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

Lizzie: Ooh...this looks like fun!

Authoress: Remember that this means that I love you.

Knockout: This looks like I might like it too.

AN: Here I would like to respond to the reviews from the previous chapter that I could not respond to through PM.

Guest: The three of them (along with the nameless (for now) fourth member showed up last chapter before the Autobots went to Greece. I have added a bit more information on that in this chapter so I hope it helps.

G1ntsuk1: Hi! :) I'm glad you like the story! I put a lot of work planning these out (especially this one...the notes I have for it take up quite a bit of room on my Excel program XD ) Pitch is a very creepy bot and I don't foresee it getting any better as the story goes on. I'm glad you like Vox and his creator appreciates it too. I am finding that I am enjoying this one better than the last one too. I get to have more fun with it. New bots (and cons), some backstories that weren't explored, Paul being clueless...*ducks as sharp deadly object is thrown*, and overall Decepticon fun. Hope you keep enjoying!

Chapter 11: Aiming for the Checkered

Lizzie's 1st P.O.V.

"I'm still mad at you Lizzie."

I cracked open my eye from my position on the med berth. Two hours ago, I finished training for the day with Stewart Scarlett and Sky Quince aka Starscream's and Skyquake's soliforms. After I was allowed to shower, I was promptly brought to the med bay where Knockout and Joe were going over training so Joe could be a full medic. They were to watch me while they went to report to Megatron.

Since this was my day off from strategist training, so our new recruits could continue to settle in. Out of all four new bots on the ship, the only one that I was worried about was Astrotrain. When I had met him a few nights ago, he had been very…annoyed with my presence on the ship. Hook didn't seem to mind and Shockwave had looked as curious as a mech with one optic and no seeable mouth could.

The last bot…well…hadn't had much interaction with that bot yet but I was pretty sure the bot was going to be alright once the bot got patched up. Hook was working on those repairs in the med bay on the other side of the ship. Lord Megatron ordered me to not interact with the last new bot until the repairs were complete and that meant that I had to wait. There was no way I was going against Megatron for something as simple as that.

But, back to the currently only bot in the room with me. "Really Joe? I thought you had gotten over that?"

The drone frowned at me and crossed his arms. "Oh no. Do you want to know how much of a spark attack I was having when you suddenly volunteered me to be Knockout's backup medic? I mean, come on! We're just lucky that Knockout decided to actually listen to you."

Hang on, it wasn't like he didn't get anything out of this! "But,"

"Don't you 'but' me Lizzie." Joe interrupted. "I've heard your 'but you got something out of it to' routine before. Sure, I may have gotten access to better medical information like I wanted, but you used me to pay off a debt to Knockout that you owed him. That's definitely not cool."

Well, logical arguing wasn't going to work. Time for different tactics. From practice, I got my eyes to water slightly on command before I looked up at him with a sad look. "I'm sorry Joe. But I really thought you would benefit more than me." I then sniffled slightly for effect. "I didn't mean to make you this upset with me." Oh yeah, I was good at this.

That was proven even more when Joe took half a step back with a nervous look on his faceplate. "Um…Lizzie? Frag it I know you can do this on command but that's not fair!" Joe argued against the look. But, I just kept it up until he finally sighed in defeat. "Fine! I won't bring it up anymore! Sheesh talk about evil."

And like that the 'tears' were gone and I had a smile on my face as I sat up. "Good. I need somebot to talk to and you're the only one in here right now." I then frowned and looked around. "Speaking about that…where is everyone?"

Joe sighed and leaned against the counter behind him before answering me. "Well, Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp went to get some flight practice in, Skyquake, Breakdown, and Astrotrain are keeping an optic on a few of our mines since the Autobots got the Energon Harvester." Yeah, that had been a surprise to hear about when the bots who went to harvest the energon got back. That thing was supposed to be destroyed and yet, it was still active.

"What about the medics?" I was still surprised that we had two professional medics on this ship right now. It was strange to think about since, from Paul's report the other night, the Autobots only had one. Both sides were gaining troops and yet only the Decepticons had increased the number of trained medics they had. That would put us at a clear advantage against them. I wasn't sure if I was happy or upset about that yet.

"Well," Joe started. "Hook and Knockout, as well as Shockwave, are working on the other bot who came the other night."

Yeah, that bot. I wasn't even allowed to think about them in much detail that was how much the Decepticons did not want the Autobots to know that this bot was here. If they found out too soon, then it would cause a definite rift in the Autobots that might cause them to interfere. I was still surprised that they were all even here. I remember being on the bridge when they called about their arrival.

Flashback.

My brow furrowed in concentration as I stared at the battle scene in front of me. I didn't recognize the planet, or most of the Cybertronians involved, and that was making it difficult for me to make a decision based off of the information I had. Strategies needed me to have some semblance of information on the bots on our side, at least, and yet I was finding myself having to control a relatively new group of Decepticons. This battle was taking place on a planet where the tides were very unpredictable. Sometimes, the difference between high and low tide were minutes and other times they were days. I had to be careful as to who I put where or I could lose a good number of my troops due to the tides alone.

"Lizzie, what would you have done here?" Megatron questioned me as I studied the paused display.

After taking another few seconds to analyze my situation, I figured out what I wanted done. "Have the scouts and warriors work together on the front lines to hold back the Autobots. We need to get off of this planet. The trivial amount of energon here would not warrant the sacrifice of the troops here. The scouts can move around the battlefield quickly when the tide is low and, as the tides rise, the warriors can use their larger size and keep the scouts from being torn apart by the tides. Once the others are at the ships and have them in the air, they can open ground bridges to the warriors and scouts to escape into before the Autobots have a chance to get at us, Lord Megatron."

Megatron imputed my idea into the program and we started to watch the results. From the looks of how the scenario was playing out, it seemed like Megatron's training was paying off a lot. When I first started my lessons, I would have wanted to charge at the Autobots with everything I had. But, I would have lot a good number of my forces by trying to do that.

Once the ships made their way off the planet, Megatron paused the video. "That was very well implemented Lizzie. However," what did I miss? "You need to be more cautious about how the enemy will react to your plans. While you were able to save many of our troops with your plan, the Autobots started to push against the warriors and scouts with greater force and that caused more casualties on our warriors and scouts."

He was right. I was so relieved that the rest of my troops had been able to retreat that I had forgotten to cover for the warriors and scouts, who were holding the lines of attacking Autobots. How could I be so careless? "What would be your suggestion in covering their position Lord Megatron?" I asked my tutor for his advice.

His red optics glanced down at me before he reset the program and typed in a couple more commands before saying, "What would have been most efficient, given your battle plan, would have been to have the ships that the other troops fell back to start to give cover fire for the warriors while they held the front lines. This would have kept the Autobots pinned down and then we could have retreated with even less casualties." He then paused. "However, your strategy would have been acceptable. It caused minimal damage on its own and would have been recommended for implementation."

I stared up at Megatron in surprise as he said that. Before now, he hadn't actually said that my strategies would have been allowed to be implemented as an actual battle plan. This was a big step forward and it made me both excited and worried. The excitement part was obvious because this meant that I was improving on my strategist trait. Yes, that was exactly what I needed.

But, I was worried for the exact same reason. My skills were improving and, that meant that it would only be a matter of time before Lord Megatron decided it was time to test my usefulness on the ship and with the Decepticons. My days were becoming numbered and I could feel the noose slowly gripping my neck.

Before Megatron could start the clip to show what actually happened at the battle, Thundercracker walked into the room. "My apologies Lord Megatron for disturbing your lessons with Lizzie."

"What is it Thundercracker?" Lord Megatron questioned the seeker.

Thundercracker responded quickly. "We have received a communication from a Decepticon here on Earth. He won't open the vocal link until you are present." Wait…who was this? Knockout and Breakdown were already here and they were the ones who were supposed to show up here. Now what was going on?

I didn't have much time to think about it as I saw Megatron's servo set down next to me and I knew, from past experience, that I needed to get on his servo quickly. So, I didn't waste any time in doing just that. If I waited too long, like five seconds, then Megatron would just use two of his digits to pick me up. That was very uncomfortable and, again, I was speaking from experience. Not good to keep him waiting.

Once I was on his servo, Lord Megatron followed Thundercracker to the bridge and, one we were there, I saw that almost everybot else was here except for Knockout and Breakdown. But, since there had been an accident at mine TG-2840, that was understandable. "Open the frequency with this contact." Lord Megatron ordered as he placed me down on a console next to Soundwave and the Twins.

Starscream nodded. "Yes, Lord Megatron." He then typed in the necessary commands before I heard a static-filled communication filled the air.

I thought that it was a misdial until Lord Megatron spoke. "This is Megatron. Who is this?"

A flinch traveled through me as the static suddenly vanished before a clear voice, and recognizable voice, came through the speakers in the room. "My Lord, I apologize for the lateness of our arrival." Shockwave's voice echoed in the room.

Glancing at Lord Megatron, I saw that he looked excited at this development. "Shockwave, where are you located so I can send the groundbridge for your team's retrieval?"

To my surprise, Shockwave didn't respond how I thought he would. "Again, my apologies my Lord. However, we were attacked on our approach to this planet by an Autobot ship. While our cloaking shield was able to stay active, our ship was crashed. We have destroyed our ship to cover our tracks but one of my team mates went off on his own. I am currently tracking him so sending a groundbridge for me at this time would be detrimental to my current search. However, the two other Decepticons who travelled with us went to investigate an energon signal."

"Who are they and what coordinates should the retrieval team be sent to?" Lord Megatron questioned the mech on the other side of the line.

Shockwave was quick to answer. "They are Hook and Astrotrain. Their intended coordinates are being filtered to you my Lord."

While the Decepticons in the room started moving to put together a retrieval team, I found myself standing in a shocked stupor. Shockwave, Astrotrain, and Hook. All three of them were here as well as another bot who I had no clue who it could be. This was getting crazy and the feeling of World War Earth coming to the horizon was building. So many bots already here and I doubted that we were seeing the end of it.

End of Flashback.

Out of the three bots I had personally interacted with that were new, I found that the only one that caused me to worry was Astrotrain. As soon as Lord Megatron had finished speaking to them that night, he had seen me and wondered why I was still in one piece. Yeah, not the best first impression. When Lord Megatron had explained my situation to him, he had seemed to grow even more annoyed at my presence. I was definitely trying to avoid that mech.

Shockwave seemed curious at my being here…well as much as he could look curious to me, but he didn't say much about it. I didn't think that he would cause me issues but I would have to keep my guard up for now. Just in case. But, if he was as logical as he was in the show when I saw him, then I was sure I wouldn't have to worry about him until Lord Megatron said that I was no longer a use. After that, my fate was up in the air.

However, the surprise in that group of three had been Hook. While I didn't get to talk with him much the first night, since he was helping the fourth bot, I did get to meet him the next morning when I had gone to Knockout's med bay but, instead of finding the red race car mech, I had found the green crane mech. He had been cataloging different drugs and equipment for his own files when I had come in through the grate. At first, the Constructicon medic had just stood there…staring at me like it was completely unexpected of me to be around the med bay.

…Okay, maybe it was slightly unexpected to be around the med bay for a bot who just got on the ship. But, after he stared at me, Hook did come and help me down onto the counter. We had then started talking about random scrap for about two hours before Knockout and Breakdown had come in. They had stared at the two of us for a bit before Soundwave followed in behind them with the twins. They then took me away but it was fun to talk to the Constructicon. Honestly, he acted a lot like Ratchet but he seemed to be more open to new things.

Back to the current situation however, "So where are the others at?" There were still five bots that were unaccounted for in my mind and I was hoping that Joe would give me a clue as to where they were. "Lord Megatron is with Soundwave and Vox on the bridge. They are looking over our energon reserves and our intel on Autobot locations."

"And the twins?" I pressed. I hadn't forgotten that they were going to be paying me back for the prank that Skywarp and I pulled off on them and I felt like I was on my toes waiting for that to happen

Joe smirked at my question. "Worried?" Obviously. I sent him a look saying that. He laughed before continuing. "Well, don't worry too much. They had some errands to run on Earth, a place called Hollywood I think. From what I know, they won't be back until late tonight if not tomorrow." So, they must be using their soliforms. It was nice to know that the Decepticons had them, though they weren't used much. Rumble and Frenzy had told me that theirs were called Ryan Wright and Finian Wright respectively. They even told me that Soundwave called his Saul Wright…but only because I might need to know it if something happened and we had to meet in soliform.

Before I could say anything else to Joe, the doors to the med bay opened and Knockout walked in, looking exhausted. "Well, good news is the patient should be ready for social interaction here in a few solars."

So…what was the bad news? "And the bad news?" I questioned the medic.

He looked down at me and sighed. "There was this race I was planning to go to earlier that I missed because I was working on the patient." Yeah, none of us were allowed to talk about the bot being worked on much until it was time for the bot to be with general population.

Hang on…a race? That he missed? That meant that, more than likely, we were in Speed Metal and that we had already had some issues with the timeline. Knockout had missed the race that the idiot scratched his paintjob. Well, since it was already out of whack…maybe I could have some more fun changing things.

"Really missing a race was bad news?" Joe asked Knockout with a laugh.

Knockout frowned at his secondary assistant. "Yes it is. I had to pay a non-refundable pre-entry fee for this one. Blew sixty bucks for nothing. If I keep losing money like this, Soundwave's going to stop hacking into offshore accounts to get it for me."

Well…at least they was going after hidden money.

"Any races coming up soon?" I asked him since there was a nice pause in the conversation.

Both Joe and Knockout looked at me before Knockout nodded. "Yeah, I got one tonight. Thankfully, it's a pay on spot race since it's so out of the way. That Jasper town isn't far from it so the local humans take charge of running it." He then paused and looked down at me before looking back at Joe. "I'll be right back." He then walked out of the room.

…What was going on? I was going to ask Knockout if I could go with him but now he was acting strange. Like…really strange. What was going through his processor? "Do you know what that was about?" Joe finally asked me.

Shaking my head, I motioned to the door that Knockout walked out of. "No idea Joe. But, I bet we'll find out here in a bit." Since we were going to have to wait for Knockout to get back, though, I decided to ask him something. "Joe, do you like to study human culture?"

The Eradicon looked at me with a surprised look before he smiled and nodded. "Yeah we do. More now that you are here but a good number of us used to study up on the culture before you popped in on us. You humans aren't so different from us but you have so many cultural habits that are, honestly a lot of fun."

Really? "What did you study up on?" I asked my friend.

He laughed at that. "You might think it is funny, but I liked to study up on ancient Earth mythology. It's fascinating just how imaginative humans could be in your past to create such fantastical beings like your gods."

I nodded in response. "Yeah, it is very amazing. And just think about how many works of wonder where made to appease these fictitious beings. It is astounding." Actually, mythology was one of my favorite topics to delve into. I even made a couple OCs in my past based off of some of the gods of ancient Earth. They never appeared in any of the stories that I posted, but they were planned to make appearances eventually.

Before Joe could respond to that, Knockout walked back in with a grin on his faceplate that made me want to hide in the smallest corner of Soundwave's room for the rest of my life…however long that may be. "Sorry for running off like that. But Lizzie, how would you like to come with me to that race I told you about tonight? I've already received Lord Megatron's approval and it will be a chance for you to get out and enjoy some fresh air."

Well scrap.

This was what I wanted but, with Lord Megatron's approval, I had a feeling that this was going to be some sort of test for me. It would be my first time away from the ship in a human occupied area. The mine didn't count since I was surrounded by the Decepticons and South America didn't count because there had been no humans around to interact with. Now, I would not only be around humans, like Lord Megatron was probably counting on, but I knew that there would be Autobot presence there as well. This would be a major test for me and I could not fail it. If I made it look like I was trying to be rescued than I would probably be killed on the spot, a bloody mark on the pavement.

But, to refuse would look just as bad so I smiled and nodded. "That sounds great! But, you're sure that Lord Megatron knows?"

"Talked to our leader himself." Knockout reassured me. "He wanted me to let you know that he feels you have earned this trip to the surface." Yeah, I know. He really was hoping for me to be tested fiercely.

I hoped my final test would come soon. The wait for the test itself would kill me.

When Knockout walked up to me, and held out of his servo, I realized that it must be getting close to time for this race. Well, better now than never. As Knockout walked out of the med bay, I found myself worrying. This was a very different test than any I had taken before. How would I be able to pass it?

Paul's 1st P.O.V

"Paul, you are completely and utterly insane." Cliffjumper continued to yell at me from where he stood…which was right above where I was standing in the human area. "Jack and Arcee racing earlier was stupid, Bumblebee and Jack going off to this race is a bad enough idea as it is, but now you want me to go with them with you?"

Yeah…I was trying to convince Cliffjumper to go to the race. Normally, I wouldn't be so ready to break the rules like this. But, with Knockout being confirmed on Earth…thanks to Lizzie's intel, then I was wanting to go to the race to see how it would develop and how the differences would affect the story. Oh, I had no doubt that something about this episode was going to change. While it was stupid, I had been holding out on my hope of a stable timeline until Deus Ex Machina happened. Then, that was when everything went to the Pit, and then some. The worse part, besides Lizzie not giving me a full list of Decepticons…again, was that I had to deal with Shockwave already.

So, I wanted to get to the race to make sure that the Decepticons didn't get any more humans besides my employee. The Autobots did not need the added stress of losing another human to the Decepticons. It would not end very well for anyone around.

"Yes Cliffjumper, I do." I told my guardian bluntly. "This is a chance to see what breaking the rules is like without getting into that much trouble. Plus, we know that the Decepticons have at least one ground mode bot who could be a racer and, if he shows up, then it would probably be better if we were there as a form of backup just in case the race turns into a battle field."

Cliffjumper frowned at me and I could tell by the look on his face that he was trying to find a counter-argument against what I wanted to do. However, I knew that he wasn't going to be able to find one. Lady luck owed me that much after all the fragging changes that had happened. She could at least let me go to the race.

Thankfully, she was on my side. "Fine, but we are not going to be near the lead. Let Bumblebee and Jack had that. We are only going to be in reserve just in case Decepticons show up." Well, better than nothing. Being behind a bit shouldn't matter. The race had been staggered at first but, if Jack and Vince pull off like they usually did, then Cliffjumper and I should catch up by the time that whichever Decepticon was here made their move.

Once Cliff transformed, I hopped in and we raced out of the base. We were only a few minutes behind Jack and Bumblebee so I knew that we were going to be able to catch them. But, as Cliff drove down the road, I found myself trying to think of who was going to show up. The Decepticons, giving Lizzie's list, really only had two bots who would be at this race; Knockout and Vox. But, I wasn't sure which one out of the two would be here…unless both showed up. I could tell that Vox had speed on him and that would be a good thing for this episode but Knockout had experience, in my processor, plus, he had the good thing going for him that none of the Autobots actually knew that he was here. If he showed up, then I would not be able to warn Cliffjumper that there as a Decepticon in the race. This was not going to go well if Knockout showed up.

I now found myself hoping that Vox as the one that showed up and not Knockout. It would let me take control of the situation.

It seemed like no time had passed before Cliffjumper and I were pulling up to the race. When I saw a man standing and collecting money from racers, I realized that I was going to need to offer payment for both myself and Jack. Thankfully, I had it covered. Once Cliffjumper stopped, I hopped out of him before walking up to the money taker, along with Jack, before handing the taker the hundred dollars that would cover both of us. "This is for him as well."

Jack jumped in surprise at my appearance. "Paul? What are you doing here?"

I motioned back to Cliffjumper before I answered him. "Well, Cliff and I decided to come as backup in case something happens here. Always nice to have backup."

From the look on Jack's face, I could see that he understood what I meant. While I was sure that the taker didn't understand what I was actually meaning, he seemed to draw his own conclusion. "Not the worse idea to have at these races. I recognize a few of these cars from the bigger races where the racing is a lot more dangerous." He then motioned to his right before saying, "Like that red car, though this is the first time I've seen them pay up front and not ahead of time."

My breath hitched slightly at his description of the car to look out for, and I turned just to mentally facepalm. Great. The red sports car with tribal designs could only be Knockout. And, from what the money man had just said, Knockout was using a soliform as well. That would make everything even more difficult.

But I couldn't waste any more time, so I turned to Jack. "Be careful and I hope this is worth it." I told him before I walked to Cliffjumper. Once I was behind the wheel, Cliffjumper spoke to me. "What took so long Paul?"

Cliffjumper started his engine and started to move to join the group of cars already at the start before I answered. "Helped Jack pay his entry for the race. Plus, wanted to get a rundown of the other drivers. I think the red sports car might be some trouble." I motioned to Knockout's alt mode. While I couldn't say that the red sports car was Knockout, a Decepticon, I could at least get Cliffjumper to keep an optic on the bot.

Once we were lined up, I noticed that Bumblebee and Knockout were at the front of the line while Cliff and I were stuck down in the third row of cars. This was not going to be good at all. If we didn't get around these lines around us, then we were going to lose Bumblebee and Knockout quickly. What was even worse, I saw Vince was behind my own car. He was not going to be able to get up to Jack and stop him. Just what was going to happen?

I flinched as Cliffjumper hit the gas when the flag came down to start. Almost immediately, we were slightly boxed in and I could only watch as Bumblebee and Knockout disappeared from sight.

…Well slag.

Lizzie's 1st P.O.V.

Adrenaline was pumping through my veins as Knockout sped fender to fender with Bumblebee around turns at breakneck speeds. This was crazy fast and I found myself appreciating Knockout's speed even more. He was a medic, and they weren't normally known to go fast. Other positions on the field…yes, they could. But, Knockout was an experienced medic and could race like this. My respect for the red medic was now through the roof.

But, we had a problem. About two minutes ago, Bumblebee's driving style around us had changed and I had a feeling that meant that he suspected that it was really a Decepticon next to me, in spite of Knockout not being seen by the Autobots as of yet. This wasn't good but, as a strategist in training, I had to figure out what to do in this situation that would cause the least amount of casualties to our side while throwing the Autobots off their game as much as possible. Plus, I had seen Paul through Knockout's rearview so, whatever I was going to do, I had to make sure that I did it quick enough so Paul wouldn't see me. If he saw me, then he might destroy everything that I was working toward with the Decepticons. I had to do this right, or I would be in serious trouble.

And I wasn't so much worried about Paul then I was Megatron.

I flinched as Knockout suddenly lurched to the side and I saw that Bumblebee had sideswiped him. Guess he was pretty positive that Knockout was a Decepticon. This wasn't good. This wasn't…that was it!

"What do I do Lizzie?" Knockout asked me with a growl in his voice.

"Cut him off now but don't transform!" I yelled at the red medic. Thankfully, Knockout did what I said and cut off the yellow bug. By this point, I realized that we were off the racetrack, so we should be good until Cliffjumper and Paul came around. But, that could be soon, so I didn't have any time to waste. "Stay here." I told him as I opened his door.

"Where are you going?" He whispered to me in a panic as I swung one leg out.

Shaking my head, I had to reassure him so he wouldn't tell Megatron that I was running. I was definitely not running. "Oh, don't worry, I'm not running. I'm just going to confuse the scrap out of whoever that is and give them a lesson in return." I then got out and shut the door behind me.

And I marched right up to Jack, who was getting out of Bumblebee. "Who are," Jack started to ask me in confusion.

But, I didn't give him time to finish that question as I pulled back a clenched fist and drilled him in the eye. He stumbled back but I didn't give him time to recover as I grabbed him by the collar and threw him against Bumblebee's alt mode. "Who the hell do you think you are? I'm pretty sure that the MC said that he wanted a nice clean race! Yet here you are, punk-ass kid, trying to run me off the road! Do you know how much time is put into getting that car into peak perfection for a race!?" I was furious and wanted to make sure that they knew that. "You ever try a stunt like that again, and I won't just hit you a couple of times."

Jack looked confused. "What do you mean a couple,"

Wham!

My fist landed in the same spot that it had previously and knocked Jack against Bumblebee's alt mode. I could see that I scraped his cheek and I knew that his eye was going to be swollen after this. Of course, my hand was a little painful but I was sure that Knockout could look at it. I got out of this with minimal casualties and it was going to confuse the enemy. I think that was a win in our situation.

Once I got back to Knockout, I opened his driver's door and got in before he started his engine and, to my delight, he squealed out of there like a bat out of hell. Once he was some good ways away, I fell back against his seat and started to laugh. I shouldn't feel so excited that I had just punched Jack in the face, I really shouldn't, but it felt so good. For a lot of the show, he was an idiot…at least in my opinion, and being able to punch him now, and having a reason for it, felt amazing.

"That was…unexpected." Knockout finally spoke after I had calmed down. He then continued. "But, I think that Lord Megatron will be pleased. We did not attract any necessary attention, you were able to assess the information and, while your choice of action was…unusual, I believe that Lord Megatron would approve. You avoided giving your identity to the Autobots…for that was who they were.

"Really?" I asked in fake confusion. Of course, I really knew that they were with the Autobots but I had to make it sound like I didn't.

"Yep." Knockout responded in return. "Added onto all of that you didn't try to escape, and now the Autobots are going to be confused as to what is around them. I have a feeling that Bumblebee, the Autobot that ruined my paintjob, is going to get in trouble for endangering an innocent human. You did good."

Yeah, I just hoped Lord Megatron would have the same praise. My day of testing would be coming soon…that much I knew, and when that day came I had to be ready for anything. Who knew what sort of test I was going to be given. Hopefully, I would pass it. If I didn't, well, I could at least say that I enjoyed life to the end.

…Hopefully, that wouldn't happen.

Shockwave's 1st P.O.V.

This room was…confusing. I was currently inside what would eventually be my laboratory here on the ship. While larger experiments would have to be performed at my off-ship lab, this room would serve for my smaller experiments, or for the less time-consuming projects that I was sometimes asked to do by Lord Megatron. His current project for me was to find a way to allow our soliforms to better interact. It seemed logical if our Lord was his final battlefield here on Earth. We would need to garner local support so we could have a step up against the Autobots.

We knew that the Autobots had connections with the local governing body of humans. However, I believed I knew what Lord Megatron was planning once this program was perfected. He understood that the voice of power, especially in this country, was in the fleshy servos of the citizens. Lord Megatron understands that these people are stronger than their government.

But, until I could accomplish that goal, I had to get this lab in running order. This didn't even look like a lab. It looked like a storage closet with some monitors placed inside. It would take me some time to actually get work completed since I had to construct the lab first. The only good thing about this situation was that I could construct the lab in a way that I would be able to utilize to optimum capacity.

The doors opening to the lab caused me to turn around and I bowed my helm toward Lord Megatron as he entered. "Shockwave, I apologize for the lack of current equipment in this room. Your arrival was unexpected. More technology will be available soon."

"I can work well here. No apologies needed my Lord." I answered my Lord. In the grand scheme of our plans, there was no extra need for my personal comfort to be cared for. "Is there something I can do for you Lord Megatron?" He had been busy with the human for the past few solars and I was surprised that he was here with me at the present time. I had nothing to present to him right now and that was not acceptable for me.

"Ms. Val is currently taking a test with Knockout planetside." Lord Megatron stated before he continued. "Speaking of the human, I believe that she has the ability to earn her place among our ranks. However, there is more you can teach to her before her test than I currently have at my disposal. I am requesting you to have at least two instructions with Ms. Val and give her the final tools that she will need for her test."

While helping the human in our current possession seemed like a waste of my time, Lord Megatron did know bets and it would be wise of me to follow his instructions. "As you command Lord Megatron."

"Also Shockwave," I kept my attention on my Lord as he continued to speak. "I need to you start work on a project that will help in our interactions with the human population…should the need ever arise." He then walked up to the currently only working monitor and, as I walked next to him, I awaited his order.

Lizzie: That...*squeals* was amazing! I got to punch Jack and I'm not going to get in trouble for it!

Authoress: Yes, that seems quite nice. I'm glad I could do that for you Lizzie.

Lizzie: But, I'm worried as well.

Authoress: *confused* Why?

Knockout: *walks in* Because she is getting ever closer to her final test. If she doesn't pass that, then she is going to cease to exist.

Lizzie: *looks up at Knockout* I thought you were on my side?

Knockout: *nods* I am. But, if you fail I'm not going against Lord Megatron. He scares me more than you scare me.

Lizzie: *defeated* That's true. *cries*

AN2: And here is the next chapter to this story! I hoped you all liked it as much as I did writing it! I know it is a filler, but there are some key points mentioned in it that will help drive the chapters to come. Yes, Lizzie is excited about punching Jack. Out of all the humans in this series, Jack has to be my least favorite one. So, you will see him taking a back seat role in many of my stories and/or getting the worse of a situation...like you saw here. I'm sorry if you like Jack but that is how the cookie crumbles in this dimension of mine. He will be teased about his eye by the others at base...because it will not look pretty in the morning. XD

Now, there wasn't much more with this chapter (and if you think there was then comment in a review...I like those things). Next chapter is going to have a lot to do with the Autobots (lots of fun there *dark laugh*). However, there will be a scene or two with Lizzie that will be important so pay attention to those bits. Of course, Paul is going to have more to worry about than Lizzie next chapter.

Well, I guess I will have to give you the titles of the next couple of chapters now. XD

Chapter 12: Special Training

Chapter 13: Strategist

Chapter 14:...? (find out next time!)

Now that we have that out of the way, I hope you all wouldn't mind dropping in a review, even if it is to say hello! I like seeing them! They are so much fun! Flames, however, will be used to my own purposes and at my own leisure. Well, that's all for now! Until next time, TTYL! *playing whack-a-fly in my room*