"This is how we do it, it's Friday night and I feel all right, the party's here on the West side...If you are from where I'm from than you would know, that I gotta get mine in a big black truck, you can get yours in a '64. Whatever it is, the party's underway. So tip up your cup, and throw your hands up, and let me hear the party say..."

Montell Jordan

"Once again, I find myself with my friends, dancing the night away it's like the party never ends. Then again, we don't want it to stop...Oh my, starry-eyed surprise sundown to sunrise, dance all night. We're gonna dance all night, dance all night to this DJ...C'mon the fun has just begun."

Paul Oakenfield

Like a wonderful family reunion, male and female Autobots hugged and laughed and cried to see each other. Optimus hugged his old girlfriend for ten minutes, refusing to let her go. Lyra was glad that their leader decided to accompany them, once Chromia pointed out the uselessness of their trip without the one who cracked the Decepticon code. In a rare moment of generosity Elita-1 brought them all. This was a huge strain on Lyra, being the one who had to keep the space bridge guardian Shockwave busy while yelling instructions on how to use the controls to an agitated Chromia. She was also saddled with the task of confusing Dirge and Thrust and tying them up. Looking around, she saw it was worth it. Powerglide swooped down and spun Moonracer in the air. Moonracer squealed and hugged him in glider mode, grinning. She brought Nova to his attention after a moment, and he did the same action with her. Nova was not as pleased to see him. Lyra was fascinated.

The ex-Seeker was out of luck: her brother was on patrol, coming in later that evening. It was a joy to see the familiar Autobots she'd been unable to meet and talk to during her last stay on earth, though. Jazz told her she was cute. The vainglorious Sunstreaker vocally agreed, lecherously proclaiming he was sorry he was dating another. Lyra saw that there had been quite a bit of partner swapping, but a few remained constant, one of them being the beautiful silver Mercuria and Mirage. To her relief, she discovered through Optimus (who finally allowed Elita to escape) that those who knew kept silent and others knew as little about her as the femmes.

They had finished debriefing the schematics and were planning a raid when the last of the patrol radioed home. The sun set gloriously in front of them, casting long shadows over the ark, when a dust cloud appeared encroaching the entryway. Hound, Bumblebee, a large jet, and two cars pulled up from different directions at the same time. One of the unidentified cars presented himself as Wheeljack. Mirage transformed and ran to her, arms open. They hugged forever, babbling all at once as they tried to catch up on a few million dormant and two frustrating years apart. He was glad she was free. She told him she'd missed him.

She wanted to tell him more but Mercuria and other femmes were clawing at the handsome mech for attention. Bumblebee hugged her next, excitedly telling her how much she'd changed.

"You have wings!" He reached up and grabbed the left one, shaking it. Upon her capture Lyra (Oasis) had been turned into a jet (Mishap), with wings hidden. Starscream had pulled them out of subspace the last time he repaired her, claiming it was ridiculous to be a jet and pocket them. They made her feel conspicuous here, more of a minority. The next Autobot she talked to, Hound, barely knew her, being one of the new Autobots in Mirage's circle of friends. He introduced her to a huge white robot with large wings and red accents.

"Skyfire, this is Lyra."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," she said, unaware of the name's significance, having repressed as many memories of late night talks with Starscream as possible. Skyfire was stymied. There was something so reassuring about her, as though he were being reunited with a long-lost friend. He could not stop staring. She had no idea, turning to see her relative again as he was affectionately greeting the seafoam female she detested.

Perceptor blocked her view by jumping in front of her to shake her hand. He was eager to meet her. "I heard you were the one who learned the space bridge configurations so quickly." He complimented.

"Yes, their code required a multi-level matrix and algorithm mix, coupled with a fabricated astral coordination system." Lyra tried to see past the large red mech to catch Mirage's eye and failed. He was laughing and joking with as many femmes as possible.

"Remarkable!" Perceptor's optics brightened considerably. An Autobot who could talk shop was a rare commodity. "I have a lab here. Perhaps you would be interested in a tour of it?"

Lyra surrendered to the idea of catching her brother later, affably accepting the invitation. Skyfire offered to tag along, being an active participant in Perceptor's lab himself. As the scientist lead the way, Skyfire tried to converse with the lovely blue jet.

"Do you like earth?" Skyfire's voice stirred something in her, made her circuits tingle. It really was a soft, sweet voice. It reminded her of the dark, quiet moments she had alone when she looked at the stars on Cybertron. Something else-

She focused on his inquiry. He obviously thought she had never seen it before. She tried to be positive. "Amazing life forms."

"Nothing like Cybertron." His tone conveyed a deeper meeting. She tried to smile and not be flustered at his peaceful expression. Thinking fast, Lyra asked Perceptor what projects he had going right now. He was delighted to catalogue his various works, occasionally updated or corrected by his large white associate.

"Here it is!" Perceptor threw the door open and waved his arm with a flourish. Lyra was impressed. Starscream's lab was a smaller, more intimate room, but with more clutter and fewer Autobots. As both of her tour guides showed her every impressive object, the laboratory was inundated with a builder looking for spare parts, one of the maintenance 'bots for oil, or one of the medics needing a machine for last-minute repairs.

It was Ratchet, looking for a new set of soldering irons. Lyra went to re-introduce herself. As they caught up Skyfire noticed Hound in the doorway, motioning to him to come over.

"Well?" he whispered, smiling. Skyfire tailing someone else! This had to be investigated.

"She doesn't say much." Skyfire was intrigued. Lyra was bright. The talkative Perceptor seemed to be more her type, more her size, too; but she had no deeper interest in him. Something pulled him to her. It was a familiar feeling. "I suppose she's a thinker."

"Buddy, I've been hearing all sorts of weird things from the femmes about her. From what they say, she's not a relationship-builder." He noticed her animatedly talking to Ratchet and changed his mind. "On the other hand, anyone who can get that cranky medic to smile can't be too bad."

"Ahem-excuse me." Optimus Prime stood behind them, trying to pass. As he entered, he was cheerfully greeted. "Perceptor, I see you have met our new guests." The microscope nodded. "Spike suggested we give them a Welcome Wagon."

"What's that?" asked Ratchet.

"A party!" A young human ran up behind Optimus Prime and leapt in the air, fist pumping ecstatically. Disgusted, Lyra backed away from the species Starscream called 'germs'. Only Optimus caught that. "Spike, have you met Lyra?" The human walked up to her and held his hand out. Lyra, with an explanation, shook it, trying to get over her prejudice. It was so small.

"Hello, Spike." She smiled. The human was warm, soft. Not at all the way she pictured one of them. He even looked nice. What had she been afraid of?

Optimus turned to Perceptor. "Do you think you'll have enough energon produced in time?"

"If I have a few extra assistants, I project I will." Many volunteered and the rest of the party plans came into order in a matter of minutes. Lyra helped Perceptor harness energon from the volcano-powered recharge plates (although looking at them reminded Lyra of another larger, finer, officer's plate. She should not be thinking this. Perceptor, although friendly, merely annoyed her with his grandiose ringmastering. She longed for the relative silence of Starscream's lab and chamber, hating the noise and bustle that was like the Cybertonium pit with the volume set too high. Skyfire caught her attention more than once with his quiet gentility. He seemed too noble to be here, especially to move energon cubes from place to place. He reminded her of someone else who seemed too good for his post. His optics met hers and she smiled at him. Confused, he looked away. Lyra was embarrassed; perhaps she had offended him). The others moved the cubes to the 'bonfire' site, and Blaster and Spike grabbed wires wherever they found them for another project. When they were finished Perceptor asked Bumblebee to escort Lyra to the site, for he had other tasks at hand. He would join them later.

"That means he'll never show," explained the bright yellow mech, unconcerned with the task of baby-sitting Perceptor gave him. "C'mon, I hear Snoop Dogg playing."

The hook of "Gin and Juice" was playing when Mirage and Mercuria, accompanied by a slew of Autobots, arrived at the bonfire that night. They looked around and sat farthest away from the area Lyra was sitting. She tried not to appear hurt by this. Hard to do when Nova and Moonracer were in the thick of all of it.

Spike, the human that hung around the Autobots, was with another human, this one having wheels. They were typing on a laptop computer hooked to Blaster. "We're taking requests!" Spike announced.

"BTO!" hollered Bumblebee.

"You ain't seen nothin' yet..." Blaster's radio emanated. Lyra was thrilled. She had forgotten how much some Autobots love music and socializing. (Most, probably all, now that the war gave them each a private hell, drank spiked energon alone and never smiled.) Mirage's large clique contained the Lamborghini brothers, Bluestreak, Trailbreaker, Hound, and most of the females. Chromia was with Ironhide in the higher-ranking officials such as Prowl and Jazz. The smaller robots clumped together. There were those who mingled, and those who were loners. Lyra noticed that both leaders were missing.

"I couldn't dance for another..." There appeared to be a preference for American pop music within the last fifty years, thanks to the earthlings. The next song, at Jazz's esoteric request, was Marvelous Three's "Sugarbuzz." Everyone who knew it yelled the lyrics as loud as they could, the rest catching on to it easily. The majority could carry a tune, unlike their tone-deaf foes. The few Decepticons who truly enjoyed earth music (Soundwave and his tapes) seemed to like everything, but one song was Rumble's favorite, and when there was a window Lyra asked Chip to play Fat Joe's "What's Luv?" He smiled at her, but Blaster regarded her suspiciously.

"How does a Cyber-chick like you know hip-hop?" he demanded as Ashanti sang the chorus.

She just smiled and turned away as some sat, others bopped. When it was done, some of the strangest Autobots she had ever seen began to chant as one. "Me want Barney! Me want Barney!"

Blaster, exasperated, yelled back, "I am NOT playing Barney!"

"Red Green! Red Green!"

"Fine. At least it's not Barney. Chip?" The one with wheels was bent over the laptop, laughing.

Skyfire, back from his shift as guardian of the energon, had finished making his rounds and saw the blue femme sitting by herself at the fire, hands on her knees and expression pensive. He cornered Hound, dragged him over to her, and both of them sat down.

"Well there are many things you should never do, like don't eat stuff that came off of your shoe. Don't take a nap in the middle of the road, and don't ever lick a toad..." The large Autobots who demanded the song gleefully sang along, to Lyra's amusement.

"Who are they?" she asked.

"They're the Dinobots," explained Hound. Why did HE have to talk to her? He elbowed Skyfire. As the large Autobot told her a brief history of them, Optimus and Elita-1 came out of the ark and made an appearance.

"How is everything?" Prime asked. He was met with cheers.

"Optimus, we're taking song requests," Spike called. "Do you have any?"

Prime deferred to Elita, who shook her head. "How about Kansas?"

"Carry On Wayward Son?" Chip asked, knowing the significance of the song to Optimus.

"Affirmative." They did not sit down, staying where they were, declining the offers for the best spots. "Carry on, my wayward son. For there'll be peace when you are done. Lay your weary head to rest. Now don't you cry no more..." The hard guitar riffs and 1970's style pageantry belied the message the Autobots seemed to all take to spark: they were lost and confused, fighting their fates wearily with no type of reinforcement save the voices in the Matrix of leadership. "Carry on, you will always remember. Carry on, nothing equals the splendor. Now your life's no longer empty: surely heaven waits for you..." This piece had a lot of self-doubt in it, revealing a deeper side of Optimus that Lyra preferred not to know. Blaster broke her reverie with "The Devil went Down to Georgia," motivating them to clap along. Lyra noticed Skyfire and Hound were talking to each other and saw her chance. She escaped before they noticed. As she left the area she heard strains of "Bohemian Rhapsody" beginning. Laserbeak's favorite.

She caught up with Prowl on his way to the first shift of night lookout. "Not interested in the campfire?" Prowl asked, voice light but face serious. She shook her head to refrain from explaining to him that she did not travel all these light years to do what the Decepticons did on a regular basis.

"When I fee-eel the times a ways to go-oh..." The mechs were singing along with Blaster as loud as they could. Prowl smiled at the sound. "They're a great group of guys."

"Yeah." Lyra sat with him and made more small talk until his shift was over. He invited her to rejoin the group, and she refused. "Have you ever seen a thug in the club with a bottle turned up, head bobbin like-" The party was going strong. Red Alert came over next and asked a million questions about Cybertron, and just how serious were Inferno and Firestar? Nova shrugged.

Next in line were the joint team of Hoist and Grapple. They talked only to each other, requesting she scout a higher point. Nova complied, searching the sky for any type of movement. Still nothing.

She wondered what she would say if he came for her. Her first inclination would probably to transform and takeoff in his wake. Lyra knew everything would be smoother if she never saw him again, but the longing was intense. Stronger than on Cybertron. Hope is a terrible thing, never allowing progress in life. She rationalized that she didn't want to see him anyway. Besides, after today's space bridge attack Megatron would want to retaliate. The night seemed peaceful. It mocked her. The next watchman, Windcharger, explained that the Decepticons did not move as quickly as they used to, giving the Autobots more leisure time. When he left it was six in the morning and the party was winding down with Blaster playing syrupy love songs to anybody who made a couple. "For you I'd bleed myself dry." What dreck! Andromeda, the medic of the female group with a protective streak, approached with an over-energized Sideswipe and handed Lyra a small cube. The exquisite lavender femme hinted that she was working too hard. The party was over; she'd missed a lot of fun.

"I'm not trying to be antisocial," Lyra explained, sipping her cube.

"Well, to be honest, you are. Teletraan-1 will notify us of any Decepticon activity. Get some rest." She grabbed Sideswipe's arm and dragged him away. "That's an order!" Andromeda was ranked third in the hierarchy, and knew Lyra's rigid training would make her comply. Sighing, Lyra took her cube and passed oncoming sentry Skyfire.

"Hello," he reached out his arm in greeting. "Leaving already?"

She smiled at him. He was a little buzzed. "Obeying orders."

"Will you obey orders while you grace me with your presence?" That sounded good to her. The females constantly hassled her about her blind obedience, maybe now was the time to change. Nova nodded and sat down next to him on the rock. The sun would rise in a couple of hours, but the sky was lightening up already to a smoother blue. To her relief, Skyfire didn't say much as they sat there, merely looking at the stars as he sat next to her. Lyra liked it.

"Skyfire!" A smaller red robot rolled up and transformed. "Optimus said-oh, hi." The jet introduced Cliffjumper, whose regard changed from wary surprise to unmitigated contempt. He requested Skyfire a moment of privacy. Lyra said she needed to rest anyway and immediately turned invisible. Cliffjumper, to his dismay, did not know if she was around to hear what he'd heard about her from the femmes.

"Isn't this a lovely morning?" Skyfire leaned back on his arms, waiting for the onslaught.

Cliffjumper regarded him carefully. "Lovely? What kind of word is that? Lovely. Like the female?" He watched for Skyfire to take the bait. "Not a lot of friends, though." Skyfire ignored him. "She seems a little...solitary."

"So do I," Skyfire commented, coming down from his slight energizing. "Get to the point."

"Just thought that you should know, nobody likes her, she's a total jerk." Cliffjumper's first attempt at tact failed. "I was wrong about Mirage, though."

Skyfire glanced at the ark entrance. Something made him want to find her. She drew him to her. "If Optimus has faith in her, so do I."

"OK." Cliffjumper had said his peace. Skyfire was on his own. "What's that?" he asked, pointing into the clouds. A few bright lights twinkled in the distance.

"It couldn't be-" Teletraan's alarm blared an interruption.

"Decepticons!" yelled Cliffjumper, dashing towards the base.