All was quiet on the Nemesis. The only sounds present were the soft clicking of keyboards as the Vehicons at the bridge worked away. For a few minutes, the scene remained calm. Funny how quickly a mood can shift with a single event.

A ground bridge materialized onto the bridge. All the vehicons stopped what they were doing, and turned their attention to the swirling green and purple vortex in the center of the bridge. The first thing to emerge from the portal was a volley of fire. Vehicons standing in the way leapt out of the way to avoid getting hit. Just moments later, a group of bots burst through the portal in quick succession.

The first to exit the portal was Megatron. The moment he stepped onto the bridge, the proud grey warlord stopped and turned around. He glanced back at the portal as if to see if he was being followed.

Next to emerge was Starscream. Skidding to a stop, the seeker briefly stopped to dust himself off, a scowl present on his faceplates.

Soundwave followed shortly after, dragging Airachnid along with him as well, the former cursing loudly while clutching his sides, attempting to catch his breath. The other stumbled out onto the bridge and immediately straightened herself out, pushing her spider legs off the ground, all while throwing paranoid glances around the room.

The last to enter the bridge were a group of Vehicons, dragging a struggling Knock Out through the portal. The group was only barely able to restrain the medic just as the portal closed behind him. Only then did they release their grasp on him, causing the blue Decepticon to stumble forwards.

When he saw the ground bridge had disappeared, Knock Out turned to Soundwave, who was still bent over, trying to catch his breath. "Soundwave!" The white and blue Decepticon seeker stopped talking and turned to face Knockout. "Open me another ground bridge. I've got to get back there!" Knock Out demanded, the desperation clear in his voice.

"Are you sure?" Soundwave questioned, raising a digit in protest, "because-"

"Just do it!" Knock Out yelled, pounding against the desk next to him.

"No! Don't do it!" Starscream yelled back. "Soundwave, I forbid you to ground bridge him back there!"

"But I wasn't-"

"I've got to get back!" Knock Out protested in return. "I've got to save my friend!"

"No, you're not!" Starscream growled, jabbing a digit at his chestplate. "Going back there would be suicide!"

"So we're just going to give up on Breakdown?" Knock Out said, throwing his servos up into the air. "We're just going to leave him there to die?"

"Knock Out!" Knock Out turned to see who had called his name. Megatron loomed over him, a scowl present on his faceplates. "Breakdown sacrificed his life so we could get out of there. He gave his life to us."

"Then why shouldn't we give our lives for him?" Knockout said back angrily.

"Breakdown wouldn't want you to throw your life away!" Megatron growled, in a tone that would have told anyone facing him to back down.

Knock Out hissed angrily in return. "That's what Breakdown would've done," was all he said before he stormed off.

The rest of the Decepticons present could only watch as the blue Decepticon medic left the bridge. For a few moments, the bridge was quiet. Jack was the first to break the silence.

"I thought Knock Out and Breakdown were rivals," Jack said, turning to the leader of the Decepticons. "Why would he care so much about Breakdown now?"

"Knock Out and Breakdown share a deep past," Megatron briefly explained. "They knew each other long before they joined the Decepticons, and they stayed close to each other long after. While they may not seem to enjoy each other's company, deep down, they really do care for each other."

Miko quickly signed something to Jack.

"What's she saying?" the seeker asked Jack. Jack opened his mouth to tell him, but Soundwave beat him to it.

"Competition is what drives some people forwards." Soundwave looked to Miko for confirmation. The mile-wide grin told him he had read her correctly.

"Wait. Soundwave. you know-"

"American Sign Language? I do. In fact, I have all the languages spoken on Earth downloaded onto my processor, and in my free time I-"

"Soundwave?" Starscream cut him off before he could continue to ramble on.

"Okay, I'll shut up."

"You idiot!" Arcee let out a whimper as Optimus' clenched servo punched a hole right next to her head. The Prime turned to his second in command, and growled, "You destroyed our largest energon deposit?"

"Yes, but-"

"You've cost us energon we could have put to better use, and all to pull off a ludicrous plan," Optimus said, pulling his servo out of the wall.

"But Optimus, we did manage to terminate one of the Decepticons," Arcee squeaked, catching the Prime's attention again.

"Who?" Optimus demanded, abruptly turning to face Arcee. "Who did we get?"

"One of the Decepticon medics; Breakdown, or something." The Prime's faceplates quickly morphed back into a scowl, and immediately Arcee knew she had done something wrong.

"Just Breakdown? Just one of the medics?" Arcee barely had time to protest before Optimus grabbed her by the throat. "They still have another medic!" Optimus hissed, pulling the black femme closer. "Killing him won't do us any good!" His optics narrowed, and he sneered, "I should kill you right now."

"Please don't..." Arcee begged for her life. She knew that once Optimus had set his mind on killing someone, he would show no mercy, but she hoped that as his second in command, there was a slim chance that he would relent. But it seemed like she would receive no such treatment.

Strangled noises were that escaped Arcee's lips as Optimus began to crush her windpipe. She desperately clawed at his faceplates, as if that would do her any good, but Optimus refused to let go. Then, just as she had begun to lose hope that she would be able to see another sunrise, he dropped her.

The black femme hit the floor with a loud clatter, and her servos quickly flew to her throat as she desperately gasped for air. She looked up to her leader and saw Optimus glaring back down at her.

"What is that?" Optimus inquired, pointing at something. At first, she could not see what had caught the attention of her leader, until she noticed a shard of white tinted energon sticking out of her subspace storage pocket.

"Oh, this?" She pulled it out, examining it as if it without interest, as if it was just another shard of regular energon. "I don't know. Found it on the floor of the mine before I blew it up." She turned to Optimus Prime, her faceplates expressing an amount of interest as she asked, "Why do you want to know? What's so special about this?"

"Because," Optimus said, a sinister smile slowly growing onto his faceplates as he plucked the shard of energon from Arcee's grasp, "This could turn the tide of this war in our favor."