Chapter 18 ~ "Silver Star"

The Next Morning…

RaiRyu and FuuRyu woke up with a startle at the rumbling and shaking of the ship. FuuRyu looked out of the window and noticed that they were rocketing into space, almost falling off the berth if it wasn't for the strap that was securely around him and his brother. Prime was gone as well, but left the twins bundled in a thermo blanket, they heard Scavenger's voice of the Ship's comn. "Hang on boys, we're heading for the next stop- The Silver Star Space Colony. We're gonna drop off the bounty head, pick up the pay and head for some relaxation..."

Goldymarg didn't even wake up, managing to snore through the launch. VolFogg was half buried under a pile of black and white and completely uninclined to move. He opened his optics as the ship launched, but made no attempt to extract himself from under his teammates.

Optimus finally got them out of the planet's atmosphere, and was currently warping them to their next destination. He smirked, looking back to the crew, "All right boys," he said, "We're meeting with our private client today, so make sure to clean up and look sharp!"

Scavenger glared over at Prime, "I took a bath yesterday..." He heard a snicker from Megatron, and the other mech threw another glare of him, "At least I don't waste the damn lubricants with a hour long bath..." He was referring to Megatron's bath time and his little rubber ducky.

"The twins and I had baths yesterday," VolFogg pointed out, still not moving. "I had to hold them down and take a brush to their armor. So we three are clean."

Optimus was about to say something when EnRyu ran and latched onto VolFogg, using him as a shield. HyoRyu ran in glaring at him. "Don't make me force you EnRyu. Bath."

"No."

"Bath."

"No!"

Prime groaned and looked to Megatron. "If I remember correctly, they're YOUR charges..."

Megatron himself growled and looked to the two arguing twins, "SILENCE!!!" His voice boomed across the ship, making the room shake as EnRyu and HyoRyu stood cold as stone. They looked into the face of their guardian that was (unfortunately) Megatron; the former con leader pointed to the door, "BATH. NOW."

VolFogg squawked in surprise. "Hey! EnRyu!" The GunMachines woke up with startled screeches, managing to almost completely bury their team leader under black and white metal. Two pairs of wide green optics fixed on Megatron at the roar he let out. VolFogg looked out from under GunGlue's arm, blinking.

EnRyu was not the type to take orders. "No!"

Sideswipe looked at the mech as if he had grown a second head, and then leaned into Scavenger. "He's dead." Scavenger merely grinned and nodded. Megatron was not the gentlest mech and they were both sure EnRyu would not enjoy being mech handled.

Megatron's red optics glowed brightly. "No..." His glare was dark as he loomed over the twins. "I'll show you what happens to mechs when they tell me 'no'..."

A few moments later, EnRyu was tired up and stripped of his armor as HyoRyu was cleaning him. EnRyu was giving a blazing glare at his guardian, 'slagging psycho!' he mumbled.

VolFogg lounged on his berth, watching on the wall monitor. The GunMachines were still draped over his back and legs, though he didn't mind as long as they kept off his light bar. "EnRyu, when will you ever learn?"

EnRyu was grumbling and seething at Megatron, letting his mouth run. Hyo kept trying to shush him seeing Megatron starting to look enraged.

"Oh icicles..." HyoRyu said as Megatron started his way towards the naked and soapy mech that was EnRyu.

Megatron had glared down at the red bot. "Mind saying that again boy?" his voice ran with venom as he bared his canines in a vicious smile.

"You might want to learn to restrain your temper, or at least think before you speak," VolFogg commented. "I would not recommend pissing off Megatron any more than you already have."

Of course EnRyu ignored his brother and VolFogg. "I said you are a drunk, perverted, nosy, loud, cock head with breath that would kill every living thing on any planet including underwater planets. " He glared at his guardian with hot pink optics.

Scavenger glared down at the red bot, "I would wrap this up sometime soon, we're approaching the station..." Megatron had cursed, missing the chance to give EnRyu a good beat down for his behavior. HyoRyu sighed and got his brother out of the shower and headed for their room just as the ship was descending.

Finally, the pile on the ninja team's berth began sorting itself out, VolFogg pulling himself out from under the twins and sitting up. They flanked him, watching the monitor as they approached the station.

EnRyu grinned as he took that spat as a victory. He walking with his head held high nose in the air and a cocky little smirk on his lips. Optimus set the ship down and let the techs start refueling and cleaning it up.

Scavenger, Megatron, and Sideswipe had taken the bounty head to their employer who seemed more than gracious with their results. They had brought along EnRyu, HyoRyu, and GoldyMarg so they wouldn't be the only ones to suffer.

For safety, Prime had the ninja team with him as well as RaiRyu, FuuRyu, and Mic. "Well we should be getting a decent pay out of this bounty head," Prime said, having RaiRyu close by his side, "And now we need to head out for the Cybertronian clinic down town. You're due for a check up."

Before leaving the ship, VolFogg managed to trip EnRyu, hissing "Get your manners straightened out!" at him before casually hopping out of kicking range, leading his team out of the ship. The GunMachines snickered softly, glancing at the fuming red mech before falling in beside and slightly behind VolFogg. They went after Prime in that near-silent trot they'd mastered.

EnRyu, not one to be beaten, let his ladder swing out, hitting VolFogg in the head causing his to crash into GunDober. EnRyu snickered and ran off before VolFogg could exact his revenge. But he knew the ninja bot would get him back some how, probably when he was asleep. He just hoped it wasn't anything painful.

Prime had rolled his optics, leading the group of Yuusha towards the downtown area. There were an abundance of species of organisms on this colony, some even the size of mechs when there weren't mechanical based beings. Prime stopped at a white building, checking the address then looking up at the sign, "Yup, this is the place..." he led the Yuusha inside the clinic, meeting with the secretary and asked about RaiRyu's appointment.

The secretary called the medic in and a bot in red and white walked in. "I'm guessing this is the boy Red Alert called me about?" His voice was raspy, and he sounded old.

Prime chuckled and rubbed RaiRyu's head. "Yup..." he answered and the medic smirked.

"Figures you would find yourself some nice charges Prime..." he said. "Always were good with kids..."

Prime smiled. "Of course Ratchet..."

VolFogg hissed something uncomplimentary under his breath. GunDober flashed him a wicked grin, an unspoken promise to help him later. They followed Prime to the clinic, looking at the old medic curiously. "Another comrade?" VolFogg asked curiously, tilting his head.

Prime nodded down at the purple mech. "Yup, used to be chief medic on Cybertron during the Great War…" The Autobot shook hands with Ratchet in a firm handshake, "Its nice to see you again my old friend…"

He snickered as Ratchet gave a small tap to Prime's forehead. "How many times to I have to tell ya," Ratchet smirked. "I ain't old…"

Prime just smiled up at the old medic, then turned towards the yellow bundle that was currently standing so close that he was trying to become one with Prime's armor. "Come on RaiRyu, Ratchet is the best medic I have ever known. He'll take care of you, just don't try and piss him off… " He grinned cheekily as Ratchet smacked him.

The old medic had closed the door behind him then settled RaiRyu on a table. "Okay kid, gonna have to have you lay down..." RaiRyu did as he was told. Ratchet did a few scans, diagnostics on RaiRyu's CPU, joint checks, and what not. He even had to spread the small yellow bot's legs in order to get a proper scan of the healing damage.

VolFogg crossed his arms over his chest, settling into a more relaxed stance. Behind him, GunGlue and GunDober were quietly discussing plans to pull on EnRyu. The purple mech listened to them, smiling slightly while they waited for Ratchet and RaiRyu to come out.

RaiRyu grimaced, he didn't like the way the medic was handling him... He whimpered when Ratchet had to manually check his interface.

"Easy now kid..." the old medic said. "Need to see if there is any scarring..." After a few more minutes of scans, system check ups, and one final injection of fluids, RaiRyu was released back to his group of brethren. Ratchet helped the small bot over to Prime. "He's a little out of it but after an hour or so he'll be fine." Ratchet held up a bottle of pills. "This should help with any pain..." the medic blinked, staring at the former Autobot leader sternly, "...and with any reoccurring nightmares..."

Optimus looked at Ratchet and nodded picking up RaiRyu in the process. He and Ratchet talked for a few moments and even talked about Ratchet possibly joining them. The answer Prime received was a definite "NO," from the elder medic. They then left the clinic with the blue and silver Autobot snickering at his old friend and headed for the quiet market.

VolFogg tilted his head toward Ratchet, the twins making soft but audible warbling sounds. Then all three followed Optimus, again moving in that nearly-silent trot. They caught up quickly and slowed, matching the larger mech's pace. Three pairs of optics looked around curiously.

Prime had received a message from Scavenger, saying that they had picked up the pay and were now heading for the market downtown. Prime nodded, positioning RaiRyu on the ground when he had got his bearings back and they headed for the location where they were going to meet the others.

****************

Prime's optics twitched, "Of all places you decided to meet HERE????"

Scavenger shrugged, "It was an easy place to spot."

GunDober and GunGlue looked around, making rumbles from their engines as they realized just what they were seeing. They eased closer to their team leader, looking around suspiciously. VolFogg followed their gazes, reaching down to take their hands briefly before returning his attention to the others.

Sideswipe was obviously uncomfortable, trying to sneak away when no one was looking.

Scavenger grabbed SideSwipe by the arm. "Oh no you don't..." He grinned down at the bot. "Like I said, you need a vacation..." He looked back at Megatron, who was obviously grinning wildly under his mask, "AND a good femme..."

Sideswipe groaned, "Nooo! I don't want to go in there! Please, please don't make me go in there. "

Prime was rubbing his temples. "You both are idiots...." he groaned, not paying attention to the fact that two barely-covered femmes walked by with EnRyu and GoldyMarg gawking at their slender forms.

VolFogg snorted to himself, glancing at the femmes briefly. GunDober hissed at them softly, moving closer to the purple mech again. Goldymarg managed to pull his optics away from the femmes long enough to look in the direction of the hiss and snort. "Looks like the GunMachines are jealous..." They promptly shot him identical glares.

One femme grabbed Megatron's hand and grinned she turned around, trying to drag him inside.

Megatron grinned, waving back at the group, "Later gentlemen, I have some... business to attend to..." He quickly ran off with the femme to the nearest hotel in the Red Light District.

Scavenger grinned and practically dragged SideSwipe into the 'block of pleasure.' The old mech threw Prime a few creds. "Don't spend it all at once when you're with the bots!" Within seconds, they were gone.

VolFogg shook his head, as close to rolling his optics as he could get. A black-and-white form pressed against him on either side, and he looked from one to the other. GunDober was hissing at another femme, and GunGlue's rotors were twitching. "This is going to be a rather interesting afternoon..."

Prime himself stood at the entrance of the district, completely dumbfounded. "Y-you....YOU SLAGGING JACKASSES!!!" I wanted femmes too..." He pouted mentally, taking hold of RaiRyu, who had been looking at an interesting poster, and he led the group of Yuusha to the shopping area.

GunDober and GunGlue were only too glad to leave the area, still flanking Volfogg possessively. The purple mech looked at them curiously, but said nothing; he'd ask once they were back on the ship and in private. Both purred as they left the Red Light district behind.

Prime pouted. He was upset about being denied to take care of his little problem. He looked down at his codpiece seeing it was bulging slightly though only he could tell. He sighed and took the bots to a safe place in the indoor mall. He sat down on a bench and let the mechs look through a large toy store. FuuRyu was excited and dragged RaiRyu all over the store. He watched as Vol and his two shadows vanish into a custom weapons shop.

EnRyu and HyoRyu had dragged Goldymarg to a custom arcade as Mic went alone into a music store. Prime had given them each an equal amount of creds to buy whatever they wanted, as long as it wasn't expensive. Mic himself had stumbled upon the racks of CDs, music holo-disk, and the instruments themselves; one of the workers had suggested buying a hot new single.

"They're getting popular fast," the store clerk said. "It's a Cybertronian group of Decepticons called 'The Black Knights', the lead singer is amazing!"

Mic had blinked his optics behind his visor and decided to listen to a demo of one of their songs. Mic moved slowly to the beat, then smiled wildly when finally getting into the song; the clerk was right, the lead singer WAS amazing. Especially when the lead singer was a femme.

GunGlue and GunDober were looking over a selection of blades, chirping softly to each other. VolFogg stood nearby, inspecting an array of rifles and guns. In his separate robot form he lacked any projectile weaponry; his throwing blades and Mirror Coat shuriken were his only weapons. He looked over each weapon carefully, examining each, until he found one that suited him.

The clerk looked up at VolFogg and could tell right away that this mech was a fighter. "Well, young mech, looking for anything special? I see you and your friend have a interests in blades and..." The mech pulled out handcrafted blade that was as red as a supernova sun. "This one I felt was always special but no one else seems to think so. Tell me what you think." He handed the blade to Vol.

Mic had happily walked out of the music store with the new CD and a few bags of extra guitar string. Prime had smiled when Mic was raving about his new gift that he bought. "She's fantastic! She's amazing! Can we go see her someday? Huh? Huh?"

The older Autobot chuckled. "Sure, when we have enough money and can find some tickets..." Prime watched as Mic grinned and headed for another store.

VolFogg scanned the blade carefully, and then slowly took it. He held it for a moment, testing the balance, then tried out a couple of moves with it. "Hmm. Not bad. The balance is perfect, the weight centered, and the blade is well-forged." He inspected the hilt of the weapon, then handed it back. GunGlue came over to look, churring softly.

The clerk smiled. "I agree completely. This is my sword but I'm closing down shop. Everything has to be sold, but I just can't sell this blade. I want someone who will take care of it." He handed the blade back to Volfogg and closed his hand around it.

Optimus watched as FuuRyu came bounding out with a few models to put together. RaiRyu came out after him holding a yellow dragon stuffed animal.

RaiRyu stood next to his brother who was chatting excitedly with Prime about his new figures; the yellow bot held onto his dragon tightly, not just because he didnt want to lose it but also because the damn thing was almost as big as he was. RaiRyu looked around at the other stores, noting fashion armor design, weapons, music and such; he spotted one store that caught his optic and quietly trotted over to shop.

VolFogg blinked, looking at the weapon. Then he nodded, accepting the sword. Turning slightly, he indicated his chosen weapon and asked about the price while the twins continued looking through the swords and knives, picking out weapons they liked.

The clerk smiled and nodded. "Nice there, kiddo. How about your friends? Everything is 60% off." He gave Vol the price and accepted the creds.

Optimus looked after RaiRyu. "Fuu, go watch him. Don't let him out of your sight. "