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typewritingyip · 19 hours ago

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The Arcturus Missions

Part Thirty Six - Reprieve

Part Thirty Five

———

Arcturus mission log, update eight, time frame between seven and fourteen months post launch.

Limited contact with the crew, mission trajectory nominal.

…

Classified document, code required.

Access granted.

Arcturus crew one has been labeled as MIA, since July 24th with no contact. Connection number increasing, now estimated at 17 years, 4 months, 16 days, 7 hours, and 10 minutes. Counting up.

Life support across suits was last labeled as stable, updated two months ago.

Relay satellite has launched, estimated contact, unknown.

Pilots projected to be living, food supplies expected to run out within the initial six months, adjustment required.

Contact with pilots, not anticipated, mission labeled inconclusive failure.

…

Disconnecting from the server.

—

To be perfectly honest, he knew he’d drank far too much last night. Hound had at least been smart about it, taking a small amount and hardly finishing it. No, he had wanted to try the twins' liquor and now was facing the consequences.

His head was killing him, even in the dark comfort of the bedroom, a set of snorers nearby just caused enough sound to be painful.

It had to be after sunrise sometime, though days in Iacon seemed both longer and shorter than they did on Earth. At least now that they’d seen half of the seasons the strange planet had to offer.

Sliding off the cott, Breakdown held his face in one of his hands, stumbling towards the door. A cool shower would do him some good and he knew it, maybing a cooling pack too, yeah that could feel nice.

Notably, the normal cybertronian presence was not in the room which wasn’t entirely abnormal. Prowl was a busy mech, one that would come and go without fanfare to the point it was hard to tell if he were there or not. Though if Jazz was sleeping, he tried to be nearby.

When the door slid open, the light was painful and he winced. Holding a hand in front of his eyes, Breakdown shuffled into the living room.

Not really noticing the two mecha sat there, both watching his pained movement in shock.

Prowl was staring at him and was at a loss for words, from what Jazz said none of them were really meant to be alive in the morning. It had been a figure of speech but none of the humans were meant to be up before mid-day at least.

Dragging a hand down his face, Breakdown groans and glances around, frowning a bit, “De miy kostyum?” He looks up and freezes like a deer caught in headlights, Prowl’s optics cycle twice, trying to process what he said while Soundwave continued to just stare.

It was bad enough that Sunstreaker had been caught out of his suit on a mission in front of Bluestreak, but Bluestreak was a drop in the bucket something that was bound to happen. Being out of the suit in front of Soundwave was probably the worst case scenario.

His suit was nowhere in view, his assistance suit with it, along with his translator. Even as the pair started to speak he couldn’t even remotely tell what they were saying. Shuffling out of the room was not going to be possible, the way Soundwave seemed to be watching every move even behind his visor.

Taking in a slow breath, he turned to go back towards the bathroom, his head still aching especially as his heart raced.

He was only stopped by Soundwave’s foot falling into his path, he stared up slowly, taking another slow breath, “I need through.” His voice was still rough, but at least Prowl understood, who was now standing behind him, talking with Soundwave.

This conversation was starting to feel very one sided.

The yelp he let out through was not a sound he’d typically make, Prowl’s hands were strangely rough as they hoisted him up into the air and to eye level with them both, “Breakdown, I apologize for the miscommunication. Jazz stated that you all would, well, be sleeping like the dead for quite some time.” His world was spinning unpleasantly.

“Normally, I would be, but they are snoring.” Prowl nods a bit and looks to Soundwave, saying something else incomprehensible before raising his voice to the mech, it was like a bat striking the base of his skull. Unpleasantly loud and far too close, “Please, my head. I am simply trying to get my suit.” With a light jossel he was set back down behind Soundwave, the bathroom door open.

Stepping inside, the door was closed behind him. It was painfully bright in the bathroom but at least his suit was in here, though it wouldn’t help with the explanation it would at least help with some of the understanding. He shuffled over painfully.

—

To be fair, Prowl honestly did think that the humans were going to be asleep for a while, so to watch Breakdown walk out of the room, clearly in pain, was not in his plan. Especially since Soundwave had insisted on them talking this morning in person.

He had no idea what the poor dying man said, but Soundwave was entirely too focused, “Soundwave.” Prowl tried, standing and following him as he attempted to block Breakdown from reaching the refresher.

Grabbing up Breakdown was instinct, the sound Soundwave had made was far too familiar. Either the sound of deep interest or the noise when he laid eyes on his cassettes, neither was a good thing.

Ignoring Breakdown in his grasp, Prowl leveled his gaze at Soundwave, “Soundwave, this is not something to be looked over or asked about, let him into the refresher, then we will talk.” Shaking his head slowly, Soundwave shifted his stance some, “No. Soundwave: want to know why Prowl is harboring an organic.” Prowl tried very hard not to roll his optics.

With a glance back to Breakdown, he vented, talking quietly to the man in English. The poor man looked sick, clearly feeling unwell. Listening to him for a moment before nodding and looking back to Soundwave.

”Soundwave, you need to let him through. Once he is able to obtain his suit we will be able to speak more clearly.” Soundwave shook his helm slightly, “Soundwave: concerned, why there is an organic here. Iacon is not safe for organic beings.” Gritting his denta lightly, Prowl sucked in a vent.

He couldn’t help it, these were Jazz’s friends, those who served as his brothers in arms, shaking his helm, “I will explain, but he is in pain and needs his suit!” His other servo reached out and activated the door lock as Breakdown spoke again. His voice was pained.

Prowl, shoving around Soundwave, set Breakdown behind him in the refresher before closing the door again, turning back to a glowering Soundwave. He straightened and glared right back, “These organics are under my protection.” Soundwave’s visor cycled slowly, “Organics? Prowl: remarked in the plural?” Cycling his own optics, Prowl swore.

—

New Kaon was really something else, if Sunstreaker thought that Iacon was an interesting place then the culture shock of New Kaon was staggering.

When they first came to the planet, it had just been for the fight, a there and gone sort of day. Like his first trip to New York, that had been a chaotic few days but this had been such a fast turn around it wasn’t even funny.

Now though, they were able to walk through the city together. Bluestreak was just as excited, not having seen New Kaon this close before either. Walking side by side and hand in hand, it was almost like they were getting some time off.

Truthfully, they were meant to be monitoring the system but it was off shift for the pair of them and it was nice to be able to walk through the city together.

Bluestreak was smiling, looking through the street stalls with wide eyes, and Sunny was smiling stupidly.

He wasn’t entirely sure of when everything happened or how they were going to make it work, but this was part of life he’d shoved to the side when he became a pilot. It had been a rough relationship after another, and no one liked dating a pilot. This was different though, this had come so easily.

Looking at Blue, Sunny was still wearing his stupid smile, “So, they built this place during the war for the wounded and such, a place to at least call home when they had to leave Cybertron.” Nodding slightly, he squeezed Blue’s hand lightly, Blue turned and smiled at him, “Even in our darkest hours, it seems we try to find the light.” Blue took his breath away.

”Wow.” He really couldn’t manage much more than that, Bluestreak’s face burning but still wearing a smile, “You know a lot for a place you’ve never been.” His voice was almost quiet, but the soft tone left no question of how stupid his face probably looked. Bluestreak’s eyes almost lit up, “It’s all interesting, you know?” Nodding a bit, Sunstreaker fell back into a comfortable silence, listening to Bluestreak intently.

They could walk through the city all day, just them together and Sunny didn’t think it would even make him tired. He hardly would even notice his draining implants or the ache of the connection from overuse, it all just felt secondary.

Maybe it was stupid or ridiculous, they should be resting or eating but he was learning so much and getting to spend more time with Blue. More time than just over a camera while they both pretended to sleep, while his

He was getting to learn about his world for once, not the other way around.

Blue smiles at him and shakes his head, “You’re lost in thought Sunny, come on.” He looks up, “Hmm?” Chuckling, Bluestreak shakes his head, “Come on Sunny, there’s supposed to be a really nice cafe over this way and I’m starving.” Chuckling lightly, he followed, keeping hold of Blue’s hand. The war felt a million miles away even just for that moment.

They might have been sent to their deaths, but life seemed to be funny in that way. It gave him more to live for here than he’d had on Earth.

Tucking himself against Bluestreak’s side, he put the thoughts of Earth aside, the ones of overuse on the back burning and smiled, content to be here in New Kaon with him. Not worrying about a thing.

—

He thought he would have gotten used to the bitter cold of North Iacon with how often they went there but no, he sat at the heater with Jazz, trying not to freeze to death. North Iacon was miserable and he’d never understand why anyone would choose to live up here, though it wasn’t like many did.

It apparently was a mining sector, not unlike where headquarters was on Earth. Half the hangers were built off of old mining tunnels that had been re-braced to hold the suits so they wouldn’t be able to be scanned from above.

Sideswipe was shivering and miserable, even with the layer of thermals, his assistance suit, the mech suit, and the heater. Sometimes it was just hard to get warm. Jazz on the other hand, seemed nearly perfectly fine. Then again, he was from farther north back home, somewhere near the Great Lakes he was pretty sure.

Elita and Chromia were standing at a different heater, speaking quietly with Prowl since their temporary relocation had landed them so far north, “Bet it’s warmer in Paraxus right now.” Sideswipe glanced towards Jazz, hoping for something.

The way the man spoke about Paraxus, it reminded Sideswipe of how he spoke of Miami or how any of the others spoke of home. Pinging Jazz, he smiled at the camera as Jazz’s own smile filled one of his screens. He certainly didn’t look as cold as Sideswipe felt.

“It was snowing the last time I was in Paraxus, so not much different. Sorry Sides.” Groaning, he rested his head on his knees, “Sunny gets to be off on warm New Kaon, but we’re stuck here in the cold. This fucking sucks.” Jazz laughed.

Shrugging a bit, Jazz sighs after he stops laughing, “It’s just our turn, plus Elita is trying to figure you out. She’s volunteering for these positions to make you grow closer with everyone. It’s what she does, you should have seen what it was like when Nickel became her medic.” Shaking his head a bit, Sideswipe sighs a bit.

He wasn’t sure if that was the worst case scenario or not, glancing up and over at Elita, then towards where the others were patrolling, he couldn’t help but smile a bit. Jazz tried to hide his grin, “This is why we were placed the way we were, somehow he can tell.” Glancing up, Sideswipe shakes his head a bit, “Sorry?” Jazz smiled, “Joan, Optimus, he can just… tell who we’d fit well with. Even though we obviously fit well together, Hound could see we were on the verge of getting each other killed, hell we could all feel it.” Looking back down, Sideswipe sighed.

He knew that they were right, every time it was mentioned, he knew. In the last few months he had felt as close to peaceful as he could when away from the crew. Other than for the overuse, which sucked. His implants ozzed everyday and the smallest inconvenience almost sent him into a blind rage. But Hound had been right to split them up.

The standing peaceful feeling outweighs the constant anxiety and the burning rage he felt whenever the skin around his implants became inflamed or he caught a glance of Bluestreak.

Being split up made it easier to ignore the overuse, when it wasn’t dislocating his joints or causing his skin to peel and bleed. Even then, he wasn’t worrying over his brother every moment of the day, “Yeah, I saw the change too.” Jazz’s voice was quiet, smiling softly.

“I didn’t realize it, you know, I was too focused on being mad.” Jazz hums and nods, but looks to Elita and Chromia, “But?” Sighing, Sideswipe nods a bit, “But, we’re all doing better after those first few weeks.” Shoving his shoulder, they laugh.

Sideswipe could be bleeding out from his implants at this moment, if he wasn’t freezing, but he didn’t care. Standing, he pats Jazz’s shoulder before jogging over towards the others. Cold be damned.

—

Central Iacon wasn’t as cold as the North, at least according to Sideswipe, Hound had yet to experience it himself.

He honestly should be eating or sleeping or doing literally anything other than being in his suit, with them shipping back out in a few hours, but there was to much to do in Iacon. Specifically, with Mirage.

If Mirage hadn’t asked, he’d probably be asleep right now but they were out in the market near the spires. He’d never been that close to the spires before and if they looked big from the apartment, they were huge from just under them. Casting a shadow across the streets that everyone around seemed far to adapted to.

Sighing a bit, Hound kept looking around at everything in the stalls, rolling his shoulders a bit while his implants drained. To be fair, the overuse had lessened by a lot since unlocking his old class coding and going through the crash, but it didn’t get rid of everything. At least he wasn’t scratching the skin off in chunks anymore, he’d gone to papery thin for a while there.

It was a terrible way of putting it, but he was starting to feel human again. Other than when he was connected, then he felt larger than human.

The coding between hunter and striker was so different, it was staggering. One felt like just controlling the suit, moving through and using it like the giant weapon it was. The other felt like it was an extension of yourself and he’d honestly forgotten the feeling after the coding had been, effectively, shut off.

Being able to wander through Iacon, just about like everyone else, made it far more desirable to do than it had been before. Before, all he wanted to do was stay in the apartment with the others, now he truly got to see Cybertron from almost a cybertronian perspective.

”Hound, do they have polish on Earth?” Humming in question, he glances up at Mirage, who was holding several tins, frowning down at them. Tilting his head slightly, he chuckles a bit, “Uh, yeah, I guess.” Both car polishes and fancy lotions rushed through his mind.

For the briefest moment he could smell the engine grease that had always been on his fathers hands and the soft scent of lotions his mother had worn before she passed, trying to hide the smell of hospital from him.

Okay, so maybe not all of his overuse symptoms were easing. The hallucinations and flashbacks were starting to grate at his nerves.

”Well, you either have polish or you don’t, so do you?” Sighing a bit, he shrugs and nods, deciding it was the easier answer, “Yeah, basically, but uh there seems to be a lot more selection here.” Mirage glanced up, still holding several tins, “Well, which one smells nicest to you?” He gestures at the table and Hound stares for a long moment.

In his head, he was swearing, glancing over each polish trying to figure out which label, “Uh, Well, I’ve noticed your kinds olfactory sensors are significantly more acute than ours. We can only smell when something is toxic or specifically damaging to our systems. Uh, fight or flight. I guess.” It was a stupid answer, it was a very stupid answer but the only one he had.

Without even looking, he knew the stare he was getting from Mirage was just another one of horror.

Sighing, Hound looked over and Mirage did have that face, “Would it make you feel better to hear that we weren’t exactly able to smell before becoming a pilot?” Frowning a bit, Mirage looks down at the polishes, “Do any of these smell dangerous to you?” And Hound stalled.

A smile started to take over his face, moving over and taking them one at a time, scanning the materials in them.

”This one, the others are fine.” Nodding a bit, Mirage grabbed up the two that had been fine before going to the checkout, Hound’s heart was pounding and racing.

Mirage smiled at him, carrying the polishes in a small bag, offering his free hand. Hound’s mouth was dry but he took Mirage’s hand, heading back out into the marketplace. How could something so small make his throat tighten, make his heart race. Looking at Mirage, he couldn’t help but smile just a bit more, “Thank you, for asking.”

Nodding a bit, Mirage smiled some, “Well, I don’t exactly want to smell toxic or dangerous to you, or put any of that on you the next time we get caught up in a sandstorm.” Unable to hold back the laughter, Hound nodded, grinning.

—

It was rare for them all to be in the same place anymore. Of course it happened, but certainly not like it did those first six months, today though was something more of a requested R&R.

They didn’t know when exactly it was, but it felt like a while, it had to have been a year since they left Earth and that deserved some time away from the front. With each other, Jazz of course included, it reaching nearly his sixth year away from home.

Time seemed to move so much faster than before, back on Earth. Maybe it was just them losing track of the traditional twenty-four seven scheduling, or the trips to other planets as if traveling to different times zones, no one could be completely certain about how long they’d been there.

The Odyessy’s systems had shut down months ago, the poor ship sitting amongst the war ships of Cybertron, waiting to be able to reach the stars again, but they didn’t have much use for it now. So much of it gutted and brought to the apartment or stored in their own cockpits, it had been the vessel they needed to get here but that was all.

Unfortunate tax dollars are going to waste, but thirty lightyears away from Earth was it really?

When they had all met up in the apartment, Hound knew exactly where he wanted to take everyone, desperately not wanting to stay there and watch the world go by a second longer.

It shocked him when Sideswipe knew where they were going when he turned down an alleyway, clearly thrilled about it too, “Oh please, as if I wouldn’t find the one place in Iacon that played music from Earth.” Jazz’s head whipped around, “What?” Smiling, he nodded, walking his suit backwards, “Oh yeah, I found it by accident. It only plays 80’s crap but still, its music in English.” Coming up behind him, Jazz rests his hands on Hound’s shoulders.

”And why are wwe all just finding this out now?” Cue of, why hadn’t he been told first, sighing but smiling, Hound shrugs, “We’ve all been busy. This place is a bar, not like we can go in a buy anything.” Jazz grumbled while Sunstreaker and Breakdown spoke quietly.

The bar was familiar, oddly so even to those who hadn’t been before. It reminded Hound of some of the dives that were common around headquarters.

With a light wave from the bartender, they move to sit on some deep looking couches, surrounding a low metal and glass table in a semicircle. Jazz was staring around in awe, breathing slowly.

Lionel Richie’s voice filled the air around them.

Smiling, Hound sits back, “Mirage, Prowl, and Bluestreak will be here after their meeting.” The reaction was mixed, but nothing could darken his mood for the moment.

Jazz was humming along with his eyes closed, Breakdown was leaned back with a grin on his face, Sideswipe had an arm around Sunstreaker, talking about god only knows what.

For him, Hound was able to sit back and listen, just enjoying the feeling of familiarity. Keeping his eyes closed, he reaches out and picks up his water pouch, clearing his throat.

He had to wait to hear everyone turn, “It’s been around a year since Arcturus one took off from Earth and we have completed half of our mission.” Sideswipe whistles and Sunstreaker cheers.

Chuckling, he shakes his head a bit, “Jazz, finding you made the mission worth it even before we met the Cybertronian’s. Meeting them has been the most,” Hound pauses before the others start to speak up.

“Interesting?” Sunny shifts a bit, shrugging slightly.

“Chaotic.” With a high five from Jazz, Sideswipe adds, grinning.

“Insane, more likely.” Breakdown adds, chuckling while receiving pats on the back.

Shaking his head, Hound chuckles, “Mission critical event. We’ve made friends here, with aliens, none of us thought that possible and you made it possible. So, to Arcturus One and Jazz, we’re here to kick Quintesson ass and save Earth. For the first time in decades, we’re succeeding.” Clutching his water pouch, he raises it, “To Earth.” And a chorus of voices joined him.

Def Leppard’s tones followed, bringing a grin to Hound’s face.

Opening his eyes, the grin turned into a light smile as Mirage came through the door, b-lining for the bar. Prowl and Bluestreak followed, though splitting off.

Jazz was up and over to Prowl in nearly an instant, “It’s playing music from home. Come listen.” It wasn’t hard to see how Prowl tried to hide a smile, Sideswipe watching, his visor darkening as if narrowing his eyes.

For the moment, it was easy to get lost in the music.

———

A/N

So this takes place from around a month and a half or so after the attack on New Kaon till around five months after. I just wanted to add a few bits before getting back to the story proper.

I promise there will be more with Soundwave finding out about the humans, I think it’s going to be a “Arcturus Negative One” story more so, try to tell it from Prowl’s perspective but we’ll see how that goes.

To make that long story short, he promises to keep the secret so don’t freak out.

Anyways, this chapter kicked my ass. I wanted to put so much into it, it’s nuts. Part of it was I was getting over from being sick, had a busy week, etc but I hope you all enjoy it!