CHAPTER TWELVE

THE THIRD CHOICE

SUNBLAZER

When Rian told me that she saw no reason that I could not be an Autobot, gave me her reasons, and asked me to consider it, I dared for a moment to hope, to believe that it could be true. But then I thought that it was too good to be true, too much to hope for, somehow I had messed up so bad that the Autobot route was closed to me. I opened my mouth to say so, but then another voice from the door spoke up.

It was the medical Autobot, Ratchet.

How long he had been standing there, listening to the conversation between Rian and I, I could not say. Judging by the way Rian jumped when he spoke, she had been as oblivious to his presence as I had been.

As he reassured me that he believed I was who and what I said I was, and why, he wandered over to drop a comforting hand on my shoulder. It was not a patronising or dismissive touch, rather that of almost an equal, or a comrade in arms.

"Sunblazer, I am here in a more official capacity than your sibling, but I am here to make the same offer that she is making. If it is what you want, we would be happy for you to join us Autobots. I have seen and heard your new outlook on other forms of life, how you now understand how fragile some of them can be, and how precious they all are. Although we do end up fighting, Sunblazer, and people and other forms of life do still die, we do try to protect those innocents who unwittingly get caught up in our war." he explained.

Dropping the hand from my shoulder, he turned to look at me full on.

"If your choice is to decline, then we will respect your choice, for, as your sibling said, we believe that all sentient beings have the right to freedom, and that includes freedom of choice. Perhaps you tire of war, or are wary of siding with anyone after your bad experience with the Decepticons. However, we will still render you what assistance we can." He began pacing.

"You don't have to make an immediate decision, in fact we would rather that you gave it some thought. You said you joined the Decepticons without a full knowledge of their goals and beliefs, we wouldn't want you joining us out of gratitude, without having a chance to check first that it is the right choice for you. However, giving it thought will have to wait a while, as I still have many repairs to do, mostly on your legs. When you wake up, ask any questions of me that you wish."

He turned to my sibling.

"Rianbot, would you find something else that you can do? I need to continue mending your sibling, and I'm afraid that your presence would not aid this. I am sure one of the others would appreciate your aid in some project or other. If not, take the opportunity to recharge." Rian nodded her assent, and left.

"Rian…bot?" I queried. "When did her name change?" Ratchet smiled.

"Not long after she joined us. As she was so young, some of the older 'bots began using it as a term of affection. She didn't seem to mind and it stuck. Pretty much everyone calls her it now and again, and she doesn't seem to mind." He turned to look at my legs. "Now, I need to knock you out again, but the plan is, that when you revive, your legs will be functional again. Maybe then your sibling and I can give you the grand tour." He got out his microlaser again, bringing it towards the back of my neck, but I raised a hand to stop him.

"Wait!" I said. Turning off the microlaser, he looked at me quizzically. I pointed to my remaining red optic.

"My odd optics unsettle my sibling. Could you exchange this one for one to match the one you've given me?"

"I can, but is that what you want? Are you happy to have two blue optics? Is it what you want?" he asked.

"More than you can imagine." I said, relaxing. "They were blue before I joined the Decepticons. I want my old optic colour back."

"Then I am happy to do so." he said. He switched back on his microlaser, and when I gave no move or sound of dissent, he moved it again to the back of my neck, using two small blasts to send me back offline.

RIAN

It was back to the waiting, despite finding tasks to do and errands to run. In it's own way, this was more tense than when waiting to hear if Ratchet had saved her. For Sunblazer had been given the option to join the Autobots, but there was no guarantee that she would accept. If she stuck to her original plan, to strike out as a neutral, she would immediately be back in danger. To me, with vengeful Decepticons out there knowing that she still lived, it was suicidal. Had I found my sibling, only to lose her again, twice? First when she left the base, and later when the Decepticons killed her? For if she did as she said she was going to, there would be a time when we would get there too late, and we would find Sunblazer's shell, with her Spark gone forever. If she came with us, it was almost certain she would meet some of those same Decepticons again, but at least then she would have backup from us, her friends and family.

I was called to assist with some minor repair work, which took my mind off Sunblazer for a while.

SUNBLAZER

Once again I awoke, but this time I knew where I was. From my prone position, I could not see anyone, although my sensors told me that there was somebody nearby. It had to be either Rian or Ratchet, and it was too large a 'bot to be Rian.

"Ratchet?" I called. The big 'bot walked over, and it was Ratchet.

"How are you?" he asked. "Any pain? Any loss of sensation? Is everything functioning? As far as I can tell, I have repaired all the damage to your legs. They won't look pretty for a while, but they should function. I say they should, but we won't know until you try them out. Fancy a little walk?"

Carefully pushing myself to a sitting position-my repaired arm worked as well as it ever had-I swung my weld-marked, and still slightly dented, legs off the table. Putting them on the floor-and I had full feeling in both feet- I carefully put my whole weight on them.

They held.

Next, it was time to test moving around on them that needed addressing. Still very wary of falling, I held onto the table/bed I had been resting on as I took a few steps. Then Ratchet offered his arm as support to hang on to, if I would circle the room we were in.

One circuit of the room became four, as I grew more confident in the belief that my legs would still function. We found some minor glitches that ratchet repaired, but soon after I had the confidence to walk at a fairly normal pace unsupported. So I headed out to give Rian the good news, with Ratchet following right behind me.

RIAN

"Rian!"

The call jerked me to full awareness, for after aiding with some repairs, I had then put myself into recharge levels. The sound of my sibling's voice jerked me back to full awareness.

"Sunblazer!" I cried, getting to my feet. I watched as she walked towards me on legs that, a few hours ago, had looked like so much scrap metal.

"That's twice I owe Ratchet now." she said, her optics-now both a brilliant blue colour-settling on me.

"Well, Sunblazer, will you be all right if I leave you with your sibling now?" Ratchet asked. "I have work piling up, and I bet somebody will soon come in, having bashed themselves up good after taking a silly risk." His voice was harsh, but his lips had a tiny curl upwards at each corner. "I'm sure the pair of you have a lot to catch up on, so I'll leave you to it. Rian can give you the tour." His optics focused beyond us. "In fact, unless I'm mistaken, here comes somebody else who I'm sure can help." He gestured as we turned to see Bumblebee walking down the corridor towards us. Ratchet turned to leave.

"Wait, please!" said Sunblazer. Ratchet turned back quizzically at her call.

"I never thanked you for coming to help defend me from those Decepticons." she said. "Thank you very much."

"You are very welcome." he told her. "The best way you can thank me is to try and avoid getting shot up, or smashed up, or dented for as long as possible. I have enough work as it is." His name was called, and he scowled as he saw Prowl enter, carrying a severely limping Jazz. Ratchet growled.

"You again, Jazz? Which femme 'bot were you trying to impress this time, and what fool stunt went wrong, leaving your ego and your armour severely dented?" Jazz opened his mouth to speak, but Ratchet waved him quiet. "Just get him into the medical office." he told Prowl, and went to support Jazz's other side. They left, Ratchet's mutterings being audible after he had gone out of sight.

Sunblazer turned to face Bumblebee. "I owe you a big thank you too." she said, and gave the smaller 'bot a hug.

If Bumblebee could have coloured up like an organic, he would have done. "Hey, you're welcome," he managed to databurst. "Nice optics! I think that colour of optic suits you better."

"Thanks. It's good to know they suit me because they're staying that way." Sunblazer said.

"Come on." I said, as Bumblebee rested a friendly hand on Sunblazer's arm. "Let me and Bumblebee show you around."

SUNBLAZER

I took Ratchet's suggestion on board, thinking hard before making any decision on my allegiance. I made a total nuisance of myself, asking dozens of questions of as many 'bots. I thought long and hard about the pros and cons of the options that lay open to me.

At no time did I feel pressured into making a decision, and despite taking so long to make a choice, no-one pressured me to leave the Autobot base. Many 'bots laid themselves open to questions, and many to friendship (and some offered more, which I embarrassedly declined) although I got one or two hostile responses and some were still suspicious of me. However, most were accepting.

I am not a creature who leaves something that needs to be done undone, so in the end, I made my decision. A new red symbol, painted on with chip-proof paint, now decorates the chest plate that once bore a Decepticon logo

I became an Autobot.