Twelve days... It took me twelve days to write chapter 18... that has to be some sort of record for me these days. Welp, not got much else to say, hope you all enjoy!


Kia remained lifeless for a few long, tense minutes.

The humans, even those in the gas masks, had migrated to the walls of the cavern, keeping their distance from the Cybertronians and Harpies.

Their caution was well founded, the monochrome twins were acting… volatile, looming over their companion, a low, shrill hiss coming from their vocaliser every time Ratchet so much as moved towards anything on their companions frame that they seemed to deem as not something the medic should not be touching, the variables of which seemed to have no set criteria.

Already a faux kick had left a new set of gouges in the concrete after he'd gone to tilt the downed femmes helm to the side by pulling on one of the protrusions.

So far the CMO had only been able to perform the most basic of scans, anything that tried to scan past the outer level of armour seemed to set the monochrome twins off, and they'd give him another faux charge, protrusions flared and those wicked hooked denta bared, ready to bite.

Ratchet's patience was well known for being thin, but he seemed to be holding himself together fairly well, especially after performing a quick scan on the monochrome twins themselves, after having first noticed the shift in behaviour.

He'd called over to his Prime then. His scan revealing that part of their processor had shifted, warping their mentality for the time being, the evidence of which being the aggressive, defensive nature they were displaying, a subconscious alteration to their personality that seemed to of even caught them off guard.

It was not just those three that had them concerned though, the three Harpies minicon companions, all three of them, had taken to the air, and were lazily circling above, their own predatory optics trained on them, pinning them in place.

It caused the chamber to be filled with a sense of unease, one that seemed to of even finally cowed Ironhide's temper into easing.

Conversation had all but died after Ratchet's announcement of the Harpies altered mental state, the only ones still talking in hushed tones being Jazz and the human, Maggie Madsen, the smaller mech had followed the humans to the side of the chamber, and had begun speaking to the woman in hushed tones, introducing them all properly to the humans, before focusing more on the tiny sparkling that had sliced part of the woman's ear off.

She was still evidently shaken by the whole ordeal, all the humans were, the one who had shot at the twins stayed close to her, a cloth from one of the remaining staff of the base wrapped tight around his hand, the white cloth already blotched with red.

Jazz had actually activated his holoform at some point, it had startled the humans, and the warble of fear from the rotund dark skinned male had been loud enough for the twins helm to of snapped around, it had been a sickeningly twisted angle, looking directly behind them as their protrusions flared out, making their helm look notably larger.

Optimus was certain he'd seen Ironhide flinch, despite not being the one under the direct gaze of the monochrome twins at that time.

But it had had the effect the twins had seemingly wanted, the human male, cowed by the sudden attention, had since remained deathly silent, even after the twins helm had shifted back around to focus on Ratchet and their downed companion.

The near silence was like a stated rule, not to be broken.

By some mercy of Primus, Kia's rousing was sudden, her frame lurching forwards with a half formed scream, one wing snapping out as the other was bent into an unnatural position to support her now seated form as her vents laboured to cool down her frame from the sudden burst of heat that had emanated from her.

It seemed to snap their companions out of their haze too, their helm shaking from side to side before calibrating and moving forwards to offer their own wings to help their friend rise. "Kia? … What… happened?" The concern in the twins combined voices had only strengthened after their initial panic, and even as the struts edges caught against one another, and Kia was hauled up to her shaky pedes, the femme didn't reply, swaying slightly from side to side, wings hanging low to their sides as their helm drooped.

Optimus felt himself lean in closer, if only by a fraction, the smaller of the two Harpies seemed to be mumbling, helm swaying from side to side like a slow shake of the helm, their own wings had latched onto their companion for support, the long metallic feathers obscuring her as she bowed forwards in on herself, seeming to desperately clinging onto the solid state of their companion.

It would seem though, that even the twins couldn't make out what they were saying as they tried to keep their companion upright, though with their limited dexterity, that seemed to be a losing battle. "C'mon Kia. Kia, stay with us… damnit what are you rambling on about?!" Aria's voice was a myriad of things, stress, panic, alarm and desperation.

"Qu'est-ce que ça t'a fait?" Wren seemed to add, but the meaning was lost to him in that moment.

Ratchet was standing close by still, carefully running a few scans on the three femmes, but he suddenly seemed to stop himself and look to Optimus with an expression passed alarm. "Optimus… all traces of the Allspark… are gone."

All heads and helms seemed to turn, even the Harpies looked to the medic, their protrusions lowered and small frowns on their features.

Kia then looked down at herself, seemingly steadying herself as she let go of her companion and taking a step back, wings instead coming up to rub against her chassis. "But… she's in there… I-I heard her…" Her voice was quiet, soft as a breeze, yet weighed heavy with exhaustion, before a moment of realisation came and they turned sharply, too quickly really, back to their companion, their balance thrown off for a moment as they made bodily contact with the twins, who seemed to reflexively try to hold them.

The words that came next, were heavy with dread. "Arien… We... We have to find all the relics… they kept… chanting and chanting… the relics… the relics… all them… all of the ones that brought us here…"

The sound of aggravation that came from the twins was sharp, when they spoke, their joined tone was desperate, pleading. "Then we're stuck here… it was the fluke that we found this one! Surely it has the power to send you back! Did they at least tell you that when this was all other we could go back?! Go home?! Kia! Answer us please! If we find these things… can we go home?! It's… it's been too long already…" They were getting riled up, plating flaring out and posture becoming tense, somehow even more desperate as they tried to process this new information.

Even with their optics obscured by their pitch black visor, when Kia looked up to them, even he could see the look of absolute devastation on her features. "I… I don't know… I couldn't see anything… I couldn't breathe let alone talk… scream… I couldn't… do anything… Aria… Wren… I…" They shook their helm, trailing off.

The twins let out a vent and with their wing, patted their companion on the shoulder plating. "We'll figure this out… we're not mad… but we need to get moving… the other humans will be returning soon."

The twins turned to them then, Aria's wing strut sliding under Kia's wing, supporting their companion on their shaking pedes. "Ira has already dealt with the two Decepticons attacking the Cosmopolitan… the building is a complete loss. You know your way to the bunker, Bumblebee might still be there, if not he'll hopefully be in the surrounding area."

They were saying goodbye.

These were departing pleasantries.

Stepping forwards he finally spoke. "You mentioned other relics, would in not make sense to stay in contact to provide aid to one another in finding them?"

The twins chuffed out a vent at that. "Maybe. But not now. Though if we're permitted to make a suggestion, move to Europe, we have more power there, if you're ever in trouble, we can pull a few strings to clean up any messes you make."

That, was an exceedingly generous offer.

Ratchet seemed to notice this too, and spoke up. "There's a catch there."

Kia snorted from her place being propped up by their companions. "But of course... Wren?"

The twins nodded and Wren spoke this time. "Protection. The Decepticons as you call them, should of had no way of knowing where we were based. Fernando is working with them, he knows our prefered places of residence, he knows our mode of operation, he knows how we do what we do. And he has ever intention of killing all of us. Ira was able to see off the two attacking the Hotel, but she's taken heavy damage, we're not built for war and conflict, we are built for kinetic flight, we're... brittle." Wren lifted her mangled braced pede for a moment as an example before tentatively setting it back down. "We're not built for sustained conflict. You are."

Ironhide stepped up to his side then. "You mentioned this Fernando before, who is he?"

Kia chuckled. "My younger brother, and he's been gunning for my head ever since I took over the family empire from our home Earth."

Ratchet turned to him then. "The Allspark is inside her Prime, dormant it may be, it is in there… we can't risk the Decepticons discovering that the Allspark isn't still missing… let alone allow them to kill her, or worse, figure out how to use her as a conduit for the Allsparks power."

A low hum came from the twins. "Hadn't thought of that added incentive… What do you say, Optimus Prime?" Aria called out. "We scratch your back, you scratch ours, it's a mutually beneficial agreement. We make sure the human Governments keep their greasy hands off you, and you be our dashing knights in shining armour?"

There really wasn't another option to this situation, so, he nodded. "Very well, until such a day when seeing each other is necessary, may I suggest that you at least obtain Ratchet's com signal, so that he may monitor from a distance, all four of you."

That would be his condition, they'd searched for the Allspark for so long, they couldn't let it slip away again without knowing that it's new vessel was safe.

The three femmes regarded each other for a moment before Kia nodded.

Ratchet sent him a confirmation over their own com-link to let him know the connection had been made.

They were turning to the tunnel that would lead the three out into the open air, the three minicons already circling lower in preparation for their departure.

Yet the twins turned their helm back to them, again the twist being one of a disconcerting degree. "A further word of advice, don't stick around, get to either Mexico, or Canada, from there we can have a plane ready to go within a day of arrival at any international airport. The US Government is not going to take kindly to what we've done this night."

"You're damn right about that!" One of the humans suddenly popped up from their place by the wall.

Their presence suddenly being brought back to attention was a bit jarring, all frames turning to regard the man dressed in black garb and black hat, he seemed ready to burst. "Heads are going to roll for this! Namely yours!"

Kia snorted at that, before her expression hardened. "Winston, you know what to do."

One of the humans wearing the gas mask stepped forwards, and pulled the assault rifle from their back, with practiced ease the safety was flipped off.

The reaction from the detained humans was almost instant, each reacting to the motion towards them in fear.

Jazz reacted first, grabbing hold of Mrs Madsen in his actual form, and holding the startled woman close to his chassis, Optimus knew he was trying to protect the sparkling that had fused with her organic form.

The rest of the humans, had no such foreign aid, and were each quickly grabbed by the rest of the humans who's faces were obscured, and seemed to being split up.

Caught in their own surprise, he and his mechs could only watch as the armoured members and Mr Keller were separated from the Government agents and the few remaining Scientists who'd not even made a noise during the whole fiasco.

Only then did he speak. "What are you doing?"

Kia turned her helm to him, expression eerily blank. "Witnesses are loose ends."

Whatever was supposed to happen after that statement, was too fast for them to fully catch.

Needles were drawn from the pockets of the units with red crosses on their shoulders, the caps popped, and the thin needles stuck directly into the back of the detained humans necks.

Soon enough, each one was unconscious and being hefted over the shoulders of one of the humans, the previous split now being shown by the different units as they moved to stand by the Harpies.

The only one left was Mrs Madsen, who seemed to be frozen in place on her knees in Jazz's servos.

There was a long beat of silence then, before the twins turned to their humans. "Move out. You all know the location of the emergency rendezvous."

The humans not carrying their unconscious brethren seemed to salute, right hand banging twice against their shoulder armour before they began moving, marching towards the tunnel exit at an heightened pace.

Only once the last few had entered the tunnel, did the twins release Kia, shifting onto all fours again before easily slipping into the tunnel, Kia going first, the twins taking up the end.

A few moments later, the black and white tail feathers of the twins disappeared into the darkness, leaving only the sound of the large group leaving echoing back into the chamber.

All of his mechs were looking to him now, waiting for his call on the matter.

That focus was broken by the human currently perched in Jazz's servo. "Glen? They… They even took Glen… And I didn't do anything..."

He looked closely at the human woman then, hunched over, arms wrapped around herself, like that alone could hold her together.

The melancholy he felt then was heavy, letting out a low vent, he gestured for his mechs to move out.

There was nothing left for them here.

All they had, was a little sparkling that had merged with this human woman.

And many, many unanswered questions.

The Harpies had promised to answer them once this was all over.

Evidently, with the apparent destruction of the Cosmopolitan, that notion was firmly off the table.

All they could do now, was follow the advice of these enigmas, and hope for the best.

Jazz set Mrs Madsen down before transforming into his alt mode, opening his passenger side door for the woman, who tentatively slipped inside.

With their new charges safely within Jazz, Optimus made his own move for the tunnel, transforming down into his own alt mode, his front lights illuminating the dark tunnel beyond as he drove onwards.

"Jazz? How is Mrs Madsen?" He sent to his first lieutenant.

"Not to good Prime, she's pretty shook up, probably needs to ingest something to make up for all the blood she lost when the sparkling got her audio disk."

Hmm, that was a good point, they would have to find suitable sustenance for their new charge sooner rather than later.

Hopefully Bumblebee's wider experience with the humans would be able to help them with that issue.

Eventually, they reached the exit to the tunnel.

The base of the damn was where the electricity generated by the massive structure was sent out towards the human cities.

A place he quickly realised, was the location of a tense standoff.

The Harpies were still there, Kia behind the twins, being held back, their human forces having drawn their arms to something ahead and being obstructed by the Harpies large wingspans.

The humans they'd had knocked unconscious at least, seemed to have been surrounded in a separate protective circle just within their sight from his position at the end of the tunnel.

Out of sight of whatever the twins were blocking from view.

Only as his engine shifted to idle, did he properly hear the sharp discourse occuring before them.

"-She's a pretty little thing hmm? The blonde I snatched her from didn't even try to stop me once I had a knife to her throat!" It was a mech who was speaking, one he didn't recognise the vocal range of, though what he did know was that it was that same uncanny way the Harpies voices were off.

It was another Avian.

Slowly he allowed his own transformation to take place, finally reaching a height where he could look over the monochrome twins raised wings.

What he saw caused his spark to seize for a moment.

This new mech was smaller, more Ratchet's height.

But size was irrelevant when the mechs secondary limbs held Mikaela, one talon in particular being pressed directly into her neck.

Even from this distance he could see the sliver of blood that ran down her neck and stained her charred blouse.

The rest of his unit transformed behind him, without even thinking he held out a servo to hold them back, they couldn't see what he could.

The silence that followed the mechs statement held for a few moments longer before he seemed to become even more irate, flaring out a wing of his own in a display, trying to bait a reaction. "Well? Huh… still as frigid a bitch always huh Aria? Or was it Wren? I can't remember, which one of you is the real one again?"

He was fairly certain he heard the concrete between the twins talons crack, but he didn't dare check and take his optics off where Mikaela was holding herself stiff, eyes locked on his, filled with terror and pleading him to help.

He could only return a look of sympathy, there was nothing he could do, he couldn't risk the mech slicing her head off.

He wouldn't forgive himself if his actions led to a young life like hers being snuffed by his kinds war.

"Aaaah~ Still a sore spot huh peras? Still don't like it when people call you out?"

Kia finally spoke up them, pushing herself harder against their companions extended wing. "Fernando… I swear I would kill you where you stand if…"

"Ah ah ah! I'm not done speaking with Aria, wait… no… it was Wren your mother and father wanted, Aria is the one they tried to…"

"Watch your tongue Fernando." Wren suddenly spat out, the words laced with hatred and venom.

Optimus felt himself recoil slightly, even though the words hadn't been directed at him, the compulsion to move away was powerful.

There was bad energon between those before himself and his unit and it was moments from reaching it's ignition point, with Mikaela caught in the middle of it.

His inner building panic was ignored by those before him as Fernando seemed to take pride in Wren's reaction. "Oh? What? Just because we're on a new Earth doesn't mean I'm going to forget the kind of freak you are, or what you did to me!"

"How are you even here Fernando? You disappeared six months before we were sent here." Aria snapped, ignoring the mechs accusation.

Were it not for the familiarly pitch black visor the mech wore, Optimus was certain he'd have seen the mechs optics narrow as he leaned forwards for a moment. "Like I'd tell you. Stop pretending there's two knocking around in there you peras."

He heard Ratchet mutter something under his vents but couldn't pick exactly what his CMO was saying.

"Enough of this. What are you even doing here Fernando? Your 'buddies' turned tail and ran after Ira took out the two fliers, and now you're standing here, in the middle of a stand off you've got no chance of winning. Personally, there's a thousand different things we could be doing right now, but of course, your stupid, bitter, arse has gone and parked itself in a no win situation for itself." Wren snapped.

Fernando snorted at the assumption. "Oh? And why do you say that?"

He could hear the smirk in their voice when Wren spoke this time. "Contrairement à vous, nous ne prenons pas de risques. Amélie, Ana, les cibles sont marquées."

He didn't understand the meaning himself, but in the moment it seemed to take the mech before them to realise whatever it was that Wren said, the deed was already done.

There were two flashes, one from each side of the dam.

It happened faster than any of his unit could properly react.

One moment there was a tense standoff a moment from breaking.

The next, two bullets, one from each side of the dam, smashed through the joints of the thin limbs that had been holding Mikaela.

Then his vision was cut off as the twins wings rose suddenly upwards, and with a single down beat they were lunging forwards, right pede snapping out to send them into a spin, one wing snapping out again to catch the falling human as the rest of their frame became a hurtling projectile, shoulder platting crashing into the mechs chassis and sending both of them to the ground.

After that, chaos.

At some point in the ensuing mess of flailing talons trying to tear through plating, and wings flapping in all directions trying to right themselves, Mikaela was jettisoned, sent skipping across the ground away from the two brawling frames as talons raked against plating and incomprehensible screeches filled the night air.

In the chaos he barely noticed Ratchet dart away to collect Mikaela from where she lay motionless some distance away from the currently occuring fight.

Kia was lunging the moment she seemed to notice Ratchet take Mikaela safely out of harm's way, springing forwards, using the curve of their wing struts to fling themselves forwards to crash down on top of the already confusing mass of monochrome and brown limbs.

He didn't dare take his optics off the fight, shifting forwards just as many times as he shifted back as one of the six wings of the involved frames flailed in a random direction, the brutal scythes hidden between the feathers glinting in the overhelm spotlights.

Tainted energon splattered across the ground indiscriminately, some even splashing against his red and blue paintjob.

And then, almost as quickly as it started, it was ended, the mechs frame kicked away in what seemed to be a combined effort from the three femmes.

The mech scrambled on the ground for a moment, cracked visor falling partially away as what was left of his smaller limbs dropped from the middle of his torso, crashing to the ground between his taloned pedes.

His load lightened his helm snapped up, Optimus caught golden optics dart around before the mech suddenly turned tail, wings flapping for a moment desperately before he was airborne and flying as fast as he could, mangled plating streaked with the faint glow of his own tainted energon.

The three femmes continued to lay on the ground for a few moments, their own frames worse for wear.

The twins helm craned towards them for a moment, their own visor was cracked, but seemed to be holding, with a groan they pushed themselves upright, though seemed to have some trouble getting upright.

Finally finding his pedes were no longer rooted to the ground he moved forwards, hoping to help them up as he offered his servo out to them.

They seemed to be caught off guard, helm snatching up higher to regard them before they seemed to huff out a vent and push the end of their wing strut into his offered servo.

They were light, easy to haul upright, though he held on for a few moments to be certain they wouldn't fall, before turning to offer his other servo to Kia, who accepted after only a brief moment of hesitation.

Only then did he speak. "What… just happened?"

Aria was the one who answered. "Could you be more specific? The world's still spinning a bit after Fernando kicked my side of our head." There was pain in her tone, one wing strut folding so it could come up and press against the evident dent in the already damaged protrusion. "Got me right were that guy shot me…"

Ratchet, the dutiful Medic he was, joined them then, running a cursory scan of them whilst his other servo, cradling Mikaela was held out to Optimus.

Optimus, to his credit, only hesitated a moment for fear of harming the already banged up human before carefully picking her up between his digits and placing her within his open servo.

Her legs hung limply off the side, but besides her apparent unconscious state, she seemed to be alright.

"Hmm… mostly cosmetic injuries, and your internal gyroscopes are already re-stabilising…" Ratchet muttered from his position next to the Prime.

The Harpies seemed to appreciate that, the twins turning their attention to Mikaela then as Kia turned her focus to the humans that were already returning to her side.

"Is… Is she alright?" It was odd really, watching as the twins hunched over slightly to peer into his now partially closed servo.

Ratchet answered before he could. "A minor concussion from the fall, and the cut on her throat isn't deep, all I can suggest is that she rest and recuperate from her ordeal."

The twins nodded at that, moving back and shifting their posture back into a straighter, taller position. "Thank you…" Wren replied, before the two sighed. "Keep her safe, Fernando knows he can use her to get to us now… if he gets his hands on her again, he won't hesitate to use her as a human shield."

They turned then, looking out towards the endless night beyond the reach of the surrounding lights.

A final goodbye then.

He looked to Kia and the humans who served them, the later group were all boarding vehicles now, bringing the still unconscious humans with them before driving away and into the darkness.

Leaving only themselves, Mrs Madsen who remained with Jazz and Ironhide, and the Harpies.

He opened his mouth to speak, only for a pained chitter to cut him off.

Attention quickly shifted, landing on the piece that had dropped off Fernando before his retreat.

It was moving, sluggish, but moving, it's plates shifting slowly as feathers bloomed across its frame.

Before the transformation was even complete, Kia was stepping forwards, her own minicon dropping from it's place tucked away between the plating on her back, the Avian minicon beating its wings to carry itself to the other, evidently badly injured, Avian minicon that now lay strewn out on the concrete.

The bullet wounds on the minicons legs had almost torn them clean off, it was in a sorry sight really.

Nibbler chittered as he landed besides the downed minicon, whatever it was saying was caught the downed ones attention at least before they seemed to knock their beaks together in greeting.

It was strangely melancholic really.

Ratchet made his own slow approach now, weary of the reaction that could be brought out from the Harpies.

This time however, there seemed to be no aggression, merely quiet chitters as the group stepped back away from the downed companion.

A glance to his side revealed that the twins had moved away from the general group, resting their weight on one of the buildings as they held their damaged pede just off the ground.

Even from this distance he could see the limb had taken another painful blow in the fight to get Mikaela away from Fernando, sparks jumped from exposed wiring and the talons twitched in spasm, Ratchet seemed to of missed it.

Seeming to sense his gaze, their helm turned to focus on him.

The visor hid their optics as always, but their lipplates seemed to shift upwards into a small pained smile as they shook their helm, trying to brush off his growing concern.

He only frowned at their attempt to dissuade his concern, and turned to walk over to them.

Seeing this they in turn seemed to huff out a reserved sigh before pushing off the building, placing the damaged limb back on the ground, but it was obvious the limb wasn't bearing any of their weight now, even with the brace.

Once Ratchet had seen to the injured minicon he'd see if he could try and fix the new damage.

He stopped a few strides away from them before he spoke. "You took another hit to your pede."

They seemed to find humour in his statement, taking a moment to almost comically react to the injury, looking down, gasping and hopping up onto the unharmed pede for a moment before dropping the damaged limb back down, still not bearing weight. "Oh? Wow, we didn't even notice." Aria chirped, though the sarcasm in their tone was evident. "Wren will be fine."

Aria was speaking for her sister.

Taking a moment to ponder this he spoke again. "Wren? Could you give me an internal diagnostic? It seems a main relay cable has been severed."

It would explain the lack of weight being put on it, with the cable severed, the signals being sent back up to the processor would be reading different to what they could see with their optics.

Causing a hesitation to put weight on a limb reported to not currently be there outside of the smaller relay cables, which couldn't override such a reading.

At least, that's what his admittedly limited understanding of relay cables told him.

Regardless, he got no answer from the other twin.

Besides an irritated huff, their frame shifting back again to rest against the building, only then did Aria speak. "She's fine. Fernando put her in a bad mood... "

It was a warning, and a way out of the original conversation.

They weren't acknowledging the injury.

Perhaps there was a better way of getting around this. "You likely saved Mrs Barnes' life, if you are willing to stay long enough, I'm certain Bumblebee would like to thank you."

"There's no need for that, we didn't do it for her."

His confused silence seemed to urge an answer to their own statement. "We… we didn't want her blood on our hands… Fernando using her as a human shield would of inevitably led to exactly that. He slaughtered the Witwicky's because they weren't what he wanted, he'd eventually of taken her head off too… or done worse…"

They weren't looking at him now, their attention back on the night sky. "We can't stay around her much longer, the evacuation of the dam is going to be ending soon, the staff will likely be heading back already. Take your men, take Mikaela, take Maggie, take the little one, and Freedom, take them, and get out of here, we're moving out now to meet with Ira and then heading to Europe."

More goodbyes then.

Cautiously he reached out and placed a servo on their wide shoulder plating. "Why did you really do all of this?"

They regarded him for a moment before Aria answered. "We want to go home. We don't want to be freaks… we… there's things back home that…"

"Twins! We need to move!"

The shout from Kia cut the explanation.

The monochrome femmes shrugged off his servo and stepped away, the limp evident as their wings began to stretch out.

Even from this distance he could see the concern on the smaller femmes features as her own wings stretched out, the original three companions doing the same around the smaller femmes pedes.

He caught Ratchet's gaze, and the medic nodded, making his own way over to the larger harpy, the injured companion passed to Ironhide.

"Wait, I need to check the brace." Ratchet called out.

Thankfully that seemed to work in preventing the two from taking off, their helm swiveling around to regard the medic.

"We don't have…"

"Yes we do, it will be quick." Ratchet interrupted, lowering himself into a one leg crouch to look over the damaged pede, one servo reaching out and grasping higher up the limb to hold them in place as he inspected the damage.

Realising this, the two seemed to sag, reserved to their fate of being delayed even further in their departure.

It took only a few moments to shake his helm. "You're not flying on this."

That was evidently not what they wanted to hear, Aria snapping back. "The hell we aren't! We need to get to Europe!"

Ratchet didn't reply verbally, merely scowling at them before carefully touching the plating just above the severed relay cable.

The pained hiss was unmissable, no matter how hard they gritted their denta.

"You land on this leg again, and you will lose it, and if you fly away now, how in Primus' name will I be able to help you?" Ratchet pressed.

Optimus decided to step away from this, not wishing to crowd the twins into a decision they would have to make.

One they likely would hate.

He in turn turned his attention to Kia, who was looking over the scene unfolding with a look he couldn't properly decipher. When he was close enough, she spoke. "This wasn't supposed to happen."

He nodded before he answered. "We will take care of them. I promise you that."

They seemed to recoil slightly at his answer, as if surprised he'd suggest such a thing. "After all we've done? We not exactly on the best of terms…"

"Irregardless, they are injured, an injury brought about by saving Mrs Barnes life, Bumblebee's charge, in turn, we will keep the both of them safe." Motion behind the femme drew his attention down to the twins companion, Hera.

It was startling how sentient these beast behaved, he watched for a moment as the smaller Harpy Eagle watched on as Ratchet debated further with their master, there was concern in her pale grey optics. "This one can come with us as well if that's what's decided as best."

Kia shrugged. "That's not my call, Nibbler is mine, Ironhide has already agreed to take on Freedom, it's between Hera and the twins if they decide to stick together."

So the new one was designated Freedom? There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason regarding the naming of their companions.

Noise from behind brought the conversation to an end as they both looked to see the source.

Ratchet was propping the twins up, taking the majority of their weight with Wren's wing draped over the CMO's other shoulder plate, keeping the damaged pede between them off the ground as the two came over, Ratchet doing his best to support the hobbling femmes.

The twins frame language was that of defeat, helm lowered and good pede visibly shaking with the effort to carry their weight and move forwards.

He looked to Ironhide and Jazz, his weapon specialist had moved Freedom to rest across his broad shoulder plating, whilst Jazz continued to hold Mrs Madsen close to his chassis.

Neither looked thrilled by what had been silently decided, but both knew just as well that this was what had to be done.

"You two going to be okay?"

There was no verbal answer to the smaller femmes question, but the low sigh the twins released was more than enough.

Now the big question, how were they going to transport them?

Kia seemed to of read his thought process. "I've already called for a trailer, if you fold up you should be able to fit inside."

The twins did not appear thrilled by that notion, but didn't object.

Kia and the smaller avians didn't stay much longer, the group launching off the base of the damn with powerful wing beats that whipped up the dust around them, soon after disappearing into the darkness of the inky black sky.

And with them, the Allspark slipped from their servos once more.

His gaze remained heavenward for a moment, trying to spot the black silhouette as it caused the stars to flicker in and out of view.

No luck.

In that moment he truly thought he had failed.

Looking back down to the human teen lying unconscious in his servo, he felt himself conflicted.

Was this really where they were supposed to be?

He could only hope that things got better.

But when did his desires ever come true?

The fight he once felt to free Cybertron from tyranny was long gone, now, all they could do was survive.

Cybertron was lost to them, what was their to fight for other than survival?

In that moment, he thought back to Cybertron before the war.

Brief flickers of bright optics and warm smiles, long gone voices cheering each other on once they had felled the Senate…

Of all those once joyul faces and happy voices, so, so very few were left… scattered to the stars, or standing around him, waiting for orders.

Or worse… lost to the long snuffed Well of All Sparks.

He looked to the injured twins, still being propped up by Ratchet, who's features were cold and tone as sharp as his own blade.

Primus truly had a foul sense of humour if this had been the course he wanted for his creations.

"Autobots, roll out."


Somewhere in the endless cosmos

The small planet they'd found themselves upon was desolate, not a single vein of energon to seek out, with chilling winds that threatened to send them into permanent shut down if they didn't huddle close.

Curses to those who'd abandoned them here had long died away, their reserves too low now, their attention focused on their bonds with one another, constantly checking to make sure they were all still online.

Ravage shook from the winds that buffeted him, it was his turn to shield his brothers and sisters from the howling winds that reached for them within the cave they huddled in.

It was hopeless, but they held out, their bond with their brother Frenzy too strained by distance to transmit their distress.

Their bond with their sire, deathly silent.

It had been silent for deca vorns now…

But, that was not to last much longer.

It was as the planets dying star, so far away that it was merely a speck, was at its zenith, they felt it.

Their sire's presence was one that would of caused them to leap for joy in the vorns before, but with their reserves so low, all they could do was try and reach for him, calling out for him to find them, to save them.

Their call was headed.

They heard him land, heard his approach.

Ravage lifted his helm ever so slightly, optics online for the first time in vorns.

Faded red optics met pained bright reds.

He had not the strength to call out, none of them did, but they sent their joy and happiness across the bond as their sire reached into the shallow notch in the cliff face, pulling each free and holding them against his warm, oh so warm chassis.

The moment of silence, was broken by a voice they had not heard since the early stages of the war.

"I'm… so.. Sorry… I'm so sorry… please… please return…" They had not even the energy to feel shocked their sire had spoken, what had happened to his vow of silence? What had possibly caused him to break it?!

With what little strength they had left, they returned to their alt modes, letting their sire carefully return them to their docking stations.

They felt his comforting warmth all around them, and felt the energon they so desperately needed enter them.

The shake in their sires voice, one so unused, pained them more than the cold ever could. "Frenzy… where is Frenzy?"

Laserbeak was the one to reply. Frenzy was the only one that Barricade took with him to chase after the Allspark, leaving them with a group of cons, who'd abandoned them here, denoting them as 'useless without Soundwave'.

They felt the anger the response brought out of their sire, not towards them, but what surprised them… was the defeat they felt from him.

What they couldn't see, was what their sire was looking at.

Clasped between two digits, a tiny piece of organic flora, it's yellow head whipping around in winds it was never supposed to survive in.

Carefully the cherished piece of organic flora was tucked within his subspace, and his attention shifted to his new mission.

He had to get to Earth, he could still feel his son was online, but he knew that might not be for much longer.

He had to move fast, transforming into his flight capable alt mode felt strange, he'd not used it in so long the very feeling of transforming felt somewhat alien.

But a comfort he did find was one that popped up on his hud, a tiny picture of the one who'd given him that little flower just before he'd walked away.

Their words, filled with excitement and love rung in his helm. They'd promised a surprise when he got home.

He hated the fact he'd never see them again.

Hated he would never hold them again.

Hated the fact that he'd never know that surprise.

Hated the fact he'd left them behind.

Loathed himself for failing his promise.

But he had to…

Better to know they still lived, mourning him, than to of seen them die because they had loved him.

He'd never forgive himself if he had lost them just as he had… the memory of the one who'd first held his spark tore at him anew just thinking of them.

His cassettes all felt his pain, their own seeping out and mingling in their bond, trying to find out why now, after all this time, he thought of the one they lost.

He soothed their worries as best as he could, before focusing back on the present, on what he had to do.

His engines maxed and he rocketed upwards, leaving the planet behind.

Hurtling with the planets wind, torn pieces of an alien material, forgotten by the wearer who would likely never fit them again.


Soundwave, Soundwave, Soundwave... he's gonna have quite the tale to tell, eventually.

Welp, that's all for this chapter, hope you all enjoyed! Until next time!

Moon