The base shook violently, causing quite a few Autobots to stumble as the alarms started to blare.

Optimus ran into the command room, steadying himself against one of the chairs as the base shook again. "What's happening?"

"Sir, Decepticon activity sighted in sector nine!" One of the Autotroopers on duty told him, holding onto the consoles as he started to search.

"What happened to the Autobots posted there? And why didn't they report in the activity?"

The Autotrooper paused, staring at the monitor. When Optimus caught on and looked, he felt his spark sink.

"Corrosive Slime..." The trooper muttered.

Optimus put a digit to his audio receptor, ::Calling all Autobots! We have a breach in Sector Nine! Insecticons are swarming the base!::

"Sir, there's been a breach at Sector Fifteen! It's Devastator!"

"Scrap..." ::Devastator has been sighted at Sector Fifteen!::

Another shake of the base.

"What was that?"

"Sector Twenty-Nine, sir." The Autotrooper turned in his seat, "It's Megatron, Shockwave, and the primary Insecticons."

Optimus nodded, standing straight as he opened a private comm, ::Grimlock?::

::My team and I are moving to take on Devastator, Prime.::

::That's not my goal for you.:: Optimus spoke as he transformed, driving straight to Megatron.

::I don't take orders from you, Opti-::

::Shockwave, Hardshell, Kickback and Sharpshot were sighted in Sector Twenty-Nine.::

Radio silence consumed the comm link for a moment.

::Grimlock?::

::Don't send anyone else - it's going to be a massacre.:: And then the link went dead.

"Primus." The Prime increased his speed, determined.

Megatron marched past the destroyed barrier, Shockwave and his lackeys close behind when they heard a familiar engine in the distance.

The warlord grinned wickedly, "You go and find the beast. I will handle Prime."

"As you command, Lord Megatron." Shockwave set off with the Insecticons just as Optimus drove into view, transforming.

"Megatron."

"Prime!" The Decepticon leader aimed his fusion cannon at him. "Once more we meet on the battlefield."

Optimus prepared his blaster in one hand, wielding his axe in the other, "Enough talk, Megatron."

"I couldn't have phrased it better myself!" He fired.

Jade flew just above the charging Dinobots, confused. "Guys? Where are we going?"

"Sector Twenty-Nine." Slug replied angrily, charging through an Insecticon.

"But Devastator's in Sector Fifteen."

"That's not our target." Sludge replied grimly, crushing a large Insecticon under one foot.

"Then what is?"

"Shockwave." Grimlock growled.

"... Oh." Jade flew a little lower, "Then I'm joining you."

"Fine. Just don't get in the way." Slug told her.

Rose sliced through another Insecticon, sidestepping a Bruiser. "Hey, Ark, I could use a little help!"

Ark stared into the distance, audio receptors twitching.

"Ark?" She sliced through a Spitter, confused. "What are you doing?"

The Predacon remained unresponsive, still staring.

Lightning barreled through a group of Swarmers in vehicle mode with Ember holding onto the top of his vehicle mode, blasting Spitters out of the air with her Riot Cannon. "Everything good over here, Rose?" The blue mech called out, halting briefly next to her.

"Yeah, we're holding the line pretty-"

"Bruiser, incoming!" Ember suddenly called out, firing.

Lightning transformed in a flash, pushing Rose out of the way and grabbing the Insecticon's mandibles. He slid back, but he dug his stabilizers into the ground and forced the giant bug to stop. "Not so fast, bucko. Rose, now!"

The Prime jumped the Insecticon, quickly sliding her blades into the gaps in the armor.

The Bruiser screeched before falling limp, and Lightning tossed it aside. "Stupid bugs."

"My thoughts exactly, my good fellow."

Ember looked around, "Hey, Rose? Wasn't Ark just here?"

The femme Prime whipped her helm about, optics wide. "What? Where'd he go?!"

"Maybe he ran after Megatron again." Lightning suggested, using his TechVolt on a group of Swarmers.

Rose turned in that direction - only to be met with an endless horde of Insecticons. "Primus... If he did, I can't follow him."

Ember fired an explosive blast at the oncoming wave, only for more to take their place. "Dang, there's a lot of them!"

"Think I didn't notice that?" Rose spun quickly, slicing through several Insecticons at once.

Ember threw a frag grenade into the swarm before firing again, "Don't you think you'd fight better with something other than two melee weapons?"

"What? These make it so it's harder for my opponents to fight back!"

"Yeah, unless they're close range too! Like these Insecticons!"

"This is not the time for that arguing, you two." Lightning scolded them, flinging a Swarmer at a Spitter.

Ember rolled her optics at her brother before firing into the horde again.

Shockwave ignored the sounds of conflict as he and his Insecticons marched through one of the few empty areas of the city.

"When can we join the fight?"

"In due time, Kickback."

"Grah! I want to torture some Autobots, Autobots!"

"Not now, Sharpshot. Our primary directive is to find and capture the Predacon.

"I don't see why we need it, it." The Insecticon leader muttered, folding his arms. "You already have us, us!"

"While you and your minions are powerful in numbers, Lord Megatron wished for more powerful troops that could overpower a large platoon on their own. The Predacons will supply that superior firepower."

"I'll show ya superior firepower!" Hardshell punched his open palm for emphasis, "Just lemme tear some Autobrats a new one!"

Shockwave turned his helm towards a nearby roar and shifting gears of transformation, "Perhaps you can show me."

Grimlock charged, sword drawn, shouting at the top of his vocaliser, "Shockwave!"

Hardshell transformed, firing his beetle mode's cannon at the charging Dinobot. He stumbled back briefly before summoning his shield, continuing his advance slowly.

Sharpshot raised his hands, generating a blast of electricity and launching it towards Slug. The triceratops kept charging, determined to skewer the bug.

Kickback transformed to have an aerial fight with Swoop with some assistance from Jade.

Sludge stomped towards Hardshell, trying to crush him underfoot as the Insecticon scurried away and continued his assault on the two larger Dinobots while Snarl was trying to throw his daggers at Sharpshot.

Shockwave watched in silence, nothing but a cold and calculating look in his optics - when a silent whirring of a charging plasma cannon caught his audio receptor. Without a moment's hesitation he turned to the source of the sound and fired his own cannon, cancelling the burst of energy from his would-be assailant.

Ark growled, standing on his hind legs and wings spread to seem larger and more menacing.

"A-091." Shockwave lowered his cannon arm, not seeing Rose in the distance. "Come."

The black pupils of Ark's optics narrowed and he screeched, going down on all fours and violently shaking his head.

"Ark!" The femme Prime called out, running in to strike the scientist down, "Get away from him!"

He pointed his cannon to her, releasing a partially-charged blast.

She fell back, wincing as she put a servo to the wound - ripped the upper layer of plating right off her hip.

"Stay down, or I may aim for your Transformation Cog next." He lowered his cannon, walking towards Ark.

The Predacon took a step back for every two the Decepticon took, roaring the closer he got.

Just five steps between them, "Silence."

Four steps, and Ark roared less frequently.

Three, and he started to get quieter.

Two, no more roaring.

One. Ark stopped moving, and Rose could feel her spark pulsing in it's chamber.

Shockwave stood right next to him, and Ark sat obediently. "Good." The mech turned on his heel, walking the way he came with Ark right behind him. "Starscream, open a Groundbridge to my coordinates."

"No...!" The Prime forced herself to her feet as the portal opened up before the scientist.

Grimlock abandoned Hardshell to charge Shockwave. But just before he got there, the cycloptic mech raised his antenna-like audio receptors as he placed a single digit to the circle on his servo.

As he did, all of the Dinobots fell to the ground, forced into robot mode and gripping their heads as they screamed in agony.

Shockwave stood there as the Insecticons went into the portal begrudgingly. ::Lord Megatron, I have acquired the Predacon.::

::Excellent! I shall meet you shortly. Get to base before any of the Autobots stop you.::

Jade activated her cloaker, sneaking up on Shockwave from behind.

::As you command, Lord Megatron.:: He removed his digit from his servo, having held it long enough for the Dinobots to still be negatively affected.

Jade pointed her blaster to the weak point at the back of his neck, still cloaked and about to fire.

Suddenly, Shockwave spun and fired, his concussion cannon swapped out for a Sling Shock. The small femme screamed as the electrically-charged bola wrapped around her, shutting down her cloaker and shutting down her mobility motors.

"JADE!" Grimlock ignored the pounding in his processor, getting to his feet and charging for the portal.

Shockwave merely picked up the tiny femme, walking through the portal with Ark. It closed just before Grimlock got to it.

He kept running for a few steps, staring at his empty servos. "No... NO!" He screamed to the sky, pure red rage emanating from his very being.

Rose stared in disbelief, her processor trying to comprehend what just happened through the shock. She didn't notice the Decepticon forces retreating, the roaring Grimlock, not even her team coming to find her.

Jade was kidnapped.

Ark followed.

And it was Shockwave.

An hour later

Grimlock stormed through the Autobot base, the red energy still emanating strongly from him. He barged right into Optimus's office, disregarding all other bots in the room as he went straight to the desk. "Prime."

"Grimlock, what are you doing here?"

"I need a ship."

"We can't spare the resources right now. Maybe when he finish repairing the-"

"NO!" He slammed one fist against a nearby wall, causing a very obvious hole. "I will not sit around and wait while Shockwave has Jade captive!"

Rose's face hardened slightly.

"Grimlock, trust me, we are trying our very best to get her back. Just let us figure out what to do."

"No, Optimus." The giant of a mech pulled his arm out of the wall, visor burning brightly. "I need a ship now. What I don't need is you being afraid and not acting!"

Optimus got up to speak when Rose got between them, speaking in a cold tone, "Grimlock, go. I'll handle the situation here."

Grimlock turned his visor to her, and everyone else in the room expected him to just lift her in one hand and try tossing her through the wall - so imagine their surprise when he grunted and marched out the door.

The Autobot leader sighed, "Thank you, Rose."

She didn't look at him as she spoke, "I will need a ship."

"Rose, you can't be serious."

She turned to him calmly. "While you may be the Autobot Chief in Command, I am a Prime just like you. A member of my team has been taken by a mech known for experimenting on and torturing his prisoners. As such, I need to handle this as quickly as possible." She folded her arms. "You and I both know the Dinobots will barge in regardless, and so will the Wreckers. Give me permission to take them on a rescue mission, and they won't charge in blindly and get themselves caught."

The mech rubbed his face tiredly, sitting back down. "... Everyone, give us some privacy."

Everybody else left one by one until it was just the two Primes in the room.

Optimus leaned forward, servos clasped together. "So there's no talking you out of this, then."

"None whatsoever, sir."

"If I were any sane mech, I'd tell you no. But you are a Prime, and I trust your judgement. If you think you can wrangle in both the Wreckers and the Dinobots, I say go for it."

"Thank you."

"But," he held up one digit, looking her directly in the optic, "I also can't give you a ship."

She sighed.

"Now... If you were to take a ship, there's no way I could stop you."

"... Are you suggesting...?"

"I'm not suggesting anything. I'm just saying that there might be a scheduling error where nobody will be guarding the hangar one of these days in the first joor of the second lunar cycle."

"... Thank you."

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean."

Rose got up, smiling knowingly. "Well then, guess I'll let you know when they're all itching to bust out so you can double up on security."

Optimus smirked behind his mask. "If you insist."

The femme Prime walked out, heading straight for the hangar and - most likely - the Dinobots.

Grimlock marched to the hangar entrance with the others, the rage emanating from him acting like a beacon at night.

"Grimlock, wait."

The giant didn't even bother looking at her. "You can't stop me, Rose."

"What are you gonna do, then?"

"Storm Shockwave's base."

"And what then? Get caught?"

He finally spun to her, visor somehow burning brighter, "We need to get Jade back!"

"Do you think I don't want that?" Rose marched up to him, jabbing a digit on his chest, "But Shockwave thinks he knows you as a Dinobot and us as Wreckers! He wants us to charge in without thinking, to attack like wild beasts!"

Grimlock growled.

"So prove him wrong."

He paused.

"Use your processor! I have seen your records - you are one of the most tactical leaders of the Autobots, and that's second only to your raw might." She placed her hands on her hips. "Show Shockwave that you are more than the beast he thinks you are. Help us come up with a plan of attack that'll make sure Jade gets home safe."

"... The longer she's there-"

"I know. So think fast - or I'm thinking of a plan myself."

Grimlock stared at her hard. "... You're the kind of Prime I like."

"You respect Optimus and I know it."

"There's a difference between liking someone and respecting someone." Grimlock marched off. "Call the Wreckers to the Dinobot's commons room. I need to debrief them on Shockwave's forces."

Rose grinned, "You got it, Grim." She transformed, darting past the Dinobots to get to the Wreckers.

And there you have it! Another chapter down - and this one with drama!

Tune in next chapter to see how this continues!

Til All Are One,

- Alpha