Well, it's official. I've been officially vaccinated. So I've been waiting for a while until I am sure that these vaccinations are safe and effective. After months of waiting, I decided to go to one of the vaccine stations and get my shot. Now I choose Pfyzner since not only is the most effective against any and all variants, but the vaccine station was close to my house. I took the first shot in early May and the second shot in late May. And yes, the second shot could be a bit of a dozy. I mean the day after the second shot, I have a fever of a hundred, I was tired, had pain on my sides, my nose was stuffy and it was hard to breathe when I'm sleeping, and felt a little weak. But the following day, all of that went away and I felt fine. So now I am fully vaccinated and won't have to worry about Covid and can do some of the stuff I missed doing for over a year.
Now I know they said that we have to remove our masks two weeks after we get vaccinated. But, I prefer to keep my mask on for a bit longer for many reasons. For one, even if I admit I am vaccinated, I don't know if anyone else is vaccinated and this no mask after two week vaccination policy will give people a good enough excuse to lie that they've been vaccinated and remove masks just so they won't get the shots to begin with. Secondly, the news of the Delta variant is spreading like crazy and I fear that we might go into another lockdown completely. But until something like that would happen, it is best that I keep my mask on outside at all times. Cannot be too careful when you have a lot of people not wearing masks and not following CDC guidelines. Lastly, while me and my mom and sisters were vaccinated, my dad doesn't wish to. The reason is because that he's busy being the Director of the funeral home and due to the variant being more effective in spreading through vaccinated people, he feels like that taking it won't matter. So even if I'm no longer at risk in dieing to the virus, my dad is since he's at the elderly stage and if I bring the virus to him, it would be chaotic. Hopefully in the near future, dad would consider taking the vaccines shot when he feels like his ready. Until then… I don't know if he's close to ready for a vaccine shot giving his work schedule. But hey, we shall see in the near future. For now, I'm glad that I'm fully vaccinated and hope to get back to normal.
Let's see what happened on the last chapter after a couple of long months. Hmm… It looks fair. So far, we got five reviews and almost 600 hits. Just half from the first chapters by the looks of it. The reviews themselves were good too, though a few people are asking when the next chapter would come out. I should let you know that you all need to be patient with me on these. Not only am I working on this story, but also I have a small handful of other stories that are in need of my attention. It's not easy when you have to deal with people nagging me on updates when you got so much to work with. Still, I hope that you all can bear with me in the future. After all, I am a busy person and I have a life outside of Fanfiction. So to quote a certain Total Drama host, and don't take it as an insult.
When… I… Feel… Like… It…
On this chapter of Shattered, the young recruits were taken by the Autobots who are the exact opposite of their friends. In order to escape, they would have no choice but to trust those who are suppose to be their enemies. Too confusing? Read and it will make a lot of sense.
Chapter Notes
This chapter will give out more introductions of the characters from the Shattered Universe created by SoundBluster. Feel free to check out her DeviantArt page just so you can read her Shattered Universe series. I can assure you that I will be putting in some of the main cast from that universe, as there are too many to keep track of. You will know when you read to see.
Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers Prime
Chapter Three: Unlikely Allies
John Darby: "What?! You're telling me that you lost my son!?"
In the underground base underneath Lake Eerie, the Autobots were gathered together, trying to figure out what has become of the recruits. Optimus and his team explained to John what transpired about it and he didn't take it too well.
Arcee: "It's not that we really lost him and his friends. It's just that how it all went down is the problem."
Smoke looked to her and nodded before turning to their liaison.
Smokescreen: "Yeah… You see, those three decided to stay put and handle the Cons while we retreated. They were going to follow when they were done with the cleanup. Unfortunately, Starscream got the upper servo and fired a rocket through the bridge and… Well… You saw the end result."
He soon pointed at the ground bridge controls, which were already destroyed from the missile hit by Starscream as Ratchet was doing his best in repairing it. John looked to damage controls and was a little skeptic at what happened to his son.
John Darby: "Okay… So if the controls were destroyed, do you have a clue where Jack and his friends were taken?"
He turned to the group for some answers and hope that the worse has happened. Optimus look down to him and told him of the situation.
Optimus Prime: "I'm sorry Darby, but that is something we know nothing about. The three were still within the bridge when the Starscream's missile hit the ground bridge controls. We have no clue as to what has come of them yet."
John crossed his arms and was concerned about it.
John Darby: "So… What you're trying to say that is that Jack, Raf, and Miko somehow perished from within the ground bridge?!"
Ratchet overheard it and assured John that it wasn't the case.
Ratchet: "Ep, ep, ep! Let's not jump to conclusions, Mr. Darby. Even if the controls are destroyed, doesn't mean the recruits are."
The liaison turned to him and wanted answers.
John Darby: "Please, explain…"
The medic got up and approached the main console, showing him what he needs to know.
Ratchet: "The space bridge is most likely a teleporter that can take us from point A to point B in a matter of nano seconds. If say, there was a disruption during the transfer, there could be a chance that maybe the Cybertronian in that bridge might have survived. Emphasis on might. Here, have a look."
He soon pressed a button and one of the screens started to show each of Team Prime's spark signatures and health bars. Turning to the Darby, he explained to him another part.
Ratchet: "During missions, I check on the health status of Team Prime, making sure that they don't get fatally wounded. If their health status is critical or their spark rate ceases, I would've known about it. But looking at the three recruits, they appear to be stabilized and their spark rates are normal…"
John heard that and was relieved about that part.
John Darby: "So they're still alive. That's good to hear. So do you know where the three are? I mean if there was an interruption during the transfer, they must of wound up somewhere."
The doctor gave a sigh and told him of the bad part of the news.
Ratchet: "And that's the main problem that we have. Even if we know that the recruits miraculously survived a ground bridge disruption, we have no clue on where they wound up."
He soon clicked a few keys and showed the world map to show no sign of their energon signatures.
Ratchet: "As you can see here, I am not picking up any of their energon signatures anywhere on the map. Even if they have their Energon Dampeners on to prevent the Cons from locking in on their location, we cannot gain any frequency on their comms. Perhaps it is because of the bridge energon disruptions that must've fried their communication devices at this time."
After hearing the good and bad news, John managed to piece it all together.
John Darby: "So what your saying is that they aren't KIAed, but instead they're MIA. That doesn't make things less concerning…"
Optimus could tell that he was getting a little antsy, so he assured him that they are working hard to find the recruits and bring them back.
Optimus Prime: "I understand your concern for you son, Darby. But rest assure, we will find a way to bring him and his friends back from where they are."
Bulkhead though decided to let the father know what happened the last time.
Bulkhead: "Yeah. Like then the time the kids were trapped in the shadow zone with a zombified Skyquake and they had to communicate with their phones to get them out of there."
Unfortunately, John didn't know of that until he just heard it. So his reaction was the most obvious.
John Darby: "They WHAT?!"
The group heard him and could tell he didn't take it too kindly. Arcee soon turned to him and gave him a serious glare.
Arcee: "Smooth move, Bulkhead. Real smooth."
Optimus heard that and gave a deep sigh, before turning back and assuring him that they will find the three.
Optimus Prime: "Despite that, we were able to bring them back from the Shadow Zone unscathed. We will do the same today once we find their exact location."
John slowly walked away and was trying to process all this.
John Darby: "Great… Great… My son and two of his friends survived a disruption of the ground bridge, yet there is no way finding them and communicating to them. It's the whole Baghdad situation all over again with my brother years ago."
June could see that his husband was getting anxious and has to calm him down. Approaching him, he bent down and placed one digit on his shoulder, comforting him.
June/Altra: "It's going to be okay, John. Jack is a strong boy. He has always been since you left. Don't give up on him. He'll find a way, he always does."
John listened to his wife and gave a deep sigh. Placing his hand on her digit, he rubbed it and tries to have some form of hope in him.
John Darby: "I hope so, June. I lost one family member years ago, I cannot afford to loose another."
He soon walked away and headed to his motorcycle to leave. The moment he got on it, he turned to the team and asked for a favor.
John Darby: "I'll be heading back to Detroit to speak to Fowler of the situation. I might even have to talk to Sari, Vince, Sam, and Elsa of what happened to their friends as well. That's going to be a tough conversation to discuss about. If you have any more news of my son and his friends, let me know."
He soon revved his engines and turns his Harley to the exit ramp, leading him up to the surface and straight to the city. The moment he was gone, Ratchet sighed and turned to the Wrecker for an explanation.
Ratchet: "Was that really necessary, Bulkhead? Telling Mr. Darby about what happened to Jack and the others in the Shadowzone? You know he had no clue about that and what went down there."
Bulk turned to the medic and shrugged it off.
Bulkhead: "But they were able to get out of it, right? So I'm sure they will get out of this predicament, I hope."
Arcee sighed and told him not to mention it in front of Jack's dad.
Arcee: "That didn't give you the right to tell Jack's father of what happened. He's already stressed out with the news of what transpired today. Do you want to continue to antagonize him even more."
Bulk just rolled his optics around and assured her that he really didn't mean it.
Bulkhead: "But it's true."
The femme soon gave up on him and walked away, crossing her arms in defeat.
Arcee: "I can't believe this. What were we thinking? Letting them stay behind at that mine while we fallback. We shouldn't have done that! We should've stayed with them and clean up the mess."
Optimus heard that and approached the two-wheeler, ensuring her that it won't be the case.
Optimus Prime: "Even if it were the case, then the rest of you would suffer the same supposed fate as the recruits. They knew the risks when they want to you leave while they eliminate the Decepticon threat."
Arcee looked up to Prime and still wasn't sure.
Arcee: "Even if it were the case, it won't matter much considering we have no idea what happened to them. We have no idea where they are or if they have survived the ground bridge explosion. I mean, I can relate since Cliff and I barely escaped one explosion while going through the spacebridge. I know how that's like."
Hearing that, Optimus can understand what she went through before.
Optimus Prime: "And from what I recalled, Shockwave managed to survive from that space bridge explosion. So as far as I can tell, there is a strong chance that the recruits survive this one."
The femme finds that hard to believe as she explained to him of what Ratchet said.
Arcee: "And what if Ratchet said is true. If we can't get a lock on their energon signatures from here or if their comms are down, then… What if it is worse then we thought? What if the recruits are…"
She turned away, knowing that it wouldn't be possible. But if it was… Optimus could tell that she's questioning herself and placed his servo on her shoulder and try to comfort her.
Optimus Prime: "Have you ever given up on me when I was help captive by the Deceptions? Or when my memory banks were wiped and you and Jack had to get to Cybertron and bring my memories back? No? Then I am sure that they are still out there, trying to find their way back. Give them a chance. We cannot do anything in our end, so our best bet is to wait."
Cee heard him and took his advice hesitantly. Turning to him, she gave nod and responded the best she could.
Arcee: "Okay… I'll trust you on that."
Prime smiled a little, knowing that she got the message. He soon looked up at the screen while Ratchet was busy fixing the ground bridge controls and looked at the three recruits health monitors, wondering if they will be all right.
Optimus Prime: "Jack… Rodimus… Wherever you and your friends are, please… Find your way back."
Meanwhile, in an unknown location…
Jack was unconscious, again, wondering what happened. All he could see is vast darkness again and couldn't hear a thing. That is of course he heard a voice of a familiar rocker ringing in his audio receptors, and it was getting louder by the second.
Miko/Kaosu: "Jack…? Jack?! Earth to Jack, wake the frag up!"
Rodimus started to hear Kaosu's voice and snapped his optics open. Waking up, he noticed he was in some type of torture/interrogation room filled with questionable tools for reasons he fear. He tried to get up, but only find out that he was strapped in to something. Looking down, he could tell he was strapped into a medical like table similar to what the Cons have and there were stasis cuffs strapped on his wrists, knees, and waist. Looking down, he realized that he was in serious trouble.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "What the hell…?"
He soon heard Miko's voice next to him, sounding elated.
Miko/Kaosu: "Oh, thank goodness you're up. I thought for certain the shock put you out for good."
Turning to the left, he could see that Miko was tied up on the same torture bed as him and was getting confused.
"Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Miko? Is that you? What happened? Where are we?"
That's when he heard the voice of a familiar hacker on the other side.
Raf/Firewall: "We were captured, obviously. Now we seem to be in some torture chamber of some kind."
Hearing that, he turned to the right and saw Raf laying on the same table to them and was shocked even more.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Raf? You too? How did we get here?"
The Wrecking cadet heard his question and was surprised that he already forgot about what happened.
Miko/Kaosu: "Seriously?! You already forgot how we got here? Tell me you remember something?"
Jack gave it some thought and put the pieces together.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Let's see… My memory banks are slowly booting up, but what I do remember was us surviving that bridge explosion and winding up in a random location. Then we tried to contact the team, only to pick up an energon spike that led us to another energon mine. When we got there, we encounter…"
He soon got the pieces together and realized what happened to them.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Oh scrap! That's right! We encounter the team, but they were completely different, emblems and all."
Miko groaned and was glad he finally found out.
Miko/Kaosu: "Pft… Now you finally got it. But yeah, turns out, our friends are bad guys this time. Shocker of all shockers there."
Raf soon joined in and told him what happened after.
Raf/Firewall: "And before we could get out of there, someone shocked us with some weapon and we all wound up here of all places."
Jack listened to the two and knew they are in deep trouble.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Great… As if our day could get any worse, this happens. Looks like we need to bust out of here and escape this place."
Firewall looked to the cuffs and told him that it was impossible.
Raf/Firewall: "And how are we going to do that? These stasis cuffs are preventing us to escape and our weapons are completely useless with these things on. Besides, we don't know where we are and how we can escape."
By the time he said that, they could hear the door opened and another familiar voice answered.
?: "You are aboard the Ark, the crown jewel of the Autobot Armada. And you are my honorable guests in my personal medical facility."
Hearing that voice, they all looked straight and discovered who it was. It was Ratchet, or a different kind of Ratchet they don't know of. Instead of his usual red and white body paint, it was green and white and has a sleeker more unique design. He was using a cane for support and has bifocals over his optics. But the one thing that caught their attention is a black and purple metal bird perched on his shoulder. The three looked at the medic and knew he is.
Miko/Kaosu: "Ratchet? Is that you?"
The Ratch they don't know grunted and approached the console, responding in kind.
Ratchet?: "Hmm… I can tell you know who I am. But since you are my newest patients, you will refer to me as your Doctor of Doom."
He soon clicked on a few keys and activated something. The three soon heard of something moving down from the ceiling and looked up to see what it was. That's when three eye like scanners came down and started to glow green. It was then that it fired beams right at the three and started to scan their X-Rays. As they were getting scanned, this Ratchet started to talk.
Ratchet?: "When Strongarm said that she was bringing in guests, I thought that it was another Decepticon scout to dissect. I never thought that she could bring me three Autobot younglings. Though, I am surprised that you three are different from us."
Once the scan is complete, he checked on their X-rays and was quite intrigued.
Ratchet?: "Let's see… Looks like everything is normal. Spark chamber, T-Cog functionality, weapons systems, ventilation. Indeed, you just as normal as any Cybertronian. Though that doesn't explain to me why your emblems are different from ours. Care to elaborate?"
He turned to the three, wanting some answers. Miko though, wasn't interested in talking and decided to threaten him.
Miko/Kaosu: "Listen doc, we don't feel like talking to you. So why don't you let us out and… And… We will go easy on ya."
The mysterious Ratchet turned to her and didn't find that amusing. He walked to her while the bird flew up to the top of the console screens.
Ratchet?: "You know… You remind me of a certain Con I tortured a long time ago. Always chatty. Never shuts up. Do you want to know what happened to him…?"
By the time he approached her position, he lifted one digit up and a laser scalpel appeared on the tip and he went on.
Ratchet?: "I cut him up, remove the plating, let him scream in agony. It was glorious."
Miko looked at the laser scalpel and finds what he said amusing.
Miko/Kaosu: "It's this the part where I'm supposed to be intimidated? Cause if it was, I'm not amused."
Ratch turned to her and gave a devious smile to her.
Ratchet: "No… But this will."
He soon switched his hand into a scalpel and was ready to cut her up. Miko saw this and fear started to kick in.
Ratchet: "Now then, which body part should I cut on you first. So little decisions, yet so much time."
Jack could tell that they are all in danger and tries to stop him.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Hey! Leave her alone! If you want to dissect someone, dissect me! I can take it."
The medic turned to him and gave a bit of a sigh.
Ratchet?: "Normally, I would've been a gentle bot and let the femme get dissected. But since you want to be the first to get tortured, I'll accept your wishes."
He approached him and wondered where to start.
Ratchet?: "Now… Which body part should I remove from you first?"
Before he could really do something, another voice came out from the doorway.
?: "That's enough, doctor!"
All three heard that voice and it was really familiar. Looking ahead, they could see three individuals standing at the doorway. Two of the individuals they haven't seen before though. One is a tall mech in red and silver paintjob with purple lines with two struts on his back and a botched like claw attached to his damaged arm. The other is a femme flyer that has a purple and silvery gray paintjob with winglets pointing upwards in a diagonal position and hover propellers on them. Judging by the golden crown on her helm, she and the mech must be the higher-ups of this different Autobot group. But the one in the middle, they knew that he looked very familiar. He is bulky mech with purple, blue, and gray paintjob with spikes sticking out from the top and a mouth guard on his face with a scratch on his plating. Judging by the stature and menacing red optics, the recruits knew who he is and who he is not. Ratch stood at attention and gave a gracious bow.
Ratchet?: "My liege… I was just getting ready to indoctrinate these three younglings into our cause."
The three heard him and knew this wasn't just some form of torture.
Miko/Kaosu: "Indoctrinate? As in, brainwash?"
Raf/Firewall: "I don't like the sound of it."
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "No we don't."
The leader walked ahead and told him not to.
?: "Only when I give the orders of torturing our prisoners. But these aren't prisoners, they're Autobots. They are our honored guests. So do not torture them until I say so. Do I make myself clear?"
The medic looked back at the three and gave a sigh, bowing his head down to respond.
Ratchet?: "Yes, Lord Prime, I'll do as you say."
The leader nodded and told him to leave.
?: "Good… Now leave. I would like to discuss to these three about where they came from."
Ratch nods and walked away, passing the two higher ups and leaving his medical ward. But he turned to his bird and told him of one favor.
Ratchet?: "Sunder, I leave you to watch the recruits. Make sure they don't try and escape."
The bird cawed and followed his orders. Once he left, Rodimus heard that name and knew who he is.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Lord Prime… As in, Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. That makes sense. Bad Autobots, bad leader. It's all adding up."
The bad Optimus Prime looked to the three and was surprised about how he knew who he was.
Optimus Prime?: "So… You know who I am. It's understandable. You three are Autobots after all."
He soon approached Rodimus and noticed the emblem of the recruit's chest.
Optimus prime?: "However… You three are completely different. You both have the same emblems, but they are different type. Not purple… And friendlier… So I only ask you two simple questions. Who are you three, and where did you three come from?"
The three looked to each other and could tell that they were being questioned. But they don't know how to respond and try to circle their way around it.
Raf/Firewall: "Oh… Uh… We were just walking around. Going on a nature hike. You know, get some fresh air."
Prime heard that and finds it hard to believe.
Optimus Prime?: "Is that so… Then why did you three stumble into one of my energon mines? That is restricted access."
Miko tries to answer with one of the best excuses out there.
Miko/Kaosu: "You know… Low on energon from all the walking. Though we get a few cubes to get us hydrated. What is wrong with that?"
Optimus paced back and forth and explained why they intruded in one of his operations.
Optimus Prime: "From what Strongarm told me, you three were sneaking around, trying to get into the mines. You were all whispering about something that it sounds concerning. So from what I can tell, you three are hiding something from me. What I want to know is what?"
The three could tell that this Prime is smarter then he looked and needs to find a way in getting out of it.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Listen, we don't want any trouble from you. We are just a bunch of younglings looking for a way out. If you can let us go, then I can assure you that we'll leave without causing any-"
Just then, the red mech approached Rodimus and used his sharp claw prosthetic to grab him by the neck and try to choke the future Prime.
?: "Your not leaving here until our liege get answers from you. And if you don't answer us, it's not Ratchet who you should be worried about."
Jack could feel the sharp claws on his neck and fear that he would be done for. But Optimus pulled him back and told him to stop.
Optimus Prime: "Ultra Magnus, stand down. I would make the decision on what happens to these three, not you."
The one called Magnus groaned and followed his orders.
Ultra Magnus?: "Apologies, Lord Prime. I was a little impatient by these younglings excuses. It won't happen again."
The Prime glared at him and knew he won't be taken to kindly
Optimus Prime?: "For your sake, you won't mess up like that."
Rodimus heard this Prime and knew he is the exact opposite of the Optimus he knows. On hindsight, he is almost look and sound like Megatron in a way. But he doesn't want to sit around and find out as he told him that they don't have anything they are hiding. Though that is a lie, they all need to get out of it.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Look, Prime, we don't have any Intel to share with you. So if you can just let us go, we won't cause you any trouble."
The evil Prime turned to him and could tell that this one is smarter then he looks.
Optimus Prime?: "Hmm… You appear to be much more clever then I anticipated. It kind of reminds me of a Decepticon Intelligence Officer that likes to keep things to himself. We tortured him for so long, he never let out a single peep. And then when he wanted to talk, he was too smarmy to give me any Intel. So since he doesn't want to talk, I made the ultimate decision to silence him, forever."
He soon showed his sharp digits and remembered that time oh so well. The group could see the digits and gulped, fearing that the same thing would happen to them.
Raf/Firewall: "B- But we don't know anything. You gotta believe us!"
Optimus looked to the hacker and finds that hard to believe.
Optimus Prime?: "Oh… I believe you, like I believe a scraplet that doesn't eat metal. No doubt, your will is strong. But it takes the right tools to get something out of you. I know you three are hiding something from me, and I will get it out of you, one way or another."
He soon turned around and walked away from the three. Both Ultra Magnus and the femme followed him as they all left the medical/torture room. But not before the Prime rebutted something to them.
Optimus Prime?: "Make yourself comfortable, cause you'll be in here for a long time."
He soon left the room and the door closed from behind them. The three recruits just looked on and knew that this is just as worse as they feared.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "We're so screwed."
Meanwhile, deep in the woods not far from the mines, a small Decepticon scouting party was surveying the spot where the energon spike originated. As they were searching, a small yellow and black mechanical cat with a rocket on his back was sniffing the ground, trying to get a lock of that mysterious energy spike. Behind him is a gray seeker with a red and blue trimmed paintjob with wings attacked to his back looked at the cat and asked if it picked up on anything.
Starscream?: "Well…? Have you found anything, Ravage?"
The cat, who is Ravage, turned to him and told him he hasn't found anything yet.
Ravage?: "No. I'm not picking up any scent as of yet, commander. You sure the energy spike originated from here?"
The seeker, who is commander Starscream, crossed his arms and knew he was right.
Starscream?: "If Soundwave picked it up here, it has to be here. So once we pick it up, we can track it to where that spike went."
As he said that, a femme voice came close by and told him that it was a waste.
?: "If we can track it. I swear to the queen, if this is nothing more then a wild goose chase, it was a waste of my time."
Scream could hear her complaining and silenced her.
Starscream: "Take it easy, Airachnid. It was Megatron who sanctioned this order. We need to follow it to the letter."
He turned to see a femme spider bot crossing her arms in annoyance. She has a white colored paintjob with light blue and pink trimming and spider legs attached to her back. But her design is much different. Instead of a chopper like mode, it was that designed for a two-wheeler with parts of the front wheel on her feet and parts of the back on two of her back spider legs. The femme, who is this world's Airachnid, sighed and hopes that this mission will be over soon.
Airachnid?: "Well the sooner we get this done the better. Staying in this forest long enough, I fear of any organic diseases from these creatures."
Just then, she could hear another voice before behind her.
?: "Oh… What's this? Our noble warrior is still paranoid on Organics? And I thought you got over that fear the moment you met your partner."
Airachnid turned to the direction of the voice and saw two shadows from behind her. The first one is a smaller sleeker mech with a green and white paintjob. The other is a bigger mech with and orange and black paintjob and has a sleeker design. Looking to the two, she groaned and reminded them why she hated the woods.
Airachnid?: "I'll have you know Knockout that I am over human organics. It's the other organics in these woods I'm worried about. I heard stories of when they attack you, they infect you with dangerous viruses that will shut you down in an instant. I don't want to go anywhere near them, that's for sure."
The shadow that is called Knockout sighed and figured that was the case. The big mech soon approached him and pat his shoulder to assure him that it was all right.
?: "Oh, cut the lass some slack, doc. These Insecticons have always have issues with organic life forms since their alts are in the form of those things. Besides, she is always like this since the whole Cosmic Rust incident."
That got the spider bot peeved and spat back at him.
Airachnid?: "Don't you dare talk about that! You don't have any right to say things like Cosmic Rust in my presence. I can never forget about what happened to me and my friend."
She turned away and could still remember the haunting memories playing in her processor. The huge mech looked to the doctor and asked about what he said.
?: "Uh… Was that too soon?"
Knockout sighed and told him he was in the wrong with what he did.
Knockout?: "Yeah. About a few hundred stellar cycles too soon, Breakdown."
Just then, the mysterious cat picked up a scent of the spike and told the others where he found it.
Ravage?: A-ha! I think I pick up the energon spike you want me to find. And it's still fresh too."
Scream heard that and turned to ask on the direction.
Starscream?: "That's good to hear. Where did it went?"
Ravage soon pointed his paw to that direction and told them to follow.
Ravage?: "This way! Follow me!"
He soon ran on all of his four legs and was going after the spike his sire picked up. The commander soon turned to the three and told them to do the same.
Starscream?: "Well? What are you three waiting for. After him!"
So the group started to run and followed the cat through the thick trees. As they were running, Ravage managed to get a lock on the spike and was approaching the last known whereabouts.
Ravage?: "Okay! We're getting close! If my nose is telling me is accurate, then the source of that mysterious enegon spike must've wound up…"
By the time he was about to finish, he immediately stopped and was near the cliff end, looking at what caused him to stop talking. He soon looked on as the group approached his side and saw what they were looking at. Deep down, there is an energon mine with energon crystals and boxes of newly minted cubs were all stored containers and were slowly lifting up from a lift and heading to the Ark, the Autobot flagship. The group looked on and realized what it was.
Knockout?: "That's… That's an enegon mine."
They soon notice all the Autobot Vehicons on constant watch with their blasters armed and keeping watch.
Airachnid?: "Yeah… An Autobot controlled Energon mine."
Quickly, the group hid behind the bushes, hoping they weren't spotted. Once they went into hiding, Breakdown groaned and was greatly upset about it.
Breakdown?: "Of all the ye places this spike has to go to, they had to head down to a mine filled with Bots."
The spider bot shook a little and thought of a couple of possibilities.
Airachnid?: "M- Maybe we should contact the Nemesis to see if we can get some backup. Or better yet a full retreat. Our lives can't be risked over such trivial things as a mysterious spike in energon
Scream sighed and told her to focus on the mission.
Starscream?: "No, we won't fallback. Not until we get an idea what the spike is and why it appeared. Ravage?"
The cat gave a deep sigh and sniffed to find where the energon spike might be located. Whiffing the air, he started to pick it up and knew where it is now.
Ravage?: "Got the lock on the scent… But… You're not going to like where it is now."
He pointed his paw upwards to show them what he got. The four looked up to what he's pointing at and saw the dark purple flagship hovering over the energon mine with glowing light purple on sections of it.
Knockout?: "The Ark…"
Airachnid gulped and wanted to reconsider her options.
Airachnid?: "Still thinking about retreating now, commander?"
The commander groaned and told her to be quiet.
Starscream?: "Now isn't the time Airachnid. Right now, we need to head on up there and investigate that anomaly. Airachnid, Ravage, you two are with me. We'll take the skies and land on the vessel. Knockout, Breakdown, you take the ground. Find a way to get up there. We'll meet up at the rendezvous location once we find the source of the spike."
And with that, he transformed into his jet mode and told the two to hop on.
Starscream?: "Get on."
The cat soon jumped on the cone as Airachnid was extremely hesitant.
Airachnid?: "I still feel like a retreat is still an order."
Starscream?: "I'll leave that under consideration. Now get on me!"
The spider bot sighed and still didn't like the thought of that. But under orders, she reluctantly jumped on him and shoot her webbings out and hangs on while using her legs as support. With that, the jet took off and flew up high into the air to reach the Ark. As they left, the other too looked on and hated their part of the order.
Breakdown?: "Ye know… At times like these, I really wished I choose a flight mode then a ground mode."
The doctor sighed and told him to start moving.
Knockout?: "Just shut your yap and follow my lead. We need to get up there the hard way."
He soon looked ahead and saw the lift that could take them up.
Knockout?: "And that seems like the only way up for us. We better find a way to get there."
He soon looked at the empty containers that the Cons are still storing energon and noticed a big one that was meant for bigger shards, enough room for the two of them. He smirked and came up with a plan.
Knockout?: "And I think I found our only ticket up there. This way."
He soon walked to the mines and slid down the cliffside. Breakdown looked down and pounded his fists together.
Breakdown?: "As long as we start beating up dented skulls, I'm gamed."
He soon jumps and slid down, joining his partner.
Meanwhile, in the air, two vehibots were on the top of the Ark on constant patrol. Not even realizing what's about to happen. As they were on watch, a jet flew high and went over the two. They both looked up to see the jet in the air as two cons jumped off it and the jet transformed. All three of them fall to the two and they were about to arm their blasters to fire. Course, that was until Airachnid and Starscream landed on top of them and attacked. With both swords from Scream and the spider legs from the spider bot, they destroyed their sparks and shut them down before either of them could raise an alarm. Ravage soon landed between the two and the Cons got up and put their weapons away.
Starscream?: "We better hurry. If they see these two terminated, no doubt they would raise suspicions."
Ravage noticed a grating vent close by and decided to take it. Heading down to it, he used his blaster tail to form a cutter laser and cut open the grating. Once he opened it, he told the two what he's doing.
Ravage?: "I'm going to get the vents. It would make it easier for me to lock on the scent if I was inconspicuous. You two better find your way into the Ark though. Try not to get caught."
He soon jumped into the vent and begins the search. Meanwhile, Airachnid and Starscream were dragging the bodies to a secluded place as the spider gave a groan.
Airachnid?: "How is it that he gets the easy job around here?"
Starscream soon looked around and noticed a maintenance elevator for the two get in.
Starscream?: "Let's focus on getting in ourselves. This way."
He soon approached the elevator and hit the button to bring it up. Once it arrived and the doors opened, he and the femme went into it and closed the elevator to bring it back down.
Meanwhile, on the ground, Knockout and Breakdown came down to into the mine's transfer bay and were looking for a way into the ship without being seen. Sneaking around the containers, they stopped and hid as two drones walked past them. Peeking back, Breakdown noticed the huge elevator lift that would take them up. But looking down, he also saw a squadrons of Vehibots on constant watch.
Breakdown?: "That must be the only way up to the Ark. But it looks like there are a lot of bots guarding it. Even if I bring the hammer down on these bloks, they would alert the whole armada."
Knockout soon saw the same container and pointed it to his partner.
Knockout?: "That's why we're going to use stealth to get in. And we will be using that as a means of transport."
Breakdown looked to what he's pointing at and saw the huge container that will get them both in. Blinking, he knew what it all meant.
Breakdown?: "Ye must've lost your bloody mind. Ye want us to go in that thing and take the lift up. That is a we bit suicide if you ask me."
The medic rolled his optics around and told him his reasons.
Knockout?: "Listen! We take them on ourselves; we're good as scrap. But if he go into these energon containers, they would think that there is energon in them and would take them to the elevator to bring us up. After all, your…heftiness will make a great excuse or a slag ton of energon."
He heard his comments and wasn't amused.
Breakdown?: "Oh, har, har. Lay it on me why don'cha ."
Knockout?: "Just follow my lead and don't get caught."
The two soon made their way to the huge container and were making strides to get there. After hiding from a couple of patrols, they managed to reach the container and Knockout approached the door that had a built in keypad. Using his digital scalpel, he pulled the panel off and started to cross wires in order to get in.
Knockout?: "Now I just need to breach into the security and we'll be in that container before you know it."
Breakdown soon heard someone coming and turned to see two shadows fast approaching.
Breakdown?: "Better make haste, boyo. We're going to get company comin'."
He soon armed his hammers and was waiting for them to come incase the medic couldn't get in. But fortunate enough, he got the right wires crossed and the doors are unlocked.
Knockout?: "There! Get inside! Hurry!"
The two started to run into the container as one of them closed the door behind them. Once it was locked, the panel was close and the light turned green, symbolizing that it was ready. As they were inside, two Vehibots were surveying the area incase any intruders get around. It was then that they notice a huge container that looked ready for transport and one of them decided to take it.
"Hey! Check it out! Looks like they got this big one ready for transfer."
"Huh… That's strange… We aren't ready to bring in the big ones next until all the little ones are taken. But it would seem that they were a little hasty on all this scrap. Come on. Help me carry it to the elevator."
With that, the two approached the container that has the two Cons in it and one of them activated the panel to initiate the hover lifts. Soon enough, the hovers at the bottom of the containers was activated and lifted themselves up. The two soon pushed it as they went on with the conversation.
"Sheesh… Look at all this security. You think that when we are mining energon, there wouldn't be this up protection."
"We have no choice. Have you heard, three younglings wondering into the mine and the chief officer managed to nab them before they do something terrible.
"You serious? Younglings. Megatron must be desperate when he has to rely on the help of teenage Cons for help."
"That's just the thing. Those younglings aren't Decepticons. They're Autobots!"
"What?! That's impossible! If they are one our side, why were they trespassing on Autobot property.
"Don't know… But Optimus is interrogating them as we speak. I'm sure we'll get an answer as to why they were wondering about."
Inside the container, the two Cons heard that and Breakdown spoke to Knockout in a whisper.
Breakdown?: "You hear that? They say that three Autobot Youngling intrude in their mine and are now up on the ship. Wonder what he meant that they were Autobots. That is quite blathering, right? Wonder if they're related to the spike Soundwave picked up."
The medic thought of that and decided to let it be.
Knockout?: "We'll figure it out later. Right now, we need to secure the rendezvous point and hope that the rest of the team found something in that ship. I just hope they find that spike soon or we are sitting ducks in this thing."
The huge container made the long journey to the lift as Bots started to stack the smaller ones out, not realizing that trouble was in the huge one.
As all that was happening, the evil Optimus Prime watched on at the progress of the energon distribution and was in deep thought. At the same time, Magnus was with the three bots that was in charged of the mining operations and demanded if they know anything about the intruders.
Ultra Magnus?: "Care to explain to me why these three intruders managed to break into our mine?"
Bumblebee stepped in and told him that wasn't their fault.
Bumblebee?: "Sir! With all due respect, we have no clue. They just came in unannounced and went sneaking around like a bunch of thieves. Thankfully, Strongarm here stopped them before they could get their servos on any of our Energon."
The officer glared to him and reminded him of his mission.
Strongarm?: "Well maybe I wouldn't stop em' if a certain scout didn't follow protocol."
He soon turned to her and reminded her of what he was doing.
Bumblebee?: "Hey! I was busy. I can't just keep the soldiers in line while keeping my optics peeled on any intruders squirming in to get one shard."
Strongarm?: "Well, maybe it's because you are to busy jabbering your mouth on random things. If it were up to me, I would've pulled those voice box out of your throat and silence you forever."
Bulk looked to the two and got between them to stop this fight.
Bulkhead?: "Okay you two. That's enough. Don't make me split you two apart."
Magnus looked to the three and banged his metal claw to get their attention. They all immediately stopped as he asked about the three intruders.
Ultra Magnus?: "Getting on the topic, do you know about the three intruders? They are all Autobots, correct? Do you know anything about them?"
The three looked to each other as the Wrecker approached him and answered honestly.
Bulkhead?: "Honestly, sir, we don't have a clue about those three. They might be Autobots, but we never seen them in our lives."
Bumblebee though rubbed his chin and remembered their faces.
Bumblebee?: "Still, there was something off about their faces. Can't put a digit on it, but they seem strangely familiar."
The officer rolled her optics around and was a little annoyed by the scout.
Strongarm?: Honestly, everybot you know is strangely familiar. You are always very observant."
Bumblebee got a little cocky and reminded her of his designation.
Bumblebee?: "Pft… Well, I am a scout after all. And as a scout, I must be as observant as possible on anything I see, be that a Con or a Bot."
Strongarm crossed her arms and wasn't buying his strict.
Strongarm?: "And as your superior officer, my orders is to keep you in line. So you better fess up while you can. Do you really know those three, or are you just joking?"
By the time she asked that, she seethe her sharp blade out of her arm and needed an answer immediately. Bee saw that and waved his arms, trying not to get hurt by her.
Bumblebee?: "Whoa, whoa! Watch it with that thing, ma'am! You will poke someone's optic out, mostly likely mine! As for that question, I don't know! I said they look familiar, I didn't say that they are someone I really know. I swear."
Magnus has heard enough and dismissed the three.
Ultra Magnus?: "Enough! I think I heard enough. You three are dismissed. Return to the mine and check to make sure that the transportation of our resources are in order."
The three heard him and gave a quick salute before departing. Once they left, Magnus groaned and was getting aggravated of the situation.
Ultra Magnus?: "Argh… We're not getting anywhere."
He soon heard the voice of the medic getting entertained by the show.
Ratchet?: "What seems to be the problem, Magnus? I seems like you're loosing your touch with your soldiers."
He heard that and turned to see Ratchet standing there with his arms crossed and his cane on his servos. Magnus looked to him and told him that he has everything under control.
Ultra Magnus?: "Listen here, doctor. My soldiers know how to get in line with me. It's just the intruders they caught is what concerns me."
Ratch turned away and was a little peeved about it.
Ratchet?: "Ah, yes… Those unique looking Autobots. That's what concerns you. To be fair, I was intrigued by their designs, especially those emblems that are far different from ours. I was hoping to fix them up. You know, make them look like us."
Magnus heard that and remind him of his work.
Ultra Magnus?: "Oh… So you which to experiment on them just like every other captive in your servos. I'm fully aware of your work, doctor. I know you torture and mane your 'patients' for your own twisted pleasures. And most of them rarely survive your procedures."
Ratchet turned to him and stood up with his cane on the ground.
Ratchet?: "Are you saying that I am some sick psychopath in my work?"
Tightening the handle, it started to spark electricity, making it a weapon then a support stick. Magnus could see that threat in front of him and tries to explain himself.
Ultra Magnus?: "No, doctor. I'm only implying that we need our prisoners online for questioning. Can't get any answered from a lifeless shell."
Ratch calmed down and the cane stopped sparking.
Ratchet?: "Hmm… Perhaps your right. Though, I wish to use all my knowledge to help indoctrinate them into our cause."
Ultra Magnus?: "Oh…? It that right? And how are you going to indoctrinate our prisoners? By use of torture? Cause that worked really well the last couple of times."
Before things could get heated between the two, Optimus stopped them and reminded them of who the three really are.
Optimus Prime?: "They are not our prisoners."
The two stopped their bickering and looked to the leader that was starring at the view from the bridge.
Ultra Magnus?: "Uh… Sir…?"
He peered back to the two and repeated himself.
Optimus Prime: "I said, they are not our prisoners. They are Autobots like us. Hence they are our honored guests."
The two looked to each other and were confused by what he was saying. That's when the doctor stepped in and told him of what they are.
Ratchet?: "With all due respect, my liege, they might be Autobots, but they are far different then us. Not even are lone soldiers have heard or seen them before."
Ultra Magnus?: "But our scout looked at their faces and find them to be a bit familiar. So maybe there's something off about them in some capacity."
Ratch nodded and wondered what to do about this.
Ratchet?: "Even so, they won't answer to any of our questions. They seem to be keeping to themselves. Maybe if I can persuade them a little…"
He soon got his multiple torture tools out and wondered what to use to make them talk. But Magnus stopped him and told him that they need them online.
Ultra Magnus?: "Didn't I say we need them functioning? I know torture is what you like, but we can't get an answer from them if they are screaming!"
The mad doctor glared to him and wondered what he has planned.
Ratchet?: "Oh…? And what pray tell are you planning to do with them, bored them to death with your empty threats? That will make some progress."
The two get back to arguing as Optimus stood there listening to it. At the same time, the femme that was with the three watched on and was getting upset about all this. So much so, that she headed to them and separated the two.
?: "Enough you two! All this complaining won't get us anywhere. We need a better directive to handling these unknown Autobots then what you two are planning."
It was then that Optimus came up with a good enough conclusions.
Optimus Prime?: "There is a way to get our answers."
All three of them turned to him and wondered what he's planning.
Ultra Magnus?: "And what is it, my liege?"
That's when he turned to them and asked the doctor if he has something that can help.
Optimus Prime?: "Ratchet, do you happen to have the Cortical Psychic Patch?"
Hearing that, the medic perked up and knew what he was planning.
Ratchet?: "Ah… I see why you were standing there. You were contemplating on what to do with them. And what you have planned with our 'Guests', that's genius. I'll head to storage and retrieve it right away."
He soon left the bridge and headed to the storage. When he was gone, the femme looked between the two and thought of a way to extract information without using a dangerous torture device.
?: "My Liege, if I may, allow me to talk to them first before you administer the patch."
Prime turned to her and wondered what she's planning.
Optimus Prime?: "And what will talking to them accomplish? You heard those three. They won't talk to me or anyone else."
?: "True… But I was always the calming one when it comes to our prisoners. Just give me a couple of breams and I'll be able to get any answers from them. If I can't do that, then you can use the patch all you want."
Prime listened in on her offer and was silent over it. The patch does have potential in extracting answers from their prisoners. However, her calm and soothing demeanor also does get the job done and there were a few occasions of not only they got the answers from their prisoners, but there were a few occasions certain cons joined the Autobot regime. So with that thought, he decided to accept her offer.
Optimus Prime?: "Very well. Go on ahead and speak to our guests of what I want to know. If you fail, then Ratchet will handle the interrogation with the Psychic Patch."
Hearing that, the femme stood as attention and bowed her head.
?: "I… I won't fail you, my liege."
Prime approached her and placed his servo on her shoulder.
Optimus Prime?: "For you sake, you better not, Windblade."
As they were talking, someone was listening from above. Up in the vent, a pair of green eyes was looking down and heard every word.
Ravage?: "Autobot prisoners…? That doesn't sound right. What is really going on here?"
The shadow that was Ravage contacted the rest of the cons and told them of the situation.
Ravage?: "Starscream, this is Ravage. I have reached the bridge and I'm still searching for the source of the energon spike. But I think we might have a problem."
In one of the hallways, Starscream and Airachnid were wondering in the shadows, trying not to get caught. They had their blasters armed and checked on every corner incase they were made. During that time, Scream heard Ravage on the comms.
Ravage?: "I overheard the Prime and his cohorts that they have three POWs in their custody for questioning. No doubt trying to get some form of Intel."
The femme heard that and was a little confused.
Airachnid?: "Wait. Prisoners of War? But if they were captives, we would've picked up a Cybertronian ship from our radar."
Scream thought of that too and was curious of it and the other.
Starscream?: "Ravage, are you suspecting that these prisoners could be related to that energon spike we picked up?"
Ravage?: "It's possible there is a connection. But I need more evidence to clarify it. But here's the real kicker, they said that this prisoners are Autobot prisoners, not Decepticon."
The two remained quiet until the spider bot called him out on it.
Airachnid?: "Autobot prisoners? You sure you heard it right? I'm sure they mentioned prisoners caught by Autobots."
Ravage?: "My audio receptors are crisp on what they said. We have to do something."
There was a bit of silence as the commander thought of what to do. If these prisoners and the spike are related in some way, maybe there's a chance that they can get some answers before the Autobots do. So he asked the cat where the prisoners are located.
Starscream?: "Ravage, do you know the where abouts on these 'Autobot' prisoners.
Ravage?: "From what I've been hearing, they have them held captive in Ratchet's med bay. My scent is also picking up that energon spike in the same area. That seems coincidental."
Once he heard of this, he told Ravage to hurry.
Starscream?: "See to it that you reach those three before the Autobots get any Intel from them, force or not. We'll be there as soon as we could."
He soon turned off his comm. and proceeded to reach the interrogation room. Airachnid listened to the whole thing and was still as confused as ever.
Airachnid?: "This doesn't all add up. We have three prisoners, who are Autobots no less, located in the same spot where the energon spike was. I find that to be a bit weird. You sure Ravage was right?"
The commander thought of it and could only trust him.
Starscream?: "Ravage has been loyal to Soundwave for so long. If he trusts him, then I would trust him as well. C'mon, we have to get to them now before it's too late."
He soon run quietly into the shadows and Airachnid reminded him of whom these prisoners are.
Airachnid?: "Did I forget to mention the prisoners are Autobots! Hmph… I swear, these Cons never listen to me."
She soon followed and hopes they don't run into trouble. Of course, what they didn't know is that trouble was coming their way.
Not far in the ship, Strongarm, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead were walking down one of the halls. As they were walking back to the lift that will take them down to the mine, Bee was in major relief over the fact that they got out of that situation and bragged about it.
Bumblebee?: "Phew… That was too close to call. I mean, seriously. That Magnus needs to take a chill pill. Course we screwed up and not pay attention to the environment around it. But c'mon, those three are Autobots. They are on our side. There's no need for alarm, am I right."
Strongarm listened to the talk and was getting annoyed by his babbling. So much so, that in her head, she wishes to remove his voice box and be done with it. But then, when she turned to tell him to be quiet, she notices something skulking in the darkness. That something has what appears to be spider legs scurrying around. Seeing that, she started to wonder who would be walking around within the Ark with spider legs. As she was thinking of that, she could hear Bee's voice babbling on.
Bumblebee?: "I mean, they weren't Cons to say the least. And they weren't attacking us. Sneaking around, yes, but they didn't attack us. I don't see why a few younglings wondering about will cause so much alarm. Just the thought of them coming in unannounced and try to do… Well whatever the frag they were doing, would make an enforcer officer like you be embarrassed."
Officer stopped and looked at the hallway the mysterious silhouette wondered into and kept on starring. The two stopped with her as the scout believed he must've touched a nerve on her. So he rubbed the back of his helm and tries to put out the fire before it blows up in front of his face.
Bumblebee?: "Er… I mean, that's what other Autobots would say about you. Not me of course. I respect you as a professional officer of the law. There is no way I would say something like that to your face."
The officer didn't listen though, as she was curious as to what was down there. So she walked away from them and told the two to go on ahead.
Strongarm?: "You two get back to the mine. There's something I need to look into."
As soon as she walked away, Bee waved to her and responded in kindly.
Bumblebee?: "Okay! Let us know if you need backup. Not that you need it, since you are the best officer in the force."
The moment she was gone, the scout turned to the Wrecker and wondered what gotten into her.
Bumblebee?: "Sheesh… What's her deal?"
Bulk looked on and never mentioned anything between them. That was of course he pretty much state the obvious.
Bulkhead?: "Hmm… I can only imagine…"
Meanwhile, in the medic bay, the recruits were still strapped in to the beds and still having a hard time getting out of it. At the same time, the bird that was Sundal, Ratchet's personal pet, remained on top of the computer screen, starring right at them, incase they try to escape. Miko looked to it and was getting a little peeved.
Miko/Kaosu: "This sucks… We survived a near death experience and are now trapped in a world where are friends are the bad guys. Can't get out of these damn berths with the stasis cuffs on us and that metal bird isn't helping matters."
Jack overheard that and told her to be quiet.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Enough, Kaosu. We'll figure something out."
The Wrecking Cadet sighed and reminded him of their predicament.
Miko/Kaosu: "Like how? Didn't I say saw we are stuck here and that metal bird is watching us? There's no way out of it."
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "I said we'd get out of this."
Miko looked up at the lights and gave a deep and depressing sigh.
Miko/Kaosu: "Fine… Whatever floats your boat. Still even if we could get out of here, we still have the fact that our friends are now our enemies. Especially those we never seen before. I mean, you see that red bot that wanted to choke you to death. He's pretty intimidating. Who does he think he is?"
It was then that Raf gave her the answer she asked of.
Raf/Firewall: "That was Ultra Magnus."
Kaosu turned to the hacker and was a little bit confused.
Miko/Kaosu: "Uh… Ultra what now?"
He sighed and explained to her who threatened Jack's life.
Raf/Firewall: "Ultra Magnus! He is one of the high-ranking commanders within the Autobot military and is a close friend of Optimus himself. Do you ever pay attention to any of Ratchet's lectures?"
Miko groaned and reminded him of those lectures.
Miko: "Uh… No… I find the doc's lessons to be boring. Hell, most of the time I mute his lectures and blast on Slash Monkies none stop. That's how drier it is."
Raf sighed and figured she wouldn't be interested. Jack soon remembered the femme that was with Prime and Magnus and asked about it.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "So if that was Ultra Magnus, who was the femme that was with them."
Raf thought of that and didn't have a clue.
Raf/Firewall: "Honestly, I really don't know. I never heard of Ratchet mentioning a femme being with them."
Before anyone could figure it out, someone came in and answer back.
Windblade?: "I'm Windblade, Lieutenant of the Autobots."
The three looked up and saw Windblade was at the open doorway. Seeing her, they realized that they are still in trouble.
Miko/Kaosu: "Great… This is just what we needed. More interrogations."
The femme known as Windblade heard her and told her that she's not here to do what the two mechs did.
Windblade?: "I'm not here to interrogate. I'm just here to talk."
Miko heard that and finds it hard to believe.
Miko/Kaosu: "Pft… Whatever… Talking, interrogating, it's all the same."
Blade sighed and walked to them, starting to explain to them of what would happen. All in the while, something was up in the vent and looked to see the prisoners.
Ravage: "Looks like this is where that energon spike is located now. And according to the readouts, it would seem like it's coming from those three prisoners. Holy slag! Those bots were right, they are their kind. But their emblems… They look completely different. I wonder why."
Looking ahead, he could see Windblade approaching them and the metal bird perched on top of the console. Seeing the two, he knew that it couldn't be good.
Ravage?: "This can't be good. Windblade is there along with Ratchet's previous watcher bird. Meaning Prime and Magnus aren't far behind. I have to do something."
Looking at the console, he knew the only way to unlock them, would be to disengage the stasis cuffs.
Ravage?: "The only way to get them out would be to shut down the stasis cuffs from the berths. Won't be a simple task, but it's the only way to get them out. I just hope I don't get spotted."
Slowly, the cat started to lift the grating and slowly slid down to get to the console. At the same time, Windblade was approaching the three strapped to the berths and explained to them what would happen.
Windblade?: "Listen, I am not like our liege or the commander. I don't force answers, I try to talk to them as normal bots. I use to have been a city speaker on Cybertron before I became a Lieutenant. And I have some sway with Optimus Prime. Which is the reason why I persuade him to let me talk to you three."
Miko listened to her and couldn't stand her already.
Miko/Kaosu: "Great… Just what we need. Another stooge."
Rodimus turned to her and told her to shut it.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Kaosu, now's not the time to agitate her. Leave the talking to me. All right?"
The Wrecking Cadet groaned and responded the best as possible.
Miko/Kaosu: "Fine… Whatever you say…"
Windblade looked to him and figured that he represented that of a leader.
Windblade?: "Hmm… I take it that you are the one leading these two, am I correct."
Jack rolled his optics around and responds to her question.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "More or less."
Windblade?: "Then you are well aware of the gravity of the situation. Optimus wishes to get answers from you as you where you three came from. So much so, that he wants Ratchet to bring in the Cortical Psychic Patch to get their answers by force. Which is the reason why I'm here. To prevent what would be a new type of torture for the three of you."
Jack heard that and knew why she's here.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "So… You came here to just talk to us. That doesn't sound too comforting."
The lieutenant knew they won't talk due to her giving her rank, but she won't give up on them. So she explained to them the worse case scenario.
Windblade?: "Listen, I know you don't wish to speak to me, but I'm the only bot you can trust. I had seen how Ratchet indoctrinates the younglings into the Autobot cause. I also know how he extracts answers with the Psychic patch. Both of them are quite unsettling. No youngling wants to suffer from the Doctor of Doom, not even you three. Which is the reason why I'm giving you a chance to redemption. Give me the answers Optimus wants and not only will I grant you three amnesty, but I would let you three go and I'll let you go about your way. I would even give you a couple of energon cubes to help you get by, if you are nice to me of course. But you need to tell me now, Ratchet will return soon and if I fail him, he will use drastic measures to get what he wants. This opportunity won't last long, so you better tell me now while we have the chance."
Jack listens to the situation and knew she has a point. If they don't answer, they'll be tortured. If they do answer, they could still be tortured, even after the promise. So as far as they are concerned, they were in a loose/loose scenario. Looking to her, he told her that it was impossible.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Even if we tell you, you wouldn't believe us."
Blade approached Rodimus's bed and got to his face.
Windblade?: "Try me."
As she was trying to find the answers, Ravage landed on the floor and approached the controls. Looking at the back, he could see the port that operates it and starts to access it.
Ravage?: "This must be it. Time to free those three and figure out what's going on."
Using his tail, it shifted into a needle and inserted it into the port, with his optics; he streams the code to find access to the stasis cuffs. But as he was looking for it. Ratchet's bird picked something off and looked back to see what it is.
At the same time, a few drones were walking through the hallway and past one of the intersections. The moment they pass, a femme came down form the ceiling and surveyed the area. Once they were in the clear, she told someone from behind that they're safe.
Airachnid?: "All is clear, for now."
When she landed, Starscream came down behind her and walked on ahead. Looking at both sides, he knew where to go.
Starscream?: "This way."
He soon walked to the direction with Airachnid following him. Once they were walking and keeping their optics clear, the spider bot looked around and wondered if they were going the right way.
Airachnid?: "You sure you know where we're going?"
Scream looked back at her and reminded her what happened last time.
Starscream?: "Last time I was here, you rescued me from interrogation and took the spacebridge out of here. And if I remember correctly, the interrogation was gong to take place in Ratchet's little torture chamber. So as far as I'm concerned, that's where both the prisoners and the energon spike are located. Let's go. I don't want to be in this ship for very long."
The two kept on walking down the hall to the direction Ratchet's 'medical' bay is located. As they were walking, someone was following them in the shadows and could see clearly that it was two top wanted Decepticons in the ship. With a smirk, she armed her blaster in one servo and a blade at the other; ready to take them down herself.
Meanwhile, Bee and Bulk were approaching the elevator to the mine below as the drones started to move boxes of energon out of the lift and into the cargo bay. As the approach, Bulk approached one of the mining drones and asked of the status.
Bulkhead?: "Report! What is our status in the extraction of the energon?"
The head miner turned to the Wrecker and told him of the progress.
"Things are going according to schedule, sir. We already have 50% of energon taken up and secured. Estimated time of completion would be ten to fifteen breams."
Bulk heard that and told him to quicken the pace.
Bulkhead?: "Then we better hurry up with the extraction. With these three intruders wondering around the mine not to long ago, we can't be too sure if the Cons decided to barge in unannounced."
As he said that, a cybertronian forklift started to move the heavy cargo and placed it out of the elevator. The miner saw that and told the drone to stop.
"Hey! Stop that! What do you think you're doing?! Didn't I say to transport all the small crates first before moving the big ones last? The frag is wrong with you?!"
The miner heard him and stopped the forklift, explaining to him of why he's moving it.
"Sorry, boss. We just noticed that this container was already full when the light on the door was green. We had to move it in first with the rest of the smaller ones. So don't blame us if we got it in first. Blames those that stored all the energon shards in that container in the first place."
Bulk heard that and was a little curious about who was storing those crystals.
Bulkhead?: "Do you know who was in charge to storing the bigger energon crystals?"
The miner shrugged it of and was being honest with his answers.
"Don't know. All I know is when I checked for inventory, that container was already closed and filled. Had to move it, otherwise, the higher ups below would wonder why this hasn't been moved to the Ark."
The Wrecker looked to the container and started to wonder what was inside. So he told the scout to check it out.
Bulkhead?: "Bee? Why don't you go check it out?"
Bee turned to him and was confused about that.
Bumblebee?: "What? Me? Why do I have to do the risky slag? Shouldn't you be doing the investigating yourself? You are in charge of the mining operation, right?"
He groaned and told him of what his job really is.
Bulkhead?: "Yeah… But I'm in charge of keeping inventory and making sure these miners get in line. Your task is to make sure everything isn't out of the ordinary. Now get to chekin'!"
The scout sighed and went to investigate.
Bumblebee?: "Fine! I'll do it. Sheesh… Some career I got here. Once a feared and revered scout for the Autobot armada. Now I'm just some Energon babysitter. Talk about boring."
He started to approach the container and hit a few keys he knows for the container. Once the crate doors automatically opened, he saw two Decepticons in there.
Bulkhead?: "Well? Anything?"
Bee looked at the two and acted as if it was normal.
Bumblebee?: "Well, there's no energon in here. Only two highly wanted Cons from Megatron's Elite."
After saying that, his eyes immediately snapped opened and looked back with a shocked expression.
Bumblebee?: "Wait! What?!"
Before he could react to that, Breakdown came charging in and swung his already deployed hammer to hit the scout squarely in the chest. Bee was soon flying and crashed through the many containers for energon, buried completely in them. The three saw that in shock as the two Cons came out and surveyed the situation.
Breakdown?: "Well then… That was quite the plan ye got their, Knockout, my lad. Sneak into the huge energon container and hope no one notice it. That some A+ thinking their, boyo."
The medic groaned and decided to tell him that it was suppose to work.
Knockout?: "I said that the plan should work. I didn't mean it was meant to be perfect."
Bulk gave a deep groan and had it with his intrusions.
Bulkhead?: "More trouble!? Can I have just one solar cycle when I don't have intruders interrupting my OPERATIONS?!"
Marching ahead, he armed his spiky mace ball and charged in to strike hard. Breakdown got in front of the medic and told him to clear the area.
Breakdown?: "Secure the lift! I got this slagger!"
Deploying both his hammers, he charged in and was ready to fight the Wrecker.
Knockout?: "Oh sure! Go on ahead and have your fun! Don't leave me hanging!"
As soon as he said that, the buried containers exploded and Bee got out of there with two of his stingers armed.
Bumblebee?: "What's wrong? Your big bodyguard won't let you fight? Don't worry about that. You got me!"
Knockout turned to see Bee heading to him with the singers charged to shock. Quickly, he got out his staff and spins it to block off the first strike. Once he sidestepped to avoid the charge, he got into a stance and was ready to fight the scout.
Knockout?: "Sorry to disappoint, but I don't need Breakdown to look after me."
Bumblebee gave a dark and sternful look and put his stingers together to be ready for this dual. The two soon charged in and began their fight against each other.
Back in the hall, Scream and Airachnid were fast approaching the med bay, as the spider bot was getting a little cautious.
Airachnid?: "You sure we have to do this? I mean, we're saving Autobots. Actual fragging Autobots! I mean, if it were a Con, I would jump in for the rescue like what I did for you. The pits, I would go for an imprisoned Insecticon and I would risk my life for them. But Autobots?! I don't know if we should trust them."
The seeker was getting tired of her complaints and told her that they have no choice.
Starscream?: "These Autobots that this armada took might be connected to the spike Soundwave picked up. As far as I'm concerned, that's the only lead we got. So I suggest that we focus on rescuing these bots and maybe we can get our answers."
Airachnid?: "Still, I feel like we are risking our own bumpers for three of the enemy we're facing. It feels so wrong. Perhaps it's best that we should fallback and pretend that spike didn't happen."
Scream just about had it with her and was about to tell her not to question his logic. But as he was going to say something, they both heard a voice from behind.
Strongarm?: "For once, I could agree with your partner."
Hearing that, the two turned behind them and could see Strongarm with her blaster and blade out. With a smirk, she was amazed that she encountered two wanted felons.
Strongarm?: "My, oh my… This is quite a treat. I have two of the most wanted Cons in my sights. This solar cycle is getting more and more interesting."
The two stood their ground as Scream got his swords out and Airachnid opened her palms to charge her blasters. But as they were about to fight, the commander told her to do something.
Starscream?: "Airachnid! Get to the med bay and rescue the prisoners. I'll handle the cop!"
The spider bot turned to him and told him that that won't happen.
Airachnid?: "What?! Absolutely not! I won't let you take on that crooked officer on your own. Let me help you."
The seeker looked back to her and told her of what is happening back at the med bay.
Starscream?: "Ravage is in there trying to free those prisoners. He could be in grave danger and would need some help with the three. Get down there and give him an assist. I can take this one on myself. Now go!"
The spider bot was hesitant at first, but she knows that the commander would never take no for an answer.
Airachnid?: "Yes, sir! I'll do that for you, even if it's against my own wishes. Just don't get terminated when I get back."
Quickly, she turned around and transformed into a vehicle mode to get to the med bay quicker. But instead of a helicopter, she was a customized white and blue motorcycle with the legs acting as accessories or additional tail pipes. Once she was gone, Scream smirked and knew that he got this.
Starscream?: "Trust me, I won't be loosing to this one."
He twisted his swords around and was ready to fight off this officer. Strongarm looked to that scene and wasn't impressed.
Strongarm?: "Bad move, Starscream. You could've let her stay to have an unfair advantage against me. Now you let to leave so you can fend for yourself. You really are looking for a death wish."
The commander has a serious look on his face and told her of the seeker code.
Starscream?: "We seekers don't rely on help with others. We are stronger alone when it comes to numbers. And when that time comes, we fight nobly to the very end."
The officer gave a bit of a chuckle and finds that amusing.
Strongarm?: "Is that right… Well Starscream, Commander of the Decepticon Seeker brigade and Megatron's right servo mech: by order of Cybertronian Legal Code, Section 305, you are hereby guilty for high crimes against the Autobot regime. The verdict for your heinous actions is immediate termination. Prepare to die a noble death!"
She soon charged in while using her blaster to fire right at him. Scream quickly spins his body and swords, deflecting each shot with ease. The moment the officer got close, she swung her sword to go for the neck. The commander managed to block it with his own blade and held on for a brief moment. He quickly pushed her back and it caused her to stagger for a bit before she can regain her footing. Scream soon charged in and performed a variety of slicing moves to keep the officer on her pedes. Strongarm managed to block half of them with her blade avoided the other half. The moment she got close to the wall, she jumped off to land on it and launched herself to perform a spear to knock the seeker down. He was taking down easy as the officer rolled back up and turned around to finish the job. She soon jumped up high and was ready to deliver a striking blow to the spark chamber. Scream could see it and immediately rolled out of the way as the blade hit the spot where he lay. The blade was stuck on the metal floor and she was struggling to get it off. That gave Starscream a chance to take her out. Kick backing up, he turned and swung his sword to her. When she saw that, she reacted and grabbed the blade with her servos, holding on to it. She gritted her dental as her digits were behind cut and energon slowly leak out of the wound. Knowing the situation, she soon repositioned her body and swept the legs with her own, knocking him down completely. Then removing her short sword, she swung and went for the neck. The seeker got both swords up and blocked the swing of the small place. When he spins his body around for a spinaroni and kicked the officer in the process. Strongarm soon rolled after the hit and got up on one knee and armed her blaster. Scream did the same and got up with one knee, pointing his own blaster at her. The two remained there and knew that they were evenly matched.
Strongarm?: "Look at that. We seem to be at an even stalemate."
The commander stood his ground and agreed with the crooked cop.
Starscream?: "Indeed, we are."
Meanwhile, in the medical bay, Windblade was pacing back and forth and was waiting for an answer from the three younglings.
Windblade?: "Time is short. In a few breams, Ratchet will come out that door with the Psychic Patch and they'll extract the answers from you, very painfully. Now I don't like to see some young sparks like you go through such dark and twisted torture. So if you don't want your processors to be fried to a crisp, you need to start talking to me. I promise, when we're done, I'll let you go and we can leave you alone without any harm."
The three recruits were looking at each other and wondered how they will get out of this. If they don't tell her, they'll be tortured. If they do, then who knows how they will do that sort of information. Raf soon turned to her and told her that it was impossible to explain.
Raf/Firewall: "Look, Windblade, ma'am. Even if we were to tell you, we don't know where to begin. It all complicated."
As they were trying to stall, Ravage kept on hacking into the console, trying to find a way to break into the security system and remove the recruits from their slabs. All the while, Windblade has no clue and try to convince them to talk.
Windblade?: "Then I suggest you uncomplicate your story. And you better make it quick. I fear of what Ratchet would do to you with that patch in his possession."
Ravage heard that and had to hurry before the mad doctor comes back with a variety of ways to torture younglings.
Ravage?: "I don't like the sound of it. I better hurry and get them out of there before it's too late. C'mon… C'mon… Where is the access to all those stasis cuffs?"
As he was looking into it, the black metal bird perched on top of the screen could hear something from behind. Hearing that, it craned its neck around and noticed something tampering with Ratchet's equipment. That's when it noticed the yellow cat trying to hack into the console. As it saw that, it shrieked like crazy, trying to get Windblade's attention. Ravage heard the shriek and looked up to see the bird cawing to him. He tried to shush it as much as he could.
Ravage?: "Shew! Shew! Stop cawing at me! Get away from me you crazy bird!"
Windblade heard that and turned around to see the bird shrieking over something. So she investigated to see what is causing that bird to act up.
Windblade?: "Sundal! What are you doing? Stop cawing away! I swear Ratchet has your circuits crossed or something. What are you shrieking about?"
Walking to it, she noticed a shadow that was behind the medic's console. Curious, she walked right to the console and checked behind to see what it is. By the time she got there, she was shocked to see Ravage back there and demanded what's going on.
Windblade?: "What the- What's the meaning of this!?"
Ravage looked up to the commanding officer and realized that he's in a whole lot of trouble. Giving a light chuckle, he tries to act like it's nothing illegal.
Ravage?: "Oh… Hey there. Heh, heh… Don't mind me, I'm just the maintenance worker looking into a glitch in Ratchet's medical computer. Scanning for viruses, updating protection, the whole shindig. You know how he is with computer maintenance, am I right.
The Lieutenant looked to him and wasn't fooled by him.
Windblade?: "Do you think of me as a fool? I know who you are, Decepticon. In know you are one of Soundwave's loyal pets."
Ravage gave a bit of a chuckle and never thought she was catch on so easily.
Ravage?: "Oh… So you figure that part out huh? What exactly gave that away?"
Windblade though decided to end him and armed her blaster to fire.
Windblade: "Looks like your keeper is going to loose another companion. Say hello to Laserbeak for me."
She charged it up and was about to fire on the defenseless cat. But before she could do that, she heard the sound of a motorcycle engine roaring close by. Turning to that sound, she could see the med bay doors opening up and a motorcycle came in and bolted to the lieutenant's position. Doing a quick drift, the bike knocked the femme off her pedes and did a 360. During the drift, she transformed into Airachnid and opened her fist, firing a web at Sundal and trapped it on the wall. It cawed for its master for help, but she fired another webbing to its beak and silenced the bird. Taking a sigh of relief, she looked to the cat and asked how it's going.
Airachnid?: "That was too close. You're all right?"
Ravage gave a deep breath and answered back as kindly as possible.
Ravage?: "If by being all right meaning I almost got sent to the Well of the Allspark, then yeah, peachy."
The spider bot smirked and took that as a compliment.
Airachnid?: "I'll take that as a resounding yes. Now get to hacking. We need to get these prisoners out as soon as possible."
She soon turned to the three and they were all starring right at her. The spider bot got a strange look on her face and find it to be a bit awkward.
Airachnid?: "What?"
The group kept on starring until Jack started to mutter something.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "A- Airachnid?"
That caught her by surprise as she had a sternful look on her face.
Airachnid?: "Yes… That's me. At least you three are aware of who I am. Then again you three are Autobots. You guys aren't going to harm me or Ravage here once we set you free, are you?"
The three looked at each other and knew why she asked that. Obviously She is a hero and the Autobots are the bad guys. And since they are Autobots, she is hesitant in trusting them. Jack soon promised that they won't her.
Jack/Rodimus: "I promise, no harm won't come to you or that cat once you free us."
Ravage felt discriminated and told him of his name.
Ravage?: "I have a name you know. Ravage. Remember that."
The spider bot sighed and told him to hurry.
Airachnid?: "Just get to hacking and get them out of there. I could only imagine what the Mad Doctor would do to them, even if these Younglings are-"
Before she could finish, her instinct kicked in and immediately jumped out of the way. At the same time, a flaming blade came in and nearly stabbed her in the back. As she was flipping, her body shifted and she landed on all six legs. In her spider mode, she got into a stance and was prepared to fight. Starring right at her is Windblade holding her Stormfall sword and has a pissed off look on her faceplate.
Windblade?: "Pesky little bug… You think an Insecticon like you can take on a high-ranking lieutenant like me? You are not much of a Fateweaver."
That got the spider bot fuming as she was ready to take her on.
Airachnid?: "I'm no Fateweaver, but I am a soldier. And as a soldier, I will fight till my termination."
Hearing that, Windblade got the blade of her sword in the middle of her face and was ready for a fight.
Windblade?: "If that's what you want, then die like the bug that you are!"
She soon gave out a war cry and charged to the spider bot. Airachnid saw that and jumped up high, attaching herself from the ceiling and crawling away, dodging the swing completely. Windblade looked up and saw her crawling on the ceiling, turning around and fired her blasters from the palm of her hands. The lieutenant started to dodge each shot while deflecting others with her flaming sword. Getting in the clear, she armed her blaster and fired multiple shots at her. Airachnid jumped off the ceiling and landed on one of Ratchet's torture devices. She soon jumped off it as the blaster shot missed her and hit the device she was on, blowing it up in pieces. She landed on top of another torture object and jumped off that one to avoid the next projectile as that to blew the thing up. Then she did the same with the next one. And the next one. And the next one. Pretty soon, she was playing hot potato with the lieutenant's blaster fire and she was having the time of her life. But for Windblade, she was fuming and couldn't stand her antics.
Windblade?: "Argh! Is this what you got spider? Playing games with me?! Come down here and fight me you coward!"
Hearing that, Airachnid smirked and got her off guard.
Airachnid?: "You want a piece of me? Fine. Come and get me!"
She soon launched herself off the last torture machine and rocketed towards her. Doing a flip midair, she shifted her body to her bot mode and kicked the lieutenant in the face, knocking her down. She soon landed and did a skid with her spider legs before making a stop. Looking back, she could see Windblade kicking back up and turned wiping the energon off the side of her lip.
Windblade?: "That's more like it…"
Readying her sword, she charged and swung around to connect each hit. Airachnid used her spider legs to avoid each strike while delivering kicks and punches all her own. As the fight went on, the recruits watched and could see that the spider bot needs their help, much to their shigrin.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Okay. As much as I hate to say this, but she needs an assist from us."
The Wrecking Cadet rolled her optics around and agreed with him.
Miko/Kaosu: "I can't believe I'm saying this, but you're right Rodimus. Hey! Garfield! You got us out yet?!"
Ravage shook in embarrassment and told her his name again.
Ravage?: "It's not Garfield! It's Ravage! Do I look like a fat orange cat to you? Sigh… Oh forget it! Anyways, I almost go you out. Just give me a few nano clicks and…"
As he was trying to get the cuffs out, Sundal, Ratchet's pet, was using its sharp wings to cut the webbing off of it. The moment it was free, it swoop down and headed straight to the cat. At the same time, Ravage was just about there in unlocking the cuffs and he heard a snap. Hearing that, he turned to see one of the cuffs off of Firewall's arm and smirked.
Ravage?: "Ah-ha! I got it! Hang on while I get the others off of you three."
As he was going to release them, Jack saw the bird heading towards him and warned him of what was coming.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Look out! Behind you!"
Ravage heard that and turned to see what he's referring to. That's when he saw a pair of claws grabbing him by the back and lifting him up, unplugging himself from the console. Sundal grabbed the cat and flew him up to the air, away from the console. The three saw them getting away and realized they are still in trouble.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Scrap…"
In the air, Ravage was struggling to get out of this predicament while Sundal took him high up to the ceiling. Knowing he needs to escape, he pointed his tail to the bird, shifted it into a blaster, and fired right at it. The bird felt the blast and let go of the cat, letting him fall to the floor. Ravage manages to twist his body around before landing right on his feet. Looking, he could see Sundal flying up to a pipe and perched on it. Using its talons to pull the remaining webbing off its beak, it shrieks and was ready to attach. The cat went on pouncer mode and was ready to fight.
Ravage?: "Argh! Don't have time for you now. Get off my case and let me handle my business."
Sundal shrieked back and dove down to attack him. He saw that and knew that he won't get off that easily.
Ravage?: "I'll take that as a no."
He soon sidestepped out of the way and the bird missed him. Once he was in the air, he pointed his blaster tail at it and fired multiple shots at it. The metal bird flew around and avoided the shots, while the projectiles hit anything that will anything apart. Turning around, it dived down for another attack. Ravage witnessed that and immediately jumped up high to avoid the swoop. Landing on a vacant gurney, he used the rocket on his back and fired it right at the bird. Sundal managed to avoid it, but the missile only flew up the floor while temporarily damaged it. All Ravage could see is smoke and fire as he wondered if he was able to finish it off.
Ravage?: "Please tell me that the blast took that wretched bird."
He waited to see if the flames part and the bird were dismantled. But in a matter of moments, Sundal came out of the flames and rammed him with a head butt. The two started to tumble and fall, leaving them both in a daze. Shaking off the after affects, the two went back at it and used their claws and talons to cut each other up.
As both fights were going on, the Autobot recruits were still stuck on the slab with the one of the Stasis cuffs off one of Raf's metal arm. Miko looked to both fights and knew that they have to help.
Miko/Kaosu: "Man, this sucks! We're looking at two fights between bots and cons in a different light and here we are stuck on these slabs just watching. I really want some action here, even if the good and bad guy spectrum is a bit switched."
Jack remembered what Windblade said and told them that they need to get out now.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Well, if we stay here long enough, Ratchet will fry our processors with the Psychic Patch, or worse, turn into obedient corrupted soldiers. We got to get out of here, now. Firewall, think you can get us all out with that free arm of yours."
Raf looked to the console and then he free arm and get what he wants him to do.
Raf/Firewall: "I'm on it!"
Opening his compartment on his arm, a cable came out of it and stretched up on the console. Once it connected, the mini wires came out and did their work. On his visor, data streams came down as he looked for the way to unlock all of them.
Around that time, Airachnid and Windblade were duking each other out with the purple flaming sword and spider legs acting as their own personal weapons. Windblade swung her Stormfall sword to go for the spider bots waist. She jumped back with her legs and avoided the swing. Coming back, she used her legs to slash the lieutenant. Windblade managed to avoid them and used her sword to block some of the strikes. She then used her sword to slice one of the legs and it was cut clean off with energon leaking out. Airachnid screamed in pain, then started to get too serious she ducked down another swing and slid under her legs, using the spider legs for additional speed. Going behind her, the spider bot performed a leg sweep and knocked the lieutenant off her pedes. Landing on the floor, she looked up and saw Airachnid jump up high and shifted her body into her spider hybrid mode, creating a drill to go straight to the spark chamber. Windblade's optics were wide in fear and immediately rolled out of the way and kicked up. The drill missed her went for the metal floor, still spinning. This gave Windblade the chance to end it and readied her sword and charged to go for the kill. But Airachnid knew she would do that and went to both the offensive and defensive. That's when her spider legs came out and the sharp pointing sides stick out to the side. Windblade was caught by surprise and got her sword out and deflected each strike. One of them got to her face and she pushed back, cutting her on the cheek. Windblade staggered back and was recovering as Airachnid stopped spinning and shifted back to her bot mode, going to the stance. Blade felt the cut and energon was leaking out. Looking to her, she was impressed at how she fought.
Windblade?: "Impressive… You drew first energon. I got to say, for an Insecticon, you fought well. But you lack any control though and you're too angry. I wonder why? Does it have something to do with what happened to your hive? Or you lost a close friend?"
The spider bot heard it and had a sour taste in her mouth. The lieutenant could see she wad miffed and now know how to get under her skin.
Windblade?: "Oh, I see… You have a pure resentment from the Cons. I know what happened in the assault on Corumkan. I know that it cost you your queen and your people. What you should know was that I was one who gave the order to eradicate that insect infested city."
That gave the spider bot quite a shock. She knew that the Autobots attacked the Insecticon city of Corumkan. She knew that it was Arcee and Cliffjumper not only offlined her queen and terminated Black Arachnia and the rest of her kind with Cosmic Rust. But she never knew of who was responsible in sending the Autobot Armada to attack her city. Until now that is…
Airachnid?: "Wh… What…?"
The lieutenant shrugged it off and told her what happened.
Windblade?: "Of course, Optimus wishes to expand his empire. And when I told him of Corumkan and how to get there quicker, via the Quintesson Slave Trails, it was easy to march in and take the city for ourselves. Though I must admit, we never expected quite a force from your kind. But in the end, we were able to eradicate your queen and left you to go extinct. Filthy little insects… What makes them so special? All they are good at is to just get squished."
Airachnid has heard enough as she gritted her dental and clenched her fists.
Airachnid?: "Those bugs are my people… My friends! And you have no right to attack us and destroy our city. You will pay for what you did!"
So she lunched at her and got her spider legs out for the kill.
Airachnid?: "For Corumkan! For our Queen!"
Windblade smirked and got the spider bot where she wants her. Quickly, and in slow motion, she ducked down to avoid the punch while twisting her body to avoid the spider legs. She soon got her opening and delivered a swift uppercut to the chin, knocking the spider of her feet and flying back to the ground. She landed and skidded to a stop and tried to get back up. Unfortunately, Windblade pinned her with her pede and held her down before pointing her sword right in front of Airachnid's face.
Windblade?: "Got to say, I never thought it would be that easy for you to get all riled up for a little thing like an eradication of your kind. But that is all it took to keep you under a false sense of security. That being said, I'm sorry for what happened to your Hive. To be honest, I almost pity them. But Optimus has his orders, and he wishes for them to be followed to the letter. You should be honored, insect. For you will be the only Insecticon to die by my sword."
The moment she said that, the sword burst in purple flames and it was near Airachnid's face. Blade soon brought her sword up and said her final farewell.
Windblade?: "So long little spider. Give my regards to all the Fateweavers that joined the Well."
Before she could swing it at her, she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see who's behind her. That's when she saw a metal fist come flying towards her face and pushed her out. That said punch pushed in the air and smashing through the console, knocked her out. Airachnid saw it go down and was confused at what happened. That's when a metal servo offered to get her up. Turning back around, she could see Rodimus standing there with Kaosu by his side. Turns out, Firewall managed to free the three of them from the stasis cuffs that kept them stuck. Now that they are free, they managed to save the Con from a near termination experience. Jack was hesitant in offering her a servo, but she's the only one they can trust now.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Hey! I'm more confused about it as you. But a thanks would be appreciated."
The spider bot was silent and wondered if she could trust them. Knowing that there were little options, she sighed and got his servo. Getting back up, she dusted herself and thanked them in a threatening tone.
Airachnid?: "Thanks… But this doesn't change what side you're on."
Jack look down to his emblem and grabbed a hold of it.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Whether side we're on, we're still the good bots."
As they were saving Airachnid, Ravage and battling Sundal and was using his tail as a laser to fire energy projectiles at it. The bird flew around to avoid each shot and then flew towards him at blinding speed. The cat immediately jumped to the side and avoided the swipe, letting it miss him by a good enough foot. It soon flew around while Ravage kept on firing, hoping to hit it. But Sundal avoided each shot and came down on him again, causing him to roll out of the way this time. The moment it was in the air, Ravage started to get annoyed and told it to stop.
Ravage?: "C'mon, stupid bird! Stop flying around and let me shoot you!"
He kept on firing, hoping to get one hit out of this. But the Sundal kept flying around and avoided each shot, letting the projectiles hit any and every object except for the bird. It soon got into position and soared back down for another strike. Ravage just about had it and decided to take it on headfirst.
Ravage?: "All right, you asked for it."
Growling, he ran with all four legs and was ready to pounce on it. Before either of them collides, an electric projectile hit the bird and gave it quite a shock, causing it to fall to the ground and was temporarily immobile. Ravage stopped and was really confused about what happened.
Ravage?: "Huh…? How did…?"
That's when he heard the voice of the hacker from behind.
Raf/Firewall: "No need to thank me. Just didn't want you to get scratched by that slagger."
Hearing that voice, he turned around and saw Firewall standing there with his tazer blaster armed and was still sparking. The minicon blinked and decided to accept the help, even though he had it under control.
Ravage?: "I had it on the ropes."
He soon walked away as Raf watched on, rolling his optics around.
Raf/Firewall: "Sure you did."
He soon followed behind as the two reunited with the younglings and Airachnid. Once they all joined in, the cat asked the spider bot on how she's feeling.
Ravage?: "You okay? Windblade certainly gave you quite the fight."
Airachnid gave a sigh and turned to Windblade, knowing what happened to her city a long time ago.
Airachnid?: "Physically, I'll be okay. Mentally… Let's just say I now have more questions then answers."
She soon turned to the three and demanded some answers.
Airachnid?: "Now… Who are you three? Why are the Autobots imprisoning you? You three are Autobots, Correct? So why are they torturing you when you are all on the same side?"
The three recruits could tell that the good Decepticons wanted answers. And giving they are the only ones they can trust; they have no choice in the matter. So Jack came in and introduce themselves, without giving them too much of who they are.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "I'm…Rodimus. These are my friends, Firewall and Kaosu. Sorry if what we are trouble to you. See, we have…run into a bit of trouble as of late."
The two listened to him as Ravage came up with a deduction.
Ravage?: "I take it this trouble you mentioned has to do with the energon spike we picked up today, right?"
The group heard that and was a bit confused.
Raf/Firewall: "I'm sorry. Energon spike?"
The minicon nodded and explained about it.
Ravage?: "Indeed… See, Soundwave picked up that energon spike a few vorns ago and Starscream and his team were sent to investigate it. When we arrived, we discovered that the spike moved and I tracked it to the Ark. And with you three here where the spike, was, it was no coincidence. So tell us, why are you three related to that energon spike?"
The three listened and knew what he was referring to. That spacebridge explosion that brought them to this twisted world must've been that energon spike they picked up. And with them exposed to it, the Cons do want and explanation. So Jack told them they explain once they escape.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Look, I can tell you two want answers from us. But now is not the time. Right now, we need to focus on escaping this twisted place and find a place where it's safe."
Airachnid and Ravage looked to each other and knew that it's not the time to talk.
Airachnid?: "Can't believe I'm saying this to an Autobot, but you're right. We better rendezvous with the others and fallback to bridge back to our base. We best hurry before Prime and his doctor show up here and-"
Before she could finish, the door opened up and Ratchet came in, with the medic holding the Cortical Psychic Patch in his servos.
Ratchet?: "Windblade, were you able to talk them into what we need to know? Because if you didn't, I got the patch ready to extract whatever answers we need out of their youthful-"
But then, he stopped talking and noticed that not only Windblade and Sundal was down, but the younglings got out of their berths and the Decepticons were in there as well. Seeing all this, he reacted the way he always reacts when it comes to botches.
Ratchet?: "What in the name of Primus is the meaning of this?!"
Airachnid was going to web him up and prevent him from sounding an alarm. But before she could do that, Miko stepped in and decided to handle it herself.
Miko/Kaosu: "I got this!"
She soon armed her dual sonic speakers and blasted a high-pitched sonic blast to him. The Doctor of Doom was caught by the blast and was immediately pushed to the wall, completely knocked out on impact. Once he laid face first on the floor, the Wrecking Cadet surveyed her work and was pleased with the results.
Miko/Kaosu: "Ha! Always wanted to do that to Ratch."
The group soon left the med bay and were making a mad dash to the rendezvous point. But the spider bot looked to Windblade, who was out, and wish to finish her off for what she did to her kind. Ravage looked to her and told her to go.
Ravage?: "Airachnid! What are you waiting for!? We have to move now before Prime comes back to see this!"
She heard that, but wanted to put an end to Windblade, since it was her call in eradicating her city and exterminating her queen. But giving the situation, she sighed and thought of doing it another solar cycle.
Airachnid: "Fine… I'll go."
So she turned around and left the medical bay with the recruits and Ravage. With Airachnid in the lead, she told them that they must hurry.
Airachnid?: "C'mon! This way! We have to meet up with Starscream and then join with the rest of the team."
The recruits heard that name and realized something.
Raf/Firewall: "Wait! Starscream! He's here too?!"
Ravage turned back to the group and was surprised they know him.
Ravage?: "Uh… Yeah. He's the commander of the Decepticons and a Megatron's right servo mech. Why you ask that question?"
Before anyone could answer, Miko barged in and said what happened.
Miko/Kaosu: "Cause that slagger got us in this twisted world in the first-"
Jack stopped her and told them again that they'll explain.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Again, we'll explain everything when we are out of here. Where is he?"
Airachnid: "Not far from here. He's currently battling Strongarm while I come to rescue you three Bots."
Ravage turned to her and was shocked from hearing that news.
Ravage?: "What?! He's battling the most revered Officer on Cybertron on his own?! Why didn't you help him?!"
The spider bot turned to him and told him what happened.
Airachnid?: "Cause he told me to go on ahead while he fights her off! His orders, not mine. I just hope he has everything under control."
The group ran down the hall, trying to get to the commander before it's too late.
During that time, both Scream and Strongarm were pointing their blasters to each other and waiting for either of them to make a move. As they stood there on one knee with their blasters armed, Strongarm raised an optic ridge while smirking and appreciated her fight with him.
Strongarm?: "I must say, you put up quite a fight. Guess that's why you are quite a formidable seeker. Sadly, this is where the fight will end and you will be terminated for your crimes against the Autobot high council."
The seeker looked on and wondered what she's planning.
Starscream?: "You are not the first I had a standoff with, and preferably not the last."
The officer laughed it off and told him what she has in her possession.
Strongarm?: "Oh, I'm afraid I would be the last. Do you know what I'm currently holding here?"
The commander looks at the blaster and was wondering about that too.
Starscream?: "Should I know what arsenal you're packing?"
With a bit of a smirk, she explained to him of what it was.
Strongarm?: "Well, since you're interested, it's called a Transfixatron. A little something our head scientist, Wheeljack's been tinkering on. See it's no ordinary blaster you see on any Bot. Once charged, it overrides the T-Cog, causing involuntary transformation and mode-lock. It's very effective when it comes to capturing Cons. And it's very useful when taking down seekers, like you. You can imagine how many of your kind that's knocked out from the sky when the shock hits them."
Scream stood his ground and knew what it meant.
Starscream?: "Ah yes… I recalled such a potent weapon created by the mad scientist. But I believe high ranking generals have possession of those weapons, not corrupted officers."
Chuckling, she told her why she possesses such a dangerous blaster.
Strongarm?: "Oh, I sweet talk a few higher ups, sometimes use force. And just like that, I have a weapon capable of arresting the most vicious of Cons. A shame I can't use this while you in the air. I would love to see the look on your face when you fall in the sky. But I can use it to disable your bot mode and make it easy to clip your wings. So go on ahead, make your move. I dare ya."
She soon charged it up and was ready to fire on him. Scream just starred on and smiled about something.
Starscream?: "I would love to shoot you, but you made two huge mistakes. The first being that you told of this blaster and what it's capable of."
That got Strongarm second-guessing and asked about the second one.
Strongarm?: "And the second?"
That's when he gave her the surprise answer.
Starscream?: "Always check your flank."
Hearing that, she turned around to see what he's talking about. That's when webbing appeared in front of her face and covered her completely. In a panic, she tries to used her free servo to remove the webbing from her face. That's when a gravity hammer came out of nowhere and hit her to the wall. Once she was out, Airachnid came in and checked on him as Ravage came to her side.
Airachnid?: "Commander! You okay? That officer didn't do anything bad to you."
Scream chuckled and told her that he's fine.
Starscream?: "I'm all right. She was a capable fighter, just bored me to death with her words."
He soon looked to see the three Autobot recruits that were looking at a knocked out officer and asked about them.
Starscream: "I take it those are the prisoners that the Autobots caught, huh? They really look so young."
Ravage looked back to them and turned to him explaining about them.
Ravage?: "Well, yeah… What you expecting, The Thirteen Primes? Anyways, they seem to be connected to the energon spike we picked up. And… This is their words, not mine… You were the one responsible for taking them here in the first place.
The seeker looked down to him and blinked in shock.
Starscream?: "What? Impossible! I never do something like that."
Airachnid sighed and told him that he wasn't lying.
Airachnid?: "Yeah. That's what I thought. Though something is off about them. They know who I am, but they were shocked, like I did something wrong as well. There seems to be something off about them."
As soon as she talked about them, the three approached the other three and asked where they need to go.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Look, I don't know what you three are talking about, but we need to get off this ship and get to your base. Any idea how we get out of here?"
The Cons heard him and wondered how to get the recruits and themselves out of here. That's when Ravage came up with an idea.
Ravage?: "They are still mining below, right? So the service lift to transport the energon could still be operational. We should take it now while we still can."
Starscream then remembers about Knockout and Breakdown and asked about them.
Starscream?: "And what about the rest of our team? We can't abandon them."
Airachnid then knew that they were handling the ground and as a good assumption of where they might be.
Airachnid?: "Knowing those two, I'm certain they have the whole area secured."
At the docking section, Knockout and Breakdown were holding their own against the two Autobot lakies. On one side, Breakdown and Bulkhead were duking it out with their melee weapons and hoping to knock one of them out. Bulk spins his mace high in the air and threw it towards the Con. Breakdown quickly dodged it so he won't get spiked by the pointy ends. With his hammers he swung them and hit the small container, sending them flying towards the Wrecker. Bulk quickly used his free arm and swing on the containers and they flew off to different directions. Then pulling his mace back, he used it to take down the rest of the containers. But that was all a distraction as Breakdown came in and used his hammers to swing madly at his archenemy. They both hit each other's weapons, blocking each other's hits, and were evenly matched. The two soon collided as sparks came out of their weapons. They soon starred at each other as Bulk was getting upset about him.
Bulkhead?: "Huh… Got a lot of bite on ya, I give ya that. Really wished the rest of you Stunticons shared the same spark as you. But all they do is Stunts. Hence the name."
Breakdown gritted his dental and didn't like how he talked to his team like that.
Breakdown?: "Don't ye dare talk to my team like that! The Stunticons do more then just plain stunts. They are willing to risk their lives to protect the weak and defenseless. But ye don't believe in that scrap, do ye? All ye Wreckers ever done is Wreck everything and leave no survivors. Ye are nothing but a bunch of sparkless fraggers!"
The Wrecker chuckled and told him that that's their job.
Bulkhead?: "Wreck and Destroy. What can I say? It is what we Wreckers do. I'm sure you can understand. Though I think you would understand, after what happened to your home town."
That was when the Wrecker drew the line.
Breakdown?: "That town ye attacked was as defenseless as a sterol Scraplet. Ye had no right to harm my people!"
He could tell that he pushed a few buttons, so Bulk smirked and decided to pull this off.
Bulkhead?: "Ashamed you never got a chance seeing it, it was just as spectacular for words. Don't worry… You join them soon enough!"
That's when Bulkhead butted Breakdown and left him discombobulated. The Stunticon let go and backed away, getting dizzy from the head butt. Bulk soon winded back and launched his mace right to Breakdown. It smashed into his face and got him more of a mess then he is. Letting the mace down, the cable wrapped around the Stunticon's leg and the Wrecker pulled it tight. The cable soon tightened on his leg and let Breakdown trip to the ground. He soon felt out of it as Bulkhead stepped on him and pinned him. Arming his blaster to his face and was ready for an execution.
Bulkhead?: "Looks like our long rival has come to an end, old buddy, old pal. Say hello to your people in Galaxxon for me.
He charged his blaster and was about to end it.
Before that time, the medic was facing Bumblebee as the scout fired electric shocks to him. He used his staff and spins it like a shield and deflected each shot. Once he was in the clear, he charged in and pointed his staff forward to charge to his chest plate. Bee managed to avoid the strike and grabbed the staff with his servo, swinging the medic to the side. During the swing, Knockout let go and crashed into some smaller containers and buried in them completely. He soon came out of the rubble and was a little woozy. Turning to the scout, he could see Bee standing there with his staff in his servo. Tossing it away, he got his stinger and fired more electric shots at him. The medic immediately got up and started to make a run for it. He managed to get into cover and the containers protected him from the shocks. Bee stopped firing and was getting annoyed.
Bumblebee?: "What's wrong Con? Not in the mood to fight? Come on out so I can shoot you! It won't hurt you, just shock you unconsciously."
Hearing that, he looked around and wondered what he could use to gain an advantage. Looking at the small energon containers that were glowing, he came up with a plan and quickly picked one up. Tossing it with one servo, he turned back and told the scout to shut up.
Knockout?: "You just can't stop talking, huh? Well, I think it's time you shut up!"
He soon tosses the cube up in the air and it was heading towards the scout. Bee saw it and armed his blaster to fire a shot at it. The moment it connected, it blew up in the air, barely pushing him.
Bumblebee?: "Really? Is that all you got? One lone energon cube? Can take more then that to stop me!"
By the time he said that, more cubes came out over the container and flew towards him. Arming both blasters, he realized what he said would be the end of him.
Bumblebee?: "Really need to pick my words wisely."
He fired more shots, hoping to hit each of them. One of the shots hit the cube, exploding and causing a chain reaction to create a firework of explosions in the air. Course, it didn't blow him away, just nearly blind him and he covered his optics. But all those blasts were mere diversions as Knockout came out of cover and transformed to speed towards him. Once the blasts fade, Bee uncovered his optics and wondered what happened. That's when he saw Knockout speeding and drifting to his position. He was going to blast him away, but not until he transformed and delivered a swift and quick roundhouse to his tank. Staggering, he found his opening and jumped to deliver another kick with his heel. That soon caused him to fly off the ground and headed to the one spot that he dare not wish to interfere.
That one spot is where Bulkhead pinning Breakdown on the ground and aiming his charged blaster at his faceplate.
Bulkhead?: "Last words…?"
Breakdown looked to the charged end of the blaster and then noticed something that was heading towards the Bot. Seeing that, he smirked and told him his 'Last Words'.
Breakdown?: "You could say that. Look behind you!"
That got the Wrecker a little confused and turned to see what he meant. That's when he saw Bumblebee soaring towards him and he has little time to avoid him. In a matter of moments, the scout rammed to him and the both got pushed, as Breakdown was free from the pin. The two soon crashed into multiple small containers of energon and they were completely buried in it. The Con got up and dusted himself off, looking at the piles of containers that have the two bots down and out.
Breakdown?: "Ye better check your flank next time. Ye may never know when someone comes rushing in unannounced."
As he looking on, he could hear his partner from behind.
Knockout?: "What a mess…"
Turning to that voice, he saw Knockout coming to his side with his staff back in his possession. Looking at the place, he could tell that things are a hoarders paradise.
Knockout?: "I mean the way they stack all these crates, it would make one box fall and others will follow suit. Some unsuspecting bot would go under all this and would be buried, if you know what I mean. At least we're more organized in our energon storage. These guys? Not so much."
Once he got to the Combaticon side, Breakdown crossed his arms and was a little smug.
Breakdown?: "Ye knew that bugger would slam on that Wrecker, did you?"
The medic sighed and told him that he got lucky.
Knockout?: "Lucky guess… Either way, we have secured the lift. And if I know Airachnid and Starscream, they would need and exit strategy to leave the Ark. I just hope they can get here and not anywhere else."
The moment he said that, he could hear the voice from behind them, a familiar voice.
Starscream?: "And you did good in securing the area."
Thee two turned back and saw Scream, Airachnid, and Ravage have already arrived to see the two. Airachnid put her servos on her hips and could tell that they had their own fun, trying to forget about her feud with Windblade.
Airachnid?: "I take it you guys were a little bored?"
The two looked to the mess they made and couldn't help but to laugh about it.
Breakdown?: "My lass, with those two blokes, nothing is boring."
Knockout?: "Have you found the source of that huge energon spike?"
All three Cons looked to each other and wondered if they are ready for the answer. So Ravage stepped in and told them that it was something they found.
Ravage?: "Eh… Something like that…"
He soon turned to a certain spot and told someone to come on out.
Ravage?: "You three can come out now!"
The two looked on and wondered what they are going on about. That's when they saw three Cybertronians coming out a stacked of energon containers. Three Cybertronians with Autobot emblems. They both immediately reacted and pointed their blasters right at them.
Knockout?: "Autobots? You brought in Autobots?! What were you three thinking!?"
Airachnid rolled her optics around and told them that they aren't really the bad bots.
Airachnid?: "Look doc, we don't like it as much as you do, but these three aren't Autobots. Well… Not bad Autobots, mind you. However, they appear to be connected to the energon spike Soundwave picked up. So they might have some answers."
Breakdown looked to the three and still wasn't sure about it.
Breakdown?: "Doesn't matter if they know what. And Autobot is an Autobot. And we all know what they are capable of."
Kaosu looked to the heavy and give a bit of a smirk.
Miko/Kaosu: "Really, big guy. You still think we're a threat. Well next time this Airachnid here tears you apart for MECH to use you as a shell for a human, don't come crying to us."
Both the spider bot and the Combaticon turned to her and were confused of what she just said.
Airachnid and Breakdown?: "What?"
Thankfully, Jack stepped in and tries to calm some nerves before things start to escalate.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Can we focus on trying to get out of here and get back to your base. We need to escape this twisted ship before Optimus, and I can't believe this is coming out of my own mouth, finds out and destroy us."
Meanwhile, in the hallway, Optimus and Magnus were making their way to the med bay, checking to see if they got what they wanted.
Optimus Prime?: "Hopefully, Windblade might have coaxed the younglings into getting us our answers."
Ultra Magnus?: "And if she didn't, Ratchet is having his way with them with the Psychic Patch. Could imagine the screams they are having."
The Prime glared to him and told him whichever way would work.
Optimus Prime?: "Either way, we might get an answer from them as to where they came from and how they got here. Hopefully they will provide us with what we require."
As they were heading to the med bay, they noticed a prone Ratchet on the floor.
Ultra Magnus?: "What the frag?"
He approached the down medic and checked on him. Meanwhile, Optimus check the med bay and noticed that it was a complete mess. He soon noticed Windblade was also down and was through a damaged console with Sundal out on the floor. As he approached his lieutenant, Magnus checked on Ratchet and tried to wake him up.
Ultra Magnus?: "Hey! Hey! Wake up doc! What happened? Where at the prisoners?"
Ratchet started to groan and uttered the answer as much as he could.
Ratchet?: "Argh… Decepticons… They came… Freed the prisoners… Making an escape…"
Hearing that, Magnus looked to the Prime and warned him of the situation
Ultra Magnus?: "Optimus, we got a problem here."
Optimus picked up Windblade and overheard what Ratchet stated.
Optimus Prime?: "I heard. It would seem that the Decepticons arrived to rescue the younglings. They have made a horrendous mistake in doing so. Sound the alarm! Lock down the Ark! I want the Decepticons destroyed, but the younglings must be online. I need to know where they came from and how they got here!"
Magnus heard him and got up with a salute.
Ultra Magnus?: "It shall be down, my liege."
Back in the docking section, the group was planning to leave the Ark. But then, the lights were flashing and the alarms were blaring as Magnus's voice boomed through the speakers.
Ultra Magnus?: "Attention all Autobots. We have prisoners that have escaped and Decepticons are in the ship. We cannot let them get away. Lockdown the Ark! Destroy the Cons! But leave the prisoners online! Optimus needs them for answers!"
Hearing that, the group realized that they all have been made.
Miko/Kaosu: "Sounds like they found out!"
Scream soon looked to the lift and told everyone to get on.
Starscream?: "Get on the lift! We're leaving!"
Quickly, the group got on the elevator and Knockout hit the button to bring them down. The lift soon lower and was starting to slow down for a bit before picking up. But as they were heading down, a group of drones came out and saw the Cons and younglings descending downwards.
"It's the Decepticons! They're getting away with the prisoners! Stop them!"
The drones started to arm their blasters and begin firing on them. Jack soon got in the front and deployed his shield to deflect most of the shots while the Cons and recruits got to cover behind the metal containers. They soon armed their blasters and went to covering fire to hold the group back. Breakdown soon noticed some exposed energon in the open and decided to take that shot. Arming his shoulder mounted rocket launcher, he fired a shot and the missile headed towards them. Miko saw that and tops him by arming her dual rocket launchers and fired two more. All three rockets hit the exposed energon and exploded, taking the soldiers down with it. Everyone soon immediately got into cover with Jack running and jumping over one of the boxes and went right into safety as the blue flames barely touched them. Once they left the docks, the lift dropped them off the Ark and made the slow decent to the ground floor.
Miko/Kaosu: "Woo! Bet they didn't see that coming!"
The Combaticon looked to her and was impressed by her skills.
Breakdown?: "Nice shot, lass. Ye got the Combaticon fire in ye."
The Wrecking Cadet heard that and gave a bit of a glare.
Miko/Kaosu: "Thanks, but I'm no Combaticon. I'm a full fledge Wrecker!"
Jack soon turned to everyone and told them that they are not done.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "We're not out of the woods yet! We still have to get off this elevator and escape the mining facility if we are to contact for a bridge. Can this lift go any faster?!"
Ravage heard that and approached the console and hack into the controls system. Using his tail, he put the needle into the port and started hacking.
Ravage?: "I'll try to break into it, but it would take me time to bypass the controls and increase the speed."
They soon heard the sound of get engines close by and turned to see a squad of Autobot flyers circling around them. Airachnid soon turned to him and told him to quicken the pace.
Airachnid?: "Then you better make this quick! We got some unexpected company coming!"
Ravage?: "I can try! But without Soundwave, I can't simply do this on my own."
Raf heard him and knew that he had to do something. Taking a breather, he approached him and told the cat that he'll help.
Raf/Firewall: "I'll handle this. Soundwave isn't the only hacker that can get the job done."
Approaching the console, he pointed his arms out and the compartments open to reveal his cables. Having them connected to the additional ports, he started to hack as data streamed through his visor. As they were hacking, the group could see the Airadibots flying in a circle, looking for the opportunity to attack. The group soon armed themselves and were ready for a fight.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "You two better quicken the pace. Those flyers look like they are eager to bring this lift down faster then you.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "You two better quicken the pace. Those flyers look like they are eager to bring this lift down faster then you. And I don't really mean that in a good way."
Starscream looked to the flyers and thought of a way to handle this.
Starscream?: "I'll keep them busy. You all need to save your energon from the fight down below. You're going to need it."
The medic looked to him and warned him of the situation.
Knockout?: "Are you crazy?! You know slaggin well that it's a suicide run. You'll get shoot out of the sky if you're not careful."
Scream looked back to him and assured him that it won't go down like that.
Starscream?: "That won't happen. I'm the best flyer in the Seeker Brigade. These bots can't hold a candle against me."
He soon ran up the edge and jump off the lift platform to freefall. He soon transformed and took off, going after the bots head on. The group saw him as the one leading them told them to fire.
"That's him! That's the Seeker that led many battles! Take him down boys! Show no mercy!"
They soon fired their blasters, hoping to take him out quickly. The seeker soon maneuvered around and avoided each blaster shot, as he was getting closer. Once he's at the right range, he fired two missiles at them and they both flew straight towards them. Those missiles split apart and formed multiple, launching ahead to take them all down in one shot. The flyers saw that and spread out to avoid the assault. The mini missiles though hit a couple of them and blew up, forming a chain reaction that created a huge fireball in the air. The group saw that on the lift and was impressed by Scream's actions. Though Breakdown looked at it and had a small bit of jealousy.
Breakdown: "Hmph… Showoff!"
Jack sighed in relief, but knew that this was short lived.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "That will only last for long. Right now, we need to get down there before reinforcements arrive. Firewall! Progress?"
The hacker was still working on it and told him that he almost got it.
Raf/Firewall: "I almost got it. Though it would've gone a little smoother if a certain pussycat can hurry up."
Ravage heard that name a felt a bit insulted.
Ravage?: "Oh, real funny. I'll have you know that I'm working as fast as I possibly could. Don't blame me if I'm working for an Autobot like you."
Raf groaned to told him that they are not the bad guys.
Raf/Firewall: "How many times do we have to tell you? We're the good Autobots! We don't work of the bad Autobots."
Ravage chuckled a little lowly and hopes that they were right.
Ravage?: "Heh… I'll believe it when I see it."
The two kept on hacking until they got in.
Raf/Firewall: "There! We're in! Now we just going to have to speed the lift a bit and…"
They soon sped up the lift. But as they did that, they immediately drop down and nearly got the team off their pedes. The group held on and told the two to slow it down.
Airachnid? "Ah! Too fast! Too fast! Slow it down, now!"
The two heard the femme and try to.
Ravage?: "Right! Sorry! Hang on!"
The two soon try to slow it down and were getting close to. By the time they reached the ground floor, the lift made an abrupt stop and the group was slammed to the ground with a huge thud. They all groaned as the hacker rubbed the back of his helm.
Raf/Firewall: "Okay… Note to self, just the slight adjustment would cause the elevator on this ship to rocket downwards. Really need remember that the next time I hack into that."
Ravage shook a little and agreed with him.
Ravage?: "Tell me about it. These Autobots sure have a sick sense of humor."
Just as they were recovering, multiple projectiles came out of the blue and try to hit them. They all immediately got out of cover and hid behind more containers. It was then that a group of Vehibots blocked them and fired what they have against them. Getting into covering fire, the Cons got out of cover and fired as many shots as they could before getting back down. Jack soon got out of cover and fired a few more and realized that they were outnumbered. Getting back into cover, he cussed and didn't like the odds.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Scrap! This is bad. These bots have us outnumbered and outmatched. There's no way in getting pass them!"
Airachnid heard that and decided to go on full force.
Airachnid?: "Then we have to make our way through there by full on assault! No way I'm going to get terminated by these clowns."
So she jumped over and transformed into her bike from, speeding towards the group. The drones saw that and fired right at her, trying to stop her. She pivoted and drifted to avoid each shot before jumping off a ramp with containers and sheet metal and was in the air. Coming down, she transformed and positioned her body to deliver a rocket kick to knock down the first bot. Landing on the ground with one knee, she spins in a circle and swept the legs of the group with her many spider legs sticking out. Getting back up, she went into her spider hybrid mode and jumped up to land on the highest stack as the Bots kept on shooting. She soon open up her servos and fired energy blasts from her palms. She managed to take down a few, but there are many others that are still standing while the others were recovering. She soon jumped off the stack and went to the next one to avoid the projectiles. Landing, she could see a few drones behind multiple stacks from behind. Smirking, she opened her palm and fired some webbing. That webbing sticks on the stacks and she gives it on huge pull. That was when the stacks came down and buried the group in concealed energon. Jumping on the next stack, she fired more energy blasts in the air while avoiding the enemy's. The Vehibots continue to fire on her and was focusing solely on the spider bot. So much so that they forget about the rest of the threat that's nearby. That's when one of them felt a tap on the shoulder and turned to see Breakdown with his hammer armed.
Breakdown?: "Top o' the morning to ye!"
He soon swung his hammer and knocked the bot off his pedes and landed on the ground with his back. The other cons saw this and pointed their blasters right at him. But then, they were all pushed by a sonic blast and went flying away. That's when Miko came in with her sub sonic blasters and cleared the path.
Miko/Kaosu: "Don't mind us. We're just crashing the party."
She soon switched her blasters to gravity hammers and swung around at any close by Bots, smashing their helms and breaking their legs. Breakdown looks to her melee weapons and was a little confused by her weapon systems.
Breakdown?: "Huh… Double rocket launchers and duel hammers with gravity capacity. Most of which were schematics from mine. Ye're not some long lost sister I'm not away of, are ye?"
The Wrecking Cadet looks to him and was a little annoyed by that.
Miko/Kaosu: "Uh… Last time I check… No."
Meanwhile, Jack charged in as the Cons were firing on him. Jumping, he transformed and sped to the group, swerving to avoid the shots. Going maximum velocity, he rammed the drones in the way with his Hummer and left them as road kill. Transforming back with one knee, he used both his blasters and fired as many shots as possible to take out as many bots as he could. Course, some of them got into cover and armed themselves for a bit of covering fire. But as they were going to, Ravage came out of the blue and pounced on one of the drones, where he went for the head and blinded him. The soldier thrashed about as he used his blaster to fire on anything that moves. Of course, he accidentally fired his own comrades as they were taken down easily. Finally, he managed to grab the yellow cat and tossed him away. Ravage landed on his paws and looked up to see him ready to fire. But suddenly, he was shot in the back and was electrified by the shock. He was soon temporarily offline and dropped to the ground face first. That's when Raf stood there with one of his tazer blasters armed and glowing. Ravage looked to him and was a little annoyed.
Ravage?: "You know, you really need to stop saving me. I can take care of myself."
Firewall chuckled and wonder if the Soundwave in this world was so protective.
Raf/Firewall?: "Heh, heh… And I bet Soundwave is trying to protect you too."
The cat turned away and remembered something that he doesn't want to discuss about.
Ravage?: "That's something I don't wish to discuss about."
As they were talking, one of the Bots appeared and wishes to catch him in the distraction. Course that was short live as Knockout came in and whacked the drone with his staff. Bringing him to the ground, he pinned him and jabbed the pointy end of his staff to his chest, administering electricity that course through his body and into his spark chamber. Once he was down, the medic remove the spear from his body and he turned to tell him to focus.
Knockout?: "If you two are down talking, we have a long ways to go to get out of here. Let's move!"
So the group made a charge, making their way out of the energon mine. They used their blasters to take out those that are farther away while using their fists or melee weapons for those that are closer. That's when they stopped and saw a line of Vehibots blocking their path and armed their blasters right at them. They all stopped and cold see the drones surrounding them with no way out.
"Ha! Nowhere to run now Cons. Hand back the prisoners or get obliterated."
Course what they didn't know is that spider bot was scurrying around the stacks of energon crates and was waiting for an opportunity to strike. The group could see that decided to play along. Jack smirked and told the group to do their worse.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Sorry. We are not going to go back there. You tell your boss about that."
The drone charged his blaster and was going to fire.
"Oh, this is not a request. This is a mandatory demand."
But then, a stream of web came out of the blue and grabbed his blaster arm. He looked at that and was a bit confused about it.
"What the frag?!"
That's when Airachnid came down and landed in a ninja like stance. Grabbing hold of the webbing, he looked to him and looked eager to take them all down.
Airachnid?: "Then I'm afraid that we would have to mandatory decline."
With that, she shifted her body to her spider mode and started to spin it like a top. The Vehibot was immediately lifted off the ground with the webbing still on the blaster and was sent flying in a circle. During that circling, the rest of the drones armed their blasters and was planning to fire. Almost immediately, the drone that was flying went back to the group and immediately whacked them all in one swing. Once they are down, the spider bot quickly stopped and pulled the drone to her with her web. He was hurtling towards her as she delivers a vicious clothesline, knocking him down and out completely. Once they were all down, she looked back at the group and told them to hurry.
Airachnid?: "They are down, but they're not out! We have to get out of here now before they all wake up! Fall back!"
So the group immediately ran away, getting out of the mining field and into the woods.
In the air, Starscream was flying high and was maneuvering around to avoid each and every shot the Airadibots kept firing. With corkscrews, loops, and evades, he dodge each blaster shot with ease and was giving the enemy a hard time. One of whom was getting extremely annoyed and demanded that he stopped this instant.
"Argh! Pesky little flyer. You think your evasion is going to save you? Fight like a Mech!"
Scream heard that and was annoyed about what he said.
Starscream?: "You wish for me to fight? Fine! I'll show you a fight!"
Tilting his cone upwards, he flew high into the air as the jets followed after him. They continued to fire on him while he did corkscrews to avoid the firepower with his wings catching air. Once he was on high enough altitude, he transformed and sky dive towards the group. With his blasters armed, he fired multiple shots and while spinning around to avoid their own. He managed to shoot down a few flyers, but there were more he missed. He needs to take them out right now before they come down to finish the job. Looking at the one that was charging in front of him, he readied his sword and cut off one of the wings, letting the bot to fly out of control before crashing to the ground. Turning around, he transformed and took off after the rest of the drones. Once he flew to them, he fired his blasters at the ones from the back, destroying their thrusters and careening them down to the ground. The remaining Ariadibots came down and fired a few more shots. Scream swirled around escape those shots and finished it off with missiles out of his wings. All the rockets hit the jets and left behind a lot of smoke and fire. He thought that it was all over. But then one more jet came through the smoke and charging towards him. The drones started to transform and flew down with his sword deployed out of his arm and was going for the commander. Scream could see that and decided to up and ante, transforming and getting his own sword out. The two went close to each other before they swung their swords to each other. The two clanged until they flew past each other in a white light. The two flew by and there was a bit of silence. But then, the drone was immediately cut in half and was split apart in two, bringing him down to the ground. Starscream soon turned in the air and floated to see the results.
Starscream?: "Hmph… Foolish bot, didn't even see that coming."
He turned around to see if he left behind any stragglers before regrouping with the others. But as he did that, he founded those said stragglers. In fact, it was a lot of stragglers. For coming down the Ark, there were tens of thousands of Airadibots that were raining down to his position. Blinking, he cussed to himself and hated when the Bots play dirty.
Starscream: "You got to be fragging with me! All this for three youngling Autobot prisoners? Prime really has a serious problem."
He transformed and flew down to where his team and the recruits were going as the jets flew after him.
Inside the brig, Optimus look down at the flyers going after the Cons and was very silent. Magnus soon joined him and told him of the news what has happened.
Ultra Magnus?: "Ratchet has recovered from the attack and is treating Windblade as we speak. I also got the news that Strongarm, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee were attacked as well and are being taken to Ratchet for immediate medical evaluation."
Optimus gave a brief nod and kept on observing the plan attack. Magnus though sighed and wondered what Prime is doing is right.
Ultra Magnus?: "As much as I appreciate the disdain of the Decepticons, this is a bit of an overkill. I mean, sending all of these flyers just to get back these younglings and destroying the Cons, that's a bit much. Even if they have orders to follow there will be a chance that they might harm the younglings, let alone terminate them."
Optimus looked to him and told him of what the Cons did.
Optimus Prime?: "The Decepticons have breached our mine and broke into the Ark to rescue those younglings. If they make their escape, then they will gain the Intel before we could. I cannot let them unlock what secrets they hold. I will stop Megatron and the Decepticons from gaining Intel, even if it means destroying our own kind."
At the edge of the mine, the Cons and the recruits made it to the edge after going through a few Bot fights. Airachnid was using her webbing to bring her up with using the other web to help the group climb. Once they reached the top, Airachnid took a breather, as the team was glad that they got out of it.
Airachnid?: "Oh for Primus sake. Next time we retract up a hill, let's get some wall climbing equipment. Using me as a climbing mechanism isn't fun."
Breakdown looked to her and told her that it was a last minute.
Breakdown?: "Oi! Don't blame us if we didn't know we need equipment like that to climb. Blame the Autobots for setting up and mining facility in a crater. At least be fortunate that you have strong enough webbing to bring all of us up."
The spider bot glared at him and remind him of who was doing all the carrying.
Airachnid?: "Yeah? Well my webbing is strong, but my body isn't. Do you have any idea the total pounds all of your chassis's have? Let alone yours?"
Breakdown pound his chest plate and compliment himself on his body type.
Breakdown: "Hey! What can I say? I'm a strong mech at my age."
She was a little annoyed about that and turned away in a humph. Ravage though got between the two and told them that they still need to get out.
Ravage?: "All right, you two, enough bickering. We might be out of the mines, but we're not out of the woods yet. Both literally and figuratively. We need to contact our base to bridge us out of here."
Knockout though approached them and explained about the bigger problem that they should be worried about.
Knockout?: "The biggest concern is that Starscream has to contact the base, and he flew away to take on those flyers. What's taking him so long?"
The recruits looked to each other and decided to give them their two cents.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Um… I don't want to interject on any of your affairs, but my best bet is that he could be having his servos full."
Raf soon turned back and noticed something in the distance. Starting to get fearful, he pointed up to the sky and told Darby that he was right on the nose.
Raf/Firewall: "Uh, Rodimus? I'm afraid you are correct on your statement. Look towards the sky!"
He heard the hacker and turned to look at what he's pointing to. The others followed suit and saw something that it quite shocking. Indeed, they saw Starscream flying towards them. But right behind the seeker, multiple enemy jets were chasing him, firing their blasters right at him and the group. The all immediately took cover behind the trees and didn't expect an airel assault of this nature. Airachnid turned to the three Autobot recruits and was real confused about it.
Airachnid?: "Okay! What you did that have Optimus sending him an entire assault fleet?!"
Jack turned to her and was as baffled as her.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Honestly, I don't have a clue. We just only wonder into their mine and that's it! I never thought Optimus would do something this insane!"
Knockout heard him and told him that the Prime does things like this.
Knockout?: "Seriously? You never thought Prime can do that? This is Optimus we're talking about! He'll carpet bomb and entire city without even second guessing himself."
Scream could see the group hiding behind the trees, and rocketed towards them. He soon transformed to flip and landed on the ground with one knee before running away. Passing the group, he told them to move.
Starscream?: "There's too many of them! Fall back! We need to contact the Nemesis to get a bridge immediately."
Pretty soon, the group got the message and followed their commander. But not before Breakdown and Kaosu arming their rocket launchers and fired their missiles to slow them down. Once the missiles hit and took down a couple hundred bots, they turned around and made a break for it.
Miko/Kaosu: "That will only slow them down. But I hope we have plenty of time to escape."
As they were running, Scream contacted the Nemesis and demanded an immediate bridging.
Starscream?: "Soundwave! We need a bridge back to base ASAP! We have Autobots on our tailpipes and we can't outrun them forever!"
Jack looked back and noticed that what the Combaticon and the Wrecking Cadet did didn't work. Instead, he could see the hoard of seekers getting closer and were firing away. Seeing that, he told the others that what they'll do will be impossible.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Wait! We can't immediately bridge back to your base. Those seekers are still gaining on us! If any of them get in that bridge when we retreat, they will be inside your place and the situation will be far worse."
Scream heard that and knew what he's trying to say, but told them that they'll handle it.
Starscream: "We'll take care of that when we get there. Meanwhile, we need to get out of this predicament before we all get shot down. So unless you have a way in taking them down with one shot, then I'm afraid there's no way out of it unless we escape."
Jack heard that and realized he has something that can take care of that. Stopping he turned to see the flyers fast approaching and told them that he got it.
Jack/Rodimus Primus: "Oh… I have something that can handle this."
He soon walked ahead and got into position to fight. The group heard him and turned to see him standing there, looking ready to do something.
Breakdown?: "What is that bloke doing?! Doesn't he know that this is suicide?!"
Meanwhile, at the bridge of the Ark, Optimus looked at Rodimus stopping and standing there and wondered what he's doing.
Optimus Prime?: "Hmm… That's odd… Wonder what this young mech is doing?"
Magnus looked to it as well and gave a bit of a laugh.
Ultra Magnus?: "I don't know, but I think I'm going to like how this will end."
On the ground, Jack flexed his digits and was waiting for the right moment. Course, the others didn't like where this is all going and was trying to convince him to stop.
Airachnid?: "Hey kid! What do you think you're trying to do? Get back here, this instant! You're going to get yourself killed!"
Rodimus turned to her and told her what she said to him.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "You told me that you needed proof that we are on your side, despite us being Autobots, right? Then this here…"
He soon turned away and closed his optics to focus. When he opened them up, his optics was glowing white, as he was ready to unleash his Prime state.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "…is my proof…"
With that, he soon started to deploy his Star Saber sword and that too was glowing white. The Decepticons saw that and realized what he was carrying and who he really is.
Airachnid?: "No way…"
Knockout?: "Is that…?"
Starscream?: "Can't be…"
Even in the Ark's bridge, Prime and Magnus saw that as well and couldn't believe what they were seeing.
Optimus Prime?: "The Star Saber sword? And that power… There's no way that he can be…"
Magnus noticed it as well and knew full well what it means. Getting on the console, he warned everyone to double back.
Ultra Magnus?: "All seekers, fallback! Return to the Ark now! Hurry before he-"
But it was too late as Jack ran up and spins around a couple of times. On the last spin, he swings his sword and an energy slice came out of it and headed to the group. Once it comes into contact with the flyers, they all exploded in its path and they all crashed into the ground. That slash soon was reaching the Ark as the two could see it fast approaching. Magnus soon turned to the drones and told them to leave now.
Ultra Magnus?: "Evasive maneuvers! Brace for impact!"
The group soon piloted the ship, trying to get out of the line of fire. With the lift still active, it was pulled from its foundation and some of the energon started to spill out. It was high enough to avoid the slash, but it hit the energon on the ground and is exploded in a huge plume of blue flames. That in turn led to the bottom of the ship to be damaged and the engines underneath overloading and malfunctioning. The bots soon started to hold on as the ship slowly came down and crashing into the part of the woods, destroying all the trees in the process. The remaining that was on fire started to drop to the mine. Once it hit the ground, he caused a chain reaction with the rest of the energon and blew up the entire mining facility. In a matter of moments, all that's left is blue fire in the crater and a crashed ship in the woods. The Decepticons watched on in shock and didn't know how to respond to that. Jack soon turned to them and turned off his ability, wondering if that got them the message.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Well? How's that for proof."
The group remained silent and don't know how to respond to that. Miko and Raf could tell that they have certainly got the message as the Wrecking Cadet turned to him and told him that it was a bit much.
Miko/Kaosu: "Nice going, Jackrabbit. Though I think it's a bit excessive on the execution."
Just as she said that, a green and blue portal opened up, meaning that they got their exit. Raf soon told the others what they have their way out, hoping that they don't want to stay jack jaw for a while.
Raf/Firewall: "Hey. When you guys are done starring, our bridge is here. We should probably go, like right now, before reinforcements come and attack us after that."
The group immediately snapped out of it and realized that have a huge opening for them after that stunt.
Starscream?: "Erm… Right… Let's get back to the base. Our leader would like and answer some questions with you three. Especially from…that performance."
So the five Cons stepped into the bridge and disappeared into it. Meanwhile, the three recruits could tell that the group didn't expect that to happen. So Rodimus turned to the two and told them to follow.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "C'mon. Let's get in there. I'm sure their leader would want answers."
The two heard him as he walked away. But the hacker asked if it's all right if they tell them everything and asked if that was going to be safe.
Raf/Firewall: "Are you sure it's a good idea talking to them? I mean, they're Decepticons, right? Do we really need to trust them?"
Jack soon stopped and looked back, letting them know that they can trust this group then the Autobots.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Considering that we came into a world where both factions have switched sides, I'm afraid we have no choice but to trust our enemy. Now let's go. No doubt they need answers for what happened."
So the Prime in training stepped in first as the two recruits started to follow him in.
Meanwhile, in the damaged Ark, drones were assessing the damage and trying to figure out what happened. Magnus started to call all the shots while Optimus stood there in utter silence.
Ultra Magnus?: "I need a damage report! What are we looking at?"
One of the drones explained to the commander of the situation.
"We have heavy damage to sectors 12, 46, and 60. Power outages in sectors 30 and 75. Fires are reported in engine rooms B, E, and H. Casualty counts are rising in both the ship and mines. I can't even fathom what others problems we're having."
Magnus heard that and told them to quicken the pace.
Ultra Magnus?: "Get this ship fixed up as soon as possible. Have power online and put the fires out. Repair the engines and check for survivors in both the ship and mines. We have to get this Ark up in the air before the Cons find out and attack us when we're vulnerable."
The group worked hard in getting everything fixed as Magnus grunted to himself.
Ultra Magnus?: "This is rather unexpected. One moment we have the Cons on the ropes, the next, that youngling possessed the Star Saber and the power of a Prime to wipe out everything in one blow. How is that possible?"
He looked to Optimus for an answer, but he didn't respond to his concerns. So he tried to get his attention.
Ultra Magnus?: "Uh… Sir? Are you okay? You've been awfully quiet for some time now since that attack."
The Prime lowered his helm and decided to retire to his quarters.
Optimus Prime?: "I'm fine… I just need to be in my quarters to think. You're in charge until I get back."
He soon turned away and walked out of the bridge, wanting to figure out what has happened. Magnus soon saluted and assured him that things will be all right.
Ultra Magnus?: "Erm… Of course, my liege. I'll handle things from here. Rest assure that everything will be operational before you know it."
Just as he said it, the part of the ceiling terminal fell off and smashed to the bottom terminal, blowing it up in the process. Magnus looked to that and gave a deep sigh.
Ultra Magnus?: "Sweet Primus…"
As Prime left the bridge, he walked down the long hallway to get to his quarters. The drones that were working hard stopped what they were doing and gave a quick salute to him before getting back to work. But Optimus paid no mind as he was trying to figure out what has happened.
Optimus Prime?: "That youngling… He possessed the Star Saber sword once weld by Prima. Not only that, but he has the power of a Prime coursing through his systems. Is it possible that he is a Prime like me? If it's true, then Megatron might have a formidable ally in his servos. I must find out where he came from and where he got that power. And once I do, I will be the one to destroy him. There could only be one Prime…"
He walked away to head to his bridge, contemplating on how to approach it.
Meanwhile, in a bridging room at an unknown location, the spacebridge was online as two shadowed figures were waiting for someone to come in. As they were waiting, five individuals stepped out of the portal and faced the two. Those five are Starscream, Airachnid, Knockout, Breakdown, and Ravage, all of whom were still shaken from what happened just moments ago. The huge shadow approached the five and greeted them
?: "Welcome back team. I take it you were able to find the source of that energon spike Soundwave detected."
The group was silent and wondered how they are going to explain what they found. Scream though approached the shadow figure and explain to him as best as he could.
Starscream?: "Yeah… About that… We believe we found the source, but it's more complicated to explain."
The big shadow was curious as to what he meant by that.
?: "Oh…? What do you mean?"
It was then he looked back to the open bridge and told someone to come.
Starscream?: "All right, you three, you can come through now!"
As if on cue, the three Autobot recruits came out of the portal, waiting to be introduced to the Con's leader. Once they were out, the two shadows stepped out of the darkness and got a good look and who they are. That was when Jack, Raf, and Miko got a good look at the two and realized who they are as well.
The first is a small mech with a medium frame and had light bulky dark and light purple armor. But the one thing they noticed is a visor instead of a face, and some kind of glass compartment with the Decepticon emblem on it. It is no doubt that this is the good version of Soundwave. But the huge mech next to him was someone they were really caught off guard.
This mech has sleek armor with gray, blue, and red paintjob and a cannon attached to the arm. Seeing the vehicle pieces, they noticed that his alt form could be that of a chopper of some kind. Judging by the face, they knew that this was indeed Megatron, but there was no razor sharp teeth or piercing red eyes. Instead, it was a kinder, friendlier leader of the Decepticons. All three of them look to the mech and knew deep down that they weren't home anymore. And that the Autobots and Decepticons aren't who they knew. Instead, it's a whole new world, where the teams have swapped sides. Jack blinked and figured it out the moment he saw him.
Jack/Rodimus Prime: "Oh… Scrap…"
That ends chapter three. Boy, what a long one. And I thought the first chapter was a lot of write. Still, it gives you a clear idea on what I'm working with and where this story is going to go. I hope you enjoyed this action packed chapter. But the best is yet to come. On the next one, the Autobot recruits explained to the good Cons where they came from and how they got here. Meanwhile, the evil Optimus must know who they are and the purpose of the new Prime he witnessed. And to do that, he needs to rely on the help of two certain bounty hunters. You will know whom I'm talking about on the next chapter. Please Review. #WherearetheGoodCartoons?
