Unknown Territory (TFP)

15.

CHAPTER 15

ENTRY: 1/5/2021

Lightblade onlined her optics to see the base's ceiling. She sat up and stared into space as she tried to comprehend what happened. She took a deep intake and exhaled, stressed out and confused. Millions of emotions washing over her as she tries to calm herself down. Checking her internal chronometer watch, it stated 0300 human hours, or 3 a.m. in the morning. Seeing that she's no longer able to go back into recharge, she sighed.

'It's the spark terrors again. But the second dream... I saw Ratchet and... Orion? I've heard he's now known as Optimus due to the Matrix of Leadership, but why can't I remember them?' Ioa pondered deeply. She was certain Orion is Optimus due to the same paint job and the history of him turning into a Prime, but she hesitated. 'If he's the same bot, perhaps the Matrix blocked his memories? But how's that possible? If he remembered Ratchet, why can't he remember me? Is the dream even real?' Lightblade was stumped. So many questions running through her processors at once.

Wanting to clear her thoughts, she walked out only to be greeted with a cold hallway, the temperature low enough to make her turn on her heaters slightly to warm herself as she walked mindlessly. She stopped by Optimus's berthroom only to hear a loud roar and then nothing. Worried something happened, she rushed inside, only to see a calibrating Prime holding his spark chambers as he vented loudly and closing his optics as he tries to purge those horrible spark terrors.

"Optimus?" Lightblade said softly, not wanting to spook the leader even more. Optimus looked up to see the femme of his nightmares, only this time unharmed and concerned about his well-being.

"I-I'm fine Ioa, just a bad dream. Please go back to recharge." He said, voice hoarse as his voice box had gone haywire and was recalibrating. The white and gold medic could only shake her helm in denial and sat down on his berth beside him as she took his servos, making the Prime tensed up.

"You're not okay Prime, I know that look. I've had many patients with the same symptoms as yours. I'm not going to pressure you into telling, but know that just like you've helped me, I'm all audials on whenever you need me." She said while petting his servos. Optimus and Lightblade sat in silence as Optimus tries to calm himself down from the nightmare. About a few minutes passed and Optimus was finally stable, he looked at Lightblade in gratitude.

"Thank you Lightblade, I'm much better now. I was just..." he trailed off, not knowing where to even start. Lightblade smiled lightly and grasped his servos slightly while giving him a firm nod, letting him feel more at ease as he continued. "I-I was having a horrible spark terror, but I feel fine now thanks to you." he said looking down, feeling bad not telling her the truth. Lightblade looked at him understandingly as she nodded. Giving his servos a pat, she didn't press any further. "It's okay now, we are all here." Ioa said, making Optimus smile and nodded as he stood up. Lightblade followed suit as they both walked out of Optimus's berthroom and walked out the hallways.

No words were spoken as they walked, enjoying the comfortable silence of their base. It was short-lived when they heard a crash and a groan from Ratchet's berthroom. They looked at each other for a moment before going into Ratchet's room, only to find the old medic's faceplate on the ground as he groaned. Pushing himself up, he was met with two pair of optics staring at him worriedly.

"Are you alright old friend?" Optimus asked as he walked over and give Ratchet a servo. Ratchet groaned as he stood, placing his servos on Optimus's shoulderplate for support. "Just fragging dandy..." he cursed. Lightblade walked over him and helped him stabilize as they set him down on his berth, letting him recalibrate. Lightblade scanned him for any injuries before deciding he was okay and not harmed.

"Ratchet? What's wrong? A spark terror?" she asked, making him look at her. "N-No Ioa, just a dream and wrong recharging posture. Primus, I'm getting too old for this." He said he stretched, only to wince in pain due to his bad sleeping posture. Soon, Ratchet felt better and he stood up, not wanting to fall back into recharge. Optimus and Ioa both looked at him worriedly only to have him waved them off. "I'm fine! I may be old but I'm not handicapped!" He snapped, not used to the attention. The trio all made a silent agreement not to go back to sleep as they walked out to the main hangar. Seeing it was still early in the morning, Optimus went out for a drive, leaving Ratchet and Ioa back at base.

Ioa wanted to ask Ratchet something when he got to her first. "You look familiar Ioa. Have we met before?" Ratchet cut to the chase, not beating around the bush for answers. Seeing Ioa's expression, he knew she also had the same thought as him.

 "I-I was going to ask you that actually..." Lightblade said while fiddling her digits. "I feel like I've known you for eons, but I can't seem to remember when or where." She said looking down. Ratchet hummed and nodded. "So am I Lightblade. I feel like we were close before, but every time I try looking up my memory file nothing comes up." He said while pinching an imaginary nose bridge. Lightblade saw how stress he was and decided to drop the topic for now.

 "U-Um it's okay now! We can figure it out later, don't worry!" she said, trying to cheer him up. Ratchet sighed and nodded, following her advice and saving the thought for later. 'Maybe Optimus might have a clue about this...' he thought as he turned his attention the computers and started doing his stuff.

Ioa left Ratchet be as she looked around for something to do, only to come up short. "Hey Ratchet? Is there anything I can do?" she asked. "For now? Nothing. It's too early, maybe later when the kids come to base. Primus, you'll have a lot to do then." He said groaning. It was Saturday, meaning that the kids are going to spend longer time in base. 'Great...' he groaned inwardly.

Ioa could only nod as she left the medic be. She went to an empty stack as she sat on it and took out her datapad from her subspace, updating notes on her journal log. This caught the attention of Ratchet because her posture reminded him of his memories, but he said nothing for now.

'We all have had enough for the morning, save the questionings later.' He thought as he continued typing on the supercomputer. Comfortable silence once again occupying the base, bar the soft typing and beeping from the computer.

A/N: Hello there! So uh I know this chapter is kinda boring but bear with me please! Also it's a Saturday, do you know what it means( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)? Stay tune to find out! As always, stay safe and healthy! Enigma signing out.