"So, tell me Skids. What do you think of being stationed here on Earth?"
Skids knew this was a loaded question. He had been in the middle of delivering an anthropological report when out of the blue, Hound interupted him.
When the Autobots had first awakened on Earth, Hound quickly became enamoured with it's people and culture. But ever since the death of Optimus Prime, he started to become edgy. Above all else, he was a soldier, and the present lack of Decepticon activity had been gnawing at him for some time. Although he liked Earth, he missed being on the front lines, and part of him believed that Rodimus stationed him there just so he wouldn't be around.
Skids, on the other hand, loved being on Earth. It wasn't just the lack of combat, which honestly, he hated, but now that the Decepticons were gone, he relished the chance to freely explore the planet without fear of being shot at.
What was the correct response? If he said he hated Earth, Hound might take offense at hearing the planet slandered. But if he professed to liking it, Hound could think him a coward.
"Well, that's an interesting question, Sir."
"Yes, interesting." Hound said. "So, what do you think of our situation?"
Unsure of himself, Skids began, "I can't deny that I like the planet. I like exploring it, learning about it's culture, but I sometimes..."
Skids was interupted by the city's alarm system. "Decepticon activity!" screamed Red Alert over the communicator.
"Ha ha! Let's go, kid!" Hound enthusiasticaly said as he readied his gun.
Whew, got out of that one... Skids thought to himself as he followed Hound. Now, instead of Hound, all I have to deal with is some Decepticons.
Red Alert was seething. He kept going over what Arcee said, and knew she was right. That didn't mean he had to accept it. He went back to looking at his monitor, and his eyes widened in horror. Oh slag! He slammed his palm down onto alarm button, and screamed, "Decepticon activity!" into his communicator.
"Decepticons?" Arcee said as she moved toward Red Alert's station. She looked over his shoulder. "Where are they?"
Red Alert pointed out the forward viewport. "Right there!"
What appeared to be a seeker was moving slowly across the horizon. "It's probably scanning us!" Arcee said. "How could it get this close?" she sternly asked Red Alert.
"Gee, if someone hadn't kept me from my work, maybe I--"
Wheelie said, "Let's go, while it's moving slow!"
"Yeah!" shouted Sunstreaker. "I hate to admit it, but Wheelie's right! Let's kick some tail plate!" he turned to head for the exit, but Trailbreaker stopped him.
"I know a quicker way!"
"How do you mean?"
Trailbreaker pointed to the viewport. "Remember maneuver G6?"
"Ha ha! Yes!" Sunstreaker said. "You take point! Ready?"
"You bet, buddy!" said Trailbreaker, in a rare moment of inner peace.
"Oh no..." Arcee said. "Not again!"
Sunstreaker got on his knees to brace himself, and began firing at the forward viewport. The viewport was designed to be resistant to most weapons fire, but a prolonged barrage to a single point could weaken it enough to break it. "And... now!" he shouted.
Just as Suntreaker stopped firing, Trailbreaker took a running charge, and smashed through the viewport with a flying shoulder tackle. He landed on the ground, 30 feet below, rolled, and got up firing. Sunstreaker quickly followed him out, and they both charged forward.
"You idiots!" an enraged Red Alert shouted after them. "Now they have a clear path to the control room!" he said to Arcee.
"There's only one thing to do." Arcee said.
"You're right." Red Alert grabbed Wheelie, and said to him, "Wheelie, you go out there. We'll guard the control room. You're the bravest Autobot I've ever known!" and tossed him out the ruined viewport.
Arcee was aghast. "What are you--"
"Don't worry." he said. Then louder, "Wheelie, your sacrifice will not be in vain!"
"I meant we could close the blast shield!"
"Eh, I like my idea better." said Red Alert as he operated the blast shield control.
Hound and Skids drove out the city's south-east exit. As they transformed, they began scanning for the Decepticon. "There he is!" Skids shouted, and pointed to the south-west.
"Hmm..." Hound mused. "Only one? That doesn't seem..." but was stopped by an explosion to the west.
"They got the control room!"
"No." Hound said, slapping his forehead. "It exploded outwards."
"But why would... oh." Skids said. He saw Trailbreaker and Sunstreaker emerge from the debris, firing as they ran south-west. Oddly enough, he also saw Wheelie jump out the viewport. "That's just great."
"Hurry up!" said Hound as he transformed to jeep mode. "We don't want them to have all the fun, do we?" and sped off.
"Who said this was fun?" Skids asked himself as he followed suit.
Sunstreaker and Trailbreaker continued their charge. The seeker finally took notice of their advance and transformed. "It looks like Ramjet!" Sunstreaker said.
"No, I don't think so." responded Trailbreaker. "First of all, Ramjet's vehicle mode was an Earth jet, not a pyramid plane. Second, Ramjet had a cone head, that guy's head is flat. Third, Ramjet's dead."
"Who cares? Let's just kill him already!"
"Alright. You wait here. I'll go draw his fire. When he's busy with me, blast him!"
Sunstreaker twirled his gun around in a dramatic fashion. "Got ya!"
Trailbreaker transformed and drove in the direction of the seeker. "Come on, you slagging Decep'! You want a piece of me, don't you?!" he trash talked. "Hurry up and shoot me, you--" It was then that the seeker finally opened fire. "Ha ha! Yes! That's... ah, slag." Trailbreaker hit the brakes and went into reverse. "Get ready, I'm on my way!" he was able to turn around and started heading back at top speed.
Hound and Skids pulled up alongside Sunstreaker's position and transformed. "Sunstreaker, what's the situation?" Hound inquired.
"Well, right now, 'Breaker's drawing his fire." Sunstreaker pointed in the general direction of where Trailbreaker was. "When he gets close, I'm gonna blast him."
"Hmm..." Skids adjusted his optics. "I see him. He's cutting and weaving like crazy. He's getting closer. Get ready..." Hound and Sunstreaker both leveled their guns and nodded. "Almost here... almost here... he's heading straight for this... slag. SLAG!" Skids was barely able to dodge in time as Trailbreaker sped past the area he had been standing. Laying face down in the dirt, he meekly ordered, "...and fire!"
Hound and Sunstreaker unleashed a salvo just as the seeker passed over head. One of Sunstreaker's shots got him right in the midsection, causing him to crash. "Woo-hoo! Got him!" he shouted.
"Alright!" Hound said as they high fived each other.
"Yeah, yeah, great." Skids said as he got up off the ground, dusting himself off. "That was some great work. Be sure to give Trailbreaker a medal."
Trailbreaker doubled back and joined the others. "Ah, it's over already?" he said, disapponted.
Wheelie drove up at last, on what appeared to be a flat tire. He looked at at Trailbreaker and Sunstreaker, "Back at the base, you should see Arcee's face!"
"What?" Sunstreaker said. "Oh yeah, that viewport thing."
"But don't frown, the 'con's down!"
"Right," said Hound, "I'll pull a few strings, put the blame elsewhere... right on schedule."
Red Alert pulled up and transformed. "That was some great work, Wheelie! I've never seen such heroism!"
Hound nodded at Red Alert. "Oh, yes, heroism! You'll be transferred back to Cybertron for sure, now!"
"Here's hoping." Sunstreaker mumbled.
"Anyway, let's see what we have." Red Alert moved towards the downed seeker and began his examination. "He doesn't match any known Decepticons. That's odd."
"What is?" asked Trailbreaker.
"He doesn't have an insignia. Checking for life signs..." he moved his scanner over the seeker's body. "He's alive, but just barely."
"Then let's finish the job!" Sunstreaker said as he aimed at the seeker.
"NO!" Skids shouted as he pushed Sunstreaker over. The shot went wide, almost hitting Wheelie. "You're an Autobot, you can't just kill him!"
"He's right." Red Alert said, "We need him alive if we're going to interrogate him. We have to get him back to med lab, right now. Trailbreaker, carry him back on your roof."
"How come I always get stuck with the grunt work?"
"Because you can support the most weight." Hound said. "Transform, and roll out!"
Hound and Arcee paced outside the med lab. They anxiously awaited word on whether their attacker had survived. Breaking the silence, Arcee said, "How can you just let those two get away with smashing through the viewport?"
"Hey, they got the job done, didn't they? Besides, by putting the blame on Wheelie, we just may get him out of here." Hound responded.
"Do you really think Rodimus will believe that Wheelie could be capable of such mindless violence!"
"He's so obsessed with getting on my good side that he'll believe whatever I tell him!"
"And what about the control room?" Arcee asked.
"I'll assign Sunstreaker and Trailbreaker to repair it. Happy?"
"Alright." She looked at her chronometer, and then at the med lab door. "Why are your standards so lax?"
"I've accepted that this base doesn't really matter." Hound said dejected. "The Decepticons have almost no presence here now. Rodimus is using the city as a dumping ground for all the losers he doesn't want around anymore. Look at me. I've never accepted him as leader, so now I'm stuck here."
"Is that so? Then why am I here?"
"You chose Springer, didn't you?"
"No" she stammered. "He can't still be upset over that."
"Rodimus may have the Matrix, but at heart, he's still just a punk kid." Before he could continue, the med lab doors opened. "So, what's the verdict?"
"Well, he's alive..." Skids said, "But..."
"But what?" Arcee asked.
"He's alive, but he has no mind." Red Alert said. "No mind, no interrogation."
"But he was shooting at us!" said Hound
Skids said, "That was just a simple self-preservation protocol. If you remember, he didn't start shooting until he was fired at, and even then, it took nearly a minute for him to react."
"He has an extremely weak spark." Red Alert said. "And not because he was damaged. It was weak to begin with. His personality, if you could call it that, consists primarily of 'find suitable planet' and 'defend'. That's pretty much it. He had to of been sent by someone else, who was controlling him."
"So Galvatron sent him?" asked Hound.
"I don't think so." said Skids. "We went over his tech specs. It wouldn't make sense for Galvatron to hold him in reserve so long."
"This isn't a newly built robot," began Red Alert, "In fact, it's down right ancient. I'm talking pre-Alpha Trion. We would have run into him by now if he was working for Galvatron."
"Then who?" Arcee demanded. "Who sent him?"
"As I mentioned before, he didn't have an insignia. But..." Red Alert said, "... we found something else in his 'mind'. Just two statements. 'Victory or death', and..."
"And what?" said Hound.
"And 'Destrongers forever'." Skids finished.
For the first time in a while, Hound was unsure of what to do. "We better... we better call Prime."