Within the Maximal base, their crashed ship the Axalon, its occupants was gathered together on the bridge. They stood around the circular table in the center of the room as they listen to Raf tell his story. He left nothing out as he told of how he was captured and used as a bargaining chip by the Decepticons all the way up to when Optimus Prime destroyed the Omega Lock to save the Earth and the blinding explosion that followed before waking up here. Once he was finished with his tale he looked nervously at the Maximals for their reactions and saw they were mixed.

Rhinox seems to be pondering what he said; Raf wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Cheetor though looks to have been entertained by the story. Dinobot just growled, but looked interested in what was said. Optimus though appeared to be in the same boat as Rhinox. Rattrap on the other hand looked unconvinced.

"Do you really think we're going to believe such a far fetch tale like that?" Rattrap says.

"He doesn't seem to be lying." Cheetor offers.

"Well, pussycat, this sounds like a load of baloney to me."

As those two began to bicker with each other Rhinox decided to ask Raf some questions that had about something mentioned in his story.

"What energy was this Omega Lock drawing from exactly?" Rhinox asks.

"Fro-from what Optimus, my Optimus, told us it acts as a sort of conduit to the Allspark and draws energy from it." Raf answers nervously. He knew that his story would be hard to believe, and saying it out-loud made it sound ridiculous even to him, but it was the truth and he hopes he can convince them of it. He didn't want to sound like he was crazy after all.

"It drew energy from the Allspark." The intrigue in Rhinox's voice was palpable as he continued to ponder on this. "And what exactly is this Allspark?"

"Oh don't tell me you're not actually believing any of this Rhinox?" Rattrap asks in disbelieve.

"His story seems too thorough to be fake."

"Thorough? The only thing thorough here is how unbelievable his story is! It's clear to me that he got something knocked loose in there from the landing."

"We scanned him when he arrived and found nothing out of place; just a few dings here and there that can be dealt with later."

"And your sure one of those dings wasn't on his-"

"In any case we should get Rafael settled in." Optimus Primal interjected. He did not need this argument going on any longer. "Cheetor, can you show Rafael to his quarters."

"You got it big bot." Cheetor answers with a nod as he motioned Raf to follow. "Come on I'll show you the way around here."

Raf was hesitant to follow but eventually did after a moment or two. After all, Cheetor seems like a nice guy after all.

Once the two were off the bridge the only silent member among them finally spoke.

"As much as it pains me to admit this but the rodent has a point. His story is unbelievable." Dinobot said. "Even with all that we've been through since arriving on this world I would, at best, be skeptical of this."

"I figured as much." Optimus Primal acknowledges. "Which is why I'm having Tigatron bring in Raf's stasis pod. Hopefully we'll get some answers from it."

(%)

Raf followed Cheetor through the ships' metal corridors and being shown its various rooms on the way to his own room. So far they've passed by a few rooms of note. One of them was the munitions room pack full of ammo, weapons, and explosives. Another would be the simulation room that Cheetor said was mostly used nowadays for training, be it with weapons or tactics. The last one they'd passed was the holding cells, though they were empty at the moment.

Unbeknownst to Cheetor, Raf wasn't really all there nor paying much attention. The now former human was instead in his own little world. Who knows what was going on in that boys mind that has him so distracted? Soon enough though they had reached an elevator; they had to go a level down to reach the crew quarters but that was fine.

A few minutes later and the pair had finally arrived at their destination. Cheetor wasted no time in typing in a code on the panel next to the door.

"So this is where you'll be staying." Cheetor said as the door slid open. "It's a little empty but I'm sure you can fill it with some trinkets you find out in the field."

Raf took a look inside and saw that it was a small room. There was a small metal table in the left-hand corner of the room with a matching chair and what he guessed was his bed on his right hanging off the wall. Besides those the room was, as Cheetor put it, empty. His mind then unintentionally compared this room to one he had back home and felt a wave of sadness at the thought.

"Well I'll leave you to get settled in. See you around." Cheetor then departed the room, leaving Raf to his lonesome.

Raf walked over to his bed and sat down. It had been a long day and now that he had a moment to rest and think the weight of everything that has happened to him came crashing down. He was taken prisoner and used against his friends, woke up in a new world with a new body, and there doesn't seem to be a way to send him home. His Mama, his Papa, his siblings; he'll never see any of them ever again. All of this rushed though his mind and he wanted to cry, to wail his heart out, but he couldn't; he wasn't capable of crying anymore. So he sat there in a slouch, wallowing in his feelings, wishing that Jack or Miko were there with him at the very least.

Jack and Miko.

Raf jolts up as he remembers that Jack and Miko were also there when the explosion happened. If he was sent here because of it then that means that they might have been too! He nearly jumped for joy at the thought of not being alone but that still left the question of where they were. Raf knows that he was found in a stasis pod, that's what Rattrap called it, so that means that they might also be in stasis pods as well. Which means that all he has to do is find their pods and he'll have his friends back?

He couldn't have been faster in running out of his room as he headed for the bridge.

(%)

"Nice of you to arrive. Traffic wasn't too bad I hope?" Optimus said as he greeted the white tiger. Said tiger transformers into a robot that looks very similar to Cheetor if not for the different colors and beast mode.

"Would have been here sooner if Waspinator didn't decide to take pot shots at me." Tigatron said while nursing his shoulder, a burn mark evident on it. "So mind telling me why you had me bring this pod here?" He gestured to the stasis pod he's been lugging around for the past hour or so.

Currently the two were in the Axolon's cargo hold and they weren't alone. Everyone else was there as well, except Raf, for one reason; to know the truth.

"Let us get on with it then." Dinobot

"Very well." Optimus begins to examine the pod, checking for something. It didn't take him very long before he found something. Next to the pods' control panel were markings, markings Optimus knew. "Well that's just prime."

"What? Did you find something of note?" Rattrap asks.

"Rhinox, take a look at this." Optimus beckoned his friend over. Rhinox walked over and took a look. His eyes widen at what he sees.

"Is that-?"

"Yup. There's no mistaking it."

"What, what is it? Come on don't leave it us hanging here." Cheetor was confused and wanted answers. This earned him a sigh from Optimus.

"The pod's a blank. It's meant to hold a protoform that has no spark." Optimus clarifies. "Which begs the question of how a blank developed a spark?"

"It seems our new friend's story might hold more weight then we realize." Dinobot brings up. "That or he was a stowaway."

"It couldn't have been a stowaway. Optimus oversaw each pod that was load onto the Axalon and I checked their readings before we departed Cybertron; none of the blanks had a spark." Rhinox informs him and the others.

"But then how is Raf even online if he didn't have a spark prior?" Rattrap questioned.

Everyone pondered this. How couldn't they, it should be impossible for a blank to suddenly have a spark. The only explanation that came to mind was Raf's story; it's the only thing they have to go off of.

"I guess Raf's story has more leverage then we first realize." Dinobot states.

"Okay so let's say Raf was speaking the truth then how, in Primus's name, did an explosion send him all the way here and into the body of a blank?" To say Rattrap was still skeptical would be an understatement.

"Hmm... perhaps the energy involved in the explosion would be the cause." Rhinox theorizes. "He said that the Omega Lock drew energy from the Allspark. If the name was anything to go by I'd say that energy had a more mystical property to it; in which case would explain how he came to be here, and in a new body no less."

"So he was human." Cheetor said. "And now he's here all alone and with no way to get home."

That last bit had dropped the mood a bit as they were reminded that they were stuck here as well. Optimus then decided to speak up.

"Well then why don't we go and talk to our new friend and give him a proper welcome."

"Sure, I've yet to meet this new friend of ours." Tigatron admitted.

With that the Maximals departed from the cargo hold and went in search of Raf.

(%)

Raf himself was currently wandering the halls of the ship, completely lost. You'd think it would be easy to just back track the way he came, but apparently it wasn't. All the corridors looked the same and he could swear he was going in circles. Guess he should have paid more attention when Cheetor was showing him around.

Deciding to take a rest he leaned against a wall and slid down it. Just a few minutes of rest and he'll be back to searching for a way to the bridge. As he sat there he looked at his hands and saw the claws that were his fingers. He moved them one digit at a time and watched as they each of them bend like normal fingers would. This had peeked his curiosity and now looked at the rest of his body, wondering about the rest of his new body.

Time began to fly by as Raf studied himself. Moving his limbs, watching as metal squished like flesh would, and even seeing just how much he could actually feel. He could barely hear the joints and pistons move let alone feel them; like the skeleton and its tendons in the human body. Now wondered about taste, he saw the Autobots drink energon before and now he was curious about its taste. This all exited Raf as he loved to learn and that love was why he always got such good grades back in school.

School...

That one word dashed his excitement as it reminded him of home, a home he may never see again. Even when he distracts himself he is still reminded of his predicament; as if fate is taunting him, goading him that he has no way to see those he loves again. Each of these reminders hurt him more and more and he didn't know what to do anymore. So Raf curls himself into a ball and let his sorrow consume him.

(%)

As the Maximals made their way to Raf's quarters when they came across an unexpected sight. There, lying on the floor and curled into a ball, was Raf. The sight alone was surprising and left them wondering what he was doing out here.

Optimus motioned for the others to hang back before approaching him slowly and quietly, he did not want to alarm him. As he got closer he notices that Raf was shaking slightly and he could faintly heir noises of distress coming from him. Now feeling worried he kneeled down and cautiously placed his hand on Raf's shoulder, only to immediately jerked it back when Raf shot upright and looked around wildly. Optimus noted the startled look on his face before it melted into one of sadness and sorrow, the slight trembles from before coming back in force as if a dam had been broken.

"Are you alright Raf?" Optimus asks in concern. He knows the answer is obvious given Raf's state but he still needed confirmation.

"I-I'm-" Raf manages to choke out but stops as his voice fails him. Now instead of words he just lets gasping whimpers.

Optimus tried to think of way to alleviate Raf's distress but he didn't know what to do; he's never been in this kind of situation before. He was about to ask the others for help when Raf lurch forward and embraced him. Caught off guard he didn't know what to do as Raf clung to him, whimpering and shaking. Awkwardly he reached around and returned the hug, even patting him on the back once or twice in hope of comforting him. And so they remained like that for a while; Optimus doing his best to comfort a distressed Raf.

He was not trained for this, not in the slightest.

After some time Raf had calmed down some and let go of Optimus. "S-sorry..." He apologizes in embarrassment.

"It's fine. You were in distress so it's the least I could do was help." Optimus then looked at him in concern. "Mind telling me what got you so upset, if that's alright of course?"

Raf was silent for a moment, trying get his mind in order, before speaking. "I'm trapped here with no way to go home. I won't be able to see my family again." He states with a sorrow filled voice. "I want to see my parents, my siblings, but I can't because I'm stuck on another world that's most likely in another universe or something. That's why I'm upset, because I won't be able to see my loved ones again." He wanted so badly to cry right now, to let it all out. Then Optimus reached forward and rested a hand on his shoulder.

"This may not mean much but we'll help you get home to see your family again, this I promise." The moment he finished saying that Raf hugged him tightly.

"T-thank you. That means more to me than you realize."

Optimus just smiles and pats him on the back before breaking the embrace. "So care to tell me what you were doing outside your quarters?"

"Oh right! I had remembered something important and was trying to get to the bridge to tell you guys." Raf proclaims before his expression became sheepish. "But I got lost instead."

The Maximal leader let out a humorous chuckle before motioning him to stand. "I see. So what was it you wanted to tell us?"

"My friends Jack and Miko were also there when the Omega Lock exploded. So what happened to me could have happened to them as well!"

"And you want to find them." Optimus stated.

"If it's not too much trouble."

"No trouble at all. Maximals help their own, and your one of us now." He then motioned for the others to join them. "Now let us give you a proper welcome."

Raf smiled widely as the others joined them. Each of them welcomed him in their own way, Dinobot just nodded to him with a grunt. He was even introduced to Tigatron and found him to be a nice guy.

Maybe things won't be so bad.

Sorry it took over two weeks guys to get chapter out to you guys. I originally wanted this out last week but got busy with other things so I didn't have much time for it, but it's out now!

Other then that I have seen some reviews for this story and it seems you guys are quite interested in where this story will go. Besides that I want to state that I'll try to get a chapter every one to two weeks but I make no guarantees.

Anyways leave a review and like my story if you enjoy it. Peace!

Chapter Published: 6/28/2023