Fic - Tenacity 2/?
Title: Tenacity
Continuity: G1/Bayverse postwar AU
Rating: PG-13
Character(s): Ratchet, Bluestreak, Mirage
Word Count: 1508
Warnings: none
Summary: The Decepticons took control of the Cybertronian Empire long ago. Most mechs accepted the new rule, but there are still whispers of a rebellion, that the Autobot cause is not yet dead. And the cause is about to come crashing down on one former Autobot.
Disclaimer: Transformers and all related stuff still doesn't belong to me :(
Part 1
With all the excitement of Tenacity finally waking up I had nearly forgotten the unexpected visitors that had turned up. So I was momentarily confused when I walked into my home to find two mechs waiting for me.
“Have you...” I quickly held up a hand to quiet them before motioning towards the recharging sparkling in the crook of my other arm.
“Let me get her settled.” I said as I breezed past them, gently laying her out on my berth.
Hook had been right that she seemed to have attached herself to me. Possibly because I had been the first face she had seen after she had woken up, perhaps because the broken creator bond had latched onto the nearest available mech as a substitute. But whatever the case I had been assigned to take care of her until she was stable enough to be adopted.
Running a finger softly across her helm I tucked a thermal blanket around her before heading back into the main room, firmly closing the door behind me, I had a feeling this would not be a good conversation for a sparkling to overhear.
“Did we frighten you that badly? You disappeared for quite a while.” Just how much were they watching me? I wondered, as I sank down into one of my seats, gesturing for Bluestreak and his companion to join me.
“I was busy with work.” I replied as Bluestreak took a seat across from me, his as yet unknown companion choosing to remain in the shadowed corner he had chosen.
Busy indeed, while her protoform had been repaired it was obvious that Tenacity would need a lot of care, losing both her creator and carrier at such a young age would be a significant strain on her spark. And add to that the fact that she had been present when one of them had been torn away from her in such a brutal way.
The first time I had left her alone to go refuel I had been called back to find that she had managed to get off the berth and move almost three corridors looking for me. Since that incident we had moved her into a private room and I had been staying on a spare fold out berth to try and assuage her fears that I was going to disappear as soon as she took her optics off me.
Now that she was stable enough to remove from all the monitoring equipment that she had been attached to, I had brought her home, which had been a trial in itself. I had been forced to walk back, almost trebling the time it took. Although to be completely honest, neither I nor Hook was too surprised that she refused to enter my alt form. No doubt the memories of her last time inside one were particularly vivid, and we knew enough about the processor that forcing her at this stage would only be detrimental to her well being.
“So, have you thought about our offer.”
“I’ve thought about it.” I said, offering nothing more.
“And?” Blue prompted, wings flared in hope.
“I’m not sure.” I confessed.
The other bot clicked in dark amusement from the shadows. A glowing red band lit up as the mech powered up his visor, stalking forwards with a silent grace until he stood before me.
“Are all their sacrifices to be in vain?”
It was all I could do to stop myself from flinching as memories long locked away surfaced, names and faces I would rather not remember.
Jazz, optical band dimming even as I tried to seal off energon lines after Megatron tore him in half.
Beachbreak, swept over the edge of Victoria falls in a rush of water to the rocks below having just saved Optimus from the same fate.
Prowl, his greying chassis surrounded by Decepticons after he arrived on Earth and found only a broken bond to welcome him. We had thought he was improving, pulling through after Jazz’s death, until he snuck out, broadcasting his location near a ‘con base. By the time we caught up with him he had taken seven of them to Primus with him.
Hound, taken out on a routine visit to some human dignitaries by a disgruntled Decepticon sniper, leaving his sparkmate every bit as broken as Prowl had been.
A mate who was staring down at me, his once meticulous paintjob dull, an ugly weld scar running across the aristocratic faceplates, up under the visor which covered the one remaining functioning optic. If not for the fact that I knew how unstable the mech was I would have laughed. No wonder the ‘cons had not yet apprehended him despite his designation being at the top of the most wanted list, the orns had not been kind to him.
“War is always in vain.” I replied softly. Mirage drew back as if slapped, before shaking his head, cloaking device shimmering around him.
“Ratchet.” Bluestreak said as I flared my sensors, looking for the mech the ‘cons had named ‘The Ghost’. “Prime told us not to give up, that freedom is our right.”
Too true, but they have nothing to lose by fighting. While I, I have much more at stake.
“I have duties.”
An electronic snort of derision heralded Mirage’s reappearance behind me, “what duties? Fixing our enemies? Sending them back out to hunt us?”
I half turned, optics narrowed at the bitter tone, “I work on the sparkling ward.”
“Saving them to be trained up as good little Decepticons,” he sneered. I shook my head; the loss of Hound had changed the noble more than any of us had cared to admit.
It didn’t stop him from being right. I was saving them so that they could join an Empire where power was everything, and the weak were ignored. But such is the nature of my programming. “I’m a healer; it is my duty to save them.”
Mirage smiled, with none of the warmth usually associated with the expression, “And we are Autobots, it is our duty to save those who cannot save themselves.” He shimmered again, not a sound betraying if he was moving.
“We need you.” Bluestreak said. “This will be our chance to change Cybertron for the better, to end this travesty that the Empire dares to call freedom. And we need all the help we can get.”
“I have a sparkling to take care of.” I reminded him. For all that I would love to see Megatron out of power; I had lives depending on me being there for them. I couldn’t just up and disappear, vanishing into the lower districts of Kaon and the abandoned mining tunnels where mechs who would rather remain anonymous were able to stay out of sight and sensors of the Emperors enforcers.
“So do we.” Bluestreak admitted. I felt my optics shutter in surprise as I reprocessed what he had just said. I had not even contemplated that they might have young ones. Nobody had wanted to bring a sparkling into a war, so the only ones that had been around before were those that we had found abandoned. They had sparklings. When they could be captured or killed at any time. I shook my head.
Blue rattled his armour, plating clinking together with his agitation, “You think we want them to grow up being hunted?” He flared his sensor panels in an anger as he continued, “do you know how many mechs we have taken in and hidden to save them from deactivation? And how many of those are guilty of what they are accused of? Not many.”
Oh I knew what the enforcers often did in the name of the Empire. I had worked in the Kaon medical centre for a long time. I had seen many things I would rather not have.
“Will you at least come and see for yourself why we are still fighting?” I could feel my resistance crumbling, what would it hurt to go and look; it didn’t mean I’d have to stay.
“I suppose.” I admitted, “I’ll have to find somebody to look after Tenacity.” Which would most likely be Hook as he is the only other mech she doesn’t hide from, and even then she will only approach him when I am also in the room. “It could take a while.”
Bluestreak waved a hand as he stood, “not a problem, whenever you are ready.” He slipped out much as he did last time, without farewell.
“Double-cross us and it will be the last thing you do.” The menacing voice right next to my audial receptor made me jump, flaring my armour in both warning and surprise as I recalled that Blue had not been alone. I was about to reply when the door slid open again, a deliberately loud tread letting me know that he had left.
Closing the door I rested my helm against the wall. I had to wonder, is this how those who first joined Megatron had felt?
Continuity: G1/Bayverse postwar AU
Rating: PG-13
Character(s): Ratchet, Bluestreak, Mirage
Word Count: 1508
Warnings: none
Summary: The Decepticons took control of the Cybertronian Empire long ago. Most mechs accepted the new rule, but there are still whispers of a rebellion, that the Autobot cause is not yet dead. And the cause is about to come crashing down on one former Autobot.
Disclaimer: Transformers and all related stuff still doesn't belong to me :(
Part 1
With all the excitement of Tenacity finally waking up I had nearly forgotten the unexpected visitors that had turned up. So I was momentarily confused when I walked into my home to find two mechs waiting for me.
“Have you...” I quickly held up a hand to quiet them before motioning towards the recharging sparkling in the crook of my other arm.
“Let me get her settled.” I said as I breezed past them, gently laying her out on my berth.
Hook had been right that she seemed to have attached herself to me. Possibly because I had been the first face she had seen after she had woken up, perhaps because the broken creator bond had latched onto the nearest available mech as a substitute. But whatever the case I had been assigned to take care of her until she was stable enough to be adopted.
Running a finger softly across her helm I tucked a thermal blanket around her before heading back into the main room, firmly closing the door behind me, I had a feeling this would not be a good conversation for a sparkling to overhear.
“Did we frighten you that badly? You disappeared for quite a while.” Just how much were they watching me? I wondered, as I sank down into one of my seats, gesturing for Bluestreak and his companion to join me.
“I was busy with work.” I replied as Bluestreak took a seat across from me, his as yet unknown companion choosing to remain in the shadowed corner he had chosen.
Busy indeed, while her protoform had been repaired it was obvious that Tenacity would need a lot of care, losing both her creator and carrier at such a young age would be a significant strain on her spark. And add to that the fact that she had been present when one of them had been torn away from her in such a brutal way.
The first time I had left her alone to go refuel I had been called back to find that she had managed to get off the berth and move almost three corridors looking for me. Since that incident we had moved her into a private room and I had been staying on a spare fold out berth to try and assuage her fears that I was going to disappear as soon as she took her optics off me.
Now that she was stable enough to remove from all the monitoring equipment that she had been attached to, I had brought her home, which had been a trial in itself. I had been forced to walk back, almost trebling the time it took. Although to be completely honest, neither I nor Hook was too surprised that she refused to enter my alt form. No doubt the memories of her last time inside one were particularly vivid, and we knew enough about the processor that forcing her at this stage would only be detrimental to her well being.
“So, have you thought about our offer.”
“I’ve thought about it.” I said, offering nothing more.
“And?” Blue prompted, wings flared in hope.
“I’m not sure.” I confessed.
The other bot clicked in dark amusement from the shadows. A glowing red band lit up as the mech powered up his visor, stalking forwards with a silent grace until he stood before me.
“Are all their sacrifices to be in vain?”
It was all I could do to stop myself from flinching as memories long locked away surfaced, names and faces I would rather not remember.
Jazz, optical band dimming even as I tried to seal off energon lines after Megatron tore him in half.
Beachbreak, swept over the edge of Victoria falls in a rush of water to the rocks below having just saved Optimus from the same fate.
Prowl, his greying chassis surrounded by Decepticons after he arrived on Earth and found only a broken bond to welcome him. We had thought he was improving, pulling through after Jazz’s death, until he snuck out, broadcasting his location near a ‘con base. By the time we caught up with him he had taken seven of them to Primus with him.
Hound, taken out on a routine visit to some human dignitaries by a disgruntled Decepticon sniper, leaving his sparkmate every bit as broken as Prowl had been.
A mate who was staring down at me, his once meticulous paintjob dull, an ugly weld scar running across the aristocratic faceplates, up under the visor which covered the one remaining functioning optic. If not for the fact that I knew how unstable the mech was I would have laughed. No wonder the ‘cons had not yet apprehended him despite his designation being at the top of the most wanted list, the orns had not been kind to him.
“War is always in vain.” I replied softly. Mirage drew back as if slapped, before shaking his head, cloaking device shimmering around him.
“Ratchet.” Bluestreak said as I flared my sensors, looking for the mech the ‘cons had named ‘The Ghost’. “Prime told us not to give up, that freedom is our right.”
Too true, but they have nothing to lose by fighting. While I, I have much more at stake.
“I have duties.”
An electronic snort of derision heralded Mirage’s reappearance behind me, “what duties? Fixing our enemies? Sending them back out to hunt us?”
I half turned, optics narrowed at the bitter tone, “I work on the sparkling ward.”
“Saving them to be trained up as good little Decepticons,” he sneered. I shook my head; the loss of Hound had changed the noble more than any of us had cared to admit.
It didn’t stop him from being right. I was saving them so that they could join an Empire where power was everything, and the weak were ignored. But such is the nature of my programming. “I’m a healer; it is my duty to save them.”
Mirage smiled, with none of the warmth usually associated with the expression, “And we are Autobots, it is our duty to save those who cannot save themselves.” He shimmered again, not a sound betraying if he was moving.
“We need you.” Bluestreak said. “This will be our chance to change Cybertron for the better, to end this travesty that the Empire dares to call freedom. And we need all the help we can get.”
“I have a sparkling to take care of.” I reminded him. For all that I would love to see Megatron out of power; I had lives depending on me being there for them. I couldn’t just up and disappear, vanishing into the lower districts of Kaon and the abandoned mining tunnels where mechs who would rather remain anonymous were able to stay out of sight and sensors of the Emperors enforcers.
“So do we.” Bluestreak admitted. I felt my optics shutter in surprise as I reprocessed what he had just said. I had not even contemplated that they might have young ones. Nobody had wanted to bring a sparkling into a war, so the only ones that had been around before were those that we had found abandoned. They had sparklings. When they could be captured or killed at any time. I shook my head.
Blue rattled his armour, plating clinking together with his agitation, “You think we want them to grow up being hunted?” He flared his sensor panels in an anger as he continued, “do you know how many mechs we have taken in and hidden to save them from deactivation? And how many of those are guilty of what they are accused of? Not many.”
Oh I knew what the enforcers often did in the name of the Empire. I had worked in the Kaon medical centre for a long time. I had seen many things I would rather not have.
“Will you at least come and see for yourself why we are still fighting?” I could feel my resistance crumbling, what would it hurt to go and look; it didn’t mean I’d have to stay.
“I suppose.” I admitted, “I’ll have to find somebody to look after Tenacity.” Which would most likely be Hook as he is the only other mech she doesn’t hide from, and even then she will only approach him when I am also in the room. “It could take a while.”
Bluestreak waved a hand as he stood, “not a problem, whenever you are ready.” He slipped out much as he did last time, without farewell.
“Double-cross us and it will be the last thing you do.” The menacing voice right next to my audial receptor made me jump, flaring my armour in both warning and surprise as I recalled that Blue had not been alone. I was about to reply when the door slid open again, a deliberately loud tread letting me know that he had left.
Closing the door I rested my helm against the wall. I had to wonder, is this how those who first joined Megatron had felt?