Love in the Stars

Chapter 6

On the Moon, the Decepticon base was filled with the sounds of machinery and the low hum of repairs. Tidal Wave and Megatron were both undergoing much-needed tune-ups after their defeat at the hands of the Requiem Blaster. The massive Decepticon warrior, Tidal Wave, stood silent as drones worked on patching up his armor and recalibrating his weapons systems. Megatron, however, was far from silent. His optics blazed with fury as he sat, arms crossed, while the repair drones buzzed around him.

"How could this have happened?" Megatron growled, his deep voice echoing through the base. "The power of the Requiem Blaster should have been ours!"

Thrust, standing nearby, tried to keep his usual calm, calculating demeanor. "Lord Megatron, the Autobots were simply lucky. They cannot fully control the power of the Space Mini-Con Team. We still have time to regain the advantage."

Megatron's optics narrowed at Thrust, clearly unimpressed with the tactician's attempt to downplay the defeat. "Luck had nothing to do with it, Thrust. The Autobots have become too powerful, and now they have the Requiem Blaster in their possession."

Thrust nodded, trying to remain composed. "We will find another way to counter them, Lord Megatron. The Autobots may be strong, but they are also divided in their approach to the Mini-Cons. That is something we can use to our advantage."

Megatron leaned back, his optics glowing dangerously. "Then you had better hope you're right, Thrust. Or I'll be looking for a new tactician."

Meanwhile, back at the Autobot base, tensions were running high. The Autobots had gathered in the command room for a heated debate, and at the center of it was the Space Mini-Con Team and their future role in the battle against the Decepticons.

Optimus Prime stood at the head of the room, his expression firm but conflicted. "I understand the power that the Requiem Blaster holds, but I am not comfortable using the Space Mini-Cons as weapons. They've made it clear they don't want to fight."

Jetfire crossed his arms, frustration evident on his face. "Optimus, I get it. But if we don't use the power of the Requiem Blaster, the Decepticons will keep coming after us, and eventually, they'll win. We have a chance to stop this war, once and for all."

Hot Shot nodded in agreement. "Jetfire's right. If we use the Requiem Blaster, we could destroy the Decepticons in one shot. Why hesitate?"

Optimus's optics narrowed as he turned toward them. "Because if we force the Mini-Cons to fight, we are no better than the Decepticons. We have always fought for freedom, and that includes the freedom of the Mini-Cons to choose their own path."

Red Alert, always the voice of caution, stepped forward. "Optimus is right. We can't force them to fight if they don't want to. The power of the Requiem Blaster is immense, but we must respect the Mini-Cons' autonomy."

Before the argument could continue, Smokescreen's voice crackled over the comm. "Uh, guys? We've got a problem. The Mini-Cons are missing, and so are the kids."

The moon hung high over the Earth, casting a soft glow on the Autobot base, which was bustling with activity as the Autobots tried to track down the missing kids and Mini-Cons. The heated debate from earlier had subsided as the more pressing issue of the kids' disappearance took over. Jetfire stood among the other Autobots, tension radiating off him. His optics scanned the monitors, his mind racing with a million thoughts, but one was paramount—Cassie.

The knowledge that she had been with the kids when they took the Mini-Cons filled him with a gnawing worry. But as much as he wanted to fly out and search for her himself, there was one critical obstacle in his way—his alternate mode. He was a space shuttle, designed for long-distance space travel, not for low-altitude, quick-response searches on Earth. His size and speed were great advantages in space, but here, they made him ineffective for ground-level search missions.