Hope's Return

Stormy Seas

Even at full throttle,  they soon left the rest of the rescue team behind. Dipping through a patch of clouds, Cody and Hope could see High Tide's boat below. There was clear evidence of an attack on the ship but no sign of the creature that had caused it.

While flying closer to get a better look, they were greeted by a blast from the ship's weapons. Dodging the fire, Hope retaliated with a fire bolt of her own. Landing on the deck, her scales hankled with anger as she advanced on the purple mech behind the cannon.

"Stop Hope! It's okay Blurr, she's on our side."

"Cody? What in Primus's name are you doing riding a predacon?!"

Hope hissed through her denta before addressing the mech who shot at them.

"I am NOT a predacon you daft idiot!"

"I would certainly say not!" came a voice from behind them.

They turned to see an old blue and yellow mech.

"Lady Hope, is that truly you? We thought you were one with the All Spark."

"Hello old friend, it is good to see you again."

"That was always Optimus's line. I suppose it's only fitting to hear you say it now."

Hope chuckled in response and lightly helm butted the old mech. She turned and jerked her snout towards the other mech.

"Got a new crew? I'd watch him around the weaponry,  can't tell a friendly from a hostile."

The mech in question stormed over to them.

"Hello? Big scary dragon? How did you expect me to react?" all the while gesturing to Hope's body.

"Maybe you better let me down Hope."

Her scales rippled as she shrugged but she gently plucked Cody from her back and handed him to Blurr.

"Protect him with your spark or you'll have to deal with me and I'm scarier then any other creature you might encounter."

Turning away from Blurr, she fought off a wave of irritation.  It took a lot to get under her scales but that mech had succeeded.  Out of the corner of her optic, she watched a lime green and yellow mech approach her and High Tide.

"Captain High Tide and lady? There's no further sign of the monster on the scanner."

In a side whisper, Hope spoke to High Tide.

"I like this one. He's polite."

Her comment evoked a snort from High Tide but he nodded in agreement.

"Salvage tends to be well spoken unlike race car over there."

"What did the creature look like?"

"It resembled a mythological creature these humans call a Kraken. It attacked my ship with its tentacles before slipping back into the waters shortly before you arrived. "

That explained Blurr's reaction to their arrival. Any bot would be trigger happy if one monster disappeared and suddenly another appeared within minutes. Still she mused, the unexpected attack had been aggravating.

Growling a little, she decided that she needed to cut him a little slack but oh how it grated to admit that her anger was somewhat misplaced.

Her answer was redirected to Cody as he came running up to her.

"Hope! My family's boat is being attacked! We need to help them!"

High Tide moved to a nearby console.

"Setting a course to their coordinates."

The mighty engines roared before a chain of explosions rocked the ship. High Tide struck the console in frustration. 

"Blasted engines! The creature's attack disabled them! There's no way we'll reach them in time!"

"Oh yes we will or rather Blurr and I will."

The bot in question stared at her in shock.

"Stop staring like a deranged scraplet and climb on. We have a rescue team to save!"

When Blurr continued to stare, she heaved a sigh and ran towards him. Before he could escape, he found himself flying through the air and landing safely on her back.

"Catch up if you can!" she yelled as they soared off into the sky, Blurr clinging on in terror.

They watched as Hope flew off with Blurr in tow before the old mech let out a chuckle. Both Cody and Salvage turned to stare at him.

"You should have seen it the first time she did the same thing to Optimus. By Primus,  now there's a femme with spirit!"

***********

Within minutes,  Hope had the rest of the team in view. The Burns family's boat was being rocked by several tentacles. Despite all their efforts, it was slowly being torn apart.

Thankfully all of the humans were safely inside their partners compartments but even that wouldn't keep them safe for long if the monster got them in its tentacles.

She saw a tentacle heading for Heatwave's turned back. Folding her wings inward, she streaked downwards letting Blurr slide off and onto the deck.  Just as it reached him, it was snagged in her claws and jerked back.

Heatwave turned in time to see a flash of silver before the metal tentacle was tore apart by the huge dragon they had seen earlier.

"Need some help?"

A voice rang out from his compartment.

"Dragon lady for the win!"

"Shut up Kade!"

The sea began to churn and the team watched in horror as the Kraken monster showed itself in its entirety. Seven 25ft tentacles moved slowly onto the ship and a mouth full of razor sharp knives opened as it began to engulf the front of the boat.

Blurr joined the rest of the bots as they moved to the stern of the boat and stared at the oncoming doom.

"Hope can you fly us all out?"

"I can do one better, hold onto something."

Launching herself towards the Kraken, she concentrated on a shield aimed directly at the gleaming maw. Colliding with the creature, she pushed it down into the water.

Now back in its element, the Kraken moved to surround her form. As it wrapped itself around in an attempt to crush her, it was greeted with it's own limbs melting in the blazing fire Hope had become.

Her form shifting from dragon to bot, Hope opened her optics and looked into the Kraken's face. The computer inside was able to transmit one last image to its creator before the heat melted its circuits. Now no more then lifeless metal, it sank to the bottom of the sea.