I'm so sorry that it has taken me so long to update this story. Like I said in my other story, I was going through so many ordeals in the past couple weeks. But I'm back now and I intend to use every spare moment I have working on my stories. So please enjoy chapter 8 of Back Again.
"How long do you plan on staying here? The other Autobots are getting uneasy with having you around if you aren't giving us much to trust you on."
Both Cheetor and I looked at Optimus as we sat in his office. A week had gone by since we had found the existence of our old base. We had yet to go down there. We weren't very keen on going down there when so many Autobots were always watching us. We were hoping something would happen soon because we could see the Autobots were always tense when we were around.
"Well, when Prowl finds the children's mother then we'll be able to leave."
"What are your plans once you leave?"
"That's something we'll keep to ourselves. If no one knows where we are it will make it easier for us to leave unnoticed by everyone."
"I understand that Cheetor."
"We won't be here that long anyway Optimus."
"Are you sure of that?"
"Like I said, you'll probably not even know when we leave."
"You think you can leave this planet undetected?"
"We're just that good Prime."
"I'll believe it when I no longer see you here for myself."
"We were able to hide from you guys earlier."
"But we did find you in the end."
"That's because we made it easy for you to find us. We needed to get Cheetor help and a human was the best way to go."
"Besides we've had the training to stay hidden. Our group has had training in just about everything."
"We've had training in basic and major repairs. We're two of the best scouts that were trained back home. We know how to stay hidden and cover our tracks. We couldn't be allowed on either ship if we didn't have spectacular scores in each subject."
"Getting a spot on those two ships was something a lot of mechs and femmes were hoping to be honored with. But out of the hundreds that tried very few even made past the first set of tests. Cheetor was actually very close to losing his place. It was only because the captain of one the ships helped him through it. They share a strong brother relationship with each other."
"It was twice as hard for me. Femmes that were tested had to be exceptional. We couldn't be there for looks. We had to be as good as or even better than the mechs."
"There aren't many femmes in your group is there?"
"There's only three, including myself. We all knew there wouldn't be very many of us."
"Were these two ships really that important that …."
-Optimus Prime.-
We all became silent as Prime's comm went off.
-Yes Red Alert. What is it?-
-There is something headed to Earth. It seems like a ship but we can't receive any communications with it. We can't identify if it's an Autobot or Decepticon ship.-
Cheetor and I looked at each in alarm. I looked back to Optimus.
"Can he get an identification number on the ship? Or maybe a signal?"
-Is there a signal or an I.D. number on the ship?-
-Hold on.-
A moment of silence.
-Yes there is.-
-Please give it to me.-
-209751820181514-
Once we heard the I.D. we looked over everything we knew about other ships. Cheetor gasped and a smile lit up on his face.
"That's a Maximal ship."
-Don't shot it Red. That ship is friendly.-
-It's too out of range for us to do anything. It also looks like they aren't going to make a very good landing.-
Cheetor and I were out of the room before Red Alert could even finish the sentence. They shouldn't even be trying to land at all. The only reason they would have for landing without Primal's permission is if the ship was damaged. We raced along the corridors and burst into the Communications Room. Every mech in there watched as we ran to the console where Red Alert sat at.
It was easy to tell he was startled to see us appear right next to him. Cheetor shoved Red out of his seat while I dove under the console to try and make a signal strong enough to be heard on their ship by hooking it up to my comm link. Cheetor was typing in codes at an incredible speed. I was underneath him rearranging the wires and attaching them to my radio. The last time Rhinox had tried to interface Autobot and Maximal technology it had blown up in his face. I prayed I wouldn't suffer the same fate.
Once the console started beeping I leapt out and gave a headset to Cheetor. A lot more mechs had by now gathered around and were watching us. We could see where the ship was where it was heading. Cheetor pressed one more button before flicking the switch. He leaned forward and spoke into the headset.
-This is 3855201518 to 209751820181514. Please respond.-
A bit of static came through.
-This is 3855201518 to 209751820181514. Please respond.-
Something resembling a voice came through before it turned to static again.
-This is 3855201518 to 209751820181514. Please respond.-
Relief swept through us when we heard a deep laugh.
-Is that you Little Cat?-
-Sure is Big Cat.-
-Is Black Cat with you?-
-You bet she is. Is Feathers there?-
-M'lady is right where she always is. Right next to me.-
-What's your status?-
-We got your last message before you disappeared and were on our way here but we got attacked by the same Hunters you did. We're barely maintaining the ability to stay upright.-
I knew I had forgotten something. If something wasn't done those Hunters would make it impossible to go home. We'd have to try and send a message from the base when we'd go down there.
-Try to make a good landing. Our ship is gone so you need to be careful.-
-You do know that Depth Charge is going to kill you right?-
-I'm pretty sure.-
-Where are you?-
-In the ARK.-
-They aren't awake are they?-
-Unfortunately they are. We're gonna have to deal with it. I'm sending you the coordinates right…-
A loud shot was heard followed by a yell and then static filled the channel. Cheetor just stared at it, stunned. I went back under the console to try and get the connection again.
-This is 3855201518 to 209751820181514. Please respond.-
-Cheetor…we're…attacked…purple…shuttle.-
I spoke to the Autobots without looking away from my work.
"Are there any Cons that you know can do that?"
"It would have to be Astrotrain. He's a space shuttle."
-Tigertron can you tell me how damaged the ship is?-
-We've lost both engines. Navigations are gone. Our shields were destroyed by the Hunters.-
-You've got to get into your pods. That ship is not gonna hold much longer.-
-But we can't just leave…-
-I'd rather we lose the ship then lose you. I outrank you Tigertron. Don't make me have to make it an order.-
-Roger that. Airazor has the coordinates set in. We'll try and get as close to the ARK as we can.-
-Got'cha. We'll be seeing you two soon.-
-Pray to Primus we do.-
The channel filled with static once again.
"How do you plan on getting to them?"
*****************(Optimus)***************
They both turned to see all of us staring at them. I was staring at them intently. I tried to not to look too smug. We had stood there as they struggled to contact their friends. I looked to see Blaster nodding his head. He had recorded the whole thing.
"We are the fastest creatures on this planet. We can either fly or run."
"But cats don't fly."
"We're special."
"You could always ask if you can borrow Skyfire."
"Thanks for the offer but no. I'm getting cabin fever and I want to stretch my legs and go run for a bit."
"What about the children?"
"I'm pretty sure some of you are capable of watching them for an hour. And by that I mean Ratchet."
*******************(Cheetor)********************
The conversation ended as we transformed to beast mode and ran out of the control room. We stopped once we reach the control room. I brought Teletran-1 up so we could see where they would be. Two blips came up on the radar.
"Looks like they're a couple hundred miles away. Northeast and in the mountains. We can run for a bit before we have to take to the air."
"We should leave now so we can watch them land and make sure no Cons come too close."
"Agreed."
"We'll be coming with you."
We turned to see Prime with a few others standing behind him. The twins, Prowl, Jazz and Skyfire stood with him. We shrugged our shoulders.
"You can come if you can keep up."
(Crash Site)
"This was one of the reasons why they didn't need to come."
"They're almost here and we got here an hour ago."
"You can see them. They're almost here."
I looked up to where Moonmist was pointing. Two bright stars that were moving were slowly making progress on landing. Hopefully the pods had gotten out without a scratch. The sound of jet engines had me turning around as Skyfire landed gently on the ground. He opened his cockpit and several vehicles backed out and transformed.
"Sure took you guys long enough."
"You were more than welcome to join us on the way back."
"Eh?"
We looked back up and saw that they were nearly here. We stood up and waited for them to land. The first pod was smaller than the other. It landed several feet away. The other landed about five yards in front of us.
"I'll get Airazor and you take care of Tigertron."
Moonmist nodded before jogging over to the larger pod. I knelt down in front of the one farther away. I typed in the codes before a voice spoke to me.
"Identification codes please."
"3855201518 to 19181261518."
"Password accepted."
Gas hissed as the lid of the pod lifted itself up. A beautiful brown falcon rose out of the pod. She stretched her wings before gliding out into the sky. The Autobots stared at her in wonder. A deep throated roar brought our attention to the other pod. A gorgeous white tiger stood next to Moonmist.
"Tigertron Maximize."
In a flurry of moving parts, a green and white mech stood to take the place of the tiger. His bright, red optics shone with a curiosity of a small child ready to learn and explore.
"It feels good to be here again."
"I agree. Airazor Maximize."
We looked up to see the falcon finish her transformation. She turned off her jets and landed in Tigerton's arms. Her yellow optics shone with love.
I turned to the Autobots while Moonmist hurried forward to greet her 'sister'.
"Optimus Prime, meet our scout and gunner, Tigertron and Airazor."
Hope you all enjoyed it. Now I have a little challenge for all of you. If someone can figure out what the numbers mean for their codes will get to decide who will be coming in next in the story. So think really hard. The first one gets to pick and there's four different codes in this chapter so you can choose any of them. Extra points if you can figure out all of them. Have fun. Please leave a nice review.