Well, this is it, the last chapter in this entire story line! Many thanks to all the reviews and PMs for character suggestions and ideas! In case you haven't noticed, I love bringing in characters from other Transformers continuities…

One thing to mention, however, and that had to do with Ratchet's comment in Chapter 11 about Sari and Bumblebee's Spark Bonded reunion; would Ratchet ever describe something as 'sooo cute'?. I thought that was an excellent comment from nerdfighter1309. In defense, all I can say is, his Arcee has certainly been a positive influence on the crusty old bot, wouldn't you say? And maybe the Spark Bonding's helped. But as they say, YMMV.

Still, it's a valid point, nerdfighter1309, and the Ratchet character has always been a bit of a curmudgeon. To specifically answer the review, no, I didn't intend it for Arcee; I kind of like TFA Ratchet being a little…less crotchety in this story line – just…a little. I like the couple: Ratchet and Arcee; I think she's exactly what he needs.

Anyway, we pick up the story where we left off, with Sari and her new Skystriker team stepping out of the space bridge onto their new home …

"Welcome to Skybolt," said Technical Specialist Ro to the new arrivals. She gestured, "If you would please approach my console, I can enter your signatures into our ship's database."

Jack, Arcee, Miko and Raf came up to the console. She reached behind, and opening a cabinet door, took out a portable scanning device. "I'd like to begin with anyone that has a Spark." All but Raf stepped forward.

Jack came up. The scanner beeped, and registered his Spark signature. "Thank you, Jack," she said, reading his name on the output. Arcee kneeled down, and she repeated it for her. "Thank you, Arcee."

Miko was next, and after the scanner beeped, Ro looked up at her Predacon eyes. She smiled and tilted her head. "Nice eyes, Miko! Yellow, like mine!"

"Thanks!" she grinned back.

"You're next," Ro smiled at Raf. And she placed the same device on his chest.

"Not for a Spark, I assume," he smirked, "since I have none."

"Oh, no," she chuckled. "I'm recording the unique transthoracic electrical patterns of your heart muscles. I believe your Earth physicians refer to it as an EKG." She then placed her device on his head.

"EEG?" He smiled.

"Precisely!"

After typing his information in her keyboard, she told them, "that's all. I now have all of you in our database. Should anyone try to board posing as you, we can ensure the effort will fail."

"Thank you, Ro," said Sari. And she led her team down the hall.

"Ro's cool!" said Miko. "Where's she from?"

"Ro is a Sirian," explained Sari. "Sirius V is a planet almost entirely water covered."

"If she's a water-based organic, how does she breathe in our atmosphere?" asked Raf.

"When working on land, Sirians wear a small, compact hydrolysis device that fits comfortably around their shoulders and the gills on their neck, and breathe from a pair of discrete cannulae on either side of their mouth."

"And the chirps and squeaks? Was that her speaking in her native language?" asked Jack.

"Yes. The device on her shoulders includes a language mod with a mic and lightweight, wraparound earpieces for her otoliths."

"Her oto-what?" said Miko.

"Otoliths," said Raf. "Ro's hearing organs. Most sea creatures lack middle and outer ears like we do, since sound travels faster in water." Miko just rolled her eyes and smiled. "Whatever you say, Mr. Wizard."

Sari chuckled. "The language device translates her underwater speech into vocalizations that air breathers can understand. And it does the reverse for her, translating our speech into her native chirps and squeaks."

"Ro was first in her class in engineering, and is an enthusiastic member of Skybolt's crew," said Sari. "She loves meeting and greeting new visitors, which is why she was the perfect candidate for Transport Technician."

"So, let me guess: her living space is underwater?" said Miko.

"With an above-water reception area for us land-lubbers," smiled the Cyber Ninja. "And speaking of living spaces, we've arrived at yours." They turned a corner to the Skystrikers' quarters.

"Miko, you're first. Hope you like it," said Sari, and opened the door.

"Wow!" she exclaimed, walking in. Miko's quarters were equipped with two beds, one for her "human" alt mode and a large Predacon-sized recharging bed for her primary mode.

"I asked your host parents for a few ideas," said Sari. "What do you think?"

"Like it? I love it!" She yelled.

Of course there was a huge Slash Monkey poster, Vocaloid collection; a high tech stereo system complete with CDs of her favorite bands and music; a huge 3D HD TV with a super-fast cable system filled with millions of channels; a Blue Ray system with a collection of her favorite movies; the latest gaming console complete with a collection of games, and a brand new amp and guitar!

"Uh, Sensei? These walls are thick, right?" asked Jack.

"Oh, Miko's walls are very well soundproofed," Sari assured the group.

There were a few pictures already on her shelves, such as Miko in Predacon mode posing with Bulkhead; a group picture with team Prime; and pictures of her posing with both sets of her parents. She picked up the one with her and Bulkhead and smiled.

"Sari, this is awesome!" she ran to go hug her new Captain, then suddenly thinking of protocol, stepped back. "Oh!" [ahem] "Thank you, Ma'am!" And gave her best attempt at a salute.

Sari laughed. "You're welcome!" and saluted back.

The group left Miko to her new room as she plugged in her guitar. Closing the door, the loud music could barely be heard.

"Good walls, Sensei," commented Jack.

They went a little further. "OK, Raf, you're next," and opened his door.

"The last time my Dad was here, Agent Fowler asked him to assemble a library for you," said Sari. On one wall were shelves of advanced computer science and theoretical physics books from MIT.

"And Optimus had the Teletraan-1 archivists put together a digital database of Cybertronian lore. It's accessible from your workstation - available to all of us as well."

"And I hope you don't mind, but your Mom was here the other day, bringing a few things, most importantly your sci fi books. They're over by your bedside."

"This is great, Sari! Thanks!"

"And that's not all. Come with me." And Sari opened a door from his reception area which led into a large room.

"Oh, wow," said Raf. Adjacent to Raf's room was his office / lab, with three robotic units - one red, one yellow, one blue - docked in recessed sections at one wall.

"What are those?" asked Jack.

"They are Raf's assistants. They are AI-enabled, and voice-prompted. Agent Fowler dubbed them Huey, Dewey, and Louie, but you can rename them if you like, Raf." She called out, "Huey?", and the red robot woke up, raised its single arm and rolled up to the Cyber Ninja. She gestured toward Raf. "This is Raf. He will be in charge of you, Dewey and Louie." Huey turned to Raf and put forth his multi-purpose servo in a handshake.

Raf chuckled. "Pleased to meet you, Huey," he said, returning the shake.

"Your assistants have mods and can change their servos into different tools as needed. "Huey? Show Raf your power tool." Huey nodded at Sari, and with clicking sounds, Huey's servo went away and transformed into a power tool.

"Very nice," said Raf. "Thank you, Huey. You can return the servo." And Huey obeyed, putting his servo back.

"When you don't need them, they return to their docking stations to recharge," explained Sari. "For now, let's let Huey show you your design station. Huey, show it to Raf." And Huey turned and led the group to a waist-high table. He lowered his arm and his servo transformed into a probe which plugged into the table. It turned, and a 3D holographic design program lit up above the table surface.

"These images you see are semi-tangible," said Sari, "and allow you to interact with them with a wave of your hand. Huey, bring up the control panels." And Huey's probe turned a dial at his station that brought up a series of tactile, floating 2-dimensional control panels, with keyboards and digital displays. "They allow you to alter your design parameters in real time."

Raf's eyes lit up with excitement! "Awesome!" He tried out the design controls. "It's wonderful! I can't wait to start using this!"

"Glad to hear it, because we've got some tasks lined up for you already," Sari smiled. "For one, I want you to upgrade our space bridge to work just like the one at Outpost Omega One, so we can bridge to Sumdac Tower. Another thing Ratchet and I want to be able to do is improve our communications abilities, so we can do more than just talk to Sumdac Tower in audio. We want to communicate visually as well."

"That won't be hard at all!" he smiled.

"Didn't think so! Well, you're Huey's boss, so why don't you tell him to return to his docking station?" suggested Sari. And Raf gave the command: "Thank you, Huey; shut down the design station and return to your docking area." And Huey complied, shutting down the table's computer and returned to his recessed compartment, where he powered down.

"And finally, here is your computer station," said Sari, turning to the wall behind them. It had multiple screens and consoles. "Here you can work in real-time with Ratchet, the Unit:E engineers, as well as the bots on Cybertron. And once you've got the live link hookup with Sumdac Tower, you can also work with my Dad."

"Excellent! Let me get started on those tasks." And he sat down at the console, to contact Ratchet.

"We'll let you begin your work," said Sari, and she, Arcee and Jack left. A little down the way, they arrived at Jack's room. "Here we are," she said, opening his door.

"Hey, you were able to bring all my stuff up from the base!" he smiled.

"Well, I had a collaborator," Sari confessed. "While you two were gone, Agent Fowler helped me." Jack's room had a dual human/Cybertronian sleeping setup like Miko's. On his shelves were pictures of high school friends, his Mom (in both human and Autobot form), and a picture of him (in "human" mode) with his Dad. A large, poster-sized picture depicted a selfie he and Arcee had taken at their "secret" spot in the Nevada cliffs just as the sun was setting.

"I love that photo!" said Arcee, admiring it. "I've got one in my quarters, too."

"Yeah, glad these rooms are big enough for bots to come in," said Jack. "Now Arcee can come in my room, unlike when I was in the commander's quarters at Outpost Omega One."

"All of the ship's personal quarters are equipped to accommodate human, Cybertronian, and other alien guests or residents, and can be quickly fashioned to adapt to the individual user's needs," Sari explained.

"Like Ro," said Jack.

"Exactly!"

Adjacent to Jack's living area was a sparsely decorated, medium-sized room with a plain mat and shelves with books. "This is your private meditation area," his Sensei explained. "You'll be able to decorate it any way you like."

There was another doorway. She opened it. "Follow me."

They stepped into an enormous gymnasium. "Whoa!" Jack gasped.

"This is where the Skystrikers will train," she told him. "You see the various pieces of heavy equipment in the far corner? One of the first things you'll be training on with me is Processor-Over-Matter. Before too long, you'll be lifting those while in Lotus position."

Jack's optics opened wide! He remembered watching Sari with Jazz, as she lifted all those heavy crates, making them move in a circle around her. "Yes, Sensei," he bowed.

"Can't wait to watch you doing that, Jack," smiled Arcee.

"Where are your quarters, Sari?" The two-wheeler asked.

"My room is also connected to this training area, on the opposite wall," she said pointing to the door on the other side. They walked across the floor to her door. "Come on in."

Sari's private quarters were decorated similarly to her room back in Sumdac Tower, with some minor modifications: a round bed for "human" mode and a hard Cybertronian bed for "bot" recharging, just like Miko and Jack.

When the three walked in, they were met by some robo-sounding barks. "What...?" chuckled Arcee, looking down toward the source of the sound. Scampering into Sari's reception area was a small robotic dog.

"Hey, Sparky," said Sari happily, bending down to pet him. "How've you been?" He sat down in front of her, panting, wagging his tail and making happy doggy sounds.

"Sparky?" grinned Jack.

"My robo-pet. It was a birthday gift from my Dad, when I was a little girl," she smiled. His full name is 'Sparkplug'."

"He's very cute, Sari," said Arcee.

Another item that Sari brought over from Detroit was her juke box. Jack looked at the song roster. "No Slash Monkey, Sensei?" he chuckled.

"Uh, no," she laughed. "Miko suggested it, but I politely declined. But I did let her add a few albums from Hatsune Miku in the mix. We always liked her music."

Pictures in Sari's room included her Dad; one with her sitting on Bumblebee's arm - her helm resting on his; another with her friends in the other dimension: Sari in "human" mode, surrounded by her Detroit friends Adam, Mikaela, Daniel, Kristin, Sam, and Jennifer; and Sari in "bot" mode with her Autobot friends at Autobot Central. There was also a nice, large picture of "The Three Amigos": Sari, Bulkhead and Bumblebee, back when they were building Outpost Omega One, taken on the moon surface by (then) Captain Fanzone.

Jack and Arcee went over and admired Sari's meditation room. It was beautifully decorated with Indian Hindu imagery, although it also had a plain rug. On one wall was a large poster. It depicted a black, gray and gold Autobot, meditating next to a tree.

"Is that Prowl, Sari?" asked Arcee.

Smiling, Sari answered. "Yes, my first Sensei," she told the two. "That tree was very important to him. It taught him about organics, and the importance of respect for all life forms."

"Is that the tree at Autobot Central?" asked Jack.

"That's the one, yes."

"Perhaps, the next time you and I are back there, we can go to the tree and meditate together."

Sari smiled, then hesitated for a moment. "Prowl would like that very much!"

Leaving her quarters, Sari told the two, "let's go get Raf and Miko. I want to take you to the bridge to meet our command crew." They rang Raf's door, and answering, he told them, "I was speaking with Ratchet, and he told me Optimus would like the Skystrikers to return to Outpost Omega One for a farewell ceremony."

"Oh, how nice!" said Arcee, then realized: "But, of course it makes sense, since you're officially leaving Team Prime; there ought to be an official Cybertronian parting ceremony."

"We'll head down right after I've introduced you all to Colonel Mitchell and his staff," said Sari. And they went to get Miko. Ringing her door and entering, they expected to hear more loud music. Instead, they found her trying out her Predacon-sized bed.

"How's it fit?" grinned Jack.

"Feels good!" said Miko, stomping around on all fours. "I can streeetttchh," reaching her neck and tail out to their fullest, "and not touch a wall. Perfect!"

"Glad it fits you!" said Sari. "Come on, let's go on to the ship's deck." And Miko transformed into "human". "Cool!" she said.

Sari got on her comm. "Lieutenant T'Resh? Captain Sari here. I'd like to bring the Skystrikers' crew up to the bridge to meet the Captain."

"One moment, Sari," he responded, then came back. "Colonel Mitchell said come on up."

"Captain? I'm confused," said Miko. "I thought you were a Captain. He's a Captain too?"

"Colonel Mitchell is the ship's Captain. That's his command title. He's an Air Force Colonel."

"I still don't get it," the Japanese girl said, a little confused.

"My Dad was in the Army," said Jack. "It does get a little confusing. But the person in command of a ship is called 'Captain', because that's the title they give him or her. But Colonel Mitchell is Air Force, and is basically the same rank as a Navy Captain."

"Still weird," said the Japanese girl.

"You'll get used to it, Miko," said her Skystrikers Captain. And they boarded a lift to the bridge.

"OOD, Request permission to enter the Bridge," asked Sari.

"Permission granted," said Major Path Finder. And Sari, her crew and guest entered the bridge. Colonel Mitchell got up from his Captain's chair to greet them. "So good to meet the Skystrikers," he said. And you must be the Ninja Scout Arcee! Welcome, all of you to Skybolt!

And after Sari introduced her crew and Arcee, Major Mitchell took them around to meet his bridge crew.

"Major Path Finder is our Security Chief," he explained.

"Pleased to meet you all," she said to them.

"We're very lucky to have her with us. She was recommended by Optimus."

"An honor to meet you, Major," said Arcee. "I've read the stories of your many experiences, as a Guardian on Gobotron, to your unfortunate time on Axiom Nexus as 'guests' of the TransTechs, then finally getting out of that place and finding your way to a better place."

"But still not home," she sighed.

"No," replied Arcee, sadly.

"But we found new comrades here," smiled Path Finder. "And even though we Gobotronians are refugees in your dimension, we're happy."

"And I'm excited to have the Skystrikers with us!" she said, smiling at Sari and her crew.

"Glad to be here, Major," replied Sari.

The Captain then brought them over to his Communications Officer. "Let me introduce you to 1st Lieutenant T'Resh," he said.

"Whoa, cool!" thought Miko, "a cat alien!"

Lieutenant T'Resh got up from his comm console and offered a paw-like hand. "Pleased to meet you all."

"I assume from the looks on your faces - well, most of you", he said, looking at Jack and Miko - "that you've never met a Regulan before. Well, have you?" he snarled and growled slightly.

Jack and Miko shook their heads, mouths agape, slightly shocked by the growl. Arcee stifled a chuckle.

T'Resh laughed a bit. "Just teasing! Regulus is the alpha star in your Earth's constellation of Leo, and lies at a distance of approximately 72.4 Light Years. The Regulans were trading partners with Cybertron for millions of years, before the start of the Great War. We were also part of the Nebulan alliance, and continued trade with them after breaking off from Cybertron; we remained neutral in the Cybertronian war; the Regulans are fierce fighters with a powerful military, and the Decepticons wisely chose to leave us alone."

With Cybertron rebirthed, we heard Optimus' broadcast and re-initiated contact."

"I was an officer on a Regulan battleship before being recruited by Agent Fowler."

"Turns out Lieutenant T'Resh has a unique talent," said Mitchell.

"What's that?" asked Jack.

["I speak Cybertronian quite well!"] he replied, in perfect Cybertronian.

"Wha...how do you do that?" asked Arcee.

"Lots of practice," he grinned.

"The Unit:E exo-biologists say it may have something to do with his feline vocal cords," said Mitchell.

"I understand it as well," T'Resh said.

"Pretty good!" said Raf, impressed.

"And let me introduce you to our Senior Helmsman, Lieutenant Spark," said Mitchell, bringing them over to the ship's helm. Spark got up. "Pleased to meet you all," said the Micromaster.

"I met Lieutenant. Spark on Gorlam Prime," said Sari. He was a skilled pilot in their Air Force. Rodimus Prime recommended him for Skybolt."

"When Optimus Prime sent out his broadcast after Cybertron was rebirthed, many of us Micromasters joined the expatriate Autobots on Gorlam Prime to come help in the rebuilding effort. I worked with Captain Sari and Jack here rebuilding the High Council Tower. When that was done, I told Rodimus that I would love to be able to come to Earth and meet humans, and work with the Technorganics. He recommended me to Agent Fowler."

Jack shook servos. "Great to see you again, Spark!"

"Same here, Jack! Congratulations on being a member of Skystrikers!"

After meeting Colonel Mitchell and his crew, everyone prepared to depart for Outpost Omega One.

"The space bridge is ready for you, Captain Sari," said Ro. And they stepped in, and walked out of the tunnel into the Autobot headquarters.

"Welcome back," said Optimus, with Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Smokescreen, and Ratchet by his side. Arcee went to stand with Team Prime.

"Sari, when you first landed by accident in our dimension, we knew neither who you were nor where you came from. Yet somehow, the AllSpark guided you to us, and it is now obvious that there was a purpose in your arrival: to strengthen and assist our team, and during what could have been our darkest hour, you prevented the Decepticons from snatching away the rebirthing of our Cybertron."

"And now, you will assist us again, in rebuilding a corps of Cyber Ninjas, beginning with our own Jackson Darby. In time, we will have our own Cyber Ninja Dojo, and it will be because of you. Thank you."

Sari humbly bowed before the Prime. "It is my deepest honor to be of service to such a brave and courageous team. I look forward to our continued efforts to build a new Cybertron and forge a strong bond between us and Earth."

"And now Sari, as Captain you will go to lead a new team, with Unit:E. While we are saddened to see a part of Team Prime leave our small crew, we are heartened by its prospects. While this may be a farewell, it is also a congratulations and a best wishes for the success of the Skystrikers."

Next to speak was Bumblebee. He turned to Raf. "Raf, you're my best human buddy! When you got abducted by MECH, I really lost it - just ask Arcee here. Then, thanks to Miko, you were brought back to us. While I would have loved for you to become a member of Team Prime, I'm honored to see you join Skystrikers, and I look forward to our two teams working together!"

Raf was moved. "Me too, Bee!"

Then, Arcee spoke up. "Jack? Guess this is the end of our partnership, huh? Well, that's OK. You know what? There's something good about it after all! I mean, it's…" looking down, she hesitated for a bit. Then smiling, she looked back at her Sparkmate. "It's, the first time...I can end a partnership and my partner can actually say, 'Be seeing you'. So, I know you'll be great in Skystrikers."

"Hey, Arcee?" said Jack.

"Yeah?"

He smiled at her. "Be seeing you." She tilted her helm and smiled broadly at him. Both Sari and Optimus knew what they were planning, for later that day.

Then Bulkhead talked to Miko. He rubbed the back of his helm. "Aw, Miko, what can I say? You know I'm no good at these kinda things. You're one terrific kid, and a heck of a Wrecker! Me and Jackie, well, we were lookin' forward to you joinin' us…but hey! Who says there can't be a Wrecker in Skystrikers, huh? Anyway, I know you're gonna do great things up there!"

Miko had a sad look on her face. "I'll miss being here too, Bulk. I'll be a Wrecker in Skystrikers, I promise!"

Then, Optimus gave out a command: "Autobots! Atten…tion!" They all snapped to attention. "Sa…lute!" And they all saluted the Skystrikers.

Captain Sari gave out her command. "Skystrikers!" "Atten…tion!" Her crew snapped to attention. "Sa…lute!" And her team returned the salute.

And then, all the members of Team Prime broke out in applause for the new team! Sari smiled broadly; Jack was awed by the applause! Raf smiled, his eyes becoming very wet; and Miko! Even Miko couldn't help but feel a powerful sense of awe and pride by it all. The whole thing eventually overwhelmed the Japanese girl, and she started to cry. Sari was standing next to her and reached over to pull her towards her, letting Miko bury her head on her metallic shoulder. No words were spoken; Sari let her stay there, sobbing tears of sadness, pride and joy.

Sometime after the ceremony, Jack transformed into "human" mode and got on Arcee's motorcycle. They rode over to their secret spot in the high desert cliffs. Arriving just before the sun began setting, he transformed into "bot" mode and rolled a boulder near their spot, so he could climb up near Arcee's chest.

"That looks about right," he said. "Let's make it flat on top." And using the plasma jets on his pedes, he took out one of his energy hammers, and smacked the top, smoothing out a place for him to stand.

"Nice work there!" She smiled, and sat on the flat rock facing the boulder. "Perfect height."

Jack landed on top of the boulder and faced Arcee. "You ready?"

"Mmm hmm," and as the sun was setting, she opened up her Spark Chamber. Jack opened his. They held servos and lovingly looked into each other's optics.

"I love you, Arcee."

"I love you, Jack."

And leaning forward, they touched each other's Sparks.

A jolt came into their bodies like a lightning strike! Instantly they felt themselves being carried up, as if in a whirlwind, separate at first, but then joined as one. Everything that was Arcee's became Jack's and everything that was Jack's became Arcee's.

Arcee "remembered" Jack's childhood, his happiness with his Mommy and Daddy. She "knew" about picnics, hot dogs and baseball, learning how to ride a bike! She also "remembered" the day Daddy drove away, how Jack ran after his car crying, pleading for him to come back, and Mommy picking him up and hugging him, telling him everything was going to be all right.

She felt Jack's humiliation from Vince, teasing "the skinny boy," and felt his anger at watching the bully's repeated attacks against Raf and Miko.

She felt Jack's fear of encountering this crazed, talking motorcycle that suddenly transformed into a giant blue robot! And later on, working side by side with it, er, her.

She "remembered" reuniting with Jack's father, and their reconciliation. She felt his happiness about closing that circle in his life.

Jack "remembered" Arcee's awakening after being protoformed, her early life as a young Cybertonian. He "remembered" her battles in the Great War, hiding out in hollowed-out wrecked buildings, dodging shrapnel, avoiding weapon blasts, shooting at Decepticons, being partnered with Tailgate, getting captured, tortured and interrogated by Airachnid. He "remembered" how Arcee, bound up in webbing and strung from the ceiling, was forced by Airachnid to witness Tailgate's execution! He felt her hatred of Airachnid, and he experienced her PTSD.

He "remembered" her watching Starscream boasting about having built a space bridge, and how she cleverly managed to overload the system, blowing it up, but not until she and Cliffjumper were able to dive into the bridge at the very last nanoklik, arriving on Earth. He felt her pride in engineering that little feat.

He felt the pain of her arm getting blasted off by Starscream, and also the pain of learning that it was Starscream that killed Cliff, her next partner.

He also felt Arcee's initial frustrations about being tagged with a human - him - but slowly coming to respect this young boy.

He felt her utter joy at seeing a reborn Cybertron after so, so many stellar cycles of war, death and decay! Cybertron, her home, was alive once again!

Their experiences lasted only seconds, but to each of them it seemed like an eternity. Finally, they pulled away from each other, gasping.

Their processors felt…different.

"Jack?"

"Arcee?"

"I hear you in my head!"

"Me too!"

Turning their heads, they looked into each other's optics. They stared at each other!

"I see you!"

"I see you!"

They touched palms. A beautiful sense of understanding, of commonality, of union, enveloped them! They suddenly broke out laughing!

"This is wonderful!" Jack said finally.

Arcee stopped laughing long enough to look down at Jack's chest. "I guess, I guess we'd better close our Spark Chambers," she chuckled. They did, and then jumped into each other's arms.

"Oh, Jack, we'll always be together now," she smiled.

"No matter what," he replied.

While this was going on, another, more sinister development was taking place.

"Well, Doctor, I hope the improvements you have enacted will yield a much better result than what happened with Agent X."

"The head scientist, mask and goggles covering his face, gulped and responded, "yes, of course, General! It was a mistake to use the volunteer's memories of the bully as the pivot point to control him – we know that now. Our new volunteers will have their entire past memories completely wiped and replaced with MECH memories. There is no way they can overcome our programming – no way!"

"I hope – for your sake, Doctor – you are correct. Now, let us begin." All around them, scientists and technicians were at work, making the final checks on the latest version of their super soldier operation. Before them were six oversized cylinders filled with clear liquid. Inside each one was a child, approximately 12 years old; three boys and three girls, from various parts of the world: Central America, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, China, and the Horn of Africa.

"You have improved the serum, I take it?" asked Levichev.

"Oh yes. The subjects will no longer experience the cellular deterioration."

Levichev let out a low chuckle. "Too bad Agent X is no longer around to see these improved candidates; by now his body has succumbed to the ravages of age. Well, he was the beta version."

"Let us begin." All went to their consoles and began working. The head scientist approached the main console to begin administering the serum to the six subjects. Levichev stood next to him, admiring the improvements to his career's most important achievement.

"MECH shall achieve greatness," he said.

- Sari and Transformers Prime: The End -

Well, this is it! The end, but not quite, of course. There will be a new story beginning shortly, for The Skystrikers, and it will include all of the characters in this one. Of course, June will be returning eventually as Ratchet's nurse, Jack will be undergoing Cyber-Ninja training under Sari, and as you can see, MECH are their usual dangerous selves, as are the Decepticons (with Shockwave and his soon-to-be released new and improved Predacons – wonder what Miko will think of them?). Lots of opportunities for the Skystrikers, and Team Prime!

Hat tip to LuisJM for his ideas, and reminding me that every good story needs a cliffhanger ending!