Bonus points to T'Reilani for correctly answering to of last chapter's trivia questions!
Disclaimer: Liraz had it…darn…she's still hiding in Nightbeat's spark…let's see…what was it? Something about…oh! I remember! I don't own any canon Transformers! And something about Riella not being mine either…oh, duh. She belongs to T'Reilani. Hm. Maybe my character's amnesia is wearing off on me…
Has anyone been wondering what kind of alt modes Colonials might have?
Chapter 9:
(Gebneral POV)
The Autobots in the room – Prowl, Ratchet, Nightbeat, and Ironhide – watched, terrified, as Riella's spark pulses grew slower and fainter. Two small orange forms were crumpled next to the unconscious femme, and a silver lioness was curled around them, also dead to the world. The watching Autobots could only wait. And hope.
Of course, Prowl was trying not to think about how completely illogical it was to depend on such small creatures to save his mate where even Ratchet was helpless. Then, the readout on Ratchet's equipment steadied, signaling the Riella's spark was no longer fading. In fact, it seemed to be getting stronger. Without knowing quite why, Nightbeat reached out and picked up Liraz's limp form. His spark instantly felt full to bursting, and his spark chamber seemed a little too small, like his spark had grown, but he wouldn't put her down. He wouldn't.
Prowl reached out and laid a hand on Riella's helm.
"The bond's open," he whispered. "She was blocking it before, but now she's not. She doesn't hurt anymore, Ratchet," he added, amazed. The other Herald – the one who had burst in with Ironhide, hovered up next to Riella, and then apparently passed out – stirred, but Liraz remained limp and seemingly lifeless in Nightbeat's hand. If it weren't for the barely-present beat of her heart, which he could feel faintly through her battlesuit, the detective would've panicked. If she stayed unconscious much longer, he might just panic anyway.
"Where is she?" mumbled the other Herald. Hope sat up, looking around for her cousin. Then she caught sight of the still form in Nightbeat's hands and let herself relax against the lioness' silver fur for a moment. "Oh, good. You've got her," she sighed. Her words seemed to convey more meaning than the Cybertronians could pick out.
"When do you think she'll wake up? Do you suppose she'll still be holding her when she does? And has this happened before?" the lioness rumbled. The mechs jumped; the last thing they had been expecting was a stream of questions from a lioness.
"For shame, Felis! Implying that my cousin's current situation might be her own fault!" Hope laughed. Privately, Hope wondered…had her cousin woken up beside or being held by the unknown blue and gold mech before?
"Excuse me…but how is any of this Liraz's fault?" Ironhide demanded. The Herald gave him a strange, knowing smile.
"I'm not saying this is her fault – not the situation as a whole, anyway," she assured him. "But that?" she nodded to where Nightbeat still cradled her cousin's body. "Oh, that might very much be her fault."
"We have a saying back on Heer-olde, is all. It usually applies to two Colonials, but sometimes we use it with Heralds, too – and it seems like it would fit Liraz and Goldy-and-Blue just fine," the lioness elaborated – though by no means did that explain anything to the poor, confused mechs.
"My name is Nightbeat," the detective growled. Hope and the lioness looked at him for a long moment.
"Detective. You're the one who hacked our court records earlier, using Sentinel's codes," the lioness observed. Nightbeat blinked.
"I'm really going to have to mention that to Skikous when we get home," hope added conversationally. "She really should have made those codes invalid a long time ago."
"How did you…" Nightbeat trailed off. Ratchet stared at both of the newcomers. Ironhide sighed and shook his head. Prowl decided to become absorbed in watching Riella.
"I ran a search on Skikous' Factionist database using the designation 'Nightbeat'. We like to keep up-to-date on the Factions, in case we have to kill someone who knows too much about our planet," the lioness told them. Hope smiled to herself, thinking that Liraz probably wouldn't allow any more shut-them-up-before-they-tell-someone-something-they-shouldn't missions. Not against theses particular bots, anyway.
"You…ran a search…" Ratchet trailed off. Nightbeat's face cleared. He nodded to the lioness, understanding now what she was. The lioness twitched the metallic fur on her shoulders.
"Yes, I ran a search. Isn't that what I said? You'd think a medic would have better audio receptors…can't you run a search, buckethead?" she added sharply, fixing the medic with astonishingly green eyes.
"Of course I can – but I'm Cybertronian," Ratchet pointed out.
"And I'm Colonial," she replied. "Is that supposed to matter?"
"Ratchet, she's not what you think…" Nightbeat tried to interrupt.
"Oh, let him dig himself deeper. This will be fun to watch," Hope giggled. Nightbeat sighed.
"Be quiet, both of you," Ratchet ordered. He turned back to the silver lioness. "While I'm very impressed with your ability to talk, I didn't think any lioness, no matter how advanced, would be able to…"
"Wait a nanoklik. You think I'm an advanced lioness? How stupid are you Factionists?" the feline sounded offended, but her orange technorganic companion was laughing.
"Um. Yes?" Ratchet answered. Hope stopped laughing and looked at her companion. She nodded. The lioness…transformed. Gears, armor, bipedal form, the whole nine yards. She stood head and shoulders shorter than the Cybertronian mechs. Her armor shone silver, and her optics blazed impossibly green.
"How about now?" she inquired, smirking at the thunderstruck expression on everyone's face – everyone but Nightbeat, anyway. He'd known Colonials took organic alternate forms.
"Um. No?" Ratchet answered faintly. Nightbeat shook his head.
"I tried to warn you," he said as Hope started laughing again. He might have said more, but right then, the overflowing feeling in his spark vanished, and Liraz stirred.
Sorry for the shortness of the chapter! The next one will probably bee a tad shorter than usual, too.
Okay, so what was everybody's reaction to Felis Prime? For an explanation of Colonial Primes, check out my story If Only My Future Didn't Look So Bleak. Did anyone figure out how Felis got her name? please review! Flames will be used to forge swords for more Heralds. Or maybe armor.
Anyway, just one trivia question this chapter!
Did anyone get my reference to a certain dead bot? If you've read If Only, you might recognize his name…Nightbeat also mentioned him a chapter or two ago…he betrayed both the Colonials and the Autobots – though him betraying the Autobots wasn't my idea. That was completely canon. Who is this bot?