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wyntir_knightTitle: Being Human - Chapter 1
Fandom: Transformers, MCU
Characters/pairing: Prowl, Jazz, Onslaught, Starscream, Ensemble
Rating: T
Summary: The Autobots and the Decepticons have a tentative truce as they try to find their lost leaders. Their hope is to regain Cybertron. In reality they are about to stumble into something even larger than themselves.
Author's Note:For a long time now I've been working on a Transformers/MCU crossover AU. I've been fighting with it on and off for what feels like forever, but now it finally seems to be coalescing. I'm gonna post it here because I can ...
“Are you sure that they’re down there?” Starscream asked, not bothering to hide his disgust.
“We have been over this Starscream,” Prowl replied irritation creeping into his insufferable calm. “There is an eighty-seven point three nine two percent chance that what we are picking up is the remnants of Cybertronian technology, and of that there is an eighty-seven point nine eight two four percent chance that there is Cybertronian technology down there. Of that there is a sixty nine point four six two nine percent chance that either Optimus Prime or Megatron are there and a forty-eight-”
“All right!” Fine!” Starscream snapped. “We get it! You’ve crunched the data like the good little calculator drone that you are!”
Prowl’s doors and armour flared as he started to step forward to close in on the taller mech before immediately catching himself and relaxing.
“We have a limited window,” Prowl said, his doors back at a normal angle and his insufferably calm demeanor back in place. “For every rotation that we waste there is an increased chance that they humans will notice us. As we do not yet know if Shockwave has noticed this world we have no way of knowing if he has influence here. We need to move carefully within the windows presented to us.”
“All the more reason t’ let me an’ my team head down and have a looksee,” Jazz said with a casual shrug as he leaned against the wall of the deep crater they were hiding in.
“What are the chances that a mud ball infected with filthy organics is going to have anything of interest to anyone?” Starscream asked and then he immediately raised his hand to stave off Prowl’s response. “Don’t! Don’t you dare quote more numbers at me!”
Onslaught sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose wearily. This argument had been going on since they had reconnected on this desolate rock. Prowl wanted to keep them all to a tight schedule that only he understood and initiate an Infiltration Protocol. Jazz wanted to take a more indirect route and scout the planet out for a few rotations. And Starscream? Onslaught still wasn’t sure if he wanted to avoid this planet because it was infested with organics or if it was because he didn’t want to find Megatron. It was no secret that the Air Commander had a strange relationship with both Megatron and Shockwave, but it was unclear what the exact nature of that relationship was. One moment he was toeing the line like the ever-faithful servant and the next he was attempting a coup. Not that Onslaught could have blamed anyone for trying to overthrow Megatron. Not that she could have blamed anyone for trying to overthrow Megatron. The mech had once been an inspiration but it quickly became clear that he was unfit to rule and that Shockwave had been manipulating everyone and everything from the start.
The obedience chip in Onslaught’s head twinged out a warning. She and her team belonged to Megatron and Shockwave and no overt acts of rebellion would be tolerated. Even being here was taking a lot of careful planning and mental discipline to avoid a stronger reminder from the chip. She turned her attention from the quarreling leaders and toward the small blue world hovering at the edge of the horizon. That was their target. The residents called it Earth, but the Cybertronian star charts had it listed as 26.4+1KLY-240MYR. Not as romantic as the inhabitants probably had it, but it was a useful designation. And that was all that mattered, given that this world was hardly suited for long term Cybertronian habitation. It was too wet and there were far too many corrosive elements in the atmosphere to make it a decent home for anyone save the most durable or the most masochistic.
“Screamer’s got a point,” Jazz said, dragging Onslaught’s attention back to the argument. Jazz was smiling but there was a cruel edge to his tone.
“Don’t call me that!” Even Starscream’s growl came across as a shriek.
“Jazz,” Prowl warned. It would be the only warning.
The Praxian may have been an Autobot, but that was only because that faction claimed the alleged True Prime as one of their own. Had Orion Pax followed Megatron and joined the Decepticons Onslaught was sure that things would have been different. Not that she was complaining. She had seen Prowl in action and she preferred him on the other side of the conflict. He was the only mech who could match her tactical brilliance and she didn’t need the competition. Megatron had proven that he only wanted one voice in his audial and it was enough of a fight dealing with Starscream and whatever sway he had over Megatron.
“I’m standin’ by it.” Jazz shrugged. “We don’t know what we’re gonna be facin’ down there. Fer all we know it’s just some kind of other alien tech.”
“There are far too many unknowns on that world,” Starscream said, still glaring at Jazz. “They have been visited by at least three other species and what we’re picking up as Cybertronian tech could be nothing more than Lunatronium deposits.”
“Or it could be a staging ground for one of Shockwave’s plots,” Jazz added.
“Or it could be the final location of Orion Pax and Megatron,” Prowl replied. “We will not know until we go down there. And as we cannot effectively calculate the varying possibilities, I will not agree to splitting up our troops.”
“We ain’t suggestin’ that!” Jazz said, exasperation finally breaking through the relaxed calm. “Just let me an’ my team go down there and check it out! Give us one lunar rotation and we’ll have a better idea of what we’re lookin’ at!”
“And I will not agree to a team of Autobots down there alone!” Starscream snapped.
“I have also suggested that you take Frenzy, Swindle, and the Twins,” Onslaught said, finally adding her voice to the discussion now that the chip had finally gone back to standby.
“You also said that you did not want Combaticons on that world until you knew what was going on.” Prowl’s words came out as a statement, but there was also an accusation underlying the polite demeanor.
“And I will not have Sunstreaker anywhere near Bumblebee!” Jazz spat out, his casual accent suddenly gone in the wave of his anger.
Onslaught couldn’t blame him. The yellow twin had been personally responsible for Bumblebee’s damaged vocalizer. Just following orders was no excuse. Not when the mech seemed to take such glee in destruction.
“Prowl, I said that I didn’t want all of us down there. It’s the team that’s at issue, not the individuals,” she said. “And Jazz, if you don’t want Sunstreaker then select another Decepticon. Trust me, you want someone to keep an optic on Swindle. And Frenzy will need a keeper.”
Onslaught felt Swindle lash out at her across the Combiner link at the comment.
“So you’re saying that I can trust you not to sell them all for parts if the opportunity presents itself?” she asked, and immediately felt Swindle back down.
“If you had a concern regarding the stability of your team, you would have been better served to mention it before we left Cybertron,” Prowl said.
He remained calm and emotionless, but his doors gave him away if one knew how to read them. And Onslaught was well aware of how to read them. She had far to long a history with the Autobot 2IC.
“She did,” Jazz snapped. “I did too and so did Starscream! Pits, Prowl! Ya can’t just make all this slag go away ‘cause ya refuse to acknowledge it!”
“We are more than far enough away from Shockwave to avoid any influence he might still have over those of us who have been augmented in one way or another,” Prowl replied, almost but not quite bristling at the old argument. “If any of us believed that there was a significant chance that-”
Onslaught braced herself and sent a silent apology to her team as she interrupted Prowl.
“Megatron will fall by my hands when I rip out his processor!”
She barely got the statement out before she was doubled over in pain as the obedience chip reminded her forcibly of her place.
“Frag off, Ons!” Swindle and Vortex yelled from their place at the far end of the field, nearly drowned out by Brawl’s roar of outrage.
“Lord Megatron is my liege and I will obey him in all things. Lord Megatron is my liege and I will obey him in all things,” Onslaught repeated like a mantra once the static in her vocalizer cleared. After several more repetitions the chip calmed and the pain became a dull thrum in the back of her processor.
“That was the result of a simple statement,” she said as she stood back up to her full height. “If Lord Megatron is down there and if he is in any way compromised, or if it turns out that this planet is one of Shockwave’s staging grounds you may not be able to count on the allegiance of the Combaticons. And if we are all down there when the worst happens, you will not be dealing with five Combaticons, you will be dealing with one very angry Bruticus. And trust me, he is not happy about any of this.”
“While I’m thrilled that we got a Combiner at our back, I wanna be damned sure that he’s at our back and not on it,” Jazz said, his casual demeanor back in place. “And the best way to be sure of that is t’ let me an’ my team a chance t’ go have a looksee. And if ya want me t’ take Cons with me, then give me Frenzy, Swindle, and Frenzy. That way we can send messages back, we’ve got someone t’ keep an optic on Frenzy, and I know that ‘Warpy can be as sneaky as anyone on my team.”
“And we are back to splitting up existing teams,” Prowl said. “That will adversely affect the calculations and we will be unable to anticipate effectively.”
Onslaught rolled her optics behind her visor. Since the beginning they had been at each others’ throats. If she was more prone to paranoia she would think that Shockwave had anticipated this collapse as soon as Orion Pax and Megatron had left Cybertron in search of the Hand. Of course had that been the case, he never would have allowed these rebel mechs to leave on their manufactured missions. He would have seen right through their claims of an energon search and would have known that they were actually searching for their leaders and a way to defeat Shockwave and his puppets Sentinel Prime and the Functionists Council. Shockwave was many things, but he was not omniscient. Even the best battle computer could be fooled by an insane and reckless move.
“Enough!” Onslaught snapped. “We can’t spend much more time here. As primitive as that Earth tech is, we will eventually be spotted if we stay here. I suggest that we allow Jazz to take a small team to check out the planet. No more than five members chosen from both factions and get back to us in a lunar rotation. Is that agreeable?”
Jazz shrugged. “I’m fine with it. Me, Bee, Blue, Zee, and Swindle. And, yeah, I know that he might try to sell us to the highest bidder, but I also know that I’ll deactivate him before he gets the chance. You make sure he knows that I ain’t kiddin’, right, Ons?”
“Agreed,” Onslaught replied, sending an emphasizing ping to Swindle as she did. “You will report back to us within the lunar rotation via the Combiner link and then we can proceed. Blast Off has offered to ferry you to the planet’s surface.
“Hate to interrupt, but we’ve got a problem down there,” Bluestreak said from across the crater. “Something’s just started.”
All optics turned to the equipment they had set up to monitor the human frequencies.
“Are those Chitauri?” Ratchet asked. “What in the pit are they doing this far from their sector of the galaxy?”
“I do not know,” Prowl said tightly. “But our window is now closed. We no longer have time to debate. Grab your teams and head down there to the designated rendezvous points. We will mask our arrival with the chaos of this attack.”
(Link to chapter 2)
Fandom: Transformers, MCU
Characters/pairing: Prowl, Jazz, Onslaught, Starscream, Ensemble
Rating: T
Summary: The Autobots and the Decepticons have a tentative truce as they try to find their lost leaders. Their hope is to regain Cybertron. In reality they are about to stumble into something even larger than themselves.
Author's Note:For a long time now I've been working on a Transformers/MCU crossover AU. I've been fighting with it on and off for what feels like forever, but now it finally seems to be coalescing. I'm gonna post it here because I can ...
“Are you sure that they’re down there?” Starscream asked, not bothering to hide his disgust.
“We have been over this Starscream,” Prowl replied irritation creeping into his insufferable calm. “There is an eighty-seven point three nine two percent chance that what we are picking up is the remnants of Cybertronian technology, and of that there is an eighty-seven point nine eight two four percent chance that there is Cybertronian technology down there. Of that there is a sixty nine point four six two nine percent chance that either Optimus Prime or Megatron are there and a forty-eight-”
“All right!” Fine!” Starscream snapped. “We get it! You’ve crunched the data like the good little calculator drone that you are!”
Prowl’s doors and armour flared as he started to step forward to close in on the taller mech before immediately catching himself and relaxing.
“We have a limited window,” Prowl said, his doors back at a normal angle and his insufferably calm demeanor back in place. “For every rotation that we waste there is an increased chance that they humans will notice us. As we do not yet know if Shockwave has noticed this world we have no way of knowing if he has influence here. We need to move carefully within the windows presented to us.”
“All the more reason t’ let me an’ my team head down and have a looksee,” Jazz said with a casual shrug as he leaned against the wall of the deep crater they were hiding in.
“What are the chances that a mud ball infected with filthy organics is going to have anything of interest to anyone?” Starscream asked and then he immediately raised his hand to stave off Prowl’s response. “Don’t! Don’t you dare quote more numbers at me!”
Onslaught sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose wearily. This argument had been going on since they had reconnected on this desolate rock. Prowl wanted to keep them all to a tight schedule that only he understood and initiate an Infiltration Protocol. Jazz wanted to take a more indirect route and scout the planet out for a few rotations. And Starscream? Onslaught still wasn’t sure if he wanted to avoid this planet because it was infested with organics or if it was because he didn’t want to find Megatron. It was no secret that the Air Commander had a strange relationship with both Megatron and Shockwave, but it was unclear what the exact nature of that relationship was. One moment he was toeing the line like the ever-faithful servant and the next he was attempting a coup. Not that Onslaught could have blamed anyone for trying to overthrow Megatron. Not that she could have blamed anyone for trying to overthrow Megatron. The mech had once been an inspiration but it quickly became clear that he was unfit to rule and that Shockwave had been manipulating everyone and everything from the start.
The obedience chip in Onslaught’s head twinged out a warning. She and her team belonged to Megatron and Shockwave and no overt acts of rebellion would be tolerated. Even being here was taking a lot of careful planning and mental discipline to avoid a stronger reminder from the chip. She turned her attention from the quarreling leaders and toward the small blue world hovering at the edge of the horizon. That was their target. The residents called it Earth, but the Cybertronian star charts had it listed as 26.4+1KLY-240MYR. Not as romantic as the inhabitants probably had it, but it was a useful designation. And that was all that mattered, given that this world was hardly suited for long term Cybertronian habitation. It was too wet and there were far too many corrosive elements in the atmosphere to make it a decent home for anyone save the most durable or the most masochistic.
“Screamer’s got a point,” Jazz said, dragging Onslaught’s attention back to the argument. Jazz was smiling but there was a cruel edge to his tone.
“Don’t call me that!” Even Starscream’s growl came across as a shriek.
“Jazz,” Prowl warned. It would be the only warning.
The Praxian may have been an Autobot, but that was only because that faction claimed the alleged True Prime as one of their own. Had Orion Pax followed Megatron and joined the Decepticons Onslaught was sure that things would have been different. Not that she was complaining. She had seen Prowl in action and she preferred him on the other side of the conflict. He was the only mech who could match her tactical brilliance and she didn’t need the competition. Megatron had proven that he only wanted one voice in his audial and it was enough of a fight dealing with Starscream and whatever sway he had over Megatron.
“I’m standin’ by it.” Jazz shrugged. “We don’t know what we’re gonna be facin’ down there. Fer all we know it’s just some kind of other alien tech.”
“There are far too many unknowns on that world,” Starscream said, still glaring at Jazz. “They have been visited by at least three other species and what we’re picking up as Cybertronian tech could be nothing more than Lunatronium deposits.”
“Or it could be a staging ground for one of Shockwave’s plots,” Jazz added.
“Or it could be the final location of Orion Pax and Megatron,” Prowl replied. “We will not know until we go down there. And as we cannot effectively calculate the varying possibilities, I will not agree to splitting up our troops.”
“We ain’t suggestin’ that!” Jazz said, exasperation finally breaking through the relaxed calm. “Just let me an’ my team go down there and check it out! Give us one lunar rotation and we’ll have a better idea of what we’re lookin’ at!”
“And I will not agree to a team of Autobots down there alone!” Starscream snapped.
“I have also suggested that you take Frenzy, Swindle, and the Twins,” Onslaught said, finally adding her voice to the discussion now that the chip had finally gone back to standby.
“You also said that you did not want Combaticons on that world until you knew what was going on.” Prowl’s words came out as a statement, but there was also an accusation underlying the polite demeanor.
“And I will not have Sunstreaker anywhere near Bumblebee!” Jazz spat out, his casual accent suddenly gone in the wave of his anger.
Onslaught couldn’t blame him. The yellow twin had been personally responsible for Bumblebee’s damaged vocalizer. Just following orders was no excuse. Not when the mech seemed to take such glee in destruction.
“Prowl, I said that I didn’t want all of us down there. It’s the team that’s at issue, not the individuals,” she said. “And Jazz, if you don’t want Sunstreaker then select another Decepticon. Trust me, you want someone to keep an optic on Swindle. And Frenzy will need a keeper.”
Onslaught felt Swindle lash out at her across the Combiner link at the comment.
“So you’re saying that I can trust you not to sell them all for parts if the opportunity presents itself?” she asked, and immediately felt Swindle back down.
“If you had a concern regarding the stability of your team, you would have been better served to mention it before we left Cybertron,” Prowl said.
He remained calm and emotionless, but his doors gave him away if one knew how to read them. And Onslaught was well aware of how to read them. She had far to long a history with the Autobot 2IC.
“She did,” Jazz snapped. “I did too and so did Starscream! Pits, Prowl! Ya can’t just make all this slag go away ‘cause ya refuse to acknowledge it!”
“We are more than far enough away from Shockwave to avoid any influence he might still have over those of us who have been augmented in one way or another,” Prowl replied, almost but not quite bristling at the old argument. “If any of us believed that there was a significant chance that-”
Onslaught braced herself and sent a silent apology to her team as she interrupted Prowl.
“Megatron will fall by my hands when I rip out his processor!”
She barely got the statement out before she was doubled over in pain as the obedience chip reminded her forcibly of her place.
“Frag off, Ons!” Swindle and Vortex yelled from their place at the far end of the field, nearly drowned out by Brawl’s roar of outrage.
“Lord Megatron is my liege and I will obey him in all things. Lord Megatron is my liege and I will obey him in all things,” Onslaught repeated like a mantra once the static in her vocalizer cleared. After several more repetitions the chip calmed and the pain became a dull thrum in the back of her processor.
“That was the result of a simple statement,” she said as she stood back up to her full height. “If Lord Megatron is down there and if he is in any way compromised, or if it turns out that this planet is one of Shockwave’s staging grounds you may not be able to count on the allegiance of the Combaticons. And if we are all down there when the worst happens, you will not be dealing with five Combaticons, you will be dealing with one very angry Bruticus. And trust me, he is not happy about any of this.”
“While I’m thrilled that we got a Combiner at our back, I wanna be damned sure that he’s at our back and not on it,” Jazz said, his casual demeanor back in place. “And the best way to be sure of that is t’ let me an’ my team a chance t’ go have a looksee. And if ya want me t’ take Cons with me, then give me Frenzy, Swindle, and Frenzy. That way we can send messages back, we’ve got someone t’ keep an optic on Frenzy, and I know that ‘Warpy can be as sneaky as anyone on my team.”
“And we are back to splitting up existing teams,” Prowl said. “That will adversely affect the calculations and we will be unable to anticipate effectively.”
Onslaught rolled her optics behind her visor. Since the beginning they had been at each others’ throats. If she was more prone to paranoia she would think that Shockwave had anticipated this collapse as soon as Orion Pax and Megatron had left Cybertron in search of the Hand. Of course had that been the case, he never would have allowed these rebel mechs to leave on their manufactured missions. He would have seen right through their claims of an energon search and would have known that they were actually searching for their leaders and a way to defeat Shockwave and his puppets Sentinel Prime and the Functionists Council. Shockwave was many things, but he was not omniscient. Even the best battle computer could be fooled by an insane and reckless move.
“Enough!” Onslaught snapped. “We can’t spend much more time here. As primitive as that Earth tech is, we will eventually be spotted if we stay here. I suggest that we allow Jazz to take a small team to check out the planet. No more than five members chosen from both factions and get back to us in a lunar rotation. Is that agreeable?”
Jazz shrugged. “I’m fine with it. Me, Bee, Blue, Zee, and Swindle. And, yeah, I know that he might try to sell us to the highest bidder, but I also know that I’ll deactivate him before he gets the chance. You make sure he knows that I ain’t kiddin’, right, Ons?”
“Agreed,” Onslaught replied, sending an emphasizing ping to Swindle as she did. “You will report back to us within the lunar rotation via the Combiner link and then we can proceed. Blast Off has offered to ferry you to the planet’s surface.
“Hate to interrupt, but we’ve got a problem down there,” Bluestreak said from across the crater. “Something’s just started.”
All optics turned to the equipment they had set up to monitor the human frequencies.
“Are those Chitauri?” Ratchet asked. “What in the pit are they doing this far from their sector of the galaxy?”
“I do not know,” Prowl said tightly. “But our window is now closed. We no longer have time to debate. Grab your teams and head down there to the designated rendezvous points. We will mask our arrival with the chaos of this attack.”
(Link to chapter 2)