Several days later, Eclipse left the medbay with Jazz. She seemed to hesitate when she saw the other 'bots but their friendly attitudes showed that there were no hard feelings.
Lunar Eclipse's upgraded form was something to behold. She had the same coloring but it faded at the edges of blue. Her wings were slightly larger and seemed more powerful. She chassis was rebuilt to hold her alt form, as was the rest of her body. But she was still light. Her visor still held their color but the crack was no longer there. But it held a look of acknowledgement, as if it was a release that the others knew what she was. But it was Jazz that felt the depth of her emotion.
The femme had become even more attached to him. The two were never apart and acted like each other's second half. A few weeks passed with some 'Con battles every once in a while. It was apparent that the 'Cons were on the losing side. The Autobots continually pushed them back and Eclipse was a force to be reckoned with. Her movements were smooth, her attacks quick and precise. She never transformed, preferring her robotic form. The jets in her feet and wings enabled her to get around well.
One day there was a meeting. It was a normal meeting, no different from the ones before. Prime, Ironhide, Prowl, Jazz, Ratchet and Eclipse were sitting around the table, disusing the usual. Jazz noticed that Eclipse had her head down and that her visor was dim.
['Clipse? He asked over comm. The femme didn't react and Jazz frowned.
" 'Clipse?" he said out loud, catching the other's attention. The femme snapped her head up and her visor activated. She stood up, knocking her chair over and rushed out of the room.
"What was that about?" Ironhide demanded.
"I don't know," Jazz said, following to where Eclipse had gone. The femme rushed down the Ark's halls, heading for the entrance. She leapt outside and slid down the slopes. Bumblebee, who was bringing Spike and Sparkplug, stopped when he saw her.
"Something wrong Ecl…" He stopped short when the femme transformed and landed in front of him. Her alt form dwarfed the mini-bot's alt mode. She didn't hesitate as she launched herself off the edge of the cliff, activating her thrusters and taking to the skies. Spike stared after the disappearing form.
"Was that Lunar Eclipse?" he asked.
"I think so," Sparkplug replied. Jazz and the others hurried up to Bumblebee as the humans got out and he transformed.
"Bee, did you see Lunar Eclipse?" Prowl asked.
"Yeah. She transformed into this huge dragon and took off into the skies," he said. Jazz frowned.
"Something is off. She would have told us otherwise," he said.
"All we can do is wait," Optimus said.
It was late the next night when Eclipse arrived back. Jazz had been standing outside of the Ark after his patrol when he spotted her. She was in her dragon mode and was carrying someone on her back with two others walking beside her. Jazz froze when he saw who it was. Eclipse paused in front of him.
"Jazz, go get Prime and 'Hide. They'll want to know," she said softly and then continued into the Ark. Jazz rushed ahead of her to get the two mentioned. Once he had told the two, they rushed to the medbay. They slid into the medbay and Prime and Ironhide stopped in their tracks. There were a total of four femmes. Eclipse was still in her alt mode, resting on a berth. A strange white and red femme that they recognized from the cave months earlier was sitting next to her. Prime and 'Hide stepped towards the other two and Jazz went to Eclipse.
"El…Elita-One?" Prime choked out. The femme that Ratchet was tending to turned her head to look at him.
"Optimus?" she whispered. Prime rushed to her side as Ironhide went to the other femme sitting on another berth.
"Chromia," he said softly. Her optics shown with relief as they embraced each other.
"If you mind," Ratchet snapped, though with not as much force as usual. Prime moved but stayed by Elita's head as Ratchet worked. The medic finished patching her up then went over to Eclipse. The small femme quickly moved out of the way as he approached. Ratchet gave her a look over before turning his attention to Eclipse.
"I see that you went out and got yourself slagged again," he said, glaring at her. The femme faintly activated her visor and looked back at the medic. She gave a snort and rested her head on her claws.
"It had to be done," came her voice though her mouth didn't move. Ratchet shook his head as he looked at her injuries. He went about repairing some of her injuries.
"Over all, you're not bad. Someone patched you up fairly well." Eclipse motioned with her wing to the other femme.
"That would be Firefly's work. She's a medic." Ratchet looked over to the femme. She gave a slight nod.
"Then there is nothing else for you except rest," he said. Eclipse gave a small sigh like sound before slipping off the berth. It took her a moment to transform back and she leaned against Jazz, obviously exhausted. The three other femmes looked at her as she began to walk out.
"Thank you Lunar Eclipse. For helping us," Elita called out. She paused and looked at her then at Chromia. She gave a slight smile.
"I asked Firefly to look for you because I knew that you were missed here as much as you missed your mates. It was nothing." And with that, Eclipse walked out, Jazz by her side. Ratchet checked the three before letting Prime and Ironhide sit beside their mates. He looked to Firefly. The femme simply stood to the side, watching him. Her soft blue optics made him feel strange.
"Come on over here. You can take one these berths," he told her. She looked at him for a moment before coming over to him. She turned and watched him turn to walk towards the others.
"Thank you," she said. Ratchet paused, then nodded.
No one in the Ark knew of their return. They did wonder why they didn't see the 'Bots the next day but didn't ask. Eclipse spent the day curled next to Jazz, deep in recharge. Prime stayed next to Elita while Chromia and Ironhide told each other's stories and rested. Firefly stayed in the medbay, helping Ratchet. Ironhide and Chromia were the first to show. The 'Bots were full of joy when they saw her and heard that Elita was back as well. Their spirits lifted considerably. Firefly found herself unnerved from all the mechs and spent most of her time near Ratchet or one of the other femmes.
It was nighttime at the Ark, most of the residents sleeping soundly. Even the twins were quiet, long having since tired themselves out. Eclipse and Jazz were in recharge, pressed next to each other. Elita was recharging next to Prime, the latter's arms gently wrapped around her, the same as Ironhide and Chromia. Firefly was recharging on a berth in the medbay since they hadn't found her a room yet. It was peaceful, quiet. But before dawn broke, the silence was broken by two loud, shrieking voices.
Jazz was startled out of recharge by the sound of Eclipse's wailing. The femme was on the floor, curled into a tight ball. Jazz was up in an instant and tried to comfort the femme. But she was in too much pain and tired to push him away by striking at him with her wings. Jazz activated his comm.
[Ratchet, somethin' is wrong with 'Clipse. She won't stop wailin'. It's as if she is in pain he cried over the link.
[Her too?! he declared [Firefly is doing the same thing. I'm sending First Aid with a sedative. Try to calm her down and Ratchet cut off the link. Jazz managed to get his arms around the femme, earning a few dents. She continued to shriek, her voice filled with pain. First Aid came in and between the two of them, managed to inject the sedative. It took several minutes but it finally sent her offline. They brought her down to the medbay where Ratchet had Firefly pinned, waiting for her injection to work. She thrashed underneath him then went still. Ratchet sat up and pulled the femme up. He also sported several good-sized dents. When they had got the two onto the berths, Ratchet stepped back, comparing their conditions. He frowned.
"Ratchet, sir?" First Aid asked. Ratchet activated his com. link.
[Optimus?
[What is it Ratchet? What was that noise?
[I hate to disturb you sir but I think that we have a problem Prime was silent for a moment.
[What sort of problem?
[I think something is wrong with Primus. Both of the Guardians are suffering. Badly
[I was afraid of that was his reply.