Transformers Prime: The Swift and Proud (Sequel to Echoes of the Past)

Chapter 5: A Story to Tell

A Story to Tell

Simply seeing my mother looking at me like that was enough to set me off again.  On some level I was starting to worry if I was going to suffer from Energon loss from all this crying, but I didn’t care and I wrapped my arms around her once more as she shushed me.  Her servos ran up and down my back, gently feeling my new wings in curiosity before pulling me tighter against her chest plate.  My tears had dried but my body still shook with silent sobs, and I felt my mother shake her helm as I presumed the others tried to move closer to us.

After a few minutes I got myself under control and Echowind pushed me away enough so she could lock optics with me, “What happened to you?”  The question was simple but had so much emotion behind it I almost broke down again. 

I managed to keep it under control and simply gave her a half-sparked smirk, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

That caused everyone to laugh, and my voice seemed to be a cue that it was okay to come closer.  Everyone clustered around me with wide optics, and I felt my faceplate flush with Energon as they took in my new body.

I hid my faceplate with my servos in embarrassment, “Stop looking at me like that!  It’s embarrassing!”

Optimus reset his vocalizer and everyone took a respectful step back, though Thunderclap refused to stop staring at me.  His lip plating kept opening and closing, but no sound came out as he attempted to figure things out in his processor.

I smiled for real this time as I shut his jaw with a servo, “Something will fly in if you keep it hanging open like that.”

Now it was his turn to flush bright blue as the others got a laugh from my comment, though it only served to distract them form a click before they locked onto me once again.

“What happened to you Swift?”  It was Bulkhead who asked, “You look like the Decepticons rebuilt you from the ground up.”

I shrugged before answering, “In a way, they did.”  I ran a digit over my new symbol and vented.  “Shockwave performed a little science experiment with me as the test subject.  He infused me with Predacon CNA and when I woke up I looked like this.” 

I glanced at Ratchet as he scoffed, “Preposterous!  No Cybertronian has ever been able to clone a Predacon until recently!  Fusing our CNA with theirs should still be far beyond our reach!”

I growled at him and everyone took a step back as I stood up, “Don’t talk to me about it being possible or not.  I’m living proof that it can be done!”  I marched up to him and bared my fangs at him before I felt a servo on my shoulder plate.

I turned around and saw Optimus had a calm expression on his faceplate, “He did not mean any harm, Swift-shift.  Ratchet was simply startled by what you were suggesting.”

Ratchet grumbled something under his breath as he went back to work, but what Optimus had said was correct.  I had seen it in Ratchet’s optics.  It wasn’t that he believed fusion was impossible, rather it was the moral implications that had stirred the medic’s outburst.