A couple of hours spent being scratched by the Autobot as they sat on the butte overlooking the ruins apparently did them both some good. She didn't speak to him like he was an animal, but a thinking individual, and he felt the agitation she had been doing her best to hide ebb away. She had even soothed some of the strikes his cruel master had inflicted earlier in that day, her tender murmurers soothing the inner pain he was feeling about them. He knew not all that wore the symbol she displayed were kind like she was, but he had also learned that not all that wore the symbol his kind master adorned were the same. He could also feel that she was as alone in the universe as he was, but as to why he didn't know yet.

When she stood up, he lifted his head up to focus on her, and despite having scratched and petting him for the whole time she still offered her hands to him for permission with that warm smile. Nudging her hands with his nose, he gave a please sound, akin to a cross between a purr and a gentle growl.

"We better get going before one of our friends comes looking for us and starts trouble we don't need. Please, understand, we don't wish to fight you, but this war's been going on for so long that fighting has become the first act for many on both sides. I hope that when we do meet again that it's not on the battle field and you can share with me the new things that you've learned about yourself."

Learned about himself? His confusion must have shown more than he realized as she gave a gentle giggle.

"You are not a beast. Just... I don't know why I know, ok? So, go on." With a couple more rubs over his nose, she stepped back to give him plenty of room to take off. Circling around the area once more, he took it all in before flying away back to where the ship was currently floating around hundreds of miles away.

When she knew that the Predacon was a good distance away, Elita called for a Ground Bridge portal so she could head back to work. Once back on the ship, she smiled at Air Raid, since he was the one manning the gateway controls.

"You doing alright?" he asked as the portal closed.

"I'm better now that I've had a chance to clear my head. Thank you for asking. What about you? Having any troubles?"

"None at all. Kup treats us pretty fairly, though is a tough instructor at times."

"He does mean well, and I know that if he didn't care he wouldn't put you guys through the paces he does. Need anything before I go back to my papers?"

Air Raid just shook his head, but she didn't miss his small smile. "I'm good right now, thank you ma'am."

"Alright. Keep safe, ok?"

With a final wave, she headed down the hall. In the command center she saw Ratchet manning the scanners, alone in the massive room. The medic had heard her approach, since the majority of the crew were either in their rest shift or out scouting, he knew that it would only be a small handful of possible visitors. The bright smile that she gave him could only be returned with the same warmth.

"I see that your breather went well," the medic said as she stepped up beside him.

"It definitely helped," she replied.

Seeing that she was accessing records on the station beside him, Ratchet simply went back to his tasks. While the computer did a continuous scan he worked on his Synth-En formula. They all knew that it would be an answer to restoring Cybertron, that the lack of the precious energy would only threaten any delicate peace that they might achieve. This formula would not only help solidify a lasting peace, but, more than likely, be the much needed energy source that the Autobots needed to survive the war.

Glancing back over at Elita, he saw that she had brought up the data that they had complied about the Predacon. Not only was she looking over the information, but she was actually adding to it. It was the shear amount of detail that astonished him the most.

"Were you able to recall more of the information you had retrieved from Shockwave's mind?"

"Some, but not that much." Looking over at the medic, Elita gave him a tired sigh. "I visited the ruins of Dark Mount. While there the Predacon decided to drop in."

Ratchet's optics went wide with panic. "Why didn't you call for back-up?"

"If he attacked me then I would have."

"It's dangerous!"

"He's confused and wounded," she rebuttaled in a gentle tone of voice.

The tension in the medic's form eased as he took in the somber look in her eyes. Despite everything that happened to her, she still kept her empathy for others. She still could see the good where others would have looked away. It was a trait that allowed the Autobots to gain in their numbers.

"Just... don't let your guard down around it... him. He might be a wounded, confused animal, but those are the ones that are more likely to lash out and do harm."

Elita smiled for him. "Everyone has the possibility to so, especially if the wounds run deep. But, I promise I will be careful, not that I plan on meeting up with him again." Gently nudging Ratchet in the arm, her smile turned bashful. "I much prefer to spend my nights with you, anyways. Now, with all that being said, I better get back to my paperwork."

Perceptor was making notes of what he had learned from the purple crystals when the General's voice broke through his thoughts with the man's greeting. Smiling down at the man, the Autobot was glad that he was able to share this next step of his experimentation while the man was there.

"I was about ready to proceed to the next phase in verifying that the crystals that you have provided would be a sufficient alternate source of fuel," Perceptor stated as he finished dictating his notes to his human helper. "Now, it is to be explicitly stated that this crystal, like any other potential fuel source, can react in a negative manner to any highly volatile impacts, possibly resulting in a massive chain reaction that would cause great harm."

The General frowned thoughtfully. "Another words, highly explosive."

"Indeed. Now, we may proceed with the machine tests."

Catching his companion's excited tone, Blurr zipped over to his side, suddenly appearing beside Perceptor. At least that's how it appeared to the humans. It was something that they were hoping to utilize later, if and when the transformers that they kept ever outlived their usefulness.

Only utilizing a small amount, Perceptor placed the processed purple crystal material into the fuel tank of the machine he had built. It was supposed to be a replica of a simple, Cybertronian engine, and the scientist was pleasantly surprised that he had been able to build it with the parts he had been given. All present waited on baited breath, so to speak, to see if it would power up or not.

As the moment's passed,which felt like forever to Blurr, he had to do his best not to shift around as he knew it usually made Perceptor either upset or nervous. His boredom shifted quickly as the engine began to shake on the table. It was subtle at first, but pitched up to an almost violent intensity that the table it rested on bounced along the flooring. The machine on the table suddenly shifted, glowing a bright purple through the lines of its plating and growing appendages and weapons that it started to lash out at all that was nearby, sending the humans scattering.

Blurr took action immediately, first tackling Perceptor out of the way as the creature lunged at the scientist, then shooting the blasted thing until it stopped moving. Due to his natural speed bursts he was able to make short work of the event. With the threat neutralized, he shifted his weapons back into his hands before offering one to Perceptor, who was still sitting his skid plate on the floor.

"I was needing to study that!"

"I'msorry,Perceptor,butitalmosttookoffyourhead,andifittookoffyourheadthenyouwouldhavebeenheadlessandthenwewouldn'tbeabletofigureoutthehowsandwhysastowhyyourexperimentwiththepurplecrystalsdidn'tworkandthenwewouldallbebackatsquareonewherenooneknowswhat'sgoingontobeginwith."

Taking a calming cycle of air into his cooling system, Perceptor simply smiled at his friend as he regained his feet. "I do appreciate your quick thinking, thank you."

"So what does this all mean?" the General asked as the humans came out of hiding, the majority trying to look at the destroyed device.

"I intend to study the results, for I do find this reaction to be quite intriguing, and alarming. Not only did it power up the engine I had built, but somehow it shifted it, this Earthen alloyed based item, into something most resembling a mindless Cybertronian creature."

"Do you think that it would have a similar effect in, say, a being such as yourself?"

"That is a question to certainly look into. Right now, I recommend strongly against using it for any sort of fueling purposes until I can study it further. It could have possible side effects that we cannot counter."

Nodding in agreement, the General bid the pair of Cybertronians a good day, noticing that the blue, speedy one was focused on him somewhat more than he normally would be. "Are you ok, Blurr?"

Smiling, Blurr just replied, "I'mgood,Sir, 'tmakeamistakebyaddressingsomeonewiththewrongrank."

Seeming satisfied with the answer, the General simply left it as that and turned to leave. Blurr, on the other hand, was privately pleased that his half answer was accepted so easily. As he moved to help Perceptor clean up the mess he had made, the Wrecker made sure to repeat the symbols that had been on the man's uniform, so that he could later figure out the man's name.

As he made his way out of the hidden facility, since the military had many decommissioned missile silos at their disposal, the General took in the lovely field of spring wheat that was growing around the barn he stepped out of. Walking up to the non-descript vehicle he had arrived in, he joined the group of men that were waiting for him up top.

"The results were interesting. Proceed with our own experiments with the material. Utilize the the unit that we have at the other location, see if having an operator running it helps. If that fails, use the Autobot we have stored there. If that base gets discovered, which they're close to doing, then detonate the purple crystals."

"Yes, Sir," the men replied before the General got into the back of the car.

They watched as the vehicle took off before the majority got into another one to head off to the second location. It was hard to fathom that their once powerful group had been reduced down to less than thirty in such a short amount of time. It seemed that the moment they had become directly involved with these transformers that it started their downfall.

Music greeted anyone that walked through the halls near the room she occupied, papers filled just about every surface that it contained. Crates, tables, walls, it was covered in sheets of white, marked with different colors and taped into place. Elita's human form was sitting on her larger form's left shoulder as she went through the papers, the ones she had yet to shift through still sat in sizable stacks on the table by the far wall. She pinned her hair up in a rather messy bun, using the bun to hold the different colored pens she was making marks with while they weren't currently being utilized.

Agent Fowler brought with him food, coffee, and the kids, knowing that they would help cheer Elita up before they headed off to see their own bots. It was the weekend, so the trio were happy to have another one of their Jasper Science Fiction Club sleep overs. It was nice to see the worry and stress that had settled on her face light up at just the sound of the kid's voices.

Hearing the greeting from the children, Elita quickly set herself down, putting the mass of papers she was holding in her hands before grabbing Miko first in a big hug, Raphael in a gentler one, and then giving Jack a half hug, more to not embarrass the older young man. It seemed that once again the universe was giving her a bit of ease to her building anger over the paper trail run around she had been going through. She knew her smile brightened as Agent Fowler passed the food items over as soon as she eased her affection she was showering the kids with. The other humans took in the paper covered cargo bay as Elita quickly ate her meal, noting that it was not a small feat, to say the least, to have accomplished.

"The trail is this long?" Folwer asked, taking it all in, including the large stacks that she had yet to go through.

"Possibly," she answered through her larger form. "My reports, your reports, previous reports from Bishop, most dating back decades. And the report history of every one in our unit, every one that had any direct dealings with the Autobots, including the men that battled at Dark Mount, and everyone that had been involved with Special Tactics dating before I joined to recently."

"That's... that's a lot of people," Raphael said, looking to where she motioned towards the stack and wall that was just dealing with personnel.

"More than I had realized," Fowler replied with a frown.

"Also going through Superiors linked to every single one."

She didn't think Fowler's eyes could go any wider, the man was shocked mute for a moment.

"And I thought General Bryce having Private Daily recording our meeting over the Nemesis Prime incident was overkill."

"Private Daily?" Setting her coffee down, Elita rushed over to the wall, looking the papers over. "A Private wouldn't have been given the clearance for this."

Not finding the paper she needed, she rushed over to another wall and the stack of papers she had set down on a crate there digging through the report files. Finding the one in question, she rushed over to her laptop to pull up the video that corresponded with the number on the file. When the file finished she went back to looking over the report. Apparently catching something she rushed to another document, then another and another from around the room, pulling a pen from her hair to make new markings on each one as she added it to her new collection, each time she was muttering a name as she came across it: Major General Ernest Christopher Holt.

It was a name Fowler was familiar with, but never had the pleasure of meeting the man directly. He did; however, sign off on a lot of things that had to do with the Autobots and now with Elita's own unit. Apparently, given the look on Elita's face, it wasn't something that she was particularly happy with, especially when she was mouthing some pretty colorfully explicit descriptions. When she had settled down a bit she passed him the first sheet of paper. The newest notes she made on the paper was a second time Fowler was shocked mute. She had circled the first letter in four of the five names, writing down what they spelled when put together.

M E C H

Author's Note: I don't own the show. Thanks for the reads, views, reviews, and love.