Unknown Territory (TFP)

8.

ENTRY: 28/4/2021

Optimus walks up to Lightblade, seeing that she has been discharge by his medic. "Ioa, I must ask something from you, an important one as a matter of fact." He said, piquing her interest and the rest of the team, making them huddle in circle around her. "Go ahead." she said. Optimus took a quick scan on his team before finally resting his gaze on the white and gold femme. Optimus nodded before vocalising his question.

"Do you wish to join our cause Lightblade? Be one with us and fight for peace. Help us end this conflict that lasted for eons. We may be fewer in numbers, but I believe an addition to our cause is never a lost." He said, making Ioa stunned. The Optimus Prime is giving an her, ex Decepticon, a chance to make a better change? Lightblade looked around,but seeing the bots' faceplate each held different kind of expression, she hesitated. She didn't want to make them feel  uncomfortable or burden them in any sort of way.

"I-I'm..." she stuttered; she didn't know how to react. On one hand, she wanted to be a part of them but at the same time she does not have much combat expertise, being a part of team Prime yet not capable of holding her own bearings would only be a burden to them. Before she could decide, Agent Fowler spoke.

"If you don't join us, where ya goin' to go? Back to those Decepticreeps and let them run over your body like a rug? Toss you around like some kind of chew toy? Or worst, have your head as their ornament?" he said, making every human and bot silent. The mental images were scarring indeed, and Ioa deletes them all, not wanting to know the outcome. He was right, she had no place to go except here.

" With all due respect Optimus I-I don't want to be a burden to you. I understand I'm a Decepticon, and that your fellow teammates are wary of me for various solid reason. But hearing that now I have sort of a bounty on my head, I can't go back to the Decepticons even if I wanted to." Ioa said truthfully. "Then perhaps consider my offer Ioa, if not for the sake of us, then for the sake of yours. You have endured a lot young one, and I wish not for you to be in the wrong side of the war. You yourself would know that too. Isn't that right Ioa?" Optimus reasoned. Ioa look down to her servos, the same servos she was taught to use it to protect innocent live, now stained with energon of innocent lives and endless torment from the Decepticons. She shuddered at thought, she did not want to see another life end in this primus-forsaken war.

Ioa's tremble did not go unnoticed. She wants to join them, at the same time the guilt of being a possible burden to then gnaws her insides, breaking her down as seconds goes by. After what seems to an eternity, she spoke softly, nearly inaudible if it wasn't for the silence.

"I-If you guys would have me around, I'll be honoured." She said, looking down at her peds this time, afraid of rejections by the other members of team Prime, but none came. She rose her helm to see Arcee standing in front of her now, Optimus switching over to the back, a ghost of a smile on his faceplate. Arcee look at Lightblade, her eye spark with respect at the same time firm and serious, indicating that if anything happens to her family she will not hesitate to offline Lightblade.

"Welcome aboard Ioa. It will take awhile to adjust and settle down, but we are glad to have you on board." She said, and lean closer to Ioa's audials. "But if you ever double cross me or my family, I will hunt you down, am I clear?" Arcee said, making Ioa sat straight up and nodded frantically. "Good. The name's Arcee." She said and trotted away, leaving a dumbfounded Ioa sitting at the medical berth. "She's pretty hardcore, but Arcee means well. I'm Jack by the way, Arcee's charge." Jack said from the cat walk, raising his hand. "Hello Jack." Ioa said, giving him a soft smile. Jack excused him and walked off the platform to go catch up on Arcee. Lightblade's focus went to the big green bot that was slowly approaching her.

"Arcee tends to be that way, but she'll warm up later. I'm Bulkhead and this is my charge, Miko." The green bot said while raising Miko on his servos, Miko waving at her. Ioa nodded back and smiled. Bumblebee came over and beeped, introducing himself too.

:-I'm Bumblebee! And that's Raf, my human companion! -: the yellow bot said while motioned his servo towards the smallest human out of the four, said human waving back at her. Ioa want to give a light wave back but realised she was still cuffed, so she just smiled and greeted back softly. Realising the situation, Optimus went up to her and uncuff her servos, at the same time giving his greetings to the new member of team Prime. "Welcome to the Autobots Lightblade. My name is Optimus Prime, the leader of this faction. I'm glad you've decided to join us, I assure you that your presence will not be a burden to us young one, so please don't worry." He said, a rare smile on his faceplate appeared, but it went as quick as it came. "I'm their medic, Ratchet. But you already know that!" Ratchet hollered and waved his servo dismissively with his back turned and continued typing on the computers. Lightblade smiled but a cough suddenly got her attention. She looked below her as the Autobots' liaison, Agent Fowler spoke.

 "Welcome aboard soldier. We need all the help we can get but there are certain rules you must comply. Call it earth's custom." He said as Lightblade nodded, letting him continue. "Firstly, absolutely do not reveal yourself as a cybertronian in front of normal civilians. Secondly, we need to get you an earth vehicle mode, you need to blend in as much as possible, now even more than ever due to your circumstances with the Decepticons, we wouldn't want them to recognise you easily." He said, Lightblade listening attentively and nodded, letting him proceed. "Next, we would you to give us a brief description about yourself. Alt modes, expertise, make a list if you could please." He said, making Lightblade a little tense but still nodded her helm in agreement. Lightblade was quite self conscious about herself, but seeing that this is standard protocols, she obeyed."I am pretty sure that's it, but I'm sure big guy here will brief you about the dos and don'ts." Agent Fowler finished as Ioa as usual nodded. Agent Fowler left and Optimus continued.

"Lightblade, we Autobots prioritise the safety of humanity above anything else. We cannot afford human casualities or injuries, for they should never be involved in our war. Jack, Raf and Miko were exemptions because fate brought us together. We never wanted them to be involved in our war, but we soon realized that these humans are more than meets the eye." He said, optics shone with pride and respect for the humans. "Though the human may be small in size, but their hearts and determination are just as strong as cybertronians alike." Lightblade looked over to the humans who were all with their respective guardians. Their interaction with the Autobots showed that their bonds are strong and sturdy, like a family. She understood what Optimus meant. The humans really aren't different from the cybertronians after all.