A/N: At last, after several years, I've returned to try and finish this story (although there's a long, long way to go). Thanks to those of you who have prodded me (some on multiple occasions!) to get stuck back in. My response is long overdue and I apologize.

The long delay wasn't because I didn't get more reviews (I try not to be attached to those). Indeed, I'm rather proud of the universe of TF 00 – I genuinely feel it's one of my more creative settings. So creative, in fact, that it was almost too big to take in. I'm not a good sci-fi writer. I felt I had to scale back because of time and work commitments, not to mention my dwindling energy… .

However, I understand that these are pretty much excuses. It's a bit obscene to put so much thought into a crossover universe and then just leave it hanging. I owe it to whoever is still keeping up with this story. Thank you for your patience. Anyway, here goes…

The momentous battle at Crystal City shook the world – literally. The Energon Bomb detonated by the evil Nemesis Prime has scattered the Decepticons and NCB's members. A tremendous confrontation looms between Megatron's trump card, Devastator, and the Autobot leader.

But that is the least of Zohar's worries. Their ally, Jetfire, has been captured by Jazz in the midst of the chaos. To rescue Bennu Gundam, Wendy devises a plan to escape from the rubble of Crystal City and attack Simfur itself, the seat of Autobot power. But how does a team of Innovators and super soldiers survive a hostile world when their Gundams are damaged and their allies have fallen?

The war of Shattered Glass reaches a new level of carnage as Ammiel and his friends bet their lives and the fate of Cybertron on a desperate, wild gamble.

Chapter 11: The Story of Two Girls

Part IV of the Shattered Glass Arc

16 years ago

The morning star was shining brightly on Cairo today.

Snug and warm in her cosy blankets, Feldt Grace nestled the soft, sleeping newborn in her arms. Her heart was pounding with excitement of a fresh life sucking and nibbling at her bosom. Did all new mothers feel this sensation in their nipple, this exhilarating feeling of bestowing life on a totally dependent life? She sang silently to herself, unable to restrain her happiness. The bed felt especially soft with her baby's presence, and the room itself seemed brighter, imbued with the light of purpose and meaning.

The pain endured when giving birth to this little girl was worth it, every single moment of it, because it was proof that the love of her life had given her this child. It hadn't even been that bad, thanks to the natural birth at home with medicinal herbs. She imagined that she would have been anxious and fretting, but her pregnancy was actually the calmest, most peaceful period she had ever enjoyed.

"She has been born… the future of the world," she whispered tearfully as she reclined against the pillow. Mother and daughter gazed at each other, their eyes full of affectionate curiosity. "Oh, how I adore her eyes, my love. They resemble yours. How her full cheeks charm me. It's difficult not to pamper her. Who can say no to such a lovely face?"

The calm voice at her bedside masked its speaker's expression of quiet joy. "You're right. She is your future, and my future. She surpasses even Veda in importance. She's the heir to the most precious heritage humankind enjoys: Innovation. And we will present this gift to the Transformers, as the supreme token of our friendship." He smiled. "There is nothing to regret in having shared a bed with you."

Feldt blushed. "This isn't like you… Setsuna. Hearing you being all romantic is just…"

"It must be bizarre. My apologies."

"No, no. I mean… it's wonderful. Just unexpected. I never thought I could be so happy. It's all thanks to you. I do hope Queen Marina can forgive me for stealing you away, if only for just one precious night. I didn't want to lose that memory, but now I have nothing to fear, because I have this beautiful little girl." She turned away. "Anyway, is there anything you need me to do before you leave Earth?" asked Feldt, unable to look away from the fruit of her union with Setsuna for long. "Would you like me to contact New Celestial Being?"

"No," said the girl's father.

Feldt blinked. "Should I be doing something else, then?"

"Yes. A new mother must surround herself with loyal guardians and friendly protectors. Do that," said Setsuna quietly. "Leave everything else to me. I hate myself for doing this to you. It's not fair on you. But I have to go. I have to face the future and lay the foundations of the futurescapes. I owe that to humanity and to the Autobots."

Feldt looked up at him, beaming exuberantly. "I believe in you with all my heart. I believe in your wisdom. So go. I will wait right here. Nothing will change. My love will continue to burn."

He leaned down in response, kissing her on the lips. "Thank you. My actions may seem indifferent, even cruel, in contrast to my true intentions. I promise you, by the time I return from Andromeda, Natasha will be the most powerful Innovator to watch over humankind." His eyes swam with fatherly affection. "Let her take your name."

"Grace? No," protested Feldt, shaking her head. "She should be Natasha Ibrahim." Her face lit up. "How about Natasha Grace Ibrahim? So that she shares a piece of both of us?"

Setsuna F. Seiei smiled as he made for the door. It would be a long time before he saw Feldt again. "A wonderful idea," he said, his Innovator irises shining with the endless colours of the cosmos.

Years later

The hissing from Neurology Lab Two was growing louder. An eerie machine had begun its neurological procedure on Test Subject 566. Takeshi Crossroad and Wendy Dylandy watched the unfolding scene from the comfort of an elevated concourse. Optimus Prime, his bulk one of a Gundam's, was relegated to standing behind the concourse. A transparent screen protected the three from any unwanted intrusion or contamination while allowing them a full view of the laboratories below. The hall itself was vast, with more than enough room for Bhagavan Gundam to walk in. Nevertheless, Prime stood deathly still, staring intently at the giant screen displaying the face of the newest candidate for genetic and pharmaceutical enhancement.

Silver eyes. Blonde hair. A healthy, beautiful body strapped against an operating bench by its wrists and ankles. Spread-eagled, Cassandra Valentine stared coolly at her observers even as the various machines continued their grim work.

"She has been blessed by healthy and preternaturally gifted parents," said Takeshi, clad in a tailored, charcoal-grey suit. "Her late parents, agents of the Federation, have an ideal child strong enough to withstand the harshest of upgrades. As expected, the military has never seen such a fine specimen, built almost intentionally for war."

The president of planet Earth did not blink as two needles pierced into Cassandra's arm. Plunging deeper, the syringes emptied themselves of a translucent liquid and injected it into her lean biceps. Her eyes were shut tight in pain and her fists had clenched, but before she could even take a deep breath to recover, another sharp, painful needle from behind was moving towards her. Gasping, she convulsed for a moment as the hypodermic instrument pierced into her neck and emptied its contents into her third cervical vertebrae.

"This substance will give Miss Valentine rapid regeneration of any blows to her skeleton. Whether it's a broken leg or even a split spine, Cassandra can now endure unimaginable injuries and fight on," explained Takeshi emotionlessly.

Wendy turned away as the monitor recorded Cassandra's high-pitched scream. "This is awful," whispered the Meister-to-be. "I never knew that even with such cutting-edge technology, NCB's methods are still so… raw. So cruel."

Optimus Prime shook his head. "Enhancing her body like this is too much. Would her mother have wanted her to live a life dedicated to making war?"

"Flora served the Federation well, but she is dead," snapped Takeshi. "Dead people have no say in what I have decided for this planet."

"I can do this," gritted Cassandra, looking up at the three. Her voice had recovered from the earlier agony. "Don't stop Mister Crossroad, Optimus. Please proceed with what is required, sir." Her chrome irises glinted in determination. "I know you're watching me. I am the daughter of the Valentine family. I lost my mother and father a long time ago. I have suffered – and I will suffer – more pain than this. Whatever happens to me in this laboratory will only help me to become the strongest soldier I can be."

Takeshi Crossroad smiled. "That's what I like to hear, Cassandra. Do you see, Optimus? You think me harsh, but this is what the futurescapes require. Fear not. Miss Valentine will hold no grudge against you, in the same way Wendy holds no resentment towards you for recruiting her into Zohar."

"Wendy, daughter of Lyle Dylandy and Anew Returner," whispered Optimus, glancing down at the diminutive human beside him. "Is this what you truly want?"

"Please, daddy bot," replied Wendy, as if he had asked a stupid question. "Use me to the point of destruction if you see fit. I have waited for twenty-three years to join NCB. No pain will stop me or Ammiel from doing our part for the futurescapes."

More screams came from the monitor as the enhancements seeped throughout Cassandra's body. Takeshi smiled. "We are surrounded by loyal warriors, Optimus. I think you should show some gratitude instead of holding them back. Let them fight for us. Let them die for us. If they are willing, then do not restrain their potential."

"This isn't a matter of potential," objected Prime. "It's a matter of compassion."

"A matter of compassion? Humanity? That's irrelevant."

Wendy blinked in shock. "Excuse me?" said Prime defensively, his tone one of offence.

"I said humanity is irrelevant, at least in this case," said Takeshi, perhaps the only one who had the nerve and arrogance to challenge Bhagavan Gundam so directly. He was the President, after all. He stared at the monitor as the syringes lifted themselves from Test Subject 566's shoulders. "For you're now looking upon our newest, complete super soldier… Cassandra Valentine. She has transcended humanity this day, and she will make the very world tremble with her power."

Drenched with sweat and panting heavily, Cassandra looked up onto the concourse, unable to control a trickle of spittle from the corner of her mouth. Her hands were limp with exhaustion and her nerves wracked by pain, but it was over. Her expression was anything but broken. If anything, it was one of triumph and pride.

"Cassandra Valentine, NCB super soldier… reporting in, Mister President," she whispered hoarsely, grateful to have survived the madness.

Present day. Cybertron, Shattered Glass dimension

Furnaces roaring and belching fire, the titanic Devastator loomed over Nemesis Prime, roaring in fury. The Autobot leader laughed cruelly. "A brute like you dares to challenge me?" he chided, twirling his ion blasters. He fired relentlessly at the bellowing Constructicon combiner, comparatively nimble and quick. Megatron swooped down, firing at Nemesis with his GN Cannon. The Autobot ruler quickly returned the lasers, ion particles forcing Megatron to change course. But a swipe from the huge Devastator crushed into Prime's body, sending him sprawling across the red desert wasteland. He rolled helplessly for several yards, before coming to a painful stop.

Prime scrambled up and fired at Devastator, who shrieked in pain as the ion blasts exploded on his chest and midsection. But it wasn't enough to topple the giant, and green eyes glowing, it attacked, its massive limb sweeping Nemesis aside and sending him crashing into some Simfur ruins. Rubble collapsed around and on him painfully.

Megatron descended from the sky, his expression sombre. "Give it up, Prime. This is the last day you'll inflict loss and pain on my friends."

The Autobot leader burst from the stones, swooning slightly before planting his feet on the ground. "Two against one is rather unfair, isn't it?" snarled Nemesis, his faceplate smudged with dirt and oil. He struggled to stay up, visibly damaged. His Cybertronian chest armour was cracked, and sparks were flying from exposed circuit wounds. "You'll be singing a different tune once I assimilate your friend Jetfire's GN technology. Jazz and the others have already beaten a retreat to my base. I'll keep you and Devastator pinned over here while my Autobots download Bennu Gundam's technology for my assimilation. My Mobile Suit will surpass yours in every way possible."

Megatron shook his head. "We're no heroes. But you proved yourself to be a monster when you brutalized those youngsters from another universe. I won't let you hurt Ammiel, Wendy, Cassandra, or Natasha again." He suddenly flung his hand outwards, and a huge, spiked flail flew out from his forearm's compartment. His eyes glowed as Devastator loomed over Prime. "Your reign of madness and darkness ends here, Autobot. It pains me to do this, but I've got no choice but to send you to Primus' side."

One could almost feel the vicious grin behind Nemesis Prime's faceplate, even if his expression was not as obvious as those of other Cybertronians. "You have no idea of what I'm going to do to you and all your friends," he declared ominously, as he twirled his ion blasters in his hands. "Let's go."

Cassandra and Natasha stood beside each other in silence in the darkness of the rubble, taking in each other's presence. It had been most illuminating to share each other's stories – they'd never bared their own vulnerabilities to such an extent before. It brought them closer together. They seemed like an ideal match, especially as more taciturn foils to the chirpier Ammiel and Wendy. Those two were fairly close as siblings. They had grown up around loving parents, Uncle Lyle and Aunt Anew. They had each other while growing up, and their instinct to stick together overrode any tension or competition that might have passed between them. As a result, they were much better adjusted, with a happy social life at NCB.

In contrast, Cassandra had always felt like an outsider due to her status as an orphan and a test subject. Meanwhile, Natasha was still an enigma to many members of NCB. Natasha didn't seem to want to divulge too much of her past, and Cassandra had a feeling she had come a long way even just by learning about her childhood. She wouldn't insist on asking more of Natasha. She was grateful enough that Natasha genuinely trusted her.

Natasha put her gloved hand on the rocks in front of her. She closed her eyes in silence, not saying anything for a full minute. "We need to get out of here," whispered Cassandra at last. "We won't last long underneath this rubble." She closed her eyes, trying to shut out the sight of the metal shards imprisoning her. "Concentrate," she gritted. "There is no scenario without an alternative. This is just the same. We just haven't thought of it yet." She glanced around. "We must reach Ammiel and the others. Then we'll get back into contact with Megatron and the other Decepticons. Finally, we must stop Nemesis Prime and save Jetfire. It might already be too late if they've stolen any of his GN tech or his GN Drive. To imagine the power of Jetfire's Bennu Gundam in Nemesis Prime's hands is just… terrifying."

She stopped as an enigmatic humming suddenly filled her ears. She gasped as she glimpsed the glowing eyes of Natasha, yellow streams of light filtering out beams of beryl and amber from her irises. She raised her hand, and from the ground materialized a rising haze of scattered GN Particles. "Nat," whispered Cassandra, eyes wide. "It's beautiful. You're beautiful," she blurted, almost unconsciously. Indeed, thanks to the luminescence of the dancing grains of light, Setsuna's daughter looked like an ethereal, otherworldly being (even though GN Particles were anything but unscientific).

"Don't worry, big sister," said Natasha, nodding in acknowledgement. "I'm going to make a path. Metal rocks aren't going to stop the semi-abstract powers of GN wonders." She clenched her fists; her iridescent eyes narrowing in concentration as she suddenly thrust her arms forward. The gently dancing particles suddenly lost their pixie-like decorum and gathered into a single stream, hurling themselves at the rocks blocking Natasha and Cassandra's way and smashing them into a million tiny pieces.

Cassandra instinctively raised her arms to block the debris that was surely flying their way, but the GN Particles simply reformed into a rectangular, glowing shield in front of Natasha, incinerating all the fragments from the blasted rock. "Natasha?" mumbled Cassandra, awestruck. "What's... what's going on?"

How was this possible? GN Particles were a mysterious substance that not even NCB's best scientists fully understood. Yet here was the young teen, this quiet, taciturn daughter of Setsuna F. Seiei and Feldt Grace, manipulating them in a literal, physical way, just through gestures! This went far beyond what Setsuna was ever capable of. Natasha whispered the name of Veda as her particles reformed in a another offensive tide, gathering and smashing against the rocks that blocked their way. Cassandra instinctively covered her ears as Natasha sent wave after wave of particles against the rocks with her violent gestures, until a loud, final boom rocked their surroundings, their prison crumbling away into an opening. Red light from the sun of this dimension's Cybertron peeked through. It would still take time to escape from, but freedom was now a possibility.

The particles began to seep into the rocks like water into paper. The very earth began to glow aquamarine, and as if possessed, Natasha gestured upwards violently, like an orchestra conductor in seizure. Flinging her red hair wildly, she spread her arms wide, and the particles followed like a swarm of berserk pixies. In one expressive gesture, Natasha tore apart the shaking ceiling of rubble, and the sunlight spilled in through the gaps and cracks. All was stunned silence. More brightness began to gradually filter through, and the GN Particles vanished into thin air as Natasha slumped, visibly sweating and exhausted. Sweat trickled down her clammy face.

"Natasha?" murmured Cassandra. She placed her hands on the younger girl's shaking shoulders. Silence came between the two of them for several moments before Cassandra worked up the energy to speak again. "Since when were you able to manipulate GN Particles on such a level?"

Wide-eyed Natasha could not stop trembling. "I don't know," was all she said. Her hand clasped Cassandra's, as if searching for someone to steady and comfort her. "Is this my birthright? Is it because my father is Soran Ibrahim? Who knows?" she whispered, pressing her cheek on Cassandra's hand. "I only know that we don't have to be stuck here forever."

Cassandra gazed at Natasha, gobsmacked. She might have been a super soldier, Test Subject 566, while Ammiel and Wendy were powerful, half-Innovator Meisters. But she now knew that Natasha was the Innovator who would be the key to the futurescapes, just as her father served as the portal to the dialogues with the Cybertronians.

Natasha was still shaking, but her eyes remained determined. "Thank you for being here with me," she said, keeping a firm grip on the other's hand.

Cassandra shook her head slowly, her heart melting. She still didn't know how Feldt, her adoptive mother, had managed to raise Natasha in secret without anyone knowing about Setsuna F. Seiei's involvement. But for now, she didn't care. All she knew what that whatever suspicions she had of Natasha's origins couldn't prevail against the profound, liberating feeling of being drawn irresistibly to a kindred spirit. Perhaps they were both lonely and needed each other more than they knew. "I'll be by your side, Nat. Always," she promised.

"Will you be like a sister to me, as Wendy is to Ammiel?" asked Natasha hopefully, pressing herself close to Cassandra.

Cassandra nodded, beaming for the first time in a long time. At last, her late parents needn't worry: she truly felt Natasha could be the family she never had. "I'll be whoever you want me to be, and more."

"Then now we reunite with the others, Gundam or not," gritted Natasha, slowly but surely regaining her strength and resolve. "And together, big sister, we'll beat Nemesis Prime!"

The Zohar team reunites for a final attack on the evil Autobots as Nemesis Prime prepares to assimilate Jetfire's Gundam technology. In this twisted world where good is wicked and wicked is good, Megatron and Devastator are Cybertron's only hope!

Can Ammiel, Wendy, Cassandra, and Natasha make out of this Shattered Glass dimension alive?

TO BE CONTINUED!