Hotstreak traveled for days looking for any kind of signal for Mainframe's communicator. He was tired and running low on Energon. His sudden run in with Starscream was sill the least of his worries. Starscream continued to point his null ray at Hotstreak. "Well Autobot, are you going to beg for mercy?" Starscream asked triumphantly. Hotstreak responded by tackling Starscream to the ground. The two bots hit the ground with a loud thud. "How dare you strike the mighty Starscream! You will regret your foolish decision Autobot." Starscream snarled. Hotstreak was not listening to Starscream. He was running low on Energon and he was tired but the will to find Mainframe gave him strength. He hunched over Starscream and assaulted him from above. Starscream gave a strong kick and knocked Hotstreak off of him. Hotstreak quickly regained his balance and unsheathed his blade. He quickly cut Starscream across the chest. Starscream screamed in agony. Hotstreak threw Starscream back to the ground. "Please no, have mercy." Starscream pleaded for his life but his begging went unheard. Hotstreak stepped on Starscream's head crushing it. While Hotstreak was attempting to execute Starscream, he was shot to the ground. Hotstreak looked up to see Hardwire in jet mode. "Starscream, our orders were to pull out. Megatron would be highly upset if he knew you were playing around. You go on ahead I'll finish up here." Hardwire spoke. "Ugh, fine handle my light weight. I need repairs anyway." Starscream said as he transformed and flew away. Hardwire continued to shoot at Hotstreak until Starscream faded away into the distance.
Hardwire transformed and landed next to Hotstreak. "You couldn't have waited until I killed him?" Hotstreak asked coldly. "Trust me Hotstreak, you want Starscream alive. They don't call them Decepticons for nothing." Hardwire said. Hotstreak thought about that and chuckled. "Well it is always a surprise to see you Hardwire. What's going on?" Hotstreak asked. "Well, I duplicated the signal from that communicator of yours and then I strengthened the signal and I found where your friend's receiver is." Before Hardwire could finish Hotstreak grabbed onto Hardwire. "You're amazing Hardwire! Where is he?" Hardwire pushed Hotstreak off of him and brushed himself off. "Like I was saying, I found the nearest matching signal. It's just the receiving end so the communicator doesn't have to be attached to a bot. The location gives me hope. Now do you want the good news or the bad news?" Hardwire asked while he was fidgeting with one of his gadgets. "Just give me news Hardwire." Hotstreak said weakly. "The nearest signal is all the way in Kaon; which is Decepticon territory. Why your friend would be there is most likely because he is a prisoner of war. There is a maximum prison in Kaon and your friend is probably being held captive. It would be a suicide mission to go in there but luckily for you I created a cloaking device and a scrambler that allows you to temporarily change your systems to a Decepticon. You could sneak in and rescue your friend and allow me to see how my new gadgets do in a field test." Hardwire handed his gadgets over to Hotstreak. Hotstreak installed the cloaking device and the Decepticon disguiser. "I also encoded my codec into the cloaking system so I'll be able to contact you when ever and vice versa. It uses brain waves and converts them into radio waves so you won't have to speak out loud to use it. Also, when you're under disguise you'll need a new name. Pick a name and I'll add your full information into the Decepticon mainframe." Hotstreak gave it all some thought. "Thanks Hardwire I appreciate this. I don't care what name I have. Surprise me." Hotstreak said. "Ok, I'll let you know the first time you activate it. I need to repay you hold still." Hardwire commanded as he started to heal Hotstreak with an Energon repair ray.
Hardwire healed and replenished Hotstreak. Hardwire agreed to lead Hotstreak to Kaon. Hotstreak was on the ground following Hardwire. In the back of Hotstreak's mind the image of betrayal constantly replayed itself. He started to doubt his friend. "They don't call them Decepticons for nothing." He remembered Hardwire saying. Hotstreak could have lost his life that day because of Hardwire. Years of friendship just doesn't get ruined from one battle. Maybe Hardwire never really considered them to be that great of friends. Hardwire spent most of his time working and building on gadgets. He remembered when Avalanche and he would ask Hardwire to go out with them and many times he would refuse so he could experiment. He didn't think anything of it then but now his suspicion grows. He let Starscream get away and now he is leading him into Decepticon territory and into a maximum prison. Hotstreak started to slow down. He slowed and slowed until he came to a complete stop. His circuits were burning with anger. He now believed that Hardwire was planning on betraying him. All the time and dedication Hotstreak put into his friendship just to be betrayed because of a war; a war that Hotstreak did not start. Hotstreak was just fighting for his beliefs much like Hardwire but never would Hotstreak attack his lifelong friends. He was starting to see a different bot in Hardwire. He just let Hardwire download his programs into him. Hotstreak was fuming with anger. Hotstreak calmed himself down. His friendship with Hardwire was a lifelong one. Hardwire would never betray him, at least not twice. Hotstreak silently agreed to go along with Hardwire but he could no longer fully trust him. Their trust was broken and once you break someone's trust for the first time, you never fully get that trust back. Hotstreak transformed and kept a steady eye on Hardwire.
A few cycles later, Hardwire and Hotstreak are heading deeper into Decepticon territory. Soundwave looks out of a Decepticon carrier down at the ground below. "Why do we have to look after prisoners Soundwave? I want to go into battle. I'm burning with rage I need to fight." Silverstream said as she got up to stand next to Soundwave. "Negative. No prisoners." Soundwave responded. A smirk formed itself onto Silverstream's face. "Then I think I'm going to enjoy my stay at Kaon." Silverstream laughed. The carrier flew over Hardwire. Silverstream caught a glimpse of Hardwire as they passed by. "What is he doing all the way out here?" She asked herself, "Excuse me while I tend to something." She said as she jumped out of the carrier and transformed. She flew over to Hardwire who continued to fly as if it was just a casual day. "What are you doing all the way out here Hardwire?" She interrogated. "I have my orders Silverstream. Why must you continue to antagonize me?" Hardwire sighed. Hardwire used the COM link to talk to Hotstreak, "Just keep lagging behind this femme is crazy. I'll get rid of her it just takes a moment." Hotstreak replied with silence. "You know Hardwire, you've been acting really strange lately." Silverstream said, "What are you up to?" Hardwire continued to fly without responding. Silverstream started to get angry, "Don't ignore me you useless hunk of metal. I don't care what you're up to but I do care to know. Look I no longer care for Megatron's plans I'm just a soldier, so I demand to know what you're up to. That is an order." Silverstream commanded. "I don't take orders from you." Hardwire said wisely. Silverstream had enough. She transformed and grabbed onto Hardwire steering him into the ground below. The two crashed hard. Hardwire managed to transform but Silverstream had Hardwire pinned to the ground. "Tell me what you are doing before I-" Silverstream was cut off as Hotstreak shot her off of Hardwire. Silverstream fell over with a loud clank. "Decepticon punk. Hey Hardwire, I think she likes ya." Hotstreak said as the barrel of his gun smoked.
Silverstream laid motionless as Hardwire got up. "I wouldn't say that but we won't have to be bothered by her anymore." Hardwire responded. "Let's keep going." Hotstreak said. "No, I can't leave her dead. That'll look bad. I told you to let me handle it Hotstreak." Hardwire started to repair Silverstream with his Energon repair ray. Silverstream's wounds began to heal up. "There she's still unconscious but she won't go offline." Hardwire turned to transform. "Why are you helping them?" Hotstreak asked. "What?" Hardwire was confused. "Why are you helping them? First Starscream now her?" Hardwire turned to Hotstreak. "I'm undercover in case you have forgotten. I always have to be the brains of the group don't I? I have to think one step ahead just to keep you and Avalanche alive. My gadgets were protecting you in the mines. You're welcome Hotstreak. You ever wonder why we survived the mines with minimal damage? All that exposure to Energon can be lethal. I was the one keeping our Energon levels at a safe constant. While you and Avalanche were out partying I was diligently working to keep us alive." Hotstreak stood silently embarrassed that he allowed himself to distrust Hardwire. "Fair enough." Hotstreak said. They turned to transform but Hotstreak was tackled and face planted into the ground. Silverstream was back up and out for revenge. "I thought you said she would stay unconscious!" Hotstreak yelled. "Me too!" Hardwire shot back. Hotstreak and Silverstream fought violently on the ground. Hardwire looked on trying to figure out what to do. Hardwire fiddled through his gear and pulled out a grenade. "Ah perfect time to test this out." Hardwire threw the grenade near Hotstreak and Silverstream. The grenade blew up with concussive force knocking both bots back. They flew through the air before crashing down into the ground dazed. "It works well. Both of them should be knocked out for a few cycles." as Hardwire started to walk over to Silverstream and Hotstreak the ground started to shake vigorously. The ground split and Hotstreak and Silverstreamed fell through. Hardwire ran and transformed to save the two bots but the ground closed up before he could get close. "Hotstreak!" Hardwire shouted.
Hotstreak's optics came back online as he looked over to see Silverstream getting up on her feat. There was light coming from the nearby Energon. He rubbed his optics and quickly realized that Silverstream was in front of him trying to gather herself. Hotstreak tried to pull out his gun but it was missing. He instead tackled her to the ground grabbed her throat trying to crush it. Silverstream quickly grabbed a nearby chunk of earth and slammed it against Hotstreak's head. Hotstreak's optics flickered and Silverstream began her attack. Her quick strikes and movements were faster than his but his time spent in the mines had made is body a fortress. He could over power Silverstream once he got a hold of her. Silverstream was a trained soldier, her melee strikes were getting the best of Hotstreak. Hotstreak transformed mid-fight and drove into Silverstream's shins and ran over her. He quickly transformed back and smashed his foot into Silverstream's chest. "Ugh, filthy Autobot." Silverstream hissed. She had bloodlust in her eyes and she had full intent to offline Hotstreak. She brought her legs up and wrapped them around Hotstreak's leg and forced him down into the ground. She struck him many times before Hotstreak grabbed one of her hands and tossed her aside. She tried to get back up but Hotstreak kicked Silverstream in her side. Silverstream managed to get up and started to swing unto Hotstreak. The two fought up close exchanging blows. A load roar was heard deep inside the underground caverns. This did not stop the two from fighting. The ground quaked as they fought fiercely. A giant creature emerged from within the ground. It charged the two fighting bots and each of them rolled away from it. The massive worm like creature turned to face Silverstream. It charged again with much speed. Silverstream transformed and took flight. The quaking from the massive behemoth created a cave in. The ceiling was collapsing onto the ground. Silverstream was hit by the debris and crashed to the ground at the mercy of the behemoth. Hotstreak looked on as he started to flee. He saw Silverstream laying there watching death. He remembered Coldspell as she awaited death. Silverstream got up to run but was much too slow on foot and there was too much debris falling for her to fly. The worm-like behemoth was gaining much ground and it opened its massive mouth in an attempt to swallow Silverstream. She could feel the warmth from the creature's mouth and she could feel her end coming soon. The monster leaped and swallowed the ground and everything that was in its path. Hotstreak was running on foot with Silverstream in his arms. "Coldspell." he said to himself. "What?" Silverstream looked up to see her savior, "What are you doing? I didn't need your help." She scoffed. "Fine," Hotstreak said while dropping her. They transformed and escaped the behemoth.