Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.

Pandimala: *glances at bank account* You seem a little spend happy there.

Authoress: *frowns* It's fine. just planning a vacation.

Pandimala: That seems like a little more than planning.

Authoress: *smiles* Well, I've technically been planning it since last year. It's just getting closer to becoming a reality, and I have to make reservations.

Pandimala: *surprised* Holy slag you can plan ahead and it actually works?

Chapter 7: Reflections

Pandimala's 1st P.O.V.

And whose fault is that?

My spark felt like it was collapsing as those words continued to echo in my processor. We had tried so hard to find them as quickly as we could. But it wasn't enough. By the time we had found them, they were…changed. We hadn't done enough. There had to be more that we could have done. There had to be. Maybe if we hadn't left them behind…to face the problems we let ourselves forget about.

Something!

A bout of panic raced through my systems as I lost my footing on the rocky ledge I was traveling by and quickly reached out a servo to steady myself. I could feel my spark rate pulsing against my chestplate as I stood there, thoughts moving so fast through my helm that I couldn't even grasp their meaning. Something. There had to be something I wasn't seeing! Something that we could have done. Something.

I sat down where I stood, afraid of moving forward due to the unstable ground, and tried to focus my thoughts. Why hadn't we made sure we took care of MECH? They were dangerous, and I knew just how twisted they could be.

'None of this is your fault,' I jumped when Plena Teo's voice echoed in my helm. Outside of a few comments, he hadn't said much since our return to Earth, and I almost forgot the spirit was there.

But he was wrong. 'But it is, Plena. I've known so much information…perhaps if I had tried to make sure that MECH was completely wiped out.'

'You couldn't have known where they all were despite your memories, Pandimala.'

'I could have tried.' I insisted as I placed a servo against my helm. 'There had to be something that I could have done. Anything.'

I could feel the spirit shake his helm inside my processor. 'You did everything you could, femme. Everything. You even helped make sure that Silas never saw the light of the sun ever again. That,'

'Didn't help a thing!' I internally yelled at the mech. 'All that did was make it easy for Prometheus to step up to the reins and allow this.' My spark felt heavy as I felt the guilt inside me welling up even tighter. 'They didn't deserve this.'

There was silence between us before the spirit let out a vent. 'And neither did you.'

"It's not the same," My voice came out as a whisper, pulling my legs closer to my chestplate.

"You look like hell, femme," I jumped and turned to the source of the voice. There, sitting on a rock nearby, was Staff Sergeant Fanzone. Given the size of the cigar in his hand, he must have been sitting out here for a while. How didn't I notice him?

Shaking my helm, I tried to get off of my thoughts. "What are you doing out here?" I asked the human.

My question, in turn, caused the man to take one final drag out of his cigar before he tossed it over the cliff. "Lincoln and Corvus were messing around with Knight. There is only so much I can take before stepping away. Hansen has it covered, though." He then looked purposefully at me. "So, you going to say what's eating you up? Or should I assume that the reason you are here is the same reason part of the base is gossiping among themselves like fucking mother hens?"

Word was already spreading? Honestly, I shouldn't be surprised. I was a failure, and it was time that the rest of the base knew that. 'Pandimala, you aren't a failure.'

I shook my helm to try and ignore Plena Teo before I answered the man. "What is the base saying?"

Fanzone gave me a knowing look. "What I was hearing on the radio before I shut the damn thing off was that the one kid threw a fit and said some harsh words to you."

They knew. "He wasn't wrong. It was my fault. There was more we could have…should have done."

"Bullshit," My optics widened in shock as those words came from the man. "You all left clean. If anything, it was our job to round up the remnants of MECH. God knows we knew the danger of leaving them around. Hell, even before you all came into play, we were having problems with the damn group. But, we slacked off because we didn't see them as much of a threat since you all left." He then gave me a pointed look. "However, we know that we can't be blaming ourselves for this shit. The only ones we should be blaming are those fucking monsters for doing what they did in the first place." He then glanced at me with a studying look. "Did you blame the Autobots for what happened to you?"

That wasn't…that wasn't the same. "It's not the same."

Fanzone's look grew more pointed. "That was a yes or no answer, femme."

But it couldn't be compared. Why should I answer his question when they were two separate situations? I…I knew what I was risking. "I can't answer it the way you want…our situations weren't the same."

"That's a bunch of slag, and you know it," The pressure on my spark lifted slightly at the sight of Knockout. However, the knowing look on his faceplate made me hesitate. "Despite how they happened, the situations were basically the same. You didn't ask to get shot, and they didn't ask for that."

"But I knew the risks," I argued. "When I went out that solar with Cliff…I knew that there was a chance I could be placed in danger." A flash of purple light went through my processor as the memory of that solar threatened to rise. It…it was different.

Knockout sat down next to me and leaned against my shoulder. "Believe it or not, femme, they did know the risks. They've known them since their first few solars with the Autobots. They've known about them since their first encounters with the Decepticons all those solars ago. Despite the trouble they would get into, I'd say they are pretty intelligent…for the most part." I couldn't stop the short laugh that escaped me as Knockout grumbled that last bit. "And any being smart enough to survive helping the Autobots during all of that is smart enough to know that enemies don't just move en masse when one of their targets leaves. That is especially given Earth's technology. MECH wouldn't have followed us to Cybertron. Could more have been done? Possibly. But we didn't make the wrong choices. Just different ones." He then seemed to get a faraway look. "Do you blame yourself for Dreadwing offlining?"

His question threw me off. Of course, I didn't. I tried to warn him from doing anything rash, but he had made his own choices—and Megatron made his. "No. I tried to stop him from making that choice, but he did so anyway."

A calming wave traveled through our bond as he gave me a small smile. "Exactly. We did the same when we left Earth. They knew who their enemies were, and they prepared the best they could. But MECH was one step ahead."

A vent escaped me as I listened to their words. They…they were right. Despite the guilt I felt for all of this…it wasn't my fault.

'Now say it out loud so they can hear it too.'

'Frag off,' I huffed at the spirit before I looked between Knockout and Fanzone. "You are both right. It…it wasn't my fault."

Knockout lightly pulled my faceplate down, and I felt a slight blush on my faceplate when he gave me a quick kiss. "See, I knew you could do it,"

I couldn't form words for a few nanos, still recovering from the unexpected kiss. "I…I uh,"

"Do I need to leave you two for some alone time?"

My faceplate felt like the temperature of the sun when he said that. "N…No." I flexed my wings to help me calm down before I shook my helm. "We should be getting back. Despite what happened, I need to check in on Fowler and June before their training sessions are over for the solar. And then, I need to meet with the families and update them on the progress being made." I then smiled. "Thank you for the offer. We do appreciate it."

Raf's 1st P.O.V.

A flinch traveled through me when Skywarp's fist barely missed my helm. I was doing fine earlier. My defensive training had been going well enough that Soundwave had been having me try to strike at Skywarp. It had scared me a lot, but I had tried.

And then Jack had come in.

I knew that I shouldn't be so trusting of them. At least, normal people…bots, wouldn't be trusting them. But I wanted to. I really wanted to trust them. Ever since they came here with Pandimala, they gave me no reason to think they were going to hurt me. They had changed. I saw that in all of the past Decepticons. They weren't the same as before. They weren't like…MECH.

I felt a wave of panic as my processor dug up those memories. The injections, the pain, the immersions…and all of the shocks. They wouldn't stop. I…I just wanted them to stop. "Stop," The words escaped my vocals before I realized what I was doing. Immediately, Skywarp pulled the punch he was about to throw and stepped away from me.

"Go take a break, Skywarp," I looked up at Soundwave as he spoke. His voice held no room for arguments.

Skywarp, though, didn't look like he would argue anyway. "Yeah, I got it. I'll see if I can't swipe some energon goodies from Wheeljack's stache."

Once the seeker was gone and the doors were closed, Soundwave moved his gaze back to me. "Raf, do you need Pandimala?"

I shook my helm and sat down on the ground. "No, I…I just went back to…to what they did." My helm dropped at the thought of the trouble I was causing. "I'm sorry. We were getting so far in training, too."

Soundwave sat across from me and shook his helm. "This is a part of training, too. You hit a limit, and you let us know. That is exactly what we need you all to do." He then paused. "Is there anything you wish to talk about?"

When he asked me that, I wasn't ready for it. There were so many questions, but I wasn't sure how to ask them. Everything was so new, and I felt I would break something if I moved the wrong way. I had been so small before. I understood why the bots were always so careful around us now. The few times Soundwave's symbiots had come around, I had been nervous with them because of their size. How was I going to see my family again if I couldn't control myself?

"Does it get easier?" I felt like a passenger in my own chassis as the question left my vocals. But it was what I wanted to ask him. After all of this, would things get better? And with our lives ahead of us, I wasn't even sure how long that would be. I had to know that it got better.

Soundwave faced me for a few nanos before he spoke. "It's like anything in existence. There will be good solars, and there will be solars that tear you apart mentally. We have to move forward because there will be good solars. And those good solars are worth working through all the bad in our existences. Once you are used to your chassis, it will help you move through those times."

My spark felt a relief I didn't know it needed. "Thank you." I then thought back to earlier, when I hit Jack, and I realized that could have gone really bad. If it had been a big bot that I didn't know that I hit, I could have been hurt. Honestly, with how Jack looked, he might have hit me back. It was stupid for me to do that, despite how much he needed hit. I needed to be better trained. Soundwave and I were about the same size, and from what the history files said and from what the others used to say about him, he used to fight bots like Megatron to survive. So I knew it was possible for me to stand a chance against bots Jack's size. "Um…Soundwave?

"What is it?" He asked me back.

A wave of nervousness went through me before I pulled up the courage to ask him. "I was wondering if you could train me to defend myself better. We are similar builds, and I know from the others that you used to take on bots like Megatron." When he didn't answer at first, I realized I might have made a mistake. "Or not. I'm sorry, I didn't,"

I stopped talking as Soundwave lifted a servo. "For now, learn what Skywarp has to teach you. He has a better grasp of the basics. Because of my past, I didn't get the chance to develop the basics that one should. Once you have the basics down, I will teach you what I can. You've kept your side of our bargain, and as long as you continue to do so, I will teach you. But," I felt nervous as he said that. "As you made me promise, I won't hold back. My training is not easy. I trained to survive, and that is how I will train you. If you are alright with that, then we should be fine."

While I knew it wouldn't be easy, this was my life now. I needed to be ready for it, and Soundwave would be one of the best teachers to help me. "Yes, I'll be fine with that."

"Good." He then glanced toward the doors. "Now, can I let Skywarp back in? He seems to be waiting outside the doors."

"Yeah," I agreed with a nod.

When the door opened not long after, I felt my optics widen in shock as I saw the mech. There were scorch marks on the edges of his armor. "Sorry, I don't have any goodies. Fragging Wrecker set up a decoy with a trap on it." He then grinned widely. "But I left him a present back. And this is only cosmetic, so not bad." The mech then rubbed his servos together. "Now, let's get back to where we were. I want you to use your right side and strike me as hard as you can!"

Miko's 1st P.O.V.

That fragger better fix his attitude before he meets with me. I can't believe Jack would do that to Raf! We all made our choices in training, and just because Jack was being a party pooper and not working with the Decepticons and neutrals here at base, that didn't mean that he could try and control Raf! I had heard some soldiers talking about it as they were walking by earlier, which meant that something big had to happen.

Raf didn't have a lot of confidence as it was most solars. Frag, it had been almost impossible for him to stand up for himself at the base. And being in charge of decisions? Rarely. Back then, Jack or I had to say something to the bots about letting Raf help out. He was a fragging genius, and he could have helped the bots out so much back then, now that I thought about it. But, with his nervousness, he was usually pushed to the side unless one of us said something.

Even though what MECH did to us was awful, it allowed Raf to be his own bot and make his own decisions. From the little I heard about his training, he was doing that. I mean, I'm not sure I would have asked for Soundwave of all bots to work with me, but he would help out Raf the most. They were both super smart like that.

"Miko, you're getting distracted," I flinched and barely dodged Barricade's strike as he said that.

Slag, I was getting distracted. But I couldn't help it. That whole situation was just causing my energon to boil. "Sorry about that," I then dodged a few more strikes. "Hey, can we take a pause real quick?"

The mech nodded and backed up, allowing his systems to cool as Ironhide walked up to us. "What's going on?" He asked with a glance at me, probably looking for injuries.

"She was distracted and asked to stop," Barricade answered as I finally felt my systems cool down enough for my vents to turn off. He then turned back to me. "So, what's eating at your plating kid?"

I let out a huff as I put my servos on my hips. "I heard some soldiers talking earlier about Jack getting in the way of Raf's training. The kid is trying so hard to improve without Jack getting in the way of that. It is just so frustrating!" I then let out a vent and sat down. "When we were human, everyone was like 'Be like Jack' and 'Jack's such a good example to follow'. But now, he can't get his helm out of his aft enough to see that we are doing fine and you all are trying to help us."

The two mechs currently training me shared a glance before Barricade shook his helm. "While the mech needs an attitude adjustment, we can't risk doing much yet. Despite how he is acting, you all just went through severe trauma at MECH's hands. If we push back against the mech, it could damage his processor.

"Yeah, and from what I heard, the kid didn't let Jack get away with it," Wait, Raf stood up for himself? That was awesome! "Apparently, after he said something to Pandimala, the kid straight up punched him and told him off."

"Woah, I totally did not see Raf doing that. When we meet up, I have to hear the whole story!" I was so proud of Raf for standing up for his choices like that. He really needed the boost, and, funny enough, I was sure training with Soundwave was helping that a lot. He knew what Soundwave was capable of, and since the mech was training him, Raf should be a total kick-aft by the end of all this training.

"So, did you hear what he said to Pandimala?" Barricade asked the mech.

My processor froze for a click when he asked that. With how excited I was that Raf stood up for himself, I forgot that he had to have a reason to hit Jack. I mean, he looked up to Jack for a long time, so whatever he said to Pandimala had to be something major to get Raf to hit him.

Ironhide shook his helm. "No, from the little they have going around, all they are saying is that Jack said something to upset Pandimala. Kid's too big for his bearings if he thought that was a good idea, trauma or not. That femme's done more for you all than the mech knows and more for us than a lot of bots would have. I've read the reports from the fight here. She put herself out there to help us more than most beings would have, even with Primus on their side."

Barricade frowned slightly. "Pity. I was hoping to find out. The femme takes the blame for too much to be worrying about what that newspark is spouting at her."

Newspark? "Why did you call Jack that?" I hadn't heard the term before, and I wanted to know as much as I could.

The Decepticon glanced over to me. "In short, you. Well, all of you past humans. This isn't the first time species changes have happened, though they are extremely rare. The only other time this has happened was at the end of the age of the First Primes. The mech's designation was Lumenos, and Primus blessed him to change from the species he was, a two-meter-tall organic being, into a mechano-based being. A two-wheeler, to be precise. You all are the first ones on record since that time."

It didn't take a genius to notice that the mech avoided saying Pandimala was with us. MECH agents were among us, and they didn't want information on her to get out to them. Right now, we were sure that Prometheus, the sicko running MECH now, didn't know about Pandimala's past. The longer we could keep it like that, the better. Ironhide was right. Pandimala had done a lot for us, and she deserved as much peace as she could.

And when I found out what Jack said to her, I would tear him a new one.

"You all look strangely tense," I glanced up and smiled when I saw Wheeljack walking up with Springer. "I figured you all would be servos deep in training right now. What's up, kid?"

Shaking my helm, I answered him. "I heard about Jack saying something to upset 'Mala."

A humorless vent came from Springer at that. "The mech was lucky Soundwave stopped Knockout from tearing into him. If I was that close to the femme, I don't think I could have been held back."

"What did he say?" Ironhide asked. "I've heard a lot of the rumors already flying around, but that hasn't come up yet." He then shook his helm. "No, first, what are you two doing here? I thought you were working with Jack."

Wheeljack looked frustrated as he answered. "First off, we aren't with Jack because, given what happened, Prowl thought it would be a good idea to swap trainers for the rest of the solar. So, Jazz and Warpath are working with the mech." He then let out a vent. "For what he said…honestly, I was ready to rearrange the mech's faceplate for it. But, you all are still recovering, despite how some of you are going through your training." I grinned widely back at the mech when he said that. I was fragging proud of how I was moving through my training. Slag, even my systems training was getting better.

"That's the only reason I didn't jump in," Springer added. "The mech needs to remember that we are all living beings, and his words can cause issues." He then let out a vent. "They were arguing about Raf's training, and Pandimala brought up that, despite the age you all are, you aren't children anymore due to your transformation. Jack then had the notion to ask, and I quote, 'And whose fault is that?'. Knockout was held back by Soundwave, and barely at that. Pandimala removed herself from the problem before the situation went one way or the other. It was right after that happened when young Raf stepped in and drilled the young mech in the faceplate."

Slag, they were right. How dare Jack blame Pandimala for this? She was trying her best, and it was an open secret that the femme was struggling with the blame she was already feeling for what happened to us. Despite the rest of us reassuring her that she did not need to blame herself, he up and says that? Fragger better hope that we don't end up doing joint training, or I would knock him into next millennium.

"Miko," I looked up when Barricade spoke my name. That reminded me that, like Lizzie did when she became Pandimala, I would have to pick a new name. When Barricade started talking again, I focused on the mech. "Given the history you five have with Decepticons, how are you able to work with us so openly? From what I've heard, even the young one struggles at times."

"Raf's trying his best," I immediately had to defend the mech. "He's working with Soundwave of all mechs and working with him a lot."

Barricade held up his servos at that. "Slow down, femme. I wasn't saying anything negative about him, but he does have his struggles. He's pushing through, which will help him in the long run, but he isn't as calm as you are. He still jumps, which is fine for now, when he is surprised by one of us Decepticons. You, however, don't. You don't react any differently between Autobots, Decepticons, and neutrals. Why is that?"

He was making it sound easier than it was. "No, it hasn't been easy. Those first few solars after I woke up, and the bots who saw me told me about what was going on, I was worried. But I know Pandimala, Wheeljack, Cliffjumper, Joe, and Steve. I spent time with them while I was human, and I know that I can trust them. Once I realized that they trusted you all, I did, too."

"You ain't supposed to make fellow Wreckers cry, femme," I laughed as Wheeljack looked all emotional at that.

I shrugged and held up my servos tauntingly. "Then come make me stop,"

Wheeljack smirked and held up his. "Round two."

The other bots around shook their helms and uttered the same word.

"Wreckers."

Paul's 1st P.O.V.

"So, how are things going?"

I wasn't sure how it happened, but I somehow became the unofficial liaison between the bots and the army. Not that I was complaining, though. Bryce was good conversation and he kept on track. Plus, with all of the interactions he had with the bots and from Fowler's reports from the last time we were here, the man had come around to accepting that there were greater forces that humans weren't going to believe at first. Honestly, the man had gone over the existence of deities much better than I thought he would.

Back to the present, though. "They are doing much better. All of the medics think that they will be able to meet with the families in a few solars."

"All of them?" Why was he asking me like that? "I heard that young Jackson was still causing trouble."

I could see where he was confused. Was Jack making things harder on all of us trying to train him? Yes. However, he was picking up the lessons. Honestly, it was him that we were waiting on. The others were already at the point of being ready and were just getting some advanced training while they waited. With such a big milestone ahead of them, it was agreed upon that it would be better mentally for all of them to be reintroduced to humans together. "He is who we are still waiting on. Even with his setbacks, though, they believe that the reintroductions can be soon."

"That's a relief," The General sighed. "The families are getting anxious. They understand that this sort of trauma takes time to work through, but they are worried. I'm sure hearing the news that the meeting will be soon will relieve some stress."

"And get Mrs. Esquivel to stop throwing chanclas at us?" I added with a laugh. Since I was allowed around the new bots, I had been the victim to the ever-feared chancla.

To my surprise, Bryce nodded. "I have seen a lot in my life that has never even fazed me. Yet the sight of that woman with a chancla in her hand is enough to want me to run."

"But it is safer not to run," I continued to laugh while agreeing with him.

He nodded and motioned toward the files on his desk, which I noticed were files on the five. "And the rest of the training? How are they doing?"

Thankfully, this report could be a good one. "Much better. The other four seem to be making improvements on schedule, if not ahead of schedule. Miko and Raf, specifically, have been moving forward by leaps and bounds. I'm pretty sure Miko is the furthest ahead out of all of them and could possibly see the battlefield within two months of training. Fowler, given his history, is the next closest. Surprisingly, young Raf would be close behind him. Most of the trainers and medics felt like he would take a while to feel comfortable around his trainers but he is highly receptive to what they have to teach him. June sturggles with the physical training for combat, but has enough awareness to realize that she needs to go at her own pace."

And, honestly, all five of them were doing well, given the circumstances. But Jackson would soon start to be left behind if he didn't open up to at least letting the neutrals train him. Frag, Cohrada wasn't even created until after the fighting was over. He was, in all actuality, the youngest among everyone here at base. But, Shockwave had thought it would be best, and rightfully so, that in the beginning the Predacons be resurrected in adult frames due to the turmoil that Cybertron would face. And the mech was completely right.

Of course, it was hard not to think of Pandimala added into that as well. She didn't get this time to settle into being a bot as they were. After her accident, she had the strain of the fighting still going on and, because of the numbers on the Autobot side, she was forced into roles she shouldn't have been. And I had allowed it as well. There were times that I wondered if I had done the right thing in allowing that? But, she had wanted to and I couldn't stop her.

General Bryce brought me back to the present. "Something that I have noticed, Paul, is that they still go by their names. Given the names their kind normally goes by, and what happened before," Thankfully, his office was a dark room, and we were safe to talk about Pandimala's past. "A new name would be warranted, and in my opinion, should be warranted soon. MECH won't hold off forever, and having those new names will make it easier for all of us moving forward."

He was right. Lizzie had chosen to become Pandimala fairly easily, given that her appearance matched her old original character. The other five would have to make a choice if they didn't already have a designation in processor. That did bring something else to mind that I wanted to talk to the man about. However, before I got to that, I needed some information on his side of things as well. "We'll come back to that in a moment. For now, how is your side of the hunt?"

Immediately, the General's face fell into a look that spoke of trouble. "Let's start with the good news. While we had already cleared Team Sigma," Fanzone's squad. "We have also cleared the entirety of Team Gamma." That was Lennox's squad. Good. Having two squads that we could fall back on was vital. That was especially given some projects I had my company working on while I was here. Not only would these troops be perfect recipients of my latest works, but they could act as an escort when I had to go to meetings with my lead inventor.

When the conversation paused, I realized that might be all of the good news he had. "And that's all the good news?" I asked, just in case I was wrong.

"All the happy good news," General Bryce corrected. "Good news that isn't so good is that we have identified four MECH agents here at base, though we are holding off on closing in on them. Thankfully, they weren't on any of the teams. But we are keeping a close eye on them. If they do anything that will give us a reason to bring them in for questioning, we will throw the book at them. But we don't want to tip our hands because of the teams. Team Alpha, Team Epsilon, Team Theta, and Team Kappa are still being investigated. Information on some of their people is a little murky at best right now, but we are trying to sift through everything."

After he listed the teams still under investigation, I realized that he hadn't mentioned one team, and it was worrisome which team it was. "And Team Lambda?"

Fifty years seemed to instantly add themselves to the man's face as he shook his head. "We've confirmed that there is at least one agent on the team, but we aren't sure who it is or if there are any more of them. We intercepted a coded message from their barracks going out toward an area we believe houses a MECH hideout."

Slag. That made the situation even worse because Team Lambda was the team that Knockout was on during the retrieval mission. We were using their bond with each other as a form of communication just in case the regular lines of contact went down. We would have to be extra careful around them. If the agent on that team picked up anything while being around Knockout about Pandimala, then it could put the femme in even more danger than the five. While there was no doubt that Prometheus would want to capture Pandimala to discover how she was changed, there was an even more pressing reason he would want to take her if her past was discovered.

He would take her to hurt me.

I couldn't let that happen. Later, I would remind Pandimala to be extra careful about what she spoke about and where she spoke about it at. With the trap we were setting for the MECH agents, that was the best we could do right now. "I'll make sure that the femme is made aware of the situation," I promised the general.

Bryce shook his head. "That's all we have for now. I'll let you know if anything else comes up that needs your attention." He then motioned to me. "For now, what did you want to speak on before?"

Before? Oh, that was right. I wanted to talk about the next step the five would be taking. "This should be a much better topic to discuss, but one that might cause you some logistical issues."

"Oh?" I could see that the General was trying to figure out what I was talking about.

So, I figured I would give him some relief. "The five are going to need alt modes soon." I motioned to their files on his desk. "All of their training is coming to the point where they will need to learn more control over their t-cogs while transformed. Honestly, they are going to need to understand the complexity of transformation soon. Pandimala, thankfully, had years beforehand where she was able to study the intricacies, and that made her ability to transform that much easier when she turned. The five of them have not had that benefit. And, as I am sure you have noticed,"

"Two of them have alt modes that will be easier with military options, June as well, though she has a handful of civilian options she could work with." Bryce caught on. "As for Fowler and Jack, we will gather specs on a number of vehicles that could be used for them. For the other three, I have already been given clearance to give them access to whatever they may need. Just let me know a few days in advance so I can have that data here."

I smiled and held out a hand. "That sounds like a deal."

"Deal," Bryce agreed as he shook my hand. "For now, though, you should go report to the bots about all of this. I have some reports to file to get everything ready to roll." With that dismissal, I stood and nodded before leaving the office.

Once the door was closed behind me, I tried to let go of some tension as I walked down the hall. We were going to have to increase security around the five. Soundwave and Prowl were going to have their servos full with this. It honestly made me wish that they had brought Blaster here with them. But, the mech was our audios and optics on Cybertron right now. It was why Eject and Rewind were here. While the distance was too far for communicated words, the two symbiots would send impressions to the mech, saying when we would send him data on what was happening here, and Blaster would send the same impressions back when he had something new. Thankfully, the mech wasn't alone there. Not only did he have Ramhorn, but his newest symbiot, a sleek black canine-esque bot with the designation Nightstalker, was there with him as well. Between the three of them, they would hopefully be able to keep us appraised of what was happening on Cybertron.

Hopefully, we would gain some insight into how Cybertron was reacting to my liberation. But now was not the time for that. Blaster had his mission, and we had ours. Hopefully, all of the pieces in play would come together. For now, though, I had to go and share all of the information I learned from Bryce with the bots.

Seriously, how did I go from a pinnacle god of all existence to a messenger?

Pandimala: *still in shock* You have made a plan that actually works.

Authoress: *annoyed* I get it; you are in shock. Can you not sound so surprised, though? Kind of making me nervous with that doubt there.

Pandimala: *stays silent but nods*

Authoress: *sighs* This is going to be a long few weeks.

AN: And here is the next chapter for you all. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have. In it, we get the conclusion of the drama from the last chapter. Pandimala is not in a good processor-space but she got the help she needed. And that confrontation also affected poor Raf in his training and he has a small flashback to what MECH did. Thankfully, Soundwave has experience dealing with mechs going through bad memories from his time with the Decepticons. Most of them were treated terribly on Cybertron before the war. Those were memories that Soundwave constantly had to help bots through the best he could.

Of course, once Miko gets her servos on Jack, then he might get the hint to worry about himself. She's not happy that Jack is interfering in Raf's decision and hopes he doesn't try with her. Of course, with her training, she will more than make sure that he doesn't try again. Slight foreshadowing, though, in the fact that she brings up the need for their new names, which they will receive soon.

Finally, we come to Paul. While there are some positive aspects to what is happening in the reports, we do learn that they have identified some MECH agents at the base, and they are hoping to start closing in on them and all others that are there. It won't be easy, though, and the god will have to be ready for anything to make sure that they succeed. And, in a not-so-subtle way, the need for alt modes has also been brought up. This will be very entertaining once it happens, which should also be soon.

Oh, and last note for now. There is a reason why Steeljaw is not one of Blaster's symbiots. If you know enough about Prime and its sequel, then you know why as well. I'm not sure how large of a role that character will have, but he will have a role. Since he will, then Blaster needed a new symbiot.

Without further adieu, here are the next chapter titles!

Chapter 8: Specialities

Chapter 9: Roadbumps

Chapter 10:...*evil laughter* (Oh, you will find out next time)

And that is it for now! Thanks again for all of your support through everything. I do appreciate it all. Until next time, TTYL! *listening to Baba O'Riley by The Who*