Song: Angels Fall – Breaking Benjamin


Dropping beneath the surface to the under-city, Arcee scoped out the scene before her as she glided. Pyrohex was noisy but this was wild. Giant gears embedded in the ceiling moved lines of goods above the area. It was an industrial city with fire burning in mass and various pumps and gears visible.

She scanned for any nightclub among it, something with flashing lights or any sort of sign indicating a bar. Then she caught a glimpse of a venue hidden in the corner of the street, barely catching it in the corner of her optic. She halted mid-glide upright to double check if it was the right one, slowly sinking with her energy wings making sure she didn't fall immediately. There were decorative Camien words lit up in pink and yellow in contrast with the burning reddish orange light of the fires surrounding it. It took a second to decipher it against the small language barrier between Cybertron and Caminus, but she finally got her answer. The Furnace. That was exactly what she needed.

She swooped down and rolled on her landing before making her wings disappear again. She did get a few looks from the bouncer at the door and several bots with their significant others right next to them. She ignored them and approached the bouncer hoping she could persuade him to let her in. Before she could get within fifteen feet of the mech, he held up his clawed servo.

"Sorry, dollface, but there's a line."

"It's important, like life-and-death important," she frowned.

"And that matters to me how?"

"I need to talk to Groundlock, the owner of this fine establishment. Either you show me through the door, or I kick you through the door. Your choice."

The bouncer grew irate, and his venomous green optics narrowed as Arcee's optics merely rose so she could still look him in the eye defiantly. "And what makes you think a small, weak femme like you can do a thing, trying to size me up like you're a badass bitch? You ain't no-"

With a sharp punch to his jaw, she then sent a kick with all her strength into his abdomen and sent him backwards. He hit the door, cracking it before doubling over in pain. The door had trouble opening but sparked as it revealed its entrance. When he looked up at her from his sitting position, his head was shoved down by her foot as she stepped over him. She ignored his whimpers as she went in, smirking while everyone else stared at her in awe.

"You don't seem like much either," she said.

Arcee looked around the club shaking her head at some of the obscenity until she noticed the stage with dancers. She watched them not in disgust but understanding; she had been there herself nearly a lifetime ago. It was honest work, more than people knew, so all she could do was give a nod in respect even if no one saw it. In her distraction, she suddenly heard the name she was looking for.

"Groundlock, when are you going to step up for once?" A blue mech with a few rings and decorated armor scowled as a light brown and dark grey mech followed him. To her surprise, the blue mech then stated, "You don't care about me, not when you have this to replace me. We're done."

Groundlock, a large fellow like Bulkhead, pleaded, "Sapphire, come on, we can work this out! Please, no, don't-"

The mech named Sapphire slammed the exit door on the other side of the club, and Groundlock sighed sadly, sitting in one of his corner booths. Arcee felt a little bad and decided if she was going to get information, now was the time. She slid into the booth and asked, "Is everything okay between you two?"

The obvious statement would have normally been met with a glare, but Groundlock looked far too depressed to do so. He tapped on the table before he spoke. "He's right. I put way too much time into this joint. We have a kid at home, and I don't pay attention to either of them, and it's hurting us...I'm hurting them. Money talks more, right?"

"Depends on the situation. If your club is running fine without you, I think it can work out if you do spend less time here. You can always make money, but when will you ever get to see your kid grow up, see their achievements in the moment instead of hearing about it from an offhand comment? Same thing goes for your mate," Arcee answered.

Groundlock slowly grew a hopeful expression as he contemplated her words. "You're right..."

Arcee didn't want to break the bubble, but she knew she couldn't dwell long on Groundlock's problems. She then asked, "Groundlock, I came here to ask you something. I know you hate the Mistress, but I need to know if you have seen her niece? She misses her just like you miss your family. Do you know about her disappearance?"

"I don't hate the Mistress of Flame. I just don't agree with her policies. I admit I did try to sabotage her once years ago, but I never wanted to hurt her. I left her other family members alone because that's low, even in the game of politics. If her niece is missing, I unfortunately don't know what to tell you except the only extremist in our fight against the laws was Decadance. She took things...in the wrong direction, and one time I heard she scarred the Mistress' brother with acid, disfigured him greatly. He had nothing to do with the Mistress' policies, but Decadance believed everyone can be a target."

Arcee froze at the realization of the severe situation. If Decadance targeted family members, the Mistress' niece was in greater danger than she initially thought. "Where's Decadance? Do you know?"

Groundlock closed his optics but slowly nodded, "Decadance was in contact with me a few days ago and mentioned thinking about coming back to Pyrohex, but she never said anything else except to be prepared. I never prepared because I had no intention of doing anything, but now I think you have your culprit. She lives in Titans Crossing, a self-inflicted exile in a small base just beyond the arches you can't miss even if you tried."

With that, Arcee got up to leave but Groundlock grabbed her arm gently, "Thank you for the advice. Sometimes we lose our heads when we're focused on what we want rather than what we need. And please consider what I did in the past was only because I thought I was doing the right thing. I wouldn't go back to doing it now. If ever you need something, I'll be here. Be careful out there."

"Just promise me you'll take care of those dancers of yours," she winked. "They work hard to make a living too, you know."

Groundlock nodded with a soft smile, letting her leave proud. On her way out, she noticed the bouncer was not pleased but sent a swift kick to his shin to make him kneel after he muttered an insult under his breath. The couples and other bots around made an assortment of sounds which she smirked at.

Without a way back to the surface on her own, she had to ask a citizen awkwardly like a tourist how to get a ride. The same method Windblade used when they first arrived allowed her to take a transport free of charge and the pilot went to signal someone else's transport as she left the under-city. Towards the outskirts of the surface city of Pyrohex, things changed. Buildings vanished into a flatland seldom of populace except by the most unexpected dead.

Titans Crossing was ruins flattened by titans. Arcee gasped as she saw remnants of some of them. Obsidian got off lucky being turned into a tower with a grave to their name; the titans here were discarded, half buried in ditches or resting lifeless against forgotten structures she couldn't even identify. How no one acknowledged them for all this time didn't sit right with her. It felt like the Mistress of Flame was trying to cover more than just a little mistake.

She flew under a titan's arched arm, saw a secondary arch from another titan corpse and realized they were the "arches" Groundlock spoke of. Just past them was a base seemingly abandoned, but Arcee landed a distance away to tread on foot just in case. Walking among the dead was haunting her every step of the way. At one point, passing the decapitated head of a titan with fangs larger than Blackout was tall, she had the brief paranoia it was going to come to life any second.

The exterior of the base had a lot of damage to what appeared to be its security system and its ventilation. Knowing what had to be done, she cracked her neck and carefully took off the vent cover nearest to her. Climbing through it was her least favorite thing in the world, she could admit, and there was already a long line of things on a list she hated. She crawled as silently as she could hoping there was at least a clue to the Mistress' niece around the area. If Decadance was nearby, she hoped the bot would be in a good mood to talk. While she moved, Dagger Prima pulsed a few times before dying out. She wanted to scold it but decided against it when she heard a guttural feminine voice.

"You think your aunt will come to save you? She doesn't even like your father. What makes you think she gives a damn about you?"

Arcee listened and crept to a vent cover to peer into the room to see if that was Decadance with the niece. A vivid metallic purple-blue femme with pink optics stood in front of a smaller yellow femme who was chained up by her arms. She paced in front of her menacingly with her servos behind her back. What made Arcee's protoform crawl the most was seeing the poor girl with markings on her chest and arms, some bleeding.

"Please, I just want to go home," the smaller femme whimpered.

"It's funny, Helia, your aunt disgraced me, and you think you weren't a part of that?"

"I didn't do anything! I told you! I didn't know what my aunt did nor was I involved. I wasn't old enough to know!"

Arcee snarled when Decadance struck her to silence her. She needed to get into the room and quick but breaking the vent would cause too much noise and give the assailant time to hurt Helia. She decided to move on despite feeling bad to another room and snuck out of the vent onto the ground. It was time to get dangerous.

Arcee maneuvered through the base to try and pinpoint where they were before going any further with her improvised plan, pausing when she heard Helia cry out, which gave her the exact location. Now, the hard part. She listened for the direction of the footsteps to know when to sneak in. As soon as she was heading away, Arcee went in. Helia went quiet, and Arcee saw red.

Right as Decadance turned, she punched her dead center in the faceplates. The femme lurched back while Arcee pursued her shouting, "Mess with someone your own age, bitch!"

Decadance got wise fast and countered her uppercut, but it opened her to a headbutt which Arcee didn't hold back on. The queen tripped her enemy and shoved her foot right onto her throat while Decadance glared at her.

"If you have a problem with the Mistress, why don't you man up and go face her yourself instead of picking on her relatives like a coward?"

"You shifty blue fu-"

Arcee slammed her knee down on Decadance's head, knocking her out cold before breaking the restraints on Helia. She helped the younger bot up with care as she knew the marks had to be sore from lack of medical attention.

"Your aunt is worried sick about you, by the way. Ignore the theatrical dumbass over here. She can't harm you anymore," Arcee said.

Helia rubbed her wrists and smiled, "I assume you aren't from here. Most people wouldn't engage Decadance even if they were paid to."

"Yeah, well, people like Decadance talk a big game but can't back it up. Rumors can go a long way, and I like to squash them when issued the challenge. She's nothing but a petty criminal. I've fought warriors, warlords, aliens, nearly god-like entities and literal monsters. What's her rap sheet exactly?"

The younger femme's blue optics went wide in awe and giggled. They planned to leave the base but not before chaining Decadance up in return and quickly contacting Windblade.

"Found Helia in Titans Crossing. It was Decadance who took her, and she's with me. Your prisoner is sitting in her own chains awaiting pickup at her base."

Windblade was the most ecstatic she had ever heard her be. "You're awesome, Arcee! But can you keep Helia away from Ember Basin for a while? We have a problem."

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know how but Metal Heads are in the city! They are attacking people left and right! We've just alerted Megatron and Bolt."

Arcee peered at Helia who gave her a concerned expression before she replied, "I'll be there in less than an hour. Helia will be safe; I promise that but I'm going whether you like it or not."

"Can't change your mind, can I? Just do what you must do and protect Helia in the meantime."

She ended the call before looking at the other bot with a raised brow. "Want to see the action firsthand against real enemies? It seems you're about to see me fight monsters after all. Buckle up, kid, we're going to save Caminus."

Helia looked excited, and Arcee couldn't help but smirk at the young bot's enthusiasm. They ran to the transport among the dead titans and set course for Ember Basin. The ride there was chatty, more so on Helia's end but considering the girl had never met a Cybertronian war veteran before, Arcee kind of expected it. The questions Helia asked her were detailed and half of them she didn't know how to respond to because the answers were either sad or painful.

"Did you ever have to kill a friend who turned traitor? Did you ever hunt those tentacle monsters I've heard in Windblade's stories? The ones that invaded Aquatron? Have you ever been to-?"

"Okay, okay, calm down. There's a lot of nitpicking I have to do to give a good answer. Um, yes, I've...I've had to kill a few former friends who were Decepticons, and they tried to kill me first. I killed some Quintessons but never went to the planet itself to do so. Let's just say the ones I fought were like Decadance back there. All talk, no bite...or at least not to me."

Helia gleamed at the answers. "You're awesome!"

"Eh, I wouldn't...call me that because I too have done some, um, bad things, but war isn't black and white. No matter who tells you and who it involves. There's always something to the enemies you fight against that you have to look back and see their light while sometimes you'll find your side has a bit of darkness to it. The only instance I think I've ever heard of that being not true was a war on Earth. It had a very destructive group that I'm very hesitant to defend because there's not a lot of redeeming qualities there. Nope...but anyway, it's mostly a test of your mind and body, and it usually hurts like hell either way."

"Oh," Helia said with fascination, "well, I still think you're awesome even if you have flaws."

"So, who are you staying with? Anyone in particular I could notify or...?"

Helia's expression dropped, "No, my aunt is all that's left."

That made Arcee pause, and she glanced at her perplexed. "Wha-what do you mean? What happened to your sire, your aunt's brother?"

"He's gone," she whispered. "Decadance...she stormed our home and killed him, took me hostage and sent Windblade an anonymous tip to see if she could make my aunt go ballistic. She planned on killing me after hearing my aunt become desperate. She wanted to hear her break. My aunt doesn't know about my sire's death yet. That'll crush her too. I don't know how she found us."

Arcee sat there silently. All she could do was gently place a servo on her shoulder, something the younger bot instinctively reached for in comfort. For nearly twenty minutes, nothing was said between the two, but Helia was thankfully distracted by the sky view of Pyrohex when they arrived.

As they flew over Pyrohex, Arcee thought she saw Silos' ship near a small tower. She would have gone down to ask about the disturbance in Ember Basin, but she didn't want to risk exposing Helia to him with the consequences she knew he would dish out, not to mention she didn't trust him with anyone else period. However, she didn't think it would hurt to contact him via commlink.

"You know how to fly, right?"

The yellow femme frowned, "I'm not that young."

"Okay, I need to go into the back. Take over please?"

Nodding, Helia sat in the pilot's seat and Arcee moved into the cargo bay before activating her commlink. "Silos, are you there?"

"As always. Did you find the girl?"

"Yes, she's safe. Windblade is reporting activity in Ember Basin. What's going on?" Arcee demanded.

"I sense the Metal Heads seem to be converging on the city with the intent to attack everyone and everything in the vicinity. The Metal Head Leader is furious at how many soldiers are down and seeks to replenish their hive with new victims. If they bite anyone, their venom will spread in seconds. You must hold off the squadron sent to collect Ember Basin's residents or Caminus will be overrun by a whole new legion bred from cybernetic beings. Trust me, organic hosts are one thing, but cybernetic hosts are abominable. Make haste and get the virus contained."

She changed her frequency to Megatron and quickly said, "Megatron, are you at Ember Basin?"

"Yes, where are you?"

"With Helia going over there now. Rescue mission was a success. Listen, get word out to the Mistress that we are heading into the city to stop a Metal Head attack. They might be intent on infecting everyone, so we need as many people ready to fight but also warn to keep their distance."

"That's easier said than done. Most people here only have handheld weapons. I'll see what I can do. Stay safe," he said.

"You too," she replied softly.

Arcee went back up to the front but sat in the passenger seat, amused as Helia sang to herself. She let the younger bot continue to fly for another twenty minutes until they reached Ember Basin, that's when Arcee switched with her and started flying low to see if any abnormal activity was around. She found the walkways barren and the city seemed less active. Hopefully, that wasn't a bad sign.

"What are those things?!" Helia shouted.

Arcee peered to her right and gasped as yellow orbs encased on the exterior of metal eggs rattled as they were huddled on the building windows closest to her. Several more patches of alien eggs were seen once they moved past the building. On walkways, towers, and puddles of dark fungus, the eggs were around the area and spreading as a few Metal Heads were suddenly seen wandering.

"They are trying to do more than infect the city…Megatron, what's happening?!"

"It's bad! The city is infested with the Metal Head spawn! They attached them from a space bridge opened in the heart of the city! We were hoping we could figure out a way to destroy them before you got here, but it seems we are going to need all the help we can get! Meet us at the Parliament center!"

She quickly maneuvered the ship on a hard left side and flew a mile before seeing a gathering of people, including Megatron, Bolt, and Windblade, at a decorated building. Going down, she landed it just off to the side of the walkway and ran to them with Helia in tow. The Mistress of Flame was with the others and put a servo over her chest plate in relief upon seeing her niece, the latter of whom ran to her to give her a hug. The Mistress discarded her Forgehammer in favor of her living relative, leaving it to clatter on the ground before Windblade picked it up.

"You're okay! Oh, my darling!" When she saw Arcee approach, she smiled, "I can't say accurately in words how much I thank you. Decadance will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law for her crimes. But that will come later. Right now, we have those ghastly creatures running amok. The city is on lockdown until we can get rid of them. And those eggs…"

Bolt interrupted, "Arcee, we need to find a way to destroy those eggs, or they might turn into a whole new army of monsters!"

Helia then said, "I think I might know a way. Caminus may not have guns anymore, doesn't mean they don't exist. I remember we had a gunship in the storage facility downtown. That old relic might still work if we juice it with enough Energon."

The Mistress of Flame scowled, "That's too dangerous-"

"This whole situation is dangerous, Auntie, but we have to do something or risk losing our planet! Please, trust me."

Megatron then held up his servo. "I can go with her. I know…violence. That's probably the lightest I can put it. If anything gets ten meters in range of her, I'll kill it. Arcee can vouch that."

Arcee nodded with a quick laugh, "Yeah, I don't think any harm can come to your niece now."

A heavy sigh came from the Camien leader. "Alright, just don't make me regret this, Megatron, or it's your head."

Helia squealed in delight, zooming around Megatron to his confusion before gesturing to him to follow. He took off with her as Arcee snickered to the side.

"And you, Arcee, I need you and Windblade on the front lines. We need to hit these things with no mercy and fast," she stated, emphasizing her seriousness by banging the end of her Forgehammer staff against the ground.

"That's fine by me," Arcee said. The residents of Ember Basin gathered behind the Mistress when she signaled them to listen to her. She then continued, "If anyone gets bit, we need to kill them...as much as I dislike it the same as the rest of you, but one of the reasons the Metal Heads came into fruition as a legion is through infection. We need to get rid of them before they get an army of hosts, or you can kiss Caminus goodbye. It's kind of like the Terrorcons we fought on Cybertron if anyone heard about that incident, just more intelligent and monstrous."

"Huh, I forgot about them," Bolt muttered.

"Any questions?"

No one in the crowd asked one but they glanced at each other a bit paranoid, not that she blamed them. As Bolt released his axe and with Moonhunter activating the turrets on his sides, the others slowly followed their lead. As she expected, they almost all had melee weapons which weren't the best for new defenders to use against such a deadly species, but it boiled down to strategy the most.

"Remember this, Metal Heads have organic skin with metal armor. Aim for the soft tissue or the cabling around the neck. If you don't have a clear strike, hit anything that looks vulnerable and go from there. Go in groups and team up. Otherwise, you risk being overrun and infected...or just killed altogether if they get pissed off enough. Let's go!"

The crowd followed her as she ran towards the center of the city, listening to the signature roars of the dark creatures that tormented the galaxy to get an accurate lock on their location. When the group split up, she pulled out her ricochet ray. A thump on a level below her made her slow down and she peered over the side, gun at the ready.

Jaws appeared without warning, nearly striking her arm and she pulled back before punching the crawling Metal Head and shoving the gun's muzzle down its throat. She pulled the trigger immediately. Suddenly, Metal Heads sprang up from the sides of the walkways and sprinted at all the Camiens in range. The residents of Ember Basin gave shouts as they clashed with the monsters as did Arcee.

The ambush was clever, even with them alerted to the possibility of the tactic. The Horaquan were crafty creatures, never dumb animals, and that made them extremely deadly no matter how well trained one could be in fighting them. Spears, swords, and hammers were common among the Camiens, and they used their weapons well, slashing and crushing the parts of Metal Heads as their lives depended on it. But then the carnage Arcee feared happened.

A Metal Grunt managed to get in close range of a Seeker and toppled her. She screamed as her arm was bitten with Energon pouring from the wound as the monster ripped it jaws away from her to snarl at another bot. It was quickly killed but the bot raced to her side as she winced. Suddenly, the venom visibly ran up her arm and turned her optics a hellish yellow as parts began to shift and malform. The bot beside her backed away as she withered in pain until it changed to a growl. Her mouth elongated revealing fangs. When the transformation was complete, the thing that once was the Seeker got up slow with its clawed servo stomping on the ground and its new bat-like wings twitching. It abruptly roared and tried to run straight at the bot who aimed to help its host, only for the blunt end of the Mistress' Forgehammer to nail its temple. It collapsed and didn't get the chance to stand when the former Seeker's head was bludgeoned into a pool of dark sludge. Its skull gem popped out to the horror of everyone who witnessed the tragedy. The Mistress was at a loss for words, panting heavily at the sacrifice she was forced to make. She stared at the sludge covering part of her hammer and grew enraged.

Arcee watched as the Camiens were struggling to keep themselves safe while also aiming to kill the invasive species. She fired several shots at a few Horaquan hellions attempting to go after younger bots the same age as Helia, refusing to let the newer generations be hurt by them. She grimaced as several more bots fell to the virus but there was still hope as half of them didn't even complete transformation before getting impaled or decapitated.

"Arcee, watch out!" Bolt yelled.

She turned around fast towards him to see several Metal Mantis springing towards her. She aimed her weapon and fired. Three of them fell but the rest dodged her bullets. She changed to her double-bladed sword and blocked the oncoming strikes from their forelegs. Rotating around out of the way of one attempting to strike her head, she returned the favor by embedding one of the blades through its backside before swiping her weapon up to throw it and counter another. When the remaining circled her, she made the bold move of jumping as they did. She used her speedster ability to gain the upper hand and swung her sword clockwise. She landed on the ground with the heads of the monsters bouncing to a halt beside her.

Smirking, she eased up thinking she was safe until a roar startled her, and she turned just in time to see a hidden Metal Grunt jumping down on her. Suddenly, beaked jaws clasped over the head of the Horaquan mere feet above her, snagging it out of the air as she flinched instinctively. It squirmed with a pained, muffled growl before the jaws crushed it entirely. The last noise it made was a squeal of death. Arcee was relieved to see a crosswing perched on a signpost above her, making a weird noise that could have been mistaken for laughter. The giant predator merely peered down at her as it forced more than half the body of the Metal Head down its throat happily.

"Don't know if you understand me, but I thank you," she said as she gestured respectfully to it.

The crosswing gulped and flapped its four wings with a content roar.

Windblade grinned as she saw the carnage Arcee made, coming up next to her as she struck down an infected bot. "Nice moves! I think we should up the ante a bit by bringing in some coverage."

"Megatron and Helia are working on it," she replied.

"No, I mean big coverage."

Arcee looked at her confused until she remembered what lay in Titans Crossing. Her expression twisted to surprise as Windblade giggled at her. "You don't mean-?"

"Oh yeah, I can show you mine." Both femmes ran towards the Mistress who ruptured the chest of a Horaquan soldier before Windblade asked, "Mistress, with your permission, I want to bring out Astro Zenith. She has the weapons systems capable of pinpoint targeting plus we get to show our guests a bit of titan might. It's the perfect time for it!"

The Mistress of Flame seemed reluctant but watching some of her citizens become monsters, she was quick to change her tune. "Very well, I'll get a hold of Victorion. Windblade, light our darkest hour by any means necessary!"


Megatron jumped down from the sky view window in the storage facility, shaking the stable catwalks with force when he landed. Helia took a more sophisticated route and used a crane to slide down before flipping off to land gently. They exchanged looks until Helia shrugged sheepishly.

"When we got rid of the blasters and other hard artillery, we stored them here. My aunt used to show me this as a history lesson...but she didn't think I would memorize what exactly was in it."

"Why did Caminus ban assault weapons?"

Helia gestured as they passed a huge tank-like vehicle suspended by chains. "Well, Camiens were all about peace when they first inhabited the planet. So, they got rid of all types of weapons, but we ended up needing them when conflict arose within. The first weapons of choice? Artillery. It proved a bit too much and after everything was set in order again, the law became melee weapons only, that way we could defend ourselves if need be but less risks."

Megatron frowned, "How is there less risks with swords, knives, and other handheld weapons? They can kill just the same."

"Yes, but everyone noticed that melee weapons were often used more personally and up close. Since most people are cowards without guns, unwilling to get their servos dirty enough to harm someone, crime and conflicts went down. That doesn't mean they didn't exist but way less prominent compared to having a quick and powerful weapon like a blaster at your disposal where you can kill in a second and not think twice...but in this case, the Metal Heads are keen on using violence with no way of communicating with them. That gives us reason to pull out some firepower."

Traversing the warehouse proved fruitful as Megatron saw caches of stored weapons and forgotten ships. Helia seemed to favor one in particular as she went straight to the control console and turned it on. The lights around a decent sized gunship showed off the vehicle and the power levels for the machine appeared on screen. Being unused for years, it still had most all its fuel. Whether its weapons system worked or not was unknown.

"Ready to hunt down those eggs? I drive, you shoot."

Megatron stroked his arm cannon with a smirk, "I can work with that."

The gunship sounded off as they reactivated it after climbing in. Its restraints detached and the ceiling above jolted as it reopened. The light from the rising sun and the gas giant made its way into the dark storage facility for the first time, illuminating the ship's faded colors. The ship rose as Helia flipped switches to get the engines running at full capacity and the turrets to emerge from their bays.

"Cool! I've never flown a ship of this magnitude!"

The warlord paused, "You what?!"

Helia assured him, "It's okay, I got this! It has the same mechanics, nothing to worry about!"

That didn't stop him from rolling his optics at the notion. Once the gunship was high enough, Helia floored it. Its turn radius was sharper than she thought and overcorrected slightly but she regained control as she moved it around the buildings. Once the Metal Head eggs were spotted on the left, she signaled Megatron who controlled the giant turret on the side.

The turret blared as its bullets hit the eggs, popping them like balloons with an eerie noise that could be mistaken for an alien scream. Whether non-host Metal Heads were born fully grown or not, he didn't want to know. As soon as all the eggs on the first building were gone, Helia swerved around until she found several patches above and below walkways and other skyscrapers. Megatron lit them up with a grimace.

"Woohoo! Get some of those monsters too while you're there!"

Megatron shifted the turret to a cluster of Metal Heads trying to run towards the Camiens nearby. He shot at each of them, laughing as the weapon toasted the fraggers with skull gems exiting their corpses one after the other. "The joys of killing again! Like fine high-grade! Intoxicating!"

Helia's processor stalled and she made an uncertain expression upon hearing that on her speaker. "I...don't think that's something you should be bragging about."

"Warlord, child. I didn't get that title for just being the leader of a faction now, did I?" Megatron smirked.

She slowly dawned her own smile as she humorously said, "You are one interesting psychopath. I like it."

They scoured the whole city for the eggs, not one of them survived their wrath. Helia made the ship go lower to check beneath the near-ground level walkways just in case. She found a few patches but not as severe as the upper areas.

Suddenly, something flew past her windshield, and she flinched. Slowing down, she tried to peer up to see what it was. The beating of its wings grew louder before the gunship shook with something landing on top of it. Another bang had her nearly hit her dashboard, but she stopped herself even in her shock.

"What was that?! Megatron, do you know?!"

Megatron leaned on the turret skeptical and growled low until he heard a matching growl among his own. A bird-like hand came down on the glass shield right above the turret, cracking it which startled him. Then he heard a deep hawk-like grunt. But before he could identify the creature, he saw the shadow on the building adjacent to him open its wings and leave the top of the ship.

"I think..." the warlord huffed, "we have a problem."


Arcee and Bolt, who joined up with her after killing a few of the monsters, guarded Windblade as she stood at the railing of the walkway. Moonhunter stood by on edge but wanted to keep near his owner just in case. The Seeker breathed steadily, closing her optics as she cleared her mind. Her optics abruptly opened but were completely blue. Her bio lights blared across her body like spider webs, and she extended her arm out towards the city itself.

"Astro Zenith, awake!"

The two bots beside her glanced at one another confused until they felt the city rumble. A distant faint blue and gold building was endowed with blue bio lights matching Windblade as large sections of it began to move. It transformed slowly but with a snarl which only prompted the Seeker to grin back at her friends.

"Forgive her, she's been asleep for years just like the other remaining titans. Very cranky old lady, even back then, but she has her charm."

Astro Zenith was crouching upon finishing her transformation, rising with a dark expression on her faceplates. It almost appeared like her helm was a crown and the bio lights skimming across her faceplates made it appear like she had a second set of optics. She shook with rage upon seeing the Metal Heads, and the creatures grew still seeing her.

Windblade started to back away while half-chuckling in concern. "You, uh, you might want to move a couple meters back. When summoned, she gets a bit aggressive…"

When Windblade started to book it in the opposite direction, past the stunned Metal Heads with Moonhunter following instantly, both Cybertronians looked at each other and then at the titan growling before suddenly sprinting after the Seeker too. Astro Zenith made a booming roar, shaking the surrounding area.

As Arcee caught up with Windblade, she exclaimed, "I thought Cityspeakers controlled titans?!"

"We can! Every titan except Astro Zenith! She doesn't take orders well, so we basically only use our abilities to wake her up and call her off! That's pretty much it! The rest of the time, we're running away from her! Ha ha...keep running!"

The heavy stomps of the titan shook the city. Bolt stumbled from the shaking of the walkways, bumping into a few Metal Heads in the process who were equally unbalanced. He was hit on the side by a Ramhead and fell over the railing with a scream. Arcee yelled his name, but he couldn't hear her over himself. He instantly left freefall, hitting something hard and froze unsure if something ruptured inside until he heard feminine laughter. Peering farther up from his laying position, the red and turquoise face of Victorion glowed beautifully against the darker background. Bolt shivered in her palm.

"Nice to see you again, Bolt."

He sat upright stuttering, "H-Hi! You don't know how glad I am to see you, girls!"

"Try not to fall off any ledges next time or we might not be able to save our favorite cyberbiologist," she purred.

When Arcee looked over the edge, she saw Bolt stagnate but safe in Victorion's care, and she smiled at them. Victorion looked up at her and waved with her free servo until she was spooked by Astro Zenith's growls.

The titan narrowed her optics at a group of Metal Heads that dared to hiss at her, but they quickly realized their mistake when the titan's fist came crashing down on them. The walkway they were on partially collapsed from the force and crushed another group just below it. Windblade snickered while Arcee stared horrified when Astro Zenith backhanded at a few Ramheads and sent them to be flattened against the side of the building. The queen felt sorry for them before they slipped off lifeless.

"So, uh, when are you going to call her off?" Arcee grimaced as another Metal Head's eyes popped out alongside its gem when Astro Zenith sent it flying into a solid structure. "I mean I think this might be a bit too much."

Windblade started to nod as she watched Victorion bring out her sword with Bolt on her shoulder before peering at her titan when the walkway began to shake again. "Well, you wanted the Metal Heads annihilated, and Astro Zenith is one of the deadliest titans we have. She's great when everything's calm and we wake her just to let her roam. She's just violent when it comes to everything else."

"Where was she when we tried to take Kaon from Megatron? She would have desecrated that city to oblivion," Arcee scowled inwardly.

With a shrug, the Seeker laughed, "If you want, you can borrow her if ever you are overthrown again. I think I can get her to Cybertron. Oh, and speaking of your sparkmate..."

Arcee looked where Windblade was pointing to see the gunship Helia and Megatron were sent to find. With the turrets going wild, she assumed they were still henting for eggs but flying Metal Heads were visibly assaulting them. Around them, the citizens of Caminus were having better luck with Astro Zenith terrorizing the Horaquan populace on the ground to submission. Arcee grew proud of their growing determination to destroy the invaders.

When she heard a snarl from Moonhunter behind her, she activated her blasters and shot at a Metal Centurion that happened to sneak up on them. Her reaction made Windblade panic and in doing so, Astro Zenith immediately turned towards them. The Centurion soldier used its shield to block Arcee's attacks but when it saw the titan approaching, it stepped back and held its shield close. As it found out, and so did the femmes, its shield was only good for protecting itself against those of its caliber...not giant, walking mini cities. Both bots flinched when Astro Zenith's servo crushed it, leaving a huge hand mark in the walkway with remnants of a flat Metal Head in the middle.

"Damn! That's got to hurt," Arcee winced, petting the Nitrotiger hidden behind her leg at the same time.

"You think?" Windblade scoffed.

Megatron began to speak through the commlink, "Arcee, we successfully purged the eggs from the city but there's...an issue. These flying nuisances didn't appear until after we encountered something unusual. I think it was a Metal Head, definitely big, but it didn't stick around long enough for me to see all of it. Keep a lookout in the skies. There's something up here with us."

Arcee suspiciously looked up and frowned. Although most movement was from those pesky Metal Heads chasing down the ship, some of which changed direction to irritate Astro Zenith, none of them looked out of the ordinary.

Anothing ping from her commlink made Arcee growl, "What now?"

Silos' voice was indifferent to the attitude. "I see you're still alive and so is Caminus...and I assume that giant brute tearing up the city is a friend of yours? I just wanted you to know I found a blaster mod from one of those soldier class Metal Heads lying out in the open. If you survive the rest of the onslaught, it's yours if you want it. As for the Metal Heads, the hive mind is scattered. They are panicked and might soon withdraw their forces...assuming your city-sized deathly zealot doesn't crush them first."

Arcee was distracted when Victorion seemed to team up with Astro Zenith, allowing the titan to direct her in places that others couldn't go to without massive damage. Once Victorion, with Bolt guiding her, found her targets, she was swift to remove them. Swiping up several with her sword, Metal Head bodies who attempted to flee were scattered and if the blows didn't kill them, the lengthy fall to Caminus' surface did.

Windblade was startled, forcing Arcee to quickly move back when Astro Zenith lowered her head to near eye level with the Seeker. Given the optic size of the titan was nearly as big as Windblade herself, the intimidation was natural. But the red and black femme mustered up the courage to approach the unchained titan before carefully sliding a servo on her nasal ridge, prompting steam to emerge as a playful snort. Astro Zenith lifted her head quickly before resettling next to her to make a brief grunting sound. Windblade merely smiled at it.

"That's it. Now you listen, huh?"

"Sometimes," a deep voice in the air said.

Windblade laughed, "Glad to see you back in action, Astro."

Arcee shook her head amused, "What happened to not being able to control her?"

"I may have lied a little. I can't but that doesn't mean I haven't befriended her. The battlefield is a whole different world for Astro Zenith. She was made to destroy, making her very unruly and bitter, which is why she won't respond like most titans to Cityspeakers. But just because someone is made for a specific purpose doesn't mean they are void of developing new purposes nor making new friends. It's not about whether I can control Astro Zenith, it's whether she trusts me in the end. That's the difference, and that's why most Cityspeakers can't work with her. Like I said, they can summon her, they can point out the problem, but they can't make her do anything they want on a whim. She can sense what I want, and she does it on her own accord. I just sit back and watch the show."

As Astro Zenith's optics landed on Arcee, the latter could finally see a faint softness in them. A war machine she was but not a mindless beast. Arcee made a faint smile, and she swore there was a small edge on the titan's lips that seemed to arch. It was better than being viewed as an enemy and ending up like that Metal Centurion.

Something in the atmosphere around her shifted and she lost her smile. Arcee peered around her watching Camiens and Metal Heads fight but that wasn't it. There was a dense feeling she was being spied on, but she didn't know where. When Dagger Prima began to glow again, she knew she was right. Then she remembered the warning Megatron gave her. Just as the thought came to her, a winged shadow covered her in a flash.

"Arcee!" Windblade called out. Astro Zenith was just as shocked while Moonhunter yowled.

Arcee was harshly grabbed by a large bird-like hand and lifted off the ground. The creature made a frightfully dark screech and upon looking down, she spotted what appeared to be an equus lower half. Suddenly, she was thrown through a window, forced to roll until she hit a wall. Stunned, she could barely move as a haunting shadow dwarfed her, and her optics went wide once they readjusted.

A hippogriff with a fanned-out metal plated tail, robotic wings and the signature Horaquan eyes glared at her. Its rustic silver armor and sea green skin clashed with Caminus' lavender sky. The cabling on its neck had two tubes attached to its lower jaw, wrapping towards its backside like reins. Its armored beak was razor sharp with fangs, its head supported a false plume of metal feathers that appeared more like barbs, and below its horse-like legs, metal hooves were more than capable of stomping the life out of her if she wasn't careful. The bird-like arms gestured as it made a more animalistic roar, the skull gem on its chest glowed in its anger. She recognized what it was supposed to be.

"Silos, I have one of those commanders here! Bird, horse, something that can fly!"

"Sounds like the Hypo-glyder, the Master of Flight. It can make a powerful blast deep within its throat using specialized glands. It's as devastating as gunfire. Its wings and tail allow it to maneuver quickly in the air, able to do extremely tricky turns. It is nearly impossible to sneak up on. No one touches it in the sky, Arcee. No one."

"Just watch me," she muttered.

The Metal Hypo-glyder narrowed its eyes. She ran towards it, but it proved fast enough to grab her leg when she aimed to kick it and swung her back inside. She could tell its calculative nature was coming out as it grew defensive, not letting her leave its sight. Now the game was on, and she was going to hurt it by any means necessary. Challenge accepted. Arcee ran at it again, but this time jumped to glide under it. The Hypo-glyder didn't expect this and raised a brow with a snort. She smirked as it then grew enraged and flew after her. Weaving through buildings, she had it chase her across Ember Basin's skyline. Her plan was simple: make it confident it would win by giving it a chase and turn all that pride against it. Granted, there was margin for error, and she saw this when a fireball erupted from its mouth. She twisted away from the blast and noticed it was gaining on her. As she headed towards a skyscraper, she sneered.

"You can fly faster than me, let's see if you can outmaneuver me!"

Diving, both Arcee and the Metal Head were determined to outflank one another. She decided to pull something risky. Opening her energy wings to immediately halt her descent, the Hypo-glyder passed her and she used the opportunity to give it a taste of its own medicine. The gunfire was abundant, but the Metal Head was quicker than she thought. When it turned around to go straight at her, she wasn't able to recollect herself before it grabbed one of her arms and launched her through the tower beside her. There wasn't a definitive number of walls she went through by the time she hit the floor.

The queen shakily got up and popped her back. "That probably broke something. Think, Arcee, think! Incredibly fast bird, can outfly me, can outmaneuver me, so what would be its weakness?"

Listening to the movement of the Hypo-glyder outside before peering through some of the crevices in the fractured walls, she noticed it seemed hesitant to go inside after all. It was obvious it wanted nothing more than to tear her apart, but it was skittish to go within a confined space...though it had some room now, it still stayed outside hovering by the entrance she had created upon impact.

"Untouchable in the sky...alright then, you want to pick a fight with me so bad? Let's see how you do on my turf," Arcee whispered, smirking.

While it moved to get a better look in the building, she opened a window on the opposite end and climbed to the top. Peering down, she saw the Hypo-glyder almost pacing around the area. Knowing this might be her only chance to do some damage while getting its attention, she aimed her blaster and fired. The shot hit the back of its neck, its eyes blaring in fury.

"You think that will kill me? I've had better attempts."

When it looked up, she gave a taunting salute before flipping it off, turning her back towards it, and falling backwards. She fell past it with a laugh. In unbridled rage, it looped backwards to dive after her. Arcee didn't activate her wings until she passed several walkways. Once she confirmed it was following her still, then she made her move.

She activated her wings and barely missed hitting the walkway closest to the ground. The Hypo-glyder did the same. Gliding between pillars, buildings and other objects, she noted the Hypo-glyder was becoming claustrophobic. It was struggling with no way to outmaneuver her without any free space to get creative in its approach. As the walkways' spaces between each other grew cramped in the alleys of the buildings, the Metal Head grew panicked about its poor decision. Just then, she grabbed a decorated pole and swung around it to the Hypo-glyder's surprise. With no room to dodge when it tried to pull itself upright mid-flight to counter her only to risk hitting the walkway ceiling above it, it got hit by her pedes and slid on the ground several feet back.

Arcee landed with a sneer before pulling out Dagger Prima, the blade's lust resonated as it gave its whispers. She was more than willing to indulge it. Watching the Hypo-glyder flinch as it stood was humorous. It acted like walking on the ground burned it. Once it noticed her again, it bellowed with its tail spread and its wings raised, the hooves of its feet creaking cracks with each step.

She lunged at it attempting to strike its chest. It deflected her with its arm but without being able to navigate fluidly as it did in the air, it had trouble walking and defending itself at the same time. She could tell its hooves were meant for kicking more so than for regular movements. Arcee then whipped around, and the edge of the dagger barely grazed its cheek. Infuriated, it sent punches her way but she backflipped and spun away from them, the fighting she was heavily used to. When it brought one of its wings down to hit her, she leapt onto its back and sank the weapon into its side. That's when it took no more.

Arcee froze when they were suddenly off the ground and the Hypo-glyder shot straight up through the walkway above it. Bucking and kicking, flapping its wings madly, it tried everything to dislodge her. She saw Windblade and the Mistress in the distance trying to get to her but before they could, the Metal Head went skyward. On its back, it felt like she was on one hell of a rollercoaster. She attempted to strike it again, but it did a quick jolt and she almost let go of her blade.

"Keep still, you son of a-!"

It suddenly flipped upside down and Arcee was dangling high above the city. She grew a little nauseous staring at the distance for too long but held her composure to try and finish off the beast. If she let go, she wouldn't have the opportunity to kill it again. When they passed the same tower she had been thrown through, she got an idea.

"Hey, you look like a chicken instead of a bird of prey." Its head snapped under its back while still flying upside down to stare at her menacingly. As it opened its mouth and the back of its throat grew bright orange, she merely laughed, "And apparently, when you're focused on something, you're a lousy flier...because you're about to crash."

Arcee let go, and the Metal Head watched her glide beneath it. Confused, it looked in front of it. Its eyes went wide. Slamming face first through the building it failed to see, crashing through the walls all the way to the other side where it gripped the ledge of the window it came tumbling out of to prevent itself from falling. With a growl, it pressed its wings close to its body and climbed up to the safety of the open floor. But it was suddenly struck in the face and was forced to do a few backflips out into the sky. It dizzily flapped its wings, attempting to keep itself upright in its pain. The Hypo-glyder grew weary as it held its head.

"What's wrong? The master of the air feeling a little lightheaded?"

Arcee flipped up to the roof of the building before running to the edge with her speed boost and igniting her wings to go straight at it. With the Metal Head still recovering, she grabbed the edge of its wing and pulled herself onto its back again. She sank Dagger Prima though the arm of the wing and severed it, making the creature start to struggle to fly. Maneuvering on it to place her pede against its snout when it tried to snap at her, she glared down at it.

Arcee finally snarled, "Have a nice flight, and consider yourself afterwards GROUNDED!"

She jumped and sent both pedes right into its face with as much force as she could give, a sickening crack echoed in response to the brutality. Its remaining wing no longer moving, and it plummeted with an eerie roar. Arcee glided in a circle as she watched it fall to Caminus' surface with a stern expression. It uselessly clawed at the air to no avail as purple blood poured from its nostrils. When it hit the highest walkway, it went straight through it. All Arcee could see was a plume of smoke from the hole it created.

She dived down after it a minute later and landed on the upper walkway to peer down the hole. Lifelessly, it lay with purple sludge with fragments of metal piercing its torso from the rubble. Although the commander got what it deserved, she saw its forced pose with its head lying sideways quite pitiful. Unlike most Metal Heads, this one did look like a nice specimen. A shame she had to destroy it.

Clapping and cheers were heard as she put away Dagger Prima; she still owed the blade some blood. With no more Metal Heads in sight, all the Camiens of Ember Basin cried out in victory. More than likely, the remaining monsters had fled. The gunship Helia and Megatron used landed, and the warlord was quick to run to her, scooping her up affectionately.

He laughed, "Arcee the Horaquan Hunter! That's a good title, right?"

"Whatever you say," she giggled.

The Mistress of Flame, Windblade, and Helia all gathered around her as Victorion still held Bolt and Moonhunter rubbed against her happily. She suddenly heard a low, curious growl as Megatron set her down and peered back to see Astro Zenith kneeling with a purr. The queen held out her servo to the titan and was shocked when Astro Zenith let her touch her nose plating. Once she was done with the titan, she turned back to face the Mistress herself.

"Arcee, you proved me wrong about Cybertron...and you," the Mistress admitted as Helia clung to her aunt's side. "We couldn't have won without you or your friends. I'm sorry about my attitude and my superstitions but when you love your planet and its people, you tend to be protective of them."

Windblade pulled out a Radiant Core and said, "And we appreciate everything you've done. Here, we don't have much to offer for war heroes."

Arcee took it with pride. "I don't need anything special either. We were once supposed to look out for each other, remember? I think it's time we do that again."

The Mistress looked at her citizens around her and sighed, "I suppose you still wish for us to rejoin Cybertron in a treaty? Very well then. Tomorrow, after we make absolute those horrid beasts are gone, I will make it so."

Astro Zenith nodded pleased while Victorion looked quite pleased at the decision. The other Camiens each shouted their approval. Arcee watched as Caminus relished its survival against the Metal Head menace. She had no doubts the creatures would return somewhere else if the Metal Head Leader was as bold as Silos said but she would be ready. She always was.


One day later...

"We're almost good to go, Bumblebee, just got to have a signed consent form for the two worlds to trade again and we'll be home soon."

"That's good! I'm proud of you, Arcee. We all are," the Autobot leader said.

As her commlink conversation ended, Arcee brushed her fingers against Dagger Prima. It whispered ever so, some of which she believed was it communicating with the Allspark. Although she was using her other weapons more than it, she still regarded it as the best blade she had in arsenal.

Thinking about weapons, her mind slowly drifted to Silos' offer of a gun mod. It wouldn't hurt to visit him and straighten out the facts from fiction with him. He was a good listener more than she thought but the theft of the abandoned fire crystals was as shameful as stealing the Energon Core on Velocitron. Not her finest moments in life.

As Bolt sat in their shared suite offered by the Mistress of Flame herself at the luxury bar along with Moonhunter who was sitting on one of the stools beside him, she passed him without a word. To his credit, he immediately called her out on it.

"Where are you going?" He sang curiously.

"What? I can't go out every once in a while?" Arcee scoffed.

The Vehicon shrugged, "It's just a question. Why are you getting so defensive all of a sudden? I'm no expert in mannerisms, Arcee, but that is questionable itself."

"You asked."

"You're deflecting."

"It's..." she paused, then growled, "I'm just meeting with...a friend I made. There, you happy?"

Bolt said nothing but just nodded and left her alone. She took that as her sign to leave and went down the hall to a window. Slipping through it, Arcee activated her energy wings and soared among the lavender sky. Caminus' gas giant it orbited reflected well on the city as she looked down on it for her "friend." Spotting the ship that appeared foreign but not enough for anyone to believe it couldn't be another cybernetic being's, she landed on it and flipped down to see Captain Silos enjoying the sun's rays.

"We need to stop meeting like this. Bolt's getting suspicious and so is Megatron. I don't want to know what the Mistress of Flame would think if she knew I took fire crystals for your greedy aft."

Silos merely opened one eye among his sleeping pose on his belly and made a hand wave, "Do you prefer I contact you multiple times a day and accidentally give your mate the impression you're cheating on him?"

Arcee grew deadpanned, "We can't cheat on each other; it's biologically impossible once we're sparkbonded. Any activity like that would result in him knowing immediately by-"

"I was trying to make a point. I don't need the logistics of it," he frowned. "You're no doubt here for that blaster mod. A poor soldier died valiantly but since they no longer need it, you can have it. It's in the ship in my artillery room. Go ahead and look around if you want; I have nothing to hide."

Arcee acknowledged his unspoken tiredness and left him to sunbathe, smirking a little when she thought she heard a deep purr resonating from him as his tail barely moved except to tap the ground occasionally. When she went into the ship, she expected to find maybe dead Metal Head carcasses, weapons, and some other cursed artifacts that had been stolen. Instead, it proved quite different.

It was clean, very organized, and not a single stain on the ground. As she passed his wide-open berthroom, the only thing he had to rest on was a rather big lounge chair with an elevated head rest. Given she had forgotten some of his traits were reminiscent of reptiles, like the ones found on Earth despite appearing like a hybrid of an alien rhino, she assumed it was to cater to this. Peering back outside to see if Silos was watching, he definitely was sound asleep, she went into the room.

Pictures on his furniture surprised her the most, especially one holoscreen that depicted a slightly younger looking Tigressa in the background with a few other femmes...and a light blue Rozarian with straps for his swords and body armor at its center. The caption at the bottom read "Ceros Silos." It was quite astonishing to see Silos as a normal Rozarian. No skull gems, no yellow eyes, instead they were more orangish red though he still had slit pupils even then, and without the helmet, the top of his head was visible. Small spikes lined his head past the ears down to his neck. There were still a few scars but a lot less noticeable. His mouth still had sharp teeth but far less defined. His armor was strapped down, not bleeding into his body as a part of him. The metallic claws that lined his wrists and chest weren't appearing like skeletal breaches in the skin. They were instead a part of the straps' centerpiece on his chest and the wrist gauntlets he had. His hands themselves looked less sharp and more user friendly. His tail had a dim spine with little bumps, not the massive barbs they supported now.

Arcee was conflicted about seeing his original form. Why he abandoned it to be a Metal monster was unbelievable. But the virus was created by Tigressa and upon seeing her younger but no doubt still malicious form in the background, she could understand just how far manipulation could go.

The rest of his room had nothing but small trophies of his conquests, a few drawings he did in his limitless spare time it seemed. She moved on to the artillery room once she had a good feel for Silos' life aboard the ship. No wonder he preferred to risk getting caught to enjoy the other planets. He had nothing to do in his ship.

The artillery room had quite the weapons cache; its stock unlimited. She saw the pieces of the mod Silos was talking about and grinned. They were made for blasters alone, perfect for the ones on her arms. She brought one out at a time and reformatted them with the mods. Once they were obtained, she activated both at the same time and watched their power levels go up. Her system took a second to recognize them, but she hardly had any problems otherwise.

"Nice!"

She left the ship proudly and chuckled to herself as Silo was now belly up posed with arms cuddled close to his chest. He looked kind of like a cat in his position. She gave him a silent gesture of approval and left him in peace.

When she got back to the suite, she found Bolt glaring at her. His posture was rigid, almost untrusting. Then he said, "We need to talk."


AN: Astro Zenith was my favorite addition to the Transformers universe and the Hypo-glyder was one of the most fun battles to write. I said at the beginning of the fic that this might be the weakest of the three novels. I stand corrected. Now that I'm reading it again, not just writing it, this has become my favorite novel of the three. I like what I did. I set it up a lot better than I initially thought.