Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Surprise, we're starting with Caught You! This was the first Transformers fic I've ever written, but damn if it didn't give me the TF fever. It's also the first story in this series, and I reference it a few times throughout Under Dark Skies, so I wanted to include it.

Story 1: Caught You

The shift was almost over when disaster struck.

It had already been a long and difficult day, and D-16 was exhausted. He was grateful that Orion Pax had gone off on a tangent – another rant about the unfairness of keeping knowledge from the archives locked away. All D had to do was occasionally nod and give a noise of agreement, happy to let Orion do all the talking.

Y'know when you start writing characters for the first time, and their names feel weird to type. Yeah, D-16's name felt WEIRD to type. I also wanted to point out that I called him “D” instead of “Dee” like I've seen other fics do because the subtitles on TF One call him “D.” Same with B (rather than Bee).

Also a bit of setup for the upcoming problem, with Orion complaining about knowledge being kept away, then using said knowledge to save D from dying in a few pages.

They were walking back towards the train station that would take them back to the barracks, jet packs locked away for the night and mining tools returned to the cart that Jazz was pushing. Behind them, the refinery team was still hard at work, processing the extra energon ore that had been mined during the shift.

Another thing to note: at this point in time, TF One was LITERALLY the only piece of TF media I'd ever seen. Ever. I knew Jazz's name because he was in the movie, but my knowledge of any character who wasn't in the movie was super minimal.

D-16 didn't envy them. While he listened to Pax's aimless chatter, he fantasized about how good an energon cube and a full night's recharge was going to feel.

Oops, is that some characterization I see? Pax is busy talking about how to help others, meanwhile D is like “those other bots still have work to do, glad it's not me.” It's tiny little things like that that show off where his priorities lie. Like, yes he's exhausted after a long day of work, buuuuut...

Although no cave-ins, collapses, or explosions had happened today, he still felt more worn-down than usual. His fuel tank was verging on critical, and his right shoulder was bothering him again. It was an old injury from before he'd come to Iacon, yet it plagued him constantly, always flaring up if he overdid it in the mines, or recharged in the wrong position, or even if the weather on the surface was bad.

I watched TF One like twenty times while writing this, and in the movie, D continually looks like that right shoulder is hurting him. Just seeing him hold that shoulder two separate times spawned the Pits of Kaon backstory in my head.

At least tonight, he knew it was from work. The tunnel their team had been working in was unusually rich with ore, and by the time the tunnel started to close, they'd dug out twenty extra carts worth of the stuff, soaring beyond the shift quota.

D-16 was the strongest bot on their team – that wasn't a baseless brag either, they'd done a contest a few cycles ago – and time was of the essence, so he had been stuck on heavy drill duty while the rest of the team cycled between drilling, collection, and extraction. Between his mining skills and unbreakable endurance, half of those carts had been dug out by him. All it cost was most of his energy and the ability to move his right arm properly for the next few days.

Also wrote this before I knew I wanted to make him a Point One Percenter. Didn't even know what a POP was, it was just more pattern recognition (and watching TF One as if my screen was hyper zoomed in on D-16 the whole time) and noticing how he punched away rocks in the collapsing tunnel, or stopped Darkwing's punch one-handed (and made it look easy) and how he always seemed to just be bigger and taller and stronger than everyone else.

But also in a fun way, I imagine him and Ironhide really going at it with that competition. I may have to write a series of drabbles or whatever from the fifty years these guys spent as miners (I have a few planned actually).

To be fair, Orion had frequently offered to switch with him so he could have a break, but D had declined. As much as he loved him, Orion wasn't the fastest or most focused miner. His mind would wander, and he tended to get distracted helping the others if they were struggling, rather than focusing on his own task.

Taking a line from the movie, “I was never the most focused miner” and using it to show off how OP prioritizes helping others over his own personal gain. D sees it as him slacking off or having his helm in the clouds, but nope, he's just looking out for everyone else. That's my fucking Prime right there.

Even as he rambled now, his optics kept flicking to D's bad shoulder, trying to assess how much it hurt. Classic Pax, looking out for everyone, except himself. That was D's job.

(Strangled choking noise)

D felt a little pang of sadness run through his spark – Orion was built to look at the stars, not toil under the ground. He wanted to give him the stars, but neither of them would get out of these mines without some frame-breaking hard work. Why couldn't he see that?

Their relationship makes me run on the ceiling and chew on drywall. Why are they LIKE THIS?!?!

In the end, they'd finished the shift with twenty extra carts of energon ore, nobody had been injured, and best of all, D-16 had been promoted up a tier – one step closer to the stars. The new chip on his badge certainly distracted him from the ache and fatigue.

It took me like ten rewatches of the movie to notice their badges. But also, this speaks to how messed up the system was under Sentinel. Like yeah, work yourself until your struts crack, and maybe you'll get the tiniest promotion, a single percentage towards a purposefully unobtainable goal. Seems fine.

He and Pax were trailing slightly behind the group. Ahead, Elita was arguing with Prowl and Arcee, Wheeljack and Ironhide were making plans to buy some high-grade, and Jazz was happily humming to himself.

Again, I BARELY knew who these characters were when I wrote this. I learned through tumblr and the wiki the gist of them, and I read exactly two Transformers fanfics before I started writing them (and steadfastly did not read very many more the whole time I was writing this and Under Dark Skies, because my entire brain was focused on writing and I was kinda worried I would interrupt my flow if I started reading). But at least this seems acceptable for their characterizations.

He jumped when Orion's hand suddenly landed on his left arm. Pax had finished his rant, and was now looking at D with badly-concealed concern.

Grabs his left arm, not his right, because he knows it hurts. Sweet OP.

“You alright?” he asked. “Is your shoulder bothering you again?”

D-16 chuckled; even when he was trying to mask his pain, Orion always saw right through him.

My son D-16 cannot deceive for shit.

“I'm fine, it's just sore,” said D, giving his arm a stretch to try and work some of the tension out.

Pax frowned at him. “You worked too hard today.”

It was a simple statement, but it made D-16 sigh. He already knew where Orion was going with this.

Look at you, you've re-injured your bad arm and drained your tank, all for a few extra carts of energon. Why do you push yourself until your wires fray for a system that doesn't care about us?

Because it's the only thing we can do, Orion. It's the only way for us to reach the stars together.

And that's why this series is called “Reach the Stars.”

“Pax, I'm not in the mood for a lecture,” D-16 warned. “That was probably the best haul we'll get this entire cycle, and we wouldn't have gotten that much if I hadn't taken the lead. I'm not going to apologize for working hard.”

Orion gave his arm a gentle squeeze, then let go. “Well, you could have let me help you. Sure, I'm not as fast as you, but so what? We would have gotten one or two fewer carts, and you wouldn't be hurting and exhausted.”

“I also wouldn't have gotten promoted,” D countered, tapping the badge on his chassis.

Pax smiled, a hint of sadness in his optics. “Look, I'm happy for you, I really am! But I care about you more than a quota.”

And that's why you'll never reach the stars without me.

They make me SICK, why are they LIKE THIS?!?!

“Pax...” D sighed. A dozen different responses ran through his processor, but before he could settle on one, the ground beneath them suddenly jolted.

Every bot in the mines dropped to their knees, thrown by the sudden violence of the quake. Some crawled for shelter, and the rest just covered their helms and hoped that none of the falling rocks hit them. D-16 held onto Orion, using his larger frame to protect him from the dirt and rocks raining down on them.

D-16 throwing himself over Orion to shield him. I'm sure D using his body to protect his loved ones won't be a recurring theme in this series.

Quakes weren't uncommon, living as they did on a shape-shifting planet, but they weren't usually this violent. The shaking continued on for so long that D was convinced Primus was trying to bury them.

Finally, as suddenly as it began, it stopped. D-16 let go of Orion and sat up, looking around.

The place was a mess, but most of the damage seemed to be near the center of the cavern, especially around the refinery. Their group was uninjured, although Jazz seemed to be stuck under the overturned tool cart he'd taken shelter in. Ironhide and Prowl were extracting him from the pile of tools, and Elita was barking orders, trying to get everyone organized and checked for injuries.

Jazz: smartly took shelter beneath the cart he was pushing, saving himself from harm. The author, a TF noob: oops Jazz got stuck again. Also look, the first jazzprowl interaction in this series of stories! Who would've thought they'd become my favorite ship.

D-16 stood, looking back towards the refinery and scanning the ground for any injured bots. It looked like nobody had been crushed, and as he watched the refinery workers crawl out from under tanks and worktables, he was relieved to see that nobody had been seriously injured. They'd gotten lucky this time.

His selfish core is constantly at war with his caring, protective spark. He has such potential for greatness.

Just as he turned to say this to Orion, however, a red and blue blur shot past him, sprinting back towards the refinery. D only hesitated for a moment before running after him, ignoring Elita's yells of “get your aft back here!”

Again, using Transformers slang is like learning a new language.

“Pax, what's wrong?!” D shouted as he chased after his friend.

“Up there!” Pax yelled back, pointing up towards the ceiling of the cavern.

D-16 looked up, then gasped when he realized what Orion had seen.

Another extremely subtle thing, which nobody called me out on so far: after the quake, D-16 looked for trapped workers on the ground (looking out for his own), but Orion looked up and spotted the greater danger (seeing the bigger picture). And if that's not their dynamic as simplified as possible (D looks down, Orion looks up), then IDK what is.

The elevated tracks that transported the full energon carts had been damaged by falling rocks. Three loaded carts were stalled up there; two of them were still safely secured to the rails, but the third, which had clearly been slammed by the other carts, had jumped the track. It now hung precariously over one of the large refinery tanks.

I remember when I was writing this part, it was nighttime and there was a crazy loud thunderstorm happening (summer in the south, baby). And there was a gigantic, deafening lightning strike like one neighborhood over. And I distinctly remember chugging my wine and saying aloud: “Zeus, can you not strike my apartment with lightning? I'm trying to write fanfics here.”

By itself, energon ore was relatively stable, but the whole cart falling could easily cause the energon to explode. And if it fell onto the full tank of raw, unstable extract directly below it, the explosion would be big enough to kill them all. It would collapse the entire mine, as well as whatever unfortunate buildings sat above.

This was a known hazard. In fact, the carts were built with mechanized arms that would spring out and right itself if a derailment happened. However, D-16 could see that the stabilizer on the back of the cart had been smashed in by the collision with the other carts, and the one on the front was wedged shut with a broken piece of rail.

And judging by the sparks, the cart was slowly slipping over the edge.

Ahead of him, Orion snatched a simple shovel from a slag heap without breaking stride, running at full speed for the rail's support pillar closest to the crash.

Orion knowing ahead of time that he'd need some leverage. What a smart cookie.

“Are you with me, D?” Pax called out, not looking back.

“On your six!” D replied, trying to catch up. His fuel was so low now, he was certain he was running on fumes. He cursed himself for letting his reserves drop this far, and he cursed Pax for being right.

OP had full trust that if he sprinted off, D would follow him. Also, what's that? D was mad at Orion for being right? Seems like a normal reaction.

Orion made it to the support. Holding the shovel between his teeth, he scurried up the pillar, and he was halfway up by the time D-16 reached the base.

For a bot that was scared of heights, Pax had always been a good climber. D followed after him, but the pain in his shoulder slowed him down.

Orion is absolutely scared of heights in the movie, but he does a good job at hiding it. Which hurts even more, knowing what happens in TF One. (Especially because D KNEW he was scared of heights, and still dropped him)

The cart was still slipping and sparking when Orion made it up onto the rails, within arms reach of the derailment. Leaping over the broken section of track, he took the shovel in both hands and jammed it between the wedged stabilizers and rail fragment. Then he planted both pedes on the cart, leaned back, and pulled.

With the combined power of the leverage provided by the shovel, and Orion pulling with all his strength, the metal shard began to give.

D-16 had almost made it up. Just a few more seconds and he would be there.

The cart slipped further, teetered, then started to tip over.

SNAP

The rail fragment broke under the strain, and the stabilizer arms sprung free, catching the cart and holding it in place for a moment before pulling it back onto the tracks, where magnets activated to keep everything in place. Disaster averted. Thank Primus.

Orion being selfless and heroic regardless of the consequences? And D-16 then has to suffer those consequences so Orion doesn't die? How interesting.

When the shard broke, however, Pax went flying backwards. He tumbled once, trying to get his balance. Then his heel caught the twisted metal of the broken track, he staggered, and he fell.

D-16 didn't think – if anything, his body reacted on instinct. His hands released the pillar, he kicked off into thin air, and his arms wrapped around Orion.

So, something else that triggered this fic to spawn in my brain was that scene where they're chasing Elita on the train. The train goes vertical, Orion falls, and if you slow the clip down, you can so easily see D-16 jump to catch him and brace his fall (although they land on poor B). But with how quickly he did that, my brain was like “he's done that before.” And so this fic was born.

The fall lasted forever, and was over in an instant. D didn't have time to brace himself, but there was time for one errant thought to cross his processor: caught you!

Hey, that's the name of the fic!

WHAM

D-16 slammed into the unforgiving stone back-first, Pax landing on top of him. The impact knocked him offline, his vision going black in an instant.

He sluggishly came back online a moment later. His optics were unfocused, his auditory sensors had an odd echo, and he couldn't move. Slowly, he realized he was still lying flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling of the cavern. The tracks they had fallen from might as well have been on the surface, so far above him were they. Holy Primus, what a fall.

And now for what I do best: injuring characters, and making their loved ones freak out about it. This also posed a fun problem, because I had no idea how Transformers biology worked, or what internals they had, or what could or couldn't get injured. I had no idea what the rules were, really, so I went with old faithful: the collapsed lung. But... for the spark. I'll explain more in a bit.

Something blue and red leaned over him. With some effort, his optics focused on Orion's terrified face, illuminated by the blue glow of the refinery tank they landed next to.

“Hey, buddy,” said Pax, trying to hide his concern behind a loving smile. “Thanks for the catch! Are... are you okay?”

You can tell Orion is absolutely shitting bricks here. If cogless bots had EM fields that could be felt normally, his would be a damn hurricane of sheer panic.

It took a few attempts for D to speak, and even then all he could manage was a small groan. It was strange – he knew he should be hurting, yet he didn't feel any pain. An odd numbness blanketed his frame, like his processor was struggling to handle the sudden flood of information.

IDK if anybody has ever taken an injury where you're just kinda stunned, and your brain is like “as soon as I can feel again, this is gonna HURT,” but yeah.

Also one time when I was a kid, I tried to do a hand stand, then fell forward and landed flat on my back. First and only time I've ever properly knocked the wind out of myself, and I still remember how it felt like I'd never breathe again. Anyways, that's how D-16 feels right now.

“D?” Orion couldn't hide the growing panic in his voice.

“I... I'm alright... I think,” he managed to get out. “Just... help me... sit up...”

His exhaustion had returned in full force, and he was worried he would slip into a recharge if he didn't sit upright. Maybe if he got up, his processor would finally tell him what was wrong.

Yeah babe, I'm sure that's exhaustion, and not severe internal bleeding why you suddenly feel so tired.

Pax clearly thought that was a bad idea – it was written all over his beautiful, expressive face – but he moved to help regardless. They linked hands, then he slipped his free hand behind D's neck.

Even when severely injured, D still can't help but think Orion is smokin' hot.

The instant Orion's hand touched his neck, an electric jolt of pain shot through his entire frame. D grimaced, letting out an involuntary swear. Or maybe it had been a scream – his audials were fading again, so he couldn't really tell.

Orion pulled his hand away from D's neck. It came back covered in bright blue energon.

Hehe, one of my favorite visual tropes is when a character looks at their hand and it's covered in blood, ESPECIALLY when the character looks at their bloodstained hand, and it's not THEIR blood but it came from their loved one who they were just holding. Anyways, doing that with DPax. And energon.

Also I've seen that sometimes the energon they bleed is pink, but again, I had only seen TF One at this point. That energon is blue. I was like “okay so they bleed glowing blue energon.” And now that I've seen TF Prime, I feel validated by this choice.

He was definitely fading now – when Orion turned to scream Elita's name, he barely heard it.

Elita appeared at his side, and though he could see her mouth moving as she spoke into her communicator, he only caught a few words: “... medic... emergency... internal... NOW!”

“Need a medic here, it's an emergency! We have a wounded miner with internal leaking. Get over here NOW!” Because Elita has seen internal bleeding before and recognizes the signs and severity.

At least, that's what he thought she said. It was hard to tell. Everything was muffled, and his optics kept flickering off.

Y'know when you're watching a movie or video, but you're also falling asleep during it, even though you're trying to stay awake? That's D right now.

The pain had spread down his neck, branching across his back and down his limbs. Something unsettling was happening in his chassis as well. What started as a dull ache intensified into painful tightness, and now it was turning into a crushing pressure. It felt like someone had reached into his spark chamber and started squeezing.

Orion was holding tightly to one of his hands, and he found himself desperately clawing at his chassis with the other. He coughed and felt energon pour out of his mouth.

I do also love it when characters cough up blood.

For a brief moment, sound faded back in. He could hear other bots yelling, the sound of a scuffle, the CLANG of someone getting punched. Orion was still at his side, holding his hand and gently rocking back and forth, so at least he hadn't gotten hit.

That would be the others running interference on Darkwing, who was only there to cause problems. Also D is literally dying, and he's still like “oh good, that wasn't Orion getting punched.”

“Frag, frag, frag,” Orion was muttering under his breath.

He wanted to tell Pax to watch his language, but his voice box had been drowned by the energon flooding his intake. His spark was racing as it struggled against what must have been the weight of Cybertron itself. Had he actually been crushed during that quake? It certainly felt like it.

“Just hang on, D,” Orion pleaded, his voice small and distant. “They're almost here... just...”

Yet another hurt/comfort trope I love is when the uninjured character is begging the injured one to hang on just a little longer, maybe throw in the ol “stay with me” for good measure. Like... GAH they love each other so much. They make me insane.

Suddenly, Orion vanished from his side. D-16 tried to turn his head to see where he'd gone, but the pain had him immobilized. The hand Orion had been holding stretched out into the void, cold and empty.

The stars were gone. The pressure was too much. He wasn't going to make it.

Chewing on my laptop and rocking back and forth. “The stars were gone” because Orion wasn't in his line of sight, I'm gonna SCREAM.

As suddenly as he'd gone, Orion reappeared. D was relieved he was back... until Orion stabbed him in the side.

Before he could even work up the indignation, he gasped in relief as the horrible pressure dissipated. It didn't go away fully, and it slowly started to build again, but it no longer felt like his spark was going to be crushed into oblivion.

Okay, so let me explain some biology here. Your lungs are empty spaces that are supposed to be filled with air. There is also a space around them called the pleural space, which can fill with blood in the event of a chest injury (or if the lung is punctured, it can fill with air). It it fills with too much fluid (or air), it can put pressure on the lung, causing it to collapse (think of sitting on a half-inflated air mattress, that's basically what happens). And usually the first treatment that happens is surgeons will use a syringe to remove whatever is filling that space to take pressure off the lung and allow it to properly inflate again.

Anyways, I did that here. But with Transformers. And Orion probably stabbed D with a screwdriver or something idk.

“I'm so sorry,” Orion was stammering, gripping his hand again. “It was the only thing I could think to do.”

And then he APOLOGIZES oh my god.

“P...Pax...” he managed to choke out.

Orion leaned back into his field of view. His arms, face, and chassis were splattered with glowing blue energon. Primus, how had that happened?

Yeah, I know Ratchet spells it out later, but the pressure was so high that when Orion stabbed him, that wound absolutely sprayed energon.

“D, just... just focus on me,” said Orion. “You'll be okay.”

More noises. More distant scuffling. Another CLANG that sounded like someone taking a metal tool to the helm.

Speaking of which, Ratchet has arrived.

The pressure was building again, and he felt liquid leaking from his neck and side. Already drained, he found it was too much to overcome. He couldn't focus. He couldn't keep his optics open anymore.

“Please, don't leave me,” Orion's voice whispered.

Chewing on drywall.

Someone else knelt down next to them. A hand that was too large to belong to a cogless miner gently touched his chassis. He heard the whirring of a scanner, then something inside him clicked, and D-16 knew no more.

So, I know some of the cogless bots in the background of the movie were based off Ratchet, but I chose to not make him a cogless miner. IDK, I like that he's the exhausted dad figure/only qualified adult.

In his dreams, D-16 looked at the stars.

It was midnight; every light in the sky looked down at him, and he stared back, entranced. It was his first time seeing the stars. They were beautiful.

Oh, my boy... He makes me so sad.

One of the Transformers who had rescued him from Kaon was giving him a lift, letting him ride in the bed of his alt-mode as they rolled across the desolate surface. D-16's severed right arm lay in his lap – that medic promised to reattach it when they reached Iacon.

Ooh, Pits of Kaon reference! Man, this one paragraph is really load-bearing, especially in the context of Under Dark Skies, where you see the entire flashback. He was RESCUED from Kaon, his SEVERED RIGHT ARM is in his lap, and he casually mentions a medic (Backburner!!!) But yeah because D kept fussing with that right arm in the movie, that's why I had him get his arm ripped off in the Pits.

Iacon. His new home.

He'd heard about the golden capital city. Most of the cogless bots who lived there worked as miners, but that didn't seem so bad, especially compared to the Pits.

This part of the story really is completed by Under Dark Skies. Here, you're seeing D-16's POV about it, but in Dark Skies you get to see Megatron's take. It's a really neat difference, how at this point D is still like “yeah the Pits of Kaon were literal hell, but at least the mines won't be that bad!” while Megatron is just like “I should have killed Sentinel slower.”

What would it be like, he wondered, to come online each morning surrounded by friends, rather than enemies?

There's a line in Under Dark Skies that references this one, but also D breaks my heart, he really loved his friends.

The Transformer hit a bump as he drove, jostling D-16, causing his ripped shoulder socket to send out a few sparks. As painful as it was, the drifting sparks drew his optics back to the sky. Those stars had him mesmerized.

Even if he started as a miner, he didn't have to do it forever. He'd heard about Iacon's promotion system, where even the cogless could rise to greatness.

Maybe one day, if he worked hard enough, he'd be able to reach those stars.

Sigh... my sweet summer child.

When D-16 finally came online again, he still saw the stars.

Then he blinked, and his optics slowly focused. Those weren't stars. Those were Orion's optics, twinkling with starlight and relief.

Memorize that part, it comes back multiple times!

“Orion...” His voice sounded rough, but at least he could hear again.

“Hello, handsome,” said Pax, beaming. “Come here often?”

“That... is your worst line yet.” D-16 couldn't help but smile.

Orion laughed, leaning back and allowing D to take in his surroundings.

They were in a small, private room in the med bay. He was lying in a recharging berth, his upper body propped upright – the berth was clearly meant for a full-sized bot, because D only took up half of it.

I noticed during the movie that the medbay they were in had berths meant for cogless-sized bots. I thought that was neat, that Iacon had facilities meant for a bunch of different size classes. Although the fact that there were two berths in one room, as if these guys got injured so often they needed to double up, and did not even qualify for privacy... yeah that ain't good.

He was still hooked up to a sensor that was monitoring his spark. An empty energon infuser sat nearby, and he spotted a few medical-grade energon patches on his left arm.

He tried to sit fully upright, but stopped as a wave of soreness ran through his frame. There were a few hot spots among the embers: his shoulder ached, of course, as did his spark chamber, and one spot on his right side.

“Pax...” muttered D-16, slowly remembering the accident, “did you stab me?”

Orion tried not to look guilty. “Maybe a little bit.”

Idiot (lovingly)

D couldn't help but laugh at the look on his face. Laughing turned out to be a bad idea, however, as it turned into a very painful cough. Orion held onto him, supporting him as he brought up a few globs of half-congealed energon.

Another little physical thing about these two, is that during TF One, they can't keep their damn hands off each other. Like if they have the chance, they are ALWAYS in physical contact with each other. Anyways, I wanted to include that casual contact as much as possible.

“Sorry,” said Pax, gently pushing him back against the berth. “I should let you recover first.”

D-16 waved his concerns away. “It's fine. Talk. Remind me what happened.”

He needed a distraction from his discomfort, but he didn't want to say that and risk Pax running off to find a doctor. He didn't want Pax to leave his side.

Gay gay homosexual gay.

“Okay,” said Orion, sitting on the berth next to him. “How much do you remember?”

“Well, I remember jumping to catch your sorry aft,” said D. “Everything gets blurry after I hit the ground.”

“Understandable.”

“What about you? Were you hurt?”

Orion shook his head. “No, just dazed. You really did save me. Ratchet said that fall would have killed me, for sure. I mean, it almost killed you-”

Oof

His voice box seemed to short out, and he turned away for a moment. When he looked back again, D pretended not to notice the coolant that had gathered at the edges of his optics.

“Um... you were in pretty bad shape,” Orion shakily continued. “Elita called in the medics, and they were on their way when Darkwing showed up. Well, you know how he is. I don't really know what he was doing there, because the others kept him away from us. He did punch Jazz, though.”

“I think I heard that,” muttered D. “I remember being glad you weren't the one getting hit.”

“You remember that?” Orion asked, surprised. “Because by that point, you looked... you... you'd gone downhill pretty quickly by then.”

“And you decided to... stab me?”

You still haven't thanked him for saving you, D!

“You're never going to let that one go, are you?” Pax muttered. “Okay... this may sound strange, but... do you remember Bumper?”

Aaaaand now I'm the one getting stabbed.

D frowned. B-134, or Bumper, as he liked to be called, was the first bot they'd watched die in the mines.

I'm gonna talk more about Bumper during the next chapter, but just know that he breaks my heart.

There had been an explosion, and a tunnel that closed too fast. When the tunnel opened again, D and Pax had run back in. They emerged again a short time later with Bumper's tiny, crushed frame cradled in D's arms.

Specifically the fact that D was the one to carry him out WAS INDEED foreshadowing for Tyger Pax. Because EVEN HERE, I knew what was going to happen at Tyger Pax.

He died shortly after that, right there in the darkness, waiting for the medics, D-16 at his side and Orion holding his hand. His optics extinguished frighteningly fast, his bright yellow paint faded to gray, and the flow of energon pouring from his mouth stopped.

“I... doubt I'll ever forget him,” muttered D-16.

(Laughter that slowly turns into weeping)

Pax nodded. “The way he looked when he died, how he was choking and clawing at himself... that's how you started looking.”

“Oh...”

“Yeah... Well, he was on my mind the next time I broke into the archives, so when I found a data pad about crush injuries, I stopped to read it. I don't remember much of what it said, other than how important it is to get pressure off the spark chamber,” Pax explained.

And there's the payoff to Orion ranting about keeping information locked away in the archives. Also, you know OP sat down and cried when he read that medical document about crush injuries, wishing he'd found that data pad sooner. Because if he did, he may have been able to save Bumper, and that'll quietly haunt him forever.

Of course, it's all Sentinel's fault that Bumper died, but of course OP would think “if only I'd broken the rules harder, then maybe I could have saved this innocent life.”

“Elita knew the moment she looked at you that your injuries were all internal,” he continued, “and when she said that, I started thinking, and... I don't know, I guess I just went with my instincts.”

Referencing Elita telling OP “your instincts tell you to break protocol for a reason.” Because stabbing your fellow miner is definitely outside of protocol.

D-16 gave a small nod. It was slowly coming back to him – the terrible pressure, as if Primus himself had his knee on his spark, then the relief right after Orion stabbed him. Was that where that splatter of energon had come from?

“Well, I hope your instincts know not to stab me next time I pull a wire,” D joked, giving Pax a nudge.

Still hasn't thanked him. Stop deflecting, D.

Orion laughed, his demeanor slowly relaxing. “I'll keep that in mind.”

“What else happened? I swear I remember two bots getting hit.”

Pax smiled widely, the starlight returning to his optics. “Oh yeah, you're gonna love this. Ratchet got there a minute or two after I stabbed you, and Darkwing tried to tell him not to bother, that you were a lost cause, and Ratchet pulled out a wrench and just... WHACK!”

He mimicked a swing. “Hit Darkwing right in the helm, then told him to jet off. It was beautiful.”

Played this as a joke, but also, how many cogless bots has Darkwing sentenced to death because he thought they “weren't worth saving?”

D laughed, then started coughing again. “Quit making me laugh, slag-head. It still hurts.”

“Sorry,” said Orion, quieting down. “Um... when he got to you, Ratchet put you in stasis lock, then he brought you back here. It took three days for him to let me see you.”

“You're lucky I let you stay,” said a voice from the door.

They both looked up as Ratchet walked into the room, holding a data pad and looking vaguely overworked.

Must have been a nice slow day if Ratchet was only VAGUELY overworked. Not every day is a crisis in the medbay, though it really feels like that sometimes. Also the fact that D got a full-sized room should tell you it was a pretty quiet day.

“You know what this crazy bot did?” Ratchet asked D-16, pointing at Orion. “He slammed his hand in a door and broke two digits, just so he'd have an excuse to come see you.”

He would. That's true love, right there.

“Pax...” D sighed.

Orion shrugged. “What?! They wouldn't let me come check on you. What was I supposed to do, D?”

“How has Darkwing not dragged your aft back to the mines yet?” D-16 asked, flinching as Ratchet prodded his bad shoulder.

“Oh, I'll take credit for that one,” said the medic, talking as he worked. “I told Darkwing that you both contracted rust from the accident, and you're in quarantine. That brute is terrified of diseases.”

Ratchet casually being a hater, but in a way that benefits our boys. I love him.

“You're the best, doc,” said Orion.

“Anything for my favorite patient,” said Ratchet, giving Orion a fond pat on the helm. Then he turned to D-16. “Now, for you...”

OP being his favorite patient because he injures himself so much, but has that type of personality that even if you're annoyed with him, you can't help but smile. Their dynamic makes me happy.

He showed D the data pad and started explaining the damage. D had never had a mind for medicine, so he mostly nodded along while the old medic spoke in detail about what had been injured and how he'd repaired it. From what he gathered, the fall had ruptured... well... everything. Especially his fuel lines.

Ah yes, the old “character doesn't really know what the terminology means, so the author doesn't have to write more dialogue.”

Ratchet showed him a scan. “See this space around your spark chamber? This was flooded with energon from your ruptured lines. If Pax here hadn't stabbed you and given it another place to go, the pressure would have built up until energon flooded your spark chamber, extinguishing your spark. You would have been gone before I could do anything about it.”

“Guess that makes us even,” said Pax, giving D a light nudge.

Ratchet shot him a glare. “You would have been scrap the moment you hit the ground, Pax. You're lucky your friend here is built like a tank. And even then, it was close. That was the longest surgery I've had to do in five cycles!”

I cackled when I wrote that “built like a tank” line, had to have it in here.

“Right...” muttered Orion. He stared guiltily at his hands, though he loosened up when D reached over and silently took hold of his arm, giving it a gentle squeeze.

Get married already.

Ratchet was being too hard on him – D was the only one who seemed to care that Orion had saved hundreds of lives, stopping that energon cart from going over the edge. The fall wasn't Pax's fault, and neither were D's injuries. For once.

The medic finished his exam a moment later. Another sweep with a scanner confirmed that the surgery was successful, and nothing was leaking. Ratchet gave D a quick shot of oil in the shoulder and neck, slapped two more medical-grade patches on his arm, then advised him to recharge as much as he could.

“And for the love of Primus,” Ratchet added, “try not to get injured again.”

He then switched the room lights to low power mode, and he left.

D-16 laid back in the berth – being propped somewhat upright kept the pressure off his back, which he was grateful for. Orion, however, was still sitting up, looking down at him with concern.

A 45-degree angle is the perfect angle to have a character lying down, but still upright enough to have a pretty conversation. I definitely sound insane trying to explain this concept. But if they're sitting upright, they're just sitting. If they're lying down, the camera angles can be awkward. But 45 degrees is the perfect balance of “too weak to sit upright” but still “upright enough to do expressions and motions that look good while sitting upright.”

And before you ask, no I'm not neurotypical, but you already knew that.

“Are you sure you feel okay?” he asked.

“Yes, I'm fine,” sighed D. “Get some rest. I'm not going anywhere.”

Pax's voice was quiet – darkness always made him more honest. “I don't know what I would do without you.”

Maybe I'm just sappy, but simple affirmations of love like this really hit me right in the feels. Especially because of the dramatic irony.

“You would die more often,” said D. There was silence for a moment, then he sighed and reached up, grabbing Orion and pulling him tight against his uninjured left side.

screaming crying throwing up

“Thanks for saving me,” D-16 finally whispered.

FINALLY

He felt Orion relax, resting his helm on D's left shoulder and carefully wrapping an arm around him. Those crystal blue optics twinkled like the stars.

It would be less gay if they fucked onscreen.

“That's what we do,” said Pax. “We save each other. I'm glad you were there to catch me.”

(Humming “If I Fall” while quietly weeping)

D-16 leaned over slightly, resting his helm on Orion's. “I've always got your back.”

“No matter what...”

When he slipped into a recharge a moment later, the last thing he saw was the stars.

And then Transformers One happened, and they had the breakup to end all breakups. Anyways, now we're ACTUALLY onto Under Dark Skies, AKA my magnum opus. Behold, the sheer unbridled power of my autism.

Chapter 1: Jumper

One last warning that I'm gonna be talking about spoilers for this story. It can't be helped.

B-127 was being followed.

Already, I'm interrupting to say that this plot possessed me like something alive (be it a muse, or a demon). I've never written something so quickly, and with such intensity. Hyperfixation is a hell of a drug.

Whoever was following him, they were doing a pretty bad job of being stealthy. B had spotted the other bot shortly after he'd snuck out of Iacon, glimpsing a flicker of red paint that stood out against the blue and green glow of the night sky.

Immediately starting with the “Cliff isn't stealthy” plot point.

He pretended not to see them, and at first they kept their distance, but now those flashes of red were getting closer.

B gave a small huff of annoyance and sped up slightly, his wheels kicking up dust as he zoomed across the surface in alt-mode. If he got attacked by a Decepticon the moment he snuck out to stretch his wheels, Optimus and Elita would never let him hear the end of it.

Love that my boy isn't worried about being followed, he's sure enough in his skills by now to know that he can probably get away. Especially for a speedster on open ground. Plus, he's been craving some action.

It wasn't like he wanted to get away from his friends or anything; it was just that they'd been cooped up in Iacon for so long while they planned their next move. And there had been so many meetings, in crowded rooms filled with arguing bots – meetings where B couldn't get a word in. It was no wonder he felt restless.

All he wanted was a bit of time on the surface, to drive until the jittery energy went away. It had actually been really easy to sneak past the Transformers guarding the entrance to Iacon – he should probably mention that to Elita.

Immediately giving my son my ADHD traits. Nothing fills my bones with static quite like being stuck somewhere.

Alright, he thought, let's give this guy the slip.

B accelerated, shooting across the flat expanse of stone before him. The bot following him did the same, giving up on all pretense of stealth and rapidly closing the distance.

Holy Primus, they're fast! B couldn't help but be impressed.

I made Cliff naturally faster, because I like it when POV characters don't have a natural advantage, and have to use their smarts and their environment to get out of trouble, rather than relying on brute strength or speed.

This bot may be faster than him, but were they as adaptable? He was going to find out.

Spotting something in the distance, B immediately banked so hard he drifted, his wheels burning and throwing out sparks. He turned towards a distant river of energon, aiming for the jagged rock formation that formed a steep ramp.

Yes, this is the same ramp/river combo they jump over later, during the battle to break the siege of Iacon. Setting up the scenery already.

He also got a full look at his pursuer as they shot past him, not anticipating the turn. The bot was only slightly bigger than him, and their alt-mode looked almost identical to his, though painted bright red.

Oddly enough, they looked familiar.

“You're not a 'Con,” B muttered to himself. “So why are you chasing me?”

Exactly zero people were surprised that it was Cliffjumper following him.

More importantly, now that he knew the bot chasing him wasn't a Decepticon, he started to have fun.

The red bot had caught back up with him, pulling up alongside him.

“Nice night for a drive,” B called out, unable to help himself.

“Sure is,” the red bot replied with equal casualness. “Now pull over, I need to talk to you!”

I need B and Cliff to be voiced by Key and Peele.

“Not a chance,” laughed B, accelerating towards the ramp. “Did Elita send you after me?”

“No, I... you know we're heading straight for a river, right?”

“There's still time to bail out,” B teased.

The red bot took the bait. “Oh, you are on!”

Cliff tried to be reasonable at first, but the MOMENT the opportunity for daring driving came up, he's so in. These idiot brothers share one brain cell, and Bumper has it.

B laughed and sped up, and the two speedsters hit the ramp a few seconds later. They both launched into the air, soaring across the glowing blue river, screaming and cheering at the same time.

Just before hitting the ground, B switched to his base-mode and rolled, breaking his fall, then immediately switched back to alt-mode to conserve his momentum. He didn't see how the red bot landed, but he heard him start to catch up again.

The dynamic way these guys transformed in TF One was so inspiring for my imagination. I made sure to try and throw in a few instances where they did some cool transforming, like here. Also by this point, I'd seen the Bumblebee movie as well, and noticed the way B used the momentum of his alt-mode as both utility and a weapon. So I tried to include that as much as possible.

The land on this side of the river was more jagged, with steep rock pillars and ravines. B didn't quite have the maneuverability that Elita did, but luckily, his processor was faster than his wheels.

Already starting my “B is not stupid” propaganda. Yeah, he acted kinda goofy in the movie, but that read to me like someone who has been utterly alone for 50 years and is struggling with social cues while trying to remember how to actually talk to other bots. Plus, during the serious moments, my boy is locked the fuck in.

ALSO he's the first one to figure out what Alpha Trion was implying about Sentinel stealing their cogs, he immediately offered up the energon to revive said Prime, he recognized the High Guard, and he was the only one who didn't speak when they were watching Sentinel kneel to the Quintessons because he knew how much danger they were in. And according to the show-don't-tell of the movie, B is super observant, but he can't keep his mouth shut, and that's probably what got him banished to sublevel 50. He's too smart for his own good, and anyone who writes him like he's stupid is doing him a disservice.

“Alright, that was fun and all,” the other bot called out to him, “but if you don't stop, I'm gonna have to make you!”

Oh right, I was doing commentary. Sorry, got carried away there.

“Sure,” laughed B. “If you can catch me!”

The red bot swerved immediately, trying to crash into him.

Yeah, that's pretty on brand for Cliffjumper.

B transformed one arm out, grabbing hold of one of the rock pillars and swinging himself sharply to the left without braking.

All two of the Transformers movies I'd seen at this point had B with his arms out when he was in alt-mode, sooooo...

The force behind the hairpin turn was so intense, he felt a few wires in his shoulder snap. He wasn't worried about that, though – he'd injured himself so many times in the past cycle that Ratchet started teaching him how to repair himself.

Medic B-127, my beloved.

When B veered sharply off course, the red bot missed him by a long shot, rocketing off away from him. B lost sight of him among the jagged rocks.

Painfully pulling his arm back in, B raced off, spotting the entrance to a ravine. He could see overhanging rocks that he could hide under; that would give him a safe place to repair his arm, as well as to hide from the other guy. He could still hear the red bot revving nearby, but he couldn't see him.

B zoomed into the ravine, looking ahead for a good hiding spot. That was when he heard a noise along the ridge line above him. The other bot was up there, keeping pace. B smiled, knowing the only way down into the ravine was to backtrack to–

WHAM

LMAO, he ain't called Cliffjumper for nothing.

The red bot had launched himself off the cliff, landing directly on B and knocking him out of alt-mode. The two bots went tumbling, rolling for quite a distance before finally stopping, sprawled out on the stone.

After a long moment, B slowly sat up with a groan, his hand going instantly to his busted shoulder. Primus, that hurt. At least nothing else was broken, as far as he could tell.

Before he could get a good look at the red bot, he was roughly tackled, and said bot ended up on top of him, pinning him to the ground.

“Caught you!” he exclaimed, his optics bright with excitement, seemly oblivious to the trickle of energon running down his face. “Do you have any idea how long I've been trying to get ahold of you?”

Cliff, that was the name of the previous story!

“Who are you?” B stammered, ready to throw down his battle mask in an instant.

“My name's Cliffjumper,” said the bot. “I'm your brother!”

B stared at him. “WHAT?!”

I love them so much.

Cliffjumper stood, pulled B up with him, then proceeded to lift him off the ground, crushing him in a tight hug.

Cliff has literally been waiting his entire life for this moment, he's soooo happy.

“I recognized you the first time I saw you, a cycle ago,” said Cliffjumper, setting B back down. “Well, I recognized your name, then when I got a good look at you during Optimus Prime's first speech, that's when I knew. I mean, look at us!”

Now that the excitement of the chase had worn off and they were both holding still, B could finally get a good look at Cliffjumper. Sure enough, it was like looking in a mirror. The red bot was a bit taller and more sturdily-built than him, and he had horns on his helm rather than antennae, but there was no denying it – they looked too similar to be anything other than brothers.

If B's cog hadn't been removed, and he came online the way he was meant to, he also would have had horns, and probably been the same height as Cliff. Instead, he's smaller from the malnutrition, and his antennae never shifted into proper horns.

B found himself laughing. “I... I don't believe it...”

“I've been trying to talk to you for the last cycle,” said Cliffjumper. “But you're always with Optimus Prime, and he's always so busy... Plus, his guards won't let anyone get too close to him.”

“Yeah, that's Elita's work,” said B, as he took out the small med kit he always kept with him. “She's real protective.”

Elita: superior. Actually tho, it's kinda like she took over the job of protecting OP from himself, since D isn't there to do it anymore.

“Oh, I've met Elita,” muttered Cliffjumper. He paused, holding still while B put a patch on the cut on his forehead. “Hm? Oh, thanks! Yeah, I tried to come talk to you a few weeks ago... well, I sort of ran towards you, and she tackled me. Probably should have thought that one through first, but that's never been my strong suit.”

Here's another small thing: as B recovers from his lifetime of isolation, he's slowly becoming more tactile with other bots. In TF One, the first time we see him being tactile is with Steve the fucking garbage statue, and the second time is when he grabs Elita and stops her from going down the Well after Orion.

Like seriously, Orion, D, and Elita are all way more physical than B, and it's clearly because he had no idea how to interact with other living bots. The others are tactile with him, but he almost never reaches back for them. So here, seeing him casually stick a band-aid on Cliff's forehead, it feels like progress. Like he's gotten used to interacting physically with other bots.

“The first time I met her, she kneed me in the face,” laughed B. He sat down against the wall of the ravine and pulled a small soldering iron out of his med kit.

“Honestly, I thought she would have recognized me,” said Cliffjumper, a hint of smugness in his tone. “I am famous, after all.”

B stared at him for a moment, then his optics widened. “That's where I know you from! You raced in the Iacon 5000!”

“Yes!” Cliffjumper exclaimed, pointing at B with both hands. “I was the youngest racer in last cycle's top 100.”

Copying some of B's physical mannerisms from the movie.

B laughed. “Wow, I probably would have recognized you sooner if I'd ever been to an Iacon 5000. That's so awesome!”

Cliffjumper's smile dropped. “You've never been to one?”

And he never will.

B shook his head, then winced as he went to work on the snapped wires in his shoulder. “No, whenever they happened, I was always working a job that didn't get the shift off. Then I got sent to sublevel 50, and... well... Yeah, sorry I never got to see you race.”

I added this as a soft timeline for B's early life, to show that there were a few cycles before he got banished to the basement. In at least one of those races, Cliff participated.

Cliffjumper sat down next to him, wiping the dried energon off his face as he leaned against the wall.

“Well, I'll tell you this, B-127. The race we just had was more fun than any Iacon 5000,” said Cliffjumper.

B felt a rush of affection for his newfound brother, and for once, he was at a loss for words. Instead, he leaned against Cliffjumper, shoulder to shoulder, and let his EM field do the talking.

Showing rather than explaining that B's field is too weak to reach past his frame. I'm sure his struggle with communication won't show up again in any meaningful, heartbreaking way.

“Aw, right back at ya, little bro,” said Cliffjumper.

“You can call me B,” he said, after resetting his voice box.

“And you can call me Cliff.”

B smiled at him, then cringed as he soldered another snapped wire.

What a crazy night! He just had the best race of his life, and he gained a new best friend/brother!

“Wait,” said B, “you said you recognized my name first, then when you saw me, that's what made you realize we're brothers? I mean, I know we look the same, but how did you know my name? Because I never knew I had a brother! If I ran into you, I probably would have thought it was just a coincidence that we looked the same. How did you know?”

“Because of this,” said Cliff, pulling out a small data pad. “The first memory I have after coming online is just me, standing alone in a medbay, holding this data pad.”

Oof, coming back to this after knowing the full story hits a bit different.

“A medbay?” B muttered, frowning.

Transformers weren't born in medbays; they were supposed to come online for the first time in a forging factory, surrounded by other newborn bots whose sparks had been harvested from the same hot spot.

Also, I wanted to write this story in a way that people who only saw Transformers One would be given all the background they needed to understand the lore and world building, and wouldn't have to read any wikis to enjoy it. That's why some things that are obvious to more experienced TF fans are explained in a bit more detail, like how most bots are born. I wanted this story to be beginner-friendly.

Distant as it was, B could still recall that first memory: opening his optics for the first time, sitting up and looking at the hundred or so other bots waking up around him, feeling his hand reach for the empty, aching slot in his chassis...

And mysteriously enough, no brothers in sight. Because Sentinel split up the trine before they came online (Bumper got moved to the other side of the factory).

His free hand drifted up now, remembering that hollow, incomplete feeling. An echo of Sentinel's voice drifted through his processor, bragging about how he'd plucked the cogs from their newborn chests.

Cliff was nodding, his optics focused on the data pad. “Yeah, I lost those first few hours. They said something was wrong with my memory banks, but they were able to fix it. Although, I apparently swiped this right after coming online.”

Cliff casually mentioning that gap in his memories, only for it to come back in a major way in like 15 chapters. I fucking love setup and payoff (that's why my favorite trope is Chekhov's Gun)

He handed the data pad to B; it was Cliff's forging certificate.

“Wait, you actually got one of these?” asked B in surprise.

B, he literally just said that he stole it. But hey, listening is hard when you're overexcited and have ADHD.

“Well, I clearly stole it,” admitted Cliff. “But does it really count as stealing if you can't remember doing it?”

“Uh...”

“Besides, Sentinel was going to destroy it anyways,” said Cliff. “He destroyed the rest of them. Go ahead, see what it says.”

B looked at the data pad. It listed Cliffjumper's designation as C-141, as well as the date he was forged.

No, there is literally no reason why Cliff's designation started with a C but B and Bumper's started with B, other than because I like when their “ID” and actual names start with the same letter

“Wait, we were born on the same day?”

Cliff nodded.

“But you got to keep your T-cog...”

I've never been more grateful for Cliffjumper's name appearing on the Iacon 5000 leaderboard, because it forced me to come up with this plot line where he was the only triplet who got to keep his T-cog.

Again, he nodded. “I don't know why, but it has to be the reason I can't remember the first few hours of my life. Anyways, keep reading.”

B nodded. There were a few notes about Cliff's frame type and paint color – he started as yellow, too – then he got to the note at the bottom of the certificate, written by one of the blacksmiths who monitored the developing protoforms.

It took several stories of nobody calling out Cliff starting as gold for me to overtly confirm that in that span of time where his memories were corrupted, someone (Pharma) painted him red, so he didn't look TOO much like his brothers.

Note: C-141's spark was harvested as part of a trine. The other two sparks were implanted in the following protoform designations: B-127 and B-134.

Aaaaand that's why I included “Caught You” in the beginning of this commentary. I'm a huge fan of spoiling my own work in ways like this, because not only is the dramatic irony spicy (the reader KNOWS B-134/Bumper is already dead) but it also builds up the “when are they gonna find out???” dread.

As Alfred Hitchcock once said, you can only surprise your audience once, but you can make them feel dread forever. That's also why I foreshadowed the fuck out of B's canon event. Knowing it's gonna happen, dreading it... that's SO much more effective than being surprised by it.

B felt his optics widen. “Holy Primus...”

“I know, right?!” exclaimed Cliffjumper, grabbing B by the uninjured shoulder. “That's why I've been trying so hard to get to you! We're trine-mates!”

When I wrote this, I thought “trine” was just the Cybertronian word for triplets. Had no idea it was more of a cultural thing for Seekers (is that even canon? Or is it fanon?). Regardless, as the stories go on, I use “trine” as both the Cybertronian version of triplets (these good boys, Starscream's trine, etc) and also it can be a cultural thing, where if you don't come online with a trine, you find one. That way both versions exist in harmony.

B was laughing, and his hand was shaking so much that it took him three tries to repair the last snapped wire. As soon as it was repaired, however, he threw his arms around Cliff, holding him tight.

“I can't believe it,” he stammered. “I have a brother! Wait, I have two brothers! Ha! Holy Primus, this is awesome!”

For as long as he could remember, he'd been painfully lonely. Of course, he'd spent most of his life isolated in sublevel 50, but even after that, after he'd gained new friends in Orion Pax and D-16 and everyone else, there was still something missing.

Now, as Cliff squeezed the spark out of him, he finally realized what it was: he missed the brothers that he didn't even know he had.

Ah, he breaks my heart. But again, this is another point towards spoiling your own work!! If you didn't know about Bumper, you'd probably read this and go “oh I wonder what's up with that third brother.” But if you already KNEW that Bumper was dead, you'd see B's bright-eyed optimism and how excited he is to meet his third brother, and you'd probably suck air through your teeth and grimace, knowing it's gonna end badly.

“So... what about B-134?” asked B, sitting back. “Do you know where he is?”

Even now, I still have that “oooof” reaction whenever they talk about Bumper.

Cliff shook his head. “Like I said, a lot of data about our generation was destroyed. Plus, I don't even know if he still goes by B-134. He might have changed his name, like me. Hell, I'm glad you never changed your name.”

“When we get back to Iacon, I'll ask Prowl,” said B. “He's really smart, so maybe he can help us!”

Aww, B already admires how smart Prowl is. Even if he hasn't broken through Prowl's unfriendly shell yet.

“Sounds like a plan,” said Cliff, standing and offering B a hand, which he happily took.

After B stored his tools and med kit away, they started walking back up the length of the ravine, both of them talking as fast as they physically could. There was just so much to catch up on! Plus, it felt good to talk with someone who could keep up with his racing processor, who seemed to understand what he was trying to say, even when he tripped over his words.

Talking with Cliff made him feel like he'd been speaking a second language his whole life, and now he'd finally met someone like him, who could speak in the rapid shorthand in which B normally thought. He'd finally found someone who spoke his language, who could understand him perfectly. He had finally found his brother.

This is every “when two people with ADHD have a conversation” meme. It's like two mind-readers talking to each other.

They kept walking, but just before they made it out of the canyon, a strange noise echoed through the air. There was a low, distant boom, as something large entered the atmosphere.

Aaaaand here's the plot.

B-127 froze, his frame rigid and his optics wide. He recognized that noise.

“Hide,” he whispered to Cliff. Then he near-instantaneously transformed into his alt-mode, using his small frame to fit under the narrow gap in the overhanging rock ledge. Under the safety of the rocks, he switched back to base-mode.

I like it when they use their alt-modes to fit into small spaces that would otherwise be tough to squeeze into.

Cliffjumper didn't hide, however. He stayed in place, looking up at the sky, trying to see what had made that noise and scared his brother.

Idiot.

He would have remained standing there, had B not reached out, grabbed Cliff by the ankle, and dragged him under the rocks. Cliff got the memo and switched to alt-mode, then backed up to hide in the small space next to B, transforming back to base-mode.

They crouched motionless, on hands and knees under the rocks, waiting in silence. Above them, a faint rumbling sound steadily grew louder.

Slowly, Cliff reached his hand out to B. Unsure what his brother wanted, B cautiously lifted his hand as well. Cliff reached forward and grabbed it, pressing their palms together, digits intertwined.

What is happening?

B jumped. Cliffjumper had just asked him a question with his hand, not his mouth, yet it was as clear as if he'd spoken it.

Cliff saw his confusion. It's called chirolinguistics. Hand speak. Send the words to the nerve circuits in your servo and digits, instead of your voice box.

And that was the moment almost everyone knew B would be losing his voice in this story. And to be perfectly honest, a major part of me writing this story so quickly was that I was SPEEDING towards the “B loses his voice” scene, but because I'm insane, I needed to have a fully fleshed-out story surrounding that scene.

But don't get me wrong. I was sprinting towards B's canon event like I was being hunted. I'm sure I'll talk more about it throughout this commentary, but THIS specific version of B losing his voice (especially Megs being the one to do it) is so fucking tragic. This version of B has the strongest potential for Mute Bee Angst of ALL the existing Bumblebee's.

B gave it a few attempts, and after a minute, he felt something connect.

Does... work...?

Cliff nodded. A little choppy, but we can practice later. What are we hiding from?

Quint... Quintessons.

Hello, inciting incident. Quints are like Mechagodzilla, forcing the two opposing forces to team up and fight. They know their role in the plot.

Cliff's optics widened, fear flashing across his face.

Stay quiet, B instructed. They... above us...

A moment later, a large shadow overtook the ravine, and B spotted the red laser grid as the ship scanned for lifeforms. Despite being concealed beneath the rocks, he couldn't help but cower, flashing back to the last time those red lights were inches from his face.

My boy having flashbacks. I imagine this scene would look good in the trailer, like B is clearly hiding from something, slowly leans closer to the opening, then jerks back when those bright red lasers appear, along with a musical stinger.

Cliff threw an arm over his shoulders, giving him a reassuring squeeze – B knew he was radiating fear, but despite only knowing Cliffjumper for a short time, he wasn't embarrassed to be afraid in front of him.

The Quintesson ship moved on, continuing to scan for victims. The brothers waited until they could no longer hear it, before leaving their hiding place.

As soon as they were out of their hiding spot, B checked the sky. It was darker now, the aurora fading on the horizon as it approached midnight. No sign of any ships.

“We need to get back to Iacon,” whispered B, not daring to speak too loud. “We have to tell Optimus.”

Cliffjumper nodded, then gave B a friendly knock on the helm. “Race you back?”

B couldn't help but smile. “Oh, it's on. Let's roll out.”

B immediately copying Cliff's wording back at him, but adding that Autobot twist. Love it. Anyways, the day after I posted this chapter, I drove back home to visit my parents, and I remember the entire drive, I just daydreamed about what I was going to write next. It was almost unbearable, the urge to write. Like, this story consumed my every waking moment, because it was so clear in my head, and I needed to get it OUT.

Chapter 2: The Roads of Iacon

For this chapter, I remember I was ready to post it, then AO3 went down and I was forced to sleep on it. Glad I did tho, because I rearranged a few scenes and made it flow way better. I really do need to learn patience, but immediate feedback gives my brain the happy chemicals.

Optimus Prime stood on the balcony of his quarters, staring up at the gap to the surface – the stars had faded from the sliver of sky, and the sun was beginning to rise. He could see the gentle beams of light creeping down into the city, reflecting off the gold trim of the upper towers.

OP's first scene and he's already looking for the stars as they fade. Oh my god, he misses his wife.

He had been awake for a while. As of this new day dawning, it had officially been one full cycle since Orion Pax and D-16 dropped into the Iacon 5000, changing the course of history.

At this exact moment in time, one cycle ago, Orion Pax was sneaking a pair of jet packs through a maintenance tunnel. Optimus Prime wished he could reach back through time and warn the young miner.

A twinge of phantom pain ran through his left shoulder, and he gently touched the spot on his chassis where the plasma bolt had torn through him. The Matrix hummed quietly beneath his digits.

One very subtle thing, I made sure the Matrix was pretty idle for most of the story, just kinda hanging out until OP fully commits to the Prime thing. And only then does it take a more active role.

His optics turned to the city below, where dozens of bots were hard at work preparing the nearby stadium. In a few short hours, the annual race would be held once again.

Optimus had been against it at first. He would rather have spent the time and resources investigating the movements of the Decepticons in the Badlands, or preparing for the possible return of the Quintessons.

Not only that, but he also dreaded having to step into Sentinel's role.

That's my boy.

Despite his reservations, however, the people of Iacon had called for it. They saw the race as a beloved holiday, a time for every bot in the city to gather and have some good old fashioned fun.

Even Elita thought it was a good idea. She pointed out that the race had been a constant for decacycles, and keeping one thing the same would be good for everyone, especially with all that had changed in the last cycle.

He finally agreed to it when Jazz and Arcee approached him, begging him not to cancel the Iacon 5000, because they wanted to race in it.

Awww

That certainly warmed his spark. So many of the formerly cogless miners finally had a chance to participate in the event of the cycle, a dream that had been impossible only a short time ago. Some of the older racers had even dropped off the roster to free up space for the young upstarts.

Slowly, Optimus felt himself relax, a small smile creeping onto his face. Soon, every Transformer in Iacon would be cheering for the racers, regardless of whether or not they had a cog a cycle ago.

Undoing fifty cycles of ingrained classism wouldn't happen quickly, but he certainly hoped today's race would help bridge that gap.

I didn't lean on the ingrained classism conflict as much as I thought I would, because I wanted to write this like a movie, and those conflicts are better explored in different formats. But I did kinda include the prejudice against cogless bots in Cliffjumper, by writing him as kinda privileged and sometimes saying ignorant things (but he learns and grows as the story goes on).

He looked back up towards the surface, his smile falling again.

Optimus had sacrificed everything for this future. He only hoped it would be worth it.

Behind him, he heard three crisp knocks on the door to his quarters, followed by a short pause, then the sound of the door opening. He didn't even have to look.

“I know, I know, I should keep my door locked,” Optimus intoned.

“Exactly,” said Elita, exasperated. “What if I were a Decepticon assassin? You have to start taking your safety more seriously.”

Elita really does care, she's just got that tough love style.

Her remark cut unexpectedly deep. Optimus tried to come up with something witty to say – something Orion Pax used to have no trouble with – but he had nothing. He opened his mouth, closed it, and decided to keep looking up.

And here is the start of OP's... personality dysphoria?? Like, how does that impact your mental state, having your frame change so drastically over a short time, and also changing your name and being tasked with being responsible for the entire planet?

Anyways, he and Elita both have this arc throughout the story of “are Optimus and Megatron still Orion and D-16?” Because at first, Elita tries to convince him that no, they're different, just because she thinks that'll help them, and OP agrees. But as the story goes on, they both come to terms with the fact that Optimus is still Orion, and Megatron is still D-16, and just because people grow and change, it doesn't make them different people. And as much as it hurts, sometimes your D-16 turns into Megatron, and you just have to deal with that.

Elita appeared at his side, crossing her arms and resting them on the balcony railing. She glanced up at him, then followed his line of sight. The sadness in his optics told her exactly what he was remembering as he stared up towards the surface.

“Did you get any recharge?” she asked, trying to sound casual.

“Some.”

“Are you nervous about today?”

He said nothing.

Elita tapped her digits on the rail. “Y'know, I bet you're the only bot in Iacon who isn't excited for the race today. Other than Ratchet, of course.”

Ratchet is already preparing the medbay for injured racers. He hates the Iacon 5000.

Still nothing. She decided to switch tactics.

“I know B is excited. I can't believe he's never been before. Actually, I'm surprised he didn't sign up. I guess he just wanted to watch with y–”

“I miss him, Elita.”

I miss my wife, Elita. I miss him a lot.

She froze, then sighed. “I know you do. I kinda hoped the Iacon 5000 would distract you. Help take your mind off him.”

“You know that's not possible,” said Optimus, his voice quiet. “Every time I'm here in Iacon... every time I look up towards the surface, I can see him leaving.”

Very subtle thing, OP implies they are not always in Iacon, because they're on the surface doing cool Autobot stuff.

Elita sighed. “Look, I know this has been rough on you... but try to enjoy today, okay? Think about all the good you've done in the last cycle.”

“So much has changed...” he muttered, his voice distant.

“Exactly!” said Elita, elbowing his arm. “If not for you, half of the bots racing today would still be cogless. I would still be working in waste management, B would still be stranded alone, going crazy in sublevel 50, and–”

“And Orion Pax would still have D-16,” Optimus Prime whispered.

OOF

“Pax– er... Prime,” Elita corrected herself, internally cursing. What a terrible time for a slip-up. “I know you miss him. Hell, there are plenty of times I miss him, too. But D-16 is gone. He died the moment he dropped you. Megatron is all that's left.”

Again, just... pay attention to this line of thought from Elita, and watch how it changes throughout the story. Because she also doesn't wanna deal with a bot she cared about and respected becoming this terrifying warlord. And it's easier to convince herself that D is dead, rather than face what he's become.

Optimus shook his head. “Everyone keeps telling me that. But he's not gone. D-16 and Megatron are still the same bot.”

“Do you still feel like the same bot you were a cycle ago?”

“Well, no... But there has to be something I can do to–”

And because he doesn't feel like Orion, he kinda loses himself, wondering what Orion had that made Primus choose him. And it's only when he starts thinking like Orion again that he kinda finds himself. But that's 20 chapters from now haha.

“No, stop!” Elita snapped. “You already sacrificed everything you had to save him, and it didn't work. You need to stop blaming yourself for what he became.”

“But it was my fault. I was the one who always broke protocol. I constantly put him in danger and ignored his needs. I... I feel like I pushed him to this.”

Look, he's right that he kept pushing D into these situations, but there's so much more nuance in what happened. Poor dude is already self-sacrificing.

Elita crossed her arms and glared at him. “What do the Autobots stand for?”

Optimus finally turned to look at her. “What...?”

“What have you been saying every day for the last cycle? That freedom and autonomy are the rights of all living beings,” she continued, tapping the Autobot decal on her shoulder.

“You gave Megatron the freedom to choose, and he chose to drop you. He chose to turn his guns on Iacon. You're responsible for a lot of things, but his actions aren't one of them. So stop wallowing about your breakup, put on your Prime face, and have some damn fun for once!”

Elita: superior

Optimus Prime stared at her for a long moment, slowly realizing that she'd somehow made him feel better.

“Thank you, Elita,” he finally said. “You've... gotten better at pep talks.”

Elita smiled. “You give me a lot of practice. Now come on, you have a speech to prepare for.”

The hours before the Iacon 5000 vanished, and before he knew it, Optimus Prime stood in a small, private booth, looking down at the gathered crowd. It seemed like every Transformer in Iacon was in the stands today.

He glanced at the scoreboard, smiling when he spotted Jazz's and Arcee's names.

Prowl was not in the crowd, but he was watching from home, quietly cheering Jazz on. He's the only member of Autobot High Command not physically present during this chapter because he can't handle crowds (and he also had really bad morning sickness).

Every racer had checked in and gathered at the starting line, except for one: Cliffjumper was a no-show. His name was highlighted in red instead of green, sitting at the bottom of the board.

Hehe, leaving the last chapter during the night with B and Cliff trying to get back to Iacon, only to have this chapter reveal that it's late morning, and they haven't made it back yet. Adds some tension, wondering where they are and what happened to them.

Optimus thought that was a shame – the young daredevil had been one of Orion Pax's favorite racers to watch. He hoped he was alright.

Orion would absolutely be a Cliffjumper fan, and I really wish that had been an easter egg in TF One, like maybe Orion had a Cliff decal on his jet pack to match D-16's Megatronus decals (also purple vs red, come on)

However, there was one more bot whose absence stood out: B-127 was nowhere to be found.

Elita had Prowl track his comm chip, pinpointing its location at his quarters.

Even while doubled over a waste bin, Prowl can still do his job.

“He's either still recharging, or he forgot his comm,” she said. “I'll go check.”

That was a while ago, and neither of them were back yet. Optimus Prime was left facing the crowds without them.

Finally, he could stall no longer. The announcer introduced him, and he stepped out onto the small stage overlooking the starting line.

Holy Primus, that was a lot of optics, all locked on him. He had given speeches to all of Iacon before, but to smaller crowds, his words projected to the rest of them through the broadcast system. He'd never addressed all of them in person, though.

It's good that I'm nervous, he thought. Sentinel loved the attention. Don't be like him.

Sentinel haunting the narrative like the narcissistic bastard he is.

“People of Iacon,” Optimus Prime began, his voice far steadier than he felt, “welcome back to the Iacon 5000. It is my greatest honor to stand before you, to commemorate this annual event. Much has changed in the last cycle, and I commend you all on your strength and adaptability.

“As you cheer on the racers today, remember that this is what we fight for: the freedom and autonomy that is the right of every son and daughter of Cybertron. We fight for equality. For justice. For the end of oppression, and a new beginning for all.”

A cheer rolled through the crowd. Optimus let himself feel relief for a moment, before raising his voice.

Impostor syndrome be like

“And today, we fight for the right to race. Now, let the Iacon 5000 begin. Racers, roll out!”

The countdown began, the racers flipped into their alt-modes, and the announcer took over. Optimus Prime stepped back into the booth, relieved that his part was done.

“Nice speech, Prime,” said Ironhide, who was there on security duty.

“You think so?”

“Sure,” said Ironhide. “Hey, who do you think is gonna place higher? Arcee or Jazz?”

Let's be real, we all know he's rooting for Chromia to win again.

Before he could answer, a horn sounded, and the racers were off. Ironhide turned to cheer for his former mining buddies, seemingly forgetting about guard duty.

Optimus smiled. He still hadn't gotten used to having bodyguards – he was bigger and stronger than most of them – but Elita was taking no chances. Especially on a day like today.

Speaking of Elita...

Keeping one optic on the race, Optimus checked his comms. There were no messages on the Autobot frequency, nor were there any on his personal channel.

If Elita found B, she surely would have messaged him. Where was she? Where was B? He was really getting worried now.

My poor boy just wants his friends nearby.

The racers were out of sight now, the track having reached the far end of Iacon City, but the cameras and leaderboard kept him updated. Jazz was holding his own near the middle of the pack, and Arcee was further ahead. On flat ground, Jazz probably would have been faster, but Arcee had better maneuverability, having a similar alt-mode to Elita.

Having run the Iacon 5000 himself, Optimus knew that pure speed could only get you so far on a crowded, obstacle-riddled track. At least Jazz looked like he was having fun – they had reached a base-mode section of the track, and the camera lingered on Jazz, who had a positively delirious grin plastered on his face.

Love to see Jazz just having fun. Also you know Prowl saw that clip of Jazz smiling and having a blast, and committed it perfectly to memory.

The racers must have reached the midpoint of the track, because the starting line before him transformed into the finish line. Optimus could see the magnetic tunnels spring up in the distance, and before him was the final straightaway–

Go! Leave me!

No! We do this together.

Optimus Prime took a step back, staggered by the suddenness of the flashback. He barely had time to process it, before his comms came to life.

“Prime! We've got incoming!” a voice cried over the Autobot frequency. There was a scream, then static.

My original intention was for one of the guards at the entrance to Iacon to say this when they spotted B and Cliff rushing them, then scream and jump out of the way to avoid their speeding alt-modes, knocking his comms out. But then I realized it's not at all important who said that line, as long as it got OP to look up (the guard survived, he got out of the way before the invasion started).

Optimus reacted instantly, dashing back to the stage and looking up towards the path to the surface, his battle mask up and energy axe at the ready.

He could only watch as two bots in alt-mode shot through the entrance at top speed, then plummeted straight down. Optimus squinted; one of the bots was bright red, and the other was–

Oh no.

Haha

Optimus opened a link to Elita's personal frequency.

“Elita, I think I found B.”

“What?!”

I can hear the rage in her voice.

A road transformed up to catch the falling bots, breaking their fall before launching them into the middle of the pack of racers. Out of the corner of his optic, Optimus saw the leaderboard update. Cliffjumper's name switched from red to green.

It changed his name to green, but did not update his position within the crowd, because he didn't cross the start line. He was technically still at the bottom of the list, in last place. Couldn't give these racers a way to cheat.

“Optimus!” another voice called across the Autobot frequency.

“Jazz, is that you?”

“Yeah, B just landed on me! He doesn't have his comm link, but he says there are Quintesson troops inbound!”

There was a brief moment of silence, then the channel came alive with chatter. Optimus could hear the warning spread between the racers, and a moment later, someone sounded the city-wide alarm. The city's defense cannons, which had moments ago been playfully firing stun shots at racers, swerved to point towards the ceiling of the cavern, waiting.

You KNOW Red Alert was the one who sounded those alarms. He's always watching.

The neutrals in the stands began to scatter, driving or flying for shelter, but there were so many bots that it was slow going. The scoreboard shut off, and the racers began to peel off in different directions, the roads of Iacon transforming to carry them.

Among all the chaos, Optimus Prime stood, a fixed point, the only calm in the storm. Distantly, he was aware of other bots rallying around him, waiting to follow him. He doubted he'd ever get used to that.

Instance one of OP being a fixed point in the chaos of battle. It will happen again.

The Quintesson troops swarmed through the entrance moments later, scuttling over the ceiling of the cavern in a wave, before dropping down towards the crowd.

BOOM! The defense cannons started firing, taking out swaths of bugs with each shot. BOOM! BOOM!

Two flight-frame bots that Optimus didn't recognize flew overhead, blasting Quintessons out of the sky before they got to the fleeing neutrals.

“Prime,” came an unknown voice, “we want to help! What do we do?”

SILVERBOLT!!! My boy! I saw like three different Aerialbot names on that Iacon 5000 scoreboard.

“Keep them away from civilians,” Optimus Prime ordered. “We need guns at the city entrance. I'm on my way. Autobots, roll out!”

He lept forward, transforming into alt-mode as he landed on the track below. One burst of his rocket boosters, and he was away, the roads of Iacon transforming to his whim as he headed upwards.

Switching to blasters, he started firing into the swarm ahead of him, and the bots following him did the same. Then the Quintessons started firing back.

Blaster bolts exploded on the road around them. Optimus swerved to the right, intercepting a shot that would have wounded Ironhide, but only stunned him for a moment. He didn't even have time to marvel at how durable becoming a Prime had made him.

There was a moment like this in the movie, in the final fight between OP and Megs, where Megatron shoots him and Optimus just looks kinda stunned that it didn't hurt him. Because two minutes ago that same shot blew a hole in his chest, but now that he's got the Matrix it didn't even scratch his paint.

Two smaller bots suddenly appeared on either side of him.

“Hey, Optimus!” B exclaimed breathlessly, keeping pace as the road took them towards the entrance. “Sorry I was late for the race, I got caught in traffic.”

Making it very clear that the only other Transformers movie I watched was Bumblebee.

“I'm just glad you're alive,” snapped Optimus. “Where were you?”

“Is that B? I'm gonna kill him,” came Elita's voice from the comms.

This is dramatic irony/foreshadowing, because I already had the stun gun scene in my head by this point. Thank you again, Bumblebee movie.

“Long story!” said B. “I'll tell ya later!”

In one smooth motion, he launched himself towards Optimus as he switched back to base-mode, landing easily on the bed of the Prime's alt-mode. B's battle mask was down, and his blasters were out. He started firing at the Quintessons above him, but his blasters didn't have the reach.

Team dynamics make me swoon.

“B, switch with me!” exclaimed Cliffjumper, who was driving on Optimus's other side.

“Go for it!” B yelled, leaping off and switching back to alt-mode in midair.

As if he had practiced it, Cliffjumper performed an identical move, launching himself into the air and landing in base-mode on the Prime's bed. He also had a battle mask, nearly identical to B's.

I imagine they both do really cool flips here, like a transform, then kick, then flip and stick the landing on the Prime. I am playing with my dolls.

“Hope you don't mind, Prime,” said Cliffjumper.

“Be my guest,” said Optimus, bringing his blasters back out to mow down a squad of bugs.

His internal Orion Pax is quietly fangirling, like holy shit it's Cliffjumper, his favorite racer!!! Be cool, OP, be coooool

“Check this out, B!”

Show-off

Cliff's hands transformed into double-barreled cannons. He lifted his arms and fired, the bolts spiraling around each other like a double helix, before exploding into a cloud of super-heated plasma upon impact. Dozens of Quintessons died with each shot.

Giving Cliff his gas guns in a way, by having his double-barreled shotgun cannons explode into plasma clouds. I thought it was a nice combo, that makes for a visually appealing fight scene.

“That's awesome, Cliff!” B exclaimed.

“How do you two know each other?” Optimus couldn't help but ask.

“He's my brother!” B exclaimed. “Pretty crazy, right? We– look out!”

Optimus dodged to the right, narrowly avoiding the tentacles of a Quintesson Captain. B lept in the air, flipped to base mode, and used his momentum and knife hands to slice the Captain's top half off. He switched back to alt-mode before he even hit the road again, his yellow frame now splattered with dark purple blood.

Again, B using momentum and knives as his greatest weapons. I can see this exact scene so clearly in my head, and it looks cool AF.

“Look at you go, Badassatron!” Cliff cheered. B whooped in excitement.

BADASSATRON!!! Cliff NEEDS to be the first one to call him that.

“How many ships are up there?” Optimus asked.

“There are three ships above us,” Cliffjumper rattled off, his blasters firing nonstop. “They've been waiting outside of Iacon all night.”

“Cliff and I tried to wait them out, but we eventually had to make a run for it, and that's when they started chasing us,” B added.

“Ask them what the hell they were doing on the surface,” Elita's voice instructed. “I'm almost there, by the way. I have Wheeljack with me, and he has a prototype gun that might help.”

Wheeljack with a prototype gun? What could possibly go wrong?

“Good call,” said Optimus.

“Prime, I'm in position,” came Arcee's voice over the Autobot frequency.

That meant the young Transformer had gotten to a high vantage point, where she could use the sniper blaster her arm transformed into. Arcee had the best eyesight of any bot in Iacon, and with her built-in weapon, she never missed.

“Call the shots, Arcee,” said Optimus.

Once again, this is a role that would normally go to Prowl, but he literally couldn't make himself useful fast enough. He was at home, too far from the action and the base to respond quick enough (also this is all behind the scenes, but when the attack started, he stood up too quick and passed out a little bit. He really wasn't feeling good, but he works hard to hide it for the rest of the story)

Luckily, Arcee is also really smart and capable, and she was at ground zero when the attack started, so she was able to get to a high vantage point and act as a stand-in for Prowl, making call-outs and offering long-ranged support.

“Veer left, there's a squadron converging on your right, and the defense cannons won't fire if you're too close,” said Arcee. “The civilians are still getting to shelter, but you're drawing most of the attention, and I'm keeping an optic out for strays. Oh, watch that one.”

The head of a particularly sneaky Quintesson exploded as Arcee's sniper shot hit its mark, splattering the Autobots on the right with purple blood.

“A little warning next time, please,” Jazz cried as he joined the squad on the road.

“You're right, I should keep your paint job in mind while I'm saving your life,” Arcee deadpanned as she brained another bug.

I had not seen any of TF Prime by this point, but that is absolutely something TF Prime Arcee would say.

Another volley of blaster fire flew at them, and this time Ironhide was ready for it. He flipped to base-mode, and his arm transformed into a shield, which deflected the bolts. Then back again to alt-mode, to keep up with the others.

None of them were anywhere near as fast at transforming as B, who switched between alt and base-mode with such speed that it made Optimus dizzy – how could one bot possibly have that much energy? At least Cliffjumper was holding still, though he was firing so much that his cannons were starting to overheat.

One of my favorite ways to rewatch movies is to focus on only a single character for the duration of the movie, paying attention to their mannerisms and actions and whatnot. And my boy B is fuckin FAST at transforming. To be fair, they all get real fast about it, but IDK it seems extra speedy for B.

Also, that's a major ADHD vibe. You have 100 percent energy, until you don't. Then you crash. It be like that.

“Coming up behind you, Prime,” came Elita's voice.

A moment later, she and Wheeljack appeared at the back of the group. Wheeljack had something large strapped to his back.

The two flight-frames from before appeared overhead, sending barrages at the Quintesson troops.

“Wait, is that Silverbolt and Air Raid?” B asked excitedly.

In hindsight, I probably would have had Cliff recognize them, but once again, I was still a TF noob. Anyways, I was playing on how B knew who the High Guard were, and how it seemed like he kinda knew everyone, even though he had no real reason to.

“What– how do you know us?” asked Air Raid.

Oh my god it's so weird to see Silverbolt and Air Raid all grown up (even though they're still not fully grown at this point). My boyyyyssss

“There's a squad on the left flank that's breaking off to attack civilians,” Arcee's voice called.

“We've got them!” said Silverbolt. He and Air Raid swerved left, disappearing into the distance.

“We're approaching the entrance!” Optimus Prime called out. “Autobots, prepare for heavy fire!”

Cliffjumper lept off his back and switched to alt-mode, driving alongside B. Ironhide sped up to take the lead, with Optimus behind him and Wheeljack in the center of the formation, Elita guarding the rear.

Staying mostly in alt-mode, Ironhide activated his shield, keeping it in front of him. Blaster fire deflected away from the small group, though B and Cliff were quick enough to dart out of cover and fire back. From across the city, Arcee's sniper blasts continued to drop the bugs around them.

She's gonna have fun training Bluestreak how to shoot, when he eventually spawns in.

Finally, the road deposited them on hard stone. Every bot in the group switched to base-mode and came out blasting, mowing down every Quintesson they could. Claws and blaster fire ricocheted everywhere; one shot caught B in the pede, and another skimmed across Jazz's back. Nobody cried out, though – they would feel the pain later.

Optimus Prime's axe spun around, blocking the bolts. When the Quintesson troops surrounding them switched to melee, he used the axe to cut them down.

Another Quintesson Captain rushed them, tentacles flailing and sword swirling, trying to stab anything it could get ahold of. It managed to get a firm hold on Optimus's leg, but a shot from Elita and Jazz, a knife slash from B, and a blast from Arcee took it down before it could do any damage.

Optimus quickly moved away from the corpse of the Captain. It was unnerving how quickly they could do serious damage – he'd seen firsthand how one was able to easily subdue Sentinel.

Using that mention to confirm that the “Quintesson Captains” are the tentacle guys. Also wanted to show off that the Captains are big trouble for a bot alone (cough Megatron cough) but can be easily handled when surrounded by friends.

“Here!” cried Wheeljack, slinging the package off his back and slamming it into the stone, where it sprouted legs and locked itself in place. “Guard me while I set it up!”

They formed a circle around him, blasters and knives all pointing out. With every Quintesson trooper they killed, it felt like two more replaced them. They all rapidly became splattered in purple blood, with a bit of glowing blue energon mixed in.

Beside Optimus, Cliffjumper and B fought together in perfect harmony. B handled the bugs up close, slashing and stabbing, while Cliff used his cannons to lay down a cover fire. Any time a Quintesson took aim with a blaster, Cliff shot them first. If an enemy got too close to the red bot, B was there to cut it down. They chattered back and forth the whole time, as if they'd known each other forever.

Have I mentioned that I love them?

Optimus couldn't wait to hear what B had been up to last night, and the faint voice of Orion Pax in the back of his processor was thrilled to be fighting side by side with his favorite racer.

“Reinforcements are on the way, but they're struggling to get to you,” Arcee called out.

“Almost there...” muttered Wheeljack, frantically pressing buttons on the machine.

Despite the incredible display of fighting from the small group, it would be only a matter of time before they were overwhelmed. The stream of bugs was endless, the swarm surging forward. They couldn't hold out for much longer.

“Got it!” Wheeljack yelled. “GET DOWN!”

Optimus Prime and Ironhide dropped to their knees, Elita pulled Jazz to the ground, and B tackled Cliffjumper, throwing himself on top of his brother.

B saw one chapter ago that Cliff is a bit slow to listen to instructions/orders, so he took matters into his own hands.

The package unfurled into a huge cannon, the barrel facing horizontally, level in height with the Quintesson soldiers around them. The weapon flashed bright orange, then a blinding beam of light shot out of it, obliterating every bug in its path. Then the cannon did a single, quick spin, sending the beam sweeping through every Quintesson on its level, narrowly passing over the Transformers on the ground. It completed one full rotation, then shut off.

Please pretend that the Quints were all on the same level plane, and that beam attack got them all. I could see what I wanted but it was hard to explain.

“Whoa!” Arcee's voice exclaimed.

Optimus lifted his helm, surveying the carnage. Piles of bisected bugs surrounded them, unmoving. It was much quieter now.

“Thank Primus, it didn't explode this time,” muttered Wheeljack, switching the safety back on.

Lmao the next time Wheeljack says this exact line, the gun he's standing next to explodes. These weapons have excellent comedic timing.

“Are... are we safe to stand up?” asked B, who was still pinning Cliffjumper to the ground.

“Yes, it's locked down,” said Wheeljack.

Optimus Prime slowly stood, looking over the sea of dead Quintessons. Directly ahead of him was the exit to the surface. He could see another squadron of bugs out there, hesitating.

A moment later, backup arrived. Nearly a hundred Autobots suddenly stood by his side, all armed with blasters, pointing out towards the surface.

“Hold your fire,” Prime ordered.

Notice how the Autobots immediately follow Prime's orders and hold their fire. They don't complain, or ask to blast a few bugs.

The stare-down between the two armies seemed to last for an eternity. Then, finally, the Quintessons retreated.

Optimus breathed a sigh of relief, while the Autobots around him cheered.

“Commander,” Optimus said to Elita, “organize a garrison.”

“On it,” she said, ignoring the gaping wound in her arm as she marched off to organize the troops.

She is absolutely the type to ignore a gaping gunshot wound in her arm, in favor of making sure the innocents in the city below are safe. She'll get medical treatment later.

Prime tuned in to the Autobot frequency. “Ratchet, are you prepared to receive the wounded?”

“I've been prepared since yesterday,” Ratchet grumbled. “I've already got a few medics heading your way.”

“Thank you,” said Optimus. “Prowl, organize search and rescue. I will give a statement to the people later today.”

“Understood,” said Prowl.

He ain't too chatty today.

“Silverbolt, are you and Air Raid still on this frequency?”

“Yessir,” said the young jet.

“Sweep for any straggling bugs. Call in reinforcements if you need them.”

“You got it, Prime!”

Having taken care of that, Optimus crept towards the exit to the surface. He could see the shadows of ships hovering above them. The Quintessons were waiting.

Iacon was under siege.

Oooooh baby, you gotta admit that was a clever move from the Quints, locking down the main forces during a public event.

“Nothing comes in or out,” Prime said to the sentry captain, who nodded affirmation.

Speaking of which...

Optimus turned to B and Cliffjumper.

The two bots were pretty banged up. B was limping, unable to put weight on his right leg. His arm was thrown over Cliffjumper's shoulder. Cliff was doing his best to support B, but he looked unsteady on his pedes, his free hand pressed against a leaking wound on his side. They were both covered in dirt and blood and energon, and now that the fighting was over, they looked exhausted.

“Alright, you two, what happened?” Prime asked.

“Optimus, it was crazy!” B exclaimed, the energy in his voice not matching how he actually looked. “I snuck out last night to go for a drive, and I met Cliffjumper, and it turns out we're brothers! How cool is that?! We even had a race with each other!”

“Which I won,” added Cliffjumper.

Haha this asshole

“Yeah, he did,” B laughed. “But while we were out there, we saw a Quintesson ship, and then more of them appeared before we could get back to Iacon, and we had to hide and wait, but they weren't leaving, and then one of their scouts spotted us, and... and...”

B paused to catch his breath, but after a few attempts, he couldn't seem to do it. He started to hyperventilate, optics squeezed shut and one hand on his chassis.

And here is another example of me playing with Transformers biology! B is literally running on fumes.

“B?” asked Cliffjumper. “You okay?”

Optimus frowned – he'd seen this happen to B before, and he knew what it meant.

“B, when was the last time you recharged or refueled?” asked Optimus, reaching forward and gently taking the small bot's arm, helping support him.

“It... it's been...” B stammered, but couldn't finish his sentence. His good leg started to give out, and Cliff and Optimus helped him to the ground.

“What's wrong with him?” Cliffjumper gasped, looking up at Optimus with a terrified expression.

“He's out of fuel,” said the Prime quietly. “Just let him rest. The medics are on their way. They can give him an energon infusion when they arrive.”

OP saying this quietly and not freaking out... you get the feeling this happens too frequently with B.

On the ground, B seemed to rally for a moment. He opened his optics and smiled up at Cliffjumper and Optimus.

“That was the best Iacon 5000 ever,” he muttered.

Then he closed his optics and passed out.

I love my idiot son.

Anyways, if anyone reads this, hope you enjoyed my commentary! I'm gonna do this for the whole story because I love pointing out little things and all the hints and stuff I laid out. Again, this is really self-indulgent, but I love talking about what I was thinking and feeling while I was writing this (or, while the story was playing like a movie and I was simply the humble scribe documenting it.)

Anyways, yeah!