I'm baaaaaaaaaack =D! Hope you guys didn't miss me too much (yeah right) XD! So yeah, this is the series of one-shots that will revolve around the characters from War Machine, [with a few new arrivals... ;)]. Suggestions will still be welcomed, but I have quite a long list already so please don't think I haven't noted down your idea if it's not one of the first ones I upload, they're all on a fancy list on my phone, waiting to be written XD. Also, I've just started quite an important school year, so updates may be less frequent than the War Machine chapters were (yes, because they were very frequent, weren't they? ^^;). Well, I only have one more thing to add before you start reading my latest abomination, and that is... Character ages! (how exciting =D!) This one-shot has skipped quite far into the future of the characters we all know and (hopefully) love, so here's an age-list (in human years, because it's easier):
Twilight: Was 35 at the end of War Machine, is now 46.
Cyclonus: Was 37 at the end of War Machine, is now 48.
Ravenstrike: Was 5 at the end of War Machine, is now 16.
Blizzard: Was 40 at the end of War Machine, is now 51.
Ultra Magnus: Was 38 at the end of War Machine, is now 49.
Starlight: Was 13 (yeah, I'm serious =P) at the end of War Machine, is now 24 (still serious...).
And finally, Phantom was 77 at the end of War Machine, and is now 88.
11 year time skip for the win! Right, well, I think that's all from me so I hope you enjoy the first one-shot (which isn't actually a one-shot, but a three-shot, yes, I know, I'm already breaking the rules, but oh well XD)!
Oh, and if anyone's reading this without having read War Machine first, well, first off, hello =)! And secondly, as you may have guessed, you might want to go and read War Machine before reading this, as you won't really know what's happening if you don't. Well, off we go then!
"Are you sure about this, love?" Twilight rolled her optics for what must have been the millionth time that day.
"Cyclonus, if you ask me that question again, I swear to Primus I will knock you out and drag you back home. If I wasn't sure, why would I have gone through the effort of threatening to knock you out and drag you here?" He narrowed his optics. They had come out to a small town on Cybertron at Ravenstrike's request, he wanted to introduce them to someone. They were currently sat outside a small bar, waiting for their son to meet them.
"But she used to be an Autobot!" The only form of retaliation Twilight could think of was to repeat his words in a childish voice. So that's what she did.
"Used to being the key words there, dear." He scowled at her, shoving her lightly.
"Oh, shut up. You were on my side not long ago." Twilight folded her arms across her chest-plates, fighting the urge to roll her optics yet again.
"Listen, it doesn't matter if she was an Autobot, okay? The fact is that our son has taken a liking to her, and you need to grow up." Cyclonus sighed.
"Fine. But don't expect me to play nice if she's out of order." Twilight scoffed.
"Please, why would I even expect that? It's hard enough for you to be nice at all." He was about to retort when they heard footsteps coming their way. Ravenstrike came around the corner first, and then he led a white femme over to the table his creators were sat at.
She was quite pretty, a very dainty, skinny thing. She looked normal apart from the strange... Hair-like material that sprouted from her head and fell to her shoulders.
"Mom, Dad, this is Lunar-Song. Lunar-Song, these are my creators, Twilight, and Cyclonus." The dainty little femme shook hands with the two of them, quietly uttering a polite 'Pleasure to meet you, sir, madam'. Twilight smiled, the poor femme was nervous. Which, if she was honest, didn't surprise her in the slightest, considering her and her sparkmate were well known amongst the Autobots for all the wrong reasons.
"It's lovely to meet you, Lunar-Song. Please, sit down." Lunar-Song did as Twilight suggested, Ravenstrike following suit, and the four of them sat there in complete silence for quite some time.
"So, Lunar-Song... Why don't you tell us a little about yourself?"
~Oh, smooth Mom, real smooth.~ Ravenstrike cringed.
~What? What else am I supposed to say?!~
"You can just call me Lunar, if it's easier." The femme mumbled. Twilight nodded, still smiling.
"Alright then, Lunar it is." Lunar-Song seemed to be desperately trying to avoid eye contact with the two Decepticons as she began to speak.
"There isn't really anything interesting about me that I can tell you... I grew up in that orphanage run by Autobots just at the end of this road." Cyclonus sighed quietly.
~Let me guess, her parents were murdered by Decepticons. I knew this was going to happen.~
~Oh, did you now? Because last time I checked, you weren't psychic, now shut up!~ Ravenstrike rolled his crimson optics in embarrassment, and refrained from facepalming, though it took every ounce of his will to do so. Deciding he should at least make an attempt to save the conversation, he spoke up.
"Lunar's just gotten her degree, haven't you, Lunar?" The white femme nodded, still staring at the edge of the table. Twilight sighed, the poor thing really was afraid. Still, she did her best to try and convince her that she wasn't some sort of energy vampire.
After a while, the conversation seemed to pick up a little bit, and Lunar-Song seemed to become at least a little less timid. After a bunch of threats and an occasional subtle kick under the table from Twilight, Cyclonus finally started to participate in the conversation as well.
Things seemed to be going well then, until a familiar spiral-shaped spaceship flew overhead, and then circled around in the sky before coming to an abrupt landing in the middle of the town. The townspeople were in hysteria as Sharkticons and Allicons started pouring out of the spaceship, destroying a row of shops in a matter of minutes.
"Quintessons?!" Cyclonus muttered incredulously, bolting upright. Twilight did the same, peering at the ship.
"It's definitely of Quintesson origin, but what would the Quints want with this place?" Ravenstrike was off to the side, trying - and not quite succeeding - to calm Lunar-Song down.
"We need to move inside, before they spot us." Cyclonus would usually have been all for attacking the dumb brutes head on, but there were too many of them, and from what they knew about the femme, Lunar-Song knew next to nothing about battle. Twilight nodded in agreement to his statement, rushing over to the two teenage bots. She gently grabbed Lunar's shoulders and turned the femme to face her.
"Lunar, listen to me. You need to stay calm, alright? I know that sounds impossible, but just try, for me, okay?" The femme nodded frantically, attempting to still her rattling frame. The group of four rushed into the quaint café, heading to the kitchen in the back. Once they were there, Lunar-Song backed up into a corner, sliding down to the floor and curling up into a ball, staring into space.
Ravenstrike started to walk towards her, but Twilight caught his shoulder, shaking her head at him. He frowned at her, but listened to her unspoken order. The ex-mercenary knelt down beside the young femme, once again laying her hands on her shoulders.
"Lunar, remember what I said. Calm."
"S-Sorry." The femme muttered, sitting up straighter, still shaking. Twilight smiled kindly.
"There we go. Now, do you know what they could be after?" Ravenstrike looked appalled.
"Mom, that's ridiculous, why would she-"
"Quiet, Raven." Lunar seemed shocked at first, but then calmed down slightly and shook her head.
"I have no idea, I don't know if there's anything valuable they would want."
"Alright, let's say there was, where would it most likely be hidden?" Lunar thought for a while, and started to panic when she couldn't think.
"I don't know! I'm so sorry, I can't think of anywhere! I-"
"It's alright, Lunar, you're doing really well, okay? You're doing great. Just give me a moment, alright?" The teenager nodded. Twilight walked over to her son, patting him on the shoulder.
"Try and comfort her while I talk to your father." He nodded, though he looked slightly worried himself. His mother, ever the analyst, of course, noticed.
"Nothing's going to happen to her, you know that, right?" He nodded again, and left to be by Lunar's side. Cyclonus was watching them when Twilight made it to him.
"Well, even if Lunar wasn't much help, I don't think there's anything of value hidden in this town. Sure, it's the last place anyone would look, but even so..." Cyclonus was still staring off into space as she finished.
"What if it's not about something of value?" He looked her in the optics then, and she frowned, lost in thought. When she didn't put two and two together, he carried on.
"What if this is about revenge?" Now she seemed to put two and two together.
"Cyclonus, that was years ago."
"Quintessons tend to hold grudges for quite some time. They have very good memories. Don't you think that ship looked even the slightest bit familiar?"
"All Quintesson ships look like that, Cyclonus."
"Yes, but not all of them carry Allicons as well as Sharkticons."
"Yes, and I'm pretty sure that Quint isn't the only one who does."
"Face it, love. They're here for us."
"You can't possibly know that."
"Well what else are they here for then?" He practically yelled, scowling at her.
"Don't get mad at me, Cyclonus!"
"I told you I should have killed that fleshling while I had the chance!"
"And you very well could have! You don't take orders from me, Cyclonus! You didn't have to listen to me!" She threw her hands up in the air.
"Ugh, we don't have time for this!" She hissed, stalking back over to Lunar and Raven. He glared daggers at her back, watching as she started up conversation with the other femme once more.
Ravenstrike cautiously made his way over to his father as Twilight came back over to speak with Lunar.
"...You alright, Dad?"
"I'm fine, son." The teenage 'Con decided not to push any further, he knew when to stop. Twilight was kneeling next to Lunar-Song again, the femme had calmed down a lot now and was easier to talk to.
"Despite it being highly unlikely, Cyclonus could be right. We can't rule out the possibility that they're here for us. But if they are, how did they find us?..."
"W-Why would they be here for you?" Twilight raised an optic ridge with a slight smile.
"What, Raven never told you about the time the three of us along with Ultra Magnus and a human got captured by a Quintesson scientist? I'm surprised." Lunar-Song gasped, looking up to Ravenstrike who was scratching the back of his head sheepishly.
"Is... Is that true?" Cringing, the flier nodded. Twilight giggled, enjoying the moment of light-hearted banter. The moment was cut short, however, as they heard an almighty crash from outside. Twilight quickly stood, pulling Lunar-Song up with her.
"Lunar, is there anywhere we can hide where there's no chance of them finding us? We're outnumbered, we can't win this on our own." Cyclonus raised an optic ridge in confusion, but he soon caught onto her train of thought.
"You can't be serious, Twilight!" Narrowing her optics, she glared at her sparkmate.
"The Decepticons are too far away to get here in time, Cyclonus, what else are we going to do?! If you have a better plan, I'd love to hear it!" Ravenstrike's optic started twitching in annoyance. If there was anything he'd learnt from his time with his creators, it was that they hardly ever argued, but when they did...
"Alright, that's enough! Stop arguing like sparklings!" He yelled, stunning the two of them into silence.
"If you two keep yelling, you'll lead them right to us!" They both sighed, they didn't have to will to argue anymore. Twilight turned back to Lunar-Song wearily.
"Well, Lunar? Is there anywhere?"
"...There's an old tale of a network of tunnels that spreads out all over the town. But I'm not sure if they actually exist... Other than that... There's nowhere..." Twilight sighed.
'Great, underground tunnels. Not exactly easy to fight Sharkticons in, but it's the only chance we've got at the minute.'
"Well, it's our best bet." Cyclonus rolled his optics.
"Right, and how do we actually get to these tunnels? Are we just going to get on our knees and start digging?" Twilight sighed, holding back any and all forms of retaliation. Lunar-Song was quick to speak up, she didn't want the two of them to start bickering again.
"The passage into the tunnels is said to be hidden somewhere in the orphanage." Twilight nodded.
"Then that's where we go." Cyclonus frowned.
"And if these tunnels don't exist? We'll be cornered in the orphanage. We'll have made it easy for them." Twilight sighed, contacting him through their bond.
~I don't like the thought of running and hiding any more than you do, but we need to wait it out for a while. Lunar-Song can't fight, we need to protect her.~
~In case you've forgotten, protecting is the job of an Autobot! I thought you were going to call them, I don't see your precious 'brother' anywhere!~
~And in case you've forgotten, the war is over! The factions are practically non-existent now! What is with you today?! Grow up, Cyclonus!~
~You're being ridiculous, Twilight! Since when did you ever believe in old folk tales and legends?! You're the one that needs to grow up!~
~For frag's sake Cyclonus I give up! I've had enough of this!~ And with that she withdrew from their bond, sealing it off.
"Ravenstrike, get Lunar-Song to the orphanage. Try and find this tunnel network. Cyclonus, do whatever the frag you want, I don't care anymore." Her son was hesitant to go on without them.
"What about you, Mom?"
"I'll be right behind you, I have a call to make first."
And, in the true style of Sai-doesn't-care-that-everything's-escalating-too- quickly,-there-must-be-more-Sharkticons!, I jumped straight into the action without any warning! Not sure if that escalated a little too quickly, but mehh, I quite like how it turned out. As always, reviews are welcomed, flames will be ignored. Hope you enjoyed, I should have parts two and three up soon!
Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters I use in this story except for Twilight, Ravenstrike and Lunar-Song. (I also own Blizzard, Starlight and Phantom.)
P.S. - This one-shot was thought up by me, but Corevil did ask if I could have Ravenstrike find a femme, so you can kind of thank him for this too.