Title: The Care And Raising of Perceptor (5/?)
Author: dreamerchaos
Rating: PG to PG-13.
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are owned by Hasbro.
Summary: The Autobots soon notice that Perceptor hasn't been seen for quite a while. And that his latest project appears to have malfunctioned… Sparkling!Perceptor and the mayhem that ensues.
Summary2: The Decepticons can not be kept away for too long…
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Kilk- 1.2 minutes
Breem- 8 min
Joor- 1 hour
Orn- 1 day
Meta-cycle- 13 months-1 year- 400 orns
Vorn- 83 years
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"Now see, Perceptor, isn't this a great view?" Beachcomber hovered around the sparkling, plumping up the thick bed of padding being used to make a nest for the sparkling to rest for their outdoor 'picnic'.
Perceptor trilled, clapping his hands in approval. Flopping down within the fluffy bedding, squirming to make a comfortable bundle to nestle upon.
"I'll take that as a 'yes'." Beachcomber chuckled at the microscope's antics.
Cliffjumper shook his head at the mech's fussing. Hound chuckled from the water's edge down by the lake.
"I can't believe the Hatchet let us take Perceptor on this excursion." The red minibot stated in no small amount of disbelief. "Can anyone remember how many times he's allowed Perceptor to even leave the perimeter of the Ark?"
"Know what? I can't believe we came all the way out here for this!" Brawn groused, waving an arm to indicate the slightly brackish water of the lake.
"Come on, Brawn." Beachcomber attempts to sooth the minibot's ire. "Isn't the structure amazing?" He indicated the pyramid structure in the distance at the farthest reaches of the lake.
"Yeah, fine. Now we know why they call it 'Pyramid Lake'." The minibot sighed.
"This place is fantastic." Hound grinned, immensely enjoying himself. "Just look at the species of birds around the lake."
"I know what that species is." Cliffjumper indicated in warning, pointing towards the rising cloud of birds that were currently swooping down towards the unwary Jeep.
"Huh?" Hound started, then yelped in surprise and then terror as the seagulls surrounded him. "AHH!" The Jeep flailed about helplessly, trying to cover his head from the pelting birds.
Brawn and Cliffjumper unenthusiastically tried to shoo the seagulls away from the helpless Jeep. They were immediately surrounded as well, the minibots disappearing beneath the cloud of avian attackers.
Beachcomber couldn't believe his optics. "Do you…need any help?" He inquired.
"GET DOWN HERE AND HELP US!" Brawn roared.
"Err…Right." Beachcomber hesitated.
"Percy. My little buddy." Beachcomber knelt down, looking the sparkling in the optic. "I need you to stay. Right. Here. 'Kay?"
"Kay!" Perceptor chirped. Watching the spectacle down by the lake-side with curious optics, but remaining seated.
Beachcomber trotted down towards the lake to see if he could provide any assistance. He hopped around the edge of the swirling mass of birds, diving in several times to unsuccessfully try to drag one of the mechs out of the fray.
Perceptor's little pedes drummed against the blanket surface, idly kicking as he sat and watched the spectacle as the larger bots only succeeded in irritating the mass of shrieking birds much further.
"Pssst!!"
The sparkling's audios pinged for his attention, catching the odd, unfamiliar sound. He chirped, questioning, head whipping left and right in inquiry.
"PSSSST!"
"Rrrr?" Perceptor chirred, turning and peering over his shoulder.
A strange red and black mech – not much larger than the sparkling, perhaps surpassing him by half a foot or more - bobbed out from behind a large boulder. Grinning and beckoning to the sparkling. "Hey!" He wheedled gamely, flipping his hand back and forth to gesture for the small microscope's attention.
Perceptor cocked his helm, awkwardly swinging around to observe the stranger, but still remaining seated in the safety of his comfortable nest.
The Cassette grinned, and ducked out of sight.
Perceptor trilled, frowning at the mech's disappearance.
When the mech popped out again from behind another boulder, a few steps closer, the sparkling trilled in surprise. Then excitement. Clapping his hands and he burbled at the mech's disappearance and quick reemergence.
Rumble hopped onto the top of the boulder, crouching down, hands and forearms hanging between his bent legs. "Wow. You shrunk, didn't you?" He spoke with no small amount of awe.
Perceptor mimicked the tilt of the Cassette's helm, much to the mech's amusement.
Rumble glanced over at the loud melee down at the lake. Snorting a small gust of laughter. "Wanna blow this joint, little mech?" He asked.
Perceptor chirped. Frowning at the question.
"Good answer!" Rumble bounced down from atop the boulder, landing upright effortlessly upon his pedes. He took several steps in the opposite direction of the lake. Stopping and then peering over his shoulder at the still seated sparkling. "You comin'?"
Perceptor clicks and trills, looking over his shoulder towards the mechs down by the lake. The Autobots not realizing the proximity of a small Decepticon spy within their midst. The little microscope biting his bottom lip in worry.
"Hey." Perceptor jolts, the Cassette suddenly crouched upon the edge of his nest of blankets. "You nervous? Is that it?"
Perceptor whined, fidgeting. "Bee…Blue…"
Rumble sighed, dismayed. "You are nervous. Okay…this won't be easy, then."
The Cassette stretched a hand forward, lacing his fingers with the sparkling's. "Come on. Let's go for a little walk, huh?" He frowned in afterthought. "Not that I know how far a little guy like you can actually walk, but hey, you get the idea."
The microscope let himself be coaxed and tugged onto his pedes. Little pedes dragging as he awkwardly shuffled with every one of Rumble's steps, the Cassette coaxing the tottering sparkling along. Leading the microscope out of sight.
-----
"Frenzy! Frenzy, where are ya!"
Frenzy scowled at his brother's incessant whining calls. "Keep your voice down before the Autoscum audios hear the sound of your shrieking." He groused. "You're lucky you made it back in time. Astrotrain said he'd only drop down once to pick us up within the next few kliks. You know that he wouldn't wait around for both of us."
"RRgh! Frenzy!!"
"Keep quiet!" Frenzy snapped in the direction of shuffling feet.
"Need a little bit of help here!"
Frenzy turned around. Red visor flaring in surprise. "What. Is. That?"
Rumble wheezed with exertion, arms looped around the waist of a…a sparkling?! The red and black Cassette lugging the limp microscope along, the sparkling nearly equal in weight to the Cassette's frame.
Perceptor blinked big, bright blue optics. Both hands clutching the band of arms surrounding his small waist, pedes dangling above the ground as he swung left and right with each lurch from the exhausted Cassette.
"He got tired a ways back." Rumble offered unhelpfully. Plopping onto a large, smooth rock, trying to regain a steady stream of breath in through his vents. "Owww. My arms are so fragging tired from carrying him. I think they're going to fall off." He whined.
"Rumble!" Frenzy snapped. Impatient with the disconnected train of thought from his fellow Cassette, the other mech for some unrecognizable reason not appearing affected by the smaller being grasped snugly within his arms. "What…Is that an Autobot? Why is he so small? And what are you doing with him in the first place?!"
"Shhh!" Rumble scowled at his brother. "Keep your voice down or you'll scare him!"
"I'll keep my voice down when you explain what the frag you think that you're doing?!"
Rumble opened his mouth to snap out a retort, but his visor suddenly tilted to look up towards the sky. "Uh oh." The Cassette gulped.
Frenzy halted the beginning of a fierce tirade. "W-what?"
"Astrotrain…" Rumble indicated the Decepticon shuttle circling their position, descending to land and allow the Cassettes aboard.
"Frag!" Frenzy nearly jumped out of his dermal plating. "How are we going to explain this?" He pointed an accusing finger at the quietly burbling sparkling.
"Wait. Wait, give me a klik to think-" Rumble pleads.
"Make it fast!"
"Uh. Right!" Rumble whipped his head left and right. "Right…Hide!" He ducked and took cover behind the rock he had been sitting upon.
"That's not going to help us in the long run!"
"Shhh! I'm strategizing!"
"You call hiding strategizing?! Great! What next! Tell Astrotrain to cover his optics and shut off his audios?"
"What are you doing?" Astrotrain landed smoothly, the shuttle's nose turned away from Frenzy. The metal doors slid open to allow the Cassette access to board. "And where is Rumble?! I'm not going to wait around for him!"
Frenzy hopped into the shuttle's large cabin, passing the crated cargo dotting the shuttle's walls, bouncing up and down on his pedes near the front cockpit. "Um…Well.." He mumbled, hands beating a nervous tempo upon the shuttle seats.
"What the-" Astrotrain shivered, rocking left and right and knocking the Cassette's hands away. "Keep your hands to yourself!" He barked snappishly. "Don't screw around near my inner circuitry!"
A hasty tempo of running feet interrupted the triple-changer's waspish tone. "All right, all right! I made it! Chill out already!"
"Finally!" Astrotrain swiftly sealed the cabin door. His engine began to power up, rolling the shuttle forward and into a turn to face the direction of the Decepticon base.
"He's not going to go unnoticed for long!" Frenzy groaned, noticing that Rumble was still lugging his heavy burden. Perceptor trilled softly, inciting Frenzy to wildly hush the sparkling before Astrotrain detected the unusual clicks and trills.
"Geez! Have a bit more faith in me, will ya!" Rumble groused sourly.
In Rumble's arms, Perceptor whined as the roar of the engines filled the shuttle interior. The pressure uncomfortable to the sparkling as the triple-changer took to the air. The microscope scrabbled helplessly at the binding arms around his waist, static hissing from his vocal processor due to heightened stress.
"Eh?" Astrotrain leveled his bulk as he successfully crested the correct altitude, flying steady and straight back to base. "What's that noise?"
"N-nothing!"
"Shh! Shh! Keep it down, little guy!"
Those assurances did nothing to ease their pilot's concern. "If you two are screwing around-"
Perceptor chirred, a loud squeal of distress escaping, left pede kicking out and smacking into the back of the pilot seat of the shuttle.
An undignified shriek of surprise and pain issued from the large shuttle. He arced to the right, wings banking as he tried to correct his flight pattern.
The rough motion tossed the three passengers forward. Frenzy broke Rumble's fall, his bulk trapped between the red and black Cassette and the shuttle's electric console. Perceptor bounced against Rumble's chassis, unhurt, the Cassette's arms slack around the sparkling, the mech whining about his scuffed aft end having skid across the floor of the shuttle.
Perceptor braced his hands upon the Cassette's shoulders, pushing his smaller frame up to peer closer at the bright array and flashes of buttons and levers of the console.
"No…" Frenzy pleads. "No!"
The microscope reaches forward and presses his palm down on the closest, large red button. Immediately the array of yellow lights parallel to the button display click off, fading into black.
Suddenly Astrotrain drops like a stone.
"AAAAHHH!" Frenzy screams in terror.
"We're going to fragging die!" Rumble panics.
-----
"…What is he doing?" Starscream scowled, arms folded across his cockpit. Watching the shuttle draw closer to the base's raised tower, drunkenly weaving and bobbing in the air.
"I have no idea." Blitzwing grabbed the microphone. Barking into the mouth piece over the communication tower's frequency, hailing the shuttle. "Astrotrain! What the frag are you doing! You're going to miss the landing platform!"
The shuttle nose-dived, and then dipped hard to the right. Over the frequency, Blitzwing's recognized the panicked voice of the other triple-changer. "Get him off! GetHimOff!!"
Blitwing almost knocked the aerial commander off his pedes when he broke from the communications room and into a full sprint, racing to reach the platform to meet the shuttle before he crashed straight into the tower.
"Suggestion: Follow." Soundwave left the room at a far more leisurely pace. Ignoring the sputtering seeker who was acidly promising retribution for the triple-changer's rude behavior.
Soundwave and Starscream arrive a klik or two behind Blitzwing, just stepping out onto the shielded partition of the landing platform with Astrotrain finally coming in to land.
The shuttle's landing was less than graceful, skidding several times before slamming onto his belly. Metal shrieked in fury as the shuttle slid, spinning in a half circle until the broad right side of the shuttle's cabin faced the standing Decepticons.
"Astrotrain!" Blitzwing cried out.
The shuttle's metal body rattled, shaking like a large dog under the terrible mercy of fleas. "GET…" The shuttle door flew open, literally ejecting his passengers from his cargo hold. "OUT!!"
The Cassettes yelped as they crashed helm over pedes, rolling to a stop near the telepath's pedes. "Fragger! That hurt!" Frenzy shook his fist at the seething shuttle.
Astrotrain swiftly took to his bipedal form, Blitzwing catching the triple-changer when his knees gave out. Violently trembling, equilibrium circuits and composure rattled. "Keep that…that thing away from me or I'll disassemble both your sorry afts!" Astrotrain swore.
Starscream lowered his optics. A double-take necessary as he refocused upon the 'thing' huddled within the shelter of Rumble's arms. "What. Is. That?" He demands.
Soundwave followed the seeker's optics. A twitch of surprise causing the telepath's shoulders to jump when his ruby visor took in the tiny intruder, the Decepticon's gaze met small, curious blue optics.
Rumble shrank beneath the questioning (Soundwave), scornful (Starscream) and furious (Astrotrain and Blitzwing) gazes. His arms tightened around the sparkling.
"Soooo…" He ducked his helm, peering up at the telepath sheepishly. "Can…Can we keep him?"