Shock of all shocks, I got a new story just a week after a major update!

So yeah, after I finally finished and uploaded Chapter 4 of Camien Odyssey, I was able to get working on the first chapter of another side story for the Spyverse that I wanted to get to work on, this time centered around Pyra, whom you may remember from the prison break back in Chapter 2 of the aforementioned story.

We'll be picking up where that part left off.

And yes, the title of this story is a reference to the song of the same name from the Sonic Frontiers soundtrack. Seriously, go listen to that OST if you haven't already. It's REALLY amazing and easily my favorite Sonic the Hedgehog soundtrack. And considering how amazing I find a vast majority of Sonic OSTs, that's saying something.

While I did say that I wouldn't be uploading anymore stories to Fanfiction Dot Net other than the ones I already had here, I figured, "Eh, fuck it. I'll try to keep the Spyverse consistent by posting stories for it on all sites." Though any new stories outside of that will be AO3, Spacebattles, and Sufficient Velocity exclusive.

Seriously, I keep getting this error message saying that the site just won't deliver any emails to my inbox, I'm doing literally everything it says to fix the issue, and none of it is working! Last time this happened, it was a temporary issue that those running the site eventually fixed, but I've been having this issue way longer than last time and it shows ZERO signs of getting fixed anytime soon, making me thing that the issue's more on my end. If anyone knows any other methods of fixing the problem, I'd appreciate it.

Anyway, big thanks and shout out to SwapAUAnon, Matrix Dragon, and Quantum01 for Beta Reading this chapter.

Chapter 1: Tseihshi

"No!" Pyra shouted as she slammed her fists against the escape pod door, punching it with all her might. But her wrath-filled screams went unheard, the Decepticon not even sparing her a glance as she punched the console and launched the pod.

"NO!"

Pyra desperately banged against the door, finding herself pulled away by the pod's occupants, Firestar and Skystriker. She heard them yell at her to calm down, that it was too late, but her audio receptors were consumed by static. Watching the prison barge became little more than a speck amidst stars and pitch darkness, the Torchbearer lost all control and slumped to the floor, knees followed by servos as her face fell.

"No..." She muttered, the weight of her failure threatening to consume her. It'd hadn't been long after vowing to ensure the safety of her people, and yet she'd already broken that promise with leaving Windblade behind. Worse still was that she'd effectively abandoned her, Jetfire, and Fixit to face the Decepticons alone. She was supposed to be the protector of the Camiens, and yet...

I couldn't save her, Pyra grit her teeth as tears threatened to spill from her optics, I couldn't save Windblade, I couldn't save Praesidia, I couldn't save my team, I couldn't save Caminus! Why am I such a fail-

"Pyra!"

Hearing both Firestar and Skystriker's voices, Pyra's surroundings returned to her. She felt their servos against her shoulders and blinked her tears away. Gently removing them from her, she picked herself up and walked forward to regain her composure, briefly praying to Solus, the Smith of the Thirteen and Prime of the Forge. She reminded herself of their example, one that inspired her for as long as she could remember. The Primes would not allow themselves to become a burden to others, and neither would she.

Composure regained, she turned to face the others, "Thank you. I'm fine now."

Firestar and Skystriker looked at each other, clearly unconvinced. "You sure?" The latter asked, "Anything you want to get off your chest plating? You seemed kinda...I don't know..."

"A mess. He means you looked like a mess," Firestar clarified with all the cordialness of a hammer to the head, much to Skystriker's annoyance.

"Your concern is appreciated, but I need you to trust me. I'm fine," Pyra said as she took her seat. Wanting to quickly shift away from the swell of guilt in her Spark, she asked, "Do we know how long until we make planetfall?"

Skystriker shook his head, "No. Didn't get a good look at where we were headed either. You see it?"

Pyra nodded, "We're headed for the nearest planet," she looked down at her servos as a trill of anticipation ran through them, "Tsiehshi."

Her fellow Camiens gained shocked expressions at that, and she couldn't blame them, given that they were now headed for the colony founded by Megatronus, the Prime of Power and the 12th among them. Despite herself, there was something admittedly awe-inspiring about getting to set foot on a world of the Thirteen, though it was just as quickly marred by the fact that it was on a Decepticon star map.

Have the Decepticons taken over Megatronus' world too? Just like they did Caminus? Pyra wondered, idly staring out of the pod and into the vast, passing cosmos, if only to try and take her processor off things. Her two companions seated themselves as well, letting the pod enter a lull of silence that was only broken by Skystriker tapping his knees and making popping noises with his mouth, as well as the flickering flames on Firestar's head. Still, Pyra found herself preferring these little distractions.

"You sure there's nothing you want to talk about?" And then Firestar popped the question.

"Positive," Pyra replied in a low tone.

"Pyra, we..." Skystriker tried to find the words, "You know that if you need to talk, we're willing to listen, right? I think a lot of us would be willing to listen."

Pyra resisted the urge to huff and look away, instead sending both of them a small, uneasy smile, "I appreciate that, but it isn't necessary. I'm fine, and I need both you and the other to trust me on that." Neither of them seemed convinced, but they didn't say a word, instead giving halfhearted nods as things grew silent once more. Pyra saw the worry in their optics, clear as day, but she refused to say anything. She needed to stand resolute and ready, for it was the first thing Praesidia had taught her as a Torchbearer. I won't become a burden to them, Pyra repeated a few times over, looking between the pod's other occupants, They deserve better than that. They deserve better than me.

Too bad she was all they had.

Her thoughts were once more interrupted as the pod shook. Looking outside, Pyra saw that the stars were fading, a red glow surrounding the pod as they entered the planet's atmosphere. Strapping herself in, she glanced at the others and ordered, "Hold on!"

"On it!" Firestar said, with Skystriker nodding in kind as they strapped in too. The three Camiens kept themselves steady as the pod's shaking grew more and more, eventually giving way to a resounding collision that would've thrown them all about had they not been locked in their seats. After several nanokliks to recover from the crash, Pyra stepped up from her seat first. Motioning for the others to stand back, she opened the pod door and walked out, feeling an obscene heat envelop her being as her optics adjusted.

From within a crater formed by their pod, she looked up and saw the sky was a garish orange, two suns of varying sizes hanging overhead. That certainly fit with what Pyra had read about Tseihshi from the early days within her sorority. But as she walked out of the crater, both to get a good look at her surroundings and to ensure things were safe, what she hadn't been expecting was everything else about the planet's appearance.

"By Solus' Forge..." Pyra muttered, taking in the barren wasteland surrounding her as Firestar and Skystriker exited the pod. She stood in an empty desert field, craters littering the expanse of the area as her fellow Camiens crawled out of them, some already trying to scope out the area. But as far as the optic could see, there was nothing but hills and flats of sand, much of which was covered in jagged, yellow Energon crystals. The more Pyra looked at said crystals, the more she felt like there was something fundamentally wrong with them.

"Firestar!" one of the Camiens, an aquamarine femme with wheels on her shoulders and heels, as well as a long, pointed tip behind her helm and four smaller ones from each corner of her face, ran up right as she saw them, "Thank the Thirteen, you made it!"

"Ever a doubt, Lotty?" Firestar perked up and was the first to meet her, the two femmes entering a hug, "Glad to see you're in one piece."

Lotty retracted, but kept her cheerful grin, "Me too!" She turned to Pyra and Skystriker, looking a little sheepish, "Sorry, we didn't really get acquainted on the ship. Granted, it was...y'know, a prison, but anyway, nice to meet you guys," she held out her servo, "I'm Velocity."

"Pyra," the Torchbearer nodded while shaking said servo.

"Yeah, I figured. Torchbearer colors and all," Velocity replied as she let go, seeming a little excited and even in awe, though that admiration made the guilty swell in Pyra's Spark return before she stowed it down.

"Name's Skystriker," the mech beside her held out his own servo to shake, "You and Firestar know each other?"

"Grew up in the same sorority," Firestar answered as the aquamarine femme and dark blue mech shook servos.

"Interesting as that sounds, it'll have to wait," Pyra cut in as they released the shake, reminding them of their predicament. Turning to face the rest of the Camiens, who were out of their pods and looking about in confusion, she yelled, "Attention everyone!" everyone turned to her and moved closer to heed her words, "Is everyone accounted for?" Besides Windblade, Jetfire, and Fixit, Pyra held that errant thought down with a clenched fist, "We need to do a headcount."

Getting affirmations in kind, the group began yelling out their names and signing off, letting everyone know they were here. It reminded Pyra a bit of times back home, where she and the rest of the Torchbearers under Praesidia would take the time to check occupants in the aftermath of bandit attacks. After a while, they were able to make sure that everyone was accounted for.

That is, everyone but a distinct three, and it wasn't those she'd left behind.

"No," Pyra repeated a few more times, "No they can't be-!" she cut herself off and started pacing around the pod field in a panic, calling out their names, "Lightbright! Javelin! Hot Shot!" The rest of the Camiens started doing the same, even checking the pods themselves to make sure they counted right and that all pods were accounted for. But alas, this just confirmed that their pod was missing. "They..." Pyra solemnly brought a servo to her face, "They didn't make it."

Seeing Velocity run up in front of her, she looked up to face the aquamarine femme, "H-Hey, let's not jump to conclusions. Maybe they just landed somewhere else on the planet?"

"Lotty..." Firestar approached, sounding and looking as uneasy as Pyra felt, "I... I don't think it's a good idea to get our hopes up on that. Look around," she gestured to the rest of the pods and Camiens, "Everyone else landed here, all alive and accounted for. If they aren't here with us, it's likely they got hit by something mid-flight. And if that happened, then..." she shook her head, "I'm sorry, but if they're still alive, then at best, they'd have landed on a completely different planet, one we don't even know the location of. And I don't think I need to explain what the worst-case scenario is."

"Firestar..."

"She's right," Pyra spoke up, gathering everyone's attention, reminding herself not to waver. For everyone else's sake. "If they're still alive, then we can't do anything for them right now," No matter how much I wish I could, she wanted to say, but didn't, "For now, we'll need to trust that they're alright and keep moving. Find a way off this planet and get everyone to safety. We'll figure out what to do next from there."

Pyra felt herself grow bitter with each passing word, as it all felt like lies and more lies. A lie that they could find a way off this planet. A lie that she trusted her missing Camiens to be alright, wherever they were, and that was assuming they were still functional at all. And a lie herself that she could guarantee their safety. After all, she'd not only failed her newfound friends aboard the prison ship, but now the missing three Camiens as well.

Praesidia, Windblade, Jetfire, Fixit, Stormclash, Dust Up, Skyburst, Rust Dust, and now Lightbright, Javelin, and Hot Shot, Pyra found herself lost in bitter thought, the faces of her leader, fellow Torchbearers, friends, and people she'd sworn to protect sneering at her in disappointment and hatred. How many would she fail before this was all over? How many until she couldn't bare it anymore?

No, don't think that! Pyra snapped her optics shut and just as quickly opened them, refusing to let her sorrow show itself. She wouldn't let herself crumble under this weight. She'd shoulder it and ensure no one else had to. She didn't have a choice. With a deep, heavy sigh, she said, "So, I suggest we get moving."

"Okay, but where exactly do we start?" Skystriker asked with an exaggerated huff, "Not like we're gonna see any signs of civilization anytime so-"

"Hey, look there!" Velocity pointed skywards, drawing everyone's attention to what looked like a comet flying across the horizon, but Pyra immediately noticed the flight pattern and nixed that notion. Between the speed it was moving and the recognizable trail following behind it, she blinked and felt her optics go wide.

"Is that a ship?" Pyra asked no one in particular, already knowing the answer and gaining a slight shred of hope.

"It's not like a Stellar Cycle's supply of Energon is gonna fall out of the sky!" Skystriker yelled, causing everyone to turn to him with either glares (such as Pyra and Firestar) or looks of confusion (like Velocity's). Seeing all optics on him, he chuckled, "Heh, sorry. Figured what with the sudden coincidental ship trail, I'd try..." he quickly realized he was just earning more ire and cleared his pipes, "Okay, bad time for jokes. I see that now."

"Yeah, really bad timing," Firestar shook her head, all while Velocity shrugged.

"Eh, I thought it was funny."

"In any case, looks like we might have a way off this planet," Pyra said as she took point, "Alright everyone, let's roll out!"

Pyra ran forward and transformed, shifting from bot to large battle runner before taking off at her top speed. Everyone else followed behind her, either on wheels or taking flight, but remaining close all the same. Throughout the early stage of the drive, worry about what waited for them on this planet began to set in. Pyra sincerely hoped that whatever civilizations present on Tseihshi were willing to help them. But if her worries from back on the flight here held true, if the Decepticons were in control of this world like Caminus...

Well, Pyra's thoughts shifted to a barely restrained wrath, At least I'll have something to vent at.

And so, it begins. While I know that chapters will inevitably get longer, part of me's just kind of sorta glad to be able to write something short for a change. After near 20K word juggernauts, you tend to savor those chapters that are a lot shorter than your slowly developing norm. On to some extra details!

If you've read or are a fan of the 2005 IDW Transformers continuity (or Transformers IDW 1, as it's also called), you may recognize Tseihshi as the planet Megatronus/The Fallen fled to after killing Solus, only here, it's basically like Caminus in that it's his colony world which he founded, much like how Solus founded Pyra's home planet.

The yellow Energon sticking out of everywhere on the surface is basically Ore-8 (the Energon created as a result of Shockwave's Regenesis experiment in IDW 1), but it isn't called that here nor does it have that origin. Like I said on the More Than Meets the Spy fic's Spacebattles forum, I'm NOT doing the whole "Shockwave was behind everything and everything in IDW 1" aspect or the "the Primes were all fakes and not actual gods" aspect, so there's a different reason for why Tseishi has this Energon variant present. That'll be coming up and explored in the next couple chapters for this story.

Just elaborating/repeating on that part now so as to set up some expectations for later.

All in all, this is kind of a prologue for Pyra's upcoming journey, and as a RWBY fan, do be expecting a few similarities to that of Ruby Rose's character arc from that series.

Hope you all enjoy and have a great day!