This story is about an Autobot called Halo Jyn or Haley for short, at least when she was a kid. She's part of the Wrecker Battalion, seen as a little sister to Bulkhead. She loves the Wreckers like family, and idolises Wheeljack as a role model.

Even though she isn't the stubborn loose-cannon he is, Halo Jyn still isn't a stranger to battle, despite her young age (Cybertronian equivalent of being twenty-one years old).

FYI she also earns another name: Black Phoenix. You'll see why.

This story begins in season two, after episode "Orion Pax: Part Three" and just before "Operation Bumblebee: Part One".

Chapter One: Home again

Halo Jyn couldn't remember the last time she had refilled her energon supply. Sure, she had survived on what she'd had since her last battle, but it was getting lower by the second.

It had been centuries since she'd seen the Wreckers. Her family. Road-buster, Pyro, Impactor, Rotor-storm, Seaspray; all scattered to the stars.

Especially Wheeljack and Bulkhead. To her, Jackie was like the cooler big brother, teaching her how to fight, all the basic training techniques for if she ever found herself caught in the middle of battle.

Bulkhead was more like a protective older brother, always willing to fight for and defend her. Even they were gone.

Now Halo was alone. In the middle of the seemingly forever-ongoing pitch-black darkness that was her inability to see and the outer reaches of space. When the Wreckers had found her, she was still only a sparkling, the Cybertronian equivalent of a human new-born baby.

Now, she was a warrior. But it was no use being a warrior if you had no one to fight for.

She sat solar-cycle after solar-cycle in her small space ship, the Angel, wishing for some glimpse, some hope, some strand that could lead her back to her family.

That day was no different.

Halo had just landed on a red planet called Mars, where there was energon second to none, but still some shards. She couldn't very well take any with her because travelling with large supplies of energon on a small space ship like the Angel could've resulted in huge explosions, so she was forced to stay on the planet as she refuelled on energon.

She sighed as she sat in the seat of her space shuttle, "Computer, where are we?"

A beeping noise came before the computer responded, "Mars. Ahead is a planet named Earth."

Earth, Jyn thought, Why is that so familiar?

She thought back to centuries ago. The night Bulkhead left.

Wheeljack and Bulk had been fighting, very literally. Halo, or as they called her 'Haley' had been woken up by the sound of yelling and loud crashes and was now standing by the door, creaking it open slightly so that she could just about see in without letting anyone known she was there.

The young femme was only the equivalent of ten Earth years old, and was scared to death as to who would win the fight; Bulkhead was strong, but Wheeljack was fast. They were both incredibly thick-headed back then, so there was no telling how long the contest would go on for.

The youngling didn't want to lose either of her best friends. She had already lost her family; Her brothers and parents.

Pyro was trying to separate the two Wreckers, Rotor-storm was cheering them on. Seaspray, Impactor and Road-Buster were out on a mission. Finally, the two had calmed down. Wheeljack wiped leaking energon from his mouth as he stood up.

"What the Pit, Wheeljack?!" Bulkhead demanded, "All I said was I'm leaving with Optimus!"

Jackie shook his head, in disbelief, "You don't see it do you? You ain't thinking 'bout anyone but yourself!"

"Shhh!" Pyro scolded them, giving them both her piercing glare, "You two scrap-heads are gonna wake up Haley with that fragging fighting nonsense!"

"You ain't thinking of Haley, Bulkhead!" Wheeljack pointed out, "You know how much she's lost already, 'cause of us. Do you really want to put her through that again?"

"The mission is to Earth," he reminded him, "If there's nothing there, we're coming back within a month, four, tops. Haley 'll be fine 'til I get back."

"Let 'im go, Jackie," Rotor-Storm told him, "The Wreckers don't need no deserters."

"Hey, I'm not deserting anyone!" Bulkhead protested.

Rotor snorted in disbelief, "Puh-lease! If you're gonna leave then fine, but if you wanna lie about it I'll kick your sorry aft all the way to Kaon!"

Haley pushed the door open to reveal her small, golden frame standing there, clutching a blanket in her other hand in her half-asleep daze. Her short, curled, silver metallic hair fell around her face.

Everyone turned towards her in surprise. Despite their reputations as being loud, irresponsible and tough, they all had a soft spot for the youngling ever since they had found her. Pyro was the first to step forward.

"Haley, sorry to wake you," She apologised.

Haley rubbed her optic to try to focus it more, "Why are Jackie and Bulk fighting? Are you leaving, Bulkhead? Who's Optimus?"

Pyro, Rotor-Storm and Wheeljack all exchanges glances before turning to Bulkhead. The green mech sighed, realising that it was down to him to explain.

"Look...Haley," he began, but then paused as he looked into her optics.

Her innocent, bright, sky-blue optics.

She didn't deserve to be stuck in this war.

She didn't deserve for him to abandon her.

She was just a kid after all, barely a youngling.

He couldn't do it. Bulkhead couldn't just tell her that he was leaving for what could be longer than three months. The Wreckers might not have needed him, but Haley did.

Realisation suddenly struck her, "Tonight. You're going tonight, aren't you?"

Bulkhead's gaze fell to the floor in guilt, "Haley...You should go back to bed."

The little femme blinked back her energon tears, realising this would be the last time she would ever see Bulkhead. The one who she considered as an older brother.

"W-Will you tell me a bedtime story?" She begged, her voice breaking slightly, "Please?"

The green mech planned on saying no. It would only make saying what could be goodbye even harder. But he knew she loved hearing his stories. He turned to Wheeljack, who nodded in approval.

"Sure," Bulkhead agreed.

He took her small hand and walked her back to her small room. Well, what qualified for a room. The Wreckers' base had limited resources, so what passed for a bed was a row of metal crates and a folded blanket for a pillow. Luckily, Haley wasn't picky about where she slept.

Bulkhead followed her into the room, pulled up a crate for a chair as she lay down on her bed and pulled the blanket over her.

Bulkhead sighed, "What story do you wanna hear tonight?"

"A new one," Haley told him, "About no fighting."

Bulk thought for a minute, but then nodded, "Ok, I have a story," He cleared his throat, "There was a little youngling, a femme. She was smart and, above all, brave, braver than the bravest warrior in the history of Cybertron."

"She sounds like a Wrecker," Haley said, smiling.

"She was," Bulkhead smiled back and continued the story, "But she wasn't always that way. She'd grown up on the streets and built herself up from not a lot. that's where she learnt her most important lesson."

"What? What was it?' the little femme asked.

Bulkhead replied, "That no matter who she was or where she came from, her family'd always be there for her. Remember that Haley; no matter how far away, you'll always be my little sis."

"I'll remember, Bulk," Haley yawned as she started drifting off into sleep, "Bulkhead, where are you going?"

Bulkhead sighed, regretting his decision already, "I'm going to Earth. It's a planet with smaller life forms that look like us."

"Will you ever come back?"

"I..." He wasn't sure what to say that would reassure her, "I promise you I'll come back, and to prove it..." He reached into the drawer next to her bed and took out a small chain necklace at the end was a hoop, "Remember why we called you Halo Jyn?"

She nodded, "Because of the circle on the necklace I had looks like a halo."

"And because we could only read half the message that was with you when we found you at Prax. It said your Carrier's name was Jyn," He placed the necklace in her servos, "I'm coming back for that, kiddo."

"Bulkhead?" Haley said so softly it came out in more of a whisper, "Where will you be landing when you come back?"

The Wrecker shrugged, "I can only guess, over near the Sea Of Rust. Just outside Iacon."

Haley, who was already half-asleep, slowly shut down, closing her optics, "Be safe, big brother. I love you."

He smiled softly; that was the first time she had ever called him brother.

Bulkhead sighed, letting go of her hand and walking out of the room. He closed the door lightly behind him. That was the last time she ever saw him.

Halo snapped out of her memory, blinking her optics to remind herself that she was still in the reality. She was still distances away from her family, from any survivors. She was still the femme who had lost her sight.

Earth, She thought, Where Bulk said he was going for a few months.

Of course, that was eleven orns ago. A few months had turned into years and years into centuries. But here she was, presented with the possibility of finding her long lost friend. Maybe there was hope after all.

After an hour or so of refuelling her energon supplies, Halo practically jumped into the driver's seat, accelerating the space craft and heading straight towards Earth.

She clung to the ring necklace, praying for a miracle. Suddenly, an alarm started blaring from the main computer. She turned her head, recognising the sound as the communications link automatically activated itself.

Someone was trying to contact her.

An unfamiliar voice spoke, "Unknown Autobot ship, do you copy? I repeat, do you copy?"

She realised she should answer before they thought the ship was abandoned, "I copy."

"Please identify yourself," the voice instructed.

"My designation is Halo Jyn," She replied, hoping that these weren't Decepticons.

The mech took some time to reply, "Of the Wrecker Battalion?"

"Um...Yes," She said, wondering how he knew who she was, "Can I ask who this is?"

From the other side came a lot of talking and a loud crashing noise, like someone had been pushed to the side.

"Haley?" A different voice spoke.

Halo's spark almost stopped, "B-B-Bulkhead? Bulkhead is that really you?"

"It's me Haley," The green mech replied, "Primus kid, where 've you been for the past few centuries?"

"Uh...You know, around the galaxy," she lied, "Where are you anyways?"

Another different voice came from the other side, "Halo Jyn, as our base is hidden from the Decepticons, it would stand to reason that you land further away, that we may maintain the secret location of our base."

"Got it, sir, whose name I'm unsure of," She replied. "On that note, who is this?"

"My name is Optimus Prime," She froze at his words, "What is your current position?"

She quickly scanned the database, still having a hard time believing that she was talking to the last of the Primes.

"My position is currently six-hundred and seventy-four miles off of the coast of a place known as California." Halo finally responded.

Autobot base...

Bulkhead was almost exploding with excitement. Arcee smirked. She hadn't seen him this happy since...well, ever. He was always talking about Halo and how adorable she was as a youngling.

Bumblebee was currently picking up the kids from school.

Ratchet, still annoyed from being interrupted in the first attempt to communicate with Halo, muttered quietly to himself as Optimus informed the young femme of where to land.

"It would be wise for you to land at the mountainside, away from any civilisation," Prime told her.

"Sure thing, sir," the femme said, "Camouflage tech is activated and I should arrive there in about twenty Earth minutes."

"Be on the look out for 'Cons, Haley," Bulkhead warned her.

"You know it, Bulk," She replied, "Halo Jyn, out."

As she cut off the communication link, Bulkhead finally let himself express how happy he was.

"Can you guys believe it?" He exclaimed, "After all these centuries, Haley's coming to join the party."

Aboard the Decepticon warship...

Soundwave walked towards Megatron, eager to tell him of his recent discovery, or maybe he couldn't care less. Who could possibly tell when the mech didn't have a face?

Anyway, he approached the Decepticon leader, his face (If you could call a screen that) showed a map of the earth city known as L.A. in California. A blue signal moved across it.

"Soundwave, what information have you brought me today?" The Decepticon leader asked. Soundwave zoomed in on the signal as a plotting grin appeared on Megatron's face plating, "Ah, so a new Autobot is seeking refuge on Earth. Perhaps we should welcome them with the appropriate greeting. Dispatch the troops."

Soundwave nodded, sending out a signal to the recovery team to fly to the site of Prime's latest recruit. That 'bot would regret ever hearing the name 'Optimus Prime'.

Back to Halo...

Halo Jyn leaned back in her chair in relief as she signed off of the comm system. She couldn't believe it. She was only minutes away from being reunited with her dear friend and brother-figure.

But her happiness soon turned to worry. What if he had changed? What if he didn't like that she had changed. What if he treated her differently because of what had happened to her?

She let out a deep sigh; Pity was the last thing she needed. She was a different femme now. Not the scared little youngling who couldn't defend herself that she had been before.

She had been forced to grow up.

She wasn't 'Haley' anymore: she was Halo Jyn.

Not to mention the fact that she had lost one of her senses. The femme Wrecker put her hands over her face.

"This is gonna be a long day," She murmured quietly to herself.

Twenty minutes later and she had reached a desolate part of the California mountains. It was a fairly quiet flight aside from having to activate her cloaking technology as she went over the city known as L.A.

Time to land, She thought, mentally staying the obvious.

Suddenly, Halo sensed something was approaching, and it was approaching fast. From outside her small space shuttle, the femme Wrecker could hear the sound of energon blasts firing. She sighed.

"Cons" she cursed under her breath, "I'm getting tired of this scrap."

Able to predict where the blasts were going, she swerved the ship, manoeuvring around the fire. This was not how she envisioned arriving on Earth. One of the 'Con drones managed to get a lucky shot, penetrating the ship's shielding.

Scrap! Halo mentally cursed as her ship began to fail it's altitude.

She began to plummet to the ground, barely able to miss the trees as she scraped their branches and leaving a trail of cloudy-grey smoke. The drones followed her, right on her tail and not ceasing to shoot at her.

Up ahead, the shuttle's sensors detected a cleared field on the side of one of the mountains. As far as she could tell, there were no life forms in danger.

"Only one way out," She realised, diving into the green clearing.

Needless to say, the impact of the ground came like a boulder, except the boulder was Earth.

As soon as the Angel hit the ground, Halo almost collapsed from the impact. It went on to scrape the ground for a long time, no doubt creating a small canyon in the dirt, causing stray clumps of grass and mud to fly in several directions.

Finally, the ship skidded to a painful-sounding halt, at last, allowing the femme to exhale. Most 'bots would've been a little rattled by the impact, but Halo was tougher to scrap than most 'bots.

Knowing what would be waiting for her outside, Jyn grabbed her weapon; A steel staff about half her size. But, like Halo, there was more to the staff than met the optics.

Confidently, she walked out of the ship, sensing the Vehicon troops surrounding her. She smirked.

"Kay, boys," She spoke oddly calm, "If you back off, leave now and promise not to come near me again, I'll let 'cha live."

She heard a flurry of laughs and mocking tones, "And if we choose not to, Autobot scum?"

She sighed, "I'll be forced to resort to a more...alternative way of getting you to leave. So what's it gonna be?"

She heard them draw their weapons, able to sense their guns click. It was true what they said; losing one sense did heighten the others. She was finding that to be a good advantage in battle.

"Get scrapped, Wrecker!" Another Vehicon cursed her.

Halo subtly pressed a switch on her staff, causing it to transform into a beautiful golden bow that matched her frame with a silver streak across it. From the quiver mounted on her back, she drew a silver arrow.

She was hoping to avoid this at any other solution, "The hard way it is then."

Autobot Base...

"Trust me, Miko, you and Haley are like the same person," Bulkhead told his charge, "You're gonna love her. And tonight, we're partying; Wrecker style."

"Sweet!" Miko exclaimed.

Arcee turned to Bumblebee, smirking, "Hope you've practised dancing 'the robot' again."

Miko, Jack and Raf had just arrived at Base, currently watching TV as they anticipated the arrival of the new Autobot. Obviously, Miko was way more excited than the two boys.

She gasped, "Think she'll stay? Does this mean a new human 's coming to the base?"

Ratchet scoffed, "Puh-lease! I hardly think I could condone nor survive having another primitive, fleshy, annoying life form constantly distracting and disrupting my work!"

That snide remark earned him a disagreeing comment from Bumblebee and a glare from Arcee that bordered along vicious, causing him to shudder and quickly go back to his work. Mech, if looks could kill...

Suddenly, a beeping noise came from the computer.

"Hello Autobot Base? Come in, Autobot Base," Halo's voice echoed through the comm link.

"Halo Jyn, we copy," Ratchet replied, "Are you at the coordinates?"

She paused, "Yes...but so are Decepticons. There's sort of a situa-"

Halo was momentarily cut off as she stopped in what the Autobots could only assume to be fighting back against an unwelcome party. The slashing of swords, hailing of gunfire and screams from struggle came from the other line.

"Haley?" Bulkhead helped into the comm link, "Haley, answer me!"

No reply came from the other side, just what sounded like blasts firing and several yells of pain before the line went static.

"Ratch, bridge us there," Bulkhead ordered with a dead-serious tone not even Miko had heard him use before.

The medic immediately listened, typing in the coordinates and pulling the lever to the ground bridge. Bulkhead, not even hesitating or waiting for the team, transformed, charging through the portal at high speed.

Knowing he couldn't be stopped, the team followed as fast as they could behind him.

They broke out of the ground bridge, expecting to find the femme captured or begging for help. Instead, they saw what could only be described as being the complete opposite. Halo was there, but...she was kicking more tailpipe than Dominic Torretto in Fast And Furious.

One of the 'cons grabbed her from behind. As Bulkhead moved to free her from the con, she stomped onto their foot, grabbed their arm and flung them into a group of three others. Then she heard guns clicking from in front of her.

She drew four arrows from her quiver, aiming straight at each of the four Decepticons. Needless to say, each of their sparks met one of the arrows as Halo fired, piercing through their armours like they were rubber.

Bulkhead, Arcee and Bumblebee looked on, confused and not entirely sure if they should help or not. When they finally caught up with what was going on, there were no Vehicons left to fight. The ones smart enough to know when they were beaten flew off back to the Nemesis as Halo withdrew her bow.

"Thanks for the back up," She remarked sarcastically, turning around towards the group and removing her golden battle helmet.

During the battle, she had been moving so fast she was just a streak of silver and gold. Now that she was in the light, it was easier for the group to see her.

Her frame was golden-yellow with silver on her shoulders, knees and one of her hands. Long, silvery-white metallic hair flowed from her helm to the centre of her back.

She was a little shorter than Arcee, but only by a metre or so. She wore a silver visor, which more resembled goggles from a science classroom, that blocked any possible way of seeing her optics.

Bumblebee's optics widened. He knew that visor. Before he could speak, Bulkhead rushed forward, embracing Halo in a bear-hug. The poor femme gasped for air, smiling as the green mech set her down and turned to her.

"Whoa, kid! Look at you! The last time I saw you, you were this big," He held has hand out showing how tall she used to be; about a quarter of the height she was now, "How long's it been? Six, seven orns?"

Halo shrugged, "Erm, eleven actually, you know, give or take a few cycles. How've you been?"

"Better, now that you're here to even the odds," He replied, putting one arm around her shoulder and turning to face the group. He gestured to the two other Autobots, "Haley, meet Arcee and Bumblebee. Bumblebee, Arcee, meet Halo Jyn."

Arcee stayed with her arms folded, slightly annoyed at Halo's sarcastic comment, "You could be grateful we found you, you know."

"Well, firstly, it's nice to meet you too," Halo replied, "Secondly, it was just a joke."

The blue and pink femme raised an optic ridge, about to retort, but kept her mouth shut.

Bumblebee didn't speak. He just stared at her, a quizzical look plastered on his face plates. Despite her lack of vision, Halo could tell when someone was looking at her. But the femme Wrecker kept her denta closed.

"Nice to meet you Halo Jyn," The yellow and black-striped mech finally spoke. He extended his arm as they shook servos, "Have we...met before?"

She smiled, jokingly, "Not the most original line I've heard from a mech."

The scout's optics widened. If he were a human he would've been blushing, "No...I mean, I didn't...I wouldn't...I mean, I would-Wait, I wouldn't-No, I mean-"

"Relax," She laughed, putting her servos in the air in an attempt to stop him from talking, "Just kidding. As far as your question goes, sorry, I don't recognise you."

The poor mech sighed in relief, allowing for a small smile to tug at the corner of his mouth, not that anyone could see it under his battle-mask. Arcee tried to stop herself from smirking knowingly at their conversation.

Bulkhead, who had been slightly lost at the exchange, stepped in, "Hey, maybe we should head back to Base before the 'cons' back-up arrives. Haley, trust me, you're gonna love Earth. Oh, and I can't wait for you and Miko to meet!"

Arcee subtly whispered to Bumblebee, "Primus help us when those two get together."

"Aw, c'mon, Arcee. I'm not that bad," Halo said, much to Arcee's surprise. Halo laughed lightly, "Yes, I heard you."

Ignoring the femme's comment, Arcee called Ratchet, "Hey, Ratchet, you and the kids better get ready," She glanced at Halo, "There's a another Wheeljack coming our way."

Halo could've sworn she heard a disappointed sigh coming from the other side of the line and what sounded like a femme cheering in the background.

For the record, I'm not continuing with Out of the Shadows, but this is one I won't give up so easily.

I'll give you an idea of what's to come:

- Lies

- Forgiveness

- Drama

- War

- Regret

- Love

'Cause why not?

Until all are one,

GreyroseLegacy