It was a slow walk back to the Axalon, but the four Maximals slowly made their way. Optimus had spent too much time in his robot mode and he had a build-up of the unstable Energon in his systems and needed the time in beast mode so his body could process it out of its system. He also didn't wish to scare off their latest addition by leaving her alone with Rattrap and Dinobot. Glancing back at the rather sizable flying squirrel, he noticed how she was quietly studying each of them as they made their way through the trees.
Ruby had insisted that the ship contained no personal items of her own. That it just happened to be the ship that her and her Grand-sparker had managed to board before their attackers could find them, and that the older Maximal had sent her to safety at the possible sacrifice of his own life.
Primal could tell that she wasn't giving him the whole truth, but the amount of emotion she was struggling with in her voice told him that she might not be ready to open up completely yet. After all, they were all strangers to one another. Looking forward again to keep an optic out for trouble, he couldn't shake the feeling that she looked familiar.
"Do you mind, vermin?" Dinobot snarled. "Some of us would like to enjoy the quiet."
"Eh, dere is no quiet with all yer stompin' around, Chopper-face," the five foot tall rat quipped back before turning his attention back to Ruby. "So, whacha do before ya hopped on a Pred ship 'n get yerself caught up in our lil' war?"
"Security detail for the Earth diplomat," Ruby answered, knowing that there had been an Earth representative on Cybertron since Spike Witwicky.
"You left the Earth diplomat alone?" Primal asked, looking back at her.
Ruby shook her head. "I was knocked offline and my Grand-sparker found me, fixed me up, and helped me escape. Everyone else was gone."
Frowning to himself, the silver back gorilla continued forward. It was a troubling thought that the Predacons would have done something so drastic in the wake of the Golden Disk theft. Or perhaps it was exactly what they were waiting for. Unfortunately, they were trapped on an unknown planet with no foreseeable means of escaping at the moment and were unable to help the uprising that was happening back home.
Unsure if it was the recent information that she had given or the fact that they all were tired, since it was the middle of the night, but the rest of the trip was made in relative silence.
Megatron glared at the two injured Pred fliers as they stood on the hovering platforms before him. Terrorsaur's armor was scorched and dinged where he had been hit while Waspinator was almost falling apart before him, his arms struggling to hold the parts that he was able to gather before fleeing.
"You mean to tell me that a Maximal stole a Predacon ship and just happened to crash land HERE?" The two cringed, which was the Predacon leader's intent, but he just sat back to think on this unexpected matter. Why would a Maximal steal a Predacon ship? Could the Maximals have welcomed a criminal into their folds? "This certainly deserves to be looked into, yes." With a twist of his chair to face away from the pair, he waved his hand dismissively. "Go get yourselves repaired. I'll need you two scouting the newest in Optimus' crew as soon as possible."
With a salute, or as near to one that Waspinator could manage as he dropped a good chunk of the parts in his arms, the pair disappeared further into the ship. Megatron opened a channel to his most trusted subordinate. "Scorponok, I have an important mission for you."
The group of four split in half, Rattrap and Dinobot going up the lift first while Primal and Ruby waited for its return. Sentinel had to scan and accept her as part of the crew before she could enter the ship. Her commanding officer looked back down at her, watching as she took in the broken ship, her eyes alit with wonder as if she was seeing a legend for the first time. Giving a shake of his head with a slight smile, he looked up as the lift began to lower. "Welcome to the Axalon, Ruby."
"Thank you, sir," she said. It was a near whisper, matching her tone to her look. She seemed almost giddy and nervous at the same time as they both stepped onto the platform. She was braced as it jerked to lift them up, her fluffy tail curled up over her back as she was looking up.
When the glass door lifted up for them, allowing them access to the bridge, they both stepped off of the lift and entered the room. Cheetor was there, his night for monitor duty, but was listening to Rattrap and Dinobot, who were now in robot mode, debating the best way they knew how on who was going to show their newest team member around the ship.
Optimus transformed, making his way over to get an update from the scout of the team. Not wanting to miss out on meeting the flying squirrel, the cheetah based fighter was making his way back over with Optimus. Slow, steady footsteps were making their way from the hall on the right hand side of the bridge, as the ship's engineer walked in, tinkering with something in his hands.
"Oh, Rhinox," Optimus said, smiling, "I was about to call you." Motioning to her with one hand, Primal began his introduction. "Cheetor, Rhinox, this is Ruby. She was on the ship that has crashed."
Ruby, who had transformed into her own robot mode, gave a meek nod. Everyone could see how she was just staring at Rhinox, wide eyed and with a bit of emotion to her look. They just assumed that it was because of his size, which was impressive, but Optimus was bothered by something. They had the same coloring to the robotic forms. It wasn't a bad color combination, but what were the chances that two random bots both chose the exact same colors?
Ruby couldn't believe her eyes. Here was her Grand-sparker, looking so much younger than she could ever recall. Even with his coloring different, the gold replaced by silver several stellar cycles ago, there was no mistaking that kind, warm smile. Stretching out her hand to shake the one he offered to her, she returned the smile brightly. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you."
"How 'bout a tour of da ship?" Rattrap offered, giving her a half smile as he offered his arm playfully.
Ruby had to fight smirking at him. This was the same uncle that put any bot that had any intention of coming near her through the wringer for her own protection. She recalled him saying that it was to make sure she wasn't hurt by a bot with poor intentions for her. Now it made sense, realizing how he behaved himself around femmes, that he would know what to look for. Turning her attention back to Rhinox she only smiled. "Do you mind? I'm sure you know the ship better than anyone else."
Feeling a bit caught, Rhinox looked over at Optimus, who nodded once, and then turned to the small femme before him. She stood just over Rattrap's height in robot form, but there was something about her he couldn't put his servo on. Not just yet. "Well," he said giving a vague wave of his hand to the room they were currently in, "this is the bridge, the main hub of our communications and sensors." Then the pair started off down the hallway he had entered the room from, Rhinox talking and Ruby listening to every word, as if she was gleaning every detail she could.
Author's Notes: I don't own this show.
Thanks for reading, because I know no one made you do it!
