Going Green

Chapter 2: Duds Don't Speak Idiot

Before Cybertron went dark and an exodus became paramount to the survival of their race, Verdant had been under Ultra Magnus's command. She prided herself in her ability to process data at abnormal speeds, and that skill made her a valuable asset.

That skill used to be rather common, at least before the Great War. Verdant's frame type belonged to a sector called Steelbend, which was a successful business district. In the early stages of the war, Steelbend announced their fealty to the Autobots, and were almost immediately bombed by Decepticons.

Nearly everyone was killed.

The war became dark quickly. Resources plummeted. Survivors joined the war effort and sparklings were raised in the science division, the only place safe enough and equipped to handle children. That is, if they were lucky enough to be rescued from the rubble by Autobots.

Verdant was not. She was young back then, just a teenager, and she spent nearly a century being tossed back and forth as an Autobot soldier, but she was a pitiful one. Her arms were wide but thin, and she was a terrible shot.

It wasn't until he caught the optic of Ultra Magnus that anyone realized her potential. In record time, Verdant became Magnus's third in command and chief intelligence officer. She spent the rest of the war at his side, monitoring data of all types: energon levels, the locations and predictions of Decepticon movement, casualty rates, weapons and ammunitions, terrain, enemy schematics—anything and everything that could provide insight regarding their situation.

The last assignment Ultra Magnus took before the exodus was commanding the wreckers. They were loose cannons, hooligans, and trigger-happy, suicidal lunatics.

The worst among them was Wheeljack.

So, of course, Verdant had the luck of being rescued by that wrecker, on a tiny little planet all the way across the galaxy.

"So, I guessin' based on the fact that you're here, commander shoulderpads came with you?" Wheeljack questioned.

Verdant would have snapped back a rude response if it wasn't for the fact that he was climbing a ravine with a pair of swords and she was hanging onto his back for dear life.

"Ultra Magnus and I followed an energon surge that originated from Cybertron, one that might possibly have been the Omega Lock. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

Wheeljack shrugged, and Verdant dug her fingers into his chassis, glancing back at the ground warily. "Well, I missed that fun little adventure, so you'll have to ask Bulkhead about it. All I know is that Megatron made a big tower and blew up the Autobot base. We don't know where anyone is."

Verdant frowned. "I sent you the coordinates of those we detected."

Wheeljack snorted. "You mean that stream of code you blinded us with? Femme, I don't know if you speak idiot, but most bots can't read that fast."

Verdant scowled. "Why didn't you downl—be careful!"

Jabbing his sword back into the rock, Wheeljack cackled and continued the climb. "I'm not gonna drop you. Ya weigh less than a scraplet."

"That's not physically possible."

"Dear Primus, you are just as much of a dud as I remember."

Her scowl deepened.

"Wheeljack, what's taking you so long!?" a large green bot called down to them.

"Sorry, Bulkhead, she's brutally murdering my processor units!"

"What!?"

Bulkhead laughed. "Good luck, then!"

Verdant gritted her denta. Now he was just accusing her of blasphemy for no logical reason. What a prick. She would have been better off if she had jumped in the Decepticon groundbridge.