1) Behold! The next chapter!

2) I didn't do a lot of editing on this one due to time constraints, so I may come back later and edit a bit more, so don't get too miffed if you see some screw-ups. I will fix them after work. :)

3) ...Sorry. Very sorry. Grab a tissue.

Chapter 10

9,080 words

"Okay, Novashine, I need you to stay still while I install this."

"I know, Patch. This isn't exactly the first visor you've installed on me," the ex-noble femme stated blandly as she stared straight ahead with offlined optics.

"Yeah, well, that didn't keep you from squirming when I installed the last one," was the reply.

"Well, if you didn't insist on stabbing my optics every time you switched these out, we wouldn't have that problem, would we?"

"Novashine, I can't tell whether I love you or hate you. Stop talking or I might have to offline your vocal processor."

"Patch, you don't even know how to offline a vocal processor."

"I didn't know how to change out a visor but—"

"I can tell," Novashine interrupted with a grin, giggling at Patch-up's flustered huff. It had been one of the first things Patch-up had done research on when she had arrived, optics that is. She had been unable to online her left optic at all whenever there was even the smallest amount of light without feeling as if her processor was about to catch fire. Patch-up had deduced that it had something to do with how her face had been smashed in, but he didn't quite know how to fix the problem. Hence, the medical research. From the research, it had been deduced that the optical relays to Novashine's processor had been crushed, making it impossible for her to online her optics without pain. It had only taken him a few cycles to make the first visor, which could do no more than block the light. The second one, though, could block the light and allow her to focus on specific things, which had been made difficult with her fuzzy vision in her left optic.

The third one, she noted as Patch-up finished the installation and allowed her to online it, was way better.

"It is a new design, meant for spies and saboteurs. You may dim and brighten light exposure as desired, you can activate night vision, locate spark signatures, and lastly, you can finally see perfectly out of that left optic."

It was true, she noted as she looked around. For the first time, her view of Fireflight on her lap was sharp and without blemish. She could easily see Airraid and Slingshot wrestling off to the side, and she could see Silverbolt reading to Skydive. She smiled happily at her five children. Her life felt whole again. The only thing that could make this better was for the rest of her injuries to be completely healed again. Her right arm was still immobile, and her left arm still sent twinges of phantom pain through improperly re-fused pain receptors. Her knee, though repaired, hadn't been realigned correctly, so she walked with a very slight limp. Not enough to truly hamper her movement, but enough to be annoying.

"Well, that's all. I have to reset Karma's arm," Patch-up stated as he ran a quick scan over the femme seated on the medical berth.

"Again?" Novashine asked with raised optic ridges as she slid off the berth and cradled Fireflight against her shoulder. Patch-up smiled fondly.

"Yeah. She got in a tussle with Lightknot. Hopefully, that'll teach her not to wrestle with a youngling that's bigger than her."

"Tears?"

"Nope. Bebop said she didn't leak. Apparently, she stood up and scolded the mechling that hurt her." Novashine laughed at that, not surprised in the least. Little Karma was a spitfire, to say the least, and every femme on staff found her completely adorable. "I can picture you acting the same way when you were a sparkling."

Novashine blinked up at Patch-up, startled by the statement and the strangely fond look he was sending her, then she grinned as she brushed it off. She did have a tendency to be snarky and playfully sarcastic to the people around her, though none of them took it personally. She couldn't help it, really. Raised as an upper caste femme, she had to know how to verbally take care of herself.

"Of course. Have you met the femmes in my caste? One has to know how to stand up for herself or else she'll get eaten alive." Patch-up laughed.

"I must admit that I spent no time in the Circle, but I'm sure you made all the little snobby femmes feel like idiots when you played with them on the playgrounds," Patch-up stated. Novashine rolled her optics at him as she moved to the door.

"C'mon, mechlings. Time to go," she called over her shoulder to the four mechlings that immediately jumped to their pedes and scurried after her.

"See ya, Novashine. Try to find a mech to mate while you're out!" Patch called after her. Novashine gasped loudly.

"VIRGIN AUDIOS!" she shouted back as she pressed Fireflight's helm to her chassis protectively.

"What does he mean by finding a mate, Danni?" Silverbolt asked innocently as he gazed up at the white and purple femme with wide blue optics. Novashine's white cheeks burned blue, and Patch-up's hysterical laughter could be heard from the medbay as the doors hissed shut behind them. Novashine rolled her optics good-naturedly and moved pointedly in the direction of the education room where fourteen younglings were likely waiting for her to teach them the basic glyphs of the Iaconian language.

It was a short trip, and she only had to take one detour to drop Silverbolt and Skydive off at their class. Slingshot and Airraid trotted after her as they moved to their class, the class she taught.

"Danni, when we can read, will we get to be a big bot, like you and Patch?" Airraid asked eagerly with a wide, excited smile. Novashine smiled back down at him.

"You'll have to wait a few vorns before you can be like me and Patch," she responded gently. Airraid twisted his lips into a cute pout.

"I don' wanna be a sparkling anymore," he huffed.

"Me neither! Can we be big bots now?" Slingshot agreed, sending their danniluk a pleading look. Novashine gave a single, amused laugh.

"It doesn't quite work like that, my mechs. However, if you work very hard, you might just grow up a faster," she claimed with a loving smile. The two pre-youngling sparkings traded looks and then nodded determinedly at each other.

"We'll be the bestest growed-ups ever!" Slingshot claimed as they arrived at their classroom. Novashine gave them an indulgent smile.

"Of course, my sparks. Now, take your seats," she ordered gently as they moved into the classroom. It was a simple classroom, being as it was so new and funds were rather low at the moment. Sixteen small desks faced a single large desk that held a large datascreen. Novashine gently slid a dozing Fireflight into her sparkling hold as she walked to the front of the room. She did a quick helm-count of the pre-youngling-stage sparklings seated there as she felt her own sparkling scoot closer to her spark and curl up against her spark chamber wall. She had to fight back a shudder at the feel of one of his winglets brushing up against her chamber wall, but quickly moved her attention back to her class.

"Okay, young sparks, let's start this cycle's lesson off by reciting the glyphs we learned last solar cycle."

The sparklings sat up a little straighter as they focused their attention on their educator. Without too much hesitation, the small class started reciting the first five glyphs of the Iaconian language. The progress was slow and rather adorable, but the class made it through the glyphs with little trouble. She smiled at them.

"Very good, my sparklets!" she praised with a broad smile. "Now, let's—" Novashine broke off with a frown when she received the urgently marked internal comm that was broadcasted to every adult.

::Caretakers, we are initiating a sector-wide lockdown. Take your wards to your designated lockdown area. This is not a drill:: -Patch-up, Valvoluxan Youth Sector CMO

"Okay, mech and femlets! Since you did so well, we're gonna go on an adventure. Everybot line up by the door. No pushing. No talking," Novashine instructed with a smile, working hard to keep the sparklings from seeing her worry. Patch-up never spoke in that tone, and it was the first legitimate lockdown they had experienced. Her spark squeezed at the thought of the Youth Sector being attack, but she did not let it show in her face. Excited twitters escaped the little ones as they obeyed her commands. The klik they were lined up, Novashine started leading them out the door and down the hall at a swift pace. The young ones jogged to keep up with her as she led them toward the storage room at the end of the hall.

"Oh, no! We gotta hide in here, bots! The evil retrorat is coming this way! Hurry, hurry!" Novashine exclaimed as she opened the door. The sparklings twittered and cheered their excitement. They had played games quite often with their educator, but they had never had to hide from a retrorat before! What an adventure!

Novashine carefully counted helms as the sparklings scurried into the storage room and swiftly closed and locked the steel door behind herself as she followed the last one in.

"Okay, everybot to the very back," the femme ordered as she herded the little ones around the shelves that filled the room. Paints, medical supplies, and other miscellaneous items filled them shelves, and Novashine was careful to make sure none of them fell as she directed the sparklings to the farthest back corner. One-by-one, the little ones sat down and stared up at their educator, who had to force herself to sit down in front of them.

::Patch, what's the story here?:: -Novashine

::Praxus is under attack. Keep the sparklings safe. I will send updates:: -Patch-up, Valvoluxan Youth Sector CMO

Novashine sighed heavily as she looked down at the glowing multi-colored orbs that stared at her so intently. Airraid and Slingshot, able to feel the turbulence in her spark, crawled into her lap and cuddled up against her frame until she sent them little bursts of love.

/You are safe?/ She sent to Silverbolt over their bond. Silverbolt and Skydive, being the oldest, both knew how to use that bond to their advantage, something Airraid and Slingshot would be figuring out soon enough.

/Yes, Danni. Kickback is kinda fritzed, though…/ Silverbolt responded, no doubt giving his first joor educator a strange look. Kickback was not a mech that did well under pressure… /Skydive is right beside me. He's reading a datapad./

/Good. There is no need for him to worry, and it's good that Streetsafe is there to take care of you if Kickback glitches/

/Yeah. Well, I'll let you focus on your class/

/Good. Stay safe./

"Okay, mechs and femmes! Since we are on our adventure, I think it's important that you hear an adventure story."

Sunstreaker scowled at his younger twin as he moped in his seat in the rec room. The trip to Protihex had been useless. There had been no signs of Nova ever being there, and none of the mechs even recognized the designation. That wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was that none of the other Autobots seemed to care. Optimus was always sequestered in his office and had long since called off the Autobot search parties. Ratchet had taken up command of his medbay, and the only times the twins saw him now was when they returned from their missions all slagged up. He would repair them, then kick them out. No words of the missing femme were passed, and no plans to find Novashine were made. Traachon, to their immense surprise, wasn't even aware his creation was missing, as he had been under the impression that she had been moved with all the other upper crust femmes and younglings, and he refused to believe that she was not in a safe area. And the rest of the Autobots? Well, they couldn't focus their processors on one little femme that disappeared when they had their own problems, could they? It was like Novashine was fading away, and there was nothing the twins could do about it.

"Sides… I think we need to move on…" Sunny said suddenly.

"No." That was all. Sideswipe didn't expound on that; he only let his stress and pain flow through their special bond. Sideswipe couldn't fight the feeling of failure that seeped through his systems, either. She was his ward, his first real job out of the gladiator circuit, and he had lost her. He couldn't decide what was worse, either: the fact that she was dead, and her body was lying on the streets of Iacon somewhere, destroyed and damaged beyond recognition; or the fact that she was alive and either suffering at the hands of the Decepticons and Megatron or alone and hurt somewhere without memories or guardians of any type.

"She can take care of herself, Sides," Sunstreaker said softly, though the fear sifting through his spark and their bond betrayed his true emotions. "She did pretty good in the Forge, right?"

"Yeah, with you, me, or Megatron standing over her shoulder every second. Frag, the one time we left her alone, Ironhide kidnapped her!" Sideswipe argued lowly, not wanting to gather the attention of any of the other mechs in the rec room.

"Well, worrying will get you nowhere! She will show up, or we will find her once this all blows over," Sunstreaker promised, a dark glint in his icy blue optics.

"But what if—"

::Autobot Alpha-1 Team, prepare for battle. Praxus has been attacked:: -Prowl, Autobot Second in Command, Tactician

Sideswipe sighed as he rose to his pedes along with half the rec room. "Guess that means us," he said wearily. Sunstreaker scowled at him as he followed him out the door.

"Let's kill these fraggers and get it over with. We still have to report to Prime."

"Yippee."

From the first moment they saw the huge army on the horizon, the citizens panicked. Bots attempted to flee the streets as seekers rained down missiles and plasma on any bot that was exposed. Megatron could only watch with satisfaction as his plans came to fruition right before his optics. The cowardly Praxians scrambled into buildings, only to have the structures collapse on top of them. Bots screamed in pain, horror, and fear as the ground-bound Decepticons rushed through the streets, carrying out Megatron's specific orders: leave none alive and destroy everything in sight. It was an order that his troops obeyed with malicious glee.

::I have found the bot that will survive, Lord Megatron:: -Ramjet

::Very good. Ensure he is injured but not killed. We need to make sure the Autobots find him alive:: -Lord Megatron, Leader of the Decepticons

::Sure thing, boss:: -Ramjet

Megatron scowled at the loose reply, momentarily cursing Starscream's seekers. He was uncertain if the pathetic scrapheaps spoke to their Royal Command Trine Leader in that fashion, but he would not have them talking to him as if he was some sort of commoner. Megatron frowned at that thought. 'Commoner?' He was a commoner. He was fighting for the commoners. He shook his helm with a puzzled look as he pushed the thought from his mind and focused again on the task at hand.

"You have done well. The Autobots will hesitate in raising a hand against your mighty army."

"Master, I bid you welcome at my greatest success," Megatron stated as he landed atop a tall tower and gazed down at the pandemonium. Such sweet chaos! Such beautiful fear!

"Very successful, indeed. For your next move, I would suggest—"

"I was under the impression I would be calling the shots from now until your return, master," Megatron interrupted curtly, tired of his mentor butting in after every other battle. Megatron had successfully commanded his own raid, and despite his growing respect for his master and mentor, he was ready for the elder entity to back off a bit. He was not expecting the sharp pain that suddenly ripped through his helm. Megatron roared in agony as the splitting sensation shot through his processor, a punishment that he had not thought possible.

"I will give you command when I deem you prepared. You will not back-talk me as if I were useless," the voice stated calmly, as if inflicting pain was no bother to him. Megatron growled lowly, but nodded, unable to think through the agony, then just as quickly as it appeared, the pain fled.

"Primus," he breathed, phantom pains flitting through his processor. Somewhere, past the shock and slight awe at the physical show of his master's power, Megatron felt a small bit of resentment and hate grow at his mentor's actions. Irritation balled in his spark at the unprecedented actions. Had his master not been training him for this moment? Had he not been working toward the moment when Megatron would be ready to lead without assistance? His optics darkened with ire. First, it had been his caste to hold him back, and now, it was his own master, an entity that he had revived! He scowled as he ignited his thrusters and lifted into the air.

His thoughts dimmed as he observed his mechs' brutality, something that was easy to see through their handywork. Only a breem had passed, and already, half the city-state of Praxus was destroyed. Buildings lay in ruin, and bodies filled the streets. It was much like his attack on Iacon, the difference being that Praxus didn't have the lower levels, or the hiding spots that Iacon had. Praxus, led by mechs that thrived on tradition, never built downward, and she didn't expand her territory, either. Instead, Praxians built upward, adding levels and expansions to their magnificent buildings, buildings that now lay in ruins. Yes, he could easily say that he was successful in this venture, though that success wouldn't be complete until every building was nothing but rubble. He was certain the Autobots wouldn't make it in time to save what was left of the city, so instead of worrying about time, he flew loudly over the dying city, further frightening the survivors beneath.

"Pathetic insects," he growled with a cruel smile. How successful he had been in—

And it happened.

He nearly fell from the sky when his spark gave a powerful lurch, sending his systems in a fritz. His turbines stopped for two whole kliks before kicking back on. He drifted to the right a little before correcting himself, and he quickly flew to the top of one of the few remaining buildings before landing. His knees collapsed from underneath him, and he rested on his hand and knees as he held a single hand to his spark, as if he could control the painful tugging and longing shooting through it.

"Frag," he grunted when he felt the building beneath him shudder. Now was not the time for a spark attack! His spark gave another tug, and he realized that it was being specific, tugging to the east… in the direction of Upper Valvolux. But what was in Valvolux? He activated his thrusters and shot up into the sky before hovering far above the ground. He stared off in the direction that his spark was attempting to take him, frowning at the distant lights.

"Novashine…" Megatron breathed, his spark speeding up at the mere mention of her name. She was not with the Autobots, he realized with a start. He couldn't figure out why she was in Valvolux, but it did not matter. He had to see her, and it had to be now.

"Not yet, my apprentice," his master ordered in his ragged "voice." Megatron scowled at the order.

"I will visit my femme when I wish!" he snapped at the internal voice.

"She will be in a Youth Sector, Megatron. She will be surrounded by femmes and sparklings."

"I care not. They cannot keep her from me," Megatron responded, furious that his master would even consider those two factors into their metaphorical equation.

"Yes, but why not eliminate two problems with one action?"

"… Explain."

"That Youth Sector is filled with weak Cybertronians, but each of those Cybertronians will grow to be strong. The femmes in there will learn to use weapons and will teach their young to side with the Autobots. Why not destroy the next generations of Autobot warriors in one strike? Not only will it further the Decepticon cause, but it will destroy what little morale the Autobots have left."

"You mean to kill younglings?" Megatron asked, feeling as if a huge line was being crossed in this. "I cannot do that. I will not do that," he stated as he stared down at the destruction below him. Yes, he knew that there were young in the city, but to deliberately attack a building of defenseless—

"Have you not already started that? Have you so deluded yourself that you believe these Praxians and the Iaconians you attacked earlier were battle capable? Come now, my apprentice, see reason. This is all for your femme. What if she is being formatted to believe those Autobot's false teachings? Should you not force the Autobots to release her to you?"

Megatron blinked, frowning at his mentor's twisted logic. "She would not approve of such actions, master. I don't want her to think less of me when she hears I attacked defenseless femmes and sparklings," Megatron said lowly.

"And you would rather her be formatted by the Autobots? You would rather her stay in their grasp, being fed propaganda and lies? Come now, Megatron, use that logic core you were created with."

"Master, I cannot—"

"You will!" Megatron frowned when the world around him suddenly seemed to get fuzzy. The tugging on his spark lessened as his connection with the outside world seemed to dim. He could vaguely hear himself shouting out orders, but…

His processor lagged a bit as it worked to come up with a logical solution to his problem. Oh. Mentor was fixing his processor again. He must have had some sort of glitch that prevented him from acting. Master had done this for him twice before: once when he was injured while fighting the Ejoorians and again when he was preparing to strike Iacon. Such a repair was not needed before the attack on Praxus, but it was apparently needed before this next assault… which was on… where was the attack…?

Megatron smirked as his senses sharpened up again, and he watched with no little amount of pride as his soldiers tore through the streets of Praxus toward Valvolux, where he knew his femme and future queen of Cybertron was waiting for him. He did not know if there were any Autobots there to keep her from him, but that did not matter. What mattered was making sure she found her way back into his arms where she belonged.

With determination and a sick form of excitement, Megatron glided forward after his army, excited again to watch the unfolding events before him. He would finally be claiming what belonged to him, and the timing seemed perfect. It was just another sign that his mentor had been right. He really was destined to win this war.

Lockdown at the Youth Sectors, while seeming impossibly long to the younger bots, actually didn't last longer than a few breems. The explosions in the distance died down and silence filled the air. Upper Valvolux as a whole gave a vent of a relief as the attacks in Praxus died away, and life started back up as normal. Educators lined their classes back up and led them back to their respective classrooms before continuing their lessons as if nothing had ever happened. It was by some sort of unspoken agreement that not a single adult sent out a comm questioning the attack. In truth, nobot really wanted to know. Praxus was frighteningly close to Upper Valvolux, and that single fact kept vocalizers off about the attack and adult frames tensed. It was as if the eldest femmes and mechs knew the Decepticons would attack.

"Elder Nova?" a small mechling in her class called out timidly when she sat the class down to write out their glyphs. Novashine paused in her walk to her desk and turned to face the sparkling.

"Yes, Timeshare?" she responded. The red and black servant caste sparkling squirmed in his seat before asking his question.

"Are the bad mechs gonna come here?" he asked quietly. Novashine frowned before shaking her helm.

"No, Time, and you wanna know why?" she questioned as she moved to stand in front of his desk. The mechling looked up at her with wide purple optics and nodded. "Because the Autobots will always protect us." Timeshare took that information in before nodding with a wide grin. He chirped his thanks to her before turning to his work. Novashine smiled down at him and was about to address the class when a loud ringing sound filled the halls.

"Time for fuel, younglings. We will pick this back up once we have finished with our energon," Novashine stated as the little mechs and femmes jumped to their pedes and crowded the partitioned door. It wasn't long before adults started appearing and picking up their wards. It was a timely practice in the Youth Sectors to pick up your appointed sparklings from class due to the strict schedule the Sector ran on. Duodot was the last to appear, as per usual, and she smiled at Novashine as she picked up her little femling ward, Carespark.

"Good joor, Novashine," she greeted with a grin.

"Hey, 'Dot. Been an interesting cycle, huh?" the white and purple femme asked with a matching grin as they left the room. Airraid and Slingshot dashed out of the room after them, weaving around their legs expertly as they played out a huge fight against an invisible entity. Novashine, accustomed to the little ones running through and around her legs during her strides, didn't slow down, but Duodot took more care when she walked, worried that she would step on or accidentally kick one of the two mechlings when they made a pass between her knees.

"Certainly has. Patch-up was rather concerned by the distant fighting, to be honest," the blue femme stated with a nod. "I like the new visor," she added with a sly grin. Novashine recognized the change of subject but ignored it. Duodot, having survived a raid on a smaller town, despised talking about the war, so Novashine decided to allow the subject change.

"Yeah. Patch installed in a few joors ago," she responded with a grin.

"It makes her look like a super-spy!" Airraid exclaimed as he dashed down the hall, his brother close behind him.

"Don't go too far, mechlings!" Novashine called out to the running mechs. Carespark wriggled in Duodot's arms, and a klik after the grinning femme set her down, the pink and white femling shot off after her two classmates.

"So… I heard Kickstart has a thing for you…" Duodot prompted, obviously wanting a first-hand story to spread around. Novashine only grinned.

"He's such a creeper, and I feel so bad for him because he tries so hard, but nothing's ever going to happen," the elite femme said with a rueful look. Duodot grinned back at her.

"Is it true he asked you out for high grade?" she asked, leaning toward her friend conspiratorially. Novashine giggled lightly as she nodded, a wide grin on her face as she did. This was what she liked about Duodot: she would dig for gossip, but unlike the elitist femmes, she made it fun for the other party, did not spread the gossip without provocation, and knew when to stop. It was amazing to actually have a friend like that without having to worry about every spoken word being used against her.

Novashine's line of thought was broken by the feel of a certain sparkling stretching in her hold. Little hands pressed lightly against the floor of the chamber and wing tips brushed the walls as Fireflight stretched his cables to increase the flow of energon that had slowed during his recharge. Nova smiled as she felt Fireflight tap the latched door of the sparkling chamber.

"Oh, I know that look! Somebot's getting restless," Duodot chirped with a grin. Novashine rolled her optics as she opened her chest plates and allowed the latch that held the hold door shut to flick back. The door slid back, and Fireflight expertly rolled into her waiting hand. He whistled in excitement as he gazed up at his danniluk, who was in the process of closing her chest plating back up.

"Danni!" he squealed as he cuddled close to her chassis, smiling up at her with a creation's love as he did.

"Hello, my spark," Novashine greeted while sending a burst of love through their bond. Satisfied with his joorly greeting, Fireflight decided to move his attention to the passing walls, doors, and wall fixtures.

"He's so cute," Duodot stated with the smile every femme seemed to have around Fireflight, and the little mech only smiled up at her cutely.

"Such a little flirt," Novashine said with a teasing smile as she nuzzled her helm against the mechling's, gaining a delighted squeal when she did so.

"Danni fuel?" he asked in his squeaky voice. Novashine smiled.

"Yep. We're headed there now," she responded.

"Sooo… about Kickstart… Why doesn't he have a chance? Is it because of those other mechs?" Duodot questioned with a small frown. Nova's smile faded, and her optic ridges furrowed behind her visor as her lips pressed into a firm line.

"I… I don't know. Something inside me rebels at the very idea of mating with another mech. I'm not sure if it's because of the twins or Ratchet. I know I have memories of Sideswipe flirting, and I can remember Sunstreaker kissing me, but I also know that I was genuinely interested in Ratchet and that we were to be betrothed… Then, I always worry… I'm so scared that I was leading on all these mechs and didn't know it. I'm always so frustrated because I can't remember so much. So many memory files were corrupted or deleted, and my processor is always working to correct the damage, but…"

Novashine trailed off with a sigh, feeling once again as if she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. She was missing so much, and the memories always felt like they were cut off, like she wasn't getting any of the facts. What if she met Ratchet and found out that they had actually broken it off? What if she didn't have the memory of some big fight, and he hated her, but she couldn't remember why? What if she was actually about to bond with the twins, but she forgot why she loved them? The questions were never ending, and she hated that.

"Danni love," Fireflight crooned as he nuzzled her chest plating, effectively pulling her from her thoughts. She cuddled the mechling close and glanced over at her friend to see that she was giving her a look of pity and sadness.

"You can't fix things like that without a programming medic…" she said, finishing the sentence Novashine had been unable to. The white femme nodded sadly.

"Yes… and I am still waiting for a medic to come fix all my other injuries," she noted sadly. Unable to stand the sight of her friend's pain, Duodot pulled Novashine to a stop and put both hands on her shoulders as she stared into her visor.

"Everything will be okay. I promise. Everything will be fine," she claimed. Novashine nodded as they turned and continued down the hall, three sparklings chasing each other around them. They turned down the next hallway and stopped in front of the youngling's classroom.

Though Skydive was younger than Silverbolt, he still worked in the same class, having the intelligence to keep up with the older younglings. As it was, the mechlings' educator had already told Novashine that Skydive would be ready to move on to the next course way before the other mechs were, something that pleased the femme to no end. He was on his way to becoming a very smart mech indeed. She was happy the purple-opticed mechlings would have a chance to advance in the world thanks to their new status as the creations of a political caste femme. Eventually, their optics would be changed from servant caste purple to elitist blue, something that Novashine wasn't completely looking forward to.

"Ah, Nova! We were waiting for you!" Lightshot, her eldest younglings' second joor educator said cheerfully as he moved to the open door. "They were very good this last cycle. Silverbolt helped along in the drill very nicely. You have yourself two fine mechs here," he announced with a proud smile. Skydive smiled up at them while Silverbolt scuffed his foot awkwardly on the ground as his cheek plating turned a light blue. He never did take compliments well, always turning bashful when given kind words like that.

"That they are," Novashine agreed. She smiled down at said mechlings. "Ready to refuel?"

"Yup!" Airraid chirped as the three sparklings up to them, though the question had not been directed at him. Novashine snorted and smiled down at him.

"Well, let's—"

The loud sound of a klaxon penetrated the air and cut off the femme before she could finish. The three adults froze as panic rushed through their systems. The klaxon was a sound they had never thought to hear. It meant that there were hostile forces approaching… It meant they were about to be attacked. The younger bots, not understanding, let out loud cries and covered up their audio receptors, scared and surprised by the loud bellow of the klaxon. That snapped the adults out of their panic. Protective programming and caretaker subroutes and protocols onlined, and Novashine acted quick and on instinct. She swiftly opened her chest plating, not caring if Lightshot saw anything, and swiftly deposited Fireflight inside her sparkling hold, then she reached down and scooped up Slingshot, who was the second smallest. She held him to her hold and waited as he crawled in before closing the sound-proof chamber door and latching it shut. She could feel the two youngest as they situated themselves in her hold, having to cuddle up and scrunch together to fit comfortably. With her working arm, Nova scooped up Airraid and clutched him to her chassis just as the comm from Patch-up came through.

::All Youth Sector Caregivers! We are under attack by Decepticons! Every femme and mech, take your ward to your appointed safe point! All sparkling caregivers move underground! This is not a drill!:: - Patch-up, Valvoluxan Youth Sector CMO

That was the only warning Novashine needed. "Let's go!" she ordered as she locked optics with her two eldest creations. With that order given, the three of them dashed down the hall, not watching as Duodot, her ward, and Lightshot ran the other way. It had been something they had hoped would never happen. It had been a strict belief that if anything, the opposing factions would see fit to leave the innocent out of their fights. It was a belief and a hope, yet they still created a backup plan just in case that hope was destroyed. Novashine knew exactly where their hiding spot was, and she knew that it would be easy to get there one they got past the commons room, but that room was three floors down, and luck was apparently not in her favor.

The first explosion seemed to rock the whole building, and Novashine felt a sharp sting in her half-healed leg as she stumbled back and forth as the building shuddered around her. The building gave one last shudder before stilling, and dread filled her spark when the muted sounds of battle cries filled the air. Novashine slowly turned to the window and looked outside, only to see a horrifying sight.

There were Decepticons everywhere. She could see some stampeding over in the direction of the small town and mine, but most focused on entering the Youth Sector through their newly created hole where the door used to be. Flyers landed on the roof, and Novashine knew they would be entering from up there as well.

"We'll be safest in a middle room!" she told her two eldest. "We need to get to the supply room on the eighth floor. There'll be a bolt on that door!"

"A bolt won't do anything against a plasma cannon, Danni!" Skydive argued.

"It's the best we've got!" she shot back. Skydive nodded in agreement, and the three dashed off back the way they came.

::Status report!:: -Patch-up, Valvoluxan Youth Sector CMO

::No response from Terrabit. No response from Likewise. No response—::

—Signal has been lost—

::Patch, it's a madhouse here! Get all caregivers to the upper floors! Anybot lower is gonna get killed!:: -Pin-up

::Negative! Upper floors compromised! Decepticons entering through ceiling! Meet in center—::

—Connection blocked—

Novashine felt her spark speeding up in her fear as she heard the muted screams from the floors above and below her. Any bot she passed changed direction to follow her, and she felt terror leak through her at the thought of her being wrong and accidentally leading these trusting bots to their deaths.

"Nova! Where are we going?!" Lilt, a green femme caretaker, yelled over the sound of gunfire and the klaxon.

"We're—" Novashine was cut off by another explosion that shook the building. Novashine stumbled with the movement but did not stop, terrified that slowing down would allow the mechs that were only a floor below them to catch up. Instead, she rushed forward to the ornate staircase that led up to the seventh floor.

"Nova, where are we going?" Lilt repeated as they thundered up the steps.

"Supply room!" Nova responded as she ran.

"Wh—" Lilt broke off when they heard screams from the floor they had just left. Novashine ignored the pain in her leg and the fear thrumming through her spark as she sped up. They reached the next floor, and Novashine rushed down the hall, checking back every few kliks to make sure her small crowd was still following her. The sounds of screams ahead of them caused her to freeze in her steps, and she turned to her followers.

"Pick a room! Hide to the best of your abilities! Don't make a sound, don't move a cable! I expect to see every one of you when this is over!" Novashine stated over the din. The crowd scattered, everybot rushing into the rooms that were on the hallway they occupied. Novashine moved to the door on her direct left.

"'Bolt, hold 'Raid," she ordered as she handed the shaking sparkling over to her eldest creation. She immediately knelt down and got to hacking the door with her only working hand. It took a few tries, being as she hadn't done it since sneaking out of her room to go on her second trip to Kaon, but the door soon opened, and Novashine ushered the two younglings inside. She stepped inside herself and allowed the door to close and lock behind her. She glanced around, allowing her new visor to activate her night vision for the first time. They were in somebot's private quarters, not that she cared. She brushed against the two mechlings, allowing them to follow her sightlessly as she herded them into the washracks.

"Against the back wall, you two," she ordered as she followed them. Silverbolt sat down first, and Skydive sat down beside him, cuddling into his side to receive a sense of security. Novashine crouched down in front of them, pulling a Cybertonium blade from her subspace and allowing her transformation cog to weld it to her wrist as she did. She could remember the cycle Sideswipe gave it to her and—

"Nova, sweetspark, there's gonna come a day when Ratchet takes you out on a date, and you're gonna have to protect his sorry aft from getting mugged. Take the blades. Please."

She was not going to let them go to waste. She tugged a little on the sling that held her right arm to her body to make sure it would stay tight during a fight, and she sat back in wait. As were the doors to every berthroom, the door to these private quarters were sound-proof, so she wouldn't know about an attacker until he was already entering the room. She couldn't help but be a little thankful for the soundproof doors, though. They kept the screams and gunshots at bay. At the moment, there was only blessed silence that was broken slightly by the sounds of the three younglings shivering.

Then the door slid open. They could hear the sounds of screams and yells of pain and terror past the door until it shut behind the intruder. The sound of heavy pedes filled the room, along with the whine of a plasma cannon. They could hear the intruders deep vents, and Nova could tell that he was likely looking around the berthroom for any hiding bots. The washracks would be his next place to search. She would kill him before he laid optics on her mechlings. Battle subroutes activated, something that an elitist femme normally never used unless she was assaulted on the street or in a back alley. She felt the walls of her hold puff up so that the little mechs hidden there would not be too jostled. The mech stepped into the dark washracks, and Novashine attacked.

There was many things Novashine could claim about herself, but being graceful in battle was not one of them. Her right knee constantly attempted to give out on her, and she was in no way trained for battle. Sure, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker had given her some teasing lessons, and she had watched them spar countless times, but that did not make one a fighter. She was going for the element of surprise, and she did get one stab in, but after that one hit landed, the mech had her single hand in his, and he held her up against the wall off the ground by her hand.

"No!" she snapped as she squirmed, not wanting to give up on her mechlings yet. She couldn't let this monster kill them. She couldn't!

"Nova?" came the voice of the mech. Novashine froze, looking up at the mech in confusion. He released her hand, allowing her to land heavily on her feet. Unfortunately, her knee decided to just give up on life at that point, and the joint collapsed on itself. She gave a scream of agony as she crumpled to the ground. "Frag!" the mech cursed as he moved away from her.

"Danni!" Silverbolt and Skydive exclaimed at the same time.

"Danni?" the attacking mech repeated incredulously from a distance. The lights suddenly flicked on in the washracks, and Novashine stared up into the faceplates of none other than Blackout.

"Black…?" she asked questioningly, obviously not understanding why he was there.

"Primus, Nova, they said Traachon moved his family unit to the Elite Sectors near Iacon," he said, as if those words explained why he was there. He moved toward her, only to be stopped by two little mechlings, who dashed in between them.

"No! You can't hurt her anymore!" the eldest said as he clutched a sparkling to his chest. Blackout frowned down at them as he put his plasma cannon back into his subspace.

"I will not harm her. On the contrary, I want to patch that knee up. Then we can get her to a medic," he replied. The two eldest mechlings frowned as they glanced at one another, not sure whether to believe him. Then they glanced back at their femme creator, who was shivering on the ground, pain controlling her motor relays.

"Okay… but if you hurt her, we'll beat you up," the eldest threatened. Blackout had to smile at that before stepping closer to the femme that had once been his ward.

"Nova? I need to shut down the pain receptors and motor relays to your leg. Do you trust me to do that?" Blackout asked as he knelt down beside her. She gave a scoffing laugh.

"Do I have a choice?" she asked as she pulled her blade back into her weapons subspace. Blackout frowned at that, but did not hesitate. He grimaced a bit as he shifted two of the plates on her right hip apart and started fiddling with the cables and wires there. He carefully disconnected three cables and two wires and smiled a bit when his ex-ward relaxed.

"Good. Now, let's get you to a medic," he crooned as he gently lifted her up bridal style.

"Why?" she asked. Blackout paused and looked down at her, confusion written on his face. "I'm not stupid. I know why you're here. Can you guarantee your leader will not kill me? Can you guarantee my mechlings' safety?"

"Yes," Blackout stated with confidence as he gazed down at her. "Megatron will listen to me. I am his most loyal mech."

"I did not attack you to die at the hands of your leader," she warned. Blackout grinned.

"You will be fine. Come, you two," Blackout ordered.

"Airraid," Novashine prompted, reaching her hand out to Silverbolt, who moved the shaking sparkling onto her chest plating. Novashine cooed gently to her sparkling, who gave a wordless wail and tackled her chest, cuddling close to his perceived figure of safety.

"So… who's the lucky mech?" Blackout asked conversationally as he rose to his pedes.

"I am not having this conversation with a mech that just murdered half of my friends," Novashine stated. Blackout sighed, perfectly chastened as he walked out of the washracks, the two younglings moving close beside him. Novashine glanced down at the two mechs and frowned. "Blackout, stop and kneel," she ordered. He slowed to a stop and looked down at her in question. "I don't want them to see this," she stated softly. Blackout glanced down at the two mechlings who were staring up at them. He nodded curtly and knelt down. Silverbolt and Skydive scurried close, and Silverbolt helped Skydive crawl on his danni's stomach. He moved closer to Blackout so that he could lean up against the helicopter's chest plates while hiding his face in his mother's shoulder. Silverbolt carefully climbed on and froze when Blackout moved his arms so that he could not only cradle the femme closer to himself but also support her waist a bit more so that her middle didn't hold all the younglings' weight. Silverbolt waited until Blackout stilled before lying down across his femme creator's stomach and chest, his helm coming to rest beside Airraid's body.

"Offline your optics, my spark," Novashine whispered, and the three mechlings obeyed without question. Blackout moved to the door and walked through it once it had opened.

The hallway was silent. No more screams. No more cries for help. No more gunfire. The only sound came from floors below them, and that was the sound of jeering and laughing mechs. Novashine had to repress a shiver as Blackout moved toward the staircase that she had come up.

They were both silent as Blackout moved to the next floor. There were not many bodies on this floor, most of them being confined to the very end of the hallway. They must have been trying to get up the stairs but were shot down before they made it. Her spark squeezed in pain at the thought of her friends being killed in such a brutal, sparkless manner. What horrible creatures she was dealing with, and one of them had been her bodyguard at one time!

The next floor was far worse. Bodies of the innocent and faultless filled the halls. Mechs and femmes that had been trying to get their wards to their safe points, points that while deemed safe, would have stood no chance against the opposing firepower. Her spark froze when she caught sight of Kickstart, the mech that had been interested in courting her, despite her lack of interest. He hadn't deserved to die. He had done nothing wrong. She could only imagine him running down the hall with his little mech ward in his arms, trying to get the sparkling to safety, even if it meant he would die.

It was the same on every floor. Bodies littered the floor. Energon pooled thickly around those bodies and coated the walls and ceilings with gore. It was like Nova had stepped into a horror holo. These mechs and femmes had been innocent! They had not hurt anybot or threatened anybot! Still, these evil mechs had killed them, and she was about to be taken to their leader. Like a defenseless femme being brought to the alpha cyberwolf, Blackout carried her to the Decepticon leader. Her spark seemed to stumble over itself at that thought.

"I'm sorry for this," Blackout stated as they arrived on the second to last floor

"No, you're not. You're sorry I found out. You're sorry I can judge you for it," she responded flatly as she pointedly ignored the other Decepticons they passed. Blackout didn't respond, only growled at any Decepticon that decided to move closer to get a better look. The bottom floor was by far the worst. Bodies filled the floor, but on top of that, Decepticons moved around, stepping on bodies and joking about the dead. She hated them for that.

"Hey! Blackout kept one!" a mech called out accusingly.

"She belongs to me," Blackout responded evenly.

"Really? I was under the impression you needed to ask a superior officer before taking a pet," a smooth, deep voice purred. Novashine's vents hitched when her spark gave a powerful lurch. That voice. That. Voice.

Blackout turned to face the speaker and knelt down before the taller mech. Novashine showed no respect; she only gawked at the gunmetal gray mech standing before them. His optics were crimson red, and every tip of his armor was sharp and jagged. His very being screamed, "Danger!" yet Novashine felt herself relaxing in his presence, her spark tugging playfully in his direction.

"Well, well, well. It appears you found my pet," the mech crooned as he stepped forward.

"You are my pet, my plaything. You are a femme sparked in luxury who just so happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"What have we here?" The mech's voice pulled her from her memory flux, and she looked up to realize that he was kneeling down in front of her. He scowled, then schooled his features into a smirk. "Sparklings? I was not aware you were so free with your favors." Novashine scowled, infuriated by his assumption for some reason.

"I am a surrogate creator, you fragger, not a common-mate," she spat. The mech's smirk grew.

"Such language!" he taunted.

"My, my. Such harsh language from such a petite femme."

"Yeah? Well, I learned from the best."

"I learned from the best," she mumbled. The large mech chuckled.

"Indeed, you did. I have become quite acquainted with Blackout's foul language. He has a tendency to curse when he is training new mechs," the mech said in a mock secretive voice.

"Yeah… I don't… who are you?" Novashine finally asked, unable to stand it anymore. His face was so familiar, his voice capable of bringing back memories. Why could she not place him? The mech froze at that question and stared at her visor.

"Lift your visor," he ordered, sounding agitated for some reason.

"But I can't—"

"Lift it, or I will remove it!" he snapped. Novashine scowled, but obeyed him. Light flooded her optics, and pain seared through her left one, forcing her to take it offline. Megatron only stared at her, as if searching her optics for a lie.

"You are telling the truth. You do not remember me…" he said, looking pained by that fact. Novashine shook her helm, ignoring the lurch her spark gave at his look of pain, and flicked the visor back over her optics so that she could see him properly. "My designation is Megatron, and from this moment on, you are mine." Novashine's optics widened at that statement, and her mouth opened and closed as she fought for words, but Megatron had already moved his attention back to Blackout. "You will carry her to the base in the Neutral Territories. Put her and the runts in my quarters. Lock her up, get her some energon, make sure she is not bothered. I will deal with her when I am finished speaking with the officers. Compute?"

"Yes, Lord Megatron. Your commands will be followed," Blackout said evenly.

"Good. The Autobots have arrived at Praxus and are headed this way. Decepticons, retreat to the Neutral Territories!" Megatron ordered loudly. Novashine could only watch as Megatron walked away, transformed, and shot off into the sky. Blackout gave her a weird look before shifting forward to stand up. The blades on his back lifted up and twisted up as he transformed his rotary motor up. A second later, the blades were whirling around swiftly, and they were rising up and forward. Novashine watched silently as the mechs on the ground transformed and either drove off or rose into the sky like Blackout. Her spark lurched in Megatron's direction, but she couldn't deny how it felt. Despite her circumstances, her spark thrummed normally, and her panic was fading, as if another source was taking it away from her. She glanced over Blackout's shoulder one last time at the Youth Sector she was leaving behind and wondered if she would ever be able to go back.

Then again, she didn't have anything to go back to. For now, she would have to focus on her future and escaping the Decepticons with both her and her creations safe and intact. Until then, she would hold on and wait.

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker would come for her. If nobot else would, they would.

Sunny and Sides would never let her down.

Lovely Rain Dancer: Yeah. :( But, as you can see in this chapter, it's not completely his fault. The Fallen's doing a number on his processor. :\ And I have fun writing the Aerialbots, old or young. :)

Agent Or4ng3: Eh heh. Well, as long as crazy!Megatron stays in the story and doesn't truly exist, I don't think that's completely a bad thing… Just as long as you don't follow in his footsteps ;)

And sorry. The twins weren't in this one as much as they will be the next one. Miscalculations on my part. ^^;

And you know, I didn't even notice that until you said something? Yeah, a lot of my OCs do have space names. Sunburst, Solarwind, Nova, Moon, Skyshock. Can't help it. They're just pretty names. :D

Sunstreaker's Squishy: Yep. Pretty much. You'll find next chapter that she tends to remember more the "teach me how to read so that I can better Cybertron and help the middle class" Megatron, and for a while she's gonna have trouble understanding that that Megatron is the same one who is taking over the planet.

Awww… *blush* Thank you. I do that with Ghost of the Dawn's stories and Karategal's stories. :) I never thought I would get to that point with my own stories, though. I like to reread Sparklingsitting, and I'm *planning* on rereading TaCO (It'll be rough because I can see all the plot holes very easily). I'm actually working on a bonus chapter to Sparklingsitting. It's just taking a lot of time to write, seeing as time is not something I have much of. :\ It will get there, though. :)

Angel897: Yeah. I think this one was worse, though. :( So much death.

HanamiKaze: I love suspense. So much. X3 It's so much fun to write. And you'll meet little Blue next chapter. :)

TheGhost129: Yup! Finally got an update out. Took forever to write ^^;

Golden Eagle 603: I love how excited everyone is for the appearance of the Aerials. People definitely took them a lot better than I thought they would :D

The meet-up with the twins will be glorious for more reasons than one, but at the moment, and for quite a bit of time, Nova's gonna be stuck with her slightly insane sparkmate. Fun, fun, fun. ^^;

Vampireyautja: Glad you liked them! :D I love writing sparklings, and I'm trying to learn how to write younglings, so I needed some bots that would be in those age ranges. Hence, the Aerialbots. :) They would be about that age right then.

Sweettea1: Lol. That was the goal. I kinda wanted to give y'all all a spark attack before bombarding you with fluff, so I gave you the cute little tickle attack. :3 So cute! XD

Yeah. I cried when Megatron killed him. Then again, though, I don't think Michael Bay appreciates anyone or anything that doesn't have boobs, quite frankly. He's such a creeper, as proven by the fact that his movies can only have obnoxiously beautiful girls in it (even the extras are model-worthy). The guys can all be ugly for all he cares. Did you hear that he's wanting to hire Megan Fox to be the leading female role in his new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie? *gross*

Yeah, I'm trying to make it logical, but the Fallen and Megatron aren't helping me here. Gotta start setting up for the ending, despite how far away it is. :)

Luna Uchiha666: Yeah. :( Prowl won't be happy next chapter. Neither will Blaster for that matter, or Jazz. Both of them had taken up residence there before the war, remember? After Helix got attacked? Sucks. :(

Opalwolf12: *snort* I know, right? *snicker*

Thebookfan09: Yeah. But hey, I get Spring Break soon. So maybe I can have some semblance of a life then. As it stands, I have to go to work in an hour, so… posting then getting ready :\

XD I do enjoy torturing my poor characters, don't I? It adds to the drama and angst, and you know how I love drama and angst. I live off it! You and I? We're birds of a feather, each enjoying tormenting some poor innocent Cybertronian. :)

And yes. Stay as my manager. Much more fun that way. ^^

XD You came into this with all that fluff? Lol. I bet you didn't feel any fluff by the end. :D Oh, the joys of being the writer. :)

Lol. I didn't notice that until you said something, but yes… in my chapter fics, I kinda do… Only in the chapter fics, though. The main characters always wait in my one-shots. XD Novashine loves them, though, and I love them. X3 Kawaii!

Uhhh… Don't really watch Star Wars, so I'll take your word for it ;)

Leonixon: Hmmm… You may have one. Choose wisely. *nod nod*

Chistarpax: Yeah. :( That's the really sad thing about Megatron: he would have been a very good advocate for destroying the caste system, a very influential advocate, had the Fallen not gotten to him. :( But as you can see, Megs doesn't have much of a choice in the matter. :\

Iceshadow911247: Lol! Yeah, definitely kept Chem alive, and I'm actually thinking of revisiting his character again, just because I love him so much. Sadly… Patch-up wasn't as lucky as him. :(

I love my Aerials. So sweet, especially 'Bolt and 'Flight. X3 *personal favorites*

XD Yeah, the twins are still… well, they doing their own thing. And Optimus doesn't really care at the moment. :\

And yes. Very bad things happen. :(

Cairistona: X3 I had sooo much fun writing the youngling/Nova part! Oh, those little ones just cooperated so well with my imagination. It was fabulous. :D I love how she worked so hard to get rid of those cuss words, but all that work was unraveled by Megatron. XD And yeah… Patch-up ain't the very best medic alive. ^^; The Valvoluxan Youth Sector probably couldn't found a better one.

Jazz is always so funny. XD The guy is just so fraggin charismatic! I'm tellin' ya, if he wanted to take Megatron's place, he could've taken over Cybertron without starting a single fight, and I bet he's the only bot that possibly could. *nod nod*

Yeah. Praxus is destroyed in the comics. Megatron destroyed it because it was a hub for Cybertronian tradition, and he saw that as a threat to his cause. He destroyed it as a show of Decepticon might, a sort of "bow to me while you still can" gesture to other city-states, and he kept a single Praxian alive to tell other bots about his might. That Praxian was Bluestreak, and he was kept alive by Ramjet. All canon. :D

And yeah. He's my Fliptop. ^-^

Hubero: Lol. Yeah, this was a bit of a crazy chapter. ^^; Next one will be even worse. I already have plans for y'all to meet most of the Autobots, and at the very least, y'all will meet Autobot command, so you'll be seeing Prowl, Ironhide, Jazz, Ratchet, Red Alert, and Optimus Prime next chapter. Plus the twins. Cuz nobody can write a chapter after an attack without the twins. :)

So many OCs. So many deaths. :(

Just in case your wondering, "common-mate" is pretty much Cybertronian for "whore." You know... cuz' she commonly mates... Yeah. "Common-mate" and "street femme." Didn't feel like having to hunt down a word, so... yeah.

And yes... every bot in the Sector aside from our heroine and her sparklings died. Patch-up included. Another depressing chapter coming up soon enough.