Gotta go fast

Chapter 10

A/N: Thank you so much StormRaven333 for your continued reviews and support it really makes my day, and thank you to everyone else that chose to read this. R&R.

She didn't know what to expect now that she was on board the decepticon warship. Knock Out had told her to remain in his quarters knowing that anyone could easily enter the med bay but not the attached room. After hearing about Megatron and decepticons after all this time she wasn't going to argue about it. When the two bots returned after having been summoned to the bridge they found Luna curled up asleep in the middle of Knock Outs berth. Breakdown had gone straight into recharge when he had returned but Knock Out couldn't help but lean against the farthest wall and watch the young woman sleep.

She had been told about Optimus Prime now being aboard and that he had no recollection of the war or ever becoming a prime, now going by the name Orion Pax. She hadn't met the autobot leader but from what she had been told about the ongoing war he was a strong and noble mech so it didn't make sense that he was on the warship. She wanted to see him, meet him personally but something told her that she'd never get the medic to take her end even if he did there would be no guarantee of what the leader would be like. It was obvious that he wasn't himself. No self-respecting autobot would join the decepticon cause.

Luna had no idea how long she had been on the Nemesis now but it felt like forever. She had heard Knock Out talking to other bots in the bay next door which put her nerves on edge. She hated that at any moment she could be found, she still didn't understand how Knock Out thought she would be safe. The brunette spent most of her time by the only window in the room looking out at the planet, she was very thankful that they had not gone into orbit yet.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood as she heard female voice from behind the door. Immediately she could identify the femme as Arachnid, the spider bot that both Knock Out and Breakdown hated so much. Only faint whispers could be heard through the thick wall, it grasped Luna's attention from where she was sitting in the corner of the room. Her curiosity got the better of her when she rushed over to the door to hear what was being said, there was a few mumbles but she was able to make it out. "Have you been with the humans again Knock Out because I can smell them"

"Maybe it's just you" Breakdown mumbled as he leant on the door to their quarters.

She gave the blue brute an annoyed glare as she let Knock Out tend to her injured energon line in her arm. The medic worked fast on her so that she would be gone quickly. It was obvious that she didn't want to be around either because as soon as Knock Out was done she fled the room in a second.

"How long you keeping her here?" Breakdown nudged his head towards their private quarters.

"Until the planet settles"

The blue bot gave his partner and unimpressed look as he knew that the planet had already settled from the extreme weather and the medic was only making up excuses to keep her here longer. Which made him think that he didn't know how boring it must be for the human. "Knock Out you can't keep her here, with the prime on board it's even more dangerous for her"

"Precisely why I can't take her back. Security's tight because of prime, I'd never get to the ground bridge with her" He hadn't visited her in the room that day knowing that that very morning he let her watch him wield the decepticon seal onto Optimus's shoulder and he remembered seeing her look very curious at the former autobot leader, he already knew that she would want to see him and that could not only blow the operation with Orion but also reveal Luna. He then recalled Megatrons transmission to every bot about addressing the Orion as Optimus and whoever did so would have their voice box torn out.

After a minute of pondering to himself Knock Out left the bay asking Breakdown to hold the fort, it would be foolish to have them both leave just in case someone did manage to break their way for some reason into their quarters. He had run in to his master on his stroll, concerns for their current scheme over powering his processor.

"When we stormed the Iacon hall of records in the waning days of the war for Cybertron, we acquired highly classified files. Files written in autobot codes with we have been unable to decipher"

"autobot codes" Knock Out repeated as he thought while following his master down the halls "which the Iacon archivist Orion Pax should have no trouble cracking. Considering what's at stake shouldn't we beef up the security around here?" He had hoped that more drones could then be moved and focussed around the operation than guarding said ground bridge which he required to take Luna back.

"Knock Out I believe that Orion will perform most effectively if he does not feel threatened or confined in anyway, however it is no coincidence that Orion's work station is located in direct proximity to the energon storage vault"

"Which is under constant surveillance. Well played" both looked at the other cunningly but inside Knock Out was disappointed that he couldn't somehow use the current situation to his advantage. Breakdown was right though. He shouldn't keep her here longer than she needed to be and it was getting too dangerous with prime aboard it would be a matter of time before any autobot got aboard too and all hell would break loose. "Knock Out I have a mission for you and Breakdown" He was then forced to comm Breakdown and lock Luna in. He did see it as an opportunity to take her back to the surface but that opportunity was ruined when they learned vehicons were accompanying and that they would be hitting a dangerous location.

It didn't take long before they hijacked the desired equipment that they needed to build their space bridge but were slowed by the interference of the humans and their weapons. Both Breakdown and Knock Out made quick work of the tanks that were firing upon them but as predicted the autobots arrived which allowed for a little bit of fun. "Drop the power source" Bulkhead yelled as the three autobots ran at them ready to fight. "Aren't you missing someone?" the medic mocked, they didn't bother holding out their weapons as air support flew in above them to distract he bots while they made a getaway. "Ready for that bridge" Knock Out comed back to the ship. As he was done a ground bridge appeared directly behind them. "We'll be sure to tell the big O you said hello" he couldn't help but tease them before running after his partner through the portal. As they made it back on to the Nemesis they began strolling through its corridors but not before Arcee surprised them from behind in her vehicle form. "Scrap" she had followed them through the bridge before it closed. They watched Arcee turn left towards the med bay, towards Luna. The two turned to the other before running. "You get the power source to Megatron" Knock Out ordered as he turned left to follow Arcee, he tried not to listen to Breakdown shouting after him. "Let the bot find Luna Knock Out" of course the medic wasn't going to pay attention to what was said. If he let Luna go with Arcee there was no guarantee that he would see the squishy again. Without Optimus around the bots couldn't be reasoned with, he discounted Bumblebee in his head knowing that he would listen.

It was clear that Knock Out wasn't particularly fast on his feet as could no longer see Arcee just a bunch of offlined vehicons which he highly expected to see in the bay later to be recycled for parts. He made it into the bay and unlocked his quarters. His optics searched frantically for the brunette woman, he worried when he did not see her immediately but his spark calmed when he saw her sleeping form in the corner. His entrance must have awoken her as she moaned and her eyes peered up at him in confusion. "Knocks are you okay? You look like you just had a spark attack" she chuckled to herself as she slowly became more aware.

"I was just worried about you" she gave him a questioning look as she wanted him to elaborate "Arcee managed to get aboard"

"And you were worried that she was in here?" she signed in disbelief "Knock Out would Arcee finding me and taking me back to the surface be a bad thing? At least then you wouldn't be so concerned about my presence here and I wouldn't be sat on my lazy ass all the time" even she could see that it was a better idea, it even cleared him of an suspicion there might be about his activities, he would not be associated with getting her off the ship. It was too late now though he was sure that if he was not called to stop the autobot then she had already been dealt with in a delicate matter considering current situations with the prime.

"You're worried that unlike Bee the autobots won't see that you're no threat to me" This caught the con off guard slightly, how did she know what he was concerned about? "You think that I'll be kept in confinement, in protection from you. You don't have to be worried about that motor mouth they'll never keep me away" he smiled at her, which gave the atmosphere a warm feeling. She understood him and above everything else she tried to reassure him that she wouldn't let it happen. No matter how hard they tried they wouldn't keep them apart.

"Bee trusts you with me even if there is the occasional disagreement but that's to be expected. If you can convince one autobot, you can convince them all" his spark warmed at her words. It made him melt, feel weak on his knee joints, become stiff as he tried to move towards her and bend down so that his arms were resting over his knees. "Well it couldn't do much good now, Arcee has probably been escorted off the ship by now"

There was silence as they brain stormed in their heads strategies to return her home. They had already come to the conclusion that it was best for her to leave with an autobot for safety, in Knock Out's mind there was only one bot that he trusted with Luna and that was Bee but it would was a long shot getting him on the ship to take Luna away.

"I think you're forgetting the autobot already present on the ship"

It took a moment for it to click in his processor "Prime? But he's not prime, he thinks he's Orion Pax, a decepticon. He's been fooled to believe the autobots are the bad guys"

Luna stood and walked by Knock Out placing her hand on his leg. She wasn't going to force Knock Out to blow is cover or anything of the sort but she had to make him realise that she couldn't stay any long. Her supplies would be one argument, she was running low and it wasn't good for heer health doing nothing all day and eating very little. "Then the truth needs to be told. Wrongs must be righted. Remember don't see of him as an autobot, see him as another cybertronian. Two bots one planet" He liked how she made things look and feel much easier than they actually are and how whenever there was a bad turn she'd twist it so that it was good. "I'm not asking you to take me to Optimus and tell him everything hoping that no cons will catch on. I'm not asking you to give them a reason to question your loyalties, I'm just asking that you let me go…trust me" she put her hand over her heart. She could feel it beat at a constant pace in her chest.

"You expect me to watch you just walk out of here?"

"Of course not you lugnut I'll be running and the halls are so dark no one will even see me"

Knock Out stood and backed away from her he was obviously in deep thought. Being him though he could only concentrate on the bad things that could happen if he wasn't there. Perhaps he was being selfish for not acting so that he wouldn't get caught. Any autobot would happily risk their life for their humans and he wasn't saying he wouldn't do the same for Luna it was just that he knew that given time he could easily return her to the surface like she was never even gone. It crossed his mind that ever since he had gotten her to put her faith in him. To trust him completely and she did so it was high time he returned the favour.

He turned back to her with his usual cocky grin and a hand on his hip "Okay but you call me when you need me"

"Of course" she gathered her small backpack that had all of her stuff inside and slung it over her shoulder and on to her back. She held out her phone so that she could use it quickly in the situation that she did need him. Knock Out opened the door and led her out to the med bay, he began fiddling with his monitor for a moment and turned back to her. At that moment her phone displayed a map on the screen and a blue dot not too far away. "Follow that to Optimus, when you come to the door type in 217 and it should open the door for you before shutting" She nodded to him as she took the information in and tried to memorise the code. It was then that Knock Out received a transmission from Breakdown telling him about the security breach on board concerning Starscream and with the space bridge. "I'm on my way. If the autobots are using our space bridge then they must have a way of restoring prime. Megatron will undoubtedly go there to stop them if you are able you need to get the big guy to the autobots at those coordinates" he pointed to her phone in her hand. She looked at it as a set of coordinates had been saved on to her hard drive.

Before she knew it Luna and Knock Out had split him going to the bridge and her going to find Optimus. She had lowered the brightness of the phone so that she would be more discreet as she ran through the Nemesis's corridors. She felt relieved that he wasn't too far from the medical bay so she wouldn't be out in the open for too long. Kuna kept to the walls knowing that she could easily hide. As she ran she could feel her heart thump harder and her breathing become heavier which wasn't exactly what she wanted as she didn't want to make too much noise and considering that cybertronians didn't need to breathe she bet that they would be able to hear her.

She stopped when she heard fast approaching footsteps ahead of her. Immediately she reacted and dove for cover, hugging the wall and bending down so as to look as small as possible. There was a piece of metal that kept her hidden from the sight of the oncoming decepticons. Holding her breath to remain completely silent she watched three vehicon drones run past her and turn into a different corridor. Something big must have been going on.

She let out a breath and tried to calm her breathing as she continued to run forwards and then take a right turning before a left. The door she seek was closed which was handy that she had the code but she wasn't very lucky when she saw two drones stood outside another door opposite of the one she needed to get to. They must be guarding something so there was no point in waiting for them to move for a few minutes. The only way she was going to get inside was if there was a distraction. Quickly she began digging around in her pockets but only found the odd coin that she would usually carry for spare change in her jeans. It might work but they were big ass robots, would they really be fooled by a rolling coin? If they were there was no guarantee how long a time she would buy herself to slip into the door.

As far as she was concerned she had nothing to lose trying it. At least she had some sort of plan. Just as Luna was about to flick the coin towards the two bots the floor rumbled slightly and loud noises could be heard from the room prime was in. The cons must have heard it too as they took one look at each other before going over and into the room. The door slide open to reveal a stunned Orion on the floor by one side and two other vehicons lying on the ground offline. Luna could see that the prime's hands had shifted to blasters, now she could understand his expression. She had been told that he had reverted to when he had been some sort of librarian and of course no librarian needs a gun. She was about to make use of the distracted guards to slip past them in the door way and inside when blasters were fired. She ducked down but could see that she was in the line of fire as she was watching she saw Optimus hesitate which made one of his blasts fire towards her. Luna acted quickly on her toes when she jumped forward out of the way and on to her front.

She was scared she didn't know what else to do apart from scrunch her eyes shut and hope that it would soon end.

After a minute or two there was silence she plucked up the courage to open her eyes and look at what had happened. A gasp escaped her mouth as her eyes set on now four drones offlined on the floor all of which were either leaking the blue substance she had come to recognise as energon or give of electrical sparks. Luna B-lined for the room before anything else could happen and stood in front of a dazed Orion his blasters gone and servos back. It took a moment for him to see her standing before him. He couldn't help but stand up then to look more presentable. "Who are you?"

"My name is Luna and I need your help but first I think you need mine"

"Do you know who I am?"

She nodded to him which seemed to put him at ease for some reason. They had never met before so he had no reason to trust her. She thought perhaps it was because she didn't look very threatening compared to him. "Your name is Optimus Prime. You are the leader of the autobots the guys that tried to save Cybertron, the ones that are trying to protect this planet and its people. Whatever you have been told is a lie one concocted by Megatron to use you for their own devious and evil schemes to take over Earth"

"You were once Orion Pax a mech that solely wanted to save his planet but then you earned your right to a prime. You are a noble leader who understands that freedom is everyone's right"

He took everything she said to him in and understood how it would fit in with what he had discovered. Even though she didn't really know him she had heard enough of him to be able to get him to remember. Finally there was a being that was honest with him, that didn't lie to take advantage. "I do not know if I can be Optimus Prime again" he spoke in his gentle and graceful tone

"You can be you just have to stand up for what you believe. What you know is right"

"You require my aid?"

"Yes, I need to get off this ship. Decepticons don't like humans. I'd die in an instant if I was spotted and I have no way off" she didn't need to say more to convince him to help her. He was an autobot at spark which meant he was always going to anyway. "I think the autobots have a way of returning your memory but they're under attack from Megatron himself"

Orion bent down and offered her his hand which she gladly climbed on to. She didn't think she'd be able to run anymore. "Then we better assist" he let her climb on to his shoulder and sit before changing his right servo into the blaster again and heading out. He moved silently through the hall as she directed him to the ground bridge room which she somehow remembered where it was. Orion of course wasn't that steady with his weapon so opted to hiding if they came across anyone instead of just shooting. Luckily they only had to hide from two vehicons that didn't even notice they were there.

The door to the ground bride slid open to reveal a drone on duty this time Orion had no choice but to offline him but he was improving as he hit him in the spark chamber quickly. Bringing his servo back he programmed the monitor for the coordinates that Luna had read to him from her before activating it. Luna put her phone away now that she no longer needed it but she was caught off guard when Orion took her from his shoulder and put her firmly on the floor. "Stay behind and run for cover as soon as you can" he commanded, she nodded in response as she waited for him to walk through before doing so herself.

She felt dizzy after coming out from the portal, of course this was her second time using the bridge and the first she had done so without the aid of a mech so it was a new experience. She managed to pull herself together as they caught Megatron standing at the far end of what seemed to be an underground cave next to what appeared to be a much larger and intense ground bridge. She remembered Knock Out saying something about a space bridge perhaps that is what it was. As the bridge behind her closed she immediately jumped behind a rock to the side to avoid being seen and just as Orion had said for cover, something told her that there was going to be a fight and she rather not be caught up in that.

"I cannot allow that to happen Megatron" Luna watched events unfold from behind the rock knowing that as soon as there was a good opportunity it was best to move somewhere safer, maybe alert Bumblebee, who she could see unconscious on the other side of the cave, of her presence. "And why should you care Orion Pax, you are no prime"

"That may be true or yet another deception but this much I do know my sympathies lie with the autobots and you are not one of us" he pointed to the warlord and then brought out his blades. Well one blade and a half, the right one had been damaged but was still usable. The gladiator growled as he watched Orion charge at him but of course in the frame of mind Orion had no experience or fighting skills so Megatron easily lifted his own blade on his right arm to block and then use his other arm to punch Orion in the abdomen (cybertronian equivalent) his body falling to floor "Your spark maybe in the right place Orion" the gladiator hit him on the back making Orion fall flat on his face "but you have much to learn before you can hope to ever again stand your ground against me" Megatron pointed his blade at Orions face and drew it back ready to strike "a moment sadly which will never come"

The sound of engine appeared from the space bridge just as Megatron was about to extinguish Orion's spark. Arcee transformed and rammed into the back of Megatron making the two fly to the other side of the cave. Luna watched as a human also appeared from the portal in a space suit, she took this opportunity to run over to them both. She was worried for Orion as there was much truth to Megatron's words but she hoped that there was some in what she was told the autobots might be doing. Luna stopped some ways from the other person who looked to be a teenager. Orion had noticed her presence and looked down to her when the boy held up some sort of metal key and was lit up. Luna nodded to him with a smile knowing that this would restore his memory. She wanted to laugh at how funny the teens face was when he was serious but knew it wasn't the time or place as she saw Arcee and Megatron fighting. "Are you certain I am worthy?" he asked the both of them questioningly

"You have no idea" the boy said

"This planet and all its people need you" Luna couldn't help but sound inspiring as the teen lifted the key more and a bright faint blue light shot to Orion's chest which in turn opened up to reveal a dead looking matrix of leader ship. The matrix sucked the energy. It took a minute by which time Luna noticed Megatron had beaten Arcee and was running straight at them. It was clear that Optimus was back when his face turned from that of confusion to determination and his chest closed up to hide the matrix. The key however flew up and span as it placed itself back into the primes servos. Quicker than a lightning strike Optimus turned around on his knee and caught Megatrons blade that had been swung at him, he looked up at the warlord "Megatron…" the battle armour then covered Optimus's mouth as he continued surprising the warlord "be gone".

Optimus sprung at his foe then as his punched him back and kept doing so until he hit him so hard that the gladiator went flying into the rock wall and fell to ground with a large thud. By this time all the other autobots had come round and made their way over to their leader a smile on their faces "Ratchet how did we arrive here?" Optimus asked which kind of made Luna sad that he inspiring speech from before wouldn't be remembered. The autobots took defensive positions as they readied themselves to fight. "Long story old friend"

Arcee then spoke into her comm link as Megatron was starting to get back up, the impact having hit him quite hard. A ground bridge whirled to life beside them. Luna covered her ears as they began firing at the gladiator, Bumblebee stood protectively in front of her. "Autobots fall back" the prime ordered his troops. Megatron had heard him too as he was determined not to et them get away while he charge right at them not even caring that he was out numbered. Luna had the wind taken out of her when Bee reached down and snatched her up from the ground his hand wrapped delicately around her body as she was kept close to his chest.

Arcee ran at the bridge grabbing the boy and jumping through with him. "And this time he's coming with us" Bulkhead shouted at the warlord as he helped fend him off. Ratchet ran through second and then Bee with Luna. The next thing Luna saw was the light of the autobot base along with four people standing in wait for their arrival. Luna was now sat comfortably on Bee's shoulder. As they all piled in to the room and received welcomes, Bee included as he knelt down to his human friend. Silence then had befallen the room as everyone stared at Optimus as he came through the ground bridge. "Optimus?"

"Hello Rafael" Optimus smiled down at the smallest of the them all

"The big guy remembers us, wahoo" screamed the girl.

Optimus looked over at his shoulder at the decepticon seal that was embedded there, she had watched Knock Out do that himself and it was good work just not the right symbol. "Although it seems there is much is do not remember"

"Optimus it has truly been our darkest hour but know this from every indication your spark never ceased being that of an autobot"

"I can vouch for that" Luna spoke up. Everyone then turned to her as she sat on Bee's shoulder. The scout stood up straight and whirled to comfort her as she was now the centre of attention.

"Wait who's she?" the girl asked, curiosity on her face. Luna smiled down at her before introducing herself. "My name is Luna Birch, I'm a technician/mechanic"

"So you are the human that was with Knock Out and Breakdown on top of that mountain" she nodded to confirm that it was her he was talking about "What were you doing on the warship?"

She looked guilty along with Bumblebee as they all waited for an answer. "Bee" Arcee didn't look too impressed.

"It's not Bumblebee's fault, he saved me from being sucked into a tornado but I went with Knock Out to the Nemesis"

"Why? I'd say it's more dangerous up there than it was down here" the small boy with glasses was very clever, he adjusted his spectacles on his nose.

"Look I understand your frustration but you don't know Knock Out. I trust him and so does Bee…Just maybe not on the battlefield"

Blank faces stared back at her and the scout. They didn't quite understand how the young bot could trust the decepticon with a human. But Luna hoped that she could at least get them to trust her.