Disclaimer: Next year, Transformers will turn 20. Next year, I will turn 15. Own Transformers, I most certainly do not.
Author's Note: This fic begins in the middle of the episode "Sacrifice", but without the rain, because I decided to leave that out.
Another Author's Note: I'd just like to give a big shout out to Vanishing Point of the Energon Pub/Demiurgic City at for designing Aurora, Nexa, and their Mini-cons for me!
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"Transform!"
Megatron looked at the now-transformed tactician. "Where are you going, Thrust?"
"I'm going to go see what Starscream's doing, sir!" Thrust replied, flying off.
"That Decepticon looks like he's up to something. Go get rid of him, Aurora." Megatron turned around, surprised to see two femmes behind him, both wearing Autobot symbols. The light blue one turned to the black-and- gold one.
"But, Nexa, don't all Decepticons look like they're up to something?"
"True, but that one looks like he's up to something in particular," the one apparently known as Nexa replied.
"OK then, one Decepticon, going down! Transform!" Aurora transformed into her alt mode, a jet, and went after Thrust. Nexa looked at Megatron.
"So, you've finally noticed we're here, huh? Took you long enough, we've been standing here waiting for a good long while!"
"Who are you?" Megatron asked, glaring at the femme. She shook her head.
"You don't listen well, either! We just called each other by name in our recent conversation, didn't you notice? I suppose I'll have to repeat our names to you, then. I'm Nexa. That jet that's about to send your little squidheaded friend to the scrap heap is Aurora. Did you catch it that time, or must I repeat it again for you?"
"Oh, I caught it," Megatron replied through clenched teeth.
"Very good. Now..." Nexa said, drawing her gun. "Let the slagging commence."
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Thrust knew that was no human's jet tailing him. No, tailing wasn't the right word; tailing suggested the jet was just following him. Thrust knew that was no human's jet chasing him. Thrust knew that was an Autobot, it had to be. He didn't have the slightest clue where they came from, or exactly why they were chasing him, but he knew they were an Autobot, and after him, and that was enough to know to try and excape. But before he had a chance to turn invisible, the Autobot had caught up to him, passed him, and cut him off. They both transformed at the same time and the realization that the sleek, blue jet he'd been trying to escape from was a femme hit Thrust.
"Who are you? Where did you come from?"
"My name is Aurora, and I came from Cybertron, just like you did, silly!" Aurora replied.
"What are you doing here?"
"You sure are fond of asking stupid questions, aren't you?" Aurora replied, smiling happily. "I'm here to be a good Autobot soldier, isn't it obvious? And right now, I'm getting rid of you." She raised her right arm, aiming the gun on her forearm. Thrust transformed into vehicle mod and tried to fly away. He didn't get very far before Aurora's shot hit him in the left wind and he wend down. Aurora lowered her arm, looking a bit disappointed.
"Shouldn't've ran away like that. Makes it far too messy. But then again, he was a Decepticon, I should've expected that he'd run away. He even sounded like a coward! Hmmm.... Nexa must be getting lonely, fighting Megatron by herself, I better go help!" And with that, the femme flew off the way she came.
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Down on the ground, Blurr, Hot Shot, and Sideswipe had seen what happened.
"Who was that?" Sideswipe asked.
"I don't know, but she must be on our side, she shot Thrust down," Blurr replied.
"She? Are you sure it's a femme? I couldn't tell."
"Believe me, Sideswipe, that was a femme, I could tell. My optics are better than yours."
"OK. Hey, bro, you OK?" Sideswipe said, turning to Hot Shot, who was still staring at where Aurora had been. Sideswipe's comment brought him back down to Earth. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and smiled at Sideswipe.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. She just reminded me of someone I used to know, that's all."
"Not another someone you used to know that's supposed to be dead, is it? I certainly hope not, Wheeljack's more than enough."
"Nah, last time I checked, she was alive and well."
"Well, she went that way, do you think we should follow her, or go on ahead?" Blurr interrupted.
"I think that we should follow her," Hot Shot replied.
"I agree with Hot Shot!" Sideswipe said.
"Of course. You'd agree with him if he told you to go jump off the tallest building in Autobot City."
"Oh, I've done that before."
"Done WHAT before?" Blurr asked.
"Jumped off the highest building in Autobot City," Sideswipe replied, then he noticed the odd looks he was getting from Hot Shot and Blurr. "Bungee jumping."
"Oh. OK, that works," Hot Shot said.
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Megatron fired his Leader-1-gun. Nexa dodged to the left, and returned fire. Megatron blocked the shots with his left arm and fired the Leader-1-gung some more. Again, Nexa instinctively dodged to the left. But this time, she didn't return fire, because to Nexa's left was nothing but a very long drop, and sure enough, she fell.
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Blurr did not re-holster his rifle, even though he was quite certain Demolisher was not going to get up of his own accord anytime in the near future. His rifle never should've been holstered in the first place, anyway. He knew there were Decepticons in the area; he should've been entirely ready for an attack. Even though that was more of an accidental intrusion than an attack, he wasn't going to be caught off guard like that again. Although it was Hot Shot that was caught off guard, he still should've had his rifle out and ready. It was a stupid mistake, and even though it hadn't really caused any damage this time, Blurr resolved not to let it happen again.
"Are you OK, bro?" Sideswipe asked Hot Shot. Hot Shot opened and closed his right hand experimentally, ignoring the small sparks coming from the wound Demolisher had inflicted, and nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's only a little more than a scratch, really. Thanks, Blurr, I owe you one." Blurr shrugged.
"It was nothing. What's wrong with you, Hot Shot? You shouldn't have gotten caught off guard like that. Demolisher shouldn't even have had a chance to fire."
"Sorry. I was just thinking, that's all. I guess I got a bit distracted."
Blurr let loose a small sigh to himself. No use in trying to press the matter right now. Maybe later. "OK, let's go."
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"Oof! Gotcha! Really, Nexa, I'd think you'd know you can't fly by now! Good thing I arrived in time to catch you, huh?" Aurora said cheerfully.
"Aurora," Nexa said pausingly. "Just... Get. Me. Down."
"Hmm? Oh, yeah!" Aurora replied with a giggle. "You're afraid of flying! It totally slipped my mind!"
"I... am not... afraid... of flying. I just... severely... dislike it. You would, too... if you ... couldn't. Now, I repeat. Get. Me. Down."
"OK. I assume you didn't beat up Megatron?"
"Oh, no, Aurora, I beat him up! Then I decided to jump off a cliff for fun! Think about it!"
"Well, at least you forgot that we're flying."
"Don't remind me."
"Don't worry, Nexa, I won't drop you! See, we're here." Aurora dropped Nexa, who looked very relieved, onto the cliff where Megatron still was.
"Finally!" Nexa exclaimed.
"Longest 30 seconds of you life, huh?" Aurora asked.
"As a matter of fact, I believe it was," Nexa replied, however further conversation was interrupted by a blast from Megatron. Nexa dodged off to the side, while Aurora merely flew out of the way.
"Temper, temper!" Aurora said, waving her index finger scoldingly, to which Megatron responded with some more rounds from his Leader-1-gun, all of which Aurora neatly dodged. Then Megatron discovered 1st-hand exactly why it's a bad idea to leave an opponent unsupervised when Nexa planted a few rounds into his backside. Angered, the larger transformer whipped around as fast as his bulk would allow him and opened fire on Nexa. Before he fired much, however, another set of rounds was fired into his backside, this time by Aurora. Megatron quickly realized that there was no way he could win this situation.
"Decepticons, retreat," the destructive leader muttered into his comm. link before warping back to the Decepticon's moonbase.
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"So, exactly why did we retreat? That's not part of the plan, is it? And would you mind helping me out here? Demolisher isn't what I would define as a lightweight," Wheeljack asked Cyclonus as he struggled to move the unconscious Decepticon away from the warp gate's exit. Cyclonus shrugged apathetically.
"Hey, why don't you just leave him there? It'd be really funny if somebody came in and tripped over him, wouldn't it? Yeah, just leave him there! We'll move him later, after somebody trips over him! It'll be great!" Cyclonus cackled to himself at the idea. Wheeljack opened his mouth as if to reply when the warp gate activated and Thrust appeared, closely followed by Starscream, who was holding the Star Saber. Thrust stumbled out of the gate and tripped over Demolisher, landing at Wheeljack's feet with a crash, which caused Cyclonus to break out in full mad cackle. Thrust slowly got to his feet, giving Demolisher a kick along the way. Except for Cyclonus' maniac laughter, the warp room was silent.
Then, without warning, Thrust bodily launched himself at Wheeljack, tackling the younger Decepticon to the floor. The ex-Autobot, startled as he was at the sudden assault, was not long in fighting back against the cone-headed transformer. Cyclonus started cheering for Wheeljack, while Starscream watched the scuffle in silence, still standing in the warp gate. Wheeljack threw Thrust off him and scrambled to his feet, drawing his gun and pointing it at the tactician's head in one quick movement.
"What was that for?!" Wheeljack asked angrily. Thrust glared back at him.
"You think you're clever, don't you?" Thrust said contemptuously.
"What are you talking about?!"
"Demolisher. You put him there, didn't you? Just so I'd trip over him! You got a kick out of that, didn't you? You thought I wouldn't catch you! You thought I wouldn't notice you standing right there! Do you think I'm stupid?" Thrust shouted accusingly.
"I think you're crazy, that's what I think!" Wheeljack shot back.
"You haven't got much room to talk, you psychopath!" Thrust countered.
"You have got to be kidding! And if I was a psychopath, do you really think it'd be wise to accuse me like that?" Thrust just glared silently at Wheeljack in response. Wheeljack sighed and sheathed his gun. He walked over to the warp gate, grabbed Demolisher's arm, and began dragging him away again.
"What are you doing?" Starscream asked Wheeljack. Wheeljack ceased dragging Demolisher and looked at Starscream.
"Taking Demolisher to CR. In case you hadn't noticed, he needs it," he answered.
"Well, at the rate you're going it's going to take a long time."
"It's still faster than if I just leave him there for someone else to get."
"Hmmm... you do have a point there," Starscream said, nodding to himself. The Seeker then released the Star Saber, which split into the Air Defense team. He strode out of the warp gate, the Mini-cons following, and grabbed hold of Demolisher's other arm. Wheeljack looked at him, confused.
"What are you doing?"
"Helping. In case you hadn't noticed it, you need it." Wheeljack chuckled a little to himself and nodded.
"Fair enough."
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"OK, so that's 1.5 me, .5 you for this planet, right?" Aurora asked. Nexa nodded.
"Looks like I've got some catching up to then, huh?" Aurora giggled and nodded, then Nexa held her hand up for silence.
"What is it, Nexa?" Aurora asked.
"I heard something." The two femmes stood in silece for a while, and then Nexa nodded. "This'll make us even," she said as she aimed her gun down the path and fired.
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"What in the name of Primus was that?" Sideswipe asked, shaking.
"Gunshot," Blurr said matter-of-factly, however no one took much notice of him.
"Sideswipe, calm down," Hot Shot said.
"Calm down?" Sideswipe asked. "Calm down?! I nearly get my head blown off and you expect me to-"Hot Shot put his hand over Sideswipe's mouth before Sideswipe got much farther.
"Yes, actually, I do, because if you don't, you'll give our position away. Now, Sideswipe, have you calmed down now?" Sideswipe nodded and Hot Shot removed his hand. In the silence that followed voices floated down the path.
"Did ya get 'em?"
"Probably."
"I think you should go check."
"OK, now listen. I want both of you to be quiet and leave this to me, OK?" Hot Shot asked. Blurr and Sideswipe nodded. "Hey, Nexa, you're supposed to fire at Deceptiocns, not Autobots! Good thing your aim's bad, or you might have some serious explaining to do!" the yellow mech shouted, resulting in looks of surprise from his companions and the distinct noise of something being dropped followed by muttered curses.
"Hot Shot? Is that really you?" Aurora shouted.
"Yup!" Hot Shot shouted back.
"Hmmm... Pity I missed then," Nexa said.
"Nexa!" Aurora shouted.
"Fancy running into you two here, huh?" Hot Shot shouted, obviously ignoring Nexa's comment. "Hey, the rest of the crew's not here, are they?" He added, much less jovially after a small pause.
"Oh, no, it's just us two," Aurora replied.
"That's odd. Any idea why?" Hot Shot asked.
"Nope."
"Hey, do you know what else is odd? That you've managed to make it this far without doing something stupid enough to get you killed!" Nexa said snidely.
"Nexa!" Aurora shouted.
"Well, it's amazing that you haven't shriveled up and died of old age yet!" Hot Shot shot back.
"Hot Shot!" Aurora shouted.
"Hey, why don't you quit hiding behind some rock and come out here and talk to us to our faces?" Nexa demanded.
"Nexa!" Aurora shouted.
"What?" Nexa shouted back.
"Put that gun away!"
"Oh, fine, fine. Not like I was aiming to kill, anyway."
"Nexa!" Aurora shouted again. Hot Shot chuckled to himself a little.
"Is it safe to come out now?" he asked, smiling.
"Oh, yeah, of course it is. Don't pay any attention to Nexa," Aurora answered.
"I try not to," Hot Shot replied, standing up. He gestured to Sideswipe and Blurr to follow him. The yellow Autobot led them up the path to where Aurora and Nexa were. Nexa glared at them. "Hi," Hot Shot said with a small wave.
"Hot Shot!" Aurora squealed happily, ensnaring the young 'bot in a hug before he had a chance to do anything about it.
"Ummm... it's, uh, nice to see you, too, Aurora," he said, obviously embarrassed.
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Well, that was fun wasn't it?
Hot Shot: I really hate you sometimes... -.-
AF: Oh, come on, Hot Shot, you've got an attractive femmebot glomping you! What's to be upset about?
Hot Shot: I'll never hear the end of this from Sideswipe, for one...
Sideswipe: You better believe it!
Hot Shot: See?
AF: Oh, just you wait, Hot Shot, it gets even better...
Hot Shot: Like what?
AF: Well, in the next chapter, most of the rest of the Autobots show up, Jetfire starts taking some small steps towards driving Optimus loony, Nexa makes even more snarky comments, and there's blackmailing! What's not to love?