As she hid in the forest, Battle Star contemplated all that had happened to her since her first day of existence. She had been taken into slavery, freed by the Autobot Cliffjumper, become a warrior, lost her teacher in the most painful way she could imagine, taken jobs as a mercenary, taken to traveling in space, become a gladiator on a faraway planet, become jobless again, gone to the far reaches of the universe, crash-landed on a strange organic planet, fought her worst nightmare, seen a mech who looked almost just like her dead teacher, run into this organic forest, reclaimed her energon generator, and now she was just sitting in the forest near the Autobots' base.
"How swiftly things change…." Battle Star looked at the generator in her hands. She had built it from some experimental designs that she had purchased in a market. She looked back at the Autobot base, and briefly wondered whether or not they would accept her, but she swiftly brushed that though aside. They wouldn't want to accept someone like me. I'm an opportunist. But… I heard those mechs discussing how I had saved Ultra Magnus, so maybe… NO! I will NOT go there… at least not yet… She crept farther back into the forest, and pulled some branches over her to camouflage her purple, green, and blood-red paint job, while she rested.
"Prime? Are you all right?" Optimus Prime looked up from the screen that had just gone dark. He felt full of pity and sorrow.
"I am fine, Prowl. It's just… I've never seen anything full of such suffering, yet such formidable abilities. That femme, she's more than we thought she was." Optimus Prime paused, replaying the death of the one called Battlelock Prime in his processor. That femme must have been devastated. If that footage had revealed anything, it was that the femme –whose name is Battle Star, he remembered- had felt much affection for that mech. He remembered seeing her horrified expression when she saw her teacher torn apart by Megatron and his Seeker clones. Then, he thought about how she had escaped death herself. She had leaped from one Seeker to the other, until she was on the outside of the flock of Seeker clones.
"Prime, is there anything that you want to talk about?" Prowl looked at Optimus with a neutral expression.
"Prowl, I think that the mech called Battlelock meant more to Battle Star than Elita-1 does to me. I don't know how that's possible, but it is." Prowl nodded: Optimus Prime and Elita-1 had always felt an incredible amount of affection for each other. Optimus vented out air, and said, "I now know why she was afraid of me. That Battlelock looks extremely similar to me, or is it the other way around? Either way, she thought she was seeing the impossible. She knew her teacher was dead, yet it looked like he was standing right in front of her. When I approached her to thank her, it must have been too much, and she ran."
Prowl was mentally filing away the conversation for later thought, so that he could try to make more sense of the femme's behavior. Then, he said, "Is this Battle Star a threat to us Autobots?"
Optimus Prime looked up, and said, in a soft voice, "All I know, is that we don't want to be on the wrong side of her weapons."
Powerglide was flying above base while this conversation was occurring, and he noticed some movement in the trees.
"Powerglide here. I just caught sight of something big moving in the trees. Should I land to investigate, or wait for others to come?" Powerglide waited for a response. It did not take long.
*Powerglide, this is Prowl. We are sending Mirage and Hound to your coordinates. Can you get a general idea of what you saw?*
"It is kinda mostly purple, with green, and some spots of bright blood-red coloring. Too slim to be a Constructicon. What do you think it is?" The radio was silent. Then, Optimus Prime's voice came over the comm.
*Powerglide, I'm on my way with Mirage and Hound. When we arrive, stay in the air! This could get a little violent if we're not careful.* The comm went dead, and Powerglide turned to circle the trees where he saw the movement.
Optimus Prime, Mirage, and Hound drove towards the trees, and saw Powerglide circling overhead. They cautiously made their way into the forest, searching for what Powerglide had seen. Suddenly, a dagger flew out of an especially thick section of forest, burying itself in a tree, not three inches away from Mirage's face. Mirage stared at the blade out of the corner of his optics, and Optimus Prime and Hound froze in their tracks. It was the same dagger that Battle Star had used to stab Megatron when they first found her and the shuttle!
"Battle Star! We know you're out here! Please, let us talk peacefully!" Optimus Prime was ever-hopeful that they could come to good terms with the femme, because she seemed more lost and afraid than anything else.
"Why have you come here? Why are you spying on me and sending soldiers after me?" Battle Star was barely visible behind a screen of thick evergreen branches. Her pale gold optics glowed in the shadows of the trees, making her look less like a femme, and more like some kind of predator.
"We did not send soldiers after you except this one time, and Powerglide only saw you by chance."
"I saw what your mechs were doing to my shuttle. Why were you trying to get my information?"
Optimus Prime because visibly sad at that, remembering what he had seen on that video footage. "I-I only wanted to understand how you felt, so that we might understand why you ran from me. You had a look of such pain and sorrow on your face when you saw me, but I didn't know why."
"And you feel you understand me NOW?! How can you POSSIBLY know what it feels to lose everything that you lived for? How can you POSSIBLY know what it feels to lose your entire LIFE?! I have felt more pain than you can ever know. I have half a mind to show you my emotional pain in physical pain."
Optimus looked sad at what she was saying. He truly did not fully know, but he knew enough from when he lost Cybertron, Alpha Trion, and when he almost lost Elita-1. "I know quite a bit about this kind of pain. I have lost a mentor of my own, and I've lost my first home, and I almost lost my love. Though I cannot claim to have lost as much as you have, I understand how painful this must be for you."
Battle Star's hard gaze softened visibly through the screen of evergreen needles, and Optimus Prime wondered briefly if she would come out. She shifted in her stance, and the Autobots could barely make out the poor condition of her left arm. It was mangled from the crash, and the shape of the arm matched a large dent in the control panel on the shuttle that they hadn't been able to identify the cause of until now.
"Why should I trust you? I am neutral. Aligned with no side. The Autobots only liked me when I was on their side, and even then they were not inclined to trust me with more than they deemed fit to give me to do my jobs." Battle Star seemed on the verge of a systems meltdown from the wave of emotions that washed over her. Fear, sorrow, irritation, devastation, and most of all, rage. Optimus Prime could see that she has let loose emotions that she had bottled up inside of her for millions of years.
"Battle Star, we want to help you. Please, let us help you." He offered a hand to her, and for a moment, Battle Star was lost in the past. She had been given a most similar offer by a very similar mech. Even though she held no special love for the Autobots, she thought that they could help her. Suddenly, she dashed out of her hiding place, and threw her arms around Optimus Prime, sobbing. Optimus gently put his arms around her, and tried to give what comfort he could. The other two Autobots on the ground were stunned. Just moments before, the femme had been full of anger and resentment, but now it was as if the floodgates had broken open, and all her pent-up emotion had been let loose. She cried and cried, and Optimus calmly and patiently held her in his arms, letting her hold onto him for as long as she needed to. He had been right. She wasn't all cold and angry. She was full of sorrows unmatched by any. She had mourned her teacher in her own way, yes, but that way was keeping all that emotion locked inside of her, and she had done so for millions of years.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have attacked you, but I was just so… scared. I was also angry at the Autobots for not watching the Decepticons closely enough to save my teacher. I'm so, so sorry…" She broke off crying again, and Optimus felt deeply touched by her apologies. She was more like a youngling than he had thought she was. She must have had her innocence stripped away from her at an early age. He gently stroked the top of her head, trying to calm her down.
"Come, let us get you back to our base. We can figure out where to go from there, after we get your arm repaired." Battle Star reluctantly let go of Optimus, and went back to where she had been hiding. Confused, Optimus followed her, then saw her pull out a small device with an empty cube attached to it. Mirage decided to lend a hand, and removed the dagger from the tree next to his head. He shivered at the memory of how close it had come to taking out his left optic, and realized that she could have killed him if she really wanted to. The realization was almost enough to melt his processor.
"Prime, I-" Ratchet stopped midsentence when he saw the tall femme being ushered into the med bay, Optimus Prime's left arm around her shoulders, and her own left arm mangled. Ratchet's medic training took over, and he tried to get her to sit on a berth, but she shook her head and pressed herself against Optimus.
'It's all right, Battle Star. This is Ratchet, our medic. He's going to fix your arm." Optimus could feel her trembling. "Would you like me to sit with you?" Battle star nodded her head shakily, and Optimus led her to the berth, and sat down with her.
Battle Star was afraid of this place, that much was obvious. She had probably never been in a med bay before, as she had always depended on herself to get repairs. Optimus felt deeply for her in his spark, mostly because she seemed to be using him as a sort of shield against all the strange things going on. As Ratchet repaired Battle Star's arm, his patient kept her optics flicked off, and her head against his side. Optimus continued to keep his arm around her, to let her know that he was there for her. This femme is full of surprises. Ratchet finally finished the repairs, and dismissed them.
Battle Star kept her arms wrapped around herself, leaning into the Prime, as they both walked down the corridors. As they passed an Autobot mech who was about a head shorter than them, the mech looked at Optimus strangely, but gave no questions. It was obvious that the femme had been through a lot. Battle Star continued to lean into the Prime, seeming a lot like a traumatized youngling, yet still with the battle scars showing that she was a warrior. She seemed to be a ghost, a shadow of her former self. Yes, she still had the scars, and yes, she was still an exceptionally tall and strong femme, yet it seemed as if her bravery, courage, and resolve had left her, leaving behind a femme who was emotionally unstable. She was like a broken doll.
"Prowl? Can I talk ta ya' for a while?" Prowl looked up, and saw Ironhide standing in front of his desk.
"What would you like to discuss?"
"It's about that femme I saw leanin' against Prime in the corridor. I saw her in that battle for the broken shuttle, an' she seemed to have changed. What happened ta' her?"
Prowl turned back to reading reports. "If you need that information, you would need to talk to the three who had brought her back from the forest. I have not been briefed on what happened yet."
Ironhide left Prowl's office, and searched the Ark until he found Hound sitting in the rec room with Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, the twins.
"Hound! I need ta' talk to ya'."
"Ok, Ironhide, come over here and sit with us. I'll tell you whatever you need to know."
"I need ta' know what's goin' on with that femme you and the others brought in. She was fierce in the battle the first time I saw her, now she's just leanin' on Prime wherever she goes. What happened ta' her?"
"Well, to make a long story short, Optimus looks extremely similar to Battle Star's teacher, and she's been keeping her emotions bottled up inside of her for millions of years, ever since the Decepticons killed her teacher. Before we brought her in, she kinda just let it all out because Optimus Prime reminded her of her teacher so much, and also because of the way he was trying to convince her to come with us.
"She had thrown a dagger at Mirage, and barely missed his face, and she apologized for that, and she kept apologizing for everything else she's done to make Optimus sad. It was as if the floodgates holding back her emotions just burst, and she just started to cry, and she had her arms wrapped around Prime, and he gently held her as long as she needed him to. Now, it's like Prime is her support system, keeping her safe, and helping her recover from her pent-up emotions."
After Hound had finished, all the Autobots at the table were silent, mulling over what he had said. Ironhide finally got up, and left, and the three left resumed their original conversation.
"Optimus, do you forgive me for all that I've done?" Battle Star spoke for the first time since she had been taken out of the forest. She now looked at Optimus with sad, gold optics.
"Of course I forgive. You have already been through more than I can claim, and you deserve to be a bit angry at the universe. You have lived a life of more hardship than I have ever seen. Don't worry, you are safe here, and you will be allowed to join us when we fight the Decepticons again, but only when you feel strong enough."
"Thank you." Battle Star put her head against him again, and they went into the rec room. All the Autobots stopped what they were doing, and stared. Optimus led Battle Star over to an empty table, and let her sit down. He got them both some energon, and sat down next to her. Battle Star immediately leaned against his shoulder, as if still seeking some comfort from him. She took her energon, and drank it down slowly.
"Battle Star, if you need to talk about anything, just let me know. I'll be here if you need to talk." Optimus opened up a small square in his battle mask, and poured the energon into it. "I'll be here."
For the next couple of days, Battle Star slowly recuperated from when she had let all of the pent-up emotion flood out of her, and gradually became less dependent on Optimus to give her emotional support. Yet, she still accompanied him wherever he went. She began to see him as a sort of second teacher. I have a chance to have everything I had before again, and more. Although this Prime cannot use blades as well as I can, he can teach me how to be a good Autobot, and he can teach me wisdom. I will try to make him proud of me. I know I can make him proud of me.
As they were walking towards the sparring grounds outside of the Ark, Battle Star saw something that she had never seen before. It looked like a giant beast of some kind, with three horns on its head, and it walked on four legs.
"Optimus, what it that?" Battle Star started to walk closely behind him, as if using him to shield her from the metal beast in the corridor.
"That's just Slag, one of the Dinobots. Don't mess with him, because he has a bit of a temper." The two walked as far away as possible from Slag in the corridor, and they finally made it outside.
"Is there anyone in the base that uses blades to fight with?"
"Yes, Springer does, and so does the Dinobot leader, Grimlock. However, I do not believe you should be challenging a Dinobot at this point in time- or ever, for that matter." Optimus shuddered slightly at the memory of when the Dinobots were tricked into following Megatron's orders, and had almost destroyed him. Battle Star either didn't notice it, or ignored it.
"Do you think I could spar with this Springer? I think that I could teach him a thing or two."
"Do you think you are up to it?"
"It's not a matter of whether or not I'm up to it, I just don't want to get rusty on my fighting skills." She had a determined look in her optics that Optimus had not seen since he had watched that video on her past.
"Very well, I'll tell him to meet us out here. I think I'll watch to make sure that the sparring doesn't get out of hand."
"Very well."
"Optimus, you wanted me to meet you here?"
"Yes. Battle Star needs someone to spar with, and she specified that she wanted to use her blades. There are a limited amount of Autobots that use swords, so we decided to have you spar with her, instead of Grimlock."
"Good choice."
Battle Star was already waiting in the cleared area of dirt, sword drawn, waiting for Springer to fight with her.
"You ready?"
"I've been ready for a long time now." Battle Star rushed at him, barely giving him enough time to draw his sword to block. "Remember, I'm probably more skilled than you are."
They sparred for a while, somehow drawing a crowd in a large circle around them. An Autobot taller than Optimus Prime came to watch as well, interested by the sound of metal against metal.
"Hmm…me Grimlock think me can do better."
Optimus Prime looked up at Grimlock. "You haven't trained like she has."
"Me Grimlock think about that…"
When the sparring was over, Springer was on his back in the dirt, and Battle Star had the point of her sword resting on his chest. The crowd around them went wild with approval, because never had they seen such swordsmanship before.
"So, who's next?" Battle Star had a feral grin on her face, and it seemed to Optimus like the Battle Star from the video feed was standing before them. Confident, happy, dangerous. She seemed to be in some kind of trance for a moment, lost in the memories of her sparring matches with her teacher, and then she shook it off, the grin returning to her face.
"Me, Grimlock, fight you now!" Grimlock walked into the sparring area, and Battle Star hesitated as she seemed to size him up.
"Is you, Battle Star, afraid of Me, Grimlock?"
Battle Star had that wild grin on her face again. "Of course not. I've probably trained and fought with my blades longer than you have."
Optimus stepped between them before Grimlock could respond. "I do not think that sparring with a Dinobot at this point in time is wise. Perhaps when you have regained more of you strength, you can fight with him."
The two he was separating both said "No!" at the same time. Optimus was shocked. How can Battle Star be this confident in her abilities? She's never even heard of the Dinobots until a few hours ago! But he relented. There would be no way to stop the two from fighting.
"Very well, you may spar, but don't kill each other." He directed the last part of that statement mostly at Grimlock.
"Well then, Grimlock, Let's spar. I've got a few tricks that could be useful in fighting someone like you."
"Me, Grimlock, not weak! Me, Grimlock, can crush you like bug!"
However, Grimlock was surprised when Battle Star started the match by dashing straight for him. Grimlock drew his sword just in time to block her from slicing his arm open. Optics wide, Grimlock struggled to keep up with Battle Star's attacks –each one fast as lightning- as Battle Star worked her way around until she was standing on his left side. From there, Battle Star grabbed one of the big Dinobot's "wings" that turned into his dinosaur body, and swung up onto him. Grimlock panicked then –he was not used to being climbed on– and tried to get her off. As all this was happening, Optimus Prime and the other Autobots watched, optics wide, as they saw something that had never happened before. Grimlock was being bested by someone smaller than him! At last, Battle Star was able to get into a handstand on Grimlock's shoulders, and she swung her feet over his head, bending him and herself until her feet were solidly on the ground, and she threw Grimlock into the cliff of the volcano.
"Well, then, how did I do?" Battle Star brushed off her hands, and smiled widely at the gathered Autobots. Grimlock, in the meantime, was trying to extricate himself from the cliff.
"Me, Grimlock, say you, Battle Star, cheated!"
"And how, pray tell, did I cheat? By using my own strength to win the match?"
"Well…"
Then Ratchet spoke up. "Battle Star, you are the first bot I've ever seen besides Omega Supreme and those the same size as him that was able to throw Grimlock like that. No other bot, no matter if they were as big as Optimus Prime or smaller, was able to do that."
"You're a flatterer, Ratchet."
"Um, can someone help me, Grimlock, get out of cliff?"
Battle Star, after she was done sparring, decided to look around the base by herself. Optimus agreed that she should begin to integrate herself into the crew, so that they could work better together as a team. Optimus had gone to a meeting with his senior officers, so Battle Star walked around the base aimlessly.
"Hey, Battle Star, wait up!"
She turned, and saw one of the two Lamborghini twins running towards her. It was the red one, Sideswipe.
"Oh, hey Sideswipe."
He stopped in his tracks. "Y-you know my name?"
"Of course I do. Optimus briefed me on each member of the crew. Although I must admit, it took me a while to be able to put a name to a face."
"Do you… think I could walk with you for a bit?"
"Sure. Not like I have much else to do. I've just been wandering."
The two walked around the base together in a companionable silence. Everyone else was either in the officers' meeting or in the rec room, so they had most of the base to themselves.
"Hey, Sideswipe?"
"Yes?"
"Did the Autobots ever think twice about where I might have gone after I helped to save Ultra Magnus?"
"Well…"
"Just tell me truthfully."
"All I really know is that Hot Rod kinda wants to know what happened to you, and that Ultra Magnus feels that he owes you, big time."
"Well, it IS nice to have someone owe me a favor."
They fell into silence again. Sideswipe had run out of things to say, and Battle Star seemed to not be in the right mood for conversation at the moment anyway. Suddenly, an alarm sounded.
"What's that?!"
"That's Teletraan 1's alarm system! We're under attack!"
Something snapped inside of Battle Star. Sideswipe could see it in her optics. Where there had been wonder and curiosity before, there was now a cold, hard rage. Battle Star turned and briskly walked back the way they had come. Following behind her, Sideswipe had to move his legs faster as he tried to keep up. They could hear explosions now, and blaster fire.
"Sideswipe, stay behind me! This is gonna get messy."
The two were the first ones out of the base. Battle Star waved for Sideswipe to stay inside the base, and she leapt into the air as Megatron was about to fire at the Ark's entryway. In the blink of an eye, Megatron was falling, as was Battle Star, and the two tumbled to the ground. Battle Star had tucked into a ball as she hit the ground to minimize impact damage, but Megatron was not able to avoid a heavy impact face-first into the dirt.
Battle Star, what should I do?" Sideswipe was frantic. He knew he should help somehow, but he was frozen in place.
"Just keep back! Go get the others if you need to! I'll stay out here and keep them busy!"
Sideswipe ran back inside of the Ark, straight towards the meeting room. There was no alarm system in there, so the officers probably knew nothing about what was going on.
"Megatron, you are going to pay for what you did to my teacher."
Megatron was confused. What he did? He did not recall seeing this scarred femme before.
"You do not recognize me? Well, let me refresh your memory core. Cybertron, 4.5 million years ago. A seemingly abandoned city, yet with two bots living in it. An energon raid. The bots were one femme and one mech, both approximately the same height. The mech looking extremely similar to Optimus Prime. Maybe if you don't remember, perhaps one of your Seekers do? I seem to recall seeing that red and white one there."
All of the Decepticons froze. Why was this femme speaking to Megatron like that? What was she talking about? Suddenly, Starscream remembered what she was talking about.
"Megatron, she's the femme that got away that day."
Megatron was struck with fear as he, too, remembered what had happened in that cold, dark city. The femme had been a formidable fighter, yet still young.
"Y-you!" The fear turned to anger. "You should have joined the Decepticons when you had the chance!"
"Join the same faction that killed my teacher? No way! I had preferred being a neutral, but now it seems as if I am better suited to being an Autobot. Did you know that I was the one who led the rescue mission that took Ultra Magnus out of Shockwave's clutches? That I was a prizefighter in a gladiator arena? I made my own lifestyle, but all that was taken away. Remember that shuttle that you had sent that spaceship to knock down? I was on that shuttle. You doomed yourself to die at the hands of one who has trained since she was only 3 days old!"
"I will NEVER fall to one like you! I AM MEGATRON!" Megatron got out of her grip, and started to fire his fusion cannon at her. She easily blocked and absorbed the blasts with her dagger and sword, then fired them straight back at him.
"Prime! PRIME!" Sideswipe burst into the meeting room with a panicked look on his face. "The Decepticons are attacking! Battle Star is out there alone!"
"WHAT?!" Optimus swiftly got off of his chair and charged out the door, followed by the other Autobots in the room.
As they made their way outside, they could hear the distinctive sound of Megatron's fusion cannon, and another sound they had never heard before. It was a bit like hearing thunder and a waterfall at the same time. When they got outside, joined by the Autobots who were in the rec room, they saw Battle Star singlehandedly fighting all of the attacking Decepticons. Her sword and dagger were what was causing the strange sound, as they released the energy that they were absorbing from blocking the blasts from Megatron's fusion cannon.
"MEGATRON!" Optimus Prime charged at him, and knocked him off of his feet.
"Prime! I was wondering when you'd show up! I was surprised that you did not respond to an attack at your front door as swiftly as you usually do!"
Optimus gave no answer other than to punch Megatron square in the face. Megatron retaliated, swinging his fist at Optimus' chest.
"Jazz! Look out!" Battle Star tackled Jazz to the ground, seconds before Starscream's null ray would hit its mark. All around, there was battle, and chaos. Then, she saw Megatron and Optimus fighting. Everyone else was occupied, so they did not notice that there was one Decepticon not accounted for. Where was that blue Seeker? Then, she saw him sneaking up on Optimus, preparing to fire on him.
"OPTIMUS! BEHIND YOU!" Battle Star ran as quickly as she could, but it wasn't fast enough. Just as Optimus turned to see what was wrong, the blue Seeker fired, and it hit Optimus square in the chest. Optimus fell, and Battle Star caught him moments before he hit the ground. No, not again. I can't lose a teacher again! If only I had been faster! Battle Star was suddenly filled with such rage, that it seemed as if she was surrounded in flames. The fighting suddenly froze, as they saw Battle Star gently lay Optimus Prime on the ground, and get to her feet, energon splattered on her chest and legs. Her optics -which were normally a soft, pale gold –solidified and darkened, until it seemed as if they were suddenly made of pure solid spheres of golden hate. The sight of her rage alone was enough to bring some of the Decepticons to their knees, as she slowly walked towards Megatron and the blue Seeker. She took her giant double-bladed battle axe off of her back, and continued to pace towards them.
"You… you killed my first teacher, and you would try to kill my second. You stripped me of my home, my way of life, my very reason to exist, and yet I still function. I have kept it all in, and now I let it all out. I now release my rage, my fire, my lust for revenge."
Megatron and the blue Seeker stepped backwards each time she stepped forwards. Finally, their bravery abandoned them completely.
"Decepticons, RETREAT!" Megatron and all the Decepticons flew off, and Battle Star was left on the ground, burning with rage at what they had done to her, no matter at what point in time, her life was always ruined by the Decepticons and their leader, Megatron. She would have her revenge.
"Will he be all right?" Battle Star was only allowed into the med bay after she had cooled own and locked her rage away, and now she was standing next to Optimus Prime, worried.
"Will you let me finish my examination?!" Ratchet was just about ready to hit her upside the head with his wrench, then throw the wrench at her to get her to shut up.
"Sorry."
Ratchet finished examining Optimus, and shook his head sadly.
"I'm afraid there's nothing I can do. The blast took out some of his major systems. I don't have the parts necessary to repair him."
Battle Star felt close to crying. She had already lost one teacher close to her. If only I had been faster, I could have saved him…WAIT! She opened a compartment on her hip, and drew out a small, tubular device. It was just the right size to fit in Ratchet's hand, while still allowing the top to poke out above his fingers. On the top, it had a small slit with some kind of sensor in it.
"Ratchet, use this. It's a special device I made that instantly heals injuries wherever the beam hits them. Watch." Battle Star activated the device, and a flat beam was emitted from the slit in the top. Wherever the beam passed over Optimus, the parts inside of him that were damaged were fixed, and the places that were completely gone were regenerated.
"Battle Star, when did you build this?" Ratchet was amazed. Here, right in front of him, was a new level of Cybertronian medicine.
"I built this device soon after I lost my first teacher. I had been injured myself, and I didn't have any of the right tools to self-repair, so I built this." As Battle Star was explaining this to Ratchet, the device finished its job, and she flicked it off.
"Well, I believe that we could put that device to good use here. I can't tell you how many times I've had to spend weeks on end repairing one Autobot. With this, we could get the ones that are the most badly injured out of my med bay quicker, and probably save lives that would otherwise be lost." Ratchet and Battle Star watched as Optimus Prime's optics flickered on, and he sat up.
"W –what happened?"
"We won the battle, but we almost lost you." Battle Star could barely keep herself from throwing her arms around him and crying into his shoulder from happiness.
"We almost lost you, Prime." Ratchet began to run some tests to make sure that everything was completely healed. "It was all thanks to Battle Star and her device that you are now without a scratch."
"I thank you, Battle Star. I doubt that the Autobots would have been able to defeat the Decepticons without you or me. I am their leader, and they would be hard –pressed to find another Autobot that could wield the Matrix."
The rumors flew all through the Ark about Optimus Prime's miraculous recovery. Wheeljack and Perceptor started to ask Battle Star and Ratchet constant questions about what happened in the med bay, but they both had the same kind of response: the irritated brush off. Ratchet's way of brushing them off was chasing them with a wrench. Battle Star simply stared them down with her dagger in her hand. Although it would scare them away for a little while, they always came back.
"I swear, Ratchet, if they don't start leaving alone soon, I'm gonna snap and go all Unicron on them."
"I know what you mean. Hey, do you think you could make me an upgraded wrench? I need better tools."
Battle Star grinned with understanding. "I'll make you one, if you can keep them away from my wreck of a shuttle while I build it. My shuttle is like my workshop."
"It's a deal." They shook hands, then went off towards the shuttle, which the Autobots had moved closer to the outside door to Wheejack's lab. Battle Star immediately started to work on building Ratchet's new wrench, and Ratchet stood outside with his old one, acting like a very angry guard dog. Whenever either Wheeljack or Perceptor came by to grill either one of them, Ratchet successfully chased them off.
"Ratchet! I'm done!" Battle Star came out of her shuttle, carrying a normal –sized wrench that had glowing blue lines in it. It had a button on the middle, and whenever she pressed it, a bolt of energy blasted out from between the two points on the end.
"That's perfect! Is it also adjustable so that I can use it on all sizes of bolts?"
"Of course it is. You doubt my craftsmanship? I learned from the best, you know."
"I know, sorry for doubting you."
They walked back inside, after Battle Star locked up her shuttle, and they immediately ran into Optimus.
"Where have you two BEEN?!" I've been looking all over for you!"
"Sorry, Optimus. Ratchet asked me to make a new wrench for him, and he was making sure that neither of the local scientists got into my shuttle workshop to try to ask me questions about… you know… that time."
"I understand. I wouldn't want to be forced to share the information about my recovery either. Now, I need you both in our officer's meeting. NOW."
"Both of us? But… I'm not an officer. I'm not even an Autobot yet!" Battle Star could not figure out why in the world they would need her at the meeting.
"We need you, because you know more about fighting and what's in space than we do. You've been fighting for most of your life, and you've traveled in space a lot more than we have."
"Well, then, I guess it's time to show what I know."
"Now then, since we finally have everyone here, we can get down to business. As we all know, the Decepticons have been trying to build another spacecraft. The question is, where are they getting the parts from? The parts that our scouts have discovered in the Decepticon base are far too advanced to have come from Earth's resources, so my theory is that they are getting them from other races in the universe. The question is, who would trade with the Decepticons?"
Battle Star reviewed all of her experiences with alien life forms after he had finished talking, and then it hit her. It must be the ones who captured me when I first saw the stars!
"Battle Star?"
"Oh! Yes, Prime?"
"Do you know of any races that might trade with the Decepticons?"
"I know of not a race, but several races working together. The only ones I know who would stoop low enough to trade with the Decepticons, are the ones who first captured me when I first came online. Their main trade is slaves, but for the right price, they will trade parts and such to anyone who offers to buy them."
"Do you know what they are called?"
Battle Star tried to remember what the symbols on the leader's clothes were, and she took out a datapad, and used a servo to draw those symbols to the best of her ability.
"These are the symbols I saw on their leader's clothing. I don't know what they mean, but I think that it's the name of their organization."
Prowl took the datapad from her, then walked over to the computer to run a few scans to see if they were part of any language known in the universe.
"The language is Kretaaren. It says, 'Death Dragons' when I run these symbols through the translator."
The room fell silent. Battle Star was mulling over this new information, trying to see if the name struck a familiar tune in her memories. Death Dragons…the ones who caused the arena I worked at to shut down! They were trying to put it out of business so that they would buy the arena for their own uses! Battle Star slammed her hands down on the table.
"I know where some of them might be, but we need a ship. Prime, you watched the video of my past, right? Remember the footage about some of my battles?"
"Of course I do. I would always remember those, because I was so awed by your abilities."
"Well, that arena was closed down, and I remember hearing that when it was sold, a group called the Death Dragons bought it. I think they still have it, though I can't be sure."
"Are you sure?" Prowl looked at Battle Star with a gaze so intense, that it might have been able to burn through metal if they were turned into lazers.
"I am certain. The Death Dragons are the ones who bought the arena, and the last time I saw that arena after it was sold, there were lots of different aliens bringing in what looked like giant cargo ships, and smaller shuttles that looked like they were brand –new."
Optimus Prime started to pace around the room. He knew he had made the right choice in bringing Battle Star into the meeting, but she was right: they needed a ship. It was not good enough to just use Omega Supreme, they needed to make a stop at Cybertron first to pick up reinforements.
"We need to contact Ultra Magnus."
