Chapter 11

(Decepticon Base)

Starscream, his new mate, and the trine all stood in the throne room, noting a certain destruction about the place. Even as their optics landed on their less than pleased masters.

"You fail me yet again, Starscream! You were given a chance to redeem yourself in our optics, and you failed!" Megatron snarled, lunging at the flier and beating on him. There was no telling how bad it would have gotten if the Fallen hadn't stopped him, but seeing the look in those ancient optics, Starscream immediately found himself wishing the Fallen hadn't interfered.

"Perhaps he needs something taken from him, to help him remain focused, for future endevors." The Fallen's optics had landed on DarkFire, who cringed back from the leer in them.

"NO!" Starscream shrieked immediately, vaguely noting Brawl's offlined body, a massive hole still smoking in his chest.

Even Soundwave and Shockwave looked relatively startled by this turn of events. The Fallen reached for DarkFire and Starscream snarled, getting in front of her and struggling to protect what was his.

"You will not touch her! She belongs to me!" He roared angrily.

"You dare try to stop me when I am enforcing punishments?" The Fallen roared right back, slashing his claws at Starscream and knocking the bot to the side as his chest plates were torn badly.

His trine mates called to him in shock as their leader was sent flying, and Skywarp stepped forward. "Leave them alone!" He growled, as DarkFire attempted to reach for her mate.

"Starscream!"

However, Megatron had enough failure, and definitely had other ideas for her. He grabbed her, forcing a startled cry from her.

"No!" She struggled against him, terrified, and for a brief moment, she found herself understanding just what Becca must have felt. Her anger and betrayal she felt for her friend began to immediately fade in the place of the look she was receiving from the Decepticon commander. She couldn't fight him off, however, with her fear.

"You're coming with me, femme." He snarled.

Starscream lay on the ground, held down by the Fallen, as Megatron dragged her out of the room. "No! Let her go!" He shouted, before screaming in pain as the Fallen began beating on him, and his trine.

(Several Hours Later)

Starscream and his trine were lying on the ground, severely injured, when suddenly Megatron returned. DarkFire was with him and crying. He pushed her into the room, and she landed on the floor, curling up. Her armor was dented and energon seeped from wounds, but the look in her optics was haunted.

Starscream was beyond enraged. They were Decepticons but this went far beyond anything he'd ever considered Megatron capable of. Suddenly he realized that perhaps Barricade wasn't such a traitor to run off. He was protecting his mate, as Starscream himself should have done.

Hurting a femme was wrong, and even he knew that. What kind of monster had Megatron become?

Megatron and the Fallen left with choruses of laughter and a muttered 'lesson learned', and he crawled over to his mate, gently pulling her shaking form into his arms. "DarkFire?"

"Starscream..." She whimpered, shaking. "Now I know how Becca felt."

Starscreams' energon boiled, and he almost recoiled, remembering how he'd helped Megatron force himself on the femme. Certainly, he'd thought Becca only needed time to come around, but now he felt no better than his leader.

Shockwave and Soundwave exchanged a look, both displeased. They realized that Decepticons had changed. They had their views, and they wouldn't always match the Autobots, but Megatron had become a true monster, not a befitting leader for good and proud warriors to follow.

Blackout and Grindor nodded as well, seeing the looks and agreeing with them. They'd all had enough. This was too far, and if allowed, would only continue. How many femmes would Megatron defile?

"We have a huge problem." Blackout hissed grimly.

Soundwave nodded, calmly. "Problem has solution."

"Which is?" Grindor asked impatiently.

"Solution: Join Autobots. Stop Megatron and the Fallen."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Though they loathed the idea of joining their enemies, it was better than remaining here, and degrading themselves to monsters, like their leaders.

"Contact Barricade, Screamer." Skywarp hissed, standing slowly with Thundercracker's help.

Starscream nodded and winced from the pain, even as Blackout helped him and DarkFire to stand as well. "Alright."

The Fallen had done a true number on him and his trine, but at least their wings would still carry them.

(Outside the Autobot Base)

Crystal and the twins stood outside, trying to find a suitable vehicle form for their mate, as Barricade stood to the side with his mate, having her find one as well. Crystal immediately locked eyes on the first car, which appeared to be a combination of the twins' alternate forms, even as Sunny scrunched up his face at the blue color.

Transforming for the first time, she changed the colors to yellow with silver trim, and was pleased by it. Even their own looks showed they liked the new colors.

"What do you think?"

"Perfect!" They exclaimed happily.

Vicky chose a cruiser to match her own mate, which Barricade smirked about as he taught her how to transform, and all the ins and outs about her new life now. When she transformed back into her robotic form, he leaned in for a kiss.

"It suits you."

She smirked. "So do you." Then she transformed again and pulled quick circles around him, causing Barricade to chuckle.

However, the fun and games were quickly ended as Optimus came out with Becca and the other Autobots. "The second team is arriving and Becca has graciously told me of quite a few other human femmes who seem to care a great deal for certain Autobots, so she will be helping the rest of you to find possible mates. The sooner we have found our mates, the sooner we can leave Earth and return to our new home."

Becca was quickly taught the ins and outs as well, to use a holographic form, and then was given detailed information about the types of mates the other bots wanted. Then Becca recruited Crystal to help a well, as the main team of Autobots went to meet the second team.

The bots that stayed behind quickly volunteered to help find their prospective mates as well, but as Becca laid eyes on Vicky, she paused.

"Give us a second, guys." He murmured, still trying to get used to the fact the others were beginning to accept her. She walked over to Vicky and smiled. "Hey, cop car looks good on you." She spoke nervously, before sighing. "Look, Vicky, I owe you an apology. They were real. You were right all along, and I was wrong."

"We were both wrong." Crystal added, walking over to them.

But Vicky's optics were on her mate, who was frowning with concern.

Barricade was distracted, having received an unusual commlink from Starscream, who sounded shockingly desperate.

::Barricade, we need Prime's help! Megatron went slagging nuts!:: Barricade would have rolled his optics, except for the story that followed. It sounded fragging insane, with the Fallen beating them, killing his troops unnecessarily, and then Megatron forcing himself on DarkFire, except... The latter had happened before.

His optics shot to Becca briefly, noting all three femmes were watching him warily.

::Please, we need sanctuary and medical assistance. We have several 'Cons more than ready to join the Autobots, but Prime is the only one capable of stopping the Fallen.::

And there was the point of the message. Barricade cringed and turned to the nearby Autobots. ::Hold on, I'll ask.:: He relayed the message, and waited as Jazz stiffened and immediately transferred the message straight to Prime.

::Prime, come in. It's Jazz.::

::Go ahead, Jazz.::

::Starscream has apparently sent a frantic message to Barricade.:: The Solstice sent the message file over the commlink. ::He says Megatron and the Fallen have lost it, forcing themselves on femmes, and beating and killing his troops for seemingly no reason.::

There was only a second of silence, before an explosion of rage over the commlink.

::That slagging piece of scrap metal!::

::They wish sanctuary and medical assistance, sir.::

::Tell Barricade to allow it.::

Jazz was a little uncertain and hesitated. Was it really good to have so many former enemies around? ::Sir? Are you sure?::

::If it makes you feel more comfortable, make sure there are Autobots around them at all times, but affirmative. Allow it.::

::Got it.:: Jazz nodded to Barricade, who immediately transferred the message to Starscream, along with the coordinates to the base. ::I hope you're right, sir. Jazz out.::

The 'Cons reached the base before Optimus and the others, and there was no denying their words. The Seeker Trine was badly beaten, and almost collapsed upon arrival, and seeing DarkFire's shape, Becca's spark pulled at her.

"Emma..." She whispered sadly.

Starscream shakily pulled Becca to the side, moving carefully so as not to frighten her, and began apologizing for his hand in what happened. He explained his reasoning, which made a startling amount of sense to Becca, who only shook her head.

"You thought I was just being stubborn, that I'd come around and come to love him." She mused, more to herself than him. "Not likely, but I can see your reasoning. Plus, he's the Decepticon leader, and gave you an order." She shook her head again, sighing. "I forgive you, Starscream."

He nodded, a truly grateful look crossing his optics, even as Emma whimpered and walked over to Becca, to being her own apologies.

(Three Days Later)

The femmes had successfully returned with mates for literally every bot. Apparently Becca's connections ran deeper than anyone thought. Some of the 'Cons had been hard to find mates for, but she managed to pull it off.

They started with talking to the girls, explaining everything to them, then revealing themselves as they needed to. The girls were overjoyed to find their fandom was real, and for the most part were happy to come be mates to the mechs. There were reluctant ones, who were sworn to secrecy and left be, however.

Once they returned, the mechs were shocked to see all the femmes, and all the human girls were even more overjoyed to meet the mechs of their dreams in person. Even as Ratchet got down to work on the transformations, Optimus pulled Becca aside, and held her lovingly in his arms.

"I'm very proud of you. You worked hard and found mates for everyone. Very impressive." Optimus praised, kissing her.

She smiled into the kiss. "You gave me an order, and I obeyed. Of course I have no problems obeying my leader's orders." She teased, kissing him back.

He hummed. "Mmmm, so glad." Suddenly, he pulled away and snarled, and Becca's optics widened in terror at the sound of Megatron's voice bellowing out.

The Autobots all grouped up immediately, standing defensively in front of their femmes, and Megatron was beyond infuriated when he saw his former warriors also joining the Autobots, weapons raised against him.

"You dare turn weapons on me, and you dare side with my brother? How dare you?" He snarled.

The Fallen didn't even spare the time to snarl, before he launched himself at Prime. The two grappled, with Prime immediately and happily taking up the battle.

"WHERE IS THAT FEMME?" Megatron looked around, spotting all the bots and most of the femmes. "WHERE IS BECCA?" He spotted her, and sneered evilly, causing her to gasp in fright as she, and a still shaken DarkFire backed away.

As if knowing what was happening, Optimus quickly managed to take control of the battle with the Fallen. He slammed his fist into the Fallen's chest plates, ripping out his spark, before grabbing his head and ripping the bot's face off in a quick, vicious movement.

"Give me your face!" He snarled, dangling most of the Fallen's head from his energon-coated hand. Then he turned to Megatron, who watched as Optimus threw the Fallen's head to the side, like it was nothing.

"It's done, Megatron! This war ends now!" Optimus yelled, rushing at the Decepticon leader.

"No, it will end with your death!" Megatron snarled back, raising his fusion cannon. Even as Optimus skidded to a stop, Megatron raised and aimed his weapon for Prime's spark.

A shot rang out, and all the bots glanced to Optimus, who stood, shocked. It was Megatron who lurched, looking down at his chest plates with disbelief, before his rapidly dimming optics lifted to find a certain blue and red femme, aiming her smoking cannon at his chest.

Becca didn't look afraid anymore. She looked angry, protective, and she stared at the hole in Megatron's chest, even as the Decepticon pitched over, offlined.

"Nobody messes with my mech." She growled, causing everyone to shoot her a shock, impressed look, even Ironhide.

"I think your bodyguard job has just been reclaimed." Magnus whispered to Ironhide, as she walked over to Prime and kissed him.

They cheered then, as the larger mechs disposed of the bodies so no humans would ever find them. Then they went back to making sure all the femmes got transformed, and began learning about their prospective mates. Once all were accounted for, Optimus smiled.

"Alright bots. It's time to go home." He contacted the Ark, a massive, cloaked ship that landed in a clearing nearby. Everyone boarded on it, the femmes with only a last look at their former home, before they left, heading to their new home, and their new lives.

And their lives would be peaceful and prosperous, with the war finally at an end.