XD

He uses this method, not only because he wants an army, but to continue the species; hoping to colonize Earth or add diversity once he brings Cybertron back to life. That's his goal, anyway. He's just very impatient.

I also based Arcee off her IDW persona, where she's just really… not all there. And she didn't necessarily fall in love with Thundercracker. She had it planned the moment she found out what they wanted to do with her. I mean, what with Springer hating her guts right now and all, she kinda felt like it didn't matter if she died or not.

I hope that explains it a little bit… It can be difficult for me to get things out as I imagine them without making it so confusing. D:

As always, thank you all for the reviews/favs/alerts!
Apologies for the short chapter!


Elita hung her head as the hatchling scurried to the wall, where it began to form the cocoon. Flatline and Thundercracker watched with curiosity, noticing how the creature was free of wing stubs. "That's a good thing," mumbled the seeker. "Megatron would have been very upset." The medic nodded. "At least she hasn't made an attempt to kill it." Thundercracker scoffed and turned to leave, pausing in his steps as Blitzwing barged in. "Autobots… They took the femmes."

Elita perked up, blue gaze aimed at the medbay entrance. "Optimus…" She whispered her beloved's name, standing. "Optimus!"

Flatline growled. "Quiet, you!" He aimed his gun at the femme. As Prime shot down the door, Prowl and Jazz entered, shooting down the trio of Decepticons. Optimus ran over to his mate, pulling her into an embrace. "Are you alright, Elita?" The female nodded, and then gestured to the cocoon hanging on the wall. Optimus lifted his gun, only to have Elita's hand resting upon his arm. "Don't kill it."

"But Elita…"

"Megatron's."

"Then it must be deactivated."

"No. Take it with us."

The Prime exhaled deeply. "Very well, Elita. But promise me one thing…"

"Anything."

"It must never know its sire."

Elita nodded, walking over to detach the pod from the wall's surface. She held it firmly to her chest and carried it out of the medbay, followed closely by the three Autobots. Megatron stood near the mouth of the gaping hole, barking orders to his disoriented Decepticons. As he watched Optimus and Elita squeeze by with his hatchling, the tyrant emitted a furious wail and began to beat Starscream into a bloody pulp, blaming him for letting the Autobots escape.

Autobot Base

Moonracer had claimed a spot in the chair next to Red Alert. She watched him work, knowing it made him uncomfortable. She also made some offhand comments about how he sounded a little like Perceptor and how he twitched whenever in the presence of a fembot. She found it amusing, really; he was just too cute.

"Autobots are back."

"Huh?"

Red Alert pointed to the screen. "They're back. It looks like the mission was successful." The femme jumped from her seat and raced out of the room, the security officer following close behind. Moonracer stood off to the side, watching the Autobots enter the base. Once she caught sight of Chromia and Elita, she went over, questioning them about their status and such. Elita offered a smile, moving past her to tend to the pod she held. Moonracer then looked to Chromia, who seemed rather standoffish. The blue fembot simply voiced her mate's name and left it at that. Apparently, Ironhide had forced her to give up the bud, which she didn't mind, really; it just left her feeling… weird.

As Perceptor entered, Moonracer went to him, her optics wandering over his body as she checked for injuries. The sniper tilted his head a little. "I'm fine, Moonracer." She stepped back. "Of course, you are," she said with a nervous smile. "I guess everything will be alright, right?" Perceptor gently took the femme's hand and led her away from the crowd and into a vacant room. Before she could say anything, the scientist pulled her close and kissed her fully. Moonracer swooned, feeling her back hit the surface of the wall. "Perceptor…" She gently pushed at his chest. "I…" Perceptor brought his lips to hers once again, refusing to let her speak.

Optimus Prime looked over the rescued femmes. "It would seem Firestar and Elita are the only ones with hatchlings." He glanced to Springer, feeling sorry for the guy. The triple-changer stood off to the side, mentally berating himself for thinking what he did about Arcee. Hot Rod swore up and down that he had nothing to do with the femme, but could he really believe that? Would he believe Starscream over his own comrade? Kup reassured Prime that all would be well in a few days—or as well as it could get.

Ratchet was given the task of carrying out physicals on all female Autobots, and checking the health of the hatchlings. Elita's daughter was suffering due to the lack of energon; the trek had taken its toll on the pod and wasn't expected to survive. Firestar, however, was able to watch her son detach himself from her womb and build a cocoon on the nest wall Ratchet had constructed for her. She named him Sunstorm.

Sources say more female Cybertronians are alive and well on Cybertron—Decepticon females. They would be more than happy to donate spark energy to Megatron and his men; he can still win.

We can't let that happen.

-Prowl