Sixshot's Trip

Can you forgive me? I know, I know, it has been entirely too long. But as you see, I have been hellishly busy and lost my muse for quite a while. But here I am! And here this is! Hope I still got it!

A few days after the air show, after everything had calmed down and become as routine as things get for the Decepticons, they had bigger things to worry about. Motormaster was of big concern to those aware of what was going on. It wasn't just because the Stunticons would panic or that he, himself was a large asset to the Decepticons, but if Motormaster died, the other team members would go into a 'frenzy' of sorts in search of a new leader, which would end up becoming very ugly, very quickly.

It was well known that it was unpleasant when made into a team leader. When the team chose their next leader, it wasn't often the choice of the chosen and they were rather vicious about it. The rest of the team would violently attack the chosen leader and force a merge with him. As they did, they would imprint the new leader with all of their Sparks, and his body would undergo radical and painful new changes, he would thus be incorporated in the body of the combiner mech.

Even so… Blacklight was once again up to no good when it came to Skywarp. He had been thoroughly enjoying the banter with him, and wouldn't give up his Duct Tape war so quickly or easily. He snuck into the room, scuffling on a blanket he had brought to deafen the noise of his feet in his approach. He looked up at the unsuspecting Seeker and cackled silently as he got closer while said Seeker was recharging. It was the best time to catch him off guard, as he found, because he recharged deeply. Miles had said he 'slept like a log' but Blacklight couldn't understand the reference between a Cybertronian and wood.

He moved quietly, climbing his way up the side of the berth, making sure his victim didn't hear him. When he was satisfied of where he was, he pulled the backing off what he had in his hand and stuck it across the mech's shoulder. The move in itself woke the Seeker, who jerked. Blacklight leapt off the berth and ran like a bat outta hell before his prey could retaliate.

Skywarp sat up and looked around, barely seeing something leaving his room and hearing loud cackling. He then looked down to what had woken him. It took him a moment of sleepy optics to focus clearly enough to see someone had apparently put a sticker on him. His optics went back to the exit, figuring he knew the culprit. "You're mine, spawn of 'Screamer…"

Sometime early morning, during usual routine, Starscream headed from his office down the hall to check on things. Doing a double-take when he saw something very out of place, he came to an abrupt stop and stepped backwards. He examined it a moment and went to poke it and it moved and then chirped, confirming it wasn't just what appeared to be a wad of duct tape. Now knowing what was under the mass, Starscream snorted and looked to the end of the corridor to who could have done it, then back to the chirping wad, and once again down the hall. Not even looking, he grabbed the chirping lump and started walking once again, tearing the Sparkling off the wall that he had been stuck to. He idly wondered how Skywarp did it without his knowing. He turned back for his office with Blacklight to get the tape off him. When he got there, he set the lump on his desk and proceeded to peel the many layers off his Sparkling, setting each one on the edge of his desk so it dangled. He would use them later. "I take it Skywarp stuck you there?" he asked, watching Backlight pick at the sticky residue still on him in places.

"I put a bumper sticker on him!" Blacklight said proudly and as soon as he was free of his binds, he got up, leapt at Starscream, and clung to the side of his face, purring. Starscream was idly thankful the triplets hadn't gained Blacklight's stick-to-face habit.

Not even a minute later, Starscream looked up to see a human standing in the small doorway. The blond was leaning on the threshold and chuckling. Peeling the still sticky source of Miles' laugh off of his face, he asked, "What's your problem?"

Miles watched with amusement as Blacklight curled up next to the Seeker's neck. "Thanks again for not killing those two jerks,"

"You're welcome; it is my hope, however, that I have scarred them for life. Therefore I know I did my evil job well."

"Are you kidding? They will forever be afraid of the word robot," Miles laughed. "That, or they'll join those groups who think robots are gonna take over the world. Listen, I'm gonna grab some grub."

"If only they knew…" Starscream smirked as Miles left, idling picking at the tape that was still dangling from his desk, wondering what to do with it. When he was satisfied he'd come up with a good answer, he called for Skywarp. The black Seeker hadn't taken long to enter, finding Starscream sitting with his legs across his desk eyeing a piece of duct tape that was on his finger, "I found Blacklight this morning," Starscream said idly, not looking to the mech.

"He started it," Skywarp stated immediately in defense, knowing well what Starscream was referring to.

Starscream looked to Skywarp's optics and he slowly put his feet down. Noticing something out of place, the younger Seeker stopped to read what was across his Trine-mate's shoulder. He hiked an optic ridge at what he was seeing. Across Skywarp's tailfin in big, bold, white letters, it read 'This Product Warps Space and Time in its Vicinity. Use with Caution.' – It must have been the bumper sticker Blacklight was talking about. After a smirk, Starscream went back to why he had called Skywarp in the first place. "I found my Sparkling stuck to the wall, Skywarp…" his voice hinted aggravation, but Skywarp couldn't be sure. "I would have walked right past him if the obvious lump of silver tape hadn't caught my attention. What was going through your mind sticking him to the wall like that?"

"That he would be totally screwed and lose the war…" Skywarp answered. He watched Starscream stand up.

What kind of reason was that? "You're an idiot…"

"It's not my fault, 'Screamer…" Skywarp defended, thinking up something quick to throw his leader off, "I'm possessed by a retarded ghost. It tells me to do things."

'Really…?' Starscream furrowed his optics then dropped and shook his head at his Trine-mate's statement. He ran his fingers down his face. He looked up at Skywarp with an almost irritated glance, "That's your excuse? A retarded ghost…?" He furrowed his optics when Skywarp nodded with a smirk. "Un-fucking-believable…" the silver Seeker muttered, realizing how much human slang he's learned since he'd gotten to this insane planet.

Breaking in to his train of thought, Skywarp told Starscream thoughtfully, "There is an old human saying that goes, 'Do unto others has you'd have done unto you.' I feel this is very true, unless they've done unto you first, then it's time to open a can of 'unto' on them." He pointed to the sticker. "It sounded kind of fun, so I opened 'a can of unto' on Blacklight so he wouldn't do 'unto' me again…"

Starscream stared at Skywarp a long moment, wondering where he came up with some of his sayings and philosophies. "There's something wrong with you…"

"I know." Skywarp admitted with a wide grin.

With a growl, Starscream threw himself at the black mech and both of them slid into the hall from the force of the clash. The silver Seeker immediately went for his limbs, pinning him as best he could.

"Ahh! No, no, no!" Skywarp cried out dramatically, "Not the tape, anything but the tape!"

Everyone who heard the ruckus came to look while the two wrestled on the floor. Thundercracker slid to a stop in confusion, watching her Trine.

"No! Stop it!" Skywarp yelped, slapping Starscream's hands away that had tape on them. There was another clang and more banging, "Get this lunatic offa me! TC help!"

"Ordinarily, others live and learn…" Starscream started, making sure Skywarp couldn't get away. He had the tape in his hand and proceeded to stick it all over Skywarp. "But you… You just live…" He paid special attention to the black Seeker's appendages and wings while he squirmed. After he was done, which hadn't taken all that long, the tattooed Seeker stood up, looked at everyone else and headed past them. "That's my can of 'unto' for doing 'unto' my Sparkling…" he said to Skywarp who was now lying on the ground with his hands, feet and fingers stuck together similar to a hogtie.

Thundercracker shrugged when everyone looked to her for an explanation. "Don't look at me… I won't even venture a guess as to what they're talking about…"

A man at NASA stared at the blurry picture for what seemed to be hours. He hadn't told anyone as of yet, since he could not identify the anomaly on the screen and using image enhancers didn't work. The satellite never took 'blurry' images, but he was sure of what he was seeing. Perhaps it was a dust or whatnot in the image, as every other one was clear as ever. He passed it by.

He had never noticed the intrusion signal from an unknown anomaly just before the camera took that shot.

"You were spotted."

"Didn't know I was to be covert,"

"The mission is covert. Idiot."

"They're just Aerialbots…"

"A Space agency's satellite saw you."

"Oops."

Soundwave chose not to comment further.

They had given him a couple of days, but by now, Skywarp and Thundercracker were now very curious about Starscream being so secretive with them and his extended time with Soundwave. They saw no need for it, but they did want to know why. They started for his office, knowing that is where he was.

They had finally both barged into his office and saw him sitting with Soundwave. The Trine looked to them both they ignored the obvious looks of 'leave'.

"You…" Thundercracker pointed at them both. "What is going on?" she demanded.

"The information is confidential." Soundwave stated abruptly, not in the least bit intimidated by the two.

"That's not the answer we were looking for. Try again." Thundercracker snorted.

Starscream looked between them and Soundwave. What would it hurt if they knew? They could keep their vocal processors shut, "Motormaster was found in the Asteroid belt and Sixshot has been sent to retrieve him," the leader told them.

"Why does Sixshot have to get him?"

"Motormaster's emergency beacon is activated and he is unresponsive." Soundwave explained.

Thundercracker gave the SiC an indignant glare before turning her attention to Starscream. "So, why all the secrecy, 'Screamer? What's in that that we don't need to know?"

"Lay off, both of you." Starscream said sternly. "Motormaster's team may panic. And I rather not have them panic and on top of that, Motormaster die. You know what can and will happen."

As the six-changer flew to his guided destination, Sixshot converted what radiation Sol had to offer to sustain his energy. It was not uncommon for Cybertronians to keep up their energon levels by absorbing the different radiations in space. He had since passed the red planet, his signal to Soundwave was sometimes in and out, which bothered him. "Your signal is failing again."

"My system needs recalibration because of the solar storm. What is your last known ETA?"

"Last time I had a decent signal… a few joors I think."

Sixshot sent to her his location. She worked with the computer in front of her and the one on her arm. "Keep your headings. Your current path will put you in direct line of approach."

The rocks in this belt were whipping by him and he had even been hit a few times, but not bad enough to sustain any real damage. Anyone who claimed at the belt was not so littered had obviously not been through it. Some asteroids were gigantic while others were as fine as sand and he wondered if the belt was remnants of a planet that had been destroyed. Evasively he flew until he got closer to Motormaster's location. He was getting close to Motormaster by picking up his signal himself. Homing in on his beacon and slowing, the teal mech prepared to catch him. He figured if Motormaster was out here, then the mech had taken a beating, however, he stared stunned at the amount of damage he was seeing. "Wow." He whispered.

Soundwave heard his whisper. She knew not much shocked him, "Report."

"Hold on," Sixshot told her, unsure what to say about Motormaster.

As the mech got within capturing distance, Sixshot had to look twice at the destroyed body. There wasn't a part of the leader that wasn't untouched or covered in ice or dust. In fact, it didn't look much like Motormaster. The Stunticon was a mangled pile of metal. He caught him quickly and headed to the nearest large asteroid he could find so he could check the mech over. After finding an asteroid of suitable size, he landed on it. He set the mech down and then knelt down to examine his broken body.

By the looks of what Sixshot's preliminary examination revealed, perhaps Motormaster had collided with an Asteroid – or a few thousand of them. He decided to look more thoroughly.

As he did a once over the mech's more vital areas, he saw that his body had frozen completely, down to his fluid lines. Motormaster's body looked as if it had taken a beating from many free flying rocks. He leaned down to get a better look around his torso area and after seeing how much damage was sustained, he felt the need to check the Stunticon's Spark chamber for damage. Seeking the manual release that may still work, he fingered around the frozen body.

"Status update required," Soundwave's voice droned over their link.

In the middle of searching he stopped, still not having sufficient information on Motormaster's overall condition. "He's in real bad shape, 'Sounders." The mech replied. Sixshot only continued to look over the mech's body, searching for how much damage he had taken on, exactly.

"Define,"

"From my first checks, he looks like he's been out here a while. He succumbed to the violent environment. His body is in a deep freeze and he's covered in ice and dust. I'm not sure how he's even still alive." The mech moved as Motormaster's chest plates began parting and he looked down at an apparent mess. It took him a moment of digging and examining before he finally explained what he found. "His Spark chamber is fractured, many lines look disconnected and blown, and wires are burnt. It even looks like a few fires broke out. It looks like his torso took the full brunt of impacts. I'm no medic, but I think his deep freeze is what's keeping him alive."

"I'm on my way to Hook's medical bay now. Standby,"

Sixshot moved metal and took a better look at Motormaster's Spark chamber. "His Spark is very dim. I am not sure how it is still functioning with this mess."

Starscream had been in his own quarters when he saw Soundwave walking quickly. He got up and looked, following when he saw her rushed pace to the med bay. He watched her disappear and slipped in just before the door shut. He kept to himself as he observed.

Hook looked up from his desk when he saw the two enter. Immediately he suspected something was up since Soundwave never came to him unless it was urgent.

"Your assistance is required for a mission." She told him.

Ramjet, who was in the med bay at the time, turned to look at Soundwave. The telepath noticed his attention and then looked back at Hook, "Come with me." As she spoke she turned, ready to leave.

Starscream followed her and all three went to her quarters and the doors shut and locked. Once in there, Soundwave went about typing on her arm and then pointed to the monitors. "Sixshot has retrieved Motormaster. From his descriptions of the Stunticon, he will need your assistance to further identify his problems."

"Well, where are they?" Hook asked, looking around the room, as if they were there as well.

This time she moved her hands over her arm and the screen, showing Hook where exactly the two were located. He looked at the diagram then to Soundwave with a confused glance, "How are you suggesting I help if they're all the way out there?"

"Hook! Just the voice I wanted to hear," came a disembodied voice. "I really need your help here,"

Hook turned his attention to the voice, "What is Motormaster's condition?"

"Severely deteriorated. I don't think he would survive the atmosphere if I tried to bring him back in this state."

Hearing this put Hook on high alert. "Give me details."

Sixshot went on to explain what he'd found thus far. Hook nodded with each one as if mapping the mech's anatomy in his own mind. "He's in what you call 'Cryogenic Stasis-lock' – similar to what the humans had Megatron under only Motormaster's is more progressed. I will do what I can from here. First, you to bring him closer to this planet," he told the six-changer.

"It will take me a few earth days."

"Because of his cryogenic stasis, he should be fine. Keep me updated en route. I want stills when you get close. If it is certain that you cannot bring him to the base without risk of killing him, other measures will be taken."

Sixshot continued looking Motormaster over, just in case there was anything he'd missed. It appeared the Stunticon's only saving grace that he was in full stasis lock now. Sixshot knew from his injuries that bringing him into the atmosphere of Earth would possibly bring him out of stasis and there was no way to tell for certain if he would bleed out in the time it would take Sixshot to land at base with him.

After a pause, Soundwave turned to Starscream, "All human space agencies need to be checked for all available human interplanetary activity. I will blind the satellites required to grant him invisible passage to the lunar surface, which is the only logical place to land."

"I wonder who's bored enough to do that…" Starscream muttered, not wanting to take on that daunting task himself. After a little consideration, he decided who it would be. It would keep them out of trouble, even though it was as bad as doing paperwork. "Runabout and Runamuck,"

When Sixshot had gotten the Stunticon leader to the moon, he took the mech to the dark side, using his own lights to navigate the crater-littered moon. When he'd found a suitable crater, he laid the body down. With his own lights, he looked over Motormaster yet again, this time taking stills as he did so, so he could send them back to Earth.

"I'm sending still visuals of his damage now," Sixshot told Soundwave. "I really don't know what to make of it."

Soundwave took the images and downloaded them to a data pad. After she had called Hook to her quarters again, she gave it to him, seeing as he was most qualified to tell for sure.

The Constructicon eyed the data pad as he took the images back to his own med bay where he could better analyze the data. At first glance, a couple of them had him worried – one of them immediately raised a red flag. As he took a closer look at it, he was pretty sure an asteroid or whatnot could not do the damage that was being shown.

Ramjet had entered, carrying Daniel. Daniel was still very new to all of this and only observed while he looked over the pad Ramjet had given him with Cybertronian anatomy information he had downloaded to it. The first thing he saw was the look on the Constructicon's face. He didn't look like he was very happy. Ramjet, also seeing the disgruntled look on Hook's face, nodded to him, "Problem?"

"I'm not sure as of yet. I need Ratchet to confirm what I am seeing here."

There was a rush of air through Ramjet's vents. "I have to go and get him again, don't I?" he asked in a less than enthusiastic tone. Sometimes being an assistant just wasn't all that great. Sometimes they played 'gopher' for the actual medics.

Hook gave Ramjet a long look before speaking, "Actually, yes. This information is extremely sensitive. I suggest leaving the human here while you go."

Ramjet looked at Daniel in thought, wondering if he should take him or not. "Suppose you're right," he told Hook before he looked back at the CMO.

"Its fine, 'Jet," Daniel shrugged, "I'm kinda glued on this pad you gave me. It's fascinating and confusing at the same time and I haven't even really started. It makes the engines I'm used to working on seem like child's play."

Ramjet headed as quickly as he could to the Autobot base. He hadn't expected an Aerialbot to be standing there, "What gives?" Air Raid asked the Seeker, standing in his way. "Isn't this territorial violation?"

That question got a strange look from Ramjet. "Really, Air Raid?" the Seeker asked with a dubious glance, "Really…?" The Seeker tried to step by Air Raid, and the Aerialbot stepped deliberately in his way again. Ramjet huffed. He really was not in the mind to be playing the Aerialbot's games. "Don't make me shoot you." Ramjet looked past him to the building, hoping to see the Autobot CMO and catch his attention, "I need to talk to Ratchet. Where is he?"

"State your business," Air Raid said in snide, watching the Seeker's movements carefully.

"The information is classified, 'Raid." Ramjet said in a sterner tone, looking up at the lime-yellow medic, whose attention had been gained by their small squabble. "Oh look, your usefulness has taken a hike… So should you." Ramjet smirked at the Aerialbot as he snorted in distaste at his comment.

"Ramjet, what are you doing here?" the medic asked, approaching. He remembered the last time Ramjet had shown up and wondered if he'd come with more 'interesting' news.

Ramjet pushed the Aerialbot aside and nodded to Ratchet, "Hook requires your expertise." He then looked up as silver bounced past the main doors to the building.

"What does it concern?" Ratchet asked, causing Ramjet to look back at him.

"When you get to the base, Soundwave and Hook will fill you in," Ramjet glanced at Air Raid then back to Ratchet, a silent look telling the medic it was not to be spoken of in front of others.

"Soundwave?" Ratchet asked with some hesitation. It wasn't like Soundwave to be involved with the medics unless she or her Sparklings were injured. He wasn't sure what to make of Ramjet's evasiveness, either. "As soon as I let Optimus know, I'll be on my way."

Ramjet gave a curt nod, looked at Air Raid once again and then took off, having delivered the information to who it needed to go to.

Ratchet glanced at the Decepticon as he left and turned back for the building, "So, we are on secrecy basis with the Decepticons too?" Air Raid asked after the medic.

Ratchet paused a moment. He was more annoyed the Aerialbot didn't seem to realize How things truly were. It was to be expected, that they weren't filled in on everything. "You are aware Hook was my apprentice before the wars, correct?"

There was a small nod, "So you've resumed that state?"

"Not exactly, but he does need my expertise now and again." The medic walked off.

Having found his leader, Ratchet gave a small wave to Optimus, "Prime, I have been informed that Hook requires my expertise at the Decepticon base," he told the leader, all the while watching Jazz who was dancing around with some kind of what Sam referred to as 'Hip-hop'. He'd taken note that she'd been doing this more often than usual.

Optimus was also watching his TiC, "Very well," he told his CMO. "Will you be bringing anyone else?" he asked, looking down at the medic.

"I do not think they would want that. Ramjet was quite evasive when others were around which leads me to believe it is not to be discussed openly." Ratchet's answer was given as he transformed. He left just as briskly as he had come, getting to the Decepticon base as quickly as he could.

After what seemed to be hours, after extensive talks and examinations with Ratchet, Hook walked right into Soundwave's quarters, getting a stoic glance but under that stoic stare was a clear look of aggravation. She allowed it to pass in silence, since there had to be good reason that the Constructicon would interrupt her, "Soundwave, before you break my servos, hear me out," Hook began, "After analyzing the data, we think Motormaster may have been attacked." He handed her the data pad.

Soundwave paused, looking over the images, unsure what to make of that information. "Reasoning required." She told him. It could have been an attack, but there was not enough evidence that she could see as to where Hook and Ratchet would have come up with them – but then again, she wasn't a medic. "The images are inconclusive to substantiate your reference."

Hook enlarged the areas of damage that previously could have been missed. Soundwave took a better look. Her stoic gaze read everything she could about the injuries. If it were to be true, the telepath knew that such a thing would mean it was a possible Autobot attack and the only ones who had been by Motormaster recently was the recently arrived Aerialbot team.

Ratchet, who had followed Hook, pointed to the computer at her desk knowing well that a certain type of computer seemed to follow her around, "Is that the same type you used on Cybertron?"

Soundwave nodded. Ratchet also nodded, "Bring them up on that, then, you will get a better idea as to what we are talking about." Soundwave turned to the computer, bringing them up as requested. It showed what appeared to be identifiable shot and scorch marks, and by the look of Motormaster's torso, it looked like it could have been shredded at.

"These here," Ratchet pointed, showing the telepath the damage. "What exactly are we seeing here?" He felt it was important to know how Motormaster ended up like this.

"It very well could have been damage from space debris." And Soundwave was right, for there was no telling what type of damage the Stunticon had taken on out there. "I would need more information to confirm what you are saying." The telepath droned. "If Motormaster was attacked, it may be assumed that the Aerialbots are responsible."

Ratchet looked at Soundwave a moment in thought. He didn't think the Aerialbots would do such a thing. But if it wasn't the Aerialbots, then who was it? "What if it wasn't the Aerialbots?" he asked her.

"Then there is an enemy that both factions should be made aware of." the telepath answered simply.

"Also, I recommend Ramjet to be sent up there to assist with getting Motormaster into Earth's atmosphere." Hook stated.

"Commander, you are needed in my quarters promptly," Soundwave sent to Starscream.

"Give me a minute, huh?"

"It's unusual for you to call a meeting like this, Starscream," Optimus stated, looking at the Decepticon leader with question. He'd noticed a certain defense in the Seeker's stance.

"I have an unusual situation and require unusual answers," Starscream replied, looking up to the sky in thought. He then looked at Optimus. "I need to know what Blaster told anyone before bringing them in,"

"Why?"

"I am sure you are aware that Ratchet's services were needed on my base. Long story short – Motormaster was found in the Asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Sixshot has since recovered him and brought him to the lunar surface. After analysis by both Ratchet and Hook, they both confirm he looks like he was attacked – shredded, Prime. I want to know if your Aerialbots could do such a thing."

Optimus watched Starscream a long moment, "That's a pretty serious situation. I do not think the Aerialbots would do such a thing, actually. Blaster gives all incoming Autobots updated status periodically. They shouldn't be a threat to you. What happened?"

"That's what we are trying to figure out," Starscream grumbled.

Optimus was wondering what could have attacked the Stunticon. His Aerialbots hadn't done it and if Starscream didn't know, then it obviously wasn't a Decepticon, either. The humans didn't have the technology for such an attack. This left a nagging worry in the back of Optimus Prime's mind, which he was sure was shared with Starscream.

Space was vast, powerful and unpredictable. Some said it ended somewhere while others said there was no end to the vastness of it. Whatever the case, Cybertronians had breached the Heliosphere of Sol and were on approach of the Termination Shock.

"Soundwave, good to he… your …smissions – some … us were starting to wond… if we were …" Onslaught's broken voice carried through Soundwave's extended audio. "We are ….in the star system param… whi...gave us... on the outer limits of the …ermination sh…k-"

A different voice came through just after Onslaught, nearly cutting the mech off. It was much clearer and Soundwave recognized it immediately, "What's the status of your location, Soundwave? We received your data-packet, but some of the information is questionable."

The femme bristled silently at the voice, but answered with minimal information. She'd hoped – like everyone else – that he'd be one of the ones to get lost on the opposite side of the known universe at any other given time, however, he had something she needed. It was why she had sent a data-burst from Earth in every direction, to locate him. Immediately she honed on the transmission, annoyed that she was only getting part of the message and could not get a direct fix on him. "What is your location?"

She didn't tell him he was bouncing all over her radar systems, indicating he was at one side of the star system and then the other. She blamed the storms. From there, Soundwave confirmed Shockwave's arrival near the star system and found what appeared to be only a couple of Cybertronians with him.

"My readings indicated Shockwave is entering the outer parts of this star system." She told Starscream.

"I had this really big hope that he would have gotten sucked up by a black hole. I'm just not that lucky, I guess," Starscream replied with a displeased tone.

"I have calculated his time of Arrival to 3 Earth weeks."

"Who does he say he has with him?"

"He didn't. However, I picked up a few signatures with him."

On the Moon, Sixshot had been waiting for Ramjet. His optics furrowed, having heard the femme after she'd repeated to him what she'd told Starscream, "Are you serious?" the mech turned with annoyance, "We don't need this right now." He knew Shockwave would be a serious issue mostly to himself as he had some… unfinished business with him. "You brought him here for that stupid relic, didn't you?"

Soundwave had become unusually quiet since speaking with Shockwave. She had remained in her own quarters for the majority of the time that Sixshot was on the moon. The telepath took the time to herself to figure out what could be done. This was going to be a touchy one, but the mission was very possible. Get the relic, destroy Shockwave before he became a problem.

There wasn't a doubt in her mind that as soon as Shockwave found out about everything that had happened, he was going to attempt to take the Decepticons from Starscream. It was obvious that there was no way to hide the femmes and Sparklings from him either, and she already knew this would be a sore spot along with Starscream's leadership. She wouldn't allow him to jeopardize the thing Starscream had going on.

At first, Starscream figured she was busy with Sixshot and the Stunticon problem, but the longer she did not update with him, the more curious he became as to her sudden behavior and went to speak to her about it.

"Soundwave, what gives?" He asked as he opened her door.

Soundwave turned to the leader, her stoic glare telling him absolutely nothing, though he got the impression she was glaring at him. The mech had barely even gotten into the room before her murmur hit his audios, "Commander, you are aware the threat Shockwave poses, correct?"

Starscream blinked. His annoyed look turned into a frown and he looked away from her, his optics dimming slightly, "I was really hoping you wouldn't have brought that up."

Soundwave seemed to have no regard to his tone, "You should have known this was coming. He would have found this planet and you eventually."

"I'll have you know you are the god of bad news." The Seeker mumbled with frustration.

She remained quiet for a moment longer, as if thinking. "I gave him very minimal information. Hiding femmes and Sparklings' existence will be impossible. He does know Megatron is dead, however."

"You don't think he would be stupid enough to try something, do you?" the Seeker scoffed. Even he knew Shockwave wasn't that powerful and he was 98% sure his 'Cons would have his back.

Soundwave stared through her mirror-like visor at Starscream. The Seeker only frowned more. When she was satisfied she got her point across, she spoke evenly, "Don't be a fool." From there, she went back to her computer.

Starscream watched her for a moment in thought before turning to go talk to Barricade. Shockwave would most definitely be a problem. Why was he coming here again?

Meanwhile, orbiting Earth, Sixshot was expecting Ramjet's arrival at any moment. His visor swept the area, giving him information about his surroundings. He figured it would be dull – and Primus was it ever… White and gray dominated the land. "Do you have any idea how boring it is up here, Sounders? Any at all?"

"Fun was not an option in this mission."

"I'm going to die from absolute boredom I just know it. At least on Cybertron I could kill. This one's already almost dead. No fun in that." It would be one less Combiner out of his way until the Stunticons made a new one. Not that he would actually do anything, anyway, but it sure felt good to bitch about it.

"Illogical argument. Correlation does not entail casualty."

Sixshot was quiet a moment as if trying to simplify her words. He hated it when she did that. "Shut up. You're not nice and you're not helping."

There was a whistle like tone on the line in reply to him. Over the time he'd known her, she'd done that to him. He scrunched up his face under his mask, since such communication from her was nothing short of saying 'fuck you'.

The last time they'd spoken, Ramjet had told Sixshot he was making his way around the moon using its gravity to swing him around. The Seeker had to admit it felt good to fly like this, and he took advantage of it while he could. They had their top speeds and being able to fly faster than that was a thrill.

Sixshot watched for the Seeker over the horizon while he knelt protectively over Motormaster and argued with Soundwave. Ramjet began slowing as he descended. He was careful not to disturb the surface, leaving his arrival nearly untraceable. When he got close, he transformed and let the gravity of the moon bring him down. He landed a small distance away, as not to get more dust on Motormaster and began walking toward them. "If you'd flown any slower, you would have been going backwards," Sixshot looked up at the Seeker.

"Yeah, well it was still faster than you." Ramjet chided. When the medic got to Motormaster and Sixshot, he immediately began scanning the downed leader. Silently he looked, moving metal here and there. An image on Earth could only tell him so much, whereas being present; he was able to identify the damage so much better.

The Seeker moved lines around, careful not to break anything for as fragile as they were. "I can already tell you that there are slowed-growth scars from a previous injury. The slowed growth tells me this is what caused his stasis lock and the asteroids beat him up afterwards." He pulled at other damage, trying to find any traces of what might have been used, "I can see some internal damage and…" he stopped, moving wires to reveal Motormaster's Spark chamber completely. He pointed to the cracks across the protective membrane, "This was definitely done before any asteroid hit him."

Sixshot leaned down to get a better look, "Hey, you're the medic, not me," he said, watching Ramjet as he continued to fish through the Stunticon's torso. "So he was attacked?" he asked with confusion, looking around. He barely caught Ramjet nodding in answer. "But by who? There's no one close enough, and as far as I know, the Autobots are saying it wasn't them. So, who was it?"

He wasn't certain he could trace it back completely, but he could try. "I don't know yet." The Seeker continued to study his findings. "I might be able to tell what was used, but I can't guarantee it. Depending on what it was will limit it somewhat, but not enough to confirm any claims, I don't think."

Some time after assessing Motormaster, Ramjet had begun a field repair with items he had brought that he would need. He repaired major and minor lines. Wires that had been burnt, he welded. He couldn't do anything for Motormaster's Spark chamber except cover it over.

Unfortunately, he had no direct answer as to what caused Motormaster's damage before the space rocks hit him.

It took another few hours before Motormaster's body began moving energon again and another few hours before his Spark was somewhat self-sustaining. Ramjet knew he would probably have to jump start Motormaster's Spark until they got to base. He was thankful Hook would be taking over once they were back.

When Motormaster was in an overall movable condition, Ramjet deemed him all right to bring into Earth's atmosphere. He kept Motormaster in Stasis lock to protect him while the two prepared for the okay to leave.

At the Autobot base, the newly arrived Aerialbots were still absorbing what little information they were briefed with. Of course, they'd only been told that Jazz was a femme. And of course, seeing Starscream show up unannounced without anyone shooting.

"You know, I am still utterly confused by the rather strange information we have gotten since we arrived. It's like we've landed on not only an alien world, but an alien universe." Silverbolt said, sitting with his team.

"What are you talking about?" Skydive asked.

"What do you mean 'What am I talking about'?" Silverbolt asked with disbelief, "Clearly you banged your head off of the ground a little too hard when you landed. Does it not perplex you that Jazz is a femme?"

"Or the fact Starscream and Ramjet showed up unannounced and it was accepted!" Air Raid said. "That's really weird."

"No. Actually, that don't hold a candle to hearing about Soundwave…" Slingshot turned in his seat to look at the Autobots who were more acquainted with the goings on, "Is it true that Soundwave is a femme?"

"Thundercracker is too!" Jazz piped with a shit-eating grin. "Sparked by Skywarp himself, too. And let's see… Barricade is Prowler's sister, Sam killed Megatron, 'Screamer has Sparklin's…" the femme trailed as she thought about more things to add to the list to confuse the Aerialbots more. "Oh yeah!" she suddenly called, "Sixshot is on this planet, too."

Silverbolt hadn't expected that name to show up, "The Decepticon, Sixshot?"

"You're lying…" Air Raid suddenly said.

"Nope. Seems he really does exist after all."

The Aerialbots only stared blankly at Jazz while she gabbed on. The one target who they avoided and heard he avoided them as well – Even when the wars were fresh… was Sixshot. Superion was like the Autobots' version of Devastator.

"How messed up is that slag?" Fireflight finally commented.

The next day, while Starscream and Soundwave were busy doing whatever had captured their attention, Blacklight had been planning on a way to get back at Skywarp for sticking him to a wall. He had talked to Mikaela, who in turn had coerced Barricade into taking them both to the store.

Blacklight had previously told Mikaela what he wanted and she went in to the stores and got them. When she came back out, Barricade was immediately confused and wary as to why her Sparkling requested such things, but she didn't ask. Sometimes her Sparklings picked the strangest items to play with. At least they were harmless – or so she thought.

Blacklight hid well in Barricade while she drove back to the base. His plans didn't come into action until him and Mikaela were sitting in Barricade's quarters. In Mikaela's reach were firecrackers, sandwich baggies and small containers of different colored glitter. Barricade had since left the two the scheme whatever it was they were scheming, only to return and watch curiously as Mikaela started putting the glitter into bags and tie them off with twist ties. She then tied them to a small set of firecrackers. She did this with several baggies until all were tied to all of the firecrackers.

"What are you up to?" Barricade finally asked, watching the triplets find great interest in the unused glitter. "Why are you doing such things?"

"Because payback is a bitch," Blacklight told her with a smile and grabbed for the small bags.

She watched him as he took off out of the room. Her optics then went to Mikaela, demanding an answer, in which the girl only shrugged. "Let him have his fun."

Barricade was basically at a loss of thought, "…With glitter?"

Blacklight hid the small bags well as he got closer to Skywarp. It had been his plan all along. Doing as he normally did, he started climbing up on the mech's back and made his way to the top of his thrusters. No one saw him reach for the bags and then suddenly drop them down and into Skywarp's thruster. The Sparkling leapt off of him and skittered away.

Skywarp, surprised at a feeling in his thruster, arched his back at the intrusion and his thruster automatically began warming and preparing to fire to get the thing out. Blacklight stood back and watched as his thruster burnt for a second or two and then there was a strange cracking sound from his back.

There was then a sneezing sound from Skywarp's thruster and the Seeker quickly stood, looking around. As he did so, the bags of glitter that Blacklight had attached to the firecrackers melted or exploded. Sparkles Billowed from the top and bottom of Skywarp, covered the air, and rained down upon him and everyone else who happened to be too close at the time.

Thundercracker had already gotten back wondering to herself what had made the black mech's thruster act like that. When she saw the glitter, her optics quickly went to Blacklight who was still watching, then back to Skywarp, "Look at you. You're… sparkly."

Skywarp, wondering what had happened, only heard a snicker from the Sparkling who was now far enough way to not get snatched by angry hands. "That was so uncool." He muttered.

Starscream heard the strange sound and came to see what it was all about. Skywarp stepped out of the mounds of glitter around him and shook his body like a dog or cat would to get the glitter out of the rest of his body with little success.

Starscream raised his optic ridges, "What happened to you?"

Skywarp stared at Blacklight a second longer as if gauging how quickly he could catch him before looking back at Starscream, "The latest fashion… I've been transformed into Edward Cullen –" His look darkened as he thought about Blacklight, "thanks to your little terror…"

... Shockwave. You can bet trouble's abound... Or is that Blacklight and Skywarp? Could be those two, too.