Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers: just my OC's & the plot.

HUNTERS MOON

Chapter 5: Escaped, and Hunted

The southern Sierra Nevada Mountains, sunrise:

As the sun peeked over the mountains and lit up the endless green forest, Crystalwing spotted something in the trees below,

: Majestrix, look...:

Training her scanner's down on the object; the unmistakable profile of the Insecticon lit up on her thermal scanner like a roman candle.

: Hang back; I'll make this quick...: Majestrix replied as she angled her nosecone downwards, cut her thrusters, and glided down head-on at the creature.

Transforming in mid-air, she unsheathed her wrist-blades and angled herself into a striking position. The Insecticon never even heard her coming, as in the blink of an eye she crashed down right next to it: using her terminal velocity to lend strength to her strike, decapitating the beast in one clean swipe. The head flew up high into the air, as the lifeless body slumped to the ground, and hot glowing energon stained the ground in a radiant electric blue. Getting back up and sheathing her blades, Majestrix froze when she spotted the red glowing optics staring at her from within the cave that was only two hundred yards away. "What a shame: and here I was hoping to see your usual performance" Grimlock growled with disappointment as he stepped out of the rocky hollow, followed by the other Dinobots.

Scowling with ire, Majestrix stood her ground as the stomped over towards her: catching the head as it fell back to the earth, and chomped it down in three metal-crushing bites; "Usually, you like to make a little sport; but a quick clean kill? That's not you're style"

"What are you doing here Grimlock?" Majestrix growled dangerously

"Hunting Insecticons: what else?" he scoffed, "It's all the fun that's left, now that the war's ground to a crawl"

"The war is over; and the all-spark is gone. Forever" she stated

"Yes, I heard about that. Terrible shame: but then, you're brother was always one for putting other species before his own kind. Now what 'responsible' leader would ever do a thing like that hm?" the taunted her.

"Save it cretin!" Majestrix shot back, "Now's not the time for your petty bid for power. Why did you let Coldbore and Longrange out of their cells?"

"Didn't they tell you? I need snipers, and I know for a fact you always like to keep a few spares" he lied

"I know that if you intend to use them as bait, they'll be long out of range before the cons ever get within a hundred miles of them"

"Oh I know: you trained them well enough," Grimlock smiled, to which Majestrix stared at him incredulously, "I just wanted to see the look on your brother's face. By the way: what did you lock them up for anyway?"

Majestrix didn't reply; she knew if she hinted at there being defectors in the Autobot ranks, Thundercracker and Skywarp wouldn't stand a chance against him. "Hm, so it's going to be like that is it? Oh well, back to the mission at hand. The bug you just killed was a scout, so I'm guessing his swarm won't be far behind" the replied.

"One less con for me to worry about" she stated, "It's their hostages I'm more concerned about"

"Ah yes, the hostages..." Grimlock smirked, "...Sort of brings back memories of our last 'hostage situation'. Do you remember? ..." he taunted her.

Before the knew what hit him: a blast of concentrated plasma energy knocked him high up in the air, before crashing down on his back with an earth-shaking BROOM! He didn't have time to get back up as Majestrix stood over him with a wrist-blade to his throat cables, while her still-smoking wrist-cannon folded itself back into her arm. As she stared down at him with all the fury and rage of a Valkyrie, the smiled as he pushed his luck even further: "Heh, are you going to do it this time? Or are you just going to cleave another chunk of my armor off again? ...Oh but wait. Only you're twin brother would stoop so low: and we all know how much he enjoyed those little tortures..."

Majestrix didn't give him the satisfaction as she sheathed her blade and slugged him hard across the jaw with a resounding CLANG!

: Crystalwing, Twilightveil, start scanning the vicinity. This Insecticon was a scout; his swarm won't be far away: Majestrix commed her teammates as she walked away and stood out in a clearing between the trees. "Just stay out of my way: if you or any of your mechs even go within a thousand yards of the younglings, I will oblige you. And I will make sure you stay awake, right up to the point I pluck out your spark-chamber from your chest!" she growled: and with that, she transformed and took off; angrily revving her thrusters as she soared away.

As Grimlock picked himself up and shook off the dirt and leaf litter, his Dinobots stepped over to his side; "Still the bitch as ever, huh boss?" Scytheslash smirked. "She's gone soft. There was a time she would've tried to kill me on site: 'guess her little 'goody-two-wheel's' brother is to thank for that" the scoffed

"So how're we gonna play this?" his SIC growled

"Stick close and let them flush the bugs out, they'll come to us one way or another, and then we can feed" Grimlock smiled as he led the way, crashing and knocking over trees as his team barged their way through the thick forest, leaving a wide trail of destroyed vegetation in their wake.

Several miles away, Majestrix only fumed as Crystalwing and her eldest daughter breathed a sigh of relief for leaving those brutes behind.

: If he's here, this is only going to get worse: Crystalwing worried

: Which is why I want you to send Shiningstar and Shadowstar down; try and pick up the bug's trail before Grimlock doe's:

: Understood: Crystalwing replied as she activated her chest compartment's launch-mode, and fired out the two femmes like a couple of cannon balls. The sphinx-drones crashed down in the forest, where they unfurled from their protoforms and took off through the trees.

"I can't believe he's involved!" Shiningstar huffed in annoyance

"Never mind those beasts, just stay focused on staying ahead of them!" Shadowstar barked back as she led the way.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the forest:

"...How far now?" Max asked as she paused to catch her breath.

"Five point three miles: we're over half way there" Morri replied, checking the pedometer on her CTG.

"Good"

"Are you okay? I warned you this was a long hike" Morri stated

"I'm good; at least it beats trying to navigate the base" Max waved off, "But how're you not out of breath yet?"

"I like to walk: helps me think better" Morri smiled as she set a slower pace for Max to walk to, "And where I come from, there're a lot of footpaths going just about everywhere in Porth Nev"

"Porth Nev? That's where you come from?"

"Yep, way down in the southwest country" Morri nodded, "It's a pretty simple place compared to here; but hey, it's where I was born and raised. There's no other place I know in and out as half as well"

"Huh" Max smirked, "Guess I could say the same about Tranquility; I've never really been anywhere else in my life"

The two girls walked a little further on in silence, before Max's thoughts prompted her to say: "...You know? (Not to sound like a suck-up or anything), but what you did back there with Lizzy? That was kinda ...overdue"

Morri glanced at her, and couldn't help but let a small smile tug at the corners of her mouth: "...Most people would be tempted to say, rebelliousness seems to run in your family"

"What do you say?"

Morri's expression turned to a look of deep thought: "...I think yours is a family that's been burden with tragedy. When the parent's live in a state of denial or go about it the wrong way, more often than not it's the kids that receive the scars" she thought aloud

"...Yeah, I can vouch for that..." Max sighed quietly as she thought about her parents, and troubles they endured for all those years.

"Usually, I make it a rule not to pry: But Lizzy? She intrigues me"

"Intrigue?" Max blinked in surprised

"Well? Call me soft if you will: but I don't believe she's a bad kid at heart; just a stupid reckless teenager who hasn't learnt the value of humility yet" Morri replied, "Sort of like someone else Darren told me about..."

"...Oh" Max realized sheepishly. "...He told you about-, that night?"

"I was one of the first to arrive at the hospital" Morri offered her a sympathetic look: "...That was one hell of a beating you took; the doctors said it was a sheer miracle you didn't bleed out, and even more amazing, is the fact you're wounds have healed as well as they have".

Suddenly aware of the half-healed injuries on her arms and face, Max rolled down the sleeves of her hoodie, and pulled her hood over her head to try and obscure her face; aware of how conscious she was of her injuries, Morri placed a hand on her shoulder: "...You shouldn't be ashamed, not for what happened"

"No offense, but how would you know? ..." Max asked, trying not to come off as sarcastic: Morri replied by rolled up her sleeves, and showing her the jagged scars on both her arms. Noticing how deep they must have been, Max realized she must have been in a similar scenario to have received them (or worse): and the more she thought about it, the more she realized how it put her own injuries into perspective. "...How did you get those?"

"The ones on my left arm, I got from a bomb blast that took out fifteen buildings; my right arm: a nasty run-in with some very disturbing 'individuals'..." Morri replied as she rolled her sleeves down, "Ravage once told me, that scar's are nature's way of reminding us why we survive; why we weren't the ones who ended up dead, and why we strive to live, whatever the odds. I don't know if he's right or not: but I do know we both survived what we went through for a reason"

"I guess? ..." Max thought aloud, "To be honest I'm still trying to figure out why I survived. I mean, it's not like I'd done anything in my life to earn it; there are more better people out there that die every day, why couldn't one of them have been spared instead of me? ...I've hurt and wreaked my family's lives, all because I was selfish, and couldn't be asked to give a fuck. How does that qualify me to be given a second chance?" she let her gaze drop as regret and shame panged at the back of her mind.

"Can I give you a bit of advice?" Morri suggested; to which Max nodded: "...The truth is I honestly can't tell you. Divine intervention? Luck? Or just karma doing its thing in that age-old way we still don't understand. Think of it whatever you will, but don't think too hard or long about it: trust me; that's one path of mental anguish you don't need in your life. Neither you nor your family are obligated to try and work out why: you'll come to accept it in time, and when you reconcile the fact that it's past tense and done with; there's not much else left that'll be as terrible as it seems..."

"Seriously? ...You think?" Max replied dubiously

"Well, there are no guarantees in life, just the predictably unpredictable. Like how you surprised everyone with your turn-around"

"Oh please," Max rolled her eyes, "No one believes I've changed"

"I do" Morri stated nonchalantly.

Max stopped in her tracks, and stared at the brunette, not quite believing she heard her correctly: "...You do?"

Morri stopped, and replied honestly: "...I do: you've made poor choices in life, but that doesn't make you a bad person, it just means you're learning curve was a tight one...and it's not just me, Chelsea believes in you"

"Yeah" Max rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

"Look, don't beat yourself up for what happened that night. What happened, happened: and if it hadn't been for you, Violet might not have made it out of Woodrow's place alive either" Morri smiled. At the mention of the latter, Max thought about how she got out of the cabin, and how it really happened; guilt told her she had no excuse to lie, even by omission: and so with a heavy sigh, she awkwardly asked: "...Can I tell you something?"

Sensing it was something concerning, Morri nodded: "Sure"

"...The truth is: it wasn't me who got Violet outta that place"

"What? But Darren said he and the girls found you outside in the bushes" Morri blinked in surprise.

"I know, but by that time Woodrow had beaten me up so bad I could hardly see straight, let alone try to stand up and run..." Max paused a moment, as she tried to find the right words to explain: "...Before he had a chance to take it any further; someone, this old dude, snuck into the cabin and knocked him out. He carried me outside and lay me down next to Violet: he then told me stay put, after which he ran off and disappeared"

Morri didn't quite know what to make of it, and simply asked: "...Why didn't you tell anyone?"

Max pressed her hand to her forehead as she sighed in exasperation: "I don't know? I was bleeding to death with a hole in my side: it wasn't like anything else was really important at the time. Afterwards, I initially thought he'd been some homeless guy passing through, overheard what was going and decided to play Good Samaritan"

Morri was about to ask something else, when something suddenly clicked in her mind: "...You said initially: was there anything that suggested to you he was different from a regular homeless guy somehow?"

"...Well? ...I wasn't sure about mentioning it at the time, because I didn't know if-" Max tried to explain, but upon assuming it would be too lengthy to explain, she simplified her response: "...Okay, there was a moment, when: the guy laid me down and I saw his arms. Now at first I thought they were tattoos, but when I looked more closely, I realized they were those symbol- 'thingies' the Autobots-

Beep-beep-beep-beep

"... -Huh?" Max blinked in surprise

Looking down at her CTG, Morri froze as she read the hologram display.

"What's wrong?" Max frowned in concern

"The proximity alarm..." Morri replied in a hushed voice, "...There's a big mammal of some kind, about twenty feet behind me..."

Max froze in alarm as she looked over at the dense undergrowth directly behind Morri, and sure enough, there was a huge dark mass partially obscured by a tree. It was covered in dark fur, and seemed to be standing on its hind legs as it used the tree to 'prop' itself upright. As Morri studied Max's expression, she knew she was looking at the creature in question, and from the way she was staring intently at it: it had to be something pretty disconcerting to spook her.

"What is it?" Morri asked anxiously.

"Can't tell" Max hastily replied with a nervous voice, "A bear or somethin'? I dunno, it's fucking huge!"

Slowly and as quietly as possible, Morri turned to face the undergrowth, and as she discreetly held up her CTG to scan it, the creature suddenly shifted; rising up to its full height, and steadily walked out onto the dirt road.

It wasn't a bear

It looked and walked like a man, but it wasn't any human.

The creature was nearly ten feet tall, covered in dark brown, almost black hair all over its body: its limbs were not proportionately correct for a human, as it had long arms and equally long robust legs, and a broad set of shoulders and chest that was of impossible size and volume for an ordinary man. But it was the face and head that really got their attention; for instead of a round cranial crown, the top of its head was almost dome-shaped like a gorilla's sagittal crest: the eyebrows were prominent, as was the nose which was quite short with the nostrils wide-set.

"Uh Morri? What's a guy in a monkey suit doing here?" Max asked in bemusement

As the creature stared down at them with an intense look of concentration, Morri's bio-scanner pinged, and as she quickly glanced at the hologram, the colour drained from her face in alarm. "Max, that's not a guy in a monkey suit!" she replied nervously,

And then without warning, the creature loudly grunted with a short sharp "UGHH!"

"SHIT!-" Max yelled as she and Morri bolted off the road and took off into the undergrowth, running down a steep slope. After covering about five hundred yards and not hearing anything behind them: the girls both slowed down, and chanced a glance back the way they'd came. The creature was gone, and as Morri scanned the whole forest, her CTG couldn't find anything either.

"Definitely not, a guy, in a monkey suit!-" Max panted as she tried to slow her breathing and regain her composure, "Shit, I never heard anything grunt that loud before"

"I know: it went right through my chest!" Morri breathed as she finished scanning the forest. "...Bloody hell"

"Is it still there?"

"No, it's gone; must've run off when we legged it" Morri assured her

"What the fuck was that thing? A Bigfoot or somethin?" Max gawked; Unable to find a logical answer as to what it was, Morri simply looked at her as if to say 'I think you're right'.

"No..." Max breathed in disbelief, "No way! It couldn't have been a-

"-Shush! Listen!" Morri stopped her. Listening carefully, the distant sound of giant insect wings could be heard approaching...

"Shit!" Max panicked

"Quick! Hide!" Morri barked as she bolted for a large rocky over-hang that protruded out of the slope; the girls pressed themselves as far into the lee of the rock as their size would allow, and slowed their breathing right down as the giant beast came into hover above the trees.

For what felt like hours, the monster behemoth spun around as it seemed to be sniffing for something, or them: the powerful downdraft of its wings knocked branches and twigs out of the trees, and threw up all the leaf-litter on the forest floor. The girls both sweated bullets as they hoped and prayed the beast wouldn't find them. Finally, after a tense nerve-racking five minutes, the Insecticon took off, and only when they could no longer hear its wing beats, did Morri and Max cautiously peer out from under their hiding place.

"That was close" Max breathed with relief

"Way too close" Morri stated, "If they-

SNAP!

The sound of a nearby branch snapping made them both bolt back under the overhang, as the sound of metal plating lightly clacking together could be heard approaching.

Max frowned in alarm, what was it? "What-

"-Younglings?!" Portia exclaimed as she suddenly appeared overhead. Both girls yelled in fright: and before Portia could react, Max instinctively punched the spider-femme in the face. When they both saw it was her, they calmed down and breathed a sigh of relief. "Bloody hell Portia! Don't sneak up on us like that!" Morri fumed.

"My apologies," she replied as she rubbed her chin, "I had to be sure that con was out of audio range. But more importantly what are you doing here? How did you escape them?"

"We gave them the slip hours ago: we were trekking to a ranger's station to call for you guys" Max replied as she and Morri climbed out onto the top of the overhang where the spider-femme had perched herself.

"Where are the younglings? Where's Annabelle and the other humans?" Portia pressed them.

"Back up the mountain, in a cave about five miles back that way, right next to a waterfall" Morri replied: pointing in the direction them came from.

"And Firefly?"

"A cracked T-cog and some torn ligament cables, but otherwise okay" Morri replied, 'as far as I know' she thought offhand, half wondering and dreading if the cons found her secret hiding place "Roxy's keeping an eye on her: as is Chelsea and the twins with Jay-jay, Violet, Sparklestar and Anny"

"Okay, Buzzsaw went on ahead of me, I'll comm him and let him know what's up: you two however are coming with me. Prime and the others aren't far off and will be here soon," Portia replied as she transformed into her altmode and opened her cockpit doors, "Climb in".

Max climbed in and sat down in the pilot's seat: Morri followed suit, and was just about to lean in to sit down in the seat next to her, when something snapped around her ankle and yanked her out of the chopper. "MORRI!-" Max yelled in horror; Portia didn't realize what was going on, until her scanners caught Morri being dragged by something unseen into the undergrowth at high speed.

"-HOLD ON!" she called out: tossing Max out of her cockpit and transforming back into spider mode, then taking off after the brunette as she yelled and struggled to get free, all the while Max clung on tightly as she hanged from the crook of Portia's left arm. Training her scanners on the object around her ankle, Portia saw it was a cable-like whip of some kind; very long, and seemed to have a mind of its own as it dragged Morri towards the top of a wide gorge with a huge river raging below. Overhead, a black military attack helicopter was hovering steadily in place: Portia barely had time to realize it wasn't one of NEST's choppers before the craft's Gatling guns swung up and aimed directly at her.

"What the?!-

A hail of bullets struck the ground, but the spider-femme was much too fast for the pilot to keep up as he tried and failed to hit his target: pulling off some hard turns and spins, Portia tried to close the distance between her and Morri; taking aim, she fired her wrist-gun at the cable. The length of black metallic cord severed clean in half, but Morri's momentum kept her going forward, tumbling along the ground, and over the edge of the gorge...

"NO!" Max and Portia cried out simultaneously as the spider-femme rushed to the edge, but looking down into the thundering white rapids, her scanners couldn't pick Morri up anywhere.

"I don't see her! Do you?" Max panicked.

"No..." Portia admitted painfully, "I don't-"

But neither of them had time to search for her, as the chopper came back around to line up another shot, and on the opposite side of the gorge, there were three men in full black combat gear and full face masks, standing with bazooka-like weapons aimed at them. One fired his weapon prematurely, which Portia promptly ducked: the shot decimated the tree it hit, leaving only a black carbonized stump. Portia took off back up the slope, zigzagging as she tried to stagger her movement, so the chopper would have a hard time keeping up.

"Who were those guys?!" Max exclaimed

"I don't know, but my scanners didn't pick them up! We have to get back to warn the others!" Portia replied as she dashed through the trees, diapering amongst the dense undergrowth.

High up on a ridge that overlooked the entire valley and mountain side: another group of men in black military combat gear watched as the chopper chased after the Autobot and her human friend, but soon called off the chase as the pilot radioed in that he'd lost them.

"Well, it won't take her long to warn the Autobots; moving at that speed she should rendezvous with them soon enough..." Chumley stated as he lowered his binoculars, "Still, that brunette: the one in the uniform, she certainly seemed to have a good head on her shoulder's, to lead their escape out of the cave without being caught. Damn shame she went into the river"

"Quite sir" another gentleman replied in a British accent, "But it is possible she could have survived"

"Yes, true enough: the rapids do level out a little way down the stream" Chumley nodded as he thought about it, "I'll take a few of the lads down there to see what's what. If she is still alive, then that takes care of the bait for phase two"

"Very good sir" the other gentleman bowed his head respectively, "Anything else we may see to?"

"Well..." Chumley checked his watch, "It's already sun-up, the Autobots are within range, and we've got a schedule to keep. Time to speed things up a bit and get the action started; tell Richards and Watkins to prime the charges, we'll flush those bugs out of their hole. Then we can move onto phase three"

"Very good sir"

Meanwhile, back up the mountain:

Inside the cave, Jay-jay and Sparklestar were huddled together with the twins, while Chelsea dozed lightly on a large flat rock: tired, but not so tired she didn't keep her ears attuned to where Lizzy was throwing stones at the cave wall, some twenty or so meters away.

Being 'kept on the bench' was now a sorely tedious bummer, as far as Lizzy was concerned: after having a couple of hours to think about what went down earlier (as well as the last few weeks as a whole); her mind had began turning in the direction of bemusement, and being unable to understand why nothing worked out the way she'd hoped it would. She was so lost in her thoughts, that she almost hit Annabelle with a stone as she came up to her.

"Hey! Watch it!" the four year old barked

"Wha-," Lizzy huffed in exasperation, "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"I wasn't sneaking" Annabelle frowned, "I was just coming to talk to you" she added as she sat herself down next to the wayward teen; seeing that she was determined, Lizzy didn't bother shooing her off, and slumped against the rock with a huff.

"So? What'd you want to talk about?" Lizzy decided to humor her

"About why you're being so difficult" Annabelle stated, "Morri's just lookin' out for you: she ain't bustin' your chops cuz she's mean you know?"

"Yeah, so I've been told" Lizzy rolled her eyes, "Everybody likes her cuz she's good at this sort of thing. Big whoop"

"No! Not a big whoop!-" Annabelle frowned as she smacked the teenager upside the head, "She ain't just good at this: she's kind, and generous, and she does all kinda things for all'a us. Things that don't involve being a jerk to other people!"

"Aw come on! Not this again!" Lizzy threw up her hands, "-Okay, name me one thing I've done to piss you guys off!"

"The day before yesterday you put a rotten egg in Bumblebee's exhaust pipe. A couple of days before that you let the air outta Hound's tires; a couple of days before that you tricked Red Alert into thinking garden gnomes were out to take over the world, and the day before that you-"

"Okay okay!" Lizzy waved off, "So I like to find fun wherever I can, that doesn't mean I actually hurt anybody"

"Not like an 'owie' kinda hurt; but you still hurt their feelings..." Annabelle pointed out, "Look, I like pranks too, they can be real fun, but that don't mean I do them all the time. Pranks get old real quick if you do them too much, and when you do them too, too much: people don't like it cuz it starts to become annoying, even spiteful...But you still find them funny, and that ain't cool"

Thinking about it, Lizzy didn't want to admit it, but perhaps she had a point; looking back over the last two weeks, she thought it was a real bummer that people weren't laughing at her antics as much as she thought they would: and for the life of her she couldn't figure out why? Were people really getting sick and tired of her?

"Ugh! What would you know? You're just a lil' kid" the teenager waved off in a blase manner

"Yeah, I am a lil' kid. But I'm a lil' kid who knows when to have fun, and when to take things seriously. Unlike you, you didn't even hang around to help find Violet when that bad man took her from your daddy..." Annabelle frowned disapprovingly.

Something about that made a streak of cold shoot down Lizzy's spine as those words hit her where she least expected it: "...I couldn't have known" she tried to excuse herself.

"No, but you might have known sooner if you cared to stick around" the little honey-blond pointed out, "But instead, you just wanted to do what you wanted to do...You don't care about anyone else but yourself..."

As Annabelle climbed off the rock and joined Chelsea at her side, Lizzy found herself feeling like she was stuck between a (proverbial) rock and a very hard place; for the first time in her life, something cold and empty had welled up in the place where her bold cockiness usually presided: and instead of fobbing it all off and sticking to her guns: for some unfathomable reason, something deep inside told her not to.

And the more she thought about, the more she began to wonder, just what she really knew...

At the same time, on the other side of the mountain:

"...It's been hours. Surely they must have reached the ranger's station by now?" Roxy thought aloud as she huddled closer to Firefly, trying to soak up as much of the scout's body-heat as she can.

Glancing up and seeing the distant look on Firefly's face-plates, Roxy huffed in boredom: "...What's up?"

"Hm?" Firefly blinked as her mind snapped back into the here and now.

"You've been staring at nothing for like, hours: what gives?"

"Hm, I was kinda thinking" Firefly sighed

"About what?"

Firefly paused apprehensively for a moment, before sheepishly replying: "About...how I think I might've gotten this wrong"

Bemused, Roxy huffed: "Okay, now you really don't make any sense"

"For the last two weeks I've been training my aft off: working my T-cog down to the frame and exhausting just about every shot I can fire: and all the while I thought it was pointless. I've fought loads'a different cons in loads'a different ways: I really didn't think retraining was necessary to rejoin the ranks"

"Well? I guess this whole little adventure kinda proves otherwise?" Roxy sighed offhand

"Well how was I supposed to know Insecticons were still around? I thought they'd all gone extinct decades ago" Firefly huffed

"Heh, you sound just like her" Roxy smirked

"Who?"

"Lizzy: no wonder you two get on like a house on fire," Roxy smiled as she sat herself upright, "You're both too ballsy for your own good, and too dumb to know when to quit"

As she thought about it, a look of something akin to regret seemed to come over Firefly's expression as she tentatively asked: "...Am I too, dumb?"

"What?" Roxy snapped her head up at her in surprise,

Firefly sulked a little: "I know I don't listen to my sister's much, but that's cuz I always thought I knew what to do...Ever since mom died we've been on our own, bouncing from unit to unit since we were sparklings; everything I know about fighting and being an Autobot I learnt from them, as well as a bunch of other bots we met along the way. At some point, (I don't remember when) I guess I made up my mind that I wasn't going to just dumbly follow orders: that I wasn't just a soldier; and that I could be so much more than just me, you know? ...Being what I am now: the littlest and the youngest, really sucks when you got three older sisters who know how to do things better than you..." she confessed sheepishly

Staring at her in complete bemusement, Roxy pressed her hand to her forehead as her mind tried to absorb her words. She understood where Firefly was coming from, and had a good idea where this was probably going. As an elder sibling herself, she knew it was an obligation (of sorts) to try and part some sisterly wisdom on the matter; though what that wisdom should entail completely stumped her. Roxy wasn't sentimental in any shape or form, and she knew whatever she said, would only come out pessimistic in some way...

But then, something clicked in her mind's eye: there was a difference between being a pessimist, and a realist. And so, throwing caution to the wind and just 'going with it' Roxy took a deep breath, and sighed: "...Okay, do you really want my advice?"

Firefly simply shrugged: what did she have to lose anyway?

"I'm not saying you're not good at what you do: you've already got some pretty awesome moves as it is; but, given the fact of what's happened over the past several hours. Don't you think it might be a good idea to just-, you know? Shut up and listen to your sister's and drill-instructor for a change?"

"...Yeah, I was kinda thinking that" Firefly nodded sullenly

"Look, You and Lizzy: you're both enthusiastic, and both want to step up and prove you can do more; that's fine, it's cool. But not before you know how. Usually I'm not one to let other people to tell me what I can and can't do: but even I had to learn the hard way that sometimes, there are other people who can do stuff way better than you can," Roxy explained, trying to not come off as sarcastic or too hard: "...It's awkward for me cuz I'm the eldest sister in my family, I didn't have any other siblings that came before, so I never had any examples from which to learn how to be a good sister. And as time went by, I guess I kinda gave up on trying to 'be there' as a sister: cuz ultimately? I just didn't get it, and I didn't want the baggage that came with it..." she admitted sheepishly

"...I guess we've both been pretty bad sisters huh?" Firefly sighed

Roxy looked up at her, and shrugged, "Not bad, just-, being jerks. For me, I guess it comes from my inability to feel any sympathy or be sentimental about all the mushy stuff: Jeanie says I'm a pessimist, but honestly? I'm just being a realist. Life ain't fair, especially when it shit's you in the face: and I'd rather be aware of that possibility, than go through life always being taken for a sap"

"Well? ...I guess that's one way of looking at it?" Firefly shrugged: "And I guess if I had to be honest with myself? I don't think I ever really got the whole 'sister' thing either. I mean, don't get me wrong: I love them and we've had some great times together; but sometimes, when things get hard or we argue about stuff, I can't believe their my sisters, cuz we're just so different"

"That's pretty much every sibling relationship right there" Roxy sighed

"Huh?" Firefly raised a skeptical optic-ridge, "But, I thought all sisters are supposed to get along together?"

"Oh please," Roxy rolled her eyes, "Whoever sold you that bullshit evidently didn't grow up with any siblings...Look, when it comes to us humans, genetics are never straight forward: you could have a hundred kids and no two would ever be alike. I mean, just look at me and my sister's: I can really light some fire under some ass when I want to, but Allie? She can't even say boo to a goose: Rosy? She's not the brightest light in the closet (or has the most discreet fashion sense) but she sure as hell knows how to get a party started. Jeanie? She couldn't sass or bitch-off if her life depended on it, but she's a great people person, knows how to read the worst of 'em (ain't no surprise she wants to learn to be a shrink): Lizzy? She can be an annoying lil' shit at times, but no way has she ever been caught red-handed: has an excuse for everything, and always has an alibi. And Violet? ...Eh? She's still young, hasn't really grown into herself just yet; although, I guess she's alright when she's not throwing a hissy-fit" she explained offhand, "...Look, you're always gonna fight with your sisters at times, you're never completely gonna see eye-to-eye on everything (which is just as well cuz life would be so brain-numbingly boring otherwise); but you have to make a compromise on something somewhere, otherwise you'd just drive each other insane (and I should know!)"

Roxy paused to take a breath, before adding: "...But, when you agree on something, and it's cool with all of you. That's when being a sister counts for a lot. Being all different, is like a good salad: it ain't enough to just have all the green stuff, you gotta chuck on the croutons and the chicken and the Parmesan, and a lil' splash of oil and dressing to round it off and give it something extra. Just-...Don't go looking for any shit when there ain't any to begin with, okay?"

"Okay" Firefly nodded, "You know? I never figured you'd give good advice"

"I don't" Roxy stated flatly with a sarcastic frown, "I just figured I'd try the gentle approach for a change"

"And if I hadn't?"

"Then I'd have to kick you in the head"

Firefly couldn't help but smirk, "Okay"

"Seriously though? Don't go making a big deal of it when we get back to the base okay? If people start finding out that I'm going soft, I'll-"

"-It's cool" Firefly interrupted, "Don't worry..." She was about to say something else, when something caught her optic: "Hey, what's that?" she pointed to the roof of the cave. Looking up, Roxy saw it too. It was a red flashing light of some kind, emanating from the main cave area itself. Gently standing up, and picking Roxy up and holding her in one arm: Firefly quietly stepped around the cavern's bend, and cautiously peeked out into the cave. Seeing the Insecticon guard still hadn't moved, they cautiously stepped out a little further, and looked up, only to gawk in shock.

The entire roof of the cave was covered in wires, packed explosives and detonation charges: all leading to the main cave next door, right above the Insecticon's heads.

"Shit!-" Roxy hissed, trying to keep her voice as low as possible: "I'm no bomb expert, but that looks like enough explosives to take out several city blocks!"

"It is enough to take out several city blocks!" Firefly panicked as she scanned the devices, "There's no way the cavern will be able to withstand a blast like that!"

Roxy's eyes only widened with panic as she spotted the timer, "That's not the worst of it! LOOK!-" she pointed to the device in question...

The charges had been primed, and were now counting down to detonation. There was only twenty seconds remaining on the timer...

Looking over at the Insecticon, they looked at one another and swallowed hard; "Ain't got no choice!" Firefly yelled as she threw all caution to the wind, and dashed for the cave entrance. Leaping over a few boulders, she missed the guard completely: turned hard to the left, and ran with everything she had while the wound in her side continued to throb. Behind her she could hear the guard and some of his other pack-mates stirring, as they began to realize what just happened. "SHIT! HERE THEY COME!" Roxy panicked as she looked over the femme's shoulder and spotted several of the giant bugs lumber out into the open: Firefly ran for another five hundred yards before she ducked into a smaller cave, and tried to get as far back as the cave would allow her. The Insecticon's were about to give chase, and spread out their wings, when suddenly-

KA-BRRROOOOOOOOM!

The entire bottom-half of the cliff-face disappeared in a mass of fire and smoke: the rocky slope above cracked and crumbled as a huge landslide thundered into the lake below, bringing with it all the trees for over two hundred yards up the slope, and staining the blue water pale brown. Firefly and Roxy held onto one another tightly as the whole cave shook violently: outside, rocks, boulders and trees were tossed about violently, while thick dust and smoke blackened the air; but the cave proved to be adequate shelter, as it faced the opposite direction of the blast...

In the other cave on the opposite side of the mountain, the ground shook lightly as small stones were dislodged from the roof of the cave: "What the hell was that?" Chelsea exclaimed worryingly.

"Sounded like a plasma bomb" Annabelle thought aloud

From where they stood atop the ridge of the adjacent valley, Optimus and the other Autobot's froze as they watched the giant plume of black smoke and dust rise up from the other side of the mountain.

"That's can only mean trouble" Ironhide frowned

And he was right, for within a minute, the air rang with the bellowing howls of nineteen, very pissed off Insecticons; the giant monsters crashed out of the mountain at full speed, sending more rocks and boulders flying as they headed up into the air, and started circling around, as if trying to look for the culprit that destroyed their hiding place.

Down below the mountain, the vibrations were carried far and wide as they permeated through the air, and echoed around the valley walls like a gong. Though dissipating and growing more distant the further they traveled, they were enough to stir Morri back to life. Suddenly aware of the water in her throat, she quickly sat up and lurched forward as her coughing reflex expelled the fluid from her airway. After another minute or so of coughing and getting her breath back, she took a minute to gather herself, and realign her current train of thought.

Looking over at the river, she couldn't help but sigh: "...Blood hell; that was way too close..."

But then she noticed just how far away she was from the river.

Sitting upright and looking around, she found herself at the edge of the forest, not far from where the gorge opened out and flattened into the rest of the valley. Between her and the water's edge, was a large expanse of flat mud: obviously left over from some earlier flooding...But what really grabbed her notice, was the fact she was well over ten meters from the river; if she had been washed up there, she would still have been half-way in the water, but since this particular river was not part of an estuarine tributary (and therefore non-tidal) there was no way she could have gotten all the way up the bank, unless-

That's when she looked down at her feet, and saw the drag marks in the mud.

Someone, or something had dragged her out of the water, and left her at the tree-line; something, that had human-like footprints over twenty three inches long. And judging from how deep they had sank into the mud; it had to be over four to eight hundred pounds. Staring at the footprints in a mix of confusion and alarm, Morri suddenly remembered the creature she and Max saw on the logging road, and realized it had the exact same feet.

"Whoa..." She breathed; after a few seconds, she pushed the incredible realization to one side, and looked down at her CTG; she smiled as the comm signal reader flashed green, indicating the Autobot's were not that far away now. She was about to activate the homing beacon, when she suddenly spotted a little bright red dot on her arm. A laser dot: the kind that only a precision sniper rifle utilizes in its sights.

As six more appeared on her arms and hands: Morri was about to bolt for the trees, when the sound of a handgun cocking made her froze, and relax as she felt the barrel pressed lightly to the back of her head.

"I have to say: that was quite a tumble you took my dear" a smooth male voice said: his well-spoken British accent immediately got her attention: "And quite a feat of stamina to have survived the rapids in one piece and still come out breathing" he added in a charming manner as he pulled the gun away. From out of the trees, ten armed soldiers dressed in full black combat gear and full face masks stepped out and surrounded her, pointing their semi-automatic weapons at her head and chest.

"Oh come now lads, she's not armed" the gentleman pointed out, "Though I have to say, you're quite a slippery one aren't you? Managing to escape those giant brutes without being caught? Quite a ballsy but impressive move" he smiled.

As Morri picked herself up and turned to face him: she was surprised, he wasn't quite what she had expected. The gentlemen in question was a few several inches taller than her: not well built, but still, he looked like he could put up a good fight; his thick silver wavy hair was combed back into a formal short straight cut, with a small curly handlebar mustache and thick sideburns. Despite looking to be somewhere between his fifties and sixties, he had distinguished look about him: with his black hunter jacket, dark green British military issue trousers and lightweight patrol boots, with a red paisley silk scarf tucked into the top of his dark-grey shirt; he looked like he had just come fresh from a fox hunt (or some other 'well-to-do' event that only the upper class could afford to attend), but something about him also made her think: ex-military.

"Who are you?" Morri frowned at him in confusion

"Oh, do forgive me, where are my manners?" the gentleman smiled as he put his revolver back in its holster: "The name's Barkiss: but you my dear can call me 'Chumley': everyone else does"

Overhead, the sounds of heavy gunfire, transformation sequences, and howling and roaring echoed over the trees, growing louder with intensity.

"What's that?" Morri thought aloud in alarm

"That, my dear would be the sound of your friends engaging those beasts head-on: while you on the other hand, will be joining me for breakfast" he smiled.

Yep, kinda turned into one of those self-reflection chapters yet again :\ Still, growth is good for the soul, and humility can go a long way :)

So, things kinda really heat up from here: it shouldn't get too gnarly, but it'll be tense in places :)

Oh, and BTW: 5 points and a cookie goes to whoever can guess that cyrptid! 8D

On a smaller note: I'll be taking some time to draft the next line for stories over X-mas and new years, so the updates might a little further and fewer between okay?

Much love as always, and please do R&R before leaving!