Thoughts and criticisms are encouraged and appreciated.


"Welcome back you two. How did it go?"

Arcee and Optimus stepped through the groundbridge and into the base. "We found the mine alright." Arcee said as she continued forward. "Big one too. You could see the energon sprouting from the ground a whole 2 kliks outside their work area."

"A large operation, then?" Ratchet continued, powering down the bridge. "And you didn't have any trouble staying hidden?"

"The majority of the work appeared to be taking place underground," Optimus replied, "and we were fortunate that the surrounding patrols were confined to the area around the entrance."

"This mine might be a good one to slip into and snatch a bunch of processed energon," Arcee added. "Place that big, who knows if they'll even notice?"

"Oh they'll notice, alright." The Autobots looked over as Knockout spoke up.

"What makes you say that?" Arcee asked.

Knockout lowered his datapad and met her gaze. "The mines are strictly maintained- especially the big ones. Processed energon is accounted for to the cube, and squad leaders send in hourly status reports to the 'Cons' resident bureaucrat."

"Hmm..." Arcee crossed her arms across her chassis, "I see. So if there's too much missing, they'd get suspicious and probably bulk up the security, making it harder to sneak off with anything..."

"It might be more prudent to collect the surrounding crystals and process them ourselves," Ratchet said.

"You could do that." Knockout lifted his datapad again to continue reading. "Though if you were careful about it and took just the right amount, they might be inclined to blame the miners instead. Some of the less sensible ones have been known to sneak extra energon."

Optimus spoke up again, tilting his helm at Knockout. "It seems as though we would benefit greatly if we better understood the Decepticon ranks themselves."

"You want me to write about the Vehicons?" Knockout rolled his optics. "Ugh. But they're such tedious creatures... Honestly. I'm surprised their organizer hasn't thrown themself off the ship already." Despite his griping, Knockout placed the datapad in his servo down and picked up a second one next to him to start writing. "Just to warn you, this might be the most mind-numbing report you'll ever read."

"Ha! I doubt that." Arcee laughed and stepped over towards the hallway entrance, starting to leave. "You've never read a report by Ultra Magnus."

"Regardless of how mundane it may seem, we appreciate your efforts, Knockout." Optimus cut in. "The information you have provided so far has great value. You have been quite helpful."

Knockout gave a knowing smirk, but didn't look up from his datapad, "That's me, alright. Helpful to a fault." His tone obviously implied he was teasing.

Just as Knockout finished this sentence, the computer let off a three toned beep. A moment later, the attention in the room flew over to the screen as a long, distressed BEEEEP came through the speakers. Arcee spun around and ran back into the room. Raf pushed his laptop off his legs and hurried over to the platform railing. The only one who seemed to be unsure of what was happening was Miko.

She pulled her gaze off the television and looked over, very confused, as Ratchet rushed over to the console.

"Bumblebee!" Ratchet shouted, pressing down on the communicator. "What's wrong?!"

"BZZEEPBOOZZ!wwWWRRRZZOOPdeeeDZZEEPDOOboopBEEPwhrrr !"

"Wha- S-slow down, Bee! I can't understand you!" Ratchet tried to speak over the scout. Bumblebee stopped so as to let Ratchet speak, however he continued to let off a slow, quiet whirr somewhat reminiscent of a whine. "Just stay calm! I'll send you a groundbri-"

"BEEPboozzZZRRR!"

"You can't?" Ratchet repeated, "Are you injured? Do you require backup?!"

"BEEP!"

"I'm locking on to your coordinates now." Ratchet turned to the groundbridge controls and began typing in commands. Behind him, Miko ran up and stood beside Raf, the both of them looking worried up at the computer screen.

"What's going on?" Miko called out, "Is Bulkhead with you? Is he okay?"

A shaky whirr came as the response. Raf looked up at Miko sadly, "He... he says he doesn't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?!" She shouted in a rage, "You were supposed to stay together! What happened?!"

"Miko! Not now!" Arcee shot a quick glare over at the human, then turned quickly back to Ratchet as the medic reached for the groundbridge activation.

"Starting up the bridge now," Ratchet said pulling the lever."Hang in there, Bumblebee; the team's on their way!"

Optimus and Arcee quickly made for the portal, but Arcee paused and glanced back. "Knockout, come on! We might need you on this one," she called.

"What?! Whoa, hang on-" Knockout held up his servos defensively. "I have no problem being helpful with datapads, but if you think I'm going to keep acting as 'Con bait-"

"You're not coming as bait." Arcee interrupted him. "You're coming as backup. Now get your aft in gear; Bee might need a medic!" With that, she spun back around and ran after Optimus through the groundbridge.

Knockout hesitated for another moment, but after letting out an angry huff through his vents, he stood and hurried after her.

As he came through the portal, he saw they had waited for him on the other side. Once they caught sight of him following, they turned, weapons at the ready, and continued forward. Almost immediately they found themselves at the top of a sharp, rocky incline. Looking down into the ravine, they spotted a yellow figure laying against the opposite end of the clearing below.

"Bumblebee!" Arcee called out to the scout and he looked up. He raised one arm slightly to wave to them, but then let it fall back to his side, exhausted.

The three of them slid down the rocky slope, being sure to stay on the lookout and keeping their weapons at the ready. Arcee and Optimus hurried over to Bumblebee, but Knockout slowed and took a long look around the clearing. There were numerous tire tracks leading in and out of the forest to their left, and just in front of the mine entrance to the right, six Decepticon miners were lying face down, all lined up in a row. In fact, from the markings in the dirt, it looked as though Bumblebee had been next to them, but he had dragged himself away... Whatever this was, it sure didn't look like it had been a fight.

Knockout was pulled out of his thoughts by Optimus calling him. "Knockout! Bumblebee requires medical attention!"

Knockout tore his gaze away from the offlined miners and hurried over to the Autobots. Arcee had one servo on Bee's shoulder to calm him, but she kept her optics trained on the mine entrance. "Bumblebee, what happened to Bulkhead?" she asked. She was trying to speak gently but she was clearly worried.

"bzzzzEEEEPOOOooooo…" Bumblebee beeped sadly, then brought a servo up to his helm and let out a quiet whirr.

"Dizzy, eh?" Knockout knelt down and took Bumblebee's chin in his servo, shifting his helm up to get a better look at his face. "Hmm. And your optics look a bit dim... There isn't any apparent external damage, though. What do your internal readouts say?"

Bumblebee brushed Knockout's servo off and turned his helm away and started to whine. "WhrrEEEP! Wrrrzzooop..."

"Ratchet isn't here. I am." Knockout tried to reclaim Bee's chin, but the scout pushed him away again.

"WHRRRRZZOOOOOOP!"

Knockout gave a frustrated groan, then looked back up to Optimus. The Prime glanced from Bumblebee to Knockout and back again, then brought a servo to the comm on his audio receptor. "Ratchet, we require the groundbridge. Bumblebee needs to return to base."

A moment later, the portal opened up just in front of the group.

"Knockout, you escort Bumblebee back." Optimus instructed, "Arcee and I will remain here and investigate; hopefully we will find some clue to Bulkhead's whereabouts."

"You're the boss." Knockout said flatly. With a bit of help from Arcee, he hauled Bumblebee up onto his pedes and helped support the scout on his shoulder. Bee was leaning very heavily on him, though, and Knockout gave a disgruntled huff as they shuffled through the groundbridge.

Arriving back at the base, they only managed a few steps across the threshold before Bumblebee's legs gave out. Knockout stumbled, trying to keep them both upright, but found himself starting to be pulled down with him. Ratchet hurried over to lend a hand, and the two medics managed to carry Bee to the medical table together.

"Bumblebee!" Ratchet lifted the scout's helm so he was looking into his optics. "Come on, stay with me, now. What happened to you?"

Bee let out a quiet buzz in response.

"You can't remember?"

"He did mention being dizzy," Knockout said. He was brushing off his shoulder and checking for scratches. Once he'd finished he stepped towards Ratchet's medical supplies. "I'll fix up an energon drip. He'll probably be needing it."

Ratchet muttered an agreement and went to pick up his scanner. As he did, he noticed Raf was standing beside his equipment table, looking worried at Bumblebee. "Hey, Ratchet," he mumbled, "can I sit with Bumblebee? I mean, I wouldn't be in the way, would I?"

"Of course not, Rafael." Ratchet smiled and bent down, allowing Raf to step into his hand, then lifted the human up onto the medical berth. He hopped off and quickly took his place next to Bumblebee's helm where the scout could see him, to which Bee offered an appreciative whirr.

"Now, let's take a look here..." Ratchet mumbled, lifting the scanner to run it over Bumblebee's frame. Once he'd scanned him from helm to pede, Ratchet lifted it to look at the results. It took a moment to process, but when he began reading the output he appeared confused. However, his expression quickly changed to one of concern. He rushed over to where Knockout was just finishing filling a canister with energon. "Knockout, I need that energon NOW!" He shouted, snatching it from his servos.

Knockout was slightly taken aback, but just placed his now empty servos on his hips as he watched Ratchet run back over and scramble to hook Bumblebee up to the drip. "Alright! Slag, I was going as fast as I could..." he grumbled. "What's the problem?"

"Bumblebee is practically running on fumes!" Ratchet explained as he attached the cables to Bumblebee's chassis. Once the energon started to flow, he looked back over at Knockout. "You should have mentioned that he had spilled that much energon!" he scolded, "I mean, it should have been pretty obvious considering how much-"

"Excuse you!" Knockout interrupted. "What kind of medic do you think I am? Of course I would have mentioned it... but there was no spilled energon at the site." Knockout stepped closer, pointing down at Bumblebee's frame. "Besides that, there's hardly a scratch on him. Shouldn't you be trying to find where he bled out from instead of chastising me?"

Ratchet grumbled something insulting under his breath, then turned his attention back to Bumblebee and started looking him over for injuries. "Bee, try to think-" he instructed as he worked. "Do you recall anything at all from what happened? Hopefully that fresh energon will help you process better."

Bumblebee stayed quiet for a moment then just whirred sadly.

"Well, what's the last thing you remember?" Raf asked., "Maybe you can try to work your way up from there."

"BZZZzzzoooop..."

"Okay, so you found the mine," Raf continued, patting Bee's shoulder reassuringly. "Is there anything else? You don't have to think of your visuals first, try thinking of some other senses too."

"zzzzzzoooo... bzzz... BEEP! BOOZZUURRRRWHRRR!"

"An explosion?" Ratchet repeated. "Were you and Bulkhead caught up in it?"

"BuzzzZZZZ. Whrrrrrzzzzzoooo."

"What do you mean? Did you witness an accident in the mine?"

Bumblebee buzzed quietly and shook his head, but suddenly he shot upright, nearly tearing the cable from his chest! "BEEPBOOZZZWHRRR!"

"Bumblebee, stay calm!" Ratchet pushed the scout back down. "What are you talking about?"

"zoopBOOPBEEPwhrr!" Bumblebee then looked over at Knockout, his expression becoming firm. "beepZZZZZzzzrrrr."

"What?" Knockout's optics widened for a moment, but his surprise was almost instantly replaced by anger. "Is that supposed to be a joke?!" He shouted. "Well, nobody is laughing!"

Bee just replied with a stern beep.

"What is it?" They all looked down to see Miko had run over to join them. "What did he say?"

"He said... that Breakdown was there." Raf explained.

"NO. He wasn't," Knockout insisted, folding his arms across his chassis. "He couldn't be. It's not possible... He's just not remembering correctly."

"Bumblebee, are you sure?" Ratchet asked, pausing in his check up on Bee's frame. "Because what you're saying-"

"WHRRRR!" Bumblebee interrupted him with an affirmation. Then continued, "BEEPboopwhhhhhrrrzzZZZZRRrrrtt! ZZZZrrrrrboop."

"Breakdown was working with MECH?!" Ratchet repeated.

Knockout let out a short laugh, "Well now you know he's making it up," he grumbled. "Honestly. Breakdown and MECH..." He paused for a moment then shook his helm. "No... no that's impossible. You... you were probably just caught up in that explosion you mentioned."

"That doesn't explain the sudden depletion of his energon levels," Ratchet said. "And it doesn't explain this either." He continued, pressing his servo against Bumblebee's lower back. The scout let out a distressed beep at the pressure and shifted away.

"What is it?" Raf called, unable to see over Bee's frame.

"There's a puncture wound on his side here," Ratchet replied. "It's small, but it appears as though his energon was siphoned off through it... This could hardly be the work of the Decepticons." The medic paused and stood up straight. "I don't know how, but it appears as though MECH has returned."

"Wait, MECH is back?" Miko asked, "And they're crashing Decepticon mines and draining living bots' fuel? But what for?"

Ratchet looked over to Knockout somewhat accusingly. "Perhaps because they've made friends who run on energon."

"That-!" Knockout began, but then looked away and continued in a mumble. "...That doesn't make any sense... If Breakdown was... but then why wouldn't he...?"

"Regardless of his involvement, this is still highly disturbing news," Ratchet said, moving over to the computer. "It means that Bulkhead could very well be in the clutches of MECH right now. We need to locate him immediately. Hopefully they aren't within any shielded areas yet and we can find his signal."

Miko followed Ratchet and stood back to look up at the screen. "What if they already are?" She demanded. "Then how are we gonna find Bulkhead?!"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Miko." Ratchet glanced down at her as he typed on the console. "I'll check to see if I can't locate him first. Then we can start thinking of alternatives."

It was quiet for another moment as Ratchet finished typing out the command, then the computer let out a quiet tone. A map appeared on the screen as well as a blue beacon indicating Bulkhead's position. The signal was moving, but still traceable.

"Oh good." Ratchet let out a sigh of relief. "We can still locate him."

"Alright, so then call back Arcee and Prime." Knockout took out his electric staff from where it was clipped to his side. "We'll go save him and sort out these MECH characters."

Ratchet glanced back at Knockout as he spoke. "Hmm. Actually..." He looked away again, starting to type out the command to contact Optimus. "It would probably be best if only Arcee and Optimus took on this mission," he mumbled.

"Hold on!" Ratchet felt himself suddenly being pulled away from the controls. He turned back to see Knockout had his servo planted hard on his shoulder and had yanked him backwards. "I'm not going to sit around the base if there's a chance my partner is out there."

Ratchet roughly pushed Knockout away and shot a fierce glare at the medic, "His presence is preciselywhy you should not be on this mission!" He shouted. "You're too close to the situation- you might not be willing to..."

When Ratchet trailed off, Knockout goaded him on: "Willing to WHAT?"

Ratchet stiffened up and turned back to the console. "Given the circumstances, you might not be willing to do... whatever it might take."

Knockout lowered his helm threateningly. "Oh, I see. So you expect me to just step aside and let you fragging Autobots kill my partner?!"

"That was not what I said."

"But it's what you meant!"

"What I meant was that Breakdown could potentially be our adversary on this mission! If you were unwilling to engage him it could jeopardize the rescue!" Ratchet spun back around, meeting Knockout's gaze. "Our concern as Autobots is for Bulkhead's safety!"

"WELL MINE IS FOR BREAKDOWN'S!"

"I knew it!" Knockout and Ratchet looked down at Miko. "I knew this would happen!" She continued, pointing an accusing finger up at Knockout. "He's choosing Breakdown over us! I told you: he's NOT an Autobot, and he never will be!"

Knockout glared down at the human, his servos clenched angrily, one of them around his staff. He opened his mouth, probably to yell at her, but then stopped. After a quiet moment, a smirk spread across his face, replacing the scowl.

"You know what?" He turned to Ratchet. "You're right."

Before he could react, Knockout had pulled back his staff and lunged it forward, digging the prongs into Ratchet's neck cables and releasing a debilitating shock!

"BRRRZEEEEEEP!"

Knockout glanced back as Bumblebee sat up. The scout tore the cable from his chest and stood up, about to attack. Before he could, Knockout grabbed the offlined Ratchet as he fell and spun around, hurling the medic at Bumblebee. They collided with a powerful CLANG and Bumblebee fell back onto the medical table with Ratchet on top of him. He struggled in vain to lift Ratchet off him, but he was still too low on energy to manage it.

Knockout watched the struggling scout for a moment as he beeped and whirred angrily, but then turned to the groundbridge controls. "I bet this is against your precious Autobot Code, isn't it?" He said, typing in the coordinates from the map. Once he'd finished, he pulled the lever, powering on the groundbridge. As he stepped towards the portal he glanced back again. "Well, sorry. But I've lost Breakdown once... I'm not about to let it happen a second time."

With that, he ran through the groundbridge and disappeared.

After a minute, the bridge powered down automatically. Once it had, Raf glanced out from behind Ratchet's scanner where he'd been hiding. "Is he gone...?" He mumbled, looking up at Bee.

He let out an irritated whirr to confirm, and Raf jumped up and ran over to try and help him up. They both started pushing Ratchet, trying to make the medic slide off but they were hardly even able to budge him.

"Miko!" Raf called as he pushed, "Give us a hand up here!"

There was no response.

"Miko?" Raf stopped and looked over to the floor by the main console where Miko had been standing before. There was no sign of the girl. "MIKO?! Where did-?" he stopped mid sentence as it dawned on him and he looked over at the groundbridge. "Oh... Oh no."