Burned (Transformers Prime)

Chapter Two | The Backstory

"You got a lot to say about me and my past
Well I don't, I don't, I don't get it 'cause I don't judge you like that"
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Her mind wandered constantly, imagining what the Autobots - and Megatron - were doing at Earth's core. Worry ate away at her mind as she imagined Unicron destroying them all in some of the worse ways she could think of. If Ratchet was all that was left of the Autobot cause . . . Well, the war would be over, whether Megatron was there to lead the Decepticons, or not.

"-over 60 volcanoes are erupting worldwide, and Honolulu is under six inches of snow!" The reporter announced over the TV. But just before he could get another word in, the monitors shut off, leaving them without any more clues to the happenings of the outside world.

June frowned for a moment, then turned to the kids, plastering a smile across her face. "So, who wants to play a game?"

"You can count me out." Dana replied, her legs dangling off the edge of the catwalk and her arms looped around the lowest bar, chest also leaning against it. "I can barely tolerate board games; much less games without a board."

The woman frowned a little more, glancing over her shoulder as Agent Fowler have a huff of frustration.

"That tears it!" He yelled, drawing everyone's attention to him as he started heading out of the base.

"And where are you going?" June questioned.

Dana rolled her eyes as he began to vent his frustration. He wasn't the only one that was feeling helpless in this situation. She knew for sure fact that Ratchet was probably twenty times more stressed than the rest of them, if only because his innate medic instincts wanted to be close to his comrades should any of them get hurt.

Standing up, she grabbed a small Cybertronian tablet - small for Arcee, anyways - and opened up a menu that she could just barely navigate. She had more like memorized the pathway that would bring her to the translated pages of the Cybertronian arts and sciences than actually read the language. Ratchet was helping her with bits and pieces, but she had just barely started memorizing the alphabet, which surprisingly enough was not unlike the English version.

Her next "lesson" that Ratchet had loosely compiled was of the nervous system, and multiple brief descriptions of various ailments that could affect it. Nerve degeneration, broken back struts and sensory cord, sensory malfunctions, to name a few. She sat in the chair and tried to shut out the arguments around her, but then Ratchet pulled her back with an amazing statement.

"-Optimus and Megatron were not always mortal enemies."

Wait, what?! She looked back up, tablet in her lap, as Ratchet began his story.

"Recall how I told you that Optimus wasn't always a Prime? Well, he wasn't always Optimus, either. He was a data clerk, in the Iacon Hall of Records, named Orion Pax," Ratchet began, "There, he began learning of Cybertron's past, and Orion grew concerned about the corruption affecting high places and the state of inequality of the masses. He became inspired by the revolutionary words of Megatronus, a gladiator who took his name from one of the thirteen original Primes."

"Wait, I've read about him." Dana interrupted. "You guys refered to him as The Fallen, don't you?"

Ratchet frowned a little, not liking being interrupted. "Yes, but that is a story for another time. Regardless, history will repeat itself, as Megatronus gained a loyal following through his radical and innovative actions, Soundwave chief among their number. Orion Pax began corresponding with Megatronus, who became a mentor figure to Orion Pax, and saw fit to shorten his name as he left the gladiatorial arena for the political one."