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"Hey, Miko." Arcee's human-sized, remote-controlled doppelgänger knocked on the door. "Packed and ready to go yet?"

"Oh, am I ever. Come on in, guys."

Arcee held the door open for Jack and Bulkhead. Bulk entered first, then Jack stepped through the door into Miko's hospital room. He found his young friend slinging a duffel bag over her shoulder and wiggling the fingers on her new, gunmetal-colored arm.

"Is that still working okay?" Jack cocked his head. "You're looking a little flushed."

"Just finished testing out the 'vibrate' function I wanted them to include." She grinned, flexed her arm, and headed for the door.

"Again?" Bulkhead laughed and rolled his optics.

"Well, I wanna be sure it keeps working. So far, so good." Miko darted into the hallway and took a slow breath. "The host parents are still getting used to it."

Jack and Arcee raised a brow at the same time, and Miko snorted.

"My new arm, I mean. I don't rub one off in front of them. I have a _little_self-control, y'know." She grinned and hurried to the elevator at the end of the hall. "I assume my host parents are waiting outside?"

"They're in the mess hall, actually." Bulkhead laughed again. "Smokescreen offered to give them a lift, but they weren't exactly comfortable with the idea. Colonel McKenna's here to give us a ride."

"I guess all of this is a lot to take in." Miko waited for them to join her in the elevator, then she tapped the button for the first floor. "The mess hall sounds good, actually."

"Eager for some real food?" Jack grinned and slipped his arm around Arcee's waist.

"The food here's not bad." Miko grimaced and rubbed her belly. "Something I ate yesterday's been making me fart almost constantly, but aside from that, I've got no complaints."

Jack snickered. "Just clench those cheeks until we're out of the elevator, okay?"

"I'll do my best." Chuckling, Miko opened and closed her metal fingers a few times. The elevator came to a stop and the doors parted.

"Your new arm's really working out okay?" Bulkhead put his hand on her shoulder. "Your body isn't trying to reject it?"

"Nope, it seems to be doing alright. The doctor said I'll have to keep taking the pain meds for a while longer, but everything else is coming along nicely." She led the others through the lobby and out the front door, where Arcee waited near the curb, crouching but still towering over the humans. Miko waved at Ashanti McKenna before continuing. "I'm still working on my motor control, but I've gotten to the point where I can pick up an egg without cracking it open. After lunch, I'm hoping for a chance to hop on GTA Online for a while and see how my new arm handles the controller. Haven't been able to play while I was in the hospital, so I'm itching to get back to it."

"We're planning a get-together this afternoon to celebrate our recent victory, like we discussed before our fight with Airachnid." Arcee grinned, transformed into her motorcycle mode, and waited for Jack and her mini-me to climb on. "Major Jensen got out of the hospital yesterday, so he's eager to join in."

"General Sanchez was able to set aside some time to get in on it, too." Jack laughed softly as he picked up his helmet. "That oughta be interesting."

"Hah! Can't wait." Miko walked over to Ashanti's Humvee, hesitated, and then took a few steps away. "Oh, hold on a sec." She contorted her face and ripped ass. Ashanti jumped slightly and then snickered. Miko let a long breath whoosh out. "Sorry. Just didn't want to fire that one off inside the car."

"Much appreciated." Ashanti shook her head slowly. "You're gonna punch a new hole in the ozone layer if you keep that up."

"Blame the hospital food. Not sure what it was, exactly, but god_damn_." Miko opened the Humvee's back door, waited for Bulkhead to squeeze in, and then hopped in after him. "I just hope my host parents don't give me any more crap about all this stuff I've gotten caught up in."

"I'll be there to give you all the moral support you need," Bulk said.

"Thanks, dude." Miko smiled and fastened her seatbelt.

"Mind if I catch up with you later?" Arcee nodded over her shoulder, in the general direction of the base personnel's quarters. "There's someone I'd like to talk to first."

---

"Sure thing. See you later." Miko waved as Ashanti took the driver's seat and started the engine. Arcee reached out to hold Jack's hand.

"Wanna go with them or tag along with me? I'll just be checking on Loreli one more time before she leaves."

"Guess I'll tag along. What she went through was horrible. I'd like to be sure she'll be okay, too."

Arcee smiled, waited for him to climb on and put on his helmet, and got on behind him. _Huh. I'm riding myself. A psychologist would have a field day with that._She slipped her arms around his waist and rested her chin on his shoulder as they rode across the base. When she reached the housing section, she parked in front of Loreli's building and got off.

"I'll wait out here," Jack said. "I imagine she isn't feeling up to having more than one visitor at once, and I wouldn't really know what to say, anyway."

"I have a pretty good idea of what she's going through, but I don't know what to say, either." She gave him a kiss, sent her human-sized body into the building, and searched for an empty parking spot while walking to the stairs at the end of the hallway. On the second floor, she stopped at Loreli Madigan's door and knocked. "It's Arcee. Got a moment?"

The door unlocked with a click and then opened. Loreli stepped back and waved her inside.

"Sure. What's up?" Loreli closed the door after Arcee entered, and sat on the sofa under the window overlooking the parking lot.

"How, uh ... how are you holding up?" Arcee hesitated and then lowered herself carefully onto the other end of the sofa.

"As well as can be expected." Loreli sniffed and pressed her lips together. She looked like she'd been crying again.

Outside, Arcee eased into a vacant parking space and sighed. "Poor girl. She's barely stopped crying ever since Airachnid killed Jared."

"I'm not surprised. Losing your best friend would be bad enough, but it happened right beside her and there was nothing she could do to prevent it." He grimaced. "Airachnid just ripped his head off before any of us could even twitch."

Yeah. Nothing she could do. But she's blaming herself anyway._In the apartment, Arcee reached out to rest her hand on Loreli's shoulder. _That sounds familiar.

"You sure you want to leave?"

"I can't stay. Every moment I'm here reminds me of Jared and ... and what happened to him." Tears ran down Loreli's cheeks and she wiped them away. "Even if I switched to a non-combat post ..." She shook her head. "I just can't deal with it. I need to get completely away from all of it."

"I'm sorry. The people here are doing good work. This place is the reason Jack can still walk normally after losing his legs, and Miko has a new arm that works as well as the one she lost." Arcee tried to grin, but couldn't hold it. "Even better, since the new one doubles as a vibrator."

Loreli managed a quick laugh. "I'm gonna miss her. I'll miss everyone here, but ... yeah, Miko's something special." She took a long breath and let it out slowly. "Jared and I were inseparable since we were five years old. He signed up at the same time I did, just so we could keep hanging out together. I wanted to be posted here because of the research being done. If you've ever seen Eureka, I always thought of Groom Lake as a lot like that, except militarized. And with a lot less rain. I thought it would be a cool place to work. Jared wanted to stay with me. And now he's dead."

"Hey, it's not your fault. I know what you're going through." Arcee hesitated again. She didn't want to think about this, but maybe it would help Loreli to know she wasn't alone. "Way back before my homeworld died, I lost my best friend, and Airachnid's the one who killed him. Right in front of me, too. I was restrained. Could barely move. She'd already tortured him, he was barely holding together, and she threatened to finish him off if I didn't give her the information she wanted. I didn't have it, but of course she didn't believe me. All I could do was beg her not to hurt him anymore, and then watch helplessly as she murdered him."

Loreli squeezed her eyes shut and covered her mouth with her hand. She pulled herself back together a few seconds later and whispered, "I'm sorry."

"It was a long time ago. At least a thousand years. Maybe two or three thousand. Or even more. I stopped keeping track at some point." Arcee shrugged. "That doesn't make it hurt any less. But I do know how you must feel right now."

"Thank you." Loreli wiped more tears from her eyes and took several slow breaths. "I kind of hate myself for saying this, but I'm glad that fucking cunt is dead. I'm just sorry I wasn't the one who took her out."

"I wish I could say I felt any satisfaction, after wanting her dead for so many centuries. I always expected to feel like justice was finally served." She shook her head slowly. "I'm relieved it's finally done and Airachnid will never take another life, but aside from that ... I don't know. It didn't bring Tailgate back, so it just felt kind of empty. Just more blood spilled, to use a human phrase."

"Well, you said it yourself, she'll never hurt anyone again. That gives it all the meaning it needs." A soft chime came from one of Loreli's cargo pockets and she dug her phone out and tapped the screen to silence the alarm. "Sorry. My ride's almost here."

"I won't keep you any longer, then. I just wanted to see if you were okay."

"Not yet, but maybe eventually. Thanks." She seemed to remember something. "Oh! I've got something I was hoping to give to Tomoko, but I didn't have time. If you wouldn't mind passing it along ...?"

"I'd be happy to."

Loreli opened one of the drawers under her bed and pulled out a large plushie. Arcee stared at it and cocked her head. It was light blue and looked like a smiling feline with ladybug wings on its back. She captured an image from her optics and sent it to Jack's phone. Out in the parking lot, he opened the file and arched an eyebrow.

"Hey, Jack, what the hell is this thing?"

"That's Catbug." He laughed softly, leaned against her, and rested his right hand on her handlebars while returning the phone to his pocket. "I haven't watched the show, but I've seen a few clips on YouTube."

"Ah. Loreli bought this for Tomoko."

"Oh, yeah, I've seen her watching the show a couple of times. She said Catbug is the cutest thing she's ever seen."

"I noticed Tomoko fawning over this character on a TV show she was watching a few days ago," Loreli said to Arcee's smaller body. "I found this on Amazon while looking for something else, just trying to distract myself from ... anyway, I ordered it on an impulse. It arrived yesterday."

"It's kind of adorable. I'm sure she'll love it." Arcee accepted the stuffed toy and held it gently in her left hand. "I'll take it to her right away."

"Thanks." Loreli managed to smile fleetingly as Arcee returned to the door.

"Whatever you end up doing from here on, good luck." Arcee shook her hand. "And remember, you've got a lot of friends here. If you ever need to talk again, we're here for you."

"Thank you." Loreli smiled again, and this time it didn't falter.

---

"Hey, Jensen, welcome back." Miko waved at him as he sat at the picnic table and slid his crutches under the bench. Khalilah's Pretender body sat beside him and clasped his hand. She took a quick look around, noting that the dining area outside the mess hall was unusually crowded. Most of the support unit that had accompanied Team Prime on the hunt for Airachnid occupied the tables, along with Jack, Miko, June, Sierra, Raf, and Arcee's, Bulkhead's, and Tomoko's Pretender bodies. Tomoko and Raf sat side by side, chatting, while Tomoko grinned and hugged an odd-looking yet adorable stuffed toy.

In an open area off to the right, Smokescreen spoke animatedly with several of the Vehicon ex-prisoners who'd helped rescue the team from those giant robot-worms. They'd retained their black color scheme, but had taken on different trim colors to make them easier to identify. Craycroft, the group's leader, was now blue; Monrovia, gold; Campbell, green; Milton, pink; Sahuarita, red; Minorka, fuchsia.

"Thanks, kid," Jensen replied. "Glad to be here. It'll be a while before I'm back in the field, but it's nice to finally get out of the infirmary. I had lunch already, but I wanted to hang out with you guys for a while. Then Khalilah and I are going to head back to my quarters and, uh, catch up on a few things we've been missing out on."

Jack chuckled and exchanged a glance with Arcee. Miko put on a shit-eating grin and made the "docking" gesture with her hands. Khalilah gave her a double thumbs-up.

"Precisely."

Miko reached over to nudge Sierra's shoulder. "Speaking of which, I bet you can't wait for Smokescreen to get a human-size body."

Sierra's face turned bright red and she suddenly devoted her full attention to the cheeseburger on her tray.

Several pairs of footsteps approached from behind and Khalilah glanced over her shoulder to find Sierra's parents and two other humans - Miko's host parents, Khalilah assumed - carrying food trays over to a nearby table. Sierra waved at them and Miko appeared to stifle a sigh.

"As soon as we're finished with lunch," the unfamiliar female said in a soft yet angry tone, "we're taking you home."

Miko appeared to almost roll her eyes, but caught herself and motioned at the two humans. "Everybody, these are my host parents, Roderick and Camille Porter." She introduced each of her friends to them and added, "By the way, I am home."

"We're not going over this again," Camille snapped. "You should've told us what was going on a long time ago and you should've stayed out of -"

"Like you would've believed me if I had." Miko picked up her plastic fork and stuck it into the enormous chimichanga on her plate.

"In all fairness," June said, "once Jack, Miko, and Raf got caught up in all this craziness, they couldn't exactly come to any of us and say, 'Guess what happened today.' I don't know about you, but I certainly wouldn't have believed it without seeing it with my own eyes. Not only that, but the Autobots' existence was classified until some of them accidentally got on the evening news."

"You have no fucking right to defend this." Camille turned, jabbed a finger at her, and then motioned at the three young humans. "You're letting your son put himself in mortal danger! They're kids! They shouldn't even be here! What kind of mother are you?"

June winced and Jack glared at Camille. "Wait just a damned minute!"

At the same moment, Arcee narrowed her optics and growled, "Back off."

Roderick leaned over to Camille and muttered, "Honey, can we not do this here?"

She flicked a scowl at him and he fell silent with a weary sigh. She turned back to Miko. "I_barely_ managed to calm your real parents down. They were about to get on the first plane to Vegas and then rent a car and drive straight through to Jasper, but I convinced them to wait until you got out of the hospital. Now that you've been discharged, you're going home." Camille faced forward and crossed her arms over her chest. "Back to Tokyo, I mean. End of discussion."

_Oh, no._Khalilah exchanged a glance with Jensen.

Miko leaned toward her and spoke in a near-whisper. "Wrong."

"What did you say, young lady?"

"I'm not going anywhere. I can make a difference here." Miko took a slow breath. "Besides, these are my friends. I'm not leaving them."

"You've got to be kidding. You're fifteen! You've got no business being involved in any of this."

"Maybe, but here I am. The moment the 'Cons saw me with the 'Bots, it was too late. I was in danger ever since - and so are my real parents. And so are_you_." She glared right back at Camille. "I'm doing this to protect you as well as my parents and my friends."

"If the Decepticons win this war, we're all dead anyway." Jack sighed and clasped Arcee's hand. "We have a chance to stop them."

"And how many times have you already been nearly killed? You're sixteen and Raf is ten, for Christ's sake!"

"Excuse me," Raf said, arching an eyebrow. "I'm twelve. Almost thirteen."

"Oh, pardon me, that makes all the difference in the fucking world." Camille shifted her glare to Jack and then back to Miko. "You lost both legs a few months ago. And you -"

"I know." Miko held up her cybernetic arm. "I was there when it happened. But take it easy, I got a new one." She extended its middle finger. "And look, it works perfectly!"

Jensen snickered.

Camille glowered at him and then turned back to June. "You never answered my question. What the hell kind of mother are you? You just let your kid fight in a war against giant alien robots?"

"I ... I realized I couldn't stop him." June sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I tried, believe me, but he was already so deep in it before I even found out, there was no turning back. Even if I could've talked him out of it, there are certain things he couldn't have just walked away from. You've already been told about Airachnid. With her, it was personal. She tracked him down and was never going to leave him alone. There's no way Jack could've stayed out of it even if he wanted to."

"Uh-huh. So instead of doing the right thing, you joined him."

"I was hardly ever there for Jack when he was growing up. All those long hours working in the hospital in Jasper. Once he and the others let me in on what they've been doing, and I realized I couldn't keep him out of it, I decided to be there for him as much as possible. I'm doing everything I can to keep him safe."

Camille rolled her eyes. Bulkhead flicked his optics back and forth between her and Miko. Several seconds passed before he finally spoke.

"At first, all of us underestimated the kids because they appeared to be so small and frail, but they've all proven that they've got what it takes. And then some." He rested his hand on Miko's shoulder. "When she saw me get shot in the back, she went nuclear. If I ever saw anything like that happen to her, I think I'd just break down. I wouldn't even be able to function anymore. But not Miko. She took out the 'Con who nearly killed me and four of his buddies."

"And she blasted an enormous hole in the ship at the same time," Khalilah added. "Without proper repair facilities, it'll probably take them_years_ to fix all the damage."

"So you've turned her into a killer."

"Camille ..." Roderick sighed and shook his head.

"No," Miko snapped. "The Decepticons did that. They almost killed my best friend. They paid for it."

"Jesus," Camille said under her breath.

"Fuck this. Obviously, nothing is gonna get through to you." Miko stood and picked up her tray.

"Miko, wait." Roderick held a hand up. "Please, just ... look, can you understand why we're so freaked out over this?"

She sighed and returned to her seat. "Of course."

"Your parents trusted us to keep you safe, and look what's happened." He slumped over the table and rubbed his hands over his face. "You could've been killed."

"I'm aware of that. I just can't let it stop me."

"Why? Why do you think you have something to prove?"

"Because maybe I do." Miko took a bite of her chimichanga. "Anyway, like Jack said, if the bad guys aren't stopped, we're all screwed. We've done a pretty good job of kicking their asses, so far, and we need to keep going until it's over."

Camille opened her mouth again, but Roderick leaned over and whispered, "Please! Can we just ... have lunch? We can fight about this later. Right now, let's just give the poor kid a break. Okay?"

Camille threw her left hand up and heaved a sharp sigh. "Fine."

_Whew._Khalilah realized she'd been tensed up for the past several minutes, and tried to relax. _I was starting to think a whole new war was about to break out._She glanced over at Smokescreen and the Vehicons and found them still talking. Craycroft and Minorka laughed at something and Smokescreen grinned and clapped Craycroft on the shoulder.

_Ah, that's better. Good to see that most of us are capable of being reasonable._Khalilah slipped her arm around Jensen's shoulders.

A series of musical notes interrupted the awkward silence among her new friends and she turned to see what was up. Sierra took her phone from a pocket, glanced at the screen, and burst into laughter.

"Well, the timing couldn't be better. We're in desperate need of some laughs." She motioned at the phone. "Just got a text from my cousin Jade." With a glance at the Porters, she added, "Jade works the customer service desk at the Walmart in Jasper."

"Oh, boy." Jensen snort-laughed. "Brace yourselves, everybody."

"Weird Walter again?" Jack grinned.

"No, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's one of his relatives." Sierra took another bite of her burger. "She was talking to one of the guys in Electronics while they were on their morning break. He caught a really old dude at one of the photo kiosks printing pictures of him doin' it with his nineteen-year-old girlfriend."

"Eww." Jack grimaced. "That's one job I'm never applying for."

Another text came through to Sierra's phone. She stared at the screen and twisted her face up. "Oh, hell, she sent a copy of one of the photos!"

"I'm not looking at that." Sierra's mother turned away and held a hand up to block the phone from sight.

"I wish I hadn't. It's a picture of the girl sucking his dick."

Jensen burst out laughing and both Miko's and Sierra's parents contorted their faces in disgust.

"His face is in the background, too. He looks around eighty or ninety."

"Lemme see." Miko reached for the phone and Sierra handed it over. Miko contemplated it with an arched eyebrow and handed it back. "How'd she do that without puking?"

"Maybe he's got a lot of money." Sierra sighed and stared at her cheeseburger, as if unsure whether she could continue eating it. "Maybe he put her in his will or something."

"I dunno, it'd take a_lot_ of money. Well, for me, at least." Miko shook her head and took another bite of her lunch. "Just going by his looks, I bet you anything that he tastes like somebody came on a sandalwood shoehorn."

Someone choked and sputtered. Khalilah glanced over and found Camille slamming a bottle of water down, slumping over the table, and coughing. Everyone else either laughed or looked nauseated.

Another text came in. Sierra read it and put the burger back on her plate. "That's it, I'm out. She said some of the pictures featured a speculum." She typed a frantic message, muttering, "Jade, do not send any more pictures!"

"Probably a good idea." Miko grinned. "Glad to see things getting back to normal."

---

"What's going on?" Tenesha Hargrove walked over with one of her camera guys in tow. Jack glanced over his shoulder, waved, and faced forward again.

"Miko's been having a hell of an argument with her host parents about being neck-deep in combat situations over the past few months." He motioned at the section of the parking lot surrounded by his friends and a couple dozen base personnel, then leaned casually against Arcee's ankle. She'd joined him a few minutes ago and piloted her Pretender body off somewhere to pack up some camping supplies. General Sanchez had granted the team a few days of downtime and Jack's mom, of all people, had suggested that he and Arcee spend the weekend together someplace where they wouldn't be attacked by enemy troops.

"She's been issued a new set of armor and wanted to test it out," he continued. "I think she also wanted to prove a point." He glanced around, spotted the Porters weaving through the crowd, and nodded toward them. Tenesha glanced at them and back to the roughly circular open area in the center.

"I don't know why she thinks this is going to change my mind," Camille grumbled at Roderick. "It's not going to prove anything. Whoever she's fighting is just going to go easy on her to make it look like she's winning."

"Come on, the poor kid's been through enough. Just let her feel like she's made a good case." He sighed as both of them made their way to the inner edge of the crowd.

Bulkhead appeared on Arcee's right and leaned around her leg to speak to the Porters. "From what I understand about the new armor, it's got the standard augmented-reality equipment plus some experimental software to analyze what the helmet cameras see and assist with defensive and offensive movements."

"It's also got a crystalline layer on the outside to refract Decepticon beam weapons," Arcee added, "plus a layer of synthetic spider silk and a layer of non-Newtonian fluid under that. There's also a new shock-absorption system to lessen impacts."

Camille rolled her eyes again.

Asshole._Jack sighed. _She's got a point about us being in this mess, but she's still being a twat about it. And like Miko said, we've been in it for a while, so it's too late to back out now.

Several people nearby took their phones out and started recording video. At the same moment, Arcee leaned down to nudge his shoulder.

"It's starting."

He faced forward as Miko walked into sight.

Ashanti emerged from the crowd, wearing her armor but carrying her helmet under her left arm. "You sure you want to do this?"

"Yep. Don't pull your punches, either."

"Come on, Miko, I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't." Miko raised her hands into a defensive posture and waited. "I'm serious. Don't hold anything back. I can handle it."

Ashanti sighed, put her helmet on, and sealed it. She walked over to Miko and mirrored her stance.

"That armor looks heavy," Roderick muttered.

"A bit," Arcee said. "It's made with experimental alloys and composite materials, so it's not as heavy as it would normally be, plus it's got built-in servos that help support it."

Ashanti launched a halfhearted punch and Miko deflected it with a lightning-quick swing of her left arm. She followed up with a jab to Ashanti's visor. The colonel snapped to the left and Miko's fist barely grazed her helmet. Miko shot her left arm out like a piston and drove it into Ashanti's chest plate, knocking her backward several steps. The woman let out a startled grunt as she regained her balance - but Miko leaped forward, boosted by her armor's built-in thrusters, and Ashanti sucked in a quick breath and backpedaled again.

"The servos also boost the wearer's speed and reflexes," Arcee said as the girl landed a punch to the side of Ashanti's helmet with her left hand, fired another set of thrusters that spun her in midair, and hurricane-kicked her opponent in the same spot. "Oh, and micro-thrusters built into the armor. They're controlled through sensors in the helmet that monitor brain impulses. Didn't expect to see them used quite this way, though."

"Neither did Ashanti, looks like." Bulkhead pumped his fist into the air. "Yeah! That's my little Wrecker!"

"Shit," Ashanti muttered as she took a few steps away from Miko and regained her composure. "You could hold a little something back, y'know."

"Not my style." Miko charged again and cocked her right arm back. Ashanti snapped her arms up to block it - and Miko fired a quick burst from her thrusters, launching herself up and to the left. Ashanti spun and kicked her left leg out, catching Miko in the side and knocking her out of the air. Her jets fired again, guiding her gently back to the ground. She circled around Ashanti, searching for an opening.

"Damn," Arcee said. "Where'd she learn to fight like that?"

"Beats me." Bulkhead shrugged. "You know her, though. She's probably just making it up as she goes."

"Huh." Roderick gaped at Miko. "Okay, I admit it, I'm impressed."

"Okay, sure," Camille grumbled. "She's pretty good. That still doesn't change anything."

Ashanti fired her rockets and shot straight toward Miko. She cocked her fist back and threw a punch. Miko blocked it and Ashanti popped off a rapid-fire flurry of punches, jabs, and kicks. Miko blocked or dodged most of them, but a solid hit finally landed upside her head and she staggered off to the left. Ashanti jumped her from behind, clamped her left arm around the girl's neck, and locked it in place with her right arm.

"Not bad, Miko, but I think this is enough for one day."

Miko's jets came to life again and she rotated upside-down, twisting out of Ashanti's grip. Another set of rockets fired, spinning her around, and she drove a foot into Ashanti's chest, sending her reeling backward.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Ashanti snarled as she regained her balance. "Okay, if that's how you wanna play it." The jets on her back flared at full power, rocketing her at the girl. She slammed several solid blows into Miko's chest and helmet before Miko pulled herself together enough to start deflecting them. She slapped the next four punches aside, blocked a kick with her left elbow, and jabbed her fingertips into Ashanti's throat.

"Oh!" Jack winced as the colonel stumbled away, clutching at her neck. "Someone might need to step in."

Coughing and choking, Ashanti held her left hand up while taking her helmet off with the other. Miko had started advancing on her again, but stopped abruptly. She took her own helmet off and aimed a wide-eyed stare at Ashanti.

"Oh, shit! I'm sorry! Are you okay?"

"What the fuck, Miko?" Ashanti twisted her face up and rubbed her throat.

"I guess I got carried away."

"Really? I hadn't noticed." Ashanti took another moment to catch her breath, then she lowered her hands to her sides and bowed. "Good fight. I think you've made your point."

"Sorry." Miko bowed and then approached her slowly, holding a hand out. "You gonna be okay?"

"Well, I should go get my throat checked out, just in case. Don't want to go into the next battle with a fractured larynx without knowing it." She smiled, but it was tense. "I'm planning to be there for your little GTA party later on."

"Looking for revenge?" Miko let out a nervous chuckle.

"Damn right. I'm gonna kick your ass all over Los Santos." She winked before turning and trudging off across the parking lot.

"The armor must not be that good," Camille said, "if someone can be downed with a jab to the throat."

"The material is softer around the neck and joints because it needs to be flexible." Miko glanced at her as she walked over to Bulkhead. "I just took advantage of it. Hope I didn't hurt her too badly."

Ashanti's voice came through her helmet speakers. "Naw, I've had worse. I'm totally working out a training plan to incorporate the thrusters into our combat techniques from now on, though."

Miko's face turned red. "Well ... heh ... glad I could help."

---

"Hey, June, welcome to the victory dance." Bulkhead motioned at a vacant seat at one of the long tables that had been set up near the wall in the Autobot base's central hub. Already seated were Raf, Miko, Jensen, Khalilah, Tomoko, Bumblebee, Sierra, Ashanti, DeeDee Washington, and Josephine Chang. In front of each sat a laptop, Xbox One, or PlayStation 4. The chairs sat between the wall and the tables, so each player could have a clear view of the huge screen on the main console, which was cycling through views from each player's monitor.

"Hey, I didn't know you played," Double-D said after glancing over her shoulder.

"I used to play the occasional game with Jack when he was growing up, just so I could be doing something with him when we both happened to be home at the same time. I was never sure if he was honestly having fun or was just tolerating me." June took the seat, put the headset on, and logged in to her account. "Like, one day I tried playing one of the Call of Duty games with him, and ended up running around pointing my gun straight up. Never did get the hang of it."

General Sanchez's laugh came through her earphones. "That reminds me of the first time I played this game with my granddaughter. I was what's known as 'the load.'"

"You've improved a lot since then, Gramps," a girl's voice said.

"And that's her. Since this whole thing is a 'cordial and unofficial' function, and I hardly ever get to spend time with her thanks to my job, when she wanted to join in, there's no way I'd say no."

"Hey, everybody. I'm Olivia. Well, my gamertag is Titty Sprinkles."

June burst out laughing. When she regained control of herself, she said, "I'm June Darby. Also known as Caduceus. This is my first time playing GTA Online, so try to go easy on me, okay?"

"No promises, haha!"

"Hey, Mom!"

"Jack, hi!"

"Sorry I'm not there. Arcee and I are in my quarters at the Lake. I figured I could get in on this for a few hours, but then I'll need to hit the sack so we can get an early start on our camping trip."

"No worries. I'm just glad to be doing something with you that doesn't involve imminent horrible death."

"Me, too."

"I'm only level one, so I haven't unlocked any of the really good weapons. Try not to lose count of the number of times I get wasted."

"I'll do what I can to keep you safe." Jack laughed.

"So," Olivia said, "are any of the alien robots I've heard so much about playing tonight?"

"I'm one of 'em," Bumblebee said. "We've got a couple others here, Tomoko and Khalilah."

Each of them greeted the other players. June noticed Tomoko had her Catbug plushie perched beside her monitor.

"Since these game controllers were designed for human hands," Khalilah said, "and human hands have two more digits than mine, this may be a little awkward. Try not to be too rough on me."

"We'll have to stick close together, then," June said with a grin. "Maybe we can turn that awkwardness and my incompetence into a strength."

Miko laughed suddenly. "Hey, Olivia, June's son is dating one of the alien robots."

"Really? So, the aliens have only recently arrived and he's already landed one of them? Is he, like, a mini-Captain Kirk?"

"Actually," Raf said, "if you think about it, Chekov was always more of a womanizer than Kirk."

June chuckled and glanced up at the big screen in time to catch a glimpse of a character with his face painted like a clown pulling the driver out of a Pißwasser truck and driving away.

"Uh-oh," Ashanti said. "Hey, Jensen, just a heads-up. The general is nearby."

"Oh, hell."

June glanced back at the big screen as it switched to Ashanti's POV. The Pißwasser truck passed by with the gamertag "Full Metal Jackoff" hovering above it. The view switched to a point above the truck and Sanchez's arm stuck out the window, holding a sticky bomb. Off to the right, a character labeled "Gonad the Barbarian" tried to climb over a chain link fence.

"Oh, no!"

Sanchez lobbed the bomb and stuck it directly to Jensen's back.

"You bastard," Jensen moaned a split-second before the explosion blew him through the fence. He and Sanchez both burst into laughter. "Motherfucker,fuck you!"

Sanchez laughed even harder.

"Interesting," a faint, familiar voice in the background said. June realized it was Ultra Magnus. He and Optimus must have been in a meeting before Sanchez joined the game. "Do you allow that kind of insubordination often?"

"Eh, like I said, this isn't official business, so I'm not really his CO at the moment. I'm just another gamer." The general took a deep breath and continued laughing. "Besides, I had it coming."

"Ah. I ... see."

"I shall avenge you, Chad!" Khalilah laughed and fumbled with her controller. On the big screen, a Cargobob swooped in out of nowhere, hooked the Pißwasser truck, and lifted it into the air.

"What the hell just happened?" A few second passed and Sanchez added, "Oh, okay. I'm going for a ride."

"You sure are, sir." The Cargobob took the truck straight upward. It continued rising until it became a dot in the sky.

"Hey," Sanchez said, "I can see my house from here!"

June giggled. We need to do this more often. Especially after what I found out a few hours ago. She tried not to think about it, and just enjoy the moment.

"Seriously, are you taking me into orbit?"

"I just wanted to be sure this worked. I think this is high enough. Releasing you now."

"Okay, here I go. Wheeeeeeeee!"

"Crap," Raf blurted as his Carl Sagan-lookalike dropped dead. Miko snickered. June glanced over at her screen and saw her running toward a car with a sniper rifle. Raf respawned a few hundred feet ahead of Miko as she jumped into the car. Miko grinned.

"Time for street-pizza!" She accelerated straight toward him.

Raf produced a huge rotary cannon, lined up a shot, and fired a single bullet. Miko's character slumped over the steering wheel and the car veered off and crashed into a fire hydrant.

"Whoa," Jensen said. "Did you just snipe her with a minigun?"

Raf lowered his voice into a passable impression of Sagan. "Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception."

"Uh, General, sir, the twelve-year-old is scaring me."

Olivia went into a fit of uncontrollable giggling.

Miko respawned and June shook her head at the gamertag above her character. Squirt Machine. Of course.

"So," Chang said, "have you hit the ground yet?"

"Nope," Sanchez said with a snicker. "I'm still falling."

On June's screen, a vehicle that looked like a sports car had a baby with an off-road vehicle rumbled up beside her.

"Hey, Mom, need a lift?"

"Interesting car, Jack."

"It's the Coil Brawler. It's one of my favorite cars in the game. Come on, hop in."

June walked toward the car and then slid across the hood. "Uh ..."

"Nice move. You're getting the hang of this."

"Actually, that was a total accident. I have no idea how I did it." Chuckling, June got into the passenger seat. She noticed a movement up in the sky and stared at it. She realized it was the Pißwasser truck plunging upside-down toward certain, fiery doom.

"Okay," Sanchez said, "almost there. Just gotta ride it out a few more seconds." He took a deep breath. "It's a good day to die!"

Kaboom!

Everyone burst out laughing.

Once Miko caught her breath, she muted her microphone and leaned closer to June. "Hey, about the camping trip Jack and Arcee are taking. You know they're totally gonna hump it out, right?"

June shook her head and muted her own mic. "I thought it was a possibility. I don't need to think about it happening, but I'm okay with it. I mean, I was even younger when I was pregnant with Jack, so I'd be a hypocrite if I tried to interfere." She shrugged. "I trust them. And ... well, after all the close calls they've had, I think they deserve to take that next step, if they want to." Especially when they may not have another chance.

June turned her mic back on and hoped Miko would get the hint. She didn't want to discuss what she'd learned where so many people could overhear it, and didn't want to let on that anything was wrong.

_Damn._She'd just happened to be there when the notification came in. Two different things, both unsettling. One was something several astronomers had noticed, but it was far away and a very long time ago. The other was much more immediate - a ship has been spotted appearing in the solar system, probably by dropping out of hyperspace. On closer examination, it had been identified as Decepticon.

And it was heading straight for Earth.

June put a smile back on and hoped no one had noticed it slip. Neither Ashanti's team nor the kids had been told yet. Optimus and Sanchez and the rest were waiting for more information to come to light. And if it turned out to be as bad as she'd assumed, it wouldn't hurt to let them go on as if nothing was wrong.

We can fill Jack and Arcee in when they get back. They should have their quiet weekend together. She held in a sigh.While they still can.