I don't own anything but my OC's

Don't Chase the RABIT

MEMORY

A cannon emerges from the swamp, firing off a few rounds, knocking Ratchet down, and destroying his leg.

"RATCHET!"

STAR WARRIOR

"Pilot…out of alignment."

CONTROL ROOM
"Both out of alignment."

"Both of them?"

A machine beeps. "Both of them."

Herc sighs heavily. "Not again." He steps forward and grabs the mic. "Star, Star! You're out of alignment!"

STAR WARRIOR

Herc's voice comes over the comms. "You are both out of alignment."

Mako, now being the seasoned pilot, takes a deep breath. "I'm okay. Let me control it."

"Out of alignment. Code red."

Tendo takes over the mic. "Mako, you're stabilizing. But Sheyenne is way out. She's starting to chase the rabbit!"

Mako turns to me from her harness. "Don't get stuck in a memory. Stay with me. Stay in the now. Don't engage in a memory. Shey. Sheyenne! Listen to me." She sighs. This is no different than when she got trapped in the memory of losing her family to Onibaba. "Sheyenne?"

MEMORY

I look through the bushes to see a silver robot approaching. "Autobots. Decepticons. Like little children. Always fighting. Messing up the universe. And I have to fix it."

"Lockdown."

STAR WARRIOR

Mako sighs. "Sheyenne. This is just a memory. None of this is real."

MEMORY

"There is one way you survive; tell me where they're hiding. Where are Optimus Prime and the Star Healer?"

"Never."

Lockdown impales Ratchet through his chest and extracts his spark. "Never is here."

"No. Daddy!"

STAR WARRIOR

Sheyenne, listen to me. This is just a memory. None of it is real."

CONTROL ROOM

"Go to fail-safe!"

"Fail-safe not responding. There's a problem with the neural blocker!"

"Her connection's way too strong!"

"I thought you fixed that!"

MEMORY

"Autobots, I have sworn never to kill humans."

"Big mistake."

Optimus ignores Hound and continues. "…But when I find out who's behind this, he's going to die."

MEMORY

"They slaughtered Ratchet! I'M GONNA TEAR THEM APART!"

CONTROL ROOM

Herc crosses his arms. "Take them offline! Take them offline!"

MEMORY

"There are mysteries to the universe we were never meant to solve, but who we are and why we are here, are not among them. Those answers we carry inside. I am Optimus Prime, and this message is to my Creators. Leave planet Earth alone. Cause I'm coming for you."

"OPTIMUS! NOOOO!"

STAR WARRIOR

"Neural bridge exercise…invalid."

The harnesses release, and I fall to my knees. Mako kneels and lays a hand on my shoulder. "It's okay. It's okay."

"Drift sequence terminated. Would you like…to try again?"

BAYS
The jaeger teens run to me. "Are you okay, Shey?"

I sit beside Blades and sigh heavily, a couple tears roll down my cheeks. "I guess I'm still traumatized about Ratchet's death."

Mako turns to Blades from her place beside me. "Run. Get Ratchet. Tell him we went out of phase. Sheyenne needs him."

MEDICAL BAY

"RATCHET!"

"Blades?" He turns to the door. "What's wrong?"

"Mako said they went out of phase. Shey's a mess."

"Why didn't she reach out to me?"

Blades shrugs. "I don't know. They were in Star Warrior when it happened."

"Come on." Ratchet starts running for the bays.

BAYS

"Star?"

I open my eyes and see Ratchet's feet, then gasp and look up. "Ratch!" I have my arms wrapped around his leg before anyone can blink.

Ratchet reaches down and lifts me to his shoulder. "It's all right, Star. I'm never leaving you again."

"I'm gonna hold you to it, Ratch."

Herc walks over. "What the hell happened in there?"

I look down at him before hiding my face in Ratchet's plating. Ratchet looks at me and sighs before looking down to Herc. "Starlight—Sheyenne—has a hard time keeping her memories in check when she's not doing something. She can handle it when she's in the field. I've seen this several times before when we were still with NEST." He sighs. "I'm surprised it wasn't Wheeljack this time."

"How did you—"

I sigh. "The guardian bond, Mako. I forgot about it when I needed it, but Ratch can sense my thoughts through it. He knows when I have a nightmare too." I shake my head. "And he's right. For seven years it was Que—Wheeljack—dying in Chicago. Since his death, it's been the battle here in Hong Kong, and his death, and Optimus leaving." We all look up when we hear an alarm. The moment it starts, the jaeger teens transform into their jaeger forms and run to their stations. "Oh slag."

"What is it?"

"Let me down." After he sets me down I look up to him. "It's a kaiju attack. I have to go!"

Tendo runs over to Herc before addressing us—both the pilots and the now-jaeger teens. "Breach was exposed…at 1300 hours. We have one signature…Category 4. Code name: Inazuma. It'll reach Hong Kong within the hour."

Herc steps up. "Evacuate the city. Shut down the bridges. I want every single civilian in a refuge right now. Crimson Typhoon… Cherno Alpha… I want you to frontline the harbor. Stay on the miracle mile. Gipsy Danger… Striker Eureka… I want you to stay back, look after the coastline."

"What about Coyote and Star?"

Stacker steps over with Tamsin. "Coyote's grounded until we get his new reactor."

Herc crosses his arms. "You're grounded until you can handle your drift."

I cross my arms. "Which I can't do until I'm in the field." I sigh. "Looks like we're on backup, Mako."

BAYS

"Cherno chasing RABIT!"

I stand and cross my arms. "Herc, send us in. we're ready."

"There are three others—"

"Herc, Gipsy's panicking! Yancy and I can't pull her out of it!"

I smirk. "Two others."

"Crimson's hurt!"

Mako sighs. "They need help."

The lights go out suddenly as the Cybertronians in the room groan, and several fall to their knees. Raleigh's voice comes faintly to me. "EMP! Striker's deactivated!"

"No others."

Kade looks over from Heatwave's foot. "They're screwed."

I sigh before looking up, determination overpowering my fear. "All those other jaegers have been traumatized by one kaiju or another. Gipsy had Knifehead. Cherno had Otachi. Crimson had Leatherback. Striker had Scunner." I sigh. "But Star's new. She doesn't have anyone who's traumatized her." I smile. "Mako's got Onibaba, of course, but I've been scarred by Decepticons, not kaiju. After Devastator, who is bigger than any kaiju, no organic beast can scare me… Much. Kade's Humungado and Ravenous were kind of frightening at the time."

Herc turns to us. "Get ready."

"Already am." I turn to Mako. "Let's roll."

OCEAN

We cut the lines connecting us to the transport helicopters and walk to the kaiju. Double sets of tiny, hellish eyes peered from the beaked head, complete with a blue glowing mouth lined with jagged teeth underneath. Thin, but wiry arms, each ending in five-fingered hands tipped with cruel, curved talons like some bird of prey. Thickly muscled legs, ending in bird-like talons, churned the water with every step, and three tails, one ruffled, one barbed and one clubbed trailed behind it. Two rows of strangely elegant yet cruelly sharp spikes sprouted from its back, giving it the appearance of a monster from the old Godzilla movies—and Kade's Humungado.

I shake my head. 'Kade would love that thing.'

Mako nods. 'Sensei will get a picture."

'Anything with electricity is down, remember? EMP.' I sigh. 'I can use my Cybertronian abilities in this form too.' I pause for a moment and snap a picture of the freak. 'Ratch will download it onto a datapad and I'll print it off. Now let's take him down!'

Mako sighs. 'Remind me to kill Newt when we get back."

'Will do.' I smirk as each strike causes the kaiju to back up, then sigh at an idea. 'Wish we had a boat.'

Mako shrugs. 'We have a sword.'

'Deploy it.'

'Let's take him down!' We slice through Inazuma's thick skin to his heart and watch it fall. 'Splashdown!'

'I think it's dead…'

'We'd better make sure. Definitely don't need that thing coming back up.'

'And how do you suppose we'll do that?'

Mako smirks. "Activate plasma cannon."

We fire a couple shots. I smirk. "That thing's definitely dead now."

"Let's get back. I've got a picture to download, and I need to check on the jaeger teens and slap a scientist silly."

MEDICAL BAY

After changing out of my sensory suit and uniform, I head to the medical bay in my Cybertronian form. Thankfully, like the CME in Griffin Rock, the power's back on now, and everything's good. "Ratch? How are they?"

"Striker came around soon after they returned. He's back in Herc's suite resting. Crimson's got a few injuries, but he'll heal with a little time."

"And Gips? Cherno?"

"Cherno's with the Kaidonovsky's in their suite. Gipsy's in Mako and Raleigh's suite. They're okay physically, but they're still shaken."

"Cherno got caught in a memory, and I think Gips got to thinking about Knifehead taking Yancy. They both just chased the RABIT—like I did earlier." I sigh softly before turning toward the door. "I need to go slap a scientist silly."

"Why?"

"It was Newt's dream kaiju. I need to slap him silly." I sigh. "Oh, and I need you to help me download an image from my CPU for Kade. I took a picture of it for him."

I sit on the medical berth and let Ratchet locate and remove the image before putting it on a human tablet. "Thanks, Ratch." I sigh as I stand and shift back to my normal form before slipping the tablet into the pocket I keep my own in. "I definitely need to slap a scientist silly now."

SCIENCE LAB

I storm into the lab. "Hi, Doctor Gotlieb. Hey, Doc Greene." I scowl before stomping over to Newt and slapping him upside the head. "That's for wishing up a three-tailed Godzilla!" I slap him again. "And that's for what I'm gonna get from Kade for not taking him."

"A what?"

I show Doc Greene the picture I took. "A three-tailed Godzilla. Kade's gonna freak when he sees that!"

"I can imagine."

I sigh. "I need to take this to Kade. Don't be surprised if I come to slap you again after he sees it."

SUITES

I knock on the Burns' door. "Hey, Charlie. Where's Kade?"

"Inside. Come in."

I walk over to Kade. "I got something for you on the mission."

"What is it?"

I glare at him. "Oh, chill." I hold out the tablet.

"A tablet?"

"It's on the tablet, Idiot. Tech wouldn't work, so I had to use something like what Heatwave did when Woodrow had the pictures of energon. Ratchet had to get it out of my CPU and put it on there."

He turns it on before gasping. "That's what you faced?"

"Yep." I smirk. "He's dead in the water now." I sigh. "And Newt got slapped twice for dreaming it up in the first place."

Charlie turns to me. "What about the other jaegers?"

I sigh. "Striker's up and around, but resting in the Hansen's suite. Cherno's calmed down, but hasn't left the Kaidonovsky's suite since he got back. Gipsy's calmed down, and was more than likely chasing the RABIT too, because she is afraid of losing Yancy again, but she's in Mako and Raleigh's suite relaxing. Crim's got a few injuries, but Ratchet released him and he's resting with the Wei Tang triplets. Coyote's grounded, as Stacker said, until his new reactor is finished. Star's got some kaiju blood on her, so no one is allowed around her until the HASMAT team cleans her off."

Dani walks over to me. "How's Graham? He hasn't been out of your suite since the alarms went off."

"Haven't made it there yet. Wanted to give that to Kade before I forgot about it." I sigh. "Anyway, I'm going to get a tray and eat where I can watch over Star."

BAYS, THIRD STORY PLATFORM

"Mako? What are you—"
"I was staying with Star. She's the only one who can't shift forms."

"Yet." I sigh before sitting down beside her. "We did pretty good work out there, didn't we?"

She nods. "You did a lot better in the field, just like Ratchet said."

"My guardian would know best, Mako. He's watched me countless times in the field and off it. He's comforted me about losing Que, about failing Chicago—even the last two weeks, over his death and Optimus leaving."

We eat in silence for a minute.

Mako startles me when she finally speaks. "How could Graham be pregnant?"

I sigh heavily. "It was a Cybertronian test to see if a human could carry a Cybertronian. I was going to do it, but…" I sigh. "We didn't expect it to work, for obvious reasons, but it did, and we're not turning back now. Ratchet's used to this kind of thing, because their males are split between carriers and creators. Que was one…and he was, when he…was killed. It killed their hope, Mako. I'm hoping this will bring their hope back."

"You cannot get pregnant now. You have a nuclear jaeger you have to pilot."

I cross my arms. "Mako. Bumblebee had 14 rads when he found Sam. It leaked onto Sam. I said when we got here that Optimus would have some on him. He did, but he's clean now. Cybertronians can handle a little radiation. My armor—though not visible when I'm in this form—is still capable of shielding me completely from radiation—even inside Coyote Tango, with his damaged reactor." I sigh. "Ratchet told me I'd be safe no matter what I do—I could become a slaggin' superhero at eight months if I wanted to. Blades offered to take care of a child for me if anything happened to me. The only thing that's stopping me is that I have too much to do and I don't want to abandon my little one." I sigh before turning to her. "But keep in mind, that if this works, I'll be the first in line to carry a Cybertronian sparkling. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to rebuild their race—to save their kind. They fought for us—with us—and we tried to exterminate them as if they were kaiju. Now that the ones who tried are imprisoned, we can start trying to rebuild their race. Optimus and I have the blue inferno—it's a healing and reviving flame—contained in me, and in the Matrix of Leadership. I even used it on Raleigh's arm this morning with no problem. I am Optimus' right hand. He needs me to keep the peace when he's gone, and I do my best. I have a Praxian frame to remind me of what happened in Praxus, and when the Decepticons leveled the city and killed over thirteen hundred people in Chicago alone."

Mako sighs softly. "You have been through a lot."

I nod. "We all have. You, me, them… Raleigh… Gipsy…" I sigh softly. "But things are looking up now." I smile. "And I will step up as the next human to carry a Cybertronian. And I will pilot until I'm too far along to fit into my circuitry suit. Even then, I will continue working with the jaegers and in the medical bay until my due date. I am tougher than I look, Mako Mori, and I am a survivor."

"I can tell."