Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a quiet day in the base. It was the weekend so the children were there, playing games on the tv with Bumblebee. June was reading a medical book to Ratchet while he worked on his newest project and Arcee and Bulkhead were on patrol. Optimus was monitoring comms and con activity at the console, while decoding the Iacon database. It had been a slow week. Not a lot of con activity gave him plenty of time to decode the coordinates so he had made good progress with a new set to investigate. Bumblebee chirped over at the sofa. Another race won. Ratchet grumbled over the wiring in his contraption, before politely asking June to continue reading. A brief comm from Arcee announced it was all quiet on the roads. A slow week indeed. Optimus had noticed it was increasingly quiet without Smokescreen. The young bot had gone on a long distance energon scouting mission with Wheeljack. They two got on well, with their love for flashy cars and fighting. It infuriated Ratchet when the two were together in the base. Alot of his equipment got smashed in their spars. Optimus had just finished decoding the last digit when a comm came through.

"Wheeljack to base, you there sunshine?"

Ratchet gave an exasperated sigh.

Optimus pressed a button on the console. "This is Optimus Prime. I am on comms duty today. What do you have to report, Wheeljack?"

"Hey Prime, me and the kid have stumbled on an old dig site. No cybertronian tech or equipment around but I am getting a faint reading. The dig doesn't look cybertronian either but I'm getting an energon signature nethertheless." Wheeljack explained.

"Send the coordinates and we will send a team out."

"Sure thing, it's 234, -389, -1..."

"99." Prime finished, "I am looking at the same coordinates here on the Iacon database."

"Weird coincidence huh?" Wheeljack mused.

"You should go Optimus, I will manage the ground bridge," Ratchet said, walking over.

The others were listening into the conversation too.

"Bumblebee, accompany me to the site. Everyone else stay here."

Bumblebee walked over to the ground bridge, stretching his arms above his helm, bleeping in joy. 

Ratchet opened the ground bridge and the two bots stepped through. It was a canyon with very high, steep walls, the strata in the rock glistening in the high sun. The two had bridged to an opening in the narrow corridor, where the canyon expanded into a massive area. The strangest thing about the site was that the walls were adorned with holes, about 7 to 8 feet high, all lined up in a linear grid. 

"Optimus! Over here!" Smokescreen called out.

The mech was stood before a blue round disk inlaid on the ground. It looked like it could stand a small bot on it. Wheeljack was to the side, elbows deep in a piece of machinery, tinkering with the components inside. He looked up when he saw Prime and Bee arrive, pulling his arms from the contraption. 

"We'll, this is definitely not cybertronian but it's not Human either." He frowned.

"Another extra terrestrial species?" Optimus asked.

"Possibly, but I'm unaware of any other species that could've gotten this far out in the universe." Wheeljack said.

Bee warbled next to them, pointing to the disk on the ground.

"It's not energon," Smokescreen started, "it looks like it's been carved from a giant crystal of energon, but it has a different composition. Not any crystal from Earth either."

"So we've come to the conclusion it's an old Alien mining operation." Wheejack exclaimed, "no ones been here for a while. There's what looks like human hikers due to small footprints seen around the area. And this equipment hasn't been used in centuries if not millenia." 

Bee beeped while pointing to the disk again.

"You're right Bumblebee," Optimus said, "there is very little dust covering this structure. Strange. Someone maybe cleaning it."

"Or whatever it is is still in use." Wheeljack looked around. 

Bee chirped again.

"I'm not sure why anyone would come back to the site while it is not in use. Wheeljack is right, the area looks abandoned." Optimus mused, "However, there is a relic here, so we must search for it. Keep a close eye on your surroundings."

"I'm interested in finding out what this disk is for," Wheeljack said, "but there are no controls around for me to investigate. I thought it may be remotely operated but there's still no wiring or anything. It's purely organic."

"Why would it be at a mining site then?" Smokescreen asked.

"I'm not sure. I'm thinking transportation, but I have nothing to go off of. Unless, they found it and were investigating it. Either way, why would they leave it behind when they left? Its strange."

"Let's get looking for that artifact then. You can look at that later. " Smokscreen said and the four split up to explore the canyon. 

It had been a couple hours of searching for clues and any cybertronian presence at the site. 

"The dig site is younger than the war, so we must assume the other life forms must have found the relic." Optimus stated.

"So it's on another planet?!" Smokscreen exclaimed.

"Hmmm."

"What is it Wheeljack?" Optimus asked.

"I don't thing that's right." He started, "these carved rock faces don't match a mining operation. They dont stretch far enough into the walls to be classed as mines. The trace elements suggest something cybertronian was here. The other life forms may have been looking for something they knew to be in the surface of the rock. If the dig site exposed the relic, readings would be greater. It has to still be here, deeper in the cliffs. We have to dig for it."

"I'd hate to damage this site," Optimus sighed, "but the relic must be found before the cons get here first."

Bee gave an excited screech from close to the opened up space. The others all looked at each other before running to join him, where he was peering around a jagged outcrop of rock. Smokscreen gasped. The blue disk was glowing. It radiated a soft sheen, dimly lighting up the ground around it. A beam of sparkling light shot up from the disk, stopping a short ways above the canyon where it faded into the sunlight. 

"Look." Smokescreen nodded.

The beam suddenly faded and the disk stopped glowing, revealing four figures. On was tall for a human, close to 7 foot. They had fluffy large hair, and a large mirrored visor covering their eyes. They wore a skin tight outfit, that accentuated their muscles, and their skin was a deep burgundy colour. The second figure was slim and shorter than the first but had white skin and hair with a white stone pressed into her forehead. She wore a blue top and a white skirt. The third was shorter still, with long messy white hair and light purple skin. She was stocky with ripped jeans and a ragged top on. She had a purple stone pressed into her chest. The fourth was a young human boy, with short black curly hair a red top with a yellow star on the front, and denim jeans. He was first off the disk. He ran towards one of the holes in the wall. The others followed. 

"Steven! Slow down!" The skinny one called.

"Let him have his fun Pearl." The tall one chuckled.

The skinny one, presumably called Pearl, walked after the boy, Steven.

"Wait up Steven!" The stocky one laughed, chasing after him.

"You guys have to see this!" Steven called back.

"We're coming, we're coming." Pearl sighed, "Garnet, why did you teach him how to use the warp pad? He goes here there and everywhere in his spare time. What if he gets hurt?"

The tall one, Garnet, chuckled again, "you're getting Paranoid in your old age Pearl." 

"OHMYGOSH!! GUYS COME LOOK!!" The purple one was jumping up and down in the entrance to the hole Steven went in.

"Came down Amethyst, it can't be that exciting. We cleared the homeworld artifacts out of here when we found the kindergarten. What could it possibly be?" Pearl rolled her eyes.

Steven emerged from the hole holding a jagged object the size of a book. He grinned excitedly.

"It came off the main chunk! I came after the flash floods to look around for any new artifacts and this was poking out of the wall at the back of Amethysts hole!" 

Optimus stilled behind Bee.

"That looks like cybermetal. There could be a crashed ship of sorts." He whispered. 

"We can't let the humans have it! They're in danger if the cons find out they found it!" Smokescreen whispered back.

"You suggest we show ourselves to them?!" Wheeljack hissed.

"No," Optimus piped up, "we need agent Fowler." 

Bee whistled quietly. 

"He's right," Smokescreen sighed, "they might not be human. Look at them. They teleported here! And the spoke about a 'homeworld'. They might belong to the species that opened this mine, or whatever it is. Surely they are also in hiding and we can make an allegiance?"

"I don't know." Wheeljack frowned. 

As Pearl neared the hole, she looked at what Steven was holding more intently before sharing a worried look with Garnet. 

"You know what it is don't you?" Amethyst pushed, "come on! Spill!"

Garnet had gone stiff. She took a deep breath before speaking. "Metal with similar symbols has been found at other kindergartens at other new homeworld colonies. It isn't human, and isn't gem. It's something else. The diamonds kept alot of the happenings outside homeworld and the colonies secret, but a few other nobles spoke of a great war that started on a distant world, and that they destroyed their world in the fighting. Two symbols were found on wrecks on colonies worlds. This one, and another. Some wrecks were told to have corpses of giant metal organisms rusting inside them. I don't know how much of it is true, but one thing we have to assume is that they are on Earth."

"Are they dangerous?" Amethyst asked.

"I don't know, their war was civil. But from what I heard it lasted a few million years. It's short war in comparison to our kinds lifespans, but all war is horrific and I mourn for their losses." Garnet lowered her head. 

The bots soaked this in. Another alien race on Earth? And they knew about them? 

"Holy scrap." Smokescreen breathed.

"You want me to talk to them?"

Everyone looked down to see Miko peaking out from Wheeljacks pede. 

"How do you keep sneaking out like this?" Wheeljack grinned.

"I'm small and stealthy." She grinned back, "Imma go talk to them." 

"Miko no!" Smokscreen hissed, but she was already gone, "oh no."

Bee gave a weary warble.

"All we can do is wait." Optimus stated.

"Hi there!" She called cheerfully.

The people turned to look at her.

"I'm Miko!"

"I'm Steven!"

"What's a young girl like you doing out here?" Garnet asked.

"Hiking!" She grinned, "what've you found there?"

She nodded to what Steven was holding. 

"Oh just some scrap metal." He laughed nervously.

"May I see? I'm doing a research project about a crashed satellite in this area. It might by relevant." 

"Ummm," Steven looked at Pearl, who nodded, "sure..."

"Thanks!"

She took the metal from Stevens hand, turning in over in her hand, and brushing some dirt off the autobot insignia. She grinned wider. They all looked at her in confusion.

"Oh yeah," she exclaimed, "this is cybertronian alright."

"I'm sorry, it's what?" Pearl raised an eyebrow.

"Cybertronian. I chose this project because I thought it was actually an alien spaceship that crashed here. This Autobot symbol confirms it. Do you believe in aliens?" She wiggled her eyebrows.

"Woah woah woah, Aliens?" Amethyst asked, with a bit too much enthusiasm.

Pearl smacked her forehead. 

"You havent heard of the big metal alien robots that are here? They've been sighted all over the world. I think they're alien. Ive found this symbol and one other on different conspiracy sites. I think they're two different sides in a war. Which begs the question, why come to Earth? Did one faction flee their planet and the other follow, looking to wipe them out? Or did they kill their world in the conflict, and are looking for a new place to call home?"

Garnets mouth was agape. Pearl looked at Miko in shock. Amethyst and Steven were listening to her with stars in their eyes.

"How does she know that?" Pearl whispered to Garnet, while Miko continued talking to the others.

"I don't know."

"I've some other freinds working on the project with me. We're in Jasper, Nevada, a few states over. I came to investigate the crash site. You can't just be out here walking. We're miles from anywhere, so what are you really doing here?" Miko enquired. 

Steven gulped, sharing a glance with Amethyst. Pearl piped up.

"We are also, investigating the crash! We thought you might be competition that would steal our findings. But thank you for sharing your knowledge."

"Your welcome. You're more than welcome to come visit us in Jasper if you want to discuss aliens with us!"

She handed the metal back to Steven and walked back to the others. They watched as the figures spoke for a bit then disappeared the way they came, through the 'warp pad'. Then they moved out to mine the artifact, dragging it back to base through a groundbridge leaving not a screw behind.

Chapter Text

"So, this girl knew some of what you said based on alien conspiracy websites," Pearl mused, "but how did she know what they were called?"

"That's right. Where did she get 'Cybertronian' and 'Autobot' from?" Garnet said.

"While you two were whispering away," Amethyst started, rolling her eyes, "she said someone on a website had decrypted their language from an artifact or something they found. It mentioned the race being Cybertronian and the faction the thing belonged to was Autobot."

"Hmmm," Pearl pursed her lips, "We best look for these sites. She may have found us earlier, overheard our conversation, concluded we are aliens, and wanted to have an excuse to confront us."

"But she didn't contront us," Steven said.

"That's true, but we can't be too certain," Garnet smiled.

"Well, she gave us some website names, so I'll have a look," Steven sighed.

"I'll help!" 

"Thanks Amethyst.

~~~

"I can't believe you Miko! You can't keep sneaking out! What if there were cons!"

"I know Jack, but if I didn't we wouldn't have spoken to the other aliens!"

As soon as they had bridged back to base, old Autobot ship in tow, Miko was getting attacked with the type of lecture her host parents gave her for running off all the time. 

"We don't even know if they are." Jack sighed.

"They could be," Raf began, "if they mentioned a homeworld whose nobility knew about the bots, and they didn't look fully human then they must be. You said they used that warp pad too. Without any electronics right?" He looked to Wheeljack.

"It was all organic. Not a screw in sight." The Wrecker replied.

"It's function must be related to their biology then." 

"They had those stones pressed to their skin too." Smokescreen added, "humans don't, and they looked like smaller versions of the warp pad. Might they use those to control it?"

Bee beeped.

"That's right, the boy and the tall one didn't have stones on them," Wheeljack said.

"Actually, the tall one had one on each palm," Miko explained, "but yeah, the boy didn't. I wonder why the tall one had two?"

"Hmmm."

"Ratchet old freind, what seems to be the problem?" Optimus tilted his head towards the medic.

"This talk reminds me of some old entries in the archives. They're in old Iaconian so I could only get a few words out of it that were similar to neo cybex. 'Gem', 'homeworld', 'kindergarten', and 'diamond'. 

"Wait! Those guys called where we were a kindergarten right?" Miko piped up.

"But that means Nursery doesnt it?" Smokscreen asked.

"Yeah," Jack said.

"They mentioned diamonds, and homeworld too. But not gem." Wheeljack frowned.

Bee warbled again.

"Yes Bumblebee, they did mention gem once. They said something wasn't 'gem or human' so maybe that is their races name." Optimus suggested.

"You mentioned the archive entry was in old Iaconian Ratchet," Optimus said, "so I will work to decode it alongside the Iacon database."

"Don't overwork yourself though Optimus."

"I shan't Smokescreen. Thank you for your concern."

~~~

Steven was on the fifth website the girl had given him. So far they had nothing. Some things mentioned alien robots but the images were either not loading or had been replaced with circus monkeys. It must be a running joke in the community. Amethyst was also having no such look. She had given up and was now playing on an online games website.

"I don't know Steven," she sighed, "maybe Pearl was right."

Steven hummed, while scrolling down through the pages and pages of information. It had been a long afternoon, with no promising results. Maybe he should give up.

"Say, what did you say that symbol looked like?"

Greg had joined them in their search. Steven passed him the metal he had recovered from the Kindergarten. Greg grinned. 

"I've found something!"

"What!!"

Amethyst stopped what she was doing and rushed to his side, Steven peering over from where he sat. An image showed on the screen, of a vehicle with the same symbol on its hood. 

"But why is it on a human car?" Amethyst frowned.

"We'll if they are giant alien robots, they have to hide on our planet somehow."

"Dad? Are you suggesting that is one of the aliens?"

"It's a theory."

The car was a white sportscar with red and green racing stripes. The image was a copy of a speed camera photo in Nevada.

"Wait, didn't that girl say she was from Nevada?"

Amethyst grinned. "Maybe she knows more than she said."

"What?!"

Greg was staring incredulously at the screen.

Steven turned to look again. The image had been replaced with the same circus monkey from before.

"That post was only a day old!" Greg started.

"Maybe someone is trailing all the websites, removing images to protect them?" Amethyst suggested.

"That's right! And that girl gave us all these websites. Surely she'd have noticed the posts change, so why didn't she say anything!"

"What are you saying Steven?" Greg asked.

"I think Amethyst is right." He whispered, "She dies know more. We have to go to Nevada." 

At that moment, the gems returned, emerging from the warp pad.

"SHES TAKEN IT!!" Pearl shouted.

"What?" Steven asked.

"The ship is missing." Garnet huffed.

"So you think it was the girl?" Greg asked.

"But it must have been huge! There's no way she could've moved it on her own!" Steven gaped.

"Unless she had help." Amethyst suggested turning to the others. She grinned, "you're going to want to hear this."

~~~

A few days after their discovery, the autobots managed to retrieve the relic from the ship, and scrapped the vessel down for living metal to replenish their repair material stores. Ratchet was welding a piece of it to an old wound on bulkheads leg to speed up the regeneration process. When he and Arcee got back from patrol, they were shocked to hear what the others has said.

"Other lifeforms on Earth?" Arcee asked, "sounds like trouble to me."

"Not necessarily," Bulkhead suggested, "they sound nice enough."

"They mentioned their leaders hiding the happenings of the universe from them. And how did that one know that some nobles knew about us? She must be a noble herself. Therefore, untrustworthy."

"Come on Arcee," Smokescreen whined.

"She has a point. We know nothing of these beings. They could be dangerous." Ratchet mused, putting down the welder.

The humans were at school. Bee was on close range patrol, so the rest of the bots were at base, minus Wheeljack, who had gone back to the Kindergarten to examine the warp pad and the other equipment there. Optimus was hard at work decoding the Iacon archive entry, so Ratchet and Smokescreen had had to inform them of everything. 

"If they figure out where we are, and they are dangerous, we're in trouble. Miko already told them she's from Jasper. They might figure out she knows more than she lead on and come looking for her, putting two and two together that we must be here too."

"I understand your concern Arcee, but they may also be allies. That is why Optimus is trying to decode the archives. We can judge for ourselves if they are dangerous once we know more about them."

"I think Ratchets right. But also, if that young boy with them is human, they surely have nothing against Earth. They may even want to help protect it." Smokescreen added.

"That's true," Bulkhead said.

Bee came through the the tunnel at that moment, warbling and zooming around everyone's feet.

"Pick up time Arcee, let's go." Bulkhead said, and they transformed and sped out after Bee.

Smokescreen transformed and drove off, announcing he would go on patrol in Bees place. Ratchet shook his head and walked over to the console.

"Optimus, how is the archive decoding doing?"

"Well old freind. I am on the final set of major consonants, the rest should fall into place soon." 

"What do you have so far?"

Optimus spoke, without turning from what he was doing.

"The only full sentences I have speak of a discovery of a mining site on a moon that an Autobot scouting mission went to to deposit energon stores. It mentioned small, striped orange organics with orange stones pressed into their skin in multiple different places, including the forehead, chest, upper and lower back, palms, backs of hands, navels, and arms. Another organic was incharge, that was light blue with a wedge shaped, striped stone pressed to the back of their head, who wielded a whip which they could pull from the stone. The orange organics appeared to be a work force. Some of the autobots stayed to watch the organics while others surveyed the area. Those that stayed said that they witnessed organics emerge out of the rock, leaving grids of shallow, uniform holes in the cliff faces. There were no settlements anywhere nearby and when the organics emerged from the cliffs, they were transported away by a blue disk on the floor of the site." 

"This sounds like the kindergarten we found."

"Indeed. The entry suspects this is a colony used to produce these life forms, before transporting them to their homeworld. Some of the entry is still unreadable."

"It sounds like these colonies are to produce a labour force." Ratchet mused grimly, "by what we heard that organic say, they may have had a class system much like our own."

"Indeed."

"Wheeljack to base."

Optimus pressed a digit to the console. "Go ahead Wheeljack."

"I've found what resembles a black box in one of these machines. Requesting a bridge back to try to activate it."

"Granted."

He pushed a few more buttons before pulling the groundbridge handle. The base lit up from the blue swirling mass before the white mech emerged from the centre. He grinned.

"That tech is really advanced for it's age. Loads of wires that plug into crystal motherboards. Took me a while to pull it apart safely but I got this." He held up the black box. "The machine didn't look like a ship but I guess it was."

He plugged it into the console and opened the logs on the tertiary screen. A strange language appeared briefly before the system Ratchet had made scanned the symbol pattern and translated the lines of information. Wheeljack read through it while Optimus finished decoding the last of the Iacon entry, the final rarer consonants sliding into place. Wheeljack spoke up first.

"This has been to hundreds of worlds, inhabited or uninhibited to create mining colonies called Kindergartens, that produce more gems, which I'm assuming is their race, much like you said Prime. The one on Earth must have been it's last. It doesnt say why it was left but this is abnormal as normally equipment is transported to a new site. The site did look like it had been abandoned but why? There was no native life on Earth at that time to stage an attack."

Optimus hummed. "This entry states the same, that the site is for mining more of their kind and transporting them to the homeworld as a labour force. The final translated sentences states that an infiltration of the mine discoverd by Autobot scouts, lead to overhearing the following message: 'my diamond, the rock here is exhausted. The other cliffs are too unstable to produce able bodied workers for homeworld. I suggest we close the Kindergarten and move the operation elsewhere. Ruby scouts have found a planet in a distant system with very large rock faces perfect for many kindergartens.' A new oerson soeaks now. 'I see. Have the Ruby's construct a warp pad network around the planet. As it is so far out I will assign you to Pink Diamond who will oversee your management of the kindergartens there. Send all the Jaspers back to homeworld to prepare for the depart i woll assign you some Amethysts and Quartzes too. Have a small team remain to oversee the return of the late emerging Gems. And Holly Blue.' 'Yes my diamond?' 'I trust you are capable of this command.' 'Thank you my diamond'. The transmission ends at this point and that is the end of the entry."

"So this was a class system." Ratchet mused.

"These gems were made for labour, much like us!" Wheeljack exclaimed, "could it be likely that the Earth kindergarten was abandoned due to a revolutionary force that started much like the Decepticons?" 

"Perhaps but we cannot assume their story." 

"Optimus," Ratchet began, "that tall gem you saw mentioned our war being short in comparison to their history. And if this race still exists in the universe, why are these gems here? Could they be part of the revolution and did it fail leaving them forced to remain out here in exile?"

"Perhaps old freind. It makes sense for the warp pad network to work in planet much like our groundbridge but if a different kind is needed to travel back to their homeworld, and that is broken, they are indeed stranded here."

"Bulkhead to base," a comm came through, "you're going to want to see this." 

Chapter Text

The van was trundling down the dusty road, the Nevada desert going by around them, tumbleweeds rolling by occasionally, and the odd Cactus sprouting through the dry ground. They had used the closest warp pad to get to Nevada but now were driving the rest of the way. Greg and Steven were in the front of the van, the gems in the back, and Connie would join them with Lion after her study session finished. 

"Nearly there now guys!" Greg announced.

"Thank homeworld," Pearl grumbled.

They drove passed the town sign as buildings appeared in the distance. 

"So, where should we look first?" Greg asked.

"She is a relatively young girl so must be in school right now." Garnet suggested.

"Right let's find a school then!" Steven grinned.

Luckily for them, Jasper was only a small town so only had one, grammar, elementary, and high school all on one campus. They sat in the van outside the main doors waiting for the bell. Half an hour later, the bell rang and students started piling out of the doors. Steven searched the crowd until he saw the pink highlighted pig tails bobbing in the sea of heads. 

"Found her!" He exclaimed.

Garnet got out the van and looked towards where he was pointing. She picked Steven up, put him on her shoulders and walked towards the girl. A few people looked at them some people blushed at the tall stoick person before them.

"Hey! Miko! Alien girl!" Steven called.

A few people snickered at this, but quickly shut up when the girl turned around and glared at them. She walked over to the two of them.

"Hi Steven, come to discuss aliens?" She grinned.

"Yup, we decided we'd come up on holiday to see you!"

"Where are you originally from?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Beach City, Delaware." Garnet answered.

"Oh damn, you've come a long way. Got anywhere to stay?"

The throngs of people around them was thinning out now. Garnet placed Steven down and looked over to two boys stood to the side, one tall with black hair, the other short with glasses. They were looking at them wearily.

"Me and my dad sleep in the van! My aunts outside. We've found a campsite to stay in!"

"That can't by comfortable."

One of the boys had come over.

"Hi, I'm Jack," he introduced himself, "that's Raf," he pointed to the boy inching closer, a little less confident.

"Hi, I'm Steven, this is my Aunt Garnet."

She waved, face as stoick as ever.

"Hi, are you sure you're fine camping?" Raf asked.

"Absolutely," Garnet said.

"And what's this about Aliens?" Jack asked.

"Right, these guys are my project partners," Miko announced, pointing to the boys.

Garnet looked down at Raf.

"Aren't you a little young to be in high school?"

"Yes, yes I am."

"He's a genius!" Miko exclaimed, "so he does more advanced projects."

Garnet hummed.

A loud rumble alerted them to a yellow car pulling up.

"Ah, that's my ride." Raf said.

"Nice wheels," Garnet whistled.

The car honked expectantly. 

"Can't we hang out a bit longer?" Miko groaned.

"I'll go ask him." Raf walked over to the car, talking through a tiny gap in the rolled down window. He was there for a few minutes before walking back.

"I've got the a OK but not for too long. Hes got work later."

"I'll call my mum to say I'll be home later."

Jack walked up to a blue motorbike at the side of the road a pulled out his phone. He took a call, hung up, then, took another call. He turned from the bike and walked back.

"I'm good too." He said.

"What about you Miko?" Garnet asked.

"My host parents think I have detention!" She said cheerily.

A green truck rumbled to life nearby and pulled away, the yellow car trailing behind it. Garnet looked after it. She hadn't seen anyone get in but had seen the same face like symbol on the trucks hood that was on what Steven found. She couldn't see the hood if the yellow car from where she was stood. She turned to the blue bike, and there was the same symbol, branded between the headlights. No wonder Jack had walked over to the bike and taken two calls rather than the one he said he would. She felt like she was being watched by the bike, the way it's headlights were pointed at her.

"Let's get going to the diner then!" Miko grinned, as Garnet tuned back into the conversation. 

Steven walked back to the van, where Pearl, Amethyst, and Greg had gotten out. He said a few words then returned, the others in tow.

"Guys this is my dad Greg, and my other aunts, Pearl and Amethyst! Dad, aunts, this is Raf and Jack, and you've already met Miko."

"You're grandma really liked gemstones." Raf said.

Pearl giggled nervously. Jack raised an eyebrow.

"You don't look anything like your sisters Mr Greg." 

"Miko!" Jack hissed.

"Ah, they're actually my sisters on law. Rose, Stevens mom, died when he was born." 

"Oh scrap I'm so sorry!" Miko grimaced.

"It's okay." He smiled softly.

"So, you live with your aunts?" Raf asked.

"Yup! They helped raise me!" Steven said.

They had been walking to the diner for a few minutes until they arrived and they all sat at a big table. They talked to each other about themselves for a bit laughing at jokes and eating pancakes and burgers. Garnet noticed the yellow car outside again, only this time she could clearly make out the symbol on the hood. A bit further up the street was the blue bike. She knew Jack hadn't moved it, confirming her suspicious it was sentient.

"Robots that turn in to vehicles hmmm," she thought, "that definitely aligns with what we know."

The yellow car outside honked.

"That's my time guys. You want a lift Miko?" Raf sighed.

"Sure!" 

They all walked out together, Miko and Raf getting in the car. Garnet never saw the person inside but the two kids were talking to him. She figured they were talking to the car but didn't want them to know. They said their goodbyes and the group walked back to the school. Garnet noticed the bike was gone from where it was near the diner, and was back in its spot at the school as they rounded the corner. She hung back with the other gems, while Steven talked with Jack and Greg at the front.

"You've noticed the vehicles right?" She asked.

"They all have that symbol on," Pearl said.

"Huh?" Amethyst asked.

"The green truck, the yellow car, and the blue bike." Garnet said, "they all have that face symbol on it. And the bike moved just down the street from the diner, then back up to the school. Clearly watching us. And we never saw who was in the car either." 

"Oooh spooky." Amethyst shivered.

"You think they're these 'Cybertronians'?" Pearl enquired.

"Yes, I do."

They got back to the van and climbed in, saying their goodbyes to Jack, who climbed onto the bike, pulling a helmet on. They set off, him following them while they left the town. Pearl frowned. Did he live out of town? Suddenly two cars, identical on colour  make and model pulled up behind Jack. The bike sped up, whizzing past them at top speed. The cars following.

"Aw geez, is he in trouble with a gang or something?" Greg wondered.

"Speed up," Garnet instructed.

"I don't want to go over the limit!"

"Pearl take over."

"Wha-"

His seat fell back and Pearl climbed over, pushing him of into the back the van before putting her foot on the accelerator.

"I'll pay your ticket." She said.

They were speeding up at an alarming rate.

"ARE YOU PAYING FOR GARAGE WORK TOO!?"

"I'll do your garage work."

Steven gasped and Amethysts jaw hit the floor.

Just up ahead, a large blue robot was fighting two larger black ones. A yellow robot ran out of the woods at the side of the road and kicked one of the black ones in the back of the head. Garnet noticed the three kids behind a tree, watching the fight. No one had noticed them yet. Pearl stopped the van suddenly.

"I'll get the kids," Garnet said, "you two help them out. Steven, with me."

The four of them piled out of the car. A green robot had appeared now too, but so had two more black robots. Pearl made eye contact with the blue bot, the smaller of the three brighter bots. They were so clearly the vehicles from the school. The blue one looked surprised to see her running towards the fight. The yellow one gave a warble that sounded like a warning. 

"We can help!" Anethyst called.

The blue one got punched to the ground by a bkack one, the yellow one tackled it from behind, the green one fending himself off from two. The forth was on the ground but getting up again. The bots were so engrossed in the fight they never saw the fusion. As the forth black bot got to its feet it stumbled towards the yellow bot, still on the other ones back. 

"Bee look out!" The blue one called.

As it raised its arm to aim a weapon at the yellow robot, a glistening arrow pierced it's head. Two more hit the ones the green one was fighting and the yellow one finished off the one he had jumped onto. The three bots turned to stare in the direction they came from, shock plastered on their faces. A pale purple skinned woman with long, white hair and a light blue dress with yellow leggings was stood nearby, holding a long bow. She had four arms with a white stone pressed into her forehead and a purple one in her chest. And she was a similar height to the bots. 

"OH MY GOD THAT WAS INSANE!"

Miko was bounding towards them, Jack, Raf, Steven, Greg, and Garnet following from the tree line. 

"Did Pearl and Amethyst... become one person?" Raf asked.

"It's called fusion!" Steven grinned, "that's Opal."

The talk women bowed her head, a faint smile on her face. Her figure glowed and morphed into two smaller figures, revealing Pearl and Amethyst when the light faded. 

"Bots! This is Steven, Greg, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl!" Miko beamed. She turned to the gems, "this is Arcee, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead."

She referred to the blue, yellow, and green bots respectively. Arcee looked down at them, before crouching. Greg hid behind Garnet. 

"Nice to meet you. Am I correct in assuming you are also alien on this planet?" 

"Thats right," Pearl answered.

"We would like to grant you shelter during your stay here. If you'll accept."

Pearl turned to the other gems, who nodded, before facing Arcee again.

"That would be wonderful thank you."

Bulkhead spoke, as though on a phone call to some one. "Bulkhead to base, you're going to want to see this." 

Chapter Text

"Your biology is very confusing," Ratchet had just finished grilling Garnet on how they fuse and had gotten onto the subject of their anatomy. "Being able to change your appearance and bodily functions at will is very strange."

"You're robots, can you not change yourselves?" Amethyst asked.

"In some aspects, but we cannot edit the components we need to function." 

"Ha, we dont need anything to function!"

Ratchet rolled his eyes and turned back to inspect the seams between the gem and the skin on Garnets right hand.

"If its really fascinating to you," Garnet smirked, "I have three eyes."

Ratchets optics whipped from where he was studying to look at her. She used her other hand to remove her large mirrored glasses.

"How? Is that a subfeature of your species?"

"I'm a fusion, Sapphire has a singular eye and Ruby has two, so I have three."

"Why are you always a fusion?" 

"So they can always be together." She smiled softly.

Optimus was listening into their conversation. When Bulkhead had made that comm, he never would've thought that another powerful race was living on Earth. And while they had their similarities, they were so different. He had been listening to another conversation while Ratchet, Amethyst, and Garnet had been talking.

"So, are your fusions personalities combinations of your personalities, because Opal kind of seemed more like Pearl but like Amethyst at the same time?" Jack asked.

"They are their own personalities, but know everything we now," Pearl smiled sadly, "fusions between different gems is banned on homeworld. Fusions between the same gem are only acceptable if commanded by a superior for extraordinary circumstances."

"But why?" Miko asked. 

"The diamonds don't want revolutions. They rule with fear. They banned fusions, and shatter gems that break the rules." 

"I'm so sorry." Jack said.

"You get numb to it after a while. Homeworld has existed for millions of years. When you're born into that system, you follow it."

"How old are you?" Arcee asked.

"11,000 years old."

"Not as old as us then." Smokescreen quipped over his shoulder.

"Their race is older though." Raf piped up.

"Yup, the diamonds are tens of millions of years old." Steven was sat on the platform swinging his legs.

"So, if the diamonds are scared of fusion revolutions, how powerful can fusions be?" Jack raised an eyebrow.

"Well," Steven began, "The diamonds are taller than the rest of the gems. Blue is 43 feet, yellow is 48, and white is 89 feet. Fusions can reach that height too. For example, Sugalite is 43 feet too, that's Garnet and Amethyst fused, and Alexandrite is 48 feet, and that's Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl fused. Then theres obsidian with is the four of us fused. I dont know how tall she is but its tall."

"Geez, that's like, massive!" Miko exclaimed. 

"Wait wait, hold the phone! You can fuse!?" Jack exclaimed.

That caught everyone's attention.

"Seriously?" Smokscreen asked. He'd been on console duty, sending updates to Bee and Bulk. His helm whipped around faster than when Fowler slipped on one of Mikos roller skates and skidded 30 feet.

"Oh, I'm half gem. My mum was..." he trailed off, "well." He lifted his shirt to show them the pink gem glistening at his navel.

"Incredible!" Ratchet gaped, "So gems and humans can reproduce?"

"Were you not listening?" Amethyst scoffed, "Rose created ovaries for herself. We can change our body parts remember?" 

"Yes well." Ratchet scoffed back, "it's incredulous."

"THATS SO COOL!" Miko shouted.

"I'm still confused about your ages." Raf said.

"Amethyst is youngest, she was born in the Beta kindergarten where we first saw Miko. Garnet is the next youngest but technically, Ruby and Sapphire are the eldest. They've existed in the higher ranks for longer than Pearl has been born." Steven said.

"Your homeworld class system is very similar to our classes on Cybertron." Arcee said sadly, "Our war started because anti-functionalist miners wanted freedom to do what they want instead of what they were made for. Megatron quit mining to join the guild of gladiators in Koan. He rose in popularity, became undefeated, and used his position to call for lower class rights. His campaigns became riots, which turned into war. The decepticon cause became an extremist movement to rid cybertron of all Autobots. Megatron was blinded by jealousy. He believed he was worthy of becoming the next prime, but the council gave that position to Optimus. Megatron lost his way. We have been fighting this war for millions of years."

"I can't imagine what would've happened if our rebellion came to war. The diamonds were just to powerful. They killed everyone that wasn't behind Roses sheild. And we were trapped here. While the gems on homeworld were brainwashed to blindly follow command." 

"Do not feel guilty for the position of your kind. You dud well to begin to stand up to tyrannical rule. I was greatly inspired by megatrons words, we became freinds in the early stages of the war but he turned to terrorism and destruction when I was gifted the role of a prime." Optimus said, "war is a terrible thing, I hope in the future you can find a peaceful resolve, and not wander down the path that bestowed chaos to us."

"Thank you, we greatly appreciate it, but please. Let us help you in your struggles here. You need the support." Garnet offered. 

"We cannot force you, but to offer your aid to us is most generous." Optimus thanked.

"Bulkhead to base, we've got con activity."

"Time to prove you mettle," Arcee grinned. 

Chapter Text

Ratchet groundbridged Optimus, Arcee, Smokescreen, and the gems to a grassland area nestled between mountains and forest. They could hear the whining of mining equipment nearby. Optimus silently guided then to a valley opening in the mountain where vehicons were mining the cliffs inside.

"We haven't all day folks! That artifact is here somewhere."

"Knockout." Smokscreen hissed.

"Tall and scary too."

Arcee pointed to the far end of the valley where Soundwave was stood observing the vehicons.

"Soundwave, never leaves the Nemesis! This must be big. He'd only come if he thought the relic was more important that the rest." Smokscreen said.

"What relics?" Pearl enquired.

"Cybertronian relics were launched to Earth from Iacon in the late stages of the war to keep them away from the Decepticons as they invaded the city." Optimus explained.

"Sir! We have something!"

Knockout and Soundwave walked over to a group of vehicons stood around a pile of rubble they had pulled from the cliff. A grey storage box was lay on top. Soundwave picked it up, removed the lid and reached in with a tendril. 

"He's spooky." Amethyst shuddered.

He pulled a small object from the box, looking at it with interest. 

"That's not possible." Pearl gasped.

The object was a combination of shattered gem shards much larger than their gems. 

"Is it made of splinters of gems removed from your kind? What use is that?" Arcee asked.

"If a gem is injured, their humanoid form returns to their gem. If the gem is shattered, they cannot regenerate. Yellow diamond made powerful fusions using gem shards to create clusters. They're unstoppable forces, some were big enough to wipe out entire planets!"

"How much of a threat will it be us?"

"Based on the size if that one, not very big Optimus. That could counter our smaller fusions, but not Alexandrite. However, if it absorbs our shattered gems, it could become a very powerful bomb." 

"Um. Guys?" 

Amethyst sounded scared.

"What?" Pearl hissed.

She pointed to the group still observing the gem Soundwave was holding. Except for Soundwave. He was looking at them. 

"Scrap." Arcee cursed, readying her guns.

Soundwave detached laserbeak from his chassis, which caught the attention of the other cons. The minicons hurtled towards them firing down on their cover. Vehicons had seen them now and were firing too. Both sides were now shooting at the other from behind cover. 

"Don't hit the gem! If it activates, we're screwed!" Pearl shouted.

But it was too late. A stray blast ricochet off a vehicon and knocked the gem from Soundwaves tentril. It shimmered before multiple glowing limbs started to emerge from the gem shards. Vehicons hadn't noticed but Soundwave watched it with intrigue. The limbs grew and grew until the glowing faded to reveal a large mutated form with limbs and eyes everywhere. The gem was now embedded in its chest. It roared, swiping at vehicons and throwing their frames around.

"What the! Soundwave! What did you do?!" Knockout stared at the creature in horror, "that is NOT cybertronian. I suggest we ditch it with the Autobots."

Soundwave nodded and the two of them fell back. 

"Vehicons! Retreat!"

The decepticon forces ran towards a groundbridge than opened on the other side of the valley, Soundwave calmly walking as bots ran past him. 

"We need to destroy it!" Garnet called.

The three gems came together while the autobots fired at the creature. Smokescreen shuddered as it inched closer, not taking damage, when suddenly, he saw a bright glow in the corner of his optics and long legs jumped past him. Alexandrite went barreling towards the cluster gem, pulling two whips from the gem in her chest, and forming gauntlets on two of her hands. The two weapons fused to form two flails which she span round and round before hurling the fisted gauntlet ends at the clusters gem. Shards broke off, and limbs glowed and melted away. Alexandrite picked up crystal shards as they broke off. The bots had stopped firing now, watching the scene before them in awe. Soundwave was stood just before the groundbridge, watching with his head tilted in interest. Soon enough, the gem had been shattered into shards that Alexandrite gripped in four of her six hands. She glowed and shrank, revealing the three gems, who stood together in the centre of the valley. They looked sadly at the shards in their hands and formed bubbles around them. Soundwave turned to walk through the groundbridge. He had seen enough. Time to report this new threat. The bots approached the gems still speechless. 

"What was that?" Smokscreen gawked.

"Alexandrite." Pearl sighed, still looking at the bubbled gem shards floating above them.

"What did you do to them?" Arcee asked quietly.

"We bubbled them," Garnet said, "they are separate now, and won't ever reform that monstrosity."

"What's the most about of gems that can fuse?" Smokscreen asked, still gawking.

"The most I've seen is Fluorite. She is a fusion of 6 gems." Garnet said.

"Is she that big?"

"No. Nobel gems make up bigger fusions. The reason obsidian is so much bigger than Alexandrite is because Stevens gem is a diamond."

"What," Arcee gasped.

"Long story," Amethyst sighed.

"We need to return these shards to the temple." Pearl turned to optimus. "Can you bridge us to any coordinates?"

"Of course. Where ever you need to go."

Chapter Text

Hey guys just an update, I've decided not to continue writing this fic so it won't be updated after this. I've not got the time to keep so many fics going at once so I've decided to stop this one. Thank you so much for reading, bookmarking, and leaving kudos and it would be greatly appreciated if you could check out my other work and I might return to this to rewrite it at a later date.

Thanks for reading!

PB <3