"So."

  "So."

  "I'm still not sure this's the right ship, y'know," Slipstream said for the thousandth time. They were standing back at the dock, five yards from the Freedom's hull. No crew had yet appeared from the gateway on the side. No movement inside. None.

  "How do we even find out?" DC wondered aloud.

  "I dunno, the comm?" It was hard to tell, for DC anyway, if Slipstream was being sarcastic or if it was an honest suggestion. "Hey, I'm starving. I'll go get us some eats, you try th'comm, okay?"

  "'Kies," said the catgirl 'bot. Slipstream left, leaving DC all alone.

  What's a comm? she asked herself. Maybe Slipstream means I should pound on the door! Thinking to herself that she was quite smarter than even she had thought, she stepped forward and, with all her might, pounded on the door.

  And waited.

  And waited.

  Slipstream came back, holding a small bag of energon goodies. "Did you use the comm?" she asked the gold and blue 'bot.

  "Sure did!"

  "Oh, okay," said the blue and black femme. "I got some dinner, let's sit down an' eat while we wait." she said, holding up the bag.

  "Okay,"

  And so they sat down, opened the bag and absorbed the energon goodies while talking about this or that, mainly about how they both came to the station. Any time the conversation came back to DC's creator, she tried to change the subject. And Slipstream allowed her.

  "Are y'sure you used the comm?" she asked after the first hour.

  "Of course! What do I look like to you, an idiot?"

  "Well, now th'you mention it..."

  "They'll come," DC said confidently. "Just wait,"

  So they waited.

  And waited.

  A trio of 'bots came by, introduced themselves as Hitchhike, Splashback, and Panelbeater. Sky blue and gray, sky blue and sea green, and white and light brown, respectively and in that order.

  "You applicants too?" the sky blue and gray one, Hitchhike, said to Slipstream and DC.

  "Yeah. We're waiting for them to come out. I'm Slipstream, this is DC,"

  "Hi," said the three.

  "Sit down and wait, they'll be comin' in a minute," Slipstream said. The three did as suggested and sat down beside Slipstream and DC.

  And waited.

  "Are you sure you used the comm?" Slipstream said to DC once again.

  "Of course!" the catgirl 'bot replied.

  So they waited some more.

  "Hey, is there somebody out here?" came a voice from the inside as DC and Slipstream passed their third hour of waiting.

  The air lock slid open, and a pair of bots with blue insignias DC didn't recognize stepped out. Their sudden appearance startled her; she immediately jumped to her feet and attacked with her hammer.

  "Whoa there!" said the one on the right, gray and yellow, as DC took a swing at the other one. He just nearly caught the mallet by the rim, millimeters infront of the other's nose.

  "Oops, sorry!" DC said, laughing nervously. The gray and yellow 'bot yanked the mallet out of her grasp and kept it from her. "I won't do it again, I promise. Just gimme my mallet back..."

  "You the new applicants?" the other one, predominantly blue with hints of yellow, said to Slipstream and the other three. He seemed vaguely familiar to DC, but she couldn't quite place it...

  "Yeah," Slipstream said with a nod. "Where have you guys been? DC here called you on the comm hours ago!"

  "We never got a comm message from the port." said the blue and yellow 'bot, looking at Slipstream questioningly.

  "DC! I thought you said you called them!"

  "I thought I did," said the short femme, leaping up repeatedly in a futile effort to get her mallet back. "I guess I didn't."

  "Well, at least you're here," the gray and yellow one said with a shrug. "I'm Aries, this is Dead Lift. This is the LSS Freedom, home of LONAC--"

  "Oh good, it's th'right ship after all,"

  "You've been waiting outside here for who knows how long expecting us to come out and you didn't even know if you had the right ship?"

  "Yep."

  "Well, this way, you all. We'll take you into the lounge until our leader Waitstate can see you," said Aries, leading the way through the air lock: basically a steel ramp with an airtight glass dome over it. Outside sat the empty space. Coming to the next door, Dead Lift keyed in a combination and the door slid open.

  The place they were led to was a lounge of sorts, full of cushy furniture and odd decorations. Posh to the extreme, like a human would have designed it. The rest of the applicants seemed very impressed, but DC had other matters to attend to.

  "Can I have my hammer back yet?"

  "No."

  "I promise I won't try and smash people again!"

  "You're not getting it back,"

  "Pleeeeeeease?"

  "No. Okay, what are all your names?" Aries asked to the group, tucking the mallet under his arm and taking out a datapad.

  "Hitchhike."

  "Panelbeater."

  "Splashback."

  DC perked up at that last name. "I know you. You used to be a Decepticon like me!" Splashback twitched at that, but didn't say anything.

  "You were a Decepticon?" Panelbeater asked DC, sounding doubtful.

  "I used to be a 'Con," said the blue and yellow Dead Lift. "And I don't remember you at all,"

  What could she say to that? It wasn't the first time someone didn't believe her when she said she was a former Decepticon. In many cases it was better that people didn't believe her. They often trusted her more that way.

  But this was LONAC, which was supposed to be full of ex-'Cons, as well as former Autobots and even Junkions, and even some lifelong neutrals.

  "I wasn't in the group for very long," DC explained simply. "They, er, didn't like me. An' I never got to know many of the other members,"

  "Ah," said most of the others, sounding like they didn't believe her at all.

  The door leading to the rest of the ship slid open, a tall black and gray 'bot stepping in. Physically, he didn't seem very impressive. What would have been an ordinary civilian on Cybertron. But there was some sort of feel that came from him, an aura if you will. He was a very responsible, intellectual, like some sort of war general or wise man. Like a parent, even.

  "Hey, Waitstate," Dead Lift said casually, turning to greet the new 'bot. "These are the applicants."

  "Hi," said Waitstate. "I'm Waitstate, captain of the Freedom and founder of LONAC. I'll be the one interviewing you all, one at a time. Names?"

  The five applicants said their names.

  "Welcome to our ship. Who wants to be interviewed first?"

  DC edged back, hiding behind the rest of the group. She tried nudging one of them forward.

  "I'll go first," said Slipstream, stepping forward. DC was surprised; she was certain she hadn't tried to get her companion to go first. It was one of the others, those other three, she wanted to go first...

  "Ahh, Slipstream, right? Well, this way," Waitstate motioned for her to follow him, and the two walked through the door he had come. It shut behind them.

  The others shrugged and went about watching the holovid while they waited for their turn. DC stood watching the door, rigid with worry.

  Less than five minutes went by. The door whirred open and Slipstream walked out, looking quite relieved.

  DC wasted no time. She rushed up to her friend and started crying questions. "What happened? What did he ask? What did you have to say? What did he say? What did you do? Did you get in? Are you okay?"

  Slipstream laughed and collapsed in an arm chair. "I'm not 'sposed t'tell you." she explained. "I got in, though. And don't worry, it's not complicated. Just be yourself and you'll do fine,"

  DC wasn't satisfied with that. "What did he ask? What were the questions? Did you hafta show your abilities? What what what?!"

  "Next," Waitstate called from the other room.

  "I'll go," Splashback said boldly, getting up from her seat and going through the door. It once again closed.

  Five minutes passed. Splashback came out and announced she was in. Panelbeater went next. He got in as well. Hitchhike went, and she got in also.

  "Your turn, little buddy," said Slipstream, patting DC on the head like she was a human child. "Don't worry, you'll do great in there. Good luck,"

  DC walked stiffly towards the door, literally quaking in worry. She stepped into the hallway, the lounge door snapping shut behind her.

  Force fields blocked off all ways but one, a door that was halfway open and led to the interview room. Thinking to herself that she might as well get it over with, she went through the door.

  The inside was rather plain. Dark gray metal, a bench inwhich to sit. Waitstate sat on an identical bench that was by the wall, facing her.

  "Last applicant? DC, right?" The gold and blue femme nodded nervously. "No need to worry, this isn't going to be complicated. May I have your application form?" DC fumbled with her storage compartment on her person and brought out a datapad. She handed it shakily to Waitstate. The black and gray 'bot read through it. "Ship maintenance, huh? We don't get many coming around applying for that." He looked up at her. "Well go on, sit yourself down,"

  She did as told. "Slipstream said I would be good as ship maintenance," she said, still shaking. "Have a lot of years of, um... that 'e' word.... experience, that's it. Have lots of years of experience pounding out metal an' stuff,"

  "Yes, it says so in the application," Waitstate said with a nod. "Look, there's no need to be so terrified of me. I've got a face plate; I can't bite you!"

  Despite herself, DC giggled.

  Feeling he was on a roll, Waitstate continued. "Not exactly a Sharkticon, you know, with big chompers to eat metal," He used his hands in a chomping motion to impersonate a Sharkticon, meanwhile DC went from giggling to chuckling to full-out laughter.

  "Anyway," Waitstate said, dropping the impression and putting his hands on his knees. "Why do you want to join LONAC?"

  "Well... heehee, Sharkticon.... I used to be a Decepticon but I didn't last long there.... heehee, chomp chomp chomp, so funny.... and I've been going around the galaxy for a long time, and I've been on this space station for about fifty standard years... heehee.... and, well, I kinda just wanna get off this place. I wanna go places and all.... heeheehee...."

  "And in return for being part of LONAC, what will you do for us?"

  "Well.... I can pound out dents..." She pondered a bit inbetween giggles. "And I have some money from my job. A couple credits..."

  "You would donate money?"

  "Sure, why not? Am I in?"

  "Yes. And keep your credits, you'll earn your stay with being ship maintenance. We could always use an intelligent person helping the drones do their work."

  "So I'm in?"

  "Yup," said Waitstate. He extended a hand. "Welcome aboard,"

  DC suddenly stopped laughing. She looked at the hand, and then at its owner. Gaped. "I.... I got in?!" Waitstate nodded. "WAI!"

  "Eheh, I see you're happy,"

  "Kinda ironic that half our crew is gone and then we get new members," Waitstate commented as he led the newbies down a hall in deck 4. "Anyway, here are your quarters," He motioned towards a row of doors. "Pick one and then Overwrite will encode your chosen security code for it. I've got to get back to the bridge, so I'll see you all later." He left, leaving Overwrite and the five new members.

  "This one's fine f'me," Slipstream said, coming to the first door on her left.

  "I'll take this one, it's by the hull so I have an actual window,"

  "This one's nice, nearest to the lift,"

  "I like this one, it's got the best access terminal,"

  "Ano, I'll just take any one," That last sentence coming from DC, of course. Overwrite waltzed over to her last and gave her the room next to Slipstream's. She gave him the access code she wanted inputted.

  "Don't you want something that'd be less easy to guess?" he asked.

  "Who'd wanna break into my room anyhow?" she sighed.

  Overwrite shrugged. "Fine, it's your choice. Code inputted, have a nice night," He shuffled off. DC gave another sigh, wishing she could be happier for herself for getting in. She opened the door to her quarters and stepped in, the lights automatically coming on.

  "Hey, DC," Slipstream was standing by the door. "Aries told me to give this back to you," The black and blue femme handed her shorter companion her mallet.

  "Thanks," DC said quietly.

  "You wanna go play some games down in the ship's bar? Or maybe get something to eat? Those snacks we had a while back weren't very filling,"

  "No, I'm fine," the gold and blue 'bot insisted. "I think I'm just gonna get some sleep."

  Slipstream shrugged. "Okay, suit y'self. I'll see ya tomorrow,"

  "Okay. See ya."

  The taller 'bot left, the door sliding in place behind her. DC set the mallet down at the foot of her bed. The quarters were rather small, probably smaller than her room in the storage area back at the metal shop.

  Pain surged through her circulator. She was really leaving Adelaide space station and Metalla Fifth. She'd spent fifty odd years here. Not that she'd really miss the place. But her boss was another story. He'd been so kind to her all those years.

  The room was plain. "Bed" in one corner, by a holovid that was currently turned off. Another corner had a computer terminal, and beside it sat a small bookshelf, which was empty.

  DC placed her mallet by the foot of her bed, where she could reach it easily if there was trouble. She flopped down on the bed and instantly fell asleep.

  "All hands," Waitstate called on the wideband comm the next day. "Ship leaves at oh-nine-hundred hours. Please finish any business at Adelaide space station before then."

  DC made a note of that as she went back through the lounge and out the airlock she came. A new day was dawning on the space station; a sunrise like all others she'd seen for fifty years. But it was different today, somehow. It would be the last Adelaide sunrise she'd ever see.

  "Sensei, are you here?" she called into the metalworking shop, peeking through the crooked, not-quite-closed entrance door.

  "In the back, DC," came Metalla Fifth's voice from inside. "Come on in. And don't call me sensei, you know I hate human words,"

  "Sorry," she apologized, struggling to notch open the door to get in. She closed it as much as it could go behind her and walked into the back room. Where she'd lived for over fifty years. Metalla Fifth seemed to be working on something, but she couldn't tell what. "Um, it was LONAC's ship after all," she said after a few minutes' silence. Metalla turned his head ever so slightly, and then returned to his work.

  "Did you get in?"

  "Yeah, yeah I got in," DC said, nodding. "So I just... wanted to tell you that and all. The ship leaves at oh-nine-hundred..."

  "That's some hours yet. You have time for a little breakfast?"

  The gold and blue 'bot hesitated, seriously considering lying and saying she had had breakfast. But no, she couldn't do that. "Sure, I have time,"

  "Sit down, then." Metalla said, pushing the metal whatever-it-was aside, making room for the two of them. He drew up another chair and then went and cleaned his hands. DC, casually as she could, sat down. Metalla Fifth returned with two energon cubes.

  DC gasped as she was handed her cube. It was a bigger portion than she was usually given.

  "Go on, absorb it." Metalla said gently. "As you are you barely have the energy to keep functioning. This should tide you over for a while aboard that big ship and all,"

  "....Thanks, I guess," the femme mumbled, quietly absorbing the cube. It was finer quality energon than what she was used to, too. Why was her boss --former boss-- treating her like this? "Um..."

  "Yes?"

  "I just, you know.... I dunno.... forget it,"

  "Is something the matter?"

  DC shook her head. "I don't know. It's just, I dunno, weird and stuff. I'm leaving the station, after so long. This place was more like a home than Cybertron..."

  Her ex-employer looked at her sideways. "You've always complained to me about how this was a horrible place. What made you change your mind so suddenly?"

  "I guess it's because I'm leaving it after so long," She absorbed a bit more of her cube, feeling energy course through her. Wow, this stuff is good...  "I dunno, it's weird. I never felt like this before..."

  "It's been a long time since you've traveled, I know. And now the impossible has happened for you. You've joined a group of people that travels and sees and does, you're getting out of this hellhole, off this space station. I think it's wonderful, I wish I could go as well,"

  "You could join too! I know they'd accept someone like you!"

  "No, DC, my place is here."

  "I'll remember everything you did for me, sens-- Metalla Fifth,"

  "'Sensei' is just fine, DC,"

2239.142 TST

  Readying herself, making sure her mallet was properly secured on her back and her feet were steady, DC launched herself forward, arms outstretched. In a flying leap that would make Galactic Olympians envious, she hurled forward and tackled the repair drone.

  "Get back here!" she growled at it, being dragged along behind it. Unbeknownest to DC, the repair drones were nonsentient robot repair workers who went about their tasks mindlessly. Not much of a step down from her, really, but enough of one to make a difference. "We're not finished here yet!"

  The drone went about whirring on its little wheels on its way back to the storage cabinet. The visual sensors were going crazy, telling it something large had attached herself to it, but the drone had no defense mechanisms inwhich to pry DC off. So it kept going.

  "Are you deaf or something? We're not finished yet! We still have a couple more dents to do!"

  The Freedom was leaving the Adelaide system now, nearly out of the furthest planet's orbit. Not much space traffic out there, pretty empty, even stars seemed scarce.

  DC was just about having some luck turning the mindless drone around when...

  *WHAM*

  "SHIT!" came someone's voice all the way over in the plaza. He had yelled so loud even DC heard it. "What the hell was that?!"

  A voice she didn't recognize scolded the first speaker on his language. DC, meanwhile, was trying to stand up as well, the repair drone forgotten. It scuttled off back to its home.

  The gold and blue femme was a bit worried. Loud or not, she knew a metal clang when she heard one. That sound was made by something very strong, ramming the ship's hull.

  "Red alert," cried the ship's computer on the overhead P.A. "Ship under attack. Captain commands shields to maximum; all weapons charged." It said all this with absolute calm, like the attack was as casual as announcing afternoon tea.

  A hum sounded, an indication that the shields were going up. The computer gave occasional updates on the P.A. Meanwhile, the repair drones were called like ants to a queen, going to the new damage area. Everyone was going nuts onboard; people running aimlessly around the ship, shouting as if it would help. High-rankers were yelling above the rest in an effort to get some sense of order, but it was just as useless as the chaos.

  *WHAM* The ship was hit again, sending several 'bots flying off their feet. DC found herself flying and tumbling all the way into the plaza area.

  "Hey, kid, watch where you're going!" a female voice shouted above her, and then beside her. The short femme looked up to see a 'bot about her height, black and dark purple.

  "Sorry," DC apologized, climbing up to her knee joints. "What's your name? I'm DC," Just then another crash came, sending the whole ship tumbling to its right. Consequently, DC fell over and crashed right into the other 'bot again.

  "Uhg!"

  "'Uhg' is a pretty odd name," the gold and blue femme giggled.

  The black and purple 'bot sighed. "My name's not 'Uhg', my name's Shadowpaw,"

  "Then why didn't you say that in the first place?"

  "Red alert! Ship under attack! Shields offline! Left side of hull nearly breeched!" The computer had given up being calm and was flat-out yelling now. Warriors were now beginning to organize themselves and began either transforming or taking jetpacks to counterattack whoever was fighting them. Another femme, introducing herself (hastily) as Misfit, came by and pulled Shadowpaw to her feet, and the two trotted off.

  *BOOM*

  There was a rush of wind as the air was being sucked out into space, brought about by the hull being breeched by the attackers. It didn't affect the 'bots onboard much, who could function well enough without air, but it meant that they'd be unable to communicate. After all, you need air in order for sound to travel.

  <All hands,> Waitstate called through the comm, that was fortunately not affected by the absence of air. <prepare for boarders, plaza area. Force field lockdown commencing.>

  On cue, all exits from the plaza leading to other rooms or sections of the ship were shut by doors or force fields. <Use comm to talk to your companions.>
Arial,Helvetica">  <They're coming!>

  <Weapons armed! Take aim...>

  <Enemy analysis: humanoid, oxygen-breather. Three dozen, give or take a few, have gotten through, the others are back by their ship. Most are in mecha or tanks.>

  <Thanks for stating the obvious.>

  <You're welcome,>

  Warriors surrounded DC to the point she couldn't see anything but people rushing by. After a while she felt a hand on her shoulder.

  It was Shadowpaw, armed with her gun. Misfit and Slipstream were beside her.

  <Say, DC, can you fight?>

  <Um, I'm a civilian...>

  *SLAM*

  <Medic!> someone screamed, DC didn't know who. <Medic! By Primus, I'm dying!!> There was no sound of the body hitting the floor, but DC could feel the vibrations. It rattled her up to her knee joints.

  <Get him to medbay, post haste,> said someone else, inbetween shouting orders to others. The vibrations of metal scraping metal told her the wounded 'bot was getting carried away.

  <DC, can you fight or can't you?!> Shadowpaw shouted at her in a way that made the electronic voice explode in the short femme's head.

  NDC pressed on her comm button to begin transmitting the reply that she couldn't fight, but stopped. More blaster fire, more silent comm screams. Unheard thuds as warriors fell.

  <I'll fight,> she said.

  <Good,>

  Shadowpaw led the way, followed by her fellow femmes Slipstream, Misfit, and DC. They arrived at the battle line and instantly began firing. For the first time, DC saw the actual attackers.

  But.... the comm message said they were fleshies... she thought to herself, frowning. Their appearance seemed to contradict what she'd been told. They were metal, fifteen feet tall, roughly like Transformers except there was little difference in characteristics between each one. They had no head, but a clear glass dome you could see through into its interior...

  It had someone's head in it!

  So that's what they meant. They were fleshies, but they were in metal suits. Now it all made sense to her.

  Those that weren't in the mechas were in tanks of sorts, but with antigravs instead of treads. They were the same basic, generic, cookie-cutter designs, each and every one of them. Their users cared more for utility than looks.

  <Energy weapons! Watch your skid plates!>

  The (metaphorical) heat of the battle rushed back to DC, and she suddenly remembered that she said she would fight. And knowing that one of her friends might be dying because of these attackers, she wanted to fight.

  The gold and blue 'bot demagnetized the mallet from her back and held it infront of herself. Then, getting as much free space as she could, she hurled it like a boomerang. It even flew like one.

  The hammer arced forward, twirling, and struck a mercenary in a mecha square in the center and sent it flying. DC initiated the magnetic call from her right wrist that synched only with her mallet handle, and the mallet flew back to her within seconds.

  <I got one, I got one!> she announced happily, although no one seemed to care.

  <They're falling back!> Hitchhike announced.

  <Going to the rear of the ship!>

  <Then that's what we're gonna do, too. Fighters, to the shuttle bay! Someone order those drones to keep back here and start repairs,>

  <It won't do any good,> DC said unhappily. <They don't listen to anyone. It's like they were just machines or something,>

  <Shuttle bay open!>

  <Tactibots!> Diablo commanded, standing upright alongside his team. <Form Hyperion!> With that instruction, the six 'bots transformed. Two became legs, two became arms, and two became the torso.

  DC stared on in wonderment while the Tactibots merged. She'd heard of gestalts, but had never seen one. They seemed to be such amazing things, how they could combine their strengths to form an entirely new entity.

  <We can't hold form for very long, Diablo,> Chameleon reminded his leader.

  Diab didn't seem to like that news. <We'll hold as long as it damn well takes to beat these guys, you got that?> His companions agreed quietly.

  The computer gave another update. <Unidentified starcruiser to port. No transponder signal available.>

  <Not another one!> Hitchhike complained.

  <No, wait, that new one's friendly. See, the attackers are fighting it!> Looking out the shuttle bay to where the fight now took place, DC saw that it was true. The new ship was an ally.

  <Quite a clashing color scheme on it, don't you think?>

  <Give your critique of it later, now's the time to fight!>

  Shadowpaw, not having an alt form that would be useful in zero-G, grabbed a jet pack and rushed towards the battle. The gold and blue DC noticed the cabinet Shadowpaw had grabbed the pack from was still unlocked, the spare jet packs still inside.

  After a moment's hesitation, the small femme strapped on a jet pack, took mallet in hand, and followed after SP.

  No air inwhich to talk is one thing, but no gravity was quite another. Leaving the gravity fields the Freedom provided, DC found herself kicking against nothing, barely able to move herself in any direction, much less in the direction she needed to go. She reached back and turned her pack on.

  A sudden jolt came, and she was moving forward as if she were flying in a planet atmosphere, minus the heat and wind rushing against her. The real warriors and the friendly ship were already doing good against their foes, who were by now almost driven off. DC, being distracted by watching Slipstream and several other jets arc over head, didn't turn off her pack's thrusters in time and smashed against into the hull of the enemy ship.

  The femme pried herself off, and looked towards where the main battle was going on. LONAC members were heading back to the ship, her friends Shadowpaw, Misfit, and Slipstream among them, as well as others she knew. The battle was over, the enemy was retreating.

  <Hey little one, you need help out there?> Misfit called over the comm.

  <Who're you calling little?!> DC shouted back.

  The shuttle bay was closed after the friendly ship revealed itself as Stardrive and Trilana, combined as one giant ship, which explained the clashing colors of the hull. DC tried to make sense of how it was possible, but gave up and went to take a nap.

  She didn't even notice she still had the jet pack strapped to her back. And if she remembered it was there, she probably wouldn't've cared.

  *diing* rang the bell outside her quarters door almost the instant she flopped down on her bed analog. She was almost offline when a voice called from outside. The quarters areas were not drained of their air, thankfully, so the voice was regular speech instead of comm.

  "Hey, yo, you alive in there?" said someone she didn't recognize the voice of. "Kid! Hey! Open up in there!" Groaning, DC climbed out of the recharger and answered her door.

  It was Artifice. She'd seen him around the ship a number of times but never spoke to him, and vice versa. So why was he here now?

  The green and orange 'bot looked to her back. "Um, you know you can't keep jet packs for personal use, right?"

  "Huh?" She turned her head and saw what he'd been looking at. "Oh."

  "Anyway, Wait wants to see you. Why did he send me?... Eh, he's a strange 'bot. Anyway, report to his office, pronto. You need directions?" The femme nodded, so Artifice told her the directions to Waitstate's office. And then he left without another word, save for offering to take DC's jet pack back down to the shuttlebay where it belonged.

  Not the very friendly type, I guess, DC thought as she watched him walk off. She shut the door to her quarters and secured the lock, and went to the lift.

  "Command deck," she commanded as she entered. The lift door closed behind her, nearly snagging her tail, and began to travel upwards.

  "Command deck: bridge, conference room, misc. storage, captain's office." chimed the elevator monotonously as its doors opened once more and the only passenger got out. DC, recalling the directions Artifice had given her, walked down the narrow hallway. There were very few doors in this area, and all that she came by had a lot of security devices on them. Finally, she came to the end of the hallway, where a door with the sign "Captain's Office" in Cybertronese was fixed on the door. She had to look upwards till her neck became strained to even see the sign. Most members of LONAC were far taller than her.

  In any case, this was the right door. DC knocked.

  "Come in," came Waitstate's voice from outside. DC pressed a key on the security pad left of her and the door slid open.

  The inside was fairly small, probably not much larger than her own cabin, if even that big. The walls were a light gray, the floor was made of a rich blue carpet. A snazzy computer terminal sat in one corner, framed on either side by tall bookshelves crammed full of Primus-knows-what documents. Waitstate sat behind his desk, which was covered in datapad documents set up in a futile attempt at making it look orderly.

  "Um, hi, Mr. Waitstate," DC said, stepping in. The door slid shut behind her. "Artifice said you wanted to talk to me?"

  "Yes," said the gray and black 'bot. "Sit down," He motioned two the two chairs that sat in front of the desk. DC did as commanded, nervous. "There was quite a battle today, wasn't there?"
  Did Mr. Waitstate want to see me up here just to talk about the battle? she wondered. Weird... "Yeah, um, really big fight and stuff. They hurt us really bad, huh? That hull damage, it'll take me weeks to repair..."

  "All things considered, we came out of that fight pretty well. Very few were seriously damaged, and ship damage is nothing unrepairable. That's not what I wanted to talk to you about, however." His silver optics visor gleamed in the room light. Room light that didn't seem to have a source. Magic lights, she thought with an inner shrug. "DC, can you tell me what work you signed up for aboard the Freedom?"

  "Ship maintenance, Mr. Waitstate."

  "Right... do you have any combat experience?"

  "Um, no..."

  "But you joined the crew in battle today."

  "Yeah, I did. But Mr. Waitstate, everyone else was out there fighting and all..."

  "Most of them are experienced fighters. They have high grade armor and weapons more suited to zero-g combat than your mallet. I appreciate your efforts out there. I do. And you did knock a few enemies for us back there." Wait would've grinned if he could have. "But I think you'd be more useful behind the front lines in future battles. You could have gotten seriously hurt," Genuine concern tinged his voice.

  "But Mr. Waitstate, look, I'm fine. Not even a scratch. I didn't get damaged at all," DC stood up to show Waitstate that she was indeed unhurt.

  "Yes, but you could have. It was very dangerous out there. And the next time there is danger like that, I want you to go where it's safe. I'd prefer not to lose any more crew if I can help it. So, will you promise me you won't fight?"

  "What if I'm forced to?"

  "If it's unavoidable, you have my permission. But otherwise, I want you out of the fire. You promise me?"

  DC paused. ".......Okay. I promise I won't fight."

  "Atta girl," Wait said, leaning foward across his desk and patting her on the shoulder. "Say, you look a bit worn down. Want to go get some energon down at the Quick Bite? It should be reopened by now,"

  "I dunno..."

  "My treat," he added.

  "In that case, sure!"

2239.149 TST, Cybertron

  "Fall back!" Scourge yelled desperately over the commotion of the battle.

  "No!" Galvatron shouted back, causing his troops to pause in mid-leap. "We shall stay until every last Autobot falls!"

  "But Galvatron--"

  "Silence, underling! I am the leader of the Decepticons, I shall decide when to retreat. And we shall not retreat!" He aimed his gun arm and fired, a group of Autobots on the ground below scattered to avoid being hit.

  "Galvatron," Cyclonus said, coming forth. "I mean not to challenge your judgement, but would it not be best for us to recollect on Charr and plan a new attack?"

  "Shut up! Galvatron doesn't plan, he attacks! Destroys! Rips apart! And his subordinates shall do the same!" Cyclonus was almost to the point of asking his leader why he was talking in third person, but thought better of it. "Decepticons, do not be relenting! Do not retreat until every last blasted Autobot falls!!!"

  "Yes, Lord Galvatron," came a handful of half-hearted mutters as the troops started back towards the attack line. "Cyc shoulda just left him in that puddle of lava, if you ask me," said someone unidentifiable from the ranks.

  "Who said that?! Come forward!" No one came forward, so Galvatron forgot about it. Meanwhile, the Autobots were regaining composure and battle ground and preparing for a second wave of fire. One of the faces among the attackers he knew all too well. "AHA!" Galvatron exclaimed. "Optimus Prime shows his face finally. I will take up his destruction personally! MWAHAHAHAHA--" The Decepticon leader's evil laughter was interrupted rather abruptly as Prime and several others fired their blasters at them. Galvatron and his generals being distracted, they couldn't dodge, and were soon sent reeling uncontrollably toward the ground.

  "This is all your fault, Cyclonus!" the purple and gray Decepticon leader growled as they hurled downward, not to the planet surface but down into what looked like a scrap deposit site.

  "Lord Galvatron, how could it be my--" Cyc was in the middle of calling back when Galvatron, Scourge, two Sweeps, and he landed amid a pile of junk.

  "Ha-ha!" came a taunting voice from up above by the surface. Galvatron turned to lay on his back and looked up to where his nemesis, Optimus, stood, looking down gloatfully at the fallen Decepticons. "And so evil is vanquished once more by the mighty and righteous Autobots, as well it should always be! It just goes to show that being bad is just plain stupid and wrong!"

  "Prime, the press isn't here yet," said one of his companions.

  "Lord Galvatron, Lord Galvatron!" one of the Sweeps said excitedly, from down near the bottom of the junk pile. "I believe I have found something,"

  "What is it? Tell me!"

  "A... a.... it's very hard to tell, it's very old. It must've been here for centuries. But it looks like a Decepticon-produced ether component card. DDLE44 to be precise. Badly damaged, I might add. Looks like someone shot it with a blaster cannon similar to the one you possess,"

  "And this is relevant to me how?" Galvatron demanded.

  "Written on the back is... something. I'm not sure what. It's some sort of code. I'm very sure these are not standard markings for such a model. And there is something else on here as well. 'NDC-Beta', it says."

  In an instant, Galvatron's whole attitude changed, going from careless half-offline to fully alert. "Did you say NDC-Beta?"

  "Yes, sir, that's what it says. NDC-Beta. Or it might be NBC-Deta, but I'm pretty sure it's--"

  "Move aside!" Galvatron jumped up and rushed over, pushing the Sweep aside and grabbing the worn ether component card in his metal hands. After examining it, particularly the code found on the back, he said, "Excellent. Yesssss... And this would mean... yes, they would be nearby..."

  "Lord Galvatron? May I ask what is so important about a rusty old ether component card?" Cyclonus said weakly, climbing down to join his commander at the foot of the junk pile. "What is NDC-Beta?"

  "A creation of mine, only months before Unicron's attack on Cybertron. She was a failed project, the wretched thing. My scientists failed to give her a decent personality to compliment her capable machine frame. I was certain she was dead..."

  "She, sir? You created a fembot?" asked Cyc incredulously.

  "Is there a problem with that, underling?"

  "Oh, of course not, Lord Galvatron!" the second-in-command said hastily. "I just, you know, felt that a fembot would be a bit weaker physically and mentally than a male, and weakness certainly doesn't suit Decepticons at all--"

  "She was not weak," said Galvatron. "Physically she was no worse than you or any one of my generals. But the spark she was given... Anyway, she is gone. It is not her mind that I am concerned about."

  "Then what is, Lord Galvatron?"

  "Over two standard centuries ago, I blasted NDC-Beta into this very scrap heap. I assumed she was dead. But this," he held out the DDLE44 ether component card, "proves that she survived. She must have replaced her ruined ether card with one she found here in the junk pile."

  "Forgive my words, sire, but so what? She is an ancient, failed creation."

  "I was just about to tell you what is 'so what' about her!" the purple and gray Decepticon leader snapped. "NDC-Beta was a powerful fighter, despite her personality. If we could find her and retake her mind, so that she will be loyal to only me, we will have a powerful warrior."

  "What if NDC-Beta no longer functions, sir?"

  "I had thought of that, too, Cyclonus. I remember her frame schematics being stored in a laboratory near this scrap deposit site. The blueprints should still be there today, unless they have been discovered by the filthy Autobots, but I doubt that. Come, Cyclonus, Scourge, Sweeps! We've important data to recover!"

2239.150 TST, LSS Freedom

  The door to the bridge opened, its occupants --Waitstate, Slipstream, Stardrive, and several others-- looking to see who entered. Shadowpaw walked in, looking a tad upset. A few seconds later, it was explained why.

  "Oooh, is this what a bridge looks like?" DC asked excitedly, trailing in after Shadowpaw entered. SP threw a glance at her captain that said "what?! She followed me!"

  "Fine," Wait sighed. "DC, sit down somewhere, we're about to space fold." He motioned to one of the empty seats that sat far from the control stations.

  "What's a space fold?" she asked quizically.

  Stardrive explained blandly, working at his console, "It allows us to travel from place to place far faster than we would be able to in normal space."

  "Ah," DC said, nodding, acting as if she understood.

  "So please take a seat, the jump won't be pleasant for anyone standing." Waitstate instructed. DC nodded again, and sat down cross-legged in front of the viewing screen. The bridge crew just stared at her, but went about their tasks.

  "All crew," Waitstate spoke into the intercom, a message that then travelled throughout the entire ship. "Prepare for space fold," Then to the bridge crew "Everyone to their stations. Engage jump drive in five, four, three..."

  "Hold on tight DC," Slipstream called, looking over her shoulder at the small gold and blue femme. She laughed a high-pitched, exhilirated laugh. Her companions glared at her.

  "...one. Engage!"

  "How original," Stardrive chuckled, pressing the big red button.

  *FWOOM*

  The force knocked DC out of her seat in front of the viewing screen, sending her tumbling across the floor. The bridge members were in little better positions, but most were able to hold their ground well enough.

  "Whoa," DC said, not so intelligently. The crew reported from their stations of a successful space fold, the Freedom had arrived less than seventeen lightyears from IRTC Border Station 15, not that DC knew what that was.

  "Alert," said the computer suddenly. "Hull breach to left flank."

  "Give a visual." Waitstate commanded.

  It came on screen, a flat, 2D picture of a meteor, shown to having struck the Freedom's hull when the shields were down, and ripped away a few metal sheets. It didn't cause a lot of overall damage, however, certainly not worse than the beating they had gotten from the mercenary squadron just over a week ago.

  "Not too bad, probably struck us as we were coming out of the fold," the black and gray 'bot said. "DC, go down and take care of it. We'll send a few drones to help you out."

  "Those drones are more trouble than good," DC sniffed. "They act like they don't even understand me!"

  Nonetheless, DC left the bridge and entered a lift, going down to deck six where the meteor had penetrated. First she'd pry the rock loose of where it was wedged, sending it off to drift away in space, then straighten out the bent metal plating, replace any that was too bad to be fixed, and weld it airtight again. No problem.
   It was easy to find where the meteor was along the hallway, it was a lot bigger than made out to be on the viewscreen. Right by the airlock, next to a storage room. No air seemed to be escaping the area, but DC sealed off the corridor anyway, as soon as the drones reported.

  "Big thing, this rock," she said while grunting, prying the meteor from its place with her mallet handle, and not having any such luck. "Hey, drones, get over here! I need help moving this!" They didn't listen, of course, just went about whirring about their blocked corridor mindlessly.

  "I could help you with that." a voice said. Strangely familar, yet foreign. Chilling. DC wheeled around to see the speaker.

  It was herself.

  About eleven or twelve feet tall, with "ears" and head crest nearly identical to her own. This new 'bot was also a femme, and also possessed a tail. Hers, however, ended in a wickedly sharp blade, like a scythe. There were also blades along her forarm parts, and on the gears of her ankles. She was painted black and blue, the colors Slipstream had. But so not like Slipstream, and so not like DC.

  The face was different. Smoother, more humanlike. More intelligent. "Hiya, big sister."

  DC's optics went wide. "Who are you?"

  "Me? I am Epsilon," the new 'bot said proudly. "NDC-Epsilon. Your successor. But, unlike you, I was a decent creation. Daddy was very proud of me. He even gave me a real name: Black Lynx,"

  "Not a very nice name," DC said blandly. "You are Megatron's creation, like I am?"

  Black Lynx smirked and shook her head. "Galvatron, the greatest leader of the Decepticons ever to live, was my creator. Of course, Galvatron and Megatron are one in the same,"

  "I knew it!" DC exclaimed, recalling that news program she'd seen on Moruri Omega over two hundred years ago. "Galvatron and Megatron, they're the same! So that means my papa is still alive!" she said happily.

  "Yes, your 'papa' is still alive, but you won't be for long," Black Lynx took a blaster from her gun holster and shot DC square in the chestplate.

  The gold and blue femme fell back, metal chestplate smoldering, and landed with a clank on the corridor floor. "What...? Why are you...?"

  "I've come to replace you, big sister NDC-Beta," Black Lynx said with a grin, grabbing the older 'bot by the throat and dragging her to her feet. "You're obsolete."

  Despite not knowing what the word meant, DC could tell what her "little sister" was talking about. And now she was really getting scared, most of her fear probably coming from the fact that her ether component card had once again been destroyed. If she didn't get it fixed soon...

  "Goodbye, big sister," Black Lynx cackled.

  "Please," DC begged. "Please don't do this..."

  "Daddy made a mistake with you. He gave you stupid emotions, like the Autobots have. He didn't make that mistake twice. I feel no pity for you, big sister."

  "My name is DC!"

  "Then die, DC." And she fired her blaster once again.

  "DC's been down there for a while," Shadowpaw noted, retiring from her station and passing by Waitstate's command chair, heading for the exit. "I'm gonna go see what's up,"

  "DC always takes a long time to finish work, it's nothing out of the ordinary," Dead Lift called from over at his console. SP just ignored him.

  Just then the bridge door slid open. The short gold and blue femme appeared, walking quite rigidly, very unlike her usual clumsy waltz. Her face was expressionless.

  "Oh, hi DC," Shadowpaw said. "I was just going to go look for you. Did you manage to repair things all right?" DC nodded stiffly, not saying a word and walking right past the equally short black and purple 'bot.

  "She's unusually well-behaved," Stardrive muttered. "Check for neuro chip damage, post haste,"

  Slipstream watched, unspeaking, as an abnormally quiet DC walked past her and up to the viewscreen. She didn't sit in front of it, just watched as it displayed an image of outside space, IRTC Border Station 15 sitting far off, not surrounding any planet or star.

  "Something's wrong with her," Slipstream whispered to Trilana. "I can feel it,"

  "Slipstream, you don't need an analysis to tell when DC's acting weird," Trilana said. "It's obvious. No annoying questions, no smashing everything in sight. Maybe DC has finally gotten her act together,"

  The black and navy femme shook her head. "It's not just that. Look, she doesn't have her mallet with her. And look, she has a blaster!"

  "So what?" the pink and purple officer said with a shrug. "Maybe she realized how ineffective a hammer is," Slipstream sighed and returned to her station, having given up arguing. It was probably just her imagination. DC was no different, she was just...

  Just what?

  "Hey DC, wanna go have a snack after I get off duty?" Slipstream tried.

  "No thanks," the short femme said.

  "Something is definitely wrong," muttered Slipstream, shaking her head. "Maybe she hit her head one too many times. That has to be it."

  "DC, please take a seat," Waitstate said. "We're about to start towards the station now."

  The gold and blue femme didn't move from where she stood.

  "Are you listening to me, DC? I asked you to take a seat,"

  In a fluid movement all too fast for such a clunky, outdated 'bot such as DC, she removed the blaster from her holster and turned around, facing Waitstate, gun pointed directly at him.

  The bridge froze.

  "What's up with you, DC?!" Shadowpaw said crossly. For safety, she took out her own blaster, keeping it out of DC's sight so that she could have the element of surprise. Several other crew members were getting out their weapons as well.

  "I knew something was wrong with you," Slipstream said. "This isn't even DC at all."

  "Don't move a circuit or your captain becomes space dust," the un-DC said. It was her voice, but the words seemed so not her own. But what mattered was that her blaster was on the highest setting, and she had it aimed at LONAC's leader.

  "Chameleon program," Dead Lift said. "Like Cham has,"

  "The big dumb forklift actually got one right," un-DC said mockfully, smirking. "Dead Lift, right? We all miss you back home, you know. You really ought to rejoin us,"

  "Decepticons. You're a Decepticon,"

  "Two correct in a row! Will wonders never cease!" She laughed, a very not-DC kind of cackle. There was a faint shimmer of low light, and suddenly the image of DC was gone, removed. In her place stood a 'bot of similar features, but black and navy and far more fearsome looking. Her eyes were deep red, the Decepticon insignia shown on her chestplate.

  "Who are you?" Wait demanded, not risking moving a wire for fear of being shot. "We've never seen you around before,"

  "I'm a bit new," Black Lynx said with a wicked smile. "My name is Black Lynx, aka NDC-Epsilon. NDC-Beta's little sister, so to speak. We're made from the same blueprints,"

  "We figured,"

  "Don't mock me or you'll earn yourself a more painful death by blade, you pile of scrap parts daring to call yourself a Cybertronian." Lynx growled, pressing a little on the trigger but not enough to make it shoot. "I've been sent by the mighty Lord Galvatron to exterminate that annoying little DC and all associated with her. I've done the first part of the job, now to finish the deal,"

  "We have you way outnumbered, Lynx. Almost fourty to one, most of us on the ship are trained fighters," Stardrive said.

  "I don't have to kill you all by hand," said NDC-Epsilon, moving towards the helm. "All I have to do is kill the bridge crew and then direct the ship to collide with a nearby star, and my problem is solved. I'd tell you more but that would be just too cliche." During her speech in which she paced in front of the viewscreen, no one noticed the half-closed door to the lift edge open just a tad bit more.

  "Oh come on-- please? You have us at our mercy and all," Wait tried.

  "You're funny. You'll die for it," Lynx announced, raising her blaster and firing.

  *WHAM*

  The shot missed its target, striking the back wall. Lynx was down on the ground, half flattened, gun thrown from reach.

  The real DC collapsed backwards, having expended the last of her energy stopping Lynx from getting a good shot. Her mallet fell from her grasp. A fresh wave of sparks shot from her destroyed circulator.

  "Aaah!" she cried in pain. Black Lynx, now looking rather mangled, was back on her feet and attacked DC with her clawed fingers.

  Just then something occured to DC. If she and Lynx were made of the same blueprints, that means her internal parts would be in the same places as her. Reaching up feebly as Epsilon tightened her grip around her throat, and touched lightly on Lynx's Decepticon symbol.

  Black Lynx shrieked in horror as her chest armor snapped and slided open, revealing her circulator and ether component card, as well as hundreds of intricately-placed wires. DC used the fact Lynx was distracted by the happening, and reached and grabbed a handful of wires. And tugged.

  Motor functions slowed and stopped. Audio receptors deadened, optics blank. Black Lynx went entirely limp. And DC went offline as well, the last sound she heard being the bridge crew shouting her name.

2239.152 TST

  "DC, you need to wake up," said Waitstate, somewhere above her.

  "Papa?" she asked, optics flickering on and off, as if debating whether DC should come online or stay asleep. "Papa, I'm so sorry, it's all my fault, if I hadn't been such a failure..."

  "Snap out of it, there's no time for this," said the black and gray 'bot, voice wavering between harsh and kind. "DC, you need to come online."

  "Just five more minutes, Papa..." she replied, rolling over on her side on the medbed. Unfortunately, the medbed wasn't that wide, and she rolled right off and onto the floor with a clang. "Ow." she reported from below.

  "Oh my, are you all right?"

  "Fine, just fine," she said, clammoring up. DC looked at her surroundings. "Where am I?"

  "Medbay," Waitstate explained, he was sitting in a waiting chair next to the medbed she'd been lying on. "You've been out for over two standard days, being repaired and recharged. You got beat up pretty bad back there,"

  "And Black Lynx?"

  "Not dead, thank Sigma, we sent her in a pod back to Charr for her fellow 'Cons to repair her."

  DC guessed she should have felt relieved she didn't end up killing Lynx. But after what that 'bot had done to her, it was hard to feel remorse for her actions back there. "Why did she come? What's so important about me? Papa said I was a failure,"

  "Well, that's why I had to get you to come online before your repairs were done," Waitstate said, sounding unnaturally serious even for him.  "You see... well.... um.... I guess it's best if you come to the bridge and see for yourself," With that he motioned for her to follow him out of medbay and into the nearest turbolift, and had it take them to the command deck.

  The door to the bridge opened, and Wait led her in.

  And DC saw what he had woken her for.

  The viewscreen showed two images. One was of the outside, in front of the Freedom. It was a large attack vessel, armed to the windows in guns and cannons of all sorts. On the nose right below the glass of the bridge window was a Decepticon insignia.

  The second image was a visual/audio link from a speaker on the Decepticon ship. She'd only seen his face once or twice, but that didn't stop her from recognizing it immediately.

  Galvatron. What Megatron had become. Her father, her creator. He was here. For her.

  DC's knee joints nearly gave out, she almost collapsed. Her papa, here!

  "Ahh, my little darling girl, NDC-Beta," Galvatron said in the most fake parody of sweetness any 'bot ever saw. "I am so glad to finally see you again. You've no idea how worried I was for you!"

  DC noticed that all former 'Cons on the bridge crew were trying their best to keep out of sight. And former Autobots weren't must better.

  "You aren't preventing her from talking to me, are you, Waitstate?" the Decepticon leader said in a growl that seemed much more suiting of his personality.

  "Nope, she's just being silent." Waitstate replied, emotionlessly. "Can you please tell us what this is about? You can't just hold up an explorer ship --a neutral explorer ship-- without giving a reason."

  "Galvatron does whatever he wants, where and when he wants!" Galvatron snapped.  Wait didn't want to risk asking for what reason was he talking in third person. "Darling little NDC-Beta, aren't you glad to see your good ol' papa again?"

  "'Papa'?" Slipstream asked, incredulously. "You mean he is your..."

  "Slipstream, stay out of this," Waitstate said tersely.

  "My name isn't NDC-Beta anymore, Papa," DC said, stepping forward. "My name is DC. And I like the name DC, I think it's pretty,"

  "DC," Galvatron amended, looking a little disgusted in the face. "I admit I made a big mistake, all those years ago. I was so mean to you, but now I really would like to make it up to you! Please, come back to the Decepticon ranks, and I promise I will never get mad at you ever again,"

  "He's lying, DC!" Dead Lift said abruptly, getting out from his hiding place behind the communications console. "He just wants to get you back so he can have another warrior!"

  "Ahhh, Dead Lift, how nice to see you again as well. So this is where you ran off to,"

  "And I don't regret it for a microsecond," Dead Lift replied coldly.

  "But Papa, I was a failure. You tried to kill me because I was useless to you. And now I'm in LONAC, I can't just leave them. They're my friends now,"

  "Oh DC, I know how tough it must be to leave your friends for a father who was never there for you from the start, but I've changed! You and I will do everything together, just like human families so I'm led to believe."

  "But," DC said, trying desperately to see a flaw in his words. "how do I know you really want me back, not just want another fighter?"

  Galvatron glanced off to the left, only briefly. He seemed to be arguing with himself. Then he smiled a pleasant smile that probably made him feel sick, and said "Because I love you, DC,"

  Tears would have been flowing from DC's face if she were organic. "Papa..."

  "Stop this charade!" Slipstream said crossly, stopping DC where she stood and placing herself in front of the viewscreen. "Stop manipulating her! It's so obvious you don't care about her. And for whatever reason you want her back, I know in my circulator it's not because you 'love' her. We won't let you take her!"

  "Yeah!" Shadowpaw agreed, joining her fellow femme in front of the screen.

  "I'm so heartbroken," said Galvatron, wiping his optics and doing some fake sniffling. "I'm afraid I now have no choice. Since you refuse to give up NDC-Beta willingly, I will have to take her by force. Gunners to your stations! Fighter jets out the airlock and engage in combat!"

  In a split second the space as viewed on the bridge was filled with blaster fire and Decepticon jets. Waitstate was so offguard he couldn't even give the order to put up shields before the first wave of laser fire struck.

  The Freedom rocked and shook, sending most crew tumbling. "You can't do this!" Waitstate cried as he hit the ground hands first. "There are laws--"

  "Decepticons are above law!" The visual/audio link to the Decepticon ship closed, Galvatron's image vanishing.

  "Shields to maximum!" Wait yelled above the tremendous sound of the attacks. "All fight-capable crew to shuttle bay! No time to waste, none!"

  "Mr. Waitstate, is this one of those times when I'm allowed to fight with the others?" DC asked as Waitstate dragged himself up and into his command chair.

  "No," the black and gray 'bot said tersely. "It's you they're after; you going into battle will just make it easier for them to capture you. You are to stay here. If they manage to get aboard, I want you in hiding. Do you understand?"

  "Yes." she said, not understanding why Waitstate was acting this way. It was like she was important... "Mr. Waitstate, I want to ask you..."

  "I need to go, DC," he said, heading towards the turbolift with the others.

  "Okay,"

  The battle raged outside, Decepticons vs. LONAC, two groups that weren't supposed to care either way about what the other did. And all DC could do about it was watch it on the bridge viewscreen.

  Even now it was obvious who the victors would be. Decepticons outnumbered LONAC about six to one. Unless local law inforcement interveined... but it wouldn't! This was a neutral zone!

  If she had just gone with Galvatron all this could have been avoided. Now one or many of her friends might die out there, and it was all her fault. All her fault.

  The sound of the bridge doors being rammed brought her back from her thoughts. They're trying to get in! She remembered Waitstate's words: if they got onto the ship she had to hide. But where to hide on the bridge?

  *WHAM* A few large dents appeared in the left turbolift door.

  Not hide, run. she decided. She left her seat beside the captain's chair and rushed to the door on the left side of the bridge, that led into Waitstate's office. It wasn't locked. She entered and shut the door behind her, and listened.

  *WHAM*

  *WHAM*

  *CRUNCH*

  "We're through!" an unknown voice announced. "Doesn't seem like she's in here, though," The voice sounded disappointed. Yesss, DC thought happily. I fooled 'em.

  "Check that door over there,"

  Crud... Wasting no time, DC ran across Waitstate's small office and out the other door, arriving in the hallway she had once traversed. But now the memories of her passage from her quarters to here was gone, she couldn't find her way back. Think... what place could I go where they wouldn't think to come? I know! With that she bolted down the hallway, fast as she could go. She turned a corner into another hallway just as she heard the sound of Waitstate's office being broken into.

  Can't risk using the lift, she thought. DC arrived at the stairwell next to a storage room and began to run down it, but tripped on the far-too-large steps. She was sent reeling down the staircase, crashing at the bottom of it with a sound the entire ship must have heard.

  Try as she might, DC wasn't able to get back up. But in a few seconds she didn't need to; the door opened, and two sets of strong metal hands grabbed her and lifted her up.

  "Pathetic thing, might as well be a human,"

  "I don't even see why Galvatron wants her so bad."

  "It doesn't matter. We have her, so let's go. Tell Galvatron to call off the attack, these LONAC people aren't our concern anymore."

  The attack stopped, oh so abruptly stopped. The Decepticons fled back to their ship, the weapons stopped firing. Reasons for it were not given. They just left. And soon when it became apparent that it wasn't a trick to get them offguard, the LONAC crew returned to the ship.

  "Overall damage minimal," Slipstream reported, coming back from a flight around the Freedom to survey it. "Oh my, what happened to the door?" she asked, staring at the dented turbolift door as she entered the bridge.

  "It's as I feared," Waitstate said. "They broke in. DC must've been taken,"

  "We don't know that for certain," said Shadowpaw. "I mean, DC"s a resourceful 'bot... kinda. She could have gotten away, gone into hiding somewhere."

  "Then why did the 'Cons leave, if they didn't get her?"

  "I don't know, I don't know!" the purple and black femme sighed. "Let's try to contact her with the comm. If she responds we'll at least know she's still online."

  "Right," Waitstate agreed.

  <DC, do you read me? This is Waitstate. Where are you?>

  Far away and getting farther, the Decepticon ship was flying at casual speed back to their Charr headquarters. Galvatron was in his captain's quarters yelling at some nameless subordinate in order to unstress himself. Scourge was commanding the bridge, Cyclonus being back at HQ. The ship didn't have a brig, so DC was just bound and stuffed in the corner of the bridge and ordered to keep silent.

  "Did I just hear a comm signal?" Blitzwing asked, perking up.

  "No, you must be hearing things," said Astrotrain, not looking up from his console.

  <DC! If you can, answer me!>

  The femme almost did answer him. But thought better of it. If her captors kept thinking they were just hearing things, she wouldn't get caught.

  "Now I know I heard something that time," Blitzwing said blandly.

  "Uh-uh, your receptors need tweaking, s'all,"

  "I guess it doesn't matter. We're almost 'home.' I can't wait to get into a bed analog and have a nice long recharge," Blitzwing's fellow 'Cons sighed and agreed. When serving Galvatron there was no better way to relieve all that stress from the job than going offline for half a day or so.

  <DC, if you're there at all... just tell me where you are,>

  At that moment the bridge window was filled with a single image. A planet, a blackened husk of a world with a few metallic buildings placed out of sight under cliffs.

  She initiated her comm button, and spoke a single word. <Charr.>

  "We ordered you to keep silent!" one of the Sweeps snapped at her. "Wretched fembot, I hope Galvatron just gets whatever he needs from her and then trashes her. Speaking of which, has he told any of you what's so important about her?"

  "Nope."

  "Not a word."

  "He never tells us anything, you know,"

  The ship landed on a poorly-made runway near the 'Con main building, and its passengers gladly got off it. On the ground below, Cyclonus was holding a datapad and awaiting Galvatron to get off so he could give his report. Scourge and one of the Sweeps appeared, holding DC between them.

  Cyclonus and DC glanced at each other. Noted the "ears" on one another's heads.

  "Mrrroww," DC called to him.

  "..." he responded, not knowing what language she was even speaking. Scourge and the Sweep moved aside with the prisoner, taking her into the main building, and Galvatron came out of the ship airlock. Cyclonus completedly forgot his encounter with the strange femme and approached his leader. "Um, Lord Galvatron, while you were away we recieved a threat call from the--"

  "Shut up, Cyclonus!" the angry 'Con leader growled. "I have had a very bad day,"

  "But Lord Galvatron, the--"

  "SHUT UP!"

  "Yes, Lord Galvatron," Cyc said meekly, trailing behind Galvatron as they went into the main building also. The datapad containing the threat call from the Autobots was left on the ground behind them, forgotten.

Back on the Freedom...

  "We have a fix on DC's location," Stardrive reported. "Planet Charr, the Decepticon headquarters planet. To sum things up briefly, it is a helluva long way from here,"

  The bridge doors had been repaired, sloppily since only the drones were available for the task. Waitstate looked up from his command console. "We're going after her,"

  "But Waitstate, it's so out of the way..."

  "We'll use up so much fuel in the process,"

  "You all would rather forsake one of our members, Primus knows what sort of torture she's going through right now, because of fuel and whatnot? We're going after her, that's an order." Some continued to disagree, but not many. In minutes the engines were running once more.

  "I promised Metalla Fifth that I would look out for DC," said Slipstream. "I'll be damned if I give up on her this easily,"

  "Prepare for interphase travel," Waitstate commanded as everyone was seated at their stations. "On my mark..."

  "Let's go save the annoying little twit!" Artifice said with an exhilirated laugh.

Charr...

  DC sat behind electric bars in a desolate prison block in the 'Con main building. She had a visitor, although it was not one she much cared to get a visit from.

  "You're so pathetic," Black Lynx, now repaired, said with a smirk. "I can't believe those LONAC asses actually refused to hand you over; what use could they even have for you?"

  The gold and blue femme didn't dignify that with a response. Undaunted, Lynx continued...

  "You know what's gonna happen to you now? No, of course you don't. Galvatron didn't tell anybody except me, I bet. What he's gonna do is send an electric shock through your mainframe, effectively nullifying and eliminating your spark. Then he's gonna take give your body frame a decent spark that will make NDC-Beta, the failed creation, into one worth noting. Isn't that cool?"

  Again, DC didn't reply.

  "So tell me the truth-- are you happy with your life as it was before today?"

  The question surprised her, DC looked up and stared her "little sister" in the face. "What?"

  "Were you happy with your life?"

  DC sighed and smiled a tiny smile, and shifted a bit on her skid plate as she leaned against the cell wall. "I was very happy. I had friends,"

  "You could have just as easily had friends in the Decepticons," Lynx said.

  "No," DC disagreed. "It wouldn't be the same. The people here are all after the same thing, and that thing is something I don't agree with. LONAC... LONAC was a group made up of all different sorts of people. Different minds and ideas and views of life." For a 'bot like DC that was a tremendous speech, and she stopped to rest then.

  "Why? Why are you like this?"

  "Why are you like the way you are?" DC responded. "Why is anybody the way they are?"

  "Quit with the rhetorics," Lynx said tiredly. She walked as close to the bars as she was able to without feeling the electric shock. "Galvatron made me and I am after his own spark, albeit a tad less insane than he is. You... you were made by him just as I was, but look how different you and I are,"

  "Megatron made me, this is true," DC looked up at Lynx. "And until a little bit ago I thought of him as my papa. But now I don't think so. He made me, he gave me life, but a papa is more than just who makes you."

  "Robots don't have papas anyway," Black Lynx said coldly. "Family is a thing for fleshies. Robots have creators, maybe, but not families."

  "Not so," DC said, smiling a cat-like smile. "LONAC is a family."

  "Black Lynx," Galvatron's voice came from the prison block entrance. "I need to talk to you,"

  "Yes, Lord Galvatron!" Lynx said happily, toddling off and leaving DC alone. A few seconds passed. "But Lord Galvatron--"

  "You've fulfilled your purpose. You are hereby discharged."

  "But... I'm a valuable warrior!" she exclaimed, voice cracking. "You-you said so yourself..." Some sort of not-quite-pain struck DC. "You can't mean it. Galvatron. Daddy..."

  "You failed in your mission, we were forced to go after NDC-Beta ourselves, at the expense of a lot of much-needed fuel. You, a valuable warrior? I laugh at the very thought!"

  "Daddy..." Lynx sniffled.

  "Stop that!" Galvatron growled. DC was having a distinct feeling of deja vu. "I have gone through this with one lousy creation already! If you don't stop it, I'll feed you to the sharkticons!"

  "We don't have any sharkticons, Galvatron..."

  "I'm aware of that! You think I wasn't aware of that?! Now shut up or I'll toss you into the sharkticon pit!"

  "Lord Galvatron, we don't have--- oh, nevermind." Lynx sighed.

  "Well, what are you waiting for? Get out of my sight,"

  "Yes, sir,"

  Footsteps approached, and DC found another figure outside her cell. The same face she'd seen on the screen back on the Freedom. Now he was not three feet in front of her.

  "Why, hello, NDC-Beta," he cooed. "How's my little girl?"

  "Lynx told me what you're gonna do to me. Save me the trouble and just get it over with." said DC emotionlessly.

  "I honestly did want you back in the ranks, NDC-Beta. But you had to make things so difficult for me,"

  "What, my having a free mind made things difficult?"

  "Such wit from a femme with the IQ of a dinobot," he sneered. "Your time has come, NDC-Beta, muster up what little dignity you have left and go quietly,"

  The electric bars dispersed, reforming as chains on DC's form. Galvatron lifted her up by the neck and half-led, half-dragged her towards the exit. The outside sunlight was minimal, as Charr did not quite orbit any particular sun, but it made the landscape look to be the bleakest thing DC had seen to date. She didn't remain outside long, however, because Galvatron then took her into another portion of the main building: a laboratory. And she saw three faceplate faces she hadn't seen in over two hundred years.

  The three scientists who had assisted Megatron in building her. They would now witness her spark's destruction. The end of her life.

  "Don't I get a last request?" she asked.

  "We're Decepticons, not Autobots. Scientists, secure her," The three scientists, her builders moreso than Megatron had been, came forward, rigidly, reluctantly. The electric chains disappeared as they grabbed hold of her and pushed her onto a table. They bolted down her arms and legs.

  "I'm sorry," the blue and orange scientist whispered as he reached over to secure her right arm. He spoke so low that no one but he and she could hear. "I'm so sorry. This is my fault,"

  "No it isn't," she replied, cheerfully as she could.

  Being finished, the scientists left. Galvatron camed back, looking down at his immobile creation gloatfully. "It's such a pity it had to end this way for you," he said with fake sadness. He reached forward with his gun arm and tapped the LONAC insignia on her chestplate; her armor snapped and slided open, just as it did when she performed the action on Lynx.

  Mismatched interior parts, wires nearly out of their sockets.

  "My my..." he said, shaking his head. "Didn't your LONAC friends have the decency to repair you, if even a little?" He laughed and reached over to a nearby cart, drawing from it a pair of wires that were attached to a small, unidentifiable machine DC couldn't see very well. He plugged the wires into a pair of empty sockets in her energon circulator, which was hooked to her mainframe.

  "Think of it this way: you never liked being a machine in the first place," said Galvatron, throwing the switch. In an instant, mind-wracking pain filled her whole body, overtaking her. The electical current running through her was the same to a robot as being burned alive was to a human. Everywhere in her interior, parts crackled and sizzled as they were overloaded. Optics felt like they would shatter. She writhed as much as she could with arms and legs held down, and began to scream all the bad words she was told were not nice to say.

  When suddenly...

  *BOOM*

  The southern wall exploded, metal flying everywhere. In the chaos the machine that she had been hooked up to was trampled, the pain abruptly stopping. When the dust cleared it became known who had just attacked; DC was disappointed to find it was not by her fellow LONAC members.

  He stood about the same height as Galvatron, bright red and blue, with the Autobot insignia emblazened on both shoulders. She'd heard a lot about him.

  Optimus Prime. And he'd brought some friends, his fellow Autobots. But one of them was so very not Autobot. He was dust-red and pale yellow, and seemed to be made entirely of trashed parts.

  "WRECK-GAR!" she screamed, astonished. The Junkion looked over at her, smiling brightly.

  "That's right kids, for today only: it's one of a kind, not found in stores, Wreck-Gar at your service for the low low price of three easy payments of 19.95. As a free gift you also recieve Autobot comrades for your convenience!"

  "That's right!" Optimus said. "We learned of your dillema and have come to right wrongs and vanquish the evil Decepticons once again."

  "In the name of the moon, we'll punish you!" Wreck-Gar added, doing a funny pose with his hands. "As you well know or even if you don't, this brings total debt to two, Decitty. Not three, not four, and five is right out. Two, the number of love and the price of two McChicken Sandwiches. Three centuries until offer expires; don't delay, come by today!"

  "SHUT UP, YOU FOUL THING!" Galvatron roared. "Decepticons, attack!!" And so battle began, 'Bot vs. 'Con, of a war lasting millenia after millenia with no sign of stopping. And DC was never so glad of it.

  Out of view, through the corner of the destroyed wall by which the Autobots and Decepticons were fighting, a small group of three small 'bots snuck through. They kept to the darkened part of the laboratory to avoid attention.

  DC felt a tap on her left arm. She turned her head to see who it was.

  "Heya," said Waitstate, Shadowpaw and Slipstream standing directly behind him. "Are we a bit late?"

  "Get these clamps off me so I can hug you!" she said with overwhelming happiness. Shadowpaw and Slipstream did as asked, and, true to her word, the first thing DC did when freed was give Wait a big hug. And it didn't seem that akward.

  "I'll kill you this time, Prime!" Galvatron swore, leaping forward like an animal at his nemesis. The two fell backwards, coincidently right where the four reunited LONAC members were standing.

  *CRASH*

  Having just barely avoided getting flattened, Waitstate said to the others: "It's too dangerous here; let's get back to the Freedom, fast." The three femmes eagerly agreed.

  They escaped the battle scene unscathed, miraculously. In the chaos the two warring groups were too preoccupied to notice four 'bots going out the newly-made window.

  Then, when they were about a hundred yards away...

  "Autobots, retreat!" DC heard Optimus call from within the building. "Charges set to blow in twenty seconds!"

  "Charges?!" Slipstream cried. "Oh crap! Come on, we gotta move! Faster!"

  *BA-BOOOOOOMMMMMMMM*

  "Aaaaaaahhh!!" dozens of Decepticon, Autobot, and LONAC voices were heard, as the countdown completed and the charges ignited. The force reached Waitstate and the others within seconds, knocking them off their feet and sending them flying.

2239.155 TST, LSS Freedom

  "She's coming online!"

  "She is? Oh, this is great! I'll go get Waitstate and the others,"

  "We're already here. Restore notified us just a little while ago."

  DC's optics flickered a few times, on and off, on and off. On. Off.

  On.

  The gold and blue femme sat up, feeling unusually weak even though she was well charged. She recognized this place now: the Freedom's medbay. And around her... DC looked up and saw Waitstate's face, turned and saw Slipstream, Shadowpaw, Diablo, Artifice, Dead Lift, Stardrive, Trilana, Aries, Overwrite, Restore. Almost the entire ship was crowded into the small medbay.

  "DC... are you okay?"

  "You've been out for days,"

  "Just can never keep from getting damaged, can you? Primus, it's good to see ya up and online again!"

  "I called Metalla back't Adelaide 4, he was so worried f'ya! Wait'll I tell 'im you're back an' well!"

  DC just sat, stunned. Looked at all her friends. Considered telling them what she had told Black Lynx: about them being her family.

  Through the mass of people she caught a glimpse of the outside hallway, it was severely dented in many places. She cried in shock.

  "You people! I leave you alone for a few days and look what you do the ship! I gotta go; I've got so much work to do! Where's my hammer?" She magnetized her wrist and her mallet flew into her hand in seconds. She lept down from the medbed and through the crowd. The sound of mallet striking metal plating was heard.

  "Well, at least she's devoted to her job," Waitstate said brightly.