Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.

Grinchain: *glances around* I don't know why, but I have the strangest feeling that this has happened before.

Authoress: I don't know what you are talking about.

Pandimala: *Glares knowingly at Authoress* Yes, you do. But we'll let you be for now.

Grinchain: *looks surprised at Pandimala* Why?

Pandimala: *Glances nervously at Authoress* She might not be able to control what is going on, but she might make a suggestion to the future that none of us will like. And I want to get back to Lord Megatron as soon as possible.

Chapter 21: A Debt Extending Time

Grinchain's 1st P.O.V.

"This is a bunch of slag!" I growled as I glared at Bastof.

The mech looked unimpressed as he stood in the middle of the hall, arms folded and giving me a knowing look. "You know, I feel like we've had this conversation before."

I rolled my optics at the mech. "Maybe we wouldn't be doing this if you weren't being such a stickler."

His frown deepened as he motioned down the hall to where Pandimala's medical room was. "I've got direct orders from Physis. Nobot or being in or out of here outside of Physis and Zipple. He isn't even letting your sire and the other leaders down here. Trust me," He let out a tired vent. "They've all been trying. King Poiman tried to bite me to get through. Needless to say, his guards had to pull him away with apologies." He then focused back on me. "So there is no way that I am letting you through, no matter how much you ask."

While I wanted to continue arguing, I knew I wasn't getting through. Not after Bastof admitted that. It seemed every being wanted to check in on the femme. "I guess I can try to come back when sire says I can."

"So you can teach stubborn bots new tricks." I scowled at him as he laughed. "Now get out of here. I know all training has been canceled officially, but I've heard some bots are working independently. Why don't you see if you can join them? Unless you want to join the hunting parties?"

Well, that would give me something to do, at least. Plus, while I wasn't big on training, I had already spent all of last solar at Teklan Hall. And, while joining the hunting parties sounded a little too stressful, doing some training didn't sound so bad. "I guess I'll go to the training areas and see who's there."

With a wave, I moved away from the mech and started to make my way. As I walked, though, I thought about everything that had happened. It was no surprise, but no being took responsibility for hiring the mercenaries or releasing all those creatures. Sire and the other major leaders were meeting to determine the best way to investigate everything. Preliminary investigations had started, but there were some hurdles that were making them difficult.

New Quintessa's allies staunchly refused to allow cortical patches without New Quintessa's express approval and oversight. Since the planet was being unusually difficult to reach, we were at our wits' end with them. We couldn't hold their representatives for long or risk an inter-Alliance war. Without concrete proof that they were involved, we had to let them go.

Sire was not happy.

However, Empress Ladania pointed out that their refusal to cooperate would be another strike against them. They would eventually back themselves into a corner they couldn't squirm their way out of. As New Quintessa caused more and more issues, I was starting to see why the Cybertronians held such hatred for them. From what Ambassador Goldust told Emperor Thav, King Caprigo was extremely close to declaring embargos, at the least, against New Quintessa's allies. New Quintessa's reluctance to cooperate with the investigations didn't help their case either.

I tensed as I saw the creatures' remains that were still visible. It had only been a solar since the main attack had dropped to the point where there weren't creatures hunting in the streets. As Bastof mentioned, hunting parties were going after the remaining stragglers. The one good thing about the attack was that we had a detailed list of all the creatures at Facit. A few dozen were cautiously added in case more were smuggled into the city for the attack.

Feeling like this at home felt wrong. I shouldn't be nervous just walking down the street. But, that was existence now. Until we got all the creatures off the confirmed list, I would have to be alert as I walked down the street. Thankfully, the creatures were young, so most of them would end up dying from a lack of food. However, I knew there were enough creatures still missing that would not hesitate to eat the corpses that were still around and that were very efficient in hunting.

"Hey, Grinchain, wait up!" I jumped slightly and turned to see Skylark running up to me. "I was calling for you for clicks."

"Sorry about that." So much for being on alert. "I guess I just lost focus."

"It was more like you were hyper-focused," she laughed as she joined me on my walk. And I don't blame you. The creatures that are still out are putting every being on edge."

"That's true," I agreed. "Many embassies advise non-essential personnel to return to their home planets until we can get the numbers down." Of course, just because they were advising that didn't mean that beings were listening to that advice. Many beings refused to leave precisely because of the creatures.

"And most are staying here. They are a little safer since they caught the last driller on the list earlier." I hadn't heard about that yet. I guess she had more contacts in the hunting parties. "I've got a friend on one of the teams who told me about it about a cycle ago. It caused a real mess on the outskirts of the city, but they were finally able to put it down. Now, the only large creatures left on the lists are two tyrexians and three dimorxians that have gone into hiding."

A shiver traveled down my back as I thought of other unaccounted-for creatures. "Not to mention the two hundred scraplets and fizgigs still scuttling about."

That caused Skylark to shiver visibly. "Don't remind me of those. I guess a hunting party ran into a pack of twenty scraplets, and some arrogant wannabe tried to charge them. Mech should be thrilled he only lost an arm and a leg. They could have done a slag-ton more damage to him before his teammates could freeze them."

And that was another thing that we were indebted to Pandimala for. As Skylark wandered off, I allowed my thoughts to focus on that. Thanks to her knowledge, we learned about the weakness scraplets had to the cold. Each hunting party had to have at least two bots with some sort of freezing capability to take care of the scraplets faster. Our scientists also debated whether extreme heat would cause similar reactions in the creatures. However, fire mods weren't as common as ice mods, so that theory was being tested limitedly for now. Firebrand offered to use his to help them test once his and Seabreaker's punishment was done.

Of course, given the damage that Pandimala was reported to have, he wouldn't be able to use it for a little longer yet. While I didn't know everything, I got Gatringle to give me the little information he could about her condition. She wasn't as bad off as when she first came here, but she had extensive damage to many of her systems. The razorhowler had not gone down without tearing her up. Her protoform had been exposed in many different sections of her chassis, yet she had been joking with the medics.

"Grinchain!" I glanced up and saw Lightbeam running up to me, Coyode behind her. Once she reached me, she stopped and caught her intakes. "I've been looking for you. Skylark said that you would be heading this way."

"What's going on?" I asked, feeling confused. I had just left the palace twenty clicks ago. What had happened?

She grabbed my servo and started to pull me toward the palace. "Sire has called a meeting with us and his subordinate leaders. Physis just sent a report to sire saying that Pandimala should wake this solar, so sire wants us to be ready for what might happen."

As Lightbeam continued pulling me with her, my processor kept trying to catch up with what was happening. I mean, I knew Pandimala wouldn't be out long, given how quickly she woke up after her arrival here, but on the second solar? That was a lot faster than I thought it would be. Sire was probably thinking the same and panicking. He had talked about how to reward Pandimala's efforts during the attack with Emperor Thav and Lord Oryax, but nothing had been settled.

This had to end perfectly for sire. Given everything we had gone through since Pandimala's arrival and everything she had gone through, sire was one misstep away from turning the Alliance against him. That was especially true with all of the allies that Pandimala had garnered during her stay. From what I had seen, I was sure King Poiman would take his subordinate planets and ally with the Decepticons should the Alliance upset Pandimala without cause. While I knew sire wouldn't even think about hurting her, we still had to be cautious.

With that in processor, I picked up my pace. The faster we met with sire and his allies, the more prepared we would be for what was to come.

Pandimala's 1st P.O.V.

"I know you are awake."

My spark raced slightly as the voice echoed in my helm. That was, however, until I realized who that voice belonged to. So, instead of waking in a panic, I slowly onlined my optics and found myself staring into familiar yellow optics. "Hey, doc," I responded, though I felt a strain on my vocals as I spoke. "Could use some energon."

"Low grade for now," Physis agreed as he helped me sit up before bringing out said cube from his subspace. As I drank the energon, thankfully relieving the pain in my vocals, Physis kept speaking. "You know, I think I would enjoy not having most of your basic stats memorized, femme. I didn't even need to guess the dose of anesthesia for you. I can't even do that for Dawnbreaker's creations, but hells, I can do it for you without hesitation."

I smirked at that. "I knew you liked me, doc."

He shook his helm before pulling out a data pad and sitting on the berth across from me. "As usual, you're lucky to even be awake right now. At least this time isn't as bad as your first time seeing me."

"See, improvement!" I teased him.

That, of course, caused the mech to send a light glare my way. "You aren't as funny as you think you are." He then tapped on the datapad, causing me to focus on him more. "Your recovery has been pushed back some due to your recent injuries. You'll be able to travel in about eight solars."

My optic ridges flew up in surprise. "Pushed back? I thought you said at least thirty solars Physis?"

A vent escaped him before he shook his helm. "Femme, I think you have selective thinking. I said travel, not fly. Your t-cog and wings took damage from the razorhowler, and I will have to push my release of them back another twenty solars."

Another twenty?! "Another twenty? Doc, you already said I had thirty before this, and now you are adding twenty more?"

"And who decided that facing a razorhowler alone was the smartest and only choice?" I flinched when Physis yelled that. "You might have some unnatural healing ability, but you aren't immortal! You can fragging offline! You have!" He stood up and started to pace in front of the med berth. "Any other fragging bot would still be restricted to med berth after the first injuries that caused you to stay here! Let alone be well enough to fight a fragging razorhowler and get torn to shreds! When I saw you there while Gatringle and Dezzin tried to stabilize you, I thought you were offline." He then let out a pained laugh as he leaned against the berth, a servo against his helm. "And then I heard you messing around with them while you had gashes torn in your chassis. Gashes so deep that your protoform was visible and damaged as well. And then you did the fragging same to me once I took over. Any other bot would have had to be sedated if they were in half of your condition and you were treating it like any other checkup."

My spark twisted in pain as the medic's intakes strained, trying to cool his circuits down. I was just upset at the time I was losing. But I knew that they were doing their best. He was doing his best. I also knew I wasn't the easiest patient to deal with. "Physis, I'm sorry. I,"

"No," I paused as he interrupted me as he sat back down, his intakes still racing. "I'm sorry. I know you're upset. I just…You're my friend, femme, and seeing you like that and then to be here with you upset at not being able to go home as fast as you want…I'm not used to regulating my emotions like that. To be fighting to save your spark just to turn around a couple of solars later to be arguing with you about when you can have your wings back." He then leaned back and let out a laugh. "It's just so…different."

I shouldn't have gotten upset with him. He couldn't prevent me from fighting and making my recovery worse. Guilt crept into my spark as I looked across at him. I had to make this right. So, I stood and moved to sit next to him on the med berth. "Physis, I'm sorry for getting upset. You're right. You are my friend, and while I'm here, you are also my medic. Balancing those two things isn't easy. When I first turned, Hook and Knockout would feel guilty when they would yell at me, even when I knew they were right. Of course, I didn't realize it until I was forced away from them." I let out a little laugh and leaned on the mech slightly. "I know I'm a stubborn femme."

"Understatement of the millennium."

He laughed as I threw him a light glare at that. "Anyways, like I said, I know I'm stubborn, and that just shows that you are a fragging good medic. Medics are some of the few bots willing to tell me to sit down and shut up. And sometimes I need that," I then smirked. "Sometimes."

Physis shook his helm at that. "Most times, if we are being honest." We both chuckled at that before he pulled back out his datapad. "Back to business, however. You need to take it easy, and I mean it, femme. No heavy training for at least four solars, and I will clear you before doing any training. None for the next two solars, at least. No other medic gets to make the call."

Well, that was fair. Plus, I honestly wouldn't risk making Physis that mad at me. Medics were not bots to be trifled with. I would only get on one's bad side if Lord Megatron ordered me to. Until then, no way. Nope. They had too much power for me to get upset by myself. "Deal doc." I then realized nothing had been said about any leaders wanting to meet. "Physis, are there any meetings I should be mentally prepping for?"

"Plenty," the medic huffed as I moved back to my berth to lay down. I figured I should get comfortable for a nano. "Lord Dawnbreaker is awaiting your recovery to present you with an award for services rendered to Vetium Major," Slag. I hated award ceremonies when I was human and knew I wouldn't like this one. "But, if you wouldn't mind, I'd give the mech a few solars to figure things out. He has to make sure to reward you well enough not to anger the other allies you've made in the Alliance."

At least I could buy some time to prepare mentally for it. "Then I'll use some recovery solars. We can say I'll be well enough to walk about but not stand for any recognition ceremony."

"From how you were moving over here earlier, you won't be doing any moving around until tomorrow anyways," Physis added as he started more scans. "King Poiman will want to come and see you. He almost bit Bastof when the mech refused him access to visit you earlier." It took restraint not to faceplate palm at that. Frag it, Poiman; I didn't need any more trouble. "Emperor Thav has had to be told to leave as well, so you should also allow him to see you sooner rather than later. Empress Ladania sent a message saying that she can wait to see you until you can move about, but she would like a meeting."

Thinking of the Empress and her subordinates made me realize I also had another meeting. "Plus, I promised Lord Trizan to spend some time with him in recompense for ditching him at the banquet." Wait, the banquet! I hadn't heard how that went. "Can you tell me anything about the banquet Physis? Were there any major problems?"

Physis laughed at that for a nano. "None that you didn't fix with your self-dismissal. It seemed like Ambassador Narcus of Tixlara snuck into the banquet even though he sent back a negative RSVP, and Lord Pitsnare of Rotan tried to put Lord Dawnbreaker in an unwinnable situation by insisting that Narcus had RSVP'd. When Dawnbreaker insisted that he hadn't, Pitsnare had the nerve to imply that he doubted Dawnbreaker's claims. He said, and I quote, 'Given how your last 'missed communication' went, I find myself doubtful of your claims.'"

Anger welled up in my spark as I heard the words repeated. How dare that piece of slag try and use my situation like that! "That slagger better hope I don't get my servos on him. He had no right to use my situation like that against Lord Dawnbreaker. That was especially since I have forgiven Lord Dawnbreaker for what happened then, and he is repaying me for that." If I weren't recovering, I would be going down to the Rotanian Embassy and giving that exploitative piece of scraplet-waste a communication he wouldn't have any communication issues with.

"You will do nothing against the Rotanians," I glared at Physis as he rebuked me. I hadn't even said that last part out loud. He didn't know what I was thinking. "If you do, you will extend your stay here much longer than you want, and you have been delayed long enough in returning to your Lord."

I flinched as Physis said that. I had been so ready to take revenge against Rotan that I had briefly forgotten my desire to return home. I needed to get to Pyrovar. I was already delayed in my return and could not afford to waste more time. It had been over sixty solars since I left Cybertron, and I was ready to return home as soon as possible. "Fine," I huffed as I laid back. Thoughts of my return filled my processor as I waited for Physis to enter my scans into the console. There was so much that I had experienced since I left Lord Megatron's side. A patch was going to be mandatory for me to get through everything.

Speaking of patches, I remembered Firebrand wanting to show me a memory. Since he had felt the need to bring it up during the attack, I realized it needed to be first on my list.

The sound of the console beeping caused me to sit back up as Physis transferred the data onto the datapad in his servo. "Seems like you are recovering nicely. I'd say you can move about by next solar. Any meetings you may need will be held here in the palace. The embassies are too far away for your recovery right now. Maybe the solar after if your scans show enough improvement." He then glanced up at me. "Any questions?"

I nodded. "One that might lead into a second and possibly more work for you," I admitted. The mech looked hesitant but motioned for me to speak. "Am I well enough right now to participate in a patch?"

"You going into the processor or somebot going into yours?" Physis immediately asked as he looked back down at his datapad.

"Me into theirs," I answered honestly.

After a few clicks of scrolling and studying the datapad, the mech nodded. "You should be well enough if, after it is finished, you take at least a two cycle power down." He then turned off the datapad and crossed his arms. "But who do you want to look into?"

"When I found Firebrand during the fighting, he requested that he show me a memory once the fighting was over. If you could, would you have him summoned and perform the patch for us?" I answered the mech.

He looked shocked at my request for a nano before I assumed he sent the message to Lord Dawnbreaker asking for permission. After a nano, the mech looked at me. "You know, back when you first asked for the guide program, I thought you were on a one-way street to disappointment." He then smiled. "I'm glad you proved me wrong. Firebrand already requested the patch, and his sire approved once you were ready. Firebrand will be here in about ten clicks."

I nodded and relaxed on the berth I was on. Whatever information Firebrand thought was so important to share that he would risk asking me to see it during that fighting had to be critical. Once he got here, I would see what had the mech so concerned. Until then, I would enjoy recovering and not dealing with political drama.

Seabreakers' 1st P.O.V.

My systems felt tense as we waited. The guests for this presentation were crowded down the room, waiting for the presentation to begin. After everything that Pandimala had done for us and the Galactic Alliance, the leaders of each main member planet who were here were on the dias waiting for the presentation to begin. While I, thankfully, was not up there with sire, I was next to the stage with the rest of my family and the families of the main leaders. On the other side of the aisle were the leaders of the subordinate planets, or their ambassadors if they were not present, and their families. In the balconies above sat Iussa, Electel, and their appointed guards. Any being who was any being was here.

"You look nervous," I glanced at Firebrand, who looked no better than I did. "We need to stay composed during this. You know that."

I shot a light glare at the mech. "Hate to break it to you, Firebrand, but you aren't that much more composed than me right now."

He stayed quiet for a few nanos before a light vent escaped him. "I know. But I was hoping that telling you would help me relax. I had my helm up my aft for so long that I still feel one misstep from causing trouble."

"You can say that again," I teased him, which caused Firebrand to shoot me a light glare. "But trust me, the only bot you would have had to worry about is Pandimala, and she already forgave you. So you'll be fine." I then let out a quiet laugh. "And do you see any of those leaders trying to get on her bad side if they can help it?"

Firebrand seemed to think about that for a nano before he relaxed. Good. While it wouldn't look good if I were nervous, it especially wouldn't if he was. Being sire's heir put a lot more stress on the mech, and there were some solars that I was relieved that I wasn't in his spot. But then, I would think about my place in succession and remember that I would have to take over for him if something happened to him. So, his safety, both physical and political, should be my number one priority.

My brother shook his helm slightly before he smirked. "No. Despite being just a soldier for the Decepticons, she holds more respect here than many leaders and ambassadors. And the funnier thing is, most of them don't care." He then softened his smirk into a soft smile. "If you would have told me, the solar before the incident, that some random Decepticon femme would gain so much respect that some of those uppity leaders would show her as much respect as sire, I would have had you committed."

"Fair enough," I agreed with him. "But if you would have told me that she would also have our goddess scared of offending her, then I would have had you committed as well."

And that fact still, to this solar, surprised me. Grinchain, the only one of us to have gone to her meetings with the goddess, refused to say what happened during those meetings. But, more importantly, he refused to say what happened during that first meeting. Sire couldn't even get it out of him. The mech just said that there were some things better off not known. And, while I was curious, I would not be asking Pandimala about it. Some questions were better off not being answered.

"If you didn't, I would have committed myself," Firebrand agreed. "I'll be honest: When Sharpstreak told me about Pandimala's first meeting with Iussa, I thought sire had finally lost his sanity. Our goddess, who sire and carrier feared upsetting in the slightest, had met with the Decepticon that I thought was destroying Vestium Major from the inside out."

Now that Firebrand mentioned him, I realized that Sharpstream wasn't here. He should have been standing here close to us, yet the triple changer was nowhere to be seen. And that mech was hard to miss. So, I leaned in closer to Firebrand. "Speaking of Sharpstreak, where is he?"

"I don't know all of the facts, but sire mentioned that Lord Dometti told him Sharpstreak needed to stay at their embassy to await a report from Pova about some internal discrepancies," Firebrand answered before he continued. "But, if I had to guess, Lord Dometti knew that Sharpstreak might try and start something during the ceremony if he was to attend. Plus, even if Goldleaf had left the night of the banquet, she wouldn't have gotten here on time to attend this in her brother's place."

I had to give it to Lord Dometti; he could make a tough call when needed. Pova would take some bad publicity for this, regardless of whether Sharpstreak was here. I doubted the mech would have been able to control his expressions completely, even if he had bit his glossa if he had been in attendance. By not having Sharpstreak here, Lord Dometti was at least letting the Alliance know that he was trying to make this event go as smoothly as he was allowed to help.

Movement from the dias caused the room to go silent. Sire walked a few steps forward before he spoke. "Members of the Galactic Alliance and special guests, we are all gathered here this solar to recognize the efforts and dedication that one being has shown ever since their arrival upon my planet. A guest who has not only given more than any could ask of her but has reminded me of the importance of patience, humility, and gratitude. Standing before each of you, I can admit that before her arrival, Vestium Major was in trouble, as was the Galactic Alliance. We could not trust our allies and saw danger everywhere we looked. I can say without hesitation that the Alliance was in its darkest hour. With her arrival, that began to change."

To my surprise, King Poiman stepped forward to stand in front of sire. "We were reminded that while the Galactic Alliance is an influential power in the known universe, we are not the only entity out there. The femme's interactions with each of us showed us the folly of the pride we were falling into. Once that error was realized, we approached each other with acceptance and patience." I thought this was just a presentation from sire to Pandimala. Did I miss something? Risking a glance at Firebrand, I saw that he was just as surprised at this development as I was.

"She taught us that, despite our views on the known universe, we are not all-knowing," Lord Bloodfall took his turn to step forward. Once he stopped next to sire, he continued. "While I have recently come off of deposing my sire for crimes against our planet, I discovered his plans to cause dissension for Vestium Major. I expected to arrive on Vestium Major met with hostility and mistrust, which we deserved due to my late sire's actions. Instead, I was greeted with open arms and a chance to explain the misconduct my sire had been a part of. As a new leader in the Alliance, I was able to see the change this femme was able to bring forth."

Empress Ladania then moved forward and stood next to King Poiman. "While I did not have the honor of knowing the femme as long as my fellow leaders here, the femme made an impact I never expected. When I arrived on Vestium Major, I had come to keep an eye on the trouble we had heard was rising. I never even planned to meet with the femme. As a leader of the Alliance, however, I felt my presence was necessary. After the incident at the Airlandian embassy against King Poiman, I met with the femme to reconcile for the trouble she had faced. Instead of finding bitterness and frustration, I found a wise femme whom I found liberating to speak with about my concerns for the Alliance. She helped open my eyes to new possibilities that even serving a chaos-centric god had not allowed me to see. The femme's courage during the events of the attack just compounded the respect and awe I have for her."

Finally, Lord Dometti moved forward and stood on sire's other side. "I have been friends with Lord Dawnbreaker for many stellars. When I heard my friend was in trouble, I immediately came to discover what I could of the situation. What I found was a Decepticon who was wise beyond her measure and a processor about her that was direct yet precise. Not often do I find a bot as composed as the femme, and that composure reminded me of the need to look outside ourselves." He then paused before he grew a hardened look. "The Alliance as a whole has become stagnant in our progression forward. Respect is not a pre-determined set of motions that should be done to certain levels of power. In truth, that femme has allowed me to see that respect is shown in our actions and heard in the tone of our voices. Voices that carry the words of the Alliance to the universe."

Silence fell for a few nanos before sire spoke again. "And it is in honor of this femme that we have gathered this solar." At his words, the doors opened on the far side. The room seemed to still as Pandimala started to walk into the room. Chills went through my systems with each step she took. As when I first saw her, simply her presence radiated power. Unlike that solar, however, I felt a calm air mingling with that power.

Safe.

Once she arrived at the base of the stairs to the dias, she paused for a nano before she moved. My optics widened as she gave a full chassis bow to the leaders. I had yet seen her do more than nod her helm toward any of them. Yet here she was doing this? It didn't make sense.

"Pandimala," Lord Poiman said, a hint of confusion in his voice. "We should be bowing to you, though we know you would not like that. You do not need to bow before us."

To my continued surprise, she smiled. "You all have my respect, much more than you did upon our initial meetings. It would be wrong for me not to express that now." She then grew a playful smirk on her faceplate. "But do not worry, I'll save this for special occasions."

That got a chuckle out of the leaders and a nano-delayed chuckle from the rest of the guests. I guess the public still wasn't sure how to react to Pandimala. To be fair to them, she didn't make it easy. Even after all this time, I wasn't entirely sure about all of her actions.

"As expected," sire responded to Pandimala's retort with a smile of his own before he addressed both her and the assembled. "Pandimala, your arrival on Vestium Major, and thus coming into the sights of the Galactic Alliance, was unplanned. I believe that it was fate that brought events into action that would cause you to stay here. Through the actions that you have taken since your arrival, the Galactic Alliance was saved from the brink of collapse. There will never be the right words to say to you to thank you for all that you have done. However, as you have shown us, actions speak much louder than words."

My optics widened as each leader gave a full chassis bow to Pandimala one by one. They held their positions until each one bowed toward her. The femme in question looked shocked at the action. Thankfully, for the panic Pandimala seemed to be going into, the leaders only held the bow for a few more nanos before they all rose as one.

"The Galactic Alliance owes you a debt that we will never be able to repay. You fought for our citizens and us. Your directness politically pushed us out of our habits and helped us prepare for the trouble rising beneath our visuals. When that trouble came, you did not hesitate to fight side by side with our soldiers, shedding energon to protect us, though you did not need to do what you did." Lord Bloodfall spoke.

King Poiman then continued where he left off. "Against creatures that are some of the most feared in the universe, she didn't hesitate to charge forward, saving those that she could before she faced one of the most feared creatures in the known universe. We have seen the memories from that fight, and I can say without a doubt that none of us would ever want to face her on the battlefield if we could avoid it."

"The five of us are in agreement," Empress Ladania said. "Firstly, while we cannot make a proclamation for the entirety of the Alliance, we can come to an accord among ourselves and our citizens. From this solar forth, no one is to kneel before those they do not wish to. To kneel before others whom you have not sworn yourself to, as we have been taught, can be seen as an insult to those who are not a part of the Alliance. It will take time to implement this new tradition, but I have great faith that we will evolve as the rest of the universe has done."

Lord Dometti, to my surprise, then walked forward until he was standing in front of Pandimala. The surprises kept coming as he held a servo out toward the femme. While I wasn't sure what was happening, Pandimala seemed to have figured something out from the surprised look on her faceplate. She purposefully moved her optics to look between his servo and his optics, seemingly asking if he was sure about whatever they were doing. He gave a slight nod to the femme in response before she hesitantly took his servo.

My optics widened as he led Pandimala to the stage to stand level with them. "Secondly," Lord Dometti started. "While you have made it clear that you will only see your Lord as greater than you, we want to make it more official within the Alliance. To any under the rule of the leaders present, you are to be looked upon with the same respect as they would show one of us." I realized the impact of Lord Dometti saying this as he spoke the words. In short, if Sharpstreak, or any being, tried anything against Pandimala again, any planet under their rule would treat him like he had made such an action against one of those five.

Also, the underlying note in that proclamation said that, while the Decepticons were not in the Alliance, Lord Megatron was to be treated the same since he was the only one Pandimala saw as greater than herself. While I wasn't sure how long it would take word of this to reach the Decepticons, I knew that it would only help the development of their rule in the long term. This seemed to be the greatest act of gratitude that they could give to the femme. Nothing else in my processor could top that.

However, there seemed to be more because, as Lord Dometti returned to his place, sire spoke. "Thirdly, for as long as you live, you will always be welcome on any planet under our rule, whether we be online or not. Lord Bloodfall and I have already spoken to Electel and Iussa to make sure that this declaration is carried on when the solar comes that we are no longer among the online. Lord Dometti, Empress Ladania, and King Poiman will do the same with Alaran, Chirous, and Sintage upon their return to their homeworlds. Those leaders under them will do the same to their deities, as Lord Oryax and Emperor Thav will do once they return home."

"Lastly," King Poiman continued, "Even though we are grateful to have had you among us and count you as a great friend, we understand that your greatest wish right now is to return to Lord Megatron. To help you achieve that, we have commissioned Locktheon to construct a ship for you as our final gift of appreciation."

The shocked look on my faceplate matched every faceplate in the crowd as King Poiman announced that. Locktheon was the best shipbuilding enterprise in this half of the known universe and arguably the best one in the universe as far as we knew. To even commission a personal ship of the smallest size from them cost millions of credits. While the unphased look on Pandimala's faceplate told me she probably didn't understand the weight of what was just said, the rest of us in attendance did. With all those things combined, the leaders, especially sire, had shown Pandimala the proper recognition she deserved.

It took about seven more cycles of socializing before the ceremony, and subsequent party reached the point where bots could start to leave without being disrespectful. While a part of me wanted to stay longer and keep enjoying the party, I knew I should be getting some recharge.

So, after saying my goodbyes to sire, the leaders, and Pandimala, I started to make my way to my room. While the next solars would see many of the dignitaries on the planet begin to leave, I also knew that our challenges were far from over. While I was sure Vestium Major was safe for now, the events before Pandimala's arrival and those that had appeared since showed us that we had enemies planning our downfall. We had to be ready, and the move the leaders made this solar would be a major step toward that.

The Alliance needed allies outside of our borders if we were going to survive. That much had been made apparent. We had almost torn each other apart. An outside set of optics could see things we couldn't and helped us see the self-destruction we were heading for. While sire and the other leaders were working toward that goal, I knew that I would have a part to play. Firebrand would have to stay near sire for official meetings, and as second created, that meant I would more than likely be sent out to planets that we were hoping to make allies with as an ambassador.

As I finally arrived back in my room, I laid down on my berth, ready to go into recharge. I'd hit the washracks in the morning. For now, I needed to settle down for the night. However, as my offlining procedures took over, an errant thought went through my processor. If Pandimala was to leave any earlier than what Physis prescribed to her, she would have to have a bot take her on their ship or the one she was just gifted. And right now, the odds said that would most likely be a Decepticon. Hopefully, we would be ready for that visitor if they did come. I knew for sure that I would be.

Seabreaker: *shocked* Did that just happen?

Lord Dawnbreaker: It did. It was the least we could do for the femme.

Pandimala: *still fragging confused* I did all of that? I was just trying to have the best situation for Lord Megatron to come into. But, I'll take the free ship.

Seabreaker: *shakes helm* You don't even realize how important that part is! I can't think of anything to compare them to because they are the best.

Pandimala: *still not getting it* So their ships don't break. That's good.

Seabreaker: *faceplate palms* I'm talking to a wall.

AN: And here is the last chapter of this arc! What a ride this was. Poor Physis, though. He is torn up about how to interact with Pandimala sometimes because, while she is a friend, the femme frustrates him so much at times. That is especially about her health. It would be interesting if he met every other medic who has worked on her. There are plenty of stories to tell, at least. At least he is making sure she has some peace and quiet before the big event. Of course, that isn't stopping different beings from trying to see her regardless. Pandimala will have to talk with King Poiman about trying to bite beings who are not giving him his way.

That, of course, leads us to the ceremony itself. I had some difficulty writing this, but I think I did it justice in the end. Each leader she interacted with had a part to play in the ceremony, though Lord Dawnbreaker was leading it. Lord Dometti showed that, as long as she is in the right in a situation, he will support her—even over his errant creation. And the ship bit will be funny once someone explains the significance of who is making her ship to the femme. And, even though she will have this ship, it will take time to build. Not only that, but Pandimala does not have experience flying a spaceship so she will either have to take lessons, or she will have to let some being who knows how to fly one fly it for her.

And that's all I'm going to say for now. While we might not see each other for a while, I can't wait to get to the next part. But I do try to keep my word when I can. So, I will move focus to Awakening Power for a time. Again, I hope to get to the end of its first arc before I return to my other stories. That includes Valor as well as this one. Since I won't reveal anything until I post the next chapter, this is where we will part. Thanks again to everyone who has been supporting me through all of this. Until next time, TTYL! *relaxing to Wheel in the Sky by Journey*