Fate Calls

by Sci-Fifan95

In life, the only certain thing that applies to us is death. We cannot escape it. We cannot outrun it. It is a fate that finds us all. However, He plays chess. And you don't find out until too late that He's been playing with two queens all along.

25. Operation Breakdown

And I finally got this freaking chapter done. *Gives a sigh of relief* That certainly took forever, but as a result, I have no broken my record for my personal longest chapter... For the third straight time. But, as usual, I am sorry for taking so long, this chapter gave me a lot of problems, and the fact I got Fall of Cybertron didn't help... Escalation is too much fun. And I am sorry in advance if I rushed at any point, I honestly was getting tired of writing this chapter, went on a lot longer than it should have.

Anyway, I am not going to discuss the season 2 finale of Prime, I am just not. Makes me too mad. The series was starting to become inconsistent before the finale, but it went to an entirely new level in that episode.

Also, I forgot to mention last chapter that I had changed something back in chapter *thinks for a moment* six, in the chapter where Shadow' first becomes a Cybertronian. I at first said in that chapter that Cybertron was 'several-hundred light-years from Earth' well, I changed that. Big time. So, in the continuity of Fate Calls, Cybertron is now located in the Triangulum galaxy.

Lastly, I want to again thank everyone who reviewed. I really can't thank you all enough for reading and leaving me feedback. :)

On that note, there is one review I am not replying to because... Well, I can't see it... Lol. I don't know why, but I can't. So, whoever you are, thank you for leaving feedback.

Thanks go to Crystal Prime for beta reading.

TerraPrime - You are quite welcome! And I am glad you enjoy reading it.

Autobot Shadowstalker - I left you waiting for a long time, didn't I? Haha sorry. And you will just have to read to find out, won't you? I hope you like my explanation.

KayleeChiara - Definitely a lot to go over. Haha. Thank you for thinking it was a nice mix of interaction and action, I am still trying to find the best mix between the two. Wait no longer! And you are welcome!

jayna prime - I did enjoy writing that scene between Shadow' and Ironhide it was fun coming up with the Cybertronian version of H-O-R-S-E. Lol. And yes, Springer is a glitch/jerk. Funny, when you think about it, he is being a jerk to a guy who can *and has* beat the living crap out of him. Lol. You will know what to think of the Delphic after this chapter. :) And it's not the end of the world... Just a paradox in the space-time continuum. Lol.

TransformersAndJesusFan - Thanks. :) And I have read fics where the main character and the love interest realize they have feelings for the other... Go through the stubborn phase, and get together in *you ready?* one-thousand words... I wish I was kidding. The romance subplot isn't interesting when it is really fast like that, so I am taking things very slowly in Fate Calls. Hopefully, I can keep the romance subplot interesting. :)

AllSpark Princess - I am glad you think so. I am trying to write humorous moments more often, seeing where it takes me. And I didn't do a good job of updating soon, did I? Ha.

CHAOS - I was kinda inspired by the crystal that wasn't a crystal in that movie. There's just something about it that makes you think more. Thanks for leaving feedback. :)

pfolk - I thought it would be a good gift for Arcee. She likes guns quite a bit.

*Doesn't acknowledge the existence of the season 2 finale* I am not planning on following the plot-line of the second season. I have my own plot already planned out.

Ah. I see what you mean now. I have a lot of ideas for stories, one wouldn't leave me alone and I had to write and post the prologue, but I don't plan on writing more than one main story at a time, I want to focus completely on the story I am currently writing. That way, I don't lose track of my ideas for my stories.

WILDTRON01 - They're one of my top favorite bands, if not the top favorite of mine. They have so many songs that go with so many different situations, perfect writing. Lol, I have done that before, I face-palmed. Haha. And that is my personal favorite of her stories, though, the fact I am a character in it might have something to do with it. Lol. I have yet to see any episodes of G1 that are after the 1986 movie, so I don't know what his personality is like, but I know who he is.

magical fan18 - That would be because I was just starting out writing when I wrote that chapter, and you are a little late to offer suggestions for alt modes. Sorry. Ha.

And we discussed your second review through PM'ing.

Disclaimer: Transformers belongs to Hasbro. I only take credit for this story and my OCs.

---

December 25, 2012 1:58 P.M

Autobot base, outside Jasper, Nevada

Two solar-cycles had passed since we recovered the Delphic, the name Raf had given the crystal we brought back from Colorado.

Moonracer and Ratchet were spending most of their time in the med-bay as they studied the Delphic, as well as the miner's armor fragment I had sub-spaced, which I had given the two medics the same cycle we recovered the Delphic. So far, Ratchet and Moonracer hadn't been able to figure out exactly what the Delphic was, or identify what metal the armor fragment was made of. But, with those two studying both objects almost constantly, answers likely weren't going to elude them for long.

Other than Ratchet and Moonracer spending most of their time studying the Delphic and armor fragment, nothing really noteworthy had occurred in the last two solar-cycles. Well, except for how Arcee and I had beaten several of Sunstreaker and Sideswipe's high scores for partner-based simulations after I had given her the Revolutionary War musket. The twins were far from pleased when they found that out. And they had tried four times to top the high scores of Arcee and I since they got out of the med-bay, they hadn't succeeded, yet, anyway. But, for the moment, the high scores of Arcee and I were the best for partner-based simulations in the combat simulator.

Coincidentally, the combat simulator was where Arcee and I were at the moment.

I whipped my Holo-Rifle around and fired a controlled pair at the blue, almost transparent hologram of a Decepticon that had been running up the staircase off to the left of Arcee and I.

One round hit the fake Decepticon in the chestplates, while the other hit him in the helm, causing the hologram's helm to explode in a shower of digital gore before the hologram itself derezzed and flickered from existence.

Except for the Holo-Rifle, which was an actual working rifle that functioned like a laser tag gun except it needed to be reloaded and had a realistic amount of recoil, and the buildings, which would require too much power to create in holographic form, everything in the combat simulator was basically one giant hologram. A hologram that could be modified for any number of situations, including your mission objectives, the types and amounts of enemies you faced, or even the kind of glass in the windows. Basically, anything you could see, you could modify it to your liking.

I ejected the now-depleted energy cell from my Holo-Rifle and looked over at Arcee, who had just snipped two Shotgunners that had attempted to run into the lower level of the building she and I were holed up in. "How are we doing?" I asked, loading a fresh energy cell into my Holo-Rifle and aiming it down the narrow hallway on the opposite side of the room from the staircase.

"I got five energy cells left," Arcee replied as she fired her Holo-Rifle, which she had configured to be a fifteen-shot semi-automatic sniper rifle for this simulation, and took the helm off a Decepticon that had tried to bring out his own sniper rifle and counter-snipe her. "So, I'm good on ammo for the moment. You?"

I looked down at the ammo pack on my hip. Three energy cells left, which gave me twenty-four shots since I had my Holo-Rifle configured like an M1 Garand, deadly accurate, huge amount of stopping power, but only eight rounds per clip. "I'm down to three spares." I said as I shifted my attention between the hallway and the staircase, waiting for the holograms that would inevitably rush our position again. "I'm going to have to make a rush for an ammunition dispenser after this clip."

"Again?" Arcee asked in mock exasperation as she took the helm off another holographic Decepticon and reloaded her own Holo-Rifle. "You run out of ammo too much."

"Perhaps. But at least I didn't need to be rescued from a Heavy Soldier," I joked, referring to when Arcee had gotten pinned down earlier in the simulation because her sniper didn't have enough stopping power to inflict much damage to a holographic Heavy Soldier.

"That wasn't my fault!" Arcee protested with a smile as she dropped another fake Decepticon with a helmshot. "The armor of a Heavy Soldier is almost as strong as yours. My sniper isn't meant to pierce armor that tough."

"Which is why I sacrificed magazine capacity for stopping power," I said casually, as if Arcee and I weren't in a simulated combat zone, but were instead debating about what music genre was the best. "It allows me to deal with the more heavily-armored enemies and the average soldiers." I finished, bringing up my Holo-Rifle and putting two controlled pairs into the chestplates of a pair of Decepticon holograms that came running down the hallway, offlining both holograms and causing them to derezz.

"You might have stopping power by using that configuration, but you also made your Holo-Rifle ineffective for crowd control," Arcee countered, firing three shots from her own Holo-Rifle in rapid succession and taking the helms off three more holograms. "Which is essential part of any weapon you use in the combat simulator."

I shrugged even though Arcee's backplates were to me. "I know, but setting up my Holo-Rifle like a Scrapmaker every time we come in here was getting a little boring, so I decided to mix it up a little and use a semi-automatic rifle instead of an automatic weapon." I said, firing two more controlled pairs down the hallway and offlining another pair of holographic Decepticons, then ejected the energy cell and loaded in a fresh one. "But, it seems as though that decision is biting me in the aft, because I need ammo." I looked at Arcee over my shoulder-joint. "I'll be back."

"Don't take too long," Arcee said as she shot a seeker hologram that had just landed out in front of our building. "It would be terrible if I got offlined in the simulator because you took too long getting ammo... Again." She teased, looking away from her sniper scope long enough to flash me a quick smile before returning to shooting the helms off holographic Decepticons.

I rolled my optics at her teasing as I started walking toward the hallway with my Holo-Rifle up to my shoulder-joint. "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up while you can, because I think I heard a Heavy Soldier nearby." I shot back as I entered the hallway, ducking under the depleted energy cell I knew Arcee was going to throw at my helm for my comment and continuing into the narrow corridor.

"That wasn't my fault!" I heard the blue and pink femme yell just before I came to the end of the hallway and went down another hallway to the left, which I knew would lead me to the nearest ammunition dispenser, and stepped out of hearing distance.

After I stepped out of hearing distance, I slowly moved the barrel of my Holo-Rifle back and for between the right and left sides of the hallway, checking my corners for any Decepticon holograms that might try to take a shot at me while I moved through the hallway.

And sure enough, when I had continued down the hallway for a few moments, the hologram of a Decepticon Shotgunner leaned around the corner of a doorway on the left side of the corridor and fired a shot from his Scatter-Blaster.

The Decepticon's shot hit me in the chestplates and sent a prolonged electric shock through my chassis, causing me to let out hiss of pain from the shot. While getting shot in the combat simulator didn't cause any damage like an actual shot would, getting shot in the simulator was far more painful than actually getting shot. It was a training technique that was meant to encourage you to take cover any chance you could. It was effective at getting the point across that cover was your best friend in a battle, but it was quite annoying when you had already been through training and knew that getting shot in the simulator was more painful than getting shot by a real weapon.

Once the electric shock from the shot subsided, I aimed my Holo-Rifle at the hologram's chestplates and pulled the trigger twice, but instead of firing a controlled pair into the fake Decepticon, the quiet hum of a fully-powered Cybertronian weapon died without warning.

Scrunching my optic ridges in confusion, I looked down at the Holo-Rifle in my servos. The Holo-Rifle's barrel had retracted back into the firing chamber, and the stock had folded itself against the side of the rifle, making the Holo-Rifle look more like a meaningless slab of metal instead of a Cybertronian weapon.

Right away, I knew the Holo-Rifle had been powered down. And since I hadn't told it to shut down, that meant someone had just remotely stopped the combat simulator from the ops center, and that in turn meant either we had a power surge, which was very unlikely, or there was something serious going down that required all Autobots on base to get to the ops center.

Looking up from my Holo-Rifle, I saw that the fake Decepticon had faded from existence, leaving me standing in an empty hallway. But, the hallway wouldn't even be here in a few klicks, because, to put it plainly, the combat simulator was like a non-sentient Cybertronian. But, instead of transforming into a vehicle, the simulator could create any structure you could design, and was able to replicate any kind of organic and non-organic terrain. And after a simulation ended, the combat simulator reverted to its default state, a large, featureless room attached to the Safe, just off to the side of the weapons range and the armory.

I stood in the hallway for a brief moment before I turned around and walked back the way I just came from. And when I rounded the corner, I saw that Arcee was already waiting for me next to the stairs.

"So, what do you think is going on up in the ops center?" The blue and pink femme asked as I walked out of the hallway and we both started to descend the stairs.

"I don't know for sure. But whatever it is, it has to be important. Optimus hasn't ordered for the simulator to be shut down in the time I've been here, so it must be serious. Maybe Ratchet and Moonracer have detected another Delphic." I responded as Arcee and I came to the bottom of the stairs and stepped out of the building, which was shifting and folding itself into a block of metal as it started to sink into the floor, along with the other buildings Arcee and I designed before we started our combat simulation.

"Perhaps, but they would have likely just commed us if that were the case." Arcee said as we stepped out the door leading out into the Safe and placed our ammo packs and Holo-Rifles on a weapon rack next to the door. "Maybe there's Con activity in multiple locations. They have been quiet since we stole the Delphic right out of their servos."

I was about to add another thought into my conversation with Arcee, but I noticed that someone had left a Path Blaster on the divider between the weapons range and the rest of the Safe. And since it would be lazy of me to leave it for someone else to put away, I picked it up off the divider and walked over to the armory so I could put it on its proper rack. "If Decepticon activity is the reason for Optimus shutting down the simulator, then let's hope we'll be able to fight the Cons on even ground for once. It has been getting harder and harder to battle the Decepticons since Megatron re-took command, and the Dark Matter arrived." I said, entering the armory and placing the Path Blaster in its proper place.

"The recent addition of the Decepticons' new armor hasn't been helping, either." Arcee said as I walked out of the armory and we continued walking toward the elevator.

"No, it hasn't. We've had a tough enough time fighting the Decepticons even without their new armor," I said. "Hopefully, Ratchet and Moonracer will be able to find a weakness in the armor fragment we can exploit in the next skirmish we have with the Cons."

"One only can hope," Arcee said, then fell silent as we reached the elevator and stepped past Bumblebee and Flareup, who had been holding the elevator for us, and stood in the back of the lift.

Once Arcee and I got into the elevator, Bumblebee pressed the button for ground level and the four of us started our ascent to the ops center.

Almost immediately after the elevator started moving, I noticed that Bumblebee's door-wings were shifting constantly like they had when Flareup first arrived on Earth, and for some reason he seemed to find the wall and ceiling of the elevator very interesting.

Glancing to where Flareup stood on the opposite side of the elevator from Bumblebee, I saw that the orange and red femme's servos were fidgeting and she was looking everywhere except at Bumblebee.

'Wow, they are really awkward when they're in the same space.' I thought, looking between Flareup and Bumblebee as they did the best they could to avoid looking at each other. It was so obvious that they liked each other that it was painful, and yet they were totally oblivious as to how the other bot felt. I was going to have to have a talk with Bumblebee sometime soon. Hopefully, I could convince him to ask Flareup out, maybe find a little happiness in what was at least a mutual attraction.

After looking between Bumblebee and Flareup once more, I looked at Arcee and opened a comm-link with her. "You know, Bumblebee and Flareup look really uncomfortable being so close together. Don't you wonder why?" I asked through the link, tone filled with dry sarcasm as I gestured toward the yellow and black scout and Flareup with my helm.

Arcee didn't reply through the link, she just looked between Bumblebee and Flareup for a few micro-klicks before she looked back at me and closed the link with an amused, mischievous smile, like she knew I was planning on talking with Bumblebee, and was planning on doing something similar with Flareup. But, her smile still seemed... Off somehow. And there was something hidden in her optics that was almost... Sad, like something was making her depressed, maybe even wistful. But the look in her optics was gone before I knew for sure, and she quickly shifted her attention to the elevator control panel, not even glancing in my direction again.

I narrowed my optics slightly after Arcee looked away from me. That was the third time she had smiled like that since I gave her the Revolutionary War musket. It was clear to me that something was bothering her, but for some reason, she wasn't telling me what that something was. And that had me confused. Arcee and I were partners, when something is bothering one us, we go to our partner for advice or reassurance on the matter that bothers us. But Arcee hadn't told me about anything bothering her.

'Perhaps Bumblebee isn't the only one I should have a talk with soon,' I thought, tearing my gaze away from Arcee as the elevator reached the ground floor and the four of us stepped into the hallway.

After a short, uneventful walk, we entered the ops center, and were greeted by an unexpected sight.

Over on the catwalk near the workstation, with Optimus, Ratchet, Jazz, Jetfire, Springer, and the twins standing in front of him, was General Shepherd. He looked like he was anxious about something, although, being a disciplined soldier, Shepherd was hiding his anxiety very well.

Shortly after the four of us stepped into the ops center, Optimus noticed our presence and turned to look at us. But, he directed his gaze at Flareup, since this was the first time the government liaison and the S.T.F leader had visited since she arrived.

"Flareup, this is Lieutenant General Shepherd, the leader of a human task force dedicated to fighting the Decepticons." The Prime said, gesturing to S.T.F's leader with a servo, then looked at the human and gestured to Flareup. "General Shepherd, meet Flareup, our demolitions expert."

General Shepherd looked at Flareup, causing the orange and red femme to rub the back of her neck nervously and give the human a timid wave with her other servo. "Hi," she said in a quiet, sheepish tone, much like the tone she used when I first met her.

Shepherd raised his eye brows slightly at Flareup's shy demeanor. "If you don't mind my saying, you aren't quite what I expected an Autobot demolitions expert to be. You seem to be a little too... Young," he said, looking like he was confused as to why such a shy and quiet femme was an expert on explosives. Had he known that Flareup could be... Well, a pyromaniac at times, I doubt he would have been confused.

"That's because I am young. By the standards of your race, General Shepherd, Bumblebee and I would be considered young adults." Flareup said, a slightly sad tone entering her voice as she rubbed the back of her neck again and looking away from the general. "War never lets the young stay young for long."

Shepherd's face remained impassive as Flareup spoke, but I saw a slightly mortified look enter his eyes when the orange and red femme said she and Bumblebee would be considered child soldiers if they were human. "No it does not," he said in a voice that was a little quieter than it was a moment ago. His gaze lingered on Flareup for another moment before the mortified look in his eyes disappeared with a blink and he looked at Optimus again. "Since Arcee, Shadowstreaker, Bumblebee, and Flareup weren't here for the briefing I gave you and the rest of your troops, do you want me to go over it again, Optimus?"

Ratchet sighed before the Prime could respond to Shepherd's question and looked at Optimus as well. "Optimus, I have already wasted half a breem standing here as I wait for you to give an order to open a ground bridge when Moonracer and I could have been using the time to run more tests on the crystal. And I am going to waste more time going on the mission with you. Must we go through this briefing again?" He asked in an exasperated and annoyed tone.

Optimus looked over at the white and red medic. "Your presence is needed on the mission, Ratchet. You will be able to continue your tests on the crystal after we have returned, and Moonracer has finished treating Bulkhead's injuries."

"Wait," I interrupted. "Bulkhead was injured? When?" I asked evenly, though I was concerned about Bulkhead's status.

Springer scoffed. "Like you actually give a damn," he said, turning his helm to glare at me. "You're not a Wrecker, frag off."

I looked over at Springer and returned his glare with an icy look. "So, because I am not a Wrecker, I do not have the right to ask about the status of an injured friend?" I asked, voice calm, yet dripping with sarcasm. "Your attempts to get me into a shouting match are getting worse, Springer."

"And all the 'high and mighty' slag you spew makes me sick to my tank," the green Triple-Changer shot back.

"Enough," Optimus said before I could even open my mouth to reply to Springer's words. "This is no time for a dispute. Both of you should know better," he reprimanded, looking between Springer and I with a firm and commanding look in his optics.

"My apologies," I said humbly, looking away from Springer and folding my servos behind my backplates. "It won't happen again, Prime."

The green Triple-Changer huffed. "Whatever," he said, then crossed his servos over his chestplates and leaned against the wall he was standing next to. But when Optimus continued looking at him, he rolled his optics. "Prime," he added, making the word sound more like a curse than the most famed title and rank among all Cybertronians.

Optimus continued staring at Springer for another moment before he looked at me again. "To answer your question, Shadowstreaker, Bulkhead was injured during his patrol when he had an encounter with Breakdown. He called for a ground bridge forty-five klicks ago, and Moonracer has been treating his injuries since his return to base." He said, clarifying what he said to Ratchet.

"Then I hope Bulkhead recovers quickly, Prime." I said, then fell silent with that short statement.

With my question answered, Optimus turned to General Shepherd, who, while looking reserved, seemed to be surprised to see how different Springer and I were personality-wise, and how hostile we were toward each other. "My chief medical officer does bring up a valid point, General Shepherd, we have spent enough time discussing this mission." The Prime said, continuing his earlier statement as if I had never interrupted him. "Perhaps giving Arcee, Bumblebee, Flareup, and Shadowstreaker a condensed version of the data you gave us earlier would be better than going into the detail you did for your first briefing."

General Shepherd looked between Springer and I for a moment, then glanced at Optimus and acknowledged his words with a nod before looking at Arcee, Bumblebee, Flareup, and I. "Four hours ago, one of the S.T.F's satellites detected the thermal signatures of multiple human vehicles moving into an abandoned Trona mining town in Wyoming. After analyzing the thermal signatures, we determined that MECH has just setting up shop there."

"What's MECH and the S.T.F?" I heard Flareup whisper to Bumblebee as Shepherd paused for a brief moment.

"I'll tell you later," Bumblebee replied quickly as the S.T.F's leader opened his mouth to continue.

"Two hours ago, as I prepared to send Shadow Company out to the mining town, our satellite detected the thermal signatures of two Cybertronians. One of them was your armorer, Bulkhead, and the other was the Decepticon you call Breakdown," General Shepherd explained. "Our satellite recorded them fighting for several minutes before it passed around the curvature of the Earth. We lost satellite coverage in the area for approximately ten minutes while we repositioned another satellite," he continued. "When we regained our satellite coverage, there was only one Cybertronian thermal signature, and it was incapacitated. The MECH vehicles had also vanished. While my analysts had ideas as to what happened to the MECH and the other Cybertronian, it wasn't until I came here and spoke with Optimus Prime that we were able to come up with a solid theory."

"And what theory is that?" Arcee prompted as she put a servo on her hip.

Optimus answered her question instead. "That MECH has captured Breakdown, presumably to achieve their ultimate goal of obtaining Cybertronian technology and learning how we work," he said, then added in a more grim tone, "By any means they deem necessary."

Understanding dawned on me and I looked at Optimus. "So, we're going to rescue Breakdown from MECH to prevent them from learning anything about our physiology," I said, more of a statement than a question, then looked at General Shepherd. "And while we're looking for Breakdown, you're going to send Shadow Company after MECH."

"They're already in position," Shepherd said. "But since any move you make to recover Breakdown would send MECH running for the hills, they're waiting on the edges of the town for you to arrive."

"And now that we have all been informed of the situation, I believe it is time we stopped making the soldiers of Shadow Company wait for our arrival," Optimus said, snapping his battle mask over his faceplate and looking at Ratchet. "Open the ground bridge," he ordered simply.

Ratchet sighed, as if he was resigned to the fact that he wasn't going to run another test on the Delphic until we were back from the mission, then typed a command into the workstation. And a moment later, the ground bridge opened and he walked over to it.

After Ratchet opened the ground bridge, Optimus looked at Jazz. "Jazz, you are on ground bridge duty," he instructed, then walked over to the ground bridge as well.

Jazz didn't respond, just inclined his helm to show that he was acknowledging Optimus' command and turned to the workstation as Bumblebee and Flareup walked over to the ground bridge.

"You know, I've never been on a rescue mission for a Con," Arcee said as she and I started walking toward the others.

"There's a first time for everything, I suppose," I said as Arcee and I joined our fellow Autobots in front of the ground bridge.

Once Arcee and I joined the others, Optimus stepped through the ground bridge and we all followed in his steps. And soon, all ten of us stepped into the green portal and were transported hundreds of miles in an instant.

---

December 25, 2012 3:17 P.M

Outside of an abandoned mining town in Fremont county Wyoming

The biting cold of Wyoming hit me like a Nucleon shot to the faceplate. It wasn't as cold as Antarctica, but it was much colder than Colorado, probably about forty or forty-five degrees colder, in fact. But that was counting the thirty mile-an-hour crosswind hitting my left side. Without wind chill, the climate was only about ten degrees colder than Colorado's.

Glancing up at the sky, I saw nothing except a light grey cloud cover I had often seen in upstate New York before it started to snow, which was probably what was going to happen here in a few klicks.

Looking away from the sky and at our immediate surroundings, I saw that the ground was covered in around three feet of powdery snow, a common sight in this area of the United States. And about a kilometer ahead of us, there were several human buildings grouped together next to a small mountain.

"So," Flareup said, causing my observations to come to a halt. "Humans make their homes here? Intentionally?" She asked Bumblebee with a disbelieving look on her faceplate.

I answered Flareup's question instead. "Humanity is a stubborn race, if they want to live in harsh conditions, they will."

"I'll take that as a compliment," a voice from behind me said with a familiar Scottish accent.

One of the corners of my mouth twitched upward in a slight smile and I turned and looked down in time to see Soap MacTavish pull himself out of a foxhole he had apparently dug in the snow and, judging by the silver material he was trying, and failing, to fold up, covered with a thermal blanket. The Scotsman wearing an arctic version of the flak jackets and ACU-type clothes Shadow Company used in Afghanistan, complete with a white ski-mask and goggles that covered his face and eyes, obviously to keep his face as warm as possible, and block out the glare of the white snow. And he was equipped with a suppressed M-320A that was covered with an arctic camouflage paint job, making the weapon hard to see against the snow. He also had some sort of large pack on his back, but I couldn't determine what it was for.

"A pleasure to see you again, Captain MacTavish," I said, then raised one optic ridge when I heard Soap curse when the wind took a hold of his thermal blanket, causing it to unfold and making Soap lunge to grab it before it flew away. "Are you having trouble with that?" I asked dryly.

Soap glared up at me, which wasn't an easy feat considering how his face was covered, as other Shadow Company soldiers pulled thermal blankets from their own foxholes and got up, some of them were chuckling quietly, presumably from my joke. "You're hilarious, you know that, Shadowstreaker?" The Scotsman asked in a sarcastic and slightly irritated voice.

"Just making an observation," I responded, keeping my dry tone as the others walked over toward to me. I looked at the other Shadow Company soldiers climbing out of their foxholes and then back at Soap. "Where's Colonel Lennox?" I asked.

One of the other Shadow Company soldiers looked up at me from where he was helping a few other soldiers dig into what appeared to be a snow bank. "Right here," the soldier said with Lennox's voice, then handed his shovel off to another soldier who had just gotten out of his foxhole, then walked over to us.

Optimus nodded to Lennox and MacTavish. "Colonel Lennox, Captain MacTavish, it is an honor to see you again," he said.

"Likewise, Optimus," Lennox said, then looked at Flareup and the twins, the only Autobots in our group that he hadn't met yet. "I see you've got a few more Autobots than the last time we met."

"Eight Autobots have joined us on Earth since our last meeting, Colonel Lennox," Optimus said. "But I believe introductions should wait until another time, this weather will prove fatal to you and your men if our mission is delayed for too long."

"We'll be fine for the time being, actually," Lennox corrected, then gestured to the pack that he had on his back that was identical to the one Soap had. "These cold weather packs we have will keep us from freezing for another three or four hours. But, getting a move on before MECH knows we're here is a good idea." Without another word to us, he turned around and walked back to where he had been helping dig into the snow bank and put a hand up to the side of his head. "Wheel's up in less than five, Shadow Company. We're going to get these bastards and be home for dinner."

A chorus of 'Yes, sir's sounded out from Shadow Company, who, considering how many there were, seemed to be here in full force.

As Lennox walked over to the snow bank, I noticed that he and the other Shadow Company soldiers weren't digging into a snow bank, they were clearing the snow off of a tank.

The tank was very large, probably half again the size of an M1 Abrams MBT, which meant its two treads were as tall as most of the soldiers standing near the tank, and from what I could tell, its armor was more than twice as thick as the armor used on an Abrams. The armored vehicle was painted with arctic camouflage, just like the Shadow Company soldiers themselves. It looked like its main armament was a miniature version of the helical railguns on top of our base, except the turret of the tank also had two missile pods and an M134 Minigun mounted on top of it. In layman's terms, the tank was more heavily armed and armored than any human tank I had ever seen.

I stopped taking in the details of the S.T.F tank as the soldier I knew was Lennox looked at us after he, and half a dozen other soldiers, finished uncovering the tank. "The General filled us in over the radio, if the Decepticon you're looking for has been captured by MECH, then we have the same goal. So if you don't mind, Optimus, we're going to follow you. You Autobots probably have better tracking equipment than we do." He said as he climbed up onto the tank they just cleared the snow off of and sat down next to the turret.

"Of course you may follow us, Colonel Lennox. But let me be clear, when we determine the location of MECH, we will not assist you in your battle with them, and we will only defend ourselves when it is absolutely necessary. We are here only to ensure MECH does not acquire any Cybertronian technology, not interfere in a purely human matter." Optimus said, making it clear we weren't here to make the job of Shadow Company easier.

Lennox nodded. "Fair enough, Optimus," he said as he reached down and helped Soap climb onto the tank he was sitting on, then brought his hand up to the side of his head again. "Let's move out, Shadow Company." He ordered.

The roar of diesel engines starting up followed Lennox's order, and the tanks, which numbered around a dozen counting the one Lennox and MacTavish were riding on, moved toward us a little before they stopped about twenty feet away, clearly waiting on us.

"Ratchet, do we have the coordinates for where Bulkhead fought with Breakdown?" Optimus asked as we all turned around and began to walk toward the town, with the steady rumble of the S.T.F tanks following close behind. "Starting at the location Breakdown was abducted would offer the best chance of finding the hideout of MECH."

"We do, but we won't need to use them, I am getting an energon signal," Ratchet said, not looking away from his scanner as we walked. "But it is very weak."

"But we shouldn't be getting a signal, unless..." Arcee said from where she walked next to Optimus and Ratchet, then left her sentence hanging for a moment. "Unless Breakdown's energon's been spilled."

"Precisely," Ratchet said. "But what I confuses me, is how did MECH breach Breakdown's armor? Even the weakest of our alloys are impervious to ninety-nine percent of human tools and weaponry. The fact MECH was able to get through Breakdown's armor has me a bit unnerved, especially with the new armor the Decepticons seem to be equipped with now."

"Could you be getting an energon signal because MECH was able to remove something that isn't as strong as armor?" Jetfire asked.

Ratchet seemed to consider the question for a moment before he gave a single nod. "That is possible," he said. "An optic would essentially be the only part to available MECH's tools, as an optic is much more vulnerable than any other part in a Cybertronian that isn't covered by armor. But, the only way we will know for certain what MECH has removed from Breakdown is if we find Breakdown himself."

"Then let's hurry up and do that. The sooner we find Breakdown, the sooner we can leave these... Squishies." Sunstreaker said distastefully, sending a brief glare back at the S.T.F soldiers and the tanks they were riding on.

My left optic twitched and I looked over at Sunstreaker as he walked next to Sideswipe and Springer. "Do you have a problem with humans, Sunstreaker?" I questioned, keeping my voice even despite the fact his remark made me a little angry. I hated racism of all kinds, the fact he was talking about my former race didn't help, either.

Sunstreaker looked back at me. "Yeah," he admitted without a trace of shame, causing more than a few Shadow Company soldiers to grumble indignantly, but he ignored them. "They're disgusting. I mean, their bones are fragile, they have no armor, no claws, no wings, no gills, and they go squish really easily. Aren't they like sixty percent water? And they drown in water, right? How do they not drown if they are more than half water and they drown in water?"

"Because they have lungs and don't breath water?" Sideswipe offered, surprisingly being the logical one of the twins. Usually he was the one being illogical and Sunstreaker was being the logical one.

Sunstreaker looked at his twin as if he had grown a second helm. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

I sighed as Sunstreaker's statement sparked the beginning of a pointless argument between the twins. This wasn't a rarity, the twins argued about pretty much everything, but it was annoying to hear them argue so much... And so loudly. I mean, they were twins, they could easily argue through their twin bond, it was almost as strong as the bond between sparkmates. But no, they had to argue out loud every time they had a disagreement. It was enough to give me a processor ache on occasion.

As the twins continued to argue, one of the Shadow Company soldiers spoke up. "Hey, Shadowstreaker," The soldier said with Epps' voice, he evidently was here as well. "Can I ask you something?"

I glanced over my shoulder-joint at Epps as he rode on the same tank as MacTavish and Lennox. "Of course," I replied.

"Are those two always like that?" Epps asked, pointing a thumb in the direction of the bickering twins without looking away from me.

I shook my helm slowly. "You have no idea," I said, repeating the words Arcee said to me when I asked her the same question Epps just asked me. "They may look fully grown, but they are often more juvenile than the children of your race."

Epps looked back the bickering twins. "I don't doubt that," he said, more to himself than to me, then he looked a little to the right of the twins. "Uh, Shadowstreaker? Why is that Springer guy glaring at you?" He asked, then his ski-mask-covered face looked back at me.

Mentally sighing, I looked away from Epps and glanced at Springer, who was indeed giving me a subtle sidelong glare. I didn't bother to return Springer's glare and looked back at Epps. "Springer and I haven't gotten along since we had a..." I paused for a moment as I tried to come up with an appropriate word to use. "Disagreement roughly one week after you, Colonel Lennox, and Captain MacTavish last visited our base." I said, then said nothing more and looked ahead, hoping Epps would take the hint that I didn't really want to discuss this subject.

Unfortunately, it seemed that my response had captured the interest of Lennox and Epps, since the Shadow Company CO joined in on the questioning. "What kind of disagreement?" He asked, tone curious and knowing, as if he knew I had skirted the truth about what happened between Springer and I, which he probably did.

"It must have been one serious disagreement," Soap piped up in a tone similar to Lennox's. "The glare Springer's sending Shadowstreaker's way could melt Adamantium."

Knowing that the three humans weren't going to drop the subject until I answered, I responded as we entered the outskirts of the town and, considering the gap between the buildings, started to walk down a road. "Very well, if you want to know what Springer and I had a disagreement about, then you will. You of course know that humans and Cybertronians both have romantic relationships?" I asked rhetorically, knowing the three of them had once gotten a brief, and thankfully G-rated, explanation from Ratchet when they asked why a robotic race had males and females. "Well, Springer was very interested in having a relationship with Arcee, and he had it clear in rather crude ways. But Arcee made it equally clear she was not interested. That of course didn't phase Springer, and he continued to make unwanted advances on Arcee. So, after a particularly crude advance, he and I had a disagreement about how he was treating her, and eventually I... Persuaded Springer to stop his crude advances."

"'Persuaded' is not the word I would use to describe what you did, youngling," Jetfire said, appearing at my side seemingly out of thin air, but more than likely just stepped over from where he had been walking next to Bumblebee and Flareup.

I gave Jetfire a displeased look. "And what word you use, Jetfire?" I asked, having a bad feeling that I knew where he was taking this.

A ghost of a smile appeared on the seeker's faceplate. "Well, for one you didn't persuade Springer to stop treating Arcee the way he was, you pummeled him when he continued behaving in that manner. And the result of that pummeling was that instead of attempting to woo Arcee anymore, he spends his time sending hateful glares at you." He said plainly.

I didn't have to be looking at Epps, MacTavish, and Lennox to know they looked at Jetfire with new-found interest, but I turned my helm anyway and saw that the three humans were indeed doing just that.

"Shadowstreaker beat up Springer for hitting on Arcee?" Lennox asked Jetfire, who then nodded.

Now, it was hard to tell because of the ski-masks and goggles, but the three Shadow Company soldiers seemed to smile, and then looked at each other.

"Does that little story remind you of anything?" Epps asked Lennox in a slightly amused tone, as if he just figured something out.

"You mean when one Soap MacTavish hit on my wife a few years ago and I knocked him out?" Lennox asked in turn, as if surprised Epps was making such a comparison, but I knew that his surprise was fake. "Why yes, it does remind me of that time." He looked at MacTavish. "Do these two stories sound similar, Soap?"

Soap nodded. "They do," he said, tone carrying a little embarrassment, likely from remembering what Lennox mentioned, as well as the same amusement the other two soldiers had in their voices. "But, I don't know how that could be. I mean, you knocked me out for hitting on your wife, though in my own defense I didn't know she was your wife, and Shadowstreaker apparently pummeled Springer for being an ass to Arcee. So, why would Shadowstreaker have possibly done such a thing?"

Immediately after MacTavish finished speaking, all three Shadow Company soldiers looked at me, somehow managing to grin through all the cold weather gear on their faces.

'You suck at keeping your feelings a secret,' my own CPU seemed to scold, since I knew exactly what the three humans were implying. I mean really, I hadn't even spoken to Epps, Soap, and Lennox very much, and they managed to put two and two together and realized I had feelings for Arcee. If I continued at this rate, everyone would know I had feelings for Arcee, including Arcee herself. And that would be a disaster.

"Master Sargent Epps, Colonel Lennox, Captain MacTavish," I stated calmly. "Do not spread rumors of what you may or may not know, all sentient beings keep personal secrets. Sometimes those secrets are kept out of shame, greed, sadness, or necessity. But at times... Secrets are kept out of fear of losing those close to us," I said, then looked away from the three humans and left the topic at that.

Thankfully, Jetfire and the three humans took the hint that I was done discussing the subject and they fell silent.

Shortly after my conversation with Epps, Soap, and Lennox came to an end, we reached the center of the abandoned town.

The town center was surrounded entirely by wooden buildings of varying sizes, with some of them being no larger than a double-wide home, and others being taller than Optimus. There were six points of entry into the town center, four coming from gaps between the buildings in each corner, and the other two being the road we were standing in and an identical one on the opposite side of the town center. For some inexplicable reason, there was almost no snow in the town center, with maybe four inches of white powder on the ground at the most. But I couldn't tell if that meant the snow outside the town was wind-blown, or someone just shoveled out the snow in the town center. And in the direct middle of the town center, there was a clock tower that was about twice as tall as Optimus. Why there was a clock tower in the middle of the town, I did not know, but there it was.

Just before we fully stepped into the town center, Ratchet came to a halt and got a confused look on his faceplate as he gazed at his scanner. The white and red medic looked at the base of the clock tower in the town center, then back down at his scanner. "Hmm..." He hummed thoughtfully, giving another look at the base of the clock tower before looking back down at his scanner again, the puzzled look never leaving his faceplate.

"What is it, Ratchet?" Optimus asked as he had us all come to a stop next to the white and red medic.

"According to my scanner, the energon signal is coming from that clock tower," Ratchet answered. "But this doesn't make any sense, neither MECH nor Breakdown are anywhere in sight."

"It does make sense if Silas knew other Cybertronians, either Autobots or Decepticons, would come looking for Breakdown," I said, looking around the town center for any sign of MECH activity, but finding none.

"And the town center is a perfect ambush point," Arcee added. "There's no cover out there, whoever's lying the ambush has a clear line of sight on you at all times. And anyone near the clock tower has to watch several different areas for hostiles at the same time, you wouldn't know which direction they were coming from until they fired."

A human grunt from behind us acknowledged Arcee's words and Lennox stepped up next to us. "I was thinking the exact same thing," he said. "Arkeville might be a psycho, but he isn't stupid. He knew it was only a matter of time before someone came looking for this Breakdown guy. There's no doubt in my mind that he set an ambush up ahead."

"Nevertheless," Optimus said. "We are receiving an energon signal from the clock tower. And since the energon signal is our only lead to finding the location of MECH, we need to spring the ambush Clancy Arkeville has set for any who come looking for Breakdown."

"The words 'We need to spring the ambush', have likely never been uttered in the history of warfare," Lennox said with a shake of his head, then looked up at Optimus. "But if we are going to spring this ambush, then how do you want to play it?" He asked.

Optimus didn't hesitate to respond. "Have your men fall back and circle the outside of the town center. And have your tanks go with them, the combination of tanks and infantry will prevent any MECH soldiers from being able to retreat," he said.

Lennox nodded and brought his hand to the side of his head. "Shadow Company, fall back and encircle the town center from the outside, let's make sure MECH doesn't get the drop on us." He ordered, then looked up at Optimus again as tanks, and the humans riding on them, started to move back up the road we just came from. "What are you and your Autobots going to do, Optimus?" He asked.

Optimus' optics flashed with humor. "We are going to walk out into the town center," he said, then turned and started walking toward the clock tower without another word to Lennox.

Lennox watched Optimus walk away for a moment before he looked back at us. "Does he always do that?"

I moved to follow Optimus and looked down at Lennox as I was about to walk past him. "Yes, he does tend to do that, especially when we're on missions," I said with a smile as my fellow Autobots started to follow after Optimus as well.

Lennox didn't reply, he just shook his head, sighed and moved to join his soldiers.

After Lennox went off to join the rest of Shadow Company, I looked ahead again and saw that Optimus had already reached the clock tower and was crouched at the base of it, clearly looking at something that had caught his attention.

'Probably found what was causing the energon signal,' I thought as I continued walking toward the Prime. It only took me another moment to reach Optimus, and when I did, I walked a little off to his right and looked over his shoulder-joint. I winced at the sight that greeted me. Optimus had indeed found the cause of the energon signal. It was the mangled remains of one of Breakdown's yellow optics.

I looked over at the others as they reached Optimus and I and looked down at Breakdown's optic. They didn't react to the grisly sight, having seen far worse during the war and even during the time since I had become a Cybertronian, but Flareup looked like she wanted to purge her tank. But, despite her clear disgust, she didn't look away.

Ratchet crouched alongside Optimus. "Move, I might be able to salvage some of the last images Breakdown saw. It might give us a clue to finding MECH." He said, making a shooing gesture with his servo as he pulled some kind of medical tool that had a video screen on it out of a sub-space pocket.

"You can do that?" Arcee asked, looking a little unnerved to find out it was possible to access a Cybertronian's video files from a detached optic.

"I can, as long as the optic's receptors weren't too badly damaged when it was removed by MECH, that is." Ratchet answered, then looked at Optimus again. "And if you get out of the way."

After Ratchet told him to move a second time, Optimus stood to his full height and took a step back and Ratchet quickly took the Prime's place.

"Now, let's see if there's anything you can tell us." Ratchet said, appearing to speak to the optic when he was in fact talking to himself, as he picked up Breakdown's optic and inserted it into a special slot in the top of the medical tool and pressed a button below the screen.

After Ratchet inserted the optic into the slot and pressed the button beneath the screen, the image of an averaged-sized man wearing what appeared to be a modified set of the flak jackets Shadow Company used and a dark ski-mask and goggles appeared on the screen.

The man who clearly was a member of MECH stood still for a brief moment before he looked to his left and turned on a large drill that was next to him. After turning the drill on, the man proceeded to slowly guide the drill toward the camera, or in this case Breakdown's optic, until the drill filled the entire screen and the video was replaced by static.

"Well, that must've hurt," Sideswipe said.

No one else got a chance to speak, because immediately after Sideswipe spoke, the screen of Ratchet's tool flickered and the static was replaced by the slightly fuzzy image of a man, who was much larger than the first who came on screen, standing on a catwalk while other humans drilled into different areas of Breakdown's unmoving form. He had short silver hair and dark brown, almost black eyes, eyes that let you know something was seriously wrong with the man just by looking into them.

Silas was on the screen, and the feed was live.

MECH's leader looked fully at Optimus once the link was established. "Well, well, Optimus Prime. A pleasure to... Set eyes on you again. I assume you are here to stop me from learning how your kind work, hmm? I'm afraid that isn't going to happen." He said in a voice that was filled with confidence, as if he was certain that whatever happened, he was going to win, and we were going to lose. If Silas hadn't already been a twisted, murdering, psychopathic, military deserter, I would have hated the tone he was using. But since he was all four of those things, I let it slide since that was probably as nice as he got.

Optimus narrowed his optics at MECH's leader as Ratchet said something about how Silas had converted the optic into a two-way feed. "And you are Clancy Arkeville, the leader of the human terrorist organization called 'MECH.'" He said coolly, looking the down at the screen with a hard look in his optics.

It was hard to tell because of the quality of the image, but I could have sworn Silas' left eye twitched slightly at the mention of his name. "I prefer 'Silas' now, Optimus Prime," he said, annoyance briefly replacing the confidence in his voice before he went back to his previous tone. "It has a certain... Ring to it, unlike my original title." He looked like he was going to continue, but he seemed to just notice Ratchet. "Oh, now where are my manners? In all the excitement of speaking with the great Optimus Prime, I failed to see his chief medical officer. How nice to see you, Ratchet."

I narrowed my optics at Silas as Ratchet did the same thing and didn't say anything to the psychopathic human. What Silas just said raised a red flag in my helm. I knew that Arcee, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Optimus went on the one and only mission where we encountered MECH, but Ratchet was at base. How did Silas know his name? And more importantly, how did Silas know Ratchet's role as our chief medical officer?

The answer came to me, the S.T.F had a mole somewhere in their ranks. How high-ranking that mole was, I didn't know, but I knew that if Optimus hadn't already reached the same conclusion as me, I would have to tell him later, we had more pressing issues at the moment.

After Ratchet continued staying silent, Silas hummed in thought. "Hmm, you are the quiet type, aren't you?" He asked, tone implying he wasn't expecting an answer, then seemed to notice that there were other Autobots standing here besides Optimus and Ratchet. "Oh, I am having such an off day. How silly of me to fail to notice so many Autobots crowding around you," he looked between Jetfire, Springer, and the twins. "Many of them are new and unfamiliar to me," he admitted, failing to notice Flareup since she was standing out of frame. MECH's leader looked between Bumblebee and I. "But the rest are old and recognizable." He gave Springer and I another look. "Cybertronians that can change into two different vehicles? You two will certainly be interesting to study."

"And a certain human definitely likes the sound of his voice a little too much," Arcee said, an annoyed tone masking an emotion I couldn't identify, which left me a little confused before I shrugged it off and focused on Silas.

The psychopathic human looked at Arcee like a sadistic child would look at a frog in biology class. "Another familiar face, and an interesting one at that. You are a race of mechanical titans, and yet you have women... You will be by far the most fascinating study," he said, looking like he wanted to leap out of the screen and dissect Arcee alive.

My left optic twitched and I clenched one of my servos into a fist. "You can't study any of us if you're dead... Clancy," I said, voice calm, yet carrying a dangerous edge to it.

This time, I was sure Silas' eye twitched, but he quickly composed himself and looked back at me. "And you can't kill me if you aren't alive," he countered, and moved his hand over a button on a computer next to him. "Goodbye, Autobots." With that, he pressed the button and the link went dead.

The moment Silas cut the video link, a rapid beeping started chiming from the clock tower.

Quickly looking up to where the beeping was coming from, I saw that the side of the clock tower facing us was lined with bricks of C4 that had been disguised as part of the wall, but now were flashing a red number three before changing into a number two a micro-klick later.

"Well... Slag..." I said, then brought my servos up in front of my faceplate and closed my optics, knowing that we didn't have time to turn and run away from the bomb, and that all we could do is stand there and prepare ourselves for the worst.

The timer on the bomb hit zero.

I didn't hear the explosion, likely because my audio receptors shut themselves off to prevent any damage from happening to them, but I definitely felt it. The explosion was mostly a huge shock wave, but it still felt like both Optimus and Ironhide had just kicked me in the chestplates with all their strength, and then punched me in the faceplate multiple times for good measure.

I didn't even know I was flying through the air until I felt myself crash through the roof of a human building, with something or someone else landing on me almost at the same time I crashed through the roof. But, it luckily didn't feel like I had been damaged enough to warrant a visit to the med-bay later.

My hearing gradually returned to me, but all I could hear once my hearing fully returned was the crackling of fire and pained groans from my fellow Autobots, including a more high pitched and feminine grumble from the bot who landed on me.

'Please don't be Arcee,' I thought as I opened my optics and slowly raised my helm to see who landed on my chestplates, hoping that I didn't have the misfortune of having the femme I secretly loved land on top of me and cause any awkwardness between us.

No such luck.

Arcee was lying faceplate-down on my chestplates, which were covered in explosive residue, but her helm was turned to the side, which left her faceplate exposed to the cold weather. Her optics were closed, so she was probably still recovering from the explosion, and she appeared to be covered in explosive residue. But, in my optics, the black powder did nothing to tarnish her beauty.

I was torn on what do in my current situation. My spark wanted me to leave Arcee there and let her recover on her own, after all, she wasn't causing me any pain by lying on my chestplates. And it felt... Right, having her so close to me. But the logical side of me knew that no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't just leave Arcee where she was, it wouldn't be right. So, my logic won out against my feelings.

I cleared my throat. "Um, Arcee? Would you mind getting up? I can't exactly move at the moment," I said with a tone of forced calm, not wanting Arcee to know how awkward I felt at the moment, or how much my spark wanted to have her stay where she was.

The blue and pink femme's optics fluttered and she slowly opened her optics and blinked rapidly once they were open. Judging by the blank look in her optics, Arcee was still dazed from the explosion and didn't know where she was. But after a moment, she shook her helm and the look normally in her optics returned. But that look was quickly replaced by one of panic as she likely realized where she was. Arcee looked at me with widened optics, then down at my chestplates.

"Oh!" She said in alarm and what might have been embarrassment, then rolled off of me and onto what remained of the floor of the building she and I fell into.

I sat up and stretched my neck cables, the closest thing a Cybertronian could do to cracking their neck like a human. "Remind me to kick Silas' ass, it's going to be a pain to clean off this explosive residue." I said as I brushed off a little of the black powder, attempting to avoid an awkward silence by quickly talking about something other than how we had just been in a compromising position.

"I'll only remind you if you let me shoot him first," Arcee replied in what was supposed to be a joking tone, but ended up coming out more quiet than she had likely intended, making her tone sound closer to one of embarrassment rather than one that was joking.

Arcee and I sat there in silence, unable to move, or address the elephant in the room.

After the silence continued for several micro-klicks, I cleared my throat again and gestured to the hole in the roof. "You know... The, um, explosion... And, ah, air currents... And... The, um, shock wave... Didn't really, ah... Let you have any, ah... Control over your where you landed..." I said, stumbling over my words before I trailed off when I realized that I was doing a terrible job of acting nonchalant about Arcee landing on me.

My words seemed to bring Arcee out of her thoughts. "Hmm? Oh, yeah, yeah," she agreed, tone suggesting she was almost as uncomfortable with this situation as I was, but likely for different reasons. She cleared her own throat. "We should, um... Get back to the others."

"Agreed," I said quickly, then gestured to the massive hole in the wall that I had created upon my entry into the building Arcee and I were sitting in. "After you."

Arcee nodded, stood up, and then walked out of the building without a word, but she did glance back and give me a look I couldn't read, but it might have been partly contemplative. However, she looked away from me and walked off to the right before I could be certain.

Giving a quiet sigh of relief as the awkward situation came to an end, I stood up and stepped out of the building as well.

After stepping out of the building, I looked a little to the left and saw that there was a crater where the clock tower once stood, and that the debris of what little remained of the clock tower itself was burning.

Looking away from the crater where the clock tower used to be, I saw that the explosion had damaged every building in the town center in some way.

Most of the larger buildings only had cosmetic damage, such as broken windows or missing shingles on their roofs.

But the smaller buildings had much more severe damage, ranging from having small sections of their walls destroyed by the shock wave, to the entire building being reduced to rubble. Silas definitely wanted to make sure that explosion destroyed us, but unfortunately for him, Cybertronians weren't that easy to offline.

I continued looking around at the town center before I turned around and saw that Arcee and Optimus were talking with a trio of Shadow Company soldiers, who more than likely were Epps, MacTavish, and Lennox, while the rest of my fellow Autobots stood a short distance away.

Seeing that I was the only one not in hearing distance, I started to walk over to Optimus and Arcee, but I didn't get very far before Bulkhead opened a universal communications channel.

"Bulkhead to... Well, anyone," the Wrecker said through the channel. "Rendezvous at my coordinates, I'm in need of backup." With that, he closed the channel, but not before sending a data packet through the channel that likely contained his coordinates.

Confused as to why Bulkhead was even out in the field instead of back at base, I opened the data packet and raised one of my optic ridges at the series of numbers that made up the packet. According to the data, Bulkhead was five miles east of our current position, just outside the mine shaft this town had been built to support.

"Why isn't Bulkhead back at base?" Ratchet asked, voicing the question I was about to ask myself. "Moonracer was still repairing him when we left, he should be resting in the med-bay, not out on a mission by himself." The white and red medic growled, an annoyed look on his faceplate and a displeased tone in his voice, which meant Bulkhead was probably going to get hit in the helm with a wrench or two when Ratchet got to him.

"And how'd he even get out here?" Bumblebee added. "I mean, he couldn't have just activated the ground bridge and walked out, Jazz was operating the-" He cut himself off and a look of understanding entered his optics. "Ohhh... Now it makes sense."

"Um... Can you fill in the confused humans?" Epps asked as he looked between all of us, with the other two humans doing the same thing.

Optimus ignored Epps' question and looked Jetfire. "Jetfire, take Shadowstreaker and Springer and assist Bulkhead," he ordered. "The rest of us will join you as soon as possible."

"Acknowledged, Prime," Jetfire replied, then transformed into his alt mode, a heavily modified F-18 Super Hornet with the ability to hover, and hovered upward so he wouldn't blast out the ear drums of the humans whenever he activated his jets.

Without being told to, I transformed into my F-22 mode and hovered up next to Jetfire, while Springer changed into the AH-64 Apache that was his flight mode and hovered up as well.

Once Springer joined Jetfire and I, the three of us activated our engines and flew toward Bulkhead's coordinates, with Jetfire and I quickly leaving Springer far behind since the green Triple-Changer couldn't transform into a jet, and was severely limited in speed as a result.

Due to the speed we were flying, it took less than a klick for Jetfire and I to reach Bulkhead's coordinates. And it appeared as though we arrived just in time, because I saw the Wrecker and the one-opticed Breakdown standing next to each other, who were surprisingly not fighting one another, while five Decepticon seekers stood in front of them.

One of the seekers was slightly taller than the others, probably marginally taller than Bulkhead and a little shorter than Springer. He was mostly grey in color, but his shoulder-joints were black.

I recognized him almost immediately. It was Starscream.

Shaking myself from my observations, I slowed down so I didn't slide when I hit the ground, transformed, and landed a short distance behind the seekers and deployed my Scatter-Blaster and Plasma Chaingun, with Jetfire transforming as well and landing beside me.

After Jetfire and I landed, the Decepticons whipped around and deployed their own weapons, all of which were servo-blasters except for Starscream's weapon, a missile attached to the side of his servo.

Jetfire and I quickly found ourselves in a good, old-fashioned Mexican Standoff, with neither us nor the Decepticons willing to fire the first shot.

As Jetfire and I continued pointing our weapons at the Decepticons, I used my peripheral vision to search for anything we could use for cover if we ended up in a firefight. But unfortunately there was nothing, just the remains of modified cars and trucks that appeared to be crushed with blunt weapons or shot with missiles, with the bodies of humans clothed like the first MECH soldier I saw in the footage from Breakdown's optic. There was also some burning wreckage of what seemed to be at least four helicopters, but they were too mangled for me to know for certain. What I did know for certain, was that Bulkhead and Breakdown had just finished fighting MECH, and had inflicted heavy causalities on the human terrorist group. But, judging by how there were tire tracks leading further east, an unknown number of MECH troops had escaped.

"If you deactivate your weapons now, and I will offline you quick and painlessly," Starscream said, breaking me out of my thoughts. "If you don't... Well, then things will get messy."

I saw Jetfire shift his optics between Starscream and the other seekers out of my peripheral vision, he smiled slightly, as if he figured something out, then looked directly at Starscream. "Messy for us? Or for you?" He asked.

I sent Jetfire a confused, sideways glance, while keeping most of my attention on the Decepticons. Even with Bulkhead, who hadn't moved since we landed, we were outnumbered two to one by the Cons. Of course, we had better weapons, since all they had were servo-blasters and one missile, but if all the Cons were equipped with that new armor we encountered recently, then our weapons weren't going to do much before the Decepticons offlined us. So, what was Jetfire getting at?

Starscream smiled. "I don't think you are in a position to trash talk, Jetfire," he said, a tone of familiarity in his voice, likely from when they both were stationed on Trypticon Station, that is, if the events of War for Cybertron actually happened, still hadn't found that out. "Now, deactivate your weapons before I lose my patience."

"How about you leave, and I won't offline one of your lackeys," he said, then shifted his weapon from where he was aiming at Starscream, to one of the other seekers, causing the seeker to fidget slightly and glance over at Starscream before looking at Jetfire again. "After all, it would only take the offlining of one of you to alert Megatron that you came to rescue Breakdown against his wishes... And what a tragedy that would be."

A light clicked on in my helm, and I looked at the seekers. There were only four besides Starscream. And if Megatron had ordered for a rescue mission, he would have sent more than Starscream and four seekers. After all, Breakdown was probably one of the more senior of Megatron's soldiers, and there were at least two-thousand Decepticons on Earth, Megatron could afford to spare a dozen or two to rescue Breakdown.

Starscream's smile vanished and he looked at Jetfire in disbelief. "How do you know about that?" He asked, voice noticeably higher than it was a moment ago, which I found a little humorous.

Jetfire shrugged. "Doesn't matter, does it?" He asked in turn, giving the SIC of the Decepticons a level stare.

Starscream met Jetfire's look for a brief moment before he growled quietly. "Decepticons, retreat." He said with a scowl directed at Jetfire, then he transformed into his jet form and flew away.

Suddenly finding themselves alone, the four seekers glanced at each other and then quickly followed Starscream's lead by transforming into their own jet forms and flying in the direction the Decepticon SIC had gone.

After Starscream and the other seekers flew away, Breakdown, who, like Bulkhead, hadn't moved since Jetfire and I landed, gave the Wrecker what I could have sworn was a grateful look. But was it gone in an instant, and he transformed into an International MaxxPro, a smaller, lesser armored, four-wheeled version of my MRAP alt mode, and drove away in the general direction Starscream and the seekers had flown in.

"Miko's going to be disappointed I didn't get that rematch," I heard Bulkhead say as Breakdown drove away, likely meant for his own audio receptors instead of anyone else's.

I returned my servos to normal and looked over at Bulkhead. "So, that's why you're out here, Miko roped you into fighting Breakdown again since you lost your last fight." I said, glancing over my shoulder-joint as Springer finally arrived and landed a short distance away before I looked back at Bulkhead. "You know, Ratchet's going to be far from pleased you aren't in the med-bay."

Bulkhead winced. "Don't remind me," he said as Springer walked over and Jetfire returned his own servo to normal. "Moonracer already yelled at me and threatened to weld me to the medical berth when I left, whatever Ratchet does is going to be a lot worse."

Springer looked around at the various destroyed vehicles surrounding us. "Well, at least you got a bit of fun in before Ratchet traps you in the med-bay," he said pleasantly, a tone he used only with his fellow Wreckers.

Bulkhead shook his helm and gave Springer a look, but he said nothing, none of us did, in fact, until the others rolled up in alt mode a couple klicks after Springer landed.

Ratchet was the first of the group to reach us, and he transformed in front of Bulkhead and stared at him for a long moment, then without warning, pulled a wrench from his sub-space and hit Bulkhead over the helm with it. "Dumbaft!" He half yelled. "You weren't even fully repaired yet, and you went out on a mission by yourself!" He brought a digit within a foot of Bulkhead's faceplate. "Do you have any idea how much more you might have damaged your systems? I-" Ratchet suddenly stopped in the middle of his rant and his optics dimmed slightly, a sign he was being comm-linked. His optics didn't remain dim long, however, and they returned to their normal brightness after just a few micro-klicks, but he didn't say anything to us, just stood where he was with a look of shock on his faceplate.

After he continued to stand there for several micro-klicks without saying anything, I waved a servo in front of his faceplate. "You there, Ratchet?" I asked, causing the white and red medic to shake his helm and blink as if brought out of a trance. "Someone clearly gave you a big piece of news, would you mind filling the rest of us in?"

Ratchet ignored me and opened a communications channel to base. "Jazz, I need a ground bridge right now!" He practically shouted through the channel, an excited look shining in his optics.

"Of course, Doc Bot." Came Jazz's reply through the channel, just before a ground bridge appeared about fifty meters away. "And by da way, ya don' need ta yell next time ya need a bridge. Just lettin' ya know." The saboteur added, then closed the channel with that.

After Jazz closed the channel, Ratchet transformed into his alt mode and drove through the ground bridge, moving faster than was probably safe to travel in the base.

I blinked at where I had last seen Ratchet and looked at Optimus. "Have you seen Ratchet move that fast outside the battlefield... Ever?" I asked.

"No, Shadowstreaker, I have not," Optimus replied as the sounds of Shadow Company's tanks approaching became audible. He looked at all of us. "Autobots, return to base. I will join you after I have spoken with Colonel Lennox on a troubling matter." He said in a tone that led me to believe he had reached the same conclusion I had about MECH having a mole in the S.T.F, then walked toward one of the Shadow Company tanks just as it came into view.

Without a word, we all acknowledged Optimus' order by walking into the ground bridge and returning to base.

---

December 25, 2012 2:44 P.M

Autobot base, outside Jasper, Nevada

The first sight that greeted us after we stepped through the ground bridge was the slightly surprised look on General Shepherd's face he looked in the direction of the hallway leading to the med-bay, and the confused, yet somehow amused, look on Jazz's faceplate as he looked in the same direction as S.T.F's leader.

After the nine of us stepped into the ops center, Jazz looked at me. "What got da Doc Bot so energetic?" He asked. "Ah've never seen da Doc Bot move dat fast before."

I gave the saboteur a helpless shrug. "I have no idea. One moment he was scolding Bulkhead for leaving the med-bay, which shouldn't have even been possible." I said, giving Jazz a pointed look, which he returned with a smile. "And the next, he gets comm-linked and he's shouting at you to get him a ground bridge."

Jazz looked down the hallway again. "Then we should probably get movin' and ask da Doc Bot what's goin' on," he said, then looked over at Springer. "Springer, you got ground bridge duty in case da Boss Bot needs a bridge."

Springer narrowed his optics at Jazz. "Why do I have to do it?" He asked.

Jazz smiled at Springer. "'Cause Ah outrank you and Ah ordered ya to," he responded, then turned and walked into the hallway without another word.

After Jazz walked into the hallway, Springer grumbled and went over to the workstation as the rest of us started to follow Jazz.

"Shadowstreaker," General Shepherd called, causing me to come to a halt and look over at S.T.F's leader. "Colonel Lennox hasn't reported in over the radio, yet. What happened out there?" He asked, looking more than a little anxious, likely wanting to know if Shadow Company had captured or killed MECH.

"Bulkhead was able to rescue Breakdown from MECH's captivity, but it seems that MECH has escaped, albeit with heavy causalities." I answered bluntly, knowing a military man such as Shepherd would have hated a sugar-coated response.

Shepherd sighed. "Damn it," he cursed. "Do you have an estimate on the number of MECH's causalities?"

I shook my helm. "Not an exact number, no, but they likely lost a few dozen of their members." I replied. "Although, Colonel Lennox and Shadow Company should be able to give you a more accurate number."

The S.T.F's leader seemed to like that estimate a little bit, but he still remained mostly impassive. "Were any of their helicopters present?"

"I believe I saw the wreckage of four helicopters," I said. "But again, Shadow Company will be able to tell you more than I can."

General Shepherd frowned slightly. "If your estimate is accurate, then MECH still has three of S.T.F's helicopters in their possession, and we made those to be invisible to all types of imagery." He sighed again and pulled a radio from one of the pouches near his .44 Magmum and walked away from the catwalk railing. "Thank you for the information, Shadowstreaker, I will touch base with Colonel Lennox and find out what else he can tell me."

Seeing that my short conversation with Shepherd was over, I turned around and saw that Arcee had been waiting for me next to the hallway.

"What was that about?" She asked as I walked over to her and we both started down the hallway.

"General Shepherd wanted to know what happened on the mission," I replied. "So, I told him that Bulkhead was able to rescue Breakdown, but at least part of MECH escaped."

"Bulkhead rescued Breakdown?" Arcee asked with a surprised look on her faceplate. "I would have never thought Bulk' would do that."

"I wouldn't have, either, unless I saw Breakdown and Bulkhead standing next to each other with my own optics," I agreed.

Arcee and I didn't say anything after that, and we continued down the hallway in silence. At least, until we encountered Jazz, who was, for no apparent reason, leaning against the wall a short distance away from the med-bay.

"Waiting for us, Jazz?" Arcee asked as she and I approached the saboteur.

Jazz ignored Arcee's question. He pushed himself off the wall and stood in front of us before he held a servo up to stop us. And once we had done that, he pulled what looked like a remote of some kind, pressed a button on the remote, looked at Arcee and I, smiled slightly as if he won a game of checkers, and then turned and walked into the med-bay without a word.

Scrunching my optic ridges in confusion, I blinked at where I had last seen Jazz before the words of a conversation he and I had couple cycles ago popped into my helm.

"You are trying to get Arcee and I under the Mistletoe," I had stated matter-of-factly, knowing that was his exact intention from what Elita had said that cycle.

"Ah'm just tryin' ta get ya movin' in da right direction," Jazz had replied, not even trying to deny statement as he pushed himself off the wall and walked toward me. "Since ya obviously aren' plannin' on makin' da move yourself."

"That is because there's nowhere to move, Jazz." I had said as I turned around and started to walk in the direction of the ops center.

A look of understanding crossed had Jazz's faceplate. "Ah see, you're in da 'There's no way she's inta me, and Ah don' wanna weird her out, so Ah'm not gonna make a move' phase, aren' ya?" He had asked with a knowing grin.

My left optic had twitched at how Jazz seemed to be able to get very accurate information from the simplest of statements. "Yes, yes I am. And I intend on staying in that phase."

Bringing myself out of the memory of my conversation with Jazz a couple solar-cycles ago, I glanced up at the ceiling... And instantly froze... Because directly above us, still swaying after they had likely been deployed by Jazz... Were thirteen Mistletoes.

That was when another part of my conversation with Jazz popped into my helm.

"No matter how many Mistletoes you put up, I'm not going to get stuck under one. I'll just going to pull them down." I had said to Jazz's retreating form.

"Ah'll remember dat," Jazz had replied.

'Jazz, you son of a glitch,' I thought, staring blankly at the Mistletoes as I brought myself back to the present again. The saboteur had said he'd remember that I was just going to pull down every Mistletoe he put up. I should have taken that as a warning.

Out of my peripheral vision, I saw Arcee give the Mistletoes a confused look before turning her gaze to me. "What are those?" She asked in a tone that mirrored the look on her faceplate.

My cooling fans activated loudly enough to cause Arcee to give me a perplexed look. "Those are, ah... Those are Mistletoes," I responded, unable to keep my voice from sounding a little awkward and embarrassed.

Arcee continued to give me a perplexed look. "And that is...?" She prompted.

My cooling fans kicked into a higher gear. "Look it up," I said, unable to bring myself to explain what a Mistletoe was to Arcee of all bots.

Arcee kept giving me a confused look for a micro-klick before she finally looked away from me and her optics dimmed as she searched the internet. After a moment, her faceplate went blank and her optics returned to their normal brightness. "Oh..." She said in a tone as blank as the look on her faceplate, though I did hear her cooling fans activate quite loudly, and she covered her optics with a servo in what was clearly embarrassment.

My spark fluttered hopefully at that, but I quickly curbed the feeling. Just because Arcee was embarrassed, didn't mean that she was interested in me. Getting trapped under a Mistletoe was embarrassing, even if you weren't interested in the bot that was caught under the Mistletoe with you. So, my being under the Mistletoe more than likely had nothing to do with why Arcee was embarrassed.

"'Oh', indeed," I said.

A deafening, awkward silence descended on Arcee and I. I had thought the silence that followed Arcee landing on me was bad, but that was nothing compared to this. We couldn't even look at each other, I knew how Optimus felt when he and Elita got trapped under a Mistletoe a couple solar-cycles ago. The only time I had felt this awkward was when I accidentally saw Arcee in the washrack before we were able to create two separate washracks for mechs and femmes, and that was because I had... Well, seen her naked... At least, I had seen that... Part... Below her backplates.

'Wow, even your thoughts are awkward,' my own CPU seemed to deadpan.

'Shut up, CPU,' I thought, mentally Gibbs slapping my CPU for giving me such strange thoughts. Maybe the reason I kept getting such unusual thoughts was from a glitch in my CPU. Probably should have Ratchet take a look to be sure... If I can get out of my current situation with my friendship with Arcee intact, that is.

After the silence continued for nearly a klick, I broke it. "You know, I think I am going to weld Jazz to the ceiling of the Safe." I said with a thoughtful expression on my faceplate, hoping the joke would make things between Arcee and I a little less awkward.

"You can't do that if I do it first," Arcee said, cooling fans still humming loudly, just like my own were.

"Then you can weld him to the Safe's ceiling first, and after the welds fail, I will weld him back up there again. Deal?" I asked.

"Deal," Arcee agreed with a smirk, though she still didn't meet my optics.

We fell silent again with that. And just as it seemed like we were going to stand here in silence for another klick, Jack and Miko walked out of the med-bay and gave us exasperated looks.

"What are you guys still standing out here, for?" Jack asked as he and Miko walked over to Arcee and I.

"Yeah, you're going to miss Moonracer dropping some bombs about the Delphic!" Miko said, gesturing to us to follow her to the med-bay, but then she looked up and saw what was above our helms, and she slapped a hand over her mouth and seemed to be struggling not to laugh.

Jack noticed Miko's sudden change in behavior and gave her an odd look. "What's so funny?" He asked.

Miko just snickered and pointed at the Mistletoes above Arcee and I.

The dark-haired teen looked at where Miko was pointing and snickered as well. "Now, that's just too good," he said with an amused smile and laugh, which in turn caused Miko to lose what self-control she had and laugh hysterically.

"Mhm," I hummed indifferently as Jack and Miko continued laughing, knowing that the two human teens would react like this when they saw the Mistletoes. "Keep laughing, maybe you'll pass out from lack of air and we'll sneak by you."

Miko sobered herself enough to pull out her cell phone. "Dude, this is so going in the scrap-book!" She said, directing her words at Jack as she and the taller teen stepped a little closer to us so Miko could get a better picture.

I put on my best poker face as Miko and Jack stepped closer, not because the young Japanese girl was going to take an embarrassing picture of Arcee and I, but because she and Jack were now within reach. And that meant we could grab them and place Jack and Miko in our place under the Mistletoes so Arcee and I could leave. Admittedly, I wasn't an expert on the rules of Mistletoe, but I believe there was a rule about not having more than two people under the Mistletoe at the same time.

Glancing at Arcee, I saw a look in her optics that told me she was thinking the same thing I was.

"Come on, pucker up!" Miko said, smiling as she looked at Arcee and I through the screen of her phone. "I want this shot to be perfect!"

Sharing another look with Arcee, I nodded, and at the same time, Arcee and I reached out and picked up Jack and Miko in one of our servos, with me grabbing Jack, and Arcee picking up Miko. With the two teens securely in our servos, we set them down at the base of our pedes and stepped out from the Mistletoes.

"Dude, not cool!" Miko protested with a dumbfounded look on her face, as if she couldn't believe what just happened.

"I hate you both a lot right now..." Jack added in a more restrained tone than the one Miko was using, probably because, judging by the faint pink I saw his cheeks turning, he was embarrassed to be under the Mistletoes with a girl that I suspected he liked.

Arcee and I ignored Jack and Miko's complaints and started walking the short distance to the med-bay.

"What we just did was a little evil, wasn't it?" Arcee asked, opening a comm-link with me as we left Jack and Miko beneath the Mistletoes.

"Yup," I replied simply.

"Should we be feeling bad?" The blue and pink femme inquired in an amused tone, apparently already over the awkward situation we had just been in a few moments ago.

"Nope," I replied just as easily as the first time, and closed the link with that as we entered the med-bay.

The Delphic was, as was the norm for the past two solar-cycles, floating in the center of the med-bay when Arcee and I entered, with Ratchet and Moonracer conversing in excited tones at the med-bay computer, while the rest of our fellow Autobots, minus Optimus and those on patrol, were scattered around the room.

Jazz looked at Arcee and I as we walked into the room in what might have been surprise, but it was hard to tell because of his visor. "What took you two so long? Moonracer finally figured out what da Delphic is, and you two almost missed da big reveal." The saboteur said as the med-bay door closed behind Arcee and I, as if he was wondering where she and I had been.

I narrowed my optics at the smaller mech. "We were delayed," I answered evenly, not tearing my gaze from the saboteur as I crossed my servos and leaned against the wall next to the med-bay door.

"There was traffic in the hallway," Arcee added, voice carrying a subtle, angry tone as she crossed her own servos and leaned against the wall on the opposite side of the med-bay door from me.

Jazz smiled innocently at the tone in Arcee's voice. "Well, at least of two of you are here, now. Ah think da Doc Bot and Moonracer are goin' ta tell us what da Delphic is." He said smoothly, then turned his attention to Ratchet and Moonracer, ignoring the look Arcee and I were giving him.

After Jazz started to pretty much ignore us, I shared a brief look with Arcee before we both shook our helms and looked over at Ratchet and Moonracer, waiting for them to talk about what the Delphic was, since that was apparently the reason why Ratchet had taken off through the ground bridge.

Arcee and I didn't have to wait long.

"It's a power source..." I heard Ratchet say quietly, both voice and optics filled with awe.

I raised an optic ridge at the unsurprising revelation and glanced at the crystal that was shining like a star. "Um, no offence, Ratchet. But I could have figured that out pretty easily. You did mention the fact that the Delphic is giving dark energy readings and gamma radiation... It isn't that hard to figure out the Delphic is some kind of power source..." I said, a little confused why Ratchet's tone was filled with so much awe when everyone expected that the Delphic was some kind of advanced power source.

Ratchet shook his helm. "You don't understand. The Delphic isn't just a power source, it's the power source. Almost every known method for creating power is contained within that tiny crystal. There are nuclear fission and nuclear fusion reactions occurring inside the Delphic as we speak. It is turning anti-matter into fuel and electricity right now... We still don't know where that fuel is going, but you get the point. The Delphic has the smallest, and yet somehow the most powerful, neutrino-ion generator I have ever seen. This crystal is somehow harvesting dark energy and converting it into a usable form of energy. And it has a type of reactor I cannot identify, but it is using gamma radiation as a power source, and in turn is producing twenty times the power gamma radiation would produce on its own. But what I find most amazing, is that the Delphic is creating its own supply of energon and Dark Energon and using both substances to create energy, in a method more potent and effective than any I have ever seen or read about in the Hall of Records. And all of this is contained within an artificial shell that is... Well, made up of all known solid elements, including Primax, which makes the Delphic's shell is the most resilient material in the known universe."

I blinked at Ratchet's long-winded explanation and looked at the Delphic again, floating harmlessly above the floor, but apparently more powerful than any known source of energy. "Shouldn't a number of the processes you listed be impossible, Ratchet?" I asked, tearing my gaze away from the enigmatic crystal and looking at the white and red medic.

Moonracer answered my question instead. "Should it be impossible to the current science of Cybertronians? Yes. Is it impossible to the creators of the Delphic? No, they apparently didn't get that memo." She said, surprising me slightly at her use of a human idiom, that was the first time I had ever heard her use one.

"Do we still not know who created it?" Bumblebee asked.

Moonracer shrugged helplessly. "No. We still only have theories on who created the Delphic, unfortunately," she answered.

"I'm more interested in the fact you said the Delphic is creating its own energon," Arcee said in a tone that led me to believe she wanted to destroy the Delphic so we could find out how it's creating energon.

Moonracer shook her helm like Ratchet had done a short time ago. "I know what you're thinking, and the answer is no. We can't crack open the Delphic and find out how it creates energon. Not only do we lack the technology to destroy its artifical shell, but if its casing is cracked open, then what is keeping the various processes contained within the Delphic would shut down... I don't think I need to explain what would happen, then." She said, wincing slightly at her own words, likely picturing what would happen if the Delphic became unstable.

Jetfire seemed to notice Moonracer's wince as well. "How bad?" He asked her.

Ratchet answered instead. "The Delphic is producing more power than a dozen of the most energetic of blue super giants, if that power released... Everything within a nine-hundred light-year radius of Earth, would simply cease to exist." He said in a completely serious tone.

"Alright," Arcee said, looking more than a little disturbed by that piece of information. "Can we at least use the Delphic to power the base?" She asked. "We would end up saving a lot of energon if we had an eternal power source."

"If our base required a few-hundred decillion times the amount of power it currently does, maybe," Ratchet answered. "But since it doesn't, the Delphic would end up overloading all our systems within an astro-klick, and probably would blast Earth with gamma radiation. So, no. We can't use it as a power source."

"So, we essentially have a near-indestructible, eternal-energy-producing, paperweight... That potentially could wipe all life in a nine-hundred light-year radius if it becomes unstable." I concluded, giving the Delphic a cautious glance, unable to not be unnerved by learning just how much destructive power it contained.

Ratchet opened his mouth to say something, but he quickly closed it and seemed to be considering what I said. And after a moment, he nodded. "Unless we find something that requires as much power as the Forge, all we can do with the Delphic is study it further and keep it from Megatron's grasp. So, that... Isn't an inaccurate statement." He conceded.

"Well, not that this wasn't interesting, but I need to visit the washracks. I need to save my paint before this powder causes permanent damage." Sunstreaker said, looking down at the explosive residue on his paint in concern.

I looked down at my own residue-covered frame, and I looked around the room and saw that every Autobot that had gone on the mission, which was everyone in the room except Moonracer, was covered in explosive residue just like Arcee, Sunstreaker, and I were. All of us taking a visit to the washracks wouldn't be a bad idea.

"I think we all need to visit the washracks," Jetfire said, reaching the same conclusion I had as he brushed at the black powder. "This explosive residue is quite irritating."

"Agreed." Arcee said, brushing off some of the explosive residue on her frame as well. "This stuff is probably scratching our paint as we speak."

A horrified look crossed Sunstreaker's faceplate, and he and Sideswipe rushed toward the door. "Out of the way!" The yellow twin cried urgently as he punched the door control.

"We have to save our finishes!" Sideswipe said in a tone as urgent as Sunstreaker's, then he got a confused look on his faceplate. "Huh... I'm acting like you, Sunny." He added as they both ran out of the door before it could finish opening.

"Don't call me that!" Came Sunstreaker's angry response just before the sounds of their pedes hitting the floor faded away.

After the twins ran out of the med-bay, I shared an amused look with Arcee. "You said that just to freak Sunstreaker out, didn't you?"

Arcee smiled mischievously. "Of course I did," she said, then turned and walked out of the med-bay.

Chuckling at how Arcee played Sunstreaker like a fiddle, I followed her out of the med-bay as the others followed us as well. And soon, we were all walking out in the hallway on our way to the washracks.

---

Three breems went by after we all visited the washracks.

In that time, Elita, Chromia, Ironhide, Prowl, and Smokescreen had returned from their patrols, and Optimus had returned to base after speaking with Lennox about the S.T.F likely having a mole.

After Optimus and the others had returned, everyone had gone to the ops center to start the party Miko had roped us into having to celebrate Christmas.

And by 'party', I mean we were all standing around the ops center with a cube of energon in our servos, well, most of us. Springer and Ironhide were lobbing in the corner, and the twins were using different types of human oils to create energon cocktails, not sure how that was going for them.

I took a sip from my cube and looked around the room from where I was leaning against the wall next to the entrance tunnel.

Smokescreen was talking to Prowl, who had to be dragged into the ops center by Jazz to even be here, and it seemed like the black and white tactician was getting annoyed by the white and blue mech's almost constant chatter, but since Prowl was the silent professional, he just let Smokescreen talk.

Bumblebee and Flareup were standing a little off to the right of Prowl and Smokescreen, and, as was common for them, they seemed to be uncomfortable standing so close to each other.

Jazz and Jetfire were over near the Xbox area as they talked with Jack and Miko, who was leaning up against Jack, it was clear that placing those two under the Mistletoes had the unintended side-effect of getting them together. I wasn't sure how long they would be together, however, since few high school relationships lasted very long.

Raf was sitting next to the other two humans and was mostly ignoring the 'party' by playing Rage, a role-playing game, but he occasionally looked over at Jack and Miko and shook his head in amusement, likely surprised that the other two had gotten together.

Arcee, Chromia, and Elita were standing in front of the workstation, swapping stories of happier times or just amusing moments in their lives, judging by how they would occasionally laugh at something one of the three sisters said.

Ratchet, Moonracer, and Bulkhead were in the med-bay, with the two medics still studying the Delphic, while the Wrecker was confined to a medical berth for the next few solar-cycles while his injuries fully healed. So, the last bot in the room was Optimus, who was standing just inside the first ark of the ground bridge by himself.

Taking another sip from my cube, I saw Flareup walk away from Bumblebee and walk over to join Arcee and her sisters, while Bumblebee himself walked over to me.

"Quite the party, isn't it?" Bumblebee asked as a conversation starter as he leaned against the wall next to me.

An alarm went off in the back of my helm, but I didn't know why. Bumblebee's question wasn't really unusual, nor was it a serious question. But for some reason, it sent alarms off in my helm. I shrugged off the alarms for the moment.

"I wouldn't call it a party, it's more like we're all standing in the room at the same time," I said as I took another sip from my cube.

Bumblebee sipped from his own cube. "So," he said, clearly trying to start the conversation over again.

More alarm bells went off in my helm, but I ignored them again. "So," I repeated his statement.

"So, why haven't you asked Arcee out, yet?" The yellow and black scout asked with a wide smirk.

'That's why there were alarms going off in my helm,' I thought as I calmly took another sip of energon.

"When?" I asked, referring to when he found out I had feelings for Arcee.

"Well, Springer was pretty vocal about how he thought you were only mad at him for ogling Arcee because you liked her, too. I don't believe that part, but I think the rest fits. I just haven't had a chance to speak to you about it in the last jour or so." He said. "Now, why haven't you asked her out?"

I ignored his question for the time being. "If that's the reason why you believe I like Arcee, then why hasn't Bulkhead said anything?" I asked, mostly delaying my response, but also a little curious why Bulkhead hadn't said anything about what Springer said since I had beaten the green Triple-Changer up.

"Bulkhead isn't very... Perceptive, about these things. I bet he told you about how he, Springer, and Wheeljack came up with the idea to trap Ironhide in the conference room until Ironhide asked Chromia out?" He asked, then continued at my nod. "Well, the only reason he even knew Ironhide liked Chromia was because everyone else told him, and he didn't believe them until after Ironhide confirmed it. Now, why haven't you asked Arcee out?" He repeated for the second time.

"Because I don't want to ruin a perfectly good friendship," I finally answered, taking another sip of energon from my cube.

Bumblebee rolled his optics. "That's weak," he said with a quiet chuckle. "You just gotta take a chance sometimes. And if you don't... Well, I sometimes blert things out."

It was my turn to chuckle. "That is quite ironic coming from you, Bumblebee, and also ill-advised." I said.

The yellow and black scout gave me a confused look. "What are you talking about?" He asked cautiously.

I gave Bumblebee a flat look, then looked over at Flareup as she talked with Arcee and her sisters, then looked back at Bumblebee and grinned like a chess master that just got checkmate.

Bumblebee's faceplate went blank. "You wouldn't..."

"If you even think about telling Arcee, I will tell Flareup how you feel about her." I said as I finished off my cube and sub-spaced it.

The yellow and black scout sighed. "Truce...?" He offered weakly.

"Truce," I agreed, still smiling since I had successfully prevented Bumblebee from telling Arcee how I felt, at least for the time being.

After I spoke, Bumblebee and I fell silent, and I looked over at Optimus. I still hadn't asked him about Megatron being his brother, and this was probably as good a time as any to do it.

I stopped leaning against the wall and walked over to the Prime. "Kind of out of the way from the others, isn't it?" I asked once I had walked the short distance to where the Prime stood, hoping a causal approach would make Optimus a little more comfortable about talking about Megatron.

"You want to know why I didn't tell you Megatron was once my brother," he said, a statement, not a question, seeing straight through what I was trying to do.

"Well... Yes," I said, turning around so I was facing the ops center. "I have been here for more than ten jours, Optimus, and not once have you mentioned that Megatron is your brother."

"Was," Optimus corrected. "Megatron was my brother. We were siblings from when we were sparklings, up until he shot the High Councilor. After that, my own brother severed our bond, we will never be family again." He said with his usual calm, though I detected some sadness in his voice.

A thought came to me at his words. "Optimus, is Megatron severing your sibling bond the real reason why you haven't pursued a relationship with Elita?" I asked. "Is it possible that some part of you is afraid she will betray you like Megatron did?"

A thoughtful look entered the Prime's optics, and he was silent for a long time. Finally, he looked back at me. "Why are you so convinced Arcee won't return your feelings?" He asked in turn.

That shut me up, and I looked over across the ops center at Arcee as she appeared to be telling a story to her sisters and Flareup. Was it really possible that she had feelings for me as well? Could it be possible? If she did, were her feelings for me as strong as mine were for her? Were Arcee and I in the same situation Moonracer and Ratchet were in? Both harbering feelings for the other, but too stubborn or oblivious to notice?

I shook my helm. It wouldn't make sense for a femme like Arcee to be interested in a mech like me. I was a young and relatively inexperienced soldier, she was a veteran of more battles than I could count. She was drop dead gorgeous, I believe I would be considered average by Cybertronian standards. It wouldn't make any sense for her to be interested. So, I pushed those hopeful thoughts away.

But, as I did so, I felt a pulling sensation from my spark, and I felt a brief shock of electricity pass throughout my chassis, starting at my spark.

I winced slightly at the pain, and for some reason, felt compelled to look across the ops center.

Arcee had a confused, and what seemed like a slightly uncomfortable, look on her faceplate. She was glancing around the ops center, as if she was looking for something. She stopped looking around after her sisters spoke to her again, but she still looked be uncomfortable, and she rubbed her chesplates, just above her spark. But, her faceplate contorted a little in obvious pain a moment later.

I put on a stoic look as Arcee waved off her sisters when they tried to pull her toward the med-bay. Because at the same moment her faceplate contorted, I felt another jolt of electricity go through my frame... Starting at my spark.

What the hell was going on?

---

Well, that certainly went on longer than I thought it would. Lol. I am sorry if I rushed things at the end, but I really wanted to get the chapter done. It ends up at almost 20k words, so it's not like the chapter was short. Haha.

And on that note, Fate Calls is now over two-hundred thousand words long... :| That is... Wow... When I started this, I never expected Fate Calls to be as long as it is. And I really am not close to finishing it. Lol. So, I thank you for coming this far in following my story. :)

This chapter's is "Linkin Park - Figure.09/You Become A Part Of Me" It took me a while, but I finally found a song that seems to fit the way I left the ending.

So, please be sure to leave a review and thanks for reading. I'll see you soon.