It was couple hours before dawn and everyone were sleeping, when defense system went on. Nova groaned hearing it, just like hearing alarm clock ringing at four in the morning. She put on her red jacket before headed outside to command center.
Once she gets there, she noticed new bot there, probably intruder. But what surprised her more was that Strongarm stood front of her to defend her.
"Heh, heh! Whoa-whoa! You sure know how to make a bot feel welcome."
"Everyone, this is Nightra. She was my best friend at the Kaon Police Academy before we lost touch." Strongarm introduced.
"I heard about Strongarm runnin' with Bumblebee's team and Stars, baggin' all those escaped prisoners, and I just figured I'd look her up. Makin' quite a name for yourself, Regs. I'm proud of ya." Nightra said.
"You are? Thanks."
"Regs, huh? What's that about?" Sideswipe asked.
"It's just a nickname that I don't use anymore."
"Regs here memorized the entire Codex of Regulations in six megacycles. Go on, ask her one! Ask her!" Nightra said.
"Later. Right now, I'd like to know why you were sneaking around our base with a cloaking device." Bumblebee said.
"Lightbender. Sweet piece of tech I picked up on Luna One." Nightra said and showed the device. "I didn't want some random human to see me in case I was in the wrong place. And you're all about that robots-in-disguise thing, right?"
"You should've contacted us on a comm channel first." Bumblebee said.
"Oh, my bad, boss-bot. I was trying to be incognito."
"Well, it sure worked," Piper said while walked close to Nova.
"Uh, there's also the matter of your identity signal. It was fluctuating very erratically." Fixit said.
"Yeah. Some lug nut took a chunk out of my insignia. Ooh! You remember that night, Strongarm?"
"You mean when two student cadets tried to arrest a Wrecker for speeding? I thought he was gonna pound us both into scrap." Strongarm reminded.
"He nearly did. My insignia's been wonky ever since. I figured it'd come in handy if I ever had to go undercover, but of course, I never graduated, so that didn't happen."
"You never graduated? Why?" Piper asked.
"Uh, Lieutenant, it's almost time for morning patrol. Would it be all right if Nightra joined me , so we can have a little catch-up time?" Strongarm suggested.
"I suppose so if you're vouching for her." Bumblebee said before they started to go. "Hang on! Nightra needs to scan an Earth vehicle form first."
"She can scan mine!" Strongarm said
Piper walked up to Strongarm and said, "Oooh Oooh Can I come with you? I've always wanted to know more about Nightra."
Strongarm said, "I don't it's....."
"Please......" Piper said with puppy look in her optics.
Strongarm didn't know what to say until Nightra spoke, "Let her come, Regs. I'm sure she's interested about our reunion."
Strongarm turned to Nova, wondered if it's alright with her. "It's fine Strongarm just take care of her." Nova said with a nod of approval.
Strongarm said, "Alright Piper. Let's go."
"Yeah." Piper said happily as they left to patrol.
As Nova watched them leave, her expression changed into a demeanor look as though she has suspicions. 'There's something fishy about this Nightra. Why did she come all this way to earth just to see Strongarm? Something is up.'
It was already sunrise when Strongarm and Nightra drove on the road.
"You never could beat me, Regs!" Nightra said while enjoying the speed. "Remember that time ol' Dropforge caught us drag racing in the Hall of Studies?"
"Woah, You were drag racing?" Piper said who was inside Strongarm.
"No Piper, I didn't. First of all, you were drag racing. I was there to talk you out of it." Strongarm said to Nightra before they halted as Piper came out and transformed into her robot mode. "And second, What are you doing here, Nightra?"
"What do you mean? I told you, I came to hang with my ol' pal, Regs." Nightra said while transformed too.
"It's good to see you, Nightra, really, but we didn't exactly part on the best of terms," Strongarm said looking bit sad.
"What you mean, Strongarm?" Piper asked.
"Remember, that question you asked?" Strongarm reminded. "Well, she didn't graduate because..."
"I got expelled," Nightra said.
"What?! Why? What happen?" Piper asked.
"It's a long story..." Strongarm said before they sat down and two bots told the story to Piper, recalling how during their Academy days, Nightra revealed she'd cheated on a test by stealing a keyfile, and tried to persuade Strongarm to cover for her. Called before the proctors, Strongarm refused to lie under questioning, resulting in Nightra being expelled from the Academy.
"Well, you were right. Not best way to lose touch."
"I felt terrible. I was never sure if I had done the right thing." Strongarm said.
"I won't lie to you, things were plenty rough for me after that. There were days when I didn't even wanna come out of standby. But it turned out that was just the wake-up call I needed. I pulled my spark together and became a bounty hunter. I got a badge and everything!" Nightra said and showed the badge.
"You're catching bad guys, after all, Nightra! That's fantastic." Strongarm said.
"All of this is because of you, Strongarm," Nightra said.
"Well, I hope you'll be one of those good bounty hunters. Nova doesn't like bad ones. Took some time to handle it, when she earned their trust." Piper said.
"I keep that in mind," Nightra said.
Right then, some movement was heard near that scared Nightra that she transformed and left.
"Nightra!" Strongarm shouted before transformed and followed her with Piper. Luckily, they were fast enough to get front of her and stop her.
"Outta the way! I gotta keep moving!" Nightra said in a panic.
"There's nothing behind you, look!" Strongarm said and pointed behind her. There really was nothing, but an empty road.
"Whoa, heh-heh. I kinda freaked out there, huh? Must be all the nitrogen in the atmosphere."
"It more looked like you tried to run away from something," Piper said.
"Nightra, what's going on? Be straight with me." Strongarm said.
"One of my bounties, a serious hard case named Blastwave, He escaped from Trypticon Prison. Last time I ran into him, h-he swore he'd take my spark." Nightra said.
"So? You already captured him once." Strongarm said.
"I got lucky. Lured him into a trap. This bot's bad news, I can't take him one-on-one. That's another reason why I'm here. I-I-It's good to see you, Regs, but I'm on the run." Nightra admitted.
"Okay, I get it. You'll stay here. If Blastwave finds you, we'll help you take him down. I mean, that's kind of what we do."
"But Strongarm, shouldn't we first tell this to the others then help?" Piper said.
"No way. No, I-I shouldn't have come here. I'm just putting you bots in danger." Nightra said.
"Ha! 'Danger' is my middle name. Or it would be if Cybertronians had middle names."
"Earth has made you really, really weird, Regs. It looks good on you." Nightra said.
"It's Planet's speciality. You learn new things" Piper said.
Strongarm, Piper and Nightra returned to base and Strongarm explained to others what Nightra told her.
"We'll help Nightra catch this deranged criminal, won't we, sir?" Strongarm asked.
"It's okay. No leader worth his durabyllium would risk his team for a stranger, I totally understand." Nightra said.
"Well, I kinda wish Cadet Strongarm had checked with me first before offering you sanctuary," Bee said while looked at Strongarm. "But she's right. Bringing in low-life criminals is what we do."
"Thank you, sir. I covered my tracks pretty well. Blastwave probably won't even show his ugly grille around here." Nightra said.
But right then a Groundbridge appeared and one bot came through it. By the look on Nightra's face could tell that he was Blastwave, she mentioned. Luckily, Grimlock tackles him before he can fire on Nightra, who immediately flees, again.
"Nightra!"
Nova looked what happened and started to suspect something. Something is not right here.
While Fixit works on shutting down the GroundBridge portal, the others attempt to battle Blastwave, but he tosses them around before departing through the portal.
"I'm sorry, Lieutenant, I couldn't close Blastwave's portal. But I was able to scan its origin. It appears to be in Earth's orbit." Fixit informed.
"A spaceship?"
"A well-cloaked spaceship. I need some time to analyze the data, but I should be able to locate it." Fixit told.
"It's too bad Nightra bailed. We coulda used her light-bending gizmo against that monster." Sideswipe complained.
"Nightra! We have to find her!" Strongarm said before transformed and tried to leave until Bumblebee stopped her.
"Stand down, Strongarm! We look for her together. If we run into Blastwave again, I don't want anyone facing him alone." Bee said.
"Piper and I are going to stay here, in case Blastwave might come to the scrapyard." Nova said
Bee nodded as they left to find Nightra, leaving Piper and Nova alone.
Piper said, "Poor Nightra....She must have been scared when it comes to Blastwave."
"Yeah. Too scared." Nova said with a demeanor voice as heads towards the command center.
"Where you going, Nova?"
"Going investigate about this Blastwave, so we know who we're up against."
Nova asked Fixit permission to look through the Cybertronian database which he allows it. Nova opened the screen as she used her technopathy to gained access through the database.
"I don't get it.....Why so interested about it?" Piper said, helping Nova in looking through it.
"Piper, Do you recall Drift was once a bounty hunter? Tell me, what he would do in a situation like this?" Nova asked.
"As in...?" Piper questioned.
"One Bounty gets loose from prison and has sworn to kill him." Nova cleared.
"Well, depends on the con, but he mostly stays undercover and tries to find a way to capture again. Where you're going with this?" Piper said.
"Then, Ask yourself? Since when Bounty hunter runs away from his bounty?" Nova asked.
"Huh, Your right. Bounty hunters don't run in a situation like that. Sure, they may hide so they could plan their next move, but run...that's what bounties do." Piper said.
"But why then Nightra...? Oh no...You don't think...?!" Piper trailed off, realizing what Nova meant.
"I'm afraid so, Piper." Nova said dreadfully, until they heard the beeping sound, meaning it found the info they need.
"Ha! I found his files." Nova said before reading the needed info. "As I thought so...It's all opposite."
"That means....Strongarm and the others are in danger." Piper said worriedly.
::Fixit, what's the status of Blastwave's ship?:: Bee commed
"I was able to triangulate the power surges at the opening and closing of the por..." Fixit said to Bee.
::Can you get us on board?::
"Yes, his ship is in a low orbit. We can reach it via GroundBridge."
::We need to move fast, or Blastwave will take off with Nightra. 'Bridge us back to the Command Center.::
Piper and Nova glanced at each other as they watched their team prepare themselves. Piper turned to Nova, "Do you think we should tell Strongarm?"
"She has the right to know."
"But I feel bad if she finds out her friend is...." Piper trailed off, not saying something else.
"Piper, sometimes it's difficult to accept it. But a true Friend knows your feelings and won't betray you. Therefore, Strongarm is going to need her true friends to be there for her." Nova said, placing her hand on her shoulder.
Piper nodded in understanding as she watched Nova left with her teammates.
Up in orbit, Blastwave is preparing to secure Nightra when Bee, Nova and the team board his ship. While they have him busy, Nightra again flees.
"Nightra!" Strongarm shout.
"Go after her! Get her off the ship!" Bumblebee said.
In this, Strongarm goes after her, while Nova (Armor Mode) follows her.
"Strongarm, there's something you should know..."
"Not now, Nova."
"But it's about Nightra. We discovered something before you came to base."
"You can tell me once we get her back," Strongarm said until finding her friend at ship's command center. "Nightra! Are you all right?"
"Never better!" Nightra said.
Right then Strongarm noticed from the screen that her team tried to follow, but the door was closed to them.
"Huh?"
::Strongarm! Nightra isn't...:: Bee tried to call before Nightra cut off the Communication.
"Why would you seal off the cargo bay and cut off communications?" Strongarm asked.
"Well, we can't just let Blastwave escape, right? And we sure don't want him callin' for backup." Nightra said.
"Cargo jettison procedure initiated. Vacating cargo bay in three cycles." The console said.
"What are you doing? My team is still in there!"
"STRONGARM, LISTEN.........NIGHTRA IS NOT A BOUNTY HUNTER!" Nova yelled.
Strongarm was surprised that Nova yelled, but it didn't take long to realize what she tried to say and what was going
"You played us. You haven't changed at all, have you? You still only care about yourself." Strongarm said Nightra.
"Oh, I a whiny loser to the best thief in the galaxy," Nightra said.
"Blastwave is the bounty hunter, isn't he? You're the criminal. Stop the countdown. Now!" Strongarm said and prepared her weapon.
But Nightra only grabs the control chip to disable the console.
"Oopsie!"
Novaa gasped on that. If the console doesn't work the cargo door will open and everyone would fall to Earth.
"Give me that command chip," Strongarm said.
Nightra didn't do it but instead activated the light-bender to disappear.
"I love this gadget! No wonder Blastwave chased me halfway across the galaxy for stealing it, heh." Nightra said before she showed up at front of Strongarm, but turns out it was a decoy and real one kicked her to the console. "Decoy function. You like? How does it feel to you? Gettin' kicked to the curb by someone you thought was a friend?" she said before disappeared again.
"I was your friend, Nightra. I tried to help you by not taking the fall for what you did. I hoped it would set you straight, but you made your own bad choices." Strongarm said.
"So did you, Regs. Now your friends are gonna take the fall, 6000 methanometers straight to Earth!"
"Not even I have something to say about it!" Nova stretched her hand, causing her staff to appear.
"Wow..." Nightra only managed to say.
"You may become a thief, you may trick us, But You made one fatal mistake. NEVER! MESS! WITH! MY! FRIENDS! AND! FAMILY!" Nova shouted before pointed her staff where Nightra truly was even if she was invisible.
"H-how...?"
"I may not see you, but I can sense your energon," Nova said before fliess to Strongarm. "I'll work as your eyes till we find a way to stop her."
"So, you came to Earth to just to get rid of Blastwave?" Strongarm asked. "Or was it the opposite?"
"Maybe," Nightra said. "I figured, if I could get Miss Goody Two-Treads to fight the big, bad bounty hunter, I could get rid of at least one of ya. But this..." she said while made many decoys of herself surrounding them."Oh, this is even better!"
"That Lightbender really is a cool piece of tech but what if there's no light to bend?" Strongarm said before aims to the lamp on the roof. Soon as lights were out, Nightra's decoys started to vanish one by one, until there was the only one left which got hit on her face.
Nova said, with an impressed look, "Nice one, Strongarm."
"Hey, Regs, gotcha! This-this was just a joke. Like, back in the Academy, 'member? Like, you and me, goofin' around" Nightra tried to defend until Strongarm placed stasis cuffs on her.
"You're going down, perp. No joke." Strongarm said to her.
"Looks like you made the biggest bad choice by choosing to come here," Nova said.
Right then others came in with Blastwave.
"Here's your fugitive, Blastwave," Strongarm said while brings Nightra in cuffs. "And I believe this belongs to you as well," she said and gave the badge of the bounty hunter. It was obvious to guess Nightra took it from him, to make the impression that she is a good guy.
In the evening everyone returns to base.
"You did well up there, Strongarm. I'm sure it wasn't easy to take down a friend." Bumblebee said.
"Nightra's not my friend anymore. Maybe she never was. Not like all of you, anyway." Strongarm said.
"Even me?" Piper asked.
"Especially you," Strongarm said to her, which Piper smiled.
Nova placed her hand on Strongarm leg as she said, "Hey, at least you have True friends who will always be there for you." which they smiled at each other
"Knock it off! You're getting sappiness all over me." Sideswipe said.
Piper shake her head with amusement while Nova rolled her optics with annoyance.
"Okay, maybe not all of you," Strongarm said.
(A/N Here you go. For now, I need to rest for a bit. All this stress is making me exhausted after doing the quiz. Not to worry, I won't abandoned it so until then I need to take a break for a week.)