Beat of My Spark

The sun was dipping low over the horizon. A lone vehicle seemed to be the only one witnessing it. However, there was more to the vehicle than one would think. It was a two wheeler, black and silver in coloring with some dirt streaks on the back half. It was a Transformer, an Autobot, to be more precise. The being transformed and stood, watched as the sun continued to set. A honk sounded behind her. Turning, the femme grinned when she saw the familiar red shape. When it transformed next to her, the femme automatically wrapped her hand servo with the other Transformer's servo.

"Beautiful isn't it?"

"Not as beautiful as you are."

The femme let out a smile. It had been many years since she and her bondmate had met. Years since their return to Cybertron together and then eventual exile, only to lose some of their people along the way. The femme remembered that day very well. Closing her blue optics she let the flashback hit her.

Flashback

The rebuilding of Cybertron was going well. After the battle between the Autobots and Decepticons had ended and the Council was created, led by Optimus Prime, Night Stalker, Soundwave, Knock Out, and Megatron, things seemed to be going well. However, not everyone liked this new alliance between the Transformers. A rogue group calling themselves The Pures began terrorizing the citizens of Cybertron. The Council did their best to help their people, but too many of the Transformers were frightened.

Several of their key warriors had been taken captive and executed, chief among them being Bumblebee, Ultra Magnus, Shockwave, and Airachnid. The last being a surprise considering she had always been a rogue herself. Even more had been captured, Megatron, Optimus, and even Night Stalker's own daughter, Midnight Chaser. Their execution date had yet to be set. However, the remaining Council members knew they couldn't let their people die for the sake of peace. Knock Out, Night Stalker, and Soundwave came together in secret to come up with a plan, only allowing three of their most trusted warriors in on the plan. Arcee, Smokescreen, and Ratchet kept the secret, but somehow The Pures still found out and quickly set the execution date for morning of the next day.

The remaining Council members sprang into action, invading the headquarters of their enemy and setting free the captives. After fleeing, Night Stalker sent out a message to the Alliance, the Decpticon and Autobot unified group, telling them to abandon Cybertron… again. Those of the Alliance did as told and anyone remaining behind were either traitors or were killed for being too slow. Some of the Transformers disappeared altogether, leaving no trace of what had happened.

During their transport, the spaceship was hit by an asteroid, knocking the entire Alliance crew into stasis. Several eons passed before it crash landed on Earth. Awakening from slumber first was Night Stalker. Not having the necessary skills to properly awaken the others, she woke Knock Out first, having him use his skills. Unfortunately, some of those in stasis had a time period to go through that couldn't be undone.

Cautiously maneuvering around Earth, Night Stalker and Knock Out found that none of their allies were still alive and most of their descendants had no clue of what a Transformer was. However, two humans came to them, not at all surprised to see them. These were the descendants of Agent Fowler and Rafael. Everything the Transformers did soon became legend, some not believing they were ever real in the first place. These two descendants, a couple, helped Knock Out and Night Stalker acclimate to their new home.

The humans introduced themselves as Artemis Esquivel and Edward Fowler. The two had been working together with M.E.C.H. descendants to come up with technology that would allow any returning Transformers the ability to have more than one alt mode should they choose it. In this day and age Night Stalker's and Knock Out's alt modes were useless though Soundwave's was still sought after.

Thus began the age of Exile, as written in Transformer history.

End Flashback

"Night Stalker, do you think we'll ever be able to return home?"

"I know we will, Knock Out. We have to believe that we will. Cybertron is your birthplace, our home. And even if we can't return, we still have our people to look after."

The black and silver femme took her hands and cupped Knock Out's face. She smiled at him.

"No matter what happens we will be together. I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Neither would I."

There was a short silence before Night Stalker asked curiously, "Have you and Artemis figured out how to bring any others out yet?"

"We got on thawing right now actually. However, any others with a longer time period will have permanent systems damage if we bring them out too early."

Excitement stirred Night Stalker's systems.

"Who? Ratchet? Optimus? Midnight Chaser or Nightwing? Starscream?"

Any of them would have made Night Stalker happy. While she didn't exactly get along with Starscream, the femme would have been happy to see him nonetheless. She became confused when Knock Out chuckled.

"None of them. Not Smokescreen or Megatron or even Arcee. No the one we're bringing out of stasis is Metal Gear."

Metal Gear. A young Transformer, the offspring of Iron Stalker and Smokescreen, a pain in the rear if Night Stalker ever saw one. However, Metal Gear's awakening would be a great asset. The young Transformer was turning into a fine weapons guru like his carrier's namesake… or part of his namesake, Ironhide. There was much for Metal Gear to learn and without any more Transformers awake, the duty fell upon Knock Out and Night Stalker, a task that the femme was not looking forward to.

Just then Artemis came over the comm. system. The middle aged woman seemingly excited about something.

"Knock Out! Night Stalker! Hurry up and get back here. Edward and I managed to awaken another… and I'm sure the two of you will want to spend some quality time with this Transformer."

A look of curiosity passed between the two Sparkbonds before they transformed into their flying alt modes to hurry back to the base that Artemis and Edward had set up. Upon arriving, Artemis raced out.

"The thaw was much quicker than anticipated. Go on! Shoo!"

She waved the two Transformers inside, bouncing on her feet as she waited to see the surprise on the Sparkbonds' faces when they saw who thawed. In fact, it was Night Stalker who squealed first. She rushed forward to hug a very disoriented, but very happy… Grand Slam, offspring of Soundwave and Megatron.

"Oh Grand Slam. How are you?"

"Like I spent a million years in cryo, but otherwise okay, you? Hello Knock Out."

Seeing Grand Slam made the pair very happy. At first, Night Stalker and Grand Slam had been enemies, but when the femme disappeared into the future, Grand Slam had been extremely depressed, knowing that he was the cause of her disappearance… sort of. With the reunion done, Artemis came up.

"Metal Gear will be awake soon as well. Grand Slam, what is your occupation?"

"Occupation?"

"She means what is your job. Like Metal Gear is a Weapons Specialist and Knock Out is a Doctor."

"Oh! I'm a researcher. I research things."

Artemis's face lit up. "Perfect! You can help us figure out a way to bring out your people without giving them permanent system damage."

A moan came from another Transformer sized bio bed. Looking over, the four of them watched as Metal Gear struggled to sit up. Knock Out stepped over and scanned the young Transformer. The insignia was a cross between Decepticon and Autobot, the new insignia for the Alliance. It was a way to show that they were all allies now.

"Hey Metal Gear. How are you?"

"Oh boy. Hey Night Stalker. Are you going to correct me all the time here?"

Night Stalker chuckled. "Knock Out, Grand Slam, and I will. We've been here before, you haven't."

"We're on Earth?"

"Yes. However, you won't get to meet any of our friends."

"Why not?" Metal Gear demanded.

"Because it has been 3,514,978,103,007 years since they've been around. The humans have evolved to more tech like vehicles and have even begun traveling the stars. Artemis and Edward here are descendants of the original group and are a couple of those that still believe in us."

The door opened and a young teenage girl came in, looking over at a set of data.

"Hey dad, according to this data six more should awaken within the month."

The girl looked up. "Oh hello. I see you two have awoken already. Welcome to Earth." That was aimed at Metal Gear. "And welcome back." Aimed at Grand Slam.

Edward smiled. "Thank you Amelia. It will be nice to know that more will be walking around. Which six?"

Amelia squinted at the data. "Uhhhh… Ratchet, Iron Stalker, Arcee, Shadowstar, Dropkick, and…. Hang on, this part is a little confusing. It doesn't actually say as it gives a possibility between three of them."

"Which three?"

"Starscream, Duststorm, and Seasound."

Before anyone could respond, Amelia spoke again. "No wait. Not Duststorm."

She looked up. "Besides Duststorm do you know of anyone with a D to start their name?"

"There are a few. Duststorm, Dim Rim, Darkwing, and Dewdrop."

"Alright. It's either Dim Rim or Dewdrop. My writing sucks."

Edward laughed, "We all have writing problems. You'll get better."

An alarm sounded. Artemis rushed out to go look. Her shout reached their ears, causing Edward and Amelia to run after the woman.

"We've got company. Oh hey! It's my sister. I'd LOVE for her to see you so she can see that the stories are real."

Artemis cackled evilly. The car drove up to the building stopped. A woman stepped out of the car and walked up to the door. Behind her came her husband and her two children. Artemis went to open the door.

"Brianna, I have a "I told you" thing to show you."

"What? Those stupid Transformers? Artemis those are just stor -"

"Greetings… Brianna is it? My name is Night Stalker."

The woman looked like she was about to faint. Her kids jumped up and down excitedly.

"They're real! They're real!"

Brianna's husband held his wife close.

"Well you won't ever live this down now. You have to accept that the stories are real."

Brianna wasn't listening. "This is just a nightmare. It's all it is. I'll just pinch myself and I'll wake up in my bed, safe and sound."

Her son pinched her for her. Brianna squeaked in surprise, but found that she was not waking up.

"Definitely real. You can't back out of this now."

Brianna slumped. This was not what she wanted. She had only wanted them to be stories and live a normal life. To see Night Stalker before her just made her sister all the more correct. Brianna sighed and gave in. The Transformers were real and there was nothing she could do about it.