" Ｈｅ Ｗｈｏ Ｉｓ Ｆｉｘｅｄ Ｔｏ Ａ Ｓｔａｒ

Ｄｏｅｓ Ｎｏｔ Ｃｈａｎｇｅ Ｈｉｓ Ｍｉｎｄ．"

"Their ship remains cloaked, but Spyglass detected it not long ago."

"They're closer to the base then they should be."

"Which is where you come in - work quickly, work efficiently - "

Gripping the controls to the pod they were in, she stared intently out the front windshield. "And destroy anything that gets in my way."

_____________________________________________________

":: Stratus Prime, do you read me? ::" Megatron's voice rang through the comms system.

"Loud and clear." She replied, half-wishing she couldn't.

"Good. Then proceeded with the mission." He said before ending the com line.

Stratus moved forward in her jet-mode through space, the vastness of it enveloping her as she drowned in her own thoughts. This was surely a suicide mission and she was even more sure that Megatron had assigned her this task because they lacked a medic and it was the easiest way to rid of her, their most dangerous autobot adversary. Because Spyglass could be killed easily, she was sure.

"Approaching the ship." She stated through the comms. Who else had known of her mission? She knew Barricade had waved her off, but what about the others? Well, maybe all she needed was Barricade. He was her friend after all and honestly it was nice to have a friend amongst all the chaos.

Rounding the astroids surrounding a desolate planet, she came across one of her recent nightmares. The large gunmetal grey ship illuminated in the vacuum of space by the distant stars. The circular model only familiar to her classes in the academy. This could not have been worse.

"Quintesson ship spotted." She spoke through the comms, her voice nearly shaking. This was suicide.

Going in alone to sabotage the Quintesson ship was bound to end in her death, but the Quintessons had been a terrible enemy to Cybertron for generations. Even before the great war! They had crossed into Autobot territory and she was called to dish out the repercussions of doing so. It had been a deliberate show of rebellion against the treaties made eons ago and Megatron was sure of it.

How he could be so sure of it was a mystery, but she followed her orders anyways. She had lost and she would not say a word that went outside their deal. She would honor his conditions, that much was certain. ":: Approach with caution and follow the outline of the ship to their engine room. Kill anyone who gets in your way, but do it silently. ::" Megatron's words made her feel more and more like a Decepticon and it made her tanks twist and turn.

"Yes, sir." Her voice was strained as she entered through an opening between the ventilations of the cruiser, the security passing by her stealth technology.

She transformed, landing as quietly as possible against the metal floors of the Quintesson scouting ship. The ceiling was barely taller than she was, the walls thick with cybermatter. As she pulled up her holographic mapping of the ship, she made her way quickly towards the engine room in the back of the ship.

She finally reached the engine room, 2 guards standing beside the entrance to the fragile compartments. Only after surveying the halls around them and making sure no one would come near for a while, she finally sprung into action.

With her cloaking mechanism still on, she lunged at both guards, making quick work of them. Her blade piercing each one and leading them to their deaths as she crushed their mangled bodies under her pedes. She maneuvered her way over them and used their own hand prints to gain entry into the engine room flawlessly.

She walked through the doorways, watching as the engine pulsed and the dials all around them flew with numbers and pointers. It was almost too dramatic and too easy...

"Don't move." Stratus heard from behind her. She barely looked over her shoulder to see a Quintesson with a large blaster in his hands, the weapon already charged. There was no way that he actually saw past her cloaking device right? "Come out with your hands in the air." That confirmed it.

So she moved her helm from the barrel of the gun and as soon as she unsheathed her blades, she ran them through his chest, cutting him off as soon as he shot at random. The blast landed on one of the engines, how lucky for her. She let the guard's body drop and moved to the weakened piece of the engines, the boiling fuel could be felt from where she was standing. Quickly, she placed and explosive on the engine and handled the dials, turning them as far as they would go. The ship would overheat in no time.

"Mission accomplished, Lord Megatron." She said robotically.

"Then get out of there now." Megatron replied.

She gladly transformed and flew her way out of the ship, knocking over any guards in her way. Blaster fire sounded around her, they were aiming for her invisible figure. One lucky shot managed to disable it, just as she entered one of the docking bays.

"There she is!" Pointed out one of the guards. She rolled to the ground, transforming and turning around.

Pulling out her blade on one hand and a blaster in the other she made quick work on the squadron of 5 in the sealed docking bay. Slashing left and right, careful shots placed at their heads and mid-sections allowed enough time for their back-up to arrive pounding at the bay doors. Unable to waste any more time, she transformed again, taking off and blasting her way though the bay's slightly ajar doors.

Suddenly, a well placed shot got her jet engines. Crying out in pain, she transformed and tumbled through space, blacking out as the sounds of pod's engines came rushing towards her.

_____________________________________________________

"Did you want to take over the crew?"

"Why do you ask?"

"You don't seem like the traitorous type..."

Gripping the controls to the pod they were in, she stared intently out the front windshield. "... No." She replied curtly, his words swirling in her mind.