Hunt for the Thirteen

Maim

The autobots had expected an injured bot barely clinging to life. They had expected a trap or ambush. They had expected anything under the sun but this.

The signal had lead them into a cave hidden on a cliff side. Sitting calmly on the jutting stone wall was a tusked bot a little shorter than Elita.

She stared down at the autobots impatiently. They had almost missed her, but her brown coloring stood out against the gray cliff.

"Um." Chemico began. "Hi."

The bot didn't respond. She simply glared at them from her perch.

"We are the autobots. I am Optimus Prime. Who are you?"

Nothing. Cheetor and Elita shared a look.

"Autobot, decepticon, or bounty hunter?" Elita called out.

"Is that the only groups our species can be sorted into?" The bot finally spoke.

"The only ones that matter." Elita responded.

"What of our medics, what of our scholars, what of our storytellers, what of are mystics?" The bot questioned.

"All we've got are medics, though Chem is pretty mystical." Elita-1 replied. "She was the apprentice of Alpha Trion."

It was well known fact. Before the war, everyone on Cybertron had known of the gladiator Trion had taken under his wing. No, not Megatron, though he did study under him.

Chemico had learned all the secrets even Prime wasn't told. At least the ones Trion was willing to share.

"Chemico, ex-gladitor of the Revithen pits, spark sister if the decepticon commander Nightra, cityspeaker of Iaconous." The bot said.

Chemico looked to the ground. "Yes."

"You have many more titles."

"Sparkeater, to name one." Chem tried to joke.

"Sparkeaters are wonderful creatures. Unless you have a spark."

The autobots couldn't tell if she was joking.

"And who are you?" Cheetor spoke.

The bot eyes him, as if seeing him for the first time.

"We are the same." She spoke as she jumped down from her perch. The ground shook with her landing.

The autobots noticed her ensignia; it wasn't autobot, decepticon, maximal, predicon, or even the symbol of criminals.

It was a plain grey circle, filled with thirteen tiny dots in a circle. And in each tiny dot there were even tinier symbols which were so small they couldn't read. In the center, there was, if all things, a picture of earth and cybertron.

"I am Maim." The bot introduced herself. "A Beast-former under Onyx Prime until his death. I am the Guardian of the relics of the 13 primes."

"And I come to join you. And to ask for your help by helping you."