Electride's P.O.V.

Stupid.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

If only I had payed some more attention, Steamblade wouldn't have gotten into this mess. I wouldn't have to be trying to fix him in our broken down ship, and we wouldn't have crashed. As I fumbled for another wrench, the only image that burned into my mind was the one I wanted to forget.

Scraplet's whirring teeth, ripping into Steamblade's horrified face. Terrible sounds, the sound of metal being ripped apart... He was right there. I could've shocked the Scraplets off him.

How come I couldn't help him?

Was I being a coward again?

No. Stop thinking. Just work, or else all of Steamblade's Energon will spill out, leaving him as an empty, bleeding shell. Then he won't ever get to see his brother again, and I'll never forgive myself.

Still, images found it's way as I plastered on new patches of metal on my partner.

Trigger's awful sneer as he took off, leaving me wailing with my half-eaten partner on the ground. My partner's Energon spilled across my fingers, staring down at Steamblade's torn body...

I check the monitor's screen again. Relief loosened my chest; his Energon levels were still high, and his Spark was still working. But if I didn't cover up those gashes in his armor soon, Steamblade wasn't going to go out to battle anytime soon. And he wasn't going to be steering this ship, either.

We were the only Autobots in this tiny ship. I personally like working alone, but I admit, I can't survive a single battle without my friend. Steamblade may be wild, but he knows what he's doing. He was the one who taught me how to use my swords, and he's the one who saved my sorry Spark multiple times.

And now he's saved me again, and maybe he might die for it.

I smack my head. "Stop thinking like that!" I scolded myself. Most times, I talk to myself. It's a bad habit. "Just fix the stupid robot, and get this ship moving again!"

Suddenly, I hear a sputtering cough. "Who... who said I was stupid?"

"Steamblade!"

I tackle-hug the red Autobot, not really thinking about how he groaned in pain. "Electride! G-get off!"

Remembering his injuries, I yelp and sit back down at the bed's side. "S-sorry! I- I didn't mean to-"

Steamblade laughed, but even that sounded strained. "Hey, don't talk so much. It gets annoying. But apology is accepted, nonetheless." He smirked. "Hey, 'Ride, if we're in space, who's driving? Autopilot?"

I sneer. "Of course. The autopilot maneuvers the ship better than me."

He nodded, and with a pained grunt, he tried to get up. I yelp again and push him down. "No! Erm, I mean, you can't get up yet. Your Energon levels may be high, but not high enough for you to move around."

Steamblade looked miffed, but he stayed sitting on the cot. "Then who's going to drive?"

"Me."

"Didn't you just say five seconds ago that the autopilot does better than you?"

Now it was my turn to be pissed off. "H-hey! Gah, scrap! 'Blade!"

Steamblade tried his best to suppress his scoff. "Fine, fine. Just don't try to doom us all with your horrible driving skills." His hand went up to his sort-of mended face. "You did a pretty good patch-up, 'Ride."

I could tell that the complement was a forced one. I was no professional with piloting, artillery, or medics. Steamblade looked like some rabid robot plastered gray sheets of metal onto his scars.

"I'll fix you up later," I muttered, getting up. "Best case scenario, find a better medic to heal you, too."

Right then, the whole room lurched backwards, sending me flying to the wall. My back hit the metal with a painful THUCK!

"Gah!"

I fall to the ground, grabbing at anything to keep me balanced. "Steamblade! Hang on to the cot! I'll go check the bridge!"

The first command was unnecessary- Steamblade was clutching onto the med-wing's cot like his life depended on it. He wasn't connected to the Energon meter, so the machine was beeping wildly.

His green eyes widen. "There is no way I'm going to let you steer the ship!"

"Same goes to you!" I hollered back as I sprinted to the front of the ship.

The control room was a mess. Monitors and lights kept on going on and off, screeching madly. I was still trying to keep myself on my feet, despite the violent shudder of the ship.

"Scrap..." I cursed, reading the ship's status. Of course. The engine was strained. I should've guessed that a stupid Vehicon sabotaged our ship. It didn't matter if the autopilot or I were driving- our ship wasn't going to move without an engine.

Finally, the shaking stopped as all the power blacked out. The gravity keeping me to the ground was shut down, along with the rest of the ship. With the zero-gravity, things began to float around me aimlessly. I gripped the toggle of the controls, and stared outside.

We were stuck in space.

Scrap.

Steamblade stumbled- or more precisely- swam in. "What did you do this time?" Steamblade cried out.

"Nothing!" I yelled. "The engine's dead, the ship has no power! Trigger's Vehicons must've broken it before we took off!"

"No power? Aw, c'mon! Do you have the emergency radar on you?"

"Y-yeah, I think so!"

I fumble a bit, trying to find the small machine. I grab the radar that I found floating in front of me.

"I have it, sir!"

"Don't call me 'sir', my name's Steamblade! Ah, whatever. Pass me it, and then go check the engine room. I'll meet you there shortly."

Steamblade's P.O.V.

My body was hurting more than I was letting on. On normal circumstances, I would've been moaning and complaining for a few more hours, but why stress Electride? She was already a freaked-out mess of an Autobot. If told her I was still in pain, I bet you her Spark will shut down along with the rest of the ship.

I watch my green-cladded partner scamper down the hall, and then exhaled. Hopefully, our ship didn't black out in the middle of nowhere and stopped near a planet. Even better, a planet where we could do some repairs on our ship and me.

I flip the switch on, and the small screen turned on. After checking our current coordinates, I scanned the area- the radar can cover about three-thousand light years, not so large comparing to our ship's (now broken) massive radar.

Immediately, I got two responses- just a light year away, a planet, and a...

A Cyberbot reading? How was that even possible?

Instinctively, I pocket the radar, as if there were spies on the room. Then I realized that was stupid- Electride and I were the only 'bots on the ship.

I struggle to loosen my tense, aching body, and check the screen again. Still there, a blue dot staring up at me, either as a blessing or a warning.

After moments of thinking, I vetoed not to tell this information of the Cyberbot to Electride- it'll only make her nervous again. I still wasn't so sure if meeting a Cyberbot was a good idea, but we had no other choice.

Now, how to get this ship moving a light year to the correct coordinates...

If only we had a space bridge. Back on Cybertron, my cranky- sorry, wise- mentor and medic, Ratchet, told me of space bridges. Portals allowing you to travel millions of light years in one minute, if you had the coordinates to the destination. Honestly, I thought those things were a miracle. Too bad I had no access to any of them at the moment.

I sighed with disappointment. That would mean we would have to do this the hard way- we would have to fix the engine so it's functional for at least a light year. Did I forget to mention that Electride and I weren't mechanics, either?

Cursing, I walked (though it looked more like swimming) to the engine room. I was just about to open the door when I heard something like an explosion... or Electride just getting nervous again.

ZZZZAAAAP!

I slam the door open. "Electride! Seriously?!"

Electride's face was darkened with ash, as if she stuffed her face into an plug. "I'm sorry! You know the lightning gets harder to control the more nervous I am! At least I didn't hit the engine... though I can't see how we can fix this."

I wade over and checked it out. The engine room was practically the engine itself. Huge pieces of machinery streaked with blue lights lined the walls, ceiling, the floor, and even rounding around the doorway. At the back was the main engine, with a series of tubes and lights streaming from it... as well as a large burn mark in the middle of the whole thing.

It wasn't Electride. It looked like a gunfire mark, and as clumsy 'Ride was, she would never shoot directly at the engine, or use her gun in the first place. Both of us preferred face-to-face combat. Up close and personal, you can say.

I run my hand over the scorched marks. "We have to try. I located a planet not so far from here. If we don't... I don't want to live the rest of my life here alone with you. Erm, no offence."

"None taken," She looked very offended. "I'll get the tools. Maybe if we connect some wiring from my weapon to the engine's main energy source, I can give it enough juice to go nearly a light year."

I raise an eyebrow. "Nearly a light year?"

She must've detected the annoyance and grimace in my voice. Electride snarled. "How does 'barely making a light year' sound to you?"

I held up my hands in defence. "Fine, fine. This time, I'm going to get the wiring. I can't trust you not to get hurt."

Electride nodded to my own injuries. "Look who's talking."

"Oh, shut up and stay still. I'll be right back."

Electride's P.O.V.

Hardest thing I've ever done so far- powering an engine enough to go into hyperspace for a distance of a light year.

Steamblade came tumbling in carrying a handful of wiring. "Here!" He dumped the lump of wires into my arms. "I hope you know what you're doing, 'Ride."

"I'm pretty sure," I said uncertainly. I face the engine's main power source- a small patch of blue lights, which would have normally been glowing with buzzing energy. Now it was just a dull piece of blue glass.

For the millionth time today, I frowned. Charging a huge engine like this... my weapon itself won't be enough. I needed to charge the engine with my own electricity, too. However, I was a little worried whether I'll have any energy in me left.

Still, I had to try.

I take the one end of the wires and attach it to the palm of my hand. The other end went to the engine's power plug. Then I picked up another wire, and connected my weapon to the engine. It was a large silver blade with bright green lines running along its blade. It can create hundreds of volts of electricity, but I rarely could control it. As I handed him the weapon, I tried to ignore the concerned look Steamblade kept giving me. He looked just as doubtful as I was.

"Electride, I-I'm having second thoughts," Steamblade stammered, clutching the handle tight. "Maybe I can just g-get a wrench and-"

I completely shunned him and focused. Little green arcs of electricity branch out from my hand. Finally, I hear a loud zap as a blinding flash of lightning surged into the wiring. There was a loud pop as the engine began to roar. The whole room was washed with blue light, occasionally flickering when I got distracted.

Steamblade was so stunned, he forgot to activate my sword. Stupid robot. "Blade!" I yelled. "The sword! Turn the freaking sword on!"

He made a weird yelping noise, and immediately, the blade glows green as more energy began to course through the wires and into the engine.

I thrust out my hand. "Give me the sword. You need to steer the ship."

Steamblade gave me a wide-eye look. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!" I blurted out, forcing down my anxiety. "Just go!"

With no footsteps, I couldn't hear whether Steamblade left the room or not. Turning my body around would take too much energy. It's been only a few seconds, and I already felt so strained. I wondered how much longer I could keep this up.

I grind my teeth. "C'mon, 'Blade... hurry up..."

My fingers already went numb. I could barely hold up my sword, which I now found ridiculously hard to do. Seconds felt like hours, long, agonizing hours. The whole room was lit up, ablaze with brilliant blue lights, pistons and gears roaring... but I didn't feel so brilliant myself. Dark spots danced around my sight as my optical preceptors flickered.

That couldn't have been a good sign.

The whole ship shuddered, throwing me off my feet. It was a miracle that the wires were still intact- and that my body was intact, too. Though I was pretty sure I had some new dents and bumps on me now.

Sprawled on the floor, I couldn't even lift up my head. The only thing that I felt was my fingers clenched around my sword. The blade was still buzzing, random sparks shooting everywhere. My sword had power. Stupid, lucky sword.

Black spots began to thicken, growing bigger and darker. The ship lurched again, much more violent than before. Being a useless, limp body, I was thrown across the room. I hit something hard- perhaps a stupid engine- and I lost consciousness.

Stupid engines.