Transformers Titan: Devastation

by kira444

Volume 3 of Transformers Titan. Terra enters a new age as humanity now knows about the cybertronians and their war for supremacy. As the Autobots and Decepticons adjust to the inclusion of humans into their war, the two factions must also deal with being dragged into humanity's own civil conflict.

9. Patriot Act

Chapter 9-Patriot Act

When Sparkplug was elected as leader of the Exodus group, he didn't think of it as much of a responsibility. He took his duties seriously of course, but he imagined just having to worry about finding a planet to settle down on and create a local community far from Cybertron and its wars. He never imagined being in a scenario where half his crew were traitors, his ship was destroyed, and his people at the mercy of humans and Decepticons.

'I wonder if I had hair it would be gray right now.' Sparkplug thought as he sat at the command center at Omega One.

Omega One was the name of the newly constructed base that was built into the base of a mountain deep within Yellowstone Park, where visitors weren't allowed to tread. It was a large base that had two levels built into it and had a smooth elevator lift that could go between levels, on top of state of the art computers, CR chambers and a medibay (Wheeljack and Liftor had a lot of fun designing the layout). As a condition of the Cybercord Treaty, the Minicons were given asylum in Osea territory as refugees. Sure, it was a bit small for the Autobots, but the base was made with Minicons and humans in mind.

It was a breath of fresh air for the wayward Minicons, who were still a bit at odds with the Autobots somewhat. They needed room, especially after OZ's assault against the Ark. There was enough room in the base for almost the entire Minicon population and was hopefully the start of them creating a permanent settlement on Terra. The added bonus was that the base was surrounded by miles upon miles of enchanting forests and natural wonders that many would kill to see.

"Sparkplug," Liftor walked up to him. "What're you doing at the comm center? It's not your turn for watch yet."

"I know, but I can't sit still. As much as I'm enjoying our little peacetime, I just can't sit still. I'm still a bit on edge about the others."

"Oh, them. Right, I forgot." Liftor's expression fell a bit. "I know Redline's team is still missing, but who else."

"Combusta and Impulsor's teams. We know they're most likely not in stasis panels anymore, but we can't get a lock on their signals or even contact them." Sparkplug sighed and leaned on his hand. "We're so close to finishing this mission and getting all our friends back, Liftor, but there's always something backing us."

"Well, until we have a lead, all I can say is…chill out." Liftor said unexpectedly. The surprised look Sparkplug gave him was too good. "I know I'm the last person who should be saying that, but you're going to overheat from all this stress. Don't forget, the Autobots and the children are helping us out too. And now we even have the might of the Osean government on our side!"

Sparkplug smiled. "That's true. I won't be much help to anyone if I pass out from stress. I just wish we weren't always in the dark about stuff. It'd be nice to be in the know on some things around here."

XXXXXX

"I'm getting really tired of this game. I ask a question and you answer it. Simple as that, yes? All that crying and begging isn't necessary, because it isn't going to get you anywhere."

The pair of human scientists, a man and a woman, were huddled together in fear of the thirty foot mech standing over them. Darkshadow's expression was one of displeasure as he stood tall amongst the field of human corpses at his feet. Some were still intact, but still sporting limbs that were horribly twisted or crunched, but most of them were smoking lumps of flesh and blackened bone.

It was so easy it was almost disappointing. For a talos manufacturing plant, the security was so lax that Starscream almost felt insulted; it was easy enough tossing a high powered EMP grenade to torch all the machinery in the grounds and have Shockblast and Wreckage massacre the personnel. Darkshadow didn't need them all alive, only the useful ones.

"P-Please, we don't know anything about him!" The man whimpered, eying the laser cannon pointed lazily at them. "Or what he worked on!"

"All we know is that he was working on a top secret project commissioned by some military group. It's classified!" The woman said.

Darkshadow frowned; it wasn't much to go on, but it was a start. "Are there any files on this secret project of his?"

"N-No, he carried his data on him at all times." She said.

"Well…that's a shame." She muttered. "See? That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"Now t-that we told you what we know," The man said. "Will you let us li-"

Darkshadow fired her cannon, killing both humans instantly. Not caring about the bodies squishing beneath her feet, Darkshadow flew out of the hole she made in the roof, flying out of the building and landing in the front yard. A gray and red armored personnel carrier drove up to him.

"You find anything?" Wreckage asked.

"Nothing special, only that our target left almost a month ago after finishing some top secret military project. That's it for now, but I do have a possible location." Darkshadow said.

"Finally. Where is the flesh bag?"

"New Espania."

XXXXXX

Astroscope was running a diagnostic check on the systems of the main computer when he ran across an interesting discovery. An encrypted message from an unknown address.

"Who could this be?" Astroscope wondered. He bit his lip in thought for a moment before letting his curiosity win out. "Wouldn't hurt to see who its from."

"-oadcasting on Indigo 4123 to Minicon base Omega One. I repeat, denizens of the Minicon base-"

"What…" Astroscope gaped as an image of a man clad in a military uniform appeared on the screen.

"This is Colonel Gordon Horiuchi of Skywatch broadcasting on an unencrypted channel. Any Minicons within range, please respond."

'Yeah, not a chance, human.' Astroscope thought. Sparkplug may have trusted the humans as allies, but aside from the children, he was wary of anyone he didn't know personally.

"Minicons, I'm sure by now you've heard of Skywatch from your previous excursions with the terrorist organization OZ. Long story short, we are a secret Osean organization tasked with researching and defending the country from extraterrestrials. Recent events have brought us into the light and at the President's mercy." Horiuchi said. "Though some would argue otherwise, many in Skywatch don't see you Autobots or Minicons in a preferable light no thanks to past encounters of your kind, and many would see you all in chains, exiled off Terra, or dead. That is where command and I differ."

Astroscope crossed his arms, refraining from deleting the message. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to hear this guy out.

"I see the value in your people. I see the honor in philosophy. The Decepticons outclass all of humanity in terms of firepower and after witnessing the power of a Decepticon firsthand, I've learned that humanity cannot fight them alone. Skywatch is well-equipped, but not enough, and I doubt the Atlantians will give a damn about human survival after that mess a few weeks ago." He continued. "More importantly, there is a war of opinion going on in Skywatch. Few humans in our ranks share my high opinion of the Minicons and Autobots. Fewer still in Skywatch high command. I intend to change that.

"It has taken considerable effort to scramble this message to our own receivers while leaving it open to yours. There is no faith in the good intent of the Autobots at Skywatch, and a move like this, were it known, would not be tolerated. So I leave my reputation in your hands. With a few communiques you could destroy my career. This is how important I feel an alliance to be-that I am willing to work outside this restrictive system. Please, Minicons, respond."

Astroscope heard a loud cough behind him and looked behind him to see Roll Bar leaning on the console with an unreadable expression.

"Astroscope, we better call Sparkplug in."

A few minutes later, Sparkplug, Roll Bar, and Astroscope stood in the command center watching the message again. Sparkplug watched the recording in its entirety before starting the discussion.

"This…is not what I was expecting in terms of a new development." Sparkplug said.

"I know about Skywatch. I heard Rodimus mention them once. I think OZ was planning to pin the blame on the Fallon incident on Skywatch to gain the government's trust." Roll Bar said.

"And I heard the Skywatch director's been giving the Autobots a hard time when it came to getting support from the government and military." Astroscope muttered. "Even Prime can't find a decent thing to say about them. Why are they contacting us?"

"It's not the entire group, just this Colonel apparently. I'm not surprised that Skywatch doesn't trust us, so he must be doing all this in secret." Sparkplug said, rubbing his chin. "Perhaps he's doing this as a gesture of goodwill between our races."

"Or to lure us out and capture us. They can't tough the Autobots because of political reasons, but we're good targets for everyone across the board." Roll Bar said.

"Well, what do we do? Ignore them or go see this through?" Astroscope asked.

Sparkplug thought about his options for the moment, possibly weighing the consequences before making a decision. "Let's give our kind-hearted colonel a call. See what he really wants."

XXXXXX

"Is this the place?" Wreckage asked Darkshadow."

The Razor commander stood underneath a rocky outcropping overlooking a dense forest in Yellowstone. Wreckage and Fracture accompanied her on the scouting mission, not to solely protect her, but mainly out of curiosity.

"It is. Sprawl had been very forthcoming with the coordinates of the humans' base." Darkshadow said, recalling the very lengthy debriefing Sprawl gave Megatron.

Wreckage eyed the building skeptically. "Looks like a dump. You sure this is a Skywatch base?"

"They're just hiding in plain sight, using the old buildings in empty towns as their cover. Pretty smart way to operate, but this only isolates them from any reinforcements they might expect when they see us." Fracture said. "Darkshadow, how do we go about this?"

Darkshadow smirked. "Fall upon them as wolves on prey."

Inside the covert operations base, Agent Sean McCourie was helping oversee the transportation of their assets from the base. Orders from high command had forced the local personnel to strip the base bare and relocate to an "approved" military location. Or what was left after Grimlock tore a hole in the side of the building.

"This is a freaking mess." Sean muttered lazily. His partner, Agent Cole Keller, grunted in agreement.

"Be glad they didn't completely shut us down. The only reason we're still wearing badges is thanks to Hollander's silver tongue." Cole said. She grimaced as a truck hauled a mangled wreck of a talos past them. "Skywatch is not in a good position, Sean. We're one bad decision away from the Senate putting us down."

"And our fearless leaders seem to be the ones making all the bad decisions." Sean sighed.

Skywatch was slowly becoming divided as the months went by. Jackson and Powers were becoming increasingly wary, or even hostile, towards the Autobots, their inherent distrust clouding their judgement. This put them at odds with people who do support the Autobots, like Veronica, and led to some pretty harsh verbal duels in the open. No one knows what Hollander thought, but he seemed to be keeping his cards close to his chest for the moment. Skywatch was no longer a united organization, and it was only going to get worse as the Autobots gained more popularity.

"How long until the airships are fully loaded?" Sean asked

"About an hour. Once we have everything loaded, we can-"

There was a loud explosion that shook the base and Sean and Cole were immediately on guard. Alarms went off and the security teams were already moving to the scene as more explosions went off.

"Perimeter alarm? Are we under attack?" Sean asked.

"What I want to know is who's attacking us!" Cole yelled.

They ran to the hangar entrance and saw the unexpected sight of a black and blue Decepticon attacking the disguised talos hangars. Wreckage and Fracture threw frag grenades that destroyed both the buildings and the vehicles inside them. Further back, Cole saw Darkshadow smirking at the destruction.

"Decepticons!" Cole yelled. "Mobilize all units. Take them out! And someone call tactical command for reinforcements!"

"Cole, our comms aren't even working. We won't be able to get the message out." Sea said, ripping out his earpiece. He pulled Cole aside as a flaming truck slammed into the ground beside them. "Have any available talos we have hold them off so the airships can leave. If they stay, they'll get shot down."

Cole wanted to object, but she knew it was pointless. Three hangar bays were already destroyed, essentially cutting their mecha forces in half. Soldiers and what talos could be spared were already engaging the Cons with heavy artillery to drive them back.

"Let's go." Cole said bitterly. "Have everyone get on any vehicle that can fly or has wheels and get the hell out of here before that bitch starts raining down bombs on us."

The two agents ran back to the hidden airstrip where three black airships were parked, waiting to lift off. But as they reached the aircraft hangar, Cole and Sean came upon the horrific sight of Minicons attacking the airships and the personnel there.

"No!" Cole yelled, pointing her assault rifle at a Minicon planting charges on the side of an airship.

Leader-1 caught sight of Cole and grinned before transforming to vehicle mode and pointing his twin pulse cannons at the duo. Cole and Sean jumped away as he starting shooting at them.

"Are the charges set, Leader-1?" Darkshadow asked over the comm.

"Primed for detonation." Leader-1 said. "But what about the humans? Some of them have already gotten away in ground transports."

"Let them run. They can tell their masters just what happens when they mess with the Decepticons. Now light it up."

Leader-1 signaled Search and Cannon to pull back with him. Once they were at a safe distance, Leader's pressed the button on the remote. In a blinding flash and a deafening boom, the Skywatch airships exploded in balls of fire. Anyone caught in the blast radius was incinerated by the intense flames. At this point, the humans were already falling back, running or driving away from their falling base.

"Wow, that's loud." Wreckage said. He watched another explosion rip apart the base near the heart of the town and whistled. "Nothing like watching your enemies go up in flames, eh, Fracture?"

Fracture's attention was on the gunships and combat helicopters fleeing the area. "We're just going to let them run?"

"Of course not." Wreckage laughed. Darkshadow flew over them in jet mode and began launching missiles at the choppers. "See? Darkshadow has it handled."

Riding shotgun inside a Humvee they managed to snatch up, Cole watched the chaos with a stone cold expression. She saw hundreds of men and women fight and die against the three Decepticons, going up in flames or ruthlessly crushed underfoot. Even Sean's normally exuberant attitude was subdued.

"Where did they even come from? Hell, how did the even know where to find us?" Sean questioned. He looked at his partner. "Cole?"

"I don't have the answers, Sean, so stop asking." Cole said. "But it's very clear that this was just a follow up attack to the one done to us six months ago. The Decepticons just declared war on Skywatch."

XXXXXX

Sparkplug and Roll Bar stood hidden behind a rocky hill a few miles from their base with Emulator and Undertone coming along for extra security. Two miles out stood the small forms of the colonel and two others, standing next to a crate that their infrared scanner couldn't pierce.

"That the rendezvous point?" Roll Bar asked. Sparkplug nodded.

"According to Liftor, the colonel has apparently cloaked themselves to their own sensors so that they can do this in secret. Sparkplug said. "I have to say, I'm impressed with the lengths they've gone to in order to make this happen."

"Still, Sparkplug, let's make sure." Roll Bar looked at Emulator. "Emulator?"

The red feline's large green eyes switched spectrums to infrared, scanning the terrain for any sign of unwanted visitors or spies.

"Any sign of hidden reinforcements?" Sparkplug asked.

"I'm not seeing anything in the vicinity, nya. If they're out of range, they shouldn't be a danger to you." She said, he plug-like tail swishing about in agitation. "I'm more worried about that crate they have with them. It's massive, heavy and completely opaque to my scans, nya."

"If it's that heavy, then there's no way they could've brought it in a regular truck." Roll Bar said.

"Think others might still be nearby?"

"Maybe. If nothing else, they probably expect us to take it with us."

Sparkplug sent Roll Bar a dry smile. "Maybe it's a present. That'd be nice."

Ha!" Roll Bar laughed.

"Or maybe it's a bomb." Undertone said, catching his companions' attention.

"Wait, you think they'd blow themselves up in a self-termination attack?"

"Suicide attack." Undertone corrected. "And yes, some humans will go to great lengths to wipe us out in defense of their country or planet. We've all seen how far they'll go."

"Yeah, we have." Sparkplug thought about it and sighed. "We won't learn anything waiting for them to move first. This could be beneficial to us in the long run at least."

"Sparkplug, there could be dozens of things out there that I can't pick up with me eyes, nya." Emulator said.

"She's right. Skywatch isn't afraid to turn us into weapons against their own kind. They won't risk meeting even us without backup." Roll Bar cautioned.

"Hence why I'm bringing Undertone along for extra protection." Sparkplug and Undertone slid down the hill and transformed. "Leadership has risks, Roll Bar. Why do you think I'm hanging out with Optimus?"

Out at the rendezvous point, Horiuchi and his two lieutenants, Klonowski and Larson, stood waiting for the two Minicons to reach them. The colonel was outwardly calm, but his companions were a bit…antsy.

"Here he comes." Horiuchi said.

"Yeah, if that's the leader at all and not just a cruise miss aimed at us." Klonowski grumbled.

"No, it's him. Call sign Sparkplug. Not clear on who his partner is, though." Larson said, lowering her binoculars.

"All right then. I'll do the talking." Horiuchi told his aids. "Let's see if that intel is worth what it cost us."

The three agents waited for Sparkplug and Undertone to dive up and assume robot mode before saluting him. If the colonel showed any awkwardness at greeting a cybertronian no bigger than a child, he certainly didn't show it.

"Hello, Sparkplug!" Horiuchi greeted sharply. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure's mine, colonel." Sparkplug said, shaking his hand. "This is my friend, Undertone. My friends didn't want me going in alone, so I brought him along."

Undertone said nothing, but he bowed his head in greeting. Horiuchi returned the gesture.

"I understand if you're confused as to why we're here, Sparkplug, so I'll simply get to the point. The reason we brought this to you." Horiuchi pointed to the crate. "Is this-we need an army."

"Uh, don't you have one?" Sparkplug asked.

"We do. One that's three quarters on standby and under intense scrutiny by the executive branch thanks to our colossal failure without then-unknown captured cybertronians." He explained. "Strictly speaking, Skywatch is under house arrest, and we are the only group on the planet with the knowledge and resources capable of not only combating the Decepticons but also locating your missing Minicon friends."

Sparkplug narrowed his eyes. "Colonel, what are you proposing here?"

"Sparkplug, I'm proposing that you and your Minicons come work for us. I'm proposing that we form a strike team of humans and Minicons to help finish your mission to locate the rest of your kin and fight off the Decepticons behind the public eye." Horiuchi turned to Klonowski. "Lieutenant, if you please…"

Klonowski entered a code in the security pad and popped the crate open. Inside were a pile of badges in the shake of the Skywatch logo.

"It's taken a solid month for our people to create this tech, using loyalists in the major weapons manufacturers. Allodyne, Dynamic, Dark Matter Logic-they're the ones that made our talos on the side." Horiuchi said.

"Never seen 'em." Sparkplug noted. "And hopefully today won't be the first?"

"Don't worry, you're safe. Even our Mobile Armor units are confined to base." The colonel said. "We're had the top people working on this project secretly-using intel no one outside Skywatch knows."

"You may not know this, but Skywatch satellites were designed to track living energon signals using data acquired from our dormant cybertronian prisoners." Lieutenant Larsen said. "They can track and record your location down from the visual 6-mile radius to 1000 yards. At best, any robot has thirty minutes before a Skywatch team has dispatched to its location."

Sparkplug looked at his timer on his wrist panel. "Uh, how long again?"

"But now," Horiuchi held up a badge. "These badges scramble your exact location so that you're back at the 6-mile radius again. You're both harder to find to our sats and muffled to terrestrial ground energon detectors. Moreover, the signal identifies itself to our system as friendly."

"Hmm. That's…impressive," Sparkplug said. Undertone eyed the badges with a critical eye. "But colonel, forgive me, but why do you need us? We're Minicons, critical as our role may be in this conflict in Terra, by ourselves, we aren't that useful."

"Well," Horiuchi's expression turned grim. "Larson, show him the pictures."

Larson pulled some pictures out of her vest and handed them to Sparkplug, who looked them over with his own grim expression. The photos were of a devastating attack and showed many humans dead-some not even in one piece. They were all depicting massacres of different levels of brutality, all caused by wide spread destruction common among Decepticon raids.

"A week ago, Dynamic was brutally attacked by three Decepticons, their designations unknown, and they were supported by a group of Minicons. A few days ago, the same attack happened at Allodyne. Seventy people are confirmed dead and the attacks were led by Leader-1."

"Yes, I know him very well." Sparkplug said. "He excels in operations like this when not acting as Megatron's power-up."

"We don't know what he wants, but their attacks are thorough and devastating. They don't want any witnesses announcing their plans." He said. "And what's disturbing is that there's evidence that they're attacking Skywatch affiliated facilities, pointing to the fact that they know about us."

"And you want us to investigate this without alerting your superiors or the Autobots until the time is right." Sparkplug deduced. Horiuchi smiled and nodded.

"Yes. Together we can figure out the Decepticons' motives and should it escalate into a battle at large, you can notify your Autobot comrades." He said. "I believe we can work together to make Terra a safer place for both our peoples, and this is the first step in that direction. Are you in, sparkplug?"

Back at the ridge, Roll Bar and Emulator were still waiting anxiously for their leader. Emulator was playing with her tail when she finally got sick of waiting.

"What's he doing, nya?"

"The colonel's giving him something. Looks like a…dinner plate?" Roll Bar said, trying to make out what was going on. "Hey, they're coming back."

Roll Bar and Emulator went to meet up with Sparkplug and Undertone as they drove up to them. Roll Bar immediately caught sight of a badge on the yellow mech's chest.

"Sparkplug, what's that?" Roll Bar asked.

"I'll explain the details later. But as of now," Sparkplug took on robot mode with a hard look in his eyes. "We're back in business."

XXXXXX

Leader-1 forgot how much he loved leading assaults on the field personally. In a wat between giants, one couldn't do much when you were barely past their ankles, it's hard to truly get in on the action and let loose. But on Terra, with enemies the same size as him, he could let go and kill as many people as he wanted. Even better when his victims were humans who thought they could get away with using Decepticons as weapons.

When they returned to the Nemesis with Soundwave, Ravage and Laserbeak were quick to inform Megatron of their capture at Skywatch's hands, who dug them up from the volcano following their defeat at Bludgeon's hands and tried to use them as scouts to sniff out other cybertronians. Megatron was furious, of course, and had ordered the destruction of that accursed base their comrades were being kept in, capturing most of the essential personnel. Soundwave had gotten a lot of information from the prisoners that proved useful, especially from that man, Joshua Red.

Skywatch was nowhere near the same level as OZ on the threat level scale, but they were pretty high in terms of annoyance. Digging up the Dynobots and reprogramming them into living weapons? Using Ravage and Laserbeak as their own little alien bloodhounds? To think that they thought they could use cybertronians to fight other cybertronians. Powerful as they were, the Dynobots were not the strongest warriors out there (but Primus knew they were high up on the list).

For the past six months the Decepticons had been hunting down Skywatch cells across the country, and even abroad as well, in retaliation for their slight against them. Normally the Cons wouldn't pay so much attention to one little measly organization, but they weren't taking chances after OZ's growing danger to their mission on Terra. Aside from attacking the facilities that were found in Red's memories, they also had to gain whatever data they could from the surviving bases, which is where Leader-1 and the Mini-Cons came in. His job was basically kill all the humans to leave no witnesses, get whatever they could find, and leave the place. Things had been slow in regards to finding more targets, but they hadn't run into any problems yet.

Their target was another Skywatch base, an underground research facility hidden way out in the Mojave Desert with a regular military base on the surface acting as some half-assed decoy. The place even had a hologram posing as a guard! What made it even more ridiculous was that according to their intel, this base was called the Pit. What a joke.

There was only one way in and out of the Pit, an elevator shaft 1 meter wide for soldiers and vehicles to enter and leave, and possibly a hidden airstrip for aircraft, but Leader-1 didn't care about that. The Pit was going to be their tomb.

"Kill them all and leave no survivors! We came here for one thing and one things only!" Darkshadow told her team.

They struck with the fury of the entire Decepticon team. Wreckage blew a hole in the shaft and went down first with Guncannon and Demolishor in tow, initiating a devastating first strike on the unsuspecting humans. No room to run, no room to fight, and no room to call for help of any kind.

What few military vehicles and talos they were able to bring online was brought out to fight off the ground unit, but Wreckage, Demolishor and Guncannon was like taking on a wall of M1 Abrams tanks. The three Cons just forced themselves through whatever came their way and provided ample distraction for the enemy forces so that the Mini-Cons could sneak into the base and make their way toward their main objective-the base's servers.

"Shoot down anyone in your way. Don't slow down or we're leaving you behind." Leader-1 said.

Leader-1 was already moving onward, following the directions that he ripped out of his last hostage. Behind him, Search was using his sensory equipment to locate the mass of data transmitting from the main servers while the Air Military Team swooped down on the humans, dropping bombs down on the enemy soldiers. Cannon, Overload, and Skid-Z covered his rear as he carved a bloody path through the base, making sure to stay hidden from mobile artillery fire.

Looking back at this op, Leader-1 would admit to how odd the Pit was; almost a whole square mile of land was hollowed out underground and looked more like a military based built into the caves around it. There were talos hangars, munition stores, medical facilities and living quarters. Definitely not your average military installation.

"We're close. It's in the larger buildings by the munition plant!" Search said. He quickly shifted forms and sped around the corner. "Somewhere down this stre-"

A tank shell hit the ground in front of him, blasting him back headfirst into a flagpole before landing on his front. The Mini-Cons immediately took cover as mecha tank-type talos rolled into defensive positions, fully armed and ready for combat.

"Slag! Search, you still alive?" Leader-1 yelled. "Search! Answer me, damn it!"

"He's knocked out. Thankfully we know where the servers are." Thunder said.

"Yeah, it's defended by a wall of death." Zapmaster said, ducking as another missile hit way too close to his position. "Call in the Bulks. This is there job!"

"They're too busy drawing out the bulk of this base's forces. We're on our own." Cannon said. "What's the plan boss?"

Leader-1's first inclination was to have the Air Military Team carpet bomb the tanks, but they were busy covering their rear. Luckily for him, he had a secret weapon on hand just for this mission-Soundwave.

"Hope you assholes said your prayers!" Leader-1 chucked the transformed spymaster and took cover behind a fountain. This was going to be messy.

The talos pilots thought Leader-1 had thrown a grenade at them-but it was much worse than that. The tiny cassette player transformed into a 24 foot tall Decepticon. The sight of such a large robot changing from a tiny cassette player was shocking enough for the humans, and Soundwave capitalized on this.

He smashed his fists into the talos, and smacked away the ones he didn't get in his initial attack. Leader-1 felt immense satisfaction at seeing one of those hunks of scrap get crushed, its pilot getting crushed into bloody paste. The others were swiftly smashed apart or blown to bits by a few shots from Soundwave's rocket launcher. The spymaster tore through the team with such ease that he barely had a scratch on him.

"Leader-1," Soundwave said. "Move in and secure the data. I detect more soldiers coming."

"You heard him. Move it!" Leader-1 yelled. Soundwave shrank back into his microcassette form and Leader-1 ran into the server room. It may be too early to celebrate, but Leader-1 felt like they had just won.

XXXXXX

At the same time, miles from the massacre going on, Sparkplug was leading a strike team consisting of Undertone, Emulator, Turbo and Jolt. They, just like the rest of the Minicons, were all sporting nice and shiny Skywatch badges, courtesy of the colonel.

It took some effort to convince the rest of the Minicons of the future benefits of the deal. Fortunately, Sparkplug had a way with words; if they weren't taken with the thought of having allies focusing on the recovery of their kin, then the idea of future sovereignty on Terra did. A home for them to live in, a commune for Minicons. Something they've all been working and fighting to achieve.

But for now, they had to worry about the threats of the present. Their computers had detected four Decepticon signals that appeared close to a human run refinery in a remote area.

"Stay alert." Roll Bar told his team via internal comm. "Rumble and Frenzy are dangerous enough alone, but with Ravage and Laserbeak watching their backs, they could get the jump on us."

"Seems very unlikely, but I'm not complaining." Turbo said, hefting his plasma rifle onto his shoulder. "What's your plan?"

"Wait along the path to the refinery. There are only two straightforward ways to get to the plant on foot, so we only need to wait. Emulator can listen for any noises and the Air Defense Team will keep an eye in the sky." Roll Bar lifted his weapons, a plasma rifle and a photon pistol. "Once we spot the hostiles, we neutralize them before they get their act together."

What they didn't know was that the refinery was a private Skywatch owned facility. Only Sparkplug was privy to this little tidbit, but he figured that they'd be better off just saving the place and chasing the Cons off, no catches. If they can make this alliance work, then they were in luck.

Roll Bar got a beep on his comm from Undertone, just as Emulator announced the arrival of their targets. "They're coming straight down the path, nya."

"Got it. Get into position, guys, we get only one shot at this." Sparkplug said.

Roll Bar hid in the trees with Undertone while Gauge's Emergency Team also took their positions. Emulator remained in beast mode to better conceal her red form as it became evident that finding the Cons was going to be easy. They were louder than baboons during mating season.

"This slag is pissing me off!" Frenzy growled. He was in the lead tearing away branches and bushes in their way with Ravage and Rumble following him. "How far are we from this damn place, Ravage? My drills are getting jammed from all these fragging leaves!"

"We're getting close. I can smell the humans' scent in that direction." Ravage said, hopping over a decaying tree trunk. "And stop crying, you moron. Your loud mouth is going to give us away."

"Yeah, bro. I wanna gut somethin' fleshy as much as you do, but it's more fun to catch 'e, by surprise. Can't do that with you whinin'." Rumble said.

"Them's fighthin' words, bro." Frenzy growled, spinning his drills angrily.

"Enough you damn fools. We need to reach the refinery before…" Ravage trailed off, freezing in place as he caught something with his nose. "Wait, hold on."

"What?" Rumble asked.

"I smell something…something strange." Ravage continued to sniff the air and soil around him. "I think we're being followed-gah!"

Something small was shot into Ravage's back and a violent surge of electricity ran through him. It was quick but devastating enough to knock Ravage like a light. Rumble and Frenzy went on guard and faced the forest back to back.

"Who did that?! We know it's you, you little flesh bags!" Frenzy yelled, lifting his photon rifle.

"Come on our and we'll make your deaths as painless as possible." Rumble said, lifting his pile driver arms.

Undertone fell on top of him from above, stabbing his swords into Rumble's shoulders and pulling him aside. Frenzy spun around to help his brother, but Emulator lunged at him from her hiding place, digging her plug-claws into his back and shocking him. Roll Bar and the Emergency Team sprang out from cover shooting at the two brothers.

"Slag!" Frenzy threw Emulator off him and fired his rifle at her. Laser bolts pelted his body as he ran for cover behind a tree. "Laserbeak, we need help down here!"

"I need help up here!" Laserbeak cawed. Above the forest canopy, the avian Con was being assaulted by the small Air Defense Team, who swarmed him like flies, and peppered him with laser blasts from all directions. But the worst part of this ambush for Laserbeak was the incessant chatter of the Minicons as they taunted him.

"Polly want a cracker?" Sonar taunted.

"Cheep, cheep, cheep!" Jetstorm laughed.

"What's the matter, Laserbeak? You chicken?" Runway said.

Laserbeak fired his wing cannons at the trio, trying to shoot down one of them, but they moved expertly in the air so as not to let anyone get singled out by the larger Con. Laserbeak couldn't do anything against them, he was fighting a losing battle!

The situation was worse on the ground. The Minicons were dealing serious damage to the two Cons. Rumble's arms were leaking energon from Undertone's attack and he couldn't use his pile drivers properly. He was only regulated to punching wildly at his enemies as they pushed towards him. Frenzy was in no better position, forced back and unable to emit a sonic scream in danger of bringing down the entire forest on them. The Emergency Team didn't let up on their assault with their powerful weapons, and Undertone and Roll Bar were no joke either. They were in a predicament and it was Ravage who gave the order.

"R-Retreat." Ravage rasped.

"Are you nuts? We ain't runnin' from these pipsqueaks!" Rumble yelled.

"T-Those pipsqueaks are tearing us apart, you idiot! We must retreat or they'll kill us all!" Ravage growled.

"I ain't runnin'!" Frenzy argued.

"Fortunately, it's not your choice to make." Ravage replied.

Ravage activated the recall chip and the four of them disappeared in a beam of light as they were taken away from the combat zone by an orbital bounce. Not the most efficient type of tech to use, but it was good for quick getaways. The four Cons were gone in a heartbeat.

"Goodbye and good riddance." Gauge said.

"We actually won? Holy scrap, we actually beat back Soundwave's pets!" Runway cheered.

"Roll Bar to base, mission complete. We've fought back the Cons." Roll Bar called in.

"We're hearing you loud and clear, Roll Bar. We'll be sending you-" The transmission cut off abruptly.

"Sparkplug?"

"This is Colonel Horiuchi. Well done, Minicons. I'll be sending a Skywatch tactical unit to secure the area."

"Um…all right. Acknowledged. We'll be out of here in a few minutes." Roll Bar said, feeling very uneasy.

"Hey, Roll Bar, did you know these badges had radios?" Gauge asked.

"No, kind of a big detail to leave out, don't you think?"

"Yeah, and that makes me even more uneasy about all this." Gauge sighed. "I hope our fearless leader knows what he's doing."

"He does, and that's what makes me worried." Roll Bar grumbled as a ground bridge appeared.

XXXXXX

Days passed and things didn't get any easier. Once they learned that the Decepticons were actively attacking Skywatch owned facilities, they tried to figure out why the Cons would go to such great lengths to attack a human organization that was of a lesser threat level than OZ. It was Sparkplug who put the pieces together.

"Maybe Skywatch didn't just have the Dynobots under their control. Maybe they also had a Decepticon as well, which is why the Cons are trying so hard to wipe Skywatch out." He said one afternoon.

"Vengeance?" Jolt hummed. "But, I thought Megatron didn't do revenge missions for his soldiers?"

"Not if it was a matter or Decepticon pride. Remember that whole mess with Gina killing Lugnut? Megatron came after them to set an example, to show that no alien, let alone an organic, got away with killing a mighty Decepticon warrior and lived to boast about it. Skywatch must have made the same mistake and Megatron's out for blood."

"And he's not taking any chances anymore like he did with OZ." Roll Bar said.

"Wait, so Skywatch had captured cybertronians and OZ sabotaged them, leading to those guys being set free, right? Road Storm asked. "So, how the hell did they not notice that they were being punked by an outside party?"

"The human mind is a strange thing under stress, Road Storm. But right now, we need to focus on preventing another attack like before." Sparkplug said.

"But nothing's happened for days, Sparkplug. Haven't got a peep from the Cons since two days ago." Firebot said. "And then there's these badges-I'm not liking this, Sparkplug."

"None of us are." Roll Bar said. Sparkplug sighed.

"Look, one thing at a time. I'll call up the colonel for a full explanation on these badges, but he's busy searching for new targets for us to find. For now, let's just stay calm and-"

"Attention, Minicons. This is colonel Horiuchi. You have done very well. I can see my faith was not misplaced." Horiuchi's voice came from the badges as clear as it could be despite the slight interference. "I'm sorry for the radio silence. The last Decepticon raid was at a major location that led to a lot of deaths and the loss of a valuable intelligence. Things have been…hectic, to say the least."

"I'm sorry to hear about that, colonel, but we understand." Sparkplug switched on the computer to properly talk with the colonel face to face. "We were just discussing out next move. So far, the Cons seem to alternate between using Minicons as infiltration teams and all out assaults on larger installations. Do you have another possible location for us?"

"I'm afraid not, Sparkplug. We haven't had much luck on our own end either, so we've inserted a couple of new targets in their place."

Four new images appeared on the screen. They were blurry, but their identities were clear enough-Crack, Bomb, Shot, and Night Scream.

"The Land Military Team and Night Hunter?" Sparkplug gaped. "Colonel what is the meaning of this? They're not Decepticons, they're Minicons, like us!"

"I know. It should be easy for you to convince them to turn themselves over." Horiuchi said calmly. "We need to be assured that all remaining Minicons are on the side of law and order. Any rogue members-"good guys" though they may be-must be brought into Skywatch custody."

"Like a smelting furnace that we will!" Road Storm yelled, pushing his way to the front. "Those cool cats are one of us! We don't hunt down members of our own crew, old men!"

Colonel Horiuchi didn't look the least bit concerned with Road Storm's attitude as he spoke to the man next to him. "Lieutenant Klonowski, what's that one's name?"

"Road Storm, sir."

"Okay, Road Storm…Road Storm…" He looked down at something out of view. "Let's see…number C2. Ah, got it."

There was a click and Road Storm gave a pained scream as he lurched over and his body suddenly transformed into his motorcycle alt mode and fell over.

"Road Storm!" Sparkplug exclaimed in horror. "What did you do to him?"

"He's fine, Sparkplug. He's stuck in his vehicle form until his temper cools off." Horiuchi said.

"Those badges-I think they have some kind of inhibitor in them!" Roll Bar said. He tried pulling his badge off but got a painful shock in return. "Colonel, you son of a bitch!"

"I'm sorry, Minicons, but you are looking at the latest in our research of the captured cybertronians that escaped Skywatch. These badges are our answer to our lack of means to subdue your kind. You see, this isn't just for public relations that we need the Autobots to be harmless to humanity. It's safety too." The colonel said. "There is a large gap between our technological capabilities and yours-though we have a treaty, there is nothing stopping the Autobots from pretty much doing what they want, laws or not. We can't touch them without sparking an international incident."

"But you can touch us." Sparkplug growled, feeling angrier than he ever been since awakening on Terra. "You want to use us as hostages to rein the Autobots in."

"Think of this as keeping the peace. We have the military police keeping us from getting out of control. You have these." He said, not fazed by Sparkplug's anger at all. "Now just take a moment, recalibrate those gears, my friends…and go get them."

XXXXXX

Shot was in a bad moon, which never was a good thing. Problem number one, they were woken up from a pretty decent sleep cycle by Sparkplug. The second problem was they were told to come to the desert around their hideout at noon of all places. Everyone knew an unhappy Shot was an unhappy team. Night Hunter experienced that too many times.

"I'm gonna kill that little glitch." Shot grumbled.

"Shot, just calm down." Night Hunter sighed. Dealing with the Land Military Team was just too exhausting sometimes.

"Can't deny that it's strange, though. Sparkplug's not the type of mech to be so vague." Crack said.

"Must be the stress of having the human media on his aft. I heard there are news teams still searching for the Minicon base for a chance to interview with him." Bomb aid.

"Of course." Crack grumbled.

"Hold up, guys. Just found a ground bridge on our six." Shot said.

The four-mech team went towards where they saw Sparkplug coming out of the portal. Night Hunter instantly noted how the yellow Micron leader looked really depressed and lifeless, not his usual bright self. Something about his dour expression didn't sit well with him.

"Sparkplug!" Night Hunter greeted his friend, hoping that Sparkplug was just having a bad day. "Good to see you again."

"Likewise." Sparkplug smiled, though it was obviously forced. "How are things with you and the LM Team?"

"Uh, we're not trying to kill each other, so that's a plus." Night Hunter said.

"What's with the badge?" Shot abruptly asked. His heavy armored frame tensed up when he monitored Sparkplug's expression.

"It's a new badge, for a new team." Sparkplug said slowly. "Guys, we've managed to score a deal with a colonel from that Skywatch group I told you about. He's willing to help us with what resources he has at his disposal…with some conditions."

"What conditions?" Crack asked cautiously.

"Guys, things have changed in the last couple of days, and we Minicons have a big job ahead of us."

"Be straight with us, Sparkplug, what's going on? You're acting weird." Night Hunter asked.

"Shot." Bomb whispered, noticing the other Minicons approaching them in a circle.

"I see 'em." Shot replied, not looking away from Sparkplug. "What the hell did you get yourself into, Sparky?"

"These badges were given to us by the colonel, who wants us to investigate the attacks on the Skywatch facilities and apprehend any…rogue elements." Sparkplug said.

It did take long for Shot to get his meaning. "You bastard! Arm up, team!"

The Land Military Team immediately raised their weapons at Sparkplug and the others, but Night Hunter got between them

"What the hell are you doing?" Night Hunter growled.

"This piece of slag sold us out to the humans!" Shot shouted. "Capture us rogues and pass us over to them like cattle to those damn fleshies so they can sleep easier!"

"I'm sorry, Shot but we don't have a choice."

"I don't care!" Shot transformed into his tank mode and shot a pulse blast at Sparkplug, hitting him in the chest. As Sparkplug was thrown back by the blast, Emulator rushed out of the ground bridge lobbing an EMP grenade at them.

"No!" Night Hunter cried out before he and the others were taken out by the EMP surge.

"Sparkplug!" Roll Bar ran over to Sparkplug, who was clutching his chest.

"I'm okay! Th-that shot hit me dead center. I should be in stasis." Sparkplug breathed.

"It could be that." Roll Bar pointed to the badge on Sparkplug's chest, which was smoking and sparkling. "Those things may allow the colonel to spy on us and zap us when we disobey, but at least they're good for something."

"Yeah," Sparkplug muttered. "Emulator, are they secure?"

"Yeah, they are, nya." Emulator said.

"All right, take them back to base. We're not handing them over to Horiuchi. I've got a bone to pick with that piece of slag." Sparkplug growled.

XXXXXX

Sparkplug ordered their prisoners to be taken to their quarters and watched over while he dealt with the colonel. As expected, Colonel Horiuchi appeared on the monitor not looking very happy.

"Sparkplug, what is the meaning of this? Where are your prisoners?" He demanded. "You were supposed to turn them over to Skywatch heavy transport at 0830 today."

"I thought the badges told you everything. They're here with us, and we're not turning them over." Sparkplug said.

"What?!" For the first time since they met, Sparkplug saw Horiuchi lose his composure. "Sparkplug, perhaps you have forgotten our arrangement, but-"

"No, I haven't. I know you can disable us from that board of yours. There is no arrangement, its slavery, plain and simple. The very thing we Minicons left Cybertron to escape." Sparkplug growled. He didn't break his gaze from the Colonel's as he continued. "Today, one of my comrades, a member of the group I risked everything to free from warfare and slavery, tried to kill me. And to be honest, I don't blame him. I'd do the same thing if my commander asked me to do the unacceptable."

Sparkplug shook his head. "Do you see, colonel? I asked him to become what I've become and he would rather have killed me than let that happen."

"Sparkplug, these are the pitfalls of command. You are inexperienced. You will get better."

"No, this won't happen again. The only reason you have a leash on us is because you people are incapable of touching the Autobots. We're slaves and hostages to be used against our will to harm our friends," Sparkplug said passionately. "And I'm done doing your dirty work!"

"Sparkplug, what are you doing?" Roll Bar asked. Sparkplug just gave him a confident smile.

"Sparkplug, you haven't experienced the kill-switch, so I understand your bravery. Perhaps you should ask your impetuous friend Road Storm. He knows what you're setting yourself up for." Horiuchi said.

Sparkplug just glared up at him defiantly.

"If you think that this show of passive resistance will impress me, you are sorely mistaken." Horiuchi ran his finger across the control board for Sparkplug's ID number. "I have risked everything to do this. I won't allow you to stop me from helping you help my world."

"The fact that you can still veil all of this under honeyed words is just sad, colonel." He replied.

Horiuchi scowled. "So be it, Sparkplug. B3."

There was a click, but nothing happened. Sparkplug looked at his still smoking badge, expecting some painful shock any moment now, but nothing happened. Roll Bar, Emulator, and Astroscope looked at him in surprise.

"What's the matter with this thing? Klonowski, get over here!" Horiuchi growled.

Roll Bar was the first to realize what was going on and leaned over to Sparkplug "Sparkplug, play along! Scream! Transform! Don't let him know you're free. Do it, quickly!"

Sparkplug complied and gave the "best" scream he could manage, stumbling back and collapsing into vehicle mode. Horiuchi made a pleased sound, grateful that it worked.

"Do you see now, Sparkplug? This is what stands in the way of progress. We need you standing with us, all of you." He said, trying to sound sympathetic to their struggle. "We have no desire to make you our enemy. I'm releasing your vehicle mode lock now, so please let's-"

"Colonel Horiuchi, hold on-there's something wrong. He can't seem to transform." Roll Bar said.

"What?"

"Yes, it's his badge. It was damaged. It must be stuck in lock mode."

"Blast it! I released him! Klonowski, what is he talking about." The colonel growled.

"Sir, I'm sure he's correct. Roll Bar is the technician on their team. If it won't allow him to change, then we'll need to go out there and replace it." Klonowski said. Horiuchi groaned.

"Couldn't our people have made these things a little sturdier? I mean..." Horiuchi took a deep breath. "Fine. Minicons, we are coming to your headquarters at 0800 hours. Until then, I am appointing Roll Bar as interim leader. Horiuchi out."

The minute the screen went dark, Sparkplug changed forms and stood up. "Good call, Roll Bar. Faking out a glitch kill switch yet switching the truth around? Annie would be proud. What's our next plan?"

He was expecting suggestions from his team, but no one said anything. Sparkplug blinked in confusion for a moment before it clicked.

"Oh, I get it. Your badges still work. You're all still monitored on the Colonel's radio. And I'm the only one who can move and speak freely. Right, Roll Bar?" Sparkplug asked his friend, who nodded silently.

Sparkplug took a minute to properly plan his next move. "First thing's first, we need a replica of me to act in my place while I go find a way to free you. Maybe…a holomatter projection, nothing fancy, just something that can fool the colonel. Can you do that?"

Roll Bar and Liftor both nodded, making Sparkplug smile. "Okay. Now while you're doing that, I'm going to need some help from our…friends." His face fell. "I am so sorry I dragged you all into this. But I'm going to fix this…or die trying."

XXXXXX

Megatron tapped a finger on his crossed arms as he waited for Soundwave to sift through the data Leader-1's unit had collected from the Pit. It was a successful mission all around, but Megatron was interested in what they brought back, to see if it was worth the effort.

"How long until you decrypt the data, Soundwave?" Megatron asked.

"It will take a while the decrypt the data due to the layers of firewalls around it, Megatron." Soundwave said. His head was connected to the main computer with a cable as he helped the AI unravel the protection surrounding the massive amounts of data they acquired.

"We're taking a big risk here, Megatron." Nightshade told her leader. "Skywatch is nowhere near the same level as OZ, but they have weapons capable of dealing significant damage to us. Leader-1 already told me that they might have weapons reverse-engineered from their captured cybertronians."

"All the more reason to wipe them out. These humans didn't even have an inkling about us and yet they think they can keep our kind in chains. It's time to teach them the folly of their hubris." Megatron said. "They are a secret organization, and thus they can't call for help from just anybody, not even from the Autobots, without risking exposing their dirty little secrets."

Megatron knew what he was doing. This had nothing to do with the war; this was revenge, a matter of pride. Two Decepticons were treated like animals and nearly turned against their own kind, putting their mission on this planet at risk. The sheer arrogance of such backwater humans who think they're protected thanks to their government contacts. This will be paid back in blood, and Megatron intended to collect the due.

"Megatron, we're receiving a message over our comm channel from orbit." Soundwave said.

"Who is it?"

"It is the Decepticon Seeker, Sprawl."

XXXXXX

Sparkplug supposed that he was lucky that Shot was locked behind bars, because the minute he stepped into his sights, Shot tried to strangle him. Night Hunter calmed him down just long enough to properly explain the circumstances to his comrades.

"Thanks to you, I'm off the colonel's grid, and I'm having Liftor and Roll Bar make a holomatter of my alt mode to fool him. Right now, I need allies to help me find a way to get the others free and you're the Minicons only Minicons I can count on." He said.

"So this all boils down to you screwing up and getting us all into deep slag." Shot said. It wasn't an accusation, he made it sound like he was crudely stating a fact. "You really expect us to help you dumb ass after tryin' to capture us?"

"Tone it down, Shot." Night Hunter said. "But he has a right to be mad. What possessed you to make deals with Skywatch after knowing what they tried to do with the Cons?"

"It was a rogue group I thought genuinely wanted to help us. No one could've expected them to have technology like that at their disposal." Sparkplug saw that Shot wasn't budging and decided to lay down the law. "Look, Shot, you owe me at least one favor after shooting me in the chest. If you want to think that I'm unfit to lead, go ahead…but I am the leader. As long as you wear the Micron symbol, you are under my authority, understood?"

'Holy slag.' Night Hunter thought as he looked between Sparkplug and Shot. Crack and Bomb were also expecting (and hoping) for a fight. But it seemed Shot was barely restraining himself, arms tightly crossed across his chest.

"I'm not asking you to do this for me. I'm asking you, not ordering you, to help me save our friends we're a team and we have a job to do. It's not any more complicated than that, Shot. I'm here as a friend and as a teammate for your help."

Shot was silent for a moment before nodding. "Okay, I'll help you. So will the others, I'm guessing, but only on the condition that you get those kids to lend a hand as well."

"The kids?" Sparkplug asked. "Why involve them?"

"To keep you from shooting us in the back. Screw us over and you pals get dragged down along with us." Shot said darkly. "And right now, I trust those brats more than I trust you."

XXXXXX

Later that day, Sparkplug stood in front of his Minicon team, who were assembled in the command center.

"Minicons, we have reached a decision. None of you can speak without giving something away to the colonel and his people, so let me give voice to your fears." Sparkplug said. "I have stood up to an enemy who has wrapped his hands around our necks. I am embarking on a mission which could if discovered, put us all in danger of being scrapped. I've brought all of you to the brink of oblivion, but let me tell you one thing…I will not let that happen."

Sparkplug looked at the faces of his team, the mechs and femmes who trusted him. "You put your trust in me and I led you into a cage…just as I led us all here, to Terra. Here we are factching a humans' rogues in exchange for mercy, and let me tell you, that is not a life to live. You all stood by me and I have trapped you a second time-unable to speak of anything but the most banal of pleasantries. Let me tell you, that will not continue."

'You tell it, Sparkplug.' Roll Bar thought.

"Minicons, you have to be patient. You must continue to follow the colonel's orders. Be silent and do not give away our intentions." Sparkplug said. "I'm working with the LM Team and the children to get us out of this mess and bring Horiuchi to justice."

Sparkplug reached up and tore off his badge. "Minicons of the Exodus, I won't let you down. I will disable these badges and free you. We determine our own destiny, and together we will decide how to show humanity exactly what we're made of. And show the colonel that he shouldn't be worried about the Autobots…he should be worried about us."

XXXXXX

When he ground bridged to Gina's home the next morning, he was expecting the disappointing looks on the children's faces when he saw them. Even still, it hurt to see such disappointment aimed at him, especially from the children.

"I can't believe you, Sparkplug. You're usually not this sloppy when it comes to things like this." High Wire said.

"And after everything we told you about Skywatch." Gina said, sighing. Darren, however, wasn't in the mood for berating an already beaten down Sparkplug.

"There's no sense in scolding Sparkplug when he's already learned his lesson. Right now, we need to focus on the mission." Darren said.

"He's right." Sureshock said. The tightness of her voice made Sparkplug wince. "What's your plan, Sparkplug?"

Sparkplug gave them an update; Roll Bar had developed a text-only system that used a frequency unknown to the humans. It had to be assumed that their total comm output will be monitored by Skywatch code breakers, so they had to keep massages to a minimum. Speaking in cybertronian would only arouse their suspicions.

"I've applied the faulty badge to your decoy avatar." Liftor said via text-speech. "My study of the badge reveals components: standard microchip array, incapacitating battery camouflaged as redundant power backup and radar cloak."

The radar cloak's primary component is stabilized darmstadium. A very rare, very heavy and very secret metal currently being tested in Osean talos as new armor composite. Despite the relatively small percentage of recipitants, the best way to do it would be to see who receives the largest amount.

Sparkplug waited until dark to head out into the shipping yard to investigate the crates just loaded into port. For this mission, he had Gina's Athena watching over him and Centurion while cloaked.

"I'm sending you the possible crates containing darmstadium. Two crates match its weight calculations and my scans show it's most likely to be the one closer to you." She told them.

"Roger that." Sparkplug said as he and Centurion climbed the fence.

The two Minicons headed towards the third container on the far left, where Centurion glided over to the side to see where it was being transported to.

"Dark Matter Logic." Centurion said.

"The colonel said something about having loyalists inside Dark Matter Logic and Allodyne build those badges." Sparkplug said. "All right, we're learned all that we needed to know. Let's head-"

Centurion grabbed his arm and pulled him aside as a plasma beam shot past where he was standing. The shot came from Leader-1, who was marching down from the sea with the Sea Team flanking him.

"Looks like you landlubbers ran into our booty before we did." Oceanglide said. "Can't have that, can we?"

"Don't even think about it." Centurion pointed his cannons at them. "You may outnumber us, but I'm strong enough to fight all of you."

"And he won't be alone." Sparkplug said, pointing his rifle at Leader-1.

"All of us? Does that include our other friend, too?"

An explosion came from where Gina's talos was sitting on the hill, surprising Centurion and Sparkplug.

"Gina!" Centurion yelled.

His distraction allowed Waterlog to fire his torpedo at the gestalt, causing Centurion to leap over the project. Leader-1 transformed and fired his twin cannons at Sparkplug, who quickly backed away from the crates.

"Gina, are you alright?" Sparkplug called out. "Please tell me you aren't hurt!"

He got his answer when Gina's talos came crashed down onto the container next to him, smashing the crate with its weight. It was covered in light burns, but also sported a large dent in its torso, as if something large and heavy had slammed into it.

"Gina?" Centurion called out.

"I'm fine. I just got caught by surprise. Jinkies…" Gina moved her talos to grab Sparkplug and Centurion and fly away before a missile hit the crate she was sitting on. The Mini-Cons avoided the fiery debris that nearly hit them.

"Watch it, Sprawl! You'll fry us like a pot of lobsters!" Oceanglide yelled. An large dark blue bomber jet flew overhead at high speeds.

"But I didn't, did I? Now you brats better scram before I level this entire port trying to hit the purple one." Sprawl said.

The Athena glided along trails of Sol particles as it weaved through the shipyard with the large Seeker on their tail.

"Gina, what's going on? How did he find you?" Sparkplug asked.

"No idea. The guy just appeared behind me like a ninja and kicked me off the hill before I could do anything." Gina said. "Hold on, I need to get us out of here!"

"But the darmstadium!" Centurion protested.

"We have enough info to continue from there, but I can't fight this guy with you two in tow." Gina said. She pressed a button and Teletran-1 sent out an emergency ground bridge for them.

Sprawl continued his pursuit of them, but he cut off his engagement when the purple and silver talos vanished into the portal. "Speedy little fraggers, aren't they?"

"Humans have made an art out of running." Leader-1 said.

"Shame we didn't torch out buddies. Bet Megatron would've been happy about that."

"They weren't our mission. This is." Leader-1 pointed to the remains of the crate Sparkplug was investigating.

"So what is this going to tell us? Your sky dancer fellow did some mighty large damage to it already." Oceanglide inquired.

Sprawl landed behind him in robot mode. "It tells us that we're on the right track."

XXXXXX

"Colonel?" Lieutenant Larson gently shook the sleeping colonel. "Colonel!"

"What is it? Are we there yet?" Horiuchi jolted up in his seat, rubbing his eyes.

"No, Colonel, not yet. A few more minutes." Larson looked at him, a bit concerned. "Are you alright?"

"Sorry, I'm fine, Lt. Larson. Just up late coordinating some details with Collins at Satcom." Horiuchi said, rubbing his face. "Using code so it looks like normal information transfer is…time consuming. It's just a little hard keeping all the plates spinning."

Lt. Klonowski frowned and looked out at the dense forest around them. "We're running out of loyalists, sir. Our many Lopez at the Phillips station was transferred to surveillance after some "questionable energy allocation". And I just got word of a Decepticon showing up at the docks before leveling it." Klonowski gave the colonel a hard look. "Colonel, if this little operation doesn't net us a Con before too long, we're going to be-"

"Yes, Lt. Klonowski, you've made it clear before. Those of us at the top are feeling it the most. The Decepticon's capture will be an accomplishment so bright that it will burn away all investigation into our methods." Horiuchi said. "That, plus a team of obedient robot soldiers suddenly on our side? Promotions all around, and definitely no questions asked."

"At least we'll look better than Agent Red's failure with the Thunder Lizard mechs."

"Those Minicons are only obedient to a fault, Colonel. Being restrained by kill switches like dogs on a leash. The least we can do is expect some more resistance like with Sparkplug." Klonowski said.

"They have to understand we all work within parameters. It's the cost of the latitude to operate, and the energy, we've given them. And so long as the Autobots' efforts remain beneficial to humanity, they will be unharmed and untouched."

"Their base is dead ahead, sir." Lt. Larson announced, driving the jeep toward the disguised drive way at the foot of the mountain that held the Minicon's base. "And if I may say, Klownowski, I'd rather be keeping an eye on the little ones than the bot bots entrancing the public."

Klonowski didn't reply but it was clear he didn't approve of such methods. The jeep cruised through the tunnel and stopped in the hangar area where Roll Bar waited with Liftor.

"Welcome, colonel. Thank you for coming." Roll Bar said cordially, though he was inwardly seething. "Sparkplug's state hasn't changed. As for what he said…after some thinking, the rest of us decided to support your plan."

"Yes, excellent Roll Bar." Horiuchi said, stepping out of the jeep with the control case in hand. "In any case, we brought his new badge. This should correct any problems caused by his damaged on."

"Sure, follow us."

As they led the trio to the command center, Liftor gave the lie they practiced with almost surgical precision. "We're not really sure what happened when you hit his kill-switch, colonel. He's stuck in vehicle mode and can't speak."

"Can't speak? These badges aren't designed to cause that kind of incapacitation." Horiuchi frowned. "Just transform and power down. Thinking and speech capabilities should still be green."

"Sorry, colonel. We don't know too much about the badges. The damage must have bypassed a system or two." Liftor shrugged.

Horiuchi hummed once they walked up to the fake holomatter Sparkplug. He nodded to Klonowski. "Get that badge on Sparkplug and let's get him working again."

"Yes, sir.

Roll Bar and Liftor glanced at each other briefly as Klonowski started working on removing the badge. As his subordinate worked, Horiuchi turned back to the two mechs.

"Roll Bar, with the way things have gone in the last 24 hours, I can understand if you Minicons are chaffing a bit at this situation." He said.

Roll Bar cleared his throat. "Uh, well no, of course not, colonel. It's just as we said-"

"It's crucial to stay the course, now, Roll Bar. Success is within our reach." Horiuchi said. "If things go well and you prove yourselves to Skywatch, maybe we can even convince the government to set aside a piece of land for your people. A sovereign nation, safely apart from humans."

"A prison." Roll Bar growled.

"What? No, no, Roll Bar. A reward. A reward for your loyalty and sacrifice." The colonel corrected, as if he was doing them favor.

"Colonel, we're all set."

"Great. Just give me a moment to set up this up." The colonel opened his cased and the pressed the button to release the new badge's kill switch. "Okay, Sparkplug, that should get you to normal. Sparkplug?"

The colonel gave an annoyed grunt and glared down at his board. "For heaven's sake, what's the matter with this thing? Klownoski, tell Sanjay he's got to give me another one of these control boards. I mean this is getting ridiculous."

Horiuchi looked up Roll Bar. "Roll Bar, this malfunctioning badge seems to have damaged him more than we thought. We're short on time, so I'm leaving him to your medics to fix Sparkplug."

"Even if that board's malfunction, it should have sparked some movement." Klownoski muttered.

"Klonowski? You look like you have something to say."

"Uh, nothing, sir. Just a bit tired." The lieutenant said, glancing back at the holomatter suspiciously.

"For the time being, I'm placing you in command, Roll Bar." Horiuchi informed them as he got into his jeep. "For now, I'm afraid, Sparkplug will have to remain that way."

"That's too bad." Roll Bar said, mentally smirking. "Thank you anyway, colonel."

XXXXXX

"The decoy worked!" Sparkplug sighed in relief. Not long after the colonel left, Liftor sent him another coded message. "He says he has a lead on who makes the control boards. Roll Bar's already sending me the info as we speak."

In the middle of Gina's workshop, the children and Minicons were gathered around Gina as she received the information on her computer.

"Sanjay Bharney, a mid-level researcher at Dark Matter Logic, one of the three runner up Talos manufacturing companies. He majors in computer science, mainly creating combat AI for military talos for piloting assistance." Gina listed off. "He also works for Horiuchi will have Barney work on a second control board that effects all badges."

"If properly altered, it could disable all the kill-switch badges." Sureshock theorized.

"Roll Bar said that the target will be at Bharney's residence due to the unofficial nature of the colonel's operation." Gina said. "Well, that saves us the trouble of having to break into a heavily guarded facility and raise alarms."

"Rats." Annie muttered, snapping her fingers. Grindor nudged her in the ribs.

"So how do we get the case?" High Wire asked.

"Let's scout the area and see what we can work with." Sparkplug said. "Once we see an opening, we'll move in and exploit it."

XXXXXX

As it turned out, there was an opening to exploit-a little girl.

Gina scouted out Sanjay's home in a little town where a Dark Matter Logic factory was located, focusing on designing the combat computers and such. He lived in a quiet suburban neighborhood with his daughter. Some snooping by Gina revealed that his wife was a casualty of a Karaba attack three years ago.

"You want us to use her to take the case?" Darren blinked at Sparkplug. "Sparkplug-"

"I know it's wrong to use a child like this, but we can't having you three breaking in and getting caught. The whole operation could crumble if we're not careful, and burglary is out of the question." Sparkplug said.

"It's the only way, Darren." Grindor said. "You and Annie will make contact with the girl and gain her trust. Gina will remain close by cloaked to bring you out in case of an emergency."

"Get there, get the case, and leave." Sparkplug said. "That Con's appearance the other night has me worried."

And so the twins went about their reluctant task of meeting the girl. Posing as two kids visiting town, they road up to the house on High Wire and Grindor, and saw the girl playing jump rope in the front yard. She was a cute girl, small with round rosy cheeks and short brown hair. Seeing her playing happily made the twins remember how things were for them before all of…this.

'I'm going to hell for this. I know it.' Darren thought. "Hey there!"

The girl stopped and looked over to them. She smiled brightly and waved at them. "Hi!"

"Sorry to bother you. We're visiting town with our parents." Darren said. "I'm Darren and this is my sister Annie."

"I'm Serena." The girl said. "You two look the same."

"Yeah, we get that a lot." Annie smirked.

"Say, Serena, is your daddy home?" Darren asked.

"No, he's at work, but he'll be back soon. But my house keeper, Swati's here." Serena chirped. "Um, do you know daddy?"

"We do in fact! He's helping us keep a very important secret and we're just helping him as a thank you." Darren said and turned to his partner. "Sparkplug?"

Serena jumped back when Sparkplug swerved around the corner and transformed into robot mode. Instead of being afraid, she gave a gasp and smiled. "Wow! He's just like the big robots on TV! But…why is he so small?"

"I'm a Minicon, Serena." Sparkplug said. "We're a different kind of robot."

"Oh. Okay. I think you're cool, but daddy doesn't like you very much. We lost mommy when those big dinosaur robots attacked on TV. He says they're all dangerous, but I like the good ones! Especially the yellow one!"

Darren, Annie, and Sparkplug all collectively winced. So the guy they were stealing from had a grudge against all cybertronians. Nice.

'I hate my job.' Grindor thought miserably.

"Well, that's a good way to think, Serena. Not everyone can be good or bad. These robots are our friends, and we want to help your daddy too." Annie knelt down to poke Serena's nose, earning a giggle.

XXXXXX

Klonowski was not as introspective or attentive to details as Larson, but he knew when something didn't add up. And the whole thing at Omega One just rubbed him the wrong way.

Those badges were the latest in anti-NBE technology in Skywatch, born from extensive research into the physiology of the Thunder Lizards. The Minicons were just test runs for if, when, they might have to use similar technology on the Autobots.

Honestly, he thought this whole plan of the colonel's was risky. Despite having a hold over the Minicons as political hostages, the Autobots had a lot of friends in high places that could tear Skywatch down. The ARA, the Atlantians, the President, hell even General Abernathy. Horiuchi didn't seem to consider that their margin for error was suffocatingly small, and that rogue Decepticon didn't make things easier.

Klonowski also noticed that the Minicons seemed docile now. He wasn't stupid, they clearly wanted to tear Horiuchi's head from his shoulders, so hearing them act so complacent set him on edge. So out of curiosity, he reviewed the recording from the past 48 hours for anything out of the ordinary. And he caught it when Roll Bar was discussing strategy with the others…a slight ticking sound.

He got to work on having the computer decrypt the outward comms, which was hard enough when the translations looked like computer code.

"Ugh, Collins was right. This stuff could put you in a coma-what?!" He ran over to Liftor's file, which showed the same code, but also the translated message being center.

Liftor to Roll Bar: Will Sparkplug be back before this deadline?

"No, no, no…" Klonowski muttered. "He's gone? So they've been hiding messages in junk code. God, how long has this been going on?"

Looking at the screen, Klownowski saw that the Minicons knew about the control board and its creator Sanjay Bharwaney. What's worse, they were most likely using outside help to get it. He knew this plan was unethical and stupid, and now it was going to crash and burn with every one of them in it!

XXXXXX

"Serena, can I ask you a favor?" Darren asked.

"Okay." Serena nodded.

"Inside your house, your father has a heavy briefcase about the size of my chest." Sparkplug said. "Uh, do you think you could bring it out for me to look at?"

Serena frowned. "Daddy said I'm not supposed to touch his stuff."

"I know, that's true, but Serena…we're just worried that it's broken." Annie said sweetly. "And if your father uses it, he could get hurt."

"I don't want my dad to get hurt." Serena said quietly.

"Neither do we." Sparkplug assured her. "I might be able to, uh, get it fixed."

"Okay." Serena still looked uncertain. "But-"

"Serena!" Her babysitter called out. "Lunch!"

"I'm coming!" Serena called back and looked at the twins. "Okay. I'll bring it out after lunch."

"Sure thing, sweetie. And don't tell Swati." Annie said.

They watched the girl run back into the house, and once she was gone, Sparkplug's expression fell as he contacted Liftor.

Sparkplug to Liftor: I've made contact with Bharwaney's daughter. Having her retrieve the case.

Excellent, bring it to base. Will alter.

How?

Can alter control board to burn out power badges and power source of any non-badged bot. you and the others will need to be out of range when operated. Send scan of schematics so I can get started ASAP.

Okay. It just feels wrong using the girl like this.

I understand, Sparkplug. But if our fears are true, then the Cons are on the same trail as us. Primus help the girl if that Con from earlier hunts her and her father down.

"I got it!" Serena came running back out of the house with a silver briefcase in her hands.

"Holy crap, she actually did it." Annie muttered.

"Swati was doing the dishes, so I just grabbed it." Serena said.

"Great, Serena. That's excellent." Sparkplug smiled. "May I see it, please?"

"Here." Serena handed him the case, which he opened. "So are you going to fix it so my dad doesn't get hurt?"

"Us, personally, well…we can't do it. But a friend of ours can." Darren said. "We can take it to him, but…"

"We might be gone a while." Annie finished for him.

"You will?" Serena didn't seemed too concerned. "Okay, I guess."

Sparkplug had scanned the circuit board and sent the schematics during the conversation. But just as he was about to leave, Liftor called him back.

Stop. Analysis of the schematics shows multiple tracking beacons in control board. There is no way you could get it back before the colonel notices and locks us all down. Recommend we abort this mission and-

"Actually, we might be able to fix it here." Sparkplug said. "My friend, Gina, she's close by. You want to meet her?"

"Really? Is she smart like daddy?" Serena asked cutely.

"Very smart." Sparkplug nodded. "While she's doing that, you can play with Darren and Annie."

"Sparkplug?" Darren looked at him confused.

Gina can fix the board under Liftor's instructions. It's simpler than the stuff she works on, so it shouldn't take too long." Sparkplug whispered before turning back to Serena. "Let's get started, shall we?"

"Serena? Who are you talking to?"

Darren, Annie and Sparkplug froze as a man dressed in a business suit walked into the front yard from his parking lot. It was Sanjay Bhawarney.

XXXXXX

"These attacks are bleeding us dry, colonel." Aron Jackson said over the phone. "I don't know how, but the Decepticons are hitting us where it hurts, and what happened at the Pit was only the tip of the iceberg."

"I've just heard that our Philips Base was just leveled." Horiuchi said. "Was it the Decepticons' Mini-Con strike team?"

"No, it was one of our captured assets that broke his leash. Codename: Sprawl. Haven't seen him in months but now he pops up killing our personnel and destroying thousands of dollars in equipment. The Director is dancing on his toes with the President and we're getting torn apart."

"Don't worry, Agent Jackson, I'm already formulating a plan to-"

He was interrupted by a knock on the door and Lt. Larson stepped into his office. "Colonel Horiuchi, I need to speak to you right away!"

"I'll called you back, Jackson. Something's come up." Horiuchi hung up and gave Larson his full attention. "Is something wrong, Larson?"

"I was with our team monitoring the Minicons' comm transmissions on their badges I've noticed something hidden during their talks, a hidden code. I've just finished decoding it, and it's a conversation between Roll Bar and Sparkplug."

"Sparkplug? But he's-"

"Disabled, I know, but…Colonel, the messages were two days old. I think the Minicons have fooled us. I believe Sparkplug is free and seeking outside help!"

Horiuchi stood up sharply, his face an expression of rage. "What?! How in the blazes can he be free?"

"Sir, I don't know, but-"

"Get Klonowski on this, we need to lock them down right away."

"That's just it, sir," Larson said, sharing the colonel's panic. "I can't find Klonowski anywhere. He signed out a talos and deployed with a MA team just a few minutes ago!"

XXXXXX

Ever since he lost his wife to the chaos in Fallon involving those Dynobots, Sanjay had developed a strong hatred of cybertronians. They had brought their war to Terra and had been nothing but trouble since, putting thousands of people's lives in danger just by being closed to them. He believed that the government had a handle on their fighting one time, but that thought went out the window when all those people in Edo were captured or killed during the Autobots' scuffle with Megatron.

He thought he was doing the world a favor when Colonel Horiuchi had him make those badges to restrain the Minicons to keep the Autobots in line, but never would he have expected a Minicon to be in reaching distance of his own daughter.

"What are you doing here?" Sanjay asked, his heart beating rapidly. "Get away from my daughter!"

"Don't worry, we'll leave. Just as soon as we're finished with this." Annie held up the case."

"How did you-Serena?"

"They said they needed to fix it so you would get hurt." Serena said, not liking how scared her father looked.

"No, Serena, they lied." Sanjay spat, glaring at Sparkplug. "You just told her lies to get my device. Tell her!"

Serena looked at Sparkplug. "Sparkplug?"

"It's…true, Serena. I lied. My friends are in deep trouble and I needed that case to help them." Sparkplug looked at a teary eyed Serena. "I don't feel proud about lying to you, Serena, even if it was to save my friends. I don't expect you to forgive me, but please, understand."

"Sparkplug…" Serena muttered, tears falling down her cheeks. She didn't seem mad. Just…disappointed.

"Sparkplug had to do what he needed to, so save his friends. Our friends." Annie growled. "This wouldn't have happened if your Skywatch butt buddy didn't try to enslave the Minicons. What you're doing is wrong in so many ways."

"Those robots you're advocating for are a menace! How many people died in Edo from a single fight between Optimus and Megatron? How many more people will die from collateral damage alone? What the colonel did will keep everyone safe, including my daughter." Sanjay growled. "The fact that you kids are even defending them is atrocious. You don't know how much those robots take from you if you let them!"

Annie pulled off her glove, revealing her sleek black robot arm. "We know more than anybody else on this planet!"

"Enough. Bharwaney, we're calling up Agent Barnett and the Autobots to bring the colonel to justice, and you're going along with him for taking part in this mess." Darren said. "We have your new control board. A few switches and our friends are free."

Serena looked at her father in distress. "Dad…are you in trouble? Did you do something bad?"

Sanjay tried to make something up, but he knew he was caught. There was no one bailing him out now. "Yes, sweetie, I'm in trouble. And I did…something very wrong."

Sparkplug called Gina up. "Gina, contact Agent Barnett and tell him the situation. Liftor, if you can hear me-"

"Guys, we have incoming!" Gina yelled.

Sanjay and Serena cried out when the Athena appeared from its cloaked state, gliding down into the front yard. Sparkplug was about to ask what she was doing when he saw a dark indigo jet flying right towards them. He picked up Serena and ran over to Sanjay to grab his arm.

"What are you doing?" Sanjay growled. "Let us go!"

"That's a Decepticon, Bhawarney, and he's here to wipe out anything that's affiliated with Skywatch." Sparkplug said. "Like you."

"Gina, get us away from the town. That Con's not going to hesitate in leveling this entire neighborhood to get us!" Darren said.

Gina scooped up the Bhawarneys and her friends into her talos's arms before switching Athena to flight mode and flying away just as Sprawl descended from the clouds.

"Running already? Huh, I thought you humans were made of sterner stuff!" Sprawl remarked.

Sparkplug hung onto the Athena's shoulder while the humans were held in its arms. Gina flew them to the edge of town, far from any heavily populated areas to where a construction site was located. She landed on the ground and set her passengers down before turning to face the oncoming Sprawl.

"Sureshock, Grindor," High Wire said. "Powerlink with Gina. We'll give her talos a supercharge!"

The Street Action Team transformed into their vehicle modes and connected to the Athena's arms and leg. The power they channeled into the talos was enough to increase its power levels significantly when Sprawl changed into robot mode in midair and charged at Gina.

"Come and get it, big boy!" Gina drew her beam cannon and fired. The beam hit Sprawl in his shoulder, but he rolled to the side and lunged at her.

"Finally! A decent fight. How long will you last, human?" Sprawl laughed.

Gina grunted as his large body slammed into Athena, and she struggled to keep her talos upright. They grappled for a moment, trying to out-strength each other before Gina fired her talos's Vulcan cannons into his face, making him reel back. But Sprawl wasn't stunned for long, as he struck back with a powerful punch to her cockpit. Gina had the breath knocked from her as she was violently jostled in her seat from the sheer force of the punch. She had her unit duck under his next punch and fired her pulse cannons into his chest. The blasts were strong enough to push him back, but even this didn't hurt him enough.

"Go down already!" Gina growled. She gasped when a large hand grabbed Athena's arm and began to squeeze.

"Go down! I've been down for thousands of stellar cycles." Sprawl said, headbutting Athena hard in the face. "I'd like to stay standing, thank you."

A mile away, Sparkplug was leading the twins, Sanjay and Serena away from the battle going on behind them.

"Who was that? I've never seen that guy on Megatron's roster." Annie said.

"Must be another newbie. We're getting a lot of those these days." Darren said, not taking his eyes off the explosions and dust clouds in the distance, clearly worried about his girlfriend. "It's clear that he has no trouble fighting a talos powered by three Minicons."

"Darren," Serena grabbed his shirt. "Is your friend going to be alright?"

"Yeah, she'll be fine, Serena." Darren smiled. "Right now all we have to do is get you and your father away from danger."

"And then what? That case can lead him straight to us." Sanjay said.

"I've already sent a distress signal to Optimus. The Autobots should be here any minute now." Sparkplug said. "Now we just have to hope Gina can hold out for a little-"

"Look out!" Annie yelled.

Snatching up Serena, she pushed Sanjay back down the hill while Darren and Sparkplug jumped aside to avoid the Athena as it crashed into the ground. Darren fell onto his back, covering his eyes from the dirt flying into his face. Looking up, he saw that the talos was heavily damaged and missing an arm.

"Gina!" Darren shouted.

"Relax, boy, she's alive," Sprawl slowly flew down, landing before the talos before pointing his cannons at it. "But only as long as you'll cooperate. Give me the case."

"Not a chance!" A rocket slammed into Sprawl's face, making him stumble back.

Darren Sparkplug saw a team of four black talos running at them, unloading their weapons into Sprawl. They were Skywatch's Gernsback talos.

"You two, get you friend and go!" Klonowski's voice came from the lead unit. "We've got him!"

""You got me?" Sprawl glared at Klonowski's talos and backhanded the machine in the face. The blow was strong enough to trip the mecha's head right off its shoulders. "Know your place!"

Darren and Sparkplug watched as the other talos opened fire on the Seeker in a futile attempt t stop him. Unfortunately, they wouldn't last long against a powerful warrior like Sprawl.

"He'llll tear them apart." Darren said.

"Darren, get Gina and the others." Sparkplug said. "I'll use the case to take him out."

"What?" Darren blinked. "But how-"

"I finished altering the control board using Liftor's instructions when Gina fell on us. You need to get the others far enough away before I activate it."

"But Sparkplug-"

"Just go!"

Darren frowned, but clapped his shoulder and ran to get his friends. Sparkplug didn't waste time in running toward Sprawl, who was demolishing the talos. The Con was preparing to run one of the talos through with his blade when Sparkplug called out to him.

"Hey!" He yelled. Sprawl glanced down at him, dropping the talos and stomping towards Sparkplug. "You want this? Come and get it!"

"Brave, little mech, but I'm not stupid. I've seen your encoded messages. You've done something to the device. I know how to fix it." Sprawl said, holding out his hand. "Now give it to me."

Sparkplug opened the case. Sprawl paused, trying to call his bluff.

"Oh, you're going to activate it? You think you can burn me out?" He growled. "Don't be stupid. You're no more protected than I am! It'll destroy you too!"

"I know that. But the thing is," Sparkplug went for the button. "My friends will repair me."

"NO!"

Sprawl lunged at him just as he pressed the button. There was a bright flash, before his entire body rippled with pain, and everything went white.

XXXXXX

The scandal that was brought into light fell upon the heads of Colonel Horiuchi and his associates. President Flagg and Agent Barnett, not to mention Optimus Prime himself, laid out his charges-blackmail and unlawful imprisonment and enslavement of an allied alien confidant and almost starting an interspecies conflict.

It was hell explaining everything to the Autobots, but Roll Bar and Liftor took point, going into detail about the incident Sparkplug nearly died trying to fix. The badges were all disable and destroyed, of course, though no one heard word of Night Hunter and the Land Military team since they left. So far, everything was returning back to normal.

"That was a pretty ballsy move, Sparkplug. Wouldn't have done anyone good if you went out like that." Klonowski said. He and the still recovering Sparkplug stood in front of Omega One, where the human was getting into his jeep.

"Well considering the alternative, I was fine with the outcome." Sparkplug said, leaning on his cane. "So how are you doing after all this, Klonowski? This put a lot of heat on Skywatch."

"Yeah, well…somebody's got to take the fall, right?" He shrugged. "Didn't make it too badly like the colonel. I took the heat off some people with a lot to lose. So they put a lot of money toward my retirement fund. I think it's safe to say you've seen the last of Colonel Horiuchi."

"Thank Primus." Sparkplug smiled. Klonowski smiled back and started his jeep.

"Well, I better get going. Doubt your friends are as sad to see me go as you are." He said. "Oh, and word of advice, watch out for the top dogs in Skywatch. They get dangerous when they're cornered, and not everything is afraid of pissing off the president if it means sticking it to you aliens."

"I'll remember that, Klonowski." Sparkplug nodded. "Thank you, and take care."

Klonowski gave him a salute and drove off down the dirt path and disappeared into the forest. Sparkplug watched him go and heard Roll Bar walk up next to him.

"So, who hates me the most among the ranks so I can watch out for mutiny?" Sparkplug asked.

"After almost losing you on the operating table, most of us have figured you paid your due, myself included. Night Hunter's group stayed behind just long enough to make sure you were given the all clear before leaving." Roll Bar shrugged. "I doubt the LM Team's going to be talking to you any time soon."

"At least everyone's alive." Sparkplug sighed. Roll Bar nodded.

"Yes, we're alive and free. Thanks to you." He assured the Micron leader. "You made a mistake and you almost died fixing it. That's the mark of not just a leader, but also a good and honest mech."

Sparkplug smiled at his friend. "Thanks."

"Anytime, Sparkplug. Now come back in before Longarm has Spiral carry you back in again."

"Ugh," Sparkplug shivered. He didn't want to be carried by that brute of a femme ever again. "Better heed the doc's orders."

"Wise words." Roll Bar laughed.

Everything was somewhat back to normal for the Minicons, but Sparkplug knew he'd have to make more difficult decisions in the future, and not all of them would be agreed upon by his people. All he could do now was learn from his mistakes and move on.

---

My fingers and neck hurt from writing the second half of this chapter. I had no idea it'd be this long, and I certainly didn't plan on typing down so much, but I saw that I was almost finished and just went YOLO on the whole thing. Up next, we return to Atlantis as the Decepticons start some slag up and spark an international incident that almost meshes with that of a despondent Skywatch's plans. Be sure to check out the Transformers Titan website on Wordpress, and check out my original fantasy story, Fantasia: Red Dawn on Fictionpress under Saya3x3. Thanks for reading and please leave a review.