The Cybertronian sun rose over the horizon, illuminating the ruins of Iacon. Arcee smiled slightly as the warmth shone across the city. She liked watching the sunrise. It gave her a new sense of hope, of energy, each time she saw the burning star rise anew. It was a chance to start again. For a new beginning. Though she still felt her previous burdens remain.

Arcee walked back into the foyer of the Autobot's temporary residence. She didn't recall much after leaving the night before. She remembered walking in the night time city with only her own misery for company. She remembered herself recalling her memories feel of Earth before her nightmare returned to plague her thoughts. After the panic and fear she remembered nothing else before waking up in the middle of the abandoned street, many hours later. 'I must've passed out' She thought, sighing. 'Come on Arcee, pull yourself together.'

She turned a corner, a new voice catching her off guard. It was Bumblebee. "Oh. Hey Arcee. Are you...ok?" He asked her with a degree of concern in his voice, wondering where she had been all night.

Before Arcee could think of a response Smokescreen charged past them both. "We've got an Autobot ship touching down at the Spaceport! Come on, let's go welcome them!" The young bot shouted without stopping. He was soon followed by the other Autobots rushing down the corridor. Arcee and Bumblebee, now distracted by the news, followed them outside.

The Autobots rushed to the slightly damaged, but still operational Iacon spaceport. Above them, a ship descended, its bronze exterior glinting in the early morning sun. It was easily as big as a large aircraft carrier, its shadow managing to completely cover the Autobots below. With a loud clunk the craft touched down on the landing pad, landing gear groaning in protest.

From beneath the ship, a ramp extended. Smoke billowed out of the opening, leaving only a few silhouettes visible in its haze.

"Sideswipe! I told you to get that fixed!" Came a calm, but slightly annoyed African-American voice.

"Hey! Its not my fault! Ironhide sat on my welding kit!" Another voice sounded from beyond the smoke. A gruff grunt was all that came as a reply.

A disappointed sigh could be heard before the first voice grumbled to himself in exasperation. "Every time I want to show off or so something cool there's always a problem."

The figures began to move down the ramp as the smoke cleared, revealing the three bots who had been arguing. One of them had white armour with a visor across his eyes, who stood only a little shorter than Bumblebee. The other was more Smokescreen's size, with a red paint job accompanied by white stripes running down his chassis, and a square jaw. The last one was a lot bigger than the rest, he stood as tall as Ultra Magnus and as large as Bulkhead. His armour was red, with dashes of black on his shoulders and legs. The big bot stood with his arms crossed and face set in a permanent scowl.

The white bot stepped forward, towards the other Autobots. "Hello Cybertron! Things look different compared to when I was last here. Someone kick out the old tennants?" He grinned at the group.

Ultra Magnus approached the new arrival. "Greetings Autobots. Jazz." He looked to the white bot. "Sideswipe, is it?" The red and white bot gave him a funny look. "And Ironhide." The big bot nodded at the commander. "We would like to welcome you all back to Cybertron. Are you the only three on board?"

Jazz shook his head as the trio made room for another dozen Autobots to exit the craft. They stretched, smiled and waved at the other Autobots as they found their way back into Cybertronian soil. "Warpath, Scattershot, Hound, Sunstreaker, Trailbreaker, Huffer. Heck, even Gears is here." Jazz introduced them to his ragtag crew of all shapes and sizes. "We picked up your signal, probably got to all Autobot ships within fifty lightyears. We just happened to be close. Nice work there doc." He nodded at Ratchet, recognising the signal broadcast as his handiwork. The medic smiled with a slight nod back. "Strange thing is, we had some cons tailing us back there, but once we entered the atmosphere they just disappeared." Jazz waved his hands for dramatic effect.

Ultra Magnus found this news most unsettling. "Hmm. That is concerning. The Decepticons may be attempting to remobilise. We will have to deal with them after you've been given a proper welcome."

"WRECKER PARTY!" Wheeljack exclaimed while barreling into Ironhide, nearly knocking the big bot over. The other Autobots also joined with the new arrivals, though in slightly less boisterous ways. Bulkhead clanged his fist against Ironhide's.

"How ya been old buddy?" He asked. "Still up to your old tricks?"

"I never lost my touch Bulk. I was always a wrecker, always will be." Came the gruff reply, before he laughed and wrapped his large arms around both Bulkhead and Wheeljack's shoulders.

While the three Wreckers had their happy reunion, Knock Out slid up to a yellow bot, who looked quite a similar to Sideswipe. "Ooh. Hello there. Nice finish. Say, are you any good with a rotary buffer?" He complimented the bot, placing an arm around him as they started to chat.

Bumblebee and Smokescreen were not having such a riveting conversation with a short red and blue bot. "So, Gears, happy to be home?" Bumblebee cautiously asked.

The short bot grunted. "Still looks like a mess. I thought you said that you won the war?" He complained.

Bumblebee folded his arms and rolled his eyes. "I see you haven't changed."

Smokescreen bent down slightly so he was closer to Gear's eye level. "Why so glum, shortie? Something grinding your gears?" He heard Bumblebee let out a snicker and Gears became even more irritated. Suddenly, Smokescreen came to a realisation and he smirked. "Hey Arcee!" He called over to her. "You're not the shortest anymore! We should-ah!" He was cut off as Gears drove the bottom of his foot onto Smokescreen's, causing the young Autobot to hop away in pain. The other Autobots who saw this laughed. Smokescreen gave them a sheepish grin back, still holding his foot.

"Well, that was shortlived." Bumblebee said, chuckling to himself.

"I hate you." Was Gears' reply.

Ultra Magnus spoke with a big red bot who bore a visor, and a tank barrel on his chassis. This was the Autobot known as Warpath. The stern Autobot commander even found himself smiling at some of the soldier's far-flung stories of his time away from Cybertron.

"It seems as if you've all had quite the experience." Ultra Magnus said. "Although I think it would be best if we filled you all in, inside." He motioned for all the bots to follow him to their temporary 'base'.

Arcee and Ratchet were talking with Jazz and Sideswipe, telling their stories from the time spent in space. "Yeah, so we've had quite the adventure. Seen it all, and we somehow made it back here." Jazz smiled, before realising something odd. "Say, where's Optimus? Oh, and have you seen Cliffjumper since he took off? I told him not to go back to Cybertron but no! - he wouldn't have any of it!"

Arcee and Ratchet's expressions suddenly saddened. "I-I think you better come inside." Arcee managed to say.

Jazz and Sideswipe looked a bit puzzled but followed then anyway. "Sure thing." Jazz replied. "As long as nobody steals my ship." He glared at Gears.

"What you looking at me for?" The small bot moaned.

"You know why."

Gears gave an exasperated sigh before reluctantly following the others inside, grumbling as he went.

Author's Notes: Just to clarify; the current events take place only about two weeks after the events of Predacons Rising (and ch1) but by the end of the story, a lot more time will pass. I may start looking for a Beta Reader soon, as that way I won't have the proof-read everything, meaning the chapter may be published sooner. As always leave a review if you can and I'll catch you in the next update! (I have a lot of exciting things planned so be sure to keep reading) ;)