Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

So I think I might have been lying to myself about whether I wanted to write a story regarding Transformers One. I actually did really enjoy the movie, even if I did miss Peter Cullen voicing Optimus/Orion Pax. And while I am not interested writing a romantic story, I came up with other ideas. Ones with some small changes to the movie’s lore and to make everyone hate Sentinel Prime even more.

This story is rated mature due to darker themes that will be present in the story than shown in the movie. Including torture, medical torture, blackmail, trauma, enslavement, mind control and detailed violence and character death.

I am sure you will enjoy this story like many of my other stories, readers.

Prologue Part 1

Cybertron. A world formed by a being of ethereal power. A being who created various lifeforms upon Cybertron from the dawn of Cybertron’s creation. Many of these lifeforms are known by the Transformers living in Iacon city that had been built below the surface of the planet to protect its citizens from a race of beings that were not native to this planet. And thus, the being who formed Cybertron birthed thirteen warriors to fight against these invaders. The thirteen Primes. These Primes have stood against these foes, alongside warriors chosen to be the High Guard, to fight against the Quintessons for many years.

Though while most Cybertronians know this, the surface dwellers of the planet are less known to the citizens of Iacon. These beings are related to an ancient species of predacons who once ruled this planet. While related, these beings have built a city for themselves on the surface and possess strange and unique abilities with a unique and benign connection to Primus himself. Though these abilities are not without limitations. And these beings have stood alongside the Primes and the High Guard to fight against the Quintessons. And it seemed that the fight would go their way.

The surface city of Tempest is situated on the far north of the planet’s surface. Carved into the mountains, one may have to blink before they would see any of the creatures flying high above the landscape. One would take a look at them and automatically think they were predacons, but a closer look would show they were not. These draconic bots have lived and walked upon Cybertron for many thousand cycles across time. They are a peaceful race, living together in the city where they ingest liquid energon and farm various plants to ingest that grew upon the surface of the planet.

Whilst they were peaceful, they were also great warriors. Fighting alongside the Primes and the High Guard against the Quintessons is nothing short of an honour to stand together with them for the sake of Primus. Their unique abilities, such as various breaths of fire, lightning and plasma, and the ability to cloak themselves, almost turning completely invisible, they have become valiant warriors against the Quintessons to ensure that peace and prosperity endured on Cybertron. As long as rivers of energon flowed and the Matrix of Leadership remained in possession with Zeta Prime, peace would endure. But it would not be so forever. The hunger for power can take hold on anyone.

Standing upon a cliff while gazing at a tall mountain ahead, a draconic bot stared at the location that lay ahead. The gold on his body glimmered underneath the sun beaming down onto the planet, while his white stomach, face and wings with feather shaped pieces held not glow like the gold down the side of his neck and down his back to the long tail due to matte finish of the colour. This draconic bot was known as Oracle River. He is one of the elder draconic bots from Tempest, and has stood by the Primes for many cycles. Here, he stood on the cliff upon learning about potential intel regarding the Quintessons from Sentinel, one the chief advisor to the Prime Council. Now that he stood here, a strange sense could be felt. Causing him to be uneasy.

^^ Oracle River ^^

Glancing to the left, his optics looked upon the Primes as they walk by the bot. Oracle did not know why he felt the sudden sense of unease. But something was telling him that something was not right. The tallest of the thirteen Primes with steel blue armor and golden lines bordering the shoulder pads, wrist guards and crown, with golden detailing on his chassis, legs and hips, Zeta Prime, turned to Oracle upon noticing the uncertainty in the dragon’s expression. “Is everything alright, Oracle?” Oracle growled softly as he looked away, gazing at the horizon and sniffing at the air. “You seem uneasy. Is this because Sentinel may have intel we need to end this conflict with the Quintessons?”

“Yes. But it is not about the intel itself…” Oracle looked around some more, glancing back behind them with low rumbles vibrating through his chest. “I am starting to think if we proceed, we may not like what will happen. Something is wrong.” Zeta Prime was surprised by the dragon’s warning as Oracle looked around. “And I have not been wrong before, old friend.”

“There is always a first time for everything, Oracle.” Oracle was still unconvinced, and he almost did not wish to proceed, but he also felt it was needed to remain close to the Primes as it was his duty in case there was a fight. “If it makes you feel better, we have the High Guard on standby all the time…though you already know that.” Zeta chuckled lightly and he reached out to place his hand on the side of the bot’s neck, making Oracle purr lightly. “Come on…you can always call for Eruptor, Comet Hammer and, or Longfang if you feel the need for it.”

Flaring his nostrils, there was a small hiss as smoke streamed out of his nostrils, and he looked at Zeta Prime with an amused expression. “I could, but Comet is a little busy right now. He and Solarian welcomed a new sparkling almost one cycle ago, and he has been helping Solarian with their daughter ever since she hatched.” Zeta Prime’s smile widened upon hearing the dragons had a new sparkling. “He would be less than thrilled if I called him away from his daughter.”

“A new sparkling? Wow...and that is quite rare for your race, isn’t it?” Oracle nodded affirmatively. It was unfortunate that the dragonic bots rarely had any sparklings, but they did not have a small population either. Zeta rubbed the side of Oracle’s neck gently, causing the dragonic bot to purr a little again. “I assume that your chronicler, Oranos, has had some foresight for your new sparkling.”

“New sparkling?” Oracle chuckled as a tall, broad shouldered, purple Prime turned to look at them as he walked by. He smiled as he placed the end of his spear down as hearing about the new life clearly moved his spark. “That’s wonderful to hear, Oracle. I have no doubt this new young dragon will become a great warrior. Just like me.”

“Slow, Megatronus. She is still an infant, and have many cycles before she will even learn how to fight. But I appreciate your confidence.” Oracle looked back at the mountain and glanced at Alchemist, Onyx, Micronus, Prima, Solus, and Vector who were ahead of them currently, and Oracle sighed deeply. “I also would rather be back in Tempest. We had been preparing a celebration for the sparkling’s spark day when this secret Quintesson meeting was called.”

“I assume that we are invited, old friend.” Oracle chuckled and turned his head to gaze at a Prime with lighter shades of purple than Megatronus, and a grey face and a metal cape. “Celebrating a life like a new sparkling is always a joy.”

“You are always invited, Alpha Trion. All the Primes are.”

“Good. I wouldn’t want to miss it. But you did fail to tell us about this sparkling...” Alpha Trion waved his index finger at Oracle to tease the dragon, making Oracle roll his optics. “You usually do not forget something important.”

“I apologise. We have been fighting the Quintessons so often that the sparkling slipped my mind.” Oracle turned his head to look in the direction of Tempest. “Personally, if this wasn’t that important, I probably would not be here.”

“To be fair, you invited yourself along, Oracle River,” Megatronus teased as he placed his hand on his hip, giving Oracle an amused expression. “And you now seem hesitant. Come on, we had better get moving. I don’t want to miss out of the Intel Sentinel has about the Quintessons.”

Oracle sighed deeply as Megatronus walked ahead. “I still think that this is a bad idea.”

Alpha Trion raised an eyebrow as Oracle’s intuition has generally never been wrong in the past. And hearing that Oracle seemed uneasy about this made him ponder. “That explains why you were looking around and are tense right now, Oracle. Perhaps you are right. But do you believe that it is regarding this particular meeting?”

Oracle was silent as he pondered on the question. It was a good question, as Oracle did not know if the uneasy feeling he felt was even regarding this meeting or not. “You have a point, Alpha Trion. I cannot answer. But usually, whenever I sense something is wrong, it is regarding something that is about to happen within that moment. Which means, this meeting is it.”

Alpha Trion hummed softly as he seemed to understand. “I guess that means we need to proceed with caution. Zeta Prime…” He looked at his old friend who stood by Oracle. “It would be unwise to not heed Oracle’s concerns.”

Zeta nodded. “I agree…but I do think that the uneasiness might mean we have something watching us right now. Maybe if we spot any loose Quintessons hanging around, we can destroy them before anything else happens."

Megatronus nodded in agreement, lifting his spear off the ground and walking forward towards the mountain. “Eliminating the Quintessons is our priority. And we can finally have peace again. Especially after we had to defeat Unicron so many cycles ago. But we shall proceed with caution.” He turned his head for a moment and shouted at the tall, green, femme who had walked by. “Hey, Quintus! Wait for us!”

The femme looked back with a smirk. “You’re the ones holding up the line, so you all have to drag your afts to the mountain. We aren’t waiting for you.”

Megatronus chuckled as he jogged forward to catch up with Quintus who was walking with Amalgamous, Nexus and Onyx. Oracle sighed deeply, walking forward with caution as he did not know what might happen today. Especially with the warning in his spark. “What is the name of the new sparkling?” Oracle looked at Alpha Trion as the Prime looked at him with curiosity. “I would also be curious to know what your chronicler says about their future?”

Oracle smiled at Alpha Trion and glanced up at the sky as a shimmer of a faint aurora in the distance danced across the horizon. “Her named is Ignited Galaxy. She is born from noble warriors, as you already know. Solarian and Comet Hammer have fought alongside you for many cycles. However, Oranos had sensed Galaxy’s future long before she hatched from her egg.” Oracle closed his optics slightly as he thought back to when Oranos spoke of the future of the sparkling. “Galaxy’s future, according to Oranos, has been deemed to be important. For the future of this planet, she shall rise to meet a danger alongside a new Prime.” Alpha Trion and Zeta Prime both widen their optics in surprise as they had no idea a new Prime would be born. “An era will come to an end, and a new birth shall begin. At least, that is what Oranos said. He didn’t really say how long into the future this would be, but he did say recently that a shadow has been cast over Iacon.”

“Maybe that is the reason why you are feeling uneasy, Oracle,” Zeta Prime suggested and Oracle shook his head. “But that is fascinating…a new Prime…that does mean a new era is coming. I do not know what that will mean for us or the Matrix of Leadership…especially as we haven’t had a new Prime for many, many cycles.”

Alpha Trion nodded in agreement. “I agree. That kind of information does present questions in my mind. Especially as now Oranos has sensed a shadow being cast over Iacon. But that could mean many different things.”

“Indeed.” Zeta opened a com link to the other Primes. “My fellow Primes, proceed to this cavern with caution. This may not be as what we believe it to be. So be on your guard at all times, and we may prevail at the end of the day. If this turns out to be false information about potential Quintessons gathering here, we need to be ready for a fight.”

Oracle did not know if that would be enough as there may not be anything they could do. But that did not mean they shouldn’t do nothing. Oracle followed closely behind Alpha Trion and Zeta Prime while glancing around constantly as the closer they got to the mountain, the more uneasy that the dragon was feeling. The sense of danger was constant, and Oracle couldn’t help but remain alert and ready to fight in case he had to fight. There was no scent of Quintessons either, so if there was a gathering, they had not entered the cave they would be entering.

Walking up the slope, the wind gently blew over them, and Oracle stopped, looking back and around with a low growl of uncertainty. Oracle knew in his spark that something was terribly wrong, and his instincts were telling him to fall back. But he would not abandon the Primes. A low rumble vibrated from his chest as the dragon walked further up the slope, finding himself in front of a large, circular cave with spikes pointed towards the circle center. It was ominous, but there was no fear of this structure.

Upon walking through the entrance of the cave, Oracle caught Sentinel’s scent. He was indeed here, or at least, he had been here. The scent was fresh, and that seemed like a good sign. However, as they walk further into the cave, moving down a small, shallow slope, to the main large room of the cave, Oracle stopped as his nostrils flared upon the strong scent of Quintessons filling his scent sensors.

“Zeta Prime!” Oracle lunged forward, startling the Primes as the dragon’s sudden movement caught them by surprise. “We need to…” Oracle gasped as they all glance up upon hearing the footsteps of several dozen Quintessons crawling through the roof. “They were waiting for us!”

Zeta Prime immediately armed his energon axe, glaring at the insect-like creatures as they cover the ceiling above. “Get in fighting position, Primes!” All the Primes move quickly, standing in a circle, and Oracle stood between Zeta Prime and Megatronus, glaring at the creatures. Oracle’s mouth glowed a bright blue as it filled with a mixture of plasma and fire before he exhaled, shooting a blast at the Quintessons. Though as he successfully hit and killed several Quintessons, causing their bodies to fall onto the ground, Oracle raised his wings, shifting them over his body as the Quintessons prepared to fire. “Hold your ground!” Zeta glanced at Oracle. “You may want to call for backup.”

“Heh, and you should call for the High Guard!” Oracle snarled without taking his optics off the Quintessons, bracing himself as the creatures began shooting at them. Oracle grunted loudly as the blaster fire hit his wings, and he hissed as one lucky shot hit the tip of his wing, making him stumble and he ran forward. “Quintesson scum!”

Oracle avoided the rain of blasts from the Quintessons after running from the Primes, and he skidded to turn himself to face the Quintessons and leaped upward, beating his wings one time, and tackling one of the Quintessons and pulling it down, diving and landing on top of the creature as he began to maul and rip into it, ripping the legs off as it squealed and aimed its blaster at him.

At the corner of his optics, Oracle could see the other Primes shooting back at the Quintessons as they spread out to fight back. And while they were defending themselves, it quickly became apparent they were outnumbered. Oracle ripped the head of the Quintesson with his teeth, and looked up as the Quintessons lunge down. He widened his optics when Liege Maximal was pounced upon and was stabbed repeatedly, making the dragon run forward and lunge at the Quintesson.

However, he was slammed to the side against a boulder by two Quintessons. Shrieking as he felt a blade piercing his right hindleg, Oracle’s teeth glowed a dark purple as he heated up his mouth while he lunged at the first Quintesson, aiming right for the chassis and the first bite bit through the metal with ease from the extreme heat, and he raised his right wing to strike the Quintesson who had stabbed him. He slammed the wing down, slicing the front of the Quintesson’s face, making it hiss and stab his abdomen.

Oracle kicked the Quintesson with his right leg, despite the shooting pain and energon spilling from the wound and he turned to lunge at the Quintesson with his mouth open. He snapped his teeth at the neck and ripped off the head and glanced around before he was shoved to the side, making him hiss, only to see Megatronus had been pushed against him and he smirked slightly at the Prime.

“Ugh! These Quintessons are really getting under my skin!” Megatronus swiped his staff and stabbed the Quinetessons in front of him while Oracle stood up on his hindlegs to grab too approaching Quintessons, and slam them onto the ground and rip off their heads. “Give me a ride, why don’t you? We can really give these pests something to chase!”

“Heh! And send them to the Pit where they belong!” Oracle crouched after firing another plasma blast at a charging Quintesson while Megatronus swiftly swung his leg over Oracle’s back and the dragon stood up before he ran forward. “We are going to squash you bugs!” Oracle’s chest glowed of orange before travelling up his neck and Oracle breathed a wave of fire at a group of Quintessons while he ran towards the flame.

Megatronus shot missiles from his back as Oracle ran through the fire while swiping and stabbing with his staff. “For Primus, we must stand and win!”

Oracle nodded as he ran through the fire and blasted several more Quintessons as Megatronus stabbed and sliced several more Quintessans, and it seemed that the Primes may have the upper hand. As the other Primes were fending off the Quintessans, despite the fact it seemed that the more they destroyed, even more would join in the fight. Oracle began to believe that Sentinel knew this. His scent was here, but he was present.

Oracle glanced up as Megatronus shot missiles at Quintessons on the ceiling and he jumped up, causing the Prime to hold on and balance himself while they both attack several Quintessons. Megatronus stabbed and sliced several before lifting his feet to Oracle’s back and jumping off the draconic bot, using the momentum to pierce several Quintessons in a row and landing back down on the cave floor as Oracle swiped several Quintessons with his wings.

But as Oracle did so, a Quintesson landed on his back, making the dragon let out a loud roar before he felt a blade in his right shoulder, cutting through the lines and briefly causing Oracle to lose feeling in his right wing. Oracle crashed into the wall, scraping against it as he fell to the ground and he turned his head to grab and throw the Quintesson into the wall and turned his body quickly, swinging his tail to slam the creature and unsheathed blades at the tip of the tail to slice the abdomen.

And in that moment, as Nexus was shooting a constant stream of laser at a charging group of Quintessons, Oracle saw the blade of a familiar autobot stabbing through the chassis from the back of the Prime. Oracle gasped as Nexus Prime fell, and he narrowed his optics as he saw Sentinel. With his blade now stained with the energon of Nexus Prime, Sentinel was glaring around at the other Primes.

Oracle was about to lunge at him as multiple Quintessons drop on top of him from the ceiling, landing on his back and wings, making the draconic bot fall onto his stomach hard and he roared angrily, moving his feet to try and buck off the Quintessons and moved his wings to stab them, but more dropped on top of him, stabbing him in the back and Oracle gasped as he saw Megatronus being restrained by multiple Quintessons. And Sentinel was approaching him slowly.

Oracle growled as he opened his jaw to prepare to blast him. “Megatronus! Get up!” Oracle widened his jaw, only for a Quintesson to shoot into his mouth, making Oracle shriek as the blast caused a secondary blast within his throat, causing metal and energon to splutter and Oracle’s optics fill with tears from the pain. “Uggh…S-Sentinel…traitor…”

Sentinel just chuckled as he looked back at the dragon before raising his sword above Megatronus. The Prime looked up in horror before the blade was struck down, slicing through Megatronus’s neck and beheading him. Oracle growled loudly, wanting to get up, but he had been severely weakened as the Quintessons held him down and forced his neck down onto the ground, standing on top of him as he intakes and exhales weakly.

Sentinel walked over to the weakened bot with a smug expression. “Tsk, tsk, tsk…” He shook his head while waving his index at him. “That was not a good idea. Now look at you. Oracle River down on his knees. Pfft, how pathetic! No matter…” He leaned down, glaring at the dragon as Oracle glared back at his optics. “I have a special plan for you and the rest of your kind. Especially now you have a little warrior in your midst.”

Oracle hissed at him, flaring his nostrils, allowing him to hit Sentinel face with a small blast of plasma from his nostrils, making the advisor to stumble back in surprise and Oracle finally freed his left paw and swiped upward, grabbing a Quintesson and slamming it into the ground. “Whatever your reason, you are the shadow that is cast over Iacon. You bring shame to Primus!”

Sentinel looked back at the dragon as the bot kicked and swiped at the Quintessons around him, and he saw that the dragon’s claws were glowing with plasma, allowing him to cause damage to the Quintessons with ease. Sentinel clenched his fists and threw a punch, hitting Oracle in the right side of his jaw, surprising the draconic bot and Oracle glared at him. “Lay down!” Oracle growled and stood up, bucking his body and throwing the Quintessons that had been on top of him and swung his body around, raising his left, hind foot, kicking Sentinel right in the chassis and forcing his weight on top of him, Sentinel grunt in shock and look up at the draconic bot. “W-What! Get off me!”

Oracle growled and wanted to respond, only to be thrown off by another two Quintessons, slamming him into the wall and causing the metal to crack and Oracle swiped at them. Sentinel scrambled to his feet, grabbing Nexus’s gun, and turned to aim it at Oracle. Oracle gasped in shock after ripping a Quintesson in half and Sentinel shoots him, with the laser hitting the base of the dragon’s neck and sending him into the wall again and Oracle fell onto his side with a weak groan. His vision blurred and he could just see Sentinel shooting and killing Solus Prime with Nexus’s weapon.

He intakes heavily and lifted his head, widening his optics as he saw Sentinel aim and shoot Zeta Prime in the chassis. Oracle wanted to get up, and glanced at Alpha Trion to see he was calling for the High Guard’s assistance. Oracle did not know how far Starscream and the High Guard were right now, but they could really use their assistance, especially as Sentinel seemed to be intent on something.

Oracle shifted onto his stomach, wanting to get back onto his feet, but he struggled to find the strength as he watched in despair as Sentinel stood on Zeta Prime’s arm to stop him from getting up. He could not hear what had been said before Sentinel shot the Prime again, killing Zeta Prime instantly. Oracle widened his optics. With his breath system damaged, he could not stop Sentinel from a distance. However, when Sentinel ripped Zeta’s chassis open and pulled the Matrix of Leadership out, it dawned on Oracle on what Sentinel wanted. And it was the power the Prime possess, despite the fact that the Primes were chosen by Primus himself with the power they had.

And while Sentinel got to hold the Matrix of Leadership for a second, it was pulled away from him suddenly before it disappeared, turning into dust right in front of him. Sentinel was shocked, trying to reach for it, but he was unworthy. He was in disbelief, and with Alpha Trion, Prima, Vector, Quintus and Micronus the last of the Primes still standing, as the others had already fallen, Sentinel seemed lost as to what to do.

However, he quickly had to be pulled out of his shock as multiple jets entered the cave from the entrance and from above, shooting at the Quintessons and at Sentinel. Oracle smiled as he spotted Starscream immediately. “High Guard, protect the Primes. The Matrix of Leadership is lost,” Soundwave informed the High Guard.

Oracle finally managed to get to his feet, and he turned to lunge at Sentinel, but the bot had already found somewhere to hide. Oracle gasped as Prima fell, and he ran towards the remaining Primes to help them. Alpha Trion, who had transformed into his beast alt mode at this mode, ran over to Oracle and stopped him. “Get out of here, Oracle. Go back to Tempest.”

“What?!” Oracle was shocked at the suggestion and he intakes heavily with a frown. “You cannot be serious!”

“The Matrix is lost, and Sentinel intends to kill the rest of us. And he will kill you too, or something worse.” Oracle growled lightly, glancing around as he tried to look for Sentinel. “He will go after Tempest next. You need to warn them. Especially if he goes after Galaxy.”

Oracle did not want to leave, as staying and dying beside the Primes was part of his duty. But he also had to protect the sparkling. Ignited Galaxy could not fight right now, and he knew that Oranos would have some answers. “But Alpha…”

“There is no more buts right now, Oracle River. You need to go now! Primus has a purpose for us all, and if these is to be a darkness across this world, then it is meant to be. But protecting the future is just as important. Get out of here before Sentinel and the Quintessons leave.” Alpha Trion shoved Oracle towards the exit of the cave. “Use the last of your strength to warn the others. The High Guard and the rest of us will keep them busy long enough.”

Oracle was still hesitating, however, he also knew that Alpha Trion was right as the Prime turned and ran to keep fighting. Oracle couldn’t wait to see how this ends. He grimaced as the pain through his system was going to make it difficult to fly, but he had no choice. Limping through the tunnel of the cave, he made his way towards the entrance. He was lucky no Quintessons were in the tunnel itself. But as he reached the entrance, two Quintessons jumped in front of him to block his path, and Oracle quickly swiped his claws to slice their necks and he ripped off their heads.

With that out of the way, Oracle ran forward and leaped into the air and began to beat his wings. It was awkward and extremely painful, and he was alarmed by the Quintesson ships hovering above and he turned towards the direction of Tempest as he picked up speed quickly so he could reach the city. The guilt weighing on his spark for leaving the Primes behind, even if leaving to try and make it to Tempest was what was needed.

However, while he was flying quickly over the landscape, Oracle turned his head slightly and widened his optics to see a Quintesson ship following him, and he could also see Sentinel. He was surprised that there were other transformers with him who were loyal and seemed to be accepting of what he was doing. Oracle glanced ahead as he feared that he may bring death to Tempest even before he could warn. And so, he opened a link to Oranus.

“Oranus! If you can hear my voice right now, I have terrible news. The Primes have fallen, and the Matrix has been lost. I am trying to reach Tempest right now…” Oracle paused as he heard the High Guard following to try and stop Sentinel, but the Quintessons intercepted them with another ship, forcing them to defend themselves or to flee. “The High Guard are doing their best against them. But it seems you were right about the shadow being cast over Iacon. We have a traitor.”

A deep, gentle voice rumbled gently through the link as Oranos responded to Oracle. “So it seems that we have entered a new era…one that I had feared that would happen a long time ago. And now it has happened. The poison of greed entered the spark of someone we should have trusted.” Oracle simply nodded and moved to avoid being shot at as the Quintesson ship that followed him began to shoot at him. “Oracle, you should not lead them here. I will bring this message to th city. Do your best to stall them. We need to ensure that Ignited Galaxy is safe.”

Oracle grimaced as with the Quintessons and Sentinel following him, he knew that Oranos was right. He sighed deeply as his optics quiver. “You are right…at least a new Prime shall rise, and Ignited Galaxy shall stand beside them. But…I fear Tempest will be lost when that happens.”

“I believe that will be the case. But should trust that Primus will ensure that the right transformer shall receive the Matrix of Leadership, and ensure that energon will flow through this world again. Our river is already drying up.” Oracle widened his optics in shock and glanced down towards a nearby river, and gasped as he saw it. The levels were draining slowly, and that was not good. “I am sorry this is happening. And I wish I could have foreseen this. But my gift only reveals so much of the future that is more like a prophecy. Do what you can to fend of Sentinel and the Quintessons, Oracle River. We may yet meet again in the All Spark.”

The All Spark. Oracle had no doubt that was probably going to happen. And he did not want to go down as a coward. Sighing deeply, he felt a sense of calmness knowing this, while also feeling despair and worry for the future. “I shall do what I can to keep Sentinel from Tempest for as long as I can. Even though…he did show up at the city a week ago and met Galaxy…I already know he has plans for us. So get that sparkling out of the city, and find a way to ensure she will survive for many more cycles.”

“I am already ahead of you, Oracle. That is why I had asked you for a portion of your essence a few days ago. A special stasis pod has been made for Galaxy…as I fear that if she remains awake during the next…I am not sure how many cycles it will take, but she will not survive without the energon to feed on,” That made Oracle smile and he glanced back at the ship as it was getting closer. Oracle’s wings ached and he knew he could not fly for much longer. “Stand strong, Oracle. And know that Ignited Galaxy will bring justice to us in the future.”

Oracle nodded as he understood. “Thank you, old friend…and farewell. Until we meet again.”

With that, Oracle shut off the link as he angled himself to the right to turn sharply, narrowing his optics as he glared at the approaching ship and Sentinel with his followers. Sentinel seemed surprised. However, Sentinel did know that Oracle could not use his breath attacks anymore. But that didn’t let Oracle stop him as he ascended slightly into the clouds, feeling the electricity that was building in the sky, and his spikes shifted and transformed to open slightly as electricity conductors. This caused the electricity to be attracted and began to strike Oracle spikes.

The electricity filtered through the dragon’s body, filling his jaw and claws with power, and both his wings and horns glow as the dragon guided the electricity in his body to be able to hit the Quintesson ship or Sentinel with great power. Sentinel had been alarmed by this, and he looked like he was going to run like the coward he was. But Oracle wouldn’t get a chance. Oracle was so focused on powering his body with electricity he didn’t see the one of the turrets on the Quintesson ship charging and aiming at him. It fired, and hit his right side directly.

Oracle roared loudly in pain as he fell from the sky. The direct hit not only blasted through his armor and exposed his abdominal systems, his right leg and right wing had been blasted front right off his body and he could no longer fly. He had tried to angle his decent, but he hit the ground hard, causing an explosion of lightning across the ground from the lightning still in his system, which recoiled through Oracle’s body and incinerating several systems that caused the dragon to cry in pain. His body skidded along the ground, scraping through some of the metal before his body came to a stop.

Groaning weakly, the dragon was in shock as his intakes and exhales were shaky and he coughed, spluttering energon onto the ground. He lifted his head weakly and looked at his right side. Seeing his front, right leg and wing ripped from his body, and a massive hole to his side made him grimace. Energon bled from the wounds, and he could see that his systems were damage beyond repair. His own spark was struggling to support his body and it would give out soon. His optics flicker as his vision blurred, but not before he saw Sentinel flying down.

Oracle thought about trying to call for the High Guard, but his communication system was down. He was lucky his vocal processor was not damaged enough. He growled lightly at Sentinel as the former advisor smirked at him victoriously. “That was a bad idea, Oracle River. Fleeing in an attempt to reach Tempest before me was probably the most stupid thing you ever done.”

Oracle hissed lightly with a snarl. “No, it was not. Your decision has forsaken the future of Cybertron, Sentinel. You must see that.” He coughed, grimacing as forcing energon from his throat hurt as it spluttered over the ground. “But Oranos had already foreseen this shadow over Iacon. And it was you all along.”

“Hmmph…I guess so…” Sentinel waved his sword around casually as he walked closer and knelt down. “Still…I had another plan for you. You dying wasn’t really what I wanted, but I guess these things happen, heh.”

Oracle had no idea what Sentinel was even talking about, but it did not sound good. “I do not understand, Sentinel. You are going to destroy all of us anyway. I have no doubt you are going to Tempest next.”

“Of course! I mean, I need to make sure that your race becomes more than what they are now…” Sentinel chuckled lightly as he lifted up something, and Oracle widened his optics in shock. “And I had a little help. After all, I can’t have a kingdom in Iacon without something to ensure everyone there understands the beasts I have in my possession.”

Oracle stared at the item in Sentinel’s hand and he narrowed his optics. “You are monster…we will never allow it. We would rather join the All Spark than to be your slaves!”

“Meh, well…it isn’t like you can tell them anymore, Oracle. You will never reach them now…AAHH!”

Sentinel stepped back in shock and surprise as Oracle managed to move his left legs and lunge at him, snapping his teeth and just missing Sentinel’s throat, though he landed on his right side with a groan. Sentinel smirked a little at the pity sight in front of him. Oracle sniffed and he frowned, looking at Sentinel in confusion. “Why do I smell Megatronus on you? Did you rip his cog from him?”

“I sure did…” Sentinel leaned down, opening his chassis and Oracle gasped upon seeing the glowing, purple t-cog within the transformer’s chassis. “And now it is mine. After all, I had to make sure I got the best and strongest…” He chuckled as the dragon had no words, and the disgust filling the dragon’s expression make Sentinel smirk widen. “I know he was your closest friend. I could have been yours too…oh well. Such a waste.” He chuckled as he raised his sword. “I’ll make sure Ignited Galaxy fulfils her destiny alongside me.”

And with a swift strike of his sword, Sentinel impaled the blade through the skull of the draconic bot, pushing straight through and watched as the body of the dragon go limp instantly. He smiled and pulled the blade out, glancing at the energon staining the blade with pride and looked back. He felt strong that he had taken down one of these creatures as he knew many of the draconic warriors rivalled the strength of the Primes. Though that has not actually been confirmed.

Sentinel stepped back and turned, looking at his newest commander who had been an invaluable asset already. She was smirking after witnessing the execution of this creature, and her many blue eyes on the side of her large head was looking around for any sign of the other draconic bots. “We should hurry, Sentinel. Oracle River would have already notified Tempest of our approach.”

“Yes, I know Airachnid. We need to head there now. The High Guard are being slowed by the Quintessons.” Sentinel lifted his left hand that held the object that Oracle was fearful of. It looked like a type of collar with tiny needles that could easily impale through the armor of a draconic bot or transformer. “I hope this will work on them. We need their power.”

“It will. We just cannot test it on Oracle anymore. Let’s proceed.” Airachnid transformed, and the other soldiers that stood by them, vehicons, transformed to follow.

Sentinel did not transform as he opened the wings on his back and activated the jets, flying into the sky to fly north. “We will need to hurry before Ignited Galaxy is hidden from us. The Quintessons will bring the rain and raze that city to the ground!”

With that, Sentinel and his army left the husk of Oracle River’s body behind. He seemed confident that things will go his way today, even though the Matrix of Leadership was lost. And the energon rivers were already drying up. Regardless, Sentinel didn’t care. He will figure out what to do next. He already had managed to ensure that those in Iacon would believe and trust him, especially when he tells them that he had been made a Prime and tell them a story of the noble sacrifice of the Primes and their battle against the Quintessons.

Chapter Text

Just a side note, I have used an AI art gen to create the images of the draconic bots that are seen in this story. Only because I am not great with art, even though I am working on 3D art as it is a bit easier for me to do, and I have no extra money to pay an artist for commissions. Just in case readers wanted to know why that is the case.

Prologue Part 2

Before he had received the warning from Oracle River, the chronicler of Tempest, had already planned for extreme measures that might be needed to protect and safeguard the future of their race. Oranos had built a stasis pod specifically for this sparkling as he felt it would be necessary. This stasis pod was unlike other regular stasis pods too. But he knew that they would still need to get the sparkling away from Tempest to ensure that she would be safe. Now that he knew that the Primes have fallen today, time was of the essence. He had no choice but to tell the others in Tempest the news, and he knew none of them would be happy about it.

Walking through the large room containing various bookshelves full of scripts and books, Oranos walked towards the door and they open automatically. The large, white dragon glanced around with his orange optics as the doors open outside to a raised platform overlooking a courtyard in front. His home was a large building built in the mountain behind him. The spirals pointed to the sky were blue with Cybertronian writing embedded into the walls of the building. Snow covered the roof of the building, and Oranos began to let out loud growls and purrs that would be heard through Tempest to get the other dragonic bots to gather in front.

^^Oranos's appearance^^

As he waited though, he looked up as one of the great warriors dove down from the sky in a panic. His pink optics looked down at Oranos as he angled his body to spread his wings, with a gush of wind and kicking up of snow around him, the dragon landed on both feet in front of Oranos with a respectful bow to the chronicler. “Oranos, I bring disturbing news. I heard your call just now, but something has happened. The waterfall has stopped flowing and the river seems to be drying up.” He folded his wings that were light orange in the frame of the wing with light pink mainsail between joints of the wings. “Do you know something, Oranos? Has something you have seen come to pass?”

Oranos smiled calmly at the dragon. “I do know something, Firedrake. Wait until everyone is here. We need not fear what may happen. But, if you can, encourage the others to move faster. Time is of the essence.” Firedrake nodded and he let out a loud roar of haste, which created an immediate response as the other draconic bots quickly began to gather. “Thank you, old friend.”

Firedrake nodded with a smile. Firedrake, unlike Oranos, stood up on two feet as he was not born as a quadruped draconic bot. His body was solid with faint marks of many cycles of fighting on his body. His horns curved back proudly on the back of his head with the same shade of orange as the frame of his wings. His thick, grey silver armor down the sides of his neck connected to the chest piece across his chest, down his arms and legs. The middle of the neck and down the dragon’s stomach were orange. And the spikes down his back and to his tail had tints of pink with orange tips. He wasn’t as intimidating as several other warriors of Tempest, but he was a great warrior and had very strong breath abilities.

^^Firedrake's appearance^^

A large draconic bot landed beside Firedrake. He was taller than Firedrake with very broad shoulders as he too was bipedal. His arms were thick and his tail was very long and heavily armoured. His green optics gaze at Oranos with concern written on his expression. His wings were connected directly with his shoulders rather than shoulder blades. He bore long, curved, golden horns and a golden face. His golden shoulder pads were large with sharp tips and his chest was wide with a golden plate on top. His wings were large enough to haul his heavy body through the sky with long, knife-like wings there were red and gold.

“Oranos, our sensors have detected Quintesson ships approaching the city. And it seems they are approaching from the direction where the Primes were to meet Sentinel. I fear that it did not go so well.”

“No, it not, Eruptor.” Oranos intakes heavily as this was going to be a heavy discussion. “Oracle River reached out to me regarding it.” Firedrake and Eruptor both widen their optics and glance around as the other draconic bots finally gather around quickly. They were all worried as the energon was drying up, and they had no idea what it meant. Oranos spread his large, feather-like wings that glimmered with rainbow colours all through the plates. “My friends, my fellow draconic bots. I do not hold any news that will make us happy. On this day, our darkest cycles are upon us.” The dragons immediately murmur to each other as they did not like it either. “On this day…all thirteen Primes have fallen to shadow that was cast over Iacon.”

^^Eruptor's appearance^^

“Fallen?!” Firedrake stared at Oranos as he didn’t believe his ears. “Has that been confirmed?”

“I am afraid so. Oracle River told me so. And I regret to inform all of you that his spark has been vanquished as well.” There were gasps of shock and disbelief as it has been many cycles since a draconic bot had fallen. Oranos spread his wings wider and waved them slowly to quiet everyone down again. “My friends, Sentinel is the one who has betrayed all of us. All for his desire to harness the power that was once held within Zeta Prime’s chest.”

Smoke and sparks flew from Eruptor’s nostrils as they flare with anger. “I knew I didn’t like him. When he sauntered through Tempest a week ago, I could smell the stench of suspicion from him. But I think my scent sensors were playing tricks. Ugh…I should have ripped his head off clean right then.”

“At which point, it would result in a crime, Eruptor. There was no way to prosecute Sentinel without any solid evidence. But…it would seem he has given Cybertron over to the new rulers of Cybertron.” Eruptor grumbled and folded his arms a little, which caused his wings to lower slightly against his back. Oranos did understand Eruptor’s frustration however. “But as much as we should understand this betrayal, we need to make a stand to protect Ignited Galaxy. Sentinel took far too much interest in the sparkling, we need to ensure he does not get to raise her how he wants.”

Solarian, the mother of Galaxy, stepped forward with a worried expression. Her yellow optics were soft as her white silver body had dusts of snow over the surface and her royal blue, feather-like wings were folded against her body. “How will we protect her, Oranos? You said she had a great destiny ahead of her. How can we be sure that it will be great to us, and not because of what Sentinel wants to do?”

^^Solarian's appearance^^

“Because Sentinel is interested in power, Solarian. And as I had already sensed this, I have taken measures. I have created a stasis pod for the sparkling…” Solarian widened her optics in shock. “As I believe that we will not see the new Prime for many cycles. This dark time must happen. But that does mean we will abandon the sparkling.” Solarian’s expression softened as Oranos spoke gently and he smiled at her gently before he opened his chest slightly and pulled out a large crystal. “I ask all of you to pass on your essence into this crystal. I have designed the pod to not just keep Ignited Galaxy safe, but to teach her about her race and everything about ourselves. For I am not sure if we will even be here when the new Prime rises.”

Solarian’s optics fill with tears as she realized she may not be here. “Do you even believe that, Oranos?”

Oranos sighed deeply, bowing his head slightly with a brief closure of his optics. “I am afraid I do, Solarian. Tempest will not exist after today. But that does not mean we will not just lay down and allow the Quintessons and Sentinel to destroy us. We are not warriors who can just give up so easily. Even if these future cycles will be dark for Cybertron, we cannot let our allies in Iacon down.”

“But they won’t know. Most of them won’t if Sentinel carries the narrative. He will lie,” Firedrake argued as he clenched his fists in anger. “Which means…new transformers may find themselves in a situation that would put them at a disadvantage. How will they get energon if it will not flow anymore?”

“We all know that Cybertron was created by Primus transforming into the very planet itself, Firedrake. Therefore, even when the energon stops flowing, it will still be found in the rocks beneath the surface. Unfortunately, it means that energon will need to be worked for. It will be mined for many cycles.” The draconic bots were unsettled by this as they did not know how it would happen. Oranos let out a low hum as he pondered on the future. “But as unsettling as all this is, we must act now. Again, my brothers and sisters, I ask you to offer your essence to this crystal before we place Galaxy within.”

A low rumble from another tall, bipedal draconic bot was heard. He was as tall as Eruptor with an almost completely light, red body with light blue, feather-like wings. His light, teal optics gaze at Oranos as he knelt before the crystal and held his hands around the circular, teal crystal in his chest that glowed lightly and he closed his optics as he concentrated as a small essence of his being rose from the crystal like streams of light before flowing into the crystal. This large dragon reopened his optics with a sad expression, but he understood what needed to be done. “A part of me had always sensed something like this would occur. I just did not know when it would happen…but when Solarian told me she was sparked with our daughter, I do believe Primus whispered a warning of this happening.”

“Indeed. Primus would have likely sensed the jealousy growing within Sentinel regarding the Primes. I am not sure what would have caused that desire to grow, but that no longer matters. I know this hard on you, Comet Hammer. We should still celebrating your sparkling. But now…” Oranos turned his head as the other bots began offering their essence now that Comet had done so. “We must part with Galaxy in order to protect from Sentinel.”

^^Comet Hammer's appearance^^

Comet nodded and he moved his head to Solarian, where the to gently press the top of there heads against each other to rub gently. He could sense the distress within Solarian, but they had no choice. They did wish to raise their sparkling like many others if circumstances were different. “I am so sorry, Solar…I wish we could change things. But we need to ensure our daughter is safe. She will someday meet a new Prime.”

Solarian nodded slowly as she did understand, but it was hard for her to accept. “But we may not be here, Comet. She is still an infant…barely a couple cycles old…”

“I know. But we must. You should go get Galaxy, and it would be best to not wake her. She does not need to be distressed with any of this. And hopefully, she will remain in recharge when she is placed within the pod.” Comet nuzzled his sparkmate gently under the dragon’s muzzle before gently nudging her. “Go now before the Quintessons arrive. And don’t forget your essence. She deserves to know her carrier alongside her sire.”

Solarian sighed as she pressed the side of her body against Comet to rub against him. “I know…” She looked at Oranos and frowned at him slightly. “I sure hope that you are right, Oranos. The future of Cybertron depends on the new Prime you speak of, and I will do my part in ensuring that Ignited Galaxy will see those years. But I hope to Primus that you are telling the truth.”

“You know as well as I that my gift of sensing the future never shows the events of the future, Solarian. I cannot promise that it will be easy or fruitful. That would simply be giving false hope, and I am not the one to do that.” Solarian sighed softly as she turned and began to trot away quickly through the group so she could return to her home to get her daughter. Oranos watched the bot leave with pity in his spark. Comet and Solarian would have made great parents, and they already have been in the short cycles of the sparkling’s life. Oranos intakes heavily and looked at the crystal as the last of the essences filled it. Only Solarian was left when she was ready. “Thank you, my friends...” Oranos glanced to the south as he sensed the approaching danger and let out a low growled. “They are nearly upon us...Magma Wisp, Cosmic Dust, you both are needed to go with your sister after Galaxy is placed into the pod. You will travel with Solarian to coordinates that I will give you.”

“But...what about Comet? Shouldn’t he go with his sparkmate?” Cosmic Dust questioned in surprise as she would have assumed Comet would have been better to go, given he was the sire. Cosmic Dust looked similar to Solarian with the white silver body, though her optics were blue and her feather-like wings were a lighter blue than her sister’s. And she had a short neck and was a little smaller in general than her sister. “Magma and I can still go though.”

^^Cosmic Dust's appearance^^

“Comet is needed here, Cosmic. He is one of the best warriors here, and will certainly bring down a few ships. Plus, if we can possibly stop Sentinel, then we might be able to change our fate. But our main priority is to get that sparkling to safety before he turns her into something she was never meant to be.” The two sibling draconic bots nodded as they understood, even though they knew that Comet would want to personally ensure that Ignited Galaxy was safe from harm. And Comet said nothing as he was staring at the sky as he was focused on the approaching danger. “I am sure you will get it done even without Comet. You are the faster flyers after all.”

Magma huffed in amusement. “Not as fast as Sky Blade...” He turned his head, with his pink optics glancing at a green, bipedal dragon who was smaller than Comet, Eruptor and Firedrake. He was much slimmer than both of them, but he was the best flyer, and he could outwit an airborne enemy very easily. He was able to camouflage himself by shifting the plates on his body to turn his body into a mirror, allowing him to reflect the glare of the sun and use it to create a power sunbeam to melt through some of the toughest metals. And, while he can cloak himself, this ability allowed for him to be near invisible. “He should come with us.”

^^Sky Blade^^

Sky Blade smirked as he folded his arms and flexed his green and yellow feather-like wings. “I would, but I think I should stay. The less that go with Solarian, the better. We need to hold a strong barrier against the Quintessons and Sentinel, and I may not be the strongest in my arm, but I can do a lot of damage to those pesky insects.”

Magma Wisp nodded as he understood. Magma looked similar to his sisters, as white silver covered majority of his body and the metal feathers on his wings. However, he also bore red over the back of his neck, down along his back, tail, the frame of his wings and almost all four legs were red, with the exception of his silver claws and elbow joints. He intakes heavily as his expression softened. “And we will ensure that Solarian does not unintentionally give away Galaxy’s location. We all know how protective and maternal we get when we have a sparkling.”

^^Magma Wisp's appearance^^

Oranos nodded as that was a good idea. He growled lightly as he glanced to the sky. “My friends...” He flinched as they all heard loud impacts on the sides of the mountain as the Quintessons began to shoot at the mountains. “Scrap...take to the sky, my friends. We need to give Solarian, Magma and Cosmic the time they need. And for me to ensure that Galaxy will remain safe for many cycles.”

Comet Hammer nodded as he stretched his wings as he turned to take a step forward. “Warriors of Tempest and of Primus, follow me into the sky and let us rain dragon fire upon the Quintessons, and give them a lesson they will never forget.”

Comet launched into the air, followed by Firedrake as they roar loudly. “For the Primes who have fallen today! We shall ensure their deaths have not been in vain!”

Oranos watched as the warriors took to the sky with the other several hundred draconic bots following them. Oranos would join, but he had to wait for Solarian. Eruptor let out a bellow that vibrated through the whole city and echoed through the mountains, causing rocks to crumble from the thunder of his cry. It should be a warning to anyone trying to attack them, but Oranos had no doubt that the Quintessons have upgraded their weapons since their last battle. Which was why the Primes fell, plus Sentinel had aided them. So he knew they would fall too.

Magma and Cosmic both waited for Solarian to return and Oranos ran into his home to grab the pod. He had to wait for Solarian to give her essence into the cyrstal before attaching it to the pod. When he brought it out, Magma and Cosmic saw that the stasis pod was egg shaped and large for many cycles of growing. However, they both knew that the growth would be slowed down. It was made from a mix of metals harvested from the mountain itself, and infused with a magma-like energon breath which added a layer of protection to the pod. And the energon infused shield would protect it from missiles and blasts, though it would deplete if constantly attacked.

Magma huffed a little as he gazed at the pod. “That’s quite the stasis pod you have made, Oranos. It can fit inside Solar’s jaw and carry it with ease. But I still can’t help but doubt the future.” Oranos let out a low rumble in his chest and looked at Magma sympathetically. “We do trust and believe that a new Prime will rise. But while you have said that Galaxy will meet this new Prime, we do not know what circumstance that will be.”

“I understand. Believe me, I do…” Oranos growled with a flinch as they hear multiple missile impacts on the ground and the ground shaking from the impact. “But I cannot speak of what the future will be. And even if I did know what will happen, we cannot stop what is meant to happen. Especially if there are multiple possibility of said future. A burden like that is something I am glad that I do not have.” Magma sighed deeply and looked at the sky as the temptation to join the fight was strong. “I hope your sister will trust that.”

“It might be hard to convince her, Oranos. But we will ensure that she does.” Cosmic Dust turned and trotted quickly over to the archway leading into the courtyard and looked around with a frown before gasping as she saw Solarian running back while carrying the recharging sparkling. “Good timing, Solar. All that shaking gave you the motivation to run.”

Solarian glared at her sister as she didn’t appreciate the dry humor in this moment. She ran past Cosmic back through the archway, widening her optics slightly upon seeing the pod itself. She really did not want to part with her daughter, but it was necessary. And she knew it in her spark. Walking over to the steps to walk up them to meet Oranos at the top, she lowered her head and gently placed Galaxy onto the ground. She nuzzled her daughter gently, and the sleeping sparkling purred lightly.

Ignited Galaxy was still very small. She is white silver, a lot like her mother, and her optics were yellow as well. They were a little lighter in colour than Solarian’s optics. Her small horns were silver, but they were still very sharp and could cut through energon veins if one was not careful. She had a short, but growing, royal blue spikes curved downward on the sides of her neck, with a streak of red lining down the side of her neck. And her wings were feather-like with red at the start of the feathers and blue ending at the tips. She was white silver everywhere else currently, but as she would grow and mature, more of her colours would fill in and give everyone more of an idea of what she will look like when fully mature. It was something that Solarian knew she will not get to see.

She looked up at the crystal and she intakes heavily, shifted to sit back on her hindlegs and lifted her paws to her chest. The metal glowed a bright blue before the streams of light flew into the crystal. Solarian made sure that her daughter will know her from this cyrstal. She let some more tears roll down the side of her face. She looked at Oranos as he lifted his paw and pressed a button at the top of the pod, which opened a slot for the crystal and moved it inside and closed it. He pressed another button, causing the pod to hiss lightly and open slowly.

Solarian stared at the pod as inside the pod was made with soft material and various lines that would connect to Ignited Galaxy and ensure she would be fed with energon constantly. And the lines that would give Galaxy the dreams of everything from the essences in the crystal, so she would get to know each draconic bot, even if they were no longer around. Solarian at least knew that the pod would protect her. At least, she hoped for that.

“Now…” Oranos stepped around the pod and gently picked the sleeping sparking up with his right paw, surprising Solarian and made her growl lightly in confusion. “Before we can place Galaxy into the pod, she is going to transform.” Solarian widened her optics and was about to respond as Oranos lifted the sparkling and his chassis glowed slightly and Solarian was unable to stop her daughter from transforming suddenly, and she was quick to realize that he was forcing Galaxy to take on a bipedal, transformer form. Making her almost indifferent to the citizens of Iacon. “I am sorry, Solarian. This is necessary. I will have to give her t-cog a specific protocol to prevent her from transforming back. At least until she returns to the surface.”

“What do you mean by that?” Magma tilted his head slightly in confusion. “You never mentioned anything like that.”

Solarian growled lightly and moved her head closer to Oranos, who was unmoved by the snarling bot, as she glared at him. “Are you seriously going to tell me we are burying her alive? Maybe I should do the Quintessons a favor and rip your throat for them if you ever think I will accept and hope that someone finds and digs up this pod. If that is the case, this would be the worst idea you have ever had.”

Oranos rolled his optics and looked at Solarian with a calm expression. “Instead of jumping to a ridiculous conclusion, you should allow me to answer your question, Solarian. I am not suggesting you to bury, Galaxy. But she also cannot be on the surface, as I fear the surface will not be as it once was. Thus, it will be safe to find a place beneath the surface.” Solarian growled and flared her nostrils while blowing a small stream of smoke. “The coordinates that I will give you will explain itself when you reach it.” Oranos glanced down at the sparkling once she was fully transformed. He smiled a little as she now looked like a proper femme with nothing to suggest she was different. He quickly infused the protocol into Galaxy’s system so that her t-cog would not allow for her to transform until she would returned to the surface. “And now, for the final bit, I am afraid I will need to add another protocol. And please do not try and rip my head off.” Solarian frown deepened as she did not like it. “I am going to also have to add a protocol to prevent Galaxy from being able to speak until she returns to the surface.”

Solarian widened her optics in shock. “What, why? Why are you going to mute her?”

“She won’t be completely muted. She will still be able to make sounds, such as cry, laugh and scream. But the ability to speak will be prevented. And it is only due to the fact that sparklings are not necessarily good at holding their tongue.” Oranos infused the next protocol, which he knew wasn’t fair on Galaxy, but it would keep her from saying anything that could get her into trouble. “And if anyone checks her vocal processors, it will show as not functional. So no one will be suspicious.”

As much as Solarian hated that her daughter wouldn’t be able to speak for a long time, Oranos was right. If she could talk, she would risk saying something that would give away who she was. And it hurt. But Oranos was right, and Solarian had to accept it. She watched Oranos gently placed Ignited Galaxy into the pod and she whimpered lightly in her recharge. Seeing her appear as a femme with no sign of being a draconic bot wasn’t something Solarian was used to. But she was still her daughter.

Galaxy’s face was silver with her helm being smooth at the top and following the shape of her face down to her cheeks. There were two small horns either side of the held that were blue with the streak running down the sides of the helmet to tip of the cheek. The back of Galaxy’s neck was blue while connecting to silver shoulder pads and a silver chassis with a royal blue panel underneath the rib plate both left and right over her body. Her wrists were red with streaks of blue, while her upper arm was silver. Her hips and thighs were silver, while her knees were red and feet were red with blue tips. There was still more growth to be had, even in this form, so more colours would form overtime. Even within the pod.

Oranos closed the pod and looked at Solarian. “We haven’t much time. There is a location on the north eastern side of Iacon where you will find a tunnel leading to a canal with direct access to Iacon city. But this particular cave is unknown to the citizens of Iacon. You will need to bring the pod and ensure that it remains there.”

Solarian nodded slowly as she understood. “That means I will need to make the cave close so no one will find her before...” Solarian paused for a moment before speaking again. “How long will she be there?”

“I am afraid I do not know. But I did ensure that the pod will open within about fifty cycles. I am not sure if that will be correct, but that is the sense that I had when I felt Sentinel’s shadow being cast over Iacon.” Solarian grimaced as that was a long time. Oranos nudged Solarian gently and she opened her mouth to pick the pod up gently. “Now go. Follow the South Line river bed to avoid the battle. Sentinel and the Quintessons are undoubtedly keeping watch. Cloak yourselves, and ensure you do not look back.”

Cosmic Dust nodded affirmatively. “And what about you? You are a little too old to be a warrior.”

Oranos huffed, and glanced up for a moment as he sense Sentinel was approaching. “Do not worry about me.” He looked back at the three bots. “I might be old, but I still have plenty of tricks up my sleeve. Now get out here!” He growled while lunging his body slightly to make them run to the archway. “Sentinel is nearing this location. Do not allow him to see you.” Oranos glanced up again and he growled deeply. “He will be a fool to underestimate me.”

There was no response from the three dragons as they run through the city to get away as fast as possible. While they ran, Magma made sure that his sisters were both ahead of him. He glanced back to make sure no one could see them. The mountain range around them at least were a cover. They could no see the Quintesson ships, but they could hear them. The echoes of the explosions and turret shootings were hard to miss. And the shaking of the mountains as the missiles hit them has already caused several avalanches of snow and rock to run down on the other side of the mountains. The three dragons reach the South Line river to find the energon was already half empty. At this point, they all cloaked themselves as they launched into the air, leaving no trail behind. As they ascended, they glanced towards the mountains and they all saw a dozen Quintesson ships and at least a hundred Quintessons fighting the other draconic bots.

There were already many dragons who have fallen. It hurt their sparks to see this as none of this was something they wanted. However, they could see Eruptor flying through the sky. His fists were glowing with electricity and he raised his fists, slamming them down onto a Quintesson ship and destroyed the engines, causing secondary, internal explosions and the loss of control of the ship. Eruptor bellowed loudly as the ship fell towards the ground and he flew towards another ship.

Solarian was trying to spot Sentinel to see where he was, but she could not see him. Her optics lock onto Comet Hammer was he dived through the clouds with blue fire surrounding his body after he had Ignited himself while he flew directly towards a group of airborne Quintessons as they were dropping from a ship to fly straight through them, killing and slicing their bodies immediately. Comet's optics glanced in Solarian’s direction when he sensed her watching him, but he didn’t make it obvious that he knew where she was for the sake of their daughter.

Solarian, Magma Wisp and Cosmic Dust all wanted to join the fight. But they knew what they had to do. It was just as important was what the warriors were doing. They did not know what importance Ignited Galaxy would even have in the future, but that did not matter. This sparkling deserved so much more than a short life, so they knew they would do what they needed to give her, her best chance. They trusted that Oranos was right, and hoped that the future will be better than now.

While they flew as fast as they could, Oranos remained where he was. However, unlike before, the whole city was now covered in a thick fog. Oranos had made sure of that. The fog was so thick that there were even patches of dark cloud with small streaking through the fog. It was very dangerous to enter it, but as Sentinel approached with Airachnid and several dozen vehicons, he did not care. They turn on flashlight as they enter the fog and land on the ground. Sentinel was glaring as he gazed around for a moment before lifting his wrist to open a map of the city that he had memorised into his processor.

He gestured in a direction. “Solarian’s home is this way. I did not see her fly out to meet the Quintessons with the others. She is probably here...” Sentinel raised his voice as he glanced around. “Cowering away with Oranos! You cowards come out now! And I may spare your lives and allow you to raise your little sparkling!”

There was no response as they walk in the direction of Solarian’s home cautiously. Airachnid was looking around intently for any movement. “I do not see anyone yet, Sentinel. But someone is here. That old timer probably created this stormy fog. He should be easy to take down.”

“Tone down that confidence, Airachnid. Oranos may not be a warrior, but he is no fool. He will not let us take him down so easily. Especially when he had abilities the others do not.” Sentinel glanced around some more, glaring as he couldn’t see anything in front of him. He stopped suddenly with a gasp as he almost walked right into a large fountain with numerous draconic bots carved into a metal formation and would normally have energon spraying from the jets in the mouths of the statues. But there was no energon. “So be careful. Oranos is probably right next to us. They can cloak themselves after all...” Sentinel gasped suddenly as a vehicon was suddenly pounced on in a blink, and he saw a streak of light blue and purple light, that was normally seen the sides of Oranos’s neck and body to his wings. But Sentinel didn’t realise it at first. “What in Primus...”

Airachnid hissed as she had her legs raised in case she could fight. But they did not see another vehicon fall just yet. Sentinel intakes heavily as he was nervous about this all of a sudden and proceeded forward. He was careful as not only was Oranos here, but he could trip over anything that he couldn’t see. He silently cursed the dragon for creating such an environment and interfering. He glanced around with his blaster and sword ready, but he didn’t see anything.

However, he was startled when another vehicon was tackled as they shrieked loudly and they heard the piercing down of metal being ripped apart. With how thick and dark the fog was, they could not see the draconic bot ripping the vehicon apart. But they knew he was here, and he was taking Sentinel’s forced one at a time. And Sentinel glared at what he thought was the direction Oranos was, and he thought about shooting for a surprise hit.

But he was wrong, as to the right, they saw spikes glowing a bright rainbow colour before there was a whip of a tail, and multiple, sharp, hot, plasma filled daggers flew through the air, and struck eight of the vehicons directly in the chassis and throats, striking them down immediately. Airachnid had turned her back, using her propeller as a shield to block the blades from hitting her and Sentinel before she launched forward, and she growled loudly when she landed on the ground and completely missed Oranos.

However, she spotted the streak of light blue and purple light, and she launched herself again, landing on top of the dragon and growling as she began striking Oranos multiple times with all of her sharp legs, piercing the front and hind legs, and the wings of the dragon. Oranos grunted before bucking his body and throwing himself to the right side, slamming Airachnid into the wall of a nearby building, making her grunt and he managed to cause her to be disorientated enough to fall off his back.

“Finally! I know where you are, Oranos! You will not stop me, coward!”

Oranos growled deeply as his orange eyes turned to look at Sentinel. At this point, Oranos was not fully cloaked. In fact, the glow of his spikes down his back, the glowing light blue and purple streak down the side of his neck, his rainbow wings glowed slightly and his bright optics locked onto Sentinel. With the dark fog swirling around and lightning streaking through the clouds, it made Sentinel nervous, because this was intimidating, even to him.

“I think you are calling the wrong one here coward, Sentinel. You are the one hiding behind the Quintessons for something you will never be worthy of.” Sentinel tensed and aimed his blaster at Oranos, making the dragon snarl and he jumped upward, cloaking himself completely and Sentinel and the ten remaining vehicons began shooting at the sky, only for Oranos to beat his wings and single time, causing a powerful gust of wind and knocking all of them off their feet. “I have no idea what has caused you to want power, Sentinel. Power is not something that should be wielded with the wrong intentions. It is a responsibility.”

Sentinel groaned as he stood up slowly, only to jump back with a yelp as Oranos lowered his cloak slightly, showing the shadowy, ghostly appearance of the chronicler as he glared into Sentinel’s optics. Sentinel glared and sliced his sword upward, grazing the right side of the dragon's neck. “I am not interested in any noble speeches from you, you witless worm!”

While the graze on the right cut a shallow scratch into the armor, Sentinel also aimed his blaster right at Oranos’s face and shot him, make Oranos cry out in surprise as the blast hit the top of his snout, blasting away pieces of his armor and he stumbled back, dropping his cloak completely. He shook his head and glared at Sentinel. “They were warnings, Sentinel. Not speeches. It would be wise if you remembered the difference!”

“Heh! I don’t care!” Sentinel pulled out Nexus’s blaster, surprising Oranos as Sentinel aimed it right at him. “But I need to know where Ignited Galaxy is. I know Solarian is not fighting the Quintessons. She would be protecting her precious sparkling, even though I have no need to harm that sparkling.”

“No harm?” Oranos was surprised by the revelation, but he did not believe Sentinel. He flinched as Sentinel aimed the weapon at him. “I do not believe you.”

“Of course, you wouldn’t. I would never expect an old timer like you to understand…” Sentinel smirked as Airachnid lunged at Oranos suddenly. She had reawakened, and was angry at Oranos. The dragon was shoved onto his right side and Airachnid sliced Oranos’s wings, pressing hard and deep to cut the lines, making the dragon cry in pain and shock as he felt the loss of feeling in his wings. Sentinel chuckled lightly before opening a panel on his right side and pulled out a dark, blue collar with tiny needles. Embedded in the collar there appeared to be chemical filled tubes, and Oranos looked at the collar with a frown. “After all, you aren’t going to live to see what I have in mind. In fact, many of the warriors fighting out there today are going to be under my control.”

“Control? We are slaves to no one!” Oranos snarled and he hissed as Airachnid hit her blade on the wound on the top of his snout. Irritated, Oranos snapped at one of her legs, making her gasp in surprise and he pulled her off, standing up on his hind legs briefly and slamming her down and standing his feet on her. She hissed and curled her legs to strike back at him, and Oranos looked back at the collar. “But I smell something on that…what is it?”

“Oh this?” Sentinel held it up in his palm and chuckled lightly. “It will make you all a lot more…manageable. That is all I am going to say. But also…” Sentinel stepped closer with an arrogant smirk on his expression. “I am going to make that everyone at Iacon forget the gracious, good creatures you are.”

Oranos widened his optics in shock and he growled, lunging forward just as Airachnid thrusts a blade into the base of his jaw, making Oranos gasp and splutter energon, and she chuckled as she pushed harder, causing the blade to slide further up. Oranos coughed and he raised his paw and grabbed at Airachnid’s limb to pull the blade from him while he glared Sentinel. “You bring shame to Primus.” His voice cracked slightly from the damage done in his throat.

“Hmmph…maybe…though I don’t expect you to understand…” Sentinel stepped closer to the dragon and his vehicons surrounded Oranos. He held Nexus’s weapon right at Oranos’s face. “But I want you to understand this, Oranos. I need to know where Ignited Galaxy is right now. Or I will ensure that Tempest, and all of its citizens, are destroyed. Do you understand?”

Oranos growled at him before Airachnid stabbed him in the chest, making the dragon roar and she was able to get up from under him while pushing the blade into his chest further and forcing the draconic bot to the ground with a grimace. Airachnid hissed lightly as she turned her head slightly to ensure her eyes observe everything. “He asked you a question. You should answer it.”

Oranos shook his head. “Never. I may join the All Spark today, but you will never win, Sentinel.”

Sentinel chuckled lightly as he began to charge the blaster. “I already have…I get to live like a king now with the Primes out of the way. And everyone at Iacon will know only what I tell them. So long, Oranos.” Airachnid moved out of the way just before Sentinel shot Oranos’s chest, piercing the already pierced chest and blasting the armor into pieces. He shot a second time when he saw that the spark was still lit, and Oranos’s body goes limp on the second shot. Sentinel chuckled lightly as taking down another draconic bot felt good, even if he only dealt the final blow at their weakest. Sentinel intakes deeply and looked at Airachid. “We need to find exactly where Solarian has gone. Can you track her?”

“That is going to be difficult until this fog lifts first, and we need some coordinates to follow. Perhaps, while Oranos’s body is still warm, we can access his memories in his processor before they disappear forever.”

“Ah, good idea, Airachnid.” Sentinel grabbed the horns of the dragon, forcing Oranos’s head to angle so his forehead was upward. Airachnid walked closer and lifted her right arm, trasforming her hand into a saw. “Cut him open. He is no longer going to need those memories. And hopefully, we can get our hands on Comet Hammer. Maybe we can use him to locate Solarian too.”

Airachnid chuckled lightly with a nod. “He won’t be easy, Sentinel. We need to take Eruptor, Juggernaut, Tirade and Tempered Dusk before we can even have a hope to get to Comet. But first things first…” She lowered the saw as it spun and began to cut through the armor to get down to the skull. “Locating that sparkling is our highest priority.”

Sentinel nodded as he watched Airachnid cut through into the dragon’s skull. Locating the processor’s memory drive was not too difficult, given these creatures had a larger processor than that of the transformers. He did not care that they were dissecting this being just to find the sparkling. Once Airachnid pulled the memory out from the processor, she quickly worked to attached memorial lines from herself and she quickly located the files of the coordinates, but they were already very fuzzy. But it was enough. Allowing Airachnid to inform Sentinel so that they may proceed after Solarian to stop her from hiding Ignited Galaxy from them.

Chapter Text

Prologue Part 3

Solarian, Cosmic Dust and Magma Wisp have been flying away from Tempest for the last fifteen minutes. They had been successful in avoiding any Quintesson ships, and they remained completely cloaked as they soar above the clouds. All three of them were feeling a deep sense of loss and sadness at this time. They have all lost their home, and they probably will die today. But they had to make sure that Ignited Galaxy was brought somewhere safe. They trusted that Oranos’s foresight was right. But they had no idea what the future would even hold for this sparkling. After all, they knew that when the stasis pod did open, Ignited Galaxy would have only aged at least five cycles, which would still make her an infant when she left the safety of the pod.

However, Solarian hoped that when Galaxy did emerge from the pod, she would be able to find someone in Iacon to take her in. If the new Prime will rise when she wakes, Solarian could only hope that Galaxy will meet them. She did not know how or why it will happen, but she only knew that it would happen. Galaxy was born with gifts that will develop into greater power as she grows. Solarian herself wasn’t a strong warrior like her sparkmate. While she could cloak herself, her abilities were limited. Not every draconic bot was born with the same abilities. And Galaxy was definitely more like her sire in terms of power. But there was paralysis abilities that Solarian and Comet did not have that Galaxy has inherited. Likely from an ancient ancestor who had past long ago. And Solarian worried because the abilities from one of Comet Hammer’s ancestors were dark and dangerous, and at the time, had been used by Unicron and almost caused the Primes to perish at that time too.

Magma turned his head to glance in the direction of Tempest and he sighed deeply. While cloaked, only the draconic bots could see each other using heat trackers in their optics. He looked towards Cosmic who was flying beside Solarian while he flew behind them. “I don’t know about you…after getting shot at and smacked down by Quintessons, it feels…almost prophetic with the way today has gone.”

“I agree…I suppose it could, in some way. No world goes through a period where peace remains in place for too long…just like the sun. Light rises and falls, and so does darkness.” Cosmic gazed ahead, staring at the horizon as they were getting closer to the coordinates that Oranos had provided. “At least…the Quintessons will probably lose a lot of forces today.”

“Meh, true, but with the way that those things breed, it isn’t going to even matter to them.” Cosmic nodded in agreement with Magma’s words as Quintessons were capable of breeding forces very quickly, and they matured to fighting age quicker than draconic bots and transformers. “We will only dent them and slow them down. But we cannot focus on what we can do today. Even if we were able to defeat the Quintessons, we still have a traitor, and he’s hiding behind the Quintessons.”

“It’s pathetic. When Sentinel strolled through Tempest the other day, I couldn’t really see him as a fighter. He’ll come in at the last second for the kill, but it won’t be him who really defeated that person. I highly doubt that he would have fought the Primes head on. They would have killed him otherwise.” Cosmic growled lightly as she thought about how smug Sentinel was when he walked through Tempest. She knew it was deliberate now that he has met Ignited Galaxy. “Why do you think Sentinel even wants Galaxy?”

“Because of Wraith, most likely. He was one of the strongest draconic bots many thousand cycles ago, but he also fell under the control of Unicron.” Solarian flinched and glanced at Magma when he mentioned Wraith. “I am being honest, Solarian. You know that Comet Hammer is a descendent of Wraith. I know Wraith had been saved by Zeta Prime when he used the Matrix, but that power was still there. And both Comet and Galaxy are related to him, even though Wraith did perish from the wounds he had been inflicted by during the fight. But his four offspring survived thanks to Oranos for protecting them at the time.”

Solarian just groaned lightly because she knew that was most likely the reason why Sentinel wanted Galaxy. Wraith was known as one of the strongest draconic bots in history. He possessed abilities that outweighed even Oranos’s power. He had darkest abilities that were stronger than even the venomous bites and poisonous breath attacks that few draconic bots had. Not only could he paralysis someone with a unique breath, it was also mixed with a poison that slowly seeped into the victim’s body, and while they are conscious and unable to move, would endure pain as the poison would slowly melt and burn the insides of the victim. His fire breaths were hotter than any other dragon and he somehow was able to use dark energon within his power, despite never encountering dark energon until Unicron touched his mind. Though it was theorized by many that it wasn’t real dark energon, but rather a similar strength of power and has been considered as darker abilities now. No other draconic bots have shown all of these powers, aside from a few descendents of Wraith who may have one or two. But Oranos had sensed Ignited Galaxy probably has all of them, which could be why Sentinel wants her. So he can twist this dragon into what he wants. A weapon.

“It’s twisted because no one has really fully understood Wraith’s full power. The Primes were very silent about what they witnessed…which I fear was a mistake now.” Cosmic did wonder if Oranos knew, since he was the oldest. But she doubted that they could ask him anymore. She intakes heavily. “We are just going to have to hope that those powers are not used for the wrong reasons. Wraith never got a chance to show that they can be used for good. After all, a wielder of dark abilities doesn’t make them evil.”

“I know. The same can be said for other abilities that we consider to be good. Like the Matrix. But that will never be used for evil, even if someone tries to taint it.” Magma glanced down as they were getting closer to Iacon city, and he felt bad since the citizens there were probably panicking about the drying up of the energon. “We are not far now. We probably could start descending so we do not miss the tunnel accidently. Oranos didn’t really specify the shape of the entrance.”

“And we are going to have to cave in the entrance, or influence the surface to close and ensure that it will look like it doesn’t exist. Hopefully, that will ensure that Sentinel cannot find it. And I hope Airachnid won’t notice either. Her eyes are too keen.” Cosmic descend slowly as she began to look around for the entrance. She glanced at Solarian as the dragon had been quiet their whole time. She still had the pod resting inside her mouth, and Cosmic knew that this was going to be the saddest moment for Solarian. She and Comet had been great parents Galaxy. At least Galaxy should remember both of them. “I think after we hide Galaxy, we need to create some kind of diversion. If they somehow get the coordinates out of Oranos, we need to make it seem like that the coordinates are somewhere else.”

“Good point. The further away we lead them, the better. At least where Galaxy will be hidden, the citizens will not look. Or anything, really.” Magma was hopeful for that, but he could not see the future. He squinted his optics slightly as he spotted a short mountain with a cave at the very bottom. It was lucky that he spotted it, as there were mounds of rock around it, making it hard to see. “I think I see it. This is the north-eastern side of Iacon city, and it appears it is right.”

“We will need to make sure. Let’s dive down and see!” Cosmic angled her body downward and folded her wings slightly to dive down with Solarian and Magma quickly following her. “At least you spotted it, Magma. I didn’t even see it until you spoke up.”

“And we can probably cover the entrance and even part of the tunnel with those boulders. No one will know the difference…hopefully.”

The three dragons dived down before pulling up before landing onto the rocks, looking into the tunnel ahead of them. It was not completely dark, as there were luminescent plants glowing and giving a faint light within. Solarian stared into the tunnel and purred softly with a light whimper, knowing she had to let go of her daughter in order to save her. She didn’t want to, but she knew what had to be done. She intakes heavily and proceeded into the tunnel, dropping her cloak once inside.

Cosmic and Magma did the same, though they glanced back before entering the tunnel in case there was someone tracking them right now. All three dragons had to crouch as they walk through the tunnel as it wasn’t big. They flattened their wings against their backs to prevent any scraping along the walls and leaving a trail that could be followed. While the plants around them gave off light, their optics can quickly adjust to a change of lighting so it wouldn’t have concerned them if there was no light within the tunnel.

As they walk through the tunnel, they caught the faint scent of transformers, and they figure out why very quickly as they walk by holes in the walls, looking down over the city. Cosmic looked at the city in shock. “They don’t even know this is here. Look out how close we are.” She stared at the city and looked at Magma. “I don’t suppose we could just go into the city and tell the truth.”

“I am not sure. Three, draconic bots flying into the city may cause panic. While most of the older citizens know about us, I am not sure how many of the younger transformers know about Tempest and our existence. I fear we cannot go in there without being attacked as they feel the need to defend themselves.” Magma stared at the city before he proceeded forward as Solarian did not stop, even when she had seen the city. “We should find the canal that leads to the city. Hopefully, it will be to a low point, given there are many places a sparkling can fall from.”

“Oranos knew there was one. So hopefully he is right. If only he passed on the map directly, it would make things a bit easier.” Cosmic purred lightly as she trotted forward to catch up to Solarian. “Are you sure you can proceed from here, Solar? I can take her further.” Solarian glared at Cosmic for daring to suggest such a thing. “I know you love your sparkling, Solarian, but I also know this will be the hardest part. And…as much as I know you want to remain, we can’t. Once we find the canal, we will need to leave and bury the entrance so Sentinel cannot find her.”

Solarian just growled lightly as she proceeded forward and refusing to even allow her sister to carry Galaxy. Solarian did trust her sister, but she wanted to be the one to let Ignited Galaxy go. She felt it wasn’t the place of her siblings to take that from her. She would severely regret it if she didn’t get the chance to say her good bye, while hoping that she would see Ignited Galaxy again in the future…even if the future may not be as bright as they would hope with the new Prime.

And that was why Solaria was leading the way, even though they did not know how deep the tunnel was before they would find the right canal. Solarian sniffed the air a little and she frowned deeper as the tunnel was smaller, making her crouch more and almost crawl on her stomach. Cosmic and Magma followed, though Magma was taller than his sisters, so he had to drag his stomach along the ground and he was not happy about it. But he also made zero complaints about it, since if it was harder for them, it would also be harder for Sentinel.

However, the smaller tunnel didn’t stretch on as they reached a small corner of the tunnel that made a left and moved down. Solarian stopped as she glanced down curiously before Cosmic gently stepped past Solarian. “I’ll got down and see if we stop here, or keep going.” The dragon gently placed her foot on the slope to test it, in case it was slippery. It was not and she proceeded forward. “At least it’s deep, we can probably try and influence the metal to close from where you are standing, Solar.”

Solarian watched Cosmic walk down the slope carefully. Solarian whimpered a little as she knew what would need to be done soon. She turned her head slightly as Magma gently pressed the side of his head along her neck to caress gently in an effort to comfort her. She did wish Comet was here. He wouldn’t fit in this cave, but his presence would have been wonderful. She at least knew he wasn’t dead. She could sense that he was still alive, and that he was angry. And he had every right to be so.

When Cosmic reached the bottom of the tunnel, she peered through into another cavern that led into a much smaller tunnel. She glanced to the left as there was another hole in the wall and walked over to look through, and she saw that this was much closer to the city. She couldn’t believe it. She could see the transformers just going about their business in the city, with no clue of what it happening right now. It pained the dragon’s spark that she couldn’t just reach out and tell them.

Backing away slowly, Cosmic turned to the tunnel and looked up at Solarian and Magma. “Come down, Solar. This is the last cavern we can fit into. And there is a much smaller tunnel leading into the city. We can’t go further than this. Bring Galaxy down now.”

Solarian nodded as she stepped forward and walked down the slope carefully and Magma followed his sister slowly. When they enter the cavern, Solarian looked around the space. It wasn’t small, which was good. She saw the hole that allowed them to see Iacon city and the tunnel that was too small for them, but is large enough for Galaxy. Even when she leaves the pod. It was the right place, and Solarian let several more tears fall as she looked around at the ground for a moment and lowered her head to gently place the pod onto a group of ferns that surrounded it. Even though it wasn’t an egg, she was treating it like one.

Solarian nuzzled the surface of the pod with her snout as she let more tears fall from her optics. “Oh...Ignited Galaxy...I wish this was not happening.” She purred softly as she turned her head to rubbed the right side of her muzzle along the surface. “I already cherish the short cycles we have had together, and I wish we could have had more. But my last gift to you is all that I have left in that crystal. I know you will remember me. I hope that I will still be here when you meet the new Prime.” Cosmic and Magma watch Solarian silently as they knew she needed this good bye. “I love you, Galaxy. I know that the future holds many mysteries for you. And I...know Primus has a purpose for you. That is why Wraith’s abilities are with you. But I know you won’t be like him.” Solarian sniffled softly and lifted her head, gazing at the pod with soft, yellow optics. “I will always love you, my sweet sparkling. I hope that when you wake, you will find a transformer who will care for you, and love you while you grow stronger and await to meet the new Prime. And...I hope your voice will be heard sooner than later.”

Magma looked at the tunnel back up the slope with a slight frown and he looked at Solarian. “I am sorry, Solarian, but we are out of time. I have detected Sentinel’s signal. He will be here it fifteen minutes if we don’t leave and close this tunnel. I am sorry, but we need to go. Your daughter will be fine.”

Solarian growled as she frowned, not liking that they have to go so soon. And couldn’t help but feel the desire to maul Sentinel for doing this to them and to her daughter. She nuzzled the top of the pod again. “I wish I could stay and hibernate for the many cycles with you, Galaxy. But...I can’t. I am so sorry. I love you, and I will be with you, even if you can’t see me.” With that, Solarian lifted her head away from the pod and turned around to look at her siblings as they gave her sympathetic expressions. “Let’s see if we can get Sentinel chasing our tail.”

Magma smirked with a nod. “We certainly can. Come! Let’s see if we close the tunnel from the top cavern. That way Galaxy will not be found without some intense digging.”

Solarian nodded and looked back at the pod one last time before she followed her siblings back up the slope quickly to the top. They all knew they couldn’t stay, even if they wanted to. When they reached the top, they make their way through the slightly smaller tunnel first before the three stop and place their paws on the walls to concentrate. Being able to manipulate the metal was one of the unique abilities all draconic bots had. But it was a rarely used ability, as it was only needed for a time such as this one.

They didn’t need to concentrate long as the combined force from the three dragons quickly made the cave start to close, and Solarian smiled sadly as it began to close from the slope and the metal sheets were moving towards them. They quickly ran through the tunnel while crouched as fast as they could ahead of the closing tunnel. They cloaked before they reached the exit and ran up the sides of the boulders by the cave and turned to watch as it closed. When the metal plates finally shifted and closed over the cave entrance. There would be no sign that it was ever there, which was good. But they needed the rocks to move, and they concentrate to make the plates on the rocks move over where the entrance had been and it seemed to blend in with the mountain.

“It is done.” Magma turned and growled lightly in the direction Sentinel and Airachnid were flying from. “Time for our diversion...or maybe we should play a little. I want to attack head on.”

“Well...they may assume that the coordinates they have were lies now that the cave is hidden. They do not know we can shift the plates when influencing the metal. So we can use that as our advantage. But if we are severely injured, we are to purge the memories of where the tunnel is from our processor so they cannot get that information.” Solarian growled lightly as she ran forward and leaped into the air. Solarian ascended very quickly towards the clouds. “We shall surprise them by acting like we have flown from a different direction.”

Cosmic and Magma followed Solarian quickly into the sky. Magma growled in agreement. “Maybe, just maybe, we can end this before it even begins...wait...” Magma gasped in surprise as he spotted a Quintesson ships in the distance. “That coward brought some help. I don’t even know why he bothers. The Matrix is gone, and so are the Primes. He has clearly lost his mind.”

“Well, of course he has. He’s destroyed our home, and killed the Primes for something he isn’t even worthy of, so he has definitely lost his mind.” Cosmic looked at the approaching ship and she was worried. “We are not strong enough to take on the ship, though.”

“True, but we can cause a bit of damage.” Solarian’s optics narrow as she spotted Sentinel approaching with the vehicons and Airachind in tow. “Here he is…maybe we should electrify the sky with lightning.”

“No, we need to remain hidden for now. Let’s see what they do.” Magma glanced at the Quintesson ship that was following, and he realized they were only following in case they would need to fight. “If we are lucky, we can ensure we can beat Sentinel before the Quintessons interfere.”

“I hope so. For the sake of Cybertron.” Solarian’s paws were clenched as she was eager to fight, but she knew that creating a storm would give away their presence. So remaining cloak and hidden above the clouds was their current defense, and taking Sentinel by surprise was their only plan. “Hopefully…the others are fairing okay.”

There was no way for them to know yet how the fight was going with other draconic bots against the Quintessons. It definitely showed that Sentinel’s true motive was not the fight itself, but what he wanted to gain from getting the power that he wanted today. They did not yet know if Sentinel even intended on completely eradicating their race. Especially since he will know that the dragons will fight him, and will kill him if they have the opportunity to do so.

As they approach the coordinates, Sentinel was glancing around with a frown as he quickly noticed that there was no cave. He thought his optics were playing on him as they get closer to the small mountain. “Do you see any cave entrance, Airachnid? I am only seeing the surface of the mountain. If Ignited Galaxy had been brought here by Solarian, we should be able to see her right now.”

“I have been scanning the mountain for the entrance already, Sentinel. But I am not detecting any entrance at this time, Sentinel. An entrance to Iacon is on the other of this mountain, but a secret entry would not be there. Unless, the memory file we extracted from Oranos was false and it was his last deception.” Sentinel grumbled in irritation as he listened to Airachnid. “And I am not detecting any draconic bots in the area. But they could be cloaked. Their signals are shielded once they engage that ability.”

“Which means, Solarian could be anywhere. If we can get her under our control, we should have a better chance of getting Comet as well. He will not risk losing both his sparkmate and sparkling at the same time.” Sentinel chuckled lightly as a cold smirk formed on his expression. “And those who are unfamiliar with the dragons they will learn who is in command when I have these beasts by my side.”

Airachnid just hummed in amusement at her leader’s comment. “So far, you failed to get Oracle River and Oranos, Sentinel. We may have no choice but to wait for Ignited Galaxy to emerge.”

“They weren’t the right ones, Airachnid. We only have enough for four dragons right now, so we need to pick which ones who we need. Comet Hammer is just one, and I have no doubt we can dig deep into his CNA and bring out his ancestral abilities. After all, the truth will be what I make it from today. No more Primes!” Sentinel descended sharply as they got closer to the coordinates and landed on the ground, looking around with a frown. The vehicons and Airachnid transform before landing behind him. “And I am starting to think that you might be right, Airachnid. I should have realized that old dragon would have ensured we would never find the right location. Now we are stuck! UGH!” Sentinel raised his fists and slammed them into a nearby boulder. “Today is not going as I wanted it to.”

“With some improvising, we will endure, Sentinel. The energon may have dried up, but it can be mined.”

“Yes, but we are going to need bots to mine it for us, especially since the Quintessons are demanding their share." Sentinel had not thought of a plan regarding the energon just yet, since they had to deal with their current problem. “I cannot think of what we are going to do right now, Airachnid. We weren’t able to get the Matrix from Zeta Prime, and we haven’t even been able to capture and hold a dragon down long enough to…” Sentinel paused as he heard the sound of beating wings and looked up, gasping as there was a sudden wave of red, hot magma falling from the sky. Sentinel immediately ignited his jets to fly to the side with Airchnid and the vehicons running to the side to avoid the magma. Sentinel frowned as he aimed his blaster at the magma trail before it stopped and he shot his blaster quickly. “Show yourself cow…” Sentinal flinched as a loud roar filled his processor to the right, and he widened his optics as Solarian drops her cloak suddenly as she lunged and tackled him with her mouth wide open. “AARRGH!” Solarian tackled Sentinel to the ground, causing them both to skid along the ground a little and Sentinel grimaced as the jet boosters on his ankles scraped against the ground and were damaged. “Get off me, worm! WAH!”

Sentinel was alarmed as Solarian clamped her teeth over his right leg and dragged him along the ground before she lifted him odd the ground and slammed his body into the ground. Sentinel was shocked as he was slammed into the ground several times before thrown into the boulder. He hit the rock on his back hard, and he fell onto his hands and knees, glancing at his leg to see the bite wound and he felt a few sparks from his body due to the impact damage from the dragon’s rage.

Solarian growled deeply, glancing at Airachnid as she was also tackled from the sky by Cosmic and Magma also dropped his cloak as he ignited his wings on fire and charged at the vehicons, making them retreat to get away from the chasing dragon, but Magma followed them intently and breathed a stream of fire at them and hit one of the vehicons, destroy the engines and causing him to crash into the ground.

Sentinel glanced up to see Solarian stalking towards him with her mouth dripping with venom, and he was immediately worried she had bitten him with the venom, but realised quickly that he would be feeling it. “You are pathetic, Sentinel! How dare you meet my daughter with the intent to take control of her mind. She is not your slave!”

Sentinel glared at Solarian as he rose onto his feet with a grimace before he smirked slightly at her. “So you were listening...I wonder if that means you have already buried your daughter around here somewhere. I think that is way worse than what I am going to do. After all, she will not be harmed...”

“Do not take me for a fool, Sentinel! You will never find her! I have made sure of that. And now I’m going to tear you apart!” Solarian lunged at Sentinel with her mouth open with the intent to bite him with the venom. Sentinel jumped to the side and turned on his jets on his feet, grimacing from the pain he had to endure due to Solarian’s attack, and rose above Solarian as she turned her head to snap at him, only for Sentinel to angle the jets and ignite them to full power right in her optics, causing both optics to be burned instantly. Solarian cried out in shock as she was blinded so suddenly, and she tried to jump up, snapping her teeth to find him. “Coward!”

Sentinel chuckled coldly as he watched Solarian desperately try to snap her jaw at him. He shook his head as he landed several feet, knowing she couldn’t not see him. But she could see smell him. “Tsk, tsk, tsk, such a shame. I would have given you the opportunity to be around for your daughter, Solarian. But you clearly are not in a listening mood. Still…” Sentinel grabbed Nexus’s blaster and walked towards Solarian. She turned her head towards him as she could still hear him. “I will at least give you one chance to be alive for Ignited Galaxy…” Solarian roared and lunged forward suddenly, and Sentinel just stepped aside before she could bite him, but she hit his face with her wing and he fell to the ground with a grunt. “UGH!” She turned and growled, and Sentinel gasped as he saw plasma building in her mouth and he jumped and rolled forward as she blew a plasma blast at the gruond, and she listened to where he landed before blasting again. Sentinel glared at the dragon as he jumped up and armed his sword and thrusts it into the base of Solarian’s neck, making her shriek in pain and she fell onto the ground as he cut off all feeling to her legs, wings and tail. “That’s better. I guess the offer I made wasn’t good enough. Too bad…”

“Solar!” Sentinel glanced up as he was about to step onto the dragon’s back and gasped when he looked optics with Magma Wisp as the dragon flew towards him quickly and opened his front paws. “Get away from my sister, monster!” Sentinel moved to jump to the side when the Quintesson ship was now close enough and fired a single shot, hitting Magma in the back. The dragon cried as he fell over Sentinel and Solarian and hit the ground hard. Sentinel had to almost lay flat to avoid the draconic bot, and he looked up, smirking as Magma’s wings had been completely blown off, and he struggled back onto his feet. “Uggghhh…you are a monster…”

Sentinel chuckled lightly as he brushed the metal dust from his shoulders and turned his head to see Airachnid had managed to pin Cosmic down, and she was currently the only one out of the three dragons to be undamaged. “Fascinating that it is you three that are out here. I would have expected Comet to come with you, Solarian.” He watched Magma turn his body, stumbling a little from the pain and loss of balance with his lack of wings, and Sentinel shook his head with a smug, fake pity expression. “You probably shouldn’t have done that. I find it funny that I have taken down four dragons already.”

Magma’s nostrils flared with a flame burst as he began to run at Sentinel. “You didn’t take me down! The Quintessons did it for you! You are only taking the credit!” Magma ignited his whole body on fire, and Sentinel jumped to fly away. “No, you don’t! Get back here, you son of a glitch!”

Magma jumped up as high as he could as Sentinel flew straight up, and he aimed Nexus’s blaster at Magma, aiming for the already open wounds in his back. Sentinel fired once, hitting directly into the dragon’s back, and making him fall onto the ground. Magma groaned loudly with a growl, and he moved to stand before looking at Solarian. The sockets where her optics were, were bleeding energon, and she was trying to stand, even though the obvious cut at the base of her neck showed why she could not stand.

Sentinel landed on top of Magma’s neck harshly, forcing his head to hit the ground and Magma growled, turning his head to glare at him with his pink optics. “You really are a coward. You fight from a distance.” Sentinel huffed in amusement before yelping in surprise as Magma launched him up and threw the bot onto the ground and turned to face him. “Why don’t you face me properly?” Sentinel narrowed his optics and stood up on his feet. Magma sniffed and narrowed his optics. “Ugh…you have Megatronus’s cog…you are unworthy of a Prime’s power.”

“Maybe…that is why the Matrix disappeared…even though I should be the most worthy out of everyone. After all, I was going to revolutionize this war, and ensure that we can finally have peace. But that cannot happen anymore, since we now have to dig for our fuel.” Magma growled angrily and Sentinel held up his sword as he glared back at the dragon. “You want me to face you properly?” Magma nodded, stamping his front, right paw as his nostrils flare and breath out a large cloud of spoke. “Alright…you first.”

Magma growled deeply again and rolled his optics. “That was your chance to attack first, Sentinel. I was giving you a chance. Oh well…” Magma huffed as his chest glowed a bright orange and he lunged forward. “Big mistake!”

“Oh, is it?” Sentinel smirked as he waited for the dragon to get closer and he widened his optics slightly as he saw magma surging out of the draconic bot’s mouth. He jumped up, kicking the dragon’s jaw, which caused the magma to splutter rather than rush out in a clean wave, and Sentinel used that momentum to step on top of the dragon’s muzzle and stab his blade at the back of Magma’s skull, causing him to cry out in pain as the energon spluttered from the wound. He fell forward onto the lava and Sentinel pulled the blade right down the dragon’s neck, and he felt Magma shuddering and convulsing beneath him. “Though I do suppose you were right…I should have faced you before the Quintessons gave me an advantage. You dragons really get weakened once they hit your wings. And…” Sentinel glanced at Solarian as she was sensing her brother’s life starting to drain and she whimpered loudly, as was Cosmic behind him. “I got lucky with an enraged mother.” Solarian growled as she was still trying to get on her feet. Sentinel looked down at Magma was he was gasping and not aware of his surroundings anymore. “Unfortunately, you will not get to see the future…nor will Solarian. But I think Cosmic will come around now.”

Solarian growled angrily as she turned her head in the direction that she could hear Sentinel from. “She will never be yours to command! Just as you will never find Ignited Galaxy.”

“We shall see. All I need to do is looking into your brains once your spark stops beating, Solarian. But of course, I can offer a sense of mercy to you, just not your dear brother hear…” Solarian gasped as she felt the break in the sibling bond as she heard Sentinel impale her brother’s forehead, piercing the blade of his sword deep and the sound of his processor crunching from the blade made Solarian shivered. “Ah, scrap…” Sentinel realized quickly he had sliced through the memory file and pulled the blade out to check. “Never mind…I’ll just look into yours. Or…” Sentinel stepped off Magma’s body and walked over to Solarian. The whimpering dragon shuddered and growled as she could hear Sentinel approaching. “I will make this painless for you if you tell me where you hid your daughter…or I may even get some of the best medics to repair you and give you new optics. But you will be wearing a nice necklace to ensure you listen to me.”

“A necklace?” Solarian growled as she listened to him. She didn’t like what she was hearing at all, and she growled while still trying to get some kind of feeling back into her legs. “You disgust me. Who are you, Sentinel? I don’t recognize you anymore…”

“Pfft, ha, ha, ha!” Sentinel was highly amused by this dragon, and he lifted his right foot to kick Solarian’s right socket, making her shriek loudly. “Save your pity. You know what I want from you. Tell me where your daughter…AAHHH!”

Sentinel stumbled back in surprise as Solarian managed a brief, but powerful swipe to his face. She had managed to send energy to her right back and struck his face, with her claws digging into the left side of his face and leaving a deep wound that will remain as a scar. “I will never tell you, Sentinel. She will never be yours.”

Sentinel clutched his cheek in shock that she had managed to get him. He thought he had succeeded in paralyzing her, but he clearly underestimated their determination. He gritted his teeth and stomped over with his sword raised. “You are a pathetic, lowlife, worm! I will get my answers, with or without your cooperation!” He slammed the blade down, slicing through the dragon’s neck and causing her to splutter and shriek painfully. “At least I can put a dent in your sparkmate’s fight. He’ll feel every bit of this right now!”

Lifting the blade up, Sentinel struck down again in a different spot on the neck with every intent to ensure that Solarian would not go peacefully. He was furious she had damaged him and left a mark, but it may also serve as something to show to the citizens of Iacon. But he wasn’t thinking of that right now. He was taking out his anger on the dragon. Until his blade cut through Solarian’s neck and he looked at her head as it fell to the ground. He took deep intakes of frustration and glanced down as he saw his hands, wrists and chassis were covered in her energon.

Sentinel smiled slightly as he glared at the dragon’s head before turning his head sharply and widening his optics as Cosmic Dust launched herself at him, only for her jaws to snap just in front of his face as she was yanked back hard and punched in the side of her face. Cosmic had been fighting the vehicons and Airachnid, but the death of both of her siblings had weakened her, and she no longer even had the will to fight after feeling their sparks perish. But she had hoped to get Sentinel, but she was held back as there were heavy chains around her neck and wings, as several Quintessons had also jumped from the ship to ensure that they captured one dragon.

Cosmic lowered her head as the tears stream down the sides of her face, glancing between her brother and sister as the pain in her spark throbbed. She looked at Sentinel as he walked towards her with a smug expression and she growled at him. “You might as well finish me as well, Sentinel…allow me to join my siblings in the All Spark.”

“Mmm, not yet…” Sentinel punched the dragon in the left side of her face, making her grimace and snarl at him. “Since you seem…down in the dumps…” Cosmic narrowed her optics as she glared at him. “You may as well tell me where Galaxy is, before you become a shell of yourself.”

Cosmic stared at him for a moment. She had already gone ahead with Solarian’s suggestion to wipe the location of where Galaxy was, and now she did not even know. But she knew it was unnecessary to say anything. She growled and turned her head to look at him directly. “I take that information to the All Spark, Sentinel.” She bared her teeth and grimaced as Airachnid yanked on the chain hard to pull her back. “I’m not attacking him! Just get it over with!”

“Yeah, well…” Sentinel pulled out the dark blue collar, and Cosmic narrowed her optics upon seeing it. “I gave you the chance to tell me, but I guess I have to put this on…” Cosmic widened her optics as Sentinel unclipped it, and she immediately tried to buck and beat her wings, only for Airachid to stab her in the right side on an open wound below Cosmic’s right wing, making her wince and drop her right front leg in pain. “Good…” Cosmic lifted her head back up quickly, just as Airachid grabbed her by the horns and yanked hard, making the dragon shriek as the femme held her head back uncomfortably. “Thank you, Airachnid. At least we have something. The others will hesitate to attack one of their own.” Placing the collar around the dragon’s neck at the base, Cosmic shook her body to try and stop him, but when Sentinel clipped the collar together, it sealed together and Cosmic shrieked and fell onto her side suddenly.

Airachnid yelped as she was thrown off and she skidded along the ground. She looked up at the dragon as Cosmic shuddered and convulsed as the collar tightened around the dragon’s neck, digging into her metal shell and energon veins with the tiny needles, and the chemicals within the tubes on the collar had already begun releasing into the dragon’s system. Airachnid smirked as she stood up slowly. “It’s a good thing we could overpower her. Cosmic has never been strong like her brother and sister…” Airachnid looked at the bodies of the other two dragons and looked at Sentinel. “I will check their memories for Galaxy’s location.”

Sentinel nodded while he stood over the dragon’s convulsing body. Airachnid walked over to the bodies of Magma and Solarian to begin the task, though Sentinel was confident they would get the answer from Cosmic. He knelt down slowly as the tears from the dragon’s optics were from the extreme pain she was feeling from the collar. Her mouth began to froth with foamy energon, and the purrs from her chest were filled with pain and whimpering. Sentinel smirked as he waited patiently.

Her blue optics darkened as they began to fill with a dark, grey blue shade. Sentinel placed his hand on the top of her snout, causing the dragon to turn her head and look at him. And in those optics he saw no emotion. Nothing. Cosmic was nothing more than a shell of herself, and her processor had completely been overridden, ensuring that this was nothing more than a beast under his control. The energon veins in her body swelled and she began to heat up as the chemicals would force abilities from Cosmic that she was no used to, or has never used, but it was possible due to her ancestral line. This was something that Sentinel wanted.

He placed his hand on the claw wound on his face as he now knew what he could do. While the cut may remain on his face, he no longer cared as much as he did before. Now this was an opportunity that he was not going to pass up. Especially now that he had control of one of the dragons whilst not caring if she will even survive what will come next. He rubbed the top of the dragon’s snout and she purred in response, which pleased Sentinel greatly.

“You are mine now. Time to go back and show your friends what we have done. And so that I may bring Comet, Sky Blade and several others under my control. Or hope to. And we shall try to ensure you won’t die in the process, Cosmic. Even though you are technically just a mindless beast now.” Sentinel stood up and looked at Airachnid to see she was frustrated. “Airachnid, once you find the location of Galaxy, we shall go and assist the Quintessons with the last of the draconic bots. I believe that the Quintessons will destroy all of them before we can put the last collars on the others that we need before we find Galaxy. She won’t be going anywhere, so we can take our time.” Sentinel looked back at the dragon as the dull, grey optics gaze at him as she was waiting for his command. “This new era for Cybertron is going to be fascinating…and everyone will now be under my rule.”

Chapter Text

Prologue Part 4

Roaring loudly in pain and surprise while falling onto his knees after ripping a Quintesson ship apart, Comet intakes heavily as his optics quiver in shock and he looked in a direction as he felt his sparkmate’s spark being extinguished. The draconic bots had been able to take down ten Quintesson ships already, and destroyed many of the Quintessons that would escape the wreckages to fight the dragons. And while they have been able to do that, many of the dragons have already fallen. It hurt Comet as it really felt like their darkest hour, and now he could sense that Solarian was gone. He growled deeply as he stood upon a large boulder, staring at the horizon with a frown.

“Are you okay, Comet?” Skydrake asked as he flew low by Comet, noticing the sadness and grief in the dragon’s optics. “Is everything alright with Solarian?”

Comet intakes heavily and shook his head. “She’s gone.” Skydrake gasped as he landed on the boulder by Comet before they both had to duck to avoid a Quintesson ship blast. “Sentinel must have killed her…I hope they were able to get Galaxy away in time.” He growled as he clenched his claws and turned sharply, punching an approaching Quintesson in the face and grabbed another, holding the head and legs to rip in half with a loud roar. “I’m going to kill him if he shows his face here!”

Skydrake nodded in agreement. “I think we all want to.” He looked up before he jumped up and flew upward as another Quintesson ship approached. “I am starting to think that we have done what we needed. We gave Solarian the time, and we should perhaps figure out our next move.”

Comet Hammer followed Skydrake and he nodded in agreement. “I think that is a good idea. We will need to find another place to hide. And hope that we can have access to energon in some form so that we can survive. Tempest is lost.” Comet opens a com link to Eruptor, Sky Blade and the other dragons. “If everyone can hear, I am afraid my sparkmate is lost. I can only hope that my sparkling is safe right now, but we have been able to do what we needed to do, my friends. We cannot keep fighting like this.”

“I am so sorry, Comet…that blasted, glitch Sentinel will get what he deserves if I get my claws on him!” Eruptor growled loudly, which rumbled like thunder around as he flew towards Comet while he breathed a fiery, solar blast at a Quintesson ship and hitting their engine pods. “They will follow us when we try to leave though, Comet. Where shall we take them.”

“I do believe that we can lose them in the Wight Canyon. The natural fog there is so thick and can mess with equipment. Not only can we cloak ourselves, but there are numerous tunnels there that we can go into that spread throughout Cybertron. We just need to pick one.” Sky Blade suggested as he was flying very quickly, using his wings to slice through several Quintessons that had jumped from their ships and he grimaced as their blood was staining his wings. “The stench of their blood is making me want to purge.”

“Good idea, Sky. And that is where we will go. Thankfully, it isn’t far.” Comet glanced back and spun to the right as he was shot at again and he smirked when another large dragon slammed his body into the side of the ship. “Thanks for the assist, Juggernaut.”

“Anytime, old friend.” Juggernaut chuckled as he beat his wings to flew closer to Comet. “The Wight Canyon isn’t just filled with caves either, Comet. I’ve been going there to practice flying and my air strikes for some time, and I found a place beneath the surface of the fog. The space is big, but we can shift the plates so everyone left can fit. And we should have access to energon veins too.”

“Well, I never knew that, and I’ve gone there many times too!” Sky exclaimed in surprise as he was very impressed with Juggernaut’s suggestion. “Maybe that is where we should go. Wight Canyon stretches for many miles, so it would be very difficult for the Quintessons and Sentinel to even locate us.”

“That is precisely why we will have an advantage. And I know where it is. But switch on your echo location transmitters. It will be the only way to find it. Trojan! Longfang! Tirade! Make sure we get everyone to the canyon!” Juggernaut turned himself upward slightly and breathed a way of plasma beam at another Quintesson ship, before angling himself properly. “And I recommend we blind them before we enter the canyon.”

“Are you suggesting that I do it?” Sky Blade asked curiously, looking at the large dragon curiously. “I’m the only one who can reflect the sun at full strength.”

“I’m not talking about the sun. But rather a powerful, electromagnetic field to scramble their sensors and cause brief malfunctions to their ships to slow them down. That way we can get to the canyon without as many eyes watching us.” Juggernaut flew closer to Comet and Eruptor and looked at them with a smirk. “And I know you two can create strong winds to blow them off course.”

Comet smirked at Juggernaut, who was a large, quadruped dragon. He wasn’t as big as Eruptor or Comet, but he was very strong. Juggernaut was able to to become a flying, iron fist by shifting his armor and filling them with plasma and fire, allowing himself to hit any ships or flying enemies to the point he could incinerate them upon contact. Juggernaut is grey blue with dark, purple optics. His feather-like wings were blue and purple, and he had dark gold plates over his wing joints and body. He was considered a beautiful draconic bot, but he was a force to be reckoned with. Comet, Eruptor and Juggernaut are considered Tempest’s strongest trio at this time, followed by Tirade, Trojan, and another known as Glazed Thunder. Majority of the time, if the Quintessons see any of these dragons, they would turn and run. But clearly, that was not the case this time.

^^Juggernaut's appearance^^

“If we are going to scramble their instruments, we need to do it now! I am sensing Sentinel approaching! And…wait…” Firedrake frowned as he stopped and hovered, looking in the direction he could detect the signal. “Cosmic Dust too? But…she’s flying with him…even though something’s strange about her signal.”

“Cosmic survived?!” Comet was surprised, and hopeful at the same time, since Solarian’s sister would be the next connection he would have to his sparkmate. “And what about Magma? Is he with them too? I hope they have a good explanation…”

“I don’t know if Cosmic is okay. Her signal’s strange, and I can’t reach her mind like we would normally through this link.” Firedrake narrowed his optics some and he glanced at four Quintesson ships that descended through the clouds. He gasped as they had their turrets charged up at the same time. “SCATTER!”

Firedrake, Comet Hammer, Eruptor, Juggernaut and Sky Strike immediately flew in opposite directions to avoid the shots that were aimed at them different. And they also noticed Quintesson ships descending through the clouds in the direction they had been flying towards, which was not good, but not impossible for them to get by. They were able to avoid the blasts, but they were quick to realize that they were not going to get a break. And Tirade, Trojan, Glazed Thunder and the other dragons had been forced away from the city of the ships due to this.

“Ugh…I am not sure if all of us are going to make it to Wight Canyon!” Skydrake shouted through the com link, twirling his body around and backflipping to avoid the blasts. “These fraggers are going all out now that Sentinel is coming back. And with Cosmic, apparently!”

Juggernaut growled deeply and glanced at Sky Blade. “You have a chance to get out of here, Sky Blade!” Sky Blade nodded in agreement and he soared upward quickly rather suddenly. “Tirade! Circle around us and head to the canyon. Once you fly down, make sure you get under the fog and get as close to the ground as much as you can. You will find the entrance to the underground space when you find large crystals when you follow the canyon from the start.”

“And what about you?” Tirade responded worryingly. “We can’t just leave, Juggernaut! You guys need help!”

“What we need right now is for you to leave! The very survival of our races depends on it! Now get out of here and obey Juggernaut’s commands!” Comet barked in irritation as he dove down to avoid being hit before flying back upward again and opening his mouth before blasting at several turrets on one Quintesson ship with plasma. “Juggernaut, Eruptor, Firedrake, we will keep these guys busy. Sky Blade, you…” Comet widened his optics as he saw Sky Blade falling from the sky suddenly with a very visible, and a very obvious dragon fire burn on his back. Sky Blade had a look of confusion as he caught himself and stopped his fall before looking up. And Comet gasped when he saw Cosmic diving from the clouds with a loud, high-pitched roar. “Cosmic?”

Sky Blade stared at Cosmic as she was still diving towards him. “Cosmic just attacked me! But something’s wrong! Wait…” Cosmic descended far enough out of the clouds for them all to see Sentinel sitting on Cosmic’s back. “What is the All Spark is going on? I can’t kill her!”

“Defend yourself, though Sky! Sentinel’s clearly done something to her!” Comet grunted and almost fell from the sky as he was shot in the back due to being distracted. He growled deeply, and looked at Cosmic to see Sentinel’s smug expression and Cosmic’s mouth filled with glowing, golden plasma. “Wait a minute! Molten plasma isn’t possible anymore!”

“Apparently not!” Sky Blade immediately flew to the side to avoid being hit by the powerful molten plasma blast. It was a breath that has not been used for many millennia, and its strength could easily take down a Quintesson ship if charged to full strength and unleashed a stream of it. Cosmic was not known as a powerful dragon, so this was strange. However, Sky could see Sentinel was chuckling and he ordered Cosmic to attack again. “Coward! Get off and fight me yourself, Sentinel!”

Sentinel just smirked deviously at Sky Blade as Cosmic blew another blast of molten plasma at Sky Blade and he dodged it again. Sky Blade didn’t know how he would even deal with this, since they had never had any dragon turn on them before. But Sky Blade knew something was wrong as Cosmic wouldn’t be doing this willingly, and as she has never used molten plasma before, this was something due to Sentinel. And whatever he was doing to Cosmic, it was clearly pushing her to the point of using dormant abilities that have long been unused. Which could be detrimental to Cosmic herself, especially since her body would not be used to such pressure.

Eruptor growled as he rolled to the right before diving down sharply before flying back up while filling his fists with a powerful energy to strike the Quintesson ship he was flying directly towards. He was angry that Cosmic seemed to be enslaved by Sentinel somehow, and he wanted to get to Sentinel and rip him apart. But with the Quintesson ships in the way, he had to damage one or two first before he could get to them.

Eruptor heard loud bangs behind him, and he didn’t think too much of it as he was getting closer to the Quintesson ships above him quickly. His mouth filled with electricity as he prepared to strike, and to unleash a wave of electricity to further damage the ship and shut down some of the systems. But as he got closer, Eruptor roared in surprise as something wrapped around his body suddenly, forcing his wings and arms against him, and he looked down just as there was a strong, burning shock through his body. He had not realized this was some kind of netting, and it was made from extremely strong material.

He was disorientated slightly from the strong shock from the net and he began to fall straight down. Widening his optics, Eruptor tried to free his arms so he could also free his wings. He grabbed at the net with his teeth and yanked as he felt multiple blasts on his back, sending him down faster and disorientating him even further. The dragon barely saw the ground when he hit into the ground head first, and there was a terrible crunching sound as his weakened back and neck split suddenly.

Juggernaut, Firedrake and Comet stare in shock as they were not expecting that the strongest dragon here was just taken down. “Since when did they get those net things?” Firedrake questioned as he stared in disbelief while hovering next to Comet. “I-If they took down Eruptor...”

“They got him by surprise, that is why.” Comet gasped as he looked at the other ships as they hear loud bangs, and they all saw the same netting being shot at them as they would open while flying towards them. “I think this would be because of Sentinel! Take cover!” Comet dove down sharply to avoid the nets.

Firedrake flew the side, and he widened his optics when he saw several nets following Comet, and Juggernaut when the larger dragon flew upward and backflipped to avoid the nets. Firedrake opened a link to them. “They have homing trackers in them!” Firedrake turned on his back to see one flying directly at him and he breathed fire at it, burning the net instantly. “The nets are weak when we get them at least.”

“Good to know, Firedrake! Juggernaut!” Comet glanced at Juggernaut as the larger dragon had at least a dozen nets flying towards him, and the dragon was breathing fire at them. “Try and get above the clouds! They may use these nets as distractions to…” Comet gasped and grimaced as he was blinded suddenly by a large, bright orange explosion. He widened his optics and looked at the smoke to see Juggernaut falling straight down with the nets around his body and a large wound in his back. “Juggernaut!” Comet frowned and turned, blasting his plasma breath at the three nets following him, and angled back down to dive to try and catch the falling dragon. “I’m on my way!”

“Look out, Comet Hammer!!” Firedrake shrieked loudly as he watched two of the ships firing several more nets at Comet. Firedrake had managed to destroy and avoid several nets already, and it seemed that the Quintessons weren’t focused on him too much. “They will bring you down too if you are not careful!”

Comet growled deeply as he furled his wings tighter against his chest to dive faster, but he was forced to pull up when the Quintessons shoot at Juggernaut again, hitting him in the back and forcing him down faster and landing hard on the ground several feet from Eruptor’s body. Comet was shocked and he turned to blast plasma at the approaching nets. He glanced towards Sky Blade to see what was happening on his end.

And he was not surprised that Sky Blade was able to keep away from Cosmic and Sentinel at this time, but Cosmic was flying faster than she normally could before. Sky Blade had seen both Eruptor and Juggernaut fall, and he became extremely worried since two of their strongest fighters had fallen. However, the only good thing he knew of right now was Tirade, Trojan, Longfang and several others had managed to escape already. They were on their way to Wight Canyon, and it seemed that the Quintessons weren’t chasing them. But Airachnid and the vehicons were, but they were easier to deal with.

Sky Blade though was very much distracted, even though he was able to avoid Cosmic and Sentinel. He was extremely concerned about everything that was happening right now and what it meant. With Sentinel somehow aligned with the Quintessons, what this meant for Cybertron concerned him deeply, and he didn’t want this continue. But he refused to engage with Cosmic, even though she was attacking him. But he spotted the collar around her neck, and knew it was somehow giving Sentinel control of the dragon.

He heard a bang and assumed it was another net flying towards one of the other dragons as he avoided another molten plasma blast as he spun to the right. He was getting tired too, as all this flying was making his wings ache. But Sky Blade didn’t want to give up. However, as he angled to the right, he saw a net flying towards him and he widened his optics and he knew immediately he couldn’t fly away or destroy it with a fire breath. The net wrapped around his body tightly, pressing his wings against his back and Sky Blade roared loudly in pain as the strong, burning shock and he grimaced as the shock disorientated him immediately, and he began to fall out of the sky.

Sky Blade groaned as his optics roll back slightly, believing that he had failed and he would join the others in the All Spark now. However, as he fell, Sky Blade felt something grab his shoulders suddenly, and he weakly turned his head slightly to see Cosmic. He was surprised, since he didn’t think that Sentinel would do anything. As the only thing he has done was shout at Cosmic and hit the dragon when she failed to hit Sky Blade, even though that Cosmic herself was not in control.

“Good catch, Cosmic. Now let’s get him down gently. We need to get him prepped for the next step.” Sky Blade lightly at the arrogant tone from Sentinel, but the dragon couldn’t do anything due to being paralyzed. Sentinel lifted his hand to open a com link. “Airachnid, have you been able to stop the fleeing draconic bots? They might know where Galaxy is, since the other three clearly purged that part of their memory to stop us from finding her.”

“Negative, Sentinel. They all fled into Wight Canyon. I do not dare to fly into a place I cannot see, nor can use any tracking equipment. Only the dragons know it very well, and it stretches for miles. I deeply apologize, Sentinel.” Sky Blade was happy to hear that, as that meant that some dragons will survive. Sentinel grumbled when he heard Airachnid’s response. “We are returning to your position now, Sentinel.”

“Good. I am about to bring Sky Blade under my control, and we shall soon have Firedrake and Comet Hammer too. Juggernaut and Eruptor are taken care of, and it seems like Tirade got away.” Sentinel leaned a little as Cosmic angled herself and lowered Sky Blade onto the ground. “Good dragon.” Sentinel pet the neck lightly as Sky Blade was placed on the ground, but Cosmic remained on top and shifted to hold him down. Sentinel jumped off the dragon with a smirk. “Keep your distance when you get back, Airachnid. I got a feeling I can get this done myself.”

“Understood.”

Sentinel looked at Sky Blade as the dragon growled at him, shifting a little to try and be comfortable, but he was feeling a lot of pain in his systems right now. “Let me guess…you’re going to kill me too, Sentinel?” Sky Blade glanced back at Cosmic and he let out a low whimper. “I do not know what you did to Cosmic…but I want no part of it.”

Sentinel chuckled lightly as he pulled out another dark blue collar with the tiny needles and chemical filled tubes. “I am afraid you don’t have much of a choice, Sky Blade. You were one the many targets of today’s plan. And while many of your kind have escaped, we will find them eventually. And you are going to help me find them.” Sky Blade shook his head and he widened his optics as Cosmic growled suddenly, and he was surprised. “Calm down, Cosmic. Let me get this on him.”

“You should just kill me!” Sky Blade hissed before turning his head to try and block Sentinel, but his weakened body from the extreme pain from the net made it hard for him to move. “It would be more honourable than being enslaved by you.”

“Maybe, but…” Sentinel stepped closer to the dragon as Cosmic placed her paws on top of Sky Blade’s snout, pushing down hard to keep him from snapping at Sentinel. Sky Blade growled as he shifted to try and get away. He did notice the claw mark on the side of Sentinel’s face. He didn’t know who inflicted that on Sentinel, but it was well deserved. “This technically does that for you. You’ll be nothing more than a mindless beast. I don’t know what will even happen if the collar is removed, and quite frankly, I do not care.” Sky Blade whimpered and he tried to buck to get Cosmic off, but the dragon pushed him back down as Sentinel wrapped the collar around his neck and and Sky Blade yelped loudly as the collar tightened around his neck, and he felt the needles impaling his veins and the chemicals being released. “There we go. Easy, Sky Blade. You’ll be back up in no time.” Sentinel chuckled lightly as he walked back around as Cosmic stepped off the convulsing dragon and he knelt down before jumping back in surprise as Firedrake landed hard nearby. Sentinel smirked as Firedrake groaned as his right wing was bent and there was damage to his limbs. He was disorientated as Cosmic ran towards him, and he widened his optics in shock. “Quite my luck right now.”

Firedrake groaned as he stared at the approaching dragon. “Cosmic? What are you doing? Sentinel…” Firedrake gasped as the dragon pounced on him, making him grimace as she landed on top hard and pressed her paws on his shoulders, roaring at him loudly. “What in the All Spark?” Firedrake glanced at the collar around Cosmic’s neck. He did not know what it was doing, other than controlling her. He could also see her energon veins were larger as more energon was being pumped through her body, and there were tears streaming from her optics. “What has he done to you? Cosmic..." He stared at her dark grey optics, and saw they held no emotion. Nothing. “You aren’t even here, are you?”

Cosmic just snarled and foamy energon dripped from her mouth. Firedrake felt awful for her, and he was severely weakened by the Quintesson ships, and exhausted from all the flying. He looked at Sentinel as the smug bot approached with another collar. Firedrake growled at him. “Now, now, there is no need for that. You are going to survive, Firedrake. You, Cosmic, Sky Blade and Comet will all be very useful.”

“Pfft, good luck with Comet. He will resist the most.”

“Oh, I know…” Sentinel glanced at the sky and widened his optics as Comet landed on top of a Quintesson ship and punched into the engine pods and pulled out a bunch of systems before he glared towards Sentinel and jumped into the sky. “Scrap…” Sentinel walked over to Firedrake quickly. “But I will need you three to get between us.”

Firedrake snapped his teeth at Sentinel. “You may think you are victorious today, but you are merely a slave now to the Quintessons. They may not have something around your neck, but they will have you under their iron fist. You are in no different position than us.”

“Nah, I am not. I am not the one who will be just a beast under one command.” Sentinel walked to the side of Firedrake, and the dragon turned his head just as Cosmic pushed his snout down harshly, making him whimper as feeling his jaw snapping shut forcefully hurt. “And that is all you will ever be from here on, Firedrake…” Sentinel straped the collar around Firedrake’s neck quickly, and watching as it tightened around the dragon’s neck, causing his whole body to shudder and convulse. “Hopefully, we can stop Comet from his rampage…” Sentinel looked up as Cosmic stepped off Firedrake and walked over to stand by Sentinel, looking up at Comet as he dived down, smashing through the ship he had attacked and his wings were charged with plasma and electricity currently. “This is going to be interesting…” Sentinel looked back at Sky Blade to see he was still fighting the collar and he climbed onto Cosmic’s back. “To the sky, Cosmic!” Sentinel opened his com link again as Cosmic jumped up and flew towards Comet. “Airachnid, I know you are close now. Get yourself and the vehicons down to Sky Blade and Firedrake to ensure the collars take affect.”

“We are on our way too them right now, Sentinel. Will you need my assistence with Comet?”

“Um…” Sentinel’s optics quiver as the massive dragon approahed him, completely ignoring the fact that there was still a couple Quintesson ships behind him and would shoot at the dragon. “Possibly. Stand by, Airachnid. Comet Hammer will not go down easy.” Sentinel shut off the com link and looked at Cosmic. “Alright, Cosmic. Use that molten plasma against him. I want to weaken him so he can’t get back up, but not too damaged that he will die. Understand?”

Cosmic just nodded briefly as her mouth charged up with the molten plasma. Comet growled as he watched the jaws glow gold and she began to unleash blasts of it at Comet. Comet angled himself slightly enough to avoid the blasts with ease and Sentinel pulled out Nexus’s blaster. Seeing the Prime’s weapon angered Comet and he roared loudly. Sentinel shot at Comet and Comet flew straight upward slightly to avoid the blast before diving down sharply. Cosmic growled and she was about to follow.

However, Sentinel gasped as Comet flew back straight up on Cosmic’s right side and angled himself with his feet reaching out and snatching Sentinel harshly off Cosmic’s back with his left foot. Sentinel yelped as he dropped Nexus’s blaster in shock and he armed his own blaster, looking up at Comet as the dragon began to fly straight up towards the clouds that were darkening very quickly, and Sentinel widened his optics.

He gasped as electricity sparked over Comet’s body and pinched Sentinel. “No, no, no!” Comet growled with a slight smirk at Sentinel. Sentinel aimed his arm at Comet’s left wing to shoot at the joint connection, though the blasts wasn’t strong enough to hurt Comet as it just bounced off. “Slag! Let go of me, Comet!”

“Not a chance! You killed my sparkmate, and have only gotten into a fight when it was easy for you. Now you are going to have to face me!” Comet roared loudly as lightning began to strike his body, and he allowed that energy to flow through his body. Sentinel cried out as the electricity also hit his body and it hurt due to not being designed to harness the power. “And since you are more interested in controlling me, I’m going to give you a reason to fight for your life! Beg all you want, but you will...” Comet grimaced as he felt a blast on his left wing and turned his head slightly to see Cosmic following him. He huffed as he turned sharply and hit Cosmic with his wing. “Sorry, Cosmic...” He glared at her neck to see the collar and he growled deeply. “I will not kill you...”

“But she will. Cosmic, use molten plasma again!” Sentinel tensed with a yelp as Comet tightened his claw and flew to fly into the clouds. “Uggghhh!” Sentinel grimaced as the dragon continued to tighten his paw around Sentinel, but as the dragon ascended high, he saw Airachnid flying right at Comet and shooting at him. He growled and rolled his body sharply, hitting Airachnid with his wing, and causing her to fall sharply. “Ugh!” Sentinel flinched as Cosmic followed and she unleashed another powerful molten plasma blast at Comet and the dragon continued to avoid it until Cosmic’s whole body began to glow gold with the molten plasma. Sentinel widened his optics as Comet turned sharply and lifted his paw as lightning struck the dragon’s ankles, though Comet was paying little attention to Cosmic as she rammed her whole body into him, piercing through the armor in the dragon’s back, and making him roar and drop Sentinel. “AAAHH!” Sentinel fell and yelped as lightning struck his body before Cosmic caught him and held him in her front paws. He intakes heavily in relief. “Ugh! My whole body tingles…”

Sentinel flinched as Comet roared loudly as he dove down after Cosmic. “It’s going to feel a whole lot worse when I fear you limb from limb, slowly and painfully!” Comet grabbed Cosmic’s shoulders, and the draconic bot roared, turning her head to snap at him. Comet ignored her snapping jaws as he tried to grab Sentinel from her paws. “Stop using others as a shield, coward! Fight me properly like a warrior! You shame yourself! I will…AAARRGGHH!”

Sentinel flinched as Comet roared in pain as he was hit in the back by two missiles from Airachnid. Now that his armor was weakened, he could be shot at, and Comet let go of Cosmic as he fell slightly before he was able to catch himself. Only for a second before three nets snap around his body and hitting him with the strong, burning shock, and making him roar loudly in pain and feel the pain in his internal systems. Comet’s wings clench and stiffen as they were forced against his back and the dragon fell from the sky.

Sentinel smiled a little and looked as Cosmic. “Let me back onto your back. And try to catch him before he hits the ground. We need to keep him alive so I can put another collar on him.”

Cosmic purred lightly as she dove after Comet and moved Sentinel to help him onto her back. Sentinel was quick to climb onto her back before she grabbed a hold of Comet’s shoulders and pulled up to slow his descent. Comet turned his head slightly as he glared at Sentinel. He was struggling to get feeling back into his wings, and the nets forcing them against his back was not helping. However, Comet was able to free his right paw and ripped through the net, but he wasn’t able to reach and grab for Sentinel right now.

Cosmic widened her wings out some more before she dropped Comet when they were a few feet from the ground, and Comet grunted as he skidded along the ground, grimacing from the pain through his body. He intakes heavily and lifted his head, looking towards Sky Blade and Firedrake. He widened his optics as both dragons were back on their feet, but he could tell immediately they were not themselves. They were controlled by the same collars that Sentinel had used on Cosmic. Their optics had a grey cast over them, and they were walking over with the vehicons. Airachnid landed and transformed with a smug expression.

Cosmic landed on top of Comet and pressed her weight onto his shoulders, making the dragon grunt again and he growled, glaring at Sentinel as he jumped off and smiled while brushing the metal dust from his body. “Such a shame you couldn’t do what you wanted to do, Comet Hammer…” Sentinel turned his body to face Comet with an arrogant, smug expression. “But you have fallen. Just like your friends here. But don’t worry, I intend on making sure that you and your daughter will be reunited, should she ever show herself again. But…” Comet narrowed his optics as he saw another collar, and he snarled venomously. “You just will have to endure living under…”

Sentinel yelped as Comet roared suddenly as he was surprised by plasma filling Comet’s mouth and he unleashed a blast a Sentinel. The bot dropped the collar in shock as he jumped to the side, but the blast hit the collar and incinerated it immediately. “I will never be your slave, Sentinel!” Comet hissed as he punched the ground with his right paw to push himself up, and Cosmic bit the back of his neck, making the larger draconic bot buck his body and throw the smaller dragon off. Sky Blade and Firedrake roar as they run towards Comet. Comet hissed and looked at Sentinel as he was shocked Comet destroyed one of the collars. “You may have them under your control, but you will never have me.”

Sentinel narrowed his optics, pulling out another collar. “We shall see.” He looked at the three dragons with a glare as Cosmic ran back at Comet and pounced on his back. “Hold Comet down! This is the last collar! We need to make this count!” Comet shifted his legs to stand as Firedrake punched his face, causing Comet to stumble and he widened his optics as Firedrake wrapped his arms around the dragon’s snout to hold him down, while Sky Blade grabbed his neck to force him down and Cosmic pressed on his shoulders. "Good, good..."

Comet stared at Firedrake who was staring at him with the emotionless, grey pink optics. It hurt his spark seeing his friends like this. In his spark, he knew they would not want this. And he did not want to find himself in their position. He glanced at Sentinel as Sentinel ran over, and Comet roared as he began to fill his back spikes with electricity, which hit Cosmic and Sky Blade, making Cosmic jump off in surprise and Sky lets him go, but Firedrake had a firm hold before Comet managed to get onto his knees and throw his head around, and was able to throw Firedrake off his face.

He turned his head and glared at Sentinel as the bot backed away from him again, while the three dragons lunge at him again. Comet knew that Sentinel was not going to give up. Comet’s systems were already weakening, and he winced as Cosmic bit his left shoulder suddenly with molten plasma in her mouth. And Comet began to suspect that Sentinel wanted him alive and to use him for the power from his ancient ancestor, Wraith. What he could do with that power could devastate Cybertron, and Comet knew what he had to do.

Comet’s shoulders relax suddenly, which surprised Sentinel, though Comet remained glaring at the bot and ignored Cosmic as the dragon’s jaw was locked on his left shoulder. Sky Blade jumped onto his back to try and push him down, while Firedrake did the same. “Sentinel…I do not know what has made you decide this. Someone has clearly whispered something to you, and you took the bait. I pity you…” Sentinel glared at him before smirking slightly. “I relent…”

“Oh, good…” Sentinel chuckled as he interrupted Comet and he held up the collar. “So you wouldn’t mind if I put this on, and we can stop all this hassle?” Comet narrowed his optics and his nostrils flared. “We really need a dragon to find the others, so…” Sentinel gasped as Comet raised his right paw suddenly and flexing his claws. “Wait, don’t…NOOO!” Sentinel stepped forward in shock as Comet impaled his own chest and grabbing a hold of his spark chamber. “Comet, don’t!”

Comet’s optics quiver and flicker as he glared at Sentinel. “I relent to death over slavery, Sentinel! My last hope now is for the new Prime to bring justice back to Cybertron. You will never win, Sentinel!” He yanked his paw out of his chest, snapping his spark chamber out of his body and cutting all the lines to power his body.

Sentinel stared as the dragon fell to the side and Comet’s optics close as his life left his body. Sentinel intakes as he stared and the three dragons move away from Comet as they no longer could do anything. They stood and watched Sentinel, waiting for the next move. Sentinel gritted his teeth. “This…this is…this was not supposed to happen! UGH!” Sentinel clenched his hands and shook his head. “We were supposed to have Comet by our side!”

Airachnid, who had a look of disappointment on her expression, stared at Comet’s body and looked at Sentinel. “It would seem that his pride was never going to allow you to put that on, Sentinel. But…we have three dragons. And that should be enough.” She glanced up as one of the Quintesson ships was descending towards the ground. “And it seems we need to move forward. I think they have lost patience.”

Sentinel looked up and his expression turned to concern as he saw the descending ship. He looked back at Comet’s body with a frown, knowing now he couldn’t have access to the dragon’s bloodline for a long time. He didn’t even know if Ignited Galaxy would emerge at all, but that no longer mattered. Sentinel intakes heavily as he knew he had made a bargain with the leader of the Quintessons, and he had to go through with it. And now, with the energon dried up, he had to figure something else out.

And with some of the draconic bots hiding in the Wight Canyon somewhere, Sentinel hoped to never see them again. He had wanted to destroy the rest of the race after getting the dragons that he wanted. Cosmic Dust wasn’t really one of the draconic bots he wanted, but she would be by his side now. The three beasts would serve as a means to ensure that the citizens of Iacon would know their new place in Cybertron.

Especially any of the future Cybertronians that would be born. Sentinel realized that he couldn’t ask the current citizens to mine energon for themselves as he felt that was unfair. But…if there were bots without t-cogs, they could be the perfect workers to do the dirty work for Iacon city. That meant extreme measures had to be taken. And as there were many sparklings currently in the process of development in Iacon city, Sentinel now knew what he could do to ensure that his bargain with the Quintessons was satisfied. Even if it meant sacrificing future generations of transformers to a life of hard work so he could pay his debt and live life like the king he felt he should be. Despite the loses of today, Sentinel felt like that his world was going to change for the better. And he doubted that even Ignited Galaxy could stop him.

Phew! So…these prologue parts were meant to be two chapters, but I found myself really expanding on it due to the various things that may or may not be important later in the story. And, also, I wove in some of Bayverse Sentinel into Transformers One version of Sentinel to show more brutality, and the coward that he is. Probably the longest chapters I’ve written in a long time, but enjoyed every bit of it. And I hope everyone else has too.

Chapter Text

49 Cycles Later...

Deep within a cave hidden by Iacon city, bioluminescent algae covered the walls of the cave. Bioluminescent grass, ferns and small bushes have grown over time, making the cavern seem full of plants. Underneath some bioluminescent, blue algae was the pod that had been brought here by a draconic bot over forty cycles ago. It was here that a young sparkling was brought to safety from a tyrannical transformer who desired power. And he got some power over Iacon, even though he did so by using fear and manipulation to win over the people of this city. And many of the younger transformers look to this transformer with admiration for his seemingly courageous desire for his people.

There was a loud hiss and a puff of steam rising as the pod unclipped, with the wheels turning slowly as it opened. The top of the pod slid open, revealing a sparkling within. She was laying curled within, and she had been in recharge. Energon fuel lines that were connected to her body fell off. The slender, small femme opened her yellow optics. Her vision was blurry at first as she could see the bioluminescent lights around her. She intakes and exhales deeply as she stared at the ceiling as her processor slowly woke up. She groaned lightly as she already knew the reason why she was here.

Not knowing how many cycles had past, this young sparkling had a lot of knowledgeable filled in her processor. And that was all thanks to Oracle in ensuring she would learn from the essence that had been left behind by the various draconic bots within the crystal that was attached to the top of the pod. Despite knowing what she knew, the sparkling awoke from her deep slumber in the hopes that she wasn’t in a dark cave, but with other dragons. And she wouldn’t have to wait until she reached the surface to find her voice or be able to transform into what she was.

Sitting up slowly, Ignited Galaxy’s vision finally stopped being blurry and she was able to look around properly. The cavern around her wasn’t terribly big, but it was secured. She didn’t know the reason for that, but she had been told about being able to shift the metal plates within Cybertron’s earth. But that didn’t cross the young sparkling’s mind. Especially as while she had been only two cycles old when she was placed in the pod. Now she was considered to be about four cycles older, so she really wasn’t much older than she was. However, Galaxy knew she couldn’t stay here. She couldn’t rely on the pod to feed her energon anymore as it was all gone. She had to leave and find a transformer who may adopt her. Which she was certain that it would be easier said than done.

She opened her mouth to test her vocal processor, but all that came out was whimpers and whines, no actual words. She grumbled as it seemed that the protocol that Oranos placed in her vocal processor was still intact. She sighed as she grabbed the side of the pod and stood up slowly. Her legs were shaky as she has not walked in so long. But she also used to walk on four legs, so this was new to her. She carefully lifted her right leg to step out, but the pod was bigger than her and she yelped as she slipped out, falling onto the soft, bioluminescent grass by the pod. She blinked and shook her head before standing up slowly, waving her arms around as she was very unsteady on her feet as she tried to keep her balance. She stepped forward and almost fell forward and quickly realized that she wasn’t going to be walking around very well for a while. That was a little frustrating.

Galaxy whimpered as she stumbled to the right and managed to catch herself on the wall. She intakes heavily as she pushed herself off and walked around to practice walking as going into Iacon city at this time was the only mission she had. And she had zero idea of what even to look for when looking for someone to care for her for a while. The sparkling knew that this was quite the task she had, but it was important. She had no idea if anyone of her kind even survived. So she was determined.

The sparkling managed to get balanced enough and looked towards the small tunnel as it was her only way out. Galaxy whimpered as she walked over to the tunnel and peered inside with a slight frown. There was a bit of a slope downward, though it was not steep. Galaxy could still stand up in the tunnel, and she would be able to get down to the city easier. She hummed a little and looked up at the gap in the wall where light from the outside of the cavern was filtering through. She couldn’t see out of the gaps, due to being very short, but she could smell various scents coming through the gaps of the many civilians living in the city.

Sighing deeply, Galaxy made her way down the tunnel cautiously. The bioluminescent plants were the only things lighting her way, but her optics had adjusted to the lighting of the tunnel very quickly. Galaxy didn’t know how far she would need to go, but she could really only follow the tunnel and hope that it was a one-way path as that would make things a whole lot easier. And she wouldn’t have as much trouble getting into the city.

Galaxy walked through the tunnel for about thirty minutes before she would see light filtering through at the end of the tunnel. Galaxy hummed a little as she was very uncertain about what she was going to see. She was hoping that access to the city itself wasn’t going to be difficult. Just because the cave was connected to Iacon, it didn’t mean that she would be able to just waltz into the city. And she wouldn’t be able to without being seen. At least Galaxy could cloak herself and move through the city, though she could still be stepped on if she wasn’t careful.

When she reached the end of the tunnel, she saw the opening out of the cave and she whimpered a little as she peered around the side cautiously. She was surprised to find that the cave led down into the lower part of the city. This was good, since there was not a lot of risk to fall as she couldn’t fly. But she also was too young to even fly at this time anyway, so Galaxy would have been at a big disadvantage if she couldn’t get down. So she felt this was lucky. And yet, she was also terrified.

She didn’t know anything about Iacon. There was no information about the city left for her, even from Oranos, so Galaxy didn’t know where she would even go. But it probably has changed a lot, and she also knew that as a possibility. As she stared at the city, there were so many transformers walking around going about their business, and Galaxy realized that a lot of them were bigger than her. She really didn’t know how she was going to find someone to take her in at all. Especially since she knew that Sentinel probably had eyes and ears throughout the place. And Galaxy did know about Sentinel’s crimes against her own kind, but only what had been told to her through the crystal. So she had no idea if there were any still alive. And she didn’t even know if her sire and carrier were alive as well.

Staring out of the cave, Galaxy didn’t even know where to start. She moved away from the entrance as she pondered on what to do. The orders she had in her mind were clear. But it certainly seemed like it was easier said than done, so Galaxy had to think about it. Even if it meant wandering the city until she found what she was looking for. And she hoped she would before she would become hungry and need to refill her tank.

She leaned against the wall for at least an hour while contemplating, but the sparkling gave up and she just decided to go in and look around. But before she did that, she focused and cloaked her whole body. She didn’t realize she had cloaked herself until she looked down at herself and saw her hands and feet had a ghostly appearance to them. Galaxy smiled as she would be able to get through the city unseen. She just had to avoid the transformers, which might be harder than she might think.

She cautiously slipped out of the cave and stepped onto the metal path, looking up at the bots that walked by while going about their business. Galaxy couldn’t help but crouch a little as she was extremely nervous, but she chose to start walking when she had a moment, and she took care to not get stepped on. And she was glad that she made a start as she didn’t want to wait.

And as she walked with the crowds, Galaxy began to see the size of Iacon city. She realised very quickly about the many levels of the city, and some of the city buildings looked like they had been built upside-down. The architect and engineering that went into building this place was impressive, and Galaxy found herself enjoying the scenery a lot. But this distraction did almost get her stepped on multiple times, and she knew she had to be more careful.

But it was hard to not be amazed. Tempest was not like this at all. It was more open spaced and was built into the mountains to blend in with nature. But Iacon was definitely way different. And while Galaxy’s memory of Tempest was very vague now, she knew that it was different. And she was tempted to explore the entire city. But the magnitude of the city meant exploring the entire place in a single day was a bad idea. She knew her mission currently, even though she has not yet observed any transformer who she would trust.

One of the things that definitely distracted her were the trains that moved around the city. It wasn’t really the way they were moving, but rather the tracks that seemed to automatically form as the trains would move through the city. It looked like it was impossible, but it clearly was possible due to however they were engineered. And it made getting through the city easy without train tracks all over the place.

And she also noticed that small transformers were getting on these trains, and she was surprised, as majority of the bots she was seeing right now, were tall and large. But the transformers she saw were smaller, and that got Galaxy intrigued. She had to make her way over and saw that these smaller bots were walking out of a building and piling into the train. She observed them curiously and she decided that maybe these guys were worth following.

But when she got onto the train, she quickly realized she needed to find some place to hide. There were so many of these bots piling into the train, and she would easily get stepped on. Luckily, there were seats inside the train she could hide under, but many of the bots were sitting on the seats. Galaxy looked around cautiously, looking at the different bots and she noticed that something was different about them. Their size wasn’t the only thing that was different about them.

While she was distracted, Galaxy let out a yelp as someone suddenly tripped over her and she ducked, crawling underneath a seat immediately. She heard a grunt and turned her head to see a shocked bot with a silver face and blue helm. His blue optics look around in confusion as he had fallen backwards, and he clearly felt something. Galaxy stared at him as he looked around. His red chassic was a little dirty and rusty, and he clearly has done a lot of work. And she hoped he wouldn’t think something was there.

There was a loud laugh and she flinched as a silver bot leaned down with his hand out to help the bot up. “I didn’t realize you had gone and raided the high-grade bars, Pax. We are always need to be ready to work each day without you getting yourself drunk on high-grade energon.”

The bot looked at the silver bot in surprise and he shook his head. “You know we would never be allowed that stuff, D.” He lifted his right hand to take the silver bot’s hand and helped him to his feet. “It’s just…” Looking around, Pax seemed to be confused. Galaxy covered her mouth with her hands as she watched him shift his blue legs before he leaned down and peered under the seat, making the sparkling almost whimper loudly. “You heard that squeal when I fell, didn’t you?”

“Sure, but I couldn’t help but think that was you,” The silver bot responded sarcastically and Pax rolled his optics while glancing back and forth under the seat. “Come on, Pax. There is nothing under that seat. You fell because you are just clumsy. You’re lucky you didn’t twist anything and get yourself put into medical for a day. Elita wouldn’t be very pleased with one miner down.”

Galaxy frowned when she heard the bot speak about them being miners. And she wondered why at first, but remembered Oranos had told her through what she had learned from the essence that energon stopped flowing and would now need to be mined. Pax leaned back and stopped looking under the seat, making Galaxy sigh a little. “I don’t exactly have a feminine voice, D-16…” Pax smirked at his friend while nudging his shoulder playfully with his fist. “Especially since I swear a I felt something when I fell. It was like I tripped.”

“You sure it wasn’t just Jazz sticking his foot out behind you?” D-16 asked, while gesturing to another silver bot who was sitting on the chair.

Jazz gasped in surprise. “D-16, I do not appreciate being called out on doing something that I didn’t do. Orion Pax fell over nothing, even though it was a bit strange.”

D-16 shrugged with a smug, teasing smirk on his expression. “I don’t know. I didn’t quite see what exactly happened since Pax was going on and on about wanting to know more about what happened to the Matrix of Leadership and other stuff. Especially since Sentinel Prime hasn’t been around in a long time.” Galaxy shuddered at hearing Sentinel’s name, but she was surprised that they called him a Prime. "So you could have stuck your foot out while we were distracted.”

“I am not that kind of bot, D. I would never do something like that. Pax knows it too. And I must admit, I heard that squeal too. Not sure where it came from, but it didn’t come from Orion.”

“Thanks, Jazz. I knew you didn’t trip me, so D is just being a glitch.” D-16 just huffed in amusement at Orion’s jab. Orion leaned down again as he seemed to be paranoid, but as he couldn’t see anything, he seemed to accept it. “Maybe I just fell over my own feet. That does happen sometimes. Remember yesterday?”

“Oh, yeah…you were drilling and cutting the rock in the mine yesterday and you, for some reason, decided to grab the saw of the drill when you moved to another rock. You were lucky you didn’t cut your hand off, Pax.” Orion groaned a little with a light chuckle at D-16’s response. “But…that’s not really the stupidest thing that you have ever done. However, at least you can work today. No more damage, aside from an apparent left foot.”

Jazz chuckled lightly. “Yeah. Maybe that squeal came from his leg.”

“That would be ridiculous! Have you ever heard either of my legs squeaking when I walk?” There was silence from D-16 and Jazz, which made Orion let out a deep sigh. “Real funny, guys. I take one trip over my own feet and i now have two left feet with squeaky joints. I might be rusty, but I do take regular oil paths.”

“So do I, and I don’t have any squeaky joints. Hopefully your knees won’t squeal while we mine and echo enough that we all get headaches.” Orion huffed and folded his arms as he smirked at D-16. “On the other hand, seeing you search for some kind of ghost for tripping you kind of makes me a little worried. After all, I did not see anything. Nor did Jazz. And no one else seems to either. But just about everyone on the train here saw that trip.”

Orion groaned while Jazz and D-16 chuckled at the bot. “Ugghh...yeah...you are right. I only just realised everyone saw that...at least Elita doesn’t use the train when we do. She would hang that over my head the whole day.”

D-16 chuckled and playfully elbowed him in the side of his chassis. “She may hear about it before the end of the day.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t dare tell her, would you, D?”

“Hmm...I don’t know. It would be pretty funny since she’s our boss, and you seem to had a kind of admiration for her, so...someone may slip up.” Orion shook his head in amusement as he sat down on the chair. Galaxy stared at the bot’s feet nervously, even though as she listened, she became a little fascinated with D-16 and Orion Pax. D-16 just chuckled at Orion. “But, of course, I won’t say a word. But that isn’t a promise Jazz, Ironhide or anyone else can make. So...you know. It may get back to her.”

Orion sighed deeply and he chuckled lightly. “I suppose it would be okay. I mean, it isn’t the worst thing I’ve done. Besides, she probably won’t care as much as all this happened away from the mines. When we get there in a few minutes, we all will probably just forget about this silly incident and continue ahead for the day.”

“You will hope for that, won’t you?” D-16 teased his friend gently. “But I suppose we have to focus now anyway. We got another day of mining to do. We are meeting the daily quota very well, and we should keep it up.”

“Heh, not like any of us will get promoted. It’s rare, since the transformers ensure that we are given limited opportunities.” Galaxy frowned as she listened quietly, not knowing what Orion meant. But as she peered out from under the chair, she realized that these small bots didn’t have transformation cogs in their chests. T-cogs in draconic bots were set in a different part of their body, unlike transformers, but every Cybertronian was born with one. So Galaxy didn’t know why they had no cog. “Plus, Elita doesn’t really like competition. She’s worked really hard to get where she is now.”

“Yeah, I know. But it would be nice, since it would mean we get paid more energon cubes if we had a better position. We worked hard to get to their tier as it is anyway.” D-16 turned as the light dimmed, making Galaxy whimper a little. “We’re here. Let’s get ourselves ready to punch in.” The other bots began to gather in anticipation for the doors to open, and Galaxy moved to get out from under the chair quickly when it was safe to do so. “I hope today goes by quickly.”

“It does once we get down to business.” Orion stood up and walked towards the door, giving Galaxy a sigh of relief and she moved closer and looked at Jazz as he stood up to follow. “Especially once we start having a bit of fun."

"Nope! No more fun, Pax. This is our job! You do remember when we tried having fun last time. Ugh! Darkwing really ensured we all endured some heavy lifting for twenty-four hours and didn’t care that our joints felt like they would fall off. I am never doing that again,” D-16 responded to Orion in a complaining tone, which Orion just chuckled at. “It was fun when it happened, but mining energon is our job. It is what we need to do so that we all can survive. If and when Sentinel finds the Matrix, we at least won’t have to mine anymore.”

Galaxy didn’t know how many cycles it has been since she was put into the pod, so she didn’t know how long that the transformers had been mining for energon. She stared at the backs of the two mining bots curiously and she looked at Orion Pax. Mostly because she had a sense from him that he would be a good pick. But also…there was something else. She wasn’t sure if this was just a subtle push from Primus or not, but Galaxy just had a sense that something about Orion Pax that was good and hopeful. He seemed to be immature, that was true, but that might also just be how he acted with his friend.

When the train came to a stop, Galaxy waited as the miner bots began to pile out of the train and she slipped out from under the chair to run out of the train so she wouldn’t be locked in. When she ran out, she found herself looking at a massive mining operation. Hundreds of carts filled to the brim with energon rocks were lined up in the massive cavern ahead of her, and there were large processing equipment to turn the rocks into pure energon cubes for the city. It was very impressive.

Many of the mining bots were already here and working hard to ensure there was a constant flow of energon being fed to the machines to process the energon. Galaxy was very much amazed at what she was seeing, but she realized now that she was stuck underground and had no idea what she was going to do right now. Galaxy made a low whimper and looked around quickly before spotting D-16 and Orion Pax down below. They were walking over to grab some tools, and Galaxy widened her optics, knowing she had to catch up.

She ran over to the stairs and began to run down, but she lost her footing and Galaxy almost let out a loud shriek as she fell forward and face planted into the back of Jazz, who had been taking his time going down the stairs. He yelped in surprise and fell face forward down the stairs, which made him hit several other bots as they tumble down the stairs and Galaxy stared in shock. She had not meant to push someone accidently, and she didn’t think it would be easy. But his feet had been placed on the edges of the stairs, so he lost balance a little too quickly for his liking.

“ARRGHH!” Jazz stood up as he looked around in shock. Galaxy looked at Jazz for the first time and saw he had a visor over his optics rather than two individual optics. He was looking around in shock and looked at Orion and D who were looking back in surprise. “Is this a joke, Pax? First you trip over something invisible, now something invisible shoves me down the stairs!”

Orion widened his optics in shock at the accusation. “Why would you blame me? I can’t really do anything like that…nor do I know of anything or anyone who can turn invisible. In fact, no transformer can.”

“Yeah…well…” Another bot spoke in an irritated voice. He was mostly brown orange with white shoulder pads and thighs. He stood up and looked around with a frown with his blue optics searching for what could have shoved Jazz. “That did not just happen by accident. Jazz might be clumsy sometimes, but he doesn’t throw himself like a missile at anyone.”

Jazz nodded in agreement. “Ironhide is right.” Jazz glanced around some more with a frown. He paused as Galaxy ran down the stairs and she realized he heard her footsteps, and she ran to the right. “Ohh, I just heard something. I think we got some kind of vermin or something in here!"

Galaxy ran over to hide behind one of the carts, and she was glad that her cloak was still on. But it was draining her energy, and she would be forced to drop it soon. The mining bots were now all concerned and were looking around for whoever had knocked Jazz down, and the sparkling whimpered a little as she felt stupid. And maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all, and she should just wait for a train to come back so she could leave.

But before she could do anything, a dark blue jet suddenly flew down from a building high above the mine, which was probably for the guards to keep an eye on the miners, transformed and a much large bot landed. His visor was purple and he had a face mask with a round, dark silver helm with two antennae on either side of the helm. “What are you miners doing?! Get to work and stop lazing around!”

“There’s something else in here, Darkwing,” Ironhide responded bluntly as he walked towards the carts to look around while Darkwing growled as he watched the bot. “Something pushed Jazz down the stairs, and it had tripped Orion Pax on the train, but we don’t know what it is. Something is in here.”

Darkwing huffed angrily at the bot. “Do you really expect me to believe such a stupid story, Ironhide? And where is Elita-1?”

“I’m here, Darkwing.” Galaxy flinched as another bot flew in, though she was wearing a jetpack and landed on the ground. “Forgive my absense, I was overseeing some repairs to one of the energon processors as it had suddenly slowed down earlier for some reason.” The bot look at the other miners with a scowl on her expression. She was hot pink with white thighs, and her icy blue optics held a strong demeanor as she seemed like a hard worker. “And I just overheard that ridiculous story. Come on, guys! An invisible creature! What nonsense! Get your jetpacks, get your drills and get yourselves ready!”

Darkwing huffed as he looked at Elita while clenching his fists. Galaxy realized already that she did not like this bot. “At least you understand. You heard Elita, now get your afts into gear before I ensure that you all work a double shift today!”

There was a lot of loud groaning and grumbling from the bots as they were warned on what would happen if they didn’t get to work. That didn’t really stop Ironhide for a moment as he leaned by one of the carts to look down the row, and as he didn’t see anything, he walked away to get the tools he would need to start his mining shift. Galaxy sighed deeply, though she felt a bit bad since she did almost cause them to get in trouble.

However, as she watched the bots gather the jet packs and tools, she didn’t notice a bot walking by her and she yelped as they tripped over her legs. She looked back to see they were carrying a crate of tools, and they fell forward onto the ground. This caught the attention of both Darkwing and Elita as they were not expecting it at all. None of them were.

Panicked, Galaxy ran from the cart, pushing herself off it and caused it to tilt slightly, and Darkwing growled deeply. “Hmmph! Maybe they weren’t lying.”

“I think you are right. But I do not see anything or anyone that is causing this...” Elita widened her optics as another bot fell suddenly and she frowned. “Everyone! It looks like we have something down here! Spread out and look for it! It’s going to keep interfering if we don’t stop it!” She turned on her jet pack to fly upward to search for the creature. “I’m not seeing anything.”

Galaxy really didn’t mean to cause a lot of mess as she ran out from between the first row of mining carts and ran to a set of stairs leading up to a large cylinder that was processing energon into cubes. She stopped as there were several bots on the platform and she jumped to the side as they ran down and Galaxy looked around for some place to hide and lay low for a bit.

At this point, all the mining bits had put their jet packs on and they were flying around to try and find the mysterious creature. Orion was the only one who did not remain airborne. He was landing and taking off while searching for the creature with determination in his optics. Galaxy trembled and she ran around the cylinder, but it was a dead end. She looked around and slipped into a gap between the cylinder and the rocky wall of the mine. And she whimpered as the cloak dropped suddenly, and she intakes heavily as she was exhausted.

She sat down as best as she could and she hoped that no one would look where she was hiding. She needed a moment, and she hoped that she could get out of the mines. She felt really stupid coming here and she couldn’t stop herself from sobbing lightly and hugging her legs as she waited as patiently as she could for the ruckus to calm down. And she didn’t even know how long that was going to be.

“Does anyone have a visual of our intruder?” Elita shouted in irritation as she flew around the room and found no evidence something was hiding in here. “I am not seeing anything. Orion, you’ve been looking under anything. Have you spotted anything yet?”

“Not yet, Elita.” Orion huffed as he ran up to the energon processor for a moment as he looked around with a human. “I think it is hiding somewhere now that it knows we are looking for it.” Orion looked around some more. “It could have gone deeper into the mines.”

“I hope not. Ugh...” Elita opened a com link to the lower part of the mine. “Arcee, be vigilant. We have some kind of intruder here. It has knocked several of the other bots down, along with almost knocking over some of the mining carts. Be careful.”

“Understood,” Came and affirmative response from another femme through the com link.

Galaxy could hear footsteps close by and she knew it was one of the miners. She had no idea what they would do if they did find her. She hoped that they wouldn’t do anything to her at all. The footsteps soon began to get closer as the nearby bot walked around the cylinder to check the side of it. At that point, Galaxy could see the shadow and she let out a light whimpering, sob, which it seemed like he heard her.

And with that, Galaxy jumped as she saw Orion lean down by the gap with a grin that said that he found her. However, as soon as his blue optics locked onto her yellow optics, his expression changed to shock as he widened his optics and stared at her. Galaxy was intaking and exhaling nervously as she stared back at him with tears streaming down her cheeks. Nothing was said by Orion as he stared at her.

He wasn’t just shocked that this was a sparkling in the mines. But he was also shocked by her appearance. The young femme’s face was silver and the shape of her helm was strikingly similar to his...at least the shape of the cheeks were. The two horns on either side of her helm was sharp, and the blue streak that ran from the horns to the femme’s cheek now ran down the side of the cheek of her helm. The top of the sparkling’s helm was smoother than Orion’s helm and Orion also recognised that shape from the helm of his best friend. Though at the base of the sparkling’s cheeks, a small, red, sharp spike curled upward against the femme’s chin.

The femme’s chassis and shoulders were white silver with blue panels beneath her undercarriage and down her stomach to her hip plate. Her wrists were light blue with streaks of red on the sides of her wrists, and her hands were silver with red fingertips. Her thighs were silver and her knees and calves were red with a blue streak down the outer side of each knee down to the tip of her toes in a wave shape. Orion didn’t know who this sparkling was, or who she belonged to, but the fact was, she bore a striking resemblance to himself and D-16...which was somehow impossible and Orion was really at a loss for words right now.

Chapter Text

Orion and Galaxy stare at each other for several minutes. Galaxy was nervous about what he will do, while Orion didn’t understand how a sparkling got into the mines. Nor did he understand that there was a sparkling at all. Mostly due to the fact that it has been decreed that no new sparklings shall be conceived and birthed until energon can start flowing once again in Cybertron. So seeing a sparkling was a moment of disbelief for him, and Orion had to look away and look back just to even make sure that what he was seeing was real. And she was.

Orion could tell that the sparkling was not new born. She was quite a few cycles older than one considered to be a new born, but she was still too young to be considered a youngling. She still needed low-grade energon, which wasn’t available anymore. Or at least, Orion did not think it was available. However, she seemed old enough to understand things and talk, but she definitely needed an adult transformer to still take care of her. And the mines was no place for a sparkling.

Orion intakes deeply and shifted to reach towards her, making her whimper and try to move back more. “It is okay, little one. I’m not going to hurt you.” Galaxy whimpered as she sniffled a little while staring back at him. “You don’t want to get yourself stuck in there. Come on, you have given everyone quite the...um...well you didn’t scare everyone, but you brought a bit of trouble.” Galaxy looked down a little while glancing at him. “Come on, it is not safe here for you. You need to go back to your parents.” Galaxy tensed and whimpered as she already knew her parents were gone. The bond she had with them was already severed when she stepped out of the pod. And it hurt knowing they were gone. Orion seemed to realize that something was wrong and he softened his expression. “I am sorry if something has happened to you, but you need to come out of there. Come on, I will not hurt you.”

Galaxy looked back at Orion’s optics as she could see the kindness and concern. While she was afraid, Galaxy could sense he was good. She shifted as she thought about standing up and moving towards him before she heard another bot suddenly land by Pax, which startled her and Orion as he had not been paying attention to anything else but her.

“Did you find it, Pax?” Elita asked bluntly in an irritated way. “If you haven’t, stop staring into that gap like an idiot and keep looking.”

“Uuumm...” Orion turned his head to look back at Galaxy as she had tensed again. “Well...I have...only it isn’t what I expected...or anyone else.”

Elita let out a loud sigh. “Honestly, Pax, it shouldn’t be that hard to get rid of a pest! But if you are too soft...” Galaxy whimpered as she saw Elita’s shadow move closer and the femme paused. “Wait...why did that sound like...” Galaxy jumped as she saw Elita leaning behind Orion. The pink femme widened her blue optics in shock as she stared at Galaxy. “A...sparkling?”

Orion nodded as he looked at the sparkling with a kind expression. “I...I never would have guessed...especially since no one has had a sparkling for many cycles. This is not what I expected at all...and I am kind of impressed that she managed to evade us all.”

Elita nodded a little in agreement. “Well...try and get her out without hurting her. We will need to tell Darkwing, since someone has clearly broken the rules.” Elita walked away over to the railings to look at the other miners. “Alright, everyone. You all can calm down and get yourselves ready to work. Orion has located the problem and we will be dealing with it. Darkwing...” Elita looked at the large bot as he stomped over to the stairs. “Um, I think you may want to contact some superiors, since what Pax found isn’t what we expected.”

Darkwing huffed angrily with clenched hands. “And what makes you think that my superiors are even going to care what you found, Elita? If you can’t destroy this vermin, I will do it for you…” He glanced up as D-16 landed behind Elita as he was curious to see what Orion had found. “D-16, did you not hear Elita? You are to get your aft over to the others and get yourself prepared for the day’s work. At this rate, you won’t even meet today’s quota.”

“I heard her, I did. I just want to see what Pax found.” D-16 walked over to Pax quickly and leaned behind him, and he widened his optics with a loud gasp of surprise. His own yellow optics lock with the yellow optics of a crying sparkling, who seemed to have colours and appearance that were strikingly similar to himself and Pax. Though that was impossible. D-16 stared for a moment and looked down at Pax. “Um…I can see why you are a bit…shocked.”

Darkwing huffed loudly as he stomped towards them. “This is ridiculous! I do not care what exactly about this thing has you stunned, but you have a job to do! So get yourself away from here to get a drill and get prepared!” D-16 was not moving as he was staring in shock, making Darkwing growl loudly as he stomped closer. Elita moved out of the way as she knew that Darkwing would not play around. “I will not order you again, D-16! You are to…” Darkwing paused as he heard a whimper and he was confused. “Hold up…” He growled and he suddenly pulled D-16 away and leaned to look over Orion’s shoulder and he was surprised to see the sparkling. “Oh…” Darkwing’s demeanour quickly changed from anger to surprise. “Wait…but this is impossible. No one has had a sparkling in cycles.”

“And, if I am to understand correctly, can’t,” D-16 commented as he frowned at Darkwing for pulling him away. “And I have no idea how she managed to move around without being seen, since that’s quite the skin on her part.”

“And it is very concerning she managed to sneak in here on the train you lot were on.” Elita intakes heavily and looked at Darkwing. “Like I said, this needs to be reported Darkwing. Sentinel Prime will have to made aware that there is a sparkling here, and a search has to be taken to find who had this femme.”

Darkwing grumbled lightly and walked away, which Galaxy was happy about, but she was still nervous. Orion had no moved as he felt that since he found her, he should be the one to get her out. “Ugh…you are right, Elita. Hmmph!” Darkwing growled and looked at Orion for a moment before looking at Elita. “I will go and speak to someone else about this issue. Make sure you get that little brat out of hiding before I get back. Some decisions will be made by the time I return.” Darkwing jumped and transformed before he flew away quickly.

Elita sighed deeply and looked at Orion Pax. “You heard Darkwing, Pax. Get the sparkling out. Just make sure she knows she is not in danger and no one here is mad. She just happened to give us all a big surprise.” Elita looked at D-16 with a stern expression. “And I know you want to help Pax, D, but this isn’t really something that requires more than one bot. Plus, we all probably scared the poor thing.”

“I know, but…I just was surprised about the sparkling. That is all…” D-16 rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he paced a little while Orion was still trying to gently coax the young sparkling to get out of her hiding spot. “I am surprised that she has managed to be practically invisible...or she was just too quick...”

“Sparklings can be quite quick on their feet, D-16. That is something I wouldn’t be surprised about. You all scared her that much. But at least she is unharmed, hopefully.” Elita intakes heavily and looked at Orion. “Making any progress, Pax? We really need her out of there before Darkwing gets back. He will scare her even more if we don’t.”

“I know. I’m trying. But she’s really frightened.” Orion wasn’t sure how he could coax the terrified sparkling out from behind the cylinder. He softened his expression some more as he stared at the femme. “Come on out, little one. I promise that nothing bad will happen to you. You will not be harmed.” Galaxy whimpered a little as she stared at him. “I wish I could take back what happened before. You didn’t mean to trip me or Jazz, so it is okay. It is forgiven.”

Galaxy sniffled a little as she knew she couldn’t stay where she was. Plus, when she had seen Darkwing, he frightened her. And Galaxy didn’t want to know how angry he could get. Orion Pax seemed to be very pleasant though. He had no aura that made her not trust him, so that was good. And she already had a sense from him that he was good, and she knew that there might be more to him than he was right now. And that made her relax some more.

Galaxy whimpered before she shifted away from the gap behind her and stepped forward, looking at Orion cautiously. The bot didn’t try to reach for her just yet, as he was being very patient. She murmured lightly as she stared back at him before she stepped forward and suddenly stumbled, making her yelp in surprise as she fell forward and Orion gently caught her before she hit the ground.

She looked at him in surprise. “Almost hit the ground. You are okay.” Galaxy stared at Orion as he stepped back and stood up slowly, holding her by the armpits before he held her against his chassic and shifted his arms around her to be more comfortable. “There we go, she finally left her hiding spot.” Orion looked at D-16 and Elita with a smile, while Galaxy stared at them for a moment before whimpering and wrapping her arms around Orion’s neck suddenly and burying her face into his shoulder. “Whoa, whoa! Uh…it’s okay…you aren’t in danger.”

Orion gently rubbed the sparkling’s back, though it was clear he had no idea how to comfort a sparkling, even though he was trying. D-16 smiled a little as he gazed at the sparkling. He saw that the back of the sparkling’s neck was blue with the white chassis that wrapped around from the front to the back. There were two red and blue stripes on the back of the chassis shaped like feathers, and there were more red and blue streaks down her back that were feather shaped. It was interesting, but it wasn’t something that made D recognize this bot was not like them.

D-16 walked over to Orion was the bot tried to comfort the femme. “She’s pretty cute, you have to admit. We never would have guessed that a little femme like that would cause chaos down here. Though I do wonder why she found her way onto the train.”

“I can’t help but think that too…” Orion looked at Elita as the femme was observing him silently. “Um…am I going to be in trouble for this?”

Elita raised an eyebrow in surprise and she shook her head. “Not sure why you would even assume that, Pax. A sparkling ending up in here really isn’t anyone’s fault. And you are currently excused from mining until this is dealt with. Especially as it seems that she is clinging to you right now.”

“I know.” Pax looked down at the sparkling and she still had her face buried into his shoulder and he looked back at Elita. “I feel awkward, since I really have no idea how to even…look after a sparkling…”

Elita snorted in amusement. “Somehow, that does not surprise me. With the stupid antics you like to get up to, seeing you as a sire to a sparkling isn’t something I could ever see happening.”

Orion made a face of a fake frown and rolled his optics. “That isn’t very nice, Elita. I know I can be a bit…outgoing and do things that are a little outside of protocol…” Elita’s eyebrow raised some more and Orion sighed. “Okay, maybe not a little, but I still take my job seriously. And if I had a sparkling, I wouldn’t be stupid enough to be careless with them. After all, sparklings rely on their carrier and sire for many cycles.”

“Yeah, even us, despite the fact many of us grew up without one,” D-16 said sombrely, which made Galaxy turn her head slightly and look at him in surprise, as she didn’t expect that. “But I agree with you, Pax. Sparklings are a serious business to care for.”

“They certainly are. I hope Darkwing will not take too long.” Elita groaned loudly before she frowned and looked at D-16. “You need to get down to the mines and begin working, D. I know Pax is your friend, but there is literally nothing you can do here. I have to remain being that I am in charge of you, but you need to go.”

“Oh…okay…” D-16 was disappointed that he would need to go into the mines to start work. He looked at Orion and placed his hand on his shoulder gently. “Wish I could stick around and assist, but duty calls...” D-16 flinched in surprise when the sparkling suddenly grabbed his index finger while staring at him. He looked at the sparkling in surprise and he saw that she wanted him to stay. “Sorry, little one. I have to go and do some work. You can’t come with me. It’s dusty, dirty and very dark. You have to wait here with Orion here.” The sparkling let out a low whine and shook her head as she tightened her grip, and D-16 saw more tears in her optics. D-16 was not sure how to respond. “Uh, come on, you have a strong grip and that is good. But I should go to work. Let me go, please.” She shook her head again and let out of a light sob. “Uhh…Elita…” D-16 looked at the surprised femme. “Um…I’m stuck now too…”

Elita looked at the sparkling as the little femme was refusing to let D-16 going. She frowned as she glanced at Orion, D-16 and the femme again before she shook her head. “Ugh…alright. I think you both should just come out and say it.”

Orion looked at Elita with a confused frown, not knowing what she meant. “Uhhh…I am not following, Elita. What should D and I say?”

“I wasn’t going to say anything in case it was just a coincidence. But this sparkling here…” Elita gestured to the sparkling and making Galaxy flinch with a light whimper. “Not only has your shade of blue and a slightly darker shade of red, like the under carriage beneath D’s chassis and the same shade of silver as D-16 on her chassis and helm, I could point out everything about her that make me see both of you. Especially her helm.” Orion and D-16 widen their optics as they suddenly became worried. Elita put her hands on her hips as she frowned. “So now I want to know if she is yours? I can’t help but notice how she is now clinging to the two of you like sire and carrier, and while I know neither of you carried, we all know that there are advanced procedures in using artificial gestational chambers and using the CNA of two bots to form a new sparkling. After all, that’s how majority of us were born.”

“Wait, wait, wait, Elita…” D-16 let out a nervous chuckle while shaking his head. “You can’t possibly be asking if this femme is our daughter. That’s ridiculous!”

“Well, I don’t know, D-16. She has your optics, and not even just the colour either. The shape of them are kind of like yours too…” D-16 tensed more as he glanced at the femme as she was still clutching his finger. “So I want to know if you happened to bribe a medic with some raw energon or freshly processed energon for their own stash for this to happen. Because when Darkwing returns, he is going to notice these details too. No one is foolish, D-16. So you and Orion had better fess up before things might get ugly and you find yourselves ripped away from your sparkling.” Galaxy smiled slightly as she listened to Elita as she knew it was just a coincidence. “But I am still hopeful this is just a coincidence, even if no one here would be surprised that the two of you are quite close to each other.”

Orion’s optics were wide with worry as he didn’t think this would be a problem. “Elita, this sparkling is not ours. I-I can see why you would assume that, and I am not sure why she is holding onto D, but she is not ours. Especially when no one is allowed to have a sparkling, and we would have already been in trouble for trying. It really is a huge coincidence.” Orion looked at the sparkling as she rests her cheek on his shoulder and he sighed deeply before looking back at Elita. “And you know that we cogless bots don’t really even have access to those facilities. Clearly, someone else has had this sparkling. And…” He glanced at D-16 with a raised eyebrow. “I didn’t think that our good friendship would be seen as anything more.”

Elita raised her hands with a slight smirk. “Hey, you know no one here will bat an optic should you both happen to have a beneficial friendship with each other. So you really don’t need to try and defend yourselves if that is the case.” Both Orion and D-16 didn’t know what to say to that while glancing at each other. “But you are also right, Orion. We do not have access to those facilities. They’re reserved for transformers, as without our cogs, producing sparklings is kind of not posisble for us since they needed for the whole process…I think…” Galaxy whimpered a little as she shifted and Orion had to pay attention so she would not fall. “Still…I think with how she is clinging to you both, you might be forced to go with Darkwing to the medical facilities to at least find her parents and give her back to them.”

“And…what will happen if her parents aren’t found?” D-16 asked slowly as he couldn’t help but feel a little concerned for the fate of the sparkling. “Will she be adopted by someone?”

“I…I wish I knew, D-16. This has never happened before.” Elita glanced up for a moment and she frowned as Darkwing was not back yet. “I hope Darkwing will not take long. And I guess since that sparkling isn’t letting you go, D-16, you can stick around. Not that you have much of a choice. Hopefully the other miners can get to work without my supervision.”

“I am sure they will be fine, Elita. But I hope they will not slack off while you aren’t watching.” Orion looked at the sparkling and she looked at his optics. While he didn’t know what will happen to the sparkling, Orion couldn’t help but find that she was adorable. She was looking at him in a way that made a tug at his spark. Even though he was not biologically related. “Well…whoever she belongs to, I hope they don’t let this happen again. She’s too cute to find herself hurt and stepped on down here. I am so sorry for tripping over you.” The sparkling smiled at him and murmured lightly with a chuckle. “Hmm…I wonder if you can talk yet…” The sparkling didn’t react to that other than just looking back at him. Orion didn’t really know if she was old enough or if something was wrong, but that was not something that was an issue for him. “Well, you are cute anyway.”

“And since she’s decided to hold me down, maybe I can hold her. Your arms are probably getting tired…” Galaxy immediately shook her head and frowned at D-16 for his suggestion. D-16 was surprised and looked at his hand before chuckling. “I see…it is okay for her to have a strong hold of me, but she doesn’t want me to hold her. Alright, I see…”

Orion smirked as he looked at D-16 in amusement. “Well…I mean…maybe you’re a bit too scary for her.”

“Scary? Nah, no, you just happened to be the first bot she had seen. Or maybe you do happen to look like one of her parents…” Orion groaned a little as he realized quickly that the subject of them being the sparkling’s parents might go on for some time. And even D-16 has taken on the joke it would seem. “But I’d say because you found her, and you weren’t forcing her out of that gap, that is probably the most likely reason.”

“Yeah, probably. At least we have an unusual excuse to not work for a while…but I imagine we will be needing to do some double time…” Elita nodded affirmatively at Orion, even though she knew that they weren’t at fault for this. “I hope Darkwing will be back soon.”

“He will scare her more than me. Especially with that grumpy nature of his. But considering this is an unusual situation…”

“He will still find some way to blame us, D-16. So I really don’t think we will be on his good side today at all. Especially me, since I’m in charge of all of you.” Elita glanced up as she heard the sound of Darkwing’s engine echo through the cavern and she sighed deeply. “He is on his way back.” The sparkling whimpered nervously as she had seen him before, and when she overheard how he spoke to the mining bots, she already knew she didn’t like him. “I hope that something good will be done for that sparkling.”

Orion rubbed the sparkling’s back gently as he watched Darkwing fly towards them. He could tell she was very nervous with the approaching bot, and he didn’t blame her. None of the miners really liked Darkwing due to his arrogance that he has due to the fact he has a t-cog and they do not. So he has abused that privilege a lot, and Pax was certain he has gotten away with some serious stuff before too.

Darkwing transformed and landed with a loud thud in front of Orion, D-16 and Elita, looking at them with a tense stance. Darkwing took notice that the sparkling was holding D-16’s index finger and she was not letting go. He looked at Elita. “I will take it from here. You just make sure that we meet the quota today, even if you have to push the miners, Elita-1. We are very behind due to this issue.”

“I understand.” Elita glanced at Orion and D briefly as she walked away and looked at Darkwing. “And I will await for them to return.”

“Originally, it was meant to be Pax to be given his shift off due to the unusual situation while we figure out this sparkling’s story. But...” Darkwing watched as D-16 tense visibly which seemed go amuse Darkwing. “I see that the sparkling is not letting you go, D-16. And as we do not need a potential tantrum, you two will come with me. We are taking her first to medical to ensure that sparkling is unharmed and to test her CNA to find her parents.” Elita said nothing as she simply nodded while walking away and turning her jet pack on so she could catch the other miners to begin the work.

“Right...so...that’s where we will be.” Orion was uncertain about it, but it was the best thing for the sparkling. He looked at the sparkling. “Can you let go of D-16’s hand now? He will be coming, we just can’t walk like this. Plus, your little arm must be tired holding onto him like that.” The sparkling whimpered before she relented after a minute and let’s D-16 go. “There we go.” Orion smile at her as she looked at him and she jumped as Orion and D-16 began to follow Darkwing. “I assume she will be seen by Ratchet.”

“He will be there, yes, but he may not be the one to deal with that sparkling if he is busy with another issue.” That wasn’t a surprise since medical was regularly busy. So Orion and D knew that Ratchet may not be the one who would assist with this. Darkwing huffed a little as he was clearly irritated by this. “Whoever had this sparkling and let her wander down into the mines are going to get it.”

Orion and D-16 were glad that Darkwing at least didn’t comment about the sparkling’s resemblance to them. But Darkwing also would have been told that this would be the case and both Orion and D would have been punished long ago. And as this sparkling was well over several cycles old, the sparkling had to be raised by her parents. Though they didn’t know what would happen should they fail to find her sire and carrier.

Upon reaching the elevator to head up to the medical center, Orion looked down at the sparkling to see she was just staring at the wall behind them. She didn’t seem interested or didn’t care about what was happening right at this moment. Or she was nervous, which seemed to be the most likely reason. Orion could feel the quick pace of her spark pulse against him, and he hoped she would be able to calm down. However, she didn’t seem excited about the idea of going back to her sire and carrier. Orion couldn’t help but think that something was wrong.

Once the elevator reached the correct level and the doors open, Darkwing walked ahead of the two mining bots to lead the way. Both Orion and D-16 have been here several times before. The hallway to medical was dimly lit with well cleaned and polished walls and floors that nearly reflect too well and can sometimes startle someone if they are not aware of this or paying attention. There were multiple levels in the medical center and this level was specifically for mining bots. And they had to come here, even though the sparkling was not from any of the mining bots. Darkwing had noticed that the young femme looks like Orion and D-16, but he also knew that he would have been told if any of the cogless bots would have tried to have a sparkling. So Darkwing didn’t make any comment about it like Elita had.

Darkwing made a right into a small room with a med berth and chairs. No medical bots were in here at this time, which meant they would need to wait. Darkwing was unhappy about this as he stood in the doorway with a huff. “I got told someone would meet us here! Ugh!” Galaxy flinched at the anger from Darkwing’s tone and she whimpered a little while hiding her face in Orion’s neck. Darkwing turned to Orion and D-16. “You both will wait here with that sparkling while I go and find someone. We have already wasted enough time! Ugh!”

Darkwing stomped around the two bots and stormed up the hallway in search of a medical bot to come and deal with this issue. Orion and D-16 glance at each other before they walk over to the chairs to sit down, not knowing how long they would have to wait, but that didn’t really matter at this time. Orion suspected that whoever was meant to be here was pulled away for something important.

Now that they were sitting, Orion tried to move the sparkling onto his lap, but the sparkling whimpered and she tightened her arms around him, making Orion wince a little as she accidentally pinched him. “She’s got a really strong grip.”

D-16 chuckled lightly as he looked at her with an amused smirk. “I noticed when she had a good hold of me. But that’s a good thing, Pax. Though I think the fact that you tripped over her and she managed to push Jazz down the stairs, even though it was clearly accidental, shows that this little femme is strong. Hopefully, that means she has a good future ahead of her.”

“I know…and I hope she does…” Orion rubbed the sparkling’s back gently and looked at her. “You are going to have to release me at some point, young one. I don’t know your name, but you need to go home.” She whimpered a little and just rested her cheek on his shoulder. Pax smiled at her and looked at D. “Though I can’t believe Elita thought that this girl is ours.”

“I know, but…I was pretty startled myself to see the similarities she has with us. What if we are related in some way?” Orion raised an eyebrow in surprise. “I’m not meaning that you and I are her parents, of course, but I mean…what if she is like a…distant relative.”

Orion had not thought of that, but it was possible. “That is interesting…but…I don’t think so, D. I think it is just a coincidence that she has any remote resemblance to us. Honestly, I think you and I got nervous over nothing.”

“I know. But...I am a little nervous that Elita may joke with the others that you and I are...closer than friends. I don’t know about you, you might be a good friend to me, but I’ve never felt any kind of way about your ugly aft.” Orion chuckled at D-16’s tease. “But I suppose we will just have to ignore it. You and I know we’re just friends. And you have had your optics on Elita for a long time.”

“Maybe…but I hope it won’t get too bad. Especially if Elita tells the others that the sparkling looks like you and I.” Orion knew that things will be a bit more difficult for himself and D-16 for a while due to this. “But I will say this, I think I miss this little one when she returns home. She’s cute and I think she likes the both of us.”

“Both? She might have grabbed a hold of my hand, but she hasn’t let me hold her. She’s stuck to you, Orion. But I am sure she will scream and fuss if I were to walk out of that door…” Galaxy whimpered as she looked at him immediately as he said that and D-16 smiled at her. “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. But…I think this will make things difficult for the medic.”

“Yeah, I am starting to realize that too.” Orion looked at the doorway as there was echoes of loud arguing down the hallway, and he quickly realized that Darkwing was angry at someone. He didn’t know who, but he wasn’t about to peak out of the door. “And now Darkwing is on his way back.” The sparkling tensed and she buried her face into his shoulder. “It is okay. Darkwing might be a…uh…um…how should I say it?”

D-16 frowned slightly with a smirk. “That he’s a fragging…OW! Hey!” Galaxy turned her head slightly with wide optics as she heard Orion punch his shoulder suddenly. “What was that for, Pax?”

Orion gave him a are you kidding me expression and gestured to the sparkling. “You can’t be saying that around a sparkling, D. You know.”

D-16 was flabbergasted and Galaxy smirked a little as that amused her. “I really just can’t believe you said that.” Orion frowned at him and shook his head, making D-16 sigh deeply. “For Primus sake, you can’t already be feeling protective of something that isn’t even yours, Orion.”

“No, but we need to be mindful for the moment. So…we need to find the right words while she’s here.”

D-16 chuckled lightly and shook his head in disbelief. “Pfft, well…alright. I’ll play along, Pax. But I almost want to ask if you gave birth to a sparkling and hid her from everyone until now.” Orion scoffed and rolled his optics. “I’m serious! You just acted like a protective carrier just now.”

“No, I didn’t. I just feel like we should be responsible while she’s here.” D-16 chuckled some more as he knew that Orion wasn’t necessarily the most responsible or most mature miner, so him saying that amused him. “So just try not to use those kind of words around her.”

“Alright, well, I will do my best. But we can’t promise that Darkwing won’t use those words.” Orion knew that, and there was nothing they could do. “At least he isn’t angry at us.”

“Yet.”

Galaxy was nervous about the medic looking over her system. She worried that they would discover who she was with her CNA. Though as they would likely be testing her CNA to match it with another bot in the city, she hoped that they would not realize what she was. And Galaxy knew she was clinging tightly to Orion. But that was because she hoped that he and, or D-16 could care for her. She already knew that both clearly didn’t know a thing about sparklings, but she felt like they were a good fit.

In her deep recharge within the stasis pod, she knew that Oranos, her mother and father all told her to look for those who she believed would fit what she needed. And being in the presence of these two seemed right. Plus, if the miners are decided to be picked as her adopted parents, Galaxy felt she would be less likely to meet Sentinel for the time being. After all, it was obvious to her how the mining bots were treated. So she hoped to not be found for a long time, while waiting to return to the surface when the time was right. Though she didn’t know how many cycles that would take, but she was just hopeful that she would get what she wanted. And she would ensure to make a big fuss to make it happen.

Chapter Text

The loud arguing from the hallway in the medical centre seemed to continue for several minutes. Orion and D-16 were both feeling awkward as they did not know when someone would come into the room. Plus, the sparkling still held her arms around Orion’s shoulders tightly and has refused to loosen her grip this whole time. She didn’t like hearing the arguing that was happening outside the room, and she didn’t know if she should expect Darkwing to come back into the room furious at them about something. She hoped that he would not.

But they did not have to wait for long as the doors open and both Orion and D-16 smile as they both saw a medic walking into the room with a tablet in his hand. His blue optics look at the sparkling who immediately hid her face into Orion’s shoulder, though she saw that this bot was another cogless bot and he was white with orange shoulder pads and thighs. He had a medical badge on and he seemed to be a little irritated, but his composure was calm. Galaxy didn’t feel as nervous about this bot, but she was still nervous.

“Hi, Ratchet. I guess you have been brought up to speed on this strange situation, right?” Ratchet nodded silently as the medic kept his optics on the tablet in his hand and typed something on it. Orion forced a smile at the medic. “Um…uh…I hope that we can do what is right by this young femme today.”

“So do I, Orion.” Ratchet’s voice was calm and gentle as he spoke and Galaxy turned her head slightly to look at him. "It is certainly a situation that no one has expected. And there are zero records of anything regarding a new sparkling being born. But there could be an erased file, which is going to take hours to go through. Luckily, that is not my job.” Ratchet smiled at the sparkling and leaned down a little. “Hello, little one. I am Ratchet. I am one of the medics in this place. Don’t worry about all the shouting in the hallway outside. Darkwing is just speaking to one of the council bots who seem to be very unhappy. But not at you. Now I need to check your system and make sure you are healthy.”

Galaxy whimpered nervously and she looked at Orion nervously. Orion smiled at her gently. “It is okay. I am not going anywhere. Neither is D-16. We will be right here. Ratchet is the best doc here.” Galaxy glanced at Ratchet again while still unsure. Orion intakes deeply in amusement and looked at Ratchet. “Sorry that this might take a while.”

“Well, from what I hear, that’s perfectly understandable. She’s had a big day. Tripping a bunch of bots in the mines at her ages is quite impressive.” Galaxy turned her head away again and Ratchet chuckled a little. “Um...I’ve already organised getting formulated, low-grade energon sorted for her. If we are unsuccessful locating her parents, we at least have something to ensure that she is fed.”

“That is good. But...if her parents are not located, do you know what will happen to her?” Orion glanced down at the sparkling as she began to whimper some more as Galaxy did also want to know, even though she was going to do everything that she could to force the hands of the authorities to keep her with Orion and D-16. “I can’t help but feel a little worried.”

D-16 chuckled lightly and placed his hand on Orion’s shoulder gently. “I do not think we need to be worried, Pax. She will be well cared for. I think you are letting yourself get attached to a sparkling you may not ever see again.”

“I guess...but...there is a reason she ended up in the minds and it makes me worried about how and why it happened. Does that make me seem foolish?” D-16 and Ratchet shake their heads and Orion sighed in relief. He chuckled lightly at himself  “Good...though I probably sound more like a parent when I say stuff like that.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that. Sparklings do bring out maternal instincts, even if you aren’t related. It’s normal. Plus, I agree with you, Orion. There’s no good reason why she ended up in the mines.” Ratchet looked at the sparkling to see how she was acting with Orion. He wasn’t bothered by the sparkling being clingy with Orion, as he expects it with all sparklings. “Do your best to have her let go of you, Orion. I do need to check her system, and I can’t really do that with her against your chassis like that. I know she wants to cling to you, but...”

“I understand.” Orion gently pats the sparkling’s back as he looked at her. “Come on, darling, you need to let go. Ratchet is not going to hurt you. We just need to make sure you are okay.” Galaxy looked at him and looked back at Ratchet. “He is the nicest doc here, so you will not be hurt. We will be right here next to you.”

Galaxy’s lower lip trembled as she listened to Orion. She knew that she was safe, but she was still worried. She looked at Ratchet nervously and looked back at Orion. The bot was giving her a very kind smile and she could see in his blue optics that he was silently encouraging her. He wanted her to trust them. And thing was that Galaxy did trust Orion and she also felt she could trust D-16. Ratchet was new, but she sensed he seemed okay. But she was still nervous.

D-16 leaned closer and Galaxy flinched as she looked at him with widened optics. “If you want, you can hold my hand again the entire time. I’m sitting closer to the berth anyway, so you can reach for me, if you want.” Galaxy murmured a little as she thought about the offer. “I know Orion here has made you feel safe, but you are in no danger. Come on, there will not be any scary things right now.”

Galaxy murmured again and looked at Orion. He nodded gently. “D is right, young one. I wish I knew your name...but you are safe. You can hold his hand, or if you want, I can swap sides with him and you can hold me hand.”

D-16 widened his optics in surprise. “Aw, come on, Pax. You should let me help her.”

“That’s really up to the sparkling, D-16. She clearly has had a hard day. Forcing her to do something would only traumatise her. Taking it slow is the best. Though...” Ratchet lifted his right hand to his chin to rub gently as he glanced between the two bots and the sparkling. “I wonder if she was abandoned at the mines on purpose. I can understand why you both seem concerned, given she has features similar to you both.”

Orion immediately groaned loudly with a grimace. “Don’t tell me you believe that she is related to us?”

“No, I do not. I am not foolish, Pax. It would never get passed me or any of the medics here about someone wanting a sparkling, let alone two cogless bots.” Ratchet saw that both Orion and D-16 were relieved and he could not help but chuckle. “I do understand your concern, Orion and D-16. Believe me. But I am also not a fool. She definitely would not have your CNA, unless someone plucked a pinch of energon from your veins to use as a means to create a sparkling. Though that would never happen in a million cycles.” Orion and D both chuckle as they relax now that they knew Ratchet never suspected any relation between them and the sparkling. “I suspect it was quite the shock when you first set your optics on her.”

Orion nodded. “Oh yeah. Not only was I shocked to see a sparkling in the mines, but the fact she looked like me and D-16 was what startled me and I thought I was seeing things. Until I realized that she was indeed real.” Orion gently moved his hand to the sparkling’s arms to try and pull them from his shoulders, which made Galaxy let out a whimper and a light sob. “It is okay, young one. As we said, Ratchet won’t hurt you.”

Galaxy whimpered again as she didn’t want to be moved, but she knew that if she remained stubborn, she would remain in the medical center until they would get the answers they wanted. She relented and moved her arms slowly from his shoulders. “There we go! You’re a strong, brave girl.” She smiled as she heard D-16 encourage her. She jumped as Ratchet gently picked the sparkling up and she let out a shriek while reaching towards Orion and D-16. “You will be okay.”

Galaxy whimpered as she stared at the two mining bots before glancing at Ratchet as he gently moved her in his arms to ensure she would be comfortable. He smiled at her gentle and Galaxy stared at him as he walked over to a device. “It is okay. The first thing I need to do is check your height and weight. You are kind of small, even though you seem like you are about four, maybe six cycles old.” He gently lowered the sparkling down, and she whimpered a little as he placed her on her feet and lets her go. She stood there as he turned on the device and it quickly scanned her height and weight. It only took half a minute before Ratchet gently picked her up again and moved her to the berth. “Alright, little one, I am going to take a small bit of your energon. It might hurt a little with a prick, but I need to get some to hopefully find your parents.”

Galaxy turned her head to look at Orion and D-16 before she shifted to crawl a little closer and reach towards D-16. D immediately took the sparkling’s hand with a smile and she smiled at him. “There you go. We are right here.” Galaxy really appreciated it and she sighed as little as she relaxed a bit. “That’s better. And I didn’t realize she wasn’t that old. I thought she was older.”

“No, she’s not showing signs of being older than six cycles.” Ratchet grabbed out a needle which Galaxy did not see. D-16 and Orion saw it while trying to think of how they would keep the sparkling from even noticing the needle. “She’s very young and needs to be with her carrier for many more cycles. But...someone has been cruel.” He looked at the sparkling and glanced at the two bots. “If you can keep her focus on you both for two seconds, that would be great.”

Galaxy turned her head to see what Ratchet said that when D-16 tugged on her hand a little and she saw him reaching to a port on his left side. “I think I might have something that you may like, young one. But you can’t break it.”

“Oh, wait, what are you...” Orion widened his optics as D-16 pulled something out of the side and he was shocked. “Uh, that Megatronus Prime miniature that you picked up yesterday? Why did you even bring that with you? It would break in the mines.”

“You know that he’s my favorite Prime, Pax. And maybe she likes him too.” Galaxy was surprised too and she looked at the figurine in D-16’s hand as he held it to her. “Here...” She let’s go of his hand to take the figurine gently and D-16 watched intently as she looked at it. “I don’t think you know who Megatronus is yet, but there’s a lot of word about him being thr strongest Prime to ever live.” Galaxy stared at the figurine as she did know of him due to the knowledge via the stasis pod she had been in for all these cycles. “I don’t know any stories about him, so I can’t tell them to you, but...” Galaxy yelped and turned her head in surprise as she saw Ratchet holding a syringe filled with energon and she looked at her arm to see a tiny wound. “It’s okay, young one. He just needs your energon to help find your parents.”

Galaxy whimpered a little before held the figurine back to D-16, which surprised him. He thought she would play with it, but Galaxy wasn’t interested. He took it back and he sighed before putting it back into his port and Galaxy looked at Ratchet as he injected a little bit of her energon into a tube on the side of another device and touched a few buttons to begin scanning and analysing her CNA. Galaxy shivered as it made her worry that her draconic CNA would be discovered.

Ratchet turned back to the sparkling and she flinched. “While that machine scans your CNA for a match in the system, I am just going to scan your system, little one.” The sparkling whimpered and grasped D-16’s hand again, making the miners chuckle and Ratchet smiled at her. “Relax, darling. I hope not one has mistreated you.” Ratchet raised his right arm and Galaxy watched the panel open before he began to scan her whole body and grabbed table again as the results were sent to it. He typed on it to begin reading it. “Good...there’s no sign of injury or abuse on here...hmmm...she is in good health, aside from lack of nourishment, which isn’t good despite no injury.”

“That’s good. I honestly thought she would have been injured due to how many of us she’s managed to trip or push. She’s a tough little than.” Orion looked at the sparkling as she smiled a little at the comment too. “At least that makes me feel better to know that. I guess the lack of nourishment is recent?”

“Hard to say, Orion. The results don’t necessarily show that. Oh? Odd...” Ratchet frowned suddenly and typed on the tablet a few times. “Huh...well, she has a t-cog, but it is not in her chest. That’s strange...” Both Orion and D-16 widen their optics in shock. “It’s on the right side of her abdomen, and it’s small...oh...” Ratchet’s expression softened as he read more results on the screen. “If the scan was accurate, I’m reading signs that her t-cog may not be functional.”

“Does that mean...she can’t transform at all?” D-16 asked slowly with a deep frown on his face.

“I am afraid not. She might have been born with a cog, but if it’s not functional like what it seems to be, then she’s essentially a cogless bot like you and myself.” Both Orion and D-16 felt sad for the sparkling. While they haven’t had a t-cog their whole life, they were sad that the sparkling had one, and wouldn’t be able to transform. Ratchet typed some more on the tablet and his frown deepened slightly. “Hmm...well...it also appears that her vocal processor may not be able to form words. She should be able to speak now, but she clearly can’t.”

D-16 frowned in confusion. “But...she can make noises.”

“Yes, yes, she can. But being able to make noises doesn’t necessarily mean she can speak. At least she can somewhat communicate her feelings. But actual communication will never happen.” Galaxy couldn’t help but feel relieved that the protocols that Oracle had put into her t-cog and vocal processor was working so well that it looks like a disability. Galaxy was trying so hard not to smile. Ratchet intakes deeply as he shook his head. “Other than those two things, she’s healthy. But...I now can’t help but think that these were the reason why she might have been abandoned.”

Orion shook his head with a disappointed, sad expression. “I don’t even think that I would do that. Especially since she has no control over that. Poor thing...if she could speak, she could tell us what happened.”

“Maybe not. She’s still young enough that her processor would only be able to process very few words. But yes, I agree.” Ratchet turned to the screen to see the result of her CNA scan. His frown deepened further as he was confused. “Uh oh...this is not good.”

“What isn’t good?” Orion asked while Galaxy tensed a little as she worried her draconic CNA was just discovered. “Do you know who her parents are?”

Ratchet turned to look at the two bots while glancing sadly at the sparkling. He stopped forward and the two bots were very worried. “I think there’s been a breach somewhere in the medical system. Her CNA results have not matched with any bot in the system.”

“Oh, scrap.” D-16 stared at the medic in shock. “What does that mean now?”

“It means someone may have gone and erased traces of her existence in the system. I’ll have to check the medical system to see if there is a match somewhere, but...there’s no record of a sparkling at all. Nor is there any relation to anyone. Which...shouldn’t happen.” Orion and D-16 glance at each other as they did not know what that meant. Ratchet shook his head with a deep frown. “Which means if someone has gone and erased important information, they are going to be in deep trouble.”

“Does it mean you will be investigated too, Ratchet?” Orion asked with concern.

“Yes, all medics will need to. We are the only ones with access to all the critical information about every single bot in Iacon. So if there is no data, it means someone has broken the law. While I have nothing to hide, I have no choice but to cooperate.” Ratchet intakes deeply and looked at Galaxy, making the sparkling whimpered and she turned to crawl closer to D-16, and he gladly picked her up to hold her, which resulted in her wrapping her arms around his shoulders this time. D-16 was very surprised by this, while Orion and Ratchet were amused. “And now I have no idea what will happen with the sparkling. If there’s crime that has happened, her biological parents are unfit to be her guardians. Therefore, their right to her will already be terminated.”

Orion softened his expression as he looked at the sparkling with sympathy. “I suppose she will get adopted, right?”

“Well...that is going to determine on Darkwing and those higher than him. Being that she’s disabled does mean she will need a patient bot. Especially since that bot would need to learn how to sign and to be able to teach that to her in order to communicate.” Galaxy had not considered that to be a possibility, which meant she had to pretend to not understand to prevent perfect communication. “And the worst part too is that she’s grown attached very quickly to the both of you. I fear that she will be a very frightened sparkling for a long time.”

“I was just thinking that too. We don’t even know a thing about sparklings, so I think we would not be the best fit. But...” Orion paused as he stared at the sparkling for a moment before smiling a little. “If it were even possible, I’d be willing to learn.”

D-16 scoffed in amusement. “You know it would mean that you stupid antics that you get up to can’t happen anymore if you were put on her care.” Orion shrugged because he didn’t think that would bother him. “It is a shame we don’t have any records, because she’s practically nameless.”

“Well, you could make a guess about her name and see if she responds.”

D-16 rolled his optics. “I’m not sure if that is even possible, Ratchet. We are better off at coming up with a new name. She might have numbers in her name like most of us do. Not everyone is lucky like yourself or Orion.”

“It couldn’t hurt to try. We don’t need to overwhelm the sparkling though.” Orion smiled at the sparkling as she looked at him. “Her mysterious appearance is no different to how mysterious our galaxy is...” Galaxy gasped with a smile as she nodded at him. Orion blinked in surprise. “Wait a minute...did I get it by accident? Galaxy?” The sparkling nodded her head again and Orion couldn’t help but feel happy. “Wow...that was quite coincidence.”

D-16 chuckled as he was a little jealous Orion figured it out without even trying. “I bet that isn’t her full name. But...Galaxy, huh?” Galaxy turned her head to look at D-16 with a smile. “I like it. I think it suits you...” D-16 was taken by surprise as she kissed his cheek suddenly and nuzzled his chin, which was a response he was not expecting, but it warmed his spark. “Aww...you are cute. As much as I would love to learn to care of you too, I’m not so sure Darkwing would even let any of us cogless bots raise a sparkling. Even if she can’t transform.”

“It is out my hands, I’m afraid.” Ratchet looked at the tablet as he had made a new medical profile for the sparkling with her heath and CNA record to ensure it was there. Ratchet looked up as they all heard the sound of Darkwing stomping towards the room. “Oh, joy. Here he comes. Time to break the news to him.”

Orion and D-16 both grimace as they both did not know what would happen when the bot entered the room. Galaxy whimpered and tightened his arms around D-16’s shoulders and hid her face into his shoulder. D-16 rubbed the sparkling’s back gently as he understood why she was afraid of Darkwing. He wasn’t the nicest bot around, and there was little they could really do.

The doors open as Darkwing huffed loudly as he walked into the room. “It seems you head doctor has discovered no record of that sparkling anywhere in your system. Please tell me that you were able to determine who the parents are for that little brat, Ratchet.”

Ratchet intakes deeply and shook his head. “It would seem that it goes deeper, Darkwing. Her CNA does not match with anyone in the system. I have determined that someone has gone in and deleted her existence and potentially...whoever is related to her, their CNA profiles have tampered with intentionally to hide their existence. And whoever was their medic...um...they might have been a close friend or were bribed.”

Darkwing growled a little and shook his head. “Ugh...that is what I feared would be the case. That is incredibly annoying and not good. I never would have thought that we would need to take a closer look at the medics. But…this day just got worse…”

Ratchet nodded in agreement. “I fully agree, Darkwing. I have now made a medical profile for Galaxy...”

“Galaxy? How do you know her name if there is no record of her?”

“Well...Orion figured her name by accident.” Darkwing looked at the bot who just shrugged with an innocent expression. Darkwing huffed and looked back at Ratchet. “In saying that...I have determined the reasons as to why she has been abandoned. Her t-cog is not in her chest like it should be. But it’s in the right side of her abdomen and it isn’t going to function properly. So she can’t transform.”

“Oh...so she is basically a cogless bot?” Ratchet nodded affirmatively. Darkwing grumbled a little as he pondered on the information he had just received. “Hmmph...is that all?”

“No. Her vocal processor is also incapable of forming words. She can make noises, but she will never be able to talk. She would need to be taught sign to communicate. I do believe all these disabilities have amounted to the reason why she was abandoned. But I do not know if it was also the reason why she was removed from existence, aside from the fact that her parents would be trying to hide they had a sparkling.” Darkwing was silent as he thought about what would need to happen. “I do recommend a thorough investigation will be required of all medical staff and the system itself. I know it is annoying, but all this is illegal and needs to be dealt with.”

Darkwing shifted on his feet and little. “This has complicated things so much...especially since that means we need to find someone to care for this sparkling. But...I also know she’s grown attached to those two glitches very quickly. Which will make things more difficult...but...” Darkwing watched as Galaxy was still clinging to D-16 and hiding her face in his shoulder. “There might be something. I will have to discuss a few more things with my superiors. With the information you have given to me, Ratchet, a decision shall be made. And that may include whether or not these two idiots will be considered as potential caregivers to this sparkling.”

D-16 widened his optics while Orion smiled as he was glad. “Darkwing, I would be quite prepared to learn how to care for a sparkling should that decision be made. I know that I do not know a thing about caring for them..."

"No one ever does, Orion Pax. Sparklings do not come with a manual, as every sparkling has a different personality and have slightly different needs. And, for the record, I did not mean just one of you caring for her. I mean the two of you…” Darkwing pointed at both Orion and D-16, which made them both flinch. “If she was attached to just one of you, I would agree. But no. I saw how she clung to you earlier, and now D-16. But until a decision is made, you are to remain here with the sparkling and keep her as entertained as you can.”

Orion nodded affirmatively. “Very well. We shall wait and do our best to keep her calm. Hopefully, she isn’t terribly hungry right now. I can’t imagine how long it’s been since she’s ingested any energon.”

“As I said, Orion, formulated low-grade energon is being prepared for her. It will take a bit more time.” Ratchet turned to Darkwing. “If I may, Darkwing, I think you will need me to inform the higher authorities regarding my observations before a final decision is made. I am not needed here right now, since the sparkling is in good health. So I do believe that my observations are better told from me.”

Darkwing grumble a little as he would have told his superiors, but he also knew that the medic would have more detail for him. “Fine. But make sure you make it very clear that we have a breach in the medical facility. You being a cogless bot and cooperating has already made me out rule you as a suspect, but all medics will be investigated.”

“I understand, Darkwing.”

“Good. We should go. The longer we stand around yapping, the longer these two have to remain while their colleagues work in the mines waiting for their afts to return to work.” Orion rolled his optics at the comment, which Darkwing either didn’t notice or ignored at this time. Darkwing glanced at Galaxy briefly before he turned to walk out with Ratchet following. “When we get back, you both had better have made sure that nothing happens with that sparkling.”

“We know, we know.” Darkwing huffed as he walked out the door and as the door closed, Orion sighed deeply and looked at D-16 and noticed his concerned expression. “Are you okay? She’s not clinging too tightly, is she?”

“Um, no she’s not. But…” D-16 glanced down as Galaxy loosened her grip and relaxed in his arms before she leaned back with a smile. D-16 smiled back at her before looking at Orion. “I am not so sure how I feel about potentially becoming a guardian to Galaxy. She…she needs bots who are not miners. We don’t have great living spaces, and we work long hours. That doesn’t seem like a good thing when raising a sparkling.”

Orion had not really considered that too much, so D had a point. Still, he liked the idea of it himself. “I can fully understand how you feel, D. Believe me. But I…after hearing everything Ratchet said, I really feel like that…someone has to take up the responsibility.”

D-16 smirked at him in amusement. “Which will mean you can’t just take off randomly to go searching for answers about the Matrix of Leadership, Pax.” Orion chuckled a little as he was aware of that. “Especially as I would kick your aft if you run off and leave me alone to care for Galaxy. Though at least she is passed the new born phase…”

“That still doesn’t mean she won’t keep us up at night.”

“That is why I am really not sure if we are a good fit. The only reason why I would think Darkwing would give her to us is not just because of her attachment to us. She’s practically a cogless bot like us, which means he might think she will just become a miner one day like us.” Galaxy was listening, though she was not worried either. She murmured a little and D-16 looked at her as she lightly tapped his chin playfully and D-16 felt his spark tug as she was adorable, but he also felt like they weren’t the right fit. “We need to look at this from a perspective that is realistic, Pax. I can see she likes a lot…and it hurts my spark to even…”

“Then why wouldn’t you even consider trying, D?” Orion interrupted gently as he watched Galaxy attempt to initiate some form of play with D-16. It was cute, as she still seemed to be uncertain, which was understandable. “You care for her, so we should try if given the chance.”

“I guess…but…I just worry that it will be the wrong decision…and it won’t be made by us. Ugh! Why couldn’t Elita or Jazz have found her before you?” D-16 groaned a little before flinching in surprise when Galaxy poked his right cheek. He smirked at her and she giggled at him. “What are you trying to do, Galaxy?” She murmured again and his expression softened. “It is a shame she can’t speak.”

“I think she’s trying to play.”

“Yeah…but…I don’t even know what she would like. I mean…”

Orion chuckled as he placed his hand on D’s shoulder and gently squeezed it. “There’s really only one way to find out, D. If we happen to become her caregivers, we need to know what she likes and does not like.” D-16 just hummed a little in agreement. “There may not be a toy or anything in here to keep the sparkling entertained…but, she might fall into recharge if we manage to get some energy out of her.”

“Yeah…I also don’t want to hurt her, Pax…um…you noticed she feels quite fragile, right?”

“I did notice, but she is still an infant. So of course, she is fragile.” Orion giggled as Galaxy poked his cheek again and she began to whimper a little. “Uh oh, looks like you’re ignoring her too much.”

D-16 grumbled a little before he lifted the sparkling suddenly and held her to Orion. “You take her than.” Galaxy whimpered loudly in surprise as she wanted to try and play with D-16 and tears fill her optics as Orion took her. “Since you seem like an expert.”

Orion was surprised at D-16’s reaction and he looked at Galaxy as she sniffled and the tears began to fall. He gently wiped them away with his thumb and her yellow optics look at him. “It is okay, Galaxy. D isn’t used to sparklings. But I’ll do my best.” Galaxy flinched as Orion lifted her up suddenly and sat her on his shoulders and she grasped the top of his helm nervously. “I got you, young one.” She could feel his hands on her ankles and she was intaking nervously before Orion stood up slowly. “Hold on tight, it might get a little bumpy.”

D-16’s optics were wide with worry as Orion began to jog around the room slowly, which Galaxy had yelped at first and she was clearly holding onto Orion’s helm tightly. D-16 did not picture this as the first thing that Orion would do, but it was not a surprise to him. But when Galaxy began to smile and giggle, D-16 relaxed and smiled as that was good. It made him realize that Orion might be a little rough if he were to be a caregiver of Galaxy. But he was at least glad that Orion was being gentle. D-16 did not interfere as Galaxy was having a lot of fun, and it kept her well distracted while they waited for Darkwing and Ratchet to return with the decision that would be made about Galaxy.

Chapter Text

As the two bots waited for Darkwing and Ratchet to return with more information regarding what will happen to Galaxy, Orion was still entertaining the sparkling. He had stopped letting her sit on his shoulders after about five minutes, and he was now laying on the floor with Galaxy tackling him. D-16 had watched the two bond, but he did join in and he was also laying on the floor while Galaxy would tackle one of them playfully and they would act out that she was stronger than them and keeping them down on the ground. For both Orion and D-16, it turned out to be a lot of fun to entertain a sparkling, especially as Galaxy was quickly able to engage with the two of them.

Orion currently faked falling onto the ground on his chassis and he rolled over as Galaxy jumped onto his abdomen. He grimaced as she landed a little too hard, but she didn’t seem to notice she had accidentally hurt him. “You got me again!” Galaxy chuckled as she grabbed at his hands and wrestled gently with him. “Oh, you are so strong, little one. I think you are holding me down too much now, Galaxy.” Galaxy giggled as she wiggled against him and she rolled to the left, making her yelp with a giggle as she slipped off before jumping back to her feet and crouched. “Uh oh, sneak attack!”

“Nah, that’s my job.” Galaxy yelped as D-16 picked her up suddenly, and she giggled as he held her up before playfully moving her around like a jet before lowering her to Orion and dropping her onto his chassis, which made her squeal loudly as Orion caught the sparkling. D-16 chuckled with a proud expression. “Sneak attack was successful.”

“Only because she was distracted. What do you say Galaxy? I think he was unfair catching you off guard like.” Galaxy giggled and looked at D-16 with a big smile. Orion stood up slowly as he gave his friend a playful expression. “I think he needs to pay for it.”

“Oh no, that isn’t fair. Two against one…” D-16 sarcastically folded his arms and he shrugged. “But…I guess if you want to try your luck, I will go easy on the both of you.” Orion’s grin widened and he began to jog forward, making D-16 chuckle and turn to jog from him as well. “Let’s see if you can catch me.”

“I think with all the chases I’ve had several times has made sure that I am faster than you, D. Let’s get him, Galaxy. We’ll show him what happens when he sneaks an attack on you.” Galaxy nodded with a giggle while clapping her hands excitedly as the two bots run around the room, while taking care to not run into any important medical equipment. D-16 was deliberately not jogging too fast as Orion got closer to him quickly. “Ah, ha! We almost have him.”

Galaxy giggled as she reached out and placed her hand on D’s right shoulder, he stopped immediately. “You got me, you got me.” He turned with his hands raised with a sarcastic, innocent smile. “I guess I will let you this one time to get me down…” D-16 paused as Galaxy’s smile faded a little as she yawned suddenly and began to rub her optics. D-16 was surprised, as was Orion, but they both were amused. “Uh, I guess the game has now ended.”

“So it would seem.” Galaxy shook her head and tried to pretend that she was not tired as the two bots walk over to sit by the berth again. Orion rubbed the sparkling’s back while she wiggled and tried to wrestle again. “It is okay, Galaxy. You had a big day, and I think that was about almost forty minutes of play.” Galaxy whimpered with a frown as Orion shifted the sparkling to cradle her, though she immediately tried to wiggle and continue to play. “Settle down now, Galaxy.”

Galaxy grumbled before she sniffled as tears fill her yellow optics. D-16 grimaced a little. “Ugh…she’s about the tantrum…” He winced when the sparkling began to wail loudly and Orion was still trying to soothe her by rubbing her back and bouncing a little, but she still wanted to play. “I imagine that is what you did as a sparkling too. Cry when you couldn’t play anymore.”

“I think a lot of sparklings do that, D.” Orion was a little nervous as he did not know what the best way was to soothe a wailing sparkling. He was really out of the zone, and he felt like he was doing it wrong. “Um…I hope I am doing this right…if we are to be picked as her caregivers, I kind of want to know how other bots soothe and quiet sparklings quickly.”

“Um…from what I understand, regardless of the method, it may not ever work. So…I don’t think you are doing anything wrong, Pax.” D-16 watched as Galaxy wiggled and tried grasping at Orion’s hands to try and wrestle again, but she was clearly upset and frustrated that they stopped. “Plus, if she’s really tired, sparklings will cry when tired too. And she may also be hungry.” Galaxy wiggled some more before D-16 sighed deeply. “Let me try…” As soon as he reached for Galaxy, the sparkling shrieked and turned sharply to hide her face in Orion’s shoulder. D-16 pulled back his hands, raising them innocently. “Alright, I guess you’re in charge, Orion. She seems to like you more than me, for some reason.”

“Or she just wants me because I was the only one holding her when she started wailing.” Orion was not sure if that was true, and he didn’t know if he should feel amused that Galaxy didn’t want D-16 right now or not. But as Orion was worried he wouldn’t get this right in trying to soothe Galaxy, he wasn’t sure if this was even a good thing. “But…you may still be able to help me figure out how to make her relax and stop crying.”

D-16 was really not sure how he would be able to do that since he wasn’t the one holding her. “Well...I can try, Pax...but you and I are both pretty useless when it comes to sparklings. And this is just proving it.” D-16 sighed deeply as he looked at the sparkling as she finally stopped trying to play and she was now just waiting loudly. “At least she’s not screaming...I’m not sure if that is something I’d want to experience in the middle of the night.”

Orion looked down at the sparkling as she continued to wail while he bounced Galaxy gently and rubbed her back. It did seem she was calming a little now that she wasn’t wiggling, but she was still upset and Orion hoped that they wouldn’t be in trouble when Darkwing and Ratchet return. Especially since Darkwing gave orders to keep Galaxy from causing trouble. This may not be considered as trouble, but it still worried Orion.

Galaxy’s wail softened briefly when she felt her tank grumbling and she glanced at her stomach before looking at Orion. He smirked a little in amusement. “Aw, I’m sorry. I don’t have any energon for you yet  Galaxy. I am sure that Ratchet will be back soon with a...” Orion paused for a moment and looked at D-16. “Would the formulated energon be in a cube or bottle?”

D-16 stared at Orion in shock for a moment before he groaned a little, as he would have assumed it would be obvious. “It will be in a bottle, Pax. I would have thought you would know that since low-grade energon is usually formed within the carrier’s body. No sparkling ingests regular energon until they’re much older. So it is obviously will be in a bottle. And I would hope plenty will be made, since I think sparklings need to ingest a lot.”

“Right...that seems to be obvious...sorry...” Orion looked at Galaxy as she buried her head into his shoulder again and he smiled as her wails had softened a little. At least the soothing seemed to be working, but her attention has definitely changed from wanting to play to wanting to be fed. “I wish I knew how long it even takes to make formulated low-grade energon too, because we could then give an estimate to Galaxy.”

“Are you kidding, Pax? She’s not even old enough to understand that.” D-16 shook his head as he placed the palm of his hands on his forehead in frustration. “Ugh…I know we don’t know much about sparklings, but I almost think you are too incompetent if you think that Galaxy even knows what a math equation is. She does seem to understand us, but we don’t even know how much she understands.”

“I suppose you’re right…I don’t mean to seem foolish. I guess…I am just nervous. Plus, I do want to learn…I mean…we would essentially become parents if they allow us…”

“Yeah, that is a concern of mine. I wonder how she would even be housed. I would hate to think that Galaxy would cause a riot in the sleeping quarters among the miners should she wake in the middle of the night for a feed or, Primus forbid, wake up sick.” D-16 highly doubted any kind of special treatment for him and Orion, only Galaxy would get it due to her age and the situation that she had been found in. “So it would be kind of interesting if we were picked…though we may ruffle a lot of jealousy from the others.”

“I am not so sure. Maybe some would be because we can’t have sparklings at this time…so for us to even become guardians to Galaxy and raise her would make some jealous. But not everyone.” Orion was not really concerned about how the other mining bots would react to him and D-16 being moved to ensure that Galaxy would have a place that was suitable. “I am not even bothered by what others might say and feel, D. The most important thing would be Galaxy’s comfort over everything else.”

“Ah, it seems I got back at the right time.” Orion and D-16 look at the doors as they had opened while Orion was talking to D. As Galaxy’s wailing was still loud enough, they didn’t even hear the doors opening as Ratchet returned. “Though it seems you have it under control. And...” He lifted his left hand to show a bottle filled with energon. “Here is some formulated energon for the sparkling. I imagine she’s quite hungry.”

“I can’t confirm for sure, but she is.” Orion looked down at Galaxy to see she has not turned her head yet and likely hasn’t realized. Ratchet walked towards Orion with the bottle. “We had been able to entertain Galaxy until this point. She has not been crying for too long...even though I am not sure if I have been soothing her correctly.”

Ratchet chuckled lightly at the bot. “You seem to be doing alright. I understand your concern, but you should also understand that even the right way to soothe a sparkling won’t make them calm down straight away. Sparklings have a very hard time controlling their emotions, so when they cry, it’s generally hard for them to calm down.” Ratchet held the bottle to Orion and he grabbed it from him. “But this should calm her down quickly.”

Orion looked down at Galaxy with a smile. “Galaxy, you don’t need to hide your face. I got something for you.” Galaxy turned her head to look at him with a frown before widening her yellow optics when he showed her the bottle. “I know you are hungry...” She whimpered and turned immediately, reaching her hands towards the bottle hungrily. Orion chuckled as he gently turned the bottle and Galaxy immediately latched onto the bottle as she placed her hands lightly on the sides and began to suckle eagerly. “Very hungry. At least that solves one more problem.”

“Indeed. I had a feeling I would come back to a crying sparkling, and coming back before Darkwing does was a good idea.” Ratchet sat down with a sigh. “But I will be able to tell you what is going to happen. It would seem that because of Galaxy’s unfortunate disabilities, she’s considered cogless in the eyes of the transformers and they want her trained as a miner eventually.”

“Ah...that is a shame...and not surprising either…especially given that Darkwing likes to treat us poorly.” Orion couldn’t help but frown as that made him worry that Darkwing would mistreat Galaxy simply due to her to become a miner when she did get older and they couldn’t really protect her due to their status. “I guess that means that D-16 and I will be her guardians, right?”

Ratchet nodded. “Yes. The paperwork regarding it has started, but you are given the option to refuse and the option to adopt the sparkling will be extended to the other miners as well. But if you accept, you will only need to sign a few things and a separate quarters will be set up so that you and the other miners will be comfortable.”

D-16 groaned a little. “I was a little worried we would be chosen...but...I must admit, Galaxy has grown on me. I suspect that this issue will go all the way to Sentinel?” Galaxy tensed as she listened to D while she drank the energon from the bottle.

“Eventually, when he gets back from his current surface expedition. But only to inform him of the issue. Sentinel won’t be involved directly.” Galaxy relaxed a little, though she was still worried since he may look into her existence more closely, despite there was no knowledge that draconic bots can transform. Ratchet gave D-16 a curious expression. “Were you hoping to not be her guardian, D-16? You can refuse to sign guardianship.”

D-16 grimaced and glanced at Orion who seemed disappointed, and Galaxy didn’t seem to notice since she was focused on filling her tank. He gazed at the sparkling and he looked away. “Well…it is not because I didn’t want to care for her. I do. In fact…in the last few hours since we have known her, we have already developed a bond. My basis for hoping not be guardian was simply because that I have no cog…and our shifts are pretty long. I just don’t know how we would even have time to do anything with her. Especially since Galaxy will need time to play and relax with us.”

“Ah, I see. I understand.” Ratchet could truly see why D-16 would be concerned. But he also knew that things would be altered a bit for the two bots. “Darkwing has not refined the details yet, but since you both may become her guardian, he is changing a few things to make things more realistic. While Darkwing doesn’t care about the sparkling as much now, since he thinks any bot with a disability is worthless…” Orion frowned immediately as he did not believe that for one second. Especially since Galaxy’s disabilities wouldn’t hinder her that much in life. “There are laws to follow regarding sparklings. Which does mean you will be given additional recharge time, a smaller work shift and, should she get sick, you will be given time off to focus on the sparkling. I don’t know if anything else will be added, but that is part of the things that will be allowed for you two.”

“That is good. So long as it benefits Galaxy.” Orion was pleased to know that things would change for them so they could care for Galaxy properly. And he would definitely learn how to sign so he could teach her to sign and they would than be able to communicate. Orion looked at D-16 curiously. “I’m going to be signing my name to be Galaxy’s guardian. Are you going to as well, D? She would be terribly upset otherwise.”

D-16 nodded. “Yes, I will. I know I probably gave the impression that I wouldn’t and you would end up as a single parent.” Orion nodded because that is exactly what it seemed to him. “But there is no way I’m going to let you care for Galaxy on your own, Pax. Galaxy wanted both of us to stay with her when she was found, so I am not going to break her spark by walking away. Especially since we did have fun before. And…” He smiled as he looked at Galaxy. “I know she’s bonded to you more, Pax, but…I can tell that she really likes me too. So…I will agree.”

“Excellent. Taking on such a responsibility is understandably daunting, D-16, but I think you will also find that it will be rewarding. Hard work, but rewarding. And it also saves us trying to find another bot who will take her, which I think would take too long to do. Galaxy may not even bond with them. So you both are the best, since Galaxy pretty much picked you both from the start.” Ratchet knew that a lot of adjustments would be needed on their behalf to get used to a new lifestyle, but it was to be expected. “I am going to also look for things that will be useful to you both. I know there are sparkling harness where they can sit on the front of your chassis in a secured, comfortable carrier, and that could be good while you work. Luckily, they have not been thrown out.”

“Mmm…not in the tunnels. Maybe when moving things around like carts or loading the energon into the processors, but I wouldn’t think about taking her into the tunnels. That would be dangerous. She might be taught to be a miner, but she’s way too young to be in the tunnels due to them sometimes being unstable.” Orion did appreciate the offer though, since it would be useful, but just not in the mining tunnels themselves. “But it would definitely be useful. Anything would be. She will definitely need toys as well to entertain her. We don’t have anything.”

“That won’t be a problem, really. Hopefully, Elita won’t mind having her around in the mines with you. Because you can’t leave Galaxy alone, so she is going to have to go with you each day to the mines.” Orion and D-16 both grimace as they had no idea how Elita was going to react. Ratchet could tell that both bots weren’t looking forward to it, and he understood. “Formulated low-grade energon will be delivered regularly as well. Sparkling appetites are quite substantial. She will probably wake you up in the middle of the night for a bottle at least.”

Orion smiled as that was something he would expect. “As long as we can feed her, that does not bother me one bit. I’d rather be awoken by a hungry sparkling than a sick sparkling.”

“Well…that will happen, Pax. But…we will just have to deal with it when it happens. Hopefully it won’t scare the spark from our bodies.” D-16 looked at Galaxy as she whimpered a little and he noticed she was trying to fight to keep her optics open. She had already drunk half the bottle and she had slowed down. “At least she will be getting some recharge. And she will be lucky to get a comfortable berth over a recharge station like we get. I often wish to lay down and put my feet up while we recharge.”

“Unfortunately, it is the life that we have to live, D-16. Even I, a medic, do not get the privilege of a proper berth. It is just how it is…” Ratchet shrugged as he was unbothered by it, even though it would be nice to have a proper berth. But it was a life that the cogless bots were used to and have accepted. “But a sparkling cannot recharge in one. So she will get a berth. Hopefully a proper berth for a sparkling, since if she is still adventurous, there maybe another incident where she will slip out of your new quarters and wander through the city.”

Orion chuckled a little in amusement. “That will certainly be something we will want. I myself do tend to also wander into the city…” D-16 side eyes Orion with a sharp expression, which Orion completely ignored. “Whenever I want to try and find something new in the archives again. But…I know how to handle myself…” D-16’s expression sharpened and he rolled his optics as he listened to Orion. “But, from our experience today, we will definitely want a proper berth so she can’t climb out of it. But…if she does, hopefully she will stay with us.”

D-16 nodded in agreement. “Way to put another worry in our processors, Ratchet. I didn’t need to think about having to worry about that.” He rubbed the right side of his head and shook his head with a light chuckle. “But…I suppose it is better for us to think of that than when it happens and we act all shocked.”

“I know it is a lot to process, D-16. I really do. No one has had a sparkling in over forty cycles, so a sparkling this young, really is a surprise and there is going to be a long, in-depth investigation. At least Darkwing does believe I was not responsible, but I have reassured him that I will cooperate. So…knowing what to do with a sparkling, especially since you both are now new parents, essentially, there is not much of a manual. You’ll just have to learn as you go.” Which has made both Orion and D-16 nervous, but they were excited at the same time. “You both will learn very quickly, that I can assure you. I can really only help with things like ensuring that formulated energon being produced regularly, providing medical treatment if and when it is needed, though there will be the occasional appointment just to check on basic health of her system and, of course, making sure she gets things like toys and a harness to make things easier for everything. I cannot be there with you both with help.”

“That might be the case, Ratchet, but we are very grateful with everything you have already done and told us so far,” Orion responded with a grateful expression. “To be honest, Galaxy hasn’t even been difficult. I think…”

Ratchet smirked and raised his hand to gently interrupted Orion. “Ah, ah, don’t say that she will be easy moving forward, Orion. You have only known her for a couple of hours, Orion. When she settles in, her full personality will come out. She might be very clingy with you, but believe me, she is most likely still just getting used to the both of you.”

Orion had not considered that, nor did D-16, so they both were shocked, but grateful that Ratchet would warn them. Orion sighed a little and he smiled as that didn’t bother him at all. “Well…if that is the case, then we will deal with it as time goes on. I am sure D and I will do a good job with Galaxy…even if she is doomed to become a miner like us.”

“Yeah…it is a shame she won’t get a choice. But we can’t do much, I guess.” D-16 glanced at the doors curiously and looked back at Ratchet. “I suppose Darkwing will come back with the paperwork for us to sign, right?” The medic nodded affirmatively. “Right…how long will he be?”

Ratchet shook his head with a shrug as he genuinely did not know at this time. “I wish I knew. When Darkwing dismissed me, he was still in deep conversation. So it might still be going on, and preparations may have already started to accommodate the sparkling. But…as far as when he will be back, I really don’t know. It looks like you will not be able to go back to the mines today, and I believe Darkwing has contacted Elita regarding the issue, given what we now know.” Orion and D-16 were glad that Elita was given some update on what is happening, but they also both know that Elita may also put them to work double time to make up for today. Which they were not looking forward to. “At least you will be given time to not only get prepared to officially take Galaxy in, but your new living quarters will be prepped today and you will be moved into it. While I am sure you don’t mind having a break from mining all day, today has still been quite busy.”

“I think caring for a sparkling is a different type of work anyway,” Orion commented and Ratchet nodded in agreement. He looked down at Galaxy to see she was almost finished with the bottle, and her optics were closed currently, but she was still drinking. Her hands had slipped off the bottle before and her arms were now laying limp as she was clearly fighting recharge to ensure her tank is completely full. “At least she will be in recharge for a little bit soon.”

“Yeah, but don’t expect her to be in recharge the full night tonight. She will definitely be restless. And since she’s clinging to you…it will be interesting to see how she will react to being placed in a soft, comfortable berth verses recharging in your arms.” Ratchet smirked as he rested his hand on his right cheek. “And, to be honest, I kind of think parenthood surprisingly suits you both.” Both D-16 and Orion widen their optics in surprise. “You have both shown how quickly you have adjusted to the situation and taken care of Galaxy’s needs. And while you have definitely earned Galaxy’s trust, Orion, I am also very impressed about the tact and valid concern you have had regarding Galaxy, D-16. Both of you clearly are needed in her life, even if this was not something you ever expected.”

D-16 couldn’t help but feel a little flustered by it, while Orion was very happy about the compliment. They never have considered having a sparkling to raise in their life, considering new sparklings have not been born in many cycles, but they both have found a sense of joy already with the short time they have spent with Galaxy. She has clearly touched the sparks of both of them, especially after learning about Galaxy’s potential situation through what could be seen as corruption with how there is no evidence of this sparkling’s existence.

“Thanks, Ratchet. That is nice of you to say…” Orion glanced down at Galaxy again when she coughed a little and he smiled when she coughed a little energon out of her mouth. She had just finished the bottle and she opened her optics a little. He placed the bottle down and looked at Ratchet as the medic quickly grabbed a cloth and held it to him. He smiled gratefully and looked at Galaxy to wipe her face. “There you go, Galaxy. Nice and full now.” Galaxy smiled at him before she yawned and rubbed her optics. “Go and recharge now, young one.” Galaxy closed her optics and shifted a little so her cheek rested on his chassis and she could hear the pulse of his spark within his chassis. Orion couldn’t help but feel his spark swell and he couldn’t help but kiss the top of her helm, which made Galaxy smile. “You had a big day already. Recharge well.”

D-16 watched Orion with a smile and he chuckled a little. “It has not even been a full day yet, but I guess sparklings do recharge a lot. Would this be considered a nap?”

Ratchet nodded. “Yes, it most likely would be considered that. But you will find it to be completely normal, D-16. She will likely recharge for a few hours before she wakes up and she will be full of energy once again.”

“Good. That way, hopefully, we shall have a new place by then. And maybe she will wake up to see it straight away.” Orion knew that may not happen, but it was something he was hoping for. Especially since a sleeping sparkling would give them the time to do things without her unintentionally distracting them with things she may do. Orion looked at Ratchet as he softened his voice to keep himself from waking Galaxy accidently. “How long do you think Darkwing will be chatting his superiors?”

“Um…to be honest, it didn’t sound pleasant when I left…so…maybe another hour at least. I am not sure. But I am afraid you are both stuck here. And I was instructed to wait here unless I am needed elsewhere, and at the moment, I am not. I think Darkwing wants me here to ensure there isn’t suspicion among the others, in case a fellow medic realizes that they know Galaxy and try to do something.” That made sense, as it was best that Galaxy wasn’t made known the entire medical staff right now. “So I’ll be keeping you guys company until Darkwing comes back.”

Both D-16 and Orion did not mind at all, because that meant they could talk some more about sparklings, or at least, whatever Ratchet knew about sparklings. He seemed to know more about them than they did, but it made sense due to him being a medic. Regardless, now they had to wait more again for any further information. They at least knew that they would Galaxy’s guardians, and both D-16 and Orion were happy, even though D-16 was more nervous than Orion was. Especially since he had no idea how their life was going to change moving forward. But they would be doing it for Galaxy. She needed them, and they knew it.

Chapter Text

Another hour passed on which has made Orion, D-16 and Ratchet bored. Orion had tried to place Galaxy down on the berth earlier, but that made her wake briefly and clutch him in a panic. This was something Ratchet had warned him about, even though it surprised him. So Orion was forced to hold Galaxy the whole time, and he had to soothe her again to get her to fall back into recharge, which took about fifteen minutes. Even though they were bored now, they were all still quietly talking about the sparkling and the future a little bit.

Though it was getting harder to just sit and wait as they were getting irritated and they wanted to go do some actual work. Especially Ratchet. But nothing need his attention, so he had to remain until Darkwing would come back. Whatever was being discussed was probably very heated, so they were all expecting Darkwing to return with a bad mood. And Orion hoped that he would not wake Galaxy with his temper, but that was not something he could really control unfortunately.

And they were all correct as Darkwing returned huffing and puffing in irritation. However, he noticed very quickly that Galaxy was in recharge, so he lowered his voice a bit. He was holding a tablet in his hand as he looked at Orion and D-16 before turning to Ratchet. “I assume you have already informed them of the situation?” Ratchet nodded affirmatively. “Good.” He turned to both cogless bots, glancing between the two as they were look back at him nervously. “Have you agreed to be this sparkling’s guardian, or have you decided to let someone else take care of her?”

“We have both agreed to be her guardians, Darkwing. Orion and I have bonded with Galaxy and we all agree that it would be worse for Galaxy if she was placed with someone else.” D-16 glanced at the tablet in Darkwing’s hand curiously. “Ratchet said we need to sign something. I assume that in your hand is it?”

Darkwing nodded. “It is. I need you both to sign so you can be legally her guardians.” D-16 stood up and walked over as Darkwing held the tablet out. He looked at Ratchet. “You are dismissed, Ratchet. The investigation into the medics and system will begin shortly. I suggest that you don’t breath a word of this to anyone.”

“I understand, Darkwing.” Ratchet stood up and walked towards the door before looking at Orion and D-16. “I am sure you guys will do well. I’ll make sure that formulated energon is made regularly and delivered to you, and I’ll also ensure there are toys and the harness delivered to you as well.”

“Thanks for your help, Ratchet. Hopefully, you may become the medic who checks on Galaxy in the future.” Ratchet smiled at Orion as he nodded in agreement and turned to walk out of the room. Orion sighed a little and looked at D as he held the tablet to him. “Thanks, D.”

D-16 smiled at Orion as he watched Orion carefully move his right hand while ensuring that Galaxy was undisturbed to sign on the tablet. “You’re welcome. With your hands full, this is the least I can do.” D-16 waited until Orion was finished and he turned to Darkwing to give the tablet back to him. “All done, Darkwing. This is quite the, um...awkward situation.”

Darkwing scoffed in agreement. “You dolts have no idea just how irritating this whole thing is. And none of you is at fault. But I have to observe you both now for a few deca-cycles to ensure that we have not made a mistake entrusting you with that sparkling.”

“We promise that you will not be disappointed, Darkwing.” Orion stood up and shifted Galaxy a little in his arms so she could be more comfortable, which made her stretch her legs in her recharge a little and murmur lightly. “We do admit that it will be a learning curve though.”

“That will be expected. But you will be learning fast, and I will be ensuring that you both learn how to communicate through signing so you can teach Galaxy. And I’ll make sure that Elita-1 sets up times so the other miners learn sign so they understand her as well.” D-16 and Orion were pleased with that, because they definitely want to communicate with Galaxy. Darkwing leaned a little towards Orion, making him step back in concern. “And you are going to have to stop your little expeditions to the archives, Orion. With a sparkling, you will not be allowed to just walk out on your responsibility with her anymore.”

“Oh...you know about that?”

Darkwing let out a light chuckle. “You don’t think those sentries and I are not friends, Orion? They have told me many stories about the times you have broken into the archives. I can’t figure out why you want to anyway. But that stops today.”

Orion was a little uncomfortable that Darkwing knew he has been to the archives several times, but he also wasn’t surprised. “Well...you can trust me to ensure that Galaxy will come first.” Darkwing huffed as he didn’t seem to believe that. “Um...are we going to be stuck here for much longer?”

“No, I was able to organise your new living quarters to be prepared while I was in the meeting. It is almost done. We can head over there now.” Darkwing turned to walk out of the room with the two bots following him. “Ratchet may have touched on it, but rules for you two have been altered in favour of the sparkling. While you will still work in the mines, Galaxy’s well being will be more important. So your shift times have been altered so you start later and finish earlier than you are used to. And, if Galaxy falls into recharge while you work, one of you will be allowed to bring her to your living quarters and stay with her during that nap.”

D-16 glanced at Orion. “If Galaxy has her way, you will be the one to go with her every time she needs a nap.” Orion smirked in amusement, even though he had doubts about that will happen all the time. “But maybe it will be different each time.”

“That will be between the two of you, so I don’t care how you decide who will go with her back to your living quarters to ensure she recharges. You may also do that if she has a tantrum that causes a lot of distraction to the other miners. Only until you get her to calm down, of course.” Darkwing led the two bots through the hallway and both Orion and D-16 knew they would be heading to a train. “And if that sparkling gets sick, you will be given the right to stay and care for her. At least one of you. I’ve also communicated specific instructions to Elita regarding Galaxy. As this sparkling has no where else to go, she will be with you when you go to the mines. So rules will be in place to ensure she does not get hurt.” Darkwing turned to give a sharp glance at both of them. “And you both had better make sure that she does not get hurt.”

“We will do our best, Darkwing. We know we can’t guarantee that it will be perfect as I expect she will get hurt at some point. Hopefully it will just be a mesh wound and nothing more.” That was something that would be expected if a small accident were to occur. And Darkwing certainly didn’t expect the bots to be perfect, but to take responsibility. D-16 glanced at Orion curiously. “I guess this means you and I are going to have to really talk about what we will do when we start working in the mines and looking after Galaxy.”

“I agree. Especially since we need to also agree on who takes Galaxy to let her nap. Um…is Elita aware of that too, Darkwing?” Darkwing nodded and Orion was relieved. He was certain she would be be frustrated right now. “Good…I am sure she has been voicing her opinion about it to the others.”

“Oh yeah, she would definitely be doing that right now. Hopefully…she won’t mind after a little while. It is going to take time for us to get used to it. More us than everyone else, since we are now parents to this sparkling.” D-16 felt weird saying that since he never thought he would be raising a sparkling. He than realized something and he groaned a bit. “Ugh…in a way, this will add a bit of fire now that everyone in the mines think Galaxy is our sparkling. And they may think you and I are in a closer relationship than friends.”

Orion chuckled while shrugging. He didn’t care like D did. “You should relax your processor, D. It will blow over pretty quickly, D. Everyone will get used to having Galaxy around, and maybe, she will find a few aunts and uncles along the way. We just need to get through the first stage, and we will be fine.”

“I don’t know, Orion…I am a little worried…”

“I think you are worried over nothing that serious, D. Besides, even if you and I were closer than friends, no one would bat an optic about it. So you need to just put aside what they might say and ignore it. It isn’t true and we both know it.” D-16 did know it, but he did have a bad habit of worrying about the impressions they make on others. Orion never was like that as he was a very free-spirited bot. “And to be honest, I think this will be a very good impression to everyone else. No one is going to think what we are doing will be bad. I mean, you and I are stepping up for this sparkling we know nothing about. Who else would even take up the responsibility? Jazz wouldn’t.”

“You have a point, Orion. I don’t think any of the other miners would…but…they haven’t really been put in the spot like we were. Especially with Galaxy clinging to us the way she has.” That might be true, but that didn’t mean they would react the same way as Orion and D-16. “Still…I can’t say I am disappointed in this decision. If anything…it means we are doing something more than just waking up, ingesting some energon, go to the mines and work for many hours, return to the living quarters to ingest more energon, have an oil bath or shower and recharge…that’s our life, with the occasional hobby in between. And that rarely happens.”

Orion agreed. While he himself has taken the liberty of sneaking off to head to the Iacon Archives to try and find our what happened to the Matrix of Leadership, which has resulted in being chased and beaten many times, Orion was happy that they now had some other purpose. Galaxy was not something they imagined would be someone who would change their lives, but Orion couldn’t help but feel incredibly grateful for her existence. He feared her young life was filled with pain, and he hoped to relieve that for her.

Darkwing huffed as he led the bots to the end of the hallway while listening to them two. “I guess I am unsurprised your fellow miners were dumb enough to think that sparkling was yours. Resemblance means nothing when it is at the CNA level. There are many bots in the city who look similar to each other. It’s nothing more than an unusual coincidence.” As they step out of the medical centre, Darkwing, D-16 and Orion walk over to the train platform to wait for one to arrive. “It is amusing to me that you seem happy for a different routine. You’ll get sick of it soon enough.”

Orion rolled his optics as he did not believe that he would. He glanced down at Galaxy to see she was deep in her recharge right now. He noticed she had moved her right thumb to her mouth and he thought she looked incredibly adorable. Despite not being actually related to this sparkling, Orion couldn’t help but feel a sense of love for this sparkling. He has known her for a short time, and she has won his spark over completely. His life felt like it will be easier now, and he was going to take a lot of joy raising this sparkling.

The train arrived after several minutes of waiting and the three of them stepped on, and Orion sat down so he couldn’t accidently fall with Galaxy. D-16 watched as he was a little jealous that Orion was cradling the sparkling without any trouble. He knew that Galaxy would accept it later, and she would get more comfortable around him too, but he was a little jealous regardless. And he could not help but see how happy Orion was. He couldn’t blame him. D-16 would be just as happy as him too. Though he was curious about their new living quarters.

D-16 turned to Darkwing curiously. “So where is our new living quarters? Is it near the normal living quarters?”

“Yes, though it is in the empty building that was once used for storage. It has not been used in years, and it was going to be destroyed to make space. But now that this has happened, it has already been modified and fitted for use.” D-16 was glad to hear that as it sounded like they would have a lot of space for themselves. “There will storage for your own energon reserves, and the formulated energon for your sparkling. Ratchet has organised toys, a harness, berth and first aid to be delivered, and they should be there now. I think they are just finishing the plumbing now so you and Orion can have access to an oil shower. As for that sparkling…” Darkwing gestured towards Galaxy without looking at her. “There will be a tub for her. Ratchet said there will be oil and water options, as the sparkling will inevitably get dirt in the mines. So he simply said that the water will be rinsing off any dirt and lathering the sparkling specific body lotions and the oil for the next part. I didn’t realize sparklings had a whole bath routine compared to us…but they do.”

D-16 and Orion definitely didn’t know that either, but it made sense. Sparkling bodies were weaker than mature bots, and so they required additional care to ensure they were clean and that nothing would get into their joints. And as Galaxy was definitely going to get dirty in the mines, no matter how much they try to keep her away from the tunnels, it would be beneficial for them to know about how to wash her properly. But at least there would be a tub for her to be washed it. It would be interesting to see if she would sit and get washed, or if she would wiggle and make a fuss.

Orion couldn’t help but chuckle a little. “Sounds like Galaxy will be a little spoiled. But I guess if it is something we will have to do, we will do it. Though it will probably be a daily thing, since getting dirty in the mines every day is pretty normal for us. And it will be for her too.”

“I mean, we have daily oil baths too, Pax. So it wouldn’t be that unusual. Though we would have to ensure she would be bathed and clean first. I guess we will be taking turns with that.” D-16 did not mind that fact at all. Though hearing about how the routine may go was also very fascinating. “Is there anything else we should know about our new living quarters, Darkwing?”

Darkwing was silent for a moment as he thought about it. “No, not really. It isn’t going to be fancy, if that is what you are hoping for. Neither one of you will ever get that kind of treatment. Just so you know, when Galaxy is old enough and becomes a miner herself, you will be moved back to the original, living quarters for all miners. So don’t expect this place to be where you live forever. It will be demolished eventually.”

Orion and D-16 were both disappointed that they would be moved back eventually. Having their own place was going to be great, even if it was not forever. And since it would be many cycles before Galaxy would even be able to become a miner, they knew that they didn’t have to worry about when they would be forced to move out as there was a lot of time. So while they were disappointed, they were not going to dwell on it. It was really for Galaxy’s benefit that there was a space for her where she didn’t stress other miners out and they wouldn’t stress her out.

And both D and Orion did believe that they would have more room in this new living quarters than they have had before. While it wasn’t specified on the size, it did sound like there was a lot of room in it. So even if it was not fancy, it was definitely considered a luxury to both bots and they were looking forward to living there with Galaxy. They knew there would be challenges, but they would work through it with her. And they hoped that she would thrive well as she grows from a sparkling to a full-grown bot. And maybe she will refer to them as dads eventually.

Orion looked out the window as he saw they were approaching the mining bot quarters and he guessed they would stop at the same platform, which was good. His optics glance to the building by the large, living quarters and he smiled as he saw there were worker bots there who were setting things up for them and he was feeling pretty excited for Galaxy. But he hoped it would not be too noisy since he didn’t know how Galaxy would respond to a lot of loud noise. He knew that if she woke up, she would probably be fussy, and she would be right to feel that way due to being disturbed from her recharge.

When the train came to a stop, Orion stood up and walked to the doors with D-16 and Darkwing to step outside. As soon as he stepped outside, Orion heard the loud sounds coming from the building and he did his best to cover Galaxy’s head so she wouldn’t hear it. Darkwing motioned for them to wait before walking over to the building to speak with the bots who were working on the plumbing as fast and as efficiently as they could.

D-16 stared at the building as it was not as large as the usual living quarters they were used to, but it was bigger than he thought. He turned to Orion with a smile. “I guess we can kind of joke we are living the good life now.”

Orion hummed a little with a smile. “I suppose we can. It looks like it will give us a lot of space. I don’t even know if I’ll ever want to go back to what we are used to now…but we don’t have much of a choice. Darkwing was pretty clear on that.”

“Yeah…not much we can do about it. We have no choice but to do as we are told.” D-16 sighed deeply as he wished they could make choices, but he also knew that this was a life they were used to and would not ever be in the position to change it. “It looks like they are almost done. I hope all this noise will not wake Galaxy. She’s only been recharging for a short time, and I think any interruption will make it difficult for the rest of the day.”

“I am worried about that too. I’m trying to keep her head covered so she won’t hear it as much. But…there is more noise out here than just what is happening in there. At least there isn’t any loud banging. I am sure that would wake her up.” Orion glanced down at Galaxy as she was still deep in recharge and she seemed to be fully undisturbed. She was fully relaxed and he hoped to keep her that way. He didn’t want her to wake up with a start. “I think it might also be why Darkwing had us wait here so that he can ensure the workers get done quickly to prevent Galaxy from waking up.”

“I agree. I think Darkwing would get so angry and annoyed if she was crying. And I think he would be very unkind towards her too.” That certainly seemed like something that Darkwing would do so it was good in their mind. But they did hope that Darkwing won’t get too angry should Galaxy inevitably cry in the mines. D-16 at least hoped that Darkwing won’t take it out on Galaxy. D-16 glanced up and flinched as a shadow above them startled him. “Oh, look. One of the draconic bots are out and about.”

“Huh? I thought they went with Sentinel.” Orion looked up to see the bot himself. He saw the white silver body as the dragon flew around. The light from above filtered through the blue feather-like wings and her blue optics were glancing around as the draconic bots sometimes patrolled under the orders of Sentinel. “I guess he left one behind. The archives don’t seem to have anything about those things. I often wonder how Sentinel even got them.”

“I don’t know. But I am glad we are not on their bad side.” D-16 looked away and looked at Orion. “But…it is strange that the archives wouldn’t have information about them. Draconic bots have been beside Sentinel for as long as I remember…”

“Yeah, but he said he tamed the beasts through might and earning their loyalty through enforcing his authority. I don’t know if that is true.” Orion couldn’t imagine how hard that would have been. The draconic bots are much larger than any of the transformers. They showed no sign of being able to transform, and Sentinel has used these beasts to execute bots publicly in the past. Feeling safe around them wasn’t something they would experience. “At least they never really bother us. I think that one is called Cosmic Dust, or something like that. I’ve heard that name before.”

“He only has three…so I wonder if there are others living somewhere else. Maybe on the surface? It would seem unlikely though, since everyone says the surface of our planet is dangerous.” No one really knew why Sentinel did not have more than the three draconic bots by his side. Sentinel never answered that, but no one really asked. “But…creatures like that seem like they can certainly care for themselves on the surface.”

“Maybe, but I think the Quintessons would destroy them as well, D. They destroyed anything on the surface, which is why we live underground safely in Iacon.” Orion glanced up again as the dragon was flying upward towards the council tower and he looked back at D-16. “So maybe this was a way for those three to survive. I imagine they ingest a lot of energon, given their size and the power I have heard they might have.”

“Of course, they do. I don’t really know why Sentinel has them around. But…I guess we can’t really argue with our leader.” D looked towards Darkwing as he was walking back to them. “I think the place might be ready now.”

Darkwing glanced over his shoulder briefly as he approached the two bots before he gestured for them to approach. “You may proceed. All the heavy lifting has finished, so there won’t be any loud noise to wake that sparkling. I wasn’t about to burn my hearing with the cries of that brat today…” Orion rolled his optics in irritation, though he said nothing. “The workers have completed everything now, so you new living space is finished. I suggest you both get settled and organize it for yourselves and Galaxy. Supply of energon cubes, formulated energon, toys, a sparkling harness, berth bedding and body washes have been delivered, but you will need to sort it all out on your own.”

Orion and D-16 were not surprised by this, but it was good. It would give them something to do, since they won’t be going back to the mines today. D-16 smiled with a polite nod to Darkwing. “Thanks, Darkwing. Um…I am not sure what we can really say about today.”

“Hopefully, this will not be a regular occurrence. If this sparkling was hidden through the system, there might be more out there we know nothing about. Hopefully, she is the only sparkling around currently. Now go and do whatever you need to do in that building. Here’s the door scanner…” Darkwing threw a round object at D-16 and he caught it, knowing it was the key to their door. “That way no one will think to steal anything from you place. Even though there’s nothing worth taking.”

“Alright, we will take it from here. Will Elita pay us a visit too?” Darkwing nodded and D-16 grimaced a little. “I guess she wants to make sure that…this is all true.”

“Oh, she already knows. She will just be making sure you understand a few things from her perspective. She might be cogless, but her fierce attitude is quite entertaining. Try not to twist her gears.” With that, Darkwing transformed and flew away with a loud hiss from the engine.

Orion was surprised as he felt Galaxy shudder and shift in his arm as she had heard him too. “Scrap…” Orion glanced at D and gestured to the door. “We should go inside. I think Darkwing just deliberately woke Galaxy up.”

D-16 shook his head as they both ran towards the door. “Of course, he did. He doesn’t like us, even if he oversees the mines with his buddies.” Glancing at the building, it was a single floor space that used to hold many mining equipment. After the mining storage had been moved to the inside of the mining living quarters, this building was no longer needed. There just had not been any motivation to demolish it. And both bots were grateful to it. There were windows, thankfully, so they could at least see out of the building. Reaching the door, D-16 unlocked it and they step inside quickly. “The fragger left us to deal with a mess, even though I appreciate having a little work.”

“And I thought I told you not to say those words around Galaxy.”

D-16 rolled his optics. “She’s in recharge, she’s not going to…” He paused as there was a light whimper and D-16 immediately softened his voice and looked at Galaxy to see her optics opening a little and a small sob escaping her lips. “Never mind…it is alright, Galaxy…” She wasn’t listening as the loud noise, the bright light from the outside, the sound of a door opening and feeling Orion running had startled her and she was also cranky from being woken so soon from her recharge. “Do you want me to take her? You’ve been carrying her this whole time?”

Orion was about to try to hand her over when Galaxy wrapped her arms around his shoulders as she had heard D-16 and she began to wail while glancing around with a groggy frown. “She won’t let me put her down…uh…hey, Galaxy. Look around, this is our new home.” Galaxy’s frown deepened as she didn’t care and she rubbed her optics. “Mmm…maybe a bit later…um…see if you can find that harness, D. If I can get her to recharge again, I can use it so both of my hands are free to help…” Orion glanced around to see where the items would be. “They may have put everything in the back.”

D-16 nodded and briefly glanced around to see the large space they had. The walls and ceiling were all dark grey, and the floor was black. It wasn’t the most impressive place to live in, but it was shelter. He saw the two recharge pods on the right side of the building. They were placed beside each other and the sparkling’s berth was placed several feet in front, which would be good in case they needed wake in the middle of the night. D-16 also spotted an energon cube storage unit, and a strange storage unit with glass windows that allowed him to see that it was meant for the formulated energon that needs to be stored in a cooling unit as formulated energon needed to be stored differently from regular energon.

On the left side of the building there was a doorway leading into the shower chamber, and the tub that would be used for the sparkling when she needed a bath. D-16 pondered on whether she should get one today, but after she’s calmed down. At the back of the building was a smaller storage area where D-16 found a bunch of toys, a white harness and bottles of body lotion that were mixed with specialized oils specific to the needs of sparklings. D grabbed the harness before spotting a toy that he thought Galaxy may like.

He picked it up and he smiled as it looked like a light, blue miniature draconic bot. D-16 knew these toys existed since everyone in Iacon knew what the dragons were, but they didn’t know a great deal about their history since it hasn’t been taught, and Sentinel Prime has given no answer. But sparklings, a long time ago, loved these toys. And D thought that Galaxy may like it too, so he brought it with him as he walked out and saw Orion had sat down at the table while bouncing the wailing sparkling to try and calm her down.

D-16 walked over and placed the harness onto the table and sat down on the chair next to Orion. “Look what I found, Galaxy. I think you might like it.” Galaxy grumbled loudly as she looked at D-16 with a glare, but her optics quickly noticed the toy and she widened her optics. Sniffling and wiping the tears from her optics, she immediately seemed to calm down as she stared in shock. “Oh, that was fast. I didn’t think…” Galaxy began to reach for the toy desperately with whimpers as she wanted it. D-16 gave the toy to her and she immediately snatched it and held it in her hands, staring at it in disbelief. “Huh…she’s looking at it like she’s seen that before.”

“Maybe it was something she was given before she was abandoned.” Orion was smiling as he watched Galaxy stare at the toy before she hugged it and began to sob, but not because she was cranky. But both D-16 and Orion did not know she was crying over the grief she had for her parents. She knew in her spark they were gone, and having this toy meant a lot to her. Orion rubbed the sparkling’s back as he cradled her. “Easy there, Galaxy. I got you.” Galaxy’s bottom lip trembled and she looked at D-16 again before reaching her arms towards him while keeping a tight hold of the toy. Orion chuckled as D-16 stared in shock. “Now you can hold her. You got her something she wants.”

“I hope this is not the start of spoiling her.” D-16 gently took the sparkling from Orion and cradled her immediately. She smiled at him a little before she kissed his cheek and nuzzled him. D-16’s smile widened. “Well…even though she’s clung to you, Orion. She hasn’t shown affection like this to you yet.”

Orion shrugged with an amused huff. “That doesn’t bother me. So long as she feels safe.” D-16 was glad, and he looked down at Galaxy as her wails started again as she was struggling to contain the feeling of weariness and frustration. “Well, make sure you bounce her and rub her back. I think she will fall into recharge again soon. I’ll see about getting her berth ready.”

D-16 just nodded as Orion stood up and walked away to begin going through the supplies they had, leaving D-16 to now deal with Galaxy. D-16 watched how Galaxy was holding onto the toy. D-16 noticed she was deeply sad, and he was right to assume she was missing her biological parents. Even though neither Orion and D-16 knew that her parents were gone and rusting on the surface of the planet. However, Galaxy was grateful that D-16 held onto her as she cried for her parents and cried out the frustration she was feeling about being rudely awakened from her recharge. But luckily for the two miners, Galaxy found her way back into recharge after fifteen minutes. Even so, when D-16 attempted to put Galaxy in her berth after Orion got it ready, she woke up again and refused to be put down. Both Orion and D-16 were worried she won’t want to be in her berth during the night, but they would wait and see. For now, they focused on dealing with the supplies they had to ensure they were settled into their new living quarters.

Chapter Text

Orion and D-16 spent the last part of the day getting things sorted in their new living space. With Galaxy recharging again, they were able to figure out how to use the harness and Orion helped D-16 strap the harness on himself and ensure that Galaxy would be comfortable against his chassis while she still kept a hold of her toy. This made it much easier for the two of them to organize the space, while also ensuring that Galaxy remained in recharge and close to one of the two bots while they set up the space. It wasn’t a lot to do. They had to move the energon into the containment, and the bottles of the formulated energon into the cooling containment. The door was hard for a sparkling to open, so Orion and D-16 would have to get it for Galaxy whenever she needed it.

They filled a box with all the toys that were delivered and arranged the bottles of ointments for the sparkling in the shower room. Both Orion and D-16 really did feel like they were living in quite a luxurious space. Especially when there was a small space with couches and a screen to allow them to watch any news or intervals from Sentinel Prime. So they really had a place to spend just with themselves, even if it is with the benefit of Galaxy’s wellbeing.

Orion was humming a little as he was organizing the bottles in the cooler while D-16 was putting the additional blankets and pillows away when they heard the buzzer for the door go off. Both of them were surprised and Orion walked over over to see who it via the front scanner. He was not surprised to see Elita. She must have finished, or left the mines early to come here. “Looks like the boss has decided to drop by and check on us.”

D-16 smiled, despite not being too surprised. “I think we should have expected that to be the case, Pax. Elita would not just roll over and ignore it all. Let her in. She might as well see the new place, but just make sure she knows to stay quiet. Galaxy might have been recharging for over an hour now, but I don’t want her disturbed.”

“Elita’s not Darkwing. She won’t be that annoying.” Orion opened the door and smiled politely as Elita looked at him with an unhappy expression and her arms were folded. “Hi, Elita…uh, I guess you came to see where we were moved, huh?”

“Something like that. But Darkwing didn’t really go into full detail, so I decided to stop by.” Elita leaned to the side as she noticed Orion was not holding Galaxy. When she saw the sparkling in the harness against D’s chassis, she smiled a little and softened her voice. “Is now a good time? Or should I maybe come by later when that sparkling is awake?”

“You should be fine as long as you aren’t shouting. Come in. And we were able figure out her name, though we don’t know if it is her full name or part of her name.” Elita smiled as she stepped inside as she was glad. “Her name is Galaxy. We haven’t yet tried anything else, but I was able to guess it pretty quickly.”

“That’s a pretty name for her, Orion. At least we can stop calling her the sparkling all the time.” Elita looked around the space as she was curious. “Nice place. When Darkwing told me you both had decided to accept being guardians to Galaxy I though he was joking. But I see now that you guys are serious and are now parents to her.”

Orion nodded. “Yeah, we are. And honestly, I am glad. After everything we found out, I think Galaxy really got screwed by her birth parents. Did Darkwing say much about that?” Elita shook her head. “Well…what did he tell you? He said you knew everything. I guess that was a bit of a lie.”

Elita sighed deeply as she walked over to the table and sat down, brushing off some dust from her arm and looked at Orion as he sat opposite her. “To be honest, he didn’t tell me much. When he contacted me, I assumed he was going to tell me more information. He did tell me that the sparkling would be adopted by you both and the rules that will be changed to ensure she will be safe. And, for some reason, he also said she would be a miner. But she doesn’t seem to be cogless.”

Orion’s expression softened and he glanced at D-16 as he walked to sit down on the chair next to Orion. D-16 gently placed his hand on Galaxy’s back and the sparkling intakes heavily and shifted a little, but remained deep in her recharge. “Well…Ratchet did confirm she has a t-cog. But…it’s not in her chest like it should be. It’s on the right side of her abdomen…” Elita raised an eyebrow immediately as that was a surprise to her as Orion explained the reason why Galaxy would become a miner eventually. “And Ratchet also confirmed that…the cog appears to be dysfunctional. She has one, yes, but she will never be able to transform.”

“Oh.” Elita was shocked. She glanced at the sparkling and her expression softened to pity for her, even though Elita always knew she couldn’t transform due to not having a cog. But to know that Galaxy had one and couldn’t made her sad for the sparkling. “That explains why Darkwing said that...poor thing...I mean, we are used to living this way, but...it’s a shame that Galaxy’s future has already been decided because of that.” Orion and D-16 nod in agreement. “Anything else? She seems healthy.”

“She is healthy. Ratchet couldn’t find any sign of abuse, so that was good. But...her vocal processor can’t form words. So...she will never speak.” Elita frowned a little as she knew that meant she would need to learn how to sign to communicate with Galaxy, but she also felt bad. D-16 glanced down at the sparkling with sadness. “It is the assumption that...Galaxy was abandoned due to these disabilities. But her medical profile was non-existent in the system, nor did her CNA match anyone in the system. So...something else has gone on behind the scenes.”

“Scrap...that isn’t good...hmm...maybe it was a good thing she ended up in the mines. Even if it was the last place a sparkling should be, but now this sparkling had to come with Orion and D-16 to the mines each day. “Ugh...quite the complex situation. And I thought having to write a whole report of today’s events was complicated enough. You both have quite the job ahead of you.”

Orion and D nod in agreement. “Yes, we do. But...” Orion smiled and looked at the sparkling with happiness. “I admit...I don’t think I want to change anything. I am actually very happy about it. Having a sparkling to raise feels right to me.”

Elita smiled in amusement. “It amuses me that you say that. You aren’t the most reliable miner, and you goof off way too often. So I do wonder why you would even want to accept this sparkling as your own. Was it out of pity?”

“Partly.” Elita was not surprised as she felt the same way about Galaxy as she knew that this would not be her fault. “But after spending time with her and feeling her need for my presence and comfort...I came to realize I already felt love for this sparkling and she needs me, and D to raise her. Honestly, I am just glad it was us she met and not someone else. I’m not sure how many others would even look at her and want to raise her.”

Listening to Orion speak about taking the sparkling in was very pleasant. This was probably the most mature she has seen Orion be with anything, and that was good. It was as if that Galaxy has called upon something deeper in him. Elita smiled at him. “That makes my spark feel warm the way you said that, Orion. I don’t think I’ve seen you like this. And what about you D?” She turned to D-16 as he had leaned back a little in the chair and he seemed content with the sparkling attached to him. “You were uncomfortable when the sparkling grabbed a hold of your finger. And now you seem happy to be carrying her around in that harness.”

D-16 smiled while also seemingly embarrassed as he knew that it was probably silly to feel that way. “Truthfully, I was hesitant to accept, Elita. I was looking at it from a different view than Pax. We don’t really have a lot of time for ourselves. We work, go recharge, go to work, recharge and there’s not much in between our shifts. Any down time we have is very far and few between, so...I was not thrilled right away.”

“That makes sense. You were looking at it from a practical view, considering we don’t really get a lot of benefits.” D nodded and Elita sympathised immediately. “I would have felt the same as you, D. I probably would have outright refused, even if the situation clearly was not good for Galaxy. But I guess spending time with her has changed your mind. Being a father seems to suit you and Orion.”

“Thank you, Elita. And yes, you are right. Galaxy did win my spark after we spent time with her. And she really has warmed up to me a little more than she has with Pax, funny enough.” Orion rolled his optics in amusement and D-16 gently elbowed him playfully. “Don’t worry too much, Pax. I am sure she will show you affection too. She clung to you for much longer than she did me, except for right now.”

“Let me guess, she doesn’t want to recharge in her own berth?” Both bots shake their heads and Elita chuckled a little. “Well...I think you might be in over your heads and little. Raising sparklings isn’t easy. I may not know much about that, but I can easily look back to when I was a pain in the aft as a youngling to know that raising a bot is not easy. But...” Elita glanced at Galaxy as she murmured and stretched her legs as she began to stir. “Oh...am I being too loud?”

Orion and D shook their heads as she was not. They guessed she was just waking up. “This was just a nap, so maybe she has had enough.” D-16 rubbed the sparkling’s back gently as her optics open slowly and she yawned lightly. “I don’t think I’ll get over how cute she is.”

Elita nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I don’t anyone will. I will say I will do my part in assisting you with Galaxy in the mines...” Galaxy turned her head as she was surprised to hear Elita and when Elita noticed Galaxy looking at her, she smiled politely. “Hello, Galaxy. I’m just dropping by for a visit.”

Galaxy didn’t really react and she also wasn’t bothered by Elita’s presence as she turned her head away and rubbed her optics with her right hand while keeping a tight grip of her toy in her left hand. She rests her cheek on D-16’s chassis as she was clearly just wanting to wake up. But she was quiet and there was no signal that she was going to start wailing. Which was good, since that was what they had expected. Though maybe she might fuss when she was fully awake.

“Well...she might actually be quite calm for a sparkling. At least, with waking up.” Elita looked at both Orion and D to see their smiles and the pride they already seemed to have in their optics. Elita was smiling as she couldn’t help but think they both were adorable, and this suited them. “I never thought I would see the day that Orion Pax and D-16 would become parents. Are you sure you two aren’t closer than friends?”

Orion shook his head and looked at Elita. “Nah, his ugly aft is not my interest, Elita. We are just good friends. Brothers, really.” Elita hummed a little as she didn’t believe him. “And I must say, your finish looks really fine today after all the hard work you’ve done.”

Elita grimaced immediately at Orion’s attempt to flirt with her. “Orion, please, you know I don’t really care for tiny compliments like that. And we aren’t friends. I’m your boss, and I am merely here to understand the whole situation. Darkwing really didn’t help either of us by being extremely vague…and I now also have to talk to the other miners about rules regarding Galaxy. If anyone disobeys them, I will make sure I throw them to the Pit myself.”

Orion’s expression did fill with disappointment briefly, though he was also not too surprised. Elita wasn’t interested in bonding with him further than just as co-workers, but that didn’t stop him from trying. He did appreciate that Elita would have their back on Galaxy though. “Thank you, Elita. This situation is not going to be easy for any of us for a while. But I am sure within a short time, this will feel normal.”

Elita scoffed in amusement. “I know it will, Orion, but that is going to take a long time. I think you might be underestimating it a little bit. But I do agree it will become normal to all of us. It will take time. And once that sparkling gets settled, I am sure things may either get easier or harder depending on how she handles situations. So far, I’m impressed. But she could just be nervous too.”

“I think you might be right about that, Elita. Though I think…” D-16 glanced down as Galaxy wiggled and she frowned as she realized she was strapped in the harness. She tugged at the straps and looked at D curiously. “Oh, you want to get out. Alright.” Galaxy murmured a little as D-16 gently unclipped the straps around the sparkling’s body and lifted her a little and moved her legs out of the straps before shifting the harness to the side a little and sat her on his knees. “Is that better, Galaxy?”

Galaxy nodded and yawned again before she looked at Elita before she smiled at her. Elita smiled back at her. “From what I’ve heard and seen, you’ve been a good sparkling, Galaxy. Keep up the good work.” She looked up from the sparkling at the two bots. “By the way, I never got to ask, how did Ratchet feel about all this anyway?”

“He was not happy at all. I think he was fuming on the inside, given the situation we Galaxy in, but with the whole situation of potential corruption within the medical staff…” Orion glanced at Galaxy as she reached her hands towards him and he smiled to take her from D who was a little disappointed, but he did not dare to hold her. Orion cradled the sparkling against him as she snuggled against him and he continued to speak to Elita. “I think that has Ratchet very concerned. After all, this has never happened before and someone, or multiple bots, have committed crimes to prevent Galaxy’s existence from being known. But…clearly they didn’t think about it too well since she ended up with us and now we all know, and so do all the higher transformers. Darkwing didn’t seem to have a good time with them.”

“Ugh…that means he’s not going to be in a good mood for a few days…but it isn’t his fault or yours, so we just have to deal with it. Hopefully, he won’t be too hard on you both given you will be figuring things out for a while. And same with me, since I will be juggling keeping everyone in order, while also making sure Galaxy does not get into anything she shouldn’t and helping you if needed. But I know you are the primary caregivers, so I do hope that we can work it out quickly.” Elita took a deep intake and stood up from her chair. “But I do think you both have done a good job so far. And you seem to be pretty much settled into your new place.”

“Thank you…” Orion stood up and Galaxy looked at Elita again while she listened quietly. “I know D and I will do our best. I do not expect everyone else to be so understanding. And D and I will probably start learning how to sign so we can teach Galaxy so we can communicate.”

“Good. I plan on doing that later before recharge too. And don’t worry, Orion, I have got your back.” Elita glanced around at their new place briefly before she stretched her arms and turned to the door. “I think that just about covers everything I needed to know. I really need a good oil bath after today. I know you might feel the same too, even though neither one of you has a speck of dust on your body.”

Orion chuckled a little. “That might be true, but the mental strain that today has brought probably has been just as hard to understand as moving lumps of energon for processing.” He glanced down as Galaxy began to wiggle in his arms and he moved his arms to hold her. “Though I hope that, um…we will still be able to ensure we meet the daily quota so you can get your promotions.”

Elita snorted in amusement and rolled her optics. “For the time being, Orion, just focus on being a good father to Galaxy. You too, D-16. You both have taken on a very big responsibility, and I still have doubts that you both can actually do it.”

D-16 placed the harness down as he had removed it from his body and stood up with a smile. “I think you may find yourself surprised, Elita. After all…” He glanced at Orion as Galaxy was whimpering loudly and she was moving her body to the point she looked like she was trying to slip out of his arms. “Uh, I think she wants to be put down, Orion. You don’t want to drop her.”

Orion shifted Galaxy in his arms so she wouldn’t slip suddenly before lowering her onto her feet on the ground. Galaxy smiled and turned to kiss Orion’s cheek before he leaned back up. Orion was surprised and he smiled at her. “You are welcome, Galaxy. Once we learn sign, we will teach you so we can communicate.” Galaxy giggled a little, even though she herself knew she was going to act like she won’t understand for a long time.

“As I was saying, with Pax and I being the ones to put our hands up to take Galaxy in, we won’t disappoint anyone. Especially Galaxy.” D-16 looked at Galaxy as she walked away to look around curiously. Now that she was awake, she seemed eager to explore. D looked back at Elita with a smile. “But I am sure you will kick our afts back into line if we make a mistake.”

“You can bet that I will, D-16. In fact, that is a promise.” Elita turned on her heel and walked towards the door. “And not just because you might do something wrong with Galaxy too. You are not going to use her as an excuse to get out of any hard…” She stopped as she heard Galaxy whimpering loudly and turned to see Galaxy hoping towards her and looked up at Elita with sad optics. Smiling, Elita intakes heavily and kneels down in front of the sparkling. “I see you got some confidence now, young one. Good to see. You are going to need it for the rest of your left.” Galaxy smiled a little before she reached towards Elita’s hand to grab, though Elita pulled her hands away gently. “I can’t stay, Galaxy. This is your home with Orion Pax and D-16. I cannot stay here, or Darkwing will come in and get very mad.” Galaxy shivered and wrapped her arms around her toy tightly. “I can see you don’t like him anymore than we do. But unfortunately, we have to deal with him regularly.”

Orion walked over as he was worried Galaxy may try to cling to Elita as it seemed the sparkling has taken a sudden interest in Elita. “She’s right, Galaxy. Elita cannot stay here. You will see her tomorrow.”

Galaxy murmured a little again as she looked at Orion before looking back at Elita. “Orion is right. You will see me every single day when you come to the mines with them. And since you cannot go into the tunnels, because they are so damp, dirty and dangerous, you can hang around with me. I can show you how to be the best boss so you might have a chance when you’re older.” Galaxy smiled at Elita and nodded. “At least that settles what will happen tomorrow. But we will be going through some little rules before that happens.” Elita lightly tapped Galaxy’s nose, making the sparkling giggle. “So you don’t need to worry, Galaxy. If you want, I can come by sometimes, but I am not coming by everyday. I think Orion and D-16 might get sick of me.” Galaxy shook her head as she doubted it and Elita stood up, which caused the sparkling to pout. “I hope this clinginess will be something that she will grow out of.”

Orion nodded in agreement because Galaxy may just try to cling to bots she likes, and that wasn’t okay. “As long as we don’t encourage it…” He reached down to grab Galaxy right hand, and she flinched with a whimper of surprise. She looked up at him with a pouty expression and he smiled at her. “Wait here with us, Galaxy. I know you want to look around.” Galaxy looked at Elita as the door opened and she began to sulk a little. “You’ll see Elita tomorrow. It will be okay. Nice to know you like her though.”

Elita chuckled and turned a little to look back at Orion. “Of course, she likes me, Orion. We are the first three she had seen today. And we aren’t dolts like Darkwing can be. Have a good evening. And get some good recharge if you can. I will see you in the mines tomorrow.”

Orion nodded as the door closed behind Elita and he intakes heavily before letting Galaxy’s hand go. He looked down as the sparkling murmured a little before she turned to walk away while looking around curiously. He was glad she at least did not start crying about Elita leaving so they could focus on finishing on settling in and cleaning the place while keeping an eye on Galaxy. And since she was just going to explore for the time being, they knew they could finish quickly.

“I guess we should just finish up now,” Orion said and D-16 nodded. “I’ll finish organizing the bottles since I was not finished when Elita decided to show up.” He walked over to the cooler and opened it before grabbing the bottles he had not put in to begin organising them. “I hadn’t even realized until now these formulated energon bottles had to be kept cool.”

“It is strange, since normal low-grade energon would be warm if fed from a carrier…but I think because of the process that the energon goes through when it becomes formulated low-grade it isn’t as stable as regular energon. Keeping it cool keeps it from deteriorating, and there’s no way we are going to let it rot while Galaxy needs it.” D walked over to a large device that was used to clean and polish the floors. Though there was no floor finish in this machine, so it would only just mop and clean the floor. He looked at Galaxy to see she was checking out the shower room. “Galaxy…” She flinched and turned to him in surprise. “This will make a bit of noise, I don’t want you to get too scared.”

Galaxy smiled as she appreciated the warning. When D turned it on to begin moving it around the space, it was loud, but it didn’t bother her that much. She looked back in the shower room as she was glad to see a tub available for her. She would definitely like to have a bath today, though she felt like that she would bother Orion and D if she asked about it. While Galaxy was happy with how this has worked out, as she sensed that both Orion and D-16 seemed to have an important future, though she did not know what that would be certain. She knew she had changed a lot in a very short time.

Galaxy sighed deeply as she looked down at the draconic bot toy in her hand and she intakes deeply before turning around. She watched D-16 take his time pushing the floor cleaner around, which seemed to be heavy, and she noticed the steam rising from underneath the round device as it cleaned the floor. She glanced at Orion as he was putting the last of the bottles away and she smiled, feeling rather lucky to be with these two.

I wish I could speak to them properly…but I must wait…Oracle said I had to wait until I get to the surface for my vocal processor to let me speak…I don’t know how long that is going to be. Especially since these two are mining bots, and are stuck doing the same thing each day. I feel sorry for them. Ugh…I hate Sentinel. I hope that he won’t suspect about who I am when all this information gets back to him. As much as I already love Orion and D-16 like they are my own parents, I know they may not be able to protect me. Hopefully…the lack of knowledge that we draconic bots can transform will make Sentinel think that I am just another bot who happens to be named Galaxy. At least they haven’t tried figuring out my full name. Yet.

“Galaxy?” Galaxy flinched and blinked as she heard Orion. She looked at him as he walked over with a concerned expression. “Are you alright? You look sad.” Galaxy watched him walk over and kneel in front of her. She sighed deeply and smiled at him before walking closer and reaching her arms out to hug him. Orion softened his expression as he wrapped his arms around her gently. “I guess you are missing your parents. I know D-16 and I aren’t them, and we will never be them. But we will do the best we can for you. But you seem to know that already.” Galaxy giggled a little before she stepped back before her optics glance towards the toy box curiously. Orion followed her gaze and chuckled a little. “Ah, that box there is full of the other toys. Not sure if you…” Galaxy walked around Orion and made her way to the box. Orion stood up to follow her as she opened the box and peered inside at the full box in shock. “I hope it isn’t too much. But you can’t make a mess until D-16 is finished. Okay?”

Galaxy nodded as she looked at the toys at the top before grabbing another draconic bot toy with a smile. This one was red and white, and she stepped back, gazing between the two toys before she began to run around while holding her hands up and moving them to watch the wings flap as she ran around excitedly. Orion was highly amused, while D was concerned at first, but Galaxy did avoid the floor cleaner and did not step behind D-16 as she knew it had just been cleaned. They were at least glad that Galaxy was able to entertain herself for the time being, and they knew that the first night was going to be rather interesting. At least Elita now understands the situation some more, and she was going to be helpful moving forward. They had no idea how the other miners were going to react to them adopting this sparkling as their own.