Speed Demons

A Transformers: Armada Story

By William Rendfeld

From where he was, he could see it all. The numerous racers speeding along the highways and byways below, the wind sweeping over the rocky crags and the constantly shifting sands, the mirages generated by heat and, if he was paying close enough attention, the slipstreams left in the wake of all the speed-obsessed mechs and femmes racing below him.

From his vantage point, Buzzsaw saw little to be impressed by.

Granted, the fact that he transformed into a combat helicopter rather than a sleek roadster set him apart from the rest of Velocitron's population, but he didn't see much point in always racing forward and never looking back. You had to think about where you'd come from, after all – experience taught you everything, and forgetting about what was behind you didn't help in any way to deal with what was in front of you. And while it would occasionally be nice to forget about what you'd been through, sometimes you needed to think about where you'd been and not just where you were going.

Though in this case, where he'd been was of no help whatsoever.

The yellow 'copter hovered low as he closed in on his destination, the downwash from his rotors disturbing the loose particles, but carefully didn't get too close to the scene. A trio of bodies were all partially buried in the sand along with some survey equipment. And all three were clearly dead. He transformed and leaned in close on the nearest corpse without touching anything as standard procedure, as he didn't want the forensics team berating him like the last time he had accidentally contaminated a scene with sending grit flying from his downwash. Emerald optics dimmed slightly as he shook his head, the wind barely brushing away some sand to reveal a Decepticon brand resting on the deceased's chest. "I don't envy you, friend."

"Hey, Buzz. You found anything yet or are you still daydreaming about the old days?"

Then again.

"No daydreaming, Excellion. I think about the old days, I get a reminder of why I work with you now." A very painful reminder, the Decepticon thought to himself. "And I did find something – the survey team, all dead with clear blast points. You'd best send word back to Accel City – we're going to need forensics out here."

"So you guys are the team Optimus has sent to help us out." A smile spread across Override's face as she extended a friendly hand to the young Autobot before her. "Always good to see a new face. Welcome to Velocitron, Hot Shot."

"Thanks." More than a little embarrassment and nervousness was present in the young racer's voice, but he accepted the given hand warmly. "Didn't expect you to welcome us yourself though."

"Considering what's going on and who you were bringing with you, I couldn't think of anyone better to meet you." She turned from the young Autobot and his team to their much smaller human companions and knelt down, offering an index finger in greeting. "And you must be the delegation from Earth. I'm Override, colonial governor of Velocitron."

"Colonel Michael Franklin, United States Air Force." The colonel accepted the offered finger, and indicated the two youngsters accompanying him with a nod. "This is Coby Hansen and Lori Garcia." The kids gave friendly if nervous waves in greeting. "And no, we don't all dress alike."

"I've seen Earth television, colonel; I didn't think you three were wearing similar clothing just because you felt like it." She took a quick glance at the modified Scrapmetal, Coby barely visible within its cockpit. "And that's what you're here to test out, right?"

"Yeah, it's kind of a pet project." Coby tried his best to keep himself humble. "Nothing special."

Lori barely kept herself from commenting on that, settling merely for rolling her eyes at her friend's 'pet project'. Override, meanwhile, smiled a bit wider. "Don't worry – we're kinda fond of pet projects around here. I've already reserved my private track for you to test that thing out in – once we get all of you briefed on what we've been up to with the Artifact hunt, I'll take you guys there myself." She rose back to her full height and beckoned, "Come on – I'll brief you once we get to Central Command."

Override led the group out of the Space Bridge chamber and into a massive circular hall, numerous other Transformers milling about around them. Semi-transparent windows above their heads permitted rays of natural light to filter in, while the more conventional ones below allowed for clear views of the red landscape outside the structure. Several kiosks and shops ringed around them, selling everything from spare parts to upgrade packages. And mounted at numerous points along the arched walls were view screens and holo-projectors, giving weather reports, news coverage, and what the humans assumed to be advertisements. Coby was practically fighting to keep from geeking out at some of the promoted accessories that he guessed would improve performance without sacrificing too much.

"Didn't think this place would be this crowded." Lori glanced around in awe, amazed at the number of Transformers around them.

"You shouldn't be that surprised. This is Accel City after all – if a mech or femme isn't speeding headlong down the course at full tilt, they're probably here getting patched up, refueled and rested for the next time." With a sidelong glance at an advertisement for custom fuel converters, Hot Shot added, "Or something like that."

"It's not like we needed to expand all over the planet, Lori," the femme spoke. "We just built what we needed, tried our best not to interfere with what was already here. We even ended up using structures that were already there – some of the roadways have been here longer than the colony."

"You never questioned where they came from?" Franklin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Tried, but we didn't have much luck figuring out who built them. No ruins suggesting an ancient civilization, just a few roadways here on the ground."

"Maybe someone just got bored one day," Blurr suggested.

A shrug from Override. "Your guess is as good as mine. Here we are."

The group found itself at a large circular door, a small uplink port present as a locking mechanism. A mate for the port emerged from Override's right index finger and she opened the door, allowing them entrance.

"This is a security hall – we've got scanners around in here checking us for hidden objects, explosives and such. Standard measure."

Franklin felt a slight tingle on his skin, recognizing that they were being scanned and held a chuckle at the baffled wide-eyed looks on the teens. At least it was far more efficient than the metal detectors, X-Ray machines, and the wand currently employed in every federal building. "I understand. Unfortunately, I'm used to them."

They made their way through the hall, the door at the opposite end opening to what the humans assumed was Central Command. The room instantly reminded them of the command center back at Autobase Earth, monitor screens ringed around the room and a number of consoles, several manned, below them. One screen displayed a number of clear mug shots with several crossed over with red bars, but two were flashing prominently. At their entrance, two mechs turned to face them, one large with massive tires hanging from his back and bearing the Decepticon emblem, the other smaller and colored dull yellow, brown and grey, more than a few dings making clear his age.

"About time you got here with the tourists." The large Decepticon glowered imposingly at the gathered group of Autobots and Mini-Cons. "Obviously Optimus doesn't think too seriously about this Key thing."

"He sent two Wreckers and several experienced mechs that he's worked with personally, Dirt Boss." Swerve shot back in a commanding tone. "I call that being serious enough."

The shorter mech laughed, reminding Franklin of his grandfather. "Being under Magnus obviously did you some good. Welcome back, Swerve." He nodded to the rest. "Name's Brakedown. Don't think too much of the monster truck here – he just needs to be less uptight, is all."

Dirt Boss gave a disgusted snort as Override interrupted, "Can we get back to what they're here for, please?" A screen behind her opening a window to show a green two-dimensional map of the planet, she quickly summed up the situation thus far. "Like you guys know by now, something on this planet's reacted to the Artifacts of Primus that've been recovered on Earth. If what that advisor of yours says is true, there's an ancient starship somewhere on this planet, and the Key of Velocity is locked up inside." A highlighted section blinked red. "We figure seeing as the reactions were strongest on this corner of the planet, that's where the ship is."

"That's on the edge of the Diablo Desert." At a few surprised looks from the humans and Mini-Cons, Wheeljack elaborated, "Part of the third elimination course for the Speedia Ultimate – mostly rocks and dust, but with enough sand that a good storm will buff your fenders in a heartbeat."

"Which means that ship would be concealed under several millennia worth of sand and rock." The colonel rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Like finding a needle in a haystack."

"Well, this was before that second reaction and me deploying survey teams." The section shrank slightly after several quick keystrokes. "So the haystack's slightly smaller. Besides, if this thing's as big as Atlantis, it's one very big needle." An overhead graphic of the ancient ship was overlaid on the highlight, filling a fair chunk of it. "Unfortunately, we've hit something of a snag."

"Don't tell me the ship's wrecked or something," Jolt dryly quipped.

"Wreckage would at least tell us if we're in the right place." A chair from one of the occupied consoles span around as a white and black Autobot turned to face the team. "We've been dealing with something else."

"This is Gasket, Velocitron's security director." The governor shook her head in dismay. "We've had a number of attacks on the survey teams – several mechs killed and no firm evidence at any of the crime scenes. About the only clue we've got is how they died – a single shot from one seriously powerful cannon."

"And unfortunately, the cannon's profile doesn't match up with the specs for anyone here on Velocitron." With a thumb towards the screen showing the lineup of mug shots, Gasket continued, "Which automatically rules out what's left of our Most Wanted list."

Adjusting his mech's optics to focus on the photos, Coby immediately recognized a pair of faces. "Wait a sec, I've seen these two!"

"Yeah, Crumplezone and Ransack." The white and black motorcycle shook his head in frustration. "They're all that's left of what little influence Megatron had around here, a couple thugs who fell in with a gang of terrorists and crazies called the Crashers. Most of them slagged themselves rather than get brought in. We're just lucky that the few we did incarcerate are off planet – these two are bad enough, but having any of the rest loose again would be a nightmare."

"But these guys showed up on Earth – Wirejack fried their circuits!" the young mechanic protested. "You're telling me these guys are still on the loose?!"

"Coby." The young man caught sight of the colonel shaking his head and reluctantly backed down. "You'll have to excuse him. Your two felons showed up near his hometown, which caused a lot of panic and made diplomatic relations on Earth a bit more complicated than we'd like."

"Well, I'm about as happy about those two being on the highways as you are. I'd have them back in custody now, but they've got a bad habit of busting out again not long after I get them. Plus, we've got a slightly bigger priority here and the survey teams have been drawing on my resources as much as anything else. As much as I want to see those two locked up, I think stopping Unicron from devouring Cybertron would be a little more important."

A stern glance to the young man inside the piloted mech before Franklin nodded. "Agreed. Key first." He turned to Override. "I suggest we stop wasting time and get to work, before we have another mess to clean up."

Flamewar stared at the computer screen before her, multiple streams of computer code scrolling merrily away at varying speeds. "You're saying you found this in the communications systems? And no one else found it how?"

"It was buried deep inside the communications subroutines, and I only picked it up because I was totally reworking it to include additional security."

"So in short, we got lucky." Scattorshot tilted back his head, as if begging for some respite. "Only with you, Wire."

Wirejack shrugged. "Better someone finding this now than it biting us in the afterburner later, right?"

"Yeah, though it's always something difficult." The smaller Autobot resettled into his seat and looked over the isolated bit of code. "This definitely isn't part of the communications network, and if this IDC is from where this thing was planted, then that means someone uploaded this thing into the Ark."

"And from there, it automatically copied and spread itself to every computer bank within the Cybertron Alliance – ships, outposts, colonies, everything." The Decepticon femme snorted. "Everything fits. It's a virus."

"Which would normally mean using antiviral software." The Autobot jet leaned forward, his optics geared towards a wall monitor. "Tried that, no luck. Every attempt to purge this thing from the systems short of replacing every computer in the network has met with no success, and replacing every com would take countless cycles."

"Not to mention dealin' with all the redundancies and automatic backups, and I don't even wanna THINK about the databanks." Scattorshot's optics narrowed slightly beneath his visor as he looked at the code again. "Wait a nano... Wire, you made a scan of this thing earlier, right?"

"Yeah, why... Oh." The jet cursed himself for not thinking of it earlier before quickly checking over the communication logs. "If this thing is being automatically copied with each transmission, then it's being sent out..."

"…from every ship and outpost that's actively puttin' out transmissions." Smaller screens opened alongside those displaying the virus code, showing several incoming and outgoing transmissions before spitting out several colorful words. "The virus shifts each time! The little bugger's adaptin', changin' just like one a' its organic cousins!"

"Which makes this infinitely more difficult." Wirejack's wings wilted. "Any ideas?"

Silence held, until Flamewar spoke up. "There's something I've learned quite well from my time within Megatron's forces – in order to properly attack and destroy something, you have to know how it works, how its put together, and what it does." She arched an optic ridge. "Do I need to explain myself?"

"No... In fact, I feel like a glitch head for not suggesting it before." An idea already starting to form in his mind, Wirejack turned to his senior. "Scattorshot, we need to settle all this, and I think putting in a call to Earth will help."

The ground-based Autobot shrugged, without any further options. "Sounds like a good idea to me."

Under normal circumstances, Lori would be enthusiastic about driving around on an alien world, revving along a highway and taking in the sights... but right now, something else was on her mind. Although she wasn't there on the day when the Velocitronians crashed the race, Bud had painted a very vivid picture – his exaggerations corrected by a more wry Coby – of what had happened prior to Beachcomber, Sideswipe, and Wirejack diverting the duo's attention away to safer places. She knew several schoolmates that were race enthusiasts, having seen them being interviewed by the local station – if not for those three, who knew what injuries that may have occurred.

"I wouldn't think too much about what happened back there." The young girl turned from the car window to her fellow passenger as Franklin continued, "As much as we don't like it, the world isn't perfect, and occasionally a criminal or two gets away. It's no different than Earth; the only difference is that you don't always hear about it."

"Doesn't make it any easier to think about." The young girl made an instinctive glance back, forgetting that her current ride lacked a rear window. She gave a frustrated huff.

"If it helps any Lori, you can blame me for this mess with Ransack and Crumplezone." Override's voice throughout the interior was anything but reassuring. "Gasket certainly does... and I wouldn't be surprised if Coby does either."

"But that's hardly your fault!" Lori protested. "I mean, you aren't telling them to go around and be destructive, right? You aren't pushing them to blow stuff up, scare people, be a pain in the butt and all!"

"No, but I haven't exactly been much help in making sure they stay locked up when they're caught, now have I?" Regret was clear in the femme's voice. "I'm just glad no one was seriously hurt when they were on Earth."

"No use making a big deal over past failures." The colonel knew enough about past mistakes to know that dwelling on them never solved anything. "Right now, we've got bigger things to deal with. Hot Shot's team is heading out to the search area with Gasket – if they find Ransack and Crumplezone, they'll deal with them. Our job is making sure that piloted mecha works without any serious glitches. It's worked so far, but we need a full recording of its capabilities if we're going to be making any more of them." Looking into the radio receiver, he added, "You heard all that, Coby?"

"Yeah, I heard." More than a little resentment was present in the young man's voice, but understanding of the matter was clear. "I'm not crazy enough to try fighting them, colonel. Just thinking that having Wire around would be a nice thing, considering what he managed to do last time."

Franklin smiled, remembering the report on that incident. "We'll have to make due without him. How long until we reach the course?"

"My private track is at Mount Stargaze – at this speed, we'll be there in about ten cycles."

"I hope Coby can keep up."

Before the young man could protest over the radio, Override laughed. "Don't be so anxious – he's doing a good job of keeping pace and I'm well below my top speed. If I was going full tilt though, I'd be outrunning everything Earth's ever cooked up as a race car... And that includes the Mach 5." At Lori's puzzled expression, the Autobot femme asked, "What?"

A politely veiled cough of laughter from the Air Force colonel. "Before her time."

"Well, looks like these guys won't be finding that ship anytime soon."

Buzzsaw looked up from the recovered body and improvised medical table at his partner. "Is that the best quip you have, Excellion?"

The red and gold Autobot beside him examined another corpse, his voice dropping into a different tone. "No, but if I know the boss, he isn't too far away, and I don't want him getting on my case about saying something stupid. Thus, watching my language."

"Nice to see you're finally learning." The red and orange Autobot looked up in just enough time to catch sight of Gasket's arrival, followed closely by the search team. The motorcycle transformed and approached. "What've we got?"

"Same as the last team, boss – all three shot from a distance with a high-powered, high-yield, narrow-gauge cannon that matches the ballistics report. Shot came from... Wait a klik, who are the newbies?"

"Your backup from Cybertron." Blurr looked over the area, gesturing towards some of the scanning equipment near several dunes of sand. "That where these three were standing?"

"Yeah, was getting to that." The racer continued, pointing at one of the cadavers. "All three got it from an above angle, but this one was his cleanest shot – had the sniper been level with them, he would've gotten it straight through the spark chamber."

Blurr carefully circled around the scene, trying his best not to disturb any evidence. "Who found them?"

"Over here," answered the yellow helicopter. "Name's Buzzsaw, by the by. Motormouth over there is Excellion. Equipment's fine, by the way – no damage from the weather or anything else."

"Didn't think this guy was interested in wrecking sensor equipment." Gasket turned to the red Autobot. "Angle of shooter?"

"He was on the road we came here on." Optics turned to Blurr as he pointed down at a collection of heated crystal in the sand. "The shots from his weapon ended at these points in the ground, meaning the heat caused the sand to solidify into glass." A finger followed the angle upwards. "That suggests that he was on that stretch of highway over there, about point-four kils away."

"Nice going, Blurr! You snooped out the sniper!"

Exasperated groans rose out among the Mini-Cons, Spiral simply shaking her head. "Bad joke, Oval. Very bad."

An embarrassed look flashed across the orange Mini-Con's face as Gasket shook his head. "Well, this is the second and most recent team this guy's taken out. At least this time he kept to the roads – we might be able to catch something on the sensors or road cameras. Buzzsaw?"

"Get some altitude and contact Clocker to check for our perp." He transformed to vehicle mode and took to the air. "On it."

"Excellion?"

"Get the bodies back for..." The arrival of several Autobots with medical markings interrupted him as a few transformed and loaded the deceased into their comrades' open truck beds.

"Help the newbies – they have a spaceship to find," the black and white motorcycle amended.

As Gasket transformed back to vehicle mode and drove off with the medics, his subordinate scowled slightly and turned to the yellow and blue Autobot beside him. "You in charge of them?"

"Yeah, name's Hot Shot."

A quick sweep of his optics. "Cute. Listen kid, I've got better things to do than proto-sit a bunch of tourists looking for a spaceship in the middle of a wasteland. The sooner you get your job finished, the better."

The younger Autobot nodded, almost as curtly. "We'll work quickly then." He made his way back towards his team kneeling down alongside Swerve as he probed around the glass with his fingers. "Any thoughts?"

"Other than Sunstreaker having an understudy?" The Wrecker gave a small chuckle. "Well, whatever did this was one powerful beam. Since matching the weapon to the locals is apparently out of the question, chances are good we're probably dealing with a visitor."

"And it wouldn't surprise me one bit if this visitor had some connection to Unicron." Wheeljack was busily packing away the survey equipment. "I mean, who else would be chasing after the survey teams?"

"Unicron?" the Velocitron native echoed with a disbelieving look. "Unicron's a myth, something to scare you protoforms into good behavior."

"Myth?!" At Excellion's feet, Incinerator marched towards him with obvious irritation in his optics, fists on hips. "We've been fighting off his minions for over a meta-cycle, and you call him a fragging myth?!"

"Probably crazies who thought a bit too much over the Covenant of Primus."

The Mini-Con dragster almost charged the larger Autobot, but a firm grip and look from Roadhandler stopped him. Fuming for several kliks, Incinerator muttered several choice words and jerked Roadhandler's hand off, stomping away from a slightly bemused Excellion.

"Well, whoever's responsible for this, there's too much going on to not assume a connection." Hot Shot turned to the flight-capable Mini-Cons among them. "Jolt, Windsheer, Whisper, think you might be able to catch something from above?"

"Worth a try at least." The Mini-Con helicopter transformed to vehicle mode and rose into the air, his two fellow fliers following shortly afterwards. "We'll let you know if we pick something up!"

"Anything yet?"

"Sorry Buzzsaw, no sign of anything so far." Clocker's fingers danced along the console as his optics scanned over camera footage and sensor sweeps since the Velocitron sunrise. "This'd go a lot easier if we had a better time of death."

"Well, if our guests from Cybertron are any indication, we may not have enough time to wait for a proper autopsy. But we've got a general time to search in – these teams are supposed to make reports every megacycle on the megacycle, and we got reports from every team but these two."

"Already took that into account, but that still leaves a healthy gap of time. I'll let you know when I've got something."

From across the command center, Dirt Boss impatiently ground a fist into his open palm. A chuckle went out from the elder Transformer beside him. "No need to be that antsy, Dirt Boss. We'll find out what's goin' on soon enough."

"The sooner the better," the bulky Decepticon spat. "And if this is Ransack or Crumplezone..."

"You and I both know they don't have anything like what hit those teams. 'Sides, those two aren't the types to shoot someone with intent to scrap – blow up some roadwork or plow someone off the road, yeah, but not kill someone. They'll get brought in, just not for this."

Dirt Boss seethed for a moment before Clocker called out, "Whoa!" The two advisors shot over to the console as the younger Autobot pointed. "Any idea what that thing is?"

On the screen flashed a bit of camera footage, a timestamp present in the bottom right corner and the object of Clocker's question front and center. It was a massive-looking armored vehicle, looking like a tank with design cues from some dangerous-looking crustacean. A turret rested atop it, one long cannon on one side and a smaller side gun on the other. The tank rolled directly into view, turned slightly, and with minimal adjustments of its cannon fired three shots right out of view. It then turned once more to head back down the road before speeding out of view.

"Obviously it's what we're lookin' for, but I've never seen anything like it." This unknown didn't surprise Brakedown so much, but it definitely worried him. "Anything on the sensors?"

"Checking the timestamp now." The camera view was instantly replaced by a sensor readout, which shifted from perfectly clear to a scrambled screen. "Yeow. Whatever this thing is, it's putting out some kind of jamming radiation. We can't get a good reading on it."

"As if that wasn't obvious." The Decepticon muttered several choice words. "All these fancy toys and we still don't know anything."

"Wouldn't say that – we know it's got sophisticated jamming tech that shows up on our sensors. Assuming that stuff stays on and doesn't get turned off..."

"We can track it!" Clocker immediately began clicking away at his console. "Buzzsaw, we just caught footage of this thing! No sensor profile, but we might be able to track it thanks to its jamming technology! Uploading data to you now!"

"Not bad kid – me and Gasket owe you one. Keep an optic out for this guy, alright?"

"You got it!"

Dirt Boss sighed at the young Autobot's enthusiasm. "If only those two bolt-brains were this easy to find."

"Hey, Ransack? You know that communications thingy we got?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"I think someone's trying to talk to us."

The ruby Decepticon leapt to his feet and frantically rushed to the communications console, brushing aside scraps and debris as best he could without damaging the device. He quickly turned it on and called out, "Hello? We're listening!"

The screen flashed on. While the face with the purple and black helmet was unfamiliar, the voice was certainly unmistakable. "It is about time that someone caught notice of this signal."

"Megatron?"

Crumplezone peered at the screen over his partner's shoulder. "Can't be. He had those antler thingies."

"I've been upgraded since we last spoke. And the name is Galvatron now." The Decepticon warlord's tone said much to discourage any further questions. "Now, where is Fracture?"

Ransack somewhat nervously thought about what had happened to the leader of his old gang. "Uh, she got caught a while back – shipped off planet."

"Dragstrip?"

"Him too, boss."

"Wildrider?"

"He got blown up," the larger Decepticon helpfully supplied.

Galvatron growled dangerously, causing both subordinates to shiver a little. "Is there anyone left, other than you two simpletons?"

"Sorry boss – we're it." A hopeful look crossing over his face, the small motorcycle asked, "So, what'cha want us to do? Blow somethin' up? Smash somebody?"

An aggravated but restrained snarl. "Very well. I have information which suggests an Autobot team from Cybertron is present on Velocitron, seeking an artifact of great power. I want the two of you to find them, watch them, and when they find what I seek, destroy them and retrieve it. I will be along shortly to pick it up myself – is that clear?"

"You got it, boss!" A stray thought crossed Ransack's mind. "So... What's this thing look like?"

Galvatron's face shifted to one side as a rough computer rendering of what looked like a key appeared beside him. "This is a rough approximation of what you seek, and the Autobots will have it shortly. Find them, take this from them, and make sure that you can't be found or followed. Is that clear?"

Ransack saluted, Crumplezone following suit a second later. "Crystal clear, boss! We're on it!" Their leader gave a satisfied smirk before the screen blanked out, and the motorcycle went ballistic. "All right, CZ! You realize what this is?"

"A really good excuse to blow stuff up?"

"Yeah, that, but it's somethin' else too! A mission from the big boss himself, a vote of confidence! We're goin' up in the hierarchy, CZ, and all we gotta do is find us a bunch of Autobots!"

"Yeah!" Suddenly, a thought crossed Crumplezone's mind. "Wait... There's lotsa Autobots. Which ones are we lookin' for?"

"No clue... but I hope that crazy jet guy's with 'em, cuz we've earned a little payback! C'mon!"

Ransack immediately transformed to vehicle mode and tore out of the room with a loud whoop. Crumplezone shrugged and did likewise, in part hoping for his own chance at payback for what happened after their skirmish on Earth. He almost wondered what the jet was up to now...

"I'm not quite sure I'm following you here, Scattorshot, Wirejack. You're saying there's some kind of virus in your systems?"

A nod from the older technician. "That's what we believe, Mr. Secretary."

Keller rubbed his temples slightly. All he'd come in for was an update from Franklin, not a potential threat to national security, much less international. "Alright, is it a serious threat to global communications?"

Scattorshot shook his head. "No. Based on our initial analysis, our guess is that this virus isn't designed to target anything but subspace communications systems. I don't think it's even interested in Earth-based networks. So unless Sector 7 or Torchwood have some means of interstellar communication, the only places the virus could be are the systems on the Axalon or Autobase Earth."

"Any idea what the virus does?"

"Nothing we can easily confirm, sir," the young F-14 admitted to Scavenger's question. "We have figured out that the virus has two command sets – one's automatic, which is to copy itself and get sent out in each subspace communiqué. The other, however, hasn't been activated yet. We think we know how to trigger it, however, but we need a controlled setting for testing."

"This thing's also altered itself each time it's been sent out – we're gonna need to analyze the original code, or at least as close as we can get it. Seein' as this thing's got the IDC from the Ark incorporated into it, looking through the old computer core's probably our best bet."

"And you may as well do your tests on Earth, considering what's left of that computer core is still here in storage." Keller nodded, understanding some of Scattorshot's logic. "Alright then, what's your plan for the tests?"

"We need to set up a small-scale subspace communications network on Earth, totally disconnected from all Cybertronian installations," Wirejack answered, a simple communications diagram popping up in a new window beside his image. "Regular communication at both ends should be done with Autobase only through a TI line or standard radio in case of emergency. Setting it up shouldn't be a problem – we swap out parts on a regular basis for maintenance and repair, so building two small-scale communicators will be easy. Beyond that, we just need a third computer to send the activation code for the second command set and one or two analysts to keep watch on it. I know one with the National Security Agency, Maggie Madsen – she's more than qualified, and between her and her circle we should be able to crack this virus."

"I know her – young lady, Australian accent, piercing on her right nostril." Keller raised an eyebrow. "How'd you come across her?"

The hacker made a sound akin to a human giving an embarrassed cough. "Uhm... That is..."

The secretary gave a small smirk, echoed by a snicker from Scattorshot. "We'll have to talk that over later. I'll get things set up for your experiment."

"Thank you, sirs. Cybertron out."

The screen went blank, and Keller looked up to Scavenger. "Do you think the Decepticons you're all chasing after did this?"

"Doubtful. There aren't too many Decepticons that are well-versed in computer warfare, and even fewer that are still working with Megatron. Besides, he always favored the direct approach."

"Not to mention the fact that Wire's figured out how it got into the system to begin with." Sideswipe turned from his console to his commander. "Like he said, the Ark's IDC was buried in the virus's code. And until Starscream got onboard last December, there hadn't been a single 'Con on the ship. And no way would an Autobot or Mini-Con plant a virus like this, even for any Mini-Cons siding with Megatron. That cuts the list down pretty good."

"And doesn't leave many possibilities." A thought crossing his mind, Scavenger added, "What it does leave is even worse."

"Crazy thought for all you mechs." Those gathered perked up instantly as Whisper's voice came in over the radio. "Back on Earth, Atlantis was pretty well submerged under water, right?"

"Yeah, Evac said it was a security measure, just in case. We didn't even start picking it up until just before it about broke surface." An idea coming into his mind, Hot Shot reasoned, "Although right around the time humans started using submarines, they covered the ship in a layer of rock – sonar would've still picked it up but only as an undersea formation."

"And I'd bet a thousand credits a good layer of rock would be enough to block it from sensors. Take a look to the east."

Autobots and Mini-Cons alike glanced in the indicated direction, catching sight of a particular arrangement of mountains in the distance.

"The Meridian Range." Excellion shook his head. "Not many mechs head out that way – the area's geologically unstable, and not many of us are built for surviving serious rockslides."

"We'll have to head that way. I've heard about that area – mostly sandstone, but with a lot of granite and iron ore."

"The same stuff that keeps our base on Earth from being picked up from orbit." Hot Shot looked at Swerve in amazement. "And you're with the Wreckers?"

"Every good unit needs a scientist," the geologist cheekily tossed back.

Before he could elaborate further, however, the familiar sound of an engine revving caught the group's attention. Gasket skidded to a halt alongside them before transforming and subspacing out a datapad from one arm. "Good news, I hope?"

"Yeah, we think we know where Mu is. What's wrong?"

"We got an image of the perpetrator – some huge tank thing with sensor jammers, never seen anything like it before. Thought you all might know something I didn't."

He passed along the datapad and Hot Shot's optics widened in surprise. "Holy slag... I have seen this before. Well, something close. Blurr, Wheeljack, it's another one of them."

"'Them'?" Gasket echoed as the younger Autobot tossed his comrades the datapad, getting a shrug from his subordinates.

"On Earth, we've had run-ins with three mechs with an energy signature similar to this, all with incredible regenerative abilities." The blue and grey sniper flexed one arm, unconsciously remembering it being severed some time in the past. "We think they're working for Unicron."

A snort. "Him again?"

"Excellion." The unspoken reprimand was sharp enough to silence the red racer. "Whatever this thing works for, he's obviously dangerous. Anything really good at hurting them?"

"Short of the Matrix?" Spiral shrugged helplessly. "Not much. Vector Prime barely fought off that Sideways guy with his Cyber Key ability, and little short of Omega Supreme was enough to give him serious damage otherwise."

Gasket harrumphed. "Then it sounds like we'll need to call in for backup. For now though, all of you are coming with me."

"But the ship! The Key!"

"They've been here for longer than we have, they'll still be here when this thing we're chasing is dealt with." The security chief looked at the young Autobot straight in the optics despite his slightly shorter stature. "Priorities, Hot Shot."

He was right, of course, and Hot Shot couldn't argue the point.

"How about a compromise?" Heads looked to Swerve. "Roadhandler and I are good enough to handle the terrain and we can check those mountains quickly to see if the ship's there. If it is, then we can catch up quick enough to provide some support."

"I can go with that. Buzzsaw, you stick with him and keep an optic out." With a sweeping glance over the rest of the gathered Transformers, Gasket ordered, "Now, unless someone else has a reason to stay behind, let's roll out!"

Save Swerve, his partner and the Decepticon helo, the other Transformers shifted to vehicle mode, the Street Speed Team and Incinerator linking up with Blurr just before the group sped off. High above, Swerve managed to make out the small outlines of the three aerial Mini-Cons following from above.

"Well, this is your rock hunt. Let's get started." Buzzsaw transformed himself, his rotors kicking up sand and grit as he went off towards the mountains. "Think you can keep up?"

Swerve answered by transforming to his own vehicle mode, his Mini-Con partner plugging into a slot in his rear fuselage before his tires hit the ground. In a second, his alternate mode shifted, a pair of wings extending down from his sides and he took off after the Decepticon. "Just don't veer too much."

"Alright Coby – not much point in you testing that thing out on the full course, but this should be enough to demonstrate your mech's dexterity and maneuverability. Time isn't an issue, but I won't fault you for speeding through."

The course laid out before him was an average Transformer-sized set of obstacles – a staircase was at its start, narrow steps barely wide enough for his Scrapmetal to step on, followed by a long stretch of swiftly spinning barrels with poles of varying lengths extended from them and swinging pendulums tipped with what looked like softly-glowing bulbs.

"Those are stunners down towards the end – they won't do much damage, but get hit one too many times and you'll shut down."

"Thanks for the warning," Coby gulped, the large sizes not putting him at ease despite having spent quite some time around the Autobots. "And past them's a sand trap?"

"You slide down into that one, but you'll need to climb out again. It's hard enough with wheels, and I'm not sure how quick it is on legs." With a quick glance to Franklin and Lori, she explained, "We've got sand pits out in the Diablo Desert courses, and I've been stuck in 'em more than a few times."

Lori raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't sound like you enjoyed it."

The femme gave an amused snort at that. "No one does. Figuring out how to get out of a sand pit is one of the hardest parts of training for the Ultimate, but it's not a bad thing to be able to do."

"And if we can accurately gauge its abilities in environments like that, we'd be able to present a much better case for mass production." The colonel took a quick look from under his sunglasses. "And testing for agility can only help that case. Whenever you're ready, Coby."

"Got it." The Scrapmetal stepped forward as the canopy flipped shut, taking up a space a small distance away from the start of the course. "In position."

"Recorders on, cameras ready, sensors online." Override raised one arm high, Coby tensing up his mech in preparation. "And... GO!"

At that signal, the Scrapmetal ran at a brisk pace towards the staircase, ascending it one or two steps at a time. After a few minutes, that part of the course was cleared, and the young pilot moved on to the rotating barrels, ducking and diving between the extended poles and trying his hardest not to get hit.

"He's not doing too badly." A pleasantly surprised smile crossed the Autobot racer's face. "About as well as I did back in my early days."

"I didn't think dodging poles, ducking, and weaving around them was really that important in racing."

"No, but being aware of your environment is, Lori. Speed may be important to get the fastest time, but if you go too fast you might not be able to turn a corner in time or end up crashing into something. You have to be agile out on the tracks, to dart and weave around the other competitors if someone gets into trouble. You have to think on your tires when you're out there instead of barreling on through. Clear thinking won't hurt, and it'll definitely help."

She gave an appreciative whistle. "You sound like you know what you're talking about."

"Here on Velocitron, racing's part of the way of life. If you're gonna get anywhere on this planet, you have to be able to either race with the best or be able to help someone become the best... and I only got the record of being the fastest thing on wheels after I had a lot of help and training courtesy of the last colonial governor. He got me started, coached me, and kept me going until I reached the top." A proud grin crossed her face. "And I haven't left it yet."

"Sound like you had a good mentor. Any chance we could meet him?"

"I did, and you have." At the colonel's surprise, she explained, "Brakedown. What, you thought Dirt Boss passed me the torch?"

"Whoa!" Attention went back to Coby as he reeled back from a blow from one of the pendulums. "No kidding about those stunners – they pack a punch!"

"You gotta time it right, Coby! Watch the swing, and time yourself accordingly!"

From inside his mech's cockpit, Coby took a quick glance at the swinging pendulums, an idea already forming in his head. "Right...and a lower profile won't hurt!" The Scrapmetal transformed to vehicle mode, and Coby began buzzing into the pendulums again, his inactive cannon tucked underneath him like a tail. He transformed back and forth as he weaved among them, dodging a pendulum and weaving into position for the next one. Within a few short seconds, he'd gotten past them, and slid face-first down into the sand pit.

"Good going, Coby!" Lori cried out. "That's the–!"

A chirp sounded off, prompting Override to check her communicator. "Yeah?"

"Override, Gasket's gotten a lead on who's been taking out the survey teams. He's chasing after them now."

"Nice to hear there's some progress with that. Any news from the survey team about that ship?"

"Well... They think they've got a likely site, but they're with Gasket chasing after the..."

"What?! But they're supposed to–!" Override growled slightly under her breath. "Where are they, Clocker?"

A squeak from the younger Autobot. "Line N-41, skirting past the Diablo Desert towards one of the Energon refineries, but–"

"I'm heading after them." Before Clocker could protest, she cut off the line. "You guys can keep an eye on yourselves, right?"

"Isn't this something of an overreaction?" Franklin slipped up his sunglasses as he regarded Velocitron's governor. "He's in the field. Last I checked, conditions on the field often took prerogative if the commander thought it important."

"That might be, but automatically calling someone off their regular duties for police business? Something like that still needs to be cleared." In a split second, she was already speeding off. "The system's voice-activated! Take as much time as you need with practice runs!"

As Override disappeared into the distance, the colonel watched her depart. Lori caught a quick glimpse of his face. "You think Gasket might've had the right idea, don't you?"

"My COs always taught me to trust the judgment of the people on the ground – when they needed something, you got it to them." Shaking his head, he conceded, "But we can't exactly do much about it either way. All we can do is keep up with these tests and trust them to do their jobs."

The loud, unmistakable sound of something sliding down a hill of sand caught both their attentions, Coby voicing dryly through the radio. "Well, it's obviously not easy to do THIS in 'bot mode..."

High-heeled shoes echoing along the hallway of the Pentagon, Maggie clattered to a halt in front of a set of elevators. Her arms overwhelmed with files, she gave a small grumble and tried her hardest to press the 'UP' button without losing anything in the process. While hardly the kind of girl most men would bring home to their mother, she was still the sort to turn a few heads – wavy blonde hair, slender figure, and dressed to bring attention to her attractive legs. However, she got her job as a Pentagon computer analyst courtesy of exceptional grades in computer classes, and partially by luck on having been recruited by the NSA at the same time she had been considering on attending a college under the international student status.

Just as Maggie was about to try and precariously press the button with the heel of one of her shoes, the doors slid open. "I hope you have a permit for those, Ms. Madsen – heels like those can poke a person's eye out."

A nervous laugh. "Sorry, hands are full. Are you going up, Miss...?"

A flash of ID with one hand, a crisp folder in the other. "Lynn Graves. I'm the liaison with the Pentagon regarding the Transformers active on Earth."

Flabbergasted blinking and then a quick scramble to keep the files from falling when her grip slackened. "Liaison? Ma'am, I haven't..."

"If I were arresting you, Ms. Madsen, I'd have an FBI escort with me." She stepped out of the elevator while pocketing her ID and extended the free hand. "Mind letting me share the load?" A few folders finding themselves in her possession, Graves beckoned the younger woman to follow. "We need your assistance with something related to the Transformers – your regular duties will be taken over by someone else until we're done with you."

Warning bells began ringing in the Tasmanian native's head as she snatched her purse. Why would any one of them request her help? From what little she had heard through the grapevine and at the break room, and the occasional glimpse on TV, they were pretty much nowhere near the Autobots' level in the realms of computers or mechanics. "Wait, what do you mean 'related'?"

"I'm afraid I can't disclose anything until we're en-route and you've signed all the pertinent forms." The two paused by the front desk, where Graves dropped off Maggie's papers and instructed the secretary to call someone down to get them to her office. "Our second guest should be here shortly. With luck, he'll beat our ride here." The two stepped out of the building facing the south parking lot just as an SUV marked for the FBI pulled up. "Here he is now."

The two front doors and the rear right door opened, and Maggie instantly recognized one of the SUV's passengers. "Glen?"

The slightly heavyset young black man looked at Maggie with surprise through his glasses, appearing as if he'd been rushed out of his home with barely enough time to get dressed. While she was at best semi-formal, Glen Whitmann looked decidedly more casual in jeans and a football jersey with barely-tied shoes. "Maggie! What the heck is–?"

"Mr. Whitmann, I presume?" A curt smile and Graves opened the folder. "You'll need to sign these – nondisclosure forms."

Pushing up his glasses and quickly glancing over the papers, Glen sheepishly admitted, "Don't have a pen."

"Here." Maggie handed him the one from her purse, her own form having been signed. As the FBI agents departed and Glen started signing his form, she asked, "Now, what's all this about needing our assistance with something related to the Transformers?"

"The short version? We need some help, and you came highly recommended." A deafening roar going through the air caused the three to look up and, with astonishment on the faces of the two analysts, catch sight of a rapidly descending aircraft. "What the two of you are about to see is classified above top secret. You leak word of this to anyone who isn't cleared before its declassified... Well, you get the picture."

The aircraft landed with precision on the grass near the parking lot and both of computer techs could tell they weren't dealing with anything normal by Earth standards. The silvery-white craft was incredibly smooth, certainly aerodynamic, and definitely not made by Boeing or Lockheed Martin. A hatch hissed open, and a deep red robot stepped out, the sun reflecting off of his form. "Perfect. Ms. Madsen, Mr. Whitmann, I'm Redline of the Mini-Con Super Stunt Team. Climb on and strap in – we're visiting the Hoover Dam."

"Uhh, Ransack? I've been thinkin'..."

"Yeah?"

"Well, the boss mech gave us this mission, finding those Autobots and all... But he didn't tell us where to look for 'em, did he?"

"Nah, but they gotta be here somewhere!" The two Decepticons tore out of an underground tunnel, finding themselves back on the highway near the desert. The Meridian Range in the far distance, the two continued down the near-empty stretch of road, more than a little surprised that no one was ahead of them. "Hey CZ, you see anybody on the road 'sides us?"

"Well, I see that one guy way ahead of us."

Coming into view was a yellow-orange tank-like vehicle, charging towards them with no intention of stopping.

"Doesn't look like an Autobot though. Think he's friendly?"

A shot from the tank's cannon quickly answered Crumplezone's question, prompting his smaller companion to yelp in panic. "No! NOT FRIENDLY!"

The two immediately transformed and, with simultaneous activation of their Cyber Key abilities, opened fire on the aggressor. While Ransack's shots did little to hinder their opponent, Crumplezone's much larger cannons tore up huge chunks of the roadway, the resulting explosions concealing the aggressor from view.

"Did we get him?"

"I dunno, I can't see through the smoke." A klik later, the tank emerged, slowing down but showing no signs of any damage. "No, CZ, I don't think we got him."

The tank continued rolling towards them as it began to change forms. Its front end shifted about, becoming a pair of armored, skeletal legs, while its rear shifted to become a robotic upper body, a large dome-like implement on its chest and both its long cannon and side gun still in view and working. Its head, however, was unlike anything either of them had seen before – twin horns emerging from a bright golden yellow helm, the face beneath skull-like with glowing red optics. It no longer rolled towards them, but instead walked towards them at a slow, deliberate pace, seemingly undamaged by their attack. When it finally spoke, the lower jaw to the skull didn't even move.

"Most... impressive. You have much power in you, large one. You will perform... adequately."

Optic shutters blinked, a green finger pointing at himself. "Uh, does he mean me?"

"I guess, but what's he mean by 'perform'?"

The larger Decepticon shrugged before turning to the newcomer. "Listen, I've already got a job, I don't wanna work for you."

"You misunderstand, child." It halted right in front of Crumplezone, flexing both hands. "You will not work for me… You will serve me."

Without further preamble, the newcomer grabbed hold of Crumplezone's chest and dug in with its claws. Before the large trike could do more to react, he began screaming in agony as the sudden surge of energies began flooding his systems.

"Hey, let him go!" Ransack barked, opening fire with his gun.

The shot hit the newcomer right in his head, blowing a good size hole but he continued as if completely unaffected, the energies pouring into Crumplezone's body, warping and twisting his form and changing his colors. As the red motorcycle watched in horror, the newcomer's head simply grew back, not even looking fazed from the attack.

After several more agonizing cycles, Crumplezone was eventually released. No longer supported by his captor, the Velocitronian slumped a little before getting back up into a hunched position and looked at the newcomer with glazed optics. The deep emerald and white of his body frame had given way to a deep blue and brownish red, the blue wheels on his arms now replaced by a bright orange. Some of his body had even shifted in shape, the passenger compartment on his chest now much more blocky and adorned by twin cannons, feet wider and longer, his arms more armored than before and his body covered in gold detailing. Even his head appeared different – the genial blue of his optics had been replaced by a red similar to that in the optics of the newcomer.

"Excellent."

"C-CZ? Buddy?" Ransack's optics were wide with fear, entire frame trembling at what he had just seen happen to his best friend. "What did you do to him?"

"You stand before me now as a juggernaut, my instrument. Go. Sow chaos and destruction wherever you roam, demolish everything in your sight." He at last acknowledged the smaller Decepticon with a negligent wave. "Start with him."

What was once Crumplezone at last turned to face his friend blankly and fired his cannons.

With a yelp, Ransack jumped out of the way, scrambling to get away from his friend. "CZ, come on! It's me, Ransack! Your buddy!" The larger Decepticon's fist barreling down in front of him prompted him to transform and speed away.

The newcomer watched as his new servant chased after the smaller form. Wretched and truly pathetic... But clearly, his Brother's Children had their uses. His gaze turning towards the mountains in the distance and zooming in on a pair of shapes among the mountains, he also noted that they were a terrible nuisance... One that needed to be dealt with.

"So how did a mech like you end up with the Velocitron Security Forces?" Swerve carefully stepped through the precarious looking crags, occasionally taking hold of some of the outcropping to aid his stability.

"Part of my parole. Believe it or not, I was something of a wild one in my youth. Back on Cybertron I used to fly around taking potshots at processing towers. Nothing organized, nothing connected to Megatron, just me being randomly destructive." Buzzsaw lazily hovered above, sensors checking for seismic activity while at the same time making sure his downwash didn't buffet the others. "Eventually I bit off more than I could chew – one of my own shots buried me under some rubble, and I got caught before I could dig out. Served some time in internment, and got shipped over here for parole."

"I remember that, but that was a long time ago. Isn't two hundred stellar cycles a bit long for a community service sentence?"

"It is, but I only had ten stellar cycles. Found out I liked the jobs I took here, so I stayed with 'em."

"Sounds familiar enough." Roadhandler gave a smirk to his bulk partner. "What do you mean by jobs though?"

"When I'm not working on Gasket's time, I do camera work for some of the races. Usually the last leg of the Speedia Ultimate, but..." The helo's sensors suddenly blaring in warning, he swiftly transformed and dropped to a wider portion of the rocky path while scrabbling for a proper foothold just as a beam of energy fired right through where he'd been. "…I think my resume can wait, don't you?"

The Wrecker pulled out both his weapons, diving to cover along with his Mini-Con partner. Their ally did likewise, arm-mounted cannons coming online. "You think the others caught sight of that?" Swerve asked.

"That, I'm not concerned about." A second beam shot past them, tearing a chunk of rock away in the process. His optics wide beneath his visor, Buzzsaw flattened himself against the boulder behind him as much as he could. "Them fighting that thing off is another matter."

A fair distance down the highway, Gasket's sensors sounded off. "I've picked up on our target. Excellion, with me – accelerate to top speed and close the distance. You three think you can keep up?"

"Shouldn't be a problem."

Twin flashes of red and silver light heralded the arrival of Gasket and Excellion's Cyber Keys. The white and black motorcycle activated boosters on his rear, the red and gold sports car deploying twin semi-translucent blue wings, and both accelerated significantly.

"Better get there soon, protos – there might not be any left!" Excellion cheekily tossed as he sped away.

An almost exasperated rumble shot through Hot Shot's engine. "We weren't that bad, were we?"

"Not after Scavenger got through with us," Wheeljack dryly answered. "Whisper, think he's noticed us?"

"No sign of–Frag! Incoming!"

The Mini-Con's warning gave them only a few short seconds before a beam rocketed towards them, tearing through the roadway and prompting them to dodge and weave.

"We've gotta close the distance! Link up and pour it on!"

"Works for me!" Wheeljack's partner linked up at the port on his back, and the black and yellow sports car's sides popped up. "If anything else, we'll give him a few less targets!"

Already linked up with as many Mini-Cons as he could carry, Blurr sped ahead, his weapons armed and already firing on their opponent. While the shots hit, they did little better than tear away small bits of the opponent's armor. Hot Shot, meanwhile, could do little more than link up with Jolt and keep his rifle charged.

Far ahead of the trio and their support, Gasket and Excellion at last closed on the attacker, pointing their weapons. "Power down your weapons and hands in the air."

He regarded them for a second before opening fire with the smaller gun on his left shoulder. Both Autobots managed to move to cover, glad that their target was near one of the many decorative arches lined along the highways.

"Don't think he's going to play nice, boss." The racer fired off a few rounds from his grenade launcher. "Any suggestions?"

"Aim for the joints and start with those guns." Gasket leaned out of cover and fired off a shot before pulling back to safety. "I won't fault you for trying for a headshot."

"Good." Excellion fired off his gun once more, the explosive round making contact with their opponent's face. The explosion caused him to stagger back, leaving him open to a follow-up shot from Gasket's gun. The second follow-up from the Cyber Key-based weapon was enough to tear the enemy's head from his shoulders, all but vaporizing it. "Hah! And those protos thought this was a problem!"

The body, however, did not fall, and its colors did not shift. The head simply reconstructed itself, restoring itself piece by piece until it was once more complete, the two Autobots watching on in shock. At last, their target laughed. "Foolish Children of Primus. Gaze upon me, and know your destruction."

A shot to the back of his head, followed by multiple blows to his back, heralded the arrival of the remnants of the survey team. The three transformed, their Mini-Con allies remaining linked up where possible, and joined in the fire.

"I've heard that before, and I'm still here!" Hot Shot kept up constant fire with his rifle, standing his ground. "And I'm not afraid of some crazy herald!"

Their enemy turned, barely fazed by the surrounding enemies, and pulled a long serrated blade from his leg. Without another word, he threw it like a javelin, catching the young yellow Autobot square in his throat.

"You face no simple herald. You face Unicron."

"He stopped shooting."

Buzzsaw snuck a glimpse out of his cover. "Correction, he's stopped shooting at us; he's going after our buddies now."

"Then we'd better hurry up and find that ship." Stowing away one of his rifles, Swerve began sweeping over the ground. "The iron ore's gonna make proper scanning difficult, but give me enough time and–"

A massive electrical burst tore through both larger mechs, Roadhandler escaping just barely. Buzzsaw was less affected than the Autobot, due to his armor having been modified with weather hazards in mind. Glancing up, he noticed a black and bright orange figure high above them, the electrical discharge firing off from between the points atop his forked head.

"Three little Cybertronians, all alone. Who's going to save you?"

A sudden burst of wind tore through the two still standing, the helo barely catching sight of a red, ivory and black form literally running on the rocks past them and up towards their attacker, punching him and thus halting his attack before gravity took hold.

The electrical discharge ended, Buzzsaw immediately activated his Cyber Key weapons, letting loose twin missile bursts. The two blasts hit hard, and followed by a shot from Swerve's rifle, their attacker quickly departed with several choice words.

The Decepticon gave a satisfied smirk at Swerve. "Not bad."

"Thanks." A residual burst shooting through his systems, the Autobot dropped to his knees, spasms shooting through his body.

"Stay back!" The Decepticon jumped back in surprise as their rescuer approached, kneeling down beside the fallen Autobot. "That electrical discharge was too much for his systems. We need to get him to safety."

"We've noticed." Despite his usual good attitude, seeing his partner's damage did little to help Roadhandler's mood. "We're too far away to get him to the nearest med center fast enough and he..." The newcomer easily picked up Swerve despite her size, forcing the Mini-Con to stare at her in shock. "What are you doing?"

"Getting your friend somewhere safe." The femme looked at the Mini-Con, a placating look in her optics. "Where I've been staying is close, Roadhandler. I can help him there."

The red drag racer's optics widened. "How did you know my name?"

"She overheard us." Realization dawning on his face, Buzzsaw reasoned aloud, "We were looking for a ship… but no one said it was empty."

A smile crossing her face, Accellas Prime beckoned for them to follow.

"Gasket! Gasket, are you reading me?!"

"This is a bad time, Override." Sounds of weapons firing nearly overwhelmed his voice. "You mind keeping this short?"

The Velocitron governor groaned as she raced down the subterranean tunnel. "Gasket, that survey team was here to find that ship, not help you chase down some random thug!"

"You ever find a random thug with regenerative abilities and high-powered cannons before?" Despite the slight dryness of the tone, there was a hint of concern.

Almost stalling in shock, she quickly recovered and pushed it even harder. "Alright, sit-rep!"

"We're engaging the thing that's been taking out the survey teams – it claims it's Unicron, and considering the fact that it grew a new head, I am now inclined to believe it. Swerve's in the Meridian Range with Buzzsaw looking for that ship, but our near-invulnerable friend was shooting in that direction right when we found him. Hot Shot's..."

A loud explosion and shriek of pain in the background only prompted Override to accelerate. "Gasket!"

The security officer kept up with his fire as the Street Speed Team sped around the regenerating entity, distracting him as the wounded were dragged to cover. "Sorry boss! Hot Shot and Blurr are down! We need help out here, now!"

"I'm on my way! Keep that thing busy and make sure he doesn't run off on you!"

The line cut off as Gasket reflected to himself that their enemy was hardly in a mood to depart. "How bad?!"

A gash was clear in Hot Shot's throat, sparks firing off from additional bits of damage throughout his body. A massive chunk of Blurr's back was also missing, torn out thanks to a glancing blow from their adversary's cannon. Both were pockmarked with blast points, courtesy of a still-active rotary cannon embedded in the demon's chest. Excellion and Wheeljack, however, were lucky enough to have escaped such injuries, the Autobot racer keeping up fire while the younger one tossed his overloading stun batons at their opponent.

The yellow Autobot weakly lifted his rifle on attempting to continue support, his yells of defiance garbled into incomprehensible static and gargles that barely conveyed his pain.

"Don't try to talk bro, your vocal processors are pretty slagged." Snatching Hot Shot's gun, Wheeljack picked up the slack after losing the second of his primary weapons. Scavenger was going to have his aft for throwing his batons at the enemy, despite that close-range combat was clearly out of the question – the instructor would've repeated about at least keeping one familiar weapon on their person. Wheeljack was only glad that the Decepticon suppliers at the main armory knew his habits and often gave him discounts, or made him work it off if he couldn't pay at the time. "We can't fix these two up here – we have to get them to a CR chamber!"

"In case you haven't noticed, we aren't exactly in a position to turn tail!" Excellion pulled back for a second just as another volley came his way, shrapnel hitting him on the back. "We need some help here!"

Gasket reflexively pulled back as a shot flew his way and then returned fire. "Unfortunately, this is all we've got."

As she continued down the roadway, Override couldn't help but think that the colonel was probably right – Gasket definitely had the right to call up assistance from the survey team. He knew his job and knew what it demanded. Slag, that was why Brakedown recommended him to her in the first place. And now she seriously regretted not giving his security forces a boost as they could definitely have used it.

Still, reflecting on what she'd done wrong wasn't about to fix the problem. "Clocker, call back all the survey teams and have the security forces with them regroup on Gasket's location. His team is–"

"I'm going to have to overrule that order, Override."

"Starscream? What are you doing– Never mind, you and Optimus obviously figured something like this might happen."

"Here and on Animatros – Prime's probably there now meeting up with the second team. We're apprised of your situation – my unit's prepping for transit."

"Good. I'm on my way in, we can meet up–" Her sensors noticing an incoming blip, she quickly changed subject, "Hold it, I've got something."

The approaching blip quickly appeared in front of her, revealing the frantically speeding form of Ransack approaching. Before Override could dodge, the motorcycle literally – and miraculously – drove up and over her body, the small Decepticon being sent flying out of control when he clipped one of her airfoils, prompting her to transform and skid to a halt in a shower of sparks on her feet. She quickly recovered and ran towards the mech as he transformed and violently shook his head to clear up his gyros.

"What kind of driver doesn't look where they're goin', huh?!" He let out an undignified squeak when Override roughly picked him up by his fairing with a glare on her face. "Override! Hi! Thought you looked familiar!"

The femme was particularly less than thrilled to have been used as an accidental launching ramp. "Where's your partner, Ransack? Crumplezone doesn't tend to stray too far from you."

"CZ is who I was runnin' from!" He pointed behind her in a flailing panic, prompting Override to look as the hulking Decepticon entered into view, the two new cannons adorning his passenger compartment firing off shots and tearing apart the surrounding tunnel with far more destruction than he was originally capable of.

Thinking fast, the femme threw her captive ahead of her and peeled off. Ransack followed suit as he landed, his tires causing him to bounce slightly on purchasing proper friction before catching up to the Autobot. "Explanations, now!"

"We got attacked by this big tank guy with big horns, big spikes, and a big attitude! Did I mention he's got big guns when we're talkin' firepower?! He somehow messed with 'Zone and then told him to scrap ME!!"

"Wonderful, more problems." Returning to her comm.-line, she continued, "Looks like you're going on your own – I've got a related problem to deal with. Mind letting me talk to my team again?"

"We're here kid. What's come up?"

The sound of her mentor's voice gave Override a little bit of reassurance. "Something's gotten into Crumplezone and from what Ransack is saying, it's related to why Starscream is here. I'm leading Crumplezone to where I can even the odds a little more, but I'm gonna need a little help."

"Got it – me, Clocker and Dirt Boss are ready for ya. Where do you want us?"

"My private course. Call ahead to Franklin and the kids, and get them to safety. I'll stall my problem as long as I can."

"Alright. Take care of yourself kid."

"Always have, old mech."

"Listen, Override. If we don't get through this, I want you to know…"

"Whatever it is, it can wait, Ransack!"

A gulp from the motorcycle. "Yes ma'am!"

"Come on, Coby, you've almost got it!" As the Scrapmetal finally emerged from the sand pit, Lori cheered in celebration. "Alright!"

"Not bad," the colonel admitted, already scribbling notes down. "Nothing a little practice can't fix."

"Maybe." The mecha's cockpit opened, and Coby sighed in relief as he removed his helmet, running a hand through damp hair. "Some refinements in the OS should be able to make that easier, but I can't do much about it here. Maybe readjust on the seat's comfort a little..."

"We'll save that for when we're back on Earth. For now..." A chirrup sounding from his communicator, Franklin tapped his earpiece. "Yes? … You're joking. … Alright, you're not joking. Thanks for the heads-up." He glanced over his wards. "We need to get to cover – Override's on her way back, and she's bringing trouble with her."

The teens gawked at him in surprise for a moment. "What about the survey team? Are they okay?"

"Brakedown didn't specify, Lori. He just said that things have gotten worse, and I'm not about to argue." His tone brooked no argument.

The cockpit closing again, Coby's Scrapmetal shifted to robot mode and walked towards them. "Override's storage bay's just over there, right? It'll be faster if I carry you two."

The mecha knelt and extended an open hand, allowing the two to climb into its arms before quickly taking off. As they rushed to the nearby building, Lori silently hoped that the others were alright.

Weapons fire continuing to do little against him, the orange tank laughed without mirth. "Foolish children. You have no hope. Your weapons are useless, your resistance futile. All that face me become void."

A flash of light in the distance, and several rockets flew towards the demon, tearing through his body and causing him to stumble. He turned about just as a long blade found itself embedded in his skull, its owner looking upon him with ancient and grim optics.

"Consider that a rebuttal," Vector Prime declared.

The younger mechs watched in surprise as the ancient Transformer swung hard with the blade, tearing it out through the side of the demon's head before ducking to one side, a swipe of his sword moving him from one part of the battlefield to another. As the old Prime materialized near the gathered younger Transformers, their attacker slowly healed himself, only to be assaulted by further reinforcements.

Missiles continued to fire from Crosswise's roof, the Cyber Key-activated weapons doing impressive damage. He rapidly halted and transformed, adding to the fire with his plasma cannon. Alongside him, Roulette and Shadow Stalker transformed and did likewise, the twin Vipers firing precise shots along the herald's joints.

"And you said Hot Shot could take care of himself!" the silver femme chided the ebon mech. "Swerve's luck must've rubbed off on them!"

"Well, we aren't all cut out to be monster hunters, are we?"

The second femme chuckled despite herself. "Just as long as we don't end up being the hunted, right? Starscream, we've got it pinned! Go!"

Heavy engine exhaust firing above, the familiar form of the Decepticon leader jetted overhead, Evac catching up and the bulky form of Demolishor hanging on as the sliding doors were opened to allow the truck to grab hold. The three flew over to the pinned group, landing with a thud alongside Wheeljack and the others.

"Am I ever glad to see you!" The black and yellow Decepticon kept up fire against his opponent. "Hot Shot–!"

"We're aware!" Starscream deployed his shoulder cannons as Evac looked over the two younger mechs' injuries. "Red Alert and the Emergency Team are waiting for them at Accel City! We just have to hold off this herald while–!"

"This is no herald!" The ancient Transformer fired upon the attacker with Safeguard, the Mini-Con plugged in on his left arm. "And it is not Unicron himself we face! This is no more than an avatar!"

"What a marvelous distinction!" Excellion sarcastically quipped, his grenade launcher still firing before having to reload. "We can still scrap it, right?!"

"Yes, but we've other problems right now! Evac, are they stable enough to depart?!"

"If you know where to go, then yes!" The Dauphin held Hot Shot in his arms, Jolt trying to maintain calm but close to fretting from the larger helicopter's shoulder. Demolishor was in vehicle mode, Blurr resting in his truck bed with Incinerator helping to steady him. "We're good to go!"

Vector Prime turned away from the avatar of Unicron and immediately created a portal with one swift stroke of his sword. The Earth-born Autobot and the green Decepticon quickly shot through it, the wounded and their Mini-Con partners in tow before the portal closed behind them.

"Nice gesture and all, but I don't see how that'll help us!" Excellion growled. "And if that thing's really being controlled by Unicron, I doubt it'll stick around here just for slags and giggles!"

"What do you bet me something is in those mountains that it's interested in?!" the Decepticon leader surmised. He dodged to one side, narrowly avoiding a shot from the avatar's long cannon. "But whatever it is, it'll have to wait!"

"Not for long!" Vector Prime's Cyber Key ability became active, green energies charging in his chest before firing outwards in one concentrated stream of energy, slamming hard into the avatar. The energies sent him off the highway and into the wasteland in the distance. The ancient mech watched him fly into the distance with satisfaction, stowing his sword and not minding that the attack had him making gouges in the asphalt from the kickback.

"You couldn't have done that earlier?" the red-and-yellow Velocitronian native asked, all but gaping.

"Time was not against us earlier." Without another word, Vector Prime transformed and flew off into the distance, heading towards the Meridian Range.

Gasket gave a small, frustrated huff. "Let me guess, Swerve was right."

"Unfortunately, yes." Stepping forward cautiously towards the edge of the roadway, his optics focusing on the recovering form of Unicron's avatar in the distance, Starscream grimaced uneasily. "It won't take long for that thing to put itself back together. We need to regroup and keep it distracted."

"Until?"

"Until we can figure out how to destroy it."

Ever since she'd left the Pentagon and climbed onto the Cybertronian craft, Maggie couldn't help but realize how deep she was in. Despite that, however, she couldn't help but feel more than a little excited.

What excitement she'd had, however, died down once they'd arrived at the Hoover Dam. As soon as the craft had landed near the facility, she, Glen, and the Mini-Cons occupying it had been ushered off inside the installation itself. It hadn't been a bad experience, all things considered. Maggie had often pondered the chances of visiting the dam during one of her vacation days given its history, but never found the opportunity – visiting in this fashion was something of a consolation.

Hoover Dam wasn't originally known by that name – the project it started from, the "Boulder Canyon Project," began when Herbert Hoover was the Secretary of Commerce under then President Warren Harding's administration in 1922 and was working on how to apportion the Colorado River equally. The commission consisted of representatives from the Basin states and one from the federal government: state governors from California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming; Hoover being the federal representative. Despite the dam having to move down to Black Canyon, the project name stayed the same and when groundwork finally began in 1930, President Hoover's Secretary of Interior Ray L. Wilbur followed the tradition of naming the dam after the current president. However, a naming issue during Franklin Delano Roosevelt's administration had "Hoover Dam" in all printed materials switched to "Boulder Dam" when Harold Ickes was head of the Department of the Interior. It wasn't until two years after World War II that California Republican Congressman Jack Anderson was able to submit a House Resolution on reverting back the name; a companion resolution from the Senate was also passed and President Harry S. Truman finally changed the name back to "Hoover Dam" on April 30, 1947. Despite all that and it being a tourist attraction, Sector 7 remained nice and secretly snug underneath all that concrete and water.

"As you've been informed, the Autobots believe their communications networks have been infiltrated by a virus. They need us for two reasons – getting as much of the original virus source code as possible from where they think it was planted, and finding out exactly what it's supposed to do."

"Why call us in though?" The young woman couldn't help but be a little puzzled. She looked at the red Mini-Con accompanying them. "No offense, but you guys have millions of years more experience with computer tech."

"Experience sure, but we don't have safe systems to test with." Redline gave her and Glen a thankful look. "Fortunately for us, this virus isn't interested in human communication networks. We figure we can figure out exactly what it's supposed to do here and have a lot less at risk."

"But bringing the two of us in just to play with a computer virus?" Glen looked a little exhausted from all the walking they'd done, making the Tasmanian native think that either he hadn't quite gotten through with his sugar-filled breakfast that morning, or he was running low on his sugar-fuel. "Not that this isn't cool and everything, Mr. Banachek, but aren't we a little overqualified?"

"I am not one for ignoring recommendations, Mr. Whitmann. Especially if they came from someone whom they consider their best in this particular field," came the agent's point-blank response. Maggie wondered if that was a hint of amusement from the way his mouth imperceptibly twitched. "And the two of you were highly recommended."

The agent led the two humans and three Mini-Cons into an expansive chamber within the dam, a massive semi-cylindrical form held in place above them, several lines and cords leading down to terminals arrayed around it with bits of code streaming along their monitors. Said piece of equipment was several yards taller than Scavenger if he was standing next to it, a variety of lights blinking away merrily on its sides. The two computer techs gazed up in amazement, Glen mouthing a "wow" in astonishment. "That's some kind of major hard drive or server, isn't it?"

"Exactly. You're looking at what's left of Teletraan-1, the computer core aboard the Ark." Eyes turned to Flat-Out as he continued. "The ship was destroyed back in December, but we managed to salvage most of it. Sector 7 got the core as part of our recent agreement, and chances are good that the virus is still in there. We need the two of you to find the source code so we can figure out some way of getting rid of the virus itself, not just deal with its mutations. All we need now is to get power going through this thing, and we'll be good to go."

"And that's why it's here at Hoover Dam rather than at Area 51 or somewhere. You're going to power it with the electricity this place generates, right?"

Banachek shook his head. "It's here only because S7 has primary operations here, Ms. Madsen. The computer has its own independent power supply anyway, so that isn't a problem. Once we have everything hooked up and ready to go, we'll turn it on, and you two can find that virus."

She ran a hand through her hair, still nearly overwhelmed at what was happening. "Going right back to that testing thing. How are we supposed to do that?"

"Through this." Servo gestured them towards a large waiting terminal. Several workers in face masks and Tyvek suits were working away at it, the device itself easily identified as Cybertronian in origin due to several unfamiliar runes stamped in several spots of the equipment. One screen was mounted in the center of the device, while two more were extending out from its sides on short arms. "We swap out parts for our computer systems on a regular basis for maintenance purposes, so putting together two human-sized subspace communications terminals isn't a problem."

"The second one is located in London, connected to this one via a secure and separate satellite (Well, as secure as our level goes). They're totally independent of the Autobot facilities on and near Earth, only connected to them by a standard landline. Once we start the test, that'll be the only method of communication with their base in Colorado," the Sector 7 agent finished.

"Looks like we're almost ready to go then." Maggie may not have been the most organized of people, but she could definitely appreciate organization when she saw it. "I'd still like to know who recommended us."

"We're ready!" called out one of the technicians as his associates moved away from the terminal. "Powering up!"

The technician activated the improvised terminal, one of the screens brightening slightly while the next two flashed on. Another remained blank, but the second gave an image of a blue-visored Autobot. "Autobase Earth to Area 50, do you read?"

"Loud and clear, Sideswipe," Redline answered the young Autobot. "The second site up yet?"

"Nothing from Astroscope, but they'll be ready soon enough. Patching you in to Cybertron now."

The third screen finally flashed on, bringing up an image that Maggie and Glen were both surprised to recognize. "Decagon reading you, Area 50."

"Wire?!" the young Australian called in shock. "You recommended us?"

An embarrassed waving of fingers. "Sorry Maggie. I didn't know who else to turn to."

"Don't apologize!" Glen's enthusiasm was renewed as he pulled up a chair, adrenaline now replacing his sugar-fuel and cracking his knuckles. "Right now, I don't care if all this is classified or I signed an NDA. No one'd believe it anyway."

Maggie almost didn't believe it herself as she pulled up a chair next to her enthusiastic friend. "Well, nothing wrong with helping out an online friend I suppose. Alright, send us what we need to look for. Let's see if we can figure this thing out."

"Internals are fried, circuits shot to the Pit and back…" The femme Prime shook her head in irritation. "Not much I can do, but I'll see if I can stabilize him. Mind lending a hand?"

Buzzsaw wordlessly complied, opening a cabinet within the medical bay and pulling out an assortment of instruments. "EMP generator?"

"Don't think that'll be necessary, but get it just in case." Accellas quickly activated an array of scanners positioned around Swerve's prone body. "No questions then from you two?"

"Swerve tends to be more of the curious type." Optics shifting briefly to the sensor readout, Roadhandler rested a hand on his partner's shoulder. "Besides, figuring all this out isn't that hard. You got here ages ago, long before the colony was established, and covered the ship in rock to try and mask it. The only question left after that is what you did with your time."

"With a thousand stellar cycles between my arrival and the colony's founding? Not all that much. I barely had enough time to build a few of those roads and have a stasis nap or three."

"And the seismic disturbances?"

"Me revving up the ship's engines every time someone got a little adventurous around here." The old femme snickered conspiratorially as she quickly set about connecting cables with swift efficiency, despite not being a medic. "Not the best security system in the universe, but it worked well enough." A sequence of buttons pushed and a brief pulse of light went over Swerve's prone body. "That should stabilize him some and dull the pain from those shocks. Should come back online in a couple kliks."

The Wrecker's optics flashed briefly, his fingers flexing slightly as he looked at the face of the ancient Transformer. "Thanks."

Relief clear on the Mini-Con's face, Roadhandler laughed. "Don't thank her, glitch-head. We aren't out of the smelting pool yet."

"He's right. Whoever it was that attacked you, he's not gone. He's probably still out there, keeping his sensors tuned on us."

"Which means we can't leave, right?" At Accellas' nod, the Decepticon cursed in a low voice. "Just our luck." A low explosion sounded off around them. "And now he's shooting the rock layer around the ship. Looks like we led him right to you, whoever he is."

"His name's Sideways." Optics turning to him, Roadhandler elaborated, "He showed up on Earth, fought the Autobots there. He works for Unicron, probably with that tank thing."

"Unicron?" The femme shook her head in amazement and resignation. "Well, didn't think it'd be safe forever." A glance among the trio, and she asked, "Isn't that why you were here? The Key of Velocity?"

"Yeah, but not much good it'll do us." Another tremor sending shockwaves through the ground, Buzzsaw looked around briefly. "I hate to say it, but we're in deep slag."

Now back along the highways, Override drove hard, Ransack just keeping up and Crumplezone just barely in their sensors. "Brakedown, please tell me we've got some good news!"

"No word yet, kid, so no news either way. You still got Crumplezone in your rear sensors?"

"Barely. He's not firing anymore, but that could just be because we're out of his range. What's your ETA to Mount Stargaze?"

"Should be three or four more cycles. We've already gotten word from the humans – they're safe inside your storage bay and waitin' for us. Got a plan?"

"Yeah. I put Crumplezone through everything Coby's been training with – even with all his extra power, he won't be able to hold up to too many stunners. Once he's under, we can get him in stasis and worry about undoing what's happened to him later."

"Nice thinking. Here's hoping it works. Brakedown out."

"You're serious about all this, right? I mean, that whole obstacle course thing you train with and all's good, but how ya gonna make sure CZ goes through it?"

"Simple: YOU will lead him through it."

"WHAAA?!" The red motorcycle nearly swerved into a barrier before recovering himself. "Are you crazy?! He'll scrap me!"

"Only if you aren't fast enough to get through the course. And look on the bright side – you've got some extra motivation."

Ransack gave a frightened whimper as they continued along, hoping that this plan wouldn't end up with him getting pounded into sheet metal.

Another burst of energy fired off from Sideways' cannon, blowing away more of the rock face. "This is no fun at all. Hiding out beneath the mountain, a pile of rock and ore between you and me. And here I thought I'd get a real fight."

"Sideways."

The herald stopped firing.

"You are not needed here any longer. You have found what we seek."

"We still have a problem. The Cybertronians…"

"Are inconsequential, and the Matrix is not present here. They lack the means to destroy us, and you have already proven insufficient. Return, and I will finish this."

The herald remained silent before sighing. "I understand, master. Your will be done." He zipped about in the air after transforming and then disappeared from view.

"It's stopped." Buzzsaw anxiously looked up towards the ceiling. "You don't suppose he got bored?"

A groan from the Wrecker as he came out of unconsciousness. "Wouldn't count on it." Several optics turning towards him in relief, Swerve asked, "What'd I miss?"

"Just us finding what we were looking for." A smile from the femme Prime, and Roadhandler turned back to his partner. "You good enough to transform?"

A pained grunt and several unpleasant sounds of fried and blocked gears. "Slag… My conversion circuits are fried."

"And something tells me running isn't a good option anyway." The Decepticon turned to the femme. "They're after that Key, same as we are. And the only reason we haven't detected it before now are those rocks over our heads."

"We move it, we're found and as good as dead. We stay, same story. Slagged if we do, and slagged if we don't." Accellas made an aggravated sound. "Where's Vector when you need him?"

A green light shone over the four, prompting them to turn as a portal opened beside them which then had a form stepping through before the portal flashed out of existence. "Precisely where he's needed." The optics of the femme widening in shock, Vector Prime smiled. "It has been far too long, Accellas. I missed you."

A grin spreading across her face, the femme rushed forward and hugged her sibling tightly. "It's about time you learned how to come when called!" She stepped back, still beaming. "Millions of stellar cycles, and you don't look any different."

"Nor you, much to my relief." The smile fading, he added, "We've little time."

"No argument there." Accellas turned away and quickly exited the medical bay. "Help Swerve – I'll get the Key."

As she exited sight, Buzzsaw carefully helped the Wrecker to stand. "Mind explaining what all that was about?"

"It is a long and personal story, young one. Pray you do not have one of your own to remember."

Buzzsaw supporting him with one arm, Swerve looked to the ancient Prime and asked, "That thing Gasket's tracking… it's another herald, isn't it?"

"No. It is something much worse." Soft footfalls signaled Accellas' return, prompting her sibling to ask, "Is it…?"

"Secure." The femme held up a case, dull red light just barely visible from within. "Please tell me we're heading somewhere safe."

"Safe enough for now." Vector Prime once more drew his sword, creating another portal. "Follow me."

"Small part of you is probably enjoying this, isn't it?"

A chuckle. "Smokescreen humiliated me once, kid, not you. And I'm over that. If anything, all I've got is sympathy." Laying Blurr down face-first on the diagnostic bed, Demolishor added, "Now let the doc-bots do their job."

"Good advice." Evac had already laid Hot Shot out on a second bed, Red Alert already beginning to scan over his injuries. "How do they look?"

"A bit too early to say anything beyond terrible," the medic replied, Longarm and Prowl moving a diagnostic scanner into position. "Give us some time, and we'll have these two patched up."

A flash of green light, and a familiar voice corrected them. "You'll need to make it three." The three healthy Transformers watched as Vector Prime led his sibling, Buzzsaw, and the injured Swerve towards a third bed. "He's got heavy damage from a massive electrostatic burst. Still online, spark stable, but not much good news otherwise."

"Better some than… none…" Red Alert's gaze focused on the newcomer. "Who...?"

"Accellas Prime," she answered in a somewhat clipped tone. "And I think you have better things to do than gawk at me."

A chuckle from the Magnum. "My apologies – I'll keep my optics on the job."

"Don't mind his surprise, ma'am. We weren't expecting you to show up in person." An extended hand. "My name's Evac. I've heard a lot about you from Methius, and it's an honor to finally meet you."

Surprise grew in the femme's optics as she took the offered hand. "You mean… you knew my brother? Is he…?"

"Gone, but not forgotten." Optics drifting to the case, he asked, "That what I think it is?"

"Exactly what Unicron's here looking for. The container isn't totally masking it… but it's enough to buy a little time."

Speed had been her main goal, to be the fastest against any number of wheels, even those with hover-based modes. Like almost every Transformer created on Velocitron, Override had felt the call of racing on the numerous tracks and obstacle courses but unlike others, she felt it much more strongly. Watching holo-vids of previous races and Brakedown prior to his retirement from being governor had all but fueled her desire to become the fastest. What she lacked in racing instincts or overcompensated on an angle, training tempered her skills that eventually allowed her position as governor of the Speed Planet during the previous Grand Prix, despite the numerous difficulties along the way. When Brakedown officially announced her as Velocitron's new leader, she was incredibly happy.

Yet, despite having achieved her goal of being the speediest, she had been feeling that there was more to it, but didn't know what. Even with the activation of the Omega Lock, Override still found things lacking until the search for the Keys soon kicked up, and for once, she was burning in anticipation of a different race.

"We're all set, kid! You know what to do!"

Energon surged through Override's engines with anticipation as she veered onto an onramp, Ransack following close behind as she ascended Mount Stargaze. "Alright then! Let's finish this!"

Close enough behind them to just be in sight, Crumplezone thundered along, shifting lanes to follow as a burst from his cannons aided his acceleration.

"He's closing! Him closing is a bad thing!" the motorcycle shrieked, bordering on panicking.

"Only if we want him to lose us!" A quick burst of speed to help keep their range, and the femme led her fellow Velocitronian along the ramp and onto her practice course. "Now, follow the course and keep him close enough to see you!"

"Wait, what's on this course?!"

"Just drive fast! And when in doubt, JUMP!"

Override veered off that second, transforming and skidding to a halt on one side of the road. Ransack continued on, his sensors going wild as he approached the obstacle course and his old friend closed the gap, almost on top of him. Hoping to Primus that he'd survive this, the tiny Decepticon pulled a wheelie, jets firing from his undercarriage working with his speed to send him skyward.

The red motorcycle managed to get airborne with just enough time to avoid the juggernaut behind him, Crumplezone shooting under him and up the stairs into the obstacle course. The spinning barrels barely slowed him down, his sheer bulk tearing them apart and doing little if any damage to his armor. The stunners did more, each contact sending a burst of electricity into his body and slowing him even as they were torn from their bases. By the time he cleared them, he slowed enough so that his front wheel made contact with the edge of the sand pit, his bulky form sliding inside.

"Perfect." A triumphant smile on her face, Override slammed an elbow into a waiting emergency panel, shattering the pane of glass and pressing down hard on the massive orange button at the same time.

Panels within the track slid away and depressed, automated fire drones rising up and swiftly hovering towards the pit. From nozzles mounted on their heads, the drones sprayed foam down upon the incapacitated Decepticon, the substance collecting and congealing over several points of his body. His still-spinning wheels slowed before finally coming to a halt as Ransack cautiously approached. "Hey, he didn't catch on fire! What's with the foam?!"

"We needed some way to keep him contained. And since the spray nozzles used on the road repair units are the same we use with the emergency units, swapping out the flame-retardant foam for the stuff we use to patch potholes wasn't that hard." Override approached, looking over the results with a careful optic. "He'll be there for a while, hopefully long enough for us to get him back to normal."

A loud sigh of relief before trying to sneak away as surreptitiously as he could. "Well… I guess that settles that. I'm just gonna…"

Ransack's forehead met something denser just as he turned around, a resounding CLANG on his attempt at a speedy exit, and the smaller Decepticon looked up to see a very familiar optic and variable targeting scope. Dirt Boss smirked, dangling a pair of stasis cuffs. "Where do you think you're going, tiny?"

Lori gave a relieved sigh, her head braced on a control tower's window near the course. "Glad that's over." Noticing the neutral expressions on her seniors' faces, she corrected herself, "It isn't over, is it?"

"Not until we can figure out what did this to Crumplezone, kiddo." Brakedown looked from the young human to the field. "And if Ransack's right, that tank thing Gasket was chasing down's to blame for all our troubles."

"And if that tank is what we suspect it is, then we may not have the means to defeat it." Suddenly regretting having brought the kids along, Franklin was distracted as a comm. screen flashed on, the screen splitting to show two separate channels.

"How goes the chase, mechs? I miss out on the fun, or what?"

"It's all over, Buzzsaw. What's your status?"

"Good news and bad, kid. Swerve's damaged, but he's stable and the doc-bot's looking him over. Meanwhile, we found what we were looking for."

Relief was clear in Clocker's voice. "The Key's safe?"

"Along with Accellas Prime. We're back at Accel City – nothing stopping us from getting this thing off planet now," the Decepticon helicopter added.

"Save for the Unicron spawn running around trying to destroy it." A quick look to the sharpshooter keeping watch on their adversary, and Starscream quickly considered things. "We still have him to deal with, and getting the key off-planet doesn't mean that monster will end his rampage and head home."

"No offense, Starscream, but we've thrown just about everything at this guy. What are we supposed to do, drop him off a cliff?"

"Wait a klik… maybe that can do it!" The Decepticon leader turned to his subordinate in surprise as Wheeljack continued, "The jump at Ceti Alpha V! Between the two ends is a gorge at least 5 kils deep – I don't care how quickly you regenerate, because there's no way can you survive a fall that far! We just need to get that thing to try and jump it!"

"What kind of half-crazed plan is that?!" Excellion exclaimed, not believing them. "That jump's suicide! There's only twenty Transformers in Velocitron's history that've managed to jump that thing without falling in, and that's including the ones that caught the other end just in time!"

"And you're assuming this thing can't fly." Gasket turned to the Seeker and admitted, "It could work, but if that thing's flight-capable we'd just be wasting Energon."

"Not if we catch it in the middle. There's an alternate route past that crevasse – some of us can camp on the other end of the jump and wait, while the rest follow that thing. If it jumps and flies back out, we can start shooting it."

The white motorcycle smiled in satisfaction. "That sounds like more of a plan to me."

Far in the distance from her position, a dull yellow form burst forth from the sands and landed hard back on the highway. Visor sliding back up, Roulette shot to look at her commanding officer. "He's gotten back up!"

Getting the feeling that circumstances had decided things for him, Starscream nodded. "That settles that. Excellion, you're with me, Whisper, and Crosswise – we're following that thing. Gasket, lead the rest where they need to be." He jumped up and transformed, the two Autobots following on the ground. "Catch you at the jump!"

As the three departed, Gasket keyed in his communicator. "You catch all that?"

"Yeah boss, I caught it." As many times as he'd seen mechs and femmes try that jump, Buzzsaw knew full well how dangerous it was. "You're gonna need bait though. I don't have to worry about the jump..."

"The Key's my responsibility." Accellas Prime's grip on the case tightened. "I should do this."

"Accellas, no! The virus in your systems...!"

She batted Vector's hand away. "Isn't nearly as important as the Key! I'm lucky to still be online anyway! At least this way–!"

"Accellas Prime, I don't know how fast you are, or think you are." Override's voice carried that hint of stubbornness young leaders were known to carry. "This is my planet, and I'm one of the only Transformers to ever make that jump successfully. I'll take the key and lure him out. Vector Prime, I'm gonna need a shortcut."

The ancient Transformer sighed in resignation before cutting open a green portal before them. Override stepped through a second later and met the older femme's gaze as the gateway faded.

"You don't know the risks," Accellas implored. "If he catches up to you…"

"He won't," the younger femme spoke resolutely. "I'm the fastest thing on wheels, and this is my world. I know how to race it, and I know how to protect it." She extended a hand. "And I will. I promise."

Accellas looked from Override, to the case, to her sibling, then finally back to the young governor. "Alright. You'd better live up to that hype, or we're all in trouble."

The case was handed off, and the Autobot flashed a grin. "It's not hype if it's true." She ran out, the case tightly held against her body.

The room remained silent for a moment before Red Alert looked up from working on Blurr's injuries. "Not to distract everyone from our potential doom or anything, but what did you mean about a virus?"

Mournful glances were exchanged between Evac and the two Primes before the Dauphin vented a sigh. "It's a long story, Red."

"You found these two through World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XI?"

The Autobot hacker gave a sheepish grin. "I needed something to do in my off hours. They didn't know I was an Autobot until I met them as part of the debrief following the Cobra incident. Although Glenn taking advantage of a couple 'hidden' features of Warcraft somehow tipped me off that I wasn't playing with a regular player, and then Maggie messing around with a couple things…"

Jetfire patted the F-14 on the head, mentally delighted when the young flyer didn't shy away as before. "It's cool, Wire, I'm not complaining. A little cooperation's not going to hurt anyone. Hopefully, it'll prevent the messes connected to that incident from happening again."

The Decepticon present shook her head. "I wouldn't be too optimistic. Neither of these groups has the most noble intentions."

Her ruby optics shifted to a set of screens patched in with facilities on Earth. The central one was connected to Autobase Earth, Sideswipe reacting on the other side as something popped up on another screen. Two other screens, one on each side, were linked to the aforementioned groups – Sector Seven's base marked with its own standby message, while the second flashed online. In short, it was a very simple network setup and completely isolated from any other systems, which suited their experiment just fine.

"Astroscope reporting in from Torchwood One. We're set here."

"Affirmative on that – keep us posted." The screen flashed back to a standby, and Scattorshot turned away. "Well, here's hopin' this doesn't blow up in our faces."

"And we're set to begin subspace transmission. Sector Seven, are you reading us?"

"Coming in loud and clear, Astroscope. We're online – no subspace connection to Autobase or the Axalon."

The Mini-Con nodded. "Excellent. Stand by, Redline."

Several monitors scrolled row after row of text, Torchwood's best computer minds typing their fingers off on a variety of command lines and creating a cacophony of struck keys that mingled with the background noise of techs doing their checks on the equipment. For the experiment, their section had been cordoned off from the main Torchwood computer and power systems, UPSs – uninterruptible power supplies – fully charged and several standby generators on hand in case of power disruption. Even with supervision from their alien neighbors/visitors, none of the techs wanted to risk too many chances.

Watching from against a nearby wall, Caliburn shifted his arms uncomfortably as he watched the members of the Space Team waiting before their improvised three-screen subspace terminal within Torchwood One. This was the second time he'd been in this complex in the same day, and he was even less happy about this visit than he was the first one.

"Something wrong, Caliburn?"

He shifted a bit on his servos. "Restless, Ms. Hartman. Restless."

The Torchwood Director regarded him for a moment. "Concerned that we might misuse your leftovers?" A hard look. "It's not difficult to tell you don't trust us."

"Gee, however did that occur to you?" The obsidian Mini-Con huffed, trying his hardest to be diplomatic and fighting the urge to tap his finger against his arm (something he had subconsciously picked up). "I don't mind humans with Transformer tech. Slag, you probably got a hold of something related to interstellar communications anyway, considering everything that you folks have picked up by now. I just get uneasy every time I hear rhetoric like the type your organization spouts. Reminds me of similar things I've heard."

"On your planet?"

"And yours. Didn't go well for anyone."

The three terminal screens flashed on, interrupting their conversation. "We're set. S7, it's your show now."

"Alright! Activating in three… two… one…now!"

As Glen and Maggie finished typing out commands on their end of the transmission alongside the Torchwood techs and waited with bated breath, the central screen's image on the terminal grew distorted like a signal gone bad and then warped before ultimately blacking out. The console followed up by giving off a series of sparks for good measure, forcing several people to hastily backpedal before Payload yanked the cord from the power supply to deactivate it from creating an even worst situation of sparking an electrical fire.

"Well, didn't see that coming." Sky Blast looked from the screen to one of the technicians at work nearby. "That satellite connection up yet?"

"Almost got it," answered one, her wide eyes even more alert following the lightshow. "Here we are! Connecting now!"

A flat screen monitor on a nearby wall flashed on, three separate panels showing the views from Cybertron, Colorado and the Hoover Dam clearing up from static. "Welcome back, Torchwood. Status?"

"Communications were scrambled, then went out completely thereafter, Scavenger." The Space Team's leader shifted optics slightly to look upon Redline's visage. "I'm going to assume it's much the same at Sector Seven."

"Complete with sparking console. It's official – the virus is meant to take out our communications systems."

"That doesn't explain the…hold on." Wirejack quickly checked on something off screen, and then turned back. "Well, here's our problem. Looks like there's a code in here to disable the surge protectors as well. They wanted to be thorough."

"At least now we know exactly what we're dealing with." Scavenger's voice was far from comforting. "What about the virus code from Teletraan-1?"

"Still working on it. Once we've got it, we'll let you..."

Maggie's reply was cut short by a triumphant laugh from Glen. "Got it! It's nowhere near as complex as the one Wire found, but it's definitely the same bug! Boo-yah!"

"We're going to need a copy of the source code. Hopefully, we can figure out how to wipe this thing out." A hopeful look on the Autobot hacker's face. "I don't know about anyone else, but I call this good news."

"No argument from here. Torchwood out." The screen flashed off, and Astroscope concluded, "Well, our work is done here. Director Hartman, the equipment is all yours. What damage there should be easily repaired, just make sure you don't do anything with it until we've purged this virus."

"You aren't worried about where it came from?"

Caliburn regarded her for a moment. "Of course we're worried. That's why we're so eager to get this taken care of." He turned and followed the Space Team towards the exit. "Just hope we can, or fried circuits will be the least of our problems."

As the four Mini-Cons left, Hartman leaned in close to her assistant. "Adeola, do you get the feeling they're hiding something?"

"Well, we haven't quite been honest with them." The young woman stared at her boss. "You don't suppose that's why they let us keep the cannon?"

"Perhaps." Yvonne shook her head, dismissing her thoughts. Whatever it was, it was hardly her problem for now.

"…and that's the story."

Red Alert looked from one Prime, to the other, and eventually to Evac before releasing an exasperated sigh almost all medics were known to make when patients finally revealed the real cause of their condition. "You could have said something about this earlier. I could have brought a full medical unit here and performed tests..."

"It would have accomplished little." Vector bowed his head mournfully. "Nothing we tried in the past - aside from strong radiation treatments - was able to hold the virus at bay. I was fortunate, able to purge the virus from my systems before it fully took hold thanks to my ability of temporal manipulation, but the cost was terrible as I had almost perished in the attempt. And if I were to try such a thing now, my demise would be certain."

"But obviously you've been able to do something about it." The Autobot medic quirked an optic ridge.

"Just slow its spread." With a slightly saddened smile, Accellas elaborated, "Having powers based on kinetic energy lets you do so much, but it can't stop anything. Not forever. And if I go super fast longer than a few cycles, I risk losing control of it."

A pained groan as Swerve struggled to sit up on his berth. "What about spark transference? No way could a virus implant itself in a spark – going from one body to another should settle it, right?"

Evac shook his head. "That might work if you, me or Hot Shot was infected with it, but not them. Their sparks are tied to their bodies – they can be removed, yes, but they can't be transferred fully. And I don't know about you, but being stuck in a spark canister for the rest of eternity is anything but my idea of a good time."

"Well there has to be–"

A salvo of laser fire and those gathered looked downwards in surprise. At their feet, Blackout shook his head, shaking his right arm to try and get rid of the smoke gently rising from its barrel. "As much as I love hearing debates, I don't think now's the time. Yeah, she's sick. But clearly, that isn't the current problem." Jerking his other arm to indicate the three injured Autobots, he continued, "These three, however, ain't exactly running rings around us, and they aren't going to get better until we start fixing their problems. I'd say they're the priority here."

Rubbing the bridge of his nasal in a frustrated gesture mimicked subconsciously, the medic nodded in agreement. He looked to the femme and added, "But as soon as this is settled and we're all back on Cybertron, you're coming with me to the medical center." Red Alert turned back to his fellow medics. "Report."

"Where to start?" Firebot gestured as the Wrecker slid back onto his berth. "Swerve's taken massive internal damage thanks to that burst of electricity that ran through him. Fuses blown, circuits fried, various systems out of whack… We're lucky he's still online, all things considered."

"Sounds like Hot Shot after he ran into Wheeljack on Earth." Blurr hissed as he tried to push himself up, sparks flying from his back and damage clear on his head.

"Only about ten time worse," Prowl amended. He gave the Autobot a critical look before continuing. "And you aren't much better. Flight systems are fried, Powerlinx ports are shot, armor damaged all over the place, weapons destroyed… I'm starting to think you two are just danger prone to challenge almost any medic, engineer, or those with reasonable repair skills."

Not even bothering to protest with his vocalizer, Hot Shot's response was to weakly give Prowl the middle finger, much to Evac's amusement.

"And Hot Shot's injuries, forgive the turn of phrase, speak for themselves." Already regretting the unintentional pun, Makeshift scrolled through the scanner's readout. "Pretty much the same as Blurr, with the obvious addition of his vocal processors being damaged."

"Options?"

"Repair facilities here are about as good as they're going to be on Cybertron, and I don't feel comfortable moving them back." The Mini-Con fire engine regarded Swerve's injuries for a moment, shaking his head. "And there's no way we can repair all those blown circuits. Easiest thing, assuming there's no Destronium plating in the way, would be transferring his spark to another body."

"Like Magnus, huh?" Swerve shrugged painfully. "Go for it. Just try to salvage as much of my sensor array as you can."

"That shouldn't be a problem." Red Alert looked around at the others. "Any counterproposals?"

Makeshift shook his head, but Prowl crossed his arms as he regarded his patient. "There's plenty of mechs driving around here on Velocitron with Blurr's body frame. Chances are they share most of the parts and specs. We'll still need to remove his spark, but I can't think of a good reason to not try patching up his body."

"Not a bad idea. Go for it."

The medic nodded with Blurr's suggestion. "Alright then. Evac, Demolishor, I'll need your help with this. I'll need three spark-catchers – they should be in that corner cabinet, clearly marked. Buzzsaw, find the local Forge facility and get bodies for Hot Shot and Swerve. Prowl, access parts depositories for Blurr, find components that match his specifications. Everyone else, we need these three in stasis."

"Spark extraction…" Accellas whirled to her sibling in amazement, barely restrained hope in her optics. "Don't tell me you've already found Draco."

"Not yet, but I've no doubt he'll be found shortly, if not already." A knowing and slightly saddened smile on his face, Vector shook his head. "Much has happened, Accellas, and the quest for the Artifacts is not the only one currently in motion."

"Facing off against an avatar of Unicron…" Disbelief was clear in Shadow Stalker's voice as she sped through an underground tunnel among the rest of the strike group. "Never thought I'd be doing anything like that."

"Believe me, there's worse things to be fighting with." Wheeljack tried his hardest to push aside memories of the last time his sibling had been grievously wounded, but found nothing but difficulty doing so – being in the presence of the Viper sisters did little to help that, given the similarities between the two pairs.

Sensing the discomfort in the black and yellow mech's voice, Roulette quickly asked, "Gasket, how long until we reach the jump?"

"Should be coming into sight now."

The group emerged from the tunnel onto a tubular service bridge, the jump visible at their left. Below them loomed a dark and foreboding chasm, the mid-afternoon sun doing little to help penetrate its depths or make the group feel better.

The black Viper shivered uneasily. "Long way down."

"Hopefully, just long enough." The group exited the tube and found themselves back in another tunnel, altitude sensors confirming their ascent towards the surface. "There's an off-ramp just up ahead that we can use to get to the other end of the jump – safety teams use it if we have to transport someone to a CR chamber in case those attempting the jump crash on their landing. We should be ready by the time they get there."

Gasket's words did little to make Wheeljack feel any better. Powerlinked to his back, Windsheer could easily pick up on his partner's anxiety. "They'll be alright, Wheeljack. Don't worry about Hot Shot or Blurr. They're in good hands, and we need to focus on this for now."

Those words were of little comfort, but the young racer was still grateful for the reassurance from his Mini-Con partner. Besides, he was right.

They had a job to do.

"Just for the record, this is making me very uncomfortable."

"Then pray we never have to do it with you." A glance among the gathered Mini-Cons, and Red Alert asked, "Ready?" A collective nod, and the medic called, "Alright. Spark-catchers online!"

Held over the three damaged Autobots were familiar cylindrical devices, the ends pointing towards the three opening up and deploying small articulated arms. In a sense, Red Alert's spark-catchers operated on the same principal as Topspin's ability did – safely removing a Transformer's spark if they didn't want to risk accessing their laser core. While the concept of transferring one's spark to another body was a good idea should injuries be too extensive to repair on the body and a new one was required, there were various drawbacks to such a procedure. Power levels had to be monitored, so the spark wouldn't be lost if the catchers suddenly lost power and it was high risk to use in volatile circumstances such as on the battlefield, thus the best setting being that of a medical bay or someplace calm. Another factor was if the patient had Destronium plating, thus making the spark-catcher moot and requiring physical removal unless otherwise. Nonetheless, all the medics kept their sensors on almost every read out and their patients. Between the tips of each limb flashed a deep blue ring of electromagnetic energy, casting a gentle glow over the injured. That glow grew stronger as electric bursts began to crackle along the three bodies, their sparks beginning to emerge and drawn into the canisters. Their pulsating glow grew stronger as they were held by the electromagnetic rings, secured tight and then pulled into the containers, the lids sliding shut with confirming beeps and the catchers turning off.

Demolishor shook his head in relief, taking hold of Swerve's spark while the Dauphin took Hot Shot's and Blurr's was given to Blackout and Roadhandler. "Like I said, uncomfortable. I keep thinking something'll go wrong, and whoever gets their spark transferred will get their memories wiped."

"It'd take a lot more than a spark transfer to fully purge a spark of its memories." Already getting to work, Firebot moved to Swerve's head and began to carefully remove the external and internal platings, as well disconnecting wires with extreme and practiced caution. "And just in case that happens, and the body's still whole, we have this." A small box-like device came into view when a portion of the cranium was opened and the Mini-Con pressed down on it gently, prompting the component to pop back up slightly higher. He then extracted it and continued on while removing a slightly larger component. "Backup memory module – the larger is the main one. Doesn't record your core personality, but it does keep a complete record of everything you've experienced up till stasis, although usually up to a certain point."

The Decepticon stared at the canister he held uneasily, almost gripping it tightly out of fear for both himself and the Autobot whose spark it contained. "Still not much comfort."

"Probably a good thing we don't have to do this too often." Evac set aside the canister in his hands, glancing at the Mini-Con near his feet. "You okay?"

Jolt nodded, watching Prowl remove his partner's modules. "Hot Shot's been through this before. I'm not worried about him or his memories – I'm more worried about him being able to talk."

"Considering the damage to this body's vocal processors, he'll be better off with a new set. Finding one's the problem right now."

The med center's doors slid open, revealing Buzzsaw and two accompanying hover platforms with unused Transformer bodies upon them. "There's another one just outside with all the spare parts for Blurr, but I figured you'd want to take care of these two first."

"That'll be easiest, yes." The medic motioned for one to be moved forward. "Swerve first. We'll plug in the memory modules and then…" Pausing to take in the new bodies for a moment, Red Alert looked at Buzzsaw with a raised optic ridge. "These were the only ones available?"

"Most get cannibalized for spare parts. Couldn't find one that matched his old frame, so he'll have to make do with this." Buzzsaw shrugged apologetically. "Can't say it's the most appealing body in the universe, but it works for Clocker."

The smaller spare body was almost identical to the young Autobot, save for the lack of color on its frame. The second was much the same way, although with the general specs of Excellion rather than Clocker. As Roadhandler surveyed them, he noticed the lack of a familiar feature on both frames. "No Powerlinx ports."

"They're too much weight and increased drag on the speed demons. Aside from me and a few other mechs here and there, things like them aren't really much use on us here, save maybe a Cyber Key port."

A glance at the spark canister containing his partner and Roadhandler sighed with resignation. "They'll have to do."

Without another word, Buzzsaw departed again to retrieve the additional spare parts, passing by the two Primes as he went. As the gathered medics and their assistants went to work, Accellas kept her optics upon them, fingers twitching subconsciously.

A hand found itself upon the femme's shoulder. "Do not be concerned, sister. Red Alert is among the best medics on our homeworld. They will be fine."

Her hand feeling along her sibling's, she turned to him. "It's not them I'm worried about, Vector."

The two watched as the medic and his Mini-Con assistants went to work, installing the memory modules within the spare bodies, installing a new vocal processor in Hot Shot and plugging in Swerve's old one, and transferring parts specific to the Wrecker before finally resealing their armor. As Evac and Demolishor carefully lifted the old bodies of Hot Shot and Swerve up from their two berths, Red Alert replaced them with the pair's new ones. He gave a quick glance, and the helicopter moved alongside one of them, spark-catcher at the ready, as he himself stood ready with the Wrecker.

"On three. One. Two. Three!"

The two activated the devices, electromagnetic fields moving the sparks from the containers into the two empty bodies. As the sparks gradually entered, the bodies' colors shifted, hues darkening and brightening. The smaller one took on Swerve's familiar colors, red, black, white and silver, and fully came online as a pair of deep ruby optics flashed awake after optic shutters opened. The larger body gained Hot Shot's familiar black, yellow and red, with bright blue as the dominant color over his body.

Demolishor looked over the two, worry beginning to grow on his face. "Did it work? You didn't...?"

"It worked." Swerve slowly sat up, flexing his new fingers before giving the Decepticon a reassuring grin and a nod. "A little shorter than what I'm used to, but I'm good."

Heads turned towards Hot Shot as he sat up, giving his new body a once-over before pressing his fingers to his neck as if in disbelief, more that likely accessing the protocols to his vocal processor. He shook his head as if to clear the remaining cobwebs and finally spoke at last in a new, but familiar to some, voice. "And I was just getting used to the old one."

Sighs of relief and a few joyous cries went out among the Mini-Cons as the two eased off the beds. Still feeling along his throat, Hot Shot couldn't help but shoot the Autobot medic an off-put look. "Was this the only spare vocal processor available? No offense, Red, but I sound like Rad."

"Somehow I doubt he'll mind." Shifting back towards seriousness and immediately running diagnostic scans, he asked, "How are you two feeling?"

"Sensor array's gonna need a few cycles to reboot and adjust to the new body frame, but no complaints," Swerve answered.

"Same here." Hot Shot experimentally rolled his shoulders and flexed an arm. "Now unless you can think of a good reason against it, I think the two of us should get moving. Wheeljack's gonna need all the help he can get if that plan of his is going to work."

Red Alert considered arguing, but quickly decided against it. It hadn't done much good before, after all, and that wasn't about to change. Besides, the Wreckers were known to ignore rules if they knew they could help a situation, while Hot Shot had lived up to his name several times in the past. "Very well. One more quick scan, and then the two of you can arm up."

The two nodded in consent, leaving their partners to ready themselves. Alongside Blurr's prone form, Incinerator looked to his friend with confidence. "Hold on, buddy. We'll be back in the fight soon enough."

"You know, not to risk being smote or whatever… but does anyone else feel under whelmed?"

At the Mini-Con's comment, Excellion couldn't help but quip, "Under whelmed? Would you rather be fighting the full-sized Unicron?"

Keeping with the rest of his unit and their target in sight, Whisper wobbled slightly in response to the red racer. "No, the Bulk-sized version's problem enough. He just doesn't seem to have much of a sense for tactics. I'm not complaining about the lack of stealth and subterfuge on his part, but you'd think a godlike entity would have the foresight to work with more subtlety."

"That's the problem, Whisper. Power tends to discourage one from being subtle." His radar going off, Starscream's attention shifted ahead as Override came onto the road far ahead of them, just within sight of their enemy. "I'm picking up Override – Key or no, she's definitely making herself a target."

"Just as long as she stays a moving target." Crosswise picked up speed, glad that he'd picked one of Earth's fastest cars as his alternate mode, also re-checking his energy levels and weapons. Unicron or not, a monster was a monster, and he'd be there to see this job done.

Elsewhere, systems began to reboot, multiple stunners' effects wearing off at an accelerating rate.

"...say we blow him apart, just to make sure."

Sensors came back online, audio first, followed swiftly by optics.

"Don't even think it. I'm not sayin' he doesn't deserve something, but we at least need to try and get him back to normal before anything else."

"You're assuming he can get back to normal."

"Nothing saying he can't, now is there?"

"Um… Brakedown? Dirt Boss?"

The two advisors turned in surprise at Clocker's words, now noticing as Crumplezone turned his head towards them. He wasn't seeing them, but instead looked past them towards their prisoner, the stasis cuffed and familiar form of Ransack.

The little red Decepticon's optics were comically wide as Crumplezone began to tense and move within his bonds, the solidified patching materials beginning to crack and break apart. "Aw Pit no! Not again!"

The jump at Ceti Alpha V was legendary on Velocitron and among those in racing circles off-planet. Hundreds of racers, native and non-native, had attempted it since the colony's founding, but only a few had successfully made the jump, even fewer managing to completely clear the gap rather than hang from the other side's edge. Created via wind erosion and a rarely seen river throughout the millions of vorns, the width of the gorge was one of the many factors to consider as it spanned over .048 kils where the jump was situated and at its widest, any attempts usually compounded by various issues such as updrafts and the sporadic desert storm despite the perfectly angled launching ramp. The most intimidating aspect was how deep it was, beating the Mariana Trench's depth of 6.8 miles on Earth with its deepest point currently measured at 5 kils, or about 10 miles. As a result, those wishing to attempt it had to announce their intention to do so long before hand, and make sure that safety personnel were present and ready to retrieve them long before they hit the bottom. Otherwise, they'd have a VERY long trip down.

Fortunately for Override, she had the distinction of being among the fastest Transformers in existence. Making the jump didn't worry her, as she'd managed it before – it was all a matter of building up speed (thus, momentum) and keeping straight.

Unfortunately, while building up speed was anything but a problem at this point, keeping straight was amazingly difficult when you had something shooting at you from behind. Toss in the fact that any disturbance in the road just before the ramp – a hole, a sizeable rock – could be catastrophic, possibly sending the racer off track in a wipeout or to their demise if they were close enough to the jump.

Much to her amazement, the avatar had managed to keep pace despite its bulk. The salvos it sent her way only barely missed her, tearing away chunks of asphalt and kicking up clouds of dust in her path. That detail didn't matter too much – the path to the jump was one long and wide straightaway and thus easily maneuvered – but it didn't exactly aid her confidence.

"You delay the inevitable," the avatar droned behind her. "Abandon the artifact, and I will give you a swift end."

A bark of laughter. Whether to taunt her pursuer or to further shove aside her nervousness, she didn't know. "Sorry! No deal!"

"You cannot outrace Death, child of Primus."

Another dodge to the left, a quick correction to the right.

"No, but I can outrace you!"

Forget the doubts over her decisions, forget the fact that a manifestation of an evil god was trying to blow her out of existence, forget that a lot of lives were riding on this suicidal idea, forget all of that. Override was on the track, racing, and she knew exactly how things went out there. This time was no different.

In a split second, she floored it, her engine revving at full power and her tachymer-based tires shifting ever-so-slightly to increase her grip upon the road. She sped to the maximum, reached the ramp… and flew.

For a few short kliks, Override felt nothing beneath her wheels but the rushing wind. Mercifully, current atmospheric reports indicated no updrafts but the winds were always unpredictable. That didn't scare her. The monster behind her, the jump she was performing, the fact that the only thing keeping her from plummeting to a very painful demise was the accumulated momentum, none of that scared her. For those few, short moments, there wasn't a single doubt in her mind. She wasn't Velocitron's governor, wasn't the top champion at the Grand Prix, wasn't one of the fastest femmes amongst all Transformers on land…

…she was just Override.

And she knew exactly what to do.

Soon, the femme hit pavement again, suspensions bouncing for a moment before heading down the track a little more to bleed off most of her remaining momentum and then transforming into a sliding halt, the container holding the Key popping from her seats and tightly tucking it under one arm while snapping out her weapon in the opposite hand. On one side of the road stood Wheeljack and Roulette, the former linked up with his partner and the Street Speed Team, while Gasket and Shadow Stalker were on the other side near several boulders, all of their weapons at the ready as the avatar started his jump.

As soon as he came into sight, Override's Cyber Key system kicked in and brought the weapon to full power, letting her join the others in practically cutting their weapons loose. On the other side of the chasm, another volley of energy and projectiles flew, impacting hard against the target from both sides and killing whatever momentum he had built up. The avatar began a slow spin, soon followed by a rapidly-increasing descent.

Roulette kept her weapon aimed and primed as Override keyed back onto the combat frequency. She had turned most of her communications off during the straightway so as to avoid being distracted, save the weather and security satellites. "Starscream, confirm. Is the target neutralized?"

The answer to the femme's echoing question wasn't long in coming as the herald slowly ascended out of the crevasse, transformed to his robot mode and with powerful engines firing from his back. Cold, skeletal optics looked down upon them as he rose up, unimpressed with their efforts as his injuries healed.

"You waste your time. There is no end to my pursuit, no other foreseeable conclusion to this farce beyond your extermination. Enjoy these last moments… as you become void."

Resolute, the group readied to fire their weapons again as a voice called out over the radio, "Heads up! Coming in hot!"

On the other side of the jump, Excellion's jaw dropped. "You gotta be kidding me…!"

A fair distance down the road, approaching with great speed, was Hot Shot, his form almost a blur at his velocity. Swerve, Jolt and Roadhandler were a small distance behind, barely keeping up with their teammate.

The avatar simply tilted his head negligently, turning around to see for itself. "Another lamb for the slaughter."

"Incoming units, report!" the Decepticon commander barked.

"Sorry Starscream, the kid was a little eager to get back into action." A slight chuckle was in Swerve's voice as he reported in. "Frankly, I can't blame him."

Wheeljack's stunned look would've been comical if not for the current situation. "Hot Shot got upgraded again?!" His attention was quickly shifted from his brother to the container in Override's arms, its contents glowing noticeably brighter through the seams before letting out a pulse that almost all of them actually felt.

In the distance, a red glow flashed over Hot Shot's body, twin semi-translucent yellow wings popping out above his trunk as his Cyber Key systems were activated for the first time. The young Autobot immediately accelerated sharply, blasting down the straightaway and leaving a flaming trail in his wake. He blasted past Starscream's group, shot up the ramp, and transformed at the apex of his jump, grenade launcher pounding the avatar hard. As the armor around his jets was penetrated, Roulette fired a precision shot, causing the jets to explode from inside their armor. Additional shots from those on the other side, now joined by Swerve, caused the avatar to begin to fall once more.

"Hot Shot!" The Mini-Cons disconnecting from him, Wheeljack tossed aside his weapon and rushed towards the ramp as his sibling soared, his original momentum from the jump as well as that caused by the explosion sending him just short of clearing it, but just close enough to grab hold of the ramp for a few short seconds. His fingers scratched for a grip, but failed to make purchase, slipping and allowing him to fall…

…only for another hand to grab hold.

One sibling looked up at the other, relief on his face. "Wondered when that'd be paid back."

Wheeljack laughed as Override approached, tossing the container to Gasket before reaching the ramp. "Hot Shot, toss the gun and give me your other hand."

The younger Autobot did as told, his weapon clattering onto the ramp and sliding to a halt before he took hold of the Velocitron governor's extended hands. Together, the red-and-white femme and black-and-yellow mech pulled the Autobot up, getting him to his feet. "Thanks."

"As glitch-headed as that was, not bad." Override smiled in amazement. "You would've cleared it if you hadn't transformed."

Hot Shot grinned stupidly, heaving a little while cooling systems worked to draw in cooler air. "I reached the other side, though. That counts, right?"

"Reached the other side and lived. Yeah, that counts."

As they laughed, Starscream smiled from the opposite side. "Red, I think we're in the clear. Good work with Hot Shot and Swerve."

Back at Accel City, Red gave a relieved smile. "Fortunately, I do my best work under pressure. How are they?"

"Online and safe, fortunately. And Blurr?"

Despite the relief present, Vector Prime felt uneasy. "They cannot have stopped the avatar's regenerative abilities. It would heal far too quickly for the fall to cause serious injury." He turned to his side, only to find no one beside him. "Accellas?" Fear dawning in his optics, he quickly created a portal. "No! Evac, Demolishor, Buzzsaw, with me!"

At the roar of cannons firing, Override whirled around to look, hissing in pain when a large chunk of rock sent flying by the cannon fire took off a good portion of her left antennae. "Evasive maneuvers!"

They all scattered as the avatar rocketed back out of the gorge, shooting upwards before landing on the pavement with a sickening thud, the ground cracking beneath his feet. It looked upon the seven bulks and gathered Mini-Cons all in defensive positions behind boulders, enjoying the alarm on their faces, and laughed menacingly as a flash of silver and orange light had his chest cannon coming into view.

"It is done."

Suddenly, everyone felt a burst of wind rush against them, several of the Mini-Cons nearly toppling over in the wake, and then the sound of metal being torn away rang in their audio receptors. Shock was on their faces as they stared at the avatar – his rotary cannon was missing from his chest, practically punched out due to the force of Accellas Prime's extreme acceleration multiplied with her mass. The weapon clattered to a halt several feet away, alongside a few chunks of armor.

The ancient femme gazed into the avatar's empty optics, memories of long ago flashing in her mind… and grinned darkly, sending chills down the spinal relays of anyone who saw her face.

For Accellas, it was a long time coming. Even if this was simply an avatar of who was her Creator's diametric opposite and the stuff of nightmares for their descendants, it was close enough for the time being and a temporary outlet for the real cause of her ill-health. As much as she wanted to hate the abomination right in front of her with all her spark, all her being, it'd be giving into what fueled the thing that didn't quite deserve to be deemed living. No, all she felt at the moment was a cold calmness that was different from the hot speeds of the society she had watched over for vorns. Those emotions were better saved to be directed at the one person who truly deserved it.

Without saying anything, she began to vibrate her arm at incredible speeds, tearing away at exposed circuitry before it could even repair itself. She then sharply swung her arm up, tearing the avatar's head from his body before swinging back down, bisecting the monster right down his middle. A step back, pulling both arms back and she punched the two halves in their respective middles that broke the sound barrier, disintegrating them at point of contact and sending the remaining parts flying far into the desert.

Dirt Boss's cannons fired even as he was tossed away by Crumplezone, Brakedown activating his sword in an attempt to intercept. The old mech was also shoved to one side, and the hulking Decepticon lurched towards his old friend single-mindedly, who was scooting away as fast as he could within his restraints friend.

"CZ! Buddy, c'mon, I know you're in there! Don't do this!"

No response when the red mech was stopped by a wall and he knew that what other members of security were too far away to help.

"'Zone!!!"

Ransack screamed as his friend approached with one fist poised to strike, cringing as he expected the oncoming killing blow. Several pump-pounding moments passed. When nothing happened and he heard soft, pained moans in a familiar voice and someone staggering about on their feet, the motorcycle then opened his optic shutters and looked up. So focused on his best friend, the diminutive Decepticon didn't notice a red-and-black form quietly sneaking up behind Crumplezone with something in its hands.

"Ooooh… Ransack? I don't feel so hot…"

The coloration and armor hadn't returned to normal, but the massive Decepticon's optics glowed differently now, showing the same simple mindset that he'd had before his possession. Large hands that were ready to pound his best friend to small pieces now clutched his head as if an entire derby was running an obstacle course in his cranium.

"CZ! You're back!"

"Huh? Where'd I go?" He looked about in a slight daze. One could almost see the question marks popping over his head. "Where'd the tank guy go?"

Without warning, Crumplezone seized up before toppling over backwards, a pair of stasis cuffs locked around his ankles. Beside the large Decepticon, Coby heaved in relief, slumping within the cockpit of his Scrapmetal. Whatever possessed him to quickly "borrow" the stasis cuffs from one of the security bots and pull such a stunt despite Franklin's angry orders and Lori's shrieks to return, he wasn't sure where it came from. All he knew was the he saw a chance to help and he took it.

"And that takes care of that. Although the colonel's going to rake my butt over this…"

"Please tell me he's dead now."

Accellas nodded painfully at Wheeljack's question. "Yes, yes he's–" She unexpectedly seized up herself with a shriek before collapsing to the ground, spasms shaking her entire body as if she was being electrocuted. Even more alarming was when holes suddenly began forming on her body, as if someone had spilled a very powerful acid onto her.

Just as Starscream landed alongside the others, Vector Prime rushed through a portal, swiftly followed by those he'd called for. "Stand back, all of you!" He knelt down next to his sister, fear evident on his ancient face. "Accellas, no…"

"What's happening?" Override asked, crouching down but not getting any closer.

"A virus that's been in her systems for Primus knows how long." Evac looked over the ancient in shock and worry, scans coming back with more red warnings than he liked. "She used her speed abilities to slow its spread, but now… It's racing out of control. She's dying."

Determination showing in his optics, Vector Prime gritted his dental plates. "Gasket! The Key! NOW!" The security commander rushed forward with the container, and the Guardian of Time took it from his arms. "I did not wait millions of vorns to find you again just to lose you now! Your shield!"

Accellas, her arms trembling, managed to pull out her only armament, a primeval shield, from its subspace pocket. "Don't… too…"

"Danger is not the current concern now." Vector opened the container, revealing the Key of Velocity at last. It glowed softly, a brilliant deep red rimmed with gold, and continued to do so as the old mech plugged the Key into the shield's slot. "Everyone, step back!" As they followed his order, he rose to his feet, sword in hand, and held it close to him as if preparing to concentrate. "Primus, Creator… your Children need you…"

The sword glowed brilliantly, just as it always did when Vector Prime created a warp gate, but now its glow was joined by that of the Key, the two artifacts illuminating stronger with each passing moment. Right before their sights, the disintegrating sections on Accellas Prime's body gradually slowed, and soon began to repair themselves, the virus and damage being undone as its time was being wound back. While he didn't show it, and that the younger Autobots, Decepticons, and Mini-Cons could barely comprehend the amount of strain their elder was going through, they remained quiet; whether their silence was out of awe or respect, it didn't matter. As the glow from both artifacts faded after several tension-filled moments, the elder femme's fingers twitched but once.

Accellas raised her arm slowly, flexing her fingers in amazement as she sat up. "It's gone…"

Her elation was cut short as her sibling buckled onto his other knee, the sword stabbing onto the ground to help support him but failed, forcing Accellas to catch him with a yell of surprise as he fell onto her lap. The younger mechs and femmes rushed towards them with anxious shouts, Evac and Demolishor helping to lift the ancient mech to his feet while Wheeljack and Roulette eased Accellas to her own. As Vector Prime finally succumbed to the loss of energy and into stasis, his sister whispered softly, "Hold on, brother… hold on…"

"So how is he?"

"Stable, fortunately." Red Alert checked over the monitor for the CR chamber while corroborating with the patient data-chart before nodding to himself, pleased with Vector Prime's vitals gradually returning to normal. They really had to tweak the Energon formula and medical nanites to accommodate the older mech's frame and systems, as well set up an IV to help speed up the healing process. "Severe energy drain and some strained systems, but nothing this and a GREAT deal of rest can't cure." He tilted his head at his visitor. "And so far as I can tell, you're in perfect health. No virus and no remaining damage from it."

"I didn't expect any." Accellas leaned backed against her chair, looking over her healed hands before hugging herself tightly. "Vector used the ChronoSaber shortly after he was infected to reverse his own infection, purging it from his systems like it had never happened. It was just within his safe window to manipulate time, about a cycle or so, but that was more than enough to weaken him. We didn't even try it with the other artifacts after that." She shook her head. "He shouldn't have done it."

"But he did." The medic bent down at the waist to look at her directly in the optics, reassurance in his optic band and a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I doubt you would have done otherwise in his place."

To see his fellow flying officer was a relief when the connection finally went through with Iacon after getting fussed over by the medics, both the ones that came with him and the native Velocitronians. Once Prowl had cleared him, Starscream had made tracks to the communications center, ignoring the yelps of pain as Red Alert and the Emergency Team descended onto the remaining patients with a vengeance.

"The mission is successful. The Key of Velocity's been retrieved. We'll be bringing it back with us, along with Accellas Prime."

"Well, isn't that a pleasant coincidence." At his sibling's raised optic ridge, Jetfire clarified, "Similar success at Optimus' end. No casualties?"

"Mercifully none, and we were even able to have another loose end tied up. Speaking of, any word with that virus?"

"Wire's buddies and their fellow techs are focusing on isolating the code right now. They'll look for – and I quote –'a flash drive with the largest capacity they can get their hands on without having to hurt someone or blow something up' once they're done before bringing it here. We should be able to analyze it safely from here on Cybertron."

Starscream couldn't help but chuckle. Humans – they had a way with words. "Good news all around then. Let's hope to Primus that it lasts."

Franklin stood before his charge with arms crossed and a deep frown, tapping a finger and ignoring Lori who looked on with concern from behind him, sitting on a crate. Still in his flight suit, Coby stood as straight as he could with his hands by his sides while trying so very hard to not fidget like the proverbial child caught with the hand in the cookie jar. Deciding to let the teen stew a little more, the colonel walked a circuit around the middle Hansen before coming back front. "Coby Hansen, what you did was needless and reckless, especially given your past experiences. Had you been a few seconds sooner with those stasis cuffs, Crumplezone could have torn your Scrapmetal to shreds. Were you under my command, you'd be facing a disciplinary hearing as well suspension…and that's if you were lucky."

The teen wisely chose to keep his mouth shut at the colonel's reprimand.

"Fortunately, however, you aren't under my command." Relief becoming clear in the young adult's eyes, the older man raised a finger. "Given the circumstances and the outcome, I'll let what happened here slide just this once, but I will inform your parents. In the future, however, don't pull any more heroics like that. Understood?"

"Yes sir." He knew he was getting off lightly, despite the fact that he also knew his parents were going to flip. If they were following actual Earth procedures, Coby figured he would've been in much deeper trouble.

"Good." Just as Coby and Lori both began to give relieved sighs, he continued. "As for the Scrapmetal prototype… I think I've seen enough to give a good word. We might not use them on the ground, but they might just be useful when working with the Transformers."

Blurr tilted his head from one side to another, slightly disapproving of his reflection. "I don't know. It's not bad, but it'll take me forever to get used to."

"You and the rest of us." Hot Shot, meanwhile, continued to unconsciously feel along his throat. "Rebuilt body for you, new ones for me and Swerve… I wonder how they fared on Animatros."

"We'll find out when we get back, I suppose." Shaking his head, Wheeljack couldn't help but remark. "Next time they hand out upgrades, though, I'm getting one. Even if I end up looking like Downshift, I swear I'm getting one."

"Just hope you don't get one like they did." Gasket walked towards them, flanked by his team. "All of you and your team were a big help out there. Thanks."

"Yeah, you guys did alright." Uneasily looking at Hot Shot, Excellion added, "Just wished you'd picked a different body. I hate feeling like I have a twin out there."

The trio shared a small glance among themselves, and the Decepticon racer among them gave a small laugh. "I wouldn't worry about that. No way would they get you two mixed up."

"Especially once all of you head back to Cybertron." A sweeping gaze, and Buzzsaw asked, "You are all heading back, right?"

"Most of us." The blue Autobot looked to Gasket and explained, "Hot Shot and Swerve got a chance at starting to figure out what their new bodies can do. I still need a chance, and considering Ransack and Crumplezone have been caught and the Key is heading back, I'll be better off doing that here rather than trying back on Cybertron. Assuming Optimus and Override don't mind, I'd like to stay here and work with you for a while."

A shrug from the white motorcycle. "No problems from me. Who knows, you might be able to teach us a thing or two."

"And having an extra hand might just make sure your new prisoners don't escape this time." The six stood to attention as Override entered. "At ease. Hot Shot, a word?"

The young Autobot nodded with surprise and followed the femme out of the room and onto a balcony overlooking the desert. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, just wanted to talk in private." Velocitron's governor turned to face the young mech and leaned against the balcony. "You did good, kid."

Hot Shot shook his head. "Easy for you to say. You weren't the one who ended up body-swapping for the second time in a stellar cycle."

"No, but I am the one who saw everyone from your team survive or contribute to taking down that thing. Thanks to that, we all made it out in one piece. And while you didn't make any stellar command decisions, you've still got potential for the command track." She focused on him firmly as she added, "Just don't try anything suicidal again. It doesn't always work for everyone."

A nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, I noticed. And truthfully, I think I'm better off not taking command again in the future."

"Maybe, maybe not. Just do me a favor, Hot Shot – when the reigns pass down to you, don't mope and complain. You've got what it takes to lead, so don't be afraid to do it when the time comes." She smiled brightly. "And when you do lead, make sure you pick advisors who can handle things for a little while when you aren't there to keep an eye on things."

Hot Shot's shutters blinked in astonishment. "You're stepping down?"

Override chuckled while looking back out into the distance. "Nah, just taking a break. I've talked with Starscream and Brakedown – neither of them minds me escorting that Key back to Cybertron safely. The mechs I have in charge know their jobs, and Velocitron can get by a few cycles without me. Besides, it won't hurt to make a homecoming and not be in charge myself for a change."

"So this is that fancy project of yours." Swindle studied over the Scrapmetal appraisingly, one hand rubbing his chin. "Not bad. If the military contract doesn't work out, I might be able to help with making more of those. Could turn a tidy profit…"

The mecha's head shook with that of its pilot. "Thanks but no thanks, Swindle. When you talk tidy profits, you aren't talking about all parties."

"Besides, this seems a little too risky of an investment for someone like you." Lori met the Mini-Con's incredulous glance with a sidelong one. "You'd need manufacturing facilities, parts and supplies, replacements, not to mention the land to build everything. And that'd require permits and personnel…"

"Enough, enough!" The red and black Mini-Con threw up his arms in mock surrender, laughing at how quickly they had caught on. "Clearly, Earth's education system is vastly underrated."

A brief smile flashed between the colonel and his charges as Vector Prime, supported by his sister, stepped into the embarkation room for the space bridge. "I've mentioned that you're an idiot, right?"

"Several times, but would you have not done the same in my place?"

Accellas leaned back a little and lightly smacked his arm in response. Her small smile, however, betrayed her answer as she turned away to face Starscream and Override. "The Key?"

Velocitron's governor raised an arm, the Key of Velocity firmly held in her hand. "Safe."

"I've also gotten in touch back home about getting your ship unearthed," Starscream added. "A name change might be in order, but it could definitely come in handy."

"Heads up, everyone, Space Bridge coming online."

With Clocker's warning, the portal flashed into existence, and Hot Shot led the gathered allies back home, mission accomplished.

Darkness had settled over the jump at Ceti Alpha V, and Mirage surveyed the area with wary optics. Land, land everywhere, and not a large body of water in sight. He couldn't fathom why they were on Velocitron, despite the interesting footage they were able to glean from what satellite feed they were able to hack into. "I think we can safely assume that Ransack and Crumplezone aren't a concern anymore."

"Not surprising, considering their incompetence." Galvatron grimaced as he watched the Constructicons drive up, the recovered remnants of the Unicron avatar that they could find in tow. "Still, their escapade today may yield some advantages. Tell me, Mirage; are you familiar with any part of pirate lore?"

The Decepticon gunboat shrugged. "Some. I'm assuming the whole 'dead mechs tell no tales' thing is what you were thinking of, although autopsies make that a moot saying."

"Yes. Specifically how incorrect it is, autopsies aside." Taking the rotary cannon from the wreckage and holding it appraisingly, the Decepticon warlord explained, "This dead mech has quite the tale to tell, I believe. And he promises to be very useful."

"Galvatron, sir." Sledge looked up towards his commander hopefully. "Will we be retrieving Ransack and Crumplezone? They are loyal warriors, and they could prove useful."

The warlord shook his head at the young Constructicon before giving the cannon back to Wideload. "Loyal perhaps, young one, but such loyalty must be tested. We may retrieve them, in time, but for now, I will leave them here to reflect on their failures, and serve as an example." He regarded the others and ordered, "Now, return to the stealth shuttles at once. We've much left to do."

With those words, Galvatron turned and departed towards the waiting craft, most of the others following. Sledge held back, disappointment clear on his face, but quickly caught up. His leader was correct – there was much work to be done.

The End