Chapter 1
Following the sounds of the sparklings they quickly found another group of bots who had been teleported into the Temple.
By Optimus' count they had eleven adults, recently reformatted into femmes. Herself, Prowl, Jazz, Ratchet, Smokescreen, Blaster and Skyfire who had been all the way at the drop off point, Blurr who had been on the Wreckers' ship, Wheeljack, Perceptor, and Springer.
Which was concerning yet also quite useful as the sparklings outnumbered them two to one. Wrangling all the newly made sparklings was quite an issue and a half.
"Sunstreaker! You can't hit Roadbuster just because he shoved Bluestreak." Optimus admonished as she pulled the two scrappy bots away from each other. Sunstreaker stopped flailing and let out a pitiful chirp as Roadbuster crossed his arms and scowled. On the adult mech it would have been terrifying. On the sparkling it was laughably adorable.
"Uh, I'll take him si-ma- Prime." Springer held out hi-her arms for the sparkling and Optimus thankfully handed him over.
She had enough problems with her own little troublemakers. Bumblebee had latched onto her leg and refused to let go, sitting on her pede and making happy little chirps every time she took a step. Red Alert refused to come out from behind Inferno, the little guy trembling in fear whenever his amica wasn't standing nearby. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were getting into fights with everybot except Bluestreak or Bumblebee. Ironhide and Broadside were wrestling but it looked mostly harmless so she let it be. And the rest were just running and causing mischief like any curious new spark.
They'd found out quite quickly that the Wreckers only listened to Springer, then Wheeljack, then Perceptor, and only if they had to. The rest were mostly well behaved for Optimus and, surprisingly, Ratchet. She'd forgotten how much the old… the medic had loved sparklings.
"Is it just me or are we younger than we should be?" Wheeljack asked as she lifted the Wrecker twins to her chassis and gave them both a light tap on their helms for causing trouble. It appeared that Topspin and Twin Twist had been attempting to ambush Hot Rod.
"What gave it away?" Ratchet asked, glaring at the inventor.
"Well…" Wheeljack started, waving a hand toward the medic.
A wrench hit her right in the center of the helm with a clang and Wheeljack pouted at her amica.
The sparklings started to giggle, chirping and pointing.
Optimus felt her frame warming at the sound. This. This was what she wanted.
Innocence, life, peace.
"Optimus." Turning to Smokescreen she raised an optic ridge in question. The Praxian femme looked a mix between determined and concerned as her optics trailed after Bluestreak. "I need to assess the mental faculties of everyone here. Whatever was done to our frames has obviously affected our processors as well. We… I should be feeling more discomfort over the fact that I am now a femme, but I feel as if I have always been this way."
Prowl looked over at her… sister and gave her a nod of support, door wings twitching behind her slightly in agitation. "I agree with Smokescreen. My logic computer should have crashed more times than I can calculate." She shook her head.
"At least we're not sparklins too." Jazz chimed in, tossing Cliffjumper in the air and catching him again, much to the small bot's glee. Her voice was still just as smooth as before, only now there was a lilt to it that was even more pleasing to the audials. Comforting.
"That… voice. I assume everyone heard it as well?" Perceptor asked, kneeling next to Sandstorm and consoling the small bot who was clinging to her upper thigh.
"I sure as sla-" Ratchet looked at all the sparklings and let out a frustrated growl, "yes. I heard the- the voice." The medic went quiet for a moment. "I've never heard of that protocol before. If I could get a better look at the code I could explain what, exactly, it's doing. Although I can already tell it must have accessed and activated the latent caretaker programs in all of us."
"Caretaker programs?" Springer asked in confusion.
"If you've ever had your own sparkling before you'd already know about them. All bots have the most basic caretaker programs, it doesn't matter how you were sparked. Any bot can form a caretaker bond with a sparkling. Mech or femme, it doesn't matter. Although femmes do have a higher tolerance for taking care of more than one sparkling at a time, they're also better able to keep them in line due to the more interpersonal nature of their sparks."
"So-that-Voice-made-us-into-femmes-so-we-would-be-more-inclined-to-adopt-everybot?" Blurr asked, speaking pattern unchanged even though her voice had a much higher pitched melodic tone to it now. Around her the Aerialbots were chasing one another, except for Skydive who had also come to cling to Optimus' leg armor.
"Yes." Optimus said, looking around at the bots who had once been, and still were, under hi-her command. "And the blame rests solely upon me." She admitted.
The others watched her for a moment and she could see Jazz and Prowl sharing a look filled with layers of understanding. It made her wonder if their conjux bond was still intact or not. Though looking at Inferno and Red Alert she assumed that anything to do with their sparks was still affecting them. It wasn't as if Sideswipe and Sunstreaker or Topspin and Twin Twist could stop being split-spark twins, after all.
"What happened down there Optimus?" Prowl asked, lifting Sideswipe into her arms. The small bot chirped inquisitively before settling down, looking more than content to watch his sibling trying to coax Bluestreak out from behind the older Praxian.
"I… am not certain. I recall hearing a voice and the Matrix reacting to it." She reached up and pressed a hand against her chassis again, but the matrix remained cold. "There was a room filled with golden liquid and a…" She didn't know how to describe what she'd seen. The glyphs just didn't seem to come, no matter how she tried. "A guardian. The guardian gave me a chance. A chance to bring peace, to rebuild Cybertron… to save you all." She looked down at Bumblebee, whose big blue optics looked up at her with adoration. Reaching down she ran her digits gently over his tiny helm, eliciting a content trill. A gentle smile crossed her face before she looked up and locked eyes with each of them. "I am sorry this happened to you… but I could not pass up the chance. I would sacrifice myself a thousand times if it would stop the war."
Grim looks crossed the faces of the other femmes as the sparklings continued to play. Though it seemed a few of them were already more in tune with their new caretakers than expected as Bumblebee rose onto his pedes and hugged as much of Optimus' leg as he could. Likewise Sideswipe made a forlorn little chirp and snuggled closer to Prowl's chassis, as if trying to ward off the uncomfortable feeling in the air.
"Optimus…" Ratchet said quietly, her voice tinged with concern and anger. "You are not expendable. I don't care if it would stop this war dead in its tracks. You can't just sacrifice yourself like that!" Near the end the words were practically a hiss, making Optimus flinch slightly at the admonishment.
"Ratch's right, Op. You need to take bettah care of yaself. We don't wanna lose ya, ya're an important friend to many ah us." Looking to Jazz, Optimus could feel the calm reassurance her presence always brought and finally felt her frame beginning to relax.
"I hate to interrupt, but we've got incoming!" Blaster said as she dashed back into the domed room, one hand on the side of her helm as she took in all the information from her symbiotes.
"Incoming?" Ratchet asked, expression hardening.
"A Decepticon ship just landed outside the temple, I guess they weren't as worried about the signal being a trap as we were." Blaster said as she skidded to a stop in front of Optimus.
Everybot's optics were on her, the question of what to do practically screaming in the silence as even the sparklings began to sense something was wrong and quieted.
"Jetfire, Blurr, Smokescreen, Ratchet, I want you to take the sparklings further into the temple and keep them safe. Currently we have the upper hand, so we'll set up an ambush." Holding out her hand she summoned her axe from subspace but nearly toppled at the unexpected weight on her arm.
There were startled shouts of surprise as Optimus took in the large round shield now attached to her arm. It shimmered in the light as she looked it over curiously, wondering just what it could be made of. She pulled out her blaster and was glad that, at least, was the same as before.
"Autobots," she said firmly, "we hold here! We protect our comrades who are now too small to protect themselves. We will not allow the Decepticons to overtake us!"
A raucous cheer met her audials and she allowed her battlemask to slip into place.
They would not allow their future to be taken away from them again.
[Megatron]
As the incessant alarm that brought them to the barren planet finally ceased the warlord narrowed his optics at the screen. His mechs had been trying, in vain, to kill the detestable sound for some time now and yet, the moment they arrived, it ceased.
Turning to his second in command he glowered down at the bristling flier, who had been twitchy ever since the alert had begun. "Starscream, take your Seekers out on a patrol. I want to know if there is anything worthwhile on this blasted rock."
"As you wish, oh mighty leader." Spat the irate flier before turning on his pede and storming away.
"Soundwave, have you detected anything yet?"
"Negative response; there is nothing on the scanners, Lord Megatron." His third in command switched between frequencies rapidly, intent on his task.
Megatron stood, hands clasped behind his back, and frowned in contemplation. He had never heard of the kind of alarm that could hack into every system, like a virus, and not be expunged by even the best code breakers. I had even knocked out his third for a time due to it being echoed and amplified by taking over every frequency possible.
It had tapered off a short time ago, as if it was anticipating their arrival, and now it had gone silent.
It was far too suspicious to just leave without finding the source. There was no telling when it would happen again, and what havoc it could cause if they were in the middle of a battle.
But the question remained; had it only attacked the Decepticons communications? Or had it affected the Autobots as well?
He wasn't certain how long he stood there, running through different scenarios and pondering the origin of the alert, when one of the bridge crew tried to get his attention.
"My Lord." Turning to Reflector he nodded at the mech to proceed. "We're picking up something from the Seekers. It appears to be a structure not to far from here. Your orders?"
"Recall the Seekers, we'll bring the ship closer to this structure. Assemble a strike force. Soundwave, with me." He ordered as he turned to leave the bridge.
"Affirmative."
Whatever this was, whether a trap or not, he was going to get to the bottom of it. If it was a trap? He would make certain that it could never be used against them again.
[Optimus]
Pressing her back into the wall between two pillars the femme did her best to blend with the shadows of the wall. It wasn't that difficult, after all none of them had time or the resources to paint themselves yet. Only the Autobot insignia remained, the red a bright splash of color on otherwise drab frames.
The sound of heavy pedefalls caught her attention and she steeled herself, pulling her mind inward and calming her racing spark until her presence was smooth like glass.
The moment that a large, dark, yet familiar form passed her she sprang into action. Using the shield on her arm she launched herself forward and up, coming under the mech's arm as he attempted to swat her away. If she had been larger, like before, her attack wouldn't have connected, but as she braced herself the shield collided with Megatron's chin, snapping his helm back. While he was off balance she lunged forward and swept his feet out from under him.
She heard the other Decepticons shout in surprise as the others sprang into action as well.
Megatron's searing red optics glowered at her and she knew he wasn't downed. She didn't have as much strength as before, even if she was faster and more agile now. So she did the only thing she could think of in that moment and threw herself on top of the large mech, pinning him to the floor.
She held her blaster against his helm, blue optics blazing as she prepared herself for her long time enemy's counter attack.
Megatron's optics widened before narrowing. There was a calculating look on his face as he reached toward her, only to stop when she pressed the blaster harder against his helm.
"Tell your bots to stand down. I will not hesitate to aerate your helm if you do not comply." Something in the back of her processor twinged and she swore she felt the Matrix thrum in her core.
The next moment she found herself flipped onto the ground, her blaster knocked away and shield arm pinned firmly.
Megatron reached up and rubbed at his chin, though his optics never left hers. "Impressive." His voice rumbled through her as his optics fell on her insignia. "But I think you'll find, Autobot, that-"
Before the mech could finish the thought a high pitched wailing could be heard, piercing her processor and making her spark race. Tilting her helm back she spied Bumblebee down the hall. The moment her optics landed on the sparkling she began to struggle frantically against the large mech, everything inside her screaming that she had to protect her sparkling.
In a move that she would have to ponder over later, Megatron released her and backed away. She sprang to her feet and raced for her sparkling, who hurried toward her with outstretched arms. Before either of them could get too far Blurr appeared and scooped up Bumblebee, giving her a worried look before she vanished back into the temple.
With her sparkling out of danger she turned to face Megatron once again, squaring her shoulders and raising her shield.
She would defend the hall with the last pulse of her spark and her optics mirrored that resolve.
"Decepticons!" Megatron bellowed, red optics trained on Optimus. "Stand down!"
The command made everybot freeze, Autobots and Decepticons alike.
"Pr- Bossbot?" She heard Jazz call.
"Disengage." She ordered, her voice unwavering.
"But-" Springer started.
"Do as I say."
A moment later the other femmes, what remained of her Autobot Command, retreated from the Decepticons and came to stand at her back.
Megatron stalked forward a few steps but stopped when Optimus tensed. He made a show of bowing politely and it made her frown in confusion. "I do not believe we have previously met. I am Megatron, leader of the Decepticons. We came in answer to the distress beacon." His optics trailed over the gathered Autobots for a moment before returning to her. "It was not our intention to scare you, as I'm certain you've heard many horror stories about myself and my mechs." Standing back to his full height he gave her a smile that she would have called charming, if she didn't know the mech behind it. "Are you still in need of assistance?"
Optimus mouth fell open behind her mask. Was… was Megatron serious?
After a moment of stunned silence Optimus lowered her shield. "No, the beacon was activated… accidentally. It took us some time to turn it off again. I… apologize if you went out of your way, but we don't need any-" A low gurgling sputtering sound could be heard, echoing off the walls, and Optimus turned to look at Blaster.
Her face flushed with color and she shuffled on her feet in embarrassment before shrugging. "I… we're low on rations and the sparklings…" She hesitantly explained, while also reaching up to press a hand against the holding area of her symbiotes.
Optimus should have known, carriers required more energon than others due to the smaller bots that relied on them to function.
"You are in need of supplies." Megatron stated, slowly coming closer until he was only a few feet away. "Allow us to aid you. You have a sparkling, yes? If not for yourself then do it for them."
Optimus wavered for a moment, glancing at Prowl and Jazz. Neither looked thrilled with the idea, but they didn't oppose it either. She had no doubt they were already formulating a plan of escape.
She turned back to Megatron, looking him directly in the optics. "I will allow you to aid us." Her voice hardened. "But one wrong move and we will not hesitate to destroy you. For the same reason I am allowing you to help us. Is that understood?"
Megatron smiled again and her spark began to race in its casing. "Understood."
Optimus nodded and, against her better judgment, turned to lead the Decepticons further into the temple.
"Ah, before we go any further," the mech said, "might I have your designation?"
Optimus froze, opening and closing her mouth for a moment before turning to look back at her foe.
"…Aria." She supplied after a moment. "You may call me Aria."
