Transformers Prime: The Tesseract

Four: Operation: Save Miko

The transforming lesson took up most of the night, and they had nothing to show for it. Sunbeam let out a growl of frustration before letting herself fall backward onto the ground.

"This is stupid! We've spent almost all night out here, and we got nothin' out of it!" Sunbeam shouted to no one in particular.

"It may just take some practice. Obviously you've never transformed before or even scanned a vehicle," Arcee pointed out.

"But how am I gonna help if I can't even go outside and fight with you guys?!" Sunbeam questioned.

"You don't have to fight in order to help out. Ratchet spends most of his time on base, and so do the kids," Arcee pointed out.

"That's 'cause Ratchet's the medic. Makin' him go out and fight with ya wouldn't be such a good idea, and the kids are human. If they got under a Con's foot, they'll get crushed, so that isn't a good idea either," Sunbeam responded.

"Well, you've still got a lot of time to figure everything out. I'm sure you'll get it eventually," Arcee admitted. Sunbeam's eyes lit up.

"Really?! You think so?! Don't worry! I'll learn fast!" Sunbeam assured her.

"Sure you will. Now let's get back inside. We can figure out your transformation problem when the sun's out," Arcee suggested. Sunbeam agreed and happily went back into the base with Arcee.

"Did you manage to pick an alternate form?" Ratchet asked as Sunbeam entered the base and immediately went back to see what he was doing.

"Nah. I scanned a car, but I couldn't transform into it," Sunbeam explained.

"Well, hopefully we can get some answers when your creators visit tomorrow," Ratchet stated.

"They're coming tomorrow?! I knew I'd have to see 'em again, but I didn't think it'd be that soon!" Sunbeam yelled in shock, clearly on the verge of panic.

"No need to freak out. You most likely won't be here when they arrive. Although I advised against it, Ultra Magnus insisted that you be sent on mission upstate," Ratchet said.

"Really?! That's awesome!" Sunbeam exclaimed.

"Well, as much as I'd enjoy a little more quiet, sending someone so inexperienced on a mission to hunt decepticons is a terrible idea," Ratchet pointed out.

"Maybe, but who cares! I'm gonna get to help out a little bit!" Sunbeam shouted. "So tell me everything I gotta know about these guys!"

A few hours later, Ratchet opened the ground bridge to send Sunbeam to a remote location upstate. Sunbeam said goodbye to everyone before leaving.

"You had better be certain that this was a good idea," Ratchet said to Ultra Magnus.

"We'll be back to check in on things in a month. We'll be in touch over comms until then," Ultra Magnus replied dismissively as the space bridge opened and the rest of the bots were sent back to Cybertron.

"The little lights in the sky are so pretty when there aren't any clouds!" Sunbeam exclaimed over comms.

"Focus," Ratchet deadpanned.

"Right! Sorry...Uh....what was the mission again?" Sunbeam asked. She heard Ratchet's huff of frustration over the comm link.

"You have to look for decepticons and see what they're up to!" Miko exclaimed, but not from the other end of Sunbeam's link. She was there.

"Why are you here?!" Sunbeam screeched.

"Because I want to go on a life changing adventure!" Miko exclaimed.

"Oh, it'll be life changing all right! I'm coming to get you," Ratchet scolded Miko.

"Look like someone's in trouble," Sunbeam teased.

"I can handle Ratchet," Miko rolled her eyes.

"You do that," Sunbeam responded. Miko was about to respond when a fighter jet swooped down, picked up Miko as it transformed from jet to decepticon, and flew off. "Miko!"

"What happened?!" Ratchet asked over comms.

"Nothin'! Talk to ya later!" Sunbeam exclaimed before chasing the jet to a large cave opening. "Well that ain't good..."

"What? Tell me your coordinates and we can rendezvous there," Ratchet suggested. Sunbeam shook her head.

"No way. You gotta watch the kids. I can handle this," Sunbeam insisted. She entered the cave and discovered a whole army of decepticons. "Whoa...so these are decepticons...I never seen one in real life before..."

"Stay focused," Ratchet stated. Sunbeam nodded.

"Right," she replied before sneaking past some guards, which was made much easier by her small stature and the dim lighting of the new decepticon base. She mostly let her nose and hearing lead the way, since she found it hard to see, and she couldn't exactly call out for Miko.

"Hey, you there!" A vehicon shouted at Sunbeam.

"Great..." she grumbled before turning to the con. "I have a name ya know."

"What is it?" The vehicon asked.

"Sunbeam. What's yours?" Sunbeam asked.

"Uh.....I don't have one...?" The vehicon stated, as if that would be obvious.

"Really?! I didn't have one either! Ooh! Let me think of one for you!" Sunbeam exclaimed with stars in her eyes.

"Sunbeam!" Ratchet shouted, causing Sunbeam to let out a surprised squeak. "Focus!"

"Right! Sorry 'bout this..." Sunbeam punched the vehicon, knocking him down before running off. "But I gotta find Miko!"

"What just happened?" The vehicon squeaked out.