Ch. 134

Bulkhead came into the main room of the base with a heavy groan, tapping lightly at a smoldering plasma burn on his arm, "Hey, Ratchet?" he called out, "If you're not still mad at me, I got a good burn wound here for ya!"

The medic came in with a grumble and began to tend to the smoldering metal, glancing at Breakdown and Bumblebee as they followed in after the green mech, "Any other injuries?"

Breakdown shook his helm, "Nah, we're good. But they got pretty fiery in this last encounter. Apparently, they didn't like us gettin' smooth with the store of energon they've been getting from wherever. They evacuated what they could and made a pretty nice bang."

Bumblebee buzzed and whirled in agreement, waving his arms excitedly as his optics brightened in retelling Ratchet about the explosion that nearly killed them.

Ratchet huffed, "Yes, very amazing. Be sure to simplify those details for the children or we might end up having another one of our 'extraction' problems."

Breakdown chuckled, "Guessin' that's Miko's fault, huh? Always following after ol' Bulk?"

The green mech rolled his optics, "Geez, I need at least three other bots to help me count how many times she and Jack and Raf have been out in the field with us."

Both Wreckers started laughing but settled quickly when Optimus walked in.

The Prime surveyed his soldiers, his optics studying each with a detailed optic, "Autobots," he greeted, "how did this mission fair?"

Bumblebee buzzed and beeped, telling Optimus about the things they saw; Decepticon Vehicons, stores of energon, and a small space bridge bringing in more supplies. The scout added that when they got too close, the Vehicons attacked and set a fail-safe bomb to clear the site.

Optimus nodded, "I am glad your injuries are not more serious and that each of you came back in one piece. However, the use of these smaller space bridges and run of supplies coming through has become a cause for greater concerns."

Breakdown frowned in thought, "Think we need to have another group chat with Scream?"

"Sounds like the best option," Bulkhead chimed in, "Maybe something like this happened before?"

Breakdown shook his helm, "Starscream never mentioned any of this. I mean, he's told me and Knockout a bit, but not a lot."

Ratchet scoffed as he gently cleaned out smoldering debris from Bulkhead's arm, "As well he shouldn't! To know too much about what could happen may cloud our judgements! It's a temptation we have to avoid at all costs! The present is now, we should be focusing on that!"

"Easy, old friend," Optimus smiled, "I agree. But perhaps some of Starscream's insight may help," he activated his COMM, sighing gently, "Autobots. Please come to the main room."

A couple of groans entered the COMM in response, including a very screechy 'I don't have slagging time for this', but it didn't take long for the rest of the bots in the base to come shambling into the room.

Knockout frowned and crossed his arms, pointing accusingly at Optimus, "Do you have any idea what I was doing? I won't give details, but I was busy!"

Starscream snorted as he slipped his way passed the mech, "No one ever wants details from you."

The seeker was treated with a glare but Optimus ignored the both of them, "Autobots, I would like each of us to go over the details of our previous scouting missions, starting with Arcee, Smokescreen and Starscream and the mission the three of you participated in in the Pacific islands."

Arcee frowned in confusion, "Was there something in our written reports that we missed?"

"Not at all," the Prime replied, "but I would find it very beneficial if we were to verbally assess these past missions as a team."

The femme looked to her mech partners and shrugged, "Alright... our base registered a small but distinct energy signature that required some looking into. Smokescreen, Starscream and I went to an island in the Pacific and found a small number of Vehicons moving energon stores away from a small space bridge."

"Was the bridge operational while you were present?" Optimus asked.

Arcee shook her helm, "No. We may have taken too long getting inside to see it working."

The large, red mech nodded, "Was there anything else either of you observed?"

"Oh!" Smokescreen piped up, "So, shouldn't they being using cloaking devices on these places?"

Starscream grumbled, "These little operations are fruitful at best, but they're quick 'smears'."

Bumblebee buzzed, asking what a 'smear' was.

The seeker shrugged, "Small operations that are thrown together and are marked for destruction at any moment. They're sacrificial in a sense, as it really doesn't matter which side takes them out and for what reason. They could use it once in one location then move it to another on a whim. They could even use it as a lure-in..." he glanced at Bulkhead and shuddered, "which is what looks like happened to these sad fools."

The green mech frowned, "Hey," he said in a warning then pouted, "and yes."

"What does that make this?" Starscream smirked, "Third? Fourth smear?"

"It is the fourth," Optimus confirmed, "But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Bumblebee, you and Knockout investigated the second smear location."

The yellow mech nodded and whirled, saying that the Vehicons were moving large pieces of Cybertronian metals. He and Knockout would have engaged, but there were far too many drones wandering about. It was still a small set up, but with a larger presence.

Knockout huffed, "You may have wanted to get your servos dirty, but I just got this paint job waxed! Look at this shine! This pristine, beautiful shine!"

"Shine aside," Arcee smirked, "the first and second smears were similar, but not the same."

Optimus hummed, "Bulkhead. You and Breakdown shared in both the third and final smear scouting missions, the last having Bumblebee with you. What can you tell us about these last two operations?"

Bulkhead winced a little as Ratchet gently welded a patch to his arm, "Same as the last two. But on the third one, we did see a power down on their mini space bridge. They had just pulled their energon rations out from their supplier. We almost had specifics on our fourth scouting mission, but they caught 'Bee looking into their computer for coordinates."

"Did you find anything?" the Prime asked.

Bumblebee buzzed in disappointment and told him no. He did manage to see that they had used that particular space bridge once before, but it looked like a new setup anyway.

"See?" Starscream smirked, "Easy sacrificial site. I'll bet the other sites we've found were in similar states," he frowned, "but I've never seen more than two smear operations going at the same time."

Arcee crossed her arms, "Maybe they're planning a big surrender for us," she said in amusement, "Nothing says 'we give up' than a whole lot of energon and supplies."

The seeker pouted, "I wish."

Optimus shuttered his optics quietly, "Unfortunately, we do not have the luxury of wishing. Starscream, from your tone and demeanor, I sense you did not encounter this in the previous timeline."

Starscream shook his helm, "No. Up until almost two weeks ago, I hadn't seen a smear operation in almost..." he paused, then crossed his arms, "Well, I guess it's been a while. But again, things have changed. They could have been mining on another planet and decided to bring resources here. Maybe they found a ship that crashed somewhere on Earth, could even be the moon, and they're using smaller operations to scavenge it out so we won't find it. If I may indulge in an opinion?"

The Prime nodded, his optics onlining again, "Please."

"Best bet to find out what's going on?" the seeker continued, "Wait for a larger energy burst on the scanner. That's going to be what we called a 'geode'."

Knockout smiled widely, "Oh man, a geode! I remember those! Such sneaky operations..."

Smokescreen blinked but before he could ask, Breakdown chuckled, "A geode is the real gem of a smear operation. You spread out a handful of smears as distractions and when a geode pops up, the opposition thinks it's just another smear and writes it off. Bigger payloads come outta geodes. More supplies, more energon, and maybe a bigger space bridge to move it all. If they are gettin' good stuff, a geode operation is the best way to get more out on the down low."

Starscream smiled, "Since we've seen quite a few smears in the last couple weeks, they may be planning a geode. Move in with most of the team and you could take over the bridge and whatever supplies they were hoping to accumulate. It could put a dent into whatever they're planning," he sneered at Arcee, "surrender or not."

The femme sneered back, "It's worth a look into. Are we going to take shifts?"

Optimus nodded, "I would like two bots stationed at the scanner at all times. The rest of you will be prepared to move out at any moment."

Starscream's wings perked, "Even-"

"I am sorry, Starscream, but no," the Prime stopped him, "I would prefer that you only leave the base as a last resort. For now, please take some time to rest and if you are in need of some reprieve, myself and Smokescreen would be happy to escort you somewhere safe for you to take to the air."

The seeker grumbled and didn't reply to the comment, instead sliding passed with the hint of a tantrum at his heels as he left the room.

Smokescreen pouted and rolled his shoulders, "Aw man, I wanted to show off some new moves I've been working on! Can't exactly do that in the base."

"Yeah," Arcee commented as the rest of the bots began to disperse, "you might hurt yourself."

The white mech scoffed in shock and followed after her, "What? C'mon, Arcee! Give me some credit!"

Ratchet watched them all go and patted Bulkhead to let him know he was done. The green mech left with the rest of the group, leaving the Prime with the medic.

Optimus watched Ratchet clean up, intaking deeply, "You are not pleased with all this, are you?"

The medic stopped putting away his medical tools to stare down at his servos, "I... really don't know, Optimus. We've seen so much change since Starscream's..." he shook his helm, "Megatron's sanity is slipping, the Decepticons are employing older methods to move rations around, just all of it feels... wrong."

"You fear this is a trap."

"Yes," Ratchet whispered, "For us or for him, I'm not certain, but if it isn't, then we really need the energon. We really need the supplies. Starscream helps, by Primus, he helps when he can and when the timeline says it's convenient, but we have too many bots under this base's roof. We're making do... but for how much longer? Optimus, can we chance storming after one of these 'geodes'? Is the risk truly worth what may come out of it?"

The Prime shook his helm, "I do not know. And that is best. If I could look into the future and tell you what was to happen, you would not be pleased with me for it, despite the knowledge being beneficial."

Ratchet nodded, "Because for every thing you would change, something worse could take its place."

"Indeed," Optimus agreed, "as we have seen with the changes Starscream made and the chaos that he inadvertently gave rise to. So for now, old friend, may I ask that you join me in taking the first scanner shift? It would be nice to sit and talk with you, as we did before the war."

The medic sighed, but smiled and nodded. He needed his mind away from whatever conspiracies that were whittling their way into his thoughts. And what better way to ease the mind than to sit in front of his monitors with his greatest friend?