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“Come on,” the femme said softly, urging her companion back to his feet. “It’s just a little further to Iacon. We’ll be safe there.”
The mech’s optics flickered as he looked at her, before settling into to their dimmest setting. “Don’t think I’m gonna make it. Better to go on without me.”
“No. I’m not leaving you out here. Not now, not ever.” She slid an arm around his waist, holding him up as best she could. “We left Kaon together and we’ll get into Iacon together.”
He draped an arm weakly across her shoulders, leaning far too much of his weight on her lighter frame, and pressed a kiss to her cheek plates. “Should have known you’d never give up on me. You always have been too stubborn for that.”
“You’re darn right I am.” Carefully, she began guiding him forward. “I can see the perimeter guard from here. We’re going to make it.”
“Course we are. You’re too strong for anything else.” He staggered along beside her, doing his best to ignore his falling fuel levels and the error reports piling up on his display. He focused only on putting one foot in front of the other, trusting the femme to lead him to safety.
“They’ve seen us,” the femme told him. “The guards have their weapons drawn now, but it doesn’t look like they’re pointing at us yet.”
He nodded, to tired and too damaged to do more than that, and kept moving with her.
She led them on a few steps further before stopping. He could just make out the sound of an energy barrier crackling across the field, blocking their path forward. The mech did his best not to make the defeated sound that wanted to come bursting out of his vocalizer.
“State your designation and authorization code,” an unknown mech called out to them.
Now he did groan in dismay. Everyone in Kaon knew that the Prime would accept refugees from anywhere, but no one knew about any authorization codes. They were so close, and now they would be turned away before his companion could ever taste freedom.
“Chromia and Ironhide of K-- of Cybertron. We are neutrals seeking asylum in Iacon.” Her statement was bold, like the rest of her, and he was proud even if he knew it would be futile. “Please, we require medical assistance.”
There was some murmured speaking after her words, voices too far away and too muted for him to make out with all the extraneous data his sensors were being flooded with. He just hoped they would let her in; fire like hers deserved to burn brightly, not be beaten away in the depths of Kaon.
“But Prime!” the first voice rose in protest as he heard the energy shield collapse.
“They’re letting us in!” the femme whispered triumphantly. “They’re letting us in!”
“Freedom is the right of all, Red Alert,” a second, much deeper voice intoned. “Welcome to Iacon, friends.”
They staggered over the border between Kaon and Iacon, too exhausted to be properly joyful. The energy barrier snapped up behind them, cutting them off from their past.
It didn’t matter. They were together and they were free.