TF (OC): Searchin’
Rating: PG
Series: G1
Summary: This is the back-story for my OC Tracer. A change hopefully for the better as Tracer discovers Earth and realises just what she’s let herself in for
Warnings: Nothing… absolutely no warnings required I think…
Disclaimer: As per usual, the good things in life are not mine to have, but belong to someone else... in this case Hasbro, Takara and IDW and anyone else I’ve forgotten… Tracer belongs to me… as do Kicker and Rollback
Feedback makes friends. Flames dealt with by the masters of paranoia and fire, Red Alert and Inferno.
Authors Notes: The quote used is “Today a new sun rises for me; everything lives, everything is animated, everything seems to speak to me of my passion, everything invites me to cherish it.” by Ninon de Lenclos
Searchin' Part One
Searchin' Part Two
Searchin' Part Three
Searchin' Part Four
Searchin' Part Five
Searchin' Part Six
Searchin' Part Seven
Searchin' Part Eight
Searchin' Part Nine
Tracer couldn’t believe her optics when she stepped off the ramp. Everything was so vibrant and healthy and clean.
“You think this is something, wait until you see the cities.” Hound murmured in her audio. Tracer couldn’t do anything but nod; amazed at the sight laid out before her. The desert seemed to stretch for hics, far further than anything she could think of on Cybertron. The colors reflected the waning sun with an intensity she had never seen before. Each rock and pebble looked alive.
It was like nothing on Cybertron. She staggered for a moment, the enormity of what she had just agreed to dawning on her.
“Tracer?” Red Alert’s hand rested gently on her shoulder.
“I… I’m fine. It’s just… a lot to take in.”
“You don’t have to take it in all at once.” Tracer would swear that Optimus Prime sounded amused. “Red Alert will show you to quarters and a briefing and introduction will be held tomorrow morning.”
It was a short walk to the Ark, the ship they had taken off from Cybertron on all those vorns ago. Buried half in the mountainside, Tracer took a moment to appreciate how close they had come to actually losing everyone. Inferno explained on the way how they had accustomed themselves to the human method of time-keeping.
“Red’ll be able to fill ya in on most of it. He’s better at it than me. Rest of it, you’ll just have to pick up on your own kid.”
“Great…” A new world and a new timing system to get used to. Red Alert and Inferno stayed with her until they reached the quarters Red Alert had quickly assigned her. Thankfully, there weren’t too many mechs around; the few she did see stopped and stared in amazement. Her quarters were clean, if a little cramped, at least for an ordinary sized Autobot. For Tracer, it seemed quite spacious and she couldn’t help but comment on it.
“We’ve expanded out of the ship and into the mountainside as best we could once we realised we were stuck on Earth. Tracer nodded, jumping up on the recharge berth and looking around.
“Am I gonna end up with a new alt-mode?” She asked, pointing at the tires adorning her ex-team-mates.
“Yes. You will have to see Ratchet tomorrow as well. I know it seems like a lot to do at the moment, but we are taking advantage of a lull in Decepticon activity.” They spent a while talking, Red Alert and Inferno between them doing their best to tell her everything she might need to know. It seemed all too soon when they made their excuses to return to their own quarters, leaving Tracer alone in hers. Settling down to recharge, she wondered how different things would be tomorrow.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The sun rose over the horizon, breaking the blackness of the night with its soft golden rays. They seemed to dance across the desert, the morning dew glistening on the rocks. It was breathtaking. Realising that she would probably get in trouble for leaving the base and climbing up the mountainside, Tracer found she didn’t actually care too much. The sight had certainly been worth it. Besides, Red Alert and Inferno were still in recharge and she had her sensors trained on them so that when they cycled out of recharge, she could be ready and back inside the base in her quarters.
“Today a new sun rises for me; everything lives and everything is animated.” Tracer jumped at the quiet voice in her audio.
“Hound!”
“Sorry.” He didn’t sound at all apologetic. “I knew I’d find you outside this morning.” Tracer ducked her head, embarrassed.
“I couldn’t help it. The way you described it back on Cybertron, I had to see for myself.”
“And…?”
“And you were right. It’s glorious. It beats the lights of Crystal City for sheer splendor.”
“Come on, we’d best get you inside. Prowl’s a stickler for punctuality. It won’t do for you to be late on your first day.” Hound held out his hand to help her up, Tracer gratefully taking it when she realised how cold the temperature was and how she had stiffened up while she had been sitting there.
“Is it always like this?”
“Like what?”
“Cold.”
“Heh. Earth has seasons, so the weather can be different day to day. If you think this is cold, you wait ‘til winter and there’s snow on the ground.”
“Snow?” Hound just chuckled and pulled her to her feet, not answering her question. Tracer shook her head and followed him back down to the Ark.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
She stood as still as she could as Prime spoke, servos itching to move. He had updated them all on the situation with the war; most of them knowing where they stood judging by the expressions on their faces. She and Hound had been the first ones in the meeting room and she had been able to watch as they all entered, some laughing and joking with one another, others talking quietly. The look on Sunstreaker’s faceplates when he saw her nearly matched the one he had given her back on Cybertron all those vorns ago. Sideswipe had just grinned at her as she tried to shrink back behind Hound. Evidently the rumor mill had been in operation overnight as no one had seemed surprised to see her standing there when they entered. Tracer had been grateful to see several Minibots file in together. Hound had been keeping up a running commentary as everyone entered, explaining who they were and what they did.
The meeting drew to a close and everyone milled around, talking to one another while getting ready for the rest of the day. Those heading out on patrol left, leaving those on duty within the Ark.
“Tracer.” She looked up at the mention of her name, visibly wilting as Ratchet walked towards her. Out of everything this transfer meant, changing her alt-mode was something she was not looking forward to.
“Er…”
“The sooner we get it done kid the better.”
“We?”
“Wheeljack’ll be helping me.” He indicated the engineer with a wave of his hand, shaking his head as the aforementioned engineer bounced up to them. “How can you be so fragging active this early in the morning?”
“Heh, you never were a morning ‘bot.” Wheeljack retorted head fins flashing in time to his vocalisation. “Is this her?”
“Yep.”
“Is your sensor system really as sophisticated as Ratchet tells me?” Wheeljack asked eagerly. Hound laughed outright at that and patted Tracer on the shoulder.
“I’ll leave you to it then.” He walked off grinning, ignoring Tracer glaring at him as best she could.
“You’re gonna have to glare harder than that to faze him.” Ratchet muttered.
“So, have you got any ideas for your new alt-mode?” Wheeljack asked, guiding her out of the room and down the corridor to the repair/med. bay.
“Er…”
“Talkative aren’t you?”
“Give her chance ‘Jack, she only got here yesterday.”
“I was just thinking out loud.”
“Wheeljack…”
“We could do another animal… give the Dinobots some company.”
“I am not making another fragging animal alt-mode!”
“I guess the Dinobots were a bit complicated transformation-wise…but I still think if we…” Tracer shook her head as Wheeljack continued talking all the way to the med. bay. She didn’t really want to know the details of transformations and such like. All she wanted was to get on with her job. And explore this new world. Hound had certainly been right; it was captivating. And if changing her alt-mode meant that she was able to go out and blend in, then so be it; she’d change.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“But there are no small sports cars that would fit?”
“Not any that are fast, manoeuvrable and sturdy?”
“This is just going to be slagging impossible.”
“Wait, what about Beachcomber’s alt-mode?”
“Not sturdy enough.”
“Well what about Brawn’s”
“Plating’s all wrong for her chassis.”
Tracer listened to them talk about her new alt-mode. They had been discussing it for almost two cycles, no wait; nearly two hours. Tracer had to remind herself to convert to Earth time units now. The conversation between the medic and the engineer had gone into technical terms Tracer had soon lost track of. Instead, she found herself gazing around the well-stocked med. bay, marvelling at how much had been done to convert the ship since they crash landed on Earth. She wasn’t aware she was fidgeting restlessly until Ratchet broke away from the conversation he was having with Wheeljack to snap at her.
“Kick that berth one more time and I’ll weld your feet to it!” She froze, only know realising she had been swinging her feet. Lost in her own thoughts the sound of her kicking the berth she was sitting on hadn’t filtered through her audios.
“Ooops… sorry…” She tried giving them a small smile, but faltered under Ratchet’s glare.
“Anyway, we think we’ve got a suitable alt-mode for you. We just need you to okay it before we start work.”
“Okay…” Filled with trepidation, Tracer jumped down off the berth where she had been sitting and crossed to the computer station Wheeljack and Ratchet had been working on. A small off road vehicle was displayed on the screen. It certainly looked sturdy enough, yet delicate enough to suit her slender frame.
“Well?”
“How fast is it?” The one thing she had loved on Cybertron was her speed. It had served her well over the vorns (millennia) and she was reluctant to lose the one advantage she had.
“It’s fast. Not as fast as your Cybertronian form, but it’s still fast for an Earth vehicle.”
“Your root mode won’t look much different, save for the addition of tires and there’ll be some extra panelling here and here.” Ratchet brought up the schematics of her robot mode and pointed out the differences.
“Okay…”
“You ready?”
“We’re doing it now?” Tracer all but squeaked.
“No time like the present. Besides, the sooner we get it done, the sooner you’ll actually be able to leave the base.”
“It won’t take too long. We’ve chosen this alt-mode to make the transition easier on you.”
“How did you guys do it?”
“Huh?”
“Do what?”
“When you crashed. How did you adjust? And get your alt-modes?”
“Well, I’d say for the adjusting bit, we’re still doing that. I’ll be fragged if I don’t have Gears in here every day complaining about dust or germs or organic life in general.”
“Teletraan-1 gave us the original Earth modes once the volcano reactivated it, based on our size, configuration and function. Ratchet and me then made any necessary adjustments.”
“Except for Perceptor.” Ratchet muttered.
“In his defence he thought his alt-mode was perfectly suitable for his needs.”
“He would say that. Right, let’s get this over with.”
“Aren’t I supposed to be the one saying that?”
“Cute, kid. Now shut up, lie down and shut down.” Ratchet pointed back at the berth, waiting for Tracer to settle herself down and offline before they could start work.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
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Part 11