Transformers
A World Transformed
A Matter of Survival

Optimus looked around, confused, as his systems and memory sorted themselves out, gradually beginning to assess the damage as his memory returned. The ship was barely lit, and debris was scattered around the room. The rocks poking through the walls told him, more than anything else, the true condition of the ship. Pushing himself off the repair table he found himself on, he looked for the door, or at least where it had been. He walked through it, and tried to make his way to the situation room, remembering the destruction of the bridge in the fight with Nemesis.

As he walked the corridors, he recognized the shattered hulls of some of his fellow Autobots. He mourned their losses as he wondered how many had survived. He hadn't seen any others since he's awakened, but he did see signs that other Autobots had been active recently among the debris that had once been an outpost on Cybertron.

Making his way into the situation room, he saw two other Autobots there, working on trying to get some systems online. Their body styles were both familiar and unfamiliar to him, and it took him a moment to identify them as Prowl and Jazz.

“It's bad, Prime,” Prowl said before Optimus could even ask for a damage report. "Ark is effectively destroyed. The main computer is barely functional, and there are a few emergency drones still active. As for casualties, it looks like most members of the crew are dead. There appear to be less than two dozen survivors, though Ratchet's trying to see if he can bring that number up.”

Optimus lowered his head in mourning for a moment, then nodded his acknowledgment of the report, such as it was. “How long were we offline?”

“Unknown. The computer can access some of the data in its memory banks, but any higher functionality has been destroyed. We can't even search the database to see what survived unless we look through it file by file.”

“At the moment, gravity is the only reason we even know which way is up,” Jazz said, effectively summing up the report.

* * *

Starscream looked over his body as he sat up on the repair table. He wasn't entirely displeased with the new design, but the fact that it had been done without his authorization angered him. Still, just by looking around the room, he knew there were more important matters to deal with.

As he stood to leave the room, Soundwave entered, flanked by Skywarp and Thundercracker. Though it took Starscream a moment to recognize them in their new forms, he didn't let any indication of that show as they approached. “I assume Megatron carried out his insane plan?”

Soundwave nodded confirmation. “Correct. Nemesis lies in ruins, buried. Most of the crew is dead and we have lost contact with Cybertron.”

“Or what's left of it,” Thundercracker added.

“Megatron?”

“Unknown.” Thundercracker replied. “We haven't seen him since we came back online.”

“Not that any of us particularly wanted to,” Skywarp said, his voice filled with anger at their missing leader.

Starscream walked out into the corridor, getting a better view of the damage. “Considering his actions caused all of this, I can't say I blame you.” Starscream stopped a moment to think, then said, “Thundercracker, you and Skywarp find out how many of our number can be revived. Soundwave, get me a damage report. I need to know what's working and what isn't before we can proceed.”

“What will you be doing?” Skywarp asked.

“I'm going to have a look around the ship for myself,” he replied. As the others headed off, he added quietly, “Maybe while I'm at it, I'll see if I can find out who authorized my redesign.”

* * *

Optimus reentered the repair bay, and saw Ratchet, also in a new body, checking on several other Autobots. “How's it going?” he asked, startling the medic.

“The initial estimates were right,” Ratchet replied sadly. “There are only eighteen survivors. The Q-Cores of the others were either destroyed or weren't able to achieve stasis lock and have degraded beyond their ability to function.”

Optimus nodded his understanding. He'd suspected as much from what he saw as he'd wandered the Ark. “How many of the survivors are online?”

“Only six. Huffer and Wheeljack came online a few cycles ago and are surveying the damage and trying to see what they might be able to repair. The rest are still being rebuilt.” Ratchet looked at Optimus' new design. “Would you mind transforming?”

“Why?”

“Your mobile command unit and Roller both survived, but they've not been modified yet. If I could get an idea of what you become now, I might be able to make the appropriate modifications and bring them back online.”

“That can wait.” Optimus said, though his relief at the news was obvious. “Since we might be the last Cybertronians alive, survival is the first order of business. Get the survivors online, technical experts and scouts first. Once we know what we need and where we can find it, we can move onto other matters.”

Ratchet nodded and went to work, redirecting the revival efforts to those who had highest priority.

* * *

Starscream, having finished his examination of the ship, entered the ruins of the bridge. Looking around at the useless equipment, he shook his head, wondering how he was going to lead the Decepticons out of the mess Megatron had gotten them into. Deciding it was best to run things from the repair bay for the moment, he turned to leave and saw Megatron standing in the door.

“So, you did survive,” Starscream said, not bothering to hide his contempt for his superior. “How unfortunate for us all.”

“I was thinking the same about you,” Megatron replied, speaking his first words since awakening.

Starscream chuckled bitterly. “I'm not the one who directed us into a suicidal ramming maneuver. If you'd listened to me, Nemesis would have returned to Cybertron and helped with the evacuation. For all we know, what few survivors are left aboard this wreck may be the last of the Decepticons.”

“Perhaps, but I doubt it. The evacuation was underway before we left, and our orbital cities would have rescued as many as they could.”

“Maybe so, but how many of our commanders were as unwilling as you to put the war on hold in order to ensure their survival? How fragmented are the survivors? Who's in command of what remains of the Decepticons?”

“I am!” Megatron snapped. “I'm the commander of the Decepticons, regardless of the condition of our forces.”

Starscream smiled in genuine amusement. “Megatron, are you even aware that we don't even know how long we've been offline?” he asked, his voice going from amused to infuriated as he spoke. “For all we know, they might have given up on searching for us by now, and that's assuming they even started searching in the first place.”

Megatron open his mouth to speak, only to have Starscream cut him off before he began. “For that matter, you can't even be sure you're still in command of the survivors of your blunder. I can tell you that none of the survivors I've spoken to hold any positive opinions of you at the moment. I guarantee you that my own opinions of you have also changed for the worse.” Starscream raised his left arm, aiming the gun attached to it at Megatron's head. “I could probably blast you right in front of all of them and not hear a single objection from anyone but you.”

“You so much as try it and you'll be vaporized before you can fire.” Megatron snapped.

“Negative,” came Soundwave's voice from behind Megatron, who turned around to find the communications specialist along with Skywarp and Thundercracker all aiming their weapons at him.

“You nearly killed us all with your leadership,” Skywarp snarled. “Starscream's right, we should kill you right now.”

“I never actually said that,” Starscream replied, lowering his own weapon. “I was merely emphasizing my point. We can't actually afford to kill him. We're going to need every Decepticon we can get if we're going to survive. Especially if any of the Autobots survived our leader's foolishness.”

* * *

As Wheeljack examined the wreckage of the ship, he grew more and more convinced they were in over their heads. Looking at Huffer, he saw what the other engineer had seen from the time he'd woken up. “I really don't see that we're going to be able to do very much with what we're left with. I'm surprised the drones were able to find enough salvageable material to revive us.”

Huffer nodded his agreement as they turned to head back to the situation room. “We're not much worse off than I expected, but you're right. We're not going to be able to do much without help, and with the luck we've had since leaving Cybertron, I'd bet the only other technical expert we've got is Ratchet.”

Wheeljack nodded. “For once, Huffer, I can't say you're being too pessimistic.” He fell silent trying to find the right words to convey just how worried he was, just how grim he found the situation, but was unsuccessful. Instead he just walked beside his friend as they went to rejoin the others who'd been reactivated.

* * *

Frenzy scowled as he saw Megatron enter the repair bay, followed by Soundwave and the surviving Seekers. “Which one of you decided he should be brought online?” he challenged as the larger Decepticons entered the room.

“That's irrelevant,” Megatron snapped. “I am online, and that's all that matters. What we have to do now is figure out how bad the situation is.”

“Well, it's certainly not good,” Thundercracker said, looking at Starscream as he spoke. “There are only ten of us remaining. Fully half of that number consists of Soundwave's Stealth Cassettes, like Frenzy here.”

Soundwave nodded. “Buzzsaw, Laserbeak and Ravage were never ejected before the crash, which contributed to their survival. As for Nemesis, its condition is even worse than it appears. The backlash from the destruction of our weapons, combined with the shock of impact with the Autobot vessel, appears to have triggered a chain reaction that destroyed the engine core. The main computer and other peripheral systems also suffered critical damage, and cannot be repaired without replacement parts we do not possess or technical experts who no longer function. Only a handful of terminals are functional, but without functional memory cores they only have access to what was in their local units at the time of the crash.”

Skywarp glared at Megatron. “Nice going, leader,” he snapped sarcastically. “I don't know about the Autobots, but you sure finished us off.” Looking at Starscream, he added, “Are you sure we really need him?”

Before Starscream could reply, Megatron slammed Skywarp into the wall and pinned him there. “I am your leader!” he snarled. “It is not your place to question my authority or usefulness. Only Starscream has the authority to try to replace me, and he's too much of a coward to do so.”

“Starscream's no more of a coward than you are, Megatron,” the black seeker snapped.

Before Megatron could say anything more, a high-pitched shriek echoed through the room, causing nearly everyone in the room to collapse to the floor in pain.

“Excellent work, Frenzy,” Starscream commented, walking back into the room he and Soundwave had vacated just a moment before. “If I may suggest to the rest of you, we need to focus on survival now, not recriminations.”

Megatron pushed himself up from the floor. “Indeed,” he groaned, forcing his thoughts to the matter at hand. “That means finding resources we can use for recovery. Soundwave, as soon as we find a way out, send Buzzsaw and Laserbeak to scout those out, then see what data is still accessible in the computers. The rest of you, start salvaging as much of the debris as possible.”

His orders given, Megatron turned and left the room, ignoring the scowls of the other Decepticons in the room.

* * *

Optimus looked at the small group of Autobots gathered in the ruins of the situation room. “How bad is it?”

Wheeljack shook his head. “The only way it could be worse is if none of us survived. We're not looking at a matter of repairs, we're looking at a matter of having to rebuild everything, and we've got nothing to work with. We can't even get into the equipment lockers for tools, so we're stuck with what the drones used to bring us back online and whatever we have built in.”

“Let me guess,” Ratchet said, “You may need me to double as a tool box.”

Huffer chuckled at that a moment. “Thanks for the offer. Unfortunately, without the materials to rebuild, even having tools won't help.”

“Indeed,” Optimus added. “How's the revival going?”

Ratchet shrugged. “Better than the recovery. I've decided to leave those who aren't necessary to the recovery efforts in stasis lock, but I'm continuing the repairs. I have gotten Hound, Bumblebee, Mirage and Gears online, however.”

Optimus accessed his memory, calling up the profiles on those four and nodded his understanding of Ratchet's choices. “Now, all we need is a way out of the ship.”

“Not a problem,” Wheeljack replied. “There appears to be a tunnel to the surface through the wreckage of the bridge. I don't know who cut it, but it's there.”

Optimus looked over their new forms and realized the planet had to be inhabited. “Jazz, Prowl, I want you to help Huffer and Wheeljack go through the database. Salvage whatever technical data you can find, and start developing a recovery plan. Ratchet, tell Bumblebee and the others to meet me outside the bridge in ten cycles, then get my command unit online. Use whatever schematics the drones used to rebuild me and adapt it to my new form.”

As the Autobots nodded and left to perform their assigned tasks, Optimus pondered the new realization that they were on an inhabited planet, and wondered, for the first time, how the Decepticons had fared in the crash.

* * *

Soundwave sat quietly and listened, easily locating Starscream and Megatron. After a moment, he shifted his attention to the other Decepticons, then stood and left the room. Moments later, he approached Starscream. “Shouldn't you be searching the terminals like Megatron ordered?” the second in command asked.

“Rumble and Frenzy are taking care of that. You and I have more important matters to discuss.”

“I'm assuming you mean Megatron.”

Soundwave nodded his confirmation. “This situation is unstable. Megatron is aware of the level of resentment against him, and his mental processes indicate he is unwilling to tolerate it.”

Starscream chuckled. “I don't know that he can really do much about it. It's the rare Decepticon that has mind control abilities, and Megatron's never been among them.”

“True, but he will not stand by and watch as his authority is challenged. As he pointed out, only you have the rank to do so.”

“What you're proposing is suicide. In case you haven't noticed, this ship, after a fashion, survived the crash. That means his singularity is still contained and he can access its power any time he chooses. If, as you say, the resentment is getting to him, pushing him would be a mistake that would not only be fatal for me, but perhaps for all of us.”

“Unlikely,” Soundwave replied. “Such a move would cripple him, taking his stasis generator offline. With his near-stasis shielding down, he'd be vulnerable to any attack. The combined firepower of all Decepticons would eliminate him.”

“Yes,” Starscream answered, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Leaving you in command, me as a pile of rusting debris, and the Decepticons even weaker than we are now. That's a brilliant plan.”

“Regardless, you should at least be keeping an eye on him, making certain he does not step out of line.”

Starscream shook his head, feeling mildly amused. “Your attempts at getting me to commit suicide are admirable, but futile. I could achieve the same goal by keeping the other Decepticons in line and out of Megatron's way. That course of action would be safer for all of us.” Starscream began to turn away, then stopped.

“Regardless, I was planning to keep an eye on everyone in order to prevent this disaster from getting any worse, and that includes you.” Starscream turned back. “So I wouldn't advise reporting this conversation, or your inevitable distortion of it, to Megatron. I can guarantee you it would not be to your benefit to do so.”

“Understood,” Soundwave replied in his monotone voice, quickly absorbing all the ways the other Decepticon meant that warning.

* * *

Optimus stood outside the tunnel, looking for the first time at the world they had crashed on. They appeared to be in a valley, surrounded by mountains, and not easily accessible. He hoped, at least for the moment, that appearances weren't deceiving in that regard, knowing from personal experience that things weren't always as they appeared. He stood there for several cycles, watching as the green at his feet stretched away into the distance, then faded to brown, then to white before giving way to the blue sky that was so different from the sky on Cybertron. He admired the simple beauty of the place, and lost himself in the moment, something he couldn't recall ever being able to do before.

Startled by an unexpected sound from behind, Optimus turned, reflexively reaching behind himself to draw his weapon, forgetting, for a moment, that he'd lost it on Cybertron and had never had the chance to pick up a replacement. Seeing that it was only the scouting party he'd ordered, he relaxed, forcing himself to remember that this wasn't their world, and Decepticons weren't likely going to be found behind every unknown corner.

Looking at the four Autobots assembled before him, he quickly placed the names with their new bodies, something that was slightly easier since he'd never worked with these four before. He only knew Hound better than any of the others because he'd been the one piloting Ark and had been on the bridge with him.

The smallest of the group stepped forward, smiled and said, “I'm sorry we disobeyed your order, but I don't see how coming to find you justifies you trying to shoot us.” Bumblebee shrugged, and added, “After all, you're the one who's late.”

Optimus nodded, and chuckled silently at the joke, nodded his agreement. After studying them for another moment, he began, “I don't know how much the four of you know about our current situation, but I can tell you it's grim. We don't have the resources necessary to begin any sort of recovery efforts. We're on a new world, one we know almost nothing about. What we do know, or at least suspect, is it's inhabited by a species with some level of technology. I need the four of you to scout out resources we can use, but I want you to do so without drawing attention to yourselves. Avoid interaction with the natives, at least until we know more about them.”

Optimus watched as the others processed this information, and their instructions. “Hound, since you're the only true scout we have, I want you and Bumblebee to share command on this mission. Instruct the others in what they need to know before you leave. I'll deploy my command center here as soon as Ratchet has finished rebuilding it, but until then, you'll all be on your own once you leave here. I also want you to keep an eye out for Decepticons. We don't know if they survived, but given that we did, it's a safe bet some of them did as well. Unless you hear from me before then, I want you to report back in 4 megacycles.”

His orders given, Optimus took one last look around, then headed back into the ship, leaving the others to do their jobs.

* * *

Soundwave accessed the video feed Ravage was sending, and saw what his cassette saw, the way out of the ship. Opening his chest compartment, he deployed Buzzsaw and Laserbeak, watching as they transformed into the new bird-like forms they'd been given by the repair drones. Reconfirming the orders they'd been given earlier, and adding some of his own, Soundwave sent them on their way, hoping they'd be able to find what they needed to allow the Decepticons to survive, preferably without Megatron.