Hey everyone. So, katrupp03 has requested Lunarflare be given a voice actor, and they have graciously suggested for it to be Amanda Winn Lee. I think it's perfect. So, if anyone was wondering what Lunar sounded like, well you don't have to wonder anymore!
I also want to thank katrupp03 for their reviews and excellent suggestions! Anyway, without further ado - onto the story!
Despite giving his word to Optimus, it soon became apparent that Cheetor's team-playing was only a short lived road of good intentions. For the next several weeks, they had been tasked by Optimus to construct relay posts as a means of detecting Predicon energy signatures. It was tedious work, but it would all be worth it if the Maximals latest plan came to fruition.
Unfortunately, on the day they were planning on planting the posts, was the day the weather decided to turn foul. Lunarflare was sitting comfortably in the com room with the others, listening to the wind howling viciously outside. She was attentively watching them work, waiting to see if anyone would give her instruction on something for her to do. There wasn't much left now that the posts were practically all complete.
"That does it," Rhinox said with a loud sigh. All of the posts collapsed down once he'd finished the final touches on the last one. "Survey posts are ready for duty. Any word from Optimus?" he asked casually to Rattrap, who was manning the coms.
"Nah, not a flicker. This storm's trashin' the com-links worse than usual, and that's bad enough!" Rattrap exclaimed.
"This mission is too critical to be interrupted by a minor variation of weather," Dinobot growled, making an adjustment to the bomb that he'd help develop.
It was hardly minor in Lunarflare's opinion. The storm's ferocity seemed to be increasing at an alarming rate. It was building up to be quite a destructive force. She certainly wouldn't want to have to go out in it, which probably meant that's what would end up happening. They'd send her out to plant the posts, rather than risk Maximal lives to do so.
"Who took the syncro-laser?!" Dinobot yelled in frustration.
"Allow me," Cheetor told him, brandishing the laser tool. He moved over to the bomb and began making the adjustment Dinobot was about to do.
However, Cheetor accidentally slipped with the laser, causing the bomb to bounce off the table and begin it's powering up sequence as it rolled towards one of the exit hatches. In response, Dinobot palmed Cheetor's entire torso, grabbing him and shaking him angerly.
"Why you hyper little–!" he lectured with rage.
"The bomb! Watch out!" Rattrap warned as it reached the edge of the hatch and fell.
Lunarflare immediately leapt into action, she dashed over towards the hatch, and was about to dive down into it – when it began grinding, and Optimus appeared, coming up from below.
"Some sort of trouble?" he asked cheekily, tossing the bomb up and down in his hand as if it were a ball. He smiled down at her.
It took her a moment to recover from his unexpected appearance. Once she had, she took a few steps back to give him room. After all, if she'd been standing any closer, she would have been on top of him! No one seemed to react to his nonchalant behavior towards all of them almost getting blown to kingdom come. That was a shame. Lunarflare thought it was kind of funny, but then again, her unique station in life had given her kind of a dark sense of humor.
What she didn't see, however, was Rattrap eyeing her after her instant reaction to the bomb being dropped. Had she really been about to do what it looked like?
At seeing that the danger had passed, Dinobot then finally dropped the still struggling Cheetor. The yellow cat grinned over at Optimus.
"Hey Big Bot!" he greeted cheerily, pushing his way past a glowering Dinobot. "We're just locking down the old big ba-bang here. One last adjustment – and – there," Cheetor said, twisting the top and locking it into place with a beep. "We're set to blast that Predicon base back into orbit, as space debris!" he exclaimed, but then the bomb began powering up once again in his hands, Cheetor with a total look of shock on his face.
Lunarflare reacted instantly, completely on instinct. With a lightening fast move, she snatched the volatile thing away from Cheetor, hunched over it, and hugged it right up against her chest-plate. She did her best to generate a shield around herself as quickly as possible, putting all of her available energy into it – and waited for the inevitable end. . .
But it never came. After another moment, the bomb began powering back down again. Lunarflare opened her eyes to look at it. Guess it was okay now? She peeked up to see all the others staring at her with, she wasn't sure. Shock? Confusion? Either way, no one moved or said anything for several long clicks.
Lunarflare dropped her shield and stood up straight, still clutching the bomb.
Did I overreact? She wondered. Well, now she just felt dumb! She glanced around at them all, unsure of where to go from here.
"Whoa, that was – intense," Cheetor finally decided.
"Lunar! Wha – what were you thinking?!" Optimus lectured, sounding a lot more surprised than angry. Well, she would hope that he wouldn't be angry, considering the circumstances.
"I – I had calculated a high probability of the bomb detonating. So, I took appropriate action to attempt to reduce the amount of, collateral damage," she explained, glancing around at all the optics boring into her.
"Well, that's – very brave and selfless of you – but – please, don't do that again," Optimus requested.
Lunarflare felt her own amount of confusion at that. Was he serious? He, couldn't be! Spartan or not, her logic should have been obvious and perfectly justified, which she ultimately decided to risk voicing.
"I am sorry, sir, but as I said before. I am programmed to protect Maximals. It is also strategically preferable that I should perish alone, rather than losing the entire squad," she reasoned flatly.
"How about we try to make sure none of us 'perish'. I'd hate to lose you," he told her, before reaching out and patting her on the head with another smile.
Lunarflare involuntarily flinched at first, but then relaxed and straightened up again when she realized he wasn't going to strike her.
"Yes, sir," she consented with a feeling a relief.
Even if she didn't understand, she shouldn't have argued like that. Better if she kept silent now, versus risking making him mad. She handed the bomb back to Cheetor.
Rattrap decided that little scene had thoroughly answered his earlier question. She had been completely prepared to die to protect them, and she didn't look shaken by it at all. In fact, she didn't even look phased. This kid, she must have nerves of steel!
"Anyway, unfortunately team, we've gotta put this mission to bed for now. We're stalled," he explained with a sigh.
"What?!" Dinobot demanded with clear indignation.
"You're kiddin'!" Rattrap added, sounding flustered.
"What are you talking about?" Rhinox asked.
"H-hey! It's just a crossed quasar circuit. I can fix it," Cheetor assured him merrily. Although, Lunarflare had serious doubts.
"That storm'll hit us within the hour," Optimus attempted to reason.
"An hour?" Cheetor repeated, sounding dubious. "Not a problem, fellow beast. I can outrun anything the sky's can dish," he boasted.
"Sorry Cheetor, its too risky. The placement of those survey posts must be thoroughly calculated to avoid contact with any underground energon deposits," Optimus explained, placing a hand on Cheetor's shoulder.
"I'm not just some dippy cub, ya know," Cheetor complained, pushing the hand off of him. "I can do this. Try having some faith in me for once," he pouted.
"As much as you'd prefer to think so Cheetor, this isn't about you," Optimus snapped back at him.
Oooooo! That was a shot to the pride, Lunarflare thought to herself, as she watched Cheetor return Optimus' comment with a glare. He moodily tossed the bomb back to Dinobot, and Optimus just rolled his eyes.
"And does it matter if we blow some energon?" Dinobot asked as he began stomping towards Optimus. "Maybe, it'll take a few Predicons with it. That is what we want, is it not?" he reasoned.
"This mission, Dinobot, is to gain tactical advantage by taking out their base. Defeating them does not mean we have to annihilate them. You seem to have trouble understanding that," Optimus lectured back.
"What I understand, is this! If situations were reversed, Megatron would spare the base, and annihilate us!" Dinobot snapped.
Lunarflare saw Rattrap and Rhinox give each other looks of exasperation out of the corner of her eye. They were probably having similar thoughts to hers, that Dinobot's blood lust always felt rather extreme.
Optimus took a deep, weary sigh. "This eagerness of yours to scrap Megatron is clouding your judgment!" he berated him.
"We are at war, Optimus! War! I think it is your judgment that – is – clouded!" Dinobot barked, before slamming the bomb back into Optimus' chest and stalking off. He transformed to Beast Mode as he went.
"Optimus, they're harmless little scanning relays," Rattrap said, picking one up off the stack. "All they're supposed ta do is detect Pred energy signatures. Right, Rhinox?" he reasoned nonchalantly, hoping to get some support from his friend.
"I'm with Optimus on this one. Energon's an untested variable. We gotta be careful," he decided, taking the relay out of Rattrap's hand and replacing it back on the stack.
. . .
Several minutes later, Lunarflare was headed back to her room, seeing as how she was no longer needed since Optimus had decided to scrub the mission, when a sudden commotion caught her attention. Cheetor was hurtling down the hallway, heading toward the base's exit while hastily stuffing several of the survey posts under his torso plate. He looked up just in time to notice she was there and barely avoided plowing into her. Lunarflare just frowned in confusion, which made him realize that she had seen what he was doing.
"Lunar! I – uh," he stuttered, looking embarrassed at having been caught.
When she didn't respond, his expression turned more serious.
"Look, I know what Optimus said, but I know I can do this, and I'll be back before anyone notices I'm gone. So, please don't tell him!" he begged, looking at her with pleading eyes.
Lunarflare internally cursed her luck. Once again, she'd been at the wrong place at the wrong time. She hated when Maximals did things like this, putting her in the middle where there was a good chance that she was going to get punished regardless of how this turned out! If she told Cheetor that she was going to reveal his plan, then he would get angry and probably take it out on her. Alternatively, if she agreed to keep this a secret, and Optimus found out that she knew and didn't tell him – well that could be just as bad, if not worse.
She pondered her options for a moment, and ultimately decided that her best course of action was to probably just keep her mouth shut. After all, if Cheetor succeeded, then everyone would be happy and there would be no problem. However, if he was found out, but it wasn't her fault that he got caught, then hopefully he would have no reason to lash out at her.
"Very well. I will not reveal to anyone that I saw you," she assured him.
He breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, Lunar! You're the best!" he praised, before skirting around her and taking off once again.
As she watched him disappear around the corner, she could only hope that he would be alright. After all, Cheetor had only ever been kind to her, so far. She admitted she would probably be sad if something unfortunate happened to him.
. . .
However, she should have realized from the start that him actually pulling this off would be too good to be true. After all, the results of his apparent failure didn't take too long to manifest themselves.
Which just so happened to end up being in the form of none other than Terrorsaur, randomly materializing out of what seemed to be thin air, right in the middle of their com room! The sound of the bizarre commotion drew Lunarflare's attention, and so she decided to investigate, poking her head into the almost empty room.
"Ah! W-wha – where'd he go?!" The red and white Predicon spluttered in surprise. "Where'd I go?" he wondered a moment later in complete confusion.
Being the only other occupant to bear witness, Dinobot wasted no time in responding to the potential threat.
"Welcome to enemy arms, my former comrade. I hope you'll, enjoy your stay," he offered with mock-hospitality. "Dinobot, Maximize!" he announced, transforming to his robot mode in anticipation of a battle.
"I don't know how you brought me here, traitor, but prepare to stain the deck!" Terrorsaur threatened, leaping towards the dinosaur with clear intent to harm.
However, before he was able to get far, Dinobot noticed the ominous sparking of the console, and grabbed ahold of the pterodactyl's head, effectively halting him.
"Wait!" he growled, rotating Terrorsaur's face around so that he could also take a look at the energized console. "Could it be that an accident of technology and nature has actually created a transporter?" Dinobot wondered, releasing the other Predicon for the moment. "Terrorsaur, perhaps a, truce, is in order?" he suggested slyly.
His tone caused Lunarflare's mech fluid to run cold. She instantly had a bad feeling about where this was going!
"A transporter? Oh yeah!" the red transformer exclaimed with realization. "So, that's how that kid cat ended up in our base!"
"And you here. Interesting development," Dinobot decided.
"Yeah. . . Yeah, say! W-we could turn a truce, into an alliance, Dinobot!" Terrorsaur declared, sounding rather excited at the prospects.
"An alliance? To what end?" the larger bot wondered.
"Think of the cosmic magnificence! Together, we'll overthrow these low-grade, metal knock offs you've joined, a-and then rule the Predicons with two iron fists! Nothing can stop us!" Terrorsaur announced, as they dramatically bumped their knuckles together in an electric display.
The sound of a small shuffle at the corner of the room suddenly alerted the two bots to the fact that they were not alone. Lunarflare had accidentally made the noise when she'd attempted to back away unseen.
Obviously, she was unsuccessful as Dinobot's sudden gaze directly on her caused her to flinch and reactively freeze in place! Being surprisingly quick on the draw, Terrorsaur pulled his blaster, and was about to fire in her direction when Dinobot made a motion to stop him, grabbing at the gun.
"W-what are you doing?!" Terrorsaur demanded indignantly. "We have to take care of her before she finds the other Maximals and ruins everything!" he reasoned.
"Relax, comrade. There's no need to worry about the Spartan girl," Dinobot informed him. He crooked a finger in her direction, beckoning her closer. "Come here, child," he hissed, his voice taking on a sinister undertone that Lunarflare did not care for.
Even so, not fully understanding what was happening, or feeling like she had much choice in the matter, Lunarflare reluctantly obeyed. Moving over to stand next to the two ancient reptiles. She blinked up at them, waiting to see what would happen next.
"Wait a second, did you just – call this kid a, Spartan?" Terrorsaur questioned with awe.
"Affirmative," Dinobot confirmed for him.
"Seriously? Where did she come from? Last I heard, all the Spartans were wiped out by the Maximals who created them," he questioned the larger transformer.
"All but one, as it turns out. This one seems to have been fully programmed to know nothing except to protect Maximals, and obey orders," Dinobot stressed, turning back to the girl. "Isn't that right, child?" he asked her.
Lunarflare had to debate on how to answer, or whether or not she should even do so in the first place! After all, while she might have been programmed to obey orders, as Dinobot said, what he failed to mention was that she had only been instructed to obey Maximals, specifically. However, before she'd had a chance to really decide, something happened to help sway her choice. After Dinobot had asked her the question, she noticed the subtlest of winks coming from his right eye, the one furthest away from the other Predicon.
Did that, mean that this whole partnership was actually a ruse? Was Dinobot planning to betray Terrorsaur in the end? It was the only explanation that she could come up with. So, since it seemed to be in her best interest, she decided to play along, at least for now.
"Yes, sir," she confirmed flatly.
"But if her primary objective is to protect Maximals, doesn't that mean she'll try and prevent us from taking them out?" Terrorsaur reasoned, fixing the girl with a curious stare.
She simply blinked back at him. He looked a little unnerved at her complete lack of reaction, despite them talking about her, right in front of her!
"If she was going to, I believe she would have already tried. She will remain passive unless we openly attack them," he explained.
That she would. Part of her felt like Dinobot must be trying to sell her to be as nonthreatening as possible to put Terrorsaur at ease, for whatever reason. He had to know that she wasn't about to just stand by and let him harm the others. In the meantime, she couldn't stop the sensation of morbid curiosity building in her, stemming from the desire to see how this whole scenario played out.
"Doesn't she ever react, or is she just that simple?" Terrorsaur wondered, waving a hand before her face.
She absently followed it with her optics.
"Only if you address her directly," Dinobot offered.
"And she'll really do whatever she's told? No matter what?" he questioned, sounding slightly skeptical at the notion.
"Within reason, I imagine. She's yet to disobey a direct order," Dinobot confirmed.
Terrorsaur's expression shifted into a menacing smirk as he stepped closer to her. He grabbed her chin and tilted her face upwards, forcing her to look straight into his optics. He hummed as he considered her.
"I like the idea of a fem-bot who follows orders and doesn't argue," he decided, his tone betraying a hint of innuendo.
Meanwhile, it was everything Lunarflare could do to maintain her usual void mask! Never in her entire existence had anyone touched her in such a manner, and stared at her the way this Predicon was currently doing, especially not of the masculine variety!
There was a hunger in his eyes that she wasn't quite sure how to react to, causing several involuntary reactions in her that she had to simultaneously fight against to keep them from manifesting! She could feel her spark wildly pulsating in her chest, heat creeping up on her face, and a shiver threatening to arch it's way down her spine!
Just don't think about it! She attempted to will herself. Think about something else, anything else! But that was proving difficult with his face currently leaned so close to hers. Thankfully, she at least managed to force her breathing to remain even.
"So, whadaya say, girlie? What if you were ordered to attack a Maximal? Would you do it?" he asked her.
Lunarflare swallowed hard, and had to steady herself before responding.
"Negative. Such a command would contradict my higher directive," she stated as stoically as possible, and succeeded in appearing as though she was not in the least bit phased by their current proximity.
"Wow, you weren't kidding. She's like a husk!" Terrorsaur confirmed, releasing her and taking a step back. "If I'd tried something like that with any other female, they would've slapped me to the other side of the room!" he determined with amusement. "It's actually a little creepy," he confessed.
So, what had been the point of all that? Was it just a test? An experiment to see if he could get a reaction out of her? Well, if that was the case, he was going to have to do a lot better, or worse as the case may be, to break her! Although, she had to admit, it had caught her off guard for a moment, at least at first.
"What are we going to do with her?" he asked his impromptu companion.
"Keep her close, for now. At least until we decide how to best utilize the transporter," Dinobot told him, transforming into Beast Mode, Terrorsaur following suit.
"Now, explain to me the events leading up to you appearing in the com room," he requested as they began to mosey down the hall, but not before Dinobot beckoned Lunarflare to follow.
"Not much to tell, really. After the yellow cat boy materialized on one of our consoles, we had a bit of a shootout. During the fight, he ended up pushing me onto that same console, and the next thing I knew, I ended up here," Terrorsaur explained.
"So, you landed on the same spot, and by, simply coming in contact with the communication console, this initiated the transport?" Dinobot clarified, sounding unusually interested.
"That's all I did. Nothing to it!" Terrorsaur confirmed merrily.
Dinobot paused in the hallway, turning to fully face the pterodactyl, which encouraged him to stop as well. However, Lunarflare couldn't help but notice precisely where he had managed to position the unsuspecting Predicon.
"Excellent!" he replied, appearing quite pleased. "Then I should have no difficulty duplicating the procedure, without you!"
Dinobot suddenly turned on the pterodactyl, pushing him against the wall and delivering several swift kicks to the head to daze him. All this before forcibly shoving him into the small compartment that was built into the side of the hall directly behind him! He pulled down the lid before Terrorsaur had the chance to recover.
"Hey! What are you doing?! We're partners!" the red transformer protested from the other side of the small window built into the cover.
"In case you had not realized, needle nose – I am not a team player!" Dinobot growled testily, before activating the garbage ejection protocol in the chamber, effectively jettisoning Terrorsaur out and away from their base, in a rather degrading manner!
Lunarflare felt the urge to flinch at the soft thud, that sounded a moment later. The poor guy had been completely blindsided! Dinobot then turned to stare at her.
"You played your part well, girl. Now that we have the knowledge we need, we will be able to implement a foolproof plan to end this war for good. And I will finally get my revenge against those who betrayed me!" he growled with a far-off look.
Lunarflare simply cocked her head at him. That certainly escalated quickly! He'd gone from surprising her with an actual complement, to practically plotting murder all in the same breath. She could only hope that he was referring to the Predicons with that statement. She didn't have long to ponder though, before Optimus suddenly rounded the corner.
"Dinobot! The survey posts are missing, as is Cheetor. Do you know anything about it?" he immediately demanded, also casting a questioning look in Lunarflare's direction.
However, since he hadn't actually asked her, she didn't feel any pressure to respond.
"Ah! So, that's what he was doing out there," he commented innocently, doing a fantastic job of playing it cool.
"What are you talking about?" Optimus asked in clear confusion, not to mention growing frustration.
"I, overheard a Predicon communication," he began, slowly. Obviously grasping for an excuse on how he'd acquired the knowledge he was about to impart.
Sure ya did, Lunarflare couldn't help commenting to herself.
"A lightning strike on the sensor posts has had the, unexpected result of transporting Cheetor into the Predicon base," he explained, Optimus placing his head in his palm in exasperation at the news, dragging his hand down his face. "Regrettable, yes," Dinobot offered, agreeing with the weary gesture. "He has surely been destroyed by Megatron," he added with false sympathy.
There was no way he actually cared after what Lunarflare had just witnessed. Even so, she hadn't even considered the possibility that Cheetor wouldn't have been able to survive all by himself in the middle of the Predicon base. She felt a pang of guilt at the realization that she could have stopped him if she'd tried.
"NO!" Optimus exclaimed loudly nonetheless, obviously feeling upset by the news.
"But take heart in the fact that, through the cat's ultimate sacrifice, we have been furnished with a way to defeat them!" Dinobot quickly added, trying to bring the leader's attention around to focus on his own agenda.
"How?" he question dubiously.
"Somehow, the relay posts, the storm, and the energon, have all conspired to create a transporter which connects our com room to theirs. We can beam the explosive right into the heart of Megatron's lair!" he offered encouragingly.
Optimus considered his words for a moment, cocking his head in thought at the implications. His gaze then shifted to the silent cat girl simply blinking back and forth between the two larger transformers.
"Well, what about you, Lunar? Have you seen this 'transporter' in action?" Optimus suddenly questioned, sounding a bit skeptical.
Dinobot glared at him for asking, and not just immediately taking his word for it. He then shifted his hard gaze to her before she could answer. She pretended not to notice.
"Yes sir," she replied honestly. He studied her with a questioning glance before continuing.
"I know you've been kind of, nervous since you first joined us, but you really can just call me Optimus, if you want to," he encouraged lightly.
However, her only response was to just stare back blankly.
Why did he keep suggesting things for her to do if she wanted to, as if she had a choice? Couldn't he see that her desires were irrelevant here? Although, perhaps if he directly ordered her to stop, like Rattrap had. . .
"Anyway, what do you think Cheetor's chances of survival are, all things considered?" he inquired.
"Based on data gathered from the Predicon's battle prowess, I'd estimate the odds at, less than ten percent," she decided, after some quick calculations.
Optimus sighed at the news.
"I was afraid you were going to say something like that," he confessed sadly. "Alright, Dinobot. Let's see this 'transporter'," he told him, turning to head in the direction of the comm room.
Lunarflare felt herself feeling a touch remorseful at this unexpected turn of events. While Optimus had requested her to calculate the odds, he had seemed upset at her answers. Not that this would be the first time, however, normally others would react with more anger than sadness. It almost made her feel bad for him, almost.
Even though it would be much less lively without Cheetor around, the tip in the balance of power was the more pressing issue – her automatic indifferent reaction told her. Unless, of course, they were actually able to pull off this arrangement of transporting the explosive and taking out the Predicon base. Speaking of which, Lunarflare found herself following along after the others to witness the results of this alteration of the plan.
Putting on the finishing touches, Dinobot was about to place the finalized bomb on the, still radiating, console. However, Optimus halted him right before he set it down.
"Wait!" he called, Dinobot flipping around to see what the hold up was. "You're positive the detonation count down will give the Predicons time to flee the base?" he asked, brushing Dinobot's thrashing tail out of his line of view.
"They shall have thirty seconds. Any more and they might be able to, disarm it," Dinobot reasoned. Then waited for the go ahead. Optimus took a very deep sigh before staring back up at the raptor.
"Proceed," he acknowledged, albeit rather reluctantly. Lunarflare assumed his hesitations had to stem from Cheetor. After all, if there was any chance that he had been able to survive up until this point, it was possible he'd be dooming him to death anyway.
On the other hand, Dinobot didn't seem to mind the risk, narrowing his eyes with a satisfied smirk, before mounting the bomb on the electrified console. It glowed for a moment before vanishing altogether. Lunarflare was standing at the back of the room as she watched this all unfold. Now she supposed that it was just a matter of 'wait and see'.
Except, a second later, and Optimus suddenly snatched something from off the console that hadn't been there a moment earlier. He studied it curiously.
"What is it?" Dinobot wondered, cocking his head at the device.
"A data disk," he realized, sniffing at it. "And it has Cheetor's scent!" he exclaimed in surprise. "Play this, now!" he ordered the computer, sliding it into the disk slot.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, whatever way you'd prefer to look at it, they didn't really get the chance to see what was copied on the disk right away. Because before it had time to fully load, there was a sudden discharge that radiated violently throughout the interior of the com room. And lo and behold, a moment later, and Cheetor miraculously manifested on top of the console!
"Hiya cats! Miss me?" he quipped playfully with a grin and a wink.
As the others looked on with expressions of shock, Lunarflare had to admit, that had been a rather impressive entrance. Not to mention, the small wave of relief she felt flow through her. Now no one had any reason to feel upset, right?
All the commotion eventually attracted the attention of the others, drawing them into the com room to find out what was going on.
"You guys havin' a party in here, or what?" Rattrap snapped.
"Cheetor? Where have you –" Rhinox began in a lecture when he spotted him, but stopped himself when his attention seemed to move over the top of them all to the current display on the overhead screen. "Wait a minute, is that. . .?" he trailed questioningly, moving over to get a better look.
This also caused all eyes in the room to lift up to the image.
What they found was an energon map, clearly showing that the same vein of energon actually flowed beneath both bases. The implication of the chain reaction a large explosion at either base could cause instantly spoke for itself.
"Yeah, I sent this over hoping to warn everyone before you tried sending the bomb. I was a little late on that part, I guess. Luckily, I was able to get it out of the Pred base in time, so that we didn't all end up getting destroyed," Cheetor explained in a more serious tone.
"No kidding! That was quite the close call. You saved us from ourselves, son. Thanks," Rhinox recognized with a grateful nod.
"Yeah, heh! Ya may have stepped in it, kid. But, ya came out smellin' like a rose!" Rattrap admitted, sounding surprisingly impressed with the young transformer.
"All part of being perfect," Cheetor boasted smugly, flashing Dinobot a cheeky, knowing grin. Dinobot just growled with a glare and waved him off, turning to stalk from the room.
"Sorry for disobeying your order, Big Bot," Cheetor suddenly apologized, actually sounding somewhat remorseful for his actions.
Lunarflare's ears perked up slightly when she heard that. In her opinion, that simple statement had been the most impressive thing she'd heard from him all day!
"You don't need to earn my respect, Cheetor. You've always had it," Optimus assured him sternly, once again causing the cat girl to take interest.
Was he serious? In her experience, respect was nothing if not earned, and extremely difficult to come by. What kind of commander would simply offer it for free? Could explain why he had such a hard time getting any in return, though.
"And you did end up saving the day, but be warned," Optimus continued, but then his tone began to shift into his lecture mode. "If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I'll have your tail in a sling!" he barked, narrowing his eyes at the young bot.
"Okay! Okay! I'll never do that again!" Cheetor defended, until his serious expression was suddenly replaced with a mischievous grin. "Until the next time," he quickly added, before diving out of the room and out of reach before Optimus could retaliate.
He swiped at him angerly, but missed of course.
Instead of joining him in his annoyance at the kid, the other guys seemed to find the antics rather entertaining, chuckling after him in spite of themselves. Their jovial attitudes were contagious, it seemed, as Optimus couldn't help his expression melting into a smile before joining in their laughter.
Meanwhile, Lunarflare remained continually silent, glancing around at the others with her usual empty aspect. Even if she'd been allowed to laugh, she didn't find the situation particularly funny.
Oh yeah, Cheetor could've been killed due to his own recklessness and pride, again! That's so hilarious that he's making light of it, she thought with a mental eye roll.
Her lack of reaction did not escape the notice of the others.
"Sheesh! What's with you, kitten? You act like someone died! Why don't cha try lightenin' up for a change?" Rattrap scolded.
Whether he was being legitimately serious, or just giving her a hard time, Lunarflare couldn't tell. Not that it actually mattered either way. She'd been tricked into 'lightening up' by others in the past. It was a mistake she'd determined to never make again! So, she proceeded to respond to him in the same way she always had to such accusations.
"I apologize that my countenance is upsetting. I shall relocate elsewhere until you have further need of me," she offered with a slight bow.
From what she'd gathered from experience, others would typically make such comments of her, because her lack of expressed emotion – as Terrorsaur had even commented earlier – would tend to creep them out. Therefore, the usual best response was to apologize and remove herself from their presence. She did her best to ignore the bewildered looks she was getting as she moved out of the room.
"Lunar! Wait!" Optimus called after her, halting her in place.
She turned to face him expectantly.
"You don't have to leave just because Rattrap's being a jerk," he assured her.
"Hey!" the rat bot protested.
There he goes again, offering her options as if she had a choice. Lunarflare wasn't sure what to do. She stood frozen in the doorway, halfway out of the room. Optimus had ordered her to wait, but at the same time, she didn't want to stay if her presence was going to continue to make Rattrap uncomfortable. Luckily, the rat spoke up before her hesitation got awkward.
"I don't care if she leaves. Actually, if you see Cheetor, tell him to get his butt back here," he ordered, the others giving him quizzical looks. "I wanna hear how he managed not to get vaped bumblin' around the Pred base," he explained.
Lunarflare nodded her understanding, finally having a reason to escape the room!
After wandering the halls for a moment, she managed to run into Cheetor, literally. He had transformed and was busy ducking around a corner so quickly that he didn't see her and managed to slam right into the middle of her!
A couple of things happened simultaneously after they collided. They were both thrown backwards onto their skid plates, hands came up to rub at sore spots, and a doll sized object suddenly flew out from under Lunarflare's armor to land on the floor in between them.
There was a long, awkward pause as both parties stared at the oddly discarded article, only taking Cheetor a few moments to realize what it was. The figure, as it were, appeared to be a tiny version of an Autobot, perhaps one who'd been a prominent member during the Great War. It was the best explanation as to why someone had bothered to make a miniature version of him. Even so, the question currently on Cheetor's mind as he stared at it was: What was Lunar doing with such a thing? Not to mention, where had she even gotten it?
Too bad he never had a chance to ask her, before the girl grew strangely panicked over the lost figure, scrambling over and snapping it up, hiding it away almost as quickly as it had appeared. She then turned to Cheetor with an absolutely pleading look.
"Cheetor, I – I am sorry! I am so, so sorry! I didn't mean. . ." she trailed, appearing for a moment to be at a loss for words. "Please, please don't tell anyone about what you saw. I – I am begging you!" She wasn't kidding either, having both hands clasped in front of her as she stared up at him imploringly.
Cheetor hesitated as he took a moment to try and figure out what was happening. That was the most emotion he'd seen from Lunar since she'd first joined up with them, and he had to admit that it caught him a bit off guard. It was just so different from how she would normally act. However, once he'd had a chance to actually comprehend her words, he could only assume embarrassment on her part for owning what had looked to be a toy.
He smiled and shook his head in a pacifying way.
"Sheesh Lunar, relax! Of course I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to. But you don't have to beg, I mean, you didn't tell anyone about me leaving, so it's only fair, right?" he reasoned as they both pulled themselves to their feet.
"Honestly though, it's not that big a' deal. I mean, I still have some action figures too," he tried reassuring her, but she didn't appear to be any less nervous.
"Thank you, Cheetor. I know, you don't have to go out of your way for me, but I very much appreciate it," she stressed to him.
"Well, sure. No problem," he replied, feeling a tad sheepish at the gushing gratitude over something so small.
"A-anyway, I actually came to inform you that Rattrap has requested your presence in the com room," she finally managed to tell him before making a hasty retreat.
"O-oh, thanks, I guess," he attempted to call after her, but she was already gone.
Once in the safety of her room, Lunarflare pulled out the small Jetfire figure, holding it tightly against her chest. It wasn't just a source of comfort, but for the longest time, it was the only thing she could remember that she'd ever been able to call hers. Due to normally not being allowed to own, well, anything! It was so precious to her, in fact, that she felt like she might just keel over on the spot if anyone ever attempted to take it away.
She wasn't sure how much she could honestly trust Cheetor to keep his word about not telling. All she could do was hope, and right now, it was all she really had.