Part 5
She found Trailcutter at the same bar stool as before, getting a head start on his midday buzz.
"Trailcutter?"
He turned and smiled.
"Well if it isn't the City Speaker. Have another hot tip on some miscreants for me?"
"Not this time. I actually wanted to talk to you in private about something."
He looked at Windblade without understanding, but followed her out behind the bar.
"What I'm about to tell you is top secret. Nobody - and I mean nobody - knows about this in the Autobot ranks yet."
"I don't know where you're going with this, but I don't think I'm gonna like it."
Windblade inhaled slowly. "I think Optimus Prime is alive, and -"
All the color drained from Trailcutter's face as if he were ill. "Oh lady, don't do this."
"No, you don't understand, I'm getting a ship, but I don't have a navigator, someone like you who's been out there!"
"There's nothing out there!"
Windblade froze.
"There's no Prime to come and get my sorry tailpipe off this rock, there's no adventure, there's just a lot of good people dying! I won't go chasing some naive dream."
"But that's just it. We priestesses have dreams. We can see things others can't. Last night I saw your friend." She put her hand on his back. "He's out there."
"And if I believe you? Why me?"
"To be honest, it was the name. Cutting a trail, forging a path. But we Camiens haven't been out in space the way you have. Not in a long time. I would feel a lot better with an Autobot, present or former, to help me."
"Well, you'll have to find another Autobot," he said curtly, and transformed, driving erratically off into the alleys.
Windblade was disappointed, but she still had work to do. The Scabbard was back in town, and Chromia was her last shot.
"You're doing what?"
"Remember when you asked if the Mistress would give me time off?"
"When I suggested you go clear your head, I meant go to the city, or out on a wilderness retreat. Not out to some uncharted planet with magic dream comets."
"The flame guides us in mysterious ways," Windblade shrugged wryly.
"So can you help me? I'm sure the temple could compensate you for the time you lose fishing."
"Bah, it's not that. I'd help you for free. I just... don't know where to start. I haven't been outside Camien space for so long. If we had a guide it would help."
Windblade frowned. "I'm trying, but we may be on our own."
Chromia looked put the window at the starships parked outside. "The universe needs the Matrix."
"And the Prime who carries it."
"Yeah, him too I suppose. Okay. Give me three weeks. I'll go to Forge Landing and make sure my old cruiser is ship-shape. She's probably more than a little rusty."
"Take Nautica with you. You remember Nautica? She likes machines, and machine-adjacent socialization. She could help. Just keep quiet about where we're going."
It actually took Chromia and Nautica five weeks to get the Silver Dawn fixed up. In the intervening weeks Windblade grew more nervous about tarrying in Port, and about prying audio receptors. She met with the Mistress on two more occasions to discuss what she knew about the star charts. The Speaker poured over every map she could find, old though they were, to teach herself how to navigate.
She returned to the Midnight Express later on in the month.
"Midnight, have you seen Trailcutter in here recently?"
The bartender shook his head. "Not in two weeks. It's rather odd. Nobody even sits in his stool."
"I think it may be my fault. I hope he's okay."
"Eh, a break from the juice won't kill him."
Windblade held her shoulder. "Midnight, I have to tell you, I'm leaving Caminus for a while. I don't know how long. Chromia and I are going out in space."
Midnight remained silent for a while.
"I figured you were up to something lately."
"I was going to tell you sooner but-"
"But it's sensitive information right? Don't worry, my trap is shut." He jerked his head back. "I have something here for you girlie."
He went back into the kitchen, and returned with a box with an incandescent ribbon around it.
"How did you know I was leaving?"
"I didn't. Or rather, I always knew you would eventually. It was in your nature. I just didn't know when. So I made you a little something years ago just in case. Open it up later, before you leave."
"Oh Midnight, thank you."
He grinned broadly. "When you come back we'll have a monument of an evening talking about all the things you saw and did. Go show 'em what a Camien looks like!"
On the fourth week, Windblade had a knock on her door. She was surprised to see Trailcutter standing there. He looked a great deal healthier than Windblade had ever recalled from the short time they knew one another.
"Ma'am, I wanted to apologise. I said some things I regret. I wasn't ready to entertain the idea that he was still out there, that I was busy drinking my life away when I could have been doing something. So, if you'll have me, I'll be your guide to the stars."
Windblade beamed at him. "We'll be leaving within the week. Pack everything you need. And thank you, Trailcutter."
"Actually Ma'am, it's Trailbreaker. I just never had the heart to correct anyone."
"Then actually, Trailbreaker, it's Windblade. If we're going to travel across the universe I won't answer to 'ma'am.'"
They shook hands.
On her last night in Port Solare, Windblade opened the box with the white glowing ribbon. Inside was a long thin metal vessel, and a note.
Remember that cosmic blacksmithing elective I took in our last year at uni? I made this for my final project. Top marks! Don't be afraid to show anyone the business end!
-ME
The next morning was clear and cool, just like the day she first met Trailcutter at the bar. Chromia and Nautica had just finished refueling the ship.
"Chromia, I think we did it!"
"Your constant chatter saw us through. But seriously kid, I couldn't have done it without you."
"Guys!" Windblade called, looking over the ship as she ran to greet her friends, "It looks great!"
"And she'll fly great too. Just like old times," Chromia added. She glanced at Midnight's present hanging at Windblade's hip.
A square black truck pulled up at the dock. "So this is our crew eh?" Trailbreaker said as he converted. "You must be our pilot?"
Chromia looked at Windblade. "This is your navigator?" The barfly?
Trailbreaker sidled up to her. "Who says I can't do both? Besides, check this out," he said showing her his forearm. "Just in case the vast reaches of space don't get me far enough from a bottle, I got a brand new inhibitor chip. I'm quitting cold astro-goose."
"Are you sure you don't need me to come with you? In case of technological difficulty?" Nautica asked.
Windblade laughed. "I would trust you anywhere Nautica, but you should focus on finishing school and becoming a full-fledged Quantum Mechanic. You'll show us all up before long."
"Speaker!" A voice called.
Windblade turned to see a small crowd gathering on the docks. A Minicon in the front was the source of the voice.
"We know you're leaving on a secret mission, but we all wanted to say goodbye!"
The gathered townsfolk started clapping. Windblade caught a glimpse of Midnight trying to conceal his large form around a corner, and bit back a tear.
"Thank you everyone!" She turned to Chromia. "I know you and the Dawn go way back, but I was thinking, since this is such an important quest, what if we gave it a new name?"
"What did you have in mind?"
Windblade pulled at the scabbard at her hip and unsheathed a sword, coursing with its own violet light. A low-yield stable energon circuit flowing through an ionized plasma field. Midnight could have chosen an entirely different career.
"Stormfall," Windblade declared as she held the blade above her head. The crowd behind her oohed and aahed.
Chromia smiled. "Very well, my captain. We leave when you're ready."
Captain? Windblade thought. I guess she's right.
From atop the Temple of the Way, the Mistress of Flame followed the glint of the Stormfall as it disappeared from sight. Those three were the hope of the universe. She hoped she had chosen correctly.
She walked down to the sanctum and looked at the relief of Solus Prime on the wall. With a light rap she opened the chamber behind the image. She would do anything to protect the Way of Flame's sacred treasure, she thought as she caressed the golden hammer hidden within. It was a gamble, putting the Autobots so close to the Forge's resting place, but she was even more concerned about what the Decepticons could do with it. The sooner Optimus came back, the sooner both belligerent factions would leave her in peace.
Windblade watched her home surge out from under them as they gained altitude. She wasn't sure what dangers they would face out in the stars, but vowed to see the sun rise over her temple once more.
When they reached the atmosphere, Trailbreaker produced a small cube from his backpack. "I nicked this from Rear Admiral Butt-Chin the last time I was in his quarters, figured it would make a nice thank-you for giving me a social complex."
"You stole it?" Chromia raised her eyebrow.
"He's got copies! Besides," he flicked it, opening up a holographic star map, "this is the most up to date map in the universe. Windblade, do you have our heading?"
Windblade looked over the map. "Their trail ran cold at Verus Centralus. But the Autobots have already scanned the area half a dozen times. If there was any hint of where the Ark was headed, it wasn't there."
"What did it look like?" asked Trailbreaker, "In your vision, I mean?"
"I didn't notice the stars nearby. But the planet was a mottled blue, which..."
"...Isn't especially helpful?" Chromia offered dryly.
"No. That means water, and water isn't exactly in short supply across the galaxy."
Windblade looked closer at the map. There were military outposts and other points of interest on it that her maps didn't have. There was Caminus, a small emblem of the Way of Flame spinning where the planet ought to be. There were other emblems all over the chart, including a large node she recognized as Cybertron. Then she saw something else she recognized. It was a red circle with a lightning bolt. The crash of the bolt that woke her from her vision echoed again in her ears.
"What is that symbol?"
Trailbreaker followed her finger. "That's one of the old colonies from the First Exodus. Velocitron. There's no water there, I'm afraid."
"Still, I think we should start there. There was something about my vision that makes me think that planet is important."
"If there's a clue on Velocitron, we'll find it! Set a course, Chromia!"
"Everyone's giving me orders on my ship," she muttered, even as she punched the coordinates in.
The ship's jump drive hummed and they speed off towards the Speed Planet, and the first leg in the Hunt for Optimus Prime.