So Sorry for the wait. However, tis the holiday season and I work retail. So much stress. Not exactly my favorite time of the year anymore. Also, this chapter was annoying cause I wanted to make sure I got in all the information about Liliy that I needed to. I probably left something out, I'm sure.

The first part of the chapter is retrieving Bumblebee's t-cog. Then it's a bunch of Q&A with Liliy, more or less.

"Madam! We finally found MECH!" Liliy heard Mike nearly shout over the base wide intercom. She hurried over to the Comm center and climbed up on the console.

"They're here." Lima indicated to the map on the monitor. "It's a secluded, old warehouse in the middle of the woods. I've really sent Whiskey there to keep an optic on them."

"Wait. Is Starscream there too?" Liliy asked.

A gray Decepticon symbol blinked on the map where Lima had pointed.

"Apparently he has aligned himself with MECH. He must've told them about energon because they were unloading cubes of it when Whiskey arrived."

"Well great. First, they steal Bee's t-cog. Now they have energon. There is only one thing they could be doing. They are trying to build a copy of us."

"Are we going to stop them?" asked Mike.

"You bet we are!" Liliy answered. "That is Bumblebee's t-cog they're using. Even if we already gave him a replacement, we're going to get back his original. Besides, we can't leave our technology in the hands of a human like that. I need a couple of volunteers to-"

"I'll go."

They looked over to see Echo in the doorway. His mask was already down so his expression was unreadable but, if the expression of Alfa who stood close behind him was anything to go by, Echo was not in a good mood.

"Very well," said Liliy, knowing better than to argue with him. "Alfa and Echo will accompany me. But there is one more person we need to get."

"Madam?"

"The victim himself."

Bumblebee was on his way back to the base after dropping Raf off at home when he received a comm from Liliy.

{Bee, I need your help. I'm gonna send you a ground bridge.}

"Sure thing, Liliy."

A bridge opened before him and he entered it thinking it would lead back to base. Instead, on the other side he found Liliy in some dark woods. He transformed as the bridge closed and looked around.

"Liliy, where are we?" he asked, focusing on her.

"I figured you might like to help get you t-cog back."

"By ourselves? Optimus wouldn't like that."

"Don't worry, Bee. I brought backup."

Three flyers materialized out of the shadows, their masks down. Bumblebee took a step back, watching them warily. They were all bigger than him and the menacing vibe they gave off made him uneasy.

"Bee, I'd like you to meet Alfa, Echo, and Whiskey of the CRC." Liliy's voice seemed to ease the tension a little.

Alfa and Echo, whose dark frames blended eerily with the shadows, simply nodded.

"Are we doing this or not?" Whiskey asked, the gold bits of his paint standing out more than the brown. Bumblebee wondered how he had missed him before.

"Are you ok with helping?" Liliy asked Bumblebee.

He looked down at her again and slammed his fist into his palm. "Bring it on."

With a wave of Liliy's hand, the three fliers melted back into the shadows. Bumblebee's optics went wide when he watched Whiskey literally disappear into thin air.

"By the way, Bee. Starscream will be there," she said as she led the way toward the warehouse. "Apparently, he has allied himself with MECH."

"He's an idiot." Bumblebee was quick to follow her but he kept an optic on the shadows, trying to spot the fliers again. "I wouldn't even go near MECH after what happened to Breakdown."

"Yes, well. He was desperate for energon and MECH had the means of finding it for him."

There were no lights outside the giant warehouse. Alfa went to one side of the doors and Echo and Whiskey to the other. Liliy led Bumblebee right up the middle. On her signal, the three fliers rolled the doors back.

"Evening, gentlemen," Liliy purred as MECH and Starscream turned to look at them. "I do believe you took something that belongs to my friend here and we would very much like it back."

"Really, Bumblebee," Starscream chided. "Bringing a human here while you are without a t-cog and so unarmed."

Bumblebee lifted an arm and activated his blaster. "Oh yeah?"

"What?! How?" the seeker shrieked.

The three fliers stepped up to flank Bumblebee with their blasters ready. MECH aimed their weapons at the group.

"When MECH gets involved with a Cybertronian, we will inevitably show up to ruin their plans," said Liliy.

"Where's the other one? The black one with wheels?" asked Silas.

"Otherwise occupied, but I will let them know you asked about them."

"You seem to be well acquainted with these robots."

Liliy smirked. "Oh, just a little…" She lifted her hand and snapped her fingers. "Boys."

The three fliers opened fire. Starscream was the first to go down, hit by an electro-charge from Whiskey. A few of the humans were charcoal before the rest of them scattered for cover.

As soon as they started shooting, Bumblebee sprinted across the space and leapt onto the unfinished prototype that was standing against the far wall. He ripped open the chassis and pulled out the t-cog. He jumped down and flinched when he heard a disturbing crunch. He looked down. His ped had crushed the legs of one of the burnt corpses. He quickly stepped back, not noticing that the shooting had stopped because MECH had evacuated.

"Bumblebee?" Liliy asked.

He looked up at her, horrified.

"If you have the t-cog, then let's go." She waved for him to 'come on'.

"But, Liliy…" He glanced at the mechs behind her and then looked back at the burnt corpse.

Liliy followed his gaze. "What about it?"

"They killed a human!" He looked at her again, disbelieving. How was she so calm?

She shrugged. "It's not the first time. And it probably won't be the last. Or were you not paying attention that time you went to make sure the CRC saved Breakdown?"

Bumblebee stiffened. "It was dark. I saw some burning cars but I was too focused on Breakdown..."

"Figures... Come on, Bee. There is something I need to tell you."

Liliy turned and nodded to the three fliers. They nodded back and Whiskey vanished while the other two turned to a ground bridge that opened nearby. She looked back at Bumblebee.

"Coming?"

She headed off across the big open yard in front of the warehouse. Bumblebee hesitated, glancing down at the corpse one more time before he followed. She kept walking until she reached the trees. Looking back to make sure he was following, she kept going.

Bumblebee followed her for a long time. Somehow, despite their size difference, Liliy managed to stay ahead of him. She finally stopped at the edge of a small clearing. Sitting on a fallen log, she motioned for him to sit too. He did, on the ground across from her. He was still holding the t-cog, he realized, and sat it on the ground next to him.

"I'm going to assume that Optimus hasn't told you yet."

He looked at her quizzically, tilting his helm with a questioning whir.

"That I'm not human."

Overall, Liliy thought that Bumblebee took it pretty well. He thought she was joking at first, but then she transformed. He did freak out a little bit then, babbling something about a pretender. She had to look that one up. Once she understood what he meant, she explained that, no, she wasn't a pretender. They use a special armor to take on the shape of whoever they're pretending to be. Her alt mode is a human. She can't transform into anything else. Especially since, when she arrived on Earth, there was nothing else technology-wise she could scan. She finally got around to telling him that she was the Head of the CRC. He got really quiet after that.

"So you let them kill humans?"

Liliy sighed. He wasn't going to let that go, was he? "I have killed humans too. But it is not like we go around killing humans for the heck of it. No. The humans we have killed threatened our existence on this planet. We killed to protect ourselves."

"That doesn't make it right."

"You sound like Optimus."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Take it however you like," Liliy growled. She transformed back to her alt mode and ran her hand thru her hair. A human habit she did sometimes when she was stressed. "Speaking of Optimus," she said, somewhat calmer. "We should probably get you back."

"Ah… Yeah… I was just supposed to drop Raf at home and go straight back to base."

"Lovely. Ratchet's gonna have a fit."

"Optimus probably isn't going to be happy about this either."

"No. He's not. Well…" She pulled her phone out. "That's get this over with."

Liliy requested a bridge back to the Autobot base. Bumblebee was surprised when they walked through and came out inside the base's entrance tunnel. He looked down at her with furrowed optic ridges. She just shrugged innocently and headed for the main room.

"-access to satellite imagery that I believe pinpoints the center of operations of MECH," Agent Fowler was saying as they entered.

"This is good news. We can go get Bee's t-cog back."

"Actually…" Liliy waited till she had their attention before she continued. "We've already been there and done that." She pointed up at the t-cog in Bumblebee's servo.

"WHAT!?" Ratchet's angry outburst made them both flinch.

"Liliy…" Optimus was clearly disappointed. "You were supposed to inform me when you found MECH."

"Then consider yourself informed." She put her hand on her hip.

"Before you went off and endangered one of my mechs."

"He was hardly in any danger. I made sure to bring backup."

"That killed a human!" the scout suddenly beeped.

"Really, Bumblebee?" Liliy asked looking up at him. "You're still on that?"

"The Autobots don't condone the killing of humans."

Liliy turned to him fully. "Do my boys look like Autobots to you?" she snapped. "And while you were crying over that corpse you stepped on, you failed to notice the other five lumps of burnt flesh lying around. Yes, we kill humans. The ones we are at war with." She saw Optimus open his mouth to object but she waved him off. "Don't try and contradict me on that because we are at war with MECH. They started it the moment they kidnapped Breakdown and dissected him. And we have been trying to do our best to keep you out of their hands and foil their plans. Like when they teamed up with Airachnid to get Arcee. And getting your t-cog back tonight. We set-" She suddenly stopped talking as a realization hit her. "Oh, frag..."

"What?"

"We left Starscream there."

"So?"

"Bumblebee, we got your t-cog back but we left Starscream there. Unconscious and fragging defenseless!"

"Oh..."

She was running her hand through her hair again. "Damnit. Echo would have been the one to point that out before we even got out of there, but he's not himself since the twins…" Her voice trailed off. She started up again. "It doesn't matter as long as Starscream survives, which is highly likely since MECH will be needing to relocate and they don't currently have the means to move him. We'll just have to wait for MECH to rear their ugly head again and squash them like usual."

Up until now, the other Bots and Agent Fowler were silent, trying to process what was going on.

"Ok. Hold up. What is going on here?" Agent Fowler asked finally.

Liliy looked up at Optimus. "You still haven't told them yet?"

"I was waiting for you."

"Told us what?" asked Bulkhead.

"Why the Cybertronian Rebel Corps has been so interested in helping you all the sudden."

Ratchet narrowed his optics at her. "And why is that?"

"Because of me."

Ratchet started. "You?!" Then he turned angry. "You've been spying on us for them?"

Liliy shrugged. "If that's what you want to call it. But I didn't come here to spy on you."

"Then why did you come here?"

"At the time is was out of concern for Optimus' wellbeing. He did get hit in the face with a tree."

"I took care of that."

"After that it became a game of how long would it take for before someone noticed."

"I take it someone did?"

"Optimus. But only after he got his memories back. Even in this form, he recognized me."

"And who exactly are you?"

"My designation is Scythe. But in this form, I go by Liliy. Liliy Scythe, among other things." She glanced at Fowler.

"Wait," Arcee finally piped up. "You keep saying 'in this form'. You aren't human?"

"No more than you are a motorcycle."

"So you're a pretender." Ratchet didn't bother to disguise the disgust in his voice.

Liliy frowned. "No. This form is my alt mode."

"Alt mode or armor, you took that form to blend in with the natives, so you are a pretender."

"If that is the case, I'm a pretender in more ways than one," she replied, her thoughts momentarily going to the Leecher armor. There were a few raised optic ridges at her statement but she didn't bother to elaborate. The Leecher armor was a secret that she never bothered to share with Optimus. "Anyway, Ratchet, why do you dislike the CRC so much?"

"Where would you like me to start? The list just got longer."

Before Liliy could answer, her phone rang. She grabbed it out of her pocket.

"What is it?" she snapped. Her anger turned to a calm command as she replied to the caller. "Keep a close watch on his spark. I'll be right there." She looked up at the Autobots, as she put away her phone. "I'm afraid we'll have to finish this some other time. My services are needed in the medbay."

Her visor falling over her eyes, Liliy turned and walked toward the entrance tunnel. Not caring that they were all watching, she called up a ground bridge and disappeared through it.

Ratchet turned to Optimus as the portal vanished, his optics full of questions.

"Don't be so hard on Liliy, Ratchet," Optimus said. "It's not easy being a leader. You should know that."

"Leader?" Ratchet asked, confused.

"Hang on, Prime," said Fowler. "Are you saying that Liliy is…?"

"The leader of the Cybertronian Rebel Corps, yes."

"You're kidding."

"But she's so small."

"Height does not determine one's ability to command respect and loyalty from one's subordinates. Especially when said subordinates are former Decepticons."

"Liliy used to be a Decepticon?"

Optimus shook his helm. "As far as I know, Liliy and Leecher are the only two who were not Decepticons before they formed the CRC."

"Leecher?" asked Arcee, "The CRC's SIC? The one grounder who could easily be mistaken for a vehicon at a distance?"

"They were not inclined to share their past with me. But according to Liliy, they were neutral when they helped her escape from Cybertron."

"Optimus, there is something else about Liliy you aren't telling us, isn't there?"

Optimus hesitated. While the other three were too young to remember, Ratchet would most certainly recognize Liliy's clan. And he wasn't sure how the old medic would react to the information.

"I think it best that Liliy tells you herself." The statement seemed to be directed at Ratchet.

"Fine," said Agent Fowler. "But I want to be kept in the loop because I will eventually have to make a full report to my superiors."

"Very well, Agent Fowler. We will inform you when Liliy returns."

"Hey, you three."

The children looked from where they sat on the couch.

"Liliy!" exclaimed Miko as she jumped up to give her a hug. "Where have you been? Raf said you came back but then we couldn't find you."

"And you didn't bother to call me again?"

"Well, when we mentioned it, Optimus said you were busy," said Raf.

"Ah. Yes. There was an emergency at home that I had to attend to."

"Are you back now?" asked Jack.

"For a little while. Actually that is why I am here. There is something important I need to tell you." She sat on the edge of the chair. "Will you turn the TV off and listen to me for a bit?"

Jack obligingly turned off the TV and he and Raf set aside the game controllers as Miko sat back on the couch to listen.

"See, the thing is… I don't know if you guys have noticed anything strange about me at all. Maybe in the way I acted or my weird knowledge?"

"We hang out with giant alien robots," said Miko. "You seem pretty normal compared to that."

"Although, Miko is weird by herself."

Miko punched Jack in the arm.

Liliy managed a smile. "Not all Cybertronians are giant, you know."

"Oh, I figured that. There's probably some out there that are so small that they transform into a phone." She pulled her phone. Gasping suddenly, she tossed it down on the coffee table. "What if my phone is one?"

"Ha. It's alright. It's not."

Miko pointed at Liliy. "What if yours is?"

"It is not either. But I am."

Silence. They stared at her, wondering if they heard right.

"You are...?" Raf hedged, hoping she would clarify.

"I am a Cybertronian. Not a human."

"REALLY?" Miko shrieked suddenly, while the boys stared on in surprise. "Can you transform? Can we see your root mode?"

"Of course." Liliy stood up and stepped away from the chair. Her visor fell over her eyes as her hololayer flickered off to reveal basically a metal mannequin. Plates split and shifted, some of them turning over on themselves. When the transformation was complete, she was a whole head taller and not nearly as flat-chested. The biolights on her thighs and arm glowed red. Paired with the other red bits scattered over her frame, they accented her gray and platinum armor quite nicely.

The children stared up at her in awe as she spun around to give them a full view.

"Well, what do you think?" she asked.

A loud clatter interrupted anything they were about to say. Ratchet was in the medbay and upon seeing Liliy in her root mode suddenly dropped whatever he was holding. He was now staring at her in surprise and shock and no small amount of fear.

Liliy frowned. "Something wrong, Doctor?"

"You are a Laserblade…?" Ratchet asked.

"I am."

"What's a Laserblade?" asked Raf. He could see his reflection on Liliy's visor as she looked at him.

"The Laserblades were a small clan," she answered. "Small in number and in stature." She waved her servo over her helm to indicate her height. "I think the tallest among us was maybe 10 feet. It wasn't uncommon for us to be confused with minicons."

"Minicons?" asked Jack.

"Minicons are small Cybertronians that form a link with a larger Cybertronian and can transform to become part of their frame. Like Laserbeak. However, Laserblades are incapable of making such a link due to the..." she hesitated, looking for the right word, "'instability' of our sparks."

That perked Ratchet's interest. "Instability?"

"It's not instability per say but my spark would be considered highly unstable if it was compared to yours or most others. That is normal for my kind though. And because of the difference, we can't even sparkbond outside of our clan."

"So why are you called a 'Laserblade'?" asked Miko.

"Named after, well, our weapons, though, I am sure they were originally meant to be just tools." She transformed the rod out of her forearm and formed the crescent blade around her fist.

"Is that a shaped laser?" Raf asked in awe.

"Yes. This is the general shape for sword users to start with. My preferred blade to use is my namesake: the scythe." She transformed the crescent blade into her scythe.

"How big can you make the blade?" Miko again.

"I don't really know." She deactivated the blade and transformed the staff back into her arm. "The bigger the blade, the more energy it consumes. I suppose I could make a fairly large one but it would last for a couple seconds at most. But even that short amount of time would be lethal to anyone or anything in its path."

"Early on," said Ratchet, "when I was just a young bot starting out as a medic, I got to see the aftermath of just how lethal a Laserblade can be. It's not something one can easily forget."

"We were originally meant to help with the mining of energon," explained Liliy, "but there were some who would contract themselves out as assassins. But that explains why you're afraid of me."

"I'm not-"

The roar of a diesel engine announced the return of Optimus from patrol. He transformed upon entering the main room.

"Hey, O.P." Liliy waved at him.

"Liliy." He looked slightly startled to see her in her root mode. He glanced at Ratchet as the medic came over to him, frowning.

"You knew that she was a Laserblade and didn't warn me?" Ratchet asked in a low voice.

"I apologize. I was not sure how to tell you. How long has she been here?"

"Not long. She has just been explaining her origins to the children."

"So how old are you really?" They heard Miko ask.

"Right around Ratchet's age."

"You're joking."

Liliy turned to look at Ratchet. "No... I might be a few stellar cycles younger but I am definitely closer to your age than I am the other three. I remember Cybertron before the war started."

"What about Optimus?" asked Raf.

Liliy studied the Prime for a moment before answering. "His spark is the oldest. Though, his frame suggests otherwise, so I'm not really sure."

"What do you know of his frame?" inquired Ratchet.

"He was well on his way to joining the AllSpark the first time I met him. As one of the CRC's medics, I had to help repair him."

"Speaking of repairs, how are the twins?" asked Optimus.

"They are finally out of danger of deactivation but we are waiting for them to wake up on their own. And everyone hopes it is soon because Echo has been a pain to deal with these last few days."

"Echo?"

"Echo is trined with the twins. And if it wasn't for his sparkbond with Alfa, he probably would have gone off the rails by now…" Liliy trailed off at Optimus' startled expression. "What?"

"I didn't know any of them were bonded."

"Well, the war was pretty much over on this planet for quite a few years before you and Megatron brought it here again. They were just settling down."

"How long have you been on Earth?" Miko wanted to know.

"Uh… several thousand years, I think? I haven't been keeping track. That's Leecher's job. I know there were still predacons here when we arrived."

"Predacons?!" Ratchet started.

"What's a predacon?" asked Raf.

"Ancient Cybertronian beasts. You know the medieval mythical creatures, dragons, griffins and the like?" The children nodded at Liliy. "Those were predacons."

"But predacons died out ages ago on Cybertron," insisted Ratchet. "How could they be here too?"

"From what I've heard, Shockwave was working on cloning during the war," explained Liliy. "Perhaps they were his creations."

"That… makes sense."

"Hey, Liliy. I have a question. The family you spoke of? Your 27 brothers?" asked Jack.

"Ah, yes. My family is the CRC. And actually, I wasn't entirely accurate. Five of them are femmes, but I always refer to all of them as my 'boys' because one, I think of them as my children, and two, well… It started out as a running joke because Leecher accidentally mistook Charlie for a mech the first time they met her-not that she really cared since she had the same type of eradicon frame as Alfa and Echo. But, after a while, the term just kind of... stuck."

"What are all their names?" asked Raf.

"We know a few," said Jack. "Leecher, you mentioned him-"

"Them," Liliy corrected him. "Leecher prefers gender neutral pronouns."

"Alright. You've mentioned them. And Miko and I met Mike and Nova. By the way, they don't get into too much trouble, did they?"

"No. Well, not from me anyway. But Alfa gave them quite a stern lecture."

"There. You mentioned Alfa again."

Liliy smiled. "Yes. Besides Leecher, there is," she started counting off on her digits, "Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hirry, Indy, Julian, Kilo, Lima, Mike, Nova, Oscar, Pepper, Quebec, Romeo, Seaser, Tango, Ucon, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, and Zulu."

"That sounds almost like the American military alphabet," Raf pointed out.

"Yeah. I know. Where do you think that alphabet came from?" Liliy said. She laughed at their looks of disbelief. "Just kidding. Some of them actually went thru a few names before they settled on their current ones. But the, uh, the English alphabet was my idea. Gave me an excuse to stop collecting stray Decepticons. I ran out of letters."

"Which ones are the femmes?" asked Miko.

"Charlie, Hirry, Julian, Lima, and Seaser. They picked the names, not me. The only mech I named was Ucon, but that is a long story."

"Are there any more like you?" asked Raf.

"Laserblades, you mean? No. As far as I know, I am the last. I…" She looked at the floor. "I was not there when the Decepticons destroyed my home. That is why I survived."

"As I recall, your clan was wiped out early on in the war, before I even received the Matrix," said Optimus. "Do you know why they did it?"

Still staring at the floor, Liliy seemed to shrink as her only servo gripped the layered plates covering her empty shoulder socket.

"Liliy, you don't have to…"

"Someone commissioned our clan to take out Megatron," she spoke softly. "I was chosen for the task. I was there. I was right there with my blade against his neck cables. But then Soundwave-" Her vocalizer fritzed into static. Her knees gave out and she slumped to the floor, her whole frame trembling. She stared unseeing at the space before her. "My arm…" Her voice was small and frightened.

Liliy started when a pair of human arms wrapped around her and pulled her helm against the clothes covered chest.

"It's alright." Distantly, she heard Jack speaking. "It's alright. You're ok. You're safe."

She wrapped her arm around him and pulled him closer, still trembling. Offlining her optics, she tried concentrating her other senses on the human hugging her rather than the terrifying memories. There was his heartbeat. The whoosh of air as he breathed. His voice as he continued to speak, mostly repeating that it was alright, she was safe in a quiet voice. His hand running over the top of her helm. His other arm wrapped around her shoulders. The fabric of his shirt against her faceplates and under her servo.

Gradually she stopped trembling and calmed down a bit. She turned her helm a little so she wasn't talking into his chest.

"You have some experience comforting people."

"My mom, after Dad… left," he replied quietly.

Her servo squeezed gently. "I see."

"Are you better now?"

"For the most part, I guess." She looked up at him. "Thank you, Jack." She reached up to cup his cheek. "You are a kind child."

He huffed. "I'm 16, you know."

"Heh, heh." Smiling, she ruffled his hair. "And I'm an eons old bot. To me, you'll always be a child."

"Liliy?"

She looked over at the other two children. They stood nearby looking very concerned. She held her hand out to them.

"Come here you two."

Jack stepped back as they ran forward to hug her.

"Sorry for making you worry."

"It's fine as long as you're alright," said Raf.

"But try not to scare us like that again, ok?" added Miko.

Liliy smirked a little. "I'll try my best but I can't make any promises."

"Hmph. And you say Bumblebee suffers from PTSD because he has nightmares while he's in recharge," Ratchet commented. "You just had a breakdown just talking about your traumatic memories."

Liliy looked over at him. "Trust me, Doctor. I am much better now than I was right after I found out what happened to my clan and was forced to flee Cybertron. Honestly, I doubt I would have survived on my own. Leech..." She smiled at the now fond memories playing through her processor. "Leech saved me in more ways than one."

"What about your arm?" asked Optimus. "Why haven't you replaced it yet?"

Liliy exvented. "You are assuming that I can, O.P." Again.

"You can't?"

"Technically, I can but it would never be complete. The knowledge of how to do major repairs on or replace a laser blade was lost with my clan's medics. So I simply went without my whole arm."

"I recall you mentioning something about a prosthetic? Was that just another lie?" grumbled Ratchet.

"No." She smirked. "No, I really do have one. Maybe I'll show you some time."

A loud horn honked in the entrance tunnel. Bulkhead entered with Arcee and Bumblebee trailing behind him.

"Miiikooo, I'm baaaack," he said cheerily upon transforming. Then he noticed the unusual atmosphere of the room. "What's going on?"

"Oh, Liliy's back," chirped Bumblebee, pointing up at the femme who had finally gotten back to her peds.

"Hey." She waved at them.

"So that's your true form? I've never seen anything like it before," said Arcee.

"Well, considering you were just a youngling when the Decepticons wiped out my clan, I'm not surprised. But even before that, we kept to ourselves mostly so not that many people knew about us. Also, Ratchet, there is one more thing you need to know about me since you are a medic."

"What is it?"

"I bleed red but if, for whatever reason, you need to give a transfusion, regular energon is fine. I'll just be slow for a little while while my frame processes it."

"I think I need to get my audials checked. Did you just say you bleed red?"

"Yes. That's what I said. Would you like me to show you?" Her servo went to an energon tube on her neck.

"No! There's no need for injuring yourself. But red energon… How?"

"The spark." She put her servo over her spark. "Whatever it is that makes a Laserblade's spark different effects the makeup of the energon within our frames, turning it red. So, unless we have had a major transfusion of regular energon, we can be in a near constant state of hyperspeed."

"But doesn't that put a lot of stress on your frame?"

"Sure but my frame was made to endure the extended strain."

"What's red energon?" asked Raf.

"An extremely rare and highly volatile form of energon, when it appears as crystals. Refined into fuel, it provides the power of hyperspeed. But I have never heard of the process that Liliy described. To change regular to red after it has been made into fuel? What even are you?"

Liliy pushed up her visor. Her red optics were similar to Arcee's, but instead of one optic per eye hole, there were three. One large optic flanked on each side by two smaller ones. She winked a Ratchet.

"A total mystery."

I hope this is a good enough explanation about Liliy. Thanks for reading.

As for next chapter... The holidays are a busy time. It could a week or it could be January or somewhere in between. I will try my best. But thank you very much for sticking around over the past year as I worked on this story. It's been fun. :)