"Circular Formation!" Teama shouted, rolling onto her side, stood up and sliced a Decepticon in half. Bianna stood to her left, Kclayna and Tailen to her right, Rollie came to a screeching halt and transformed back into bot mode, exhausted and covered in energon from helmet to landing pad. Suddenly, the Decepticon's stood with their weapons aimed at them and the world seemed to have gone still. Teama eyed the seemingly endless purple and silver wave of Decepticon forces, horrified of the inevitable fate that waited for her and her sisters.

"Give up, bride of Prime!" A Decepticon shouted from one of the ships. "How foolish! What makes you think any of you can just run from the mighty Decepticons?! From the war?! Each of you are cowards! Unworthy of the sparks pulsating in your spark chambers! Since I'm feeling quiet generous, I'll give you all a chance to redeem yourself, join us to defeat the Autobots!"

Teama found herself and her team surrounded, standing back to back, her grip so tight on the hilt of her primary weapon she imagined it would have left dents in her palms. Although she and her sisters have survived something akin to this, there are more Decepticons and much more weapons in this battle, and there was no chance of their survival. For a moment, Teama contemplated her options. There was only herself and four others against a swarm with much more advanced weaponry and had a heavier lust for energon. Senti had disappeared, sometime ago, into the crowd and Parate and the members of Team Smokescreen were nowhere to be found. A gleam of light caught her attention. Teama's optics looked down at the large bolt painted with hints of blue and red in a shape of a rose on her smallest servo digit, a gift from Optimus just before their wedding ceremony, a sentimental reminder of his love for her.

She rarely relied on his help, but it was even more so that she fought without him. They fought like a strong team trained for battle since activation, watching each other's backs, always careful to not harm the other or not get caught in the crossfire. She wasn't sure if she insisted on joining battles with Optimus because she felt he needed her, or if she couldn't bear the thought of losing him again.

Then, many memories popped up in her processor. The moment she met him at Iacon Hall, the day their servos touched and their optics stared into each other, how her spark soared when she was reunited with him many years later. The love in his optics were the same as they were when they first met. The years they have spent together helped her forget the abuse she endured at Megatron's hands, her troubled sparklinghood of accepting who she was, and the fear she held towards any soldier all faded away into the stars of the galaxy. He is the one thing that made her life seem worthy to fight for, a reason to see the sun again and start anew on Cybertron someday.

Optimus, what would you do? Your Autobots or your freedom?

'Freedom is the right of all sentient beings'.

"CHOOSE!"

"I...I..."

Why is this so hard? Optimus would know what to do. It should not take me this long to figure out a solution. Why is it happening with me? Teama's thought process scrambled trying to find a way out without sacrifice, adrenaline pulsated in her pipes, oil boiled in her stomach pit. Teama, like the Decepticon, grew more agitated the more time she took to decide.

"We would rather die." Kclayna whispered over her shoulder pad. Teama's system grew icey cold and her spark ached at the thought of Kclayna and the others being slayed without so much as a goodbye to Ratchet, Bumblebee, or any member of their family. She wondered what would happen to Optimus if she died right there and then? Or Ratchet? Or Bumblebee?

"I will never succumb to these bastards." Tailen whispered in a harsh tone, her grip tight on her weapon. "Come what may and the rest will work itself out."

Teama turned her head to the left.

"This is one we cannot survive." Teama whispered as softly as she could. "If you get the chance, run back-"

"How can I face my sparklings, or my father, if I chose to flee?" Bianna interrupted with determination in her voice print, her servo digits clicked a button on her weapon. "Besides, I wouldn't be able to even if I tried. It will be my honor to die as my mother did; refusing to be a slave to a bunch of brainwashed tyrants."

No no no no no

Teama looked around again, desperately searching for a way out. A silver or black faceplate in every inch of her sight, weapons aimed, even larger and more powerful weapons from above. Her weapon lowered slightly, memories of her days as Megatron's unwilling consort flooded her memory bank, the pain and humiliation she endured still felt as ripe as a human picks apples and oranges off of trees. Megatron's grip on her was like string tied to a balloon; tied so close together, trapped soaring through the endless sky. The sweet taste of freedom seemed so far away that she believed it would never be her's again.

At least I was alive.

A clank from her landing pads brought her back to reality. She risked a glance down, seeing three different colored landing pads connecting to hers at the heels.

She sighed and shook her head.

Goodbye, my love.

"Then, so be it." A new sense of bravery and determination spiked through her husk, her servos adjusted on Caliber, the nearest Vehicon in her sight, and raised Caliber above her head. "I WILL NOT BECOME A SLAVE! NEVER AGAIN!"

Suddenly, Decpeticon's began to drop out of the sky like flies. Startled, the Decepticon army looked up, some dodged the falling husks, some were crushed underneath the debris. Teama tripped a near by distracted Decepticon and thrusted her sword into his abdomen. The Decepticon next to him lowered his head just as Teama back slapped his faceplate off. Bianna jumped off Teama's back, unleashing a barrel full of blaster fire onto the unsuspecting Decepticons. Rollie transformed back into her ball form and rolled out. Kclayna and Tailen stood back to back, slicing and firing.

"DUCK!" Teama jumped and did a baseball slide past several Vehicons as Senti flew over and kicked the top of a Decepticons head down into the ground, shattering it into bits. She bounced up, backed-kick another into Teama's Caliber before jumping off again. The Decepticon at the edge of Teama's blade squirmed and whimpered in pain, struggling to free himself. Growling like an angered animal, Teama clasped her servos together into a fist and slammed the top of the hilt, making the blade dig deeper into the Decepticon causing him to land on his back with an agonizing scream.

"Stay still." She whispered in a harsh voice print. "I will need you in a moment."

Teama channeled her anger into adrenaline and joined her sisters. Senti, roaring like a beast, slashed at all that stood in her path, moving and jumping at the speed of light. Bianna used her small size to swish underneath the Decepticons, slashing at their joints just in time for Kclayna and Tailen to blast their heads off. Another battle cry from the distance caught Teama's attention just as a larger blue bot landed and crushed two Decepticons under her large landing pads. Tier and Sanna jumped off her shoulder pads and rained red hot blasters into the chaotic swarm. While Teama knocked down as many as she could using her anger and strength. Many attempted to attack, tried to restrain her, but she wouldn't grant them the chance.

Suddenly, Teama jumped back to Caliber and grasped it's hilt.

"Caliber!" Teama screamed so loud it echoed in the ashen twilight. She waited until her sisters had either a weapon or a limb thrusted into a Decepticon, their rose sigils glowed. "Lent me your power! Help me save my sisters!" Teama screamed loudly, a burning sensation coursed through her left servo. Then, she raised her left servo into the air and gave Caliber a sharp twist.

Caliber hummed, the Vehicon struggled beneath her as his parts were being torn away from his husk and became like magnets, sticking to Teama. Piece by piece, Teama's exterior transformed into a bit of a hybrid. Other Decepticon's tried to fire on her and their blaster fire ricocheted off and fired somewhere else. The Decepticon's weapon system connected with hers, the new armor protecting her. Teama fought back the sharp, stabbing pain of the transformation and began to feel stronger, heavier, rejuvenated. Once Caliber had taken all that Teama would need, Teama turned Caliber again and yanked it out. She stood, another Vehicon fired it's weapon, and the blaster bullet bounced off her shoulder pad. Teama swerved around and slashed her sword through a Vehicon, slicing him in half. In the same motion, thrusted it into another bot that decided to jump over the first one.

No exhaustion.

Speed.

Strength.

Stamina.

Senti leaped out of the crowd with a ballet like twirl, a ray of purple light emanated from her heels, holding her own sword out as she sliced the other Vehicon's tried to attack her. Bianna rolled around in her new bits of armor, using it's firing system to attack, blending in almost perfectly with the crowd that the Decepticons were baffled. Rollie, still in her ball form, had black spikes wrapped around her like a sharp ribbon. Kclayna's detachable blades were now connected with electric wires, which seemed to give her a bit of an advantage. Tailen had a bit of a more spring in her step as she jumped up, bounced off from one Decepticon to the next, spinning, twirling and firing at anything that resembled the Decepticon colors. Even Tier and Sanna had new armor on and stronger systems.

"YEE-HAW!" Senti gasped, recognizing that voice print. A second later, a white and gray bot landed in front of her and a bunch of Decepticon heads fell at his landing pads. "Lookin' good, babe."

"You sure took your time gettin' here! I was starting to wonder if you were smart enough to get the message!" She shouted, jumping over WheelJack's head, spun and slashed her sword into the ground. A line of Decepticons were cut in half like a knife cutting a piece of meat. "But I am proud that you can recognize me in this new armor."

"I know my girl inside and out." WheelJack grunted, spinning his swords around and stabbed two Decepticons behind him. His optics looked over Senti's husk. "New look's pretty hot. How long can you look like that?"

"Keep those ideas in your head, lover boy!" She shouted, running back into the crowd.

"Damn right. I'll need 'em for later!" WheelJack shouted, running after her.

Bianna shot up onto her landing pads, took a step back and backed up into a bot. She gasped, tumbled forward and went in for an attack.

"Hey!" Ultra Magnus shouted, barely dodging her attack. "Careful where you point that thing!"

"Dad!" Bianna screamed, kicking up a rock, grabbed it and threw it like a sharp edged baseball, leaving a large hole in a Decepticon's abdomen. Ultra Magnus brought the hammer down onto a Vehicon, his body shattered on impact. Bianna grabbed the head and threw it at a near by Decepticon's abdomen. "Stay close to me, you'll be fine!"

"Now that is my line!"

A smile crept onto Teama's lips. They have a chance. They would survive again.