CHAPTER 21

Inside Job

Smokescreen remained unconscious for a while after the Autobots had rescued him and brought him safely back to base. He was put on one of the tables in the medbay until he woke up.

"That was close," Ratchet remarked as he began scanning Smokescreen, just to see if he was alright. "Had we been just a few seconds late, Soundwave would certainly have made off with him."

The other Autobots turned to Starscream, who gazed between Smokescreen and them.

"We could not have saved Smokescreen without you, Starscream," Optimus said. "You did well."

Starscream smirked and shyly scratched the side of his head with a claw. "Oh, you know," he said casually. "Just doing my part for the team. He saved me before. Thought I'd return the favor."

Smokescreen groaned, and everyone turned their attention to him. "Ow, my head..." he said and held a servo on his head. "What happened?"

"Soundwave happened," Bulkhead replied. "You're lucky we got there in time. Well, and that Scream got there before we did."

Smokescreen rose to his elbows and glanced at Starscream, who stood with crossed arms and tried to act casual about the situation.

"He did?" Smokescreen asked. "Uh, thanks then."

"Consider us even," Starscream snickered. "Now that he's awake, shall we tell him?"

"Tell me what?" Smokescreen asked, looking around at the bots.

Optimus stepped forward. "It appears the final Omega Key," he said, "is within you, Smokescreen."

Smokescreen blinked and looked from Optimus to the other bots, then back at Optimus. "What? You're kidding, right?"

"I do not kid."

Smokescreen stared down at himself, clutching his own chest. "But how can that be?" he said quietly. "Alpha Trion launched the others in containers. Did he..."

"Knock you out and put the final Key inside you?" Arcee ended for him. "That's what we think."

Smokescreen stared at the others in disbelief. "But why? How could he..."

"There may not have been enough time for Alpha Trion to put the last Key in a container," Optimus assumed.

"So instead of coordinates," Ratchet continued, "he uploaded an image of you."

Smokescreen looked around at the others for a moment more before gazing back down at himself. "So the Omega Key is inside me right now, huh?" he mused. His face contorted into a smile. "Well then, saves us the trouble of locating it then. Hey Ratch, I'll let ya use the Phase Shifter to get it out, huh?"

The others smiled back at the recruit. He took the news pretty well. Ratchet approached Smokescreen as the latter lay back down.

"Let me just confirm it really is there," Ratchet said and brought out an x-ray scanner. He hovered it over Smokescreen's frame, and indeed, the reddish image of an Omega Key appeared right on the screen, right in the middle where it just wouldn't snap during transformation. Ratchet put down the scanner again and nodded.

"It's there, alright," Ratchet confirmed. "I will borrow that Phase Shifter of yours. It will be easier that way."

"And less messy," Smokescreen replied and handed over the Phase Shifter to the medic.

Ratchet attached the Phase Shifter to his wrist and activated it. He first tested it by having his servo go through his arm and out again. Afterwards, he turned to Smokescreen, who lay flat on the table with a smile, waiting excitedly to get the Key out.

"You may feel some discomfort," Ratchet warned before he reached into the recruit's chassis.

Smokescreen cringed by the feeling of having the medic's servo shuffling in his systems, but he tried to keep still, knowing Ratchet was trying to be careful.

"There we go," Ratchet commented and started pulling his arm out. Along with the arm and servo came a solid, rusty-looking Omega Key.

Upon removal, Smokescreen's chest rose and fell rapidly a few times before settling down again. It must have been pretty uncomfortable getting such a large and solid relic out of one's body.

"And we're done," Ratchet concluded, turning off the Phase Shifter and handing it back to Smokescreen. "How are you feeling?"

"Honestly?" Smokescreen said and accepted the Phase Shifter back and replaced it on his wrist. "A little empty. But also lighter, like a burden has just been lifted. Feels weird."

"I bet it does," Arcee said and smiled. "It's good to see you're okay."

Smokescreen's smile fell as his gaze fell on Arcee, remembering her lecture from earlier. "I'm sorry I ran off like that," he apologized. "I just-"

"You don't have to apologize," Arcee replied, holding a servo in front of her. "I... may have overstepped. But I meant what I said."

Smokescreen nodded and rose from the table. "I know," he replied. "I won't run away anymore, I promise."

"Good."

That said, the bots gathered around, ready to discuss their next course of action.

"Now what?" Bulkhead asked. "We have two Keys, and the 'Cons have two Keys."

"Half and half," Starscream commented. "This could go either way."

"We cannot allow Megatron to restore Cybertron in his image," Optimus explained and gained the others' attention. "We must retrieve the other two Keys from his warship."

"How though?" Ratchet asked. "We cannot track the ship, nor can we open a GroundBridge there. We'll have to get there manually."

"Hello?" Starscream said and pointed to himself. "We have a Flier right here, remember? And I know my way around the Nemesis too."

"But how good are you stealth-wise?" Smokescreen asked. "Do you know how to use the Phase Shifter?"

Starscream stared blankly at the recruit for a moment. "Uh... no, I haven't used it before, but..."

"Then I'll go," Smokescreen replied. "I can sneak onboard the ship, use the Phase Shifter to get past the walls and into the 'Cons' vaults. I'll find their Keys, snatch them and leave. Simple as that."

"And how will you get there?" Starscream asked and crossed his arms.

"You're gonna take me there."

Starscream blinked and facepalmed. "Walked right into that one, didn't I?" he grumbled. "Fine, whatever. I'll be your transport."

Optimus gazed from Starscream to Smokescreen. "Very well," he said in approval. "Starscream and Smokescreen will fly to the warship to secure the Omega Keys. Smokescreen will use the Phase Shifter to hide from the Decepticons. Starscream will wait outside until Smokescreen has located and acquired the Omega Keys. Ratchet will then lock onto your position and have a GroundBridge send you back here."

Starscream and Smokescreen nodded and stepped over in front of the GroundBridge, the others staying where they stood. Ratchet walked over to the GroundBridge controls to insert coordinates to a random location.

"Smokescreen," Optimus said and took a few steps forward, making the recruit turn and look at the commander. "In addition to acquiring the Omega Keys in the Decepticons' possession, I would also like to ask of you to locate and secure the Forge of Solus Prime."

Smokescreen gazed from Optimus to the broken hilt of the Star Saber, still sitting on one of the tables by the medbay.

"To repair the Star Saber," Smokescreen concluded. "Got it. I won't let you down this time, I promise!"

With that, the recruit turned back to his aerial partner, as Ratchet opened a GroundBridge to somewhere random.

"Will be back soon," Starscream said as the two entered the portal.

Megatron took Soundwave's emptyhanded return better than Dreadwing had thought.

"Soundwave, where is the Autobot?" Megatron asked calmly as the intelligence officer returned through one of his own GroundBridge portals, alone.

Soundwave played back a recording taken not long ago. "You're not getting this bot," Starscream's hissing voice sounded, laced with Soundwave's own voice, "nor the relic! I know that's why you want him. But I won't let you."

Megatron snarled at the recording. "Starscream..." he growled. He let out a sigh and seemed to calm down. "Have you at least made progress on locating the Autobots' base?"

Soundwave nodded, showing a map of Laserbeak, still flying around in the dark of the night in some desert canyon.

"Excellent," Megatron replied. "As soon as we learn where the Autobots' human pets live, we shall acquire the means of narrowing down their location until we pinpoint their hideout. Keep up the good work, Soundwave."

With that, the two old friends turned their backs to each other, Soundwave turning to his monitor to continue his research, and Megatron crossing the bridge, walking past a puzzled Dreadwing. The Seeker gazed between Megatron and Soundwave, wondering why the intelligence officer didn't even get yelled at for failing his mission, an important one for that matter.

Then again, the two of them went way back, even before the war started. To Megatron, Soundwave was not just a subordinate. He was a friend, an equal partner, perhaps even his best friend. Soundwave put up with Megatron's sometimes bothersome behavior, and in return Megatron put his full trust into the silent mech, rarely, if ever questioning his methods or interrogating him should he fail a mission. Which rarely happened, actually.

Starscream and Smokescreen had been extremely lucky to have escaped Soundwave that time.

And chances were, it would never happen again.

Starscream and Smokescreen had been 'Bridged to the same maple forest Smokescreen had been ambushed in. The place made Smokescreen cringe slightly.

"Feeling nervous, Smokescreen?" Starscream asked, noticing his partner's flicking winglets.

Smokescreen straightened up and bounced a bit. "Nope, excited," Smokescreen corrected with a smile. "Let's go already!"

Starscream smirked and jumped into the air, reverting to jet mode. He hovered slightly above the ground. "Hop on," he said.

Smokescreen jumped onto Starscream's back, making the latter fall slightly before rising again.

"Hold on tight," Starscream warned and aimed upwards. As Smokescreen held around the Seeker's wings, they shot upwards in high speed. Smokescreen really had to hold on tight to stay on.

"Wow, cool," Smokescreen commented at how high they were and how fast they went.

"Is this your first flight?" Starscream asked as they ascended to above the clouds, before flying in a horizontal line, slowing down just a little, to conserve energy.

"Maybe not my first flight, but definitely the first time I've flown without being engaged in combat or anything like that."

"I can imagine. You Grounders are so easy to impress," Starscream added with a chuckle.

Smokescreen moved his gaze from the disappearing ground to in front of them, looking from side to side. "Any idea where the warship may be right now?"

"I know as much as you do right now," Starscream replied. "My radars are on full power right now. We will find them sooner or later."

"Hopefully sooner than later."

They flew in silence for a while, occasionally looking from side to side. Starscream flew in mostly a straight line, rather than turning right or left. Smokescreen's gaze went to his left wing. He could still see a faint line where the wing had been bent.

"Your wing doing okay?" Smokescreen asked, more for the sake of conversation. They were probably going to be there for quite a while. The horizon had begun to become brighter, indicating the sun was about to rise.

"It's doing fine, thank you," Starscream replied. "What about you? Do you still feel empty inside?"

"Nah, I've gotten used to it now."

"Yeah, you get used to it."

"What do you mean? Do you feel empty inside too? Have you had something in there too?"

Starscream cringed. He stayed silent for a while, contemplating his answer. "Nothing you need to concern yourself with," he simply answered. "My case is more metaphorical than literal, unlike yours."

"What's your case then?"

Starscream fell silent for a while, thinking. "We've all been through a lot, you know?" he replied. "I mean, I don't know how much the Autobots have been through, but I know I have been through a lot in my life. Probably more than I thought I could handle."

Smokescreen looked to the sides before returning his attention to the Seeker. "I can imagine," he replied. "I mean, I can imagine living as Megatron's right hand man for eons is tough."

"Oh, you have no idea, kid," Starscream said and passed through a cloud. "For starters, he forced me into joining him along with my Seekers, he terminated my partner, contributed to the destruction of Vos and Tarn, and-"

"You had a partner?" Smokescreen interrupted.

Starscream sighed in annoyance over the interruption. "Yes, I had a partner," he said, trying to calm himself. "Jetfire, if you know of him."

"I've heard his name," Smokescreen replied. "He was captain of the Autobot air force back during the war, right?"

"Yes," Starscream sighed. "But in reality he was a Seeker, just like I am. But he defected to the Autobots when Megatron arrived and took over Trypticon Station and its stockpile of Dark Energon. I joined him to spare the Seekers, but Jetfire didn't agree with it. After he left, I saw only glimpses of him in the sky during battles, but we never encountered each other again."

"What happened to him?"

Starscream fell silent for a while. "Millions of years after the fall of Trypticon Station," he replied, "Megatron told me he had terminated him personally."

Smokescreen looked to the side. "Sorry about that," he said.

"I don't believe him though."

Smokescreen perked and looked back at the cockpit. "You don't? Why not?"

"I just have a feeling. I think Jetfire's still alive out there somewhere. Hiding among the stars, waiting for our world to be restored to life. Everyone left the planet when it became uninhabitable, after all. Without the AllSpark, and without Energon in Cybertron's core, there is no life aside from Scraplets and Insecticons. Some life may have returned by now, but certainly not enough for Transformers to live there yet. And even if we could, there will be no new life on Cybertron without the AllSpark. Except now we have gained a second chance."

Smokescreen nodded. "The Omega Keys."

"Yes. However they may work, with them in our possession, we will be able to restore Cybertron, return life to our world. Pit, those living among the stars right now may even return home when they find out the planet is returning to life."

Smokescreen understood now. "Like Jetfire," he concluded.

"Yes, like Jetfire," Starscream confirmed. "If he's still alive, then he will return when we restore Cybertron. I need to know that he is alright, that he is alive. Or that he is dead, so I can finally get over him."

There was silence between them for a while. "You still hope he's alive though, don't you?" Smokescreen asked.

"Of course I do," Starscream replied. "He's... he was everything to me. My Amica, my best friend, my..." He sighed. "My lover."

Smokescreen perked to attention. "Wow, lover? I didn't know you were that close."

Starscream chuckled, a bit embarrassed. "Yes, few know about that. Only the Seekers really know about that anymore. That is, those who are still alive. My people... they're all gone."

Smokescreen looked to the sides again. "I forgot," he said. "You used to be Winglord of Vos, didn't you?"

This time Starscream perked to attention. "How did you know?" he asked intrigued.

Smokescreen shrugged. "I worked in the Hall of Records," he replied. "And you made a pretty big name for yourself, apparently. Even before you joined Megatron's army."

Starscream chuckled. "I have underestimated you, Smokescreen," he said. "Not a lot of bots remember or know about that anymore. All everyone cares about these days is my former position as Megatron's second-in-command. Nobody cares about who I was before that."

Smokescreen thought for a bit before answering. "Then maybe you should remind them who you were before," he said. "And show them who you've become now. Make yourself known without being Megatron's guy."

Starscream silenced for a long time, thinking about Smokescreen's words. They hit him pretty deep. Furthermore, he had spotted something in the distance.

"There," he said, making Smokescreen look ahead. "The warship."

As they emerged from the clouds, hiding the rising sun, they gazed upon the massive body of the Decepticon warship. The structure brought back memories of Starscream trespassing the ship with Arcee and Jack, back when they were rescuing Optimus Prime from Megatron's control, as well as the more recent time when he had gone to the ship alone to acquire his belongings, most important of them the good-luck necklace from Jetfire, currently tucked somewhere in the Seeker's jet form.

"Alright, so how do we do this?" Smokescreen asked. "Are we gonna storm in? Wait for some 'Cons to return home and sneak in with them?"

"I think I'll just drop you off on the flight deck," Starscream replied.

Smokescreen blinked. "That simple? Won't Megs detect us or something?"

"Please, the last two times I was here, I had to use the cover of Vehicons because I was still a Decepticon," Starscream explained. "Now I am an Autobot, and thus both of our signals cannot be detected by their scanners. We can't detect them either, so why should they be able to track us? If they could do that, our base would have been lost long ago."

Smokescreen hummed. "Good point," he said.

Despite that, though, Starscream did hesitate a bit and scan the surrounding area for any enemy signatures, just to see if any Vehicons were returning from duty. Finding the airspace clear, he took a deep vent and approached the ship.

"Here we go," Starscream said and went to the flight deck, which thankfully was empty at the moment. He didn't land or transform, but instead hovered slightly over it. "Get off."

Smokescreen jumped off the Seeker, the fall only a few meters tall. He looked back up at the jet. "What are you gonna do in the meantime?" he asked.

"I'll follow the warship from a distance," Starscream replied. "Once I leave, we won't be able to communicate or read each other's energy signals. When you have acquired the items, jump off the ship and I shall be there to catch you."

Smokescreen blinked and gulped. "That sounds a bit risky," he said and put on a smile. "But nothing I can't handle. Everything depends on me now. I won't let you down. I'll comm. you when I'm done."

With that, Smokescreen activated his Phase Shifter and disappeared into one of the walls of the ship, heading inside and downward. Starscream, in turn, broke off from the warship's gravity pull and set off into the sky, making sure to create great distance between himself and the ship, far enough to avoid getting detected by Megatron or Soundwave, but at the same time close enough that he wouldn't lose sight of the ship.

If that happened, then Smokescreen was as good as finished.

Inside the warship, Smokescreen peeked through the walls, scanning the hallways for guards before crossing the floor to the next room. He searched each room and vault for the Omega Keys, as well as the Forge of Solus Prime. It certainly would be easier for Optimus to stand up against Megatron's Dark Star Saber if the real one got fixed again, maybe even upgraded. And who knows what else they could use it for!

Optimus is right, Smokescreen thought as he passed yet another room without the Keys or the Forge. We need that Forge.

Just as he was about to exit another wall, he heard a pair of voices and retreated behind the wall again, waiting and listening. It was Thundercracker and Skywarp, chatting and passing by him.

"Man, you should have seen the look on Lord Megatron's face when I showed up with that Key," Skywarp cackled. "Priceless! I don't think I've ever received a compliment from him before!"

"Me neither," Thundercracker replied as the two passed by Smokescreen's position, unaware of the intruder's presence. "Now if only we can find the Autobots' base and steal their Keys, we'll have Cybertron up and running again..."

The voices disappeared and Smokescreen dared peek out from the wall. He saw the two Seekers round a corner and disappear from his sight. He looked to the other side and found the hallway empty. Coast clear, he stepped out and entered the next room.

Smokescreen felt a rush in his tanks and his Spark race faster as he found himself inside a vault, containing the very Forge of Solus Prime right in front of him.

"The Forge of Solus Prime," he gasped in awe. "I found it..."

He looked around the room, finding nothing or nobody else, and approached the large golden hammer. He deactivated the Phase Shifter so he could grab the hammer.

It was pretty heavy. It probably wasn't made of actual gold though, as that would've made the hammer extremely delicate and unsuitable for its purpose. But perhaps it had been painted with gold, to protect it from oxidation and rust.

Despite his weight, Smokescreen placed the Forge on some kind of subsheath on his back, invisible to the human eye but very much there. It was kind of like a subspace, except it allowed Cybertronians to magically stick their weapons to their bodies to allow for free servo movement.

With the hammer secured, Smokescreen reactivated the Phase Shifter and moved on to the room next door, continuing his search for the Omega Keys.

Starscream didn't so much struggle to keep up with the ship as he did struggle keeping his distance to ensure he wouldn't get detected by the Decepticons' scanners. Despite the fact that they technically couldn't track them, they could possibly still detect them if they used a wide and effective enough radar, not to mention Soundwave and Laserbeak's ability to find out any secret on and around the ship. Hopefully Smokescreen would stay out of Soundwave's way.

Starscream fell into deep thoughts, thinking about his conversation with the recruit before. Why had he revealed so much personal stuff to the youngster? They weren't even really friends, and Starscream didn't even really like the mech.

"Maybe because he saved my life," he suggested to himself. "Perhaps I've developed some kind of trust in him. Weird."

Starscream didn't put his trust in a lot of bots. There hadn't been a lot of bots he could trust in his early life, and even less when the war began. Even his Trinemates had abandoned him, the ones he was supposed to be able to trust at all times, despite being neither family, friends nor even really allies. Trinemates were chosen in accordance to how well they got along as well as how much trust they had in each other.

Trinemates were never related. At least, almost never. Trinemates had to get along with each other, while siblings such as Skyquake and Dreadwing, or Starscream and Sunstorm, rarely got along well. Trinemates had to be in complete sync, be able to read each other's thoughts, make battle formations without having to voice it. Siblings were always at each other's throats, which is why Spark Twins were in seperate Trines from one another. Although Sunstorm never really got the chance of being in a Trine before he was banished from Cybertron, due to his rather dangerous ability.

Starscream hummed at the memory of his brother. He wondered how Sunstorm was doing. Was he lonely in the vast vacuum of space? Was he enjoying solitude? Had he found some planet to settle down on and have a life? Had he improved his work on controlling his electro-disrupting and radioactive fire powers?

He knew Sunstorm was still alive. Because they were Spark Twins, like Dreadwing, Starscream would know if Sunstorm were to perish, and vice versa. Even in this Vehicon body, Starscream could still feel his twin's Spark, ever so brightly. The bond wasn't as strong as in the past, though, probably because of his body change, so he couldn't really feel where in the universe - or galaxy, at least - Sunstorm was. He wondered if Sunstorm knew where Starscream was, and if he too could feel that he was still alive as well.

"Perhaps when Cybertron gets restored," Starscream mused to himself, "Sunstorm might return as well. It's been millions of years, after all. He might have better control of his powers than he did back then. I wonder if he still looks the same..."

Trapped in his thoughts, Starscream silently continued following the Nemesis, watching as the afternoon sun had begun descending towards the horizon, signalling the coming of evening. He wondered if the kids were going to show up today. They hadn't showed up the previous day. Probably busy with school and homework, and perhaps that 'detention' thing, house arrest and part-time job. They would definitely have to show up before the bots returned to Cybertron.

They would hate them if they just left without saying goodbye first.

After many cycles of searching, Smokescreen finally found the vault containing the two Omega Keys. Seeing no one else were in the vault, he stepped inside and deactivated the Phase Shifter, so he could secure the Omega Keys.

"Destiny," Smokescreen mused as he grabbed the two Keys.

As soon as he grabbed them, the door to the vault opened, catching the recruit's attention. He cringed as he stood face to face with Megatron himself, looking baffled at the intruder.

"Oh, this isn't the way out?" Smokescreen joked and reactivated the Phase Shifter. "Sorry to disturb you! Later!"

Before Megatron could react, Smokescreen had exited the room through a wall. He growled and activated his comm.

"Decepticons!" Megatron bellowed. "We have an intruder! He has the Omega Keys and the Forge of Solus Prime! Do not let him escape!"

Smokescreen made haste in passing through the walls, heading for the stairs he used to cross between the flight deck and the lower levels, this time without caring which rooms he ran through or which bots he ended up passing through. At one point, he crossed a hallway where an Insecticon was just passing by, minding its own business, when suddenly the Autobot came out from the wall, passed through its body, making it look down and gaze in the other direction as Smokescreen disappeared into the next wall. The Insecticon cocked its head and moped.

"What the frag was that?" it mused to itself.

Smokescreen continued running, until he reached the stairs. He went up them and reached the flight deck.

"Alright, we're almost there," he said to himself. "Now all I gotta do is jump off the ship and meet up with Scream and..."

Loud pedesteps made Smokescreen stiffen and look behind him. Megatron had arrived with a group of Vehicons. He did not look very pleased.

"The Keys," Megatron ordered, as the Vehicons aimed their blasters at the Autobot, "and the Forge."

Smokescreen stepped back and looked behind him. There were hundreds of miles of space between the warship and the ground. It was a long fall.

"A pity you are incapable of flight," Megatron mocked.

Smokescreen smirked at the warlord. "But I know someone who is," he said and leaped off the warship.

The Vehicons immediately started shooting after him, but they, along with Megatron, just stood by the edge of the ship and stared after the Grounder, just sealing his own fate. Megatron knew the Autobot had a trick up his sleeve, though. He looked to the left.

"Retrieve the Omega Keys and Forge," Megatron growled. "Quickly!"

Megatron grabbed the nearest Vehicon to his left and threw him off the ship. He then grabbed the nearest Vehicon to his right and threw him off the ship as well. The first Vehicon initiated jet mode, while the second one initiated... car mode?! The poor Vehicon screamed in fear, knowing he was doomed because of his leader's careless throwing.

"Fliers!" Megatron yelled. "I need Fliers!"

The other Vehicon Fliers jumped off the ship voluntarily and initiated jet mode, while the remaining Grounder Vehicon stayed behind, lamenting his fellow Grounder's fate.

It was almost noon, and Starscream was deep in his own thoughts when suddenly Smokescreen's signal popped back on his radar and the comm. link was opened.

"Hey Starscream," Smokescreen's voice sounded on the comm. "I could reeeaaally use you right now!"

"Finally," Starscream remarked and sped up, catching sight of the dot up ahead falling towards the ground. He felt his Spark skip a beat when he noticed Fliers going after Smokescreen and descended towards his position.

Before long, Starscream caught up to Smokescreen while trying to avoid the Vehicons' lasers as well. He noticed out of the corner of his optic a Grounder in car mode falling towards the ground as well, but he didn't have time to think about it. He needed to be fast or Smokescreen would be toast.

"Missed me?" Starscream joked as he flew downwards next to Smokescreen.

"Yeah, not a good time for jokes right now," Smokescreen said and put the Omega Keys on his back next to the Forge and deactivated his Phase Shifter.

"I see you got the trinkets," Starscream observed. "Very good. Now, grab onto me so I can steer us upwards."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Smokescreen said and reached out for Starscream. He caught hold of the base of the wings and held on. "Okay, I'm on!"

"Hang on tight!"

Starscream did a swift but careful turn upward, until he was flying in a horizontal line, to avoid causing damage to Smokescreen, considering the speed he was falling at. Smokescreen felt uncomfortable at the change of gravity, but soon got used to it as they steadied ahead.

"Well, that's one problem taken care of," Smokescreen said. "Now what about them?"

The Vehicon Fliers had caught up to them and were firing their lasers at them. Far below, Starscream thought he could hear the scream of a Vehicon, followed by an explosion. Probably that unfortunate Grounder.

"Reactivate the Phase Shifter until we can have a GroundBridge back to base," Starscream ordered. "I'll call Ratchet."

"Got it!"

Smokescreen held on as tightly as he could with one servo while using the other to reactivate the Phase Shifter, encasing both himself and Starscream in its protective aura, causing the enemy fire to simply pass through them both. Now safe from harm, they just had to call base for a portal.

"Starscream to base," Starscream comm'ed. "We have secured the Omega Keys and Forge, we need a GroundBridge back!"

"On it," Ratchet's voice sounded. "Wait, are you in movement? I can't lock onto your position."

"Yes, we're currently being chased by the Decepticons," Starscream sent back.

"Uh, and Megatron too," Smokescreen added.

"What?!"

"Yeah, he's right behind us."

Indeed, right behind the small number of Vehicon Fliers was Megatron, transformed and furious like never before.

"STARSCREAM!" the warlord bellowed, shaking the very sky they flew in.

Starscream shrieked and sped up. Smokescreen held on more tightly.

"Hey, hey, slow down!" Smokescreen exclaimed. "Ratchet can't get a fix on our location if you keep going faster!"

"And risk getting caught by that psychopath?!" Starscream hissed. "I think not!"

"I can try opening a portal in front of you a few hundred meters away," Ratchet sent back over the comm. "Just make sure you hit it."

"Sure, no problem," Starscream said, trying to keep himself calm. "Hey, Smokescreen, this Phase Shifter thing doesn't go through portals, does it?"

"Uh..." Smokescreen drawled out. "I... don't know."

"You don't know?!"

"I haven't tried going through portals while it was active before, I don't know if it'll work!"

"Great, just fantastic! So we have to rely on Ratchet's GroundBridge skills, my aim and hope that when you turn off that Phase Shifter, that dear old Lord Megatron back there doesn't FRAG US BOTH!"

"Just focus on your part and I will focus on my part," Ratchet said through the comm. "Nothing good will come out of this if you panic."

"You've got to be kidding me..." Starscream whined as the Vehicons' lasers went through his body. "Smokescreen, can you at least take out those Vehicons?"

"Sure thing," Smokescreen replied and turned so he was facing behind Starscream, kneeling and holding his left servo around one of Starscream's back fins. He aimed his right arm at one of the three Vehicon Fliers chasing after them. He fired a laser, and upon hit, the Vehicon exploded right away.

"Wow, that was a weak one," Smokescreen commented as the other two Vehicons and Megatron avoided the explosion caused by the Vehicon's death.

"So let me get this straight," Starscream said, "I'll fly us safely through the GroundBridge, and you'll protect me from enemy fire, right?"

"Sure thing," Smokescreen replied and fired his lasers after the other two Vehicons, though they tried their hardest to avoid the shots. "You can count on me!"

Starscream gulped. "Then deactivate the Phase Shifter!" he practically screamed.

"GroundBridge coming up right ahead of you," Ratchet warned.

Right in front of them, a few hundred meters from their position, a green portal materialized itself in the air.

Smokescreen put his servo on his wrist and deactivated the Phase Shifter.

Megatron powered up his fusion cannon.

Starscream boosted up in speed.

And screamed.

In the Autobot base, everyone stood and awaited Starscream and Smokescreen's return, anxious for how it would turn out. This could go wrong in so many ways.

Starscream could get shot down and crash, dooming both of the bots.

Starscream could miss the portal and have the chase continued.

Megatron could take advantage of the portal and use it to enter their base and destroy everything.

Starscream could hit the portal but crash in the base like he almost did the last time.

As such, the Autobots stood in front of the GroundBridge with their arms spread, ready to attack should Megatron arrive, or catch Starscream should this one crash.

Almost half a cycle passed with nothing happened, until something emerged from the portal. Before the Autobots could react, Starscream appeared from the portal with Smokescreen on the back, and Ratchet reacted promptly, closing the portal right behind them.

Rather than crashing, however, Starscream immediately reverted back to bot mode as soon as he saw they had made it through the portal. He landed gracefully on his pedes without slipping forward, while Smokescreen was flung forward and rammed into Optimus, who caught him in time to prevent him from crashing into their equipment.

Starscream rose up straight and let out a vent he hadn't realized he had been holding in. "That... was close," he gasped.

"No kidding," Smokescreen said and was helped onto his pedes by Optimus. "Nice aim, by the way."

"I'm not the best for nothing, you know," Starscream said with a snicker.

Having both bots safely back with them, the team instead turned their attention to Smokescreen's cargo. He first took out the two Omega Keys and presented them to Optimus, who accepted them and passed them on to Ratchet.

"I also got you this," Smokescreen said and brought out the large Forge, almost as tall as himself, presenting it to the Prime.

Optimus accepted the Forge and sighed. "The Forge of Solus Prime," he said. "With this, Cybertron's restoration can soon commence."

The Autobots stared at their leader with surprise. "The Forge will?" Bulkhead asked. "What do you mean?"

Optimus looked around at his comrades. "Now that we have all the Omega Keys and the Forge in our possession," Optimus began, "I have to confess something."

The Autobots glanced at each other and back at their leader, unsure what he meant.

"I was... not being entirely truthful when I said I did not know how the Omega Keys work," Optimus confessed. "In order to restore Cybertron, we must insert these Keys into the Omega Lock."

Again the Autobots stared at Optimus and glanced between each other.

"You can't be serious," Ratchet said in disbelief. "There are no more Iacon entries. This Omega Lock could be anywhere on Earth!"

Optimus was silent for while before he continued. "Actually," he said, "it is on Cybertron."