Here's the next chapter, folks.

Also, minor robot violence/gore warning, I guess.

{Um, guys? We have a problem.} Hirry's voice filtered thru the comm as soon as Lima opened it.

"What kind of problem?" Lima asked.

{The giant, flying, fire-breathing lizard kind.}

Lima raised an optic ridge as she brought up Hirry's location. "What? Like a dragon?"

{Yes!} Hirry snapped. {It's a dragon type predacon and I'm pretty sure it's after Fins!}

Sure enough, there was an unidentified spark signature at her location, along with two Autobots'. Not to mention the decent number of vehicons in a nearby mine.

"Slag! Um, hold on! Let me get Leecher." Lima switched channels. "Leecher, Hirry is reporting that a dragon-type predacon has shown up at Bulkhead and Wheeljack's position."

A predacon? Showing up while we don't have Liliy? Leecher glanced down at the Prime on the med berth. It could be worse. "Alright. We'll be right there."

Leaving the med bay, they hurried to the Comm center.

"Hirry, tell us what's going on," Leecher commanded.

{The dragon is really sturdy. They've been blasting it. Fins tried using a grenade but it had no effect. Now, he's leading the dragon into the energon mine that they intend to drop on it.}

The unknown signal was following Wheeljack's as he headed straight for the knot of vehicons signals. Bulkhead's signal was still close to Hirry's.

"Looks we're going to have another mess to clean up," Leecher grumbled. To Hirry, "And what about Face?"

{He's fine. He and his charge are waiting for Fins to come out of the mine. Oh, here he comes.}

A moment later, the sound of a massive explosion could be heard over the comm.

"And the dragon?" The signal was clearly still active but they wanted to know if the explosion did any damage or not.

{Just a moment- You've got to be kidding me! There's not a scratch on it!}

The console beeped as two more Autobot signals entered the area.

"Hirry, you've got incoming. Don't worry. They're Autobots."

{Oh yeah! That shook the dragon up a bit. The ship's blasters were able to stun it long enough for Face and Fins to make a run for it. They just got picked up by the ship. The dragon is going after them. And… I've lost sight of all of them.}

All of the signals except Hirry's left the area on the monitor. Lima zoomed out the map to follow their movements.

"That's fine, Hirry. We'll just watch them from here and trust that the new mech is a good enough pilot. You- Do you feel comfortable doing cleanup while the Madam is gone?"

{I would just be sitting around doing nothing but waiting if I came back, right? Send me Mike and Nova at least, and we'll start cleaning up.}

"Very well, Hirry. Be careful."

{Roger that.}

After sending the miner brothers and a couple others, like Kilo, to help Hirry, Leecher went back to the Comm center.

"Where are they now?" they asked about the Autobots.

"Seems like they lost the predacon," Lima informed them.

"And where are they headed?"

"Projected course says…" Lima calculated the course. "The Harbinger."

Leecher reached over and opened a channel. "Yankee, it seems the rest of the Autobots are headed your way."

{Affirmative. I'll keep an optic out.}

Leecher's personal comm went off. {Commander, we need you back in the med bay.}

Their shoulders slumped knowing it was probably about Optimus since X-ray was recovering just fine. "On our way."

"What's wrong?" asked Smokescreen.

Even without an actual face, it was easy to tell that Leecher had bad news when they approached the Autobot outside the rec room.

"It's Optimus," Leecher replied. "We've managed to stabilize him and keep him alive for this long but the damage to his frame is too great, he isn't going to last. If it was any other mech, I would suggest a spark transplant, but..." They trailed off.

Smokescreen frowned. "Why can't you do that?"

"Well, not only do we need to the Madam for the procedure," they explained, "but also the Matrix is in the way."

"The Matrix...?" Smokescreen looked thoughtful. Then he suddenly brightened up. "That's it! The Matrix!" He turned and headed for the receiving room.

"What about it?" Leecher asked, confused, as they followed him across the main hall.

"We can use the Matrix to fix him," Smokescreen explained, barely containing his excitement and his pace. He was getting close to running. "We just need to get the Forge of Solus Prime."

"But that means going back to Dark Mount," said Leecher, disapproval already coloring their voice. They were easily keeping pace with him.

"Not necessarily," Ucon cut in. He and Whiskey happened to be passing by and heard them. They started following too. "Megatron probably is still keeping all the relics on the Nemesis."

"Which is still at Dark Mount, Ucon," they repeated, annoyed. They really didn't want any of the boys going back to Dark Mount.

"Yeah, but we can bridge onto the Nemesis," Whiskey piped up as they stopped outside the receiving room.

Leecher stared at the three of them, mulling it over. They sighed, finally giving in. "Very well. It's the best idea we have at the moment. Ucon, Whiskey, go with Smokescreen."

"Yessir."

Soundwave didn't like it. Those annoying Neutrals kept sneaking in and taking things. Not only that, but they had had a spy on the Nemesis on for years before he even noticed. That irritated him the most. They say that he has eyes and ears all over the place but in reality he is only one mech and, of the team of minicons that he once had, only Laserbeak remained. There were things that get past him. Things that he will miss. Like the two that snuck on board with Dreadwing and stole away with his corpse. He didn't notice they were there until after Megatron killed Dreadwing. He may have noticed the twins that snuck into Dark Mount and immediately alerted Megatron but they still managed to rescue the prisoners and escape. And again, hardly an hour ago, those same two-the black eradicon and his invisible partner-snuck onto the Nemesis again. This time, with Smokescreen and stole the Forge of Solus Prime from Megatron's vault. Soundwave didn't notice until after they had come and gone.

Suppressing the urge to sigh, Soundwave keyed in the code to enter his quarters. He knew the little one-the Laserblade was still there because he had been monitoring her. But he was afraid they might come to take her next and he didn't want that. He had been glad when her fear calmed down a bit after she recharged with Laserbeak but she still did not like it when he came near. Like now, he was sure that she was glaring at him even though he could not see her optics behind her visor. Her little back was pressed against the glass as she tried to get as far away from him as possible.

"What do you want?" she snapped as he just continued to stare at her.

Soundwave was amazed. She seemed so small and frail, like a human, especially the way she feared him. But he also knew that she could easily kill a mech in an astroclick with her blade.

"If you're not going to say anything..." She moved, almost too quickly for him to process. She crossed the space of the cube, "Then gO AWAY!" And punched the glass hard, cracks radiating out from her fist.

Soundwave jerked back, totally surprised.

Liliy felt dizzy after moving like that. And she knew why too. "Frag…" She stumbled back a few steps. "Low energon levels." And collapsed to the floor.

She lay on her left side and stared at the floor, half curious to know how Soundwave would react now. She sensed him move across the room and back again. The lid to her cube opened and something clinked on the floor beside her. She looked up. It was an energon candy about the size of her helm.

"Thanks but could you break it into smaller pieces?" She was too exhausted to care that she was asking Soundwave for something. "It's hard to eat that way."

The candy was removed. A moment later it was dropped back in, in several smaller pieces. Trembling a bit, Liliy pushed herself up into sitting position. She slowly picked up a piece and started munching on it. After she finished her first piece and started on the second, she glanced over at Soundwave. He was sitting on his berth, watching Laserbeak cheerfully consume a candy while sitting on his lap. He reached up then, and took off his mask. Liliy stared.

Soundwave had a narrow face with a small mouth and optics similar to Knock Out's, but instead of one iris ring, he had two. Plus, while still classified as red, his optics had a bit of a purple shade to them.

Sensing her stare, Soundwave glanced over at her as he bit a candy in half. Liliy turned her head away just enough to make it appear that she was no longer looking at him but she was still watching him out of her peripheral as she munched on her own candy.

Soundwave had finished enjoying the other half of his candy when his comm crackled.

{Soundwave, where are you? Report to the bridge immediately!}

Liliy nearly choked on her candy when Soundwave rolled his optics at Starscream's message. But he still acknowledged him with a ping. He popped a second candy into his mouth before replacing his mask. After having Laserbeak reattach to him and putting the container away, he came over and picked up her cube. Liliy yelped and fell over, startled by the sudden movement.

"What?" she gasped, sitting up again. "Why am I coming too?"

"Laserblade: safer with Soundwave."

"What are you talking about?"

Soundwave did not answer as he left the room. He carried her cube close to his chassis, one arm holding her up while the other was in front to hide her from others in the hallway. But once they reached the bridge, he gestured an eradicon over, had him stand next to Soundwave's workstation and then gave him Liliy's cube to hold. Starscream started nagging at him about surveillance duties as soon as Soundwave gave him his attention.

"Huh. He brought me along to keep me safe but then he hands me off to someone else. He really is a weird mech. Don't you think so," she looked up at the mech holding her, "Zuza?"

The eradicon nearly dropped her cube. As it was, he was shaking as he clutched at the glass, his claws leaving faint scratches.

"H-how did you kn-know my name?" he asked quietly, more shocked than angry.

"Ucon told me."

He tilted his helm in confusion, his grip on the glass loosening a bit. "Ucon?"

"Ah. I guess you only knew him as ZZ-05."

Zuza made a noise, a choked sob, and hugged the cube closer.

Liliy frowned. "What's wrong?"

"It's just that ZZ-05 w-was my friend and now I'll n-never see him again."

"Why not?"

"He…" Another tiny sob, "d-died."

"Oh." Liliy scratched at her cheek. "I guess for all intents and purposes the mech known as ZZ-05 is dead. But Ucon, as I know him, is very much alive."

Zuza jerked slightly. "Huh?"

"The Autobots damaged his frame to the point that it could no longer support his spark," Liliy explained, "so we took his spark out and put it in a new frame. So ZZ-05's frame has expired. His spark, however, lives on."

"Really?!"

Liliy smiled at the hope she picked up in Zuza's voice. "Yes. I helped with the spark transplant myself. In fact, Ucon was here, on the Nemesis, not too long ago. I heard he shot the Screamer before stealing away with Dreadwing's corpse."

Zuza laughed in relief. "So he's alive and active. That makes me so happy to hear."

Liliy laughed a little too. "I'm glad… Say, can you tell me what it was like working with him? I know from the reports that he was a bit of a troublemaker but I want to hear from you."

"Pssh. A bit? He got in trouble with AA-00 all the time."

Soundwave picked up the sound of quiet laughter after Starscream finally finished his rant. He glanced over and saw that the eradicon that he had entrusted the little one-the Laserblade to was speaking quietly, but rather enthusiastically, recounting a story to her. A funny story by the way she was laughing. He moved two steps in her direction and she froze up.

"Don't you have a job to do or something?" she spat, glaring at him over her shoulder at him.

"Ah, little one. You shouldn't talk to the Commander like that," chided the eradicon.

"Hmph." She gave in and waved Soundwave away. "Go back to whatever you were doing. You're interrupting the story."

Soundwave hesitated and then reluctantly turned back to his workstation.

"Anyway, where were we?" He heard her ask.

"The only signals Ultra Magnus was able to isolate are standing right here," Arcee told Fowler once the remains of Team Prime were reunited. "But we did hear from one of the CRC that the other two are still alive."

"If they know that, maybe they can tell us where they are," said Wheeljack.

"Where are you going?" Ratchet demanded as Wheeljack moved over to the canyon wall.

"Hey, Yankee! You still up there spying on us?" the Wrecker yelled up. He had glimpsed the mech on the top of the canyon when they landed.

Everyone watched the top of the cliff. A peach and green copterbot appeared and looked over the edge at them.

"Ya got any idea where Prime and the new kid are?" Wheeljack called.

Yankee jumped down. He landed with a heavy thud and pushed his mask up as he straightened. "If you hadn't been in such a hurry to leave, you would have been able to see them yourself," he said to Wheeljack.

Wheeljack started. "They're at your base?"

"Yes."

Hearing that, the others hurried over.

"Are they both alright?" demanded Arcee.

"Smokescreen is fine," Yankee answered.

"And Optimus?" Ratchet asked, worried.

Yankee hesitated, looking Ratchet in the optic. "...Critical."

Ratchet sagged a bit and lowered his helm. "No…"

"I'm sorry."

"What about X?" Wheeljack asked quietly after stepping closer to Yankee.

Yankee leveled a glare at him. "Why should I tell you?"

"Because. He's-" He turned away. "Nevermind."

"What is Liliy doing?" asked Miko from somewhere at the Bots' peds. "Doesn't she have a way to save Optimus?"

Yankee sighed. "The Madam… was captured by Soundwave before she could return to Earth."

"WHAT?!" shrieked several voices at once.

"Liliy was captured?" Raf cried.

"Is she ok?" added Jack.

Yankee knelt to see them better. "We know that she is alive and that her t-cog and comms have been deactivated. We also know that she is on the Nemesis but we cannot get to her because of Soundwave."

"You're gonna get her back, right?" Miko wanted to know.

Yankee smirked dangerously. "Of course. We'll make Soundwave sorry he even took her."

"I have a question," Ultra Magnus interrupted. He was the only one who had hung back when the others gathered around Yankee. He was incredibly wary of this new mech who was apparently spying on them. But the others were not bothered him or his vehicon mask. That really put him on edge. That mask usually meant Decepticon.

Yankee looked up at Ultra Magnus as he finally joined the group. He got to his peds. "Yes?"

"Who are you?"

"Yankee, CRC Surveillance team." His comm beeped at him. "Ah. Just a second. I have to take this." To his comm as he stepped away from the group, "Yes?"

{Yankee, you weren't supposed to make contact,} said Leecher.

"Sorry. Fins asked me a question." He glanced over at the white mech who was listening to the others chat. "I figured it was ok since it was him."

{What did he want to know?}

"The status of Red Leader and Skidmarks."

{Very well. Can you continue to watch them?}

"The new guy is pretty wary of me. I don't think I can stay close without being interrogated."

{Ah. Romeo did say he was extremely stiff. Go ahead and return then. They should be fine as long as they stay together. We'll keep an optic on them from here.}

"Roger." And ended the call.

"Hey, hey," said a voice near his peds. "Who were you talking to just now? Was that your boss?"

Yankee looked down at Miko. He knelt and offered her his servo to get on. She didn't even hesitate. She jumped up and sat cross-legged on his palm.

"Yes. That was my boss," he said as he lifted her. He walked over and passed her off to Bulkhead. "I'm afraid I've been recalled to base."

"It wasn't my fault, was it?" asked Wheeljack.

"Technically, yes." Yankee laid a servo on his shoulder and leaned in to whisper, "Try not to make him worry, 'kay?"

Then Yankee took three running strides away before transforming and taking to the air.

Leecher met Smokescreen's group in the receiving room when they returned with the Forge of Solus Prime.

"Smokescreen, it's good you're back. Optimus has been asking for you."

Smokescreen hurried with Leecher to the medbay. Ucon followed after with Whiskey who was hauling the Forge.

"Smokescreen?" Optimus rasped when they entered.

Smokescreen went over to him and laid a servo on his arm. "I'm here, Optimus. We went and got the Forge. We can use it to fix you up."

Optimus coughed and gasped. "No."

"What? Why not?"

"The power of the Forge is not unlimited," Optimus struggled to explain. "Its energy has already begun to ebb."

"So it's running low," Smokescreen replied quietly. "Who cares? All we need is enough juice to get you back into fighting shape."

"Whatever power remains must be used to rebuild the Omega Lock," Optimus told him, "to restore Cybertron."

"But would mean…" Smokescreen trailed off.

"The fate of all our kind is more vital than that of any one of us. Including me."

"But, Optimus. The Forge is a relic of the Primes. We can't use it to restore Cybertron. Not without a Prime. Not without you."

"There will be a new Prime," Optimus rasped.

"You can worry about that after we get you fixed up and we take down Megatron," Smokescreen replied, pulling back and turning to Whiskey.

Optimus grasped Smokescreen's arm, stopping him. "Smokescreen. The time for a new leader is upon us. In my spark, I believe that leader stands before me right now."

Smokescreen jerked back, stumbling against the medical berth behind him, too shocked to speak. Optimus regarded him for a moment with dim optics before the exhaustion overcame him and he had to lay his helm back.

It took Smokescreen several minutes to process the information that he, Smokescreen, the rookie, could be the next Prime. He let out a long sigh and dragged his servo over his faceplates.

"I-I can't do this." He gestured vaguely. "I mean, sure, who wouldn't wanna be a Prime-?"

"Me," Ucon offered quietly.

"Me either," agreed Whiskey.

"No thanks," added Foxtrot.

"Not helping," Smokescreen hissed at them. He stepped closer to Optimus again. "Optimus, I'm really not ready for that kind of responsibility."

"Smokescreen, the choice is neither yours nor mine to make," Optimus replied slowly. "When it is time, the Matrix of Leadership will present itself only to one whose spark is worthy." Optimus paused for a long moment, his optics starting to flicker. "Who stands before me?" he gasped suddenly, staring straight ahead.

"What?" Smokescreen asked, confused. "It's me, Optimus. Smokescreen."

"Who beckons?" Optimus rasped again.

Smokescreen touched his arm. "Optimus?"

Leecher stepped forward and checked Optimus vitals. "He's fading. There's nothing we medics can do for him now."

"Optimus, no!" Smokescreen cried as the light suddenly faded from Prime's optics. He stepped back when Optimus' chestplates shifted open to reveal the Matrix of Leadership. He just gaped at it. "This isn't how the story's supposed to end."

"Smokescreen, what are you going to do?" Leecher asked from the other side of the med berth.

Smokescreen jerked his helm up to stare at them. "He said we had no choice."

"You always have a choice." Foxtrot came over and laid a servo on his shoulder. "But, for the record, if it were us and he was Liliy, we would save him."

"Also, for the record," Whiskey hefted the Forge off his shoulder and set it down next to the med berth, "Cybertron's future is not as bleak as he thinks it is."

"But the choice is still up to you, Smokescreen," Leecher said. "If you don't think you're ready…"

Smokescreen looked down at Optimus and made his decision, determined. "I will save him." And put Optimus' servo on top of the Forge.

Liliy didn't really pay much attention to what was going on the bridge. Starscream and Soundwave were running surveillance while Megatron and Shockwave were discussing something at another station. That's about all she paid attention to while listening to Zuza, quietly but happily, talk about Ucon.

That was until she picked up Jack's voice on the Decepticon comm.

"What's wrong?" Zuza asked when her attention fully turned to the surveillance station.

"That voice just now. It was J-" She cut herself off, suddenly realizing that she was still talking to a Decepticon, no matter how friendly he was. "It sounded familiar. But that might just be my imagination."

"Oh. Ok. Do you want me to continue the story? We don't have to, if you don't want to."

"No. That's-"

Both of them flinched when Megatron suddenly shouted Starscream's name.

"Explain why my forces are scattering across this globe?" he snarled.

"Renegade Autobot mischief, lord Megatron," Starscream was quick to explain. "I am in the process of deducing how they are infiltrating our communication systems without a base of-"

Soundwave interrupted him with a beep and brought up an image of a wrecked ship on his mask.

"The Harbinger?" realized Starscream.

"You left abandoned Decepticon technology fully operational and unsecured?!" Megatron demanded, advancing on the seeker.

"Ah, uh-Allow me to correct my oversight immediately," stuttered Starscream, shrinking back.

"It's a diversion," Liliy said quietly while Starscream issued ordered to his troops.

"What?" asked Zuza, confused.

"My armada is in position," said Starscream. To Soundwave, "Open a ground bridge to the Harbinger."

Before Soundwave could comply, two explosions shook Dark Mount in quick succession and, by extension, the Nemesis. An alert came up on the monitors.

"Since it would seem that Dark Mount is present under attack, kindly redirect all efforts toward ensuring that our invaders are eradicated," commanded Megatron.

"Told ya," Liliy muttered.

Another explosion shook the tower.

"I assure you, master. I have everything under control," said Starscream.

Megatron snarled as he turned on him. Starscream jerked back, afraid.

"Lord Megatron," interrupted Shockwave as he stepped forward. "I accept that military considerations are outside of my domain but perhaps it is once again time to release the predacon."

"Predacon?" gasped Liliy.

"Yeah. Shockwave brought it here from Cybertron to hunt the Autobots," Zuza explained. "But so far, it hasn't killed any."

"That's good."

"Huh?"

"Believe it or not but the Autobots here on Earth are my friends. I would hate to see any of them get killed. And, to be honest, it hurts me when I think about just how many of your friends will probably fall to the Autobots tonight." Liliy sighed. "I really wish you guys would stop fighting."

"Yeah," agreed Zuza. "Me too."

"What the slag was that?" Ucon asked as the blinding white light faded and Whiskey let go of him. He focused on the med berth. "Oh."

The mech on the berth was Optimus Prime, but instead of just being restored, his frame had been upgraded. He had the same color scheme but he was much bulkier now. And probably taller too, but it was hard to tell by how much while he was lying down.

The upgrade had knocked off all the medical equipment that had been hooked up to him so it was saying he was still flatlining. Leecher reached over and turned the equipment off. Then they reached out and gently touched Optimus' arm.

"Optimus?"

The Prime opened his optics and blinked up at the ceiling.

"Optimus, how do you feel?" Leecher asked.

Optimus spared a quick glance in Smokescreen's direction before focusing on Leecher. "I feel fine." He frowned. "Did you get smaller?"

Leecher chuckled. "No. You just got bigger. Try sitting up."

He did as he was told. "Oh," looking down at his arms and legs.

"Yeah," Leecher laughed lightly. "It surprised us too. Also, please do not be upset with Smokescreen about reviving you. All of us here encouraged him to do it. And, to be honest, a crisis this big? He wasn't ready for it."

"Sometimes you don't have a choice."

"We are aware, but this time there was one."

"What about Cybertron?"

"What about it?" At Optimus' stare, "Didn't Liliy tell you?"

"She never had time to explain whatever it was properly."

"Ah... Optimus, the reason Liliy didn't let you destroy the Omega Lock right away was because we had also opened a space bridge between the two planets. Half the energy that the Cons sent to Earth was sent back to Cybertron. To the Well of Allsparks to be exact. It was able to partially revive the heart of Primus but the effects have yet to be seen on the planet's surface as far as we can tell. It may take some time before anything happens but Quebec and Charlie are keeping an optic on it."

"So you're saying…?"

"Even without the Omega Lock and the Forge of Solus Prime, there is still hope for Cybertron."

Optimus' shoulders sagged and he hid his face with a servo. "So we didn't doom our home. I'm glad."

"But that comes to our next problem."

Optimus lowered his servo and looked at Leecher again.

"Right now your team is attacking Dark Mount-"

"They're what? Attacking the Cons without us?" demanded Smokescreen.

"At present," Leecher continued, "they aren't faring too well and are likely going to be captured soon. If you are feeling up to it, we can send you to help them. Also, we'll use your assault to distract the Cons while we rescue Liliy."

Optimus started. "She was captured?!"

"Yes. Apparently she was captured by Soundwave while they were on Cybertron. We have been waiting for a good time to get her back since she ordered us to not endanger the 'boys'."

"A stupid order if you ask me," said Foxtrot. "She should know we would all risk our lives for hers."

"That is exactly why she made the order," countered Leecher. "The Leecher armor is expendable, you guys are not."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Foxtrot waved them off grumpily.

"So, do we have your help, Optimus Prime?" Leecher asked.

"Of course." Optimus stood up and towered even more over them all.

"A little taller than the twins it looks like," Leecher observed. "And just as bulky as Bravo."

"Is that a jetpack?" Foxtrot asked.

"It seems to be," answered Optimus, checking his systems.

"Awesome!" cried Smokescreen.

"Alright. Let's get going," ordered Leecher.

In the receiving room, they bridged Optimus and Smokescreen off first.

"Okay. This is it," said Leecher to those that had gathered. "The chance we have been waiting for. While the Cons are distracted by the Autobots, we will go get Liliy."

"Do you want any of us to go with you?" asked Echo.

"No. We alone will be enough. If we can get Liliy into the armor, we can easily escape."

"If you can't?" Romeo wanted to know.

"Remain on standby."

"Yessir."

It seemed like the Autobots had been captured from what Liliy gathered. One by one, Shockwave, Megatron, and Starscream had left the bridge. Now it was just Soundwave and a few vehicons including Zuza.

Zuza had gone quiet after the predacon had been sent away somewhere by the Autobots' ground bridge and Shockwave went to join the battle. He had flinched when Megatron stormed out. Now he was tense, ready to jump into action should he be ordered to do so.

Liliy paid attention to the monitors to get a grasp on the situation. That's when she suddenly felt a presence drawing near. She looked up at the eradicon.

"Hey, Zuza," she said quietly. He looked down at her. "I had fun talking to you. I'll be sure to tell Ucon all about it."

He seemed to relax slightly. "Thanks."

The presence was right outside the door.

"Also, I'm sorry. But this is going to hurt."

"Huh?"

The door slid open. Leecher entered and Zuza was the first one they shot. The eradicon dropped the cube as electricity raked thru his systems. The cube hit the floor, one corner first, and shattered thanks to the cracks Liliy had made before. Liliy was away from the cube before all the pieces hit the floor and Zuza toppled over on top of them. Leecher grabbed one of the other vehicons they had knocked out and threw them at Soundwave to distract him while Liliy got in the armor.

Soundwave pushed the vehicon off him and got back to his peds. The strange, not-quite-vehicon mech stood waiting for him and the little one-the Laserblade was nowhere to be seen.

"Ah, finally." Their voice was oddly layered as if two voices were speaking as one. They rolled their shoulders and smashed their right fist into their left palm. "Time for some revenge."

Soundwave shot out his tentacles. Leecher moved, too fast for Soundwave to follow, appearing right in front of him, their fist connecting with his mask. He crashed into the console behind him, tentacles flailing about. Catching himself on the edge of the console before he slipped to the floor, he brushed his digits over the new cracks in his mask.

"What's the matter, Soundwave?" Leecher was on the other side of the room again.

Reeling in his tentacles, Soundwave straightened up and advanced on Leecher. Halfway there, Laserbeak launched off his chassis. Leecher wasted no time bringing out their blaster and shooting the minicon down in one non-lethal hit.

"Now, now, Soundwave. This is between you and us."

Soundwave lunged at Leecher. They blocked his strike and used his momentum to deliver a blow to his midsection. Soundwave doubled over. Leecher brought both fists down on his back, dropping him to his knees. They finished off the beat down with a roundhouse kick to his helm that sent Soundwave sprawling.

The first thing Soundwave recognized as he came back online after being out for a few seconds was the taste of energon in his mouth. The second was that he could not see. He just knew he was lying face down. He moved his servos for leverage and pushed himself up. As he did, a few broken pieces of his mask fell out in front of one optic and he could see again just a little bit. Realizing that his apparent blindness was due to his mask failing, he reached up and touched it again. A few more pieces fell out. Sitting back on his knees, he looked up, suddenly remembering that he had been fighting someone. As far as he could see, the other mech was g-

From behind, a pair of servos clamped down on his left shoulder and arm, right next to the joint.

"Just one more thing," the layered voice drawled in his audial as the mech began to pull on his arm.

Soundwave opened his mouth to reply but could only let out a static laden shriek when Leecher gave his arm a good, hard yank and ripped it clean off the shoulder joint, energon splattering across the floor. Venting hard, Soundwave looked up at Leecher as they moved to stand in front of him, still holding his detached arm.

"And with this," the arm clattered on the floor at their peds, "the Laserblade's revenge is complete."

Soundwave stared. All that was revenge for capturing the Laserblade? ...No. He looked down at his detached arm. No, this was revenge for the time when he ripped the Laserblade's arm off after he caught her trying to cut off Megatron's helm. But that did not make sense to him. He thought that if it was her, she would have used her blade and killed him, the object of her fear. Why let him live?

"Our work here is done. And it seems the Autobots have been successful in theirs." A ground bridge opened behind them. "Time to go."

"W-wait..." Soundwave tried to stop them but they had already disappeared.

Soundwave pushed himself to his peds, teetering a bit as he stumbled to the nearest console. He grabbed the edge to steady himself when the ship suddenly shook. Warnings popped up on the monitors about structural damage to the fortress. It was collapsing.

{Soundwave,} Shockwave commed. {I require a ground bridge.}

Soundwave put in his coordinates and opened a portal. Shockwave was startled when he arrived on the bridge and found Soundwave in his battered state.

"Soundwave, what happened?"

Before he could answer, the comm crackled again. It was Starscream. {Lord Megatron is on board. Get the warship away from the fortress now!}

As there were currently no vehicons available, Shockwave quickly followed the order, taking over the controls and moving the Nemesis away from Dark Mount and into a high orbit. During that time, more vehicons did arrive to take the places of their unconscious comrades. Letting them take over, Shockwave went back to Soundwave.

The slender mech was leaning heavily on the console. A tiny bit of energon still dripped from the severed tubes in his shoulder joint. His mask was shattered to the point that it no longer worked and a few pieces had fallen out to reveal one of his red-purple optics.

"Can you walk?"

Soundwave shook his helm.

"Very well."

Shockwave moved, easily scooping up the smaller mech bridal style. Soundwave didn't seem to mind. Instead, he used his tentacles to grab his severed arm and Laserbeak off the floor before they left the bridge.

After they ripped off Soundwave's arm, Liliy did not let Leech bridge them back to base. Instead, they bridged to a vacant part of the Nemesis, a storage room with no one around.

[[I'm sorry, but what's this in your memories about sending X-ray to the medbay?]] Liliy asked, going thru images she got after linking up with Leech.

[That's what you're concerned about?] asked Leech. [Not Optimus dying?]

She brought up the image of Optimus' new frame. [[He looks fine to me. What happened to X-ray?]] she demanded.

Leech sighed. [He was with Wheeljack when he went to help the rest of the Autobots. The Jackhammer was shot down. Most of his injuries are from the crash.]

[[Most? And the others?]]

[X-ray and Wheeljack were captured by the Cons. We rescued them soon after I made contact with you but…] Leech hesitated.

[[But…?]]

[...]

[[Leech.]]

[Starscream… tortured them.]

There it was again. The white. hot. fury! engulfing their bond.

Leech pushed back with urgency. [Liliy, calm down!]

[[HOW CAN I BE CALM!?]] She slammed her fist against the inside of the armor. [[YOU TRIED TO HIDE THIS FROM ME! WHY?]]

[This is why!] Leech pushed back the fury again. [It's time to go home.]

[[We're NOT leaving until we get Starscream too!]]

[We can't get Starscream!] Leech shot back, bringing up Starscream's location. [He's right in the middle of the medbay with Megatron and like a dozen other Cons.]

[[Isn't the reason you came alone with just the Leecher armor is because it's expendable?]]

[Yes, but we were only fighting Soundwave. Not the entire Decepticon command!]

[[Leech, who do you think you are talking to? We can be fast. Go in, take them by surprise, get the job done and get out. We already eliminated our biggest threat.]]

[What about Shockwave?]

[[What about him?]]

[We don't know much about him.]

[[Leech, just agree to do this with me or I'll go alone and probably end up killing him.]]

[Hhhh. Very well. Then we will go straight home, understand?]

[[Yes. I've had enough of this place already and I want to see my boys.]]

[We could go now.] Leech suggested hopefully.

"Starscream first, Leech," Liliy finally spoke aloud as Leecher headed for the door. "Starscream first."

"Doctor, you're needed," Shockwave said as he entered the medbay.

"Get in line. Lord Megatron comes fir-Soundwave!?" When Knock Out looked up to address Shockwave and actually saw who he was carrying.

"Soundwave!?" cried Starscream.

"Soundwave, what happened to you!?" demanded Megatron as Shockwave laid the Comm officer on the med berth across from his.

"A Neutral: ...Came for the little one," Soundwave replied quietly, not looking at any of them.

"What? One mech did that to you?"

Soundwave did not answer. His frame went still and his optics closed.

"Knock Out!" ordered Megatron.

The medic was already moving. He quickly scanned Soundwave. "Not to worry. He only fell into stasis. Lord Megatron, your injuries are minor. Please rest while I start on Soundwave." He didn't wait for a reply before started ordering his helper vehicons and Breakdown around.

Megatron seemed to be fine with Knock Out's attention shifting. Instead he growled orders. "Shockwave, Starscream. Find out who did this to Soundwave."

"I think I know who it was, lord Megatron," interrupted DA-01 as he was helped into the medbay by another vehicon. He flinched slightly when the warlord's glare fell on him but he kept his voice even. "I saw the mech before they shot me. It was the commander of the Neutrals. My squad met them once before when we were fighting the Autobots."

"You must be talking about Leecher," realized Starscream. "That mech was the only one who never took off their mask. And when I asked about it, they just said they couldn't."

"You seem to know a lot about these Neutrals, Starscream," observed Shockwave.

"Of course. I spent some time at their base while I was rogue."

"And what exactly did you do to make them hate you so much, Starscream?" asked Knock Out, his voice slightly accusing.

Starscream shrugged. "I may have injured a couple of them when I stole the Apex Armor."

Knock Out paused his work and looked over at him with a raised optic ridge. "And the lesson you were supposed to learn?"

"What does it matter?" Starscream snapped. "They can't get us here."

"Soundwave is evidence to the contrary," replied Shockwave.

"Speaking of…" Starscream frowned. "What 'little one' was Soundwave talking about? Laserbeak is still here."

"It must've been that minicon he picked up while we were on Cybertron," answered Breakdown. "Soundwave had Knock Out scan her for injuries. I've never seen anything like her before. She had a symbol that looked," he grabbed a datapad and drew on it, "like this." He showed them.

Starscream gasped sharply and shrank back, almost cowering.

"That is the crest of the Laserblade clan," said Shockwave. "But they all should have been wiped out."

"Apparently one survived," Megatron growled.

"Starscream, what's the matter with you?" asked Knock Out.

"It wasn't Leecher that killed my clones but a Laserblade...?" Starscream spoke to himself.

"Clones? What clones?" demanded Megatron.

"On the Harbinger, there were some protoforms," Starscream explained. "I used them to clone myself. Two were lost when the CRC came to help the Autobots. But the other three-" He paused to hug himself, shuddering at the memory. "S-suffice to say that they were taken apart by some sort of energy blade. One even had that symbol burned into their wing. If the Laserblade is truly their leader…"

"And she finds out that you didn't learn your lesson…" added Knock Out.

"She will come after you again," stated Shockwave.

"Sooner than you think," interrupted a new voice.

Before Starscream had time to react, Leecher was next to him. Left servo closed around his neck cables, right servo on his wing.

"For Tango." And wrenched his wing.

Starscream shrieked.

A short assassin's blade transformed out of their right arm. "For Oscar." And stabbed right thru his t-cog.

He screamed this time, claws digging into Leecher's left arm, trying to get them to let go.

"And this is for X-ray and Wheeljack." Leecher managed to lift Starscream off the floor by his throat and released an electric shock thru their servo.

Starscream seized, voicebox silent as it was the first thing to overload from the surge. It became too much and he went limp, offline.

Leecher dropped him. Every mech with a blaster had it pointed at them.

"Let this serve as a warning: Don't mess with us," said Leecher.

"Don't mess with you?" asked Knock Out. "You do realize you just took down two officers. You're not going to get away with it."

"Isn't that the thing though?" Leecher replied. "We just took down two of your officers, by ourselves. We have a Laserblade. When you can move as fast as she can, then you can talk about getting back at us." And they were gone.

Leecher ran out of the medbay and down the hall, activating their emergency ground bridge protocols as they went. They hurried thru and walked into a mess on the other side. Two dust covered drills, a few crates of energon scraps, several blackened frames, and even more burnt body parts also in crates. And several dirty, tired looking bots sorting it all out.

"What the heck happened here?" Liliy asked as Leecher's mask opened so she could see better.

"Oh, a Decepticon mine exploded, courtesy of the Autobots," replied Leech.

The nearest mech heard them and turned to look. "Madam?"

"Hey, Victor," Liliy called. "I'm bac-!"

Victor slammed into them, his arms wrapping around Leecher's chassis as they crashed to the ground. The armor shuddered when Victor tightened his hold, burying his face in their shoulder.

"Welcome back, Madam!" he cried.

"Yeah," she laughed.

The other bots took notice too, dropping what they were doing to gather around.

"What? The Madam's back?"

"Hey. No fair, Victor!"

"Madam! Welcome back!"

Liliy closed her optics and smiled, enjoying the relief that flooded over her. She looked up at the excited, happy faces again. "I'm home!"

To be continued?