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by Odeena Sabnach

It's an average day in the Area 31 briefing room / bar: Megs, Tarantulas, Terrosaur and Rattrap are playing poker, Thaliana is annoying TM2 Dinobot, Cheetor, Alkari and I are chatting as usual... when all of a sudden the telephone rings. Wohoo.

Although the phone's ringing wasn't that aloud, everybody froze at the sound of it. It rang once... twice... thrice...

"Ain't anyone gonna get that?" Cheetor asked in a whisper.

I didn't get a chance to answer that; there was a soft 'beep', and then a robotic voice came, 'You have reached the Area 31 briefing room. No-one is available right now. Please leave a message and we'll get to you.'

"Who the heck installed an answering machine?" I hissed through my gritted teeth.

Rattrap raised a shaky hand, "I did."

"Didn't it ever dawn on you that we didn't needan answering machine?" I said, doing my best not to blast him into tiny bits. "Now what do we do?"

The phone beeped again, and we waited to hear the caller's voice. There was a dangerously long silence at the other end.

"Maybe the guy changed his mind", Thaliana suggested with a hopeful face. "Thought he dialed the wrong number or something."

Faint hopes. Hardly had she finished speaking, that a soft and unnatural voice came from the speaker, "Hello?"

Nobody said anything.

"Hello?" the voice came again. "Nobody's answering", it said after a pause, and this time it sounded like he was talking to someone behind him. "What do I do?"

There was some noisy chatting in the background. I took advantage of that to get next to TM2 Dinobot.

"Hey..."

He glared at me with that 'You're-bugging-me-hard' look I've come to know so good, "Yeah?"

"That - whoever it is - ain't human."

Terrosaur snickered, "Really."

I felt the urge to punch him square in the face, but I contained it. "Really", I growled. "Trust me, I've been living with humans all my life, and I can tell you one thing: humans don'tsound like that."

"So what is it?" Megs asked, keeping his voice down.

"I don't know, I'm guessing a robot, or... or..."

"An alien?" Rattrap supplied.

"Uh... yeah."

A few seconds of dazed silence, then Tarantulas broke into a hysterical laugh. "Yeah, right", he gasped out loud. "Aliens! And I'm-"

"Fried if you don't shut up", I hissed. About that time, the chatting on the phone stopped, then the voice came again, "Hello, is anyone reading me?"

A thousand thoughts raced through my mind. These weren't humans, that much I was sure of. Still, it was risky to answer them. After all, we were supposed to be in tiny pieces since half a year ago, right?

"I told you", the voice went on, "there's nobody there. But I did hear something before."

"Maybe you're not doing the right thing. Or maybe that communicator's not working."

"Oh yeah? *bang!* Hello? *bang bang* Hello?? *bang* Is anyone- *bang bang bang*"

"Quit hitting it!" ihe other voice cut in. "You're only gonna make it worse and-"

"What's going on here?'

Silence.

"Admiral!"

Next to me, Rattrap raised an eyebrow. "Admiral?!"

"I'm answering", I said firmly as I started towards the phone. TM2 Dinobot grabbed my arm.

"Are you insane?" he hissed. "We can't disconceal our possition!" he went on in a more natural tone. "It would be strategically unsound."

"Well you can tell me all about it later", I replied. "Now let go."

He sighed, then released my arm. "I hope I'm not going to regret this."

"So do I." I took the receiver, "Hello?"

"Someone's heard us!", this was the original voice, and as far as I could tell, the guy was in hysterics.

"Who is this?"

A short pause, then a calmer, more imposing voice answered. "This is Admiral Mekka Daar of the Aquatoid Fleet-" I couldn't make out the fleet's name, but it was long and complicated nonetheless. "To whom am I speaking?"

I was feeling a little dizzy. I leaned against the wall for support, "This is Dua of the Area 31 base. Where are you?"

More chatting in the backgound, then the Admiral answered, "In... Area 51. And a half", he completed after a pause.

I raised an eyebrow, "Area 51 and a half?"

"Yes. We demand some answers", he went on in a threatening tone. "We arrived to your planet with peaceful intentions. As a response to our message, our ship was shot down and we were imprisoned-"

'Blah blah blah', I thought, annoyed. In general, this story was same as the one of the Transformers' arrival to Earth. This was't gonna be good.

"..And what can I do for you?" I offered when he finally finished speaking.

"We are currently under siege, and we demand shelter."

I flinched. "Under siege? Do you mind ellaborating on that?"

"We detect enemy troups advancing towards us. We managed to repair our ship enough to fly a few thousand miles, so we could reach your base." His voice suddenly broke down. "Please."

"Uh... I don't know..." Now thiswas a delicate situation. But I couldn't let these guys get creamed now... could I?

"All right", I said finally with a sigh. Then I turned to the gang. "Tarantulas, transmit our coordinates to-" I thougt for a minute, trying to remember the appeal number for Area 51 "-0800-337-129. Pronto!" I shouted, when I noticed the dumbfolded expression on the spider's face. He complied reluctantly.

"We're transmitted our location to your main computer", I said. "What's your ETA?"

"ETA?" He sounded more than puzzled.

I sighed. "I mean, how long until you get here?"

"One moment... we've established the location of your 'Area 31' base. We'll be there in approximately five grutts."

It was my turn to be puzzled. "Grutts?" I asked, but he'd already closed the phone. "Hello? Slag", I muttered. "What are youlooking at?" I growled to the guys. They were still staring at me.

"What... who..." Cheetor tried pathetically.

"Well... prepare yourselves, we're gonna have visitors soon", was all I said. Then I went to find Optimus.

~

Although we were in the middle of March, the night was anything but warm and friendly. Optimus and I were shaking hard.

"So... when are these... uh, guys gonna show up?" Optimus asked, doing his best to keep his temper down. Truth is, we had been waiting for bloody ages, and still there was no sign from the aliens. Then again, it was also true that I had no idea what a gruttmeant.

"He said five... uh, grutts", I answered, my voice shaking a bit.

"Oh, really. Cute, isn't it. Well, we have been waiting for five hours, you know."

"Maybe a grutt is two hours", I hazarded.

"Oh yeah, I'll bet." He shook his head. "Look. I don't mean to diss you or anything-"

Suddenly, a small light caught my eye, and I closely watched as it grew bigger and bigger. "I think they're coming", I said.

I was feeling a little bit nervous, I admit it. So far, Serena and the 'bots were the only aliens I've encountered. Besides that, these aliens had a working ship, and that opened the way for endless opportunities. Until then, though...

The ship came closer and closer, until it finally landed a few hundred feet away. Optimus raised an eyebrow, and I could tell he had the same thoughts I did. Still, he didn't say a word; instead, he advanced to the UFO. I kept close behind.

The next few scenes were like in some kind of a freaky movie. A door opened in the side of the UFO with a loud hiss, and lots and lots of steam came out. After it cleared, a creature walked outside. It was about three feet tall, had big, almond eyes, and his skin was... green.

I did my best not to chuckle; instead, since Optimus was just standing there, I advanced to him. "Admiral Darr, I presume."

"Yes", he said with a flat and expressionless voice. "And you are Dua." He said that as a statement, not as a question.

But what he said afterwards was a zillion times more important. He said, "From the planet of C'moth."

Suddenly, I felt very dizzy, and I leaned against Optimus for support. "How do you know that?" I asked in a small voice.

"It is obvious that you are a c'mothian", he answered, a bit puzzled. "You have the physionomy and the readings associated with the species.

"You... you know where my home world is!" I gasped out. "Can you take me there?" I asked almost involuntarely.

"As soon as we get our ship repaired as necessary, we will."

I couldn't believe my ears. I was going home!

Optimus thought this would be a good time to intervene. "What do you need to repair your ship?"

Ah, the never-ending Maximal goodie-goodieness. Megatron would've asked them to take all 'bots to Cybertron ASAP. Or, maybe just the Preds. Who knew?

"A tri-polar convertor", the admiral answered.

My mind snapped back to reality. "I think we have that sort of stuff in the deposit", I said.

"Excellent. Your help would be appreciated."

"But we demand something in return", Optimus cut in.

"What do you claim?"

Optimus took in a deep breath. "We - ask that you take us home, to Cybertron."

"Cybertron." Darr seemed thoughtful for a moment. "If you can direct us there - then it's a deal."

Optimus smiled. "I think you'd better come inside, Admiral. We have lots to discuss."

~

Everyone was gathered in the briefing room: me, Serena, Admiral Darr and the 'bots, minus Skorpinok and Rhinox, who were already helping the other Aquatoids repair their ship. Everything happened way too fast; one moment, all the guys were listening to Optimus talking and announcing everyone that they were going home - and the next one, everyone was wild with excitement.

"We're going home!" Cheetor yelled. "Yeah! We're all going home!"

"Ya-hoo!" Quickstrike seconded, hugging Black Arachnia at the same time. But this time the widdow didn't seem to mind.

"Yeah!" Thaliana shrieked. "We're all going... wait a minute! What about Serena and Dua?"

At that, the guys quietened down.

"Wow. I never thought of that", DB said, bowing his head. "What will... I mean..."

"The Admiral will take me to my homeworld as well", I announced quietly. "As for Serena..."

"As for me, I thought I'd come to Cybertron, too. If you don't mind, that is."

"Of course we don't!" Cheetor answered enthusiastically. "You're welcomed to join us any time!"

"But what about the base?" Again, Dinobot was the rational one. "And our ships?"

"We've solved that problem", I answered. "Remember the shrink ray?"

"What shrink ray?" a few voices chorused together.

"The one we used on Halloween... hello?"

"Oh yeah!" Thaliana snapped her forehead. "What's with it?"

"We'll simply shrinkyour ships, and then you'll take them with you. How's that sound?"

"The girl with the plan", Terrosaur declared promptly, wrapping his hand around my shoulder. "That covers about all of it, don't it?"

'All but one thing', I thought. "Hey Depth Charge, would you mind giving me a ride to the city tonight?"

The ray was obviously not paying attention to any of us, so my question caught him off guard. "I... uhh, of... course I will... why's that?"

"I just..." I sighed. "Let's just say I've got something to take care of. That okay with you?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Sure, if it's OK with Optimus, too."

Optimus sighed. "Just... just be back quickly, OK? If everything goes right, then we're leaving in the morning."

"So soon?" I couldn't help saying.

"Hey girlie, we're going home!" Rattrap cut in. "Home! Can't wait to get there!"

I nodded. "Well then, let's go!" I told Depth Charge, and we both headed out.

~

"So, whatcha' wanna do in town?" Depth Charge asked me. For once, he was flying low and not that fast, so my stomach was all OK. For now.

"Promise you won't tell anyone?" I asked in return.

He made a face. "Yeah, sure I do. Well?"

"I just wanted to say goodbye to May."

His face turned serious. "Oh... I see."

For a while, we both kept quiet.

"You do realize I will never see her again, don't you."

"It... it must be hard for you", he replied.

"It is. But it's also good to know that I'm finally going to know my home world, and, maybe... who knows? even meet some of my... uh, relatives and all! Maybe I've got some nice brothers and sisters, just waiting for me at home..." I heaved a dreamy sigh. "I don't know what I'll find there. But I do know one thing: it's gonna be home."

He didn't say anything, so I asked, "What will you do, once you get to Cybertron?"

"Me? I... guess I'll try and get on with my life, now that Rampage and I are... well, are no longer..."

"I see. Good for you."

"Yeah."

I leaned against one of his fins and closed my eyes. These were the moments I would've liked to keep forever...

"We're here," Depth Charge's voice interrupted my reverie. "Now run along, and be back soon."

I nodded, and I bolted to the house where I had seen May, back in that unforgetful Haloween night.

I knocked lightly on the door, hoping, praying that is was her house and not somebody else's. I waited a few seconds, then I turned to leave, when suddenly, the door opened, and I turned around.

And there, in the doorframe, she was standing, and looking at me with a strange mixture of puzzlement and joy. I realised tears were running down my face, and I ran and hugged her. She didn't say anything; she just hugged me as well, and then we both walked inside.

That night, I told May everything that had happened since the day the base was set to self-destruct. It was only half a year ago, but it seemed to me like years had passed since then. I told her about the guys, about how we spent Halloween, Christmas and Valentine's day - and that I was going home. Time seemed to fly at top speed, and the dawn came before I even realized it.

Then, my comm buzzed, and Depth Charge's voice came through, calling me. I hugged May again - maybe for the last time ever - and then, I turned and ran away from the house, and this time I was crying hard. I turned a few times, and each time I looked, May was still standing there, waving her hand to me, and I waved back, until, finally, she went out of sight.

~

"So, how did it go?" Depth Charge asked me on the way back.

"Good", was my only reply. I was still crying, and the wind was drying the tears on my face.

"I see", he said, and then we both kept silent until we reached the base.

~

It was madness inside the base. The guys were all packing their stuff - and you can imagine the kind of scenes that occured. And our room was ten times worse than the rest as a whole.

"Hey Dua, have you seen my jeans?"

I dodged a flying pair of jeans and I glared at Serena meaningfully before answering, "Nope."

"Well then - hey, that's my teddybear!"

Alkari sighed. "Yeah, sure, take it. And take my heart, too", he mocked. The rest of uss broke down with laughter.

"Are you ready?" DB asked, poking his head inside.

"Ew, get lost! I'm indecent!" Serena yelled, throwing a pillow at DB. He dodged, snickered and threw it back, hitting Thaliana instead. What followed was a short, but whacky pillow fight, and we all joined in. Unfortunately for us, TM2 Dinobot showed up, and he rushed us to finish packing faster. Finally, we were done.

"Well, what's everyone waiting? To the hangar, you slobs!"

The next second, DB got a noogie, and the rest of us snickered. Thaliana grinned proudly.

~

I took one last glance at what was left of our former base, then the boarding trap closed with a hiss, and I sighed. It was all behind now. And what lied ahead? I didn't know; but whatever it was, I was ready for it.

Our plan was like this: first, the Aquatoids - which were in fact really nice guys - would drop the Beast Warriors and Serena to Cybertron, and maybe hand around there for a while, too. And then, they would take me to C'moth, which, as I was going to find out, was only a few light years away from their own planet.

I watched as the Earth grew smaller and smaller, as our ship prepared to make the jump into hyperspace. This was it.

Farewell, Earth...

...and hello, universe. For my journey had just begun

A/N: I know, the ending scene is a little lame. Hey, I finished this at three in the bloody morning, indulge me. Ok? This is the end of the series :( Don't be sad though, there's likely to be a 'sequel' series, but I don't know when it'll happen. I have too much to worry about at the moment. Heck, I'll let y'all know when it does. Meanwhile, you know the drill: questions - comments - odeena@hotmail.com- blahy blahy.