CHAPTER 23, TMI, MY HEAD'S SPINNIN'!

NORMAL P.O.V

The monster truck roared over the dirt jump, bouncing on its overly large wheels to eventually land onto the ground. The truck lazily turned the corner, only able to just miss scrapping the wall of the arena. It drove onto a ramp of abandoned and destroyed vehicles, landing onto a red vehicle hard.

"HOO-YAH!"

"OHHH…"

"SCCRRRAPPED'CHA!"

The trio of excited individuals watched the monster truck rally on the small television. Bulkhead covered his face nervously, peeking through the gaps in his fingers to continue watching. Aquastrike's eyes glowed with excitement, as the human known as Miko Nakadai turned to share a happy look with the two Autobots at their entertainment.

"Give it up for the baddest beast machines on the planet!"

At the control unit, the consistent command beeping stopped, "Would you mind lowering the volume?"

"Hey, Ratch, Star! Check out the Monster Truck Rally Miko took us to last week!"

"Yain't ever gon' see somethin' like t'is back home!" Starlight smiled in amusement at her happy friend.

"I compiled some highlights on my cell phone!" Miko proudly stuck her pink cellphone above her head.

"Innocent vehicles battling for the pleasure of human spectators?" Ratchet shuddered violently before walking back to his station with a wave of his hand. "Blood sport!"

"YEAH!"

"You could be helping Optimus and Windswept in the field right now."

Aquastrike waved a hand back at the medic, "Ahhh, t'ey don' need us savin' some… uhhh." A puzzled expression crashed onto the aqua blue Autobot, bringing a thoughtful hand to her cheek.

"Ancient educational thingamabob." She nodded excitedly at Bulkhead finishing her statement.

Ratchet shook his head disappointingly as Starlight giggled, "It isn't a 'thingamabob', Bulkhead. It's a Cybertronian data cylinder." She pressed a command on his keypad, the image of the data cylinder and its' note taking over the human television screen.

"HEY!"

"AWH!"

"Ahhh, Twinkle?! Ya startin' ta sound like Ol' Sourshine!"

"There is no telling what vast intelligence it may hold." The elder Autobot medic made more data cylinders appear on the screen. "During the Golden Age, dozens of these cylinders were created. Each containing the sum total of Cybertronian knowledge on any given subject." He was unaware of Miko sighing in boredom. "Stellar cartography, medicine, ancient mythology. When the war broke out, the cylinders were hidden throughout the galaxies to keep them as far as possible from Decepticon reach. Detecting one signal here, on Earth, is the opportunity of a-"

"Argh, T.M.I, dude!" Miko groaned.

"Swi'ch it back, Ol' Grouch! Missy Miko didn' film this fer nothin'!"

"We wanna see the Hoedown Showdown!"

A sudden beeping stopped Ratchet from relenting to the trio's request, as the profile of the Autobot leader appeared on his keypad, "Ratchet! Decepticon ambush! The cylinder is at risk!" The orange and white medic turned to Bulkhead and Aquastrike knowingly. "We require backup!"

"Backup is what we're built for," Bulkhead smirked, smashing his fist with Aquastrike's.

The aqua-blue Autobot nodded excitedly, "Ah haven' rounded up 'Cons in a while!"

Miko rushed to the staircase as her Autobot friends moved to the Groundbridge tunnel, "Go kick some fenders, guys!" She stepped down the steps, watching the pair run into the open portal.

Ratchet walked up to the human, "I have an important mission for you too, Miko."

"Really?" Miko asked, excited by the prospect. At the sight of a mop being held out to her by Starlight, her excitement was replaced by disappointment. "Awww…" She took the item unwillingly, glancing at the smirking Ratchet turning away. "Aqua's right, you really are turning into Sourshine."

The petite Autobot grew a comforting expression, "I'm sorry Miko. Duty calls for everyone." She glanced thoughtfully at the medical chambers on the other side of the staircase, deciding to enter it to ensure her resources were ready in the case of an emergency.

The disappointment on Miko morphed into one of cunning as she realised the open Goundbridge portal before her. Glancing at both distracted Autobots in the room, she let the mop fall and roll down the steps as she raced into the portal onto a battlefield.

Shards of Cybertronian battle armour rained around her as she took in the sight of battle between Autobot and Decepticon. Her eyes fell onto her guardian punching a Vehicon soldier, landing a hard hit to begin sending him to the ground, unaware of his human ally standing in fear below him. The human ran as fast as she could in order to dodge the falling Vehicon. Despite missing the Cybertronian, its force of landing on the ground behind her caused a shockwave for her, making her roll onto her knees to crawl away.

WINDSWEPT P.O.V

I glued my pedes to the ground as hard as possible so I could stop sliding away from my enemy. I looked at her smirking her usual smug smirk and giving me a 'come hither' signal with her servos… Well Slipstream, if that's what you want, that's what I'll give you.

I charged at her with my blade activated and swung high. I collided with her own sword to stop me from landing a blow onto her.

"Autobots, stand your ground!" I heard Optimus advise. "The artifact must not fall into enemy hands!"

We couldn't allow Slipstream and her minions to have it; whatever was in the cylinder was data we could really use to gain an edge in this war. The Decepticons may've been one down with Starscream departing them recently, but they were still a strong force.

"Have you heard from your unaccounted split-spark?" I narrowed my optics at Slipstream. "One must wonder, after all. I would imagine floating in the midst of nothing would be an exhilarating experience."

I released a small snort, "I could ask the same about Starscream." Two could play in this game; after all, she knew very well he wasn't with us. "You know where he is?"

Slipstream pressed harder on our swords, I had to hold mine with my other servo to stop hers pushing me down any further, "Do not dare speak to me of my traitorous twin."

"Did I hit a nerve?" I smirked.

She released the pressure of her sword upon mine by swinging it up. I backflipped out of the incoming swipe in time to see her sword land into the ground. I took a look around me; our team was busy fighting off the other 'Cons… but the silver cylinder with blue light and the red top sat idly on its own… The perfect time to make a run for it was this moment.

I sprinted as fast as I could to reach it when something tackled me hard and sent me away from the cylinder. There was dust all around me so I couldn't see who it was that had taken me down, but whoever it was transformed to get away, probably going back to the Data Cylinder. I sat up and rubbed my helm to make my optics refocus.

The vehicle transformed into a red figure. "Come to papa." Knock Out.

He was suddenly shoulder-barged into the ground, "Run to mommy."

Two fists slammed onto Bulkhead's helm that quickly grabbed him and spun him around, "Say uncle! SAY IT!"

"IT!" Aquastrike landed on Breakdown's shoulder padding to force him into letting Bulkhead go.

I climbed to my pedes to make sure I was fit and able to carry on; it had been a hard tackle by Knock Out, but certainly one that was not going to take me down in a hurry. I saw something charging in my direction in the corner of my optic, so I spun around to face Moonlight coming my way. I activated my blade on one arm, and curled my other servo into my fist as I charged towards her…

NORMAL P.O.V

Miko Nakadai dashed across the desert ground to the data cylinder, having watched her Autobot friends fail to grab it from their ruthless Decepticon foes. She slid her shoes onto the ground to slow herself down, landing against the cylinder to use it to cover herself. As Bulkhead and Aquastrike fought their foes nearby her, she opened her flip phone to call for assistance.

"Ratchet, come in!"

"Miko?" At the Autobot base, Starlight turned her head to Ratchet's questioning gasp. "This is an emergency channel! We need to keep it open for the Auto-Wait." The Autobot stopped himself at the clashing metal noises across the line. "Where are you?"

"Doy! I'm with the thingamabob!"

"The thingama…" Starlight stopped walking across the base as realisation dawned. "The data cylinder!"

"Yes! Can you guys 'bridge it out of here?" Miko begged, the battle continuing to grow fierce and close beside her.

"I'll reactivate arrival coordinates!"

Miko peeked her head over the cylinder at the familiar powering-up noise of the Groundbridge. She pulled a disgruntled face at where the portal sat, choosing to pay attention to her phone instead of Bumblebee slamming his opposing Vehicon, "Dude! Can you open it any closer?"

"We need coordinates, Miko."

"Uhm… fifty yards?"

"Precise coordinates!"

A shard of armour crashed onto the cylinder, forcing a gasp of fright out of the human. She ducked behind the cylinder once more. It was becoming clear for her that she was the only one that was going to be able to get the cylinder into the Autobot base. Tucking her phone into her back pocket, the girl stood up, pressing her palms onto the cylinder to force all the might she had into pushing it. Despite her attempts, the cylinder was too heavy for the small human.

Forming another idea in her mind, Miko raced away from the cylinder to a rock pile, spinning around to face the Cybertronian item, "One…" She clutched her fists together as she began sprinting. "Two…" She leapt up to slam her foot onto the cylinder…

WINDSWEPT P.O.V

I used every bit of the strength I had left in me to keep Moonlight's fists away from landing onto my faceplates. She had me pinned and was doing everything she could to land some kind of blow onto me, but I had a tight hold of both her fists so there was no way she was going to be able to any time soon.

There was a sudden whirring noise nearby me, like something was activating… Maybe the Decepticons had brought some new weapon and were about to use it?

Moonlight's fists weakened suddenly, like she wasn't even trying to punch me anymore. I looked up at her… but she was clearly distracted by something. I followed her optical line to the… activated Data Cylinder?

"Miko?" …I shouldn't even be surprised that she followed us out. She was probably bored without the other humans at base.

"Ah got 'er!" I flicked my optics over to Aquastrike shoving a Decepticon drone out of her way and making a run for it towards the Cylinder.

The drone hit her hard in her back struts… making her fall down at the same time a red beam came from the Data Cylinder… straight to her helm!

"Aqua!" I took advantage of Moonlight being distracted by shoving her off me.

The red beam deactivated as quickly as it had appeared. I could hear Miko and Bulkhead calling out for her as I got up to head over to them.

Slipstream suddenly came into view… grabbing the Cylinder. "I am very appreciative of your service, Aquastrike." She stood up with it in her servo. "My Lord will be even more grateful."

A Groundbridge portal suddenly opened up behind her. She, Knock Out and Breakdown immediately raced into it before it closed. Moonlight and the rest of the drones transformed into their jet forms to leave us here…

I looked back to Aquastrike getting up onto her pedes, and joined Bumblebee and Optimus in running up to her, Miko and Bulkhead.

"Aquastrike, are you-?"

"All good 'nd all, Ol' Prime." I blinked in surprise at Aquastrike's tone. "Don' even smart!"

…Don't even… huh?

"Ahhhhh, come on Ol' Grouch. Ah 'elped lose that thin' 'nd all! Ah wanna help y'all find it!" Aquastrike suddenly stood up from the medical berth.

"Ah ah." Ratchet grabbed her upper arm armour to settle her back down. "You're under mine and Starlight's watch now. Optimus' orders."

Starlight was on the other side, "We need to run a full scan on your neuronet, Aqua. I won't make the same mistake twice."

…I had a feeling it still bothered Starlight sometimes from when she failed to scan my processing unit when I was having visions of Megatron… which weren't exactly visions in the end. She was growing a lot wiser rather quickly, and very rarely did she ever fail to perform a routine check incorrectly these cycles.

Aqua gave a grumbled sigh, probably annoyed, "Ah'm tellin' all'a y'all ain't nothin' up there ta scan!" She grabbed the cable on the back of her helm… and pulled it out in typical Aquastrike fashion.

"She seems fine to me," Miko was shrugging on Bulkhead's shoulder.

"I don't see anything except for Aquastrike being her usual annoying self." I wanted to roll my optics at Sunburst.

He'd just arrived back after a routine patrol at the same time we had returned from the recon. Everyone else had kinda gone separate ways after that to recuperate from the mission.

"Aqua, please don't be like this. I'm asking for one scan."

Ratchet's sudden and fairly obvious annoyed groan stopped Aquastrike from answering, if she had planned on it, "Well Starlight, if Aquastrike insists on making herself useful, she and Bulkhead can help Miko tidy up." He held out the human-sized mop to them. "I would recommend Windswept or Sunburst to assist either of them, however I believe one of them needs to be resting from patrol, and the other should be with her charge like Arcee is."

I folded my arms and glared at Ratchet. To be fair I should've been at the Esquivel house like Arcee was, but I had been rostered on for recon duty if it happened… which, it did. Arcee didn't need assistance guarding the Esquivel home though; she could handle that herself. I could go when Jack was done having dinner with Carly and Rafael's family.

"I didn't know you hated us so much, Ratchet?" I wanted to laugh at Sunburst's quip.

"I don't hate any of you, but I highly dislike clutter in my med-bay." Ratchet turned to us. "Clutter that includes other beings gathered here for no reason!"

…In other words, he wanted space, and he wanted it preferably now.

"Ughh, he's mad with power!"

Bulkhead chuckled at Miko, "That's Ratchet."

Aquastrike was looking at the mop, "No vector squared alright."

…What?

"What?" Miko said exactly what I was thinking.

Aquastrike took the mop out of Bulk's servo, "Y'all, we got paint 'round 'ere?"

"Paint?" I could feel Sunburst's confused expression looking at me.

"Art project? Cool!"

…More like… strange…

NORMAL P.O.V

As the sun set for another day over Earth, the Nemesis flew silently across it. The ship peacefully observed the planet, a contrast to the storm brewing inside of the Cybertronian ship.

"What do you mean it's empty?"

"Lord Megatron, these cylinders are not unlike batteries. The data is stored within them as a form of energy." The Decepticon medical officer motioned to his screen of cylinder schematics. "It's scanned fully charged, that's how we located it to begin with. But now…" Knock Out touched the cylinder with the tip of his finger to activate the cylinder, a crackling poof of red mist appearing in response.

"It is simply nothing more than a dead battery," Slipstream mused unhappily beside her leader.

Megatron side-eyed the blue Decepticon to his right, "Did you drop it, you one-eyed oaf?!"

On the bench beside the empty data cylinder, the small form of Rebecca Rose covered her mouth to stop the laughter threatening to pour from her mouth.

"No, Master! I wasn't going to touch the thing after it put the zap on Aquastrike!"

Slipstream nodded in remembrance, "The red beam we had all paused to admire."

Knock Out looked at his compatriots thoughtfully, "Heeeeeeyyy, you think…"

"I know." The four Decepticons faced their leader. "And I must find out what that vessel contained. When it comes to the Secrets of the Ancients, knowledge can be power."

WINDSWEPT P.O.V

"Seriously, Ratch! You need to see what Aqua's painting in here!"

"Yes. I'm sure one hasn't truly lived until one has beheld the sequel to Bulkhead's take on 'Still Life with Lugnuts."

…Except this wasn't a random painting like Bulkhead done nanokliks ago. This was something that Sunburst and I especially had never ever seen from Aquastrike before. Unless she had a side to her neither us or Starlight had known about… but I found that extremely unlikely given how long we had known her.

"See?" I glanced at Miko running over with Ratchet and Starlight behind her. "Did I tell you or not?"

"The differential of one third R cubed is RDRR."

When Aquastrike had said she wanted paint, she clearly didn't want it just for no reason. It was likely because she had all these… equations in her processing unit that she just wanted to write out… onto every surface she could.

"That is…" Starlight was clearly agape while she approached Aqua. "Not art."

"It's science."

"Ratchet." I looked up at Sunburst's very concerned facial expressions. "'Swept and I have an idea of where she got that science too."

It could only be the Data Cylinder…

"This hot spot you see here is information." I watched the green screen zoom in on Aquastrike's helm and into her processing unit. A red pulse appeared offline - …offline or dead, whatever it was called - centre of her unit. "Data. Living energy."

Ratchet and Starlight had grown concerned enough that we needed all the team to be present, except for our other human friends though. It would be suspicious for Jack, Carly and Rafael to suddenly get up from the middle of the Esquivel family dinner. Miko had informed them via her phone of the situation, while Ratchet had to Groundbridge Arcee along with Bumblebee and Optimus back, since they had left for another routine scout after we'd got back.

"Hold on!" I glanced over to Miko on the platform above where the medical berth. "It's alive, it's on fire, and it's in Aquastrike's brain?" She was getting really stressed about Aqua; maybe it would've been better to have Carly here with her.

"Chill, Miko." Bulkhead had been trying and failing to calm her.

Mind you, she wasn't the only one stressed about our friend…

"T'e data's only inhabitin' a fraction of mah brain, infinitesimal by standard neural-net densities." …By the All-Spark… "How'd ah know all'a that?"

"Based on what we witnessed during our skirmish, the living data must have been programmed to eject when it sensed unauthorized access."

"A security measure."

"It would have jettisoned heavenward, lost to the stars."

Optimus and Starlight's reasoning made sense; as soon as Miko would've touched the cylinder, it would've recognised straight away that something was trying to access its data.

"'Cept my ol' engine plug was right in firin' line." Aquastrike was sitting up and tapping her helm.

"Every Autobot and Decepticon lunged for that cylinder," Sunburst reminded us, "I would presume there's a reason why it would consider Miko a hostile party?"

"The cylinder's originated from Cybertron's Golden Age." I glued my optics onto Aquastrike's scan results. "Predating the Autobot/Decepticon division." The scan suddenly disappeared so an image of the cylinder could appear.

"So it wouldn't consider any native of Cybertron to be a threat,."

"Only alien life forms such as humans."

Miko looked incredibly guilty again… Primus, I really did wish Carly was here…

"What about the symbols she's painting?"

"Are we staring at genius or gibberish?" Arcee raised her servo at another set of equations on the wall nearby her.

"I do not wish to falsely rally anyone's hopes…" I narrowed my optics at Ratchet's trail off. "But these equations appear to be the formula for a Synthetic Energon."

My metaphorical jaw hit the ground… Primus, was he talking about the kind that enhanced one's energy efficiency? That kind of Synthetic Energon?! Because if he was… that would really turn the tide of the war into our favour! Easily!

Bulkhead swung his arms in the air, "Woooaahh all right!"

"Woo-hoo!"

"We hit the mother lode?" I turned to Arcee at the same time she was fist-bumping Bumblebee.

Aquastrike's optics were lit up excitedly; even with the cable still attached to the side of her helm, she was leaning over the railing, "Ya know whar this means Missy Miko?" She was shaking her head with uncertainty. "Ya know Energon is our fuel, ammo, life force an' all? 'Cause it's in high d'mand on Earth, this is gon' solve all our problems!"

"Such as providing us with the edge we need to turn the tide of this war."

"Or handing us the key to revitalizing Cybertron."

My optics widened. Synthetic Energon could help us restore Cybertron? …Like, really really bring back our home?!

"We got the goods, and all Megatron got was an empty bucket."

"Ain' real of'en I gotta use mah processin' unit ta save the day an' all!"

I looked at Starlight's faceplates; they held worry at Aquastrike… and immediately, it was sinking into me too that maybe she had a right to be concerned. Sure, Aqua may've had all that information tucked up in her helm… but what about everything else she had in there? …Maybe this wasn't the reprieve we were looking for in this war… it just began to feel like something was seriously wrong.

…It wasn't going to impact her at all, was it?

"Intersection of atomic coordinates indicate convergent tertiary structures-"

"Aren't you done yet?!"

"-Resulting in an asymmetric-"

Aquastrike had been doing nothing but continuing to paint out her equations. Ratchet and Starlight had provided her with panels for her to work with instead of on the rest of the open wall space of the base… It was like she was fully immersed into her work, taken over by it, because she had barely looked at any of us in ages. And Miko had been sitting right in her optic line trying to get her attention for as long as Sunburst and I had stood watching.

…That feeling of something being wrong was not going away. It was sitting in the pit of my spark and it was refusing to budge, no matter how many times I kept trying to tell myself everything was okay. It would work… but then I'd look at Sunburst for reassurance… and I'd feel even more worry because of his own concerned expression.

"Gotta admit, it's weird seeing Aquastrike in brainiac mode." Arcee was standing with us.

"No kidding." So was Bulkhead. "Didn't even think she had those words in her vocabulary."

"You think that's a good thing?" Bumblebee had been rather unsure about the whole situation, like Sunburst and I. It felt weirdly good to know we weren't the only ones concerned.

Arcee walked up to the filled up panel and began dragging it away. Bumblebee and Bulkhead followed her over to Ratchet and Starlight. My pedes urged me to join them… but I really didn't feel like moving away from Aquastrike. It felt like I needed to stay with her.

"Vector L-one norm squared."

"Break time!" Miko climbed to her own human pedes. "How about a lightning round of TNT Street Racer Seven?"

"Energon temperatures 'nd volume-" Miko groaned loudly at Aqua ignoring her "-Angle trisector construction-"

It just didn't even sound like her anymore.

The longer she continued like this… the more worry I was beginning to feel. It just… was beginning to feel like Aquastrike was no longer… Aquastrike…

NORMAL P.O.V

"Got another round for you to log, Ratchet!" Arcee announced, settling the painted panel onto the ground with a row of similar equations and Bumblebee's assistance.

The Autobot medic ignored her, focused on showing his leader his new discovery, "This is Aquastrike's neural-net as you saw it earlier." His system beeped. "This scan was recorded just minutes ago." The red circle inside the aqua blue Autobot's head had grown, spreading in the Autobot's head. "It is as I feared. The data seems to be actively and aggressively rewriting Aquastrike's neural net. I had hoped she was purging the data, but she seems to be merely transcribing it as it-"

"Consumes her mind," Optimus gravely realised.

"If her mind progresses like this," Starlight began, voice shaky, "When she completes the formula-" Her tone dramatically turned into a whisper as Arcee's presence moved beside her. "Her own thoughts and memories could be wiped from ever existing."

"Bye-bye Synthetic Energon if we don't stop her," Bulkhead noted.

"We have a way of stopping her, right?" Arcee questioned Starlight.

The petite Autobot shook her head, "We do not exactly have instant access to the Wisdom of the Ancients."

Optimus lifted his head to glance at the busy Autobot continuing to paint out her work, as two more of his soldiers stood behind her in worry, "I will not allow another one of our own to be sacrificed. No matter the cost."

"If the living data had transmitted itself from the cylinder, perhaps we can somehow coax it back inside," The medic pondered.

"How're we supposed to get it back from the 'Cons?" Bulkhead asked.

"Megatron will bring it to us," The Autobot leader decided authoritatively, continuing his stare as his two soldiers locked their eyes with him.

Arcee followed the Prime's line of sight, "Do we tell them about Aqua's scan?"

Starlight shook her head immediately, "I don't want them to know; they'll be devastated. I don't-" The Autobot stuttered her words, reminded of the memories from her time at Iacon, the many events circling into her mind. "We should inform them of the plan to give them a distraction."

"That's your best option?"

The petite Autobot glanced thoughtfully at her blue teammate, "I think I would much prefer to have them not be here watching Aquastrike like this."

Several nods of agreement were acknowledged for the Autobot, aware of what Starlight was trying to tell them.

WINDSWEPT P.O.V

I activated my twin path blasters and deactivated them just as quickly. I was testing them since I was about to head with Optimus and the others. He'd come up with a plan to help Aquastrike remove the data in her mind, and it involved hopefully coaxing Megatron out with the Data Cylinder. He had advised that Sunburst and I should come while Ratchet and Starlight remained here with Aquastrike and Miko.

…I knew it was Starlight's idea to have us go with him. She knew it'd be better for us to go than stay here. But of course she would; sitting and waiting for someone to get better was painful. That was based on what I'd heard them say in the past anyway… but she wasn't incorrect from my point of view either.

It felt wrong to leave, however there was nothing Sunburst and I could do here. If going out with Optimus and the others meant there was an opportunity to help Aqua, then I was going for it. I just had to.

"Coefficient quotient of the subset amplified-"

"You want amplified?"

"-Provin' Perceptor's paradox is nothin' of the kind."

There was a sudden loud strumming noise from the main room; it echoed for ages into the hallway I was walking down. I exited the hallway to find Miko at her guitar… and Aquastrike visibly upset at the cord she played.

"What was that?!"

"Metal?!" Her tone suggested that Aqua should've known the song she was playing. I mean, I didn't know how often those two hung out with or without Bulkhead or anyone else, but Miko was making it sound like they were together often. "You love this song!"

Aquastrike was standing up and swinging an arm around furiously, "Ah'm tryin' ta concentrate!"

…I felt taken aback by my friend's snapping at Miko. Aqua was known to be wild and carefree with no filter. But she at least had some boundaries… I hadn't heard her like this in ages… not since Iacon.

I felt dread pouring into my stomach.

Footsteps sounded behind me, stopping beside me, "Aquastrike-"

"Argh! You're starting to sound just like Ratchet!"

"Who?"

…An ice cold shiver ran down my spinal strut…Who? …What do you Primus-damned mean, 'who'?! Aquastrike?!

"Ratchet? Our medical officer?" I could hear the confused worry in Sunburst's tone. "Does it not ring any bells?"

"Bells ain' gon' work for this." It felt like the shiver got colder.

Miko was making a run over to Ratchet and Starlight, "Ratch! Star! I think Aqua's losing her mind!"

I lifted my helm up to look at Ratchet and Starlight's expressions; they stood frozen on the spot with guilty expressions… like they already knew… "You already knew." Star was looking away from me once she realised I had spoken. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"We didn't want to frighten any of you." Ratchet placed his servo on top of his monitor. There was a small smile on his faceplates, like he was about to try and comfort us.

"But rest assured. Optimus has a plan."

"Ratchet, Optimus isn't Aquastrike's doctor," Sunburst argued.

I stepped forward and locked my optics on Starlight's troubled features, "What happens when Aqua's done with the formula?

"She'll go back to being regular 'Ol' Aquastrike', right?" Miko sounded hopeful.

…Ratchet and Starlight looking away from us just filled my form with even more dread.. Either they didn't know - which I didn't believe - or the answer wasn't good…

Miko closed her eyes for reasons I felt like I knew why; the only time I had really heard about her being emotional was when she had to leave Bulkhead and Aquastrike behind with Starscream when Carly and Jack came to save her in the mine. I had rarely seen her to the brink of tears before, apart from that… I fully underestimated the bond she had grown with Aquastrike…

"We can't lose her, 'Swept." Sunburst was right.

We had lost too many; Earth, amidst the battles on Cybertron… Iacon… There was no way I was going to allow another one of us to fall victim to the Decepticons here again.

I turned to the Groundbridge tunnel in determination. We were going to get that Data Cylinder, and we were going to somehow save Aquastrike. We had too, for her…

NORMAL P.O.V

"Lord Megatron." The silence between the Decepticon Warlord and his sole Second-In-Command by the approaching Knock Out. "We've detected a familiar Energon profile."

"The data," Megatron acknowledged

"Aquastrike must have left the shielded radius of their base. Breakdown and I will-"

"Fail me again?" The Warlord interrupted furiously.

"Be assured, Lord Megatron." Slipstream's eyes narrowed at a black, hot-pink highlighted Decepticon stepping between Knock Out and Breakdown to make their presence known. "I'll be more than happy to ensure the data returns to you, fully this time."

"Hmph, yeah right. Last time you went out, you left Starscream with the 'Bots."

Moonlight sneered at Breakdown, "Your point, Lugnut?"

"I would very highly doubt your Lord would appreciate another one of his soldiers to lay at the mercy of the Autobot leader again."

Megatron nodded menacingly, "Slipstream is not incorrect."

WINDSWEPT P.O.V

The full moon was said to appear nearly every thirty cycles, Carly told me once. She believed sometimes the strangest phenomena occurred when it was shining in clear skies. As a team, we had gone through plenty of oddities in the past; today was no different, of course… but watching my friend slip away from us because some living, data energy in her processing unit was consuming her was something I wasn't going to forget in a hurry.

Primus, please don't let it take her before we have a chance to somehow save her.

I heard the aerial jets before I saw them; they were in a formation and flying directly below the moon. I could see them transforming above us to land right before myself and my leader.

Megatron stood to full height on his pedes, "Optimus." His tone was full of surprise, which it should've been.

"And dearest Windswept." I narrowed my optics at Slipstream appearing from behind Megatron. She was clutching the Data Cylinder and looking rather confused - it was a refreshing sight, "You are certainly not either of the Autobot we had expected to uncover."

"But let me guess; you rigged a transponder to mimic the frequency of the data I seek."

"Guilty." Sunburst moved out from behind me.

Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee were laying back, while Sunburst and I stood on either side of our leader. I overlooked the army Megatron had brought with him; Slipstream, Moonlight, and a bunch of dumb Decepticon drones hanging all around them. It didn't really look like Megatron had come with an army just to use force on Aquastrike; more like they had prepared for a 'just in case'...

Optimus began stepping forward, "Megatron, I have a proposal."

Blaster weapons activated all around Megatron and Slipstream. I could hear the others moving like they were preparing to do the same behind me. We had discussed holding off our weapons as best and long as possible, in hopes we'd be able to peacefully exchange what the other seeked. Clearly, the drones didn't understand that… and neither did Moonlight, since she was pulling a knife from her side.

Megatron raised his arm like he was instructing them to hold their fire; they listened. "I'm… listening."

"Surrender the cylinder, and I will return it to you, fully restored."

…I hated the plan, but there hadn't been a lot of other options. Optimus and Ratchet had devised that we let Aquastrike finish off the Synthetic Energon Formula as much as possible, if not complete by the time we got back, as we regained the Cylinder. If Megatron was to agree, we'd happily take the Cylinder and try to pry the living energy in Aqua's mind into it. By that point, Ratchet and Starlight would've made significant enough progress with stabilising the formula that we'd have the advantage on the Decepticons.

With a bit of hope, Megatron would see that us handing over the Formula meant that we had discovered we didn't want… without fully realising our hidden agenda. Maybe we could even trick him into being so fearful of the data that he would destroy it… wishful thinking but the thought was there.

I just hated the plan for a lot of reasons; giving the Decepticons the edge we had too, Aquastrike being somewhat sacrificial in all of this, and even going out here to seek Megatron out when it wasn't close to a guarantee that he would accept our terms. There just wasn't a case to argue against the plan though, because we had no other options, and we needed that Cylinder if we had any hopes of somehow getting that living data out of my friend's processing unit.

I couldn't lose another friend, but especially Aquastrike. She was everything to us; she was funny and managed to make the room brighter than the colour of Bumblebee and Sunshine. She was the glue that held us Iaconians together. I just couldn't…

"This trinket right here?" Megatron motioned to the Data Cylinder; I could see the blue glow brightly in Slipstream's dark grip. "And pray tell, what trifles did it hold that you are so anxious to give away?"

"Accept the terms and you'll find out."

Megatron only bared his gritted denta to me… So this was how it was going to be; a stand off…

NORMAL P.O.V

"Do you remember the time you watched Wheeljack lob his only grenade into the Decepticon heat exchanger?"

"Who?"

Starlight looked at the conversation between Miko and Aquastrike in worry. The latter's memory over past events had grown worse as she continued to paint the Synthetic Energon formula. Panels of equations rested around the concentrating Autobot, as she continued her work, hardly registering the stressed human being pacing in front of her.

"Wheeljack!" Miko whipped her phone from her pocket, opening it to reveal a saved wallpaper of Aquastrike, Wheeljack and Bulkhead on her home screen. "Your best bud… besides me, Starlight and Bulkhead, of course." She watched the aqua blue Autobot spare a look at the phone before looking away. At the lowered head, Miko released a stressed noise, "Do you even know who I am?" Eyes catching sight of Starlight near them, her arms motioned towards her, "Or who she is?"

"'Course ah do!" Aquastrike began with a trying expression, eyes shifting between the pair, "You two're…" As her eyes narrowed in her attempt to identify the duo, the glimmer of hope Miko held in her expression faded. The Autobot's eyes returned to the panel, "Equivalent to the flattenin' of t'e oblate spheroid to t'e nth power, internal energy of isolated 'E' remains constant."

At the completion of another panel, Ratchet reached to pull it out of her way and into his grip, "Keep them coming, Aquastrike."

Starlight watched with guilt as her mentor walked away with the panel in hand, knowing what the initial plan had been. As her friend continued to slip away before her sky blue eyes, the more her fear and concern grew inside of her. She had been in the position of losing a teammate or fellow Autobot multiple times; never had she ever been in this kind of position, where her partner was being consumed and destroyed on the inside in such fashion.

She shook her head; if gaining an advantage to help her team was at the cost of her long-time friend, she no longer wanted it.

The sound of a Groundbridge opening beside her made her turn to the open portal with confusion of how it opened. She twisted her head to the human figure known as Miko sprinting to a stop to the open portal, the mop Aquastrike had been using as a paintbrush in hand.

Miko turned around, waving the mop in the air, "Come on," she began softly, "You wanna finish your formula, don't you?"

Starlight glanced back at Ratchet continuing his work, before hearing Aquastrike rise to her feet. She didn't know what Miko had planned, all she knew was whatever she wanted to do, she was eager to help too…

WINDSWEPT P.O.V

"Do you accept my proposal?" Optimus sounded like he was getting frustrated.

I was already there; Megatron had just stood there in silence, and it was like Slipstream, Moonlight and the rest of the dumb drones had taken a vow of quietness too. Nobody was moving and nobody was speaking…

This wasn't what we wanted. We needed to help Aquastrike and we needed to help her now.

"Give me a moment."

…What in the All-Spark…?

He turned and walked away from us… it just felt like we were just wasting time here… he was wasting time…

Megatron was stalling… for what reason could he be stalling?

NORMAL P.O.V

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

"It's complicated," Megatron informed his medical officer, overlooking his shoulder.

"Well, Breakdown, Rebecca and I may have located the bogey, fully charged."

The Warlord's eyes locked onto the cylinder in his Seeker's hand, "Proceed."

"Just one hitch; we don't have the cylinder."

"Then bring me the head of Aquastrike."

"Look! You love monster trucks!" Starlight overlooked her surroundings Miko had groundbridged them and Aquastrike too; an arena for a monster truck rally. The arena appeared ready to hold another event if it were dated to. "Remember when we snuck in here after the show last week?"

"Mass times t'e fusion rate squared is constant."

Starlight withheld her urge to reach her arm out to the distracted Aquastrike, "Does this arena remind you of anything?"

"Arena curve?" Her friend questioned incredulously, "No, no, no. That wouldn' factor in."

"How about our Sunday morning dune bashings with Bulkhead? Rocking out to Slash Monkey? Helping me with my homework? Ha! Trick question! You know I don't do homework…" Miko grew silent as Aquastrike continued to paint her equations. "Don't you?"

Starlight felt her spark tear at the human's helpless attempts to bring back their friend. She didn't know what to do; her longtime partner was slipping away before her eyes. The plan to recover the data cylinder and pry the information inside her mind back into it had been an idea she didn't truly believe could work. It had become clearer the longer her teammates remained away trying to reclaim it.

"Okay, forget the past! Starting now, we can make new memories."

"The cube root of the exothermic Energon yield Delta 'E; violates clank's law of Energon conservation."

Starlight inhaled and stepped to her friend, "You are somewhere, inside your big spark, Aqua. If you are listening, I can only hope you know how much I have loved having you as my partner through everything." She shakily placed her hand on the lower arm of her partner's, "Raindrop would be so proud of you."

Miko blinked away her tears at Starlight's words, "Aquastrike, I know somewhere inside you, you'll always remember me." She placed her hand on the Autobot's ankle armour. "And I just want you to know… I'll never forget you."

"Boo hoo!" The Autobot pair flinched at the harsh voice. "I'm shedding lubricant!"

Miko narrowed her eyes at the Decepticon trio standing on the other side of the arena, before slamming her fist onto the side of Aquastrike's armour, "Follow me right now or these guys are gonna…"

"Steal the formula!"

Aquastrike froze at Starlight's words, "My equations!"

Miko sprinted away from the duo, "Come on! Come on!" Her urging was enough for Aquastrike to begin to follow, with Starlight racing after them.

"Not like Aquastrike to run from a fight." Breakdown mused.

Knock Out flipped down into the stadium, his Cybertronian and human partners in tow, "I'm afraid our friend has had a little too much to think."

Pulling her weapon from her side, Rebecca Rose chuckled, "Lord Megatron, we are good."

WINDSWEPT P.O.V

"Optimus." Finally… It felt like eternity waiting for Megatron. "Upon careful consideration, if you want the cylinder, you'll have to take it."

Blasterfire rained towards us from the dumb drones. I activated a blaster in one servo, and raised my other up to cover myself. I needed to see where Slipstream was, since she had the Cylinder… Primus Megatron, what on Cybertron was making you stall?

I felt someone's presence beside me, "Megatron's left." I directed my optic line towards Megatron's side as Arcee had instructed, and sure enough, Slipstream was there… surprisingly uneager to participate in a fight.

I fired at two drones heading my way, but they went down easily. My path was now clear, "Cover me?"

"Always."

I charged towards Slipstream and fired. One hit managed to land on her arm, enough for her grip on the Cylinder to loosen considerably, "Hand it over!"

I could see her scowl turn into her usual smirk, "I shall gladly." She passed over the Cylinder into Megatron's waiting servo, and activated her swords. "I would never pass up an opportunity to battle with the niece of my Lord."

The mere reminder that I am an Energon relation to a Decepticon Warlord didn't hit me as hard as it would've done when I first learnt of it. Though, it still gave me the urge to want to vomit on occasion… because there were moments when I still couldn't believe it… but I wasn't just Megatron's niece; I was also one of a Prime. And on top of that, one that would do anything for my friends and partners.

I would gladly fight Slipstream on behalf of Aquastrike, for many reasons, but mainly, because she was the only thing that stood between me and the 'Con holding the key to saving her life.

NORMAL P.O.V

Monster trucks of multiple colours and designs sat idly in the carpark of the arena. It was a sight the Decepticon trio of Knock Out, Breakdown and Rebecca were greeted with after following their Autobot counterparts.

"Okay then; fun and games." At Knock Out's signal, the trio walked in separate directions in their search. "Come out, come out, wherever you are…" The vain Decepticon sing-songed, closely looking at each monster truck he walked by.

Within a close group of trucks parked around them, Miko hid behind one of her guardian's rear wheels, her cell phone held up to her face.

"Starlight to Ratchet, do you read?" The motorcycle form of Starlight asked urgently, parked opposite to her Cybertronian teammate.

Miko's expression soured with an audible grumble, "The 'Cons are scrambling the signal!"

"But t'e trisector of t'e polygon is 'n integral subset-"

"Shh quiet!" The student immediately demanded as she stood, "And whatever you do, keep still." She moved her body to face Starlight, "I'm gonna see if I can get far enough to call for backup. Split up?"

The motorcycle reversed slowly, quietly, "Do not get caught."

"You too!" The student ran away from the pair of Cybertronians in disguise, scampering between the range of monster trucks surrounding her.

Heavy footsteps forced her into hiding behind a truck's large tire as Knock Out stepped in front of the truck. The Decepticon turned his head curiously before bending to his knees, lifting the truck on his right and mirroring the movements on his left. He gripped the sides of each truck to help himself back to his feet to continue his search, deciding to search in another direction, unaware that Miko was leaping down from her hiding spot underneath one of the truck's cockpits.

The form of Breakdown's hammer slammed into the side of a green and black striped monster truck. Walking alongside a row of them, he smashed his hammer against the next one in line. He stopped, bending down in front of a rustic orange truck, "Aquastrike! Is that you?" The former Stunticon poked at the windscreen to break it, smashing his hammer onto its roof.

Footsteps dashing behind him made him turn to face the human charge that belonged to his arch enemy. She stopped, looking up at the blue Decepticon, immediately returning into a sprint into another row of monster trucks.

Breakdown was quick to begin following her when a familiar figure appeared in front of him. The bionic human was holding her arm out to her fellow Decepticon, "She's mine." The small Decepticon was running after the human before he could argue.

The blue Cybertronian wasn't amused by the order, lifting up a purple monster truck to throw it away to continue his search.

"Breakdown." At his name, he turned to face his smirking partner. "Let Rebecca handle the human. Games are only fun to play-" Knock Out pulled out his Energon scanner to activate it. The device immediately beeped, pointing into the direction ahead of him. "-When you're winning."

Taking cover under a nearby monster truck, Miko paused to dial the familiar number in his phone. She immediately received static, proving she was not yet out of range of the interference the Decepticons were producing.

"I'm afraid your cellular device is still out of service for the time being." Miko gritted her teeth at the taunting voice behind her. Her body twisted around, facing the human figure smirking at her. "May I offer an alternative solution?"

"What do you want, you metal-limbed freak?"

From her position of bending down between two of the monster truck's large tires, Rebecca whistled lowly, "The name calling's a little unnecessary, don't you think?" The anger in her opponents eyes only made the amusement in her own grow. "Oh, I forgot. Poor little Miko has to watch as one of her Autobot bestie's loses their mind. What a tragedy."

"The only tragedy I see is you."

Surprise adorned the Decepticon's face, "Oh? Please tell me just how so?"

"You think you're the 'Con everyone should be scared of, but you're not. You've had every chance to kill me and my friends. We're still standing."

Rebecca indifferently overlooked her nails, "Maybe I just enjoy keeping you lot around as my entertainment."

"You don't have the heart to get rid of us."

The Decepticon snapped her vision up to the girl, "I don't have a heart."

"Spark." Still bending her knees underneath the monster truck, Miko awkwardly stepped up to Rebecca to be within her personal space, faces mere inches from each other. "Point stands; you don't wanna get rid of us 'cause you actually care 'bout us."

Rebecca felt a mix of amusement and intrigue inside her as she continued her stare off with her enemy still very much in her space, "You know, Miko, I could very much end your life within a split second-" She brought out a silver boomerang, gently pointing the tip of it up against the skin underneath the human's chin. "-And you wouldn't even feel a single thing."

Miko mirrored the growing smirk, "Do it."

The pair remained still, glaring murderously at each other, waiting for the other to make a move. Tension surrounded them thickly, enveloping the pair as they waited in bated breath for the other to fidget or blink…

The beeping on Knock Out's scanner sped up rapidly as he approached an aqua blue offroading vehicle, "I think I'm warm."

The vehicle transformed into exactly who he was looking for with their paint-covered mop in hand, "En3 divided by t'e square root of t'e propulsion factor equals-"

Aquastrike painted her words onto the vain Decepticon, the drawn equation immediately had him shaking in fury, "You painted my paint job! Prepare for surgery!"

Breakdown stormed up to the former Wrecker, lifting his fist in preparation for a punch. He was suddenly pulled backwards, head covered by the small hands of Starlight as she used all her might to pull the Decepticon away from her friend, the heels of her feet digging hard into her enemy's back. Breakdown released a growl, swinging his body and the lithe Autobot around easily in his attempt to get the latter to relent. He twisted his body into Aquastrike, making the pair of Autobots collide onto the ground.

The human form of Miko sprinted out from below a monster truck to discover the sight; Knock Out and Breakdown standing precariously above the downed Autobots. The latter Decepticon grabbed the smaller Autobot by her neck, dragging her to knees to watch his partner grip her friend's unconscious head.

Knock Out tilted Aquastrike's head up to expose her neck, activating his bladed saw, "Heads, you lose." His weapon roaring to life, he slowly lowered it down.

"NOOOOO!"

WINDSWEPT P.O.V

I wiped the Energon on my lips with my closed fist. My pedes were stopping me from skidding further backwards from Slipstream. She was hell-bent on defending the cylinder and Megatron, more so than I'd ever remember her being before. And she was usually pretty defensive of him as it was.

There was movement in the corner of my optic, so I spared a glance at a fallen Decepticon drone… the last one. I'd seen them flying around me during the battle; the ground fighters had gotten worse during combat as of late. I could've sworn it.

I felt a presence nearby me, "You're outnumbered, Buckethead." Bulkhead; because only one of us called him that.

But he was right. It was Megatron, Slipstream and Moonlight against the six of us.

"Well, in that case." Megatron lifted up the cylinder. "No one gets it!" It was crushed before us… nothing but scrap metal on the ground…

I collapsed to my kneeplates… "Noooo…"

That was our only chance to save Aquastrike… crushed into nothing.

Megatron and Slipstream turned away from us to transform, but Moonlight remained with a somewhat humoured expression, "Better say your farewells to your friend." She transformed and followed the others.

There was a servo on my shoulder plating… but if it was trying to comfort me, it wasn't doing anything. There was nothing that could…

"Optimus." Please bring us some good news Ratchet… somehow… "Aquastrike, Starlight and Miko have abandoned base!" …What in the… "I have their GroundBridge coordinates!"

"Explains why Megatron was stalling, then."

…That's right. He was stalling… clearly because he must've had some kind of inkling that Aquastrike wasn't going to be kept at base… I should've known Miko wasn't going to be able to keep herself at base… but Starlight?! …That shouldn't have surprised me either. I knew Star was trying to keep it all together, but at the end of cycle, this was her best friend… Primus, this night could not have gone any worse.

"'Bridge us back, immediately."

I rose to my feet and shrugged off Sunburst's servo. I was not going to allow any more bad things to happen tonight… we had to get to the location of my friends. Now.

NORMAL P.O.V

The saw edged closer to the cables on Aquastrike's, prompting Miko into running towards the Decepticon duo. She spotted a pipe on the ground nearby her friends, bending down to grab it quickly, before lifting it above her head in her quest to stop Knock Out.

The pole was suddenly grabbed, halting the girl in her attempt as she spun around to come face to face with Rebecca's smirk. The latter tugged the pole out of the other's grip, the force strong enough for Miko to fall to the ground. Her enemy grabbed her arms, spinning her around so she was pinned and forced to watch the scene before her.

The younger teenager fought hard against the arms holding her back, watching with dread as the saw moved closer to her friend's neck. She twisted in Rebecca's grip, enough to face the elder teenager, "Let me go!"

"This is what you get for trying to get under my skin," Rebecca gritted out, tightening the grip, hearing a cry of pain from the girl at one of her arms being lightly crushed by her bionic grip, "Oh, and for shoving me earlier."

"You got in my face!"

The elder teenager chuckled, "I believe you got in my face, sweetheart."

Miko growled a noise of frustration, struggling hard enough to nearly have the grip loosened on one of her arms. Her determined eyes locked with her amused captors', "Ever had someone you love about to die in front of you."

Rebecca laughed incredulously, "I've never loved anyone in my life."

"You had a human mother and father." The laughter stopped at the words. "You loved them at some po-."

Rebecca glowered at the words, harshly shoving the teenager out of her grip. Her opponent landed against the side of Aquastrike's head roughly. The former began stalking towards the fallen human when a sudden whirring noise came from Aquastrike, halting her movements along with the rest of those surrounding them. The aqua blue Autobot's eyes opened, shining an angry red before two beams of the same colour activated towards the sky.

Knock Out and Breakdown backed away from the beams in panic, allowing the latter to release his hold on the surprised Starlight.

"Not again!"

"Get down!"

As the Decepticon pair ducked, the beams intensified, much to the horror of Miko. The girl's eyes shone brightly with concern, "I did it again?"

Rebecca's scowl shifted from the beams to the terrified human, "Did what again? What did you do?!"

The red beams of knowledge continued shooting its energy to the sky, the red glow illuminating their area. In the dark of the night, the black and greyness of the clouds, the red beams eventually siphoned its' energy from Aquastrike, leaving its' knowledge to the sky.

Miko watched the red aura disappear into the overcast sky, before her tear-filled eyes landed on her unconscious friend. She stepped up to her, snivelling, "Aquastrike?"

"Aquastrike, do you hear me?" Starlight was moving into action, servos cradling her teammate's face as she overlooked her for any sign of life.

A sudden purple beam shining onto the aqua blue Autobot made the pair turn to the scanner in Knock Out's hand. It soon deactivated, having collected enough data for the medical officer to oversee the results. He grimaced at his partner, "Dead battery." He turned to face the Autobots. "Megatron will peel our paint for losing that data."

"So we're gonna have to peel you two," Breakdown decided.

Starlight stood up, a knife in each hand in preparation to defend herself, her partner and her human friend when a Groundbridge portal activated behind the Decepticon pair…

WINDSWEPT P.O.V

I leapt out of the Groundbridge portal with my weapons activated and pointed straight at whoever was in front of me… which was Knock Out, Breakdown and Rebecca… very clearly threatening the lives of my friends.

"-Or peel out of here." I don't know what Knock Out had said prior to our arrival, but his decision to flee was a great idea. They were the ones severely outnumbered now that most of us from the initial mission had come through the 'Bridge.

I could hear someone crying behind me, so I immediately spun around… where I could feel my spark shatter. Miko was helplessly crying next to Aquastrike, and Starlight was on the other side of her. I didn't need to see her faceplates to know she was just as distraught.

"Aqua…" Everything inside of me felt like it was tearing itself apart at Miko's broken voice…

Primus please don't take her away from us…

The base was silent and eerie; never had this place felt so lifeless and dull. Aquastrike was connected to machines through cables on the medical berth, while the rest of us just stood and waited for any sign of life from her. Starlight had explained on behalf of Miko that during the struggle between them, Knock Out, Breakdown and Rebecca, the living data inside Aqua's mind had reactivated and spat itself out into the solar system…

Maybe the energy recognised Miko's alien life form again and did the exact same thing it did when she first touched the data cylinder? …Well, whatever it had done, it left Aqua in some self-induced stasis lock that her systems were not allowing her to wake up from… yet.

…I so badly wanted to hope that she'd still be the same Aquastrike as before all this mess… I just wasn't sure if she would be…

"The data has been fully expelled." I glanced at the medical monitor where Aquastrike's processing unit was present. He was highlighting her mind in red to show there was no more of that living data in her helm. "But Aquastrike remains completely unresponsive."

My spark was breaking at the words…

"Because the energy took Aquastrike's mind with it. Heavenward. Lost to the stars." I don't think I could ever recall seeing Miko in this way before. "It's my fault you'll never know the rest of the formula, and it's my fault Aquastrike's gone forever."

"Miko, your quick thinking prevented the formula from falling into Decepticon hands." Optimus was attempting to reassure her, but if she was anything like Aqua, she wasn't going to be accepting it.

Starlight mentioned that Miko had been bound by Rebecca, and had managed to anger her enough into reacting by letting her go. She was thrown into Aquastrike, which caused the activation of the formula's release.

I couldn't give a damn about that Synthetic Energon formula being 'lost to the stars'. If it meant that there was a chance Aquastrike was saved because of what she did, I would be forever grateful for her for the rest of my life.

"If anyone would have backed that play, it's Aquastrike." I looked at Arcee at her voice cracking with emotion. She was standing with Bumblebee, who was nodding next to her and Starlight.

'Bee hadn't left Star's side since we met up with them, and she hadn't said a word at all since.

"Aqua would've been cheering you on, Miko," Bulkhead added softly.

"It's simply too early to know the extent of her condition," Ratchet warned us, "Something as simple as a familiar sight or smell, perhaps even a sound could trigger Aquastrike's awakening."

"A sound as in, somebody's voice?" I felt confusion spread along my faceplaces at Sunburst's question.

"Perhaps," Ratchet nonchalantly shrugged.

Sunburst's servo on the back of my shoulder-platting squeezed gently before disappearing as he stepped over to Aquastrike. There was a weird sense of determination about his aura, like he knew that whatever he was going to do, he was going to make sure she woke up…

"Aquastrike, you and I will never see optic-to-optic, even Primus knows we'll never get along." …Everybody knew that… so what was Sunburst's point in this? "But you'll listen to me right now because this is important." I could see his optics lock onto Miko. "There's a little human right beside you that just saved your life. One day she might need saving too, so you need to be here to return the favour, all right?" His optics flicked between Starlight and I. "Don't let Star or 'Swept down either, or anyone else, Aqua." His voice was cracking. "We all need you here, all right?"

My vision grew blurry at the lubricant in my optics, "Sunburst…" I could barely lift my voice above a whisper.

I don't recall ever hearing him say something so touching to Aquastrike, or vice versa...

…But there was nothing… no movement or even a sign he got through to Aquastrike… nothing…

A sudden beeping came from the monitor which made me look at Aquastrike… her optics were opening…

Miko was suddenly on her feet on the medical berth, "Aqua… strike?"

Aqua's servo reached out to Sunburst's wrist, and gripped it tightly. It clearly caught him by surprise, because his optics were widening in surprise and worry. Her optics locked onto his, "Ah knew ya cared, Sourshine."

I couldn't stop the laughter coming from me… I was just so in disbelief of what I was looking at. Aquastrike was sitting up, and just looked plain okay as if she hadn't gone through a single thing! …Primus, did she even remember what even happened to her?

Did it even matter?

"Well, d-don't get used to it, all right?"

"Ya know eve'ybot jus' heard'cha pour your spark out ta me, ya lemon?"

"You sound like you're back to normal. I take every nice thing I just said back."

"Ya sound like yaself too, Sunshine!"

Yes and no. I don't know whether Aquastrike knew she was being affected by the living formula or if it totally rewired her mind to the point where her subconscious was completely oblivious to it… but it didn't matter because she was here and she was okay. Of course she was, because she was part of Team Prime.

There was nothing we couldn't handle, no matter what could get thrown our way. We were going to come out on top, just like we always did.