Disclaimer:Transformers belongs to Hasbro, Takara, etc. The only thing in this that belongs to me is Arcee's sister.

"You should have seen Optimus Prime's face when his precious Star Saber shattered like glass and, with it, his dreams of an Autobot victory," Megatron told Soundwave after laughing evilly as his communications chief was decoding the Iacon Database, "Granted, Optimus will be more determined than ever to discover the locations of the remaining Iacon entries before we can." Just then Soundwave finished decoding one of the Iacon Database's entries as the monitor in front of them beeped as he walked up behind his communications chief, "Ah, very good. I see you have decoded the next set of coordinates."

"Way to step things up, Soundwave," they heard Knockout's voice compliment the Decepticons' communications chief as he walked onto the bridge of the Nemesis, "I do hope this Iacon relic is something less sacred and more profane, like an electro-disruptor cannon. We could use one of those."

"Indeed, Knockout," Megatron said, agreeing with the medic before contacting his first lieutenant, "Dreadwing, report to the bridge immediately."

"Please, Lord Megatron, allow me the honor of retrieving this relic for you," Knockout pleaded with the Decepticon warlord.

"I'm surprised you would risk your finish so soon after your accident," Megatron said with surprise as he turned around to face his medic, offending him as he looked down and closed his optics, "Nonetheless, I remain unconvinced that you are the best choice for this task since you failed to secure the Phase Shifter."

"I lacked the proper tools. But since Soundwave's currently occupied, I can't imagine he'll mind if I borrow this…" Knockout explained before revealing the Resonance blaster in his servos, "So that I might better secure your prize and heap some hurt on the Autobots."


"I'm gonna be a great warrior someday, like Optimus," Smokescreen stated as he watched Optimus decode the Iacon Database.

"Well, train hard and gain some wisdom along the way, and I'm sure it'll happen" Bulkhead told him.

"Yeah, we've all trained hard and gained wisdom to become warriors," Chromette said, agreeing with the former Wrecker, "Except for Bumblebee, considering he's still a scout."

"Oh, it will. It's my destiny," Smokescreen said, causing Bumblebee to beep a response.

"How so?" Arcee inquired.

"Well, one minute I'm on security detail at Iacon. The next I wake up on the other side of the galaxy under Optimus' command," Smokescreen explained, "I mean, what are the chances, right? Things happen for a reason."

"We get it, Smokescreen. You're special. We're lucky to have you," Arcee muttered with fake enthusiasm.

"All I'm really saying is, I've come a long way, and this one opportunity I don't plan on messing up," Smokescreen told them.

"Autobots, the next Iacon coordinates have been decoded," Optimus announced, "Ratchet, ready the Ground Bridge."

"Last one to the Omega Key has to scrub the Energon tanks for a week," Smokescreen said as he ran towards the Ground Bridge as Ratchet used one of his digits to choose the Ground Bridge's coordinates for the location of where the second of the four Omega Keys were located at with the Ground Bridge's controls.

"Didn't know we were keeping score," Arcee muttered.

"Come on 'Cee, most young Cybertronians are like that," Chromette told her sister.

"Arcee, Chromette, Bumblebee, prepare to roll out," Optimus instructed, causing Smokescreen to look shocked while Bumblebee beeped a response.

"Wait. What about me?" Smokescreen protested as the twins and Bumblebee walked towards the Ground Bridge, while Bulkhead cleared his throat, "I mean me and Bulkhead?"

"The two of you will remain here in the event I'm able to decode a subsequent database entry before the others return," Optimus answered before turning back to the Cybertronian Computer system to decode the next entry in the Iacon Database.

"Optimus is right. Considering the very fate of Cybertron is at stake, response time is critical," Ratchet said, agreeing with Optimus before pulling the switch to activate the Ground Bridge down.

"Keep your engines idling, Kid," Arcee told Smokescreen before turning to her sister and Bumblebee, "Come on, Chrome and Bee. Destiny awaits." The three of them then transformed as they drove through the Ground Bridge portal.

"We call it a pit stop," Bulkhead explained as the Ground Bridge deactivated as he hit Smokescreen hard in the back plate hard enough to nearly knock him to the floor, "We'll get back in the race."


Upon arrival, Arcee, Chromette and Bumblebee transformed back into their robot forms before they were quick to take a quick first look of the area. Not only for signs of the second Omega Key. But for signs of human population and Decepticons. They found that the area was deserted and had been so for quite some time. Within moments, Arcee and Chomette were both able to spot the relic.

"Over there," Arcee said, pointing at the second Omega Key as she and Chromette both saw that it had been placed on top of a boulder in the distance and had been unearthed and the lid of its containment unit had been removed to make the second Omega Key visible to everyone nearby.

"Is it just me or is this all too easy?" Chromette asked them as she was surprised to see that the second Omega Key had already been unearthed with its containment unit's lid removed.

"Well, well, just the Autobots I wanted to see," they heard the voice of Knockout say as he emerged from behind the boulder with a smirk on his face, "And I see that you've brought your sister as backup this time, Arcee."

"We'll handle the mad doctor. You grab the Key," Arcee told Bumblebee as she and Chromette transformed their servos into their blasters before Bumblebee beeped a response as he deployed his blasters.

"I've been wanting to thank the three of you for the memories," Knockout sneered as he revealed the Resonance blaster on the door of his right arm. He aimed it at the twins and fired it at them as the sound waves from the Decepticon weapon knocked both Arcee and Chromette on their backs before he aimed and fired it at Bumblebee as the sound waves knocked the scout into a boulder as he slowly walked towards him as the sound waves began to crack the car hood of his frame as Arcee began running towards the Decepticon medic, "Who knew sound waves could be such a…" He then turned around and fired another blast of sound waves at her, "Knockout?" She then began to groan in pain, "What's that, dear? I can't hear you!"

"Bee, Sis, the relic!" Arcee groaned as Bumblebee clutched his chassis as he freed himself from the boulder and beeped as he looked at the Omega Key and was determined to snatch it from Knockout as Chromette began running towards the Decepticon medic with her arm blades deployed, only for him to fire a sound wave at the pink and white femme, knocking her backwards before he noticed that the Autobot scout was rushing towards the relic.

"Scrap," Knockout muttered to himself before seeing both femmes running towards the relic as well, "How low can it go?"

Aiming the Resonance blaster at the ground, he fired the Decepticon weapon multiple times. His plan worked. As they approached the relic, Bumblebee, Arcee and Chromette were knocked off their pedes and sent flying again.

"Subwoofer or depth charge?" Knockout asked the three Autobots, rhetorically.

When the dust had cleared, the Autobots found themselves in a situation. Bumblebee used whatever strength he had left to push rocks off of him. Beeping a moan, slightly, he rubbed his helm, trying to relieve himself of the throbbing pain that Knockout caused. Arcee and Chromette both approached the containment unit from different directions, limping and clutching their chassis. Unfortunately for the Autobots, Knockout and the Omega Key were gone.

"Scrap," Arcee muttered to herself.

"Yep, I agree with you, Sis, now both us and the Decepticons have an Omega Key and we are back to square one," Chromette said, agreeing with her sister.


"Hmm. It appears identical to the one taken from me by Optimus Prime," Megatron observed as he examined the Omega Key that Knockout had delivered to him upon his return to the Nemesis before grabbing it from the Decepticon medic, "Ah. Perhaps it is a decoy the Autobots allowed you to seize as a means of sabotage."

"Unlikely, my liege. They battled too desperately for it," Knockout dismissed.

"Then pieces of a larger puzzle, perhaps," Megatron mused before a series of beeps disrupted his thoughts and turned to his communications chief, "Excellent, Soundwave. With any luck, these new coordinates will shed some light on the subject."

"Soundwave's on fire! And so am I!" Knockout boasted as he unveiled the Resonance blaster that was still resting on his right arm.

"Keep your vanity in check, Doctor," Megatron advised the Decepticon medic as Knockout began to leave the bridge as he turned around towards him.

"Haven't I proven myself?!" Knockout exclaimed in disbelief as he turned around towards the Decepticon warlord.

"Your scientific expertise remains of greater use to me analyzing our latest acquisition. I must know what this relic is and what it can do," Megatron proclaimed.


As soon as Arcee, Chromette and Bumblebee got back to base, Bumblebee was placed in the repair bay for repairs, while Arcee and Chromette sat on metal boxes nearby with everyone but Optimus standing nearby with Ratchet checking up on the young scout's condition from the repair bay's computer as Optimus walked up to the femmes.

"We're sorry, Optimus. Knockout was there, waiting for us," Arcee apologized to the Prime.

"Seems like the 'Cons are improving their decoding skills," Chromette added, darkly.

"And it seems that, with two keys already separated, no one currently possesses the means to revive Cybertron," Ratchet stated as he walked away from the repair bay's computer.

"While our quest to restore our planet may have reached a stalemate, securing the remaining keys is still the most prudent course of action," Optimus proclaimed.

"Man, it must have been crazy there with Knockout going all sonic," Smokescreen remarked as he made a gesture as if he was taking a battle position, "Oh, man I wish I'd been there. I would have-"

"Would have what?!" Arcee snapped at their new recruit bitterly as Ratchet began to run a scan on her, "Recovered the key like you did the first one?!"

"Maybe. Who knows?" Smokescreen shrugged, "I just want us to be firing on all cylinders, you know, now that the Star Saber's gone. And I have a pretty good track record so far."

"Don't be harsh on him, Sis," Chromette told her sister before she scoffed as she began to sit up, holding her left arm as Ratchet began to run a scan on her, "He still has much to learn. Besides, he was most likely forged during the war for Cybertron." Arcee then began to walk away, causing Smokescreen to stumble backwards and watched her walk away with slight worry written in his eyes, "Where are you going, Sis?"

"To talk to my boyfriend," Arcee answered, "Is that okay with you, Sis?!"

"I don't mind, Sis," Chromette muttered as she watched as her sister left the room.

"Look, Kid, Arcee, Chromette and Bumblebee are no slouches, and Optimus managed just fine for eons without the big sword," Bulkhead told their new recruit, "Of course, you wouldn't know about that. And you've been locked in stasis the whole time we've been fighting this war."

"Exactly, and I'm ready to make up for lost time," Smokescreen proclaimed.

"When Optimus says you're ready. You got to be in this for the long haul," Bulkhead told him before looking at Optimus, who was decoding the next Iacon Database entry, "Slow and steady wins the race."


As Arcee entered her quarters, she placed one of her digits over her comlink as she went to contact her boyfriend's phone, "Jack, are you there?"

"Hello, 'Cee," Jack said on her comlink as he answered his phone, "What's up?"

"I wanted to speak to you about Smokescreen," she answered.

"What about him?" He asked her.

"Well, since you and him went to get the Star Saber, only for him to put you in danger, he's been acting annoying as his ego has increased over the last few days," Arcee answered.

"Arcee, don't let his ego get to you," Jack told her, "You're both a team and have to try your best to just ignore his ego."

"Is it me or did you just sound like a Prime just now?" Arcee said with a smirk.

"Well, from what Ratchet said before the whole mess with Unicron and Optimus having amnesia, Optimus used to be like me and I suspect that when I become a Cybertronian, I'll probably be the next Prime after Optimus," Jack explained, "Speaking of Ratchet, has he found a way to turn me into a Cybertronian yet?"

"From what I hear, he's close, very close, Jack," Arcee answered.

"Well, let's hope he finds out very soon," Jack told her.

"I hope so, too," Arcee said, agreeing with her boyfriend, "Anyway, gotta go. Speak to you later, Jack."

"Speak to you soon as well, Arcee," Jack replied as Arcee removed her digit from her comlink as she left her quarters and went back to join the others.


While the tension was building up in the Autobot base and Arcee talking to her boyfriend with her comlink, Starscream had his own frustrations in the crashed Decepticon ship, the Harbinger. He was currently in the process of refining the Red Energon he had gathered. Unfortunately for him, the Red Energon he had taken from the Autobots was taking a long time to refine and the supply that came out of it was a disappointment.

"Hurry up already!" Starscream growled impatiently, "How is it possible that speed-enhancing Energon takes longer to process than regular Energon?!"

Then he heard a series of beeps. They weren't reporting on ongoing Decepticon activity. Unfortunately for Starscream, it was a report that the small chunk of Red Energon had finished the refining process without even filling one quarter of the jar.

"An entire chunk of Red Energon and this is all I get?!" Starscream said in disbelief, "There's enough here for one dose! Maybe two!"

Another series of beeps distracted Starscream from his small temper tantrum. This time, it was to bring good news to balance the bad news he had just received. Humming curiously, Starscream took a glance at the Harbinger's computer monitors.

"Decepticon movement," Starscream observed before picking up the vial of the refined Red Energon, "While speed is hardly a suitable replacement for the might of the Apex Armor, it should provide me with enough of an edge to obtain a more formidable relic."


"The next coordinates are ready," Optimus announced as he turned away from the Cybertronian Computer system's monitors as he finished decoding the next Iacon Database entry.

"There remains one set left to decode," Ratchet stated as he typed in the coordinates of the third Omega Key on the Ground Bridge's controls with one of his digits before pulling the switch to activate the Ground Bridge down.

"On it, Boss," Bulkhead said, volunteering himself to be part of the team that goes to get the third Omega Key.

"I'm gonna bring back that Key," Smokescreen promised as he stepped forward, practicing his punches.

"Oh, Bulk? Forgetting something?" Arcee smirked as she held up the detector, and when Bulkhead came to grab it as he groaned and held his servo over the front of his helm for a second, she pulled him closer and whispered to him, "Make sure you keep an eye on Destiny's child, okay?"

"And take care of him, Bulk," Chromette whispered, agreeing with her sister, worried about her possible future Sparkmate in case anything happens to him.

"Compared to watching Miko, piece of cake," Bulkhead chuckled as he walked away from the twins to join Smokescreen at the Ground Bridge.

Together, the two Autobots ran through the Ground Bridge to the next set of coordinates as both Arcee and Chromette watched them, worriedly. They had no idea what was going to happen, but Arcee was more worried than Chromette as the blue femme knew with Smokescreen involved that something was bound to happen.


The coordinates that Optimus managed to decode led Bulkhead and Smokescreen to a mountain forest on America's west coast as they exited the Ground Bridge portal, which closed behind them. It closely resembled the forest where Arcee and Jack spotted Airachnid's crashed ship during their 'harmless' recon. The only difference was that it appeared to be autumn and there was no darkness and mist.

"Stick close. And stay focus," Bulkhead told Smokescreen as they had their servos transformed into their blasters as they used to to check the area for any Decepticons nearby.

"Gotcha!" Smokescreen said, waving back at the former wrecker, uninterestedly.

"I mean it," Bulkhead warned him.

"Me too," Smokescreen said, turning back around towards him as he defended himself before he heard a series of rhythmic beeping in the distance as Bulkhead shushed him, "What is that?"

A loud crash caused the two of them to turn around and face a rocky cliff and as soon as they did, they saw a figure emerging from the trees and the blinding rays of the sunset and saw that it was Dreadwing.

"One of the last sounds that you will ever hear," Dreadwing said, answering Smokescreen's question in his usual manner, his prayers for the Autobots' demise.

"Dreadwing," Bulkhead snarled before Dreadwing transformed into his alternate mode and flew towards them.

Bulkhead and Smokescreen were barely able to dive out of the way in time as Dreadwing flew past them. Without another word, Dreadwing took to the skies. But he didn't necessarily leave the scene. He stayed in the general area.

Hearing the beeping again, Bulkhead and Smokescreen were quick to sit back up. Upon first glance, they were confused. Where was that beeping coming from? Then Bulkhead turned to face a tree and he immediately saw it. One of Dreadwing's proximity bombs strapped to the tree's trunk. And based on the sounds of the beeps, it was set to blow. To make matters worse, Dreadwing had planted a series of his proximity bombs on the trees around them.

"We got to get out of here now!" Bulkhead told Smokescreen as he dragged him away from Dreadwing's proximity bombs.

As they ran away, the proximity bombs began to detonate all around them. Trees fell down and fires broke out, threatening to block their path. When they reached the end of the hill, Smokescreen and Bulkhead jumped as the final proximity bomb detonated.

The final proximity bomb had caused them to lose control of their balance, causing them to tumble down the rocky terrain of the mountain forest. When they reached the bottom of the mountain forest, Dreadwing transformed into his robot form and landed in front of them.

"Smoke, I'll handle Dreadwing. Go get the relic," Bulkhead ordered Smokescreen as he threw him the detector.

"You got it," Smokescreen nodded as he ran off to find and get the third Omeg

Dreadwing went to chase after the Autobots' new recruit, but was stopped by Bulkhead taunting him.

"You love watching your dirty work from a distance, don't you? Too bad you don't have the ball bearings to fight up close and personal!" Bulkhead snarled as he pounded his fists together.

"In this particular case, I will be more than happy to make an exception," Dreadwing proclaimed.

With a battle cry, Dreadwing jumped down from the fallen tree trunk he was standing on and went to strike Bulkhead, who transformed his servo into his wrecking ball mace and swung it at him. Both of them missed their initial attacks. But Dreadwing was able to plant one of his signature proximity bomb on Bulhead's back, behind one of the wheels for his alternate mode. Bulkhead ignored the proximity bomb strapped to his back for the time being as he continued to fight against the former Seeker.

He then swung his Wrecking ball mace around towards Dreadwing as the former Seeker slammed his fists against Bulkhead's shoulders before the former Wrecker grabbed Dreadwing and dragged him towards and slammed him against a tree before Dreadwing grabbed Bulkhead from the helm and punched him in the tanks before roundhouse kicking him backwards with one of his pedes before Bulkhead charged back towards him and punched Dreadwing with his Wrecking ball mace in the helm before punching him in the tank as he transformed his servo into his blaster and fired it at him in the tank, knocking him back towards the tree, which collapsed to the ground and landing on his back on a boulder before collapsing to his knees as Bulkhead transformed his blaster back into his servo as he took a battle position.

"An admirable effort, but you obviously forgot how our last encounter ended," Dreadwing smirked as he stood up and held up his remote for his proximity bombs and pressed the button to activate the proximity bomb.

"No, I didn't," Bulkhead told him.

To dreadwing's horror, he realized that during their brief fight, Bulkhead had removed the proximity bomb from his back and planted it over Dreadwing's sword. Dreadwing was able to reach for the proximity bomb before it could detonate and threw it into the air. The proximity bomb detonated in the air before either of them could escape, taking them by surprise.

Bulkhead handled the shockwaves of the blast better than Dreadwing had. The former Wrecker was still standing whereas Dreadwing was knocked onto his back, unconscious.

"Smoke, I'm on my way," Bulkhead said, contacting Smokescreen with his comlink.


Smokescreen had left the detector on a nearby rock and begun digging at the rock formation for the third Omega Key as the detector began to beep rapidly. Within a few moments, he had the containment unit unburied and lid removed. When the key popped upwards from the containment unit, he didn't hesitate to take it.

"Destiny," Smokescreen muttered to himself.

Before he could blink, he was blindsided and blindsided hard. The blow was hard enough for Smokescreen to fall to the ground, unconscious and causing him to lose possession of the third Omega Key.

He didn't know how long he had been unconscious. But he knew that when he came to, Bulkhead was kneeling over him and shaking him by the shoulders hard.

"Smokescreen! Wake up!" Bulkhead said, trying to wake their new recruit before Smokescreen began opening his optics.

"Wh-What happened?" Smokescreen immediately asked him.

"That's what I want to know," Bulkhead sighed as he pulled Smokescreen up to his pedes.

"The Omega Key!" Smokescreen cried as he immediately looked around, noticing that it was gone, "I had it until something hit me from behind."

"Dreadwing must have had backup," Bulkhead growled, "That relic's long gone." He then activated his comlink as he contacted Ratchet, "Ratchet, we need a bridge."

"I-I told Optimus I'd return with that key," Smokescreen said with sadness as he began to blame himself for losing the third Omega Key as a Ground Bridge portal opened behind Bulkhead.

"Listen, Kid, Alpha Trion said we need all four keys to restore Cybertron, remember?" Bulkhead reminded Smokescreen as he placed his left servo over their new recruit's left shoulder as he guided him towards the Ground Bridge portal and back to base, "We just need to hang onto the one we have and find a way to get the others back from Megatron."

What Bulkhead or Smokescream failed to notice was Starscream standing on a rocky cliff with the third Omega Key in his possession as he overheard the two Autobots' conversation.

"The promise of a new Cybertron in the palm of my hand…when I obtain all four," Starscream muttered as the Autobots' Ground Bridge portal closed before he sped away, taking the hopes of Cybertron's future with him.


"Smokescreen was sucker-punched. Could have happened to any of us," Bulkhead told everyone once he and Smokescreen returned to base and explained what happened when they went to get the third Omega Key as Optimus was decoding the final Iacon Database entry.

"But it didn't because I was the one who dropped his guard," Smokescreen argued, "I was the one who blew it. Some great warrior I'm turning out to be."

"You still don't get it, do you?!" Arcee snapped at their new recruit, "A couple of victories aren't gonna make you a legend. And not every mission results in success, not for me, not for Be or my sister, not even for Optimus. And the same will be for Jack when we find a way to turn him into a Cybertronian. We've gained relics, and we've lost some. We've also lost friends. We've even lost a world. But this is one time we get a do-over. We have a chance to bring back Cybertron, and everyone in this room needs to be in sync. This isn't about you or destiny."

"Sis, calm down, as I've said before Smokescreen's young and still has much to learn," Chromette told her twin sister.

"Arcee, you've made your point and your sister is right," Optimus rumbled as he turned around from the Cybertronian Computer system and towards Arcee, Chromette Smokescreen and Bulkhead as he went to diffuse the tension between Arcee and Smokescreen.

"Optimus, he needs to hear this," Arcee told the Prime, "You might actually become a great warrior one day, and I sincerely hope that you do. But greatness begins and ends with putting the team first, not your personal scorecard."

"There's nothing I wouldn't do for you guys," Smokescreen protested.

"Then stop trying to be a hero and start being an Autobot," Arcee told him, causing him to look at Optimus for a second.

"You know what? Maybe I'm just not good enough," Smokescreen said and transformed into his alternate form and drove away and out of their base, causing everyone to just stand there in silence and stunned by what he just said.

"Next time Optimus advises you to stop, perhaps you should listen," Ratchet suggested to Arcee as he walked up to her and Chromette.

"I'll bring him back," Bulkhead announced as he went to follow Smokescreen.

"I'm going with you, Bulk," Chromette told the former Wrecker.

"As you both know, Smokescreen is young, and has much to learn, but right now he needs to clear his thoughts," Optimus said as he stepped forward, "And I need to finish decoding the final Iacon entry."


"You never even SPIED THE RELIC?!" Megatron roared at Dreadwing in disbelief as Soundwave was decoding the final Iacon Database entry.

"By the time I reached the location, it was gone, as were the Autobots," Dreadwing reported, sadly.

"It would serve us well to not only decode the final Iacon entry before Optimus Prime does, but to recapture those relics currently held by the Autobots," Megatron proclaimed before turning to his communications chief, "Soundwave." The Decepticons' communications chief then stopped decoding the Iacon Database's final entry as he turned around towards the Decepticon warlord, "Despite your primary task, I trust that you have been making progress pinpointing the location of their base." Soundwave nodded as his visor switched from its black spaces to Laserbeak's optics, searching for the Autobots' base within the deserts of Jasper, Nevada, "Good. Given the recent accumulation of evidence, we possess a clearer idea of where their human colleagues reside. And Laserbeak should soon determine whether the Autobots dwell in proximity."


"Ah. The final entry has been decoded," Optimus announced as he turned away from the Cybertronian Computer system as he finished decoding the Iacon Database's final entry.

"Has it?" Ratched asked as he widened his optics as he stared at the Cybertronian Computer system's monitor and saw that it hadn't been fully decoded yet as the Cybertronian Computer system began beeping.

Instead of unveiling a set of coordinates as the previous encryptions did, the decrypted codes began revealing a picture rather than a location. At first, they were confused.

"Hmm. Perhaps it's a layer of secondary encryption," Optimus mused.


Soundwave had finished decoding the same coordinates and the final entry of the Iacon database and saw the same picture forming that the Autobots were seeing.

"The coordinates are forming an image," Megatron observed as he looked at the picture that the decrypted codes of the final Iacon Database entry was forming, "Why would the final Iacon entry be different from the others."


"Maybe it's a picture of the Relic," Bulkhead Suggested as Optimus was decoding the secondary encryption of the final Iacon Database's entry as he, the twins, Bumblebee and Ratchet walked up to Optimus.

"Of what possible use could that be to us without knowing its location?" Ratchet retorted with a scoff.

"Ratchet does have a point, Bulk," Chromette said, agreeing with the medic, "It would make no sense that it would be a picture of the relic without its location."

"I trust that Alpha Trion had his reasons," Optimus told them.

Everyone was forced to swallow their guesses as Optimus finished decoding the secondary encryption for the final entry of the Iacon Database as the picture finished revealing itself. They saw the familiar shape of one of the many comrades they knew. However, what surprised them was the fact that it was a picture of their new recruit.

"Smokescreen?!" Bulkhead and Chromette both said in disbelief.


Aboard the Nemesis, Megatron and Soundwave were both seeing what the Autobots were seeing. And very much like their Autobot counterparts, they were having a hard time believing it.

"Prime's latest recruit is the final relic of Iacon?!" Megatron said in shock and disbelief.


"Is this that hotshot's idea of a Joke?" Arcee asked with confusion before Bumblebee beeped a reply.

"Yeah, I agree with you, Bee, I highly doubt that this is a joke," Chromette said, agreeing with Bumblebee.

"Maybe he knows where the key is," Bulkhead suggested.

"And never bother to mention it?" Arcee retorted.

"A more likely possibility is that Smokescreen himself somehow is the key, without knowing it," Ratchet suggested.

"That actually makes sense," Chromette told him.

"Whatever the case, he could be in grave danger," Optimus reminded everyone before activating his comlink, "Smokescreen, return to base immediately."

"He may have deactivated his comlink," Ratchet stated after a few seconds of silence as they didn't hear a reply from their newest recruit.

"Locate his position and prepare the Ground Bridge," Optimus immediately instructed.


Smokescreen was driving along a road within the desert of Jasper to unleash his anger towards Arcee as unbeknownst to him, Laserbeak saw him and began to follow the Autobots' newest recruit.


What Laserbeak was seeing was shown on Soundwave's visor as the Decepticons' communications chief as he showed it to Megatron, who was unable to contain the smirk on his face.

"It seems our side project is already paying off," Megatron said with glee.


On his side view mirror, Smokescreen was able to see Laserbeak approaching. When the Minicon began shooting at him, he was able to perform some maneuvers to avoid being hit. In the end, Smokescreen transformed into his robot form and stood in anger as he got ready to fight as Laserbeak swarmed around him.

"You picked the wrong day to mess with me, 'Con," Smokescreen snarled with anger as he transformed his servo into his blaster before charging it up.

Smokescreen never got the chance to fire his blaster as he was blindsided for the second time today. This time, it wasn't from behind, but was from the side and was sent tumbling through the desert sand of Jasper before coming to a stop a few feet away from the road. Groaning in pain, Smokescreen began losing the strength to fight the eloping darkness.

Through his blurred vision, Smokescreen could make out the shapes and colors of Soundwave. It became clear to him that Soundwave used the Resonance blaster to attack him with a sound wave from the Decepticon weapon. That was the last thing he saw before he fell into unconsciousness.

A Ground Bridge portal then suddenly opened up with the Autobots jumping through the portal with every single one of them, except for Bumblebee having their servos transformed into their blasters as the scout had his blasters deployed from his arms as they were ready to fight. However, they were quick to discover that they had arrived far too late as Soundwave had arrived before they had and taken down Smokescreen. They were horrified as they saw another Ground Bridge open up as Soundwave was in the process of dragging Smokescreen through the Decepticon Ground Bridge portal.

"Smokescreen," Optimus said with horror.

Optimus and the other Autobots were quick to desperately try and catch Soundwave before he left. Soundwave had dragged the unconscious Smokescreen through the Decepticon's Ground Bridge portal. By the time the Autobots had reached them, the portal had closed before them as they realized that they were too late.

"No!" Bulkhead yelled with anger.

"SMOKESCREEN!" Chromette cried with horror and despair as she and the other Autobots except Bumblebee transformed their blasters back into their servos, while he retracted his blasters back into his arms as Laserbeak flew over them as he began to fly back to the Nemesis.

Next is Inside Job and please favorite, follow and review.