part of the past

by kelsium42

this is a prequel to my previous stories. i will be writing a whole series of stories about Septimus and Echo's adventures. so let me know what you think about them in the reviews, and i hope you enjoy this next one.

Part of the past. Septimus and echo prequel

Chapter one- dark days.

My name is Echo. I am the first female Minicon in existence. I became a legend later in my life, but you already know that story. Now I'm going to take you back to when I was not the brave warrior that I became, back to the beginning of the war of the Primes. Days before I met my dearest friend.

I belonged to a slaver, named Jawcracker. He was selfish, and cruel. He had found me on Lunar One, still young and naïve. He pretended to have a kind spark; he flattered me, and convinced me to bond to him. Soon after though he began to show me what he really was, but it was too late for me to change my mind. I was another one of his many slaves.

"Echo! Get your tiny aft in here now." My master screamed from his office on his slave ship.

We were carrying a cargo of thirty thousand Cybertronians that we had captured. We were delivering them to my master's most dangerous buyer.

Megatronus, the second of the Thirteen Primes also known by his brothers as, the Fallen. He had recently started a war against the rest of his brothers. My master and I had been selling him slaves in the effort to aid him in his crusade.

I know what you must be thinking. How could I let that happen, and why didn't I stop my master. Well at that point I was not the strongest Minicon to have ever lived. I was weak, and didn't know any life beyond what Jawcracker had forced me into. I didn't believe in his cause to send the cosmos into chaos, but I didn't grasp the horror that would bring ether.

"Coming master," I called as I trotted into his office.

Megatronus was there his hulking mass towering over me like an angry thunderstorm. He glared down at me with dark red eyes, as I climbed up onto my master's desk. When I got up there, my master slapped me with back of his hand knocking me off the desk. I hit the ground on my belly, and coughed as I crawled back to his feet.

My master was built like a tank. His rounded shoulders as thick as bunker armor, painted dark red. His fingers were tipped with claws like a devil. Which matched his spark. His small optics shone as red as hot coals, while his teeth were filed into sinister pointed fangs.

"I told you to never climb up here. You will get my desk all filthy." He snapped at me.

"I am sorry Master, it will not happen again. I swear." I whimpered.

"Get me the cargo list now." He ordered me.

I bolted to his massive file cabinet, and used the handles to climb up to the third drawer. I pressed my back to the one above it then used my small feet to push the file drawer open. I grabbed the cargo report I had filed when our hold was full. I climbed back down, and returned to my master. He snatched the report from me, then jabbed a thumb at the still open cabinet.

"Yes master." I grimaced.

I went over to cabinet and climbed up to my little rope that I tied to the top handle. I leaned back and jumped backward. I swung toward the open drawer, keeping my feet out in front of me. My feet slammed into the drawer, and it slid closed. My hands slipped on the rope and I fell on the floor again.

"Your Minicon is pathetically slow." Megatronus sneered to my master.

I hung my head in shame, and dared not look up at their faces. My master chuckled coldly.

"I often wonder why I keep her around. Then again she is easy to subjugate. Shall we continue with the transaction?" My master said crudely.

"That will be all slug. Leave us now." My master hissed at me.

I bowed to the evil Prime and my master. Then I left to tend to my dents, and scratches. When I got to my cage I sat on the cold metal floor, and put a hand to my mouth. Tiny cold tears slowly slid down my rusted sliver face. My rich blue optics, were dim with having drained every ounce of my dark lubricant tears out.

I sat alone, feeling miserable about my hopeless existence. I didn't know how to gain my master's favor so he would keep me, and not get rid of me permanently. Then I thought back to what Megatronus had said about me being slow. He had a point, I was, but if I pushed myself maybe I could fix that.

I wiped my cheeks and looked up at the bars of the roof of my cage. I grabbed them so my feet dangled just above the floor. I pulled myself up on the bars, so that my chin peeked over the top. I held it for as long as I could before dropping back down with a gasp. I took a few deep vents, then started to fall into a rhythm of pull ups.

My arms burned, but I knew I couldn't quit now. I curled my feet up, and hooked them around the bars. I let go with my arms so I could hang upside down. I stared to crunch in on myself reaching for my feet. Soon my whole body was on fire, my frame was dripping with condensation from the cold air of ship. I fell to the floor venting hard, my spark pulsing hard in my chest.

I still couldn't stop. I needed to get stronger if I wanted to survive. I also need to get faster I painfully walked over to one of the side hallways. It was long and barely ever used. I started my internal stopwatch, and sprinted to the end of the hall as fast as I could. My time however was pitiful. I ran back and forth until my legs felt like they were going to fall off.

I waddled back to my cage, my spark too tired to continue. I collapsed into a deep recharge. When I woke I was so sore I struggled to lift my arms, but I fought myself into doing my chores. I tried to do them faster, and to my surprise I got done twice as soon. My master stomped in, as I set his morning high grade energon at the pilot's seat.

He cocked an eyebrow at me, and deliberately knocked over a glass case from his trophy self. I ran over to clean up the mess while he took his seat. The case had been holding two beautiful short handled battle axes. Their grips were bent, and they needed to be sharped, but to me they were perfect.

"Master, what would you like me to do with these weapons?" I asked picking one up.

"Melt them down. We can use the extra metal to patch up this old ship." He growled.

I felt my spark almost break. The thought of destroying the axes, was like a human being told to burn a puppy alive. I cradled them in my arms as I made my way to the trash chute. I threw the broken glass in, but secretly hid the axes, by tucking them into my cleaning tools bag that hung around my neck.

After my master dismissed me, I took my new weapons and hid them in my cage. I exercised again until I couldn't stand any more. Then sat down, and stroked the handles lovingly.

"Don't worry," I whispered to them, "I will take good care of you."

Chapter two- getting stronger.

Over the next few weeks I started noticing a difference in my strength and speed. I could actually get my master's files without falling on the floor, and at nearly twice the speed. My master just ignored me, and hunted more bots for Megatronus.

I also fixed the grips on my axes, and sharped their blades. Now they gleamed with a hungry sliver light. I still pushed my body to the limit every night, and any time I could spare a minute.

My spark felt stressed, but I couldn't let that get in the way. I pushed myself harder, longer, and more often. I felt powerful, with my new strength. I began doing sequences of acrobatics that required lots strength. To my delight I pulled them off with increasing ease, soon I could pull off many complicated maneuvers that I had never thought I could do.

I was getting excited now, and pushed new power into my limbs. I ran at a nearby wall using my speed to help me run up it. When I felt my weight starting to pull me back down, I kicked off the wall, and twisted into a perfect roundhouse kick. I landed gracefully feeling proud.

"Echo!" my master barked from his office again.

I bolted in, and quickly opened the file cabinet, I took the file to my master then ran back to close the drawer. This time however when I let go of the rope, I tucked in my feet and did a back flip. I landed on my feet, and smiled at how perfectly I had pulled the stunt off. I was also happy that never again would I fall on my head when I closed that demon cabinet.

My master noticed my new technique, he stood and marched over to me. He stopped behind me, and folded his arms while he loudly tapped his foot on the floor. I turned around slowly, scared of what he would do me.

"What was that?" he asked me coldly.

"Um… just a new move I was practicing master." I said nervous.

"Who taught you that?" he hissed.

"No one master," I promised, "I just made it up."

"You have been hiding this from me. What else have you been practicing?" he cocked an eyebrow.

"Only moves to help me to do my chores faster, and more efficiently master, I swear it." I whimpered, flinching.

"Hmm, if I find you are planning to betray me. I will snap you in half like a twig." He growled, grabbing me.

He squeezed me until my chassis creaked under the pressure. I struggled, yelling out, begging him to release me. He threw me out his office door, I hit the wall hard. I slid to the floor, and to my surprise the impact didn't hurt half as bad as it used to.

"Set course for the Alpha Proxima system. We need to restock on supplies, and drop some more workers in my energon mine." He ordered me kicking me as I ran to the ship's control room.

I jumped into the pilot's seat and punched in the coordinates for our base. The ship's engines flared pushing us toward our destination. I switched on autopilot, opened my cleaning bag. I always had a medical kit on me for the times when I needed to fix myself up. I mended the few dents on my side then jumped to the huge dash board, and sat down looking at the passing stars.

I marveled at their intense beauty, and silently prayed to whatever god existed to send someone to free me from my slavery. I had no idea that my prayer would be answered, and in the next few days.

Chapter three- change of plan.

I don't remember falling asleep, but I must have because my master slammed his fist on the dash bouncing me a couple of feet in the air. I jumped to my feet, looking ashamed.

"You lazy tick. If you weren't so occupied with your little tricks, maybe you would have noticed the warning buzzer going off." He snarled angrily.

I looked at the monitor confused. There was a huge Cybertronian warship tailing us; they were sending us warnings, and threatening to open fire if we didn't surrender immediately. The captain said his name was Prima, the leader of the Primes. The sworn enemy of Megatronus.

I looked back at my master in fear. He grabbed me, and threw me into the pilot's seat. I was a better flier then he was, so he would make me fly while he took the gunner's post.

"Use one of you new tricks and lose that ship, or I will crush you like the tin can you are!" my master screamed.

: Abroad Prima's ship:

Prima shouted commands to follow the slaver's ship. He had been after this one for decades. He was one of his brother's best suppliers of slaves, and now he could bring him down.

Suddenly there was a loud crash behind him, and he rolled his eyes as his younger brother, Septimus stumbled into the command room. He was holding a cube of high grade, which he had just split over himself from tripping over a power cable.

Septimus had broad square shoulders, and thick arm plates. His waist was narrow, so were his thighs. His calves were large, but still thin compared to Prima's massive legs. He had soft green optics that seem to always be smiling at something. His armor was a deep blue color, while his face, stomach, and thighs were a glistening sliver.

He paused behind the commander's seat, and took a sip of his energon. Prima bit his lip. He loved his little brother, but sometimes his youthful, careless attitude could get on his nerves.

"What is going on brother? Why did you sound the red alert, are we under attack?" Septimus asked halfheartedly.

"No Septimus we are the ones attacking. I told you we were closing in on Jawcracker, and his Minicon half a joor ago." Prima sighed patiently.

"Well why aren't we chasing them?" Septimus asked taking another sip.

"We are, but the pilot is evading our attempts to destroy the ship, and out maneuvering our ship." Prima explained.

"Hmm, he is a good pilot then?" Septimus poured the rest of his drink in his mouth.

"No she is. His Minicon is the pilot." Prima replied.

Septimus laughed sending his drink spraying over a passing Autobot. He sat down in the co- commander's seat, and strapped in.

"You are getting your aft kicked by a little Mini brother. That is just sad, let's see how good she is at dodging Me." he pushed it button to launch the ship's missiles.

: Slave ship:

The red proximity alert flashed in my face as the Autobot ship fired three missiles at us. I saw an asteroid cluster just ahead, and hit the throttle. Our ship jumped into the cluster at full engine capacity. One of the missiles hit an asteroid so I only had to deal with two of them. I waited until they were getting close then pulled the ship up to flip back around toward the Prime's ship.

I shot passed them and chuckled when the missiles hit their thrusters. I hit our hyper drive, after setting course for our Cybertron base. I looked at my master for approval, he nodded in agreement. We disappeared into the fabrics of space, leaving our enemy's damaged ship drifting behind us.

: Prima's ship:

Septimus sat there completely stunned at what had just happened. That Minicon was good, really good. He heard Prima fake a cough, and turned his blue head to smile guilty at his brother.

"Well…" Prima said his arms folded over his chest, a very irritated look on his face.

"My bad." Septimus apologized still shocked.

"Mm hmm." Prima nodded before leaving to oversee the damage repair.

Septimus rubbed his chin trying to remember everything his had read in the mission report about Jawcracker's Minicon. He couldn't remember her name, but she was one of his other brother's first creations. He remembered that Jawcracker tricked her into his service, but he didn't know why she hadn't abandoned her master ages ago. Then again he was probably threatening her, and she was scared.

He opened his radio channel and contacted his Minicon brother, Micronus. Creator of the Minicons, and the very first Minicon. The image of his brother appeared on the screen, his light blue armor slightly glowing with his power.

"Septimus if this is another prank call…" Micronus said annoyed.

"No, wanted to ask about one of your creations. The female one who belongs to…" Septimus was about to ask but was interrupted by his brother cut him short.

"Echo? That poor girl." He sighed.

"She was fooled into her slavery, and her master abuses her. I felt the pain she has endured, and it is a tragic amount." Micronus said sadly.

"So is she evil like her master?" Septimus asked curiously.

"No, not by any means. She just doesn't know any better. Her master found her when she was still young. All she knows is evil, pain, and bondage. She is a stranger to any other life." Septimus's brother assured him.

Septimus felt bad for her, for if she knew no other life. Then she didn't know how being free felt, or how to have any fun. It was heartbreaking. He thanked his brother, and signed off. A scout reported that the slave ship had been spotted in Cybertronian space. Septimus nodded and began ordering his troops to pursue the slave ship; eager to take a shot at Jawcracker's face.

: The slave ship:

Once we reached our base, my master unloaded some of his most valuable artifacts, and hid them in the large vault he had me install in his office there. The base was underneath Cybertron's surface near what would be called Kaon city. In was our main hideout when we were close to getting caught.

It was very large, and was always cold. I shivered as a drop of condensation fell onto the top of my head. I wiped it away and quickly trotted after my master. After he locked the vault he turned and grabbed me around my neck.

"It is your fault that those Primes found me, so if you want me not to snuff you right now. I suggest you get to work setting our defenses up now!" He threatened me slamming me against the ground.

I scrambled to my feet, and bolted out the door. I turned on the base's power core, and set the defense systems on high alert. Then I went to my room, which was really the cleaning closet by the slave cells. It was wet and always smelled of cleaning products, but at least it had a door.

I practiced, and worked out again; happy that it was working. My spark didn't feel so tired, and my master's blows barely hurt anymore. I was stronger now, and I was falling in love with my new abilities. I took out my axes, and swung them around. I stood some mops up to make a crude practice dummy for me to fight. I tapped it to make it spin one of the arms whipped around and slapped me in the head. I rubbed my head, giggling.

I kicked the dummy; ducking under another arm and swinging my ax at its belly. The blade sank into the bag of cleaning towels that made up the belly of my dummy. I pulled it out, and jumped back as the middle broom handle swiped at me. I started to attack the dummy faster, dodging the arms, and the poll I attached to the bottom. I jumped over it, and laughed confidently. I plunged both my axes into the dummy's burlap neck; its head rolled on the floor before stopping at my feet.

I heard my master's heavy footsteps coming toward me, so I quickly dismantled the dummy then hid my axes under the large mop the made up my bed. He open the door and pointed for me to exit my room. I obliged then braced myself for my master's kick that connected with my back from behind.

"Why isn't the cloaking signal on?" he barked at me angrily.

"I'm sorry master I forgot. I will activate it immediately." I said trying to run.

"No, I already did it, and this time I am going to make you regret forgetting." He swore grabbing my neck again.

"Master please I am sorry. Please don't hurt me!" I begged, but he ignored me.

He marched over to the ship's exhaust vents, and pushed me into it. The heat was unbearable, and started to make my scrapped red paint peel. I screamed for my master to let me out, but instead he closed the vent hatch and left me there. I clawed at the hatch desperately trying to get out. I heard the engines come to life, and screamed again as I got blasted by the exhaust flames.

I put my hand out in front of me in a pointless attempt to protect myself. My armor plating melted in the intense heat that made my optics burn. I pounded my fists against the hatch crying out for anyone to rescue me.

The engines shut down, and the flames stopped. I crumpled in on myself crying with pain. My master opened the hatch, but before he could grab me. I shot out of the vent, and hit the ground running. I ran sobbing to my hiding spot by one of the base's main supply storage rooms. I heard my master order me to stop, but I just ran faster.

I used the wall jump I had learned to launch myself into the cables above the hallway, and tucked myself into the large alcove hidden by the thick cables. I slapped a hand over my mouth so my master wouldn't hear, and cried until I fell into a painful sleep.

Chapter four- freedom at last.

I crawled out of my hiding place a few days after my master pushed me into the vents. My armor was gone all I had left was my soft protoform. My paint was gone, only my sliver base layer remained. I went to my room and pulled out my axes from their hiding place. I reassembled my dummy and started to beat on it harder than I had ever attacked anything before.

I let all my anger out of the poor manikin, and soon the thing was in pieces. I vented hard, as I sobbed. My dry eyes no longer able to produce tears.

"There you are," my master yelled when he spotted me, "what do you think you are doing?"

I stared down at the remains of the dummy and angrily crushed its arm under my foot. My master paused, and surveyed the scene before him. He sort of half smiled an evil grin, and then he laughed.

"So you are not as pathetic as I thought. Well let's put you to the test." He chuckled slyly.

I reluctantly followed him into the prisoner's ward. He opened one cell, and pull a struggling Autobot out. He tossed the young mech in front of me then pinned him down with one spiked foot.

"Ok shrimp, you think you are tough. Kill this bot now." My master ordered me.

The Autobot looked at me with fear in his eyes. The same fear I faced every day, but the difference this time was that I was the one going to inflict the pain my master put on me. I shook my head and bolted away from them both. Racing for the exit of the base, and the subterranean tunnels under Cybertron.

"Prima we have been diving for hours," Septimus complained transforming, "I need to stretch my legs."

Prima sighed, and transformed too. Septimus was right they had been in the tunnels under their home world searching for the Jawcracker's hideout. Their scouts had seen it land somewhere in an underground hanger near their location. They had been driving in circles with no hint of the base.

Prima had agreed to help, mostly to make sure his little brother didn't get himself into trouble. He had ordered his scouts to split up and search for the base. So he and Septimus were alone together. Prima had taken up Septimus sitting because his other brothers refused to take him.

"We can rest for a moment, but if are to find them we must keep going." He tried to encourage Septimus.

"I'm good, my knee joints were just getting as stiff as Megatronus's…" he was stopped when Prima barked his name.

Septimus shrugged. "I'm sorry, I'm just tired from all the fighting. I wish we could all be brothers again like before."

Prima smiled and put a caring hand on his brother's shoulder. Septimus smiled back then took point, he was about to turn a corner when I came sprinting around it, and ran full on into his leg.

At that moment it would have never entered my mind that the Prime that towered over me would become the greatest friend I would ever know. Nor that I would come to love him so much, that it would turn us both into legends.

I slammed into him, falling back on my aft I looked up at the two massive Autobots. I recognized them as two of the thirteen Primes my master had been fighting against. The larger one of the two raised his star saber, and was going to bring it down on me.

I flinched preparing for death, but was surprised when the smaller one grabbed his arm and stopped him. He shook his head at the other then knelt to one knee in front of me. I shimmied away from him so my back was against the wall. I raised my now twisted and broken axes in a sad effort to be threatening.

"Hey easy," He said fiendishly, "where did you come from?"

He looked at my burnt body, and I could see the pity in his green optics. I was still scared, but not of him.

"It's ok, my name I Septimus Prime and this is Prima. We won't hurt you. What was your name again?" he said quickly; I could tell he was something of a chatterbox.

"E…Echo," I stammered nervously, "my name is Echo."

Septimus smiled warmly at me, but I couldn't trust that. I was a slave because someone had been nice to me. I wasn't about to let myself be fooled again.

"Wow, you look much prettier than I thought. Jawcracker is an idiot for hurting you." He complimented me tilting his head to one side.

"Flattery got me stuck with that monster," I hissed, "so pardon me if I don't trust a compliment."

"Understandable." Prima said lowering the star saber.

I lowered my own weapons in a show of a mutual truce. Septimus looked pleased, and winked flirtatiously at me. He stood back on his feet, and scratched the back of his head.

"Well how about this? If you lead us to your master I will free you from him." he offered his eyes kind.

I didn't answer; instead I considered his offer. My freedom was all I wanted, but I didn't know what it was to be free. I also was mindful about the fact that my master would be furious that I brought them, and would snuff my spark for it. And I was wary of what the Primes would want from me after my freedom was mine.

"What is in it for you if I do?" I asked Septimus skeptically.

"The pleasure of setting you free for one," He replied, "and perhaps the locations of your master's other slave camps so we can set them free as well."

"But why would you do that for them?" I was confused. No one was that selfless.

"Because freedom is the right of all sentient beings. We defend that right." Prima answered proudly.

His promise touched my spark. These Primes were not what I had been led to believe. They were kind, and wanted to truly help me. I also relished the thought of my master's face when I brought them both to kill him.

"I will show you where he is, but you must promise me that I will be allowed to walk away free afterwards." I said boldly.

"If that is what you wish. Lead the way little one." Prima consented inviting me to take point.

I ran back down the hallway that I had just come from, the Primes followed close behind. Septimus trotted alongside me and smiled down at me.

"You're pretty fast for a Mini." He chuckled warmly.

"And you are pretty clumsy as a Prime." Said as he run into a wall.

I heard Prima stifle a laugh, as I slid smoothly around the corner. Septimus caught up rubbing his face, I smiled amused. I led them through the tunnels for two more miles, before stopping before the huge door that sealed off the back entrance to the base.

"Give me a minute while I disable the security systems otherwise we will be vaporized upon trying to enter." I advised them.

"We would appreciate keeping our molecules in one place. Thank you." Septimus joked.

I smirked, then looked up at him. I blushed embarrassed that I had forgotten that my master usually did it, and the keypad was twenty feet above my head.

"Um… could you lend me a hand?" I asked Septimus shyly.

He chuckled then placed one of his large hands on the floor. I climbed onto his flattened palm, I swayed to keep my balance as he lifted me up to the keypad. I punched in my master's disarm codes, and made note to also disable the prisoner detention security as well.

"I let out the few prisoners he has here, you can go save them." I announced.

"Good I will see to that. Septimus you find Jawcracker and put an end to him." Prima ordered as the door opened and he run for the cells.

"Well, I guess it is just you and me." Septimus smiled at me.

He set me on the ground gently, and drew his sword from his back. It had a long sliver blade that curved out at the tip. Its upward curving guard was deep blue like his armor, so was the pummel. It was decorated beautifully with repeating circles of bright silver, which stood out boldly against a black background. His sword was stunningly beautiful, but also incredibly powerful.

"Did your sister make that for you?" I inquired.

He looked down at me, sadness in his green optics. I knew his sister Solus Primus was the blacksmith of the Primes and had made all her brother's weapons. My master told me that Megatronus had killed her, but I hadn't expected to upset him by my asking.

"I'm sorry," I apologized, "You don't have to answer that."

"It's ok. Yeah she did, it was her last creation before…" he sighed unwilling to say it.

"Echo!" my master's voice boomed from the center of the room.

I flinched and turned to look at him. He was standing in the center of the docking platform the entrance opened into. He beat his huge red mace against the wall in a challenge to Septimus.

"You treacherous snake. I warned you that I would kill you if you ever betrayed me. When I am finished dispatching the Prime I am going to make you suffer." He roared at me charging Septimus.

I bolted out of the way so I wouldn't get squashed, and watched as Septimus blocked my master's blow. He shoved him off and slashed sideways across my master's torso. My master jumped back, swinging his at Septimus's head. The Prime ducked, and parried the blow on his sword. My master used his fist and punched Septimus's wrist making him drop his sword. With the Prime disarmed he could do little to stop the onslaught of blows my master hammered on him.

The mace struck Septimus in the knee, and he yelped as his transistors broke with a loud crack. He fell backward clutching his joint. I watched him on the ground terrified that if he lost, my master would rip me in two. I appreciated the way he had been kind to me for no other reason than that being who he was. He wanted to free me, save me, and all for nothing.

I felt a burning anger surge through my spark. I looked from my master to Septimus, and let all my hate for my master take control of me. I charged, and jumped so high that I landed on my master's neck. I sank my small teeth into the soft cables of his neck. He screamed as I tasted his hot energon in my mouth. I shook my head to tear the cables, and bit down with all my fury.

My master clawed at me trying to get me off, yelping like a dog. Suddenly his fingers found my shoulders and threw me against the wall. This time though I braced my feet, and skillfully used the wall to slide to the floor. My master stomped toward me, and my anger was replaced by fear for my life. I tried to run, but my master caught me by the leg. He held me upside down before his face and spat in my face.

"I should have snuffed you years ago you traitorous little…argh!" my master gargled as Septimus's blade erupted from his chest.

He released me and I flipped gracefully to land back on the floor. I scrambled out of the way of my master's lifeless body as it fell sideways to the floor. Septimus pulled his sword out, and limped over to me. He knelt on his not injured knee, and smiled broadly.

"Are you ok?" he asked concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine." I assured him.

"We make a pretty good team don't we?" he laughed.

"I guess we do." I smiled back happy to be free at last.

"If you are looking for someone to be your new host. There is a pretty good looking volunteer right here." he looked at me hopefully.

I was surprised by his new offer. I was newly free, and already he was offering to be my host? I didn't know what to do. I liked him, but wasn't sure if I was good enough to be bonded to a Prime as kind as Septimus. I looked into his light green eyes and saw through to his spark. He was sweet, brave, and had a pure soul.

My soul I had thought had been crushed a century ago. But to my surprise I saw my own reflection in his eyes. I did not see me as me though, I saw me as he did. Beautiful, strong, brave, and smart. Everything I believed I could never be.

I nodded happily, and climbed onto his outstretched arm to sit on his shoulder. He turned his head to look at me his grin becoming too big for his face.

"Echo, I believe this is going to be a friendship that will go down in history." He announced excited.

"I would like that, Septimus Prime." I laughed.

He tried to stand up, but groaned in pain because of his knee. He sat on his aft, and held out a hand. His sword flew back to him like magic. He tried to use it like a cane to help himself up but had to give up with a gasp of pain.

"I might have something for that?" I said reaching into my bag and pulling out my repair tools.

I moved to his leg and quickly scanned it to see what Jawcracker's blow had damaged. Three connectors were crushed, and two transistors were disconnected from his protoform. I reconnected the transistors, and used my dent fixing tool to unbend the crushed metal around the connectors.

"Ow." He yelped as I removed a connector that was too damaged for me to repair.

"Sorry, hold on I will be right back." I went over to my master's corpse, and pulled out one of his connectors from his knee.

"You won't need this anymore will you?" I asked his lifeless husk, "No, good."

Septimus chuckled and held still as I installed the new part. Prima entered the room then and ran to his brother when he saw that he was injured.

"Septimus, are you alright?" his said scared.

"Yes I'm good. My new partner is taking very good care of me." he smiled gesturing to me.

Prima looked at me with surprise, then looked pleased. He smiled, and nodded to me in respect.

"Then I will allow her to continue. Welcome to the team, Echo." He said.

Chapter five- getting to know each other.

I spent the next few weeks supplying Prima with all I knew about my master's slave trade. Where our hideouts were, our energon mines, and our rendezvous points with Megatronus were. He was grateful for all the information I provided, and it felt good to have the power to tear down everything my master had built.

I also got to know Septimus a little better. He let me sit on his shoulder as he told me about all the fun we would together. He took me for a tour of the warship, gleefully explained every part he knew about. I let him ramble on mesmerized by his kind boyish voice.

We got to the bridge, and Septimus grinned when he saw a smaller blue ship pull alongside ours. I wondered who it belonged to, then I noticed that Prima's eyes were also lit with a happy light. I cocked my head at Septimus, and gave him my best confused face.

Soon the bridge door opened and another Minicon calmly strode in. He was taller than me by only three inches, but he held his round shoulders with dignity and pride. His armor was thick, and painted with a nice soft blue color that seemed to glow for some reason I did not know. He nodded a greeting to Septimus, and Prima. When he saw me his shinning blue optics smiled happily, like we had meet before and was pleased to see me again.

I was even more confused now. This Minicon looked familiar, but could not recall where I had seen him before. Septimus nudged me, and I let him help me to the floor.

"Echo," he said excitedly, "I would like you to meet my brother, and your father Micronus Prime creator of the Minicons."

My spark nearly stopped pulsing in my small chest. My father? I bowed low, my deep sapphire eyes wide. Micronus smiled, and genitally place two fingers under my chin. He lifted my head back up, so I could look him in the eye.

"My daughter there is no need for that. Now let us go take care of your armor, I would hate for the body I gave you to be damaged because you lack the proper shielding." He shot a look at Septimus, then led me away to the ship's armory.

I sat down, and watched in petrified silence as my maker fired up the forge. He threw four huge rectangles of metal into the furnace and looked at me thoughtfully while waiting for them to melt.

"You truly are my most beautiful creation, Echo. I was stunned when your final form came into being. That is why I was so outraged about how Jawcracker treated you, and am relived now that you are free." He said with a hiss at my master's name.

"Thank you, father. Why did you make me?" I asked. I had really tried to forget my slavery, so I turned the conversation to a topic I had been curious about.

"I made you as a blueprint, so that I could use your example to create the future female Minicons. I think now you will be an example to more than just them though." He explained.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"My own father gave me the gift of predicting some future events, or mostly the futures of my siblings. When you chose to bond to Septimus, I saw the impact you both would have on the others of our kind generations from now. You made I wise choice, not just because you needed my brother, but because I know he will need you."

"For what?"

"To hopefully keep him out of trouble, and to help him learn that a positive attitude and a big grin does not always solve everything. He needs someone to protect him, and I am very glad that is you."

I smiled grateful for his confidence in me, but my spark felt undeserved of his words. I was barely strong enough to save myself, let alone Septimus. I didn't know how to fight anything but a fake opponent, I couldn't keep up with a full-size Mech like him, and my axes were a twisted broken mess on my hips.

"Speak your mind, Daughter. You need not keep your feelings from me." Micronus chuckled.

"I do not know how I can protect him, father. I am not stronger enough." I answered him hanging my head.

He smiled as he poured the now molten metal into some Minicon sized armor molds he had brought with him. He walked over to me, and sat beside me.

"What did you do when you were still Jawcracker's slave? Did you not make yourself stronger? Echo you have all the strength you need inside you, and I made you to be the most loyal of my children. That is why you didn't abandon your master years ago. Your true strength lies there, and it is your greatest power." He put a hand on mine, and pulled me close to cradle me in his arms.

I felt new tears forming in my eyes. All the years of agony I went through evaporated as I stored his words into my hard drives. The armor molds dinged signaling that they had cooled and were ready to be attached to my body. Micronus released my shoulders and went over to the molds he extracted the pieces of sleek sliver armor.

I stood and let him snap the pieces into their proper places. My maker popped the last plate onto my body, then smiled up at me. I could see my reflection in the polished metal wall of the ship. I almost didn't recognize myself.

My legs, and arms were shielded by slender braziers. While my chest and shoulders were covered by sharp looking guards. There was a small blue jewel in the center of my chest that reflected the light, and glittered brightly against the all sliver back ground. My head was adorned with a fitted open-faced helm with thin side guards for protection. A tall thin spike curved skyward from my forehead just like Septimus, only sharper.

I smiled at how beautiful I was, but then one of the blades from my axes fell out. I had to jump back to keep from getting my foot sliced off. I pick up the blade and frowned sadly. These weapons were old, and not fit for any kind of battle. I hated the idea of replacing them though, because I had rescued them. I had taught myself to fight with them, helped to kill my master with them, and had earned my freedom with their help.

My father came over and calmly inspected my weapons with a smile. He took them from me and set them on a huge anvil tucked into the corner of the armory. Then he strode over to a glass case in the back of the room, and used his power of matter to remove a huge hammer from the case. It was the size of Autobot, and it looked like it could squish both me and my father if he dropped it.

He raised it over my axes and then I watched in horror as he brought it down on them aggressively. I leaped forward to save them but Micronus raised his hand toward me. I was immobilized by a strong field of energy.

"It is alright my girl. Your blades are in no danger." He promised me.

"But…" I whimpered confused.

"This hammer belonged to my sister, and it will help to make your weapons stronger then they have ever been." He assured me continuing to hammer on my axes.

I waited with growing fear as the sound of hammering vibrated through my newly helmeted head. Once the pounding had stopped and my maker put the hammer away. He released me and revealed my new axes to me.

I gasped at what he put in my hands. No longer were they broken and bent, but instead looked new. The blades curved gracefully upward, and downward. The handles were the same rich blue as Septimus, but they glowed softly with sliver. They fit into my grip perfectly, and filling me with a new sense of power.

"Thank you father, thank you so much." I said swinging them back and forth.

"Your welcome my girl, now I believe my brother is getting bored waiting for you. When Septimus gets bored he tends to start getting overly mischievous. You better give him something to do before Prima strangles him." Micronus advised me.

I nodded tucking my new axes into the loops on my hips, which I had made for them. Then I ran off to find Septimus.

I looked in the bridge where I had left him, and couldn't find him. I asked the other Autobots on duty if they had seen him, had they said they had seen him heading for Prima's quarters shortly before I got there.

I started in that direction, but as I approached I had a loud bang for Prima's rooms, and saw Septimus sprinting out, a panicked smile spread across his face.

He saw me, reached down, and grabbed me as he ran passed. He cradled me close to him,as I heard Prima roar angrily from his room, and soon he was chasing us.

"What did you do?!" I barked at Septimus.

"No time to answer," He laughed, "Must keep running."

I heard things start to move under his armor, and soon I was strapped inside an intimidating pickup truck that looked far too imposing for the goofy Mech who had transformed into it. Septimus's engine purred as he accelerated, pushing his gas pedal to the floor.

I clung to the seat as his speed pushed me flat against the back of his cobalt blue and silver seat. I had no clue what he had done, but I started to laugh for some reason. I was being kidnapped by a crazy Prime, and being chased by an angry one, but I like it.

"Hey you are laughing." Said Septimus's steering wheel triumphantly; the Autobot symbol in the center lighting up with every word.

"I suppose I am." I replied surprised with myself.

"You're having fun that's good. I hoping you would with me." He laughed happy, he had made me happy.

Suddenly Prima's tank form rolled into our path. He transformed and wrapped his hands around Septimus's hood. He was covered head to toe in bright pink glitter paint; there was so much on him that it pooled around his feet. Steam blew out of his nose vents like a bull. He lifted his younger brother completely off the floor.

Not wanting to come between them. I opened Septimus's door and bailed out. I hit the floor running a found a hiding spot behind the corner. Septimus transformed trying to escape his brother, but Prima turned him around, picked him up again, and hung Septimus on a hook in the wall.

Septimus Struggled but couldn't free himself. Prima brushed off his palms and left Septimus there to go clean himself off. I returned to Septimus, and smiled up at him. He looked down at me.

"Thanks for bailing on me." He snapped.

I lowered my head in shame. My maker had just told me to look out for Septimus and like a cowered I had abandoned him. I knew Prima wouldn't have hurt him, but I still should have at least tried to be loyal like Micronus had built me to be. I look up at Septimus pitifully, and he could tell that his remark had hurt me.

"Hey it is ok," he said trying to cheer me up, "I would have ditched me too."

I smiled. He tried again to free himself from the wall to no avail. Then he looked back down at me for help. I grabbed his foot and slowly made my way up to where he was hanging. I didn't know how I was going to get him down. The easiest way I could see was to lift him up and off the hook, but he was almost sixty feet tall. There was no way I would be able to do that.

Then I thought about how Micronus had said that my strength came from within me. New confidence surged into my arms, and I knew there was nothing I couldn't do. I hooked my small hands under the plates of Septimus's armor and pulled. He slowly started to rise from the hook, as I lifted him with all my newfound strength. I lowered him to the floor gently; he turned around and looked up at me as I was on the hook now.

"Did you just…?" he stammered.

I answered with a confident smile, and back flipped off the hook to land gracefully on to ground. Septimus stared at me with wonder; his head kept looking form the hook, to me, then back to the hook again.

"Well then… my Minicon has super strength wonderful." He smiled happy for me.

He transformed again, and opened his door for me. "Let's go see what else we can do together." He invited me.

I climbed into his truck, and this time fastened the seatbelt tightly around me. I looked down at myself and took pride at how strong I had become. My only wish was that I could have used it on the one I used to call master. I was my own master, with my new best friend by my side and a new family to call my own.

Chapter 6- Small problems.

My new life wasn't always a fun one though. When you are only ten feet tall in a ship full of thirty plus foot robots, you face many problems. I had nearly been stepped on so many times I started to just ride on Septimus's shoulder, and hardly dared to travel on the ground. Of course this also had its dangers.

I was resting on his right shoulder when I noticed him turn up his face in preparation to sneeze. I tried to run but was too late. Snot blew out of his nose, and coated me in foul smelling lubricate. He apologized and let me go to the wash racks to clean myself off. I had to ask another Autobot who was also there to push the lever to get the oil running. I scrubbed so hard a little of my plane sliver paint chipped off.

I had considered changing my color, but had decided what color would look good on me. I liked the rich blue of Septimus's armor and thought it would be fitting to match him. He was my host after all. When I returned to our room I had to jump to the side quickly before I got squashed by his foot.

He was had a huge set of headphones on, and was jumping up and down with all the dancing grace of an elephant. His feet shook the ground with every step, and he shook like a human drowning. I couldn't help but laugh at how stupid he looked, but then he saw me. A massive grin spread over his face, and he snatched me up into his arms.

He spun me around the room enthusiastically. I laughed at his silliness, and wondered to myself what I had gotten myself into this time. We danced until Septimus tripped over himself, and fell onto his recharge berth, giggling happily. I pulled away from him in the attempt to go down to my berth.

"Where are you going?" He asked confused.

"I was just going to recharge on my berth." I explained innocently.

"Echo, wouldn't you like to share mine? It is bigger, and more comfortable." Septimus offered.

I cocked my head at him. I had never considered sleep on a full size mech's berth. My former master would have torn me in two for just thinking about it. I nodded to my new partner, and waited while he got comfortable.

He stretched his hand out invitingly, his eyes glittering the darkened lamplight. I curled up beside him near his neck, and shivered as he gently laid one of his huge hands over me like a blanket. I smiled and drifted into the deepest recharge I had ever experienced in my short life. Safe, and warm beside my friend.

When I woke Septimus had already left, so I got up to look for him. Our bond was drawing me to him, so I had a general idea of where he was. I strode calmly into the refueling area of the ship, and lazily scanned the crowd for Septimus. I found him lying comfortably on a Cybertronian sized couch chugging down his three container of high grade Energon. I went to him, climbing onto his chest, and used my axe to cut the container in two, spilling the high grade all over him.

He glared at me in confused anger. I wasn't worried though. Micronus had told me to look after my host, and that was precisely what I was going to do.

I pushed my axe into his face, and twisted my face to look as stern as possible.

"No bot should have three cubes of high grade." I barked at him.

"Um… who made you my progenitor?" he snapped bitterly.

Before I could answer he straightened so that I slipped off, and stood to get another cube. I sprinted to get ahead of him, and sprang onto the counter. He reached for another, but I jumped onto his hand and kicked the cube away.

"Really? Echo, stop it." Septimus growled at me.

"No, you have had plenty. No more." I growled back.

Septimus tried to use his other hand to swat me off, but I was too quick for him. I scurried up his arm, and grabbed his antenna on the side of his head. I jumped off his back, pulling his head down, so his forehead slammed against the counter. I had never done anything like that, and I had to admit… it felt great. Once I let Septimus go he was steaming mad, and tried to grab me. I jumped and flipped over his hand. He tried again his anger growing, I dodged again. I was too quick, and too slippery for him to catch.

He bellowed as he missed again, and I thought I had maybe gone too far. But he instead crossed his arms, and pursed his lips in a defeated pout. He lowered his head to looked me in the eyes, his brow plates farrowed with irritation.

"Micronus put you up to this didn't he?" Septimus hissed.

"He told me to look after you," I answered boldly; "I assumed he meant in all aspects."

"Hey I don't need you to be my parole officer, and I can look after myself just fine." He argued.

"Clearly since I had to fix you knee, get you down from the hook, and make sure you don't overload on high grade. Yeah you are very good at taking care of yourself." I spat back.

All friends fight sometimes; Septimus and I were no exception. This was our first fight, and after I had said this he slammed his fist on the counter frustrated with my words. I had a point, and he hated it. He threw up his hands in surrender, or so I thought. He was looking passed me at the bartender who had pulled out a large weapon from under the counter, and aimed it at Septimus's face.

"No sudden moves Prime or I will blow your pretty face off." The villain snarled as the other bots the room stood and closed in around us, sinister weapons in their hands.

"Whoa guys, I'm sure that there is enough high grade for all of us." Septimus said innocently.

I rolled my eyes at his attempt at humor. I slowly drew my axes and looked at Septimus with a look of confidence. He winked at me, and then quicker then lightening he ducked his head down, and I ran forward jumping onto his back. I sprang off his back and swiped at one of the bots faces. My blades cut through the Decepticon's face plates like they would through flesh, Energon splattered everywhere as my victim screamed and crumpled. I cut the leg straits on three more before looking back at Septimus. He had his sword drawn and as thrusting it through two bots' stomachs. Another bot was advancing on him from behind, so I sprinted toward my host.

"Septimus!" I barked as I sprang into the air my body transforming as I reached his arm.

Soon I was a perfectly round shield that curve gently inward. My face was the same blue as my armor, while my edges were bright silver. A silver Autobot symbol decorated the center of my face the eyes of it glowing a piercing blue. I attached myself to Septimus's arm for the very first time and he used me to block the attack from behind us. I hurt to absorb the blow, but not that much. The Decepticon was so shock that he didn't notice Septimus's sword until it had cut him in half. The other attackers continued to press us but we were untouchable.

After we had killed half a dozen cons Prima and Micronus came running in with the rest of the troops. The remaining cons surrendered immediately, throwing their weapons to the floor, and raising their hands in summation. I transformed into my Minicon form again and perched of Septimus's shoulder panting from the fight. He looked at me and smiled.

"Maybe I do need you after all; tough girl." He smirked.

"For all of time, I will always be yours, Sep." I promised him shortening his name.

I saw Micronus nodding at me with approval, and Prima was staring at me with shocked respect. That was when I noticed how many of the bodies on the floor bore my axes' slashes, and that I had slaughtered thirty-nine full size mechs. I glanced down at my blades dreading want I would see; energon dripped off them, its bright blue color intense against my axes' sliver faces. I slapped a hand to my mouth, threw my axes away with disgust. I climbed down from Septimus and ran behind the counter. I sat in the corner of the bar counter, and shivered fight to no to be sick.

Septimus leaned his big head over the counter's edge to down at me in confusion. I curled my legs in closer to my body and avoided looking up at him.

"Hey what's wrong?" Septimus asked innocently concerned.

I didn't say anything, so he made his way around the counter and sat down beside me. His green eyes searched me over for a way to understand why I was so upset. He must have figured something out because his expression changed to one of compassion and kindness.

"First time in a fight?" he said understandingly.

"First time I killed anyone." I answered painfully.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know, but you did an amazing job. The shield thing was pretty cool." He encouraged.

"I'm not upset that I killed them. I'm scared that I could, I was never strong enough to open my master's file cabinet, and now I can kill bots like a Predicon. What is happening to me, Septimus, I don't know who I am anymore." I started to cry. I was changing and I terrified me.

"Echo, you're not the same person you were when you were under Jawcracker's control. You are free, and that makes you stronger than he ever knew you could be." Septimus smiled down at me.

his words had little affect on how I felt though. I tucked my head into my knees and sighed loudly. I didn't want to change if it meant I would become a killer. This was not a war I wanted to be apart of, and I wished I could have taken it all back.

"I don't want to be another slave to your war." I mumbled from where I had placed my head.

For the first time a look of pity washed through Septimus's usually cheerful face. Then to my surprise, he let all silliness, and playfulness go. His spirit changed into serious heavy tone that I had never thought him capable of.

"Echo, there is always going to be conflict, whether it is against others or ourselves. It is not always up to us which it is going to be. Want we can chose is how we will meet the adversary when it comes." He said with a great deal of sadness riddled through his words.

His brothers snapped their heads around at his speech, in shocked disbelief of want they had just heard coming from their youngest brother. Rarely did Septimus ever show his age. Prima especially was surprised and simply stared wide-eyed at Septimus.

I looked up at him, lightened by his powerful voice. He tilted his head to look at me better the kindly wiped away the tiers that were beginning to trickle down my cheek.

"You know I think I know something that we might try to get over the horrors that we will face in this particular war." Septimus grinned back to his light hearted self.

"Want?" I asked welcoming any sort a relief from the disgust I had for myself.

"On the last planet we went to before I found you the native species did this thing where they would write melodies and applied words to the music. It is what I was listening to when we danced. They called it singing and maybe we could try that." He explained.

"I've heard of singing, but I don't know any songs." I lied because I secretly never had.

"Don't worry," Septimus assured me, "cause I do."

"What do I do?" I asked because I had know idea.

"Just follow my lead, ok." with that he opened his mouth and began to sing a song about a frog on a lily pad that made a mistake, and fell in love with a fish.

I didn't join in, but instead I laughed at how silly the song was. Then Septimus poked my shoulder, signaling me to sing too. I did my best to keep up with him, and after a few verses I was sing my spark out, wish the frog luck on his quest for the fish's love.

When we finished we both just sat there behind the counter and laughed. I was glad to have Septimus with me, and happy that he would always find a way to cheer me up. I loved that about him.

Oh I loved so many things about him, and the day the I lost...

Hey, hold on now Echo, we are not at that part yet. You still haven't told us about your many missions together, about Sunblock, or all the trouble you got into before that.

Of course, sorry where was I...? Ah yes, trouble. We didn't know it yet but Septimus and I were about to get into a lot of trouble.

Chapter 7- stowaways

we were still sing when Prima cleared his throat to get our attention. I climbed onto Septimus's shoulder. He stood and turned toward his brother. .

"If you two are quite finished? It seems we have a breach in our security." Prima said concern in his optics.

"Really, what led you to that conclusion. The ambush Echo and I just fought through, or was it the bodies by your feet. Brother." Septimus spat sarcastically, he winked at me making me smile.

Prima narrowed his eyes at Septimus as a indication for his younger brother to stop talking. Septimus smirked then put a hand on his brother's shoulder. Prima shrugged him off angrily, knocking me off Septimus's shoulder.

I yelped as I fell thirty feet from Sep. he scrambled to catch me but he was still dealing with an irritated Prima. I waited for the pain off the floor to hit, but suddenly someone caught me midair. I turned to see my father hold me as he set me gentility on the ground.

Once I was safe he created a barrier between his brothers. They both looked down at him, Septimus sent me a scared look, I gave him a thumbs- up, he nodded relived that I was safe.

"I ask you two to remember that we are all brothers, and that you do not kill my child with your eagerness, to let our fallen brother win." Micronus reprimanded them.

I watched Prima deflate like a balloon with a hole in it. He started examining the bodies looking for any clues about how they got in our ship. Septimus looked at Micronus then pointed at me.

"Can I have her back now?" he asked more sweetly than a child.

"That is up to her." Micronus said looking at me.

Septimus looked at me hopefully, and mouthed an apology for dropping me. I smiled at how his green eyes were pleading me to come back to him.

"Let me go to him." I said to my father who still had the energy barrier between us.

He smiled, then released the barrier. I walked slowly to him, my blue eyes never leaving his sparkling happy green. I stopped before him, and tried my best to imitate Prima's sternest glare.

"Don't ever drop me again, alright." I growled shaking my finger in his face.

He put one hand on his chest and raised the other. He let his eyes smile, while the rest of his face declared his sincerity.

"I solemnly swear that I will never drop you again." he promised.

"That will do." I laughed jumping into his arms.

He hugged me close, and in that moment I knew that there was no safer place in the whole universe. I never thought I would ever feel truly safe, and for a microsecond I wanted my master to see me now. I wanted him to look at the bodies of the ones I had struck down, and I wanted to slice his head off for everything he had done to me.

Suddenly I saw something blinking on one of the corpses. I pulled away from Septimus and picked up what looked like a communication device. I had never seen one like the one I was holding. The energon cells where in the wrong place, and the receiver was on the side which was strange.

I walking over to Prima, and poked his leg to get his attention. He didn't notice me, so I climbed up his leg up to his shoulder then boldly kicked the side of his face. I heard Septimus smother a laugh behind me, but I ignored him.

Prima turned to me angry. I held up the device that I had found so he could see it. His expression changed from angry to interested.

"I found this on one of the bodies," I reported, " I have never seen I something so I thought it might give you some clues as to how and why these stowaways got a bored."

I handed him the communicator, and took it giving me a look like he was recalculating his opinion of me. He nodded in gratitude, then turned his attention to the device I had just given him.

"Your right little one," He congratulated me, "this communicator is not on that my brother uses this is made out of spare parts, and of unknown origin."

"So that means these guys were thugs and not Megatronus's minions." Micronus concluded.

"And whoever sent them is no friend to us." Septimus added.

"Spare parts?" I had overheard my master once talking to a junker about gathering spare parts for his experiments. I never found out who it was but I did know that my master had made several transactions with him.

"I think I have an idea about how we can..." I stopped when I realized no one was listening to me.

Septimus heard me though, and put his fingers in his mouth. He whistled so loudly that I had to clap my hands over my audio censers. Everyone turned their attention to him promptly.

"Sorry Echo," he apologized for my ears, and for the others' behavior, "want did you want to say?"

now all eyes where on me, and for a moment I was terrified. Then I saw Septimus give me the thumbs-up.

"My former master might have known the villain who sent these guys. I never heard his name but I think if we look through my master's old parts lists we might find something on him. I don't know if you noticed the thugs on the floor are also made out of spare parts, and that means that they are definitely connected to the same source." I explained slowly.

"She has a point, sir the bodies do appear to be made of spare parts." A soldier reported showing Prima that one of the bodies had two mismatched arms, and no spark chamber.

"We have your master's logs. Do you think you could find who did this in them?" Prima asked me seriously.

"Yes, I wrote most of them remember, I can find want we need." I said confidently.

Prima walked with me to the record room with Septimus and Micronus following. He set me down on the huge dash and brought up all the records that we had gotten from my master. I quickly sifted through his files, until I found the parts transactions. My master had made over eighty shipments to a research scientist, called Bottomline. His location came up in the base of some sort on a volcanic planet known as Boritoron.

"That's my girl." Septimus whispered proudly.

"That system isn't that far away," Prima noted, "that explains how the patchwork thugs got on board. We have an outpost on one of it's moons. I believe Nexus is overseeing it."

"I will send a transmission to him immediately." Micronus said leaving the room, smiling approvingly at me.

"We will start a course to Boritoron. Come on Echo." Septimus called holding out his hand from me to climb onto him. Just before we left the room Prima called after us.

"Septimus, Echo also alert the crew. I doubt that those were all of Bottomline's tricks." He gestured to me respectfully, then dismissed us.

"I think he is starting to like you." Septimus said nudging me with his head.

"Hey don't push me off." I teased as I grasped on more tightly to the grooves on the sides of his face.

He smiled then laughed. His laughter shaking his shoulders,and making it even harder for me to balance properly. His youthful laughter is want I think was thing I would come to miss the most of all.

Chapter 8- Nexus Prime.

It took us a few weeks but when we reached the moon, we were greeted by another ship the looked almost identical to ours. The only differences were that unlike our plain silver ship, this one was a crazy mix of red, blue, and yellow.

the ship belonged to Nexus Prime, another of Septimus's brothers. Which for some reason I had forgotten that he had more than two.

"How many of you Primes are there?" I whispered in his ear.

"Thirteen, or technically only twelve now." he answered his green eyes dimmed with grief.

I could tell he was talking about Solus. His sister who had been brutally murdered by his brother. I brushed his face plates comfortingly. He closed his eyes fighting to keep how much he missed her hidden, but one glistening tear managed to leek from to corner of his eyes. I pulled out the washcloth the I used to wipe away my tiers that I cried when ever my master beat me, and gently touched his neck. His opened his eyes and I kindly handed him my tiny handkerchief.

He smiled as he accepted it, with just a few dabs my cloth was drenched. He tried to hand it back to me, but I didn't want it back.

"Oh no, you keep it." I said with a grossed out smile.

"Thank you, my little one." he replied tucking it away in a storage hatch on his other arm.

The moment when Nexus came aboard he just felt weird, like he was all over the place, but still in one place. He was the same size as Prima, but with a more sharp appearance. He had sharp plates protruding from every part of his body. His red, blue, yellow paint job was scratched, and dull like he had seen a lot of battle. He walked over to Prima and Micronus and warmly greeted them.

When he approached Septimus, I shyly hid behind his head. I don't know why meeting another Prime made me so nervous, but I didn't want him to see me. He hugged Septimus tightly and caught me under one arm. My foot was pinned between Septimus's neck and Nexus's arm. I tried to pull free but Nexus's sharpness was hurting me too much.

I panicked and bit Nexus's finger as hard as I could. He yelped and pulled his hand up, taking me with it. He shook his finger violently in the attempt to throw me off, but I held on with my teeth for dear life. I didn't know how much more I could take until Septimus grabbed his brother's arm, and calmed him down.

"Echo, let go. Stop it!" Prima barked.

Sep put his hand around me, and tugged on me. I let go, and Septimus pulled me into his chest. Nexus glared and me, surprised with a little amusement added in.

"Ouch, quite the bite you got there, Minicon." he chuckled rubbing his finger.

"You were squishing me." I said hoping he wouldn't be angry with me.

"Then you have my deepest apologies. Septimus who might this feisty little tigress be?" Nexus purred.

"This is Echo. She is my new partner, and my best friend." he had never called me that before, and until that moment I had not fully understood that he was my best friend too. My first, and my last.

"Excellent! Primus knows you have needed a partner in crime. I'd say you are in good hands when your friend can bite like that." he laughed.

I was warming up to Nexus, and now felt really guilty for biting him. Not my best first impression. Another Minicon emerged from behind Nexus's head, from the same place I had been hiding on my bot.

His armor glistened ebony black with scarlet red edging. He had sharp features like Nexus, but his were more sculpted and refined. He was a few inches taller then me, and while he had a narrow waist his shoulders were broad. He was very handsome.

He waved at me, and I felt me cheeks begin to burn red. Septimus still had his hand around me waist, so I sunk into his closed fist, like a rabbit hiding in its hole. I had never met other of my kind, and wasn't sure how I should react to him. At least with Septimus it was easy to speak.

I think Septimus caught on to why I was being shy, and excused himself from his brothers for a moment. We went out into the hall, and he set me down on the floor. He knelt to my level, and smiled suspiciously down at me.

"Saw that." he teased.

"What?" I asked bashfully, avoiding his gaze, and rubbing my arm uncomfortably.

"You turning bright red and hiding from that other Mini. Echo that is not how flirting works. You have to be assertive, and confidant. Otherwise you could... on second thought maybe you shouldn't flirt at all." he said a face of horror suddenly making his face drop.

"And why not?" I was the one being suspicious now.

"Um... because if you started doing that then I would never get away from Nexus. He took custody of a lot of my sister's creations after she... after she was killed. He is trying to get his hands on my fire sword, and if you start being romantic with his Minicon, he might use that to get it." Septimus replied honestly.

"I'm sorry about that, but had no intention of be romantic with anyone. I have never seen other Minicon, and since your brother made both of us that technically makes him my brother. Which would be very weird." I spat.

"Eh, my sister was in love with my brother. Then he killed her. You might have a point on sibling relationships, not recommended." Septimus chuckled.

"Um, yeah. Wait she was in love with her killer?" I asked horrified.

"Yup. She and Megatronus were madly in love with each other. Then she met him one night, and he shot a hole straight through her spark. I was the one who found her, and held her as her light went out." Septimus leaned backward until he sat on his butt, he covered his eyes with his hand.

I went to him immediately, knowing he needed me right then. I climbed into his lap, and flung my arms around his neck. He held me, and let his grief overwhelm him.

"Septimus I'm so sorry." I whispered sincerely.

He didn't answer, but I felt his hot tiers splash against my back. I couldn't imagine what it must have been like for him. Finding his sister, who I knew now he loved very much, dying, and watching her die in his arms. I was baffled by how he could joke around, and play. When he was so hurt from her death.

I let go of him, and touched his cheek with my hand. He smiled, and let me wipe away his eyes.

It was then that I noticed my father leaning against the doorway of the bridge watching us. His own eyes leaking moisture. He came over to us, and touched his brother's hand comfortingly.

"Solus would never had wanted anyone else to find her, little brother. She loved all your antics, and jokes. And I think she is very proud that you are still the only one of us who hasn't lost themselves to this war." Micronus said.

Septimus continued to cry, letting he sadness for his sister out. Nexus, and Prima heard his sobs and came running to their little brother. Prima held him while Nexus knelt and touched his shoulder. Prima tried to push me away, but Sep grabbed me, holding me close again.

Just knowing he wanted me there made all my doubts about choosing to bond to him melt like ice. He was mine, and I swore right then that for as long as I lived that I would never bond again. Not for anyone, ever again.

He cried until he fell asleep in Prima's arms. To which his oldest brother cradled Septimus in his arms, and carried him to his room. I wiggled out Septimus's hands, and jumped to Nexus's arm. He let me climb up to his shoulder and followed Prima's lead.

"I forget how young my little brother is. Fighting Unicron was hard enough on his spark, and this war did not help heal all his wounds from that battle." Nexus sighed heavily.

"He was worried that you would try to take his sword from him." I told Nexus.

"It is true that I have many of Solus's creations, but I would never take any of my siblings possessions from them without their permission. That sword was made for him, and will only respond to his touch. I cannot take it from him." he assured me.

I nodded, then asked him to help me to the floor. I excused myself from him, I heard the soldiers that were still in the room muttering about Septimus's display of emotion. I bit my lip, and stormed into the room. I climbed up onto the back of Prima's chair, and glared at each one of them. They stared back, confused at how I would think I could get on their commander's seat in the first place.

"How dare you criticize him behind his back." I barked at them, "so he is missing his sister. Can any of you blame him for that? We have all lost family and friends in this filthy war, so what gives you the right to judge Septimus for being just as mournful as you? Get back to work."

They shifted their eyes downward in shame. They slowly got back to their stations, shooting me cold looks over their shoulders. I sat down on the top of the chair, while the Primes were taking care of their brother, I decided I would hold down the bridge for them.

To my surprise the troops started to report to me, showing me engine status, weapons systems, and treated me like I was the commander of the ships that were attached to Prima's warship. We were still moving toward the planet at full speed.

"Scan the surface for any live signs, and get me a thermal scan as well." I watched as my orders were heard and obeyed without question.

The scan for lifeforms came out negative. Which I was expecting the planet was volcanic no life could survive, it was the thermal that showed me what I wanted to know. The heat from the volcanoes was being directed to one place in the mountains on the northern continent. I guessed that if Bottemline was forging weapons, and experimenting with spare parts; then he would need to get a great deal of power from somewhere. The heat of the volcanoes was a perfect power source.

"Adjust course from the higher heat pocket. That will be where the junk heap will be hiding." I ordered.

The warship began to cruse toward it, and it was then I heard Prima fake a cough from behind me. I whipped around, and was startled to see that not only was he watching me but so were the other two Primes. I swallowed hard, and gestured to Prima's chair for him to take over.

He smirked then raised his hand for me to continue my command. I raised my head a little higher, and smiled down at my father who was nodding proudly to me. I ordered the soldiers to turn the heat shields on, and prepare to enter the planet's atmosphere.

Once we had descended below the clouds it became clear the ground travel was not going to be an option. The surface of the planet was dotted with great lakes of lava, while thick rivers of the melted rock snaked between them. Massive volcanoes were still erupting out of every peak for miles. The parts that didn't have lava spilling over them, were made of solid rock so hot that it would melt a bot in seconds.

In the side of the tallest peak on the planet, was what looked like the observation platform of a truly massive base of operations. It had a shimmery green field around the whole facility, which I recognized as heat shields, but not force fields.

"Prepare the scout ships we found our prey." I said like a hunter.

The pilots got to the ships, and I got up to shoot a look at Prima. Prima came up to me, and sat down in his chair. He looked at me and let me use him to get to the floor. I could see his eyes reward me with his respect, for the way I had performed.

" You should go with the pilots, I will need an officer down there." he suggested.

"Hey, my Minicon isn't going anywhere... without me." Septimus protested as he entered the room.

"Septimus you need time. I am sure that your Minicon is capable enough to handle this mission." Prima suggested trying to be a good brother.

"I'm good. I would rather be fighting than crying like a baby in my room. And I'm not going to let Echo have all the fun." Septimus protested stubbornly. Then he stuck his tongue out at me, and I don't know why I found it so funny.

I laughed until I clutched my stomach and fell forward unto the floor. I laid there curled in a ball laughing so hard I couldn't open my eyes all the way. So I didn't see everyone looking down at me with shock.

"Holy Primus, I think I broke her." Septimus giggled giving me a playful poke.

I grabbed his finger, letting him hoist me up into his arms; still chuckling. I had recovered by the time Septimus and I took a squad of soldiers into a smaller blue vessel in the battleship's hanger.

"There she is. My blue jay. Isn't she beautiful?" Septimus was of course talking about the ship, but beautiful wasn't exactly how I would describe it.

It was medium sized, and its dark blue paint was fading along the bulkheads that were dented. It was skinny, and I wasn't sure if we would all fit in it. When Septimus saw my doubtful face, he frowned.

"I know she looks terrible right now, but she is the fastest ship in our whole fleet. She is also one of the most maneuverable, we have both outrun and outmaneuvered just about everything Megatronus threw at us." he defended her proudly.

I bit my lip still skeptical about the little wreak of a ship. We boarded her and Septimus started her up. She gave a loud whine, but it still flew from the battleship's hanger like a torpedo. Septimus wasn't just kidding when he said that the ship was fast.

We hovered near the huge windows of the base. I could see someone inside jump, and bolt for cover. Septimus fired a cannon shot to shatter the window then flew the Blue jay right in to the base. She fit perfectly. He opened the side doors, and I jumped out with the squad.

"Look alive boys. He might have set traps. Now move out." I barked as I led a charge down a hall that looked to led in the direction that our villain had escaped to.

Septimus soon caught up with me his sword drawn, and all childishness aside. He was a commander now, and ready for a fight. I had my axes in my hands, and was not afraid this time to kill the junker if needed be.

the hall split in two directions, with now evidence on which way the junker had gone. We slid to a stop, unsure which way to go.

"We should split up." Septimus suggested.

"we don't know how big this place is. Splitting up could be a really bad idea. I think we should call Prima, and have him send in two more teams to check it out." I argued wisely.

Septimus smiled, then called in my suggestion to Prima. He complied and soon we were joined by him and Nexus. He ordered us to follow the left tunnel, while he and Nexus took the other. We set off, and soon came to a huge closed door.

"I would be willing to bet sixty sheniks that Bottemline is in there. Hiding like a Scraplet in a hole." Septimus growled.

"Your on. But how do we get in?" The door was sealed from the inside, and was too thick for us to break through.

Prima caught up to us, and we explained the situation to him. He surveyed the door, and noticed a vent shaft above the door leading into the room on the other side. The vent was to filler cool air around the base because of the intense heat outside, but it was too small for the large bots to fit through.

I followed his gaze and understood want I needed to do. I could fit, and open the door for the other side. Without even stopping to discus it I used Prima as a ladder and cut my way into the vent. I had to crawl, but I squeezed through as fast as I could. Bottemline must have heard me, because a round of bullets broke through the section of the vent not two feet from my feet.

The vent broke and I dropped into the room. I landed on my feet and saw Bottemline as he fired a shot at me. My hand flew up with lightening speed, and I heard the bullet graze off of my ax blade in a shower of sparks. I glanced behind me and saw the control pad for the door. I threw my other ax and it landed perfectly into the pad. The door slid open, and my squad flooded the room.

They quickly arrested the junker, but to our shock he melted into a puddle of sludge. The soldiers jumped back with cries of disgust. A gravely rough voice laughed at us over some sort of intercom system.

"Did you really think it would be that easy, Primes? I thought you were smarter than that. Pity." it scoffed at us.

Suddenly the ceiling caved in, and dropped hot lava onto the heads of our soldiers who had been standing near the decoy. The scream in agony as their armor melted in there hands, and the burned to death. We evacuated the room, my spark heavy with pity for the bots we had lost.

I raised my hand and to my surprise my ax flew back to my hand like magic. The moment it did however the ground beneath my feet retracted, and I screamed as I started to fall down a long tube. I shot me out over a huge lake of lava deep in the belly of the base. There were chains hanging from the roof so I grabbed one, and hung there terrified.

"Echo! Echo are you alright!" Septimus's voice shouted over the com-link system.

"I'm alright," I replied my spark pulsing, " but I'm dangling over a pit of lava."

"Ok, just keep holding on. We will get to you somehow." he promised me.

I clung to the chain, and looked around for anyway that they could get to me. There was a door on the far wall, large enough for only a Minicon to fit through. I thought that a little strange, but there I remembered how small most of the doors in the were also this size.

Then it hit me. Why did the decoy, why were the patchwork thugs built with such small screws and pieces? Bottemline wasn't a full size bot, he was a Minicon like me. I swung from the chains until I reached the door. I kicked it open, and followed it until it lead me to a staircase. I emerged into a Minicon sized hallway set just behind the bigger hallway.

At the end of it I saw a green Minicon shorter then me by three heads. He had huge round eyes like human glasses, and was fat like a toad. He saw me and squeaked in surprise. He tried to run, but given how fast I was, and how fat he was, I had no trouble catching up to him.

I pinned him to the floor, and pressed my ax against his throat. He struggled but I pressed my blade harder against his neck.

"Move and I will cut your head off." I hissed.

"The big ones are our enemy," He protested, "they force us to serve, then treat us like scrap. They should all pay. You, you are a Mini too. Help me destroy them, and then Minicons will rule not them."

"Not all of them are like that. Believe me I know how it feels to be treated like scum, but killing them is not the answer. We are free to choose our host, and they can't force us to join them." I said.

"we will always be nothing but trash to them. Small, weak, and useless. I will show them." Bottemline cried.

"But all you have show them is that they should fear Minicons. We should strive to make them our friends, and partners. If we choose to hurt them then they will only respond by hurting u more." I knew how he felt.

I picked him up and pushed him forward down the hall. I found a door that lead to the big one, right where Septimus was. He was pacing, and rubbing his head, he looked worried and scared.

"Septimus calm down she is alright." Prima tried to comfort him.

"And what if she is not by the time we figure out how to get to her!? She needs me now, and you just want me to leave her down there!" Septimus barked back angrily.

"We will can't waist time getting to a Minicon when we must capture the scoundrel who killed our brothers in there." a random soldier said.

Septimus clutched his fists and started to stomp toward the soldier who had spoke. His eyes dark with fury. I kicked the door, threw Bottomline into Nexus's arms, and ran to Septimus.

I sprang from the soldier's head straight into Septimus's chest. I pushed him to the ground, and stood on his chest so he could see me plainly.

He gasped joyfully, I slapped the side of his face though. He looked confused, and rubbed his face. I put my hands on my hips, and narrowed my eyes at him.

"You should know better than to fight with own troops. You are a Prime, you rust bucket, act like it." I scolded him.

Nexus started clapping, and Prima joined in. Septimus looked ashamed with himself. He had lost him temper, and knew he was doing exactly what Megatronus had done. He grabbed me and hugged me close to him.

"Thanks for reminding me. How did you get out, and who is the other Minicon?" he said.

I told them of my escape and who the other Mini was. Then I told them why he had done it, and they all nodded knowing that they were all guilty of treating Minicons like lesser entities simply because of our size.

"You are wise Minicon. Far beyond your time." Prima smiled at me.

"Hey she is mine, brother, go find your own Minicon." Septimus teased standing, and clutching me closer.

Prima rolled his eyes and ordered us to move out. Most of the troops left with him, but Septimus and I wiggled the Blue Jay out of the base. We dock back at the battleship, and headed straight to the commander bridge. Micronus pulled me away from Septimus to repair my slightly damaged armor.

"So your first mission was a success, well done." he congratulated me.

"Thank you father. We lost some good mechs though." I had forgotten their screams or the feeling like I was going to be sick from smelling their melting frames.

"Unfortunately that is the one certainty about war and battle. People die, and there is nothing we can do to stop that. All we can do is make sure the didn't perish for nothing. You caught Bottemline, and in so doing made sure they didn't die in vane." Micronus encouraged.

This lightened my spark, and would be want would drive me on later. All though I didn't know it then. When we were finished I head back to the bridge to find Septimus and Nexus hugging each other in goodbye.

"farewell little brother, take care of yourself." he said solemnly.

"Goodbye Nexus, but I think I will be alright." Septimus replied looking down at me.

Nexus was going to stay here and make Bottemline's base into a new base for our troops. I was going to miss him, but in my spark I knew that this was not the last we would see of each other. He came to me and knelt to one knee.

"I do believe that you will take very good care of my baby brother. I am glad that he found exactly the right person he needed. Watch out for him will you?" he asked me.

"You don't need to worry. I will keep him safe." I promised.

"I have every confidence that you will. Windlance come we have work to do." he called to him Minicon.

Windlance had stayed behind with Micronus so that we would have some one to call for back up if we needed it. He smiled at me again, and walked over to me.

"Nice work out there. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable earlier." he apologized.

"I had never met another of my kind, so I was a little shy. It was Septimus you made feel nervous." I answered all shyness gone.

"Then you have my most humble apologizes, sir. I meant no harm." Windlance said to Septimus.

"It is ok little guy." he assured my fellow Minicon.

With a kind smile he transformed into a long black spear, and jumped into his partner's hand. Nexus smiled at us one more time then left to board his ship. Septimus squatted, and poked me again. His glittering soft green eyes, glowing with pride.

"So do you want to stay here, or there is a battle taking place on Cybertron, what do say to sending them some reinforcements?" he asked me cocking his head to one side.

"Lets bring the heat, big boy." I laughed changing into my shield form and attaching to his arm.

We said our goodbyes to the Prima, and to Micronus. Then we both piled into the Blue Jay, and took off like a falcon. Free to go wherever we felt like. I was free.

That was the story of how I met Septimus, and he became my best friend. How we killed my master, and captured Bottemline. Mainly though this story was about how I learned that I was strong, and that there was more to me then met the eye.

THE END