Character arrivals could be a good subject to write about. But I was always under the impression that Bulkhead had joined Prime's crew before they arrived on Earth. Not sure why really. And I have actually posted these shorts on FF.net. Thanks for the high praise! Hey there, Epsilon. Thanks for the great comments! I do aim to keep characters 'in character' in my stories. And Peter Cullen's Prime voice is probably the strongest voice I have in my head! You're right about Prime being neither too lecturing nor too friendly. He's a commanding leader, but always underneath a compassionate and caring soul. Glad that I could nail the right Prime voice for you! Stay tuned! There'll be an update here next week!
These are great stories. I love the fact that they're relatively short yet they still have a lot of content in them, most especially in the dialogue. Keep it up. They almost make me want to take up writing again, honestly.
B_O.. I was reading over all the ideas posted for TFPrime episodes.. I would like to suggest that you go ahead with those that you posted..they will make excellent "Prime shorts" imho.
Do it! Do iiiiit! It's always nice to put burning idea down into words! Thank you, jazzmasta! Thanks for the encouragement, mpl! But if I ever got round to writing up any of my Prime ep. proposals, they'd definitely be too long to include in this series of shorts, unless I broke them up somehow into smaller segments (kinda like my "TFA: Glimpses" fic maybe, hmm...). Also, I wouldn't want to risk writing up ep. ideas that could potentially clash with future eps. from the show. I do like to try and fit my fics into continuity if possible.
Filling in the missing scene from the episode "Sick Mind" of how Optimus' Cybonic Plague infection was cured. And what were the Autobots' thoughts after Arcee and Bumblebee's return from the Nemesis? Note: 'cycle' equates to an hour. Healing Ratchet held up a vial of clear blue liquid, inspecting it. He gave the aqueous contents a swirl. "It's ready," he announced. He turned round to face his ailing leader laying quite still on the medical table, save for the steady rise and fall of his chest and a slight sluggish movement of his head. The other Autobots and their three human friends were looking on quietly, 'with bated breath' as the humans would say, praying that this would work. Ratchet prayed that this would work too. He approached Optimus' side with the vial containing the clear blue fluid. Optimus gazed up at him, nearly half of his face darkened by the spreading Cybonic plague infection, the light in his eyes flickering. "Just stay still, Optimus," Ratchet said calmly. "This should cure you." "Ratchet...don't...risk...infecting...yourself," Optimus weakly murmured. "Don't worry, Optimus. I won't come into contact with your energon," Ratchet reassured. Taking a narrow feeding tube from nearby, he attached one end to the top of the vial and the other end into Optimus' lower arm, inserting the tube underneath his armour plates into an energon vein within. Ratchet then hung the vial upside down from a tall rod and the clear blue fluid began slowly draining down the feeding tube into Optimus' arm. "Now just rest," Ratchet instructed his leader. "You should feel better soon." The Autobot medic then turned to face his watching company. "We should know within the cycle if the cure has worked," he informed. His gaze drifted sideways. "Let us pray that it does." "We've done everything we can," Arcee sighed, looking at Bumblebee beside her. Bumblebee made a low beep of agreement. Raf patted his ankle in a small gesture of comfort. "Bee, volunteering to go into Megatron's mind...that was a very brave thing you did," Arcee commented with a subtle smile. "Even I hesitated to do it." "Yes, Arcee and Bumblebee, you both took great risks to find the plague cure for Optimus aboard the Decepticon warship," Ratchet commended, "Bumblebee especially. I can't thank you both enough for that." Bumblebee beeped a reply at the Autobot medic. "He's right," Arcee agreed. "Don't forget you're the one that directed us there, Ratchet. We would never have been able to perform a cortical psychic patch without you. And if you hadn't stopped me, I could have eliminated Megatron before we extracted the formula for the cure from his mind. You had as much a role to play in our finding of the cure as we did." Ratchet turned and looked sombrely at Optimus. "Let us hope that all our efforts will not have been in vain then." There was a momentary pause as everyone silently watched Optimus' still form again, hoping for the best. "So...you managed to put Megatron out of commission for good this time?" Bulkhead asked Arcee. "Can't say for certain," Arcee replied with a stern expression. "I cut his life support line. Let's hope that did the trick." Ratchet glanced at Arcee as she said this. It seemed impossible that Megatron could have survived the space bridge explosion, but yet he had. Ratchet could only hypothesise that it was the dark energon within him that had saved him from total deactivation. But that perhaps mattered little now if Arcee's attempt at putting an end to Megatron's life had been successful. Ratchet wondered dully what Optimus would feel about Megatron's life being ended a second time at the hands of one of his Autobots. Their leader had mourned the passing of Megatron after the destruction of the space bridge. To find out that his arch-nemesis had survived the explosion only to be assassinated by another Autobot whilst in a vulnerable state may not have sat well with Optimus. It was...a dishonourable way of taking his life. Megatron had long desired to kill Optimus with his own hands. Would Optimus have preferred to give his once brother-in-arms an honourable and fair death by his own hands too, if he could not save his spark from darkness? Ratchet did not dwell on the difficult and complex notion. Optimus had known for a long time that Megatron's life, in all likelihood, had to end eventually, one way or another, whether by his actions, another's or by fate. It was always just a faint and unlikely hope within the Autobot leader that his former 'brother' would change. And he understood and accepted that the opportunities for and manner of his death could not be predicted or controlled. Ratchet's attention was diverted when Bumblebee suddenly seemed to freeze up. His whole body straightened and tensed and the circular optical mechanisms within his eyes rapidly shrunk into small dark circles. The others looked at him curiously too. "You okay, Bee?" Raf asked, looking up at him with a little concern. Bumblebee quickly shook his head, beeped once at Raf and held up a hand. Nothing. Ratchet raised an optic ridge at the yellow scout. "Let me do a quick physical check on you, Bumblebee," he requested. "We'll just make sure you haven't sustained any unseen damage from your mission." Ratchet gestured toward the blue neon-lit repair chamber. Bumblebee nodded and walked forward into the repair chamber. Ratchet followed after him and began running a scan on Bumblebee from the controls. He watched a monitor screen that brought up a hollow diagram of Bumblebee's body. "You seem to be just fine, Bumblebee," Ratchet reported after a few moments of studying his scan. "Everything's in perfect working order. No physical damage evident." Bumblebee walked out of the repair chamber. Bulkhead clapped a large hand on his shoulder. "Like I said before, Bumblebee's the best scout there is," the big green Autobot declared. "He can handle a little trip into Megatron's mind and the 'Con warship. No problem." Bumblebee gave Bulkhead a thumbs up, then he looked over at Optimus' prone form long and hard, internal mechanisms whirring abnormally. End.
You should do one where Megs finds out Starscream got Skyquake killed. In between Out of His Head and Shadowzone.
Wonderful "short" B_O!! I especially liked how you touched on the sensitive subject of Arcee shooting Megs while unconscious, wow, did we debate that one in the TFP forum.... but using Ratchet's musings to place some focus on how Optimus would have felt was a very nice touch. That was one thing I had said in that thread, Optimus would never have shot Megs while he was down, we can bet on that. I especially liked your ending of this story...I can "feel" Megatron's presence, his mind trying to take control over the "Scout's" mind.. focusing his attention and thoughts..watching Optimus, now down and helpless and wondering is he (Megs) will get his mind and body reunited and will he get the chance to take his once old friend but now his nemesis off line.
It is now your job to entertain me with these while we wait for the next episode of Prime. More! EDIT: I'd actually like to see you come up with some Prime shorts on the Decepticon side. It'd be interesting to see your take on them.
Thanks, folks! Arcee's willingness to take out Megatron whilst he was in a vulnerable state was one of the things that stood out most in the ep., so I felt it was worth addressing. I certainly think Optimus' feelings about killing Megatron would differ from Arcee's, tho' both would agree that it would have to happen at some point. I was just thinking about that actually... Anyway, next short will be taking a human perspective...
Yeah, but BOTH of them would be at the top of their game..it's the only honorable way to defeat your enemy.
B_O, you certainly know how to capture character moments and answering unanswered questions in the episodes. Your fan made deleted scenes make Transformers Prime all the more awsome and all the more special. Well done, B_O, I really appreciate your efforts. I look forward to more of your work. ^^
From the episode "Out of His Head". A look into the Decepticon attack on the Hawaiian Naval Observatory reported by Agent Fowler to the Autobots that resulted in the theft of a lens from a space telescope. Coming from the perspective of humans involved in the attack. Attack in Hawaii Hawaiian Naval Observatory. Dr. Hiroki Nakadai, an American-born Japanese astronomer, gazed at the stars in the night sky. They reflected in his glasses. "See any new alien worlds, Hiroki?" Dr. Nakadai swivelled round in his chair, turning away from his computer screen with the image of stars to face his speaker: a blonde-haired woman by the name of Dr. Sue Hayston, a British astronomer. "Not today, Sue," he chuckled. He picked up a flask from his desk, opened it and poured some steaming liquid into the cup-shaped flask cap. He took a sip of his home-prepared beverage. "Green tea again?" Dr. Hayston asked. "Yes." "You do like your green tea," Hayston commented with a smile. Nakadai raised his cup of steaming green tea. "We Japanese cannot survive without our green tea." Hayston walked over to join her Japanese colleague. "So how's that niece of yours in Nevada?" "Miko? She's fine," Nakadai replied, taking another sip of his green tea. "Seems to be enjoying staying in the States. Still into rock music and all that crazy teen stuff." "Is she studying for anything in particular?" "Can't tell. My brother always said she was a bit of a free spirit. More interested in looking for an adventure than in concentrating on her studies. He thought letting her study in America might satisfy some of her adventurous needs whilst also giving her a good Western education." "Think she might be interested in looking at stars like her uncle?" Hayston asked good-naturedly. Hiroki Nakadai put his cup of green tea down on his desk. "She'd probably like to be a rock star, not look at stars," he laughed. "Nah. Miko wouldn't have the patience to be looking into outer space at stars all day. Too much energy that girl." Hayston looked at the enhanced photograph of stars in the night sky on her Japanese colleague's computer screen. "You think we'll ever see their homeworld from here?" she suddenly asked. Nakadai raised an eyebrow at her. "You mean the robotic aliens here on Earth?" Hayston nodded. "I wouldn't bet on it," Nakadai sighed pessimistically. "Heck, we haven't even seen any of them never mind their home planet. The Government and military's got them under tight wraps. We hear about them, but see nothing." Nakadai's desk suddenly rattled. Vibrations rippled across his cup of green tea. Nakadai and Hayston looked at one another in alarm. "You felt that?" Hayston asked quickly. The floor beneath them rumbled. Objects shook. "An earthquake?" Nakadai wondered aloud. Something like the sound of distant thunder grew. The ground continued to rumble on and off. Then the sounds of very large and very heavy things seemed to approach from outside the observatory. Before the two astronomers realised what was happening, the circular ceiling of the observatory above them began to crack and crumble. There was the alarming sound of canon blasts hitting it from outside. "Sue, take cover!" Nakadai ordered. He dragged her down with him to the floor and they crawled under his work desk. Looking up, they watched in horror as a large hole was blown through the ceiling and a giant face that they would remember in their nightmares looked down into the observatory: a faceless face, the face of the Decepticon Soundwave. Long cables that seemed to have a life of their own slid down into the observatory and found their way toward the bottom of the observatory's giant space telescope. They proceeded to wrap around the telescope and began ripping it free of its attachment to the observatory. Nakadai and Hayston gasped from their hiding place. The huge, long structure of the space telescope was torn loose from the observatory walls and pulled out with shocking speed. In the exposed gap left by its absence, Nakadai and Hayston saw the full form of Soundwave, his tentacle-like cables drawing the telescope toward him. He proceeded to dig his long, sharp fingers into the top of the telescope and ripped out its largest lens. He seemed to inspect it for damage for a moment then tossed the rest of the telescope away. Then he transformed into a sleek spy plane and took off, carrying the large lens away with him attached to the underbelly of his plane mode. Other Decepticon drones followed him into the sky. When all was quiet again, Nakadai and Hayston emerged from underneath the desk. Shakily, they stood up and surveyed the damage around them. "Call Special Agent Fowler," Nakadai said quietly, "I think he'll want to know about this." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A few hours later. "It took the primary lens of the space telescope," Hayston informed, hugging herself. "It...had no face...just this...dark screen..." This last sentence came out as a quivering whisper. Nakadai, next to her, placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It was one of them, wasn't it?" Nakadai questioned. "One of those alien robots we've been told about." Opposite them, Special Agent William Fowler nodded, a severe expression on his face. "Yes. One of the bad ones. One of the 'Decepticons'." "How can you tell?" Nakadai asked critically. "The good ones, the 'Autobots', would never do something like this," Fowler stated. "They're fighting the Decepticons. They're on our side." "So where were they when that 'Decepticon' attacked the observatory?" Nakadai questioned accusatively. Fowler was silent for a moment. "They can't know everything that their enemies do and can't be everywhere that they go," he answered calmly. "Doctors Nakadai and Hayston, you've both just had quite a traumatic experience. Take time to rest and recover. Our medics will see to you both. And rest assured that we will track down the stolen space telescope lens." Two soldiers approached Nakadai and Hayston and led them away. Nakadai glanced over his shoulder at Fowler as he was taken away. Fowler watched him leaving with a furrowed brow. Another soldier came up beside Fowler. "Sir, the area has been shut down. We're covering up the damage from view," he reported. "Good. Keep things under control here," Fowler said, turning away. "I gotta make a call to Team Prime." End. I considered using a 'Dr. Fujiyama' in this one!
Maybe he should have! But I'm working on the assumption that these astronomers are with the military since they're in a 'naval' observatory. Hmm, I didn't think of him actually, but now that you mention him, I wish I had!
