...

Sirens blared throughout the base, and soldiers rushed to Aircraft Hanger to hold off the supposed "Deceptions" while their comrades retrieved the heavy weapons and vehicles.

"Decepticons? We're not-ow!" Jetstream was interrupted by several shots to the chest.

"Are weapons are dealing minimal damage, Commander!" one of the hapless human cried.

"Hold them off as long as possible," the officer replied. "Once the tanks and artillary arrive, we'll be able to drive them off."

"Looks like retreat is our best option," TickTock reported.

"Retreat? No; I will not stoop down to such cowardice. These 'humans' are no match for any of us."

"True, but we can't risk harming them. You go first, I'll see if I can reason with them." Epsilon slowly approached the army, while his team transformed and began to return to the shuttle.

"Look, I don't want to harm you; we're not-" Before he could finish his sentence, the Autobot Commander took a direct hit to the shoulder with a tank shell.

"You're not invading Earth again, Deceptions!" taunted the vehicles cannoneer.

"Oh, that's it!" Epsilon filled with rage. When a missile truck fired a rocket at him, he grabbed the projectile and threw it towards a group of unmanned fighter jets. When the soldiers braced for impact, he converted and drove away.

...

In about twenty cycles, the Autobot scout team had returned to the Victory. Reflector allowed his brother to scan his alt-mode, while Skyrocket reported to his commanding officer.

"Did you find any useful information, Skyrocket?"

"Well, first, I looked through the human's primary database-the internet."

"Hmm...sounds like a solid source of information to me. What did you do next?"

"I found an "online encyclopedia" filled with pages and pages of data and history."

"That's great! What happened after that?"

"I started out by looking up the history of the country we landed on...then I found a link to the page of a man called Ben Franklin...then I found a link to the page about turkeys...and eventually I ended up the page about the short snippets of commonly used satirical humor known as...memes."

Epsilon facepalmed.

"I looked some up and then I got sort of...caught up in them."

"When did you stop, Skyrocket?"

"What if I told you...that I never did...?"

Epsilon facepalmed again. Meanwhile, the other Seekers copied Jetstream's fighter jet vehicle mode, and TickTock opened a communications channel to Optimus Prime.

"Greetings, Soldier. What do you have to report?"

"Actually, Epsilon should probably tell you. Commander, Prime needs to talk to you."

"I'm here, sir," the acting captain said, saluting. Then, he turned to his friend. "And you don't have to call me 'Commander'." TickTock shrugged.

"Epsilon, how has your first rotational cycle on Earth been?"

"Pretty eventful, to say the least. We scanned alt-modes, but we were caught in the act by the military. We had a little skirmish, but fortunately, no one was injured."

"Probably," Firearm added.

"Well, we made sure not to kill anyone, at the very least. But, Prime, something about that last encounter bothered me...how did the humans know about Deceptions?"

Optimus was shocked for a moment, then he went into what seemed to be deep thought. "What you have alerted me to is...troubling, to say the least."

"What are you talking about?!" Blades inquired harshly.

"...During the Great War, some of the Autobots and Deceptions set up bases and did battle on other planets...including Earth. I lead one of those teams, very much like how you do now. I told my soldiers to keep a low profile and to not alert any humans to our existence; I expected the Deceptions to do the same. But now...it is apparent that they were less discrete in their conquest."

"Well, hopefully, we'll be able to clear up that misconception," Epsilon confided.

"I have upmost faith in you." Optimus closed the transmission.

...

Meanwhile, in the Deception base, Soundwave had been monitoring the communications channel the entire time, and playing it back for his leader. Megatron sat on a dark, chiseled throne. Above him hung the armless corpse of a blue-and-red Cybertronian, whose head had been bashed. The Supreme Overlord put his hands together and spoke in a deep, grim, and foreboding voice.

"Are you able to track the signal?" Soundwave shook his head.

"Negative, my lord. However, I do have information regarding their approximate location." He played the military record of the "Deception attack". "By locating the base (which I have already accomplished), we will be able to find the Autobot base by sending a team of scouts."

"Only one will be necessary. Silent Strike! Come forth."

The purple Seeker stepped out of the shadows to address his master.

"Yes, my lord. I will do everything in my power to identify where the Autobots are hiding."

"Good. When you do arrive, you must find the ship they arrived on and disable its engines. Second, destroy their long-range communications system. Finally, transmit the coordinates of their base to Soundwave. Then, you may return to our hideout."

Silent Strike bowed to his leader, transformed, and flew out of the cave. Meanwhile, Megatron turned to his medical (and acting science) officer.

"Chopshop. I trust Project: Retrieval has been making progress?"

"Yes, my lord. The target has finished their half of the machine, and we simply need a few more parts, some Energon, and time."

Megatron chuckled. "Soon, the Deception forces will increase by a tenfold, and Earth will rue the day they heard the name 'Decepticon'!"

Extra Zone: Silent Strike

Tech Spec:

Strength 4/10

Speed 8/10

Intelligence 7/10

Courage 7/10

Leadership 4/10

Firepower 6/10

Personality:

Silent Strike is disciplined, cold, and loyal. He will execute any mission Megatron gives him without fail...or he'll execute himself, possibly taking his opponents with him. He is trained in many a form of Cybertronian martial arts, such as circuit-su.