Lunarflare rose early the next morning and made her way to the command center at 06:30 am. She was a little surprised to find that no one else was there yet. It was her experience that when a commanding officer told her to be somewhere at a certain time, she'd be punished if she wasn't at least ten cycles early. Nevertheless, she took a seat as far away from the main console as possible and waited.
It was exactly 07:05 before she saw anyone at all. Optimus strode into the room from the opposite direction that she had come, which made sense due to the fact that the commander's quarters was in it's own section of the ship.
He stopped when he saw her, looking a little confused. "Lunar? How long have you been here?" he asked.
"Your instructions were to meet here at 0700, were they not?" she reminded him, hesitantly, wondering if it was possible she'd misheard him?
"Yeah, they were, but – you didn't have to take it quite so literally," he suggested.
Lunarflare didn't understand, how else was she supposed to take it?
Luckily the uncomfortable situation was quickly adverted when Rhinox entered the room and took a seat, Dinobot right behind him. Rattrap was the last one of them to arrive, groggily stumbling in at 20 cycles past the hour. Disgraceful! At least in Lunarflare's opinion. She didn't understand why Optimus let him get away with it.
He plopped down in the seat next to her on her right hand side, Cheetor was already occupying the left. She could sort of construe why Cheetor would want to sit next to her, but didn't have the slightest inkling of why Rattrap did, maybe he just wasn't paying attention?
"Alright crew, now that were all here we can begin," Optimus said, stressing his words at Rattrap who didn't even seem to notice. "The first order of business we'll need to address is our obvious communication problem. Short of collecting and stabilizing all the energon in the surrounding area, there isn't much we can do about it besides upgrading our equipment. Rhinox, any thoughts?" Optimus inquired of him.
"Well, I'll see what I can do about creating a com-device that will be resistant to the energon fields. The signal it produces will have to be greatly boosted, not sure I have enough of the right parts, but I'll do my best. It'll probably take some time though," Rhinox mused in his particularly slow way of speaking.
"Good, next on the agenda will be for us to get a good layout of the surrounding areas. We need an idea of what our territory looks like, what resources are nearby, and where the best places are to establish a defensive perimeter. There's a good chance we're going to be here for a while, so we'd better get settled in. Hopefully the Predicons won't be planning anything yet, either. After all, they don't know what this planet is like any better than we do," Optimus went on.
"So what? We're just supposed to map it out on foot? You're the only one who can fly, and not for long, unless the little Spartan here was tellin' the truth?" Rattrap eyed her skeptically as he spoke.
"She has a name, Rattrap! And I'm not looking to make anyone more of a target than necessary," Optimus scolded the stubborn rodent.
"Besides, the energon fields are gonna mess with the equipment too. Fly too high or too fast, and it won't be able to read anything anyway," Rhinox added.
"That's what I had figured," Optimus nodded in agreement before continuing. "Alright, Dinobot, Cheetor, and Lunar – you three will be on scouting duty. I want you to head out in different directions and begin mapping out the local landscape, see what you can find. But I only want you out there for no more than a Megacycle at a time, with communications limited we won't know if you run into any trouble. And if any of you do encounter any Predicons, I want you to head back to base immediately! Do you understand?" he asked.
The three of them nodded their affirmation.
"Good! Rattrap and I will continue repairs on the base, and Rhinox. I want you to see what you can do about getting us a better working communication system," Optimus instructed them all.
. . .
Lunarflare spent the next several weeks out in the field, mapping the area and then returning to the base at regular intervals, reporting her findings back to Optimus. The longer they went without encountering Predicons, the more he began extending the time limit at which they could be out exploring, little by little. As long as they didn't make trouble, Optimus really didn't concern himself with them, much to Dinobot's obvious displeasure. He just wanted to go after them as it was, and not wait for them to come into Maximal territory. It was a fool-hardy notion that was mostly brought on by boredom.
Meanwhile, Lunarflare didn't mind the solitude. In fact, after so many weeks of living with these Maximals, she started to prefer it. For as much as she tried to follow her established protocol, they seemed increasingly confused by her actions. Making her time around the base, awkward, to say the least. She wasn't sure what she was doing wrong, but so far she had not been punished for anything.
It was just easier to be on her own, following orders instead of being followed by strange looks! At least, until the day Rhinox finally finished the new com-link he had been working on. . .
. . .
Lunarflare had been running small errands for Optimus and Rhinox all morning as they worked, fetching tools and any other supplies that they required. Until finally, Rhinox rose with the completed com-link in hand. Meanwhile, Lunarflare stood at the edge of the room, waiting patiently for any further instructions.
"Good work, Rhinox!" Optimus praised, once he'd been told it was finished.
"Well, still needs a field test," Rhinox muttered, sounding skeptical of his own work.
"Test?" they suddenly heard from down the hall. Cheetor then came bounding into the room, hopping up on the center console. "I'm your bot, whatcha got?" he asked excitedly.
"Rhinox has cobbled together a new com-link. It's going to solve our long range communication problems," Optimus explained.
"If it works," Rhinox added.
"Well, let's find out!" Cheetor snatched the device out of Rhinox's hand and gave it a couple of sniffs. It sparked in response. "Whoa, ultra gear!"
Rhinox looked at Cheetor with a disapproving expression, and then over at Optimus. Optimus must have picked up on his hesitation.
"Cheetor, it's a valuable piece of equipment. Take care of it!" Optimus warned him sternly.
Lunarflare was surprised. She figured that Optimus would see his casual approach and immature attitude as a sign that he shouldn't trust Cheetor with this test, but apparently that was not the case.
"I copy, Big Bot. What do I do?" Cheetor inquired.
"The device is voice activated. Just talk into it and we'll hear you," he explained, taking the com-link from Cheetor's paw and placing it around his left, front leg.
"We hope," Rhinox added again.
Lunarflare wondered why Rhinox was being so negative towards his own invention. He'd spent so long making the thing, there should be no reason why it wouldn't work.
Optimus slid into a chair and up to one of the monitors. "Head away from the base at Vector Omega and check in every ten microquads. We'll see how far we can track you. Uh, if you encounter any Predicons, return immediately," Optimus ordered.
"I'll be moving too fast for them to see me," Cheetor growled and headed out of the base.
Rhinox glared at the ground as he went. Shaking his head skeptically at the kid's rash behavior.
Optimus looked over at him and chuckled. "He'll do fine," he reassured him.
Lunarflare, on the other hand, was just as incredulous as Rhinox. She wasn't sure why Optimus would trust him with this, but it seemed like an unnecessary risk to her.
Optimus suddenly noticed her still standing in the corner. He motioned for her to come over to him. She obeyed, but then he gave no further instruction. Her only guess was that he wanted her to watch the screen with him, so she complied.
"Cheetor to Optimus, do you read me?" They suddenly heard his voice over the comm system.
"Yes, and he's over five microquads away! Looks like it's working!" Optimus replied.
"So far," Rhinox said, still acting doubtful.
"I just heard some kind of explosion. I'm gonna check it out. I'll talk to you in a minute," they heard him say. Both bots whipped their heads towards the comm-link in surprise and concern.
"Explosion!? Wait, Cheetor – don't –" Optimus didn't get a chance to finish as the icon on the screen began to drift.
"He's moving again," Rhinox pointed out more as a warning that he wasn't listening.
Lunarflare couldn't believe it! Optimus had specifically ordered him back to base if he encountered any Predicons, and there he was doing the complete opposite! Why did he think he could get away with that? Unless Optimus wasn't very good at punishing insubordination? She supposed she'd just have to wait and see.
Optimus sighed heavily. "I'm going after him. If he calls in, tell him to get out of there, now!" he then rose and left the base.
Meanwhile, Rhinox continued tracking the young feline on the monitor.
"Cheetor to Optimus." they heard after another minute. His signal had stopped moving again.
"Optimus is on his way. He said you should get out of there," Rhinox warned him.
"No can do, baby blue. Scorponok's here and he's found a mega-cannon! It must have come from their ship. I've gotta stop him before he gets it back to their base. Cheetor out!" And with that, he disconnected again.
Lunarflare glanced over at Rhinox. He looked back at her with a look that was both worried and disapproving.
"I just hope he waits until Optimus gets there," but she could see it in his eyes. He didn't believe Cheetor would wait.
Lunarflare was pretty much convinced at this point that he was going to do something foolish, but there was very little they could do about it at present. They would just have to wait until Optimus brought him back.
And eventually, bring him back he did. Only Cheetor was unconscious and had a rather large hole in his chest-plate, obviously made from a missile.
"What the–? What happened?" Rattrap asked, waddling into the room in his beast mode. He indicated Cheetor's limp form.
"I have an idea," Optimus said in a somber tone. "But we'll have to wait until he's repaired to find out for sure." Optimus laid him on the table, and Rhinox went straight to work.
They all watched in silence as the repairs took place. Lunarflare was quite impressed at how quickly Rhinox worked, and he had Cheetor back online in no time. Too bad he came back online screaming, sitting straight up on the repair table! It had been so unexpected that it even made her jump. Rattrap just covered his ears.
Finally Rhinox smacked him on the chest, laying him back so he could calm down. Cheetor panted heavily.
"There, good as new," Rhinox announced.
Rattrap climbed up onto Rhinox's shoulders to get a better look. "Yeah, and twice as loud! Ow," he complained, rubbing at his ear.
Optimus gave Cheetor a hard glare as he sat back up again.
"Hey, Big Bot. What happened out there?" he asked hesitantly.
"You took a Predicon missile right in the chest-plate. Guess you aren't as fast as you thought, huh kiddo?" Rattrap mocked, chewing on a rotten apple core.
Lunarflare wanted to cringe at the gesture, but forced herself to refrain. She was already on Rattrap's bad side, no sense in making it worse.
"And you got my com-link trashed!" Rhinox added irritably.
"Hey, at least I proved it worked," Cheetor attempted to defend.
Who cares if it worked before? It doesn't do us any good now that it's destroyed! Lunarflare thought with disgust. She knew trusting the thing to Cheetor was a mistake.
"Rhinox said you reported something about a mega-cannon," Optimus reminded him.
"Oh, that's right! It must've blown off their ship in the crash. Scorponok found it, so I catted in and got the drop on him," Cheetor boasted.
"I'd, uh – say you were the one that got dropped," Rattrap commented snidely, finishing off the rotten apple.
"Hey, Tarantulas was there too. He got behind me, a-and when I tried to take him out–" Cheetor tried to explain, but was cut off by Optimus.
"Scorponok capitalized on your mistake!" he snapped angerly.
"Yeah, I guess so," Cheetor finally admitted.
He guessed so?! It was everything that Lunarflare could do not to yell at him herself! Didn't this kid have any kind of combat training? It was her understanding that it was supposed to be standard for all transformers.
"Rhinox worked on that com-link for a month, and he doesn't have the components to build another one! You've cost us an advantage!" Optimus continued to lecture.
"I couldn't let him get away with that cannon!" Cheetor tried to protest.
"Oh yeah, you took care of that real good, kiddo," Rattrap mock praised him, then laughed at his own joke.
"Back off, rat face!" Cheetor yelled, not taking real kindly to the mocking. He transformed into his beast mode. "Or I'll have a little vermin on a stick for lunch!" Cheetor growled right in his face.
However, Rattrap didn't look worried. Because a second later, Optimus grabbed Cheetor by the scruff and yanked him back.
"You back off, now!" he ordered.
"Sorry, Optimus. I–" he was cut off again.
"Sorry isn't enough. We're in a war for survival, and you treat it like a game! If you had obeyed orders, all this could have been avoided," he reasoned. Cheetor lowered his head in shame at that.
Oh really, obeying orders? What a concept! Lunarflare thought with contempt.
"I'm going to call Dinobot in from the perimeter. We'll need his knowledge of the Predicon base to do something about that mega-cannon," Optimus told everyone.
"I can get inside their base! Let me do it, Optimus!" Cheetor hastily volunteered, which had Lunarflare floored!
What was the matter with this guy? If she were in his position, she'd quit while she was ahead already! On the other hand, she would have never disobeyed orders in the first place!
"You've done enough," Optimus responded coldly before leaving the room.
"I'd better come up with a plan. If I know Optimus, he'll want to move fast," Rhinox realized.
"Yeah, with me in front. No thanks, partner! The pussycat got us into hot oil. Let him dance into Predicon HQ!" Rattrap complained irritably.
Lunarflare cocked her head. Why would Optimus put Rattrap in front when they had her? Other Maximals would usually have her take point. She typically had a higher chance of survival. Not to mention, they'd usually rather risk her life than a Maximal's.
"Well, at least I'm not afraid to do it!" Cheetor snapped.
"You know, that is why you mess up, kiddo. You don't have the sense to be afraid," Rattrap told him.
Lunarflare didn't think it really had anything to do with courage. It should be about being smart, not brave!
"Oh yeah! I'll show you what I have the sense to do, motor head! You and Big Bot!" Cheetor hollered, before leaping off the table and out of the room. The sense to what? Run off and get himself killed? That guy was insane!
"Mmm, mmm, mmm," Rhinox shook his head in disapproval.
"Whaaaat?!" Rattrap whined out.
"You know what he's gonna do," Rhinox hinted.
"Ah, he's jist – he's jist grinding his gears. I mean, even he's not dumb enough ta disobey the great Optimus again!" Rattrap reasoned.
"Uh huh," Rhinox said, clearly skeptical. Rattrap let out an exasperated sigh.
"Okay, OKAY, okay! I'll stop 'im!" he finally consented. "If I can catch 'im. Sheesh! The rotten little. . ." he muttered, before following in the direction Cheetor had taken.
"Hang on," Rhinox said suddenly. He cast a glance over at Lunarflare. "Lunar, go with him," he told her, surprising them both.
"Yes, sir," she said with a small nod.
"What?!" Rattrap protested.
"You might need the backup. Better safe than sorry," Rhinox explained.
"Yeah right! Backup from the Spartan? She'll be more likely to shoot my back than watch it," he glowered at her.
Lunarflare wasn't really sure how to take that. Negative comments, she was used to, but she'd never had anyone question her loyalty before. Other bots she'd worked with might not have liked her, but they never for a second doubted that she would do her job. That much he should be able to count on. These Maximals sure were an odd bunch.
"She isn't a Predicon, Rattrap, and you should probably start using her name soon, or else Optimus is liable to start gettin' real disagreeable," Rhinox warned him.
"Ugh, fine! Let's just go," he grumbled.
So, Lunarflare transformed into her beast mode and followed him out the hatch. What she didn't see, however, was Rhinox smiling after them as they left.
. . .
Rattrap took point as they traveled, Lunarflare trotting right behind him. After several minutes of stoic silence, he finally turned and eyed her suspiciously.
"Don't you ever talk?" he stressed at the uncomfortable quiet.
"What, would you like me to say?" she wondered.
No, of course she didn't! Who would ever want to talk to her?
He didn't seem to know how to respond to that. "So, what's your deal, anyway?" he asked her after another minute.
Lunarflare just stared back at him, feeling confused. What was her deal? She had no idea how to answer. What did that even mean?
"I – um, may I request clarification?" she ventured hesitantly.
Rattrap gawked at her like she was insane.
"What da ya mean, 'clarification'? I'm askin' bout your job. You a mercenary? A spy? An – assassin?" He narrowed his eyes at her.
"Oh, no. Nothing like that. Just a soldier," she stated.
Her 'job' was actually more akin to 'slave' in her opinion. Of course, it would be suicide to even suggest such a notion. But why on earth would he think she'd be an assassin of all things?
"Just a soldier, huh? Well, Optimus might be alright with you hangin' around, but that don't mean I have to. So, you jist do what I tell ya, and we'll get along jist fine, alright?" he ordered, testing the waters, in a sense.
"Yes sir," she complied, without so much as a flicker of expression on her face.
He hadn't expected that! No one had ever taken orders from him before, mostly because his behavior and poor attitude didn't usually merit any kind of respect. But this girl, she was doing both without any sense of hesitation, or annoyance. Rattrap felt himself grimace a bit. Her lack of emotions was really starting to get creepy.
"Yeah, don't ever call me that again. Rattrap is fine," he told her, not appreciating being referred to so formally.
"Uh, very well." She didn't know what else to say. She'd never had someone demand that she call them by their name before.
"So, hang on a sec," he said, and Lunarflare stopped. He noticed this, and turned to fully face her. "You're really gonna do whatever I tell ya?"
"Affirmative." Obviously!
"Even if I told ya to stay here and don't move?" he wondered.
Lunarflare began to feel rather uneasy about where this was going.
"A-are you telling me to do that?" she asked, her fear slipping through her voice ever so slightly. She quickly stifled it down, keeping her face as still as possible.
"What? No! That'd be ridiculous," he said it like it should be obvious.
However, it wasn't the strangest thing she'd ever been told to do. Better than the alternative.
"But, I will. If you order me to," she assured him.
"Why?" he asked, feeling a bit, alarmed, at the implications.
"I am programmed to protect Maximals, and obey them, without question," she said simply.
He studied her for a long moment before venturing further.
"And, what if I tell you to do somethin' that you don't wanna do?" he wondered.
Lunarflare could feel a tingling anxiety creeping down her back, and she had to stifle a shiver. This guy – what was he getting at? Perhaps she didn't want to know.
"I won't go against my programming," she assured him further.
Man! And he thought she was weird before. It was like, she didn't have a soul, or any will of her own. Would she really do anything he ordered her to? Even – he quickly cut himself off from that train of thought. There was no way he'd ever stoop that low!
"Come on. Let's keep movin'," he told her.
Yeah, definitely creepy!
Once he had turned away, Lunarflare visibly relaxed and let out an internal sigh. That had been close. Although, she was a little surprised that he didn't already know this. Everyone she'd ever been around before had extensive knowledge of what her proper protocol was. Maybe these guys had never been properly briefed? But then she realized that surely Optimus had. He was a commander, after all.
After another long, awkward silence of them traveling, Rattrap suddenly began to slow down and start focusing on sniffing at the air. Lunarflare realized he must be trying to locate Cheetor through his scent. She sniffed around as well, and was able to pick up a whiff of him herself.
"Man oh man! I must have a bug in my program to be doin' this for that dumb feline," Rattrap began muttering to himself just ahead of her. "Ugh, I can smell his stink even in this sludge box. Hey, Spartan girl, you picking up anything?" he asked her over his shoulder.
Lunarflare redoubled her efforts of sniffing at the air. It led her to a particularly wide, flat rock. So, she circled around it just to be sure.
"The trail ends here," she said.
"That ain't too promisin'," Rattrap mumbled.
Lunarflare began to study the ground around the rock, and she noticed that it appeared to have been moved recently. She pushed at it with an outstretched paw, and it started to slide along the ground. She could feel airflow from the hole that had been previously covered, so she kept shoving the rock aside until she completely uncovered what looked like a tunnel.
"Well, whadaya know. Nice work there, kitten," he told her, and dove down into the tunnel.
Lunarflare hesitated a moment at the new, sudden nickname. She decided it was better than 'Spartan girl' before following him underground.
The tunnel led them to a dank, underground cave. They could hear voices in the distance, and so crept closer to see who it was. Lunarflare almost gasped in horror at the image that suddenly came into view. Tarantulas had Cheetor all trussed up in what looked like a web made of energon. She couldn't believe anyone, Maximal or Predicon, could do what the scene before her implied. However, their current conversation only confirmed her suspicions. She then looked to Rattrap for instructions.
The look he had seemed to reflect what she was feeling. He then glanced back at her, and realized that she was staring at him expectantly. He motioned for her to stay put, and made his way out into the opening.
He was just going to walk out there and announce himself? Was he crazy? She wondered, but there was little she could do about it.
"Lunarflare, Maximize. Stealth Mode," she instructed, transforming without a sound.
"It is the act I enjoy more than the nourishment," Tarantulas was saying.
"You know, you are one sick bug, eight eyes!" Rattrap declared, getting everyone's attention.
"Ah! The rat!" Tarantulas exclaimed, flipping around to face him.
"Heh, heh, you got it!" Rattrap chuckled. "Now, what do ya say you let my pal go?" It was more of a demand than a request.
"Tarantulas, Terrorize!" was the spider's response.
"Rattrap, Maximize!" he transformed in turn.
Tarantulas didn't give him any time to react, he just leveled his gun and fired on him. Luckily, Rattrap had good reflexes. He was able to dive out of the way before the missile hit. It caused the whole cave to rumble, bringing rocks crumbling down from the ceiling. Rattrap then began firing back from cover, which Tarantulas was able to dodge.
"Now we'll have you for lunch, web-breath!" Cheetor mocked from his compromising position.
Tarantulas reacted by hitting a button on a machine that was next to the web. Cheetor then began to look increasingly more uncomfortable. He then turned back to the matter at hand.
With her limited vision, Lunarflare thought she saw something flash across the spider's eyes. He then seemed to be able to pinpoint Rattrap's exact location within a matter of seconds, firing on him. Rattrap was blasted back from the missile.
Great, she thought. He was probably using some sort of heat scanner. Rattrap wouldn't stand a chance now! Plus all he had to do was look over in this direction, and he'd be able to find her too, but as long as he didn't look. . .
She watched as Rattrap sprinted in the opposite direction of her current location, drawing Tarantulas' attention away from her. He then ducked down behind a much more formidable stalagmite.
With his gaze directed elsewhere, Lunarflare realized that now was her chance. Tarantulas was moving slowly, trying to creep up on Rattrap's position. So, as quickly and quietly as she could, Lunarflare weaved her way through the stalagmites towards them.
A few moments later, Tarantulas whipped around the corner, his gun pointed directly at Rattrap. There was the sound of a blaster going off – and Rattrap glanced up to see a look of shock on the spider's face. Tarantulas let out a pitiful wheeze, before suddenly crumpling forward, to reveal Lunarflare standing behind him – her pistols smoking.
"Whoo," Rattrap let out a sigh. "Perfect timing," he told her.
He had hoped that she would take the hint when he'd drawn Tarantulas' attention like that. Good thing he'd been wrong about her, he admitted to himself.
Was that, an actual complement? Well, that was a switch. Not just for him, but for anyone, really. Any of her previous comrades would have complained that she'd taken too long. She nodded in acknowledgment.
"Alright. Time to get Cheetor and get outta here," he said, hopping up and sprinting over to where Cheetor was still hanging off the web.
"Hang on, kiddo!" Rattrap told Cheetor and began mashing buttons on the weird machine.
"Unable to respond, incorrect energy signature," the machine droned.
"Ugh," Rattrap growled and kept messing with the buttons.
"Unable to respond, incorrect energy signature," it said again. This time increasing the energy draining effect it was having on Cheetor, the pained look on his face getting worse.
Rattrap looked a bit panicked and began shaking the machine while it kept repeating the same message. Lunarflare was feeling her own panic rapidly rising in her chest at the situation. All Rattrap was doing was speeding up the rate at which the machine was killing Cheetor!
Orders or no, she couldn't take it anymore! She stepped in front of Rattrap, gently encouraging him backwards with one arm, before extending the palm of her other hand towards the infernal machine. She unleashed a powerful blast of energy that caused the thing to explode into a thousand tiny pieces, finally stopping the energy drain on Cheetor's vitals.
Once the dust settled, she chanced a glance over at Rattrap, hoping really hard that he wouldn't be mad. He had to have seen that time was of the essence, right?
"I was gettin' there!" he snapped, but surprisingly didn't make any further comments.
Rattrap stepped over to the web, and used a dagger to cut Cheetor down, and he collapsed limply into his arms.
"Hey rat-face. What's the good word?" Cheetor asked with weary cheeriness. Probably trying to put on a brave face after almost getting eaten.
Rattrap began carrying him back to the entrance, Lunarflare following close behind. Unfortunately, they didn't get very far before being startled by a familiarly creepy voice.
"Game over, vermin," Tarantulas growled. They both flipped around in surprise at the sudden proclamation. "Give my regards to the inferno!" he shouted before launching another missile in their direction.
Lunarflare still couldn't understand why these guys didn't just shoot first, and then chat later. But oh well, his gloating allowed her to have plenty of time to prepare for his attack.
"Run!" she yelled to Rattrap, before pulling out a pistol and firing towards the missile to intercept it before it could reach them.
The effects of the blast still threw them all in different directions. Rattrap and Cheetor went flying towards the exit, while Lunarflare was thrown back and off the edge of the cliff behind her. Unfortunately, that powerful blast had finally eliminated the integrity of the cave, and the whole thing started to collapse.
"Noooo!" Tarantulas shouted before slowly getting buried in his own lair.
Meanwhile, Rattrap made a bee-line for the exit, and was able to pull Cheetor out just before the whole thing caved in.
"Wait, what happened to Lunar?" he asked in a concerned tone.
He was glancing around, but couldn't find her. Rattrap hadn't actually been sure what had happened. She seemed to have been lost in the confusion, he realized.
However, before either of them could really start to worry. The ground gave way a small distance away from them, and Lunarflare burst forth from the earth. She pulled herself out of the newly formed hole and brushed herself off.
"Lunar!" Cheetor exclaimed. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm alright," she assured him.
He seemed concerned, but he should have known that wasn't necessary. Did they forget she could fly?
The trek back to the base was, uncomfortably quiet. Not even Cheetor spoke, and he was normally pretty chatty. It was probably due to his near-death experience, and the humbling fact that he'd gotten himself into more trouble and needed to be saved, again. At least, that was the impression Lunarflare got as he meandered along ahead of her with his head hung low and his tail curled underneath him.
They all reentered the base together. Cheetor looking even more shamefaced. But then, Rattrap looked up at the others with a grin.
"Hey! Fearless Leader. What's the haps?" he asked casually.
Optimus rounded on them. "Where have you three been?" he demanded irritably.
"Uh, just, hockin' around. You know, Cheetor needed some activity. You were kinda rough on him before. Everybody makes mistakes, ya know," Rattrap explained, totally lying!
Cheetor brightened when he heard that, and flashed Optimus a big grin.
It was everything Lunarflare could do to keep her jaw from hitting the floor. Where had that come from? She thought for sure he was gonna rat Cheetor out! (Pardon the pun.) And did he just accuse Optimus of 'being rough' on Cheetor? Well, that was a laugh! At a minimum, Cheetor should have been confined to quarters, possibly even court martialed, for his blatant disobedience.
And even more surprising, was that Optimus quickly agreed!
"Well, maybe you're right. I'm sorry Cheetor, I shouldn't have been so harsh," Optimus told him.
Harsh? Harsh?! If that was being harsh, then the surface of the sun was just a tiny bit warm! She would have loved nothing more than to give them a demonstration of the true definition of that term!
"No. You were right, Big Bot. I messed up, but I won't do it again. From now on this cat is a team player!" Cheetor told him enthusiastically.
"I'm glad to hear it," Optimus said casually before turning back to what he'd been doing with Dinobot and Rhinox.
Rattrap and Cheetor then left the room and headed back down the hall. Unsure of what she should be doing with herself now, Lunarflare decided to follow suit. Neither of the guys spoke, until getting out of ear shot of the others, that is.
"Hey, uh, thanks for not telling 'um about–" Cheetor started, but Rattrap cut him off before he could finish.
"Save it, kiddo!" he snapped back. "If I told Optimus about your little play-date with Tarantulas, he'd kick my sweet, pink butt too!" Cheetor looked a bit shocked at the sudden outburst. "And one more thing, if you ever pull a stunt like this again, I will personally rearrange your spots! Now – ugh! Get outta my way! I've got garbage to munch," Rattrap lectured before stalking off.
Oh, of course. That was why Rattrap had made up that bogus story. It wasn't to stand up for Cheetor, it was to avoid receiving any punishment himself. She should have known. Rattrap didn't seem to be the kind of person to willingly stick his neck out for others.
"And, thanks for saving my life, pal," Cheetor said quietly under his breath as he left.
He then turned to look at Lunarflare, as if just noticing that she was there.
"You too, Lunar," he told her.
Her too – what? She wondered.
"Thanks for coming after me. I'm sorry that it ended up putting you in danger. But man, those powers of yours are pretty incredible. They must really come in handy sometimes," Cheetor said.
It took her a second to recover from the shock of him actually taking the time to thank her.
"Yes, they are quite useful," she stated.
"Hey, so, we really haven't had much of an opportunity to hang out. It looks like we got a little down time. Wanna come to my quarters? We can play some video games?" he offered.
Lunarflare immediately grew suspicions and wary. Hearing such an offer was strange enough as it was, but believing he was being sincere was a far greater stretch. She knew better than to risk being caught slacking off.
"I – thank you – but I cannot. I have other engagements elsewhere," she lied.
She had found that the best way to handle these rare situations was to always politely decline. That way she wouldn't risk offending anyone or getting in trouble. She then quickly made her leave just in case he might try to protest.
"Oh, okay. Well, I guess I'll see you later then?" Cheetor suggested to her retreating form, sounding a little disappointed and a lot confused.