Disclaimer: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend.

Lizzie: This...is odd.

Authoress: *confused* What's odd?

Lizzie: *points down* I don't have a point of view. At all. I thought we were focusing on me for now?

Authoress: *laughs* Well, you wouldn't be much use here. But, Paul makes up for it. XD

Rumble: *walks in* What are you two talking about?

Lizzie: *sighs* Nothing at all Rumble. Let's go prank Vox.

Chapter 10: Only Logical

Paul's 1st P.O.V.

I was hoping that the rest of this day was not going to be like it was when I got up this morning. This morning? Well, I had slept in after staying up into the early hours of the morning trying to contact Lizzie. There had been a point a couple of days ago when I thought that I had felt Lizzie on the conscious stream…and it had been a bundle full of panic. So, between training with Cliffjumper in soliform and waiting for Deus Ex Machina to start its tracks, I had spent any and all free time trying to get Lizzie on the mental link. I needed information and, at least with one important bit of information, Lizzie seemed to be my best beginning source.

That was the information on Pitch. While there were some Autobots currently at base who could tell me the information that I wanted to know, I wanted to go into those conversations with some background history on him. Every single time I spoke with the mech, I became more worried about what his role in the battle of Earth was going to be.

…Anyways, back to my morning.

I woke up to Eject shaking me awake. Turned out he really wanted to learn more about Earth and, since I was currently the only human at base, then I was his go to human. So, I had told him to give me twenty minutes to get ready. When I tried to drag that twenty minutes to twenty-five, so I could take a quick power nap, I found myself dragged out of my room by a very eager Eject. Thankfully, I was completely dressed…even if my hair was still wet. I had then spent two hours showing Eject all of the sites that would teach Eject pop culture on Earth and let him have access to its history.

After that, I was going to take a nap on the couch when the rest of the bots seemed to be getting up. That pretty much destroyed any hope of sleep. That led me to my current situation now and I was finding that I was probably going to be sleeping tomorrow. Yes, that seemed like a good time. Maybe, if I was lucky, I would get some tonight.

Of course, if this was Deus Ex Machina, then I would have to sleep in the next day. Now I wasn't sure that I wanted Deus Ex Machina to come. That was going to be a long day even if everything went like it was supposed to. With how events seemed to like to go, however, it would make the day even longer. If I was allowed to hope for anything, while everything else might change, please let Knockout and Breakdown still show up. Even though I wasn't sure how important they would be anymore, I knew that we still needed them here on Earth. Knockout even had his own episode…with some side assistance from the other Decepticons. But, the next episode even had a race and, from what I had seen from the Decepticons, they did not have any racers besides drones that could be used in the episode and…let's be honest, they couldn't race at all.

"I love breaking stuff! I want to be just like you Bulk!" I heard Miko exclaim suddenly.

At Bulkhead's responding sigh, I realized that I was not the only one having a bad day. The sound of an alarm going off caused me to realize, with the current topic that Miko and Bulkhead were talking about, that this was it; Deus Ex Machina.

"I'm detecting a fresh energon pulse." Ratchet stated as he stood at the controls. Guess Bulkhead wasn't going to say that Miko could be like Ratchet. Only a small change and nothing to get excited over. I could deal with that. I could really deal with that.

"Where from?" Cliff asked him as he, Bulkhead, Miko, and myself walked up to him.

Ratchet typed a few more things into the console before saying, "From the nation called 'Greece'. An ancient city. Quite historic I believe."

I could almost hear the smirk on Bulkhead's faceplate before I heard him speak. "Ancient Greece huh?" He then turned to Miko and smiled. "Oh field trip!"

Well, I couldn't be kept out of this now could I? "Hey Bulk, room on that field trip for one more? I haven't been to Greece in years. Been wanting to get back for a while." You know, for a god, I really shouldn't lie as much as I do. I mean really.

"Why don't Cliff and I join you all?" I was surprised that Wheeljack wanted to come on this excursion with us. Cliff…not so much since I just said that I wanted to go. While I was curious as to why Wheeljack wanted to go, it still wasn't a big change. I paid attention as Wheeljack continued. "I could use some fresh air and Cliffjumper seems to be like a scraplet attached to fresh scrap lately when it comes to Paul there."

Cliffjumper didn't look happy at the comparison, and I didn't exactly appreciate it. "I'm not that bad Wheeljack." We all gave him a pointed look at that. He squirmed slightly before huffing. "Whatever. I do want to go though."

Well, that was that. Guess we just needed Bulkhead's approval before "The more the merrier." Bulkhead smiled. I guess he wanted to get us to Greece before Miko realized that we were going to be tricking her into writing that paper.

The bots all transformed before Miko and I got into our respective Guardians. Then, Ratchet opened the bridge and, as we were leaving, I saw Pitch and Sentinel finally walk in for the day. Guess that explained Wheeljack wanting to come with to Greece which was, obviously, a trap for Miko. She did need to work at getting passing grades in school if she wanted to do anything…at least passing grades in high school. I might have an opinion or two about the need for a college education.

But, I took myself out of that thought pretty quickly as we finally exited the bridge. As Cliffjumper stopped with the others, I found myself almost racing out of him to look around. If there was any change in the area, I wanted to know about it immediately. We could not afford to be on a different playing field here. With what was supposed to happen, I wanted to make sure that Miko and I would not become human pancakes. That would not be fun.

"Here we are." I heard Bulkhead say as Miko crawled out almost as fast as I did.

"Sweet!" She exclaimed as Bulkhead transformed.

While that was happening, though, I registered the fact that we were in an old Greek theater and, as I took in the rest of the surrounding scenery, I felt relieved that nothing had changed about this. Thank you, lady luck, for this wonderful turn of fortune.

"Enjoying the view Paul?" Cliffjumper asked me after he transformed next to me.

Nodding, I motioned around. "Yes, it is just like I remember. I can almost see what it was like back in ancient days." And I remembered it quite well. I experienced Lizzie's original dimension during that time and it was very entertaining to see what they did back then.

The soft thump of helicopter rotors had me looking around for a second. What was that? But, I didn't see anything to support that sound so I just shook it off and focused in front of me.

Seeing that Miko was by the edge already, I figured I could stand by her when the big bomb was dropped. I had good timing because, just as I stood next to the pigtail haired girl, she asked Bulkhead the leading question. "So…what are we doing in Grecko-ville?" She seemed way too excited for this. Just adding onto the long day.

"We're scouting for energon signals," Wheeljack started with a smirk. Guess he figured out why Bulkhead brought Miko. I wasn't hard to figure out since I said why I wanted to go. Cliffjumper was smirking too as he held the energon locator in his servo.

Bulkhead then took over answering Miko's question. "you're doing research for your history report."

And there was the crestfallen Miko at being played. "You punked me Bulk?" She asked in shock. "Not cool!"

But, Miko and I watched as the bots followed Cliffjumper to the same edge we were at. Once they looked over, I could see the piles of raw energon poking out from the ground. This was going perfectly! Well…technically the humans hadn't exposed the energon in the show but I would take it.

"An excavation site!" Bulkhead exclaimed in shock.

"Whoa." Was Miko's response to that.

Bulkhead seemed embarrassed slightly at Miko's reaction. "I…know construction slightly."

Cliffjumper, thankfully for Bulkhead, took over. "Scanners showing that the humans hit energon veins."

It was Wheeljack, though, who motioned toward the important part of the episode. "Hang on bots, look at that picture." He then pointed to the fresco with the energon harvester on it.

The rest of us looked toward the fresco and, sure enough, there was the image of the energon harvester. Now that I thought about it, this was the first of the relics to show up in the show.

"That's Cybertronian!" Cliffjumper stated in shock.

Bulkhead nodded but seemed confused. "Why would ancient Greeks paint an energon harvester?" The three Autobots then slid down the side to get a closer look at the fresco. Not following along but, again, I could live with it.

When Miko shrugged and took out her phone, I realized that I might want to take a picture as well just in case Miko lost her phone or something. So, the both of us took a picture while Miko said in shock, "You know what that round thing is? You're smarter than you let on."

"And even dumber than he looks."

I froze as I heard that voice. This was not good. What happened to all the nice things lady luck? What did I do to deserve all of this bad luck!? I wish I had someone to complain to but, as a god, I didn't have that kind of luck.

Because guess what? That voice did not belong to Breakdown. Not even close. We all stared in front of us in shock as the towering triple changer approached us. He had to be taller than Megatron at least. Black, gray, and purple coloring helped identify the triple changer, who could turn into a train and a space shuttle, as Astrotrain. This was not good at all. He wasn't even supposed to be in the show. That made three Decepticons that I knew about that weren't supposed to be here right now.

"Astrotrain!" Miko and I both jumped as all three of the bots with us growled the triple changer's name. This wasn't going to be pretty. While Breakdown was pretty strong on his own, Astrotrain was in another league all together.

A shiver traveled down my spine as Astrotrain chuckled, his red optics boring down on us. "Miss me
Autobots?"

"Like rust in my undercarriage." That was Cliffjumper. He sounded angry and I didn't want to get in his way when this fight started.

However, to keep up with my human disguise, I had to ask Cliffjumper about Astrotrain. "You know that thing?"

Cliffjumper nodded. "He has a…history with the Autobots." I did notice that Cliff smirked at my description of the triple changer.

However, Astrotrain had another idea in mind. "And you have some pets." Was his retort.

Before he could throw anything at us, to my surprise, a ground bridge opened next to the triple changer before Starscream and a strange dark blue and dark gold mech with blue optics walked out. "Astrotrain, Hook, we are here to retrieve the both of you." Starscream spoke in an annoyed voice.

…Hook? I looked around and I about died when I saw the construction crane walk around the side of the hill. The Constructicon doctor was in the house, and I was not happy about this. There was no Knockout, no Bulkhead, a new Decepticon that I didn't know who I could see from his crossed- out insignia used to be an Autobot, and now Astrotrain was here on Earth as well. I knew today wasn't going to be a good day.

I saw the three Autobots around us tense while this conversation was happening and they tensed even more as Astrotrain took a step toward us. "In a click…Commander. I want to test something first." He then turned to look toward us. "Autobots, do your pets play catch?" He then broke off a pillar before launching it at us. "Catch!"

Oh scrap.

Panic flowed through me as Miko and I tried to move away from the projectile aimed toward us. But, remember that little change that the Autobots decided to make? The one about moving to the lower edge without us? Yeah, now they couldn't block this pillar and, even though Miko and I were moving quickly, I knew we couldn't get away. Even moving left or right wouldn't help because Astrotrain had thrown the pillar long ways. Not fun.

Well, looks like I was going to know what a bug felt like.

I flinched as I heard the sound of a transformation and a felt as something landed in front of Miko and I a second before the pillar collided with the light green bot, for it had to be a bot to block that pillar. "Hey, throwing stones at humans isn't cool Astrotrain! Why don't you pick on a bot your own size?" I looked up in shock to see one of the few Autobot triple-changers, Springer, standing in front of the two of us.

"Thanks for that." I was able to get out to Springer.

He looked down at us real quick with bright blue optics and nodded. "No problem. Always glad to help out." He then smiled at us as we ran up to the Autobots' positions.

Cliffjumper seemed very happy to see Springer, which was good. "Springer! Glad you could get to Earth." Ah, so he must have been a part of the other group of Autobots that had been on Cybertron. He made pretty good time.

"Let's teach these Autobots a lesson." Astrotrain growled before running forward.

I was surprised to see Starscream actually faceplate palm at that before he motioned forward. "Let's go get that idiot and get back to the ship. Lord Megatron is waiting, and he is not a patient mech." Well, that certainly was true. Hopefully that impatience wasn't going to be taken out on Lizzie.

The three Autobots who came with us tensed and seemed ready for battle. Springer, however, just laughed before saying, "I wasn't the only one to get here. All four of us got here just fine."

…Did he just say four of us?

My internal question was answered as a large black truck came barreling down the side of the hill and toward Astrotrain's charging position. When the black truck transformed, I did a mental happy mad dance in my head as Ironhide punched Astrotrain out of the way. I was mad that Ironhide was even here but, by this point, I realized that things were changing too much to worry and I just needed to keep track of who was here and who wasn't. So far, the wasn't list only included Knockout and Breakdown.

"Sweet! Bet I could write an awesome history report on the battles between the Autobots and Decepticons!" Miko yelled out in excitement.

I facepalmed. She really needed to get her priorities straight.

The sound of higher pitched engines caused me to focus on the fight as the last two came in. They were both two-wheelers and both had black paint with flames. But, the one on the right had many orange and yellow flames while the one on the left had only a few blue flames. The two bots then transformed into one mech that I didn't know, the two-wheeler with the blue flames, while the other was a femme known as Flamewar. Her past was a little shaky in my mind but, from what I could remember from being whole, she had reported she had been betrayed by a fellow Autobot after the fall of Praxus.

"Flamewar!" I jumped when the dark blue and dark gold Decepticon mech snarled that with fury heavy in his vocals. I could see the want for revenge in his optics just like the original time-line showed in Arcee's whenever she faced Airachnid.

Flamewar, in response to hearing her designation called out, looked toward the dark blue and dark gold mech before smirking. "Vox! It's been so long since your betrayal. I almost forgot you existed." The mech, Vox seemingly, seemed to grow even more angered while a victorious look appeared in Flamewar's optics.

…Something wasn't right. Usually the bot who was betrayed was the vengeful one and the one who betrayed did the gloating. But, right now that role was seemingly reversed. Why was that? Frag it I had too many questions and I needed to get in touch with Lizzie.

…Which would happen as soon as I got away from this battlefield and could contact her.

Speaking on that…

"Decepticons stand down and return to the ship! Now!" Starscream yelled. He did not sound happy at Astrotrain disobeying him like he did. As he said that, Astrotrain threw the two-wheeler mech, that I didn't know, into the fresco sideways. This caused the mech to inadvertently destroy the fresco.

"Oops," Astrotrain smirked as he backed off to join the other Decepticons. "hope the pretty picture wasn't too important to you Autobots." A ground bridge then opened for the Decepticons before Vox, Starscream, Hook, and Astrotrain ran through.

Once it was closed, the rest of us ran to the two-wheeler mech as he was just starting to sit up. "Ow, my aching processor." He rubbed his helm as he said that.

Ironhide laughed at the mech before holding out a servo to the mech. "This is why I tell you to leave the fighting of big lugs like that to front-liners like me you idiot." The mystery mech nodded and smirked at that before standing up. "But, I'm glad you're okay Zarron." Zarron? I didn't know that name either. I had to ask Lizzie about these…and soon.

Flamewar, however, didn't seem so worried about Zarron. "You idiot. You destroyed the fresco you klutz! How are we supposed to find that harvester now?" She seemed like she had a short fuse. Bet Sentinel and Pitch would be happy to have her here. They all gave me the shivers.

Thankfully for this Zarron, Miko and I had him covered. "Don't worry about it bots. We got your backs." I started as Miko took out her phone.

She nodded from next to me and smiled. "Yeah! We got a picture of the picture!" She then held her phone up to the seven assembled Autobots with a victory pose. But, as the bots called in a pick-up, while saying that we had some new additions, I was relieved and worried. I was worried about having another bot that made me feel uneasy at base. But, I was relieved that we had more reinforcements. With there being even more Decepticons here on Earth, and one being Astrotrain, the Autobots needed all the help they could get.

Skyquake's 1st P.O.V.

I found myself frowning as I walked to find Starscream. About a cycle ago, he and Vox had returned with Astrotrain and Hook. While I knew enough about Hook to allow me to relax around the medic, I knew enough about Astrotrain to know to not trust him. That was reinforced when Lord Megatron had informed both Hook and Astrotrain, after they informed him that the rest of the group fell behind and would be coming soon, about Lizzie's presence onboard. While Hook looked indifferent to the information, which I expected from him, Astrotrain looked annoyed and upset.

So, I was now making my way to Starscream, who I strangely found as a confidant since my split-spark twin was exploring the far reaches of space currently. It was strange. I felt like, if things were different, then I might mistrust the second in command. But, when I came out of stasis on Earth, thanks to his help along with Lord Megatron's, Soundwave's, Thundercracker's, and Skywarp's, I noticed that he was more focused and loyal to the Decepticons instead of his own personal goals.

Plus, Starscream and I had found a common interest; Lizzie's well-being and training. While Lord Megatron was training her for a tactician role, Starscream and I had been talking a few solars ago and had decided to do some light training with Lizzie in our soliforms. They weren't good for being in disguise among the human population for long, since they couldn't eat, but they could be made solid and that would help us train the human under Soundwave's care. It was through Lizzie, I think, that I decided to try and get to know the second in command better. Now, I took him in as a close confidant and there was a major subject that I wanted to talk to him about. But, I wanted to be in his room before we started to talk about that.

Luckily, Starscream was just coming out of his room when I arrived. "Starscream, can we talk?"

Starscream seemed to study me for a click before he nodded. "Come on in." He then led me into his room and, once he closed the door, he turned to me. "What's wrong?" From the sound of his vocals, he seemed to know that the matter that I was going to speak on was serious.

I glanced at him before I frowned. "I'm worried about Astrotrain."

Starscream, to my surprise, didn't look confused at my sudden statement. I had a feeling that meant that he had been worried about the triple changer as well. "Yes, I am too. He seems to be on edge and that might cause him to lash out at those around him. While we can take the hits decently…" He then drifted off.

So, I picked up where he left off. "But Lizzie is another case. Triple changers in a mood can be very dangerous even to Cybertronians. But for a human like Lizzie, even a small fit can be dangerous. With the mood that Astrotrain was showing on the bridge when they arrived…Lizzie will need to be watched."

"Astrotrain will need to be watched as well." I added. "If he makes it a goal to get at Lizzie, which he might despite Lord Megatron's orders, then he will realize that we are keeping a closer optic on him and work on losing us."

The second in command nodded at that. "Yes, he will have to be watched as well. But, at least with Lizzie, our task of watching will be made easier. Skywarp and the twins seemed attached to her. Plus, after the incident with the ground bridge, Vox has been spending time with her as well."

I nodded at that but, before I could make a comment, I received a text message from Soundwave. From the list of recipients, Soundwave was sending it to everybot on the ship. "All Decepticons report to the bridge. Information has been discovered about a Cybertronian relic." A Cybertronian relic? I didn't expect this planet to hold Cybertronian artifacts but, if Soundwave was reporting it, then it had to be authentic.

"Well, we had better go see what it is." Starscream stated with a sigh before moving to his door. Once it was unlocked, he paused before turning to me. "Let's keep our little project between the two of us for now. Soundwave has my room bugged, so he knows and I know that he will tell Lord Megatron. That is just fine. But, outside of us four, don't tell anybot else. I don't want Astrotrain to get wind of what we are planning."

I nodded and let Starscream lead the way out. It was reassuring to know that Lord Megatron would be kept in the loop. As a loyal Decepticon, I did not want to overstep my place and risk receiving Lord Megatron's anger. But, Starscream knew what he was talking about with this and, from what little I had observed between the two of them, their trust in each other was returning to what it was when the war was first started. That would be a good position for the Decepticon cause. With new Decepticons arriving here on Earth in such a short period of time, I knew that we were going to need their relationship patched up if we were to keep any sort of order. Soundwave could only do so much.

Cliffjumper's 1st P.O.V.

This didn't feel right. I was Paul's guardian. That meant that I was to make sure that he stayed out of harm's way. But, right now, he was risking so much while I was stuck here in car mode, next to Optimus, just waiting and watching. Waiting and fragging watching.

Earlier, with the help of Miko's picture and Raf's computer skills, we had deduced that the Energon Harvester was located in a museum that was situated in Greece. When we discovered that, Jack suggested that we call Agent Fowler to help us retrieve it. It seemed like a good idea and so we had called the man…Just to get his answering machine. I had to agree with Ratchet that talking with machines was such a waste of time. But, with that option out of the way, we had been stuck on how to proceed.

Until Zarron made the suggestion that we steal the Energon Harvester from the museum itself. I didn't know much about Zarron, and I still didn't know what to think of the mech, but he seemed to have a screw loose.

Or I thought he did until Optimus had agreed with him. It was then that I realized that the Energon Harvester could tip the scales of the battle here on Earth in our favor. When we located energon deposits, it would be a simple matter of using the harvester to mine the source of our energy and lifeblood.

But then Paul pointed out that, in is words, 'Giant alien robots might stand out trying to break into a museum' and that 'even soliforms would not be able to react to the possibility of a security interference like a human in the building'. Miko, of course, had loved that idea and had added that the four of them could break into the museum. All of us guardians wanted to refute the idea but, before we could, Optimus had voiced his agreement with both my psychotic charge and Bulkhead's equally insane charge.

…Why were we cursed with them?

Anyways, Optimus and I were parked up front while Arcee, Flamewar, and Springer were parkedon the west side, Bumblebee, Blurr, and Wheeljack were on the east side, while Bulkhead, Ironhide, and Zarron were covering the south side. Blaster, Eject, Pitch, Sentinel, and Ratchet were at base just in case backup was needed.

Meanwhile, Paul, Miko Raf, and Jack were moving the harvester onto a platform they had brought from base. This was all nerve wracking and I just wanted it to be over with. "Optimus, do you think they'll get it alright?" I asked him in a whisper as we watched our human friends.

Optimus, of course, was ready with an answer. "Cliffjumper, our human friends may not be the same as us, but they have their own strengths. Trust in those strengths and trust in our allies. We must keep faith in them and then they, in turn, will have more faith in us."

"You're right Optimus." I acknowledged his statement. "Sorry for doubting them."

Optimus, like the leader he was, already had a response ready. "There is no need for apology Cliffjumper. I understand your worry for them…especially Paul. With his employee, Lizzie, still a captive of the Decepticons, you would be more worried for him. I understand, and I believe that Paul does as well."

I went to say thanks to Optimus when the sound of a motor interrupted my speech. Humans out this late at night? That didn't make sense…It was almost two in the morning here and that was the normal time for even the 'night owl' humans…as Paul described them to me once, to head home to bed. Plus, even if they were awake, why would they come to a museum of all places?

My internal question was answered, however, as the dark blue and dark gold Lamborghini Veneno rolled to a stop right next to me so I was in the middle of our now threesome. Of course, what caused me to realize the answer to my question was when the Lamborghini talked. "Aw, I hate being the last one to the party! You two been here long? I sure hope I didn't keep you waiting." He then let out a laugh. "Now, I hate to leave somebot disappointed, so you can have this to make up for it."

A flash of green caused me to look in my rear-view and I barely had time before I saw the green crane vehicle open a compartment in its crane before it fired a rocket. Optimus, thankfully, quickly transformed and grabbed the rocket before it could blow up the museum. I transformed quickly to help but was knocked to the side by the Lamborghini, who had transformed into Vox. The last thing I saw was the green crane transforming into Hook before my lights went out.

When I woke up, everything was quiet around me and I realized that I was being walked through the bridge to base. "And you were worried about me?" Paul asked with his hands on his hips.

Great. Now I wasn't going to live this down. I looked to see Optimus helping me through so I thanked him. "Thanks for the assist boss bot. But, I think I can walk now."

"You are welcome Cliffjumper." Optimus said before letting go.

Once I was straight, I turned to Paul. "Are you alright?"

Of course, my charge smiled at that and nodded. "I'm fine Cliff. Just a slight bump but I'm good." He then frowned slightly before motioning to the others. "You might want to pay attention to the others though. I think they're going to talk about what to do about Miko and the Energon Harvester."

Miko? What happened with her? It was only then that I realized that she wasn't in base with us. Did the Decepticons get her? If they did, I would track down that Vox and Hook before forcing them to give her to us. They already had one human. Primus be fragged if they got two of us.

"Security got Miko. What are we going to do Optimus?" Bulkhead asked. I could see that he was worried.

But, Optimus had the situation under control. "Bulkhead, Miko may be detained, but she is safe from harm. Until we can get in contact with Agent Fowler, that is the best place for her." He then turned to the rest of us. "For now, we must locate the Harvester. I have no doubt in my mind that the Decepticons will use it to mine for energon as quickly as they can. So, we shall split into scouting groups. Be wary, however, as I doubt the Decepticons would hesitate to turn the Harvester on us." We all stayed quiet at that somber note before Optimus continued. "Arcee, Wheeljack, Springer will investigate un-minable energon stockpiles in the west."

"Got it Optimus." Arcee stated before Ratchet sent that group to their first location.

"Flamewar, Sentinel, and Pitch will search the north stockpiles for any trace of the Decepticons." Pitch simply nodded toward Optimus before the three of them went into their bridge.

"Bumblebee, Ironhide, Blaster, and Eject; you will search the west stockpiles for any trace of our foe." Optimus ordered the next group.

Blaster saluted Optimus before smiling. "You got it Optimus!" That group of four then ran on through the bridge.

So, that meant that I was going to be going with Optimus along with whoever he wanted. "Blurr, you and I will investigate the south stockpiles."

Huh? "What about the rest of us Optimus?" I asked him.

Optimus activated the bridge to his and Blurr's coordinates before he spoke. "You three will stay here and assist Ratchet. Agent Fowler must be reached if we are to help Miko." He then went through the bridge, followed by Blurr, before it closed.

Well, that just happened.

I refocused my attention as the sound of Agent Fowler's message machine ended. Great. Our best hope to help out Miko and we couldn't even get him on the phone. Thanks a lot Fowler. It's a good thing that the world wasn't being destroyed…or the base was being attacked. By Primus you miss a minute of this 'retreat'.

Bulkhead seemed to feel like I did. "Fowler's lounging around some poolside cabana." He growled that, actually, before he slammed his fist down on Ratchet's frame welder. I noticed that Zarron was standing by Ratchet but he didn't seem surprised at Bulkhead's outburst. What was the deal with that mech?

"Bulkhead I needed that!" Speaking of Ratchet.

Bulkhead, however, seemed oblivious to Ratchet's angry outburst. "We can free Miko if we can just return that Harvester to the museum."

"So, the Decepticons can steal it again?" I questioned Bulkhead. Yeah, I got that he was worried about Miko but the only reason she was in that mess was due to us trying to get the harvester before the Decepticons in the first place.

He in return, placed a servo against his helm. "I'm so dumb!"

Paul, who seemed confused, spoke up at that. "So…how are we going to get Miko out of the museum?"

Ratchet sighed before picking up what he was working on. "By returning this replica to the museum. It was Zarron's idea and it makes sense." Ratchet then seemed to grow annoyed. "The construction of which would be going a whole lot faster if Bulkhead hadn't just mangled my frame welder."

I looked at Zarron in confusion before asking, "What made you think of that idea?"

He smirked and motioned to the forgery-in-process. "Well, I figured that we were all already trespassers and thieves. So, adding forgery to our list of crimes for the night seemed to be the best course of action since we can't get this human agent on the line."

When this was all over, I had to look up this mech's file. I couldn't tell what his angle was and I wanted to know it before too long. He seemed to be a giant contradiction and I wanted to make sure that I could trust him completely.

My internal thoughts on the two-wheeler mech were interrupted by Bulkhead. "I wish I'd never taken Miko to the…"

While he was speaking, my own processor was working double time. It seemed like all three of us 'Bots who were in Greece earlier came up with the answer at the same time. "The energon!" was our in-sync answer.

That answer caused Ratchet to jump. "What do you three mean?"

Bulkhead was the one who took over. "The fresco of the harvester wasn't the only thing we found at those ruins."

Zarron nodded and took over. "As much as I wish they were, the Decepticons aren't dumb…no matter what kind of tools they have, they will go after the most readily available and unprotected source of energon quickly so we can't gather it ourselves."

"They are going to go back to the ruins in Greece to collected the energon from the veins the humans accidently found there." I finished off the idea. Then, I turned to Ratchet. "Ratchet, bridge us to the ruins from earlier. We'll get the Harvester back."

The medic nodded before he moved to the ground bridge controls and typed in the coordinates. Once they were in, he opened the bridge for us. Zarron, Bulkhead and I then made our way through. On the other side, it was dark out and I could see Megatron and Starscream standing by as Vox supervised the drones as they used the Harvester to bring up the raw energon from the veins.

"We need to be careful that they don't hear us coming." Zarron whispered to us as we moved closer to the drones' location. "If we can get close enough to the drones, we can take out whichever one is holding the Harvester and take it before those three can launch an assault on us and call for reinforcements."

That sounded like a good plan and, for a few clicks, that seemed to work. We almost got in striking distance when the sound of breaking pottery caused me to freeze and glance behind me. Below Bulkhead's pede were pieces of broken pottery.

Frag it Bulkhead.

All the Decepticons turned to us before Megatron pointed at us. "Decepticons, take care of these Auto," Megatron didn't even get his full order out of his mouth before Zarron was suddenly landing in front of the drone with the Harvester and taking it. Well, that was easy.

What wasn't so easy was Zarron tossing it back to me, which I caught and put in my subspace for now, before he said, "Bulkhead, take on 'Screamy. Cliffjumper, think you can handle Vox?" I was guessing that he was talking about Vox.

"Yeah, but what about you?" I yelled after him as I ran at Vox.

When I was about half way to Vox, Zarron yelled back to me while he ran forward. "Sometimes it's best for the fly to distract the giant."

Wait…that meant that Zarron was going to try and distract Megatron! He was crazy! Vox and I clashed blades and we ended up in a deadlock for a click. During that deadlock, I yelled at Zarron. "You're crazy you idiot! I'm telling Ironhide when we get back!" No wonder Ironhide hit him earlier. I would hit him too.

It didn't take the two-wheeler long to respond to me. "Just shut your vocalizer and fight Cliffjumper, or are the stories I've heard about you fake?"

…That mech was already too good at pushing my buttons.

But, I didn't let that distract me as Vox made a move and caused me to jump back to avoid getting skewered. "You should focus on your fight with me Autobots. When I take you out, I'll take back that Harvester to give to Lord Megatron."

I glared at him for a nano before charging back in on him. "No way you traitor! How could you leave us to join with those murderers?"

What I wasn't suspecting, after we ended up in a deadlock again, was for Vox to start laughing. After a few clicks of this creepy reaction, Vox finally answered me. "That's the easiest question I have ever been asked. It's because you Autobots didn't give me any other choice."

"Excuses!" I yelled at him before shoving him back. "Is that the lie you tell yourself to make everything better?"

He got angry at that and charged at me wildly. I saw how he was going to attack though and I decided to take some revenge from earlier and knocked the traitor out. He was unconscious before he hit the ground. Well, if I brought him back to base, we could put him in lock-up and discover what really caused him to defect. So, I reached down to restrain him.

But battle instincts had me jumping away from him and, it was a good thing I did. For not a nano later, a cannon shot barreled through where I was standing. Did Zarron lose his fight with Megatron and did Megatron do that? I turned to look but, as my optics set their sights on who was really responsible, I felt my spark grow cold. It wasn't Megatron who fired that shot. But, it was a mech from my distant past.

Shockwave was on Earth.

"Lord Megatron, I apologize for my delayed arrival." Shockwave asked in that monotone voice of his.

I flinched as Zarron was knocked away from Megatron and toward me, by the warlord himself, before Megatron responded. "Did you locate what you were looking for Shockwave?" Megatron asked the cyclops scientist.

In return, the mech nodded. "Yes, my lord. Is there anything else that needs to be accomplished here?" This wasn't good. If Shockwave joined the battle, then that would mean trouble for all of us.

The sound of a ground bridge opening caused all of us who were conscious, which was everybot but Vox…who Shockwave had started to pick up, to look toward the side and I felt relief when I saw Optimus and the others run through. That meant that, most likely, the Decepticons would,

"There is nothing else for us here Shockwave. Decepticons, return to the ship immediately." Megatron ordered. A ground bridge for them opened up and, soon, the Decepticons were gone from the field.

Seeing that Zarron was having difficulty walking, I moved over to him and helped him stay steady on his pedes. He was lighter than I thought he would be. If I got to know him better, I would ask the mech why that was.

"Autobots, were you able to retrieve the Energon Harvester?" Optimus asked the three of us.

Thankfully, I could answer him positively as I pulled it out of my sub-space. "Got it right here Optimus." I then handed the devise to Optimus before dropping the bad news. "But Optimus, Shockwave is on Earth."

He took the Harvester before nodding once. "Yes, that does not bode well for us. Shockwave is a highly intelligent Decepticon scientist and he will prove a challenge to us." He then held the Energon Harvester so we all could see. "But, let's celebrate our victory. We will have easier access to energon now. Also, we were able to get in touch with Agent Fowler and he is on the way to get Miko as we speak." That caused a cheer to come from Bulkhead.

But, as we headed back to base, I felt worried. It wasn't normally like Megatron to retreat like that. We had taken the Harvester from him but, as soon as he got word from Shockwave, he had returned to his ship like the Energon Harvester was trivial compared to whatever it was that they had found.

Paul's 1st P.O.V.

A tired sigh escaped me as I fell back against my bed. Today had been a very long day and I was ready for a long and stressful sleep. Oh, I knew it wasn't going to be peaceful. There were too many changes to deal with to make it anything but stressful. Not only did we have new bots come into the fray, some even new to me in this form, but we had some other unexpected surprises.

First, there was no sign of Knockout and Breakdown yet and we were now officially past Deus Ex Machina. What would the timeline now hold for us since they were not in it? It was something that I now had to count as my reality. Unless I could contact Lizzie and find out otherwise, then that was what I had to go with.

Then, there was the arrival of fragging Shockwave. Shockwave! He wasn't supposed to get here until season three! But now he was here season one and I couldn't do anything to change it. Did that mean, though, that Knockout and Breakdown would be coming around in season three? That might make sense since Shockwave was here already.

However, speaking of Shockwave's arrival, that brought me to the third confusing bit of today's excitement: the Autobots had the Energon Harvester. Not just a copy, which they did put in the museum, but the actual genuine Harvester. It was supposed to be destroyed but now it was ready for Autobot use. That could only mean more changes to come.

But, the surprising bit of information to myself personally was after the Autobots returned. Pitch, Sentinel, and Flamewar had approached me and offered to help me train while they were in soliform. Since they were being so direct in asking, I couldn't say no to them. But, I had a feeling that was going to turn into something dangerous for me if I wasn't careful.

A wave of exhaustion hit me and so I settled down into bed, my pajamas already on. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out to the world.

And I found myself in the special dreamscape that I had been in once already this trip. That meant that, unless one of the Primes was playing a prank on me, I was about to be contacted…and it was about fragging time.

"Paul, I'm glad I caught up with you." Lizzie spoke as she suddenly appeared. I frowned when I noticed a few scrapes and cuts on her body.

"Are you alright Lizzie?" I asked as I motioned to the scrapes.

She looked confused and glanced at where I was pointing before she seemed to realize what I was talking about. "Oh those. I'm getting some training here on ship. Nothing dangerous but I slipped up a couple of times…and once literally." I wanted to ask her more on that but it seemed like she had a plan for today. "Paul, I need a list of the Autobots with you currently. I need to keep track so I can make sure I can keep up with who is where."

I nodded as she said that. She would need the information more than I did. While some bots at the base made me nervous, Lizzie was on a ship full of bots that would not hesitate to kill her if the orders came.

So, I started with the obvious ones. "Well, we have Optimus Prime, Cliffjumper, Ratchet, Arcee, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Blaster, Eject, Blurr, Sentinel Major, Pitch," She flinched as I said his name and that reminded me that, after I listed these all off to her, I had to ask her what the deal with him was. "Wheeljack, Flamewar, Ironhide, Springer, and Zarron." To my surprise, she looked really excited when I said Zarron's designation. That was strange. The two Autobots I knew nothing about and she showed completely polar opposite reactions to both of them. "Lizzie, what can you tell me about Pitch and Zarron?" I figured I would ask about the motorcycle mech as well.

Lizzie flinched when I said Pitch's designation again before she answered. "Paul, as you know, I was a fanfiction writer back in my home dimension." Right, I had even brought it up in her interview. But, what did that have to…oh. "When I was writing about the Dragon Scouters, I also created the Virons. One of the most well-known and dangerous Virons was Pitch. Paul, if he is even half of like how I wrote him, then you need to stay as far away from him as you can and never be alone with him. Ever. I'm serious about this Primus." And I could tell. I had never seen her look so serious about this kind of thing. Plus, she had used my name. That told me even more that she feared her 'creation'.

Of course, it would be kind of hard to do that since I had just told him, Sentinel, and Flamewar that I would train with them. But, Lizzie didn't need to know that right now. "What about Zarron?"

I almost had whiplash at the complete difference of attitude Lizzie had as soon as I said Zarron's name. "Oh I am so glad that he is there Paul. He is kind of in the same situation as Pitch."

"Meaning he is one of your OCs?" I asked her.

She nodded before continuing. "Yeah, he was one of my well-known Dragon Scouters. In my stories, he was my most trusted scout. He was fragging good at what he did and he didn't take scrap from nobot. But, he won't always reveal his servo right away. Trust him Paul, even if he is only half like what I made him."

Well, that was a better review. I would definitely be asking Zarron to come and train with the four of us if Lizzie gave him that high of a rating. But, now I needed the same information that Lizzie asked of me. "Lizzie, I need to know what Decepticons are on Earth right now. I can't help out any on my end without knowing what we are facing on this end."

To my surprise, she seemed to hesitate before she nodded. "That makes sense. There are a lot up here with me and you are going to need all the advantage you can get." That…didn't sound good at all. "Up here we have Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, Knockout, Breakdown,"

"Knockout and Breakdown?" I asked in surprise. I didn't realize that they were here. "When did they get here?"

Lizzie frowned but answered me. "They got here during the space bridge incident with Thundercracker, Skywarp, and Vox." Well, I guess it was good that they were already here. "Now don't interrupt me. I have more to say and some really big ones to boot." She then flexed her fingers. "Well, then we got Skyquake, Astrotrain…" I noticed that she hesitated with Astrotrain's name and was about to comment on it but she continued on. "Hook and Shockwave." She then seemed to pause before she seemed to remember something. "Oh and Paul! You won't believe who else just showed up…"

And that was where our communication decided to cut off. Frag it! Who else came tonight? The bots didn't mention anybot and I felt like Cliffjumper would have at least told me if somebot else besides Shockwave showed up.

Of course, as I drifted off to sleep, I realized that trying to think on this with sleep deprivation was not a good idea. So with a heavy spark, I started to close my mind off. Not long after, I fell into unconsciousness.

Cliffjumper: *cheers* Yes! We get more bots to fight the Decepticons! This makes up for so much!

Paul: *sighs* Except for the fact that Astrotrain is on Earth with Hook and Shockwave. That is going to really slam our fighting capabilities.

Zarron: *walks in* *smirks* Hey Cliff, want to go a few rounds of training? I could use some practice after that fight with Megatron.

Cliffjumper: *anger ticks* Speaking on that. What the frag were you thinking taking on Megatron!?

Zarron: *shrugs* Figured it would be good for experience. *grins* And it was. You can learn a lot from a bot who you fight.

Cliffjumper: *yells* You're crazy! *tackles Zarron*

Paul: *sighs* This is not good. I seriously need a drink right now.

AN: And wow! Here is the next chapter of Resolve of One! I hope you all enjoyed this! Took me forever to write but it was worth every finger-freezing second. So much to go over in this chapter but I think that I can simplify it to say exciting! New bots and changed scenes! I can't help but wonder what these new developments will bring? Also, who is the bot that Lizzie couldn't tell Paul about? I'm debating on when to reveal the bot. But, I will say that when it happens, it will be fun! Also, seems like Paul finally got that report about Pitch from Lizzie, along with a report about Zarron.

With the Decepticons, we get to see Skyquake confiding in Starscream about his worries with Astrotrain. It seems like tensions will start to rise on Lizzie's end now. If Paul knew about it, he would at least feel comforted to know that he wasn't alone. But, he would then get worried about her safety. Oh, and on the fact of Lizzie, I know she wasn't in this chapter much but I felt like she would just get in the way. Don't worry though, she will be having bigger roles in the chapters to come. From this chapter on, things are going to start really moving and I can't help but wonder what is in store for our seemingly two main characters?

Oh, and I would be remiss to not mention the little suspicious confrontation between Flamewar and Vox. Definitely has Paul suspicious. Wonder how that will play out eventually? Should be quite the show when it does though.

As you can see, there are many aspects of this story that will weave together. And they will. But, for now, we will watch these events unfold. Next chapter is a small filler but it will have some important character development. Plus...I get to have a little fun as will Lizzie.

Now, for the upcoming chapters:

Chapter 11: Aiming for the Checkered

Chapter 12: Special Training

Chapter 13:...(Find out next time ;D )

Well, that is all for now. Again I hope you all enjoyed reading this and sorry for the long AN. But, this was a long chapter. Please drop a review, even to say hi. So, I guess I'll let you all go now. TTYL! *listens to Fight Song by Rachel Platten*