Hello! Chapter four is here, I hope you all enjoy it. I haven't received any new reviews, so this non-story section should be short and sweet.

Author's Note: If any readers here are also reading A Strange Pikachu in a Strange Land, I have just finished writing the next chapter and once I finish editing it, I will post it.

Copyright Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, Cybertronian terms, or any references made in this fan fiction. I only own my OCs and the plot.


Chapter Four: Neither Friend nor Foe

Afternoon sunlight shone through the skylight sized hole in the ceiling, bathing Starwish in welcome warmth as she stopped to take a break from exploring. The abandoned complex she and her family had woken up in was massive. The clock she had discovered inside her head had calculated that their exploratory mission had been going on for joors, something she supposed was like a Cybertronian hour, and they still had been unable to find an exit to the outdoors.

By exit of course, she meant a door. Not a gaping hole in the wall with bodies sprawled in and around it. The twins were obviously having the time of their lives, running back and forth from room to room, searching every nook and cranny for something interesting and new.

She looked up at the jagged, turned-in edges of the sun filled hole and smiled weakly. It was their innocent enthusiasm and cheerful adaption to their new surroundings that was keeping her sane. Starwish knew that if she had woken up with only Hardwire for company or, worse yet, alone, she would still be in the dark command center sobbing and screaming in terror over her predicament.

A cheerful call broke through her thoughts, "Hey Star! Come see what we found!"

Starwish sighed, briefly musing on how it was fascinating that she could still preform the action as a Cybertronian as she called back, "Coming twins!" With mild reluctance, she stepped out of the comforting patch of sun and trotted down the surprisingly intact hall to the room the twins had just disappeared into. She rounded the corner and paused in the door, "What did you two find this ... time. Well scrap."

Zipline kicked his legs furiously as he struggled to climb onto a large metal slab that was comprised of three segmented pieces. Fast Track watched his brother contentedly from the safety of the shockingly clean floor as he answered Starwish, "Don't know. I think it might be a med-bay. Like from the Star Trek movies."

Starwish stepped carefully inside and looked around the room curiously. Fast Track was right, it did look like a classic sci-fi medical bay, disturbingly so. Close inspection revealed that the med-bay clean of any bodies, something that surprised her to no end. Zipline gave a frustrated grunt as the metal 'bed' he was attempting to clamber atop continued to defeat his best efforts by its sheer advantage in height.

Absently, Starwish picked Zipline up around the middle and carefully set him onto his goal. While Zipline cheered as if he had done it all himself, Fast Track rushed to his big sister's feet and held up his arms pleadingly in the universal sign for transport. Starwish smiled at him and obliged. When they were both happily perched on the bed, she cautioned them, "Careful up there you two. I'm going to check the other parts of this med-bay."

They nodded obediently, "We'll be careful Star." Satisfied with their promise, Starwish strode across to the far end of the bay and examined the counter. Strange tools were laid out in haphazard orders, testaments to the hasty exit of whoever had once operated the med-bay. Her left hand idly stroked one, a energon patch applier, still in good condition too. Her hand froze in place as she realized what she had just thought, how did I know what this thing is? She felt her spark beat a little faster as she studied the other tools, their names and uses popping up in her thought process with terrifying precision and speed.

Starwish retracted her hand sharply and fought off another panic attack, calm down, calm down, there must be a logical explanation for this. There must be! Fast Track's voice innocently asked, "Star? Are you okay?"

Turning away from the table sharply, she found herself staring into two wide pairs of concerned blue optics. Trying to swallow her nervous panic she answered, "Yes, I'm fine ... I just ... are strange Cybertronian terms popping up in your heads that you can suddenly understand?"

Zipline and Fast Track both cocked their heads to one side in consideration of the question. Zip frowned, "What kind of terms?"

Feeling oddly embarrassed but too desperate to resist answering, she said, "I was looking at these tools here and ... I know what they are and what they do."

Fast Track's frown melted away and was replaced by a smile, "Oh! Is that all? Why wouldn't you understand what those things are? You're a medic!"

A medic? Starwish blinked and then whispered, "Oh, yeah..." I remember now! When I designed the character Starwish, I decided that she would be a medic. I must have some kind of medical programming or something now. As odd as the thought that she had her fictional character's knowledge sounded, it somehow fit with the entire 'wake up on a fictional planet as a fictional species' situation.

She smiled lopsidedly at the twins, "Thank you for reminding me. I'd forgotten."

Zipline just shrugged, "It's okay, you seem kind of stressed out right now, so it's only natural you forget stuff." Starwish turned back to the medical counter in order to hide her flustered expression, note to self, they are a lot more observant than they seem. To help calm down, Starwish picked up one of the tools, a rotary buffer apparently, and examined it closely. Not very surprisingly, it looked identical to the one she had seen Knock Out using on the Transformers Prime TV show. I wonder if this is one of his. I hope not, he strikes me as the possessive type.

Heavy footsteps echoed down the hall and she whirled nervously, wondering who it was. Hardwire ambled slowly into the med-bay, putting Starwish at ease with a small smirk. The twins waved hello cheerfully, "Hi, Hardwire! Look what we found! It's a med-bay!"

Hardwire nodded congenially, "So I see. Good work on finding it you two."

Fast Track held up the Soundwave toy, "It was Soundwave that pointed it out for us!"

Hardwire didn't miss a beat, striding over he gently patted Soundwave's plushy head before softly rubbing each of the twins with a hand, "In that case, good work to Soundwave for finding it, and good work to you two for exploring it."

Starwish couldn't stop a warm feeling from fluttering through her at how gentle her friend was being despite his massive increase in size. Walking over to the berth the twins were sitting on, she perched on the edge, "Where did you go off too Hardwire? I was starting to worry."

Hardwire shrugged his shoulders, "I wanted to figure out a few things about myself without risk of anyone getting hurt. I made Hardwire a warrior class weapons specialist remember?"

Starwish nodded, "Yes, I remember. So, figure out anything interesting?"

Hardwire grinned broadly, "Oh yeah. Watch this, I figured out how to un-subspace a little weapon in my apparent arsenal." Stepping away from them, he extended a hand toward the wall and frowned in concentration. With a startling shifting of gears and metal plating, Hardwire's right hand and lower arm seemed to fold away only to be completely replaced by his 'little weapon'.

Zipline and Fast Track shrieked with boyish joy at seeing such a shiny instrument of mass destruction in the same room as them. Starwish gasped and stepped back in surprise at the sight of the long, sleek silver barrel of a huge gun, "You call that little? Hardwire! It's a slagging cannon!"

Hardwire shrugged innocently and folded the weapon back into a hand, "It is little when compared to the back mounted one I first unlocked. Thing nearly knocked me over because I wasn't braced properly to hold it. The one I just showed you is called a Kaonian Sniper Cannon MX-115 by the way. Apparently it's for long range heavy cover fire."

Starwish studied in now normal looking hand ruefully, "Apparently. How did you figure out how to access subspace?"

Hardwire flexed the fingers of his right hand thoughtfully, "I'm not sure how to explain it but ... it felt a bit like reaching into a pocket and pulling out the desired item. Once you select the item you want and 'pull it out' so to speak, it will appear and replace whatever limb it was modified to. Why don't you try it?"

Starwish nodded and worked on ignoring the twins' excited grunts as they tried to access subspace as well. Looking down, Starwish stared at her hands and imagined reaching into a pocket. At first, nothing happened. But then, without warning, she felt a strange quiver in her right hand and lower arm. A small message appeared in the center of her vision, 'surgical saw selected'. A sequence of mechanical notes sounded as her right arm from the elbow down shifted and smoothed out, her hand disappearing in favor of a menacingly sharp buzz saw.

Silence fell over the med-bay at the sight of the glittering silver blade. Starwish raised it slightly higher and turned it so she could see its flat side, "Um..." Experimentally, she tried wiggling her fingers, wondering if her hand was inside the buzz saw's handle somehow. Her fingers, wherever they were, didn't respond. The buzz saw did. It powered on and started spinning with a menacing whine of sheer cutting power.

Hardwire jumped back in surprise, "Whoa! Easy with that thing Star!" Starwish stopped trying to wiggle her fingers and the saw powered down with a slightly disappointed sounding hum. Note to self, medics have very sharp potential weapons. Handle with care.

She looked up at Hardwire, "How do I put this thing away?"

Zipline squawked indignantly, "Put it away? Why would you do that? You haven't even cut anything to shreds yet!"

Starwish gave him a stern look, "I'm sure I'll have time for that later, but right now I want my hand back."

Hardwire eyed the blade cautiously as he answered, "Same as how you pulled it out. Put it back in your pocket." Starwish nodded her understanding and stared hard at the buzz saw. Put it back in my pocket ... put it back in my pocket ... put it- the buzz saw disappeared with a small chime. Thank goodness.

Starwish smiled up at Hardwire, "Well, I guess now I know what to do it we run into anything unfriendly."

Fast Track whined pitifully, "This is so unfair! Why can't we pull weapons out of our arms like that?" The small red and grey boy was staring unconsolably at his hands.

Starwish gently rubbed his shoulder, "Aw, it's okay Track. Maybe you just don't have anything in your subspace yet. I'm sure you'll learn how to do this stuff in no time." Zipline looked about to protest when his middle made a loud grinding noise. All four of them stared at the noisy midriff in surprise.

Holding a hand to his middle thoughtfully, Zipline declared, "I'm hungry." Fast Track immediately nodded in agreement. Starwish suddenly became aware of hunger pangs in her own stomach ... tanks ... whatever.

She looked worriedly up at Hardwire, her expression said just how high she thought their chances of finding energon in a place like this were. Or their ability to actually consume it. Hardwire frowned, it was obvious that he was having similar thoughts. Zipline's stomach growled again and he made an unhappy face, "Really, really hungry."

Hardwire made a clearing noise in his throat, "We'll go look for some food for you two. Why don't you stay here and take a recharge while we search?"

Fast Track made an irritable noise, his mood rapidly deteriorating as he became hungrier and hungrier, "Don' wanna recharge! Wanna eat!"

Starwish realized that she would have to think fast if she wanted to stop the impending temper tantrum, "You'll get it. But to make time go faster, why don't you just curl up here with Zip, Soundwave, and Prowl and take a recharge. You know time always goes faster when you're offline."

Fast Track looked up at her calculatingly for several seconds before nodding, "Guess so." On a mental consensus only he and his twin could hear, they curled up together on the metal berth like two lost puppies. Their favorite toys squished firmly between them.

Fast Track closed his eyes immediately, but Zipline paused long enough to mutter, "You sound kinda strange when you talk like a Cyber ... Cybertronian ... saying recharge instead of recharge..." His eyes fluttered shut and Starwish watched as the twins began to immediately fall asleep.

She and Hardwire tiptoed out of the med-bay and looked at each other in concern. Hardwire whispered, "You know, he's actually on to something. Have you noticed that when we talk, we use a lot of Cybertronian terms?"

Starwish cocked her head to one side, thinking about this, "Now that you bring it up, yes. We have been using mostly Cybertronian terms. I wonder why?"

Hardwire shook his head, "Not a concern right now. We need to find energon for the twins and ourselves. I just got a message that said something about my 'energy levels being low'." Starwish nodded and they took off down an unexplored hall in search of something to eat. Please let us find something. Please...


Jazz crouched behind cover, peering silently at the looming hole in the wall of the seemingly abandoned Decepticon base. It looked empty enough. But Jazz had learned long ago to never trust first appearances. Keeping to the intercom to help prevent anyone from listening in, he whispered, ::All right mechs an' femme. Here's how it's gonna go down. 'Hide, Ratch', you two'll take the west section o' tha base. Chromia, Mirage, you two'll take tha south. Ah'll take tha east and we'll meet back at this entrance 'fore scoping out tha north. Ya'll dig thah?::

Chromia and Ironhide both rumbled unhappily at being separated, but they understood Jazz's angle. Mirage was not a violent or combat prone mech. He was a master at stealth, but if he was somehow spotted by any 'Cons that might be hiding inside the base, he would need the best backup he could get. Ie, Chromia, because she was small enough to go unnoticed most of the time, but big enough to pack a painful punch.

A similar logic paired Ironhide with Ratchet. While the medic could hold his own with his two lethal blades, Ironhide's heavy cannons would be invaluable to the medic if he found himself in a fight. As for Jazz ... well, he was Jazz, enough said.

A round of quiet affirmatives sounded over the intercom and Jazz paused long enough to smirk, ::Okay then, Autobots, le's start tha recon.:: He bounced up lightly and scurried for his chosen entry point, a small hole to the left of the one Ironhide and the others would be taking.

No painfully loud alarm klaxons went off when Jazz lightly jumped through the hole and rolled to the nearest cover, acid pellet gun primed and ready for action. Peeking around a jagged piece of broken metal, he swept his optics and scanners up and down the silent hall. ::Clear. Come on ahead.:: In swift pairs, the rest of his team darted through the entrance and scanned the area, weapons out in case of ambush. The offlined frames of Decepticons were their only greeting and the Autobots exchanged quick nods before cautiously setting off down their chosen hallways.

Jazz crept slowly and carefully down the dimly lit corridor, his optics sweeping alertly in every direction. His pedes made no discernible noise as he stepped around and over debris and fallen warriors. The silence was unnerving, heavy. Just like it always was when he had to search through an ended battlefield for something. It always seemed to Jazz as if the offline mechs on the ground around were glaring at him in disapproval for disturbing their rest. Or because I'm an Autobot. Either one.

Secretly, he wished he could listen to his favorite playlist while he searched. The cheerful electric trills would no doubt help to banish the gloomy stillness all around. Oh well, he could listen to it when he got back to base. A scanner in his visor beeped, the sound only audible to Jazz. The saboteur paused in his careful room checking to read the scanner's findings. Trace energon signals. Someone was here recently. Or still is.

Holding a finger up to his right audial sensor, he intercommed, ::Heads up 'bots. Ah'm pickin' up trace signals. Recent from less than a joor ago.::

Mirage whispered back, ::I am getting a reading as well. Whoever they are, they were searching the base thoroughly.::

Ironhide rumbled, ::Or still are, some of these Vehicon frames have been disturbed.::

The searchers fell silent again and Jazz continued his recon, using his scanner to track the faint energon traces. Inwardly, Jazz wondered if he was following the trail of a Decepticon or whoever was responsible for the energy surge. Find out soon enough I suppose. The trace split into two separate trails and Jazz paused, or not. Scrap, which one do I follow? ::More then one mechs an' femme. Ah just picked up anotha' signal. 'Hide, Ratch, it looks like one of 'em was headed in yo'r direction. Ah'll track down tha otha' one.::

Ratchet answered his com, ::Understood, Jazz. Be careful.::

Jazz faceplates twitched upwards in a smirk, ::Always am, Ratch.:: He turned left down another corridor, following the energon trace only a special-ops issue visor could track. ::Always am.::


Zipline felt his body jerk awake and grunted softly. His eyes opened and he looked around fuzzily. Where? He started to call for Starwish when a small metal hand clamped over his mouth. He felt roiling distress in his spark as a terrified voice whispered, "Don' mo, so on he." Zipline held perfectly still as the rest of his newly attained systems came fully online.

Gently nudging Fast Track's hand from his mouth, he cocked his head to one side and listened. Footsteps thumped in the distance, drawing steadily closer to the med-bay. Glancing at his brother, he said silently, "That doesn't sound like Hardwire."

Fast Track shook his head, his optics wide with fear, "I know. I think someone else is in this place."

Zipline felt himself growing excited, "Decepticons do you think?"

His brother whined softly and clutched Prowl, "I hope not!"

Zipline shook his head stubbornly and sent a wave of confidence to his twin as the footsteps drew ever nearer, "Don't worry, we can take them on if they try to attack." Looking around he pointed at the floor, "Let's hide under the berth nearest the door, that way we can ambush them if we need too."

Fast Track didn't appear to be too keen on the idea at first, but Zipline's total confidence reassured him and soon the two where huddled under a berth, waiting eagerly to spring their trap on the unsuspecting strangers. Zipline crouched closest to the doorway, watching it with narrowed eyes and a fast beating spark. The footfalls were very close now, close enough that he could feel the floor tremble slightly under the weight of each step. Maybe it's Megatron himself! He couldn't help but smile excitedly at that, what a fight it would be if they ambushed Megatron!

The owner of the heavy steps paused and Zipline heard a guttural whisper, "I'll check right, you check left." Someone else responded quietly and the twins watched with barely contained excitement as huge black metal feet and legs slowly crept into sight. Zipline felt like his spark would burst from his chest with anticipation. Almost there!


Ironhide tensed, something wasn't right. His instincts were screaming 'ambush!'. Pressing his back against the wall, he listened intently at the open doorway. He quickly checked the schematics that the Autobots had acquired their first time inside. Med-bay huh? Good spot for a surprise if I ever saw one. He inched closer and quickly risked a peak inside. Empty. His cannons whirred softly in preparation for anything as he cautiously began inching inside, optics sweeping every visible corner of the bay for signs of Decepticons.

A faint scuff noise sounded from underneath one of the berths and he stopped and swung his cannons towards the sound. He growled dangerously as he thought he spotted something move underneath the nearest berth, "Who's there?"

Of all the responses he could have prepared himself for, a muffled giggle was not one of them. What the slag? "I know you're there. Come out with your servos up and I won't have an excuse to blast you." Two blurs of motion shot out from under the berth with high pitched war cries and tackled his legs. Ironhide roared in surprise, his right cannon going off and vaporizing a sizable chunk of wall as he staggered backwards in an attempt to put distance between himself and his attackers.

His back plating caught the roughened edge on the doorway, causing him to lose his balance and fall with a ground shaking crash. Two tiny forms swarmed up his body, still shouting unintelligible battle cries. Reacting instinctively, his servos whipped out and caught his attackers firmly by their shoulders and neck plating. Lifting them up with the intention of banging their helms together, he froze when he realized exactly what he was holding.

The two small frames, one green and grey, one red and grey, snarled and squeaked angrily. Their legs kicking in a frantic attempt to break free from his grasp. Identical pairs of big blue optics glowered at him from tiny silver face plates. Ironhide felt his processor come within a microchip of glitching as he lay sprawled out on the ground with two yelling, protesting balls of wires and rage in his servos.

His servos went slack and they dropped to the ground. Without pausing a beat, his attackers swarmed up his body to sit triumphantly on his chest. The green and grey mini-bot was smirking at the slack-jawed expression on his faceplates, "Surrender? Or do you want more?"

Younglings... they're fragging younglings! The data was just too much to handle on his own, he needed someone to sort this out, make sure he wasn't having some kind of holographic flux. There was simply no way any younglings could be in a Decepticon base. Even an abandoned one. Ironhide roared over the com, ::Ratchet! Ratchet!:: Worry from Chromia was flooding his sparkmate bond as intercom queries piled up in his head.

Ratchet tore around the corner at top speed, his double blades fully drawn and ready to cut. "Yah!"

Startled, the two younglings scrambled backwards, falling off of Ironhide's chest plating, "Aahh!"

Ironhide's parental subroutines kicked in and he caught to two younglings with an alarmed grunt. ::Hold it Hatchet!:: The use of the hated nickname and Ironhide's frantic catch to save his 'attackers' caused Ratchet to stop his wild charge and take full stock of the situation.

Ratchet's optics slowly widened and Ironhide watched with a sort of vacant amusement as the normally unshakable medic froze and went completely slack jawed when he realized what his friend was holding. Ironhide slowly sat up and carefully set the wide opticed younglings on his lap, "So, you see 'em too, eh?"

Ratchet's engine sputtered, "How ... how ... where?"

The red and grey one looked up at the medic from the safety of Ironhide's lap and cried, "Hey! I know you! You're Prime's medic!" Ratchet blinked unhelpfully.

The green and grey one who had first spoken to Ironhide nodded, "Yeah! You're Ratchet!" The two then looked up at Ironhide curiously, their adorable faces melting the old weapons specialist's spark into a protective puddle of energon goo, "So who are you? I don't remember seeing you on the vids."

Instincts honed by raising Bumblebee kicked in and he said gently, "My designation is Ironhide. What is yours?"

The red one beamed at hearing Ironhide's name, "Ironhide! I've always wanted to meet you! My de- desig- I'm called Fast Track!"

The green youngling said seriously, "I'm Zipline, sir."

Ratchet finally found his voice, cutting off whatever Ironhide had wanted to say in return to Zipline's greeting, "What are younglings doing in a Decepticon base? Hold still and let me scan you!" The two held mostly still as Ratchet scanned them, but Fast Track fidgeted as the data collecting beam swept through his body.

"Tickles." He muttered unhappily. Ironhide gently rubbed the crest on Fast Track's helm comfortingly, eliciting a purr of delight from the small mechling.

Ironhide took the brief respite provided by Ratchet's scanning to sooth Chromia over their bond and answer the inquiring intercoms still coming over his systems, ::I'm fine. Just startled is all.::

Chromia snapped angrily, ::Startled by what Ironhide?::

Ironhide couldn't hide the awe in his voice as he looked down at the two squirming mechlings and answered, ::Younglings.:: A shocked silence fell over the com.

Mirage finally whispered, ::Younglings? Here? How on Cybertron did they end up in an abandoned Decepticon base?::

Ratchet gave a bitter response, ::Most likely came here looking for energon. Their systems have almost gone dry from deprivation.:: Speaking out loud to the younglings, Ratchet said, "Off of Ironhide you two. I need to take you back to base immediately."

Zipline crossed his arms over his chest plating, "So our prisoner can escape? No way!"

Ratchet scowled in confusion, "Prisoner? What prisoner?"

Zipline motioned casually to the mech he was currently perched on, "Him, of course. We're Decepticons this metacycle. We ambushed him, knocked him down, and he surrendered. Our prisoner now."

Fast Track nodded, his expression saying that everyone should already be aware of the rules he and his brother were laying down "Yeah, if you want us to let him up or go anywhere, you have to give us something valuable in trade."

Silence hung like a grim reaper over the four bots. Ratchet intercommed softly, ::Primus help us.:: and Ironhide felt like he was going to purge his tanks. Decepticons? They think they're Decepticons? Even though Ratchet must have been feeling the same horror as Ironhide, he kept his face neutral, "Valuable like ... what exactly?"

The two glanced at each other before shrugging. Zipline said calmly, "You know ... valuable stuff."

Ratchet slowly crouched down and un-subspaced two med-grade energon cubes. The younglings' optics were instantly focused on the glowing blue liquid inside the cubes. Holding a cube in each servo, Ratchet asked, "Would you be willing to trade Ironhide for these?"

The two mechlings moved so swiftly that Ironhide hadn't even realized they'd left his lap until he saw them sitting on the floor in front of him with an energon cube each. Zipline studied the blue liquid intently before nodding and saying, "It's a deal. Ironhide's yours." If such a comical occurrence had happened any other cycle, Ironhide was sure he never would have heard the end of it. But right now, all he could think about was how the two innocent, energetic little mechlings had just declared themselves to be Decepticons for the metacycle. Declared it proudly no less!

Rage bubbled in his spark, I'm going to offline whoever dared to try and twist those younglings to Megatron's side! A startled squeal briefly broke through his thoughts, "Ah! Buzzy, buzzy, buzzy!" Fast Track bounced slightly from excitement at his first sip of the downgraded energon.

Zipline was bouncing too, delight shining from his optics, "It tastes so sweet! I didn't know it would taste so sweet!" Ratchet made a strangled coughing noise and Ironhide forced himself to swallow the energon that had just surged from his tanks into his mouth. How can they thing med-grade tastes sweet? What have the Decepticons even been feeding them? Just when Ironhide would have thought the day couldn't get any more stressful, rage surged through his bond with Chromia and her voice barked over the intercom, ::Con! Slagger just ducked around the corner but I got him in the leg first. In pursuit now!::

Ironhide surged to his pedes as Ratchet yelled back, ::Take him alive Chomia! He may have answers about the younglings!:: Ratchet glared at Ironhide and stepped in front of the mech before he could go barreling off, "Oh no you don't! The last thing we need is for you to blast a potential information source! You're going to stay here and keep an optic on these two! I'll help Chromia." Ironhide snarled in protest as Ratchet took off in the direction of Chromia and Mirage.

"What'd he go running off for?" Ironhide looked down at Zipline and Fast Track and felt his parental subroutines take over.

He took a deep breath to soothe himself and said, "Nothing you have to worry about. A friend of ours just found something interesting is all."


Hardwire gasped in pain as he tried to stumble further down the hall, his mind clouded with panic and the agony rippling up from his leg. He had been investigating the lower levels of what he had long since concluded to be an abandoned Decepticon base when he'd heard a loud boom from above. Fearing the worst for the twins, he had started to run back the way he had come only to round the corner and be shot at by a blue and white female transformer.

She had fired again, but Hardwire had managed to duck behind the corner and start making a run for it. Guess all of those Call of Duty sessions paid off. Another shot of pain seared up his leg, accompanied by a warning message about how further motion could cause extra damage to the injured limb. Call of Duty clearly hadn't paid off enough to spare him from injury. He had been running for the next corner to hide behind when the pursuing female had fired again and hit his right leg, ripping open its side and sending energon pouring freely down.

Another warning sign popped up in his vision, Energon levels: Critical. Refuel required or system will shut down. That doesn't sound too good. Something tackled him roughly from behind and he fell with a loud crash and a howl of pain. He heard the unmistakable whine of a blaster powering up somewhere behind him and bucked wildly in an attempt to escape.

He had a larger frame than his attacker, but he didn't have the experience to back the advantage up. A hand swiftly grabbed some of the exposed cables of his neck and pinched lightly, effectively paralyzing him from the neck down. Hardwire fell back to the floor and lay still with a clang, his spark beating hard with panic, head swimming from pain, and his frame heaving with shuddering gasps as his system tried to cool down.

Light footsteps came to stop just to the left of his head and a female voice grated out angrily, "Nice going Mirage, now move so I can shoot the fragger." Hardwire weakly summoned just enough strength to turn his head slightly and stare up at his intended executioner. Ice blue optics met his, their depths holding so much hatred and rage, any thought of speaking vanished from his mind. He could only lie there helplessly and watch his own death.

A crisp voice with a somehow english accent scolded sternly, "Ratchet specifically stated to capture this one alive. He may have valuable information about the younglings Ironhide found." Younglings? Zip! Track!

A soft whine of worry for the twins escaped his vocalizer and unfortunately attracted the fierce female's attention, "Stop whining, slagger, or I'll give you something to whine about. As for you, Mirage, who said I'd kill him? I intend to give him a whole lot of good reasons not to kidnap innocent younglings and raise them as Decepticons."

What? Decepticons? Why would they think Zip and Track are Decepticons? Why do they think I'm a Decepticon? I guess this means they're Autobots at least... Hardwire felt his thoughts trail off, but was suddenly too tired to care or get them back. His vision was becoming unfocused and blurred. He felt like he was slowly slipping into a dark, cold pool. At least my leg doesn't hurt anymore...

Hardwire became dimly aware that he was now lying on his back. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember rolling over. Maybe someone had done it for him? Large blurs of color faded in and out of his vision as someone started shouting far away. Whoever was shouting was saying something about, 'stasis lock' and 'I'm losing him'. Losing who? I hope it isn't anyone important. An electric tingle ran through his chest, steadily trying to drag him away from the cold feeling that was enveloping him.

Reluctantly, he followed the electric tug a short ways, if only to get it to leave him alone. He really wanted to sleep. How long had it been since he slept? He couldn't remember. Hardwire's optics fluttered shut as he slid into stasis lock, completely oblivious to the irate medic working frantically to stabilize him and keep him out of energon shock.


Starwish ran down the halls, a horrible feeling of fear throbbing in her chest. That explosion had been very loud, and sounded like it was coming from the direction of the med-bay. What if Decepticons had come and were attacking the twins even now? She would never be able to forgive herself if something happened to them because she hadn't been there to protect them. Vague memories of fire and screaming rose to the fore and she struggled to push them down.

Focus! I've got to get to- She slammed into something and went sprawling. Starwish cried out in surprise as her bottom hit the floor and her equilibrium was thrown for a loop. A voice above her said, "Whoa the'a little femme! Where yah runnin' off ta like thah?"

Starwish opened her eyes and found herself staring into the light blue visor of an unmistakable silver mech. Her eyes widened and her mouth formed a tiny, shocked 'o'. It can't be. The mech cocked his head to one side and smiled easily down at her as he extended a hand to help her up, "You okay, little femme? Didn' knock som'thin' loose in your processa' did yah?"

Feeling somehow like this had to all be a weird dream, she took his extended hand and let him pull her to her feet. His hand was surprisingly warm and gentle for such a talon like appearance. Still staring at his visor she whispered shyly, "I ... I don't think so."

Jazz, it simply had to be him, nodded amiably, "Thah's good. Wha's a pretty thing like you doin' in a place like this anyhow?"

Ignoring the, most likely, unintentional pick-up line, Starwish stammered, "I- I don't know. I woke up here joors ago and was looking for energon for the twi-" she suddenly remembered why she'd been running, "The twins!" She bolted again, her spark hammering wildly as three more shots rang out in rapid succession in the distance. No, no, no, no, no! Please let them be all right!

Rapid footfalls clattered against the metal floor as Jazz caught up with her and grabbed at her arm, "Take it easy the-ow!" Startled and already completely stressed, Starwish had whirled and slapped Jazz hard on the face.

She screamed irately, "Let me go!"

Jazz stubbornly held onto her arm, "Now jus' listen hear femme-" Something inside Starwish snapped completely. She abruptly stopped seeing the mech holding her arm as 'Jazz the Autobot' and saw him only as a thing that was keeping her from defending her twins.

She reached into her right hand 'pocket' of subspace and whipped out the surgical buzz saw she had discovered earlier, "I said, let. Me. Go!" The saw whined menacingly as she swung it violently at the hand holding her arm.

The 'obstruction' leapt backwards with a startled, "Whoa!" Letting go of her arm to keep from loosing his hand. Thus freed, Starwish took off down the hall, oblivious to anything else but finding and defending her family.


Cybertronian Time Terms:

Nano-klik: Cybertronian equivalent of a mili-second or half-second.

Klik: Cybertronian equivalent of a second.

Breem: Cybertronian equivalent of a minute.

Joor: Cybertronian equivalent of an hour.

Cycle/lunar cycle: Cybertronian equivalent of day or night.

Metacycle: Cybertronian equivalent of a week.

Orn: Cybertronian equivalent of a month.

Vorn: Cybertronian equivalent of a year.

Megacycle: Cybertronian equivalent of a century or eon. (still not sure on this one)