THE DAY IT RAINED
Timeline: Cycle 9104 / AD 1304 (710 Years Ago)
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Rung sighed as he sat down near the jittery red and yellow Autobot that was his patient, who laid on a berth. Picking up a model of the Steelhaven and fiddling with it, he calmly said, "Tell me how it went, Flattop."
The Autobot's faceplate was filled with anguish. "Oh spark, must I? It was so awful... so many dead... I can't possibly recall it all."
"Trust me," Rung said soothingly as he readjusted a rear thruster on the model. "It will make you feel better."
"How can it?" Flattop snapped, his voice stricken with grief. "What I saw was horrible; how could it calm me?" He placed his head in his hands. "You weren't there. You wouldn't understand."
"I would," Rung said. "Because I went through this with the Duobots and Subsea and the other survivors. Please, all you have to do is tell me how it went... through your eyes."
Flattop was silent for a moment. Finally, he looked up, though not directly at Rung, and spoke. "I... was under Flame's command. We went to Babu Yar to apprehend the Decepticon commander Gideon. However, the moment we touched ground... it started raining."
"Natural rain?" Rung asked, though he already knew the answer.
"No," Flattop murmured, his body shaking. "It was red and burned like Pit when it touched us. We all looked up to see three Seekers- we call them the Rainmakers- pouring large vats of this... this... acid onto us, and we started to disintegrate.
"Horsepower was the first to go down, being left as nothing but an exoskeleton." Flattop shuddered at the memory. "Fusion covered us while Flame rushed me and the others to shelter. Then... Fusion fell."
Flattop sat up with a jolt at this recollection but Rung gently pushed him back down. After shuddering violently for a while, the survivor spoke again.
"The rain stopped once we were in a cave, but we dared not to venture out again. While the Duobots tried to establish communication with Cybertron, Flame checked our wounds and found little damage done by Gideon's Glue."
"'Gideon's Glue?'" Rung asked.
Flattop's expression was part-stoic, part-terrified. "Subsea coined that name because, not long after Flame had evaluated us, Chameleon began to dissolve. Turns out the rain had stuck to him, like glue, and was taking its time finishing him off."
"So that's why you and the others got new bodies shortly after returning."
Flattop nodded. "Not long after, Shock and Ore were successful in getting through to Cybertron and the Battlestar was sent to rescue us. The rain started again when it landed, but Sky Garry was quick enough to retrieve us and take us back to the ship before it could... do any harm...."
Rung nodded solemnly. "I can see how this incident could leave a haunting impact on you, but you must know that the deaths of Horsepower, Fusion, and Chameleon were not your fault. There was nothing you could do to stop the 'rain.'"
Flattop did not respond. Rung raised a worried eyebrow.
"Flattop?" he said as he stood up. "I know what happened on Babu Yar is hard for you to bear, but as I said, it's not-"
He suddenly froze as he looked down at his patient. Flattop's optics were dim and a red liquid was oozing down his deactivated face....
* * *
"I'm telling you, sirs! I did flush out all of the mycopropelene!"
Emirate Xaaron, chairman of the Ethics Committee, frowned as he placed his hands together, staring sternly at Ironfist. "That's not what the reports from Babu Yar are saying. According to Flame, the properties and effects of the 'Gideon's Glue' which rained down there were exactly like the chemical you had created."
"And destroyed," Ironfist said emphatically. "I destroyed all of the original files and the samples I had created."
"Then how did the Decepticons get their hands on it?" Trailbreaker asked skeptically.
Ironfist threw his hands up in the air. "Pit if I know-"
"Language such as that is not tolerated here," Xaaron said sharply. Then, with a sigh, he said, "However, we can't just go throwing accusations blindly at people."
"Why not?" Animus asked. "I say the answer's right there. He created the myco-whatever and is the only one who knew the formula. He must've leaked it to the 'Cons!"
"Even so, Animus, we must follow protocol. I'll ask for a full investigation to be commenced. Until then, everyone is innocent until proven guilty."
With that, Xaaron turned to Ironfist and said, "You are dismissed."
* * *
"You okay, Skyfall?"
Moving about nervously in his workplace, the red and white Autobot jumped and whirled around to see his co-worker Atomizer standing outside the open doorway.
"Huh? Oh, I'm fine," Skyfall said. "Just, uh, hoping Ironfist's meeting with Xaaron and his ilk is going well."
"It didn't," Ironfist said, walking up from behind Atomizer. As the latter left, the former stepped into Skyfall's workplace, a sullen look on his face.
Skyfall shifted his feet. "So, uh, did they arrest you for the Babu Yar incident?"
"Do I have a pair of stasis cuffs on me?" Ironfist retorted. He then sighed. "No, they didn't. But Animus and Trailbreaker seem pretty sure about it having been me that leaked the formula to the 'Cons."
"That's total scrap metal," Skyfall scoffed. "Why would a good-natured Autobot like you betray to the Decepticons?"
"I don't know," Ironfist muttered. "Though I'm sure those three would come up with something."
"Yeah. Well, it's like you- or rather, Fisitron- always say: 'Time you make a stand.'"
Ironfist stared at him oddly. "I've never said that."
"Sure he did- or rather, Impactor did in datalog 97 of Wreckers: Declassified."
Ironfist continued to stare at him before laughing. "You've got me there, pal. Good thing I've got you around to keep my spirits up."
"Sure is," Skyfall chuckled. "Primus knows where you would be without me."
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