~In Love and War~

Incoming Transmission: This is set at the end of of ROTF, seven years later. Any questions you can ask me, I won't bite. I thought I'd mix this up a little since everyone does Elita and Prime, Ratchet and Moonracer, Ironhide and Chromia. I'm going to give them some new romances from their pasts. Hehe. Anyway, please enjoy!

Legend:

::Internal Communication::

'Thoughts'

CYBERTRONIAN SYSTEM UPDATES

"Spoken Dialog"

Time Change

::Internal messaging/Chapter Title::

:: Chapter One ::

Andromeda Axellis stared at the mass of planet beneath her. Her hover-jets hummed below her quietly, sending a vibration through her circuitry. A gentle gaze painted her thin face, and her bright blue optics sent off a warn, reassuring glow. Her companions on either side of her said nothing in the reverent silence.

The planet was so unlike the one she'd known. It was naturally smaller, with a mixture of color painting the surface. Swirling masses of white moved slowly below them, large bodies of blue covering most of the surface. Large areas of brow, green and tan dotted the planet in odd formations, land masses; which she knew. It seemed so peaceful and dull compaired to Cybertron. So lonely. It was very...

Lifeless.

This did not startle her. What did was the fact that the Cybertronian transmission had come from somewhere called Mexico. Her medical officer had traced the multiple transmissions to this planet, coming from the Western Hemisphere. The distress call had not startled her as much as the fact that he was calling for recruits. Reinforcements. Help.

Andromeda did not know her superior officer to be one that would scan the skies for help. The transmissions had been faint when it reached their party of five, but strong enough to give off a Global Position and Energy Signature. They'd been able to identify it as an Autobot from earth. And well, the distress message had been enough to describe itself.

Her spark inside her chest whirred faster than normal. She placed a delicate, metal hand over it and closed her eyes. She knew this was the place. They were close. Her circuitry tingled with electrified excitement. To be in the presence of fellow Autobots would be so refreshing! And mechs, too. How long had it been since she'd seen another mech? Besides her father? Far too long, she knew that much. Reopening her optics, she took in the planet below her until her medical officer interrupted the silence.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Andromeda? We might not be able to return if we go," Phoenix, her chief medical officer said quietly, gesturing below them. "I mean, this is a huge risk we're taking."

"I'm fully aware of the circumstances, Phoenix," she replied. "I know this is what I want to do."

The femme to her left vocalized. "Think about this, Andie," she said roughly. "Would this really be what your father would want?"

"My father is offlined," she snapped. "And I am old enough to make my own decisions, Warheart. Are you three coming with me or not?" she transformed into her ascending proto-carrier, and activated take-off sequences. Her rocket-boosters fired to life as her comrades transformed beside her.

"I suppose we have no choice," Phoenix, replied with a huff. "You are, after all, our superior."

"I'm glad you've seen reason," she said nothing more than a countdown, all systems go, Andromeda sent the initiating code for take-off towards the planet below.

"Contact!"

Diego Garcia, same time

"Major! Major Lennox!" Private Marcia Delanco sprang up from her chair and whipped off her headphones, ripping the freshly-printed paper from the machine. Springing to action, she took the steps as fast as she could to catch up with her commanding officer, who had just left the radar hangar. "Major Lennox!"

The dark-haired man looked over his shoulder. "What is it, Private?" he noted her rank. Delanco skidded to a hault and handed the paper to him, out of breath and heart racing. "What is this?"

"It's an A.E.S. reading,"

"Pardon?"

She clarified. "An Autobot Energy Signature reading, sir," she panted. "It picks up any energy signatures within the atmosphere. It bounces off our radar systems fast. Ratchet identified it simply as an E.S. reading."

Lennox raised an eyebrow. "I don't understand. All the identified energy signatures are stablized, here at base," he shook his head slightly. "Are you sure this is accurate reading, Private? All the Autobots reported in as stationary."

"Sir," she pointed to the charts. "This is not your everyday Autobot signature," she swallowed. "We have only one wave-length like this and it belongs to Autobot Arcee."

"Your point, Private?"

She pointed to another chart. "These are Optimus Prime's readings. High, right?"

"Of course."

Delanco nodded. "And these are Arcee's. Lower, as you can see."

He nodded.

Delenco sighed and swallowed again. "Major, these are F.A.E.S.'s. Very different."

"And that stands for?"

"Femme Autobot Energy Signatures. Just outside the atmosphere."

His eyes raised. "Femme? Autobots?"

"They must've received their own readings from the Autobots," she summized.

"What direction are they headed in?"

She shrugged. "Hard to tell right now. Until they enter the atmosphere, well, I can't pin-point their location."

"Keep an eye on it," Lennox took a few steps back. "I'm going to tell Optimus. See what he thinks."

Delanco nodded.

"What else could this be?"

She gave him a small smile. "Either it's faulty equiptment, or this is an invasion."

Lennox said nothing more before heading towards Optimus' quarters.

Fifteen minutes later, Will had told Optimus everyting. The bot was hard to read, because his expression was expressionless, his eyes radiating the warm glow they usually gave off. Will could sense no indications of panic or alarm, which was probably good. Optimus just stood in front of him, giant arms crossed over his chest. His wheels must've been turning, because he looked deep in thought.

"Is that all, Major?" his deep, baritone voice was clear against Will's ears.

He shrugged. "That's the jist of it, Prime."

Optimus gave only a reassuring nod. "I see. We have nothing to fear, Major," he chuckled. "Femme's are trustworthy. It's in their circuitry. I am not concerned with their arrival. You said there were four?"

Will nodded. "But this doesn't concern you? Won't the public be alarmed?"

"Perhaps," Optimus shook his head. "Their arrival is not an immediate threat. They could be the answers we are looking for. You don't have to worry, Major. I will personally see to the matter."

Will raised his hands in a form of surrender. "Okay, whatever. You're the boss."

Indian Ocean, 30 miles SE of Diego Garcia

(Two hours later)

Andromeda and her team had successfully made it into the atmosphere of the planet called Earth. The entering had done minor damage to the femme's, nothing that Phoenix insisted couldn't be fixed. Andromeda hadn't been concerned about the damage reports flashing across her screens, only the fact that she'd picked up multiple energy signatures 30 miles SE of them.

:: Has anyone else picked up on the energy signatures in the vicinity? :: That was Lilitron, the communications officer and scouting bot. She had kept silent most of the departure into the atmosphere when the three older femme's had been making plans. She was only a youth, forced to enlist in the Cybertrian battle of Kaon.

:: I have, :: Andromeda confirmed. :: It's 30 miles SE from here, ::

"Uh, I hate to break up this conversation, but has anyone noticed the massive amounts of liquid below us?" Warheart switched to vocalization, jerking Andromeda from her processing. She took one look at their surroundings and then below them. Before the femme leader had time to react, she hit the water with massive force.

It was like Cybertronian concrete. Only harder. But Andromeda fell through, as if it were glass. It stung her feelings sensors and made her systems scramble a hundred different directions. Warning flew in her face faster than she could compute them.

E.S. LOCATION LOST

GLOBAL POSITIONING UNIT MALFUNCTION

TRANSPORTATION COG LOCKDOWN

WEAPON MAINFRAME LOCKED-REQUIRED ACCESS BY CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER PHOENIX

Andromeda tried to bring up her self-scan system, but that too required access codes. Her systems were locked, malfuntioned or . Quickly sending a comm-link to Phoenix, she only saw the words flashing before her screens:

COMMUNICATION UNAVAILABLE

'Where in the slag am I?'

Unable to bring up her GPU unit, Andromeda had to decipher the mess herself. It definately wasn't land, that was a stable surface. It was a liquid, yes, but not the energon she once recognized. This was cool and dense, and apparently non-fatal. It was a deep blue color, which she could see, and very...different.

REPAIR UNIT FUNCTIONAL

ALL SYSTEMS ACCESSIBLE

:: Thank you, Phoenix :: Andromeda

::Not a problem. :: Phoenix

:: Any ideas where we are? :: Warheart

:: I do, :: Lilitron :: 30 miles SE of the landmass Diego Garcia ::

Andromeda was impressed. "Good work, Lilitron."

"Any idea if I can use my hover-jets?" Warheart asked. Andromeda traced her energy signature, which was only a few feet from her. Phoenix and Lilitron were present also. Andromeda broke the surface of the liquid and transformed from her proto-carrier, protoform now fully visible. Andromeda performed a trans scan.

SYSTEM REPAIR UNIT INITIATED

REPAIR LEVEL: 5%

"I think it would be safe to say we're fully immune to this...substance," Phoenix broke the surface beside Andromeda. The rest of them followed, and Andromeda ran a scan of a 100 mile radius. The energy signatures returned, stronger than they were outside the hemisphere. "I believe our systems are secure."

"Great," Andromeda confirmed. "The energy signatures are coming in pulses," she noted. "We are very close."

"Do you think Optimus knows we're here?" Warheart asked.

Andromeda sent a transmission internally.

:: Attention all Autobots in the vicinity. This is Andromeda Axellis. Permission to make contact with Supreme Autobot Commander Optimus Prime ::

She sent it off. "I have a pretty good idea he knows we're here," she replied. "He's a Prime. I'm sure he has everything under control."

Diego Garcia, the same time

"Femme's?" Ironhide perked at the word. Optimus had just informed his team about the readings Will had given ff. They all had closed their F.A.E.S. systems for some time know because there had been no femme's to report in. Since Arcee's offlining in Cairo seven years ago, they had no contact with any femme bots for some time.

"Just outside the atmosphere, though I'm assuming they've made it into the hemisphere already." Optimus replied.

"Slag, you know how long it's been since I've even laid my optics on a femme?" Ironhide continued. "Almost seven stellar cycles."

Optimus cast him a firm stare. "I can guarentee you they are not here for our pleasure, Ironhide," he warned.

"Does it matter?" he grumbled.

"Yes, it matters!" Optimus replied. "Femme's need to be resepected, not-"

INCOMING TRANSMISSION-ANDROMEDA AXELLIS

"Whoa!" was all that came from the bots around. Optimus scanned over the name at least thirty times. It was so familiar! Where had he heard it before? He searched his memory banks for answers. Finally, something under the A's pulled up, more files then one. Optimus did a small recap. He instantly remembered.

"The Andromeda Axellis?" Ratchet stressed. "Isn't she the daughter of one of the High Council?"

Optimus nodded. "Yes. Her father was killed on Kaon,"

"She's..."

"Royalty?" everyone repeated.

Optimus opened the transmission message. He read it before sending it to his comrades. :: Attention all Autobots in the vacinity. This is Andromeda Axellis. Permission to make contact with Supreme Autobot Commander Optimus Prime :: Optimus foreworded it to the others.

"Well?" Ratchet asked.

"This could be a Decepticon attack, Prime," Prowl warned from his right. "They too know how to forge transmissions."

Optimus shook his head. "No. This is not a ploy, Prowl," he looked out the large picture window and off base into the sky. "It's her."

:: Permission to make contact granted ::

Without God it is utterly impossible, but with God everything is possible.

Mark 10:27