MARATHON UPLOAD PART THE FIRST
OH GOD. IT'S DONE. IT'S DONE. THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF THE END, OH MY GOD. 30,000 WORDS LATER AND IT'S OVER.
Three weeks passed with all the speed of a run-down Volkswagon. Optimus put Zack on standby duty for three days to “get his processor back in place” which, while Zack appreciated the break, also meant that he couldn’t start working with Silvernode until after that time was up. Zack was barely able to relax even with the time off, and it fell to Jess, AJ, and Wheeljack to keep him out of a funk for those long three days.
Slick and Silvernode remained in solitary confinement, cut off from the outside world, though neither of them seemed to show much discomfort. Neither did the two react when interrogated by any of Optimus Prime’s officers. As determined as Zack was to help Silvernode, Silvernode was equally determined to pretend Zack didn’t exist. Even when, after much effort, he was able to get a reaction out of his Da, their conversation would quickly devolve into a shouting match which left Silvernode as unapproachable as ever and put Zack in a pissy mood for hours.
Of course, when Zack was irritable, Wildfire couldn’t help but bait him. Under normal circumstances, the black mech might have been able to ignore her long enough to get out of the way - at least some of the time - but with the added stress of dealing with Silvernode, he was too short-fused to resist her goading. Then the argument would escalate as the two got nastier, first verbally and finally physically, leaving both Autobots beat up and locked in the brig. Zack wasn’t blameless either - as often as Wildfire picked on him, he was just as likely to insult her and instigate a fight on his own, especially when he was frustrated by another fruitless meeting with Silvernode. Again, things would escalate, and they’d both be in the brig in record time.
As far as Red Alert was concerned, he was getting tired of seeing their faces day in and day out.
Overall, it was a routine that no one particularly liked, but both Zack and Wildfire had such volatile moods that it really couldn’t be helped. All in all, they spent a whole lot of time pissing each other off since Zack wouldn’t tell Wildfire about Silvernode and Wildfire refused to quit asking. In the meantime, AJ and Jess would shake their heads at their friends’ pigheadedness and hide behind Tek if they were around when things got rough.
In that third week after the whole Silvernode incident, Blaster picked up an unexpected signal and called for a Code Blue-4.
‘Blue-4, Blue-4…’ Zack thought, recalling the meaning. ‘New Autobot arrivals.’ Considering the last time there had been new arrivals to Earth, Zack was justified in feeling the strong sense of relief welling up in his spark by hearing they were Autobots. The worst that would happen would be the arrival of an Autobot who Zack had personally harmed, directly or no, in which case Optimus and his officers would protect him and negotiate reconciliation. Otherwise, the only thing to really worry about was if Decepticons tried to attack the new arrivals, but considering the blow that was dealt when the Autobots captured two of the three members of the fierce Decepticon trio, retaliation was unlikely to happen so soon.
Zack headed for the exit, feeling much better than he did the last time he’d gone out to greet new arrivals, transformed into his vehicle mode, and joined the party headed out towards the coast to pick up their wayward compatriots.
~
The smoke and debris left from the bots’ meteoric entry had already faded away by the time the Autobots arrived to pick up their comrades. Prowl was tracking them based on signal pulses. The welcoming party was relatively small - Prowl and Jazz were in charge, leading Zack, Hound, Arcee, First Aid, Sideswipe, and Bluestreak. Silverbolt was flying overhead keeping an eye out for possible Decepticon activity. Hopefully there wouldn’t be any reason to worry, but better to be safe than sorry.
As for the recently-landed, there was no way to know for sure who was arriving exactly, since travel in space was capricious at best and any one team could get turned around or delayed by any number of things. However, Blaster and Prowl could normally provide a pretty good guess as to who would be arriving - or at least provide a few reasonable options. This time, they were running in blind though - no troops had been called back recently, and those who were still on their way wouldn’t have been able to make it to Earth yet. It was odd, but not unheard of, to have so little information.
After sifting through various local news reports, Prowl was able to pinpoint the location of their fallen comrades. Roughly twenty miles from the crash site, there was a sudden crackle of static on all of the Autobots’ radios. “-krrsht-bots, re-szst-fication thr-krzt-spzzts-ma nine.” Zack was still trying to decipher the message when it repeated, this time more clearly. “-zt-tobots, respond -ksht-peat, Auto-zt-respond.”
It was Jazz’s duty to respond to the open broadcast, so the other Autobots remained silent as a whole, but there was a considerable air of relief throughout the group. Zack found some of his own tension readings lower just perceptibly. The new arrivals were safe.
A moment of further communication yielded their orders from Prowl, “Proceed. Be on the lookout for Decepticon activity. Target in one-point-four breems. Unable to verify identification, use caution.”
That was a sobering thought. Sometimes numbers got jumbled or lost among the many system moves and destroyed mobile servers, but lack of verifiable identification could also be an indication that their new arrivals were Decepticons in a stolen vehicle with stolen distress codes.
They would know soon enough. The tension was back, and it made those last few minutes a lingering ordeal. With a bit of off-roading, (Zack silently hating dirt and meticulously avoiding tree limbs) the Autobots finally arrived at the crash site. A small spacecraft was situated at the deep end of an elongated crater - they’d skidded as they’d crashed, tearing up the earth and local flora in their wake.
The team shifted into their bipedal forms and waited while Prowl approached the ship. “Autobots,” he began, “Exit your vehicle slowly with your arms up.” The order was direct, but not cold.
“Understood,” promised a voice from the transport as the hatch opened. The opening revealed a white and burnt-orange femme holding her arms up peacefully. She stepped out of the craft and kept her distance from the Autobots as another, smaller femme followed her steps, this one white and maroon and looking annoyed and resentful at being treated like a criminal.
Prowl was about to say something to the femmes, but Zack couldn’t help but blurt out, “Winder?!”
The smaller femme started and focused her gaze on the black Autobot. If her confusion wasn’t evident from her facial expression alone, the dumbfounded, “Huh?” sealed the deal. The larger femme looked equally puzzled.
“Zack,” Prowl warned, causing Zack to remain silent, though his gaze remained solely on the femme. Prowl continued, this time to the femmes, “I require your designation and last posting.”
“Designation: Novaflare, last posting on Uumani-6, Halthorn system,” the burnt-orange femme replied.
“Designation: Winder, last postin’ on Uumani-6, Halthorn system,” the maroon femme answered, “And who’re you?” she added, casting another confused look at Zack. Then, a pause. “And what the slag kinda name is ‘Zack’?”
“Are you acquainted with Winder, Zack?” Prowl asked. Zack was very suddenly aware that the each and every one of the surrounding Autobots was staring at him.
“Well,” Zack started, embarrassed now by the attention his outburst had drawn, “you probably don’t remember me, but you once helped my Ka and I out, a long time ago.”
“Your Ka?”
“Yeah. I was just a sparkling then. My Ka’s name is-“
“Iona,” Winder interrupted. “Iona’s your Ka.”
“Yes.”
Her dumbfounded look intensified but the blue glow brightening in her optics betrayed her understanding, “No… Brightbyte?!”
Zack’s hesitant nod was answer enough, apparently. The femme threw caution to the wind and a second later launched out of the crater and tackled him in the Cybertronian equivalent of a bear hug. Prowl intended to raise a hand to halt her advance but it was only halfway up by the time she’d thrown her arms around Zack.
She wasn’t Blurr, but she was speaking quickly enough to give him a good run for his money. “OhPrimusOhPrimusOhPrimusHolySlagBrightbyteWhatAreYouDoingHereWhereHaveYouBeenWhatHappenedToYouOhMyPrimusHowAreYouStillAliveOh-“
“Winder, calm yourself,” Prowl reprimanded the femme as Novaflare complained, “This is not the time…”
“More of Zack’s friends?” Bluestreak wondered aloud.
“I’m not sure you’d call the ones before ‘friends’, Blue…” Arcee added.
Sideswipe said something, this too quiet to hear, in response. Whatever it was, it earned him a glare from Arcee and even a look from Bluestreak. Hound and First Aid exchanged a glance. There was an atmosphere of general confusion as the bots tried to guess what was going on, affecting all save for Jazz, whose easy grin betrayed both his relief and his amusement at the whole fiasco.
Winder was completely ignoring all of them, fully engrossed in making sure Zack wasn’t just a processor malfunction. “I don’t believe it!” She finally exclaimed, this time intelligibly. “Primus! ‘Byte, where’ve you been?!” She pushed him away in order to better poke and prod at his armor, turning him around with a surprising amount of force to get a better look at him. “Look at you! You’re bigger’n I am now! When did that happen?” Then, with another curious look at her old friend, Winder asked, “How’d you end up way out here, anyway?”
“That… Is a very long story,” Zack said, averting his gaze.
“I’ll look forward to hearin’ it,” Winder responded with a smile. Then, she turned to her companion (missing Zack’s suddenly stricken expression), who Prowl had indicated should approach, “Hey, Nova’, you remember ‘Byte? Iona’s sparkling?”
“I remember,” the femme replied, turning to Zack, “You were young when we first met, but I remember. It’s good to see you’re alive.”
Zack remembered the other femme as well, though he hadn’t recognized her right away. “You went with Winder that day - you both joined the Autobots.”
“Yes.”
“So, you two managed to stick together?”
“For the most part,” Novaflare answered.
“Please,” Winder cut in, “Like command would trust you not to get inta trouble without me to get you out.”
“I think you’re getting us confused again.”
“Hey, now…”
And that started an argument of banter that might have reminded Zack of himself and Wildfire except for the distinct lack of vitriol. And violence. Punches were definitely absent.
“Excuse me,” Prowl interrupted, voice authoritative and not betraying a hint of the annoyance Zack assumed he was feeling. Winder and Novaflare quit their mocking each other, both looking as sheepish as sparklings caught in the act of a bad habit. “Thank you. Now, I’ve sent your information to base and Optimus Prime has verified your identities. All Autobots transform and return to base,” Prowl nodded towards Winder and Novaflare to indicate they were included in this order. “You two stick with Jazz and myself.”
“Uh - yeah. Got it,” Winder answered, stealing another long look at Zack before joining the Autobots in transforming. Novaflare was already caught up with Prowl as a sleek, four-wheeled vehicle from a planet whose style Zack didn’t recognize. Winder’s vehicle form appeared to be a sort of motorcycle from the same planet as Novaflare’s. Zack followed suit and transformed, determined as ever to find answers.
Three weeks passed with all the speed of a run-down Volkswagon. Optimus put Zack on standby duty for three days to “get his processor back in place” which, while Zack appreciated the break, also meant that he couldn’t start working with Silvernode until after that time was up. Zack was barely able to relax even with the time off, and it fell to Jess, AJ, and Wheeljack to keep him out of a funk for those long three days.
Slick and Silvernode remained in solitary confinement, cut off from the outside world, though neither of them seemed to show much discomfort. Neither did the two react when interrogated by any of Optimus Prime’s officers. As determined as Zack was to help Silvernode, Silvernode was equally determined to pretend Zack didn’t exist. Even when, after much effort, he was able to get a reaction out of his Da, their conversation would quickly devolve into a shouting match which left Silvernode as unapproachable as ever and put Zack in a pissy mood for hours.
Of course, when Zack was irritable, Wildfire couldn’t help but bait him. Under normal circumstances, the black mech might have been able to ignore her long enough to get out of the way - at least some of the time - but with the added stress of dealing with Silvernode, he was too short-fused to resist her goading. Then the argument would escalate as the two got nastier, first verbally and finally physically, leaving both Autobots beat up and locked in the brig. Zack wasn’t blameless either - as often as Wildfire picked on him, he was just as likely to insult her and instigate a fight on his own, especially when he was frustrated by another fruitless meeting with Silvernode. Again, things would escalate, and they’d both be in the brig in record time.
As far as Red Alert was concerned, he was getting tired of seeing their faces day in and day out.
Overall, it was a routine that no one particularly liked, but both Zack and Wildfire had such volatile moods that it really couldn’t be helped. All in all, they spent a whole lot of time pissing each other off since Zack wouldn’t tell Wildfire about Silvernode and Wildfire refused to quit asking. In the meantime, AJ and Jess would shake their heads at their friends’ pigheadedness and hide behind Tek if they were around when things got rough.
In that third week after the whole Silvernode incident, Blaster picked up an unexpected signal and called for a Code Blue-4.
‘Blue-4, Blue-4…’ Zack thought, recalling the meaning. ‘New Autobot arrivals.’ Considering the last time there had been new arrivals to Earth, Zack was justified in feeling the strong sense of relief welling up in his spark by hearing they were Autobots. The worst that would happen would be the arrival of an Autobot who Zack had personally harmed, directly or no, in which case Optimus and his officers would protect him and negotiate reconciliation. Otherwise, the only thing to really worry about was if Decepticons tried to attack the new arrivals, but considering the blow that was dealt when the Autobots captured two of the three members of the fierce Decepticon trio, retaliation was unlikely to happen so soon.
Zack headed for the exit, feeling much better than he did the last time he’d gone out to greet new arrivals, transformed into his vehicle mode, and joined the party headed out towards the coast to pick up their wayward compatriots.
~
The smoke and debris left from the bots’ meteoric entry had already faded away by the time the Autobots arrived to pick up their comrades. Prowl was tracking them based on signal pulses. The welcoming party was relatively small - Prowl and Jazz were in charge, leading Zack, Hound, Arcee, First Aid, Sideswipe, and Bluestreak. Silverbolt was flying overhead keeping an eye out for possible Decepticon activity. Hopefully there wouldn’t be any reason to worry, but better to be safe than sorry.
As for the recently-landed, there was no way to know for sure who was arriving exactly, since travel in space was capricious at best and any one team could get turned around or delayed by any number of things. However, Blaster and Prowl could normally provide a pretty good guess as to who would be arriving - or at least provide a few reasonable options. This time, they were running in blind though - no troops had been called back recently, and those who were still on their way wouldn’t have been able to make it to Earth yet. It was odd, but not unheard of, to have so little information.
After sifting through various local news reports, Prowl was able to pinpoint the location of their fallen comrades. Roughly twenty miles from the crash site, there was a sudden crackle of static on all of the Autobots’ radios. “-krrsht-bots, re-szst-fication thr-krzt-spzzts-ma nine.” Zack was still trying to decipher the message when it repeated, this time more clearly. “-zt-tobots, respond -ksht-peat, Auto-zt-respond.”
It was Jazz’s duty to respond to the open broadcast, so the other Autobots remained silent as a whole, but there was a considerable air of relief throughout the group. Zack found some of his own tension readings lower just perceptibly. The new arrivals were safe.
A moment of further communication yielded their orders from Prowl, “Proceed. Be on the lookout for Decepticon activity. Target in one-point-four breems. Unable to verify identification, use caution.”
That was a sobering thought. Sometimes numbers got jumbled or lost among the many system moves and destroyed mobile servers, but lack of verifiable identification could also be an indication that their new arrivals were Decepticons in a stolen vehicle with stolen distress codes.
They would know soon enough. The tension was back, and it made those last few minutes a lingering ordeal. With a bit of off-roading, (Zack silently hating dirt and meticulously avoiding tree limbs) the Autobots finally arrived at the crash site. A small spacecraft was situated at the deep end of an elongated crater - they’d skidded as they’d crashed, tearing up the earth and local flora in their wake.
The team shifted into their bipedal forms and waited while Prowl approached the ship. “Autobots,” he began, “Exit your vehicle slowly with your arms up.” The order was direct, but not cold.
“Understood,” promised a voice from the transport as the hatch opened. The opening revealed a white and burnt-orange femme holding her arms up peacefully. She stepped out of the craft and kept her distance from the Autobots as another, smaller femme followed her steps, this one white and maroon and looking annoyed and resentful at being treated like a criminal.
Prowl was about to say something to the femmes, but Zack couldn’t help but blurt out, “Winder?!”
The smaller femme started and focused her gaze on the black Autobot. If her confusion wasn’t evident from her facial expression alone, the dumbfounded, “Huh?” sealed the deal. The larger femme looked equally puzzled.
“Zack,” Prowl warned, causing Zack to remain silent, though his gaze remained solely on the femme. Prowl continued, this time to the femmes, “I require your designation and last posting.”
“Designation: Novaflare, last posting on Uumani-6, Halthorn system,” the burnt-orange femme replied.
“Designation: Winder, last postin’ on Uumani-6, Halthorn system,” the maroon femme answered, “And who’re you?” she added, casting another confused look at Zack. Then, a pause. “And what the slag kinda name is ‘Zack’?”
“Are you acquainted with Winder, Zack?” Prowl asked. Zack was very suddenly aware that the each and every one of the surrounding Autobots was staring at him.
“Well,” Zack started, embarrassed now by the attention his outburst had drawn, “you probably don’t remember me, but you once helped my Ka and I out, a long time ago.”
“Your Ka?”
“Yeah. I was just a sparkling then. My Ka’s name is-“
“Iona,” Winder interrupted. “Iona’s your Ka.”
“Yes.”
Her dumbfounded look intensified but the blue glow brightening in her optics betrayed her understanding, “No… Brightbyte?!”
Zack’s hesitant nod was answer enough, apparently. The femme threw caution to the wind and a second later launched out of the crater and tackled him in the Cybertronian equivalent of a bear hug. Prowl intended to raise a hand to halt her advance but it was only halfway up by the time she’d thrown her arms around Zack.
She wasn’t Blurr, but she was speaking quickly enough to give him a good run for his money. “OhPrimusOhPrimusOhPrimusHolySlagBrightbyteWhatAreYouDoingHereWhereHaveYouBeenWhatHappenedToYouOhMyPrimusHowAreYouStillAliveOh-“
“Winder, calm yourself,” Prowl reprimanded the femme as Novaflare complained, “This is not the time…”
“More of Zack’s friends?” Bluestreak wondered aloud.
“I’m not sure you’d call the ones before ‘friends’, Blue…” Arcee added.
Sideswipe said something, this too quiet to hear, in response. Whatever it was, it earned him a glare from Arcee and even a look from Bluestreak. Hound and First Aid exchanged a glance. There was an atmosphere of general confusion as the bots tried to guess what was going on, affecting all save for Jazz, whose easy grin betrayed both his relief and his amusement at the whole fiasco.
Winder was completely ignoring all of them, fully engrossed in making sure Zack wasn’t just a processor malfunction. “I don’t believe it!” She finally exclaimed, this time intelligibly. “Primus! ‘Byte, where’ve you been?!” She pushed him away in order to better poke and prod at his armor, turning him around with a surprising amount of force to get a better look at him. “Look at you! You’re bigger’n I am now! When did that happen?” Then, with another curious look at her old friend, Winder asked, “How’d you end up way out here, anyway?”
“That… Is a very long story,” Zack said, averting his gaze.
“I’ll look forward to hearin’ it,” Winder responded with a smile. Then, she turned to her companion (missing Zack’s suddenly stricken expression), who Prowl had indicated should approach, “Hey, Nova’, you remember ‘Byte? Iona’s sparkling?”
“I remember,” the femme replied, turning to Zack, “You were young when we first met, but I remember. It’s good to see you’re alive.”
Zack remembered the other femme as well, though he hadn’t recognized her right away. “You went with Winder that day - you both joined the Autobots.”
“Yes.”
“So, you two managed to stick together?”
“For the most part,” Novaflare answered.
“Please,” Winder cut in, “Like command would trust you not to get inta trouble without me to get you out.”
“I think you’re getting us confused again.”
“Hey, now…”
And that started an argument of banter that might have reminded Zack of himself and Wildfire except for the distinct lack of vitriol. And violence. Punches were definitely absent.
“Excuse me,” Prowl interrupted, voice authoritative and not betraying a hint of the annoyance Zack assumed he was feeling. Winder and Novaflare quit their mocking each other, both looking as sheepish as sparklings caught in the act of a bad habit. “Thank you. Now, I’ve sent your information to base and Optimus Prime has verified your identities. All Autobots transform and return to base,” Prowl nodded towards Winder and Novaflare to indicate they were included in this order. “You two stick with Jazz and myself.”
“Uh - yeah. Got it,” Winder answered, stealing another long look at Zack before joining the Autobots in transforming. Novaflare was already caught up with Prowl as a sleek, four-wheeled vehicle from a planet whose style Zack didn’t recognize. Winder’s vehicle form appeared to be a sort of motorcycle from the same planet as Novaflare’s. Zack followed suit and transformed, determined as ever to find answers.