Ratrap

I had always loved this bar. Before the whole "Beast Wars" thing, I used to always come here after a hard day's work to unwind. It was a great stress reliever. The energon booze was good, the bartenders were friendly, and the ladies were guaranteed to be satisfactory.

But this night was different. No matter how much I drank, I couldn't get Chopper-Face out of my skull. He didn't deserve what happened to him. He should have been there right beside me, drinking himself into stasis lock.

"Hey there, handsome."

I looked over and found that an attractive young maximal had seated herself next to me. "Want to buy me a drink?"

Ordinarily, I would have jumped at the chance I had just been given. But tonight I was just not in the mood. I had come here to forget; not pick up femmebots.

"Eh, not right now. I got a lot on my mind. Maybe next time."

"Hmph!" The femmebot stood up and walked off. Looks like I'd offended her. Oh, well; there'd be others.

"By the Matrix…Now I've seen everything!" the bartender exclaimed. "Ratrap turning down a lady? That war must have been even more brutal than I thought!"

"Shut yer trap, Boozy," was the only retort I could come up with. But Boozy was right. I wasn't myself tonight.

"Does this have something to do with that friend of yours? The one that died?"

"Owh…Ya mean da traytar?" a nearby drunken bot interjected. "What waz iz name agin? Somethin' like…"

In a flash my gun was at his head. "Go ahead. Say what I think ya were gonna say. I dare ya."

It wasn't loaded, but he didn't know that. And if he did have the nerve to follow through, I would have no problem pistol-whipping him into submission.

The bot seemed to sober up a bit. "Naw, man…I wasn't gonna say nothin'."

"Didn't think so. Now lemme tell YOU somethin'. The only reason ya can sit here and get drunk off your stabilizers is 'cause Dinobot died for you. Twice! Anybody who bad-mouths him badmouths me. And I don't appreciate that one bit." I pushed my gun closer for emphasis. "Get it?"

He nodded.

"Good," I said as I put my gun away. "Now run along and play. The adults are trying to have a conversation here."

He walked away pretty fast. That was when I noticed the silence.

"What?!"

Everyone quickly went back to what they were doing before the excitement. I turns back to Boozy.

Boozy blinked. "Wow. Guess I was right."

I shrugged. "Yeahhh…I guess so."

"He's gone. Being angry or angsty won't change that."

"I know…But still, it's just not right, ya know? He was just as big a hero as the rest of us, and we survived. No, scratch that. He was even better."

"But all the same, he's gone," Boozy said as he poured another drink. "And you're still alive."

I slammed down my drink onto the bar counter. "So what do you expect me to do?! Just forget that Lizard Lips died right in front of me?!"

"No. I expect you to be Ratrap, not Nuts McCrazyBolts."

I looked down at my drink. "I'm…Not sure if I can."

"Oh, come on!" Boozy threw up his hands. "Is this really what Dinobot would have wanted?"

"Eh…Probly not." I chuckled. "If he could see me, he'd tell me to get off my fuzzy behind and not shrink in the face of a challenge, or some slag like that."

"Then, why don't you?"

"Eh?"

"Well, I know I'd be pissed if I were him. I sure wouldn't want to die just so that my friend could drink himself to death," Boozy explained as he cleaned a glass. "I'd want him to get his bearings in gear and start living for the both of us. You know, to honor my memory and all that."

My optics widened. "Holey swiss cheese. You might have somethin' there. Chopper-Face died so we could live, and here I am wastin' what he gave us. Boy, am I a moron! Must've been all that time I've spent with Spots and Bird-dog. Well, not anymore! Chopper-Face, by the time I'm through, you're actually gonna be proud of me! Heh!"

I took a swig of my drink and stood up. "Thanks, Boozy. Now if you'll excuse me, this little mouse has a honey to woo."

I walked over to the other side of the bar where the femmebot from before was now seated. "Hey, toots. Still in the mood for that drink?"

Optimus Primal

The Maximal High Council wanted me to help train new recruits in the army and police. I couldn't believe it. I may have succeeded in the mission, but the number of casualties was excessive. Tigatron. Airazor. Dinobot. Depth Charge. The protoforms Megatron corrupted. After all that, they wanted me to train the next generation?

I told them I would think about it. But what I didn't tell them was that I wouldn't be thinking about whether or not to take the job, but rather what excuse to use to turn it down.

In the meantime, I was at the Great Wall Monument. It was a large black wall almost a mile long listing the names of all those killed in the Great War.

"Figured I'd find you here," came a voice from behind me.

"Rhinox…What are you doing here?"

He walked up beside me. "I wanted to tell you…I've accepted an engineering job on Earth. Seems the bots there right now don't know a thing about sensor arrays."

"That's great, Rhinox. But you didn't have to tell me in person."

"Maybe not. But I still needed to come cheer you up."

I sighed. "That obvious, huh?"

He nodded. "Yup."

"Look, Rhinox, I know you mean well, but I already know everything you're going to say. You're going to tell me that their deaths weren't my fault; that there's nothing I could have done."

"Optimus, do you remember what you said when Ratrap disobeyed you?"

"Yes. I told him I would never give an order I wouldn't follow myself. However, I don't see how that's-"

"You've stuck by that, Optimus," Rhinox pointed at me as he spoke. "Not once have you ever given us a bad order. We knew when we started that some of us might not make it out alive. We knew it, and we fought anyway. You did everything you could to protect us, and then some. No one in the Beast Wars died because of an order you gave. They died because they decided, on their own, that the saving of countless lives was worth the risk of dying. Every one of us would be willing to die to save the life of another. We didn't start out that way. YOU made us that way, Optimus. You taught us how to be heroes. That's not something you should be ashamed of."

Heroes?

"If that's the result of my example, then…"

"Optimus, THEY chose their fates. THEY decided that their lives were worth all the lives that would come after. They made their choices. They chose to do the right thing."

"And died doing the right thing."

"And yet, they are not forgotten." Rhinox pointed to the wall. "Every name on this wall is cherished, because every person on Cybertron owes their existence to them. Those people died so that everyone else could live. Just as our friends did. Their lives were not wasted, Optimus, so long as we don't waste the life they gave us."

I stared at the wall. The black surface was so well-polished that I could see my reflection in it. But now, all I saw was the city behind me, and the planet that my friends had saved.

"You're right, Rhinox," I admitted. "They may be gone, but they died as heroes. And their legacy lives on."

Rhinox nodded. "They're in a better place now."

"And someday, old friend, we'll join them. Until then, we've got a universe to look after."

"And you've got a job to get ready for," Rhinox noted.

"Now, how would you know about that, Rhinox?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Common knowledge, I guess. Everyone's expecting you to take it."

"Guess I'd better not disappoint them, then," I chuckled for a moment before becoming serious again. "Rhinox, thank you."

"Anytime, Optimus. I seem to be the group's problem-solver, today. Anyway, I've got to get to a briefing. I'll be sure to keep in touch."

"You'd better. I'm still your commanding officer, after all."

We laughed. And I was reminded again of exactly why we had been fighting so hard for so long.

Blackarachnia

I didn't think Silverbolt would be hard to find. After all, there were only so many places near the base we were still living at that he would ever want to go to.

However, after checking all of them, it occurred to me that a spider's definition of "close by" might differ from that of a flying wolf.

Hours passed before I found him, and then only because I noticed a large crowd gathered outside an art gallery.

I tried to push my way through the crowd, but there were just too many people. It was like a wall.

I sighed. The things I did for love…

With a single leap, I was on the wall above the open doors. One quick transformation later, I was bypassing the crowds by walking along the ceiling. Then I saw him. He was trying to enjoy the various sculptures, but the femmebots constantly asking him questions seemed to have other ideas.

"Silverbolt, are you currently seeing anyone?"

Oh, that was it.

"Blackarachnia, maximize!"

I dropped down next to the femmebot in question and elbowed her out of the way.

"Back off, sister, he's taken!"

As if to prove it, I grabbed my astonished lover and kissed him, right there in front of all of them. This little development would definitely make the tabloids.

"I…Thought you wanted to keep things private?" Silverbolt asked when I finally pulled away.

"I changed my mind. Silverbolt, you were right. It shouldn't matter what other people."

"Well, even so, could we continue this conversation…Elsewhere?" Silverbolt asked, his optics flitting in the direction of the crowd.

"Good idea. Let's go, Rover."

A few glares from me parted the crowd, and we quickly left the gallery behind.

"So, what brought on this change?" he asked.

"I realized that hiding our relationship is just not worth the trouble," My hands went to his chest as I spoke. "Nothing is worth suppressing what we have. I'm sorry for not seeing that earlier."

His arms went around me. "It's all right. After all, there is some wisdom to be had in not feeding the scavengers."

Well, it was now or never.

"Wait, Silverbolt. There's one more thing."

"Yes, my love?"

I fidgeted uncomfortably. I have no idea why.

"I realized that there's something I've never told you that I should said a long time ago. Silverbolt, I love you."

He hugged me tighter. "You didn't have to say anything. I already knew."

"No, but I wanted to," I replied. "You deserved to hear it."

He kissed me then, and all seemed right with the universe.

Silverbolt

It had been almost six gigacycles since our return to Cybertron. Cheetor was now a respected member of the Cybertronian Police Force who was always willing to make a public appearance for the children. Rhinox had been on Earth until a few orbital cycles ago, optimizing and improving every technical system he could get his hands on. Optimus had kept himself busy training the next generation of Cybertron's soldiers. From what I'd heard, they were turning out to be very competent.

At first, the tabloids and paparazzi were all over the public admission of the relationship between Blackarachnia and I, as we expected. However, the novelty wore off much more quickly than either of us could have ever predicted. Ratrap's nightly escapades with drinking and femmebots may have had something to do with that. There was still the occasional story about us, but it was nothing we couldn't deal with.

They were also a common source of amusement for the others.

"Hey, get a load'a this one!" Ratrap exclaimed, holding up the holofile in his hands. " 'Secret love child of Silverbolt and mystery mistress.' I never would'a pegged ya for the type, bird-dog."

"Whoa, Silverbolt. You holdin' out of us?" Cheetor teased.

"I have done no such thing," I stated firmly.

"That's not what it says here," Rhinox remarked, reading an identical holofile.

I shot him a glance that said "you too?"

"Surely you don't believe this preposterous tripe?" I asked him incredulously.

Rhinox shook his head. "No. But I have to admit, it makes for an interesting read."

"Oh, leave him alone, guys," Blackarachnia said. "It's getting old."

"Oh?" Cheetor said deviously. "You're one to talk, Ms Secretly-Dating-A-Big-Time-Actor."

"Hoo-hoo! Burned!" Ratrap laughed.

I stood. "That's a lie and you know it."

Cheetor leaned back slightly and put up his hands in defense. "Ok, ok. I'm sorry."

Ratrap snickered a bit, but I put a stop to that with a glare. My beloved smiled in approval.

"Knock it off, Maximals," Optimus said. "We're here."

The doors of the transport opened, and we filed out to view our new ship: the Axalon II. It was a beautiful ship, resembling the original Axalon while being sleeker and newer. We could practically see our reflections in its hull.

"Finally!" Ratrap cried in exasperation and glee. "It's about time we got a decent spaceship."

Cheetor chuckled. "All we had to do was save the universe."

I smiled. We'd been sure to keep in contact over the last few gigacycles. When it was announced last gigacycle that a new space exploration mission was planned, the decision was unanimous.

The other members of the crew had already arrived, and were waiting for us. One of them, a formal-looking bot, stepped forward.

"Commander Primal," he said. "My name is Widget. It is an honor to have you and your team aboard, sir."

Optimus rolled his eyes. He had quickly grown tired of the special treatment we all received for what we had done. "Just call me Optimus. We're not celebrities; we're just ordinary explorers like everyone else on this ship."

"Eh, speak for yourself," Ratrap muttered.

"Ratrap, quiet," Optimus ordered. "How are we doing with the launch status?"

"Everyone and everything is accounted for, sir," the overzealous Widget replied. "We are ready to launch."

"Ok, then, let's get everyone aboard and do so. And I told you, call me Optimus."

"Yes, sir, Optimus sir!"

All of us except Optimus laughed. This would no doubt be a source of constant entertainment on our journey.

As we began boarding the ship, I took one last look at Cybertron. It would be a long journey before we could return home, but I had faith in us. Together, we had been to the inferno and back. We had faced challenges both great and small. And just as we had done before, we would once again overcome.