Stars & Machines | A Transformers Fanfiction Collab

Chapter 18

7-25-2024

Several weeks passed uneventfully. The decepticons went rather quiet, and I was working through physical therapy. Turns out, being shot in the side wasn't exactly healthy... sucked that Smokescreen was watching me like I was going to crumble into dust in front of him. Koda... well, Koda was insisting we bring Gipsy here.

Eventually, Optimus told me to allow her to have Gipsy. I followed his request, since he dropped Koda in my servos, before tiredly walking away. "What did you do?" I asked, she simply grinned mischievously at me.

I sighed, "Fine, fine." I said grumpily, as she jumped up, throwing her hands out in excitement. "J...just, be careful... if you feel yourself getting hurt by the drift, disengage. Please- please stay safe." I said quietly, knowing fully well that whatever Marshal and Silas did to her, as Optimus just explained, that for some reason, Koda could handle piloting a jaeger by herself. I was afraid, since I heard, time and time again of the stories of pilots dying from the strain of piloting alone.

I didn't want that to happen to Koda.

As the weeks flowed by, I grew busy in improving my combat skills, much to the dismay of Ratchet, and newfound brother; Optimus.
Optimus and I would occasionally hang out in a sense... mostly to talk about Koda. Eventually, we talked about things other than Koda, and I finally completely trusted him to take care of her. Koda went on missions with Smokescreen, and overall, life was boring. Peaceful, but boring.

So, I decided to work on understanding the cybertronian language, combat skills, reading datapads of historical events on cybertron, datapads about cybertronian biology, and anything else to keep me busy.

I also did a whole lot of drawing.
I kept myself busy, and every time I had to stand and watch Smokescreen head through that groundbridge to grab another relic, I would worry and worry, and worry until he came back... often with some scratches or dents, but overall, intact, and fine.

It was the same feeling for Koda. Except... with Smokescreen it was more private. And the same way every day ended, Smokescreen and I would watch a movie, or listen to music, and fall asleep, side by side.
I loved him, and I worried that something would happen to him, but he also worried something would happen to me.
Some days, when Smokescreen was gone on missions, I felt lonely. No one could cheer me up, because every time he left, the more I feared something bad would happen... and I wouldn't be there to stop it.

Koda and I would hang out on some of those days. We would talk about things, and I would allow myself to relax.

My mind was in shambles, frantically looking for another distraction from the horrid memories of tearing apart human beings, as well as the memory of nearly dying.
But every day, I felt a twinge, as I somehow felt myself getting closer to those mysterious blades. Each relic we brought back, or lost, I grew closer to them. It was strange, since It was as if I was pulled to Smokescreen, or Sasha... except it was more... subtle, but almost knowing when I would grab them.

It was strange, and it made me anxious. Didn't help that my wound in my side, far too close to my sparkchamber, was still healing. It still ached, but not as much as before. No one will let me retrieve the blades... it's not as though I could magically become invisible.

The day arrived, and as soon as the signal popped up, I was quick to transform into beast mode. "No, you're not going!" Ratchet barked, and I snarled at him, he quickly backed off upon my reaction.
"Dawn... why are you acting this way?" Koda asked, her and Smokescreen exchanging glances.

I looked up at Optimus, who had placed his servo on my shoulder. Koda wasn't in Gipsy currently, as she probably was still working on repairs from the last mission. I stared up at Optimus, my tail twitching. "There must be a reason as to why she's so eager to join this mission. I trust her. She will join this mission." Optimus approved, and I quickly slinked through the groundbridge before he could change his mind. Sasha remained behind, something about Ratchet wanting to assess her or something.

Smokescreen was right behind me, monitoring me like a sparkling. He was nervous, it was the first time in almost a month and a half that I get out of base... this wound had taken a lot of time to heal. Ratchet explained that it had hit far too close to my sparkchamber, which holds the most sensitive, hard metal in our frames. Which meant, it took a lot more time to regenerate.

Which sucked, since I was vulnerable to an attack there. Fortunately, it was directly under my arm, making it relatively hard to reach unless in specific positions like I was when I had Tarn pinned.

I sniffed the air, already smelling the stench of decepticons as they tried to get their servos on the blades. I knew that if I didn't make it in time, they will have the blades... unaware of the power they held.

It's as if I gained new knowledge. But, it's also as if part of it was sealed away for later use. It felt strange, very, very strange.
Pulling myself out of my thoughts, I stepped into the bushes. I quickly poked through them, looking into the clearing, where a white cylinder sat in the tall grass.
I slowly approached it, Smokescreen and Optimus behind me. "Not so fast... autobot." I heard a hauntingly familiar voice, as I snapped my gaze towards the sound, quick to react, and lunging for the container. I saw it almost too late, a deep tinged blast, one that could only have come from Tarn.

I managed to leap mostly over it, it singed my underbelly as I quickly dove for the container, knowing very well the havoc it could wreck in the wrong servos.
Smokescreen visibly shook, quick to react and attack Tarn out of protectiveness. Optimus stood between me and Tarn, as I scooped up the container, quickly transforming into bi-pedal mode. I opened it, and pulled out the two blades.

They were a titanium gray with golden rims and grip. They glowed with a soft yellow light, seemingly tingling in my grip.
I looked over at the other two standing protectively in front of me, and looked over at Tarn. His optics seemed to narrow, he stepped forward, slow and intimidating. I growled, stepping forward to stand next to Optimus and Smokescreen. Smokescreen glanced at me, grumbled something, and placed his servo in front of me. I frowned at him, and glared back at Tarn.

"Hand over the relic." He ordered, as if he didn't know he would have to pry it out of my dead, lifeless digits. "And if we don't?" I growled in response, tensing. He started laughing suddenly, laughing loudly, as if he was psychotic... wait, he was psychotic. Who's the unfortunate femme who created this monstrosity? Wait... that thinking is taking it a bit far.

Just as suddenly as he started, he stopped laughing, trailing off with a dark chuckle. "...I would hate for a repeat, where I will make sure your medic cannot repair you." He said slowly, as if calculating and predicting our reactions.
Smokescreen let out a deep growl of anger, running forward with a yell before Optimus could say no, he transformed his servos into blades, he struck at Tarn. Smokescreen quickly realizes he made a mistake, and let out a startled yell as he suddenly goes flying across the clearing, crashing through several trees, before slowing to a stop. I grit my denta.

I had to not look back at him to make sure he was alright... I couldn't be distracted. Optimus took up position in front of me, as I glared into his back in frustration.
Tarn lunged forward suddenly, slamming his own sword against Optimus', throwing him off with sudden unpredicted strength, he slammed his pede into him, pushing Optimus away with a swift kick with enough force to topple him over.

I gripped the blades harder. "Now... to finish what I started." Tarn says as he steps forward. I tensed, before relaxing. I lunged forward, stopping at the last second, baiting his attack, I slipped to the side, using the blade to stab into his side plating, slicing into it.

"What makes you think I'm gonna go down without a fight? You were lucky last time." I spat, quick to gain some distance. "You do remember what I told you... do you?" He asked, chuckling sinisterly.

"Listen here femme..." I heard the deep, dark voice of Tarn as he brought his helm to my audios. "One step out of line, one step towards helping the autobots... I will not hesitate to destroy you, piece by piece, starting with your dearest friends and family." He growled, shoving me further into the wall.

"You will obey me. If you so much as run to your 'mates' you will pay the price." He warned, keeping me slammed against the wall, forcing me to remain still.

As I froze in the memory of it, he was quick to slam me into the ground, causing me to accidentally throw the blades a good distance away.
"Say goodbye to your dearest Prime, and Warrior." He pointed his cannon towards them. I let out a cry, watching it charge.

I grabbed his cannon, pointing it in a different direction as it fired. I slammed my fist into the side of his helm, kicking against him. I fought against his larger frame, trying to do as much damage as I could.

He quickly slammed down, hitting my helm, stunning me as I tried to shake myself out of it.

As soon as I gained enough space, I transformed into beast mode, throwing him off of me. I grabbed the blades with my jaws, where they shifted into a single blade, allowing me to grip it perfectly with my jaws.

I raced forward, slicing down with it, I dug my claws into him, he charged his cannon. "I'm not falling for that twice!" I roared, slamming down on the cannon, crushing it a bit.. He dug his sword into me, his blade slicing through my underbelly plating which was softer. I was quick to slam my paw on the arm with the blade. But he still managed to deal a heavy amount of damage, albeit a shallow but long cut, one made out of desperation.

He slammed his pedes into my underside, throwing me off. The blades seemed to just meld into the rest of me as they deactivated. I was too reckless... too confident, dare I say it, cocky. If I keep this strategy, it will only lead to my downfall.

Optimus was up in the several seconds following, Smokescreen still struggling to get up.

"Ratchet, we need a groundbridge, prepare sick-bay." Optimus ordered, as I backed up and raced to Smokescreen, grabbing him with my jaws, I yanked him up onto my back as I darted into the groundbridge, Optimus right behind me.

We got out the other side, as the groundbridge closed. Ratchet rushed forward, grabbing Smokescreen off my back while I leaked energon on the floor in a soft patter. Koda let out a choked cry of concern, running down the steps, towards us. Smokescreen was quickly dragged over to the med bay with help of Optimus. "Where's the relic?" Arcee asked, I looked over at her, her optics narrowed. I transformed into bi-pedal mode in mild discomfort. The blades shifted off of me, and formed their original shape.

Arcee reached for them, but I clutched them closer. "I'm going to put them in the vault, hand them over." She asked, but I ignored her request. "Hand them over." She asked again, and I growled. "No. These are to stay with me." I stated firmly, as Optimus walked into the room after bringing Smokescreen to the med bay.

Koda was looking the blades up and down curiously. Optimus scooped her up, and placed her on his shoulder. "They need to go into the vault. Optimus, Dawn's not allowing me to put the relic where it will be safe." Arcee said quickly, I frowned at her, then looked up at Optimus' expression.

"Dawn can keep the relic. Leave it be, Arcee." He ordered, and I handed them to him. "Do you know what they are?" I asked, already knowing the answer. He shook his helm. "They look like pieces of the star saber, but they haven't been logged in the hall of records. I have a feeling you know what they are, considering you were so eager to join us on the mission?" He asked, as Bumblebee beeped in question, Bulkhead answering Miko's questions.

"Maybe.." I mumbled shyly, he handed the blades back to me, and nodded. I shook off the feeling of embarrassment. "I'll tell you about them later." I said quickly, ignoring the stares from Arcee and Bulkhead, I quickly ran to the med bay to check up on Smokescreen. "How is he?" I asked as I stepped into the med bay, Looking towards Ratchet. "He'll be fine. He fell into recharge rather quickly, probably to preserve energy towards healing. He took heavy damage. What did he do to even take this much damage?" Ratchet asked, I sighed. "Tarn, He... he kind of threw Smokescreen into the trees... Smokescreen fell through a lot of them, as well as falling onto the hard ground." I explained, Ratchet raised an optical ridge. I quietly walked over to a table to put down the blades.

"What did Tarn say to provoke Smokescreen's irrational response?" He pressed. I swallowed nervously. "He might have threatened my spark." I muttered, closing my optics in shame... It felt like my fault. Ratchet growled, threw his wrench into the wall, stomped forward, and gave me a hug. He didn't say anything, just awkwardly hugging me.

Eventually he let go, his faceplates in a rather blank expression. I sighed, sitting down on a vacant medical berth, and laying down. Ratchet didn't say anything as he worked on welding my cut, and working out the painful dents in my frame. "I can't wait for this all to be over." I muttered, as I stared at the ceiling. "Believe me, I've waited vorns for it to end... at some point, you wake up and realize that no matter what you do, nothing seems to change." He said in response, working on a dent on my pede.

"You'd be surprised, old mech." I laughed, he glared at me, sighed, and went back to work. "Surprised, how?" He asked, I frowned. "Surprised that time seems to be ever changing. The outside picture may stay the same, for a long or little time, such as the war, but the inside picture, the small details change constantly. Like the outcomes of a mission's victory or defeat, altering the outcome of a bot's mentality, either giving them a better view on life, or a worse one, ultimately changing their decisions. One little detail can often change the world. It's displayed a bit faster as a human, since we don't live nearly as long, but I'm sure it's the same for you." I explained. He hummed thoughtfully, and nodded slowly.

"I wonder what's going on with Megatron lately. He seems to have disappeared, like Tarn took his place." I said thoughtfully, trying to think of reasons as to why the warlord wasn't seen lately. "Perhaps he's finally rusting away." Ratchet growled.

"If he is, we still have Tarn to worry about." I pointed out. Ratchet sighed. We just sat in silence for the remainder of Ratchet's patching job. Eventually he finished, and gave me the clear to leave. I didn't, as Smokescreen still hadn't woken up, so I sat in a chair next to him, Sasha eventually walking into the room and curling up at my pedes.

I eventually drifted off as exhaustion stretched over me.

I woke up later, Smokescreen having accidentally woken me with his hyperactive twitching, I however, did not mind. He looked up at me with a guilty expression, I smiled softly. "It's fine." I said softly, leaning on him.

To my surprise, He grabbed my arm, and yanked me onto the soft medical berth next to him. I laughed as Sasha jumped up in surprise, looked up at us, scowled, and curled back up. I snuggled into him, His response, being to wrap his arm around my frame, pulling me closer.

"How are you feeling?" I asked softly, He sighed. "I feel like I was ran over by a transport five times." He said tiredly. "I recall the several times I felt like that before, It's not fun." I say as I snuggle into him further.

"Aren't you cuddly?" He asked mischievously, I giggled. "Maybe." I teased, and he laughed. We laid next to each other in comfortable silence. Before I thought of something.

"Smokescreen?" I asked, looking over at him. He locked optics with mine, and replied. "Yes?" "When this is all over... What will we do?" I asked, studying his expression.

"Whatever we want to. There will be no caste system to stop us, and we can be whatever we want to be." He said with a cocky grin, and I laughed. "Better not decide to have a reckless job!" I cackled, smiling at him.

He pouted, before letting out a soft, relaxed sigh of relief. "You're safe.. I'm happy you're here, safe and sound." He said quietly, his expression melting into one of relaxed relief.

I smiled softly, and nodded slowly. We looked into each other's optics for a while, before he started speaking again. "Dawn... do you know why I was so attached to you when you first arrived?" He asked slowly. I shook my helm slowly, half-unsure, half-knowing.

"You're my other half. You're the bot my spark has been longing for my entire life. I never knew I would find my other half, until I met you, until I felt your servo in mine. I love you Dawn. I love you so much I can't bear to lose you." He said softly, his voice in a soft rhythm that brought me peace.

I felt him since the first day I woke up in that cylinder, I knew he was out there, I knew I would find him, and I finally did, and it only took me until recently to know that he was my other half.

"...since the first day I woke up in Shockwave's lab, my spark longed for you. I love you Smokescreen." I say softly, almost a whisper.