum asked before she could as he opened the door opposite hers, "And what in the name of the Pits is that noise?"

"Music," Nautilator explained, walking down the hall and yawning while Cosmos trudged behind him, still half-asleep, "Soundwave's version of an alarm clock. Though this is a nice change from the heavy metal stuff he used to play in the mornings."

"I quite like it," Glitch said with a grin in his voice, spinning and dancing to the beat while snapping his claws.

"There's the entertainer in him coming out," Fulcrum laughed, walking alongside and steering him in the right direction before he danced off down the wrong hall.

"What's music?" Renegade asked, taking one step out and not even flinching when Breakdown picked her up like a toy and put her on his shoulder, Knockout seemingly the only one properly awake as he walked briskly ahead of them.

"It's a form of art and people expressing themselves through a variety of sounds and noises," The cherry mech explained, "Then you sing along to it and create songs for others to listen to and enjoy. It's different all over the universe and from the fact it's in the language English, I'd say this is from Earth."

She nodded and closed her optics, listening a bit more while they walked upstairs.

"I don't care what you think as long as it's about me! The best of us can find happiness in mi-i-isery!"

She let out a small hum, trying to decide if she liked it as whoever was singing repeated the words amidst the noises and seemed to roll the word 'misery' around in his mouth.

"Why don't the words make sense?" Nautilator asked as the music echoed down the stairs as they climbed, "I mean, what does 'Pull a breath like a cigarette' and 'Let the guitar scream like a fascist' mean? What even is a cigarette and a guitar!?"

"Earth things," Breakdown said, "It makes sense when you know what those humans are going on about."

"Humans?"

"The native species of Earth," Knockout called, "They're like us but definitely lack our intelligence and are made of organic matter instead of metal. They're fragile and gross."

"You can say that again," Fulcrum snorted, "They secrete water and spit slime. Don't even get me started on the stuff that comes out their noses!"

"Ew," Renegade frowned, furrowing her brow while trying to make sense of how something like that was even possible.

"I know! But it would seem Soundwave likes their music," He said, looking up at her and crossing both his arms as they walked down the long hall to the Command Deck. Jetfire was the first to reach it, not even stopping while the doors opened for him instantly.

It was empty when they walked in.

Or so they thought.

Needlenose was already on the lower deck typing away at one of the navigation computers. The captain's chair spun around to reveal Soundwave sitting in it, one leg crossed over the other while his hands were up and fingers pressed together. Laserbeak sat on the armrest while Ravage was sprawled lazily across his lap.

"What the hell?" Black Shadow asked tiredly.

"This, my dear crew mates, is one of the many things the planet Earth gave me." He said, the grin in his voice prominent, "I have found myself enthralled by their music and so have decided to share one of their many music genres. What you are listening to right now is 'I Don't Care' by Fall Out Boy, a band popular among the youths of the planet and perfect, I've found, for waking bots up."

"Ah lik' it," Skids grinned, bobbing his helm in beat with it.

"Same!" Glitch laughed, now full-on dancing behind them.

"See?" Soundwave laughed and then spun in his chair despite the few of them making unimpressed faces at him, not even caring, "Anyways! Now that you're all here, get to your assigned stations. We're about to arrive."

"Woah, look at that," Cosmos said in awe, looking at the planet they were coming up on, "It's huge."

"Yes, except our destination is there," Needlenose said and pointed at the moon orbiting it, "It's Isascar, known as the Wandering Moon as it never stays with one planet for more than a week. It's able to break away and join others in different galaxies."

"Wait, Isascar?!" Nautica asked, her optics lighting up and turning to look at Soundwave while rapidly patting Skids and Brainstorm on the arm, "We're going to see her?! How do you even know her?!"

He nodded and rubbed Ravage's helm, "Yup. I was able to contact her a few weeks ago though it was anonymous so she doesn't know who we are. Some of our squad accidentally ran into her and got their afts handed to them."

"Who are we talkin' 'bout?" Shadow asked, stepping down to one of the seats, purposefully sitting in the one Jetfire was about to, the white mech glaring at him.

"Someone I knew a while ago," Nautica grinned, "Though I will warn you, don't piss her off or you'll get your pedes screwed to your servos."

"Good to know," Knockout muttered, looking at the zoomed-in picture that was displayed of the moon, "So she's a medic then? You think she takes interns?"

Nautica just shrugged and looked back as they came up on it.

"Everyone hold onto someone!" Mainframe called, taking his seat at the main control console and typing rapidly, preparing the ship to land. There was whirling as the landing gear came down and soon, the whole thing rocked and the hum of the engines stopped.

"And off we go!" Nautilator called, spinning around and running to the entrance.

Once they actually stepped out onto the grey rock, Breakdown set Renegade down while Soundwave led the group.

Ahead of them stood an old spaceship repair station, seemingly long since abandoned since it was so run down.

A shot at the ground by their pedes stopped them and Soundwave held up his servo.

"I'm the one that messaged you!" He called, looking into the ruins from where the shot had come, "We're here for medical assistance!"

There was silence until someone moved and a bulky, tall green femme appeared, a cross look on her face as she walked over, though it lightened when Nautica broke away and ran to her.

She accepted the hug the much smaller purple femme gave her as she jumped to embrace her.

"Been a while Zero," The large femme smiled and put her down, looking at everyone as they walked up, "Who are these guys?"

"This is my new team. Everyone, meet Pylon," Nautica grinned and put one servo on the green femme's shoulder, "She was part of my colony but decided to go Neutral during the war."

"Now I help whoever comes to me in need and shoot whoever threatens this place." The femme said with a smirk, patting the gun on her hip, "So don't test me."

She turned and looked at Soundwave and Black Shadow, "You two especially. You'll be back on that ship at the first sign of trouble. I know your reputation."

Shadow merely laughed while Soundwave shook his helm and lifted his servos in surrender, "Do not worry," The telepath said, "We have no such intentions here. We merely need medical attention before we head off, though depending on how this goes, we may return here."

"Fine by me. As long as I get paid," She shrugged and walked back towards the building, the crew following her, "Anyone in need of serious attention or no?"

"Just checkups for most of us," Sound said then put one servo on Renegade's shoulder, "And something to help this one. Her optics were damaged and she can't see properly."

Pylon nodded and walked forward, gently taking the younger femmes servo and leading her into the ruins.

The front section of the station had collapsed in, the walls crumbling and missing half the ceiling so sunlight streamed in and wind blew through. Luckily, Pylon led them through to the back and opened a door that showed a neatly packed space arranged like a waiting room.

"Wait here," She commanded to the others, not even waiting for them to reply before taking Renegade through to a side door.

This room looked similar to the medbay on the Ark, the walls clean and white with yellow lights shining from the roof. There were a few berths pressed against the walls with metal tables next to them but the blue femme was sat down on one right in the middle of the room.

Renegade flinched slightly when a needle suddenly pricked her arm while the medic took an energon sample and a cube was then shoved into her servos.

"Drink," Pylon said, reading over her results on a data pad.

She did as she was told, making a face at the bitter taste that filled her mouth but at least distracted her from getting uncomfortable in the long silence that stretched out between them.

"Odd," The femme muttered, one digit on her chin, "There are mild traces of Zenith in your energon. Barely any so it's from a while ago but that drug was made illegal decades before the war even started because most used it to knock bots out and block their pain receptors. Medics used to use it but the side effects it sometimes had on bots made it too risky to use."

"So why do I have it?" Renegade frowned, looking down at her frame, "I haven't even heard of that."

"I couldn't tell you why but it seems your body is naturally getting rid of it," She said, putting the pad down and taking her servo, flexing digits and wrist, "So you should be fine in a couple of days."

They dropped the subject quickly while the rest of her limbs were checked, the older femme having her stand and stretch to take different measurements.

Pylon then brought a poster over with different Cybertronian letters and asked her to say which ones she could read which of course, was none of them. Renegade squinted and leaned forward but they remained blurry to her.

"Well, I would say this isn't that bad, but then I would be lying," The medic muttered, taking a light and shining it into her optics, "Yeah, you can see here all your retinal receptors at the back there aren't flickering. That's usually an indication of extensive damage mostly from a massive electrical impulse or light bright enough to overload and burst them. Seems some repair was done but whoever did it knew how delicate of a process this is."

She sighed and turned the light off, stepping back and crossing her arms while closing her optics and thinking, "Alright, I can give you a choice here," Pylon said, "I can try putting you in through surgery and repair them but, that does have its risk. Your system could have a negative reaction, thanks to that drug, to anything I give it, making you go into medical shock or even permanently blind you."

Renegade frowned and chewed on her thumb, thinking it over, "Is there an alternate solution?" She asked, looking up hopefully.

Pylon gave another deep sigh and looked at her, "I can try something, but I can't promise it will work. And stop biting your thumb. You'll wear the plating down."

Her tone instantly made the femmeling stop but her leg then bounced nervously.

"Alright," She nodded, "Let's try that first and if it doesn't work, we can do the surgery."

"Fine with me. It's your decision," The green femme shrugged and walked over, helping her down off the high berth, "You can go through and take a gander around. And send the next person in."

Renegade nodded and walked to the door, feeling around for the handle before opening it and going out. "You're up," She said to the first person she went past.

"Ok, thanks," Jetfire nodded and walked in. Nautilator saw her and got up to follow but an annoyed-looking Pylon put a servo on his shoulder and smiled.

"You haven't gone yet, right?" She asked, her voice sweet but laced with menace, "So sit down until you've had your turn."

The others who had been getting up shot back into their seats under her glare as she swept her gaze across the room, the medic clearly taking no scrap from any of them.

—---------

Renegade sighed a bit and walked straight out of the station onto the open, looking up at the green and red planet the moon had chosen to orbit in for now, the sun starting to disappear behind the massive body and making it seem like night was falling.

She walked, or more like stumbled, for about an hour around the radius of the station until she came to a cliff that dropped down vertically into a massive canyon. The other side sloped up just as steep but this one rose higher to create large mountains across from her.

She sat down and looked into the darkness below, swinging her pedes in the air and staring aimlessly.

A warbling call came up from in it and she watched about 12 pink, green, and blue glowing animals about the same size as her suddenly run through the bottom of the canyon and come to a stop. There was apparently a river down there because she heard splashing and the animals bellowed, stomping around and settling down for the night.

She didn't even register another fifteen minutes passing before someone's voice spoke up from being her.

"They're called Abocods."

She jumped when Pylon suddenly walked up next to her.

The other femme looked down and watched the animals, "Apparently look like some kind of animals that used to be found on Earth called dinosaurs but they're shy and hide in darkness, so I never really get a good look at them."

"They glow," Renegade whispered, tilting her helm and staring down at them.

"No hey," Pylon said and rolled her optics but laughed, "They feed on bioluminescent algae that grows in the water down there. Our optics can't pick up the glow but theirs can and once they digest and reuse the chemical, it comes out visible to us in vibrant colors."

"Amazing," The young femme mumbled, looking at the bright blobs moving below.

"Here," Pylon said after a bit and took something out of her subspace, handing it to Renegade. She took the thin piece of angled red glass and looked at it, "It's a visor?"

"It should help with your optic problems," She said, pointing at it, "So everythings not so blurry anymore and so those crosshairs won't jump all over the place."

"How do you know about those?" The blue femme asked suspiciously, looking at her, "I never told you about those."

"Soundwave did," Pylon said simply and stood up, "I asked him a couple of questions to deepen my understanding of you and the rest of the crew."

Renegade smiled and held them in her servos though put them down on her lap, "Thank you."

Pylon just waved and walked back to her station, "Just come back and tell me if they don't work!"

She nodded and laid back, holding the piece of glass up and staring at it, not really sure whether or not to put it on. She never liked getting her hopes up but still, Pylon was a good medic.

This time she heard footsteps coming and looked up to see a red and yellow mech following a beige one.

"Hey guys," She said softly while Fulcrum and Glitch sat down next to her.

"Hey. Damn, never thought I'd meet a femme like Pylon," Fulcrum said and rubbed his neck, "She went on about the state of my frame for 15 minutes before I could even explain what happened, and then Knockout started agreeing with her about how dirty I was!"

"He has been eyeing you ever since you came aboard," Renegade laughed and sat up, "I think he can't wait to take a cloth and buffer to you."

"Well he can try all he wants, I'm just going to get filthy again!" He cackled, taking some small cubes of energon out of his subspace and chugging one.

"You look sad, want something to cheer you up?" Glitch asked with a grin in his voice, tilting his helm as he looked at her.

Renegade looked at him and raised her eyebrow, "Ok? But what could you possibly have?"

"Not what, but who," He giggled like a child and reached into his subspace, pulling out something floppy that also appeared to be chirping. Her optics widened as he handed it over to her.

The femme brought the strange thing up to her eye level, a long body hanging down and she gasped when a little face turned and looked at her.

"Renegade, meet Chicken Noodle," Glitch laughed and stroked the small creature's helm, "He's my Cyber-ferret."

"You've had him this whole time?" She gasped, looking at him in disbelief.

The ferret, Noodle, clicked and squirmed, easily escaping her servos and jumping over onto her lap before scampering up around and jumping, clicking.

His little nose sniffed her face as he skittered up her chassis and the youngling looked down at him. He then gave her cheek a small lick, hurrying up and curling around her neck, snuggling down like a small scarf.

"Here," Fulcrum smiled and handed her the cube. Renegade nodded and stared down into the energon, not sure how to respond. She looked at him, watching how he easily held the cube in one set of hands while the other went behind him, allowing him to lean back. He turned and caught her staring, making the femme quickly turn her helm away and blush slightly out of embarrassment.

A bit of an awkward silence fell before he tried breaking it.

"Sorry," He said with a small chuckle, "I'm not the best with small talk. Then again, wasn't really the best at anything besides making stuff. And sorry I haven't been able to speak with you at all. I saw you looking over a few times but you looked just fine with the other guys so we decided to let you be. And we both agreed we're still trying to let you adjust to the world right now."

"Thanks, guys, though it would seem we had the same thought 'cause I wanted to come over but didn't want to disrupt you," Renegade laughed and took a sip before offering the cube to Noodle, watching him chitter and lap at it, "And thanks for finally coming and speaking with me. Feels like I've been dumped into a whole new era and I honestly just want to be a part of it."

Fulcrum laughed and looked at her, "Aren't you only like, two weeks old kid?" He grinned lopsidedly, "What era are you floating through?"

"I'm honestly not too sure myself," She said with a giggle, "I'm kinda just going where the wind takes me. And you know, wherever Soundwave goes cause let's be honest, I don't have anywhere."

"You have the Tempest, and now us, because I don't know about you but the three of us seem so alike" Glitch, nudging her, "We're your crew, so don't worry about being alone. Skids and Nautica informed us of what happened to you in the past. We're gonna be the ones to make sure that doesn't happen again. Promise."

Renegade felt herself get lighter inside and looked over at the mechs. She looked down at the visor on her lap and brought it up, feeling latches on the side of her face by her optics clicking open, grabbing the glass and holding it in place.

Hexagons lit up the screen and dispersed, making her blink as everything suddenly came into focus, much clearer now. Seeing this, her helm snapped to the side to look at the two mechs.

Her optics shone as the last of the sun's rays cast over them, letting her get a full view of the two grinning at her, perfectly clear now.

The blue femme returned the smile with a wide one and after a few moments of staring, scooted a bit closer, holding her energon closer as she rested her helm on Fulcrum's shoulder, watching the sun set behind the large rock pillars. He laughed and wrapped his arm around her while also pulling Glitch around so he was now on Renegades' other side.

The one-eyed mech giggled and put his servo on her opposite shoulder, the three new friends enjoying this moment of silence between them.

Chapter Text

Jetfire inhaled deeply, standing on the edge of the bottom of the plateau. His wings twitched and his vents fogged the air in front of him, illuminated by the morning light that was just enough to turn the sky grey, streaked with faint orange. A thin layer of mist and dew coated the few patches of grass and made the dirt soggy enough so that it clung to the underside of his pedes.

He smiled, taking in the scene and the large mountain range that stood in front of him. After so much time in the war and on the busy streets of Cybertron, he often forgot how peaceful these places could be. Even his workshop was never silent, whether it was the ship's engine echoing around the room, the constant fizzling of his experiments, or...

"OH FRAG!"

He sighed and closed his optics as he listened to the blue and white mech trip off the top cliff and come tumbling down, landing spectacularly next to him, sprawled out on the ground.

"Ow...." Brainstorm mumbled, trying to get up but unable to roll over due to his large wings, "Jeeeeeeeet?"

Jetfire sighed and turned around, not hiding his annoyance as he took his fellow scientist's servo and pulled him up like he weighed nothing. He didn't seem to care though, dusting himself off and humming happily as the bouncy mech stomped forward.

Between his endless shenanigans and clumsiness, there was never a moment of peace with him.

How he already missed the silence.

"Ok so, scanners say we're right over a large cavern filled with trees and vegetation rich in acetone," Brain said, tapping his data pad while stomping his pede, "The only problem is accessing it without blowing ourselves sky high. The underground volcanic activity and gases in this area are off the charts. Probably because that is a chain of dormant volcanoes."

They looked at the large mountains towering above them.

"So let's go!" He said cheerfully, already taking his tools out and marching forward.

"Hey! I know your reputation, Mr Explosive!" Jetfire called and ran after him, grabbing the shorter mech by the collar and lifting him up, his legs still motoring in the air, "I am not getting a trip to the medbay because of you!"

Brainstorm groaned as he was made to put his tools away, crossing his arms and continuing to make the sound as he was carried toward a small cave.

He was finally put down and his mood changed completely, laughing happily and running into it, not even waiting for the larger mech to stoop down so he could fit, having to turn as well to fit his wings in.

The blue flyer was like a sparkling, giggling happily and stopping to look at every different mineral vein that got caught in the beam of his lights, taking out a small hammer and chipping off samples into various tubes that fitted into hidden compartments all over his belt. The optic piece on the side of his helm snapped down and zoomed in, cylinders extending so he could get a better image.

"Careful of the sparks," Jet said, crouching down behind him to give his neck a break, rolling his helm around and listening to the pistons in it resetting themselves.

"I know, I know," Brain said, holding one of the test tubes up and shaking it, giggling with excitement as the minerals inside started to glow.

"Can you believe how many different compositions this single mountain holds?!" He cried with glee, turning back and standing on his toes so he was right in Jetfire's face, grabbing his cheeks. The space mech grimaced as his bubble was intentionally invaded.

"This must have been a hotspot not only for volcanic activity but also faced disturbances from space! There are tons of kamacite, platinum, tellurium, and even crystallized xenon! I didn't even know it could do that!"

The white mech sighed and watched as he rattled off about the rare metals and walked further down into the passage, finally standing and following after him, joints creaking at the strain of having to constantly bend over.

"Oooh! Oooh!" Brainstorm suddenly, stopped as hopped up and down, pointing while his wings fluttered uncontrollably.

Jetfire looked up where he was pointing. The dim cave in front of them had suddenly gained a greenish hue that reflected on the walls, making the rock seem shiny and alien.

"Brainstorm, wait!" He called, holding his servo out but the excitable mech was already running at full speed towards it.

The shuttle-former groaned, letting his helm and arms briefly hang before inhaling and trudging after him, knowing he was probably the only thing stopping this mech from doing something stupid that would get him hurt.

Luckily, the small entrance he had to squeeze through opened up into a much larger cavern, one he could comfortably stand in. Jet huffed and stretched, listening to the satisfying sound of his backstreets clicking back into place before looking around.

A small pool was in the middle, the water glowing a gentle blue colour, and was surrounded by a whole bunch of organic plant life, the leaves gleaming bright green that caused the glow all over. One let out a puff of bright yellow spores that hung in the air like fireflies before they were

"Do you see this?!" Brainstorm cried happily, spinning around with his arms thrown in the air. He was standing on a small rock covered in some kind of glowing grass that was in front of the little pond.

"Yes, I'm looking at it," He said, walking over and picking a leaf off a tree, holding it close to his face to examine it. Every time he turned it slightly, flashes of bioluminescent green shot through its veins.

"It could fuel the whole ship for months and then we'd still have extra!" Brain laughed, jumping down and running around, "Think of all the things we could do!"

"I am, and I don't like what I'm thinking," He sighed, kneeling and running his servo over the grass, "The elements in this form could be highly unstable. The slightest slip can mean disaster for us."

"Pssssh! We're careful enough!" The blue flyer called, waving his servo in his direction and taking a variety of tubes and instruments off of his tool belt, settling them down on a rock next to him and getting to work harvesting the plants.

Jetfire stood up, his optics narrowing slightly as he watched a bug fly past his face, glowing red.

He didn't trust this place. If there was anything he learned in the war, it meant that beauty was deceptive and meant danger. His plating bristled and his wings flared. He kept expecting something to pop out and attack them, scanning the room.

He wasn't sure if it was funny or concerning that Brainstorm didn't seem to share his suspicions, the smaller mech humming happily as he stuffed vegetation into a massive canister he'd unfolded carelessly.

"We should go," The white bot said after a few minutes, walking over, "Everything about this place is giving me a bad feel."

"You're just being paranoid," Brain said, closing the canister and adding it to the small collection around him, "There's nothing dangerous here." He hit the large button on the top of one, making it glow blue and disappear, meaning it was now sitting on the small receiving pad in his office.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Jet said, turning and watching his back, "I trust my instincts, and they're telling me to get the frag out of here."

"Well I'm not done so if you want to quell your heeby-jeebies, feel free to leave," He said, tilting his face to the ceiling slightly and hitting another one, not even watching it disappear.

Jetfire growled and spun his heel before stomping towards the door, abhorred by the mech's lack of self-preservation. Was he dumb or just ignorant?!

There was clearly something in there that was deadly enough to worry him and yet Brainstorm was refusing to move from there!

The idiot!

Sunlight hitting his face made him blink and stop, looking up at the sky. Dawn had broken sending streaks of red and orange across the sky and illuminating the clouds.

"Scrap," He sighed, rubbing his face as he came to his senses.

There'd be a lot of questions if he came back with a dead Brainstorm. That and the fact he was trained better than to leave one of his teammates behind, no matter how annoying he found them.

So, he took a deep breath and turned, stooping down and taking long strides back into the cave.

"Ok Brain! I'm here," Jet called, rubbing the back of his helm, "Sorry about that but I don't tolerate people being stupid well."

"Who are you calling stupid?" The smaller bot asked, glaring at him as he spun around. All the canisters were gone and he stood in front of a flower bigger than him, data pad in hand.

"You," The white mech shot back, walking over and looking around, a bit surprised when he realized how much the other flyer had managed to clear away.

He turned back as Brainstorm gave a loud sigh and looked at him fully, "Then why'd you come back?" He asked.

"Because someone needs to protect you from yourself and whatever the hell is in here," He stated simply, servos on his hips as he looked down at him.

He watched as the orange-faced mech's expression softened slightly and he laughed, patting his lab partner's shoulder, "I knew ya missed me!" He grinned much to Jetfires annoyance.

However, his expression morphed to horror when he looked behind the happy bot. The flower petals had opened to display what he could only describe as teeth, tentacles protruding from the center and stretching out to them.

"GET BACK!" He yelled, grabbing his arm and pulling him around. Brainstorm yelled as he was thrown off his pedes and rolled away.

Not even thinking, Jetfire grabbed his gun off his hip and shot, Brain yelling behind him.

Its blast hit the plant and immediately caused it to explode, setting off a chain reaction that quickly spread throughout the cave.

Brainstorm grabbed his arm and tried to pull him, the two ran out but quickly got caught in the blast. It swept them up and sent them flying out, crashing into the cave.

As soon as they landed, Jet rolled and yanked the smaller bot under him, throwing his body over him so that the weaker frame was shielded from most of the debris that assaulted them.

The rumbling finally stopped, the crackling of rocks echoing all around as it all settled. It was a small miracle they hadn't been flattened, but the larger flyer still groaned as a bunch of it had piled up on his back.

Brainstorm grunted as he wiggled out and popped up, his field surprisingly cheery, "Not to worry!" He grinned, "We can get out of this in no time!"

Jet growled and glared sideways at him, "So stop saying and start doing. My fragging back is killing me!"

"Got it!" He called, grabbing the rocks and pushing them off, making the sound of them hitting the floor echo around the quiet chamber. When enough were off, Jetfire stood up, letting the rest slide off.

"YEOW!" He yelled as he stood too quickly and hit his helm against the ceiling, crouching over and holding his helm.

"Don't worry!" Brain said with a forced smile, running over before his pedes shuffled for a second and then he hurried over to where the entrance was, pulling boulders away, "I'll get us out of here! Just give me a jiffy!"

Something about his attitude plucked at Jetfire's nerves. Why the hell was he still so happy?! They were trapped and he still kept a damn smile on his face.

"And then once we're out we can go and report what we've found to the Cap," Brainstorm continued to ramble on, "Of course, there's nothing here anymore but we still have all those canisters I-"

"JUST STOP!" Jet yelled, making the smaller mech's optics widen at his sudden tone, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST BE NORMAL AND BE SCARED?!"

He felt a twang of guilt when Brainstorm flinched. The upbeat feel in his field seemed to drain away, like a plug being pulled in a sink and was replaced with something more... depressing.

The blue mech's servos fell and he sighed, stumbling to the side before falling and sitting back against a rock. He just laughed and rubbed his optics, trying to hide the tears that were brimming in his vision.

"Sorry. Guess I can't help but be a screw-up. It's really my fault we're in this mess, isn't it? Cause I acted like a sparkling," He chuckled, "No matter what I do or achieve, that's all anyone ever sees me as. I'm just the loud guy who causes accidents and blows himself up every day, who's annoying when he shows any other emotion besides happiness, and even then they think I'm full of myself."

He brought his knees up and buried his face into his arms, "Guess it would then just be better if you left me down here, huh? It'd do everyone a big favor."

But Jetfire hesitated, staring down at him as his anger dissipated.

It was true. Everything he said was.

Even when they were on different sides, he couldn't remember a time he'd seen Brainstorm not cheerful. He always had a smile on his face and was excited to do anything, even when he blew himself up or someone got irritated with him.

This... sadness seemed so alien.

He slowly moved over and sat down next to him. An awkward silence descended, making him feel uncomfortable so he cleared his throat, "Has it always been like this?"

Primus, he felt like a therapist.

"No," Brain sighed and lifted his helm, resting his chin on his arms, "I'm a normally cheerful mech, but I did willingly show other emotions. I stayed out of everyone's way and they stayed out of mine."

"Then I made the stupid mistake of falling in love with my old lab partner."

Jetfire blinked and looked at him, "Oh? And that changed you because...?"

"Well I'd never been in love before," He groaned, "It made me act out, do more stupid and crazy things to try getting him to notice me that made bots irritated. He was smart and handsome and I found him funny despite what everyone else thought. I wanted to spend so much time with him, but he never seemed fond of me."

The blue mech looked down, more tears threatening to fall, "Then I found out he was in love with someone who wasn't me. I even heard they're dating now."

"Oh..." Jet repeated awkwardly, slowly putting his servo out and on the other flyer's wings in an attempt to comfort him.

"That just threw me off completely and my mood declined," Brain went on, "My work became reckless as I tried to distract myself and the other bots were growing tired of my mopy attitude. I didn't tell anyone why I was suddenly depressed so no one had any idea. To them, I was just being a selfish sparkling. Only Skids and Nautica seemed to mind being in my presence and at some point, I realized that people liked me more if I wore a smile all the time, so I do, even if I'm hurting."

"I... don't think that's a good idea," The larger mech said softly, "Bottling up emotions just ends up hurting you more."

Brainstorm laughed, "You can't give me advice when you do that. We both saw how you just exploded," He said, wiping his optics, "And I've seen how you've reacted around Black Shadow this past week."

"Yeah, but I have a reason to hate that aft," Jet growled, "And Soundwave made it clear the two of us mustn't start anything on the ship. Still, that fragger seems to have made it his goal to annoy me to the point where I want to punch him."

"So what happened between you two?" Brain asked, tilting his helm, "You both seem to hate each other but there's different levels of hate from each side."

"He likes to annoy me, and I hate him because he murdered my old squad," Jetfire said bitterly.

"What?!"

"Yeah, during the war," He explained, "Black Shadow is what's referred to as a Spark Anomaly. It's someone who's not quite an outlier, but for some reason is just freakishly stronger and more resilient than average. They're rare but bots like Megatron, Optimus, and a couple of others are one. You should know better than anyone the reputation he has."

"Right. I remember he was described as a one-bot army," Brainstorm nodded, digits on his chin, "It was rumored he could take down even a combiner on his own."

"Because he did, I watched him do so," The large bot said through gritted denta, "Assessed their frame and hit points that severed the connection from their bodies to their helms even though their anatomy was different. Those five were part of my team and we'd been sent to scout out a possible Decepticon outpost that was said to be a prime vantage point in its area. But when we got there..."

"You faced Black Shadow?" He guessed.

Jetfire nodded, "We faced a nightmare. It was only him, but he fought like he was 20-strong. Soon enough, all of my comrades, my friends, lay dead around me, killed in horrific ways and he just grinned. I only lived because I was to send a message from him back to the Autobots."

"And this?" Brainstorm pointed at the tattoo on his faceplates.

The white mech lifted a servo and gently traced it, his face going dark, "This was from my twin, Skyfire."

"You had a twin?" Brainstorm gasped, sitting up straight in surprise.

He just nodded, tapping his cheek, "He put his servo on my face in his final moments. It was covered in energon so it left a mark. As soon as I could, I had it permanently imprinted on my face as a reminder."

Jetfire's face turned dark as he looked up, "The second I get the chance, I'm ripping that smug look off his face and throwing him down the closest cliff."

He looked over in surprise when Brainstorm laughed and leaned back, "Then you'd better do it quickly, 'cause the kids getting attached to him," He grinned, "And last I saw, Needlenose was also becoming friends with him."

Jet huffed and stood up, turning down to him and smiling, offering a servo, "Then we'd better get out of here quickly, huh? Don't want any more delay in my murder plans."

Brain snorted and accepted his offer, pulling himself up.

An hour passed outside before there was one loud crash and Jetfire smashed through, stumbling a bit as he finally made it out. Brainstorm ran out next to him, whooping as fresh air hit their faces.

He spun happily and threw his arms into the air as Jet smiled and watched him jump around.

The blue scientist winced as he landed after a jump, looking down at his pede that had gotten a bit damaged in the cave-in.

His partner walked over and grabbed him by the waist, making him yelp as he was lifted into the air and put on the large mech's shoulders.

"I think we should head back now," Jetfire grinned, turning his helm backward to look up at him.

Brainstorm looked down and giggled happily, hugging him the best he could, wings fluttering, "Yeah. We have a lot of work cut out for us now, partner," He added with a grin.

Jet sighed but didn't object to his new title, smiling as he started walking away, "Sure thing," He smiled, pausing before finally saying, "Partner."

Chapter Text

The lights inside were out for now as night had fallen over the stronghold, but the glow from various buildings and towers surrounding it were more than enough to illuminate the small cell. Heavily armed guards patrolled around outside with blasters at the ready, looking for anyone trying to break out of the jail.

Bastiel 6, the strongest Autobot prison and the only one that had lasted through the war, was an unforgiving place where the worst bots were held under high security. Many cells were empty, but there was one at the end of a long hall that was occupied, confining the prisoner to temporary solitary.

A large grey mech sat inside, his arms resting on his legs as he leaned forward and stared at the wall.

All he had in here was a bench and his own thoughts.

The door leading into the hall was blocked by a thick layer of clear blue energy and the small window held a barrier of glowing pink bars.

The mech sighed and lifted his servos, knitting his digits together and leaning his chin on his fists, contemplating and looking back at his life.

This was all he was now, a husk and shell of his former glory. His plating was scuffed and dull from months of lack of care, and he was no longer weighed down by the heavy armour and cluster of weapons he used to have. His bright red optics had lost their flare and were now dim in the dark room.

He felt light and free of the darker thoughts and ideals his younger self had prioritised, yet he still felt chained down by everything happening now.

The yells of betrayal and anguish still rang in his mind, the sound of his fusion cannon hitting the ground like a gunshot that drowned all else.

The scream of his closest and most loyal friend cutting through the blurr, and the fury his optics held burned into his mind.

“Was it worth it in the end?”

The mech's helm shot up as he heard the voice. At first, he thought he’d imagined it, but it held an echo as the words bounced around the metal walls of the cell. He heard the shifting of plating and soft breaths of vents keeping systems cool.

He slowly turned and looked with weary optics that then brightened and he quickly stood.

Megatron walked over to the barrier, as close as he could get without getting electrocuted by it. He stared with an expression of shock that seeped through his field at the mech standing on the other side.

Soundwave stood tall, with his arms crossed and gaze stern, letting little emotion show in his body. While the former warlord’s appearance had deteriorated, the bot before him was in a better state than he’d ever seen.

His plating shone with a new, darker tone of blue and yellows. In the years he’d disappeared, he’d upgraded his frame to a slimmer yet sturdier build, no longer just for background work. He’d added large speakers to his shoulders and three small gems decorated the glass over his spark, a soft lavender, bright red, and deep purple. His calves and forearms seemed thicker as well and just looking at him, he could tell there were many compartments and weapons hidden in his frame.

On either side of him were two other mechs he recognized, both looking slightly different as well.

Needlenose still wore the same calculating look he remembered the navigator having, his servos behind his back and standing straight, ready to take any order given. The wings on his back seemed slimmer for faster flight, his plating now molded after human knights, a grill over mouth and nose and one on his helm.

Jetfire slouched more, having to duck to avoid his helm hitting the ceiling. The flyer looked grander than he recalled, now having paid more attention to his frame with larger wings and a more aerodynamic build. He didn't even bother trying to hide the glare that pierced the Decepticon leader, his expression made sharper by the tattoo on his face in the shape of a smeared handprint.

“Soundwave,” Megatron said softly, “It has been a while. I am not surprised to see you still walk free, but how did you get in here?”

He craned his neck to look down the hall. No guards had been alerted and no alarms were going off, so they’d either bypassed those or had to get in another way.

How did he do it?

“That is none of your concern.”

“But why did you come here?” Megatron asked, “I haven't seen you in years. Why now?”

“Because I've found what I needed,” He said simply, “And I decided it was time for me to face the demons from my past.”

His attention snapped back to the blue mech as he spoke. The telepath’s gaze had sharpened and he stepped forward.

“You still haven't answered my question. Was it worth it?”

The tone in his voice was enough to make any mech jump and if the two hadn't known each other for millennia, Megatron would have. He noticed both mechs on either side of him wince slightly at it.

“For you, myself, or for everyone?” He countered, looking back at Soundwave and staring him right in the optics, “It was.”

His gaze caught the slight shift in his friend's frame as he stiffened and the grip on his arm tightened.

Megatron sighed and looked at him with a tired expression, “That war had gone on long enough, Soundwave. It was time to cease the battle before we brought an end to ourselves and our race. We needed to focus more on rebuilding our home than destroying it.”

“I did what I had to in order to ensure our survival. So no one else died.”

Before he could say another word, Soundwave’s arm shot out at him. The grey mech yelled to stop him but the telepath's red visor flashed and cells disappeared, letting his servo go right through and grip the larger bots neck. Needlenose jumped and grabbed his shoulder but Jetfire made no attempts to hold him back.

“So then why did you continue to hype us all up all the way to the end?” Soundwave growled, increasing his grip, “Why, in the middle of the battle, did you suddenly just surrender after one fancy speech? I needed you, and you gave up. You turned your back on me!”

“I'm sorry, but I was brought to a realization,” Megatron rasped, grabbing at his servo, “My mind was too far gone and thousands more would have suffered if I continued. I had become worse than any dictator to rule Cybertron!”

“I-I'm sorry.”

“Your apologies mean nothing to me! They are empty! They are worthless! You gave up a fight we were winning so you could end up here, rotting away in a cell with everyone who trusted you! That won't bring my cassettes back!” The blue mech yelled, his field flaring with anger and Megatron caught the waver in his voice, “They’re gone and instead of honouring their sacrifice for your cause, you let them down! YOU LET RUMBLE AND FRENZY DOWN! YOU LET RATBAT DOWN! YOU LET EVERYONE DOWN!”

Soundwave stared at him harshly before releasing his grip and letting his former leader drop to the ground.

“You let me down,” He said, standing over him, “Traitor.”

The last word stung his spark deeper than any of the others. Megatron stared up at him for any hint of remorse, but the telepath's gaze stayed cold and unforgiving while Needlenose’s expression had hardened as well.

He meant everything he said.

“We’d spread chaos to the farthest reaches of the universe and torn families and friends apart. The Battle of the Wastes made me see that. I was hoping you would see it too.” He said, rubbing his neck.

“I saw enough to know what I had to do next,” Soundwave sneered, “Have you even been outside of a cell or court room since then? Do you know what the world is like right now? Here's a hint.”

He kneeled down to the grey mech’s height and glared at him.

“Nothing. Has. Changed.”

Megatron looked at him, “What do you mean?”

“He means that things are the way they were before the war,” Needlenose said, taking a step forward and tilting his helm, “A class system has quickly been established and those who are on the bottom suffer, while those above take action without consequences.”

“What both sides fought for was achieved, but it quickly descended from there,” Jet added, “Anyone who wears the Decepticon insignia is punished, and any Autobot who disagrees is dealt with the same way.”

Megatron stared at them with wide optics before shaking his helm, “No,” He said softly, “Not after that. Optimus would never-”

“Well he isn't the one running things,” Soundwave said, tilting his helm, “A council was formed, but he rejected the offer to be on it. Instead he's traveling around with his crew, finding bots and giving them safe passage or arresting them.”

“Yeah, and we had to deal with bots like Starscream and Prowl running things,” Jetfrie chuffed, “Not to mention Sentinel making himself cozy at top stop. You could see he's been waiting for this to happen since you signed that peace treaty.”

“But that makes no sense,” Megatron said, holding his helm in one servo, “It was established clearly that any Decepticon wishing to restart life would be pardoned of their actions, and those that refused would be punished fairly for their crimes.”

“Fool,” Soundwave hissed, “Who do you think wrote up most of that damn treaty? They were vague with their wording, leaving so many gaps and space for loop hopes that they could twist it in whatever way they wanted. Why do you think I left? I knew this was going to happen.”

The grey mech stared at the ground for a second before looking up at him with concern, “But where did you go? And where are you now?”

“With my own crew,” Soundwave said, holding his servo over the new insignia on his chassis, “I found and gathered the rejects, offering them a place with me on my ship. We go wherever we want, getting as far away from the new world as we can.”

“But what about everyone else? Have they approved this? What about Optimus? Does he know?”

“So what if he does?” Needlenose asked, “We don't need a Primes or anyone's permission to go off. Those that wish to join us are free to do so. Those that stand against us suffer the consequences.”

“This will never work,” Their former leader said, standing up, “If you speak the truth, you know they will hunt you down until you're stopped. It is better not to risk it and just return to Cybertron. You can live without all this gambling on your lives.”

Soundwave took a step back, the other two following him, “What's the point in calling myself a Radical if every decision I make isn't a gamble?” He asked, “And why should I let someone else decide what I do? Freedoms the right of all sentient beings, right? I'm just doing this with my freedom,” He titled his helm up so he was looking down at his former friend, “Unless you would like to go against your Prime’s statement on that.”

“No! No, I just don't want you to get hurt even more by this, Soundwave!” Megatron begged, “I gave it up so you could go and live peacefully away from all of this! Isn't that what you told me you always wanted!?”

The telepath looked down with tired optics, “That was when I had someone to share that dream with,” He said before turning his gaze up, narrowing his optics, “But he's gone now. They all are. That dream is dead, and I now have a new one.”

“And you're not in it.”

He turned and looked at the other two, “Were done here. Time to go home.”

“Got it, Cap,” Needlenose nodded, holding his arm up so a screen popped out of the plating, letting him type as they backed away from the bars.

“You can't do this Soundwave!” Megatron called, trying to follow him as much as he could, “They will never listen! They'll see you as a villain!”

The blue mech paused and turned back, looking at his former leader.

“Then let them,” He said simply, “After all, everyone's a villain in someone else's story. The only question is, who do you see as yours?”

The grey mech inhaled sharply, watching as Soundwave lifted his servo to the side of his helm, “Right here, Brain,” He spoke into his comm, “Bring us back.”

Megatron gasped as a groundbridge opened behind them, the alarms finally going off as the signal triggered them.

“Goodbye, Megatron,” The former TIC said, watching him closely, “Try not to get in my way if I see you again. I will have to go against you.”

“Wait! Soundwave!” He yelled but it was too late.

The three turned and entered it, causing a flash of light and they were gone, just as guards rounded the corner. They ran over and looked around, eyeing the warlord for a bit.

“They're gone sir,” The leader reported into his comm, looking around, “No, he's still here. Doesn't look like they even tried getting him out. Yes, we still don't know who. They put the cameras on loop.”

“Hey, you.”

The guard blinked and turned, surprised to find Megatron looking at him seriously, “What do you want?”

The grey mech frowned at the floor before sighing and turning back to him.

“I request to speak with Optimus Prime,” He said, “He and I need to talk.”

The Tempest——————

Soundwave blinked as they were suddenly blinded by bright lights, Brainstorm bouncing over.

The scientist's wings fluttered as he looked over them, lifting limbs and feeling their plating, “So it works!” He cried gleefully, “What about vitals? Nothing missing or no longer working?”

Needlenose frowned and looked down at his chassis, “I think my t-cog and tank just switched places.”

Brainstorm laughed and waved his servo, “Oh you. Well good to know the ground bridge works,” He said and started walking out, “I'll need to consult Nautica about this! It can handle short trips but nothing long distance. We had to basically take the ship right over the prison and thank Primus it was cloudy tonight.”

“Good, it will be enough for now,” Soundwave nodded as he followed him out, “As long as it's safe.”

“Guys seriously! I think I'm going to throw up!” Needle called, running out after them holding his stomach.