Pardon me for taking so long, but I had immense trouble writing this chapter. I think I re-wrote it at least 7 times before I finally gaveup and just wrote something.

It's rather hurried, because it's just a transition chapter.

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"Come on, come on!"

Maria pulled the last energy bar through the vent and put it in the small cart she was dragging with her.

She was still searching for a ship that was in a good enough condition to get her off the planet.

After roaming Cybertron for a while, she had decided to search for the Ark and the autobots that had disappeared with it. She couldn't go back to the autobots and ask for a ship, since she knew they would ask her where she planned on getting the energy from.

And if she told them that she had almost found enough energon to search the galaxy, they would most likely demand that she handed it over and forgot about her plans.

After all, energy was better used in bots than in ships.

She stopped before a corner and slowly peered around, searching the area. She pulled back when she saw a figure moving near the entrance to the building she was occupying.

She could hear him scrambling around. Most likely in search of energon.

She cursed inside, knowing that if he found her stash, he would raid it and she would have to begin her search all over again.

She looked around the corner again, contemplating how she could lure him away from her impromptu home.

She hid the cart under a pile of rubble and looked after the intruder again. He was still trying to figure out how to get into the bunker.

Maria stumbled around the corner, causing a racket by tilting a few metal bars on the way. The plan was to get him to chase her. Then she could take cover in an old ventilation shaft, crawl through a secret hideout she had set up and get back to her energon before he had time to wonder where she had gone.

The intruder turned, glaring at her.

iTake the bait, damn you!/i she thought.

It worked. The mech chased after her. Maria ran as fast as she could toward the ventilation shafts she had planned on using.

But then a sharp pain shot through her body, causing her to tumble forward and land on her knees.

Confusion overtook her for a few moments until she looked to her left and saw a sharp sword sticking through her left shoulder. She reached to push it out when it suddenly twisted 90 degrees and a foot was placed between her shoulder blades, forcing her down on the ground.

"Who are you?" The intruder asked.

"Maria... I'm... I'm a rogue."

"I think you're lying. I've seen you with the Autobot femmes." He grinned, twisting the sword a little more, making her groan.

"No. I left the femmes." She gasped, her vocal component jumping from the pain.

He was silent for a moment before pulling the sword out and turning her around.

"Who are you?" She interjected before he could speak again.

"I am Bludgeon. But it is no concern of yours. I'll just kill you and continue what i was doing."

Maria remembered the name being mentioned in one of the archives.

"Wait!" She yelled as he raised the sword.

"I know where your comrades are!" She yelled before he struck. He stopped, watching her with an amused expression.

"Sure you do."

She nodded fiercely, knowing she had his interest.

"I know which planets they were shipped to as part of their banishment! I can help you find them."

He removed his foot, but held the sword under her chin.

"It doesn't do me any good. I have a ship, but there's not a scrape of energon left on this wretched planet."

"I have energon enough for a galaxy wide search! If you have a ship..."

It was an unstable alliance. Maria had hoped the mech would eventually warm up to her company. But the mech was still as cold and hateful as the first time he twisted the sword in her shoulder.

The ship was steering toward the planet, where the first of his five comrades had been banished to.

The ship was a small jet with two quarters, a common room and the cockpit.

Maria and Bludgeon had a quarter each. Maria hoped she would be able to keep her quarters when the ship became crowded, but she wasn't sure what would happen.

The only thing she was sure of, was that Bludgeon would kill her as soon as she revealed the location of his last comrade.

The mech spent most of his time training in the common room. Maria had tried to interact with him, asking him about his combat skills, but it had only annoyed him.

The beating she had received when she asked him to train her had been so severe, she was almost sure he intented to kill her.

After that, she kept quiet, just watching him train.

She was exuberant when she found his databank with the history and details of his choice of martial arts. Metallikato.

She downloaded everything from the databank and used every oppertunity to read about it. When he trained, she studied him. When he was steering the ship, she read.

When she recharged, she used a number of processes to analyze his movements, trying to compare them to the information in the databank. She ran tests, trying to see if the book or Bludgeon would win in a battle.

She had imagined that the mech would calm after she had led him to his first comrade, but after Stranglehold joined the ship, Maria was rarely spoken to.

She didn't mind, as it gave her much more time to study Bludgeon and the Metallikato.

After visiting a number of planets, hunting down the remaining team, they were only missing Spinister and Snarler.

Spinister had supposedly been smuggled to Lithone, where the trail ended.

Bludgeon landed the shuttle and left the ship with the information Maria had given him. When he was safely out of sight, Maria recorded a message on the ships computer and found Needlenose in the common room. He wasn't nearly as inapproachable as the others, but Maria guessed that it was because he was more... naive... than the others.

"Needlenose."

The mech turned in his chair and looked at her without saying anything.

"I need an oil change! Can you open the door so I can find Bludgeon and get him to escort me?"

He chuckled.

"Do you think i'm stupid? You're just going to run off."

"No, there is still one more of your team left. I promised Bludgeon I would tell him where your last comrade is, and I stick by my word."

Needlenose stood up and sized her up.

"Alright... I'll take you to get an oil change."

Maria smiled, moving her arms a bit.

"Great, I was beginning to feel a bit sluggish."

The lithone was more than happy to bid both of them into his shop. Maria watched Needlenose parade around, acting like he owned the place. One of the servants led her into private quarters and closed the door.

"Oil change?" The femme asked. Maria shook her head.

"Try an escape. I need to ditch that mech, and I need to ditch him fast."

The femme looked surprised.

"Well, you can use the window..."

Maria opened the window and turned to the femme.

"Wait in here for a while, then walk out, pretend i'm still here. When you come back in, act like I just left."

The femme nodded again.

"Are there any harbors nearby? any place I can hitch a ride off the planet?" Maria asked, sticking one foot out of the window.

"There's the shipping colony in sector X3."

"Thank you."

Maria swung the other foot out and jumped.

Bludgeon was furious when he got back to the ship. Needlenose had sought him out after he had tried finding the femme. Bludgeon yelled at the computer.

"Find the femme!"

The computer flickered and spoke.

"You have a message."

Bludgeon stopped,looking at the screen.

"What? Play it!"

An video message started playing.

"Hello Bludgeon. I guess you haven't been able to find me since you got the message to play. You can find your last comrade on Zel Samine, but I'd be cautious, since the electromagnetic field on the planet could cause you to crash. If I were you, I'd gear up for it."

She paused for a moment.

"I've held up my end of the bargain, Bludgeon. I told you where you can find your comrades. Now you can chose wether you want to chase after me, or find your last comrade. Doing both, is illogical. It would be a waste of energy. I hope you fare well."

Bludgeon stood still, watching the screen go blank. Needlenose watched his leader clenching and unclenching his fists.

Suddenly Bludgeon laughed.

Needlenose waited until Bludgeon stopped.

"Shall we pursue?" He asked gingerly.

Bludgeon turned and looked at him.

"No...Let her run."