~Episode 1~

Prologue

I’d like to say that this is a happy story about happy people in a happy land. But it isn’t. This is a story about real life, and real life is never happy. You live and you die. All the time in between is just torture. And that’s at the best of times. This story takes place during what seems to be a constant war. That’s about 10 million times worse than normal life. Nobody can remember when the war started, and it certainly isn’t getting any closer to finishing. But this story isn’t about the origins of a war. This story begins on a dark night, around the forest area of a Rogue village. I was 7, on my way home from…something. It seems like so long ago, I don’t even remember what it was.
The forest was dark, and it scared me. I’d heard stories about that forest. Ghost stories. Everyone told me about the ghosts, so I wasn’t sure whether they were true or not. Still, everyone could always here the strange sounds coming from the forest. That wasn’t anything strange, it happened in all forests…didn't it? I heard a twig snap and jumped back, barely holding back a scream. I could sense someone there, watching me. I closed my eyes and steadied my breathing. There was nothing there. I was just imagining things. I was just upset because I’d been having the nightmares. The nightmares about Luke. I hadn’t told anyone but Tessa about those nightmares. I told Tessa everything. It was just a dream though, why was I getting so scared about it? I opened my eyes and glanced at the forest again. Nothing there. I turned away, heading back in the direction of home. That’s when it happened. I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye. Someone in the forest, coming in my direction. I’d like to tell you I wasn’t scared at all, that I stood my ground in the face of this threat, but that would be lying. The truth is, I screamed and started running home. I could hear him behind me. He was just walking, taking his time. I don’t know why. I guess he knew he would get me anyway. His laughter was something I’ll never be able to get out of my head. I could feel his footsteps shaking the ground. The nearest source of light was behind us, so his shadow was stretched out on the ground in front of me. He didn’t say anything. Just laughed as he came after me.
I don’t know why he let me get home. Why he didn’t catch me before then, when he would have been perfectly able to. But I do know that that’s probably what saved my life that night. I found myself running into the house and almost slammed into Tessa, who caught me and laughed.
“Wow, you’re in a rush, Clara!”
“There’s a…there’s a”
“There’s a what?”
“A man!”
Tessa looked at me, her smile fading.
“Clara, there are always men walking about out there. You know that.”
“But he’s chasing me!”
Tessa frowned.
“Are you sure, Clara?”
“Yeah! He came out of the forest and came after me!”
Luke came into the room at that moment and picked me up. Okay, so maybe I owed it to him to tell him about the dreams, but that wasn’t gonna happen now – I was too scared. I didn’t realize then that that was actually my last chance to tell him. Tessa had gone through to another room to look through the window for the man. She must’ve seen him, because she let out a startled squeak and came running back to us.
“What happens now?” I asked them.
“We’ll keep you safe, Clara.” Luke said, “We’ll keep you safe forever.” He smiled, and for a moment all the worry left his face. “I promise.”
His promise calmed me down a little, but I could sense the tension in the air. I’m good with emotions. I can usually sense what somebody’s feeling, so long as they’re feeling it strongly enough.
Somebody banged hard on the door and I shrieked.
“We have to get her away from him!” Tessa said, taking me from Luke and running in a random direction. We found ourselves in the basement. Tessa hid behind a stack of crates, holding me to her tightly.
“Do you promise too?” I found myself asking her.
Tessa looked at me for a moment.
“I promise too. I’ll keep you safe forever.”
I felt safe then. I guess back then I liked the feeling of being protected. We heard the front door crash to the ground above us, and there was yelling. Another crash, as if someone had been thrown to the floor. We could hear someone coming down the stairs towards us. Then something happened to Tessa. She stiffened, her eyes wide, and then her whole body went limp. I thought we were still safe. That she’d just gone to sleep or something. I was just a child.
At that moment someone grabbed me, picking me up easily with one hand. I shrieked and I struggled, but I couldn’t do anything. I could only shriek and struggle harmlessly while he carried me upstairs and out of the house, taking me towards the forest. I didn’t want to go in there. I was helpless, just waiting for someone to come along and save me. Nobody did. Why would they? It was easier to just pretend nothing was happening and let him take me.
Somewhere, a long way away from the Rogue village that I called my home, 2 years after that night, an Autobot village was being seized by the Decepticons. There was a boy, 10 years old, caught in the middle of the fighting. He was just standing there, frozen in fear, oblivious to the bullets flying around him. He was an Autobot boy, his father fighting to protect their home against the threat.
The boy was completely oblivious to the stray bullet that was hurtling towards his back. If that bullet had hit him, it would’ve killed him instantly. He was lucky. His father was nearby, and he dragged him out of the way just as the bullet whizzed past. The man picked up his son and ran with him to the edge of the village.
“Optimus, listen to me!” he yelled. The boy looked at him, trying to keep his body from shaking. “Optimus, you’ve got to get out of here!”
“But-“
“No buts, Optimus. Run now! Get as far away from here as possible. I’ll catch up!”
Optimus didn’t want to go, but he knew he’d just get in the way if he stayed. If he stayed, his father may even die as a result. How would he be able to live with knowing that that was his fault? And that was if he even survived in the first place. Unable to disobey his father’s command, he nodded. His father hugged him, and he ran.

Chapter 1

I winced as Starscream looked at me again. Damn, I hated that man. His red eyes glared at me for a minute, and I felt like they were looking right into my soul. I didn’t like it. It wasn’t good. It brought back all my worst memories, and trust me – I’d had my fair share of bad experiences. My life was full of them. Finally he turned away and headed into another room. I didn’t stick around. I was out of the door and running down the street the second the door shut behind him.

It wasn’t long before I was forced to stop. I’d reached the forest. I’d taken a wrong turn in that stupid maze of Decepticon buildings, and now the forest was the only way I could go. I found myself backing away. I’d only been in there once, but it wasn’t an experience I was in any rush to repeat. I’d promised myself I would never go in there again. I turned and started away, and that was when I heard the drums.

I don’t know how many times I’d heard the drums. I don’t even know if I’d ever really heard them at all, or if they’d always been a part of my imagination. Either way, hearing them now almost made me run back to Starscream. Almost.

I could hear him even over the drums. He’d found out I was gone. He was coming after me. Asking passers-by if they’d seen which way I’d gone. They wouldn’t lie to him on my behalf. They were Decepticons, and I was a Rogue. Why would they do anything for me? Besides, they were clueless to the sort of things Starscream did to me when we were alone together. I couldn’t go back to him. I found a small alleyway between two of the buildings and ran down it. It twisted and it turned and it led to a dead end. What the hell? There was nothing between the road I’d just been on and where I was now. Why was the alleyway even there? I looked around desperately, frantically searching for a way out that I might’ve missed. There was nothing. I could here noises echoing up the alley towards me. Starscream had come in after me. I tried to break through the wall. I was strong for a girl, or so I’m told. But even with desperation and fear lending me strength, that wall was laughing at me. Starscream was getting closer. He was alone, thankfully, so I still had some kind of chance. I found myself backed against the wall, listening to Starsctream’s running footsteps getting closer, and my hopes of defeating him were dashed as I heard more Decepticons running down the alleyway after him. I thought I could hear something else as well, as if there was something – or someone – on the roof somewhere behind me. But I wasn’t really paying attention to that. My hopes of even surviving this were disappearing rapidly. But then a thought then a thought I’d been pondering since I was 7 came back to haunt me. Maybe that was a good thing. Maybe my life just wasn’t worth living anymore. Maybe it was best to give up. Stop fighting a never ending battle and just let go. It would be a lot easier that way. The voice of reason that always came in at that point and pointed out how pointless suicide is didn’t come this time. Maybe because at that moment Starscream ran round the corner with three of his cronies. His friends skidded to a halt and watched and laughed as Starscream slammed into me, pinning me to the wall with his hand at my throat. My feet were about a metre off the ground. Suddenly his friends fell silent. For a moment I thought that was it. It was finally over. But then there was a loud bang and the world shook. Starscream swore and dropped me, spinning around to face something that had dropped out of the sky. I fell to the ground, coughing and clutching at my throat. I wasn’t dead. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Then I realised everything had gone silent again. I looked up. Starscream and the others were on the ground, unconscious or dead, I didn’t want to know. There was someone else there. A man. He was watching me curiously. My eyes widened as I felt my spark jump violently in it's chamber.
“You all right?” the man asked, holding out holding out his hand to help me up.
I nodded and took his hand, letting him pull me to my feet. I couldn’t see him very well, but I knew for sure that I had never heard his voice before. It was deep and slightly gruff, but there was something soothing about it as well. All I could see of him were his bright blue eyes. There was something comforting about him, like I felt safe with him.
Which was crazy since I’d only just met the guy.
Still, I hadn’t felt safe in so long….there was something special about this man.
“You shouldn’t have saved me.” I said quietly. The part of my mind that was swooning at him must’ve been staring at me in shock for being so inconsiderate to him. Still, it was the truth.
He rolled his eyes, which I took as a good sign.
“You’re welcome.” He said sarcastically.
Well, at least he didn’t get mad.
“What’s your name?” he asked me, leading me back down the alley. I didn’t hesitate. I just followed him.
“Clara.” I replied. I know what you’re thinking. Some stranger comes up to you and randomly starts asking you questions, you’re supposed to run in the opposite direction. Looking back on it, I think I was mad. But it made perfect sense at the time. I guess I owed it to him to answer his questions, considering he’d just saved my life.
“I’m-“ the stranger started to say something but was cut off when a girl ran up the alleyway towards us, yelling angrily at him. She was probably younger than me, though it’s impossible to tell with Cybertronians, and she only came up to my waist.
“OPTIMUS PRIME!” she was yelling, “We’re supposed to be spying on the Decepticons! You can’t just go and randomly beat them up.”
Okay, I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I was sure yelling about a mission to spy on the Decepticons, while in the middle of Decepticon territory, wasn’t exactly the best idea in the world.
Optimus sighed.
“Arcee, stop shouting at me. You’ll jeopardise the whole mission.”
“Oh, I’ll jeopardise the mission?!” Arcee demanded. “Who’s the one going round beating up Decepticons?!”
“You’re Autobots.” I said warily, taking a step away from them, automatically raising my battle mask.
Like I said I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed. I’d only just realised I recognised Optimus’ name. My half-sister was obsessed with the guy.
Arcee seemed to notice me for the first time. Her blue eyes widened.
“You brought a Decepticon with you?!” she yelled, pulling a gun out and pointing it at me. I heard Optimus sigh again next to me.
“Clara’s a Rogue, genius.” He scolded.
Arcee didn’t move. Clearly she didn’t trust Rogues any more than she did Decepticons. Fair enough. It’s not like I was in any hurry to-
“Stand down, you two.” Optimus ordered. Arcee reluctantly did as she was told, and the authority in his voice shocked even me into obeying. Hey, since when did I follow orders? I never even did what my dad asked me to do!
So I was pretty much in a bad mood, and then, to make matters worse, that was when the drums started.
I don’t know how long I stood there, frozen in fear, but next thing I knew was Optimus waving a hand in front of my face.
“Um, sorry, what?”
“Oh, wonderful.” Arcee muttered, “Couldn’t you find someone who isn’t stupid?”
Optimus sighed and ignored her.
“Are you okay?” he asked me. I nodded timidly. “Just ignore Arcee. She doesn’t like Rogues. You haven’t done anything wrong.”
Arcee glared at him.
“I’m gonna radio Sentinel.” She stalked off angrily and Optimus led me back to the main road.
“Don’t worry about her. She gets touchy if we’re out of Autobot territory for too long. She had a mishap with a Rogue a few years back and she hasn’t really got over it.” Optimus thought for a minute. “Or she might just be doing it to get at me. Either way, just ignore her. She’ll come round. Eventually.
“How did you know I’m a Rogue?” I asked him curiously.
“Your name.” he said as we walked. “Your dad’s in charge of the Rogues, right?”
I nodded and looked at the forest fearfully. Optimus glanced at it.
“You don’t like the forest.” It wasn’t a question, more of a prompt. Like he was encouraging me to open up to him.
“It’s not so much the forest as what’s in there.” I said quietly, “but the forest itself freaks me out as well.” I admitted.
I guess I should explain. There’s only one forest on Cybertron, but it’s so big it stretches into all territories. Rogue, Autobot and Decepticon. It’s very big and very dangerous.
Optimus was nodding understandingly.
“Have you ever been in there?” I asked him.
“No.” Optimus was leading me away from the forest now. Towards the outskirts of the Decepticon territory. “I wanted to when I was young, but Sentinel never let me anywhere near it. I’ve been too busy since then, with the war.”
I nodded, almost disappointed. I’d never met anyone else who’d gone in. Only Luke and Tessa, who had never came out. I didn’t like being so isolated from everyone else.
“Trust me.” I found myself saying bitterly, “You don’t want to go in there.”
He looked at me curiously and I got the feeling he wanted to say more, but at that moment Arcee trudged over.
“She’s coming with us.” She said bitterly.
“What?” I asked, shocked.
“Sentinel’s orders.” Arcee said angrily.
“Unfortunately, I think I know what this is about.” I sighed.
Optimus looked at me sympathetically.
“I’m heading back to base.” Arcee said, ignoring me completely and talking to Optimus. She turned and ran off and Optimus sighed.
“Arcee takes a long time getting over grudges.” He muttered.
I looked at him curiously but thought better than asking. It wasn’t any of my business.
“So what are you doing in Decepticon territory?” Optimus asked.
I could tell he was just trying to make conversation, but I really preferred walking in silence.
“Long story.” I said quietly.
Optimus looked at me but the tone of my voice must’ve told him that the subject was closed. Or maybe he just gave me up as a lost cause. He wouldn’t be the first one.
To be honest, I wasn’t really willing to get into anything with Optimus Prime. I knew enough about him to be sure that would be a bad idea. He was Cybertron’s heart throb. As far as I knew, he’d never actually loved anyone properly. He was a player. He’d had loads of girlfriends, and nearly all the girls on this planet were his fangirls. I was one of the few exceptions to that rule. I don’t know why, but he just seemed really moody to me. I liked the thought of being someone who believed in reality rather than the fantasy that some girls had chosen. What would someone like Optimus Prime see in a lowly Rogue mechanic like me? I mean, aside from whom my father was, which was why most Cybertronians, such as Starscream, took any interest in me.
I’d heard a lot about Optimus, thanks to my half-sister, and the only thing about his social life that I actually liked was that he’d never actually kissed a girl. He’d never shown any outwardly signs of affection to anyone. That was something those girls had tricked themselves into thinking to make them feel better about themselves, or to be more popular with their friends.
Sad.

Chapter 2

We were finally out of Decepticon territory, but I had mixed feelings about being back on Rogue turf. Especially since we were walking right along the edge of the forest. I kept looking around nervously, barely listening to Optimus, who was talking about the crappy teleports and other equipment they had to use, and low recruitment rates.
“So what’s your family like?” he asked suddenly.
I knew he didn’t mean any harm by it. It was just an innocent question asked purely out of curiosity. But the way I stiffened must have told him that topic wasn’t one I was willing to discuss.
“Sorry.” He said quickly, “I didn’t mean-“
“Don’t worry about it.” I interrupted, “It doesn’t matter.”
Optimus gave me an apologetic look and looked at the sky.
“We’re not gonna be getting to Autobot territory any time soon.” He said, eager to change the subject, “We might as well stay here until morning.”
I shook my head.
“There’s a village a couple of minutes walk from here. We can spend the night there.” I wasn’t exactly jumping for joy at going back to my hometown, but there was no way I was going to spend a night this close to the forest.
It didn’t take us long to get there, even though I was trying to delay our arrival. We were closer to the village than I’d realized. I took Optimus to the center of the village, where one of the buildings was bigger and grander than the others. Optimus could probably tell how reluctant I was as I led him inside, but he didn’t say anything. I led him through to the main room, where my dad was having a conversation with one of the maids. He sent her away as soon as he saw us and hugged me.
“Clara! I was wondering when you were going to come back.” He pulled away and nodded a greeting to Optimus. “Optimus. It’s been a while. I take it Clara brought you here?”
Optimus nodded. My dad did a lot of business with both Autobots and Decepticons, so I wasn’t really surprised that they knew each other.
My father looked at me.
“I get the feeling you’re not staying here very long.” He said reluctantly, like just saying that would make me disappear.
I shook my head.
“We just need a place to stay the night.” I said quietly, half of me hoping he wouldn’t hear me. But he nodded.
“Of course. But make sure you come and visit more often this time.”
I didn’t answer. I hated making promises I couldn’t keep. I would visit a lot more often if we didn’t live in this house, and he knew that. But that didn’t mean he actually understood it. If he did we wouldn’t be in that situation.
At that moment Kaitlynn came in. She didn’t look very happy about seeing me there. Then again, she never did. She glanced at Optimus, and her eyes widened.
“You’re….You’re Optimus Prime!” She could barely contain her excitement at meeting her idol. Beside me, Optimus face-palmed. I was shaking my head in embarrassment. My father sighed.
“Kaitlynn, please don’t start anything here. Leave him alone.”
Optimus peered at her.
“You know I’m like 20 times your age right?”
“Yeah, so?”
“Kaitlynn.” My dad sighed. “Optimus and Clara aren’t staying here long, they’ll be gone by morning. Please leave them alone. Just for tonight.”
Kaitlynn pulled a face and disappeared.
“Sorry about that.” My father said to Optimus.
Optimus shook his head.
“I’m used to it.”
My father led him out of the room and, now I was alone, I took the chance to look around. I’d been gone a long time, but nothing had really changed. I still found myself wincing at the photos of Luke and Tessa that were around the room. I waited in there for about a minute before I left. I couldn’t just stay in that room. And it wasn’t just that room. It was the whole house. I couldn’t stand being surrounded by so many painful memories all the time. It was why I had left in the first place. This house hadn’t been my home since I was 7. I reached the kitchen and thought for a minute. It would be hard, but I had to get some sleep. According to my dad, Autobot territory was a days journey from here, so we wouldn’t be taking any breaks if we wanted to get there by nightfall tomorrow. I had to get sleep if I didn’t want to slow Optimus down. I pulled a face and headed upstairs. My old room hadn’t changed at all. Nobody had gone in there, judging by the amount of dust, but I would be fine, considering I was just staying for one night.
I was woken in the morning by a bright light shining through my window. I thought for a minute and remembered the night before. Just the memory of where I was, was enough to get me out of bed and tearing down the stairs like a bullet from a gun. I almost crashed into Optimus, who was at the bottom of the stairs, but I stopped myself in time.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” He commented, looking at me curiously.
“Probably,” I agreed. “Can we go?”
He frowned.
“What’s got into you?” he asked me.
“Nothing. Please can we go?”
He nodded, still giving me worried looks.
Even so, it was still another 10 minutes at least before we left, because of my dad’s habit of trying to come up with reasons for us to stay. I was trying to get us out of there as quickly as possible without hurting his feelings. Finally he let us go and we soon left the village far behind.
“What’s going on?” Optimus asked me as we walked.
“Nothing.” I said, “I just couldn’t spend any more time in there. There’s a reason I left.”
I was probably a bit harsh to him, but I was seriously freaked out at being in the house so long. I wasn’t paying attention to what I was saying. He didn’t say anything, so I don’t know if he was offended or not. I hoped he wasn’t. I was, maybe, starting to warm up to him. I may have even been enjoying his company. The part of my mind swooning over him was starting to spread.
“I’m sorry.” I said quietly. “I shouldn’t have started on you.”
Optimus tilted his head, looking at me.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize.”
Soon we were following the forest again. I didn’t like it, but I didn’t say anything. Much to my surprise, Optimus insisted on walking between me and it, like he was trying to make me feel better. It worked. A little.
“What happened?” Optimus asked me as we walked.
“What happened with what?” I asked, confused.
“You’ve been in the forest, and now you’re afraid of it. What happened?”
I winced slightly.
“I don’t really want to talk about that while we’re this close.”
Optimus nodded like he wasn’t really surprised. We walked in silence for a few minutes.
“Why were you in Decepticon territory?” he asked me, “I mean, I just need to know before we get onto Autobot turf.”
I shrugged.
“I don’t like staying at home, so dad sent me there to cool off for a while.” I told him, “He hoped it would make me feel more comfortable being at home, but I guess it didn’t.”
“Why don’t you like being at home?”
“Too many painful memories.” I admitted quietly.
He nodded and gave me a sympathetic look, like he knew what it was like.
A few more minutes of silence fell, and then Optimus stopped walking so suddenly I almost walked into him. He was just standing there, staring at the forest.
“Do you get the feeling someone’s watching us?” he asked quietly.
He’d kept looking over his shoulder as we walked, which had been ever so steadily raising my ‘freak-out’ levels until I felt like running away. I didn’t though. Something told me that would be a bad idea.
“I always feel like that.” I replied, “Never this bad though.” I watched him for a moment. “Why is everything so quiet?” I asked suddenly, unable to keep the fearful trill out of my voice.
Optimus glanced at me. Everything was completely silent. There wasn’t any bird song, no chirping of insects in the grass, not even the sound of the wind rustling through the trees. I looked up. Everything was still. It was like Optimus and me were the only living things on the face of the earth. So why did we feel like we were being watched? It wasn’t an unusual feeling for me. Like I’d told Optimus, I always feel like that. But nobody else ever felt the same way. That just freaked me out even more. Until now I’d always put it down to my overactive imagination, stress, the dreams I was always having, the memories of the night Luke had died, and later on Tessa. I’d never stopped to consider the thought that someone might actually have been watching me all that time. The thought was too crazy. But maybe there was.
“Maybe we should go.” I said slowly. I hated myself for being like such a coward, but I was really starting to get freaked out. Optimus nodded in agreement, backing away from the forest slowly.
It was nightfall by the time we finally reached Autobot territory. I could tell Optimus was relieved to be there. It was obvious from the look on his face and the way the tension left his body as we crossed the border. Eventually we reached a small cluster of buildings that must’ve been an Autobot village. It didn’t look like much, all run down and falling apart, but Optimus seemed glad to see it again. I wondered what it was like to leave a place and be upset at the thought that you might never see it again. I didn’t have a place in my life that meant that much to me. There wasn’t anyone around. The place was a ghost town. I remembered what Optimus had said the night before about not being able to afford anything better, and I felt guilty. The Rogues and Decepticons were well off, why should the Autobots be the only ones that weren’t? I didn’t say anything as Optimus led me to a small building in the middle of the village that was no bigger or grander than any of the others. There was a leopard-like Autobot curled up outside the door. The first living thing I’d seen since we’d left Rogue territory. She stood up and came over as we approached, looking at me warily.
“How bad is it in there?” Optimus asked, scratching her behind the ears.
“Bad.” She replied. “Sentinel is very angry.”
“How come?”
She shrugged.
“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask him.”
Optimus glanced at me.
“Sorry, I haven’t introduced you. Clara, this is Roxy. Roxy, Clara.”
Roxy nodded to me in greeting.
“Nice to meet you.” she gave Optimus a warning look and padded off.
Optimus led me inside. It wasn’t much better than the outside. The corridor Optimus led me through was dark, with cracked walls and a well-worn floor. I could hear hushed voices up ahead. Although I couldn’t make out what they were saying, I could hear 3 voices. All of them were male. I didn’t recognize any of them. One sounded angry, like he was close to shouting. One sounded anxious, like he was desperately trying to convince someone of something. The third didn’t say much, but he sounded bored, like he didn’t really know why he’d bothered to come.
The voices hushed down as we approached the door. They could hear us. Optimus gave me an encouraging look, which was comforting, and pushed the door open, leading me inside.

Chapter 3

There were four Autobots in the room. The only one I recognized was Arcee. The others I didn’t know. One was tall. Taller than Optimus and me. He held a spear in his hand and had an angry expression on his face. The other two were shorter. All four were staring at me as we came in. Optimus knelt down to the tall Autobot. Uncertain, I followed his lead.
The Autobot gestured for Optimus to stand, and then turned to me.
“You’re Clara?” he asked.
“Yes sir.” Don’t ask me why I said ‘sir’. It just felt right.
“Stand up.”
I did as I was told, mostly because I hated kneeling down. I tried to ignore the stares of the other Autobots in the room, but it was like their eyes were burning into me. Optimus wasn’t looking at me or giving me any hints as to what I should do. He had his head tilted, watching one of the smaller Autobots gesturing to him frantically.
“I am Sentinel Prime. Leader of the Autobots.” Yeah, I’d kind of figured that. “You’ve already met my first lieutenant, Optimus Prime, and Arcee. Also here are my medical officer, Ratchet, and my weapons specialist, Ironhide.” Okay, while it was nice to know who was in the room staring at me, this guy was rambling. Problem was, I already had a good guess as to where this was going. “I know your father. He’s a good man.” Sentinel looked at me. “But this isn’t about him.”
I blinked. Okay, I was wrong. This wasn’t about my father? So this wasn’t about the territory, like I’d thought it would be. That territory was the only reason people ever took any interest in me, but this guy wasn’t interested in it at all. What did he want with me?
Sentinel was looking at me closely.
“No, this isn’t about the territory.” He said, “I saw your father quite recently. I know all about your time in Decepticon territory, and why you’ve turned out the way you have.” Where was this going? I didn’t really care who my father spoke to. That was his business, not mine. Besides, I’d already met quite a few of them and they weren’t the kind of people I was jumping to get to know.
“Have you ever handled a weapon before, Clara?”
“No. There’s never been any need.”
Sentinel nodded absently.
“Right. Ironhide can help you out there.” he peered at me. “We were actually arguing about my decision before you arrived. Ratchet doesn’t think it’s a very good idea, which I find very annoying.”
“Sentinel.” Optimus growled. He looked just as frustrated as I felt. “Will you please stop talking in riddles and actually tell us what’s going on?”
Sentinel gave him an annoyed look.
“Very well.” He turned back to me. “Clara, we’re running very low on recruits. We’re lucky if we get one every two months at most, and what few recruits we are getting, Optimus scares away.” He glared at Optimus.
“What?!” Optimus demanded, “They were all fangirls.”
“Anyway,” Sentinel said loudly, changing the subject, “I think you may have some potential. So, I’m asking you to become an Autobot.”
I blinked. This was rather…sudden. I opened my mouth to say something but he held up his hand, cutting me off.
“Don’t decide yet. You need to know what you’re getting yourself into first. You’ll need a teacher, and I think I know just the person for the job.” He turned to Optimus, “Remember me asking you if you wanted to be a teacher?”
“Remember me saying ‘no’?”
“You didn’t say no.”
“Not in those words. I said I was never ever ever gonna teach.”
Sentinel face-palmed.
“Optimus,” he said through his fingers, “Please. Just teach her everything I taught you and you’ll be fine. Now, where was I? Oh yes.” He turned back to me. “I’ll have to have Ironhide help you find an appropriate weapon, of course. You’ll be doing all your training with Optimus. He’ll be responsible for you.” he looked pointedly at Optimus, “He’ll teach you the Rules of Conduct and help you with your weapons training. If you have any problems, just go to him. Oh, and, ah…try not to pick up any bad habits.”
Sentinel looked around at the other Autobots gathered in the room.
“I think that covers just about everything. Don’t decide on anything yet, sleep on it first.” He turned to Ironhide, “Could you please show Clara to her room?”
Ironhide nodded and led me out of the room. I was just happy to be away from everybody’s stares.
“Why is Ratchet so against me becoming an Autobot?” I asked him.
“You’re a Rogue.” Ironhide replied, “That’s all the reason he needs.”
“What do you think?”
“I think we should make decisions based on personality and effort, not the kind of background the candidate comes from. I’m all for you becoming an Autobot so long as you prove that you’re 100% loyal and you’re willing to put the effort in.”
“So why does Sentinel want me to become an Autobot in the first place?”
“Like he said, we have literally no new recruits at the moment. Besides, your father said you might be interested, apparently.”
I blinked.
“He did?”
“According to Sentinel, yeah.” He looked at me. “So what are you deciding on at the moment?”
“I don’t know what I’ll think in the morning, but at the moment…while I am thinking that Sentinel is very possibly crazy for even suggesting it, I think I would take him up on his offer if he were to ask me now.”
Ironhide nodded, smiling.
“Sentinel’s made some crazy decisions in his time. It’s up to you whether this becomes one of them or not.”
“What did he mean when he told me not to pick up any bad habits?”
Ironhide laughed.
“It’s not rare for a student to pick up bad habits from their teacher. Optimus has quite a few bad habits, and Sentinel would rather not have a duplicate.”
“What kind of bad habits?”
“Well….most of our drills are at night, because that’s when the Decepticons are most likely to attack, but Optimus has a really annoying habit of sleeping right through the alarm. Roxy and I are always sent to wake him up, but he is literally dead to the world. It may seem funny, and most of the time it is, but Sentinel gets worried. Optimus is one of our best fighters, and there aren’t many of us anyway. If it was a real attack, and he did that, we’d be doomed.” He smiled. “He also breaks a lot of rules. Sentinel often complains that if he had a penny for every time he’s had to break Optimus out of jail, we’d all be rich. And that’s not even counting the number of times Optimus has been thrown in jail and broke out by himself, which is probably twice as much.” He looked at me, “Sentinel just doesn’t want you going the same way.”
I nodded understandingly. Ironhide looked me up and down.
“You don’t really trust any of us.” He commented.
“I don’t know any of you.”
“So what do you do, if you’re not a fighter?”
“I’m a mechanic.”
Ironhide looked at me with a new interest.
“You make much?”
“Yeah. But I mostly fix things. Some of the people in my village have a habit of breaking weapons in very imaginative ways.”
Ironhide rolled his eyes.
“Tell me about it. Are you any good?”
“I guess so. I get a lot of customers, so that must count for something.”
Ironhide nodded and we walked in comfortable silence until we reached a small room. Ironhide flicked the light on. This room was tiny. There were two single beds shoved in, taking up all the space. They were pushed right against all four walls and each other, leaving hardly enough space to breathe, let alone move around. I wasn’t claustrophobic, so the confined space wasn’t what bothered me. It was the mountain of junk piled up on the left hand bed. A mountain of guns and nuts and bolts, and even a half finished sword. Ironhide looked at it and gave me a sheepish look.
“Um. Yeah. Optimus is used to sleeping on his own.” he thought for a moment. “Just put it all on his bed. He can worry about where to put it.”
I nodded and he helped me move everything. He kept looking at me while we worked, like he was sizing me up.
“So what kind of weapon would you feel most comfortable with?” he asked me.
“I don’t know.” I admitted.
“I’ll tell Optimus to take you up to my workshop when he’s done training you tomorrow. I can test you on different weapons; see which one’s will work for you. He’ll be able to help you train with it after he’s done with the Rules of Conduct.”
I nodded. I was beginning to like Ironhide. It was easier to get on with somebody you had a lot in common with.
“Well, at least as his student you’ll be safe.” Ironhide was saying.
“What do you mean?”
Ironhide thought for a moment, as if deciding how best to say it.
“Optimus is well known for being a bit of a…ladies man. He doesn’t really care about the people he hurts and, well, I saw the way you were looking at him. But I don’t really have to warn him since, if you agree to this, you’re his student. It’s something else for you to think about. If you agree to this, you’re forbidden from having any kind of relationship with Optimus or any student that you take on.”
I nodded. I understood what he was getting at. It was the same for Rogues. I wasn’t sure about Decepticons, who didn’t seem capable of getting into relationships of any kind anyway.
We managed to shift Optimus’ mountain of junk onto his bed, and Ironhide left. I didn’t think I would be able to get to sleep at all that night, after everything that had happened to me that day, but I fell asleep almost immediately.

Chapter 4

I was woken the next morning by the sound of heavy snoring. The next thing I noticed was a heavy weight around my waist, that certainly hadn’t been there when I’d fallen asleep the night before. It took me a moment to realize that the source of both of these was Optimus. Whether consciously or unconsciously, he had his arm around my waist. I gently picked up his hand between my thumb and forefinger, and dropped his arm over his head. He stirred slightly, and went right on snoring. I awkwardly climbed out of the bed and got out of that tiny room.
“So you survived your first night, eh?”
I turned to face Sentinel uncertainly. There was still something about him that I didn’t quite trust.
“Come with me. Optimus will hopefully give you the full tour when he eventually wakes up, but I’ll show you to the training grounds.” He led me outside. “So have you made your decision?”
“Yes.”
“And? Are you going to become an Autobot?”
I looked at him.
“I’ll do it.”
He smiled a satisfied smile that I didn’t trust, and led me right up to a barrier a little way outside the village.
“This is all we’ve got in ways of training grounds, I’m afraid.” He told me as we looked out across the territory. “As I recall, Optimus was quite fond of doing all of his training by the small stream round the side of the village. I may be wrong, but I think he’ll want to do your training with you there.”
I nodded.
“Do you know what a Dreamer is, Clara?”
“Yes.” I said stiffly, feeling my body tense. Did he know?
“Did your father tell you?” he asked, clearly surprised that I knew.
“No. One of the medics in my village.”
He nodded. He looked like he wanted to say more, but Optimus chose that moment to make an appearance.
“You missed another drill last night, Optimus.” Sentinel said, not looking round.
“I was dead to the world last night, Sentinel.” Optimus replied, winking at me as he mimicked the way Sentinel had spoken. I smiled.
Sentinel rolled his eyes and looked at me.
“Most drills are at night, as I’m sure Ironhide would’ve told you, but you don’t have to worry about them until you’re settled in.” he glanced at Optimus. “Word of advice, don’t let him drag you into any of his rule breaking schemes. Aside from that you should be fine.” He wandered off, leaving me alone with Optimus, who joined me at the barrier.
“So you’re staying?” he asked cheerfully.
“Yep.”
He looked at me.
“Sorry about last night, if you took it the wrong way.”
I gave him a questioning look. I honestly didn’t have a clue what he was talking about.
“It’s not you, I just don’t want to teach…in general. I don’t have a clue what I’m doing.”
I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t want to make anything worse than it already was. I was starting to really like Optimus.
“I’m sorry about earlier.” Someone said behind us.
“Right. I’m outta here. Come and find me when you’re done.” Optimus said immediately, disappearing.
I blinked and turned to Arcee.
“The way I was treating you…I was talking to Sideswipe about it last night…I just wanted you to know I’m sorry about it. It wasn’t your fault.”
“That’s okay.” I said quietly. “Don’t worry about it.”
She smiled.
“How many Autobots are there?” I asked her, since the village was as deserted now as it had been when I’d got there the night before.
“Not many. You, me, Optimus, Sentinel, Sideswipe, Ironhide, Ratchet and Roxy are the only ones based here. I’ve only seen one Autobot that isn’t from this village, but there are probably more.”
“Who’s your teacher?” I asked her curiously.
“Ironhide.” She replied. “Obviously, Sentinel is Optimus’ teacher, and Ratchet teaches Sideswipe. Roxy doesn’t have a teacher, since she’s a leopard.”
I nodded. I hadn’t been sure what to think of Arcee at first, but I was starting to like her.
“Well, if you’re Optimus’ student now, we might be able to get him out of his constant moodiness.” She suggested, “After all, you’ve got to live with him.”
“Good point. Does he ever laugh?”
Arcee shook her head.
“Not that I’ve heard.” She replied. “Speaking of which, you’ve gotta get going. He’ll be waiting for you.”
Arcee took me to Optimus, who was waiting about 5 minutes walk away from the village, exactly where Sentinel had said he would be. She left as soon as he came into sight, since the two didn’t get on at the moment.
“We’ll start with the Rules of Conduct.” Optimus said when I got there. It was clear that he was almost as nervous as I was. “There are currently 15 Rules of Conduct, but Sentinel, or whoever the leader is at the time, is able to change them whenever he wants, so long as he has the support of most of the Autobots in the village. So, all you have to do is memorize them, and follow them to the best of your ability, and you’ll be fine.”
He told me the rules, and we worked on memorizing the first 5, then Optimus took me back up to the village to find Ironhide. Sentinel found us and booted Optimus off on a mission, and Ratchet gave me directions. So I was alone when I entered Ironhide’s workshop. Optimus must’ve told him I would be coming, because he had a table already piled with guns.
“Right!” he said happily, leading me over to the table, where Arcee was waiting. “I’ve got to find you a weapon of some kind, so we’ll start with guns. Most people are gun people.”
He picked up a random gun from the table and gave it to me, explaining how different people take to different kinds of weapon, unless you were someone like Optimus, who was good with all kinds of weapons.
“Most people, like myself and Arcee, take to guns.” Ironhide was saying as we worked. “Being a medic, Ratchet isn’t expected to fight as much, so he just uses whatever he has at his disposal at the time, but he is mostly a gun person. Sideswipe prefers axes and clubs. Nobody really takes to swords, unless you count Optimus.”
After about two and a half hours, we’d gone through all of the guns on the table. None of them had felt right to me. They were all too long, or too heavy. Besides, I didn’t feel comfortable using a gun, even if it was the right weight and length. Ironhide had said that the perfect weapon would feel like an extension of my arm, but none of them felt like that.
“You’re not a gun person.” Ironhide said happily as we cleared everything away.
Well, some weapons genius. I could figure that out by myself. I caught Arcee’s eye and we both grinned. Still Ironhide seemed to like this job. He was thrilled at the prospect of a challenge.
It was getting dark when I finally left. By the time I got back to the room I shared with Optimus, he still wasn’t back from his mission. But I was happy. For the first time since I was 7. For the first time, I felt like I was around people who wanted to be around me. I finally felt like I belonged.
If only I knew how short-lived that feeling would be.
The first thing I knew when I woke up in the morning was that Optimus was back. He was snoring, and his arm was back around my waist. I shoved him against the wall and sat up. I guess I would have to get used to that. He’d taped a note to the inside of the door. Ironhide wanted to see me. I pulled it off and left the room. I headed straight to Ironhide’s workshop. I’d got up earlier today than I had yesterday. The sun hadn’t risen yet and everyone seemed to still be asleep, but it was impossible to tell in this village. Ironhide was already up, adding another axe to the already precarious pile on the table.
“I thought we’d get an early start testing the weapons. We’ll get more done that way.”
I nodded and we got started.
Clearly I wasn’t any more of an axe person than I was a gun person, and my arms were aching badly by the end of it. Those things were heavy!
“We’ll get started on clubs when Optimus is finished with you for the day.” Ironhide was saying. “Until then you can….”
He tailed off, staring out through the main door of the workshop.
Ironhide’s workshop was right at the edge of the village, and it was positioned so the main door, which was the whole of one of the walls, looked out over the territory.
“Nobody’s out on missions.” Ironhide was muttering to himself, “Who’s out there?”
There were four Cybertronians coming towards the village. Judging by the way they were supporting each other, they were injured. Ironhide beckoned to me, and we ran out to see what was going on.
I didn’t recognize any of them, but they all had Autobot symbols and they were all injured.
“Jazz!” Ironhide exclaimed when we got close enough to see their faces. He looked at me. “Clara, go and get Ratchet! I’ll see what I can do here.”
I nodded and started running. I almost tripped over Roxy
“What’s wrong?” she asked me, examining my face carefully. I hadn’t seen her since I’d first got to the village.
I explained quickly what was going on. She nodded.
“I’ll go and find Ratchet. You go back to them and let them know we’re coming.”
I ran back the way I’d come. Ironhide was helping the small group up the hill towards the village. There was an urgency about them, like they were anxious to tell us something, but didn’t think it was safe to tell us here.
At that moment Roxy arrived with Ratchet.
By the time we got back to the village Jazz was completely unconscious. Ratchet took the four into the building that had been designated as the hospital, and I waited outside for something to happen. Ironhide and Roxy went back to whatever work they had to do for the day. After a few minutes Sentinel and Optimus got there. Sentinel went inside to find out what was going on while Optimus waited with me. We were both anxious. It was clear that those Autobots had been attacked from something on the way there, and the whole village might be under threat. Optimus and I were both tense, expecting a fight at any minute. I didn’t know what I was going to do if it did come to that, since I’d never been in a fight in my life, and I didn’t even have a weapon. I would just get in the way. But some part of me wanted to prove myself to Optimus. That part was half hoping for a fight, and that scared me. After what seemed like hours Sentinel finally came out.
“There are a couple of Decepticons at the edge of the territory.” He said to Optimus. “I don’t know how they got permission to get on Rogue land, but either way. Take Clara and keep an eye on them for a while. It’s a spying mission, if they come on Autobot land you have permission to fight them to keep them off, otherwise they must not know that you’re there.”

Chapter 5

I don’t have a clue what those Decepticons were doing. They were pacing along the border, not on Rogue or Autobot turf. It looked like they were just messing around rather than actually planning any kind of attack. After a while they started yelling into Autobot territory. They were yelling threats and insults, and generally the kind of things you would expect a kid to say for a joke. Or just being as inconsiderate as kids are these days. I didn’t see them as much of a threat, but I wasn’t sure what Optimus was thinking. His face was expressionless as he watched them, his head slightly tilted.
There were several questions I wanted to ask him, but we were quite close to where the Decepticons were. If I said anything, they would hear us. I didn’t want to get in trouble for jeopardizing my first mission. After what seemed like forever, the Decepticons clearly seemed satisfied that there weren’t any Autobots nearby. They carefully stepped onto our side of the border, looking around to make sure there was definitely nobody around. I tensed, and Optimus put his hand on my shoulder, shaking his head slightly. Not yet. I watched the Decepticons coming further into Autobot territory. Optimus waited until they were a few meters away from us before nodding to me and silently getting to his feet. He helped me up and led me over to them, careful not to make a sound. I was terrified as we crept up on the group of Decepticons. There were about 8 of them, and by some miracle they hadn’t noticed us yet. It was only a matter of time though. Optimus led me over to the forest, careful to keep us out of their line of vision. There were a few large branches lying around here. Optimus looked around, picked up a large one that was about the length of a sword and gave it to me. He gestured to me to wait where I was and headed round to the front of the group. I promised myself I would whack him with the stick as soon as this was over.
Optimus shot one, and had time to shoot three more before they realized they’d been discovered. By then Optimus had come back to where I was waiting. We both watched as the four remaining Decepticons converged on the large boulder Optimus had been hiding behind. He made me get to my knees so that they wouldn’t see me and disappeared to go and throw them into even more disarray. This time they were ready for him though. They managed to get to him before he could shoot anyone, so he used his swords. Ironhide had told me that Optimus had always been more comfortable with swords than guns, even though he was good with both, and he looked it, but he was only able to kill three Decepticons before the last stabbed him in the shoulder. Optimus cried out as he was driven to his knees. They were quite close to me. I crawled as close to them as I could without being seen, watching them over a small ridge. Optimus was in trouble. I did the only thing that came naturally. I hit the Decepticon over the head with the stick, and Optimus took advantage of his confusion, driving his sword through his chest.
“Nice work.” Optimus commented, panting as he got to his feet, wincing as he pulled the sword out of his shoulder.
“Are you okay?” I asked him. I know, it was a stupid question to ask. He’d just been stabbed, how could he be okay? But I didn’t know what else to say.
He smiled at me.
“I’ll be all right. I’ve had worse.” He dropped the sword and we headed back up to the village. “Jazz and the others probably have more reason than being chased by Decepticons to wind up here.” He commented as we walked. “I think those Decepticons were trying to ambush him, and stop him getting here in the first place.”
“Who is Jazz?”
“He’s from another part of the territory.” Optimus replied, “I’ve only seen him once before, when I was…a lot younger. He wasn’t bearing very good news at the time. I guess I hated him because of what he had to tell me.”
I looked at him curiously, but didn’t say anything.
When we reached the village, I was shocked. There were actually people about. True it was just Ironhide and Arcee, but still. It was progress in my eyes. Optimus said something to Ironhide quietly. He nodded and led me to his workshop.
“What’s going on?” I asked him.
“Arcee is taking Optimus to Ratchet to get his shoulder sorted out. In the meantime Optimus wants me to see how you do with swords.”
Ironhide had me sit down instead of help him get the swords out, since I was near collapsing from exhaustion at what had happened. True I hadn’t actually done anything, but the expectation of something happening had drained me completely. Soon the table was piled with swords. Long swords, short swords, curved swords, straight swords. Loads of different kinds of swords. I actually felt confident this time. It was the first time Optimus had actually shown an interest in my weapons training, and I guess I’d been starting to feel a little dejected.
My confidence was in vain. I was as bad with the swords as I was with the guns and the axes, but Ironhide was acting like we were finally getting somewhere.
“You’re definitely a sword person.” He said, his head tilted. “I can see that. But none of the swords here are right for you. I’ll talk to Optimus about it and see what we can do.”
I nodded slowly. So I was a sword person? That was…interesting. I’d never even touched a sword in my life. They were made and fixed by the blacksmith. Not me. I looked round as Optimus came in. I smiled. He was looking a lot better. There wasn’t any sign that he’d been stabbed at all.
“Sentinel wants to see both of you.” he said grimly. I tilted my head, wondering what was going on, and we followed him back to the main building. Sentinel was waiting for us in the first room I’d been in. Arcee was already there, as well as Jazz and one of the Autobots who had come with him, and Roxy.
Sentinel looked around at us all, and nodded to Jazz, who stepped forward.
“The Decepticons wanted to stop us getting here, because we have some information that could determine the outcome of the war.” He said quietly. “Some Autobots from my village were mining for Transozite, and we found some…crystals. I was there when we first uncovered them.” he held something out to the rest of us. It was a crystal, about a meter long, a muddy greenish brown sort of colour.
“Don’t touch it.” He warned. “When I picked it up Mudflap tried, and he got blasted and almost brought the roof down on top of us. They seem to…bond to the DNA of the Cybertronian that picks them up, and anyone else who tries to touch it is automatically blasted. We decided not to touch any of the others, and managed to get them onto an Autobot ship without doing so, but the ship was shot down and crashed on a previously unknown planet. The rest of these crystals are all somewhere on that planet, and we don’t even think we got all of them out of the ground.”
“Hold up.” Arcee interrupted, “You’re making it sound like we’re gonna have to go and get these crystals back.”
Jazz nodded.
“Why?” she asked, “Why are they so important to get back?”
“Good question.” Jazz replied, “Each crystal has command over one of the 5 elements, which it will grant to his possessor. The Decepticons know that they exist, but if they get their hands on them before us they can easily win this war. But if we get them first, we can defeat them for good.”
He stepped back and Sentinel stood up.
“It’s decided. All of you will accompany Jazz and Bumblebee here to this planet, and help them get those crystals back.”
“What’s this planet?” Roxy asked.
“Earth.” Jazz replied. “We don’t know much about it, but it’s full of life and it’s a very long way away.”
“We don’t have a ship to get us ‘a very long way away’.” Optimus grumbled.
I pulled a face and looked at the floor.
“I can take care of that.” I said quietly, almost hoping nobody would be able to hear me. Of course they did. Sentinel nodded.
“Very well. Take Arcee with you and do what you need to do to get a ship. The rest of you need to prepare yourselves as well. Go now.”
We left the room. I led Arcee out of the building, towards the edge of Autobot territory.
“Where are we going?” Arcee asked as we walked.
“Rogue turf.” I replied. “There’s someone there that can help us out.”
“Can’t you just radio him?”
“No. He doesn’t like that.”
We carried on walking, and it was dark by the time we reached my old hometown. I led Arcee to the grand building at the center of the village and we headed inside. Kaitlynn was just walking past the door when we walked in.
“Oh. It’s you again.” She walked off.
“Again?” Arcee asked me quietly.
“Optimus and I stopped off here on the way to Autobot turf.” I replied.
She nodded and we headed into the main room.
“Clara!” my father cried as soon as he saw me. He hugged me. “Is something wrong?”
“No.” I replied. “But…I didn’t want to ask you for such a huge favor, but we need a ship.”
He nodded.
“Of course. What kind of ship?”
“A large, deeper space fighter ship.” I told him, “Big enough to take seven Cybertronians.”
He nodded again.
“I’ll see what I can do. When do you need it?”
“As soon as possible.”
“Right. You’ll have it at once.” He left the room.
Arcee was wandering around the outside of the room, looking at the photos on the walls. I sat down on one of the sofas and stared at the floor. After a minute Arcee came and sat next to me.
“Who is it in this photo?”
I looked at the one she was showing me. It was one of my favorites.
“It’s me, when I was 7. That’s Luke. He’s my older brother. He was 14. And my older sister, Tessa. She was 12.”
Arcee tilted her head as she looked at the photo.
“You look a lot happier than you do today.”
I nodded.
“Times change.”
“Where are Luke and Tessa now?”
I winced, but Arcee didn’t notice.
“Dead.”
She looked at me.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault.”
At that moment my dad came in.
“Got you one. It’s a beauty, you’ll be able to do a lot with it.”
I stood up and turned to Arcee.
“Do you know how to drive a ship?”