It had been a week since the bike ride with Jack. She'd gotten closer to them. She and Jack shared a lot of classes, she and Miko shared gym, and she and Raf shared lunch period. She'd not gotten a ride of her own yet - no money for a car, no driver's licence, and no bicycle or motorcycle - and was still taking the bus home.

However, when leaving school on the first Monday after meeting them - a full week after the ride - she saw two purple cars waiting out front. Her steps slowed. She sensed something off about the cars. Something senitent.

Something evil.

Waiting outside the cars were two identical people. Caucasian men wearing suits and shades. They looked like federal agents. They saw her, and walked over. Was she in trouble? Was the guy she was renting from in trouble? Or were these guys related to the cars?

"Ms. Starr?" the first man asked.

"Who's asking?" she replied, crossing her arms and going on defense.

"We're agents with the FBI," the second man answered. "We need you to come with us."

"Why?" she asked, taking a half step back.

"We believe you have information pertinent to an investigation into a student in your calss names Jackson Darby," the first man answered. Her eyes went wide for a moment. Were these guys really FBI, and if so, was this about Jack's talking motorcycle?

"Lemme see your badges," she ordered. The men looked at each other, then took a threatening step toward her. She stepped back. "You guys aren't FBI," she accused.

They went for her, but she jumped back and passed them on the outside. She dashed for a kid who was getting on his bicycle, intending on borrowing it, but never got there.

The door to one of the cars opened on its own and some kind of tentacle from inside grabbed her. She screamed as loudly as she could, hoping to draw attention, but the 'FBI agents' blocked everyone else's view. There was murmuring, but no-one moved to help.

The tentacle drew her in and placed her in the passenger side seat. The first 'agent' got in and closed the door. By then, the seatbelt - also moving of its own accord - locked her in the passenger seat. It wouldn't budge, and neither did the car door lock, handle, or window.

"Commander Starscream," the 'agent' spoke to no-one in the car - but she had been a Jedi and knew what a comlink was - "we have the girl."

"Excellent," a voice dripping with malice and cunning filled the car. "Bring her back to me."

"Let me go!" she protested. She pulled her legs up and started kicking the console, and the resulting winces and cries of pain told her what she already suspected: This car, like Jack's motorcycle, was alive. "Let me go right now!"

"Cut that out!" the car shouted. She didn't stop kicking. She also started trying to swipe at the guy, which failed in a way she never expected.

Her hand went straight through him.

The shock momentarily stopped her from further attacking her kidnapper, but that shock quickly wore off. He was a holo. That explained why they hadn't just grabbed her, and instead the car itself had.

This also meant he couldn't strike her. The seatbelt did tighten, but she continued to kick the console until the other car chimed in. "One of the Autobots is following us." She didn't care what an Autobot was - only that it distracted her kidnapper enough that the seatbelt loosened.

Rachel grabbed the steering wheel and turned the car, taking it off the freeway, down the off ramp, off the road, and into the desert. "What are you doing?!" the other car shouted.

"The slaggin' human's grabbed my wheel!" her kidnapper shouted back, trying to wrench the wheel from her control. She was too strong, though, and she was using the Force to help her keep her grip.

The seatbelt tighetened, but she fought against it and the pain, and kept control. That's when she saw Jack - on his bike - heading straight for them, head on. At the last second, Jack bailed out, and the bike transformed.

It went from a motorcycle to a small, female robot. The robot quickly took a fighting stance, and the other car pulled off to intercept her. Now's my chance! Rachel thought. She threw the wheel to the left with all the strength she had, turning the car so sharply that it rolled over.

The interior of the car changed. It transformed as well. The seatbelt disappeared, and she was inside some space, likely within the robot's chest. She still had her backpack, and thus, the one thing she never left home without:

Her lightsaber.

She dug through her backpack, trying to keep steady as the fight went on outside. The robot she was in got knocked to the ground, changing the floor to the wall, and making it extremely difficult for her to reach it.

Her hand closed around a small, cylindrical object, and she knew she'd found what she'd looked for. There was virtually no light inside the chamber, but she didn't need it. She'd had years of practice and knew exactly where the power button was on the silver and gold weapon.

She activated it, and the whole chamber was bathed in the blue glow of the deadly weapon. She located the front of the chest, the weak spot of the chamber, and cut a hole. The robot howled in pain, and as the opening appeared, she saw that he was holding a hand to his chest.

She promptly stabbed the hand, causing it to pull away, and she jumped.

She hit the ground and rolled, lightsaber deactivating as she did so, so as not to cut herself. She immediately shot to her feet, located a stunned Jack Darby, and sprinted toward him, not looking back until she was next to him.

The robot she'd cut through was out of the fight, still holding a stabbed hand to his chest as some kind of glowing, electric blue fluid leaked from the wound. Jack's bike was taking down the first one, shooting it in the head and killing it. She then put the other one out of its misery.

Rachel shrunk down as the robot spotted them. "She's not gonna kill me, right?" she asked Jack, who was still staring at her in shock.

"No, she's one of the good guys," he answered as the robot approached. She knelt down to the two humans.

"Are you two alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, Arcee, we're okay," Jack answered. He turned to Rachel, who found some courage and stood tall. "Arcee, this is Rachel Starr. Rachel, this is Arcee, my guardian. She's an Autobot."

"Nice to meet you," Rachel said in as straight a voice as she could manage. Honestly, she was still a little freaked. Battle droids and tanks, that was one thing. This? This was something totally different.

"Nice to formally meet you too," Arcee said. She transformed back into a bike. "I think we should go talk to Optimus about this."

"M-me too?" Rachel stammered. Karabast, why couldn't she be brave?

"Especially you," Arcee replied. She got on, held on to Jack, and Arcee drove off toward the road leading further into the desert.


The Jedi had been smart enough up until now, but then she'd used the Force. That made it so much easier for her to be located.

The sinister looking, sleek, dark ship now headed toward the third planet in an unnamed system. The planet sustained life, but this life was primitive. No space stations, only satellites orbiting the planet.

Inquisitors were not feared here. They were not known here. She would have to keep cover and hunt for the Jedi using ancient techniques. No probes, no informants, no Imperial network.

The corners of her lips turned upward in an absolutely predatory smile. This would be fun.


A/N: I didn't go to public school - homeschooled and proud! - so I'm kinda flying blind with how different classes and lunch periods and whatnot work. Also, probably not the best with Cybertronian biology, so I'm just guessing about the chamber Rachel was held in. I know they have one - Miko's stowed away in it enough times. Any pointers would be great.