When All Lights Go Out II (TFP)

Chapter 13

"Habloid spark? What is that?" June asked curiously.

"Habloid sparks are a bit more of a complex explanation than a new spark born through normal interfacing..." The woman listened with intrigue as Ratchet responded while he continued connecting the lines to Optimus's body and abdomen. "The short answer is habloid sparks are a result when the sire uses a large amount of energy to form the beginning of a new spark before passing it into the carrier. This is not the common way to create a sparkling, but it does happen." June just nodded slowly as she listened, trying to understand. "When the habloid spark is within the carrier, the carrier's system splits and splices CNA into the new spark, creating the building material for a new Cybertronian."

"I see...so it seems that a mech or femme can be the carrier, right?" June asked curiously and the two bots nodded. "Which also means, a mech or femme can be a sire...your biological law is certainly different to ours."

"Which should be expected since we are not of your planet, June Darby." Ratchet turned on the devices by Optimus to take note of his system. "I do understand the curiosity however."

Optimus nodded in agreement. "As I was saying, this device was used once. I am not sure how it was created or why, but I can only assume it was just an experiment as Megatron sometimes takes joy out of such things. But I do feel he went too far in allowing sparklings to be created in such a way. As the blast wave managed to get through our outer armor into our system, and the habloid sparks were implanted right next to our sparks, regardless if we had the right system of not. While our sparks are part of the creation of a sparkling, even for a habloid spark, the habloid sparks created from this experiment were created to self destruct and cause itself to perish along with the carrier."

June shook her head is disbelief as she listened. "That's horrible...but Azura is alive...how did..."

"That I can explain, June Darby," Ratchet interrupts gently, looking up at the human with a kind expression. "Optimus was one of many who was hit by the blast, but he was one of the few to survive it, and Azura was the only sparkling to survive from the ordeal. The blast wave caused most of them to fall unconscious, Optimus included. Though he did wake up, but his system was overloading so much, it was more like a dreamlike state. But Optimus does remember it vaguely. In that time, I was able to remove to the sparkling without damaging her or Optimus, and I placed the new spark into a gestational pod, where she was contained safely."

Optimus nodded. "I remember when you removed her from my body, Ratchet. Even though I was not completely conscious, the pain of the separation is something I'll never forget. But I recovered very quickly, and Ratchet was able to stabilize her spark. And in that time, I had wanted to keep her. She was just a small spark at the time, and she was barely several days old within that pod before the decepticons were bearing down on our location. I know of rumors that Megatron knew of her survival, given he would have known I was afflicted by the blast wave, which was why it became apparent to me that I had to make the hardest decision I have had to make in my life."

Jack glanced at his mother to see she was still listening with intrigue on her face. He could see that June was starting to get emotional, especially when there was a shift in Optimus's tone while he was telling the story. While Jack has heard it once, it was still hard to hear. Jack couldn't imagine the pain Optimus would have gone through when he had to send Azura away, but he did it for the right reasons. And as they have been reunited, it was still obvious it was the right decision.

"As I realized that I couldn't raise a sparkling during the war, especially as I am the leader of the autobots and I am often needed, I knew I couldn't allow that new spark to perish. With Ratchet's aid, we ensured that the pod she was in would ensure she developed enough to survive, and secured the pod with more protection." Optimus intakes heavily and his optics quiver slightly, signalling the painful emotions he was feeling about it. "And we were able to relocate the pod to a safe location to launch the pod into space."