Transformers Short Story

Downpour

Rose glanced out at the gloomy exterior. The sudden downpour had struck Jasper an hour before expected leave and the soldier's reluctance to spend the start of their half day with families or friends soggy was present through grumblings. The slam of the base door alerted many of the soldiers to Lennox's return from the command room. His step was hastened towards Rose as the soldiers looked on, probably looking for any hopes of getting out early. Lennox crossed the room and stood shoulder to shoulder with Rose, who was currently watching the rain with apt attention, "Command's all up arms over the fricken storm. Says we can't go home until the damn things over with." Rose hummed, "Noted. They do know a little rain won't hurt, right?" She looked imploringly down at Lennox, who was watching her with feigned interest, "Must have forgotten to mention it but you're welcome to go start another row with them over it." Rose shrugged, "They usually listen better when I call the shots, don't they?" Lennox dragged his hand across his face, "Sure... can't say I don't do the same." Rose sniffed, "What? Call the shots or listen? From what I see you do neither very well." Lennox balked, "Throwing shots already? I can't listen to this shit unless I'm laying in my own bed, in my own house." Rose gave him a small smile, sarcastic, "What a pillow princess you are." Lennox shrugged, "Don't let Sarah hear you, she'll hold it over my head, no questions asked." Rose's eyes gleamed, beckoning Lennox to walk with her toward the Transformers-proportioned control center, "And what if I already have?" Lennox's shrug rose even higher, and returned simply, "I'd know." Rose chuckled, "True." She hastened up the stairs with Lennox close behind and turned to overlook the main holding area. Most of the soldiers were already present and by the growing look of doom setting over their faces, they already knew the fate of their holy half-day. Rose glanced at the vacant parking docks to her left, where Transformers of all make and model were housed during base operation training or busy foot traffic days. She gestured to the waiting soldiers, "Lennox, you mind telling the circus down there about disappointment one of today? And then take a look at the transformer's lots. Have the guys clean out the parking spaces before Bee and Acree return from patrol. I want the ground gleaming when I get back." Lennox shook his head wearily, "You know, half of us do more chores here than we ever do in our own houses but... I'll have them sort it out." Rose ignored his jab, "Better than wet asses after training in the rain." Lennox muttered "amen" quietly under his breath to which she returned a pointed look, and he sidestepped quickly to the front railing to address the battalion. Rose promptly turned back toward the stairs and hopped gracefully down them. She gave one last look to Lennox and her soldiers before walking down the hallway to her left. She passed the open lots without so much a glance and continued walking into the hallway and towards the bot's rooms. She glanced at a few promising ones but never slowed until the doors started to thin and she had reached the very end of the hall. She rubbed thoughtfully at her face before knocking lightly on the heavy metal door. The door snapped away after a few seconds and the cool air from the hab-suit mixed well with the mounting humidity of the hallway. A large transformer with a blue and red paint job approached from the side of the door, which she knew housed the control panel, and bent down to greet her, "Rose...Did your command mention any news regarding the current weather?" Rose hummed, "They won't be releasing us until the storm clears so for now the soldiers will be housed in this department instead of at the barracks. I was hoping to set up temporary beds in one of the unused rooms in this hallway if that's alright with you Optimus?" The mech tilted his head, considering her words, "They may use the first room, it remains unoccupied at this time." Rose nodded before gauging the mech in front of her, "You hiding Ratchet in there? I haven't seen him all day nor have I seen you for that matter." "Miss us that much?" A voice behind Optimus called. Rose smiled slightly and answered back snarkily, "You wish." A white and orange mech sidled up alongside Optimus, who was now standing next to the door frame. The mech's frown lessened at the sight of the soldier in front of them. Rose crossed her arms, mimicking his stance, "Lucky you, you both get to spend the night with me." Ratchet scoffed, rolling his eyes at her statement, "Your company is far better than many people I can think of." Rose smiled, "I'm flattered." Optimus sent his mate a warning look, "We would be honored to host you, Rose." Rose sent him a grateful smile before turning the subject, "Everyone in their rooms besides Bee and Arcee?" Optimus nodded, and explained briefly, "Most cybertronians are not fond of earth's rain. Bumblebee and Acree volunteered to scout around the base even with the current weather." Rose nodded along, "I suppose the rain doesn't feel all that great after a while." Ratchet scoffed, "With immune systems like yours it's no wonder the whole base hasn't contracted a cold or better yet the flu." Rose gave him a fond look despite his jab, "Humans aren't perfect. But as long as we're kept dry we'll all be fine." Ratchet huffed, "Dry and fed. You, humans, complain a lot about food it seems." Rose feigned a hurt look, "That hurt Mommabird." Ratchet stuttered and shot her a half-annoyed look, "Stop calling me that." Rose tilted her head, "Calling you what, Mommabird?" Ratchet threw a look at Optimus, "She certainly doesn't get that from me." Optimus gave his mate an amused look, "I think she gets many of her traits from her carrier, old friend." Ratchet rolled his eyes, "Whatever, sleep outside in the rain for all I care" Rose gave a gasp of mock horror, "Your only sparkling in the rain, even you're not that cold-hearted." Optimus cleared his throat, "I agree, sleeping outside would be detrimental to Rose's health." Ratchet huffed again, "Don't play favorites with me Optimus." Rose smiled, "Don't worry Ratch I won't take your spot." Rachet peered down at her, and replied bluntly, "I wasn't worried." Optimus nudged Ratchet before he could continue, "I don't choose favorites." Rose nodded along, "Neither do I." Optimus sent her a rare smile, "I suppose you forgot yesterday's conversation?" Rose gave him a flat look, "Which one?" Optimus glanced between his sparkling and mate thoughtfully, "I suppose I should let the past lie. I will spare you Ratchet's lecture for today then." Rose seemed to deflate with relief, "Thank god! No offense Rachet but your lectures may be well intended but half the time I don't know what you're talking about." Ratchet looked mildly offended, "More likely, you don't pay attention." Rose brushed it off, "That too." Ratchet shook his head and motioned inside, "Let's stop standing out in the hallway, you're letting all the cool air out anyway." Rose chuckled, walking inside after Ratchet, "I'll send Lennox a message about the room so he can start setting it up. I don't see the rain stopping anytime soon, so they'll probably have to stay through the night." Optimus closed the door to the hab-suit and nodded at her words, "I will alert the Autobots of this development." Rose sent a quick message to Lennox through her phone and watched as Optimus did the same over his comm tab. Once both parties were settled with their responses, Rose looked around the room. She'd been in the room on occasion, though this would be the first time she'd spend the night. Ratchet shuffled further into the back of the room where the joint siding housed a section similar to a human living room. The room was complete with cybertroains-sized furniture and simple decorative touches. Ratchet leaned down to offer his hand to her, to which Rose settled herself before being carried to the sofa. Optimus joined them a minute later with a datapad in his hand. Rose jumped off Ratchet's hand, as soon as he was comfortable, and sat in between the two. She crossed her arms and glanced between both creators before clearing her throat, deciding on small talk, "What topic did you decide to research today?" Optimus stirred from the datapad and offered her a smile, "Rachet and I have been working on decoding old cybertronian techs in hopes to uncover anything related to space exploration." Rose leaned up against Ratchet's hip, "To find out if any cybertronians have been here before?" Optimus nodded mutely, "We believe many of the Energon pockets and artifacts may have come from past exploration crews." Ratchet pulled another datapad from a small table on the side of the couch and pointed to one of the pictures, "This was Sentinal Prime. His main objective was to transport selective information away during the war. Optimus linked his disappearance with reported wrecks on your earth's moon." Rose shot him a look, "Linked how? Our government has only launched a handful of manned spacecraft to the moon...The rest were probes sent to scout ahead and nothing so far has been flagged. I think they'd let us know if there was a cybertroian ship stuck on the moon." Ratchet snorted, "Your government keeps many secrets from you." Rose rubbed her face in annoyance, "Yes I'm aware." Optimus reached across to replace his datapad with Ratchet's depiction of Sentinal Prime, "The last known coordinates of Sentinal's craft was recorded just around your Venus. I don't doubt Decepticons also picked up these readings and have already tried to locate the craft." Rose looked up from the photo to study Optimus, "Do you know this for certain?" Optimus ex-vented and placed the datapad down, "No. Your government hasn't notified this base of any Decepticons readings nor any recent raids." Rose hummed in agreement, "Command has been radio silent too. They've had nothing to report worth noting." Ratchet pulled the datapad away from Optimus and returned it back to its original spot on the side table, "Considerable damage was dealt to the Iacon towers throughout the war. Sentinal's craft was supposed to carry important relics that would aid Autobot forces in turning the tide, as you say, but he never arrived at the checkpoint and with the primitive systems we have access to, any contact will be limited." Rose scrunched her face in thought, "Iacon towers? Oh!...The data centers right? I thought they had been destroyed long before all Autobots left?" Optimus shared a look with Ratchet before speaking, "Correct, ground levels fell early on in the war. Most of the Iacon records were stored in halls that were easily open through public access. On a deeper level, Iacon had storage systems in place to protect more valuable assets." Rose blinked, "What kind of assets?" Ratchet scoffed and interrupted, "What kind do you think? Dangerous weapons, ancient relics....the list goes on." Rose raised her eyebrows, "And one Autobot was tasked with transporting them? Wasn't that unsafe?" Optimus shuttered his optics, "Under the pressure of the war trusted Autobots were rare. Sentinal was the standing Prime at the time of Cybertons fall and was willing to transport any artifacts he was able to save from Iacon's destruction. He notified me before departing from Cyberton. He left cycles before the towers fell." A silent moment followed Optimus's memory and allowed the room to fall into complete stillness. Rose shuffled till she was laying more comfortably on Ratchet's hip, "How'd you come to trust Sentinal that well?" Optimus smiled softly, "That is a much easier question. During my training in Iacon as a data clerk, Alpha Trion introduced me to the newly appointed Prime, one of my first weeks in employment...he was very well-spoken and great with his duties as a Prime and from then our relationship continued throughout the war." Rose nodded in understanding as Ratchet interrupted again, "All this talk of politics and war is making my optics rust shut...let's do something more interesting." Rose sniffed, "Oops, sorry if we were boring you Ratchet. I'm just curious is all." Optimus placed a hand on his mate's arm, "Your curiosity is welcome Rose but I agree, we're not here to talk about the war." He moved his hand away, "Would you be interested in looking through our tablet collection? Ratchet's shelf is full of medical books and guides." Ratchet quickly stood up, causing Rose to fall backward with a glare his way, "Not without me watching! Those books are older than this planet." Rose snickered, "Let me guess, you'll need that?" Ratchet stopped walking towards his collection to glare at her, "Of course I do! These are limited edition copies!" Rose slid down the couch to join Ratchet and peered up at him, "Of course they'd be limited edition! I don't see any other Cybertron techs lying around." She rolled her eyes and waltzed over to the self. The books were bigger than her body and probably twice as heavy. She scanned over the ones on the bottom-most shelf, "What about this book on anatomy? Can I read this one?" Ratchet hummed and pulled it from the self with a puzzled look, "Anatomy? Hmmm...Yes, I suppose. How did you know the title?" Rose shrugged, "The same way I can read the other book titles. I'm not blind you know." Ratchet beckoned Optimus over to the book corner, "Rose can you see the red book on the second self, what's the name of it?" Rose furrowed her brow, "Ummm...medical parts, the complete guide. Why, are you looking for a touchup?" Ratchet ignored her and turned to Optimus. They must have shared something over their bond because before she knew it both they were staring, perplexed, in her direction. Rose huffed, "Are you going to tell me what's going on or...?" Optimus cleared his throat, "Apologies. You did nothing wrong Rose but all of these techs were printed in cybertroian." Rose shrugged simply, "Yeah I know." Ratchet sniffed, "You've been able to read cybertroain and you somehow forgot to mention it?" Rose pursed her lips, "Correction, I didn't know I could read cybertroain until just about five seconds ago. It wouldn't make sense if any of your books were in English." Ratchet shared another look with Optimus and smirked,  "I think I know who she gets her brains from."