Deck the Halls and Run for Cover

"Equipment Blitz! Run for it!"

The Minibot operators of the clandestine brewery scrambled into action, breaking up the various components of their jury-rigged operation and escaping with them down the vent shafts to a pre-determined secondary location. By the time Ratchet, Swoop and Sludge broke through the door of the old store room, they were long gone.

"Fraggit!" Ratchet kicked an empty barrel and activated his radio. "Ratchet to Wheeljack. We missed 'em." He snarled.
"Ditto. That's the third one today. They're getting too good at this." The inventor sighed. "Maybe we should get Jazz to help track them down?"
The CMO grunted "For all we know he's one of 'em." He replied. "How about you get around to building those mini-tracers? That'd make things easier."
"I would, but…"
"Your equipment's gone?"
"Yeah."
"Peachy. Okay, let's try the next one. Ratchet out."

0o0o0

Meanwhile, the 2IC was patiently listening as Red Alert expounded at length the perils of allowing a Christmas party in the Common Room and the major security risk that it posed.

At least, he was attempting to, when in actual fact he was so frazzled that he really wasn't making much sense at all. But Prowl was still listening anyway, out of a sense of courtesy if nothing less.

"…so you see Prowl, it is clearly too great a danger to allow a party." Red Alert finished, folding his arms and awaiting his expected reply.

Prowl contained a small sigh of irritation. He'd been through this little spiel so many times he could probably recite both Red Alert's argument and his reply backwards while in recharge.

"Red Alert, I appreciate your concern and attention to your duty, but despite any orders handed down by the command element the vast majority of the warriors will have a party whether we agree to it or not. At least this way the party will be held in a controlled environment." Prowl explained.
"But you don't understand!" Red Alert protested, launching into his lecture again.

Prowl sighed, his doorwings twitching back in annoyance. "Here we go again."

0o0o0

"Ow! Hey, watch the face will ya?"
"If you'll stop struggling I'll stop hitting you!"

Trailbreaker tried very hard not to laugh as the twins bickered while attempting to untangle themselves without breaking the thin wires. Somehow they had gotten snarled up in the fairy lights that they were supposed to be stringing up along the walls of the Common Room. Twostroke watched the commotion from the safety of her perch halfway up the Autobot sized artificial Christmas tree. Sideswipe had stuck her there when she was playing with the lights, and she seemed to like it so far.

"Here, lemme give you a hand." Trailbreaker volunteered. The twins, who had somehow managed to get themselves tied back to back by this stage, gratefully accepted the assistance. Several minutes of careful untangling later, and the warriors were free.

0o0o0

In the labs, Perceptor was lying on the floor and carefully tightening a fine wire strung between the back of an equipment locker and the bottom of the partially opened locker door. Once he was finished, should anyone open the door without disengaging the wire first, they would receive a rather colourful surprise in the form of an exploding dye pack.

It did make things a bit cumbersome around the lab, having to disarm the various traps and triggers before removing any equipment for use, but at least there was some assurance that the equipment would actually be there come morning.

Satisfied with his work, the scientist stood, closed the door and brushed himself off, before returning to one of the innumerable projects that were scattered around the benches. Wheeljack clumped in the main doors, a box of glass beakers and a handful of pipettes in his arms. "And the raiders have returned triumphant!" The Lancia announced, placing his spoils on the nearest clear area of bench. "Me and Slag managed to get the drop on Powerglide and Brawn."
"Some good news at last." Perceptor smiled. "We had best store these away before someone else wishes to make use of them." He said, sorting through the glassware.
"Pipettes go in here, right?" Wheeljack asked, carrying the items to one of the lockers. The locker that Perceptor had just been working on

"Yes, but that locker…"

BANG

"Never mind."