The sky had already transitioned to a muted orange color, signifying that it was just past mid-day. The sun was visible, but was beginning to set, bathing the parked cars and the buildings in shades of yellows and reds.
Underneath the streets, however, was where two Decepticons were scouring. Airachnid had her arms folded in front of her, slowly following behind Breakdown, who led the way through the tunnels, a scanner in his servos. It looked akin to a mechanic's spanner, except oversized and sporting an LED screen with unintelligible information.
Breakdown glanced behind him, an unamused expression adorning his faceplate.
"Y'know, we could finish this faster if you bothered helping." Breakdown emphasized this with a shake of the scanner.
Airachnid shrugged, not having deigned to so much as change her walking pace.
"You're the one with the scanner," she pointed out, sounding as if she were reminding him of something obvious. "What would you expect me to do?"
"Don't you specialize in finding things," Breakdown gruffly retorted, a brow ridge raised.
"Finding information," Airachnid corrected. She kicked a loose pile of gravel as she walked past it. "Not fetch quests that fly boy is intent on sending the both of us on."
"Well, that makes two of us questioning why you're here," Breakdown muttered under his breath. The scoff that came from Airachnid proved that his comment didn't go unheard.
"Watch it, Muscles," she threatened in a low voice.
The scanner's ping cut off any retort Breakdown had planned.
Both bots were now standing in a deeper section of the tunnels. While what they walked through looked more like abandoned subway tunnels, their current area looked as if it might have been repurposed, with the dirt and gravel covered ground replaced with hastily placed tiling. The walls were also a lot cleaner and looked more recently used than the rest of the tunnels.
"I'm assuming we've found wherever the Energon spike was," Airachnid announced, stepping closer to the walls as she examined them.
"Yeah," Breakdown confirmed, giving the scanner a once over before stashing it away. "There's traces of it having been here." He looked around their surroundings, seeing nothing that stood out, except for the change in the tunnel's appearance. He then approached Airachnid, who was kneeling by the wall, studying something on the ground.
"What are you doing?"
"It's faint, but there's evidence of heavy machinery having been dragged through here," Airachnid pointed at faint scuff marks that led to an even deeper part of the tunnel.
"There's also traces of footprints leading in the same direction."
Breakdown could somewhat spot the scuff marks but not the footprints. He chalked it down to part of her skillset as an interrogator.
"You think there's humans down here?"
Airachnid scoffed. "Were," she replied. "They might have had something to do with the Energon that was here."
"You think it was those military guys we had a few run ins with?"
Airachnid hummed, tapping her chin. "Possibly," she admitted. Without elaborating, she followed the trail of scuff marks, with Breakdown following close behind.
The newest room they entered seemed to be what they were looking for. On one end of the room were two tanks lined up against the wall, parallel to each other. They were connected by wiring, and a large outlet was connected on one side of either of the tanks.
"That's odd," Airachnid murmured, approaching the tanks. She observed the plug indents, gliding a finger over them.
"Those are cortical psychic patch ports," Breakdown said in wonder. "What would humans need that for?"
Airachnid cocked her head to the side, thinking. "What would they need it for, indeed," she agreed. Approaching the tank that was on the left, she observed that it was bigger than the other, as if modeled to house a cybertronian. She peeked her head in, her servos framing either side of the entry way.
"I gather that this has something to do with the Autobots, but as of yet, I don't know how."
"What we've found so far is already weird enough," Breakdown ventured. "We should probably report to Lord Megatron-"
"Not yet," Airachnid interrupted, stepping away from the tank. "I doubt Megatron would care much about what we've discovered without something more tangible to work with."
Breakdown sighed, knowing she was right. Megatron would probably only be satisfied if they found a relic or some sort of weapon down here.
"Then, what are you suggesting?"
Airachnid nodded. "We'll need to do more investigating." She waved to the empty Energon vat, gesturing vaguely. "We'll track down the general location of where the Energon went, we find our weapon."
"Which means you could have found this place sooner than me bumbling around with this thing." He waved the scanner before putting it away. Airachnid simply shrugged.
"Well, you found it," Airachnid stated as if pointing out something obvious. Breakdown mildly sneered at the sarcasm, but she continued without skipping a beat.
"Anyway, half of the question is already answered."
"And how is that?" The stunticon raised a questioning brow ridge.
"Besides the Decepticons, who else on Earth has access to a way to quickly move items from one place to another?" Airachnid asked. She pointed to the vat of Energon. "Soundwave of course always keeps half an optic on the human channels to see if they've caught wind of anything."
Breakdown snapped his fingers, understanding. "Only a Groundbridge could move all that Energon without causing some commotion."
That meant that the Autobots were without a doubt connected to this somehow...
Breakdown blinked his optics. What were the Autobots planning with a vat of Energon and cortical psychic patches?
"Those Autobots are up to something shady, I know it," Breakdown declared. He sighed. "So we have a lead. That's good," he said. "We'll need to capture one of the bots and get them to spill what they're plotting."
Airachnid nodded, pleased. "Now you're thinking ahead," she purred. "Luring out one of the Autobots is a solid plan, sure, but I think it would be far simpler to capture one of their human pets."
"What makes you think one of those kids know anything?"
"Just a hunch," Airachnid murmured, eyeing a set of footprints on the ground. They looked smaller than an average adult's.
The lifts doors slid open and Special Agent William Fowler stepped into the Autobot base, his hands on his hips as he took a deep breath exhaled tiredly. At the moment, the base wasn't as busy as it usually looked, the only occupants of the room being Optimus and Ratchet, the latter typing away on a Data Monitor.
"Alright, Prime," he greeted, changing his posture to where he now had his arms folded as he reached the edge of the platform. "I received a call from one of the suits saying you were asking for me?"
Optimus inclined his head in greeting. "Special Agent Fowler," Prime began. "We have a...situation," he said. Fowler raised a brow at the cryptic choice of words.
"What, did Megatron raise a white flag?" Fowler half joked. Suprisingly, Ratchet snorted.
"If only," the medical officer muttered, amused. Optimus chose not to comment, instead continuing his line of thought.
"The retreival of the cortical psychic patch was a success, but it came at a cost."
Fowler rested his hands on the guard rail that was affixed in front of him. Concern was heard in his voice. "How bad are we talking?" he queried. "None of you guys were hurt, were you?"
"Perhaps not in the conventional manner."
Before Fowler could ask what Optimus meant by that, he spotted movement over by the couch where the kids would often hang around at. A fellow human he'd never seen before waved at him, coupled with an awkward smile. Fowler frowned at her before sighing.
"Judas Priest," he breathed. "Another citizen spotted you? What happened to maintaining cover?"
Optimus blinked, confused, before the stranger spoke up.
"Fowler, it's me."
While she didn't look instantly recognizable, her voice was. That added with how she just vaguely looked like a certain someone made his eyebrows rise in shock.
"You're not who i'm thinking you are...are you?"
Said Autobot slowly shrugged her now human shoulders, an uncomfortable smile on her face. "The one and only."
"Stars and Stripes!" Fowler all but shouted. "Optimus, you have tech that can do that?!"
Optimus slowly shook his head. "We weren't aware of it being a possibility," the Autobot leader admitted. "A human organization is the cause of it."
Fowler instantly grew more serious. "And this is the same group you recovered the cybertronian tech from?" he asked, rubbing his chin. Optimus nodded.
Fowler turned to Arcee, still a bit surprised by the novelty of ththe whole situation. "Arcee," he ventured, temporarily at a loss for words. "Did you get a good look at whoever it was thathat attacked you?"
The human shook her head, a sad sigh accompanying it. "The room looked empty except for the machine thathat did this to me. She gestured to herself. Sye glanced at both Optimus and the Special Agent. "Are we sure this isn't MECH's doing? This seems like their M.O."
Optimus sighed evenly. "It does seem likely," Optimus conceded, "But where would they get such a large quantity of Energon undetected to lure us in?"
Arcee grew silent at this, aware that that was the figurative elephant in the room.
"I'm going to need to do some more digging on defunct Military organizations in the past decades," Fowler offered. "We might fond a lead there."
"Actually, Agent Fowler, I do believe I have one lead."
Fowler amd Arcee both gave Optimus their undivided attention.
"Are you aware of a military outfit under the name, COBRA?"
"Who hasn't?" Fowler breathed, his eyes wide in shock. "They were only the most infamous military organization to plague the U.S.!" Fowler looked away for a moment, perplexed. "You think it's them?"
"Wait, wait, wait," Arcee spoke up, standing up from the couch. "What's COBRA, and what do they have to do with this?"
Fowler was the first to answer. "A terrorist organization that was heavily active in the 80's and 90's," he said. "They were like a precursor to MECH." Fowler sighed. "But While MECH operates mainly here in Nevada, COBRA's reach extended nationally, probably even globally."
Arcee sucked her teeth. She couldn't imagine a group like MECH having influence over nearly the whole planet, let alone a nation.
"We hadn't ever listed COBRA as defunct, since their leader was never captured."
"I believe they are behind this incident," Optimus replied.
Fowler nodded. "As unlikely as it is, it makes sense," Fowler muttered. He paused. "Any theories on why you think it's them, or how you even knew about COBRA for that matter?"
Arcee looked Optimus. Admittedly, she was curious how he knew of some shadowy Earth organization that the rest of the Autobots were unaware of.
"Decades ago, we've had run ins with them," Optimus answered. He didn't elaborate, but Arcee now understood. It was before she came to Earth to join team Prime.
The answer apparently satisfied Fowler as well. "I'lI request the top brass to have some investigative specialists comb over the location for any clues."
As he made his way back to the lift, he turned back to them. "Optimus, Arcee, if you find out anything new, give me a call. If COBRA is active again...well, let's just say MECH are schoolyard bullies in comparison."
"Oh, and I guess I better get a school ID for Arcee," he sighed. "Way too much paperwork, I swear." Arcee rolled her eyes.
He nodded goodbye to them and stepped into the lift. Once it dissapeared into the upper levels whwhere Fowler's chopper would be waiting, Arcee glanced up to Optimus.
"Schoolyard bullies, huh?" Arcee didn't like the sound of that. Optimus' expression was contemplative as he looked at her.
"He is not exaggerating. I suspect COBRA is behind this, because they've done it before."
"You're saying I'm not the first bot this has happened to?"
Optimus nodded in confirmation. "While I am certain your frame will be safe for the time being, we'll continue searching as quickly as possible. Once Agent Fowler is able to investigate that location, we'll knknow how to proceed," He turned to leave, but was stopped by Arcee's voice.
"Who else dealt with this situation?" Arcee asked.
Strangely, Optimus paused, as if thinking of what to say.
"There were a few," he finally said. "Tailgate among them."
Arcee blinked in surprise. She didn't know Tailgate had beeen to Earth before. "Oh," she said lamely. She sighed, realizing it was a story she'd never be able to ask him about.
The proceeding awkward silence was squashed by the arrival of June's car, which drew botboth of their attention.
Once it parked, out stepped Jack, but June was nowhere to be found. "Hey Optimus, Arcee." Optimus nodded once in greeting.
"Where's your mom?" Arcee asked as Jack closed the door and made his way up the stairs to the upper platform.
"She's still at work," Jack replied. "She figured you'd probably want a ride to the house in a non-cybertronian car..." he trailed off, shrugging. "Especially after everything that just happened..."
Arcee smiled, squeezing his shoulder. "Thanks, partner." Jack returned the smile a bit awkwardly.
"You okay?" she asked. Jack smoothly waved away her concern.
"Yeah, no worries," he said. "I guess we should get you settled in the house, show you the amenities."
Arcee took a deep breath. "Yeah, I guess so."
"Alright, Optimus, please give me any heads up if you find anything?"
Optimus smiled, nodding. "Will do, Arcee."
Jack heard this as he started the engine. Arcee sat herself in the passenger seat.
"You're not going to be at the base tomorrow?"
"There's nothing I can really do in my current...status," Arcee replied. She looked through the windshield in awe, a bit shaken at the novelty of riding in a car. "Until then, i'm going to be attending your school.
Jack raised a curious brow, keeping his eyes on the road as he peeled down the driveway.
"You're going to my school..."
"Mhm."
"As a student?"
Arcee nodded. "Agent Fowler's going to pull some strings. And it lets me keep an eye on you, Miko, and Raf during the day, I guess."
"Believe me, Miko's probably the only one that needs watching."
Both Jack and Arcee chuckled at this as Jack finally pulled into his house's driveway.
"Bright side," Jack ventured, I can gice you a tour of the rest of the house and not jyst the four walls of the garage."
"Sounds good to me," Arcee replied with a mild laugh, following Jack into the house.