Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.

Miko: Ok, this is taking an extremely long time. How is Unicron hiding so well?

Raf: I don't know, but they will find him eventually.

Jack: Hey guys, Arcee dropped me off before going off to help.

Miko: So how are they doing Jack?

Jack: Still no trace of him or Authoress.

Ch. 11: They Came From The Stars

Nine and a Half Stellar Cycles Later

Location: Cybertron

It had been almost eighty stellar cycles since Pandimala had left and the twins had disappeared. It had been a giant blow to the Guardians. The loss of three members had not gone over well with the council. The Guardians had been told that if they did not bring up their member count within fifty stellar cycles, the council would terminate the Guardians and they would have to find other ways to serve the Autobot cause or leave. Hinge had flat out told them that if they did not keep their diplomatic noses out of Guardian business, that he would make sure that he brought down the council with them. Luckily for the council, Ultra Magnus stepped in and said that it would be unwise to get caught up in the affairs of the Guardians sine the council still had to worry about the Decepticons.

Ever since that day though, the three remaining Guardians were never the same. They all missed the Tana and the twins more than they realized that they would. It seemed like a part of each of their sparks had gone with the three bots. Hinge noticed that Blackbit was taking it the hardest though. He didn't know why but Hinge had a small suspicion that the reason involved Tana. The two would almost always train together and would try and get on all of the same missions.

But the stellar cycles slowly progressed on and the Guardians had actually tried to find another recruit but it seemed that this younger generation was all the same. They all expected to be accepted into somewhere because of rank or some other crazy thing. But Hinge couldn't totally blame them for thinking like that. The creators of today's young bots usually got through life by rank or family ties. Many prospective young bots were shocked and disappointed that they could not just buy their way into the Guardians. So, to this day, not a single member had been accepted to the Guardians.

Now Hinge, Chem, and Blackbit had been called to see the council and Sentinel Prime for some reason. From what he had heard, they were not the only ones who had to go. As he entered Fortress Maximus, he saw that he was correct.

"Hey Hinge, long time no see." Joint greeted.

"Why is your old team here?" Hinge asked.

"Don't know, Sentinel Prime contacted my team and Ness and informed us that we were to meet him now. I am worried about what he wants." Anvil informed him.

That confused Hinge even more. Why would Sentinel and the council want to meet with all of these bots at once? "He contacted the Guardians and informed us of the same thing, though he said that the council was going to be there." Hinge added.

"Guardians, Team Galaxy, and Ness; the council and Sentinel Prime will see you now." A bot said as he stood by the now open council room doors. The group of bots entered and stood before the council. Hinge could tell that this was not going to be a fun meeting.

"So, why did you call us down here?" Blackbit asked.

"Hold your glossa Blackbit until you are addressed by one of us." The councilman known as Drag Strip snapped. From what Blackbit had heard, he was the one who called Pandimala a traitor before she had to leave.

Sentinel looked down at the bots from the Magnus chair and said, "I have been looking over our finances while Ultra Magnus is away in deep space and I see that much of our funding is going to the different programs that you all run. Said programs are; the Guardians, assistant instructors, housing owners, and the Autobot welder. The council has looked over my proposal and has agreed that your programs are to be terminated immediately and that you join the troops out in the outer reaches of space to fight the remaining Decepticons."

"What! You can't do that! What about all the orphans that are still out there? Don't they deserve the chance at a good life?" Blockade yelled.

"I would watch how you talk to us Blockade. And yes, we can do that and we have, though not by a unanimous vote." Drag Strip stated again.

"Then I am not staying."

Everybot turned to look at the source of the voice, which was Ness.

"Care to explain yourself Ness?" Sentinel said.

"If you want to take away my profession because of a few credits, then I am not going to stay as an Autobot. I will leave this planet and never return. I will be a Neutral and be free to do as I please." Ness responded.

"Then that would be your own stupid choice. You would have no protection out there." Sentinel said with a scoff.

"Yes she would. I know that I speak for my team when I say that we would leave with her and stay with her so that she would have protection." Anvil stated with a glare directed at Sentinel while her team mates nodded.

"You all still have one problem; where are you going to get a ship? Because we will not give one to you since you are leaving." Sentinel retorted with a victorious smirk.

Hinge knew that they had to help he took a quick glance at Blackbit and Chem and saw them nod and he nodded too.

"Then we will leave with them." Hinge stated.

"And how does that help their ship predicament? Or I guess I should now say your ship predicament?" Drag strip asked with a sneer.

Chem stepped forward and stated, "It solves our 'ship predicament', as you put it, because us Guardians have built ourselves a ship of our own that is space worthy. And her name is 'The Pith'."

Everybot was shocked that Chem stated that. He was known as being one of the more quiet Guardians after the war. Also, his comeback seemed to silence the council and Sentinel. They had not thought that the group of bots would have an alternative for what the council had planned.

"If you want to go, we do not see the problem with it. I will be seeing you in about thirty solar cycles when you all run out of energon and come crawling back here and beg for more." Drag Strip shot back finally.

The group of bots ignored him and made their way out of the Fortress. Once they were a good distance away, Hinge turned to the bots and said, "Pack whatever you need and come to Guardian headquarters in a cycle. We will leave as soon as we are ready." All of the bots nodded and went to gather their personal belongings.

Eighteen cycles into their trip and so far the group of bots had not been able to find a suitable place to live.

"Is there someone out here who might be able to help us?" Joint asked.

"No, there isn't. I would have already…" Blackbit started to answer until he started to form an idea, a hopeful idea, but still an idea nevertheless. It was an idea.

Hinge and Chem must of thought of the same idea because they asked, "Do you think that they are still online?"

"They have to be. They are our only hope right now." Blackbit responded.

"Who are you talking about? Who has even the slightest chance of being out here?" Boombox questioned.

"Do you all remember what happened around eighty stellar cycles ago that affected us all?" Blackbit asked.

Dawning appeared on all the other bot's faceplates as Blackbit tried to call their hopeful saviors' ship.

Tana, Chaom, Pandimala, and Turboboost were in the Estia while the rest of their team mates were at their secondary location, which was a base at least three times as large as Fortress Maximus about five miles under the ground under the state of Kansas. Pandimala and the rest of the first Dragon Scouters helped install a teleport system in their base so traveling would be easier.

"Hey, these have been a great nine years." Chaom stated.

Pandimala nodded and said, "Definitely, and it is better because of four things."

"What three things?" Turboboost asked.

"First, because all of you 'Nights' decided to become Dragon Scouters. I would not know where our working relationship would have went if you all hadn't. Second, because we have not had to worry about the Autobots or Decepticons ever and that has made our lives much more peaceful. The third reason is because that lady that Zarron had met in Canada, Annie Galloway, left 'Ashland Val' everything that she owned that included a nice sized mansion that is conveniently directly above our secondary base."

All the bots present remembered the day seven stellar cycles ago that Zarron had gotten the call. Zarron had jumped when his comm. link had gone off and he realized that it was a human phone calling. He answered it and was surprised to hear a man's voice ask if he was Ashland Val. Zarron had said that he was and the man said that he was to come to the funeral of Annie Galloway and attend the will reading later on. He had gone with Beam and he was said that Annie was dead. He had found her to be one of the most prime samples of humanity.

After the funeral, he and Beam had gone to the room where the will was being read and sat down. When Henry Galloway and his son George entered the room and sat down, they had expressed their shock that Ashland was even there. The lawyer then started to read the will. Henry and George both got thirty thousand dollars each. Zarron was surprised when the lawyer stated that Annie had left Ashland everything else. Zarron thought at first that it was going to be simply a small house and a few things along with some cash, but he was surprised when the lawyer read off everything that was included and it was a very long list, that included the all taxes and expenses paid mansion. George had jumped up and said that the will was wrong. The lawyer shook his head and said that Annie had changed it when she had gotten back from her trip to Niagara Falls. George and his son stormed out of the room promising that Ashland Val and his two bit whore. Zarron tried to hold Beam back from hitting the man, but failed miserably and she landed a punch in the face that resulted in a broken nose. After that, the two Galloways made their escape and Zarron and Beam had returned to tell everybot the news.

"And the fourth reason?" Tana asked.

"The fourth reason is that I found my bondmate and I could not be any happier." Pandimala stated and she planted a light kiss on Chaom's mouth as she said that. The couples that had proposed on Christmas all those stellar cycles ago had bonded soon after.

Before either Tana or Turboboost could make a comment, an alarm on the Estia went off and Tana quickly checked it out. "We are getting a communication request from a ship called 'The Pith'. Should I allow it through?"

Pandimala nodded and said, "Yeah, not many bots know our hailing frequency and they could need our assistance."

Tana typed in the necessary command and stated, "Greetings to Pith from Dragon Scouter base one, the Estia. Are you Autobot, Decepticon, or Neutral?"

Instead of the normal answer, Tana heard a very familiar voice yell to some unknown bots in the background, "Told you all that they would still be online!"

"BLACKBIT!" Tana screeched in disbelief.

"Ouch, tone it down a bit Tana. Yes it is me. How ya been femme?" The bot identified as Blackbit answered.

"What is your reason for contacting us?" Chaom asked.

"Who was that?" Blackbit asked.

"One of the eight bots that we have met since our time here on this planet." Pandimala answered. "So, what is the reason you are contacting us?" Pandimala asked.

Another familiar voice took over and said, "Well, to make a long story short, the council and Sentinel Prime took away our jobs and so we stripped ourselves of the title of Autobot and have been trying to find a place to live. Blackbit then remembered you five bots and so we were wondering if you had a place for us to call home." Joint asked

"Yes, we have a place for you to stay. If you all want, you can even join the Dragon Scouters. We believe in most of what the Autobots preach but we actually act on it. Who all is with you?" Tana answered and then asked.

"Well there is me, Chem, Hinge, Rev, Breaker, Boombox, Anvil, Joint, Blockade, and Ness. Now can we have some coordinates to land at?"

Pandimala then took over the console from Tana and quickly typed in a set of coordinates, she then said, "Be careful when you enter Earth's atmosphere. It is a little tricky and is also what caused us to crash."

"Ok, thanks Pandimala." Blockade responded. He then asked, "So, how many bots have you all met since you arrived on Earth?"

"Well, we have met eight. Their names are Scale, Tune, Beam, Whirlwind, Switchblade, Turboboost, Stormfire, and Chaom." Tana responded.

"So, how is it like having the thirteen of you working together?" Hinge asked.

"Um, you have your math wrong. There are fifteen of us here on Earth." Pandimala corrected. How was Hinge getting thirteen instead of fifteen?"

"No, your math is wrong. You said that there were eight bots that you have met. Add that to the five of you that originally left Cybertron together and that makes thirteen, not fifteen." Hinge stated slowly.

Tana faceplate palmed herself. Now she knew why Hinge thought that there were only thirteen of them. "Hinge, you were misinformed. There were seven of us that left Cybertron that day, not five."

"Then who else went with…you have the twins, don't you?" Hinge asked in realization.

"Yeah, they snuck aboard and we didn't know that they were even on the ship until we arrived on Earth." Pandimala answered.

"Well, as much as we like to talk to you all, we are entering Earth's atmosphere and we are trying to land. See you in a few clicks." The communication then went silent.

Pandimala quickly contacted the rest of the Dragon Scouters and told them to meet her at the coordinates that she was providing.

"So, where are they landing?" Chaom asked.

"The field where we first met you all at the concert." Pandimala answered. The four bots then activated the teleport system and went to the landing coordinates.

Blackbit was excited. He was going to finally be able to see Tana after all of these stellar cycles of waiting. As the ship got through Earth's atmosphere, Blackbit looked out of the viewing window and saw that Earth was an organic planet. His first reaction was to shiver in disgust but he quelled it down. If Tana and their group had survived all of these stellar cycles here and not had any serious problems with the inhabitants, then they wouldn't either.

"It is a gorgeous planet." Joint stated. She loved all of the life that was on the planet. Unlike most bots, she loved to study organics. She didn't think that all of them were as deadly as the politicians had led them to believe.

"Indeed it is. It is full of life and it seems that the bots here have become attached to it." Blockade stated in response.

"I wonder what the bots that they mentioned will be like?" Anvil questioned.

"They are probably pretty nice if Pandimala and her group are living with them and created a team." Boombox answered. He still remembered Pandimala from his teaching days at boot camp.

"Speaking of their team," Hinge started, "Are we going to join their team?"

The bots all nodded and Rev stated, "Yeah, I mean they are still against the Decepticons and they have most of the standard beliefs of the Autobots if what Pandimala stated is true."

The ship then landed and the hatch opened. Blackbit was the first one out and he ran over to Tana before lifting her up in an embrace and then he placed a gentle and quick kiss to her mouth. Slowly, the rest of the bots made it out and introduced themselves and once greetings were done, they all were transported to Dragon Scouter base two. They were branded and about an Earth month later, Tana and Blackbit finally bonded. What could possibly pose a threat to this peacefulness?

Jack: Ok, so do you think that they will find them soon?

Raf: I hope so. Authoress is probably so scared right now.

*In dark dimension*

Authoress: Snakes...snakes...think happy thoughts...not snakes...happy thoughts.

Jack's Note: Ok, since Authoress is still gone, I will give the final note. We all hope that you enjoyed this. Please read and review. But no flames please.