Author's Note: I KNOW I said I'd try not to take so long between updates, but I actually do have a life away from the computer. And that life seems to have it in for me. Over the past year and a half, I have failed a class in college, which I have to retake, my computer had to be completely wiped and reformatted following an attack of that [bleep] popup virus, my sister moved away, and now my grandfather is in the hospital with pneumonia. Not that I care overly much about him; he's a verbally abusive, foul-mouthed old drunk with an entitlement complex, who treats me like property.

Also, in January my uncle Jack went in for an operation on his gallbladder. He took a turn on the table and slipped into a coma. In early May his wife made the decision to discontinue life support, and he died without waking up. Last October, my beloved pet of nearly 15 years finally lost a lengthy battle with feline diabetes and had to be humanely euthanized. I helped my father dig her grave. In January I had a tattoo done on my upper arm in her memory; a picture can be found in my DeviantART gallery.

On a better note, I am a member of the group CRAZMech Productionz here on , along with three other nutcases. We are working on a truly massive fanfiction project titled Transformers: The Guardians. Part 1 is already posted, and Part II is in editing. The whole thing is well over 700 pages long and we're nowhere near finished. Go take a look! And don't forget to review.

Disclaimer: Do I really need to repeat myself?

Chase the Stars

Chapter 19: Picking Up The Pieces

The silence lasted a brief moment while the Autobots watched their enemies fleeing into the outer dark beyond the moons, weapons still held at the ready in case it was a false retreat. With Galvatron, anything was possible. But not a single one of the Decepticons turned back to renew the fight, and once the Autobot fliers returned the warriors began to relax as much as they could.

Some mech had left a screen on so the humans and humanoids could monitor the fighting. Now they scurried out of the way as the Autobots began flowing back into their city. The thin air was hazed with smoke, dulling even the intense lights of Autobase, and the acrid smell of burnt metal hung thick, mingling with the equally powerful stink of burned circuits and spilled fluids. The silence was broken by the groans and cries of the wounded, the sizzle of sparking circuitry, and the ever-present sound of metal on metal.

Reaching the edge of the city walls, Picard looked out over the plains surrounding Iacon and Autobase. Outside of the domes complex the smoke was even thicker, slowly dispersing as it rose from the fresh blast craters and sear marks. Several piles of scrap announced casualties, either killed or badly wounded. Through the darkness he could see the sullen red glow of melted metal beginning to cool, and farther out were the moving lights that were the optics of scavengers. The noise from the returning army drowned out anything coming from outside, but Jean-Luc could imagine the calls and howls of those waiting scavengers out in the darkness.

Ultra Rodimus was just outside the gates, still in his feline mode. His crushed hindpaw was held well clear of the ground, and his mangled tail was slowly swishing behind him. Every now and then the raw end would brush against something, causing the Prime to wince, but he withstood the pain, waiting for his people to get inside before he himself would enter the safety of the city.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Geordi LaForge had snuck past the entering Transformers and was approaching the mecha lion. His VISOR was on the crushed paw and tail.

The Prime made an awkward hop on his good rear leg, swinging his hindquarters farther away from the human. "Please keep your distance... The nanites in my circulatory fluids, coolant, and lubricants are full of nanites that will eat into your body like acid if they come into contact with you." He watched Geordi until he was certain the dark-skinned man would come no closer, then flicked an ear at him. "Yes, they do hurt. But my injuries are relatively minor; they will not terminate me or cause any permanent damage. There are those hurt far worse than I."

"In short, he's too stubborn to look after himself." A large white mech, bearing the red-on-white markings of a medic, had appeared behind Geordi, startling him. The medic scowled at the lion, rotor blades flaring out from behind his back. "Aggressive internal repair system or not, you still need repairs before you lose too many fluids. Besides, I can see how badly crushed your foot is." He pointed to the offending limb. "Do I really need to remind you of what might happen if metal shards get into your fuel lines?"

Ultra Rodimus flattened both ears, giving the medic a glare and casting a significant look at the watching Autobots. The medic glared right back. Finally, sighing heavily, Ultra Rodimus turned and limped through the gates, his people clearing a path for him. Once inside, he paused and looked around for Picard. "My apologies, but the repairs to your ship will have to be put on hold briefly."

Picard nodded. "I understand. Your people come first."

The grey-armored mech nodded, then flicked an ear at the looming medic and resumed limping toward the repair bay. The Enterprise crew watched him go.

Since Ultra Rodimus was of a different construction than his warriors, his wounds were trickier to repair. His crushed paw took over an Earth day to repair, and the medic, later identified as Medic Alert, had to admit defeat on the Prime's tail. The Prime's own internal repair system had sealed off the stump while the medics had been working on his paw, and Razorclaw had destroyed the severed end of his tail.

"You'll look a bit odd, but there's nothing else we can do about it." Medic Alert's shrug rattled his rotors as he let go of the twitching appendage.

"I already look odd, so no difference there." Ultra Rodimus offered a feline shrug before transforming back to robot mode. He turned to Perceptor, who stood by the door, waiting. "How go the repairs?"

"Injuries weren't as bad as estimated," the blue and red scientist reported. "Most of the wounded have already been repaired, and we have been able to return crews to working on the human starship. It will still take over an Earth week to finish, though that time frame may shrink as more crews and resources become available."

"And the crew?"

"Most of them are happily exploring the moonbase, and some have been brought down to Iacon by Skyfire and Skylinx. Blaster's cassettes and some of the minibots have volunteered to act as guides, making sure they do not get lost in the labyrinth of corridors and service tunnels. Their engineers are in the labs, going through the files and talking to anyone they find available," Perceptor replied. "The captain and first officer can often be found in the libraries, accessing every available file on our history and culture."

The silver-haired mech grunted. "Can't blame them for being curious. It's not everyday they encounter a race like us." He nodded to Medic Alert, then walked out of the repair bay. A few other mechs nodded greetings at him as they passed, which he returned. Perceptor trotted after him. "Just have to make sure none of them gets lost. There were a lot of people on that ship."

"A good number of them stayed on the ship," Sideswipe commented as he passed.

"Fewer for you to prank," the Prime retorted.

"Prank? Me?" The red and black mech gave his commander a look of wide-eyed innocence.

"I know you far too well," Ultra Rodimus informed him. "And you still have to clean out my office."

"Do I have to?" the Lamborghini whined.

Green eyes pinned him in a pointed glare. Sideswipe only lasted a few moments before wilting under it. "All right, all right! I'll clean it!"

"Good." Stepping around the shorter mech, the Prime continued on his way. Perceptor had to jog to catch up, then trot to keep up with his leader's long stride. The grey mech glanced down at the microscope. "Keep me informed."

"Yes, sir." Perceptor nodded, then veered off and headed down another corridor while Ultra Rodimus continued on his way to his office, dreading the piles of paperwork he knew would be waiting for him.

In the end, it took just over a week to finish repairs to the Enterprise and get things ready to reopen the dimensiional rupture. This time the Ayutobots would be staying well back, not wanting to be pulled in again. Metroplex had wanted to be there to see the ship leave, but had had to remain on Earth.

"Everything is ready," Perceptor called over from his station.

Ultra Rodimus nodded. "Acknowledged." He looked at the human on his shoulder. "Time to part ways."

Picard was still not used to riding on the shoulder of a creature as big as a Transformer, and was clinging to an armor seam running over the Prime's shoulder. "Perhaps sometime in the future our oaths will cross again."

The tall mech chuckled, the vibrations clearly felt by his passenger. "You can count on that."

"Your personal jinx again?" Picard's knuckles were white as he held onto the edge of the armor plate.

"Of course. One way or another, it will get me, and then our paths will cross again." The Prime left the shuttle's bridge, heading down to the bay where Skyfire would ferry the last of the Enterprise crew to their ship. "That is guaranteed."

"I will keep a sensor open for you." The aged human cracked a smile at that.

The response was a broad grin. "And I, for you."

In the bay, Skyfire was already waiting in his alt mode. Several humans and humanoids milled around his boarding ramp. Ultra Rodimus walked over to the other mech, lifting a hand to scoop the captain off his shoulder. Picard let out a sound of protest, holding onto an index finger thicker than his own thigh.

"Warn a person when you do that," Picard grumbled.

Ultra Rodimus snorted. "Not that warning you would make you relax any." He put the human down, then rose to his feet. "Until we meet again, Jean-Luc Picard."

"I look forward to it, Ultra Rodimus Prime."

The two regarded each other for a moment. Then Picard boarded Skyfire, his officers following. The Valkyrie's hatch closed, and he launched out into space, circling the larger Autobot craft for a moment before heading for the Starfleet ship well out in front. One of the cargo bays had been left open for the mech to land and then take off again.

"Skyfire is back, and the hatch is closed," Pipes reported.

"Withdrawing to minimum safe distance," the pilot announced a moment later.

The Prime stood in the middle of the bridge, arms crossed over his chest, watching the screens. "Detonate the explosives."

Space erupted with silent fireworks as the carefully-prepared and placed explosives went off, so bright the optics of the watching mechs had to adjust downward to handle the brilliance. A rip quickly took form, the edges glowing with mad colors, shifting in shape like some kind of super-sized, insane amoeba. The Enterprise was silhouetted against the coruscating brilliance, turning to face the rip before nosing into it. Within a few moments the starship was gone, and the edges of the hole were beginning to close.

There was nothing said until the rupture was fully closed. Once the rip was sealed, Perceptor reported it to the silent mech in the middle of the bridge. Ultra Rodimus remained silent a moment longer, still gazing out into space as if he could still see the human ship. Then, finally, he nodded and shifted his gaze to the helmsmech.

"Let's go home," was all he said.

Tbc...

This chapter had actually been perrcolating in the back of my head for months, but every time I settled down to write something else came up. Since that last virus my computer has had a glitch... At least once a day it freezes up for an instant, then restarts itself, and I lose everything I had been working on and hadn't saved. I lost this chapter more times than I could count before I figured out to save after every paragraph.

Up next: the epilogue!

Thanks to all my readers for sticking around despite the delay, and for not killing me as the delay got even longer.