And a Star to Steer her by

Chapter 2

"Well, this is it." Jack stood near the base's main gate with his arm around Arcee's human-size doppelganger and waited for the rest of the others to arrive. "Our vacation's officially started. A whole week off -- well, assuming we don't get brought back to deal with any new Decepticon shenanigans."

"They've been quiet for the past few months, though I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. But let's try to enjoy the time off while it lasts. The new ship will probably be ready for its shakedown cruise by the time we get back, and that'll lead to months or even years of kicking ass and being shot at."

"Yeah. Well, we'll be saving the world, maybe even the whole galaxy, so it's for a good cause."

"That's the spirit." She grinned and leaned over to kiss him. "Which is quite a change from the day we met."

He laughed. "Yeah. Amazing how much can change in less than a year. Seven or eight months? Something like that. When I first stumbled into this mess, I wanted nothing to do with it, but now I'm all-in."

He noticed a rhythmic vibration in the ground and turned as it quickly grew into titanic footsteps. He waved at Arcee's full-size body as she crossed the parking lot with Tomoko beside her. Tomoko carried Raf in one hand and her human-size Pretender body in the other, so she smiled instead of waving back.

Still wearing that holographic costume. Adorable. He grinned at the Thirteenth Doctor outfit Tomoko had projected around herself -- complete with blond hair in the proper style. She'd tried it out on Halloween and hadn't stopped "wearing" it since. Her mini-me had the same outfit with a red fez added on.

Jack turned at the rumble of another engine and found Ashanti's Humvee driving up. Bulkhead's Pretender body and Miko leaned out the windows and waved. He was still recovering from the damage he'd taken in the raid on the Nemesis months ago and couldn't leave the repair bay yet, but at least he could send his mini-me along with his bestie.

"Hey, guys." Ashanti grinned and pointed a thumb over her shoulder at Miko and Bulkhead. "Just giving Cheech and Chong a lift to Jasper."

Both of her passengers snickered.

"Cool. We're waiting for Mom and Clay, then we're heading out together." Jack nodded at Arcee waiting in her motorcycle form behind him and her human-sized body.

Tomoko placed Raf and her Pretender body gently on the ground, then she deactivated the holographic costume and transformed into her helicopter mode. Her smaller body clasped Raf's hand.

"You two look hot to trot." Miko winked at Raf and he blushed.

"I can't wait to meet the rest of Raf's family." Tomoko fired off a huge smile. "I'm so glad they like me, after hearing what Miko's host mother said about us and Arcee and Jack."

"She's another reason I want to go on the mission when the ship's finished." Miko rolled her eyes. "I know she doesn't mean to be an asshole about all this, but the way she acts definitely makes me want to get as far away from her as I can."

"She'll change her mind once you help save the whole galaxy," Bulkhead said.

"Maybe. The important thing is to just get the job done."

Jack nodded and glanced over his shoulder at the sound of another car. Clay drove up to the gate in "The Turd" and Jack's mom waved from the passenger seat.

"Hey, guys." She leaned over to smile out the window at her son and his girlfriend. "Couldn't wait to head out, huh?"

"Jack had everything packed last night." Arcee pointed at his backpack, then something in the distance caught her attention and she waved at the approaching car resembling the X80 Proto from Grand Theft Auto Online. It slowed to a stop, the driver-side window rolled down, and Sierra rested her arm on the edge. Smokescreen's Pretender body sat in the passenger seat, hunched over to fit.