Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Megatron has desecrated the resting place of our fallen ancestors... and his own!”

“Not even the dead are free from his war-mongering.”

Twitching into awareness, they heard the aghast exchange soon after a burning fire crawled up their back. It was pure loathing and hate, destruction within a single poisonous acid as it cracked their skin and flesh open. Pain and despair echoing from the destitute bodies now forced back into the struggle of life. All without a soul, without a spark, and without free will. 

“Ratchet, retreat! Bridge yourself back to base.”

A being of light, tempered justice in metal, called to his fellow light as shots of blue hit the unfortunate dead.

“No. I shall stand with you Optimus—”

— Prime. Protector of Prosperity—

“—you may require a medic when this is over with.”

Ratchet and Optimus. Prime and Hatchet. They knew those metal titans. Knew them well from stories long past and whispered rasps across the stars. They saw them in different forms yet with all the same spark. Reborn and renown over and over again until they both stood before them, slashing valiantly over their desecrated brethren.

“I have mastered dark energon—”

“—it’s sapping our strength.”

Ebbing lights within slowing frames, yet Prosperity’s wisdom, his power, bursting forth from his Prime. Injured yet resolved, the lights fight on.

“We cannot falter now.”

“—my legion. Finish them!”

And it hurts. Oh, it hurts so much! Disgusting, writhing blood of the old destroyer perverting life on their own body! Daring to escape their constricting hold on Prosperity’s enemy! Infecting the ravenous light as he watched the dominated dead overwhelm the duo, slowly burning the life from their soil. Eons and revolutions of containing the wretched god, their clumsy creations, all at risk!

How dare he!

Bane of Prosperity!

Enemy of Primus!

Unicron!

—————————

Damn nature, you scary.

It’s an accepted fact. Really. Everybody agrees that as much as the Earth provides luscious greenland, stretches of forest, and seas so deeply full of life, it can have it all crashing down within seconds. Buildings? Crumbled. Farmland? Flooded. Nature reserves? Burned. All of which sucked.

Now it’s not all their fault that the Earth was kinda fucky. In fact, about 90% of the blame can be attributed to the giant destructive bitch-boy currently snoozing away as the core of their planet. Any movement the fucker makes creates earthquakes, which in turn creates tsunamis, which both fuck up the land, sea, and anything living on the surface. The douchebag rearranged the Earth countless times over, breaking up their wonderfully sculpted Pangea a couple hundred millions before. 

Oh, and also, the bitch bleeds all over the place! His dank blood melts everything, causes a shitton of pain, and it takes most of their little free time to convert the solid, scabby shit into healthy land! Centuries wasted on weathering and breaking that shit down and he does it over and over again! Even after his godly slap-fight against his far-better-brother and his bodacious boy band, resulting in a coma, did that bastard destroy what little work they could possibly do to their planet.

And that fuck was going to get antsy if that persistent pissy byte of Primus’s kept playing with his concentrated blood like it’s steroids!

Nature writhed in agony and rage as they watched Primus’s Chosen and his fellow lights battle against the little glitch, gazing through eyes of sparrows and hearing words carried by winds. Thankfully, the Prime and his cohort retreated safely away within one of their—hehe —buttes and with Nature’s newfound awareness, was relatively relaxing within their hold.

And— oh…

The lights’ little-but-kinda-fucked adventure, scared away one of their young humans. Poor pup. Heh, he doesn’t know what’s coming for him.

…

How does Nature know that?

…

Aw well, they turned their attention away as they set their energy on the battlegrounds, using the opportunity of their personification to do some quick clean-up. How they never covered up the dead in the first place was a mystery for another day, but now they set their soothing rain on acid ground and encouraged the dead down their torn earth. The blood will take years to disperse, but the land will heal and the buried correctly put together from their torn pieces. Despite knowing they would get no reply, Nature sent their regards and mourning to Primus light years away, his empty body awaiting his people. For them to return his proper title as Prosperity.

Speaking of people, what were the bitlets and spawn doing?

…

Why were the spawn alone with a fuck-off pointy byte?

Why were the bitlets launching themselves into space?!

THAT’S A CHUNK OF CONCENTRATED UNICRON!

IT’S GOING TO PRIMUS?!

THEY’RE GONNA PUNT THAT LITTLE GLITCH INTO THE SUN—

Ah wait…

You go you funky little Prime!

Oh shit! Their spawns are amazing!

FUCK YEAH, EXPLOSIONS!

Aw hell, that’s gonna fuck up the atmospheric cycle for a bit.

But victory!

Chunk of Unicron gone and shit safe!

…

Or safe for now.

…

No. Not safe at all.

The prophecy.

There’s a prophecy.

Why is there a prophecy?

…

…

H̶̢̡̗̹͙̘͚͙̮̘̟̙̓͋̑̆̽̄́o̵͎̩͍͓͇̠̪͇̲͉̗̔̅̓̏̂̌̈ͅw̶̯̟̺̠̜̱̪̻̎̒̔̔̈́̈́̍͗̓͜ͅ ̷̡͔̲͇̫͍͓͚͉̫̥͓̏͆́͝d̵̡̨̧̨̩͉̹̫̲͙̩͉̿͐ò̵̥͍̳ ̵̧̧̡̡̢̪̱͍̣̜͍̻͇̟̾̒̐̈́̎t̵̡̧͖͔̟̫̮̞̞̜̬̱̼̞̏́͐̈́̓́̈́̓͝ḩ̴̧̻̤̘̱͚̦̱̄̉̀̄́͒̇̆͜͠è̸͇͍̜͉̠̗̰͉̰͈͗̉̾̃̊͌͝ͅy̸̩̻̟̼͓̲͇̺̮͚͓̹̞̌̄̏͋̋ ̵̧̳̳̦̮͇̳͔̣͚̝̱̗̋̈͆͌́̀̀̈̊ķ̶̛̛̪͎̙͎̼̱̦̰̣̪̮͒̒̑̑̀̈́͆̀̍̌̈́͝͝ń̷̛͓̭͈͓̝̪̺͉̖̖̪̮̣͎́́̿́̆̃̈̒̽̒͘͜o̸̡̧̬̮̩̻̤͕̞̫̖͈̙͒͑͋̃̚w̴̙͉̳̭̙̥̲͉̐ ̵͈̬̬̗͉͙͇̬̩̖̭̼͉̠̏͜ẗ̷̡̧̧̧͍̥̱͕̤̞̣̻͙̬́h̷̛̠̻̯̟͔̰̞̻̣̹̀̃̒̓͌͌̾͗̚͠a̷͈͕̜̠̮̾́̑́ţ̵̮̺̖̭̰͖͓̤̯̠̐̇͐͆̑̈́̐̍̾̚͝?̶̢͓̼̪̤̱̰̲̙͌ͅͅ

—————————

Looking through a creature was simple. Just see from their eyes, hear through ears, feel through paws, smell through snouts, taste from feet… okay maybe not from feet, insects were just built different.

But being your own creature? Your will made real through flesh and blood? With an infinite amount of choices you could make it? It was fucking complicated.

No wonder Primus just decided ‘fuck it, I’m ball’ and made his physical being his whole planet. He could see everything on him personally! Nature just had to form as a shitty cosmic plastic wrap around an evil god. Now that they can make themself a person, what the hell should they be?

Human? Ew, no society yet please. Maybe form one a bit later.

A bot? That’s Primus’s thing and using the dead bodies is a no-no.

Plants don’t possess the equipment for them. Yet.

An animal then. No insects and no aqueous animals for obvious reasons.

Now, they wanted to interact with both the bitlets and their spawn. In person. Not as the kinda god/spirit thing they got going on at the moment. They wanted in on the action and maybe find out why Nature knew them and their future.

They needed something very mobile, made for a variety of biomes both metal and earthen. Also temperature, which excludes reptiles. A warm blooded mammal that can blend into human society if they have to. They have to reasonably be found in an arid desert town in the middle of nowhere. What could they possibly need in an animal companion?

…

They need aerial support.

…

A bird!

Little songbirds can’t do shit so a bigger, meaner bird.

Ducks and geese can’t thrive in a desert, bless their bitey beaks.

No hawks, owls, or eagles as much as their little watcher Fowler would like, the spawn can’t reasonably be hawkers.

Seagulls are admiral sky rats but, again, not found in a fucking desert.

…sky rats…

…

Now there’s an idea.

Chapter Text

“Guys!” A familiar yell greeted the two boys waiting at the school curb. One short boy with glasses and spiky hair looked back in interest while the tall, pale teen raised an eyebrow in question.

They were waiting for their pick-up from school, looking forward to meeting with their otherworldly friends on a day where they didn't have to attend. A great and powerful Saturday!

Not that anyone else passing by knew, for their pals were a classified government secret. Which was worrying as they had an excitable loudmouth friend currently sprinting to them with a Cheshire grin, pink-dyed pigtails swinging as the girl slid to a stop by their feet.

“Oh boy,” The older teen muttered, “What are you all excited about now?”

The girl gasped for breath, “Wha— nothing! What makes you think I’m all pumped besides having a whole weekend with the bots?”

“That crazier-than-usual smile you got on?” A rumbling voice cut in.

The kids jumped in surprise, “Bulk!”

“And Bee!”

Two vastly different cars sidled up to the curb, one a bright yellow Camaro with racing stripes and the other, a massive forest green SUV. Both vehicles revved in greeting as beeps and boops sounded from the sunny racer.

The small boy grinned, “Alright! Jack, Arcee can’t pick you up so wanna ride with us?”

“Sure. As much as I like Miko, I know she’s going to blast heavy metal the whole ride.”

The boys jumped into the car with teasing chuckles as they sped off down the road.

The girl huffed, adjusting her backpack as she hopped into the SUV, “Some people just can’t handle true art. Right, Bulk?”

“Uh, if you say so.” The car wiggled his wheels then also took off, “What’s with the bag? Miko. Did you forget to finish your homework again?”

“Wha— psh, no. No way am I wasting my time at base with schoolwork! I’m just bringing art supplies and snacks.”

“…Just make sure to clean up after yourself or Ratchet will have our backsides.”

Both human and disguised bot shivered, silently agreeing to keep the heckler happy as they approached a chaotic weekend.

“Miss us, Doc Bot?” Miko waved from Bulkhead’s open door, just arriving during a mission brief.

“Egh,” The red and white bot sighed as the kids approached, “Shouldn’t they be in school?”

“On Saturday?” Sounds of clanking transformation behind her revealed the cars as the metal titans they always were, “We have the whole weekend off! To spend with you.”

The chirpy girl smiled as she headed towards the human hangout within the spartan base, a tiered floor made with all the organic comforts, assuringly out of the way of heavy pedes.

Jack waved apologetically to the medic before seeing his bot partner, “Wasn’t expecting a carpool. What gives, Arcee?”

The feminine blue bot quirked a grin, “Tag team, Jack. It’s my turn for exploration duty.”

“Huh, too bad. It’s a beautiful day for a ride,” The human teased back, “Hate for you to feel guilty for leaving me indoors…”

“ Arctic exploration duty.”

Jack fingergunned, “Indoors where it’s warm!”

While Jack and the younger boy, Rafael, chatted with the departing duo of Arcee and their intrepid leader, Optimus Prime, Miko set to emptying out her bag of goodies onto their makeshift human table. A front pocket full of gummy candy, a side pocket with bags of trail mix, another compartment for her sketchbooks, aaaaaand the final pouch with a big ol’ bag of chips—

A loud crackle and snaps startled her as she dropped the bag to turn towards an angrily muttering Ratchet. The scent of burning plastic and smoke wafted in the air, the source a rather important device that sent away the bot exploration team moments before. 

The elder bot fiddled with the levers the best as he could before sighing, “Bulkhead! Bee! I require some heavy lifting!”

“Aw man.”

Questioning beeps.

Said bots shrugged to their hopeful human friends as they complied, walking away from the start of a video game tournament planned also moments before.

Ratchet rubbed his helm in consternation, “The ground bridge is down.”

More questioning whirs.

“Optimus and Arcee made it through just fine, it’s bringing them back that concerns me. Now remove those panels. Chop chop!”

Twin sighs sounded as the human kids exchanged glances with a shrug, the boys continuing on with their racing game as Miko grumbled, picking up her suspiciously light bag.

Her suspiciously light bag that should have a family size bag of Spicy Hot Doritos.

Her suspiciously light bag with an empty family size bag of Spicy Hot Doritos!

“Nooooooo!” Her dramatic wails bounced off the concrete walls, startling the boys off the couch and bots jumping up with blasters ready. 

“What?!”

“What is it!”

Frantic boops.

“Miko—”

“Someone ate all of my Doritos!”

Complete silence. Still air. An incredulous tension.

Then a loud clang as Ratchet facepalmed so hard that Cybertron would’ve heard his disappointment.

“I can see that you have other nourishment, Miko.” His servo ran down his faceplate as he grabbed the calming bots back to work, “You can get more unhealthy grain triangles when we get this over with. Open that one, Bulk.”

“B-but—”

Jack laid a hand on her drooping shoulders, “Come on. Ratchet’s right and maybe tone it down. Looks like they’re doing important work.”

Miko lovingly cradled the crinkled chip bag as she mourned her lost snack, quivering lips and watery eyes gazing upon the few crumbs that tumbled out. Then a quiet anger and thirst for vengeance filled her mind as she walked off to plot.

Woe betide those who ate Miko’s precious stash of Doritos.

She will find them and they will get what they deserve!

—————————

A quiet sneeze echoed down the empty corridor, barren concrete with sparse doors dotting the walls. Industrial pipes and wiring ran the ceiling and floors, bringing electricity and otherworldly power within the hidden Autobot base. And it was currently getting destroyed by little bitty invaders that could seriously fuck up a bot and ruin the Prime’s home.

The ‘not-at-all-supernatural’ bird hissed as best as they could, eyeing a particularly isolated creature chomping on a metal rafter. The pest ignored them, however, daring to turn its back as it chowed down like a caterpillar does a leaf. The bird squinted as their wings puffed in outrage, the little light in the hall reflecting off glossy black feathers and calculating gold eyes.

Bite on this , parasite!

A cawing battle cry, a sharp dive, and the sneaky crow snagged a surprised scraplet off the ceiling. Metal screeched as they hit the ground, chittering and clawing fading as a sharp beak struck true into its head, the light of its optics dimming to a low pulse. The victorious crow stood on their prey with pride, a danger to the bitlets vanquished! A job well done as they held their head high.

And then promptly smacked into a wall by an angry teenager.

“You leave that robo-animal alone, fragging crow!” An angry Miko wielded her bag like a mace as the disoriented bird waddled back, “First I can’t hang out with Bulk, second all my Doritos were eaten, and now a sky rat is hurting tiny bots in our own base?! I’ll scrap you and use your feathers as my pillow stuffing!”

If they weren’t so dizzy and full of junk food, Nature probably would’ve cawed back and thrown wings with the daring spawn, but as they were indeed seeing three Mikos and were full of hot chip, they definitely flew the coop.

“Get back here!” The girl shook her fists to the roosting crow above, “Your tail feathers are mine!… After I check on this baby, but I’m watching you!”

Miko pointed to her eyes then back as she glared at the rumpled crow, gingerly picking up the scraplet like it were a puppy and cooing at its whimpers. And the sentient crow couldn’t help but watch as the human brought disaster closer to her friends.

Ah shit.

At least they’ll know the danger now?

They hoped Bee wouldn’t get too chewed up this time.

Ļ̴̛̭͍͓̻̰̲̺̃̄̔̾͂͊̃͒̽͌͑͛͝͝i̴̡̢̦̻͉͇͖̖̅̋́̏̆́̓́̕͝k̸̨͌̍͆̍e̵̳̜̪̊̊̈̋̕ͅ ̴̨̬̲͖̩̪̪̰̝̂͑̽͒̄̾̃̑̊͠e̵̛̘͔̩͇̞̣̗̮͉̱̺̅̌̀̅̐͑͌m̵̧̢̤̯͉͎̙̭̝̪̤̳͔̙̋̽̈́̉́̏̉͑͂͝͠ͅe̵̦̦͈͙̪͚̠͚̘̙̙̩̎̍͌͒̑̀̓̔̚͘͜͜ͅṟ̸̡̳̮̀́͝ą̶̧̛͖̫̗̼̣͖̺̩͍͕̒͑͐̐͗̓̑̊͘ḻ̷̰̣̯̐͋̈́̍̑d̶͈̘͙̳̿̀̽̌̍́̚ͅ ̴̱̙̱̜̞̼̞̩̠̿̀̈͛̋̇̽͆̆͆̚̚͝͝ä̴̢̨͓͎̮͈͙̗͓͈͖̜̪̒̀̾̿͒̚͜͝s̵̡̧̨̩̣̣̻̰͙͕̬͓̼̿̓͊͊͛͐̂̐̕̕͝h̵̡͍̠̬̥̫̯͓͙͕̖̉̂̾͗̈́̎͒̆͝͠ ̶̡̠͓̜̙͆̌̀͛̈́͝͝b̶̧͇͙̝̳̝̹̱͍̀̄̏̄̄̿̌͒̍͌̀͜͠ͅơ̵̧̤̘͕̖̠̗͎̣̦̮͕̜̐͋͐̀͂̆́̿͜r̸̛̰̖̳̗̠̜͎͊̉̓̓̍͒̽̕͘͜͝͠͠è̸͈̠̗̹̹͚̿̍̓̆̂͂͜r̷̡̡̪͖̬̝͙̲̖͖͐̉̈́̄͝s̶̟̈́̋͑̈́̆͝ ̶̻̘̩̪̝̞̞̗̟̮͙̀̇̇̄͂̉͗̆͛̃̔͜͠͠į̸̛̛̛͕̯͓͙̙͚̐͑̿̿́̄̕̕͘n̷͍̯̓̾̆̅̅̋̏͘͝ ̴̬̱̺̫̥̦̟̠̰̟̯̼͕̉͌f̴͔͉̔̾͗̎̉ļ̷̯̩͙̺̟͙͙̥̩͎̙̻̎ͅͅę̷̨̟̝͚̖̄̑̏͂͆̏̈̐͒̂̓̌͛͜ͅͅͅs̶͚̮̟̳̮̻͈͓̠͍͔͑͗̈̕̕ͅͅḣ̶͙͖̞̟̓̾̈̍̅̓̐̑̇̀̌̀̀͝.̷̧̱̘͙̲̼̺̑̔͝

…

Nightmare nightmare nightmare–

Best to make sure in person.

The crow shook out their feathers, gliding down the hall as lights flickered and metal snapped in the background. Nature tried their best to catch any scouts getting close to the main base, but clearly not enough as they passed bite chunks marking the pipes. Talons curled preemptively and eyes narrowed to slits as startled yells echoed from the main room, wings beating ever faster.

The girl’s voice faded in, “–giant robots! Scrappy here is… teeny.”

“You have no idea the damage,” Heavy pede steps in panic, “that teeny thing can do!”

“Aw, but he looks like he wouldn’t hurt anything.”

Famous last words.

Nature swooped in just in time to see the parasite’s maw open wide, dashing towards the bots with revving rows of teeth. Shots fired, each missed as it strafed side to side, appearing before Bumblebee and biting into his leg. Bee fell in a panic as the other bots and humans watched helplessly, wanting to help yet not wanting the thing on them instead. Trails of shredded metal left its wake as it gnawed its way up to Bee’s knee. Luckily, he knocked it away in turn for a chewed servo, but it was a tenacious thing that was ever hungry and it got up for more .

A black blur pummeled the creature into the ground, a fierce shriek as Nature’s talons held its jaws open and their beak tore out wire guts without mercy. Silence reigned as the scraplet’s body unraveled via angry bird, the sounds of tearing metal now more of a relief than horrifying. 

Ratchet managed to shake his helm away from the sight at the whirring whimper Bee gave as he cradled his leg. Everyone humanoid looked over their scout in concern, checking his wounds while side eyeing the now puffing bird as it crowed victoriously over the scraplet.

Miko hovered beside Raf, “I’m so sorry, Bee! I thought it was just a cute baby!”

Bee beeped back in forgiveness, Raf translating as they all asked his condition.

“It’s just a mesh wound,” Ratchet sighed, “He’ll live.”

Bulkhead threw his servos up, “Now do you believe me? All scraplets do is dismantle machinery and eat anything metal. Especially living metal!”

Jack looked back as he stayed by the crow, “Well, bug squashed, game over. Right?” 

“No,” The medic gazed around, “When it comes to scraplets, there’s never just one . And I fear I know how they got in here…”

“Scraplet! Scraplet!”

A voice mimicking Ratchet caused the group to jump, eyes darting the walls until eyes and optics settled on a particular crow.

“Scraplet!” They squawked, hopping off the body as they pointed their beak towards the inner hall.

“It can talk?!” Jack, Raf, and Bulk shouted in surprise.

“Oh cool! Guys, this is the crow that actually hurt it in the first place,” Miko trotted up to the bird and crouched down, “I’m sorry I whacked you into a wall. You knew about them didn’t you?”

The bird bobbed their head in lieu of a nod, “Scraplet! Nest!”

Nature once again hopped toward the corridor before taking air, struggling to hover in place while they looked expectantly towards the bots.

“Well, it looks like our little guest also knows where they came from,” Ratchet raised a skeptical eyebrow at the feathery organic, “We need to investigate anyway. Come on.”

The group followed after the bird, the humans bringing makeshift weapons and the bots’ blasters at the ready. The crow flitted to and fro as it stopped sometimes as if to check if they were right behind them and look around for prey. Finally, they reached their destination, a warehouse-sized room holding what was supposed to be a cage. Said cage was now a large, dripping orb as ice melted off the jagged edges of its open hole. Disturbingly hollow.

The crow circled it once before landing on the orb, Ratchet lighting his soldering unit to look within, “It’s a trap. A scraplet trap.”

“Uh,” Bulk gulped, “An empty scraplet trap.”

“Most likely ejected into space eons ago, only to wind up in the Arctic where the temperature kept them in stasis.”

Jack crossed his arms, a pipe in hand, “Until we brought the thaw.”

“Wide awake and ready to brunch.” Miko’s eyebrows knitted.

“So, how many are we talking about?”

“ Thousands. ” Ratchet put away his solder and looked back, “And the power malfunctions and ground bridge damage are sure signs that their infestation… is well underway.”

A grim silence fell into the room, weapons gripped in tiny hands and optics darting every which way. Anxiety and fear feeding off each other.

Nature snapped them out of it, “Scraplet! Hunt! Flock, gone?”

Surprised looks as they all considered the bird cocking their head.

Raf muttered, “Flock gone? Wait, guys! Optimus and Arcee don’t know!”

Panic fueled them as the group plus crow hurried back to the main room to contact their missing members.

“Ratchet to Optimus, do you read me? We have a situation.” Ratchet cursed as the data blurred into static, “The scraplets have gotten into the comlink system! If we don’t eradicate these creatures immediately, they will reduce the entire base into a scrapheap!”

Bulk shuddered, “Well I say we bug out of here and let them keep it!”

Agreeing whirs from Bee.

“Evacuation is not an option,” The medic glared, “If we don’t get the ground bridge back online stat, Optimus and Arcee will perish.”

“They will?!”

Miko stormed up to her partner, “Bulkhead, you never run!”

“Miko, you haven’t seen a swarm of these things devour a bot . I have. ” The green giant sternly said, “They pick you apart from the inside out, going for the small juicy bits first. Fuse by fuse . Circuit by circuit. ‘Til there’s nothing left, and I mean nothing ! Not even your optics…”

Nature’s golden eyes glowed with growing ire as they perched on the coms’ railing, nobody noticing as the group shared looks of horror and grimness. However, something flickered in the bird’s chest, the bigger, godly part of them sensing a cinder of something… more.

“You have to let us help.” Jack Darby’s strong voice broke the tension.

“We’re not made of metal!” Rafael Esquivel pointed out in thought.

“Yeah, the scraplets can’t hurt us.” Miko smugly grinned up at the bots.

Oh stars. Their spawn could not be any more light and selfless. Barring the times they were and are going to be stupid.

Ṛ̴̨̛͋̓̍̓̍́͑̚͘̚̕͝ä̷͔̜̝̹̮̺̰̞͕̤̻͂̈̄͒͐c̷̢̛̲̱̬͍̜͔̪͍͈̭̃͛̀́͗̓̀͗̚̚͜͜͝͝ͅǐ̸̧̛͎͎̜͍̣̮̱̟͎͊̈́̒͆̎̔̕͜n̴̡̩̈́̇̒̄͜g̷̣̯̜͖̠̤̊̍͛̑͐̋̓̈́̀̋̓͐̂̚͝ ̴̧̡̢͎̩̤̳̮̣͓͒̔̌́̃̚͘͘͠͝ȃ̵͙̲̼̟͎̥̙̖̑͂̂̽́̚͝͝ń̸̡̨̯̬̗̤̥̟̠̫̰̉͘͜ḑ̵̛͕̫̻͈̞̣̞̅̎̈́̑̊̐̊͘͠ ̴̢͉̪̝̖̘͕̺̇͐̊̎́͗̾̈́̉͊̑̊̚̚͜͠p̴͚̔̅̈o̸͕̖͚̜̣̓̈́̿̑͛̌́̓̓͠r̴̛͔͙̞̩̘̅͐̽̓̿̈́̚͝t̶͚̺͂̆́̈̀̽̓͌͛̉̊̍͌̔͠a̴̝̞̜̾̈́̍̓̽͆͊͑̍͘͘ḷ̵̺̲̣͎͈̤̼̤́͜͝s̵̹͙̖̯̈́̉̉̍͛̌̋̓͐̊̋.̴̢̛͕͔̯͇̅̎̄ ̵̫̼͈̺̭͍̻̞̘̔R̶̝͙̦͖̝͓̗͚̪̱̞̪̳̆̓̿͛̃͆̚̚̕ͅi̴̡͔͙̖͍̪̻̼̠̠̭̼̯̘͑̀̇̾̄̓̋́͒͑͘s̵̙̞̪̳͎̤̺̺̰̍̊̿̽́̄̍͑̄́̽̕̚͠k̷̢̨̨͈͎̰̥͇̟̖̱̏̓̀̈́ş̷͚̝̠̔̓͗͆̀̚͝ͅ ̷͇̲͓͔͑͊͑̏͑̅̚ä̷̡̳̲̺̥̙̣̫͔̳̣̭̝ͅͅṇ̴̙̩̞̫̑̊̃̉ḍ̶̡͕̪̊̾͊̔̈̽́̂̅̑̃͘͝ ̸̱̟̎͒̒͠r̴̘̥̼͙̓̈̎͐̇̈́̂̐e̸̙̣̙̖͈̥̞̫̍̀̉̀͆̎͐̿͘͘͘͝ẁ̴̛̝̹̹͙̣͖͊̍̏̅̍̕̕͝͝a̵͙̖͑̉͊̌͊͂̎̉̌̈́͝r̴̛̩̩̟̳̩̹͇͈͕̺͖̗͎̎̈́̔̃́̄͘͝d̸̙̟́͂̽͑̏̓̕s̴̭̞͇̪̱̲̓͝.̶̢̳͔̤̳̮̤̯͑͆̈́̈́̃̀̏͘͘ͅ

“Typically I find your fleshiness to be your least engaging quality–” Excuse you, Primus’s creation– “but it would appear to provide an advantage under these extremes,” Ratchet admitted.

“Okay, good.” Jack took the lead, “So we pair off, one bot, one human. I’ll watch your back while you repair the ground bridge.”

Miko wolfishly grinned as she looked at the others, “While we go on a bug hunt.”

And the bots couldn’t help but shudder in fear of what was to come.

—————————

Two bots battled against polar winds. The smaller falls and the other lifts her up. Frost creeps into their intakes, fronds of ice freezing joints and plates. They speak with staticky voices, dread and hope staining their words

Nature knows of their suffering through breezes blowing through vents. Life finds a way in their frigid poles, but it wouldn’t do for their otherworldly visitors to fall to it.

The ice shifted beneath their pedes, rumbling and churning as the duo warily stood in fear. Suddenly, a layer of berg jutted out from behind them, icy rubble falling into piles at its edges. A perfect hiding place against the biting wind as they paused in silent awe.

“Instant shelter,” Arcee shivered, “Lucky.”

The Prime guided them towards it, “Indeed…”