Chapter Text
Galaxy remained on the train for what felt like hours until it finally stopped at the medical centre. She was lucky that very few bots got onto the train and did not sit on the seat she was on. Being cloaked had disadvantages, as she experienced the very first time she met Orion and D-16. So she was a lot more cautious this time, especially with the containment she had with her, which she had to expand her cloak again due to it being weaker than cloaking just her own body. So she was very lucky that no one had sat on her. She was more focused on finding her parents though. She was extremely worried about them as she knew Sentinel would be unhappy that Airachnid could not catch her.
So as soon as the train stopped, Galaxy got off at the medical centre. But she quickly realized that running through the medical centre was going to be a bad idea. It was busy with the racers coming into the medical centre to get check ups after the race. Some needed immediate medical attention, others had minor injuries and most only needed a check over. So potentially looking for Ratchet would be out of the question. Plus, Ratchet himself may not be the best bot to go to right now. He would have seen the race, and he would not be happy with Orion and D-16, and perhaps, would likely say something to his superiors about the reckless behaviour from the two mining bots.
With the medical centre very busy, Galaxy had to think about how to actually get through the medical centre. Orion and D-16 would not be on the high priority list, so they might be in a ward on their own. Which was good, in a way, since they wouldn’t be around other bots if she could find them on time. After all, she had no idea where they were, and the medical centre was huge. And, unfortunately, she hasn’t really paid attention to the floors and where to go the few times she has been here. And she was angry at herself for that, but there was nothing she could do about that now.
Galaxy watched and waited for about ten minutes before she slipped inside the medical centre. She clutched the containment close to her tightly as she avoided every bot that was moving through the medical centre. She was glad that she wasn’t able to speak, as the temptation to call out for her parents would be strong. So she was glad that she couldn’t as risking her presence and location was not an option for Galaxy. She hoped that she could avoid being detected. After all, she didn’t know if Sentinel would be here or not.
Galaxy walked through the first, long hallway as she peered into each room that she would pass in the hopes of finding Orion and D-16. So far, she has not been successful. She did have to slip inside a few rooms just to avoid a few of the bots, and some of the carts being moved around by the medical staff as well. Galaxy at least was happy that the noise of the medical centre would cover the sound of her feet on the floor.
Where could they be? Are they being held in a room somewhere? Miners in a race would have made everyone curious about daddy and dadda. So…whether or not they will be in trouble will be interesting. Especially given they did cause Darkwing to crash, so I bet he is going to angry.
And Galaxy didn’t not have to wonder as she heard the familiar huffing and puffing from Darkwing in a nearby room and she almost ducked to hide, only to realize he was being seen by a medic. “I can’t believe those idiot glitches managed to knock me over! And they almost won too! Argh! Hey, I need my arm to keep those idiots in line in the mines!”
“Sorry, Darkwing, but you are just moving them about. So please keep still.”
Galaxy smirked as she found this amusing. “Argh, fine, fine…I just hope you won’t take too long, doc. I need to go give those two idiots a piece of my mind! And I am going to make sure they will be punished, and I think removing that brat from them will be a good start.” Galaxy tensed with a grimace as she listened to Darkwing before she walked by the door. “Especially since I’ve been told to see if those two idiots will end up failing as parents. And guess what? They did! They left that sparkling alone at home! How stupid was that?!”
At least Darkwing and I can kind of agree on one thing. But I still don’t like him.
Galaxy walked down the hallway for another few minutes before she made a right and checked some more rooms as she walked by them. Still there was no sign of Orion or D-16. Galaxy soon found some stairs and walked up to the next floor to keep going through the hallways to try and find her parents. It really was turning into a maze at this point now, and Galaxy was irritated. Mostly because she had no idea if she would actually miss her parents with all this time looking for them.
After going up to the next floor with no luck, Galaxy went back down the previous two floors to go down to the next floor, hoping to find her parents. However, Galaxy was shocked to find Darkwing stomping through the hallway. It seemed his visit to a medic was done, and he was ready to fight the miners. And she covered her mouth with her hand, whimpering with worry, but Darkwing knew where they were, so she had to follow him unfortunately.
Darkwing was muttering to himself and Galaxy could not hear him. But she followed him closely as she hoped that he would lead her to her parents. Maybe he won’t hurt them since they’re in the medical centre, but...she wasn’t sure. Darkwing didn’t respect the miners and he never cared about them. He only cared about his job and himself, so his ego was the main thing that Orion and D-16 hurt, and he wasn’t letting it go.
As Galaxy followed, she almost let out a shriek when a familiar bot rounded the corner with a smile. “Ah, Darkwing! Just who I was looking for.” Galaxy scurried into a nearby room, almost knocking over a cart and causing the tools to shift loudly. Luckily, the bots didn’t notice. At least, that is what Galaxy thought. “That was...a very interesting race, huh?”
Darkwing himself was shocked as he stopped in his tracks. “Sentinel Prime, I wasn’t expecting to see you here, sir.” Galaxy wasn’t expecting to hear the most respectful tone she has ever heard from Darkwing. However, as Galaxy hid inside the nearby room behind a desk, despite being cloaked, a shadow loomed through the doorway and her spark was pulsing wildly within her chassis. “Airachnid? Is something the matter?”
Galaxy tensed as she did not expect Airachnid to be here too, but it seemed that the bot was very quick. Which was not good at all. “Hmmm...I saw movement...something hit that medical cart.” Galaxy tensed as she hugged the containment against her chassis with her knees pressing against it. She didn’t want to look up in case Airachnid was looking right at her. It took another moment before Airachnid sighed loudly. “Hmm...it was nothing. You must have hit the cart, Darkwing.” The shadow moved away from the doorway, giving Galaxy a moment of relief. “A minor distraction is not so bad, but still irritating.”
“Um...” Darkwing knew that he did not hit the cart, so he wasn’t sure how to respond. But he was also not in a position to argue, so Darkwing seemed to overlook it for the moment to speak to Sentinel. “Sentinel, I am not sure what you wanted to talk to me about, but I am definitely unhappy about the race. Did you need me to say anything about it or...”
“I am not really searching for opinions on the race itself, Darkwing. I know everyone who was in and watching the race was shocked that a couple of miners dared to jump into the race. Though it was quite entertaining, I must admit.” Darkwing huffed a little as he disagreed, even though he did also understand why some would feel that way. Sentinel smiled as he understood the bot’s frustration. “But…I will be honest, if it were different miners, it might not be so bad. However, these two are parents to a sparkling. And therefore, have to follow the rules in place of caring for a sparkling, and well, leaving a sparkling alone is not so good.” Galaxy tightened her jaw as she listened, not liking where this was leading to.
Darkwing nodded in agreement. “This would be the stupidest thing those two have done. But I will say that D-16 probably was dragged into it. It is Orion Pax who is the biggest idiot out of the two. He likes to venture into the archives often.”
“Oh, does he, huh?” Sentinel chuckled a little as he seemed happy by this. “Well, I guess that means Orion might know a little too much.” Galaxy felt tears welling in her optics as she listened. “Huh, though it is nice to know that. Even though D-16 likely would have been the one to care for Galaxy, he did kind of allow it by not stopping Orion from going to the archives.”
“Agreed, Sentinel. It makes them both foolish,” Airachnid chimed in with a slightly smug tone. “It makes this idea all the more reason to go through with.”
“Idea?” Darkwing was surprised as he glanced between Airachnid and Sentinel. “I assume I am somehow involved in the idea since you have come looking for me. How am I able to help you, Sentinel? I will be more than happy to beat those two senseless!”
Sentinel let out a light laugh. “No, unfortunately we are not going to do that.” Galaxy was relieved as she wouldn’t want her parents to get seriously injured from this. “In fact, we are going to do something else. After all, I need to remove Orion and D-16 out of my way.”
“Your way? I am not following, Sentinel. I know I received orders to keep a closer eye on them and observe Galaxy for odd behaviours, but I haven’t fully understood the reason.” Oh, Darkwing did not know who Galaxy really was. He acted like it to try and get a response from her. Galaxy nodded a little to herself as that now made sense. “Is it too bold for my to ask the reason why, Sentinel?”
“Not at all, Darkwing. Since Orion and D-16 made a fool of themselves, and have revoked any guardianship over their sparkling according to our laws…” Darkwing laughed as hearing that Orion and D-16 were legally no longer Galaxy’s parents was amusing to him. But he didn’t laugh long as Sentinel continued explaining things to Darkwing. “I think it is fair to inform you that Galaxy is not exactly a normal bot.”
“You mean, more unusual over the fact that she can’t talk and her t-cog is not in her chassis like the rest of us?” Sentinel nodded affirmatively and Darkwing huffed. “I am surprised you never mentioned this earlier, Sentinel.”
“At the time, I was not certain about Galaxy. But now I know. Her fulled name is Ignited Galaxy, and she happens to be the daughter of the late Comet Hammer and Solarian, great draconic bots of their time, but were unable to get contained enough for me to get any control of them.” Darkwing was completely silent on this as he was shocked. “Oranos was able to create some kind of stasis pod for the sparkling, and they hid it somewhere. And Galaxy, technically, should be much older than she is now. But the stasis pod slowed her growth a lot. Now I know who she is, I need to ensure things are removed. You were able to remove Elita, which I am grateful for, even though she wasn’t as much of an issue as the other two.”
“I had no idea.” Darkwing was almost speechless from Sentinel’s explanation. “So she’s a dragon?” Sentinel nodded. “But…how? She’s a bot, not a dragon. Can they transform?”
“While there’s no evidence that they can, and no matter how many times I ask the three, now four, dragons to transform, they don’t seem to understand or know the request I am asking of them.” Galaxy found that funny as she knew that all draconic bots can transform, it just has not really been necessary to do so. “I believe that it is possible that they can. We have found that the draconic bots we have here have t-cogs, so it stands to reason that they can transform. It is just not something they do regularly like us.” Darkwing hummed as that seemed to make sense. “Regardless of that, Galaxy is still a draconic bot. And she has the CNA of a long past draconic bot with power that would terrify the entire city, and I want that power to protect us from the Quintessons.” Galaxy grimaced, knowing that was a lie from Sentinel. “And since I have two troublesome miners in the way, Airachnid and I have come up with a solution to get rid of them.”
“Oh…” Darkwing laughed as he rubbed his hands together. “So beating them is not the plan, but terminating…”
“Oh, no, Primus, no!” Sentinel chuckled softly with a shake of his head. “While I had considered it, it would look bad for me. So we have another idea.”
Darkwing could not help but grumble a little from disappointment. “I understand, Sentinel. How may I help with this plan?”
Sentinel hummed and Galaxy was listening intently as she wanted to know for herself. “It is rather simple. I will be going to speak to Orion and D-16 myself shortly, and give them a pep talk so to speak.” Darkwing seemed surprised as he grumbled again and was about to respond. “Now, now, I am only doing it to ensure that they still view me as the best thing of Cybertron. After all, they clearly wanted me to be impressed with their stunt in the race today, so…I figure, why not play into that?”
“Errmm, okay, I guess that seems like a plan.”
“Hmmph, it is. Come on, Darkwing, you keep up with your processor. Relax it from all that anger for a moment and think.” Galaxy almost giggled as hearing Sentinel tell Darkwing to focus was kind of funny. “Now, I want to make Orion and D-16 think that they are some sort of inspiration to the other miners, which they kind of are since they loved seeing one of their own in the race, but I will be making them believe things that aren’t necessarily true. Especially when I send them to one of my personal service facilities… at sub-level fifty of course.”
Wait, what? No! Isn’t that where they send trash and stuff? And bots that have done terrible things?! Or…bots that know too much…scrap!
“Sub-level fifty? But…isn’t that where that…glitch is? You know, the one who is all talk and no brains?” Sentinel nodded and Darkwing could not help but laugh. “Ha! Talk about a punishment! They will be driven so mad by him, maybe they will all rip each other apart. Great idea, Sentinel! But I fail to see how I will play into that…”
“That’s easy, Darkwing. You will come in after I’ve left, and you will personally escort them to sub-level fifty. How does that sound to you?”
Darkwing chuckled deviously as he rubbed his hands together. “Oh! I love it, Sentinel! Thank you, sir! Being the one to personally escort those idiots to their new home will be an honor. I cannot wait!”
Sentinel chuckled softly as he turned and began walking down the hallway. “Good. But you need to be a little patient for a moment, Darkwing. I need to now go and speak to these heroes. Airachnid…” Galaxy stood up slowly, peering over to the table as she could hear the bots walking away and ran over to the door to peer out, looking down to make sure she knew where they were going. “If you wouldn’t mind going ahead and making sure those two aren’t hiding a little sparkling in there at all, that would be great.”
Airachnid nodded as she walked ahead and extended her spiny legs from her back to walk ahead. “With pleasure, Sentinel Prime. If the sparkling is smart, she would have come here and maybe use her nose to find her way to them.”
Scrap! Airachnid is right, I should have tried looking for their scent. Ugh…sometimes I forget my draconic abilities, I’ve been living like a bot for so long. Not that it matters, it’s good that I am not with them. But…sub-level fifty…there are only specific chutes, I think, that go down that far. Hopefully I can follow them somehow.
Galaxy stepped out of the room cautiously, while avoiding the cart to prevent them from noticing, and followed Sentinel, Darkwing and Airachnid down the hallway. She at least knew they would lead her to where her parents were right now, so it was a good thing. But it was bad since they had another plan for them right now. And Galaxy did not even know if she would be able to follow, since going down to sub-level fifty was a restricted access too, and while there were trash chutes that went down to it, and she could fit in them, she wouldn’t know where to look.
The three bots ahead of her made a right into another hallway before she heard Sentinel tell Darkwing to hang back as they were nearing the room. Galaxy almost ran over to where the room was, but she managed to keep herself calm enough as she continued following. When she peered around the corner of the hallway the bots had turned into, Darkwing was pacing impatiently as Airachnid and Sentinel walked ahead. Darkwing really wanted to get rid of Orion and D-16, but Galaxy at least had a bit of comfort that he would have to wait.
She grimaced as she walked forward, wanting to get by Darkwing so she could actually listen on what Sentinel would say to Orion and D-16. Especially as she saw Airachnid walk into a room ahead, and there was a room across from it that she could hide in. Galaxy walked a little faster so she could duck into the other room before Airachnid would leave the room to give room for Sentinel. Once she was hiding in the room, Galaxy was relieved and she listened intently.
She heard Airachnid walking backwards before she spoke. “It’s clear.” Airachnid sounded disappointed as Airachnid would not have seen Galaxy in there, or that Orion and D-16 knew where she was.
Galaxy shivered as she listened to Sentinel walking into the ward, with Orion and D gasping in shock as they did not expect to see him. “Orion Pax, D-16…” Galaxy shivered again as Sentinel addressed the two bots. “What you two did today was one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen.”
“Sir, this was all my idea and we’re so sorry…” Poor Orion, trying to stick up for D, as it was Orion’s idea in the first place, and Galaxy felt helpless right now.
“I loved it!”
Sentinel’s sudden exclamation was a surprise to Orion and D, as they both thought he would be angry. “You did?”
“How could anyone not love it?” Sentinel sat down, smiling at the two bots as they too sat down. “You gave my best racers a real run for their money.”
“So…we’re not getting demoted?” D-16 asked nervously.
“Demoted?” Sentinel stared at D before he began laughing. A laugh that sounded forced and fake as Sentinel did his best to sound genuinely amused, while Orion and D laugh awkwardly and Airachnid also joined in, though Airachnid wasn’t hiding that she was forcing a fake laugh.
Dadda…if only you knew how demoted you’ve become now…ugh…I feel so bad!
“The fact of the matter is we’re halfway into the first shift since the race ended and that mining crew has already reached one hundred fifty percent quota. You inspired them to work harder!” Galaxy grimaced as she knew that wasn’t really a good thing. “And, I have no doubt, you inspired your daughter to be the best miner when she finally gets older.”
Sentinel shook D-16’s hand while D remained speechless with a smile on his face. Orion, though, was happy, but he spoke to Sentinel. “Sentinel Prime, sir, we joined the race to show everyone our potential.” Orion extended his hand to shake Sentinel’s hand. “We did it to also show to our daughter that we can do more than just mine…”
“Outstanding!” Sentinel interrupted Orion with fake enthusiasm, with a hint of irritation at Orion’s response. “I love a bot that can think for himself. Perhaps you two could tour the mines, speak to your brethren and help them see their potential.”
Orion chuckled in disbelief at Sentinel’s suggestion. “Wow! Okay, great! That sounds incredible! I admit I was a little worried we would be in trouble…”
“Well, you did leave a sparkling unattended in your living quarters…” Orion and D-16 were immediately worried a little, but Sentinel kept his reassuring tone. “But given what you two did, I can overlook that for you. After all, you needed to do something to inspire her, huh?”
Orion nodded in agreement. “Yes, we did. And I would love to…”
“Sir!” Airachnid interrupted bluntly. “It’s time.”
“Ah, yes!” Sentinel glanced back with a forced smile as he acknowledged Airachnid before looking back at the two miners. “I’m sorry, friends, we’re preparing our next travel to the surface. And I have a feeling that this time, we might find something worth while.” Orion’s expression lit up as he assumed Sentinel felt as though he will find the Matrix, not realizing that Sentinel was talking about Galaxy. “But in the meantime, I’ve got a treat for you. Hang tight.” Orion and D glance at each other excitedly as Sentinel looked back at Airachnid. “Airachnid, have someone escort these heroes to my personal service facilities. And ensure that their daughter is cared for by one of our top caretakers from the temple. Best care in Iacon.” Sentinel stood up, smug as he smiled at the two bots. Sentinel backed out of the room, still forcing that smile. “Until next time, legends!”
Sentinel walked backwards away from the ward with Airachnid following before Sentinel turned around and his smile faded as he shook his head. Galaxy could hear with the huff from Sentinel that he was glad that was over and they walk down the hallway, knowing that they were going to leave. But Galaxy peered out of the doorway, tempted to run over to the ward to her parents, but she quickly realized that Sentinel and Airachnid were too close.
“Darkwing…” Sentinel spoke quietly as he glanced at the bot while walking by him. “You know what to do. Escort them for me…”
“As you wish.” Darkwing chuckled as he stomped towards the room.
“Before we leave, Sentinel, I should mention that I gathered up all the figurines that was in their home.” Sentinel looked at Airachnid in surprise. “I left them all in a box by the chute to sub-level fifty. Shall I dispose of them? Or should I wait a little bit until Darkwing sends them down there so that the gravity of their situation becomes a reality.”
Sentinel smiled deviously as he nodded slowly. “Oh, that is a bit too evil. But I love it. I think that is a good idea. Care to show me where you push that stash?” Airachnid nodded and began leading Sentinel.
Galaxy widened her optics as she glanced over at Darkwing as he stomped into the ward. “Ugh! Miners!”
“Hiii…Darkwing…” D-16 acknowledged the bot nervously as the two bots were nervously. Darkwing stomped towards them and bot miners yelp in shock. “OW! Hey! What are you…no, no! Wait, where are you taking us?!”
“Let us go!” Orion shouted desperately as Galaxy whimpered softly as Darkwing stomped out of the room, hauling Orion and D-16 in his hands as he held bot by the back of their necks, holding them up from the ground and made a left to stomp down the hallway, the opposite direction from Airachnid and Sentinel. “Wait! Sentinel! You don’t understand, Sentinel Prime just…”
“Shut up, glitch! You are coming with me!”
Galaxy stared down the hallway as she wanted to follow, but she looked back down the way Airachnid and Sentinel had gone and she ran down the hallway to follow them. She knew that where Darkwing was going would be restricted, so she could not follow. But a trash chute was easy access. And it would be a much easier and faster way to get down to sub-level fifty then by following Darkwing. But the downside was that Galaxy would have to slow her fall somehow, and she couldn’t fly right now.
Galaxy slowed from running as she followed Airachnid and Sentinel down a few floors until they reached the trash room, where there were multiple trash chutes. Galaxy slipped inside and hid behind a cart to see Airachnid had brought her toy box here, which was covered in the blue dust that had been used to try and find her, and she opened it to show Sentinel all the figurines inside, including what was in the berth.
At the very top of the pile, was the decapitated, crack, Sentinel figure. Sentinel grabbed it and looked at it before he chuckled. “Wow, I can tell that Galaxy took her anger out on the wrong thing.” He chuckled before casually tossing the figure into the chute. He looked at the draconic bot figurines and shook his head. “Well, all these dragon figures, and no one realized the reason why Galaxy liked these a lot.”
Airachnid hummed in amusement. “Clearly, Orion Pax and D-16 are not bright. They could have died in that race, which would have made things a lot easier. A grieving sparkling would be easier to find.”
“True, it would have made things easier. But it does not matter.” Sentiel picked up the Zeta Prime and Megatronus Prime figurines, huffing as he smirked at them. “Too bad these fools couldn’t stop me. And now, Ignited Galaxy will be mine.” He tossed the figures into the chute. “I do wonder how much Galaxy has told them.”
Airachnid shrugged, throwing several more figurines into the chute. “No idea, Sentinel. But there is a chance she has tried to tell them something, but you have made your version of the truth so believable, that even they would have a hard time believing her. Even Orion, despite his excursions to the archives. Which, by the way, I have ensured that no one will be able to access ever again. So we will have no more rogue miners.”
Sentinel was pleased about that. “Yes, I think you’re right. D-16 was staring at me with such admiration, that I wanted to laugh in that idiot’s face. But that does not matter.” He turned away as he got bored. “Pour the rest out now, Airachnid. I think we should leave and scour through the city in order to find that sparkling. She will be here somewhere. She cannot cloak herself forward.”
Airachnid nodded as she picked up the toy box and tilted it, pouring everything in it into the chute before breaking the lid off to put the box and the lid in separately as an added measure. She brushed off some of the blue powder from her hands and followed Sentinel out of the trash room. Galaxy remained still in case that Airachnid would see her, but the two bots finally left and the door closed behind the bots.
Galaxy sighed in relief as she stepped around the cart carefully before running over to the chute that Airachnid and Sentinel through the figurines into. She looked at the numbers on each chute to make sure it was the right one, as she luckily could read numbers. And it was the right one. She dropped her cloak and she shook her head, uncloaking the containment now that she was alone. She glanced back at the door briefly as she worried that Sentinel and Airachnid would come back, but luckily they did not. She looked back at the chute and peered into it with a grimace at how long way down it was.
Ugh…well…this is the only way to get to them…hopefully. And this is probably going to hurt…daddy, dadda, I hope you can catch me. I’m coming down. But I hope that whoever is also down there with you will be nice…I’m kind of nervous about that now. Oh well, this is now or never.
Pulling herself into the chute, Galaxy shrieked as she almost lost her grip on the containment, which caused her to slip forward and Galaxy couldn’t help but scream as she fell down the long, deep, dark tunnel. And she closed her optics, clutching the containment against her chassis as she was not sure how deep it was, although she was met with a little bit of cushioning as the chute curved a little before dipping straight down again, and Galaxy had no idea how far it was.