Yo! articmadador here with Chapter 21! I was able to finish this quicker than I expected. Family stuff is starting to get serious, and my stepdad is losing his mind and acting like a di-glitch! I was gonna say glitch. I'm trying not to let that get me down, and since Transformers has gotten me through rough times before, I'm watching Transformers and reading stories even more. It's ike therapy to me. Anyways, I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS! Hasbro does. I only own Claire and the squad, and whoever else you don't recognize. Please review and enjoy.

P.S.: 727's optic color chart so there's no confusion:

Red=Anger, Orange=Hatred, Neon Orange=Fear, Brown=Pain, Yellow=Alarmed or Surprised, Yellow Green=Nervous, Neon Green=Excited, Green=Happy, Dark Green=Comfortable, Electric Blue=Mixed Emotion, Pale Blue=Worried, Blue=Confused, Cobalt Blue=Uncertain, Dark Blue=Guilty, Indigo=Sad, Purple=Curious, Magenta=Annoyed, Neon Pink=Love, Pink=Amused

724 was actually enjoying herself. Sure she was low on fuel, dented and scratched up, and in desperate need of a good recharge, but she was enjoying herself nonetheless. She had followed the plane in the water at day, and by air at night. They had encountered a storm on their journey, and she had been forced to swim for miles. She definitely didn't enjoy that, and was downright sick of water. She figured the journey was worth it, though. She had found Cybertronians, and now she could stay close to them. She had so many questions, but no way to ask them.

As soon as she had arrived on the base, her cloaking software had been working overtime to keep her hidden. Getting into the hanger was so hard that she almost wasn't able to do it. Humans were everywhere, and she knew better than to just go flying in. She ended up sneaking in through a separate open hanger door, and used her olfactory sensors to locate the humans and Cybertronians.

She had to sneak around in the corridors and even hide on the ceiling. She didn't mind it too much, and she spent that time cleaning her armor and recharging. She eventually sensed multiple Cybertronians nearby, and they were all accompanied by humans. She had never thought humans and Cybertronians could work together, but she did enjoy how well they got along. They seemed so accustomed to each other's presence. Now that she though about it, she was somewhat familiar with the feeling. She felt like maybe she had once been close to someone. She didn't think much of it, since it might just be her longing to have a companion.

After a little grooming and cleaning, 727 decided that she would do a little exploring. She cautiously moved around on the ceiling, which was extremely difficult to do. She was doing well, until she noticed a large crowd gathering in the hallway below her. She instinctively froze, hoping the crowd hadn't gathered because they spotted her. Luckily they hadn't, but the crowd was still growing, and they were all moving to get inside a room. 727 was afraid to move, and afraid to stay still. She watched the crowd, then vented in relief as they all disappeared into the room. She decided since no one could see her, she would give her cloaking software a rest and listen in on whatever was happening in the room.

"It's not that big of a deal," a familiar voice said. She would know it anywhere, despite only meeting the bot it belonged to once. It was Mirage.

"You were stranded in a Hawaiian jungle with a giant metal dragon! Of course it's a big deal!" a random voice said.

Now, she didn't exactly know what a Hawaii was, but she knew what a jungle was. She had just come from a jungle, and two if the Cybertronians inside the room were the same ones she had encountered there. She knew she was a Predacon, but what was a dragon? It sounded kind of cool, and 727 figured maybe it was another word for Predacon. A human word, maybe. Humans had so many words for so many things.

727 quickly realized that a dragon was indeed the human word for Predacon. She also realized that Mirage was telling the humans and Cybertronians in the room about his encounter with a Predacon. It didn't take her long to recognize the events in the story and realize what he was talking about.

*\He's talkin' about meetin' me! At least he's tellin' tha truth. He's tellin' it just how it happened. 'Cept fer tha parts when he was passed tha fuck out. He ain't know what happened then.

She listened to Mirage's side of the story, wagging her tail as he told those listening how he went into emergency stasis and woke up near Jazz. She remembered flying him over the trees to where the silver bot called Jazz lay stuck under a tree. 727 was glad she had helped the two Cybertronians. They seemed nice, and their friends, human and Cybertronian, did as well.

"Now, I've seen a giant metal scorpion. Was this thing…you know…as big as a giant metal scorpion?" someone asked as Mirage finished the story. She wished she could be in the room to see who was speaking. She felt like an outcast listening in from the outside.

"Most likely. Without the wings and tail, it was about the size of Optimus," Mirage replied. He had a funny way of talking, and 727 liked it. She didn't know it was an Italian accent, but she felt familiar with it. It was like she knew what it was, without knowing what it was called.

*\Wait a second, what the fuck is an Optimus? Why does it sound so powerful? Why does it sound so important?

"Was it ugly? You know, like Grindor or Dorito ugly?" another voice asked.

*\Tha hell is a Grindor and Dorito!? And who you callin' ugly!?

727 had to hold back a growl. She noticed a small notification over her optics as a memory file bank recognized something that had been presented, but she ignored it and continued to listen.

"No, it wasn't ugly. In fact, it was actually quite…beautiful."

That one caught the Predacon off guard. She nearly fell off the beams on the ceiling and onto the floor. She never thought much of her appearance other than it was best not to have scratched, muddy armor. She couldn't remember anyone ever calling her beautiful. It made her feel happy, and she had to dim her optics as they turned a bright green.

"What color was it?" someone asked.

"It was…silver with black markings. It looked somewhat similar to that endangered Earth creature that roars. The striped one."

"A tiger?" a male voice suggested.

"Yes, that one."

"And?" the same voice from before cut in.

"And what?"

"What else!?"

"Well, its optics changed color. It was almost like they were displaying its emotions."

*\Yep, that's defiantly me, although I don't know what a tiger is. I hope it's pretty.

"Did it look like a girl or a boy?" a female voice asked. 727 laughed quietly and her tail swayed.

It was quiet for a moment, then Mirage spoke. "It looked like it may have been…female."

*\You damn right! This all female, baby!

"What does it matter?" a gruff voice grumbled.

*\He sounds friendly…

"They got their asses kicked by a female dragon. It proves girls can be stronger than boys, you know," the female voice replied. 727 was about to laugh when she saw a human female turn down the hall, running at top speed. 727's cloaking software was activated in seconds, just in case the human looked up. She missed what a male voice had said since she was too busy trying not to be alarm suddenly went off, causing her to nearly loose her grip on the ceiling beams.

"There's been a huge explosion on the continent of Africa, right in the desert. American troops in the area have sent in reports of large metal creatures flying away from it, as well as jets in the area. It's defiantly the Decepticons!" she heard a human female yell in the room.

"Optimus, Prowl, and Epps! Come with me to the communications room! Everyone else, get ready! We're most likely heading to Africa again. Jolt, you'll be on your own today, and you might want to stick with Claire."

727 hadn't exactly caught all of that. There was a large notification on her optics as soon as the name Claire had been said. Before 727 could do anything, the notification, which she recognized as an alert to memory bank data being accessed, glitched and disappeared. The notification from earlier was gonna was as well, leaving 727 to temporarily wonder why. She only worried about it for a few seconds before humans and Cybertronians came rushing out of the room.

727 was startled by the sudden movement, and in her panic, she leaped across a few beams and even glided a short way to the end of the hallway. She scolded herself for what was possible the stupidest thing she had ever done, then scolded the people and Cybertronians for not noticing her after that foolish move. Then something caught her optics and triggered recent memory file. She watched in shock as the Cybertronians in the room before her began to fold into themselves as parts of their bodies moved around and came together to form something. They transformed into cars, and looked no different than any other car on the street. 727 opened the memory file, then completely tuned out the action around her as the realization hit her.

*\That's how they hide! They change ta look like cars so they can be in plain sight without causin' any panic! That's tha best thing I've ever seen! That's why I didn't recognize ya boys Jazz and Mirage as Cybertronians. They were disguised! I need ta learn how ta do that. It'll be better than tirin' myself out with this cloakin' software workin' all tha time.

"Jazz, get your aft back on that berth or I'll weld you to it!"

727 jolted at the sudden voice behind her, and turned around with her claws battle ready and a flame ready to go. She felt pretty dumb when she saw no one there. In fact, the hallway was clear, and the alarms had stopped. 727 turned to watch the last of the humans to leave through the hanger doors, and she heard planes taking off not too far away.

*\Things sure move fast around here.

"Mirage, get some recharge. Frag it, Jazz! Get back here!" There was a loud clang as metal hit metal, then another clang and thump as something hit the floor.

"Ow, Ratchet! What was that fer!?"

"Don't ask stupid questions, Jazz! They'll get you more wrenches to the helm! Get back on that berth!"

727 looked around to be sure no one was around, then dropped from the ceiling and flew back to where she had previously been. She noticed the metal beams were bending dangerously, probably from her weight. She needed to find another place to hide before the ceiling beams gave out and she was discovered.

"Where are you going, Ratchet?" 727 recognized Mirage's voice again, and froze as an unfamiliar voice spoke near the door.

"I thought I heard something."

727's optics turned yellow green and blue as she realized he may have heard her. Her cloaking device did not make her invisible, and if one looked close enough they could see her. It especially wasn't easy to blend into smooth surfaces or solid colored surfaces. He might be the one being in this entire base to decide to look up, then she'd be in serious trouble.

"Maybe it's thunder, Ratchet. 'Member I talked about tha storm we had to go through? After we flew into that, we realized it was comin' tha same way we were," Jazz commented.

"That storm delayed you hours ago, Jazz. It could not have traveled quickly enough to arrive here yet," Ratchet grumbled.

727 relaxed slightly as the voice slowly retreated from the door. She wanted to stick around here more and possibly see Jazz and Mirage again. However she knew they probably wouldn't be as interested to see her as she would be to see them. Besides, it was too risky sitting around here. She wanted to figure out what was going on with the whole ability to transform into cars thing. Also, she was so low on fuel that her systems were threatening to shut down. She was afraid to eat a car, since it could turn out to be another Cybertronian. Luckily for her, those advanced olfactory sensors on her snout was already ahead of her. She smelled something delicious, and it smelled like it might be fuel. She was glad to find that it was nearby. That would save her a lot of trouble.

She crawled about on the ceiling, occasionally gliding towards the source of the smell. She came to a large door that was locked with passcode. The smell was coming from the other side, and the only obstacle was the door. 727 wouldn't be able to open it without making a lot of noise. Then again, there was one other way. 727 used a blast of acid to melt half of the door, then squeezed through to find the source of the scent. She stood in a large room with cubes of glowing blue liquid all around. She didn't know it was energon, but she knew it was energy.

*\Shit…fuel is fuel no matter what it looks like!

She made a quick job of ten cubes of energon, cube and all. Whatever they were made of, it was damn good. However, the blue liquid tasted the best, and she ate about four more cubes before she was completely fueled up. She turned back to the door and realized that melting it with acid my not have been the best idea. If someone found it like that, they would probably do some investigating. She couldn't patch up the door, but she could relocate herself. She left the room in a flash and continued on her way through the base.

She didn't find anything else interesting. She wasn't up for exploring anymore. She was tired, and needed a safe place to recharge. She ended up coming across a few soldiers bringing cars into the base. 727 recognized that they weren't Cybertronians, but they all looked really nice. She hadn't seen cars like them before.

"Hurry up and get these new alt modes in! Hey, what's with the Dodge Challenger, Mustang, and Corvette!?" a human yelled.

"We brought the Challenger in because Bumblebee is thinking about switching alt modes. The Mustang was given to Miles by some friends back home, and the Corvette is uh…I think someone just loaded it up because it was on the loading dock. No one claimed it, and it seems to be in condition."

727 was mesmerized by the Dodge Challenger. If she could transform into a car, she would want to be that one. It was gorgeous! It was the first car she had ever seen that she didn't want to eat. She was distracted from the car as she saw the men move away from the hanger door. If she was going to go outside, now was the time. She wasn't looking forward to leaving the warmth of the hanger, but she'd rather be safely hidden in the trees than squeezed up on ceiling beams.

As soon as she was certain the coast was clear, 727 moved to the hanger door and crawled out. She opened her wings and flew low beside the hangers, her optics on line of trees not far off. Her cloaking software was working hard to keep her hidden in movement, which was beginning to cause her some discomfort. It kept switching colors to match the environment, but it wasn't able to match with her moving so fast. Luckily for her, it stopped as soon as she dove into the trees. After moving a short ways from the tree line, she was able to deactivate it.

The trees weren't as close together as they were in the other jungle, and she found it a little easier to move about. Soon she was galloping towards higher ground, her optics a bright neon green as she maneuvered though the trees. She ended up coming to a cliff, and below her she saw a bay. It was beautiful, and her tail even wagged at the sight. She eventually had to stop it, seeing as it was jerking her hindquarters about and knocking off her balance.

*\Why does meh tail do that, anyways? It's kinda weird…and funny.

727 turned around and trotted through the trees for a short distance before finding a comfortable place to lay down. The trees were tall, and the leaves were thick. She felt safe, and didn't bother activating her cloaking software. As she closed her optics for some much needed recharge, she felt a cool breeze move over her from the ocean. She didn't know why, but the breeze felt like a warning. There was something coming, something dangerous. She figured she'd take it on when it came. As she slipped into recharge and the bunny hoped on her back, all was forgotten. However, in the real world things went on. Miles out into the ocean, a deadly storm was getting stronger by the second, and it was headed straight for Diego Garcia.

I've got so much planned for this! Chapter 22 is a work in progress, and I'm hoping to get it up soon. Until the, have a good'n and I hope you enjoyed!