If you've read this chapter already please ignore the repost. For some reason FFNet took my story down. Sorry for the inconvenience.

A/N: This chapter was difficult to write. I answer a few questions in here along with creating a handful more. What do mechs dream of and why are Skywarp's nightmares creepy? We find out about the Cybertronian script that Rachel found on the Pyramid of the Sun before everything was destroyed and how it relates to the original text on the Pyramid of the Moon. Jetfire and Rachel start to piece some of the mystery together and there might be a hint or a few of where the next pieces of the puzzle can be found. Thundercracker gives us a little more insight on the Seeker text. Rachel has a breakdown but thank goodness Ratchet is there. And then there is Jazz and Rachel FLUFF! About time, huh? Don't worry, there is a lot more fluff coming soon especially when certain promises are fulfilled.

As always, constructive criticism is welcomed and reviews given much love! I'm trying to get chunks of the story in order so I can post faster, but now that I've set up most of the events things move quicker.

Story Arc 6

Chapter 9 – Do Cybertronians Dream of Electric Sheep?

Skywarp sat up slowly, glaring at me as he shifted his weight onto an elbow. "What exactly is a 'nightmare'?"

I looked at him for a moment as it sunk in that he actually asked about what I had suspected was causing his sudden system spikes and abrupt jolts out of recharge. "Well…" I started slowly, trying to think of a way to explain it. "It's a dream that…" Think quickly, Rachel. You can't use the word 'scare' or anything like that otherwise he'll get mad and stop talking, but you don't want to insult his intelligence. "It's a dream that you find very disturbing."

Skywarp gave me a strange, yet slightly bored look. "A disturbing dream…"

I nodded and then realized that I didn't know if mechs could dream, so I wasn't too surprised by his next question.

"So… what's a dream?"

I pursed my lips and decided I needed some help. "Hold that thought." I turned and ran down the ramp over to my desk, gathering my wireless Teletraan 1 and running back to the table. I crossed my ankles and plopped down onto the table next to his arm, flipping the screen open and running a search on Cybertronian psychology.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to see if there is a phenomenon similar to human dreaming and what you might be experiencing…" I looked up from the screen and into his red optics. "Uhm…exactly what are you experiencing, anyways?"

He frowned and looked away.

Since he had ignored my offers of help previously on this, I wondered what had made him change his mind to ask me about it. I gently put my hand on an unbroken piece of his armor. "I won't tell anyone if you're worried about that. I promise."

He turned to face me; all traces of the normal snarky Skywarp were gone and replaced with a very cold and very serious look. "Can you fix it?"

"I- I don't know. Truthfully. We can try-"

He turned away again.

"Wait, Skywarp. Listen to me, please. I want to help you."

He gave me an annoyed look from the corner of his optic.

"I need to understand what is going on first. If it's really like a human dream, then there are options that we can try, like putting you into a deeper recharge-"

"Doesn't work." He grunted. "It still happens."

"There has to be a way to fix it. I'm not entirely sure right now on what to do since I don't know what is going on to make you wake up like this or what exactly is causing it, but… I still need you to tell me what is happening."

He looked over at the door to Ratchet's office before focusing back on me. "If you tell anyone, femme…"

I met his gaze. "I swear on my life, I will never speak of it to anyone."

Skywarp glanced around the med bay. "No one can hear us?"

"No one can hear us. We're completely alone. Ratchet is in recharge for another hour and Wheeljack is working in his lab. You're safe."

He motioned with his head to the only other patient in the med bay. "And him?"

I frowned and shook my head. "He's in stasis lock. There is no way he could hear us."

The Seeker craned his neck around to get a better look at him. "What happened to him?"

I sighed as I looked over to the table with the silent body attached to monitors. "Long story."

Skywarp turned back to me and gave me a half nod, he shifted uncomfortably and I took the wireless Teletraan 1 out of my lap, setting it next to me and giving my full attention to the Seeker.

"Well…" He leaned in closer and started to speak softly. "There is this… thing. Like, something tore a hole in the sky… and it catches us in a gravity well…"

His optics started to dart around again, so I lowered my voice to try and calm his paranoia. "Like a black hole?"

He shook his head. "Naw, its like this." He drew a jagged line on the table in front of me with his finger. "Like the sky was ripped open."

I nodded in understanding. "Go on."

"And the gravity is nothing like a black hole… this is… much stronger and you can't move once it catches you." He leveled his gaze at me. "And it… grabs us before we know what's happening."

"Starscream and Thundercracker?" I kept my voice just above a whisper and he nodded.

"The first few times I… dreamed about it, it crushed 'Screamer and TC in front of me. Obliterated them… and I… saw it shred TC, and I could hear them screaming…" He shuddered.

I felt a chill rush down my spine and I looked at him in pure horror. "No wonder you're being dragged out of recharge… I'd wake up screaming if I dreamt about that."

"There's more… While the gravity is crushing me… there are all these thoughts running through my processors about how we failed to stop this from happening…"

"How often have you dreamt about this?" I dropped my voice to a lower whisper.

"At least a dozen times…"

I shivered and started to pick up the wireless. "That definitely is a nightmare. Let me see what I can find on-"

"There's more than that, femme."

I looked up at him incredulously before putting the laptop back down. "Go on."

"We were on Cybertron and there's a major conjunction that happens right before the rift shows up." His voice dropped lower. "We watched the rift suck away the sun before turning on us. Then the whole thing about watching the others die and the thought that we failed happens."

I mentally tallied up the underlying themes I started to see in his dreams. Fear of losing things important to him like his friends and his home, fear of helplessness to stop it from happening… I wasn't sure what the rift symbolized, though.

A strange look came across his face and his optics narrowed at me. "Are you okay, 'Warp?"

He just stared at me and I started to wonder if I did something wrong. Before I could voice my concerns, he started to speak again. "Last few have been… weird."

"You don't have to go on."

There was such a strange look in his optics as he stared at me silently and I started to feel uncomfortable. I wasn't sure if he was debating on telling me anymore or if was regretting telling me in the first place and trying to figure out a way to kill me and hide the evidence. I didn't know if he was waiting for me to look away or wither in fear from his gaze, but I kept my eyes on his optics. But if he really was going to squish me, I'd rather see it coming.

Minutes ticked away and the look in his optics didn't change. I wondered what exactly he was thinking about. It couldn't have been about killing me; Decepticons didn't take that much time deliberating options like that. Did he still want my help or was he going to revert back to overly cocky tough-guy mode and deny that anything was wrong? He was definitely having nightmares, and ones that would scare the living daylights out of me if I dreamt them. I forced a shudder back as I thought about watching and hearing my friends die like that. I wouldn't sleep for days after a dream like that… and I didn't even want to consider the reaction I'd have if I dreamt that happening to Jazz. And even though Skywarp is a Decepticon and a cold-blooded killer, he could still feel pain, anguish, loss and regret, especially since he had the reoccurring theme in his dreams that he and the other Seekers had failed. There was something akin to a soul inside the snarky mech. I mean… he missed Thundercracker and Starscream. He actually missed Starscream. Skywarp, a big bad Decepticon, had friends. A Decepticon with friends. Friends, that the thought of watching them die, scared him out of recharge. I'm sure he would never admit that out loud, but from the few conversations with him here in the med bay it was obvious there was a deeper connection between the three.

The strange look he was giving me was driving me nuts. Why was he looking at me like that? What was he thinking about? Why had he stopped talking? Did I do something wrong? Unable to contain my curiosity any longer, I crossed my arms over my chest and tilted my head. "What are you thinking about?"

His red optics narrowed a touch more, but he didn't say anything and it seemed that we were going to continue the staring contest. Then I heard his internal systems speed up.

I stopped looking at his optics and quickly turned my focus on his chest. Something was triggering another system spike. I squinted and ran my gaze over his systems; if he was going to freak out from being inside or about his wings again, then I'd need some warning to get Ratchet out here. Right off I noticed his intakes were drawing more air than normal. The rate his fuel pump was moving energon through his body had increased and there was a marked increase in the amount of coolant running through his systems which puzzled me. The temperature had not changed in the room and he didn't look angry per se, but when isn't a Decepticon angry? So far there was nothing too serious. We had replaced a lot of the lines that had been damaged including lines that had been clogged with soot and coagulated energon and there was a slight chance that we missed a clot, and that worried me. A clot in the new lines would be dangerous, but the energon in his system was running smoothly through the lines. My eyes drifted towards his internal repair systems, which were still working, humming away as they continued to repair the minor wounds in his body. Everything was looking okay until my eyes landed on his spark chamber.

I don't know why I hadn't noticed it earlier while Ratchet and I worked on him, but it caught my gaze now. It was a strange shade of dark blue and it oscillated at a rapid and odd pace. I stood up and moved closer to his chest, trying to make sense of his strange rhythm. Three beats, four beats, three beats, five beats, three beats: I hadn't seen this type of pulse in any of the Autobots, nor had I seen that deep of a color for a spark.

My 'examination' of him finally broke Skywarp's silence. "What are you doing, femme?"

"Since you stopped talking and were just staring, I wanted to make sure your systems were okay. I don't need a clog in your newly replaced energon lines damaging you."

"And you can do that without the monitors?" The tone in his voice oozed disbelief.

"Yes, I can." I ignored his tone. "You're experiencing a minor system spike and your spark oscillation is strange."

"Huh?"

"The cadence of your spark is odd. When Ratchet comes in, I'm going to have him check it out." I turned to look at him. "Did you know your spark is dark blue? I haven't seen a spark that deep of a color before."

He went back to being silent and giving me that strange look. I sighed and hung my head. I didn't want to play his staring game anymore. "Did I do something wrong, Skywarp?"

He raised an optic ridge at me. "No."

"Is there a specific reason why you're staring at me?"

He didn't answer.

I waved my hand at his face. "Earth to Skywarp. Anyone home?"

"What?"

"Do you want to keep talking about the dreams? You said your last few…" I dropped my voice to a whisper. "…were weird. Weird how?"

His red optics narrowed at me and the strange look came back, but thankfully he started to talk. "We're at a party on Cybertron, and I guess the war is over… we're in a room full of Autobots…"

"And then the rift appears?"

He nodded and frowned. "But…"

I tilted my head. "But?"

"I can see the conjunction happen and everyone starts to scream… and we try to get away from it…"

"So you, Starscream and Thundercracker are able to flee?"

His frown deepened. "We realize we failed…at whatever we were supposed to have done… and…" He looked at the wall and I could see the cables in his neck tense as he set his jaw.

"Skywarp?"

He turned back to face me quickly with a snarl. "And you're there and you look strange and I save your annoying squishy self!"

I stepped back at his sudden outburst, obvious shock spreading across my face. Did he just say what I thought he said?

He scowled and lay back on the table, staring at the ceiling. I stood there staring at him now, feeling uncomfortable about the whole situation. Why was I in his dreams? I cleared my throat awkwardly. "I was in your dream?" My voice squeaked at the end.

"Yes." He huffed at the ceiling.

"Oh." What was I supposed to say to that? Thank you from saving me in your nightmare? And why am I in his nightmare? I thought back to my little Jungian theory about his fears of losing things important and the helplessness. He couldn't have thought I was important to him; I'm just a little pink piece of squish to him. It had to be because I had been around him of late and the first to check on him each time he woke like that. That had to be it. It was his subconscious adding me in to his dream because of his current situation of being cooped up with Autobots in the med bay. Right?

He slowly sat back up with a sullen look on his face. "Can you fix it?"

"I'll try." I grabbed my wireless Teletraan 1 and started to look up how to knock him out so he wouldn't dream. I didn't want to spend another moment standing there under his gaze.

"You should have said something earlier. I could have easily put you in a induced deep recharge." Ratchet said from where he leaned on the med bay door.

I spun around at hearing his voice, my eyes wide in horror. Oh, god. Please say he didn't hear Skywarp say I was in his dreams. "Ratchet! How long have you been there?"

"When did the dreams start, Skywarp?"

He growled at me. "I thought you said he was recharge!"

I looked back to the angry Decepticon, putting my hands in the air. "He was! He said he wouldn't be in until later!"

He snarled at Ratchet. "It's none of your business, Autobot!"

"Too bad. Your body needs a lot of recharge time right now, and if this is why you jump out of your armor so much, then it is my business." The grouchy medic walked over to us and started to adjust the main monitor. "When did the dreams start?"

The med bay was silent as Skywarp glared daggers at Ratchet, who in turn put his hands on his hips and gave him the best 'I'm waiting' look. The Seeker's glare faded and he gave a resigned sigh. "Since the temple."

"After the explosion?"

Skywarp lay back onto the table and scowled at the ceiling. "No. When I got hit with lightning… they started after that."

"All right, I'll run a system scan to make sure you didn't burn out anything in your subprocessors and then I'll set up a program that will induce a deep recharge." Ratchet turned to look at me. "Now, what was it about his spark?"

Oh no. He did hear it.

I sighed and pointed at the Seeker's chest. "Its oscillation is rapid and odd… a cadence of three, four, three, five, three. And his spark is dark blue. Is that normal?"

Ratchet had flipped open one of the repaired panels in Skywarp's chest. The Seeker didn't like the intrusion and tried to pull away from the medic's examination until Ratchet put a strong hand on the Seeker's shoulder and held him down. "It's normal. Sparks can come in an array of colors. I've even seen a mech whose spark was pulsing between two different hues." His optics narrowed as he examined the Seeker. "Hmmm, his oscillation rate has changed from the last time we were working on him."

"Is it serious?" I stood on tiptoes to get a glimpse of the monitor on the other side of Skywarp's body.

"I don't believe so, but I'm going to monitor it now for other changes." Ratchet attached another cable to a port on Skywarp's side and programmed the monitor to record his spark rhythm. Once the monitor started to beep and record the pulse rate, Ratchet turned to look at the Seeker. "Right before I stumbled into your spark-to-spark chat, Wheeljack contacted me to say that he believes it would be a wiser choice to rebuild your Protoform armor and let you scan a new alternate form than try to rebuild what was left of your wings."

I stepped away from Skywarp quickly the moment Ratchet mentioned his wings. I had no desire for a repeat performance with the Seeker and his rage over his wings. Luckily, Skywarp stayed calm while Ratchet explained what they were going to do to repair his body.

"If this is acceptable to you, Skywarp, as we finish repairs Wheeljack will build and install new Protoform armor for you."

There was a sullen huff from the prone Seeker. "Does that mean I'll be able to leave sooner?"

The grumpy medic nodded to him. "Much sooner. We still need to rebuild the armature for your legs and create Protoform material for your back, but I'm satisfied that the repairs to your internal systems are coming along well. I'm going to continue to monitor your systems until we've completed work on your Protoform. I know many here wish that you would fall out of the sky in a fiery ball of slag, and are probably plotting to attempt to kill you the moment you set foot off of base, but I will have at least given you a fighting chance to survive it."

Skywarp stared at the ceiling, a disgusted frown plastered across his face. Ratchet shrugged and turned to me. "Jetfire is coming in to ask you for more help on the information brought back from the pyramids."

I nodded, picking up the wireless Teletraan 1 and slowly making my way down the ramp. I stopped at the bottom and looked up at the grumpy medic. "Ratchet? You won't tell anyone, will you?"

Bright blue optics shifted over to me. "Tell anyone what."

"About Skywarp's nightmares… I promised him I wouldn't tell anyone when we thought you were still in recharge…"

He turned back to the monitors. "Don't know what you're talking about. All I heard was that his spark rhythm was off."

I smiled. "Thanks, Ratchet."

He shook his head and started to organize some of his tools.

I walked over to my desk and started to pull up the files of the scans I took from the pyramid. With the excitement of taking care of the snarky Seeker, Jetfire and I hadn't had a chance to go over what I had gathered from the Pyramid of the Sun.

I looked over at the table that Skywarp was on, everything over the past few weeks had been on hold because of the Seeker, including my life. I couldn't help the frown and sigh that betrayed how I felt, it hurt that Jazz walked out and wouldn't talk to me. It hurt worse when I worried that he didn't trust me anymore because of the Seeker being in the med bay. It was all so stupid on one level, but that didn't stop the fear and the pain. And now, ironically enough, I was spending more time in the med bay. Not to be around Skywarp, but to be with Ratchet and Wheeljack. They appreciated my help and didn't ask any uncomfortable questions as to why I was here or why Jazz hadn't come in to see me lately. And I wasn't exactly sure how to answer if they did ask. How do you say you're not sure what's going on and you're afraid that the one you love more than anything has dumped you? I could feel my throat tighten and tears trying to overwhelm my eyes.

Skywarp sat up and watched Ratchet put his tools away; he looked positively bored out of his mind.

I watched the Seeker for a moment. It was because of him that Jazz and I fought. For some odd reason Jazz accused me of being too friendly to the Decepticon. And now that I think about it, especially in the context of our conversation over his nightmares, maybe I had been too friendly to Skywarp.

He turned and looked at me, his optics narrowing slightly. I stared at him for a minute as hot tears clouded my vision. The awful thought of wishing he had been destroyed in the explosion just so Jazz and I hadn't fought at all crossed my mind and I felt sick. The tears broke from my eyes and looked away, the sick feeling filling my stomach. How could I think such a horrible thing? Being the troublemaker he is and causing Jazz and I to fight did not warrant me wishing he were dead. Even if he was a Decepticon.

A loud and annoyed sigh came from Skywarp as he turned his attention back to Ratchet. "Why did you bother, anyways?"

"Hmm?" Ratchet turned around and looked at the Seeker.

"Why did you even bother to help me? I've sent my share of mechs in here for repairs…why are you wasting your time to fix me up when we both know that once I'm out of here I'll go back to sending more wounded mechs to you?"

Bright blue optics narrowed as Ratchet regarded the Seeker. Moments passed before he shook his head and went back to putting tools away. "There have been too many deaths in this war and if I can save a life, doesn't matter if it's Autobot or Decepticon, then I've done my job."

Skywarp crossed his arms over what was left of his cockpit and didn't say anything else. Maybe Ratchet's words would sink in and have an effect of the snarky Seeker, but I doubted that would happen. It would have been amazing if it made the mech think about the numerous loses in the war and consider his position, but I had no hope that it would sink in farther than the metal membrane covering his audio receptors.

--

"'At the end of time…the greatest twelve must come together and fight…the keys lie within and the guide awaits those who seek…if they should fail…the stars shall spin fast and the great eye of chaos will open and turn all lands into ash… the twelve must prevail over chaos.'" The gentle scientist reread the script that we had found initially on the pyramid.

I glanced up at Jetfire. "What do you think it means?"

He turned to peer at the scowling Seeker who glared daggers at our backs. Ratchet and Wheeljack had just left after taking measurements for rebuilding his Protoform. "Feel like helping us with the mystery, Skywarp?"

There was a loud snort. "No."

Jetfire looked at me with a shrug. "Looks like we're on our own."

We had pushed a table over to Ratchet's Teletraan 1 console to sit on while we worked and entered all the data we gathered from the pyramids. I stared at the strange line of text and mused aloud. "'End of time' could be the long count calendar's doomsday date…"

Jetfire pulled up the information about the long count calendar. "Which the Meso-Americans and many humans today believe will happen on December 21, 2012, approximately four Earth years from now."

"So… basically it's a prophesy about the end of the world?" I shook my head with a sigh. "Is there any 'the end is nigh' doomsayers on Cybertron?"

"Many believe that this war will only end with the destruction of Cybertron."

The war will end with the destruction of Cybertron? I pursed my lips and crossed my arms over my chest. That sounded like one of the themes in Skywarp's nightmares, but it could have been an unconscious fear that was manifesting in his dream. He had to have heard about the belief the war will only end in the planet's destruction.

"Rachel?"

"Hmm?" I turned to face the icy blue optics of the gentle scientist.

"Is something wrong?"

I shook my head. "No. I was just thinking about something." I was obviously seeing a connection only because of the conversation about nightmares with Skywarp. "Every few years there seems to be another 'end of the world' date." I started a new search on the wireless Teletraan 1 to show Jetfire. "Y2K, 2012, October 24 2002, May 5 2000, April 23 1990, December 21 1955… and that's just within the past sixty years. And there are numerous doomsday cults running around."

The gentle scientist tapped his fingers on his lips as he concentrated on the monitor. "Maybe it doesn't mean the end of the world but a start of a new era."

"I guess it could, but what about the 'eye of chaos' turning the lands to ash? Or the stars spinning fast? What if it's a written account of an astronomical event, like a supernova? The other scripts did mention the horizon points that the pyramid lines up with. Maybe they saw something else in the skies besides the sun when the pyramid was aligned with the horizon." I looked up at Jetfire.

"Hmm, there was a star chart on the crystal. Lets see if there is any discrepancies between that chart and what we can observe now." He brought up the images of the crystal facet with the flattened star chart and started to create a second chart of the skies using Sky spy's sensors. He contemplated the chart from the crystal and pointed at the center of it. "I find it strange that this chart has 144 systems that seem to converge on a specific point in space. There could be something in that location that the text refers to."

The image on the screen looked like a bunch of scattered ants to me. "So where is Earth on the chart?"

Jetfire pointed at a star on the lower half of the chart. "The Sol system is here in this quadrant.

"And Cybertron?"

He pointed at a spot on the upper half of the chart. "Cybertron is up in this quadrant."

I squinted at the two dots and wished I knew a little more about astronomy than just the names of stars and constellations. At least the math behind the science made sense. "Is it just me, or are Earth and Cybertron equidistant between each other and that point in the middle?"

Lines were drawn on the chart and we now stared at a perfect triangle. "So it's possible that there is something at that spot in space." I looked up at Jetfire. "Could some astronomical occurrence from that location affect here and Cybertron?"

"Unlikely at that distance. A supernova might be picked up by one of your satellite telescopes if it were watching that part of the sky. But I cannot think of an occurrence that would affect either planet that could come from that point in space."

"Massive black hole?"

Icy blue optics turned to look at me. "We would have picked up the x-ray emissions from a black hole that large by now."

I made a 'blah' noise. "Looks like we're back to square one."

"Not entirely. We've established a connection between that point in space and our two planets. And we've only started to examine the information we gathered from the pyramids." Jetfire smiled at me. "Let's take a look at what you were able to scan from the Pyramid of the Sun while we wait for Sky spy to create a current chart, maybe there is an answer to our questions there."

I accessed the files from my wireless Teletraan 1 and posted them on the main screen for Jetfire to see. Zooming into the first scan, I pointed out the part of the pyramid I located them on. "Every third step had the Cybertronian script. I haven't had the chance to decipher the glyphs, but there were pictograms depicting Quetzalcóatl at the start of each step."

The gentle scientist tilted his head slightly as he pointed to the steps on the screen. "Quetzalcóatl fell from the heavens… the people of the maize washed his wounds and put fresh leaves on his skin… the stone from heaven was given to the people to protect until the twelve are born… the three that are one will seek first… the others that seek will follow… the twelve must triumph over the chaos bringer… if they fail the stars will spin fast and he will turn all lands to ash… Quetzalcóatl waits for the twelve to guide… our brothers from the red star hold the key…"

"So Quetzalcóatl is the guide mentioned in both texts and there is more about the 'twelve'." I looked back up at Jetfire who was now frowning. "What is it?"

"The Chaos Bringer is another name for the Unmaker of Creation." He crossed his arms over his cockpit and turned to look at me. "Is there a similar reference in Earth cultures to a being of chaos?"

"I'm not versed in any religion, but there is satan in Christianity. There are probably more…"

His attention turned back to the monitor. "The 'stone of heaven' must have been the crystal."

"'People of the maize' would be the inhabitants of the city. I'm sure I read somewhere that they believed that they were created from maize." I leaned back on my hands and kicked my legs off the table. "Okay, so Quetzalcóatl was hurt when he came to Earth and the inhabitants of Teotihuacán took care of him, he entrusted the crystal to them until 'the twelve' were born…"

Jetfire continued where I left off. "'The three that are one will seek first', could be part of the 'twelve' and the 'others that seek' could mean the nine others."

"They have to win against 'the chaos bringer, if they fail the stars will spin fast'… that sounds like more of the end of the world prophesy… and 'our brothers from the red star' have a 'key'. Hmmm… our brothers from a red star…"

Icy optics looked at me thoughtfully. "Brothers could mean others of your race."

I started to tap my fingers on the table as I racked my brain. "There were a lot of other cities and civilizations around that time and somewhat near the area. But 'the red star'? I can't think of anything that I've read about the area or people that mentioned a red star."

Jetfire flicked back to the file with the star chart. "An another astronomical reference, then? Aliens with a humanoid appearance from a system with a red star."

"But the night sky is full of red stars. Which one would it be talking about? And would this be something Quetzalcóatl said to them or did they meet their 'brothers'? And-" I sat up straight on the table as the answer popped into my head. "Or maybe it's not a real star but something that looks like a star!"

"Like?"

"A planet." I grinned up at the icy blue optics focused on me. "If Quetzalcóatl is an alien from another galaxy, he might see Earthlings and beings from elsewhere in the solar system as 'brothers'. And Mars could be mistaken for a star because it's reddish in color."

"But there are no life forms anywhere else in this system, Rachel."

"No, but there could have been at one point. Just because there isn't any right now doesn't mean there wasn't one at the time when this was written." I wasn't going to be deterred. It took millions of years for evolution on Earth, but that didn't mean it took that long elsewhere.

The gentle scientists smiled at me. "It's a possibility. But there were life signs only on Earth when I first came here to explore."

I was nearly bouncing off the table. "But that was seven million years ago, right? Is it impossible for a civilization to live and die out in seven million years? All we'd have to do is go and explore the planet."

"As I said, Rachel. It's a possibility. Unfortunately, we would need more information, like the harmonic radiation signal, before we could plan an exploration mission there. As much as I'd love to return to exploring new worlds, I don't have the luxury of time to do so. I am needed here to keep the Earth safe with the rest of the Autobots."

I frowned and crossed my arms over my chest with a sigh. He was right, of course. As interesting and exciting as this was, we couldn't just drop our responsibilities and run off to Mars. And as much as I would love to go visit another world, especially Cybertron, it wasn't feasible without Jetfire. "Your scanner can't detect a signal from here?"

"There is too much interference from the," The gentle scientist gave me a knowing look that I caught quickly. We couldn't risk letting Skywarp know about the Allspark. "Other 'source' for the scanner to register."

I nodded and was going to concede to his reasoning, but I couldn't help throw in a little teaser. "We could always check out all the information being sent back to Earth by the Mars Rovers Spirit and Opportunity. They might have picked up a signal."

My response came as a smile from the gentle scientist. "Maybe if things calm down we can plan a mission to explore, but as I said it will it have to wait. I will though look up the Mars Rovers and see what has been found."

"You have no reason to go and you two should stop meddling in things that don't concern you." Skywarp growled at us from across the room.

We both turned around simultaneously to look at the sullen Seeker. "Have you decided to help us now, Skywarp?"

"Slag, no." He crossed his arms over his cockpit. "But I'll be fragged if I let you get there first. You don't even know what you are looking for."

Icy blue optics regarded the Seeker. "And you know what to look for?"

Skywarp just huffed at us. "It belongs to us."

"I'm curious as to how this belongs to you, would you like to explain it to me?" Jetfire looked slightly amused as he smiled at the ruffled Seeker.

Skywarp's crimson optics flashed angrily as he growled at us. "It just does and you should keep out of our business!"

I looked back and forth between the text on the screen and Skywarp as a strange thought came to mind. That couldn't mean… "Jetfire?"

The gentle scientist looked down at me, "Yes, Rachel?"

"This might be the dumbest idea, but what if the texts mean specific… people?" I motioned with just my eyes to Skywarp. "Those who 'seek' could be…"

The smile spread across Jetfire's faceplate. "As in a 'Seeker'."

"And the 'three that are one' could be-" I pointed to Skywarp who's optics were barely slits of blood red fury.

"Their trine." The gentle scientist turned his smile on the Seeker.

"Or the bond between them." I looked up at Jetfire. "They aren't just a trine."

"A bond from being Decepticons?" He tilted his head to look between the furious Seeker and me.

Skywarp scowled at me as I looked at him. "I was thinking more along the lines of the bond of them being friends."

I received a strange look for that. "Friends?" Jetfire shifted his gaze back to Skywarp. "Even after all these eons, you three still are-" He was cut off suddenly as the alarms sounded. The Decepticons were attacking oil tankers out on the coast and he was called to report to the front of the Ark.

Ratchet entered the med bay from his office as Jetfire stood up. "We'll continue this discussion later, Rachel."

I nodded to him as he left and noticed that Ratchet was not collecting his field tools. He wasn't going with the strike force, which meant he was going to watch them leave. It was a tradition of his to watch the group leave on every mission that he wasn't accompanying them on. He believed that if he watched them leave in one piece and alive, then they'd come back alive even if they were in pieces.

I felt my throat tighten. I always told Jazz every time he left for a mission or a battle that I'd put him back together no matter what, he just had to come back to me alive.

The grouchy medic stood at the doors to the med bay and looked at me expectantly. "Hurry up and get over here or we'll miss them."

I bit my lip; the myriad of fears of Jazz not wanting to see me was overwhelming. There was a gnawing pit opening inside my stomach and I could feel tears forming in my eyes. I looked away. "I don't think I should go, Ratchet."

His hands were on his hips and I got an annoyed glare. "And why not?"

The first tears started to spill. "I- I don't think he wants me to be there…"

"What the slag are you going on about?" I didn't have to look up to know the look I was getting from the medic.

"I don't think Jazz wants to see me, Ratchet." My voice broke and I hung my head.

"Nonsense. Now hurry up and get over here."

"Ratchet…"

He crossed the room quickly and I was unceremoniously picked up and carried out of the med bay. I squawked at being grabbed by his massive white hands. "Ratchet!"

"Oh, hush, Rachel. He wants to see you and you want to see him. You two need to stop acting like spoiled sparklings and get over yourselves."

I sniffled and my voice wavered. "But Ratchet-"

"Don't 'but Ratchet' me. You're going to watch them leave with me, Rachel, and that's final." He put me down in the middle of the hallway a few feet from the entrance.

Nodding, I hung my head. "Yes, sir."

I could hear the smirk in his voice and I wished I had something to throw at him as we walked the last few steps to the entrance. "I'm glad you've decided to see things my way."

There were mechs lining up to listen to Prowl's battle plan and Jetfire was already in his shuttle form as we left the protective hologram cloak of the Ark and stood outside. I looked over the group until I saw him; he was organizing the mechs, getting them into Jetfire's cargo bay and making sure they had their instructions. Jazz turned to look back at us and I hid behind Ratchet's leg. The grumpy medic growled at me. "Rachel. He's looking over here for you."

I started to cry in earnest. "He- he doesn't tr- trust me anymore, Ratchet! He's m- mad that I'm in the med bay with Skywarp even though it's my j- job to help take care of him! He's n- never gotten mad about me wo- working in there before and I don't know why he got s- so angry at me about it and he l- left and turned off his comlink when I tried to ta- talk to him! And- and I don't th- think he loves me anymore…"

"Is this why you've been avoiding everyone?"

I managed a small sniffled 'yes'.

Ratchet sighed loudly and ran his hand down his face. "Rachel. Most of the Ark is unhappy Skywarp is here and they're worried about our safety with him around no matter how many times I tell them he's disarmed and his teleportation programming is offline. So Jazz made an aft out of himself and acted like a sparkling by running off. I'm sure he still trusts you and still loves you. He's just worried about you and he's still looking over here."

I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. "But… I've never seen him so mad before…"

"He's worked up over Skywarp. I'd bet that he's jealous that Skywarp has seen more of you lately than he has. He's been gone for how many days since I brought that pain in the aft back? He's probably worried that you might start to trust anything Skywarp says." Ratchet looked over his shoulder at me. "They're about to leave. Are you going to stay hidden behind me or are you going to say good-bye to him? And do you really want him to leave for a battle without clearing this up? You never know, he might not make it back in one piece."

My breath caught in my throat and that horrible cold fist clutched my stomach. What if he doesn't come back alive?

I stepped out from behind Ratchet just in time to see Jazz board Jetfire. I had missed my chance to say good-bye…

Tears poured down my cheeks as the ramp to Jetfire's cargo bay started to retract and I choked back a painful sob. Please let him be okay.

As if he heard me, Jazz turned back to look and I stared into his azure visor. I took a few steps forwards, I wanted to run to him and hug him just so I could listen to his spark beat once more and tell him how much I loved him…

He gripped the side of the door suddenly and it seemed like he wanted to jump out of the cargo bay, but the doors started to close and a panicked look crossed his faceplate. He pointed to himself, drew a heart in the air with his fingers and then pointed to me.

I managed a teary smile for him and mouthed 'I love you' as the doors to Jetfire's cargo bay shut and the Veritech fighter took off in the air. I watched until they disappeared over the horizon and the vapor trail dispersed into the ether, tears rolling down my cheeks. I turned around only to see Ratchet smiling down at me. It was too much and I ran to him, throwing my arms around his leg and sobbing hysterically. "He- He's going to be all right? Won't he, R- Ratchet?"

There was a large white hand patting my back. "He'll be just fine, Rachel."

--

The fading light from Cybertron's blue sun danced across his sleek form as he flew high above Iacon. The lights that flickered on as night descended on the city were beautiful to watch, but it was the feeling of the cool crisp air against his wings that eased Thundercracker into a state of relaxing bliss. Skirting the stratosphere, he tried to empty his mind of the week's events.

His capture by the Autobots had been amusing if not strange. Their poor attempts to grill him for information about why he was there were laughable. He was going to get what was behind that door, no matter what they did to try and thwart him. In fact, their insistence that he stay away from the Library to respect those who had died there gave him the distinct impression that even they didn't know what was behind it.

Thundercracker let a twitch of annoyance flitter off his wings. He needed to bring Starscream and Skywarp back with him to try and open the door. If the keypad couldn't be hacked into, then maybe it could be breached by Skywarp's teleportation. That is if he could get a hold of the others.

Which brought the Seeker back to the reason why he was streaking across the midnight blue skies. There had been no response from any of his attempts to contact them, and asking Megatron where Starscream was only resulted in the monitor being turned off. And to top if off, with the control room full of the first wave of recruits to be sent to Earth, Shockwave informed him that the Space Bridge was malfunctioning and needed to be repaired. He had glared at the one-optic freak knowing something was up; Shockwave was the only being in the room when he had entered with the group of recruits and there was no one in there working on repairs.

Another annoyed twitch made his wings tense and ruined his relaxing flight. Thundercracker scowled. All he wanted was some peace and quiet away from the Decepticons, Autobots and the war. Just a few cycles without having to put up his defenses and be on constant alert for an attack, but it looked like his mind wasn't going to allow him the simple pleasure to enjoy a solitary flight.

He was about to give up completely and return to headquarters when he realized he was no longer over Iacon but a small Neutral outpost. Maybe his time hadn't been wasted completely. It was a decent sized area for a Neutral town and Thundercracker landed gracefully on one of the larger streets on the outpost. Mechs that had been traveling on the street suddenly gave him a wide berth, eyeing him suspiciously. The Seeker subspaced his weapons, there would be no need for them here and if he was going to try what he wanted to do he needed to look as innocuous as possible.

He let his optics roam over the street before landing on just the thing he was looking for. Walking towards the building, he kept his optics low and didn't meet anyone's gaze; he didn't want to stir up any trouble for the inhabitants. He stopped in front of the door to the building and listened to the noises coming from inside. Had he done this before the war he wouldn't have felt so uneasy, but now with whom he is and where he was made his fuel pump feel like it was going to burst from his chest. Thundercracker pushed the door open and walked inside, his optics adjusting to the light in the bar. It was busy with mechs who were relaxing after long workdays and groups of people who came out for social drinks and company with friends. A young femme came up to him with a wide smile…until she saw the Decepticon emblem on his wings. He could feel the fear coming from her and see it in her optics. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

Thundercracker looked at the floor and took a step towards her. "Listen, I'm not here to cause trouble… I just want a quiet corner to sit in and a few cubes of high grade. I won't bother anyone."

She nodded and some of her smile returned, but he could still feel her apprehension. The femme motioned for him to follow her and Thundercracker kept his optics down as she led him to a spot at the back of the bar. There were a few worried glances in his direction, but he didn't meet them. Instead he rested his arms on the table and stared at his hands. The femme was back quickly leaving a shimmering cube of high grade on the table for him and disappearing just as quickly. He sipped at the cube and let his mind wander.

He was halfway through his cube when he felt more at ease in the place and there were fewer people looking over at him. He frowned into his cube and set it to one side as thoughts about the last few days' events pressed on his mind again. Giving up on having a peaceful moment, the Seeker pulled the star-shaped prism out of his subspace and started to examine it. It was cut from the purest crystal and the light from the bar sent fiery sparks across the table. He lifted it up to the light and peered into the center of the prism, something about it set off the radiation scanner. They had never found anything with the signature this small before and he felt his spark sink as he wondered if the 'other' signatures not on the data pad were also this size.

He set the prism down on the table and pulled the beat up data pad from his subspace. The Last Seeker: The Final Dialogues With Seeker Storm Flight spilled across the screen when he activated the text. He had read through the text so many times that he could repeat it word for word in recharge, but maybe there was something about the other signatures and the prism on the data pad that he had missed.

The text was an interview taken by a writer who believed that chronicling the Seeker's story would insure his fame, unfortunately for him the story of the Seekers lived on and he passed into oblivion.

Thundercracker accessed the chapter on the technology brought back to Cybertron by Storm Flight and carefully reread the contents. If there was anything about smaller artifacts it should be mentioned in here.

--

Seeker Technology

The following conversations with Storm Flight were the most difficult to obtain. Already known for his unstable mind, it was during this time when questioned about the alien technology he had brought back to Cybertron that he became belligerent and rambled incoherently. It took hours of careful questioning to finally achieve a conversation worth recording.

Can you explain the technology you brought back to Cybertron?

Slag. You use most of it every day. Your subspace pockets? We were the ones who brought back the knowledge of tesseracts. Supersonic transport? If we hadn't found that early on, we wouldn't be here having this conversation. That was on one of the larger crystal artifacts. Shadowstar's main processors nearly blew as she tried to decipher the hieroglyphic designs for the engines. The Space Bridges? I'm sure you've used one to travel to Rigilas or Coeliaxis. We found one on the outer edges of Pralex-12. But the artifact that gave us the plans for energy-based weapons was the best by far. (Author's note: it was at this point that Storm Flight pulled his two energon blades and started to swing them around.)

Can you tell me about how the Seekers were able to collect the alien technology?

Well, Kestral certainly didn't know where to look and he had the scanner. So it was staying sharp and watching for the signs. We never would have found half the stuff if it wasn't for the signs. Once we found a signal it became a fight to get to the stuff before the others did. Kestral said there was more out there and keys to find it, but we didn't have time to gather it all. I wish we had more time, would have been so much easier. If we had found more of them then Cybertron would still have its Seekers and the best of the best in the universe would have a happily ever after existence.

You mentioned 'signs' and 'signals', what are they exactly?

Same thing. Kestral and Halo called it harmonizing radiation… they said it was given off by stellar matter from when Primus created the universe. Kestral said the artifacts and keys were made shortly after the universe came into being.

So these artifacts carried the technology?

Some of them did. Some just had meaningless slag written all over them. Some had maps and clues to the next artifact or gate or directions to find Kestral. Some of the artifacts you had to figure out what was written on them. Shadowstar was the expert on languages and stuff and most of it drove her mad just trying to read it. She finally realized that you had to activate some of the artifacts or find the key to decipher it. Kestral said there was more out there in space somewhere just waiting for us to find it. If we had time to find more of it, Cybertron could have jumped light-years ahead in technology. We would have been powerful enough military wise to fight off any alien invasion, kept our people from suffering from any illness, learned how to create new energy sources…The Seekers would have brought a new golden age to Cybertron and its people. Kestral said all we had to do was find it. Heh. Easier said than done. Unfortunately, it's probably all been moved from where it was, he said he was going to move it to make sure the aliens couldn't use it to better themselves. Kestral said that the universe didn't need them to become more powerful than they already are.

Kestral wasn't one of the twelve?

No, Kestral was our guide. Some guide he was, though. Didn't know what we were supposed to find most of the time. He came to Cybertron to gather us for the upcoming battles. He only told us what we were going up against after we had left, fraggin' alien freak. He needed the best Cybertron had to offer, the best warriors and scientists of the age. So the best of the best were chosen and we became the Seekers…

--

He stopped reading and looked at the prism again with a sigh. It could be one of the artifacts, but there was nothing on it that gave any clue. There was no map, no glyphs, no indication of just what it was. He propped his head up with his chin in one hand and lifted the crystal up to the light again. There had to be something he was missing. The Seeker slowly twisted the flawless crystal around in his fingers, the light hitting it creating a brilliant spectrum that fell on the table.

Thundercracker lifted the cube of energon in his other hand and took a long swig of the iridescent liquid, his optics never leaving the star-shaped prism. As he lowered the cube, the light spectrum from the crystal hit the energon and drew his attention away from the prism. There was something peculiar about the way the light hit the liquid energy. Holding both cube and prism up to the light, he tried to recreate the effect. He slowly turned both objects around in his hands until he noticed a curious shadow from the prism was cast on the swirling energon. He held the cube in front of the prism, letting the light from the bar highlight the energon as he looked into the crystal. There was something inside the prism. He peered into it trying to get a better look, his optics narrowing to blood red slits while he moved the cube around, but he couldn't see anything but a faint shadow.

He set the prism on the table and took another drink from the cube. The Seeker named Shadowstar had found that some of the artifacts had to be activated with an energy source… Thundercracker looked at his nearly empty energon cube and shrugged. It was worth a try. He carefully tipped the cube and poured the viscous liquid over the top of the prism. He lifted the cube back up and stared at the energon-covered prism: all he saw was a puddle of the iridescent liquid sticking to the crystal and spreading over the table. He sighed. Well, it was worth a try.

The Seeker pulled a cloth out of his subspace to clean up the mess and picked up the crystal. Holding the prism back up to the light to wipe it off, he saw the iridescent energon seeping into the star-shaped crystal. Thundercracker watched intently as the liquid energy filled unseen channels in the prism. He picked up the energon cube and poured the last dregs of his drink over the top of the crystal. More details slowly revealed themselves to the rapt Seeker. Each shimmering facet held a different symbol including a faint script that was etched over the top of the prism. A small smile crossed his faceplate and he mused aloud, "The answers to the question lie within."

He had found a key.

--

They had been gone for hours and as each minute slowly ticked by I grew more panicked and felt my sanity slipping away. Why weren't they back yet?

I had tried to work on the information from the pyramids, but I couldn't really focus on it. I ended up reading and rereading the same parts over and over again as my mind drifted off in worried tangents. I had finally given up and pulled out the weekly inventory lists, hopeful that some mindless work would make time pass at a normal rate. But after completing the entire bottom shelf that held the bins with assorted bolts, I was dismayed to find that only an hour had passed with no news about the battle.

I uploaded the data pad into Teletraan 1 and started on the shelves on the opposite end of the med bay. I had been out of the bored Seeker's sight for most of my busy work, but now I was on his side of the room and I could feel his optics on my back as I worked. I didn't want to talk to him or give him the chance to talk to me, so I tried to find my mp3 player in hopes that I could try and zone out to some music, until I realized Jazz still had it. I turned the stereo on instead and cranked the sound up. Hopefully he'd get annoyed enough that he'd just go into recharge. Ratchet came out shortly after he finished his paperwork to help me work on inventory and we talked about repairs and bringing in new equipment and that kept my mind busy.

Finally, Teletraan 1 beeped and Prowl's visage appeared on the screen: They were heading back and there were a few injured mechs but nothing serious.

It felt like a giant weight had fallen off my shoulders and Ratchet smiled at me. "Told you that he'd be okay."

I grinned back at him and we started to prepare the med bay for the incoming injuries. But we weren't prepared for the mechs that came through the door and Ratchet's meticulously clean med bay turned into a giant oil slick in a matter of minutes. Jazz was nowhere to be seen among the tired and dirty mechs, which left me relieved and antsy to see him at the same time. In the mean time, I started to work on Bluestreak; the poor gunner had wrenched his knee in the fight. He was an oily half asleep mess on the table and he barely moved as I tried to sop the thick goo from his joint so I could at least see what I was doing.

I had finally found something to focus on so it was no wonder that I didn't pay attention to the doors opening and closing as mechs entered and left the med bay, and I was caught completely off guard as a set of black hands swooped in and plucked me from where I stood on the table. I squeaked in protest until I felt his lips press a kiss on the top of my head. I looked up quickly to see his perfect disarming smile and the hint of mischief glittering in his azure visor. Smiling back at him, I held my arms out and he pulled me close, letting me rest my head on his warm armor. Finally being able to listen to the familiar and comforting beat of his spark, I shut my eyes and whispered softly to him. "I'm so sorry, Jazz. I was so scared that you didn't trust me and I lost you…"

He pressed his lips against my head again as he tightened his hold on me. "I'm the one who needs t' apologize, Rach. I'm sorry for arguing wit' y'. I know y're jus' doin' y're job and it was unfair for me t' yell at y' like that. Will y' forgive me?"

I lifted my head up and smiled at him, tears of happiness filling my eyes. Reaching up and touching his face with my hand, I leaned in and brushed my lips against his. "There is nothing to forgive, Jazz."

--

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