I had left the prison area of my ship and headed for one of the smaller vessels in the hangar, a hand landed on my shoulder from behind and stopped me. I turned and saw it was my "mother", I frowned and went to turn away. But she got in my way.

"Spring, PLEASE let me explain. I'm not leaving you alone until you listen." She crossed her arms.

"FINE. But make it quick." I growled.

"I may not be your real mother, but I cared for you just like you were my own. Springbonnie too. I only said those things back on your father's ship because I was forced to...and I'm so sorry I didn't protect you that day they came. I honestly didn't know what they were, nor that they were coming for you. The second they came I should've rushed home to get you and your father to safety..." Her eyes were filled with regret.

I felt my heart sink in my chest, full of guilt for how mad I was at her.

"But, how did you end up on that vessel?" I ask.

"They found me right after you were taken away. They saw the similarities between you, Springbonnie and I, and decided to take me and your adoptive father as well." She sighed.

"They took him dead?" I asked.

She nodded, "They still have his body on the ship somewhere..."

"Oh...I see. Well I'm very busy right now, I'm headed for Cybertron to find someone. Tell Nightmare that he is in charge until I return." I told her as I chose which scout ship I'm taking.

"Be careful..." I heard her whisper.

I nodded towards her and entered the ship. I entered the cockpit of the scout vessel and took a seat, typing in the coordinates for Cybertron. I've been there a few times, but only because it was for business and supplies. My supplier, Daytrader, lives on the planet very close to the Sea of Rust. Where NightShade should be. At least I hope Lockdown wasn't lying, or trying to lead me into a Decepticon trap. I started the ship and felt it lift off the floor, I then thrust the controls forward and flew out of the ship.

~Nightmare~

I gathered everyone into the meeting room, including Springlocks mother. Everyone took a seat and paid attention to me, staying silent. I cleared my throat.

"Now that I have your attention, I have been informed that Commander Springlock has gone to find someone who can be a valuable ally." I spoke.

"We saw her today walking through the corridors, WITHOUT her mask on...She's the one that the Decepticons are after!" Scraptrap said.

A gasp came from almost every crew member, all but Lefty and Ennard. They had seen her without her mask when they helped rescue her.

"Indeed she is. Just like all of you, I only recently became aware of who she really is." I said.

"She's played us all as fools for years! She probably never cared for any of us, it was all just a charade to keep herself out of the spotlight!" Scraptrap argued.

The crew began murmuring among themselves, Scraptrap was trying to turn everyone against their commander!

"ENOUGH! If Springlock didn't care, she wouldn't have given ANY of you a home here. She EASILY could've left you all behind to rot, but she didn't. I wouldn't be here if she hadn't given me a second chance at life. So tell me, do you still think that she doesn't care?" I growled.

Everyone went silent, Scraptrap looked furious but he shut his mouth.

"With that said, we are headed to her home world of Haven. For we are in for the biggest battle of our lives, the Decepticons have turned it into a Cybertronian mineral deposit and have constructed a fortress. We shall arrive there within a span of 3 to 5 days, since we are light years away from it." I told.

Everyone nodded in understanding.

"You are all dismissed and may go about your business. But be sure you are prepared for the battle." I announced.

The crew left the meeting room.

~Springlock~

After 3 hours, I had Cybertron in my sights. My map was blinking at one specific set of coordinates, that must be where I'm going. I pilot my scout ship towards the coordinates, entering the planet's atmosphere. This planet looks very lively, although I'm not surprised. But where I'm headed looks almost deserted and is a deep rust red. So I see why it's called the 'Sea of Rust'. Makes perfect sense. But what DOESN'T make sense is why NightShade would reside here, she's usually peppy when she wasn't protecting me.

I landed the ship just before the ground started to fade into the rust red. I exited the ship and noticed that there was a place that looked like a bar, it IS on the edge of the Sea of Rust. Perhaps I should look in there. But I'll be recognized without my mask, perhaps there is something in the scout ship I could use as a disguise. I went back in to look for a disguise of some sort, looking in a chest near the exit.

I dug through the chest and found a black cloak that was my size, perfect. I sIipped the hood over my head and bunny ears, the cloak covering the rest of my body other than my tail. I exited the ship yet again and headed towards the bar. I pushed the doors open slowly and took one step in, and I immediately want to leave.

I saw several Decepticons that I knew and had dealt with in the past. I saw Grinder/Blackout, Barricade, Sideways, Steeljaw, Thunderhoof, and Fracture. I swallowed nervously as I stepped towards the bar area. I took a seat upon one of the empty stools at the near empty bar, the bartender coming over.

"What'll it be, stranger?" He asked.

"What do you have?" I asked.

"Energon. Synthetic, Regular, and Red." He said.

"Then I'll take red." I put my now grey hands with sharp red claws on the bar.

The bartender nodded and went to fix my request. I snuck a quick look around as I noticed the Decepticons were looking at me strangely. I'm starting to regret coming in here, for it was a terrible mistake. Grinder stood up and came up behind me slowly. I paid him no attention as he stood RIGHT behind me.

"You look familiar..." He said with his deep raspy voice.

"Oh I can assure you, you don't know me." I growled without looking at the con behind me. The bartender gave me the red energon.

"That VOICE." Grinder grabbed my stool and spun me towards him.

He pulled my hood off and my face was revealed along with my bunny ears. Every single Decepticon optic was on me in an instant, noticing who I really was. Grinder had a smug look on his faceplates, like he was up to something. I'm sure he is. I couldn't show ANY fear to him, so I picked up my glass of energon and took a sip.

"Well well, it seems that the stranger is the fugitive that disappeared years ago. How foolish of her to show up in Decepticon territory." Grinder grabbed my wrist and pulled me from my seat, somehow NOT spilling my drink.

"Ey-o! She's worth big bucks so be gentle with the prize." Thunderhoof stood up with a grin.

"You're coming with us, sweetheart~." Grinder teased.

Thunderhoof grabbed my other wrist and held it tight, causing me to drop the glass. I growled and pulled against them as hard as I could, only they're much bigger and stronger than me. They moved their hands to my upper arms and lifted, my feet now dangling above the ground.

"Put me down you motherfuckers!" I yelled then kicked Thunderhoof in the chest, causing him to let go.

He fell to the floor with a loud "oof". Grinder squeezed my arm as hard as he could.

I heard the doors to the bar open, another cloaked figure walked in and nothing could be seen of their body. Grinder looked at the cloaked figure with a look of hate. I could see the figures eyes glowing from under their hood. One was red, the other was bright blue. Eyes just like mine.

"Put her down, Grinder." The figure growled with a familiar voice.

It was NightShade.