A few days of flying and avoiding scouts passed by fast. Every night I would review the video clips and photos to try and make sense of the whole thing. What was this 'Phantom Protocol' they kept mentioning?

None of it made any sense to me, except the fact that whatever creatures they were studying got loose. That alone made me hope we never came across this place.

Phoenix was still out of it. Losing the ones she loved took a toll on her. She stayed very distant but on her face it looked like she wanted to cuddle her.

I felt horrible that I didn't know how to help her. But I never stopped trying to find a way.

After about a week had passed, Phoenix and I were scouting the area when we came across an unfamiliar building tucked in a small valley.

Phoenix kept her quietness, walking beside me silently. I stopped and looked closely at the building, recognizing Cybertronian markings and architecture designs.

"Phoenix, you see that building ahead?" I asked her quietly.

She nodded. "Another one of us was here." She says. I nodded in agreement and returned my attention to the building, noticing a distinctive red symbol on one of the doors.

The building was an Autobot Base!

Phoenix quietly and stealthily walked towards the doors. She definitely had a direct approach by going up and knocking.

I started to follow her, before I spotted something moving in the skies above. "Oh no..."

Phoenix looked up, growling and getting out her gun.

Scouts had found us, and guess who was leading them?

Suddenly, the doors opened behind us and Phoenix was snatched up by an Autobot scout. I had completely forgotten we never removed our Decepticon insignias.

I made a leap from my perch to pursue Phoenix, but mid-jump I was tackled back to the ground by Ruvik.

As the two of us tumbled down the valley side I managed to kick him off me, causing him to roll to a stop a few feet away from where I had.

He instantly had a knife in each servo, lunging at me and attacking with quick strikes. I was quicker in my dodges however, and once he made a strike that left him open, I struck upwards, hitting him in the side hard enough to knock him of balance.

I followed up the attack with a tail swipe to his face-plates and a blow to his chest-plates, sending him staggering. Ruvik may not be the most skilled fighter, but he was relentless. It took a lot to get him down for the count.

I had to be strategic, use my smaller size and superior speed to out maneuver him. Ruvik recovered quick and was back at me, swiping furiously. I dodged backwards several times before jumping to the side and lunging at him perpendicularly.

He reacted fast, blocking me with his wing and striking with his tail. I blocked his tail blade with my own and side flipped over him. He again reacted faster then I ever expected and landed a blow to my jaw.

The surprise of the attack alone was enough to mess up my landing, and the force he hit me with sent my flying a couple extra feet. I sprawled to the ground and scrambled out of the way just as Ruvik made another stab at me.

He then lunged at me again, pinning me down and striking both knives downward at my faceplates. I caught his servos just inches before the blades hit me, struggling with all my strength to keep them away as Ruvik pushed down.

He was older, and therefore bigger and stronger then me, and despite my best efforts, the blades slowly inched closer to my faceplates. Before he got too far I kicked him in the gut, flipping him over my helm.

Before he could get up I quickly grabbed a knife he dropped and struck, the blade stabbing him just below his optic. He howled in pain and rage, falling backwards in surprise. I took this opportunity to retreat, back to the base Phoenix was taken into.

For some reason though, I found the door hung open. I entered the base, immediately freezing in place. I couldn't believe my optics.

At least 20 Autobots lay on the floor, bleeding and dead while Phoenix stood above them with pitch black optics. She was panting and snorting and her form was covered in Energon.

"Ph...phoenix...?" I said carefully. Her whole mannerism had changed. She was pure rage, anger.

I stepped forward, carefully observing the femme.

...bad choice...

She lunged at me with pure rage in her optics. She screeched and with her beak open, came straight for my neck.

Reacting on instinct, I fired upwards, hitting a loose pipe and dropping it on Phoenix.

She screeched in pain and dropped to the floor, knocked out completely. I took a second to be certain she was out, before picking her up and carrying her back to the cave.

My carrier looked up when I entered the cave. "What happened?" She asked, standing up.

"I have no idea..." I replied simply. I gently lay Phoenix down and collapsed, exhausted from my scuffle with Ruvik.

"Why is Phoenix covered in Energon? Is she hurt?" She asked, acting motherly toward the young femme.

"I found her, in an Autobot base. She leveled the place, and everyone in it." I explained. "She even attacked me, but I knocked her out."

"She attacked you?" She asked, rushing over to me and looking me over. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, she didn't get to me. But Ruvik did." I answered, attempting to dodge her motherly instincts but failing due to my lack of energy.

"Oh Rumble." She continued to look me over, making sure I was completely ok.

"Carrier, I'm fine. Really." I insisted, a feeble attempt to ward of my carrier. At the moment I could have been injured and not realized it, as my entire focus of concern was on Phoenix.

She sighed. "Cora, look at them both." She says.

Cora nodded and quietly got up, coming over to me. Phoenix was out like a light but was twitching lightly.

I watched Phoenix closely, remembering the sharp contrast between how she had acted, and how she normally acted.

'It was like two different-'

"Ow!" I exclaimed in surprise as a sharp pain cut off my thought process. I guess I was injured and hadn't realized it. Cora had found a deep gash in my shoulder plating.

"Sorry Rumble. I'm surprised you didn't notice this." She says, getting out a few medical supplies. "Tell me, what happened?"

"Ruvik and I fought. I guess he was quicker then I expected." I explained, examining the wound.

She sighed and nodded. "Can you tell me anything about Phoenix?" She asked.

"She just... Changed. Her optics were black, and it was like she was fueled by pure primitive rage." I looked to the unconscious femme. "She wasn't herself..."

Cora hummed. "Have you heard anything like it Meera?" She asked.

My carrier shook her head. "Not that I know of."

Cora sighed and returned to patching me up.

I was so exhausted from the days events, that I passed out before she finished.