So yeah, I decided to start writing this in the typical fashion. . Soooo…I'll repost it. Hehe Or something. O.o So without much ado, here's the real version. I'll keep the first chapters up until I have written their parts into their proper places in the story, just so you can read them if you feel like doing so. Heh x.X

The first part will have more to it, I'm continuing where I left off, so you can skip ahead to what you haven't read yet. I do have 1 warning. If you don't like images of violent deaths, you might want to be wary of the second scene in this…it's a depiction of the death of Arcee mentioned in the last "chapter." I felt so sad writing it, and I don't really even know the character! TT.TT

And OMG, I just have to say…WOOHOOOO!!! I can't believe this story is already like…40 pages!!! I haven't even begun to write a quarter of it!!! I never thought I'd be able to write a full-length-novel of something! Haha XD If I actually get the entire thing written, it'll be a FULL LENGTH BOOK!!! OoO giddy!!!

Oh yeah…and I'd be happy to have any suggestions for a good title. XD I SUCK at titles! Rofl!

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Mikaela stopped her vespa, pushing it up over the crest of a tall hill beside the road as she followed the familiar, loud, happy sounding purr of Bumblebee's engine. She could hear Sam's voice saying something in that high, excited chirp that in teenaged males usually meant something exciting, illegal, dangerous, or just plain stupid was about to happen, and Bee's voice gave a faintly robotic giggle in response, loud and unmistakable. Mikaela furrowed her brow in automatic curiosity and no small amount of concern, and hurried over the hill.

As she crested the top, she found herself facing a tall, old hill of paving gravel, long since forgotten by the state highway department when they had finished redoing the small road years earlier. Sam was standing to the side of it, looking like an insect next to Bumblebee, who was busy…constructing…well, what looked like some sort of ramp that faced the artificial sand dune. Most of it looked pre-constructed, a gigantic metal frame standing almost as tall as the 17 foot Bee himself, as if they had made it somewhere else and then found a way to cart it here.

"What are you doing…?" She asked, almost afraid to hear the answer, and both the boy and the robot looked up at her, Sam grinning in greeting and Bumblebee's eyes smiling where his metallic mouth couldn't.

"Greetings Mikaela!"

"Bumblebee's going to jump the ramp and land in the sand hill! We found it a couple of weeks ago, and decided since no one needed it, we'd have fun with it instead!"

Mikaela stared from Sam to Bee, blinking gently as if she hadn't understood them, both of them grinning at her expectantly.

"You're going to…I'm sorry, what???"

"I'm going to start far enough from the ramp to reach my full speed, using it's angle to launch myself into the air, transform, and allow myself to go into a freefall that will be cushioned by the gravel" Bee explained matter of factly, as if it weren't insane to her ears.

Mikaela simply nodded slowly, her brain running through the possible catastrophes that could be caused by this rather troubling idea she was sure had originally started out as Sam's brainchild.

"Why are you doing this? Are you sure you won't…break something? Does Optimus know? Maybe you should call Ratchet here first…" Sam shook his head at her obvious concern, pointing at the dune behind him.

"He'll be fine. He knows what he's doing. You should have heard him calculating the entire thing!" Mikaela couldn't help but feel a sort of dread settle in the pit of her stomach for Bumblebee, despite Sam's attempt at reassurance, Bee's eager, animated nod, and the happy way he hummed to himself, the radio playing quietly from somewhere in his large body, his voice capacitor purring along with it as he went back to putting the final pieces of the ramp together. It didn't help that most of the construction seemed to be made from scrap metal taken from God only knew where.

Perhaps to an outsider, her concern for the large robotic "man" would seem strange, they might not be able to see past the metal exterior of his body. But to Mikaela and Sam, as well as anyone else who took the time to spend with Bumblebee, he was, just as much as a human being, a kind and friendly creature, quick to befriend those who didn't pose a threat to him, his robotic Autobot comrades, or the humans he'd already befriended.

Mikaela saw him as a true friend, closer then the girls she talked to at the High School, simply much, much larger, and loaded to the gills with plasma cannons. It was only natural for her to worry for the safety of a friend when she found them planning to do something…well…crazy. She shook her head, watching as the final piece of the ramp was set into place, and Bee stepped back, seeming to almost smile with his eyes at his handiwork, and in the blink of an eye, he had shifted into the form of that familiar yellow and black Camaro, his engine revving excitedly as he started driving off, putting distance between himself and the ramp.

"Sam, I think you really should rethink this! I mean…Bee has things to do, anyway, right? What about the Decepticons??? He's supposed to be listening for communications between them, isn't he???" Sam shook his head, glancing back at her, and then pulling her a safer distance from the mountain of gravel and rocks.

"There hasn't been any sign of the Decepticons since the battle of Mission City. I'm starting to hope they're really going to stay away." Mikaela was about to speak again, in an attempt to find something to make them stop what they were doing, the feeling of dread still hanging over her head, when she heard the sound of Bumblebee's engine revving in the distance and looked over, shock and foreboding fear etched onto her features as he peeled out, throwing dust and dirt and rocks into the air, roaring across the abandoned field.

Sam cheered him on as Bee rocketed past them, gunning it as he neared the ramp, and then shot up into the air. The sound of gears shifting and changing filled the air as he transformed high above their heads and let himself relax into a freefall, and Mikaela could have sworn she heard him giving an energetic, playful cry as he fell, seconds before she gave her own cry of terror and turned, covering her eyes in the same instant the loud boom of his landing filled the air, rocks and gravel and dirt flying everywhere, pelting her and Sam where they stood.

When she opened her eyes again, the cloud of dust that filled the air was so thick, so murky, that she was unable to see even three feet in front of her own eyes, and she coughed, covering her mouth and nose with her shirt as she rushed forward, afraid of what she would see when she found the large Autobot. Sam was close on her heals, though his reaction was the polar opposite of hers, laughing and hooting out excitedly. It took a moment for any sound or sight to reach them from the place Bee had landed, but when it did, it was enough to make Mikaela breathe deeper despite herself.

Coughing and laughing at the same time in his raspy, mechanical voice, Bee was clambering to his large feet in the middle of what had once been a hill of gravel, now scattered and thrown halfway across the field. Sam ran up to his foot, jumping up and down in excitement, looking like a human version of the hyperactive Chihuahua he kept for a pet, and yelling up at his robotic friend in a flurry of almost incoherent words. Bee laughed more surely, his coughing receding as he bent down to pick him up and place Sam on his shoulder, the two jabbering at each other excitedly, while Mikaela stopped at his foot, grabbing gently onto one of the rods in his leg, glaring up at him.

"Do you have any idea how dangerous that was??? You could have been seriously hurt, Bumblebee!!!" She scolded loudly, and the two males looked down at her, their expressions unchanging as Sam laughed.

"I am perfectly alright, Mikaela. There was no harm done. It was quite amusing, actually." Bee chirped happily in his mimicked British voice.

"Seriously, Mikaela, he's alright, you don't have to be angry with him! It was just for fun!"

All she did for a long moment was just glare up at the two, crossing her arms and wanting to be furious with the two. Finally, though, she sighed, beginning to scrape the gravel along the ground with her foot, raking it into the beginnings of a tiny pile.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Get over here and help me." They stared at her for a second, seemingly perplexed at her strange actions.

"What are you doing???" She shot Sam a look, frowning softly and pointing at the gravel that had been sprayed in all directions.

"I'm getting it all collected together again, what does it look like??? Did you honestly expect to do something that insane without me wanting to see it again???" Even as she tried her hardest to keep the anger in her expression, she cracked a smile, shaking her head and letting out irritated growls about "stupid boys" and "stupid awesome stunts" begrudgingly, and the males started laughing at her, realizing in the end they'd won the argument as Bee bent down, letting Sam drop to the ground, and together they began raking it into a great, big pile once more. Apperently it wasn't only boys and their robot cars that found "stupid stunts" amusing.

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The cloaking frequency sent out by the pair of mechanoid figures had allowed them to successfully make their way into the immense ship's hull, The tiny, subtly-feminine figure sticking close to it's much larger companion. Their soft communications were sent out over a secret frequency, allowing them to speak to one another without the sound reverberating through the metal walls.

"I can't believe we made it onboard…We have to be careful. Everything about this feels like a trap…"

"Yes, I know, but we've made it this far, we can't turn back now. Prowl will want information we can relay to Optimus Prime when we follow his transmission." The small, pink-colored robot glanced up at her companion as he spoke, her canon drawn but uncharged, everything about her demeanor displaying her battle-ready status.

"But Hound…what if that is a trap, as well? We both know the Decepticons wouldn't stop at using such a transmission to lure us into an ambush! Something about this entire thing just doesn't settle right with me! Where are the Decepticons? We've been searching the ship for what seems like joors! Why haven't we seen any sign of them??? I know for a fact we were picking up life-signs when we scanned the ship!" Hound sighed mechanically, looking down at her.

"Yes, Arcee, those same questions have entered my own processor. But we both know the transmission was sent out over Autobot channels, I hope to Primus that the Decepticons haven't found a way to patch into our secure channels. And I can't help but be even more curious about what the Decepticons are doing this close to the Sol system because of the deserted nature of this ship…" Arcee shook her head resignedly, looking back the way they'd come hesitantly, keeping her eyes open for anyone who might be following them while Hound himself kept watch over the way they were headed.

"I…simply find it hard to accept. All these years of fighting, and Megatron is now dead??? It seems like all I can remember is this fragging war! And now he's been defeated??? I can't believe it!" Hound chuckled softly in response, knowing her feelings mirrored those he was feeling as well, despite himself.

They walked on in silence for a long time afterwards, the troubling lack of Decepticon activity never changing. They'd already searched the cargo hold, the hanger, even the medical bay, with no sign of their mortal enemies. As they turned another corner, they found themselves standing outside what appeared to be a research bay, large windows set in the walls, allowing viewers to see what was being done from the outside. The room seemed as empty of Cybertronian life as all the others they'd searched, save for a large, strange device standing in the middle of the floor, cables and tools and computers hooked up to it and scattered all across the room. It stood easily taller then Arcee, almost as large around it's widest point as Hound's girth, and was of a decidedly Decepticon design. It's purpose, though, escaped the two soldiers as they stared at it through the windows.

"What is that, do you think? Should we investigate? It may be important."

"I don't know. Look at the monitors. They're all active. It looks as if someone has been working on this thing recently. We should be careful…" Hound nodded in acknowledgement, scanning the device with his optics, logging it in his memory banks even as they neared the entry hatch to the research bay, Arcee's head darting around her, her suspicions heightened even more by the discovery of the bizarre device.

As they were entering the hatch, a sound from their rear made Hound pause, turning back to glance behind them even as Arcee continued, not seeming to realize that her much larger companion had stopped. Nothing seemed to move around them for a long moment, and Hound was just about to continue after her when the sound of a voice giving out a sharp cry came from inside the room, both Autobots stopping dead in their tracks to look for the source of the voice in alarm.

Before either of them knew what had happened, the hatch to the research bay had slammed shut, the hiss of the hydraulics the only warning Hound received before he was knocked aside, Arcee's feminine voice crying out to him from the other side as the hatch separated the two. He tried to force his way into the room even while he kept a worried eye on his companion through the window in the hatch, banging on it roughly, slamming his shoulder against it as hard as he could.

He saw the electricity crackling over the device before she did, blue bolts of energy rippling over it as it began to charge itself, a low whine audible to his sensitive scouting audio-sensors even through the hatch. Arcee turned, staring in confusion and fear as rods slid into place on the strange machine, gears turning and unrecognizable parts coming to life, the computer monitors around it displaying unintelligible readings.

Hound shouted at her to step back, and she looked back at him, hurrying to the side as she saw his canons charged and aimed at the hatch, moving to duck for cover. The sound of the blasts, though, was muffled, and they both realized in dread that the shots had done little more then scratch the heavy, shielded hatch. He growled in fury, rushing to the window nearest Arcee, trying to break through to get to her. Even as he struggled to find a way to get his friend and comrade out of what he increasingly suspected was a very dangerous situation, she was turning her back to him, staring at the object as the whine and hum of energy and engines grew louder.

And then it happened: Hound was temporarily blinded by a brilliant flash of blue light, the energy stored by the device exploding out in the room , rolling over everything inside. He heard Arcee fall back against the window, crying out in shock and surprise, and when he regained the use of his visual sensors, Hound ran back to the window, peering through in an attempt to see if she were seriously injured. She lay on the ground, his scanners telling him that physically she seemed unharmed, but watching in horror as her body writhed in obvious pain. Before his very eyes, her body began to take on a strange color, a strange appearance, and he gaped at her, shocked and horrified at what he saw.

The sheen of her metallic body faded, taking on the appearance of having the same soft texture as the rubberized chords and tubing that ran through the internals of all Cybertronians. Her body shifted, joints and armour and plating fusing together before his very eyes, her form shrinking almost imperceptibly as her form expanded in certain places, became more slender in others, what seemed like dark, impossibly thin wires sprouting from the top of her head.

He watched as the transformation seemed to slow, finally ceasing, and after an agonizingly long moment, she stirred, her head lifting to look at herself, shaking and trembling in shock before her eyes looked frantically towards the window where he stood, gaping and horrified at what he saw, at the disturbing lack of a living glow in her optics.

Their look only lasted for an instant before there came the loud, distinct sound of laughter through the window and they both looked up to see another hatch, one they hadn't noticed before, sliding open, allowing entrance to a dimly familiar Decepticon. Arcee seemed to panic, running back to the hatch she'd entered through as their enemy strode over towards her with long strides, trying once more to force it open. Hound yelled at the Decepticon as it sent him a wicked, spiteful grin, ignoring his cries of protest as it reached down to pick up the transformed Arcee in his much-larger hand.

She cried out in pain, struggling against the hand that held her, and even as Hound heard the sounds of voices and metal feet storming down the corridor towards him, he watched in horror as the hand tightened, the horrible cackling of her captor rising maliciously as he began crushing her as if she were nothing more then a piece of rubberized cables. He couldn't take his eyes off of the tortured, changed body of his friend, even when the Decepticon looked back at him through the window, held her out at arms length, still screaming, the pain in her voice enough to hurt even Hound's mechanical ears. With a final, vicious motion, Arcee's cries cut off, her body going horrifically limp as the gigantic fist crushed firmly around her, displaying her lifeless body as red liquid dripped from her open lips.

Hound found himself staring, horrified, at her body even as he heard the sounds of footsteps nearing, and it wasn't until a plasma blast impacted the wall near his head that he tore himself from the sight, looking around in horror as he realized that company was quickly on it's way. In an instant, he was transforming, changing to his four-wheeled land-travel mode, and he tore off down the corridor, the sounds of transformations being made behind him as his persuers shifted into their own vehicular modes, chasing after him, yelling out threats and taunts to torment him.

Part of his processor had already forced himself to temporarily block out the sight he'd just seen, his flight instinct taking over as he careened down the hallways they'd been exploring at high speeds, crashing into walls and corners as he tried his hardest to stay one step ahead of the Decepticons. He didn't know how he remembered the way they'd come, how he remembered the way out so easily, and it wasn't until he found himself crashing through the hatch to the hanger bay that he realized he'd been running on mental auto-pilot. He pushed his engine as hard as it would go, feeling the pain of pushing himself almost too far, ignoring the pain he felt from the plasma shots that had connected with his armour in his flight, when he saw the hanger bay hatches closing, his view of the emptiness of space outside shrinking with each passing second.

He leapt at the last instant, transforming to his bipedal form as he lunged through the hatches the instant before they were sealed, and then again into his meteoroid form, using the gravity of a nearby tiny, lifeless planet to pull him farther from the ship, his pain only increasing as he felt the ship's canons firing at him, grazing his body and knocking him around like a grain of sand. He transmitted frantically, sending out a distress signal to the ship he knew was waiting just on the other side of the planet, calling for help even as he left the firing range of the Decepticon vessel. He felt an immense wave of relief as he saw the smaller ship, the Ark II, flying from it's hiding place and rocketing to meet him.

He tried his hardest to direct himself towards the open, awaiting hanger as the pilot adjusted the angle of the ship to come towards him, to catch him in his escape. He shifted to his vehicle form and braced himself for impact, and when he finally crashed through the hanger hatch, he had only the far wall, and the ship's sudden gravitational field and artificial atmosphere to stop him. He crashed loudly against the wall, reverting to his protoform, curled up on the ground as the sound of Red Alert's voice cried out to him in alarm, his feet banging loudly on the metal floor as he rushed to his aid.

The roar of the Ark II's engines and the vibrations as the ship picked up speed underneath him told Hound that they were already rushing to escape, to put as much distance between themselves and the approaching Decepticon ship as they could, and Hound finally allowed himself the chance to give in to the pain and shock of what had happened, of his wounds and horror over his friend's death. Red Alert had already begun to scramble to administer first aid to his battered body as he felt his coherence slipping, and he gave into the darkness of unconsciousness, his large, mechanoid form sagging on the deck of the hanger as emergency stasis overcame him.