(Please see all previous disclaimers)
As Mirage and Company headed back towards the place outside of Iacon the Autobots had made into a base, Optimus arrived at the med bay well ahead of the group. Ratchet was in, cleaning up from something the lambo twins had done. "Ratchet" Optimus spoke up, slightly startling the old medic.
"What did you need, Prime?" Ratchet asked, quick to recover from his shock. He had learned to cover that pretty well.
"Mirage has been found and is returning, but he is returning with three strange bots and I wonder if you may be able to find more information on the three" Optimus stated, making his intentions clear.
"Who do you want to know more about?" Ratchet asked, curious as to where this was headed.
"Boltlock, Nighthawk, and Skyballer" Optimus asked, unaware that Skyballer was not skyballer's original name.
Ratchet nodded and began his search of the three bots. Two names didn't come back with much, but third did. Nighthawk's information showed up easily, as she had been a con during war. "Prime, I don't find much information on Boltlock or Skyballer but there is sparse information on Nighthawk."
Prime was a bit surprised at that. "Why only that name?" Prime asked.
"She was a Decepticon mercenary during the war. She was high up in the Con ranks" Ratchet answered, a bit concerned. Prime understood, as the answer didn't sit well with him either.
"I just hope that Mirage is safe" Prime uttered, really hoping it was true. Ratchet nodded, feeling the same way.
Meanwhile, Mirage and the others were getting closer to returning. Mirage made sure his so-called siblings stayed close. He trusted that they were telling the truth, as he had trusted them to be honest. Boltlock kept quiet as they drove back, but Skyballer was having a blast talking to a bot named Hound. Nighthawk flew overhead, as her vehicle form was similar to Starscream or Skywarp. She hoped she would be accepted even with her evil history. She knew that of all of them, the Prime was least likely to trust her. She could only hope that Mirage was right that she would be welcomed.
Hide led the group back. He hadn't anticipated this at all. Frankly, he wasn't sure that these three were telling the truth, but because Mirage indicated he trusted them, Hide agreed to lead them all back to the base. Hide could only hope that Mirage's trust had not been misplaced. Much was riding on that very hope from more than one bot.