Ch. 137

Had this much energon ever been witnessed at any point in history? Ratchet watched as load after load was either carried or driven in. The older mech thought he had seen a cache this big once. Granted, it was in a glorious dream where there was no war and he was back home on Cybertron, but to see it physically represented in front of him by towers and stacks of cubes ready for ingestion made the dream feel more than real. As did the smile that refused to leave his faceplate.

"Alright," he laughed as Bumblebee came through carrying a pile of processed energon so high he was lost among the cubes, "no more showing off. We'll get it all, just stop having Knockout pile them on you like that!"

The yellow mech bubbled out a laugh back as he set them down and whistled that he didn't know if the base could hold much more.

Ratchet huffed playfully, "Oooooh, believe me, we'll find room. If I have to requisition some of your quarters for storage, we are going to make it happen!"

"Autobot base: adequate energon storage," Soundwave informed offhandedly, going through the information that was coming through on his terminal, "Harbinger: secondary energon storage location. Harbinger: excellent storage space."

"HA!" Ratchet mocked loudly, "I'd rather recharge on a berth of these cubes than send them there!"

"Energon berth: uncomfortable."

The medic grumbled, "You've clearly seen more than this just lying around, I'm sure."

"Assumption: correct. On more than one occasion."

Ratchet glared a little, "Don't rub it in..." the medic's voice trailed off and he frowned lightly as he settled his gaze on Starscream, the seeker just staring as the lot of energon cubes rose higher and higher, "... You alright?" he called.

Starscream shuddered out of his stupor and nodded quickly, "What, yes, I'm fine... Just amazed, I suppose."

Ratchet smiled, "This is going better than we could have hoped."

"Yes. I don't like it."

The medic huffed, throwing up his servos, "Believe me, I'm usually the one to say it first; 'this was too easy' or 'it could be a trap'. But sometimes, Starscream, a win is hard-earned through patience and rewarded when you least expect it."

Arcee came in through the ground bridge with a small stack of cubes and quickly read the looks on the mechs faceplates, "Somebody having a set of doubts?"

Ratchet grumbled, "Ooooh, you better believe it."

"Oh, I'm sorry," the seeker responded sharply, "but I've sort of been dealing with the numerous changes I've made to this timeline while simultaneously avoiding the increasing insanity in Megatron's own deranged mind. To even think that this is a win is premature."

Arcee shrugged as she set her pile down with the other cubes, "Why don't you come on back with us and help move some of this? Or at least talk with Optimus. That always calms you down."

Starscream's wings flared out and he scowled as he followed the femme through the portal, "It does not calm me down! It makes me depressed! His disappointed look could make an infant feel guilty!"

"I am sorry you feel that way," came Optimus's voice as they came through to the other side; the Prime was smiling gently at them, moving aside as Bumblebee and Smokescreen scuttled passed with armfuls of energon, "but perhaps we can find a way to lift your mood?"

"My mood doesn't need lifting," the seeker murmured as he walked passed, his pedfalls clacking loudly as he went from the dirt of the cave to the leveled metal platform where the space bridge terminals rested.

Knockout was busy typing away into one of the consoles as he approached; the red mech didn't look up, only snickering when he heard Starscream grumble, "Geez Scream, would it kill you or hiccup you to another place to smile?"

The silver mech glared, "Really?"

Knockout laughed, "You know, cause you can't die!"

"Yes, I understood your poor use of the phrase. Now what are you doing?"

The medic faked a pout, "Well, I'm just not transport-mech material. All those cubes? They could scratch my finish!"

"Your point?"

Knockout shrugged, "So I'm busy helping Soundwave. He's decoding the access files. Once I get the full passcode, we can look into their logs and schedules. We may even be able to set up a trap to catch their supplier."

Starscream stared at him, "And you're helping... how?"

The red mech smiled wide, "Oh, well I'm waiting patiently to input the code manually. It could take some time... and I really shouldn't be away from the terminals. Just in case."

The silver mech rolled his optics, "You are, without a doubt, the laziest mech I've ever met. You know Optimus probably suspects you're avoiding the work."

"No, no, I'm an innovator. Now shoo, you're going to make it look like I'm not doing anything."

Optimus walked over slowly, looking over Knockout's shoulder, "Have we made any progress?

The smaller mech nodded quickly, "Of course! We have half the code, I should have the rest in a short while..."

Starscream hummed as he looked around the room, "We should move quickly. If the Nemesis suspects this location to be compromised..."

"I understand your concerns, Starscream," the Prime murmured, "but please allow a little faith. We are moving very diligently. Almost half the stores of energon have been relocated to our base. And Soundwave reports that he will have the rest of the space bridge activation codes shortly."

Optimus smiled at Knockout and Starscream smirked, "Told you he knew."

The smaller mech pouted, "Fine. I'll go back to trying to crack the logs myself..."

A small beep from the terminal came through, eliciting the attention of the three mechs, and Knockout frowned as he activated his COMM, "Hey, 'Wave? ... Yeah, it just activated... Then I suppose it was on its own, wasn't it? Am I clear to read through? ... Yeah, if I spot anything, I'll let you know."

Knockout cut his COMM and started swiftly moving his digits through the various logs and files. Starscream tried to lean over his shoulder to watch but the smaller mech shrugged him off with an irritated whine. Attempts in vain, the seeker stepped back to look at the space bridge itself. This had definitely taken some time to put together. The smaller one he had seen was a throwaway, probably only good for a handful of jumps across space. This bridge, however... the log would easily be full of executed space bridge jumps and coordinates...

"May I ask what your thoughts are?"

Optimus was beside him, looking into the bridge as he was; Starscream sighed, then shrugged, "Too many to vocalize... I just want this to be done with. The less time here, the better."

"Uh, Prime, Scream-"

"Don't call me that!"

"-Ignoring you," Knockout continued, "You may want to look at this," the red medic stepped aside to point at the terminal monitor, "The logs are showing a regular pattern. Every two hours, the bridge is scheduled to open to receive shipment. Soundwave is still cycling through to see if any notes were attached to the orders, load size, requirements, all that other nonsense, but if the Nemesis isn't aware we have their pricey toy here, the next shipment should be ready on the other side of this space bridge in less than fifteen minutes."

Optimus took in what the smaller mech told him and nodded, "Good. Then we should end this while we are still holding the advantage."

Starscream groaned lightly, "This won't be easy..."

"Neither will be what I am about to ask," the Prime confessed, "as I would feel far more comfortable having you as our air support to help complete this mission."

The seeker stiffened, "Are you sure you want to ask that?"

"Hey," Knockout frowned, "we don't have time to decide if it's the right choice or not. If this is happening, we need to get into position now."

Optimus nodded again and activated his COMM as he called out into the cavern, "Autobots, we have a situation. The Decepticon supplier will be on the other side of this space bridge at a predetermined location in less than fifteen minutes. Ratchet, I need you to operate the ground bridge at base."

"Optimus, I am ready and on stand by."

"Soundwave," the Prime continued, "I need you to operate the space bridge at our location."

"Soundwave: en route."

Bulkhead set down a load of energon with a grunt, "What do we do about all this? We're not done yet."

Soundwave came through the open ground bridge with a low hum, Laserbeak detaching from his chestplate, "Task: accepted. Time of completion: undetermined."

Laserbeak hovered over to Bulkhead's energon pile to extract one cube with its many clawed tendrils before disappearing into the ground bridge as Soundwave walked passed to take over the space bridge terminals.

Optimus looked out over his team and nodded confidently, "We cannot hesitate. Soundwave, begin activating the space bridge to its previous coordinates."

"Task: accepted. Time of completion: two minutes."

The Prime smiled, "Good. The rest of you, prepare yourselves. We do not know the terrain we will be dealt with nor who is the Decepticon supplier, however we will only be at the mercy of our adversaries should we allow it. Be ready to move as soon as Soundwave is ready."

Starscream couldn't stop himself from trembling. The last time he'd been on Cybertron- well, he supposed he hadn't been there yet in a while... He couldn't shake the remembrance of before, of what had happened, of what everyone had lost. The Omega Keys, the Omega Lock; a chance at really invigorating their home. And what it took to get there.

The seeker pulled himself away from Optimus's side to rush to Arcee, his servo grabbing her arm to stop her from going through the ground bridge, "Hey, wait."

Arcee frowned at him and pulled her arm back, "Alright, what do you need, Starscrimus?"

Starscream ignored her comment, "You need to stay here."

"Are you cra-"

"Listen to me, you need to get the children from school and get them to the base. Wheeljack is still on his way, isn't he? Call him for support, make sure Jack, Raf and Miko stay with Ratchet."

The femme blinked, "Starscream... is something wrong?"

Starscream flicked his wings, "I have a bad feeling and I'm deciding to put you in charge of it. Last time... or around this time before, the children were used as ploys. I know Ratchet can't exactly bridge them out of their classes, but if you and Wheeljack are waiting for them as soon as they get out it would make me feel all the better, even if nothing happens. I'd rather you be late to the impending doom than risk them being used again."

Arcee sighed, crossing her arms, then nodded, "... Yeah... Yeah, alright, I'll have Ratchet COMM Wheeljack and we'll get the kids... Agent Fowler and June?"

The seeker shook his helm, "They'll be fine, but ask that they return to base as well, just in case."

"I'll let them know," the femme still saw the concern on Starscream's faceplates and she smiled gently, touching his arm, "Hey. No worries. It'll get done. Just promise to save me some Con aft to kick, alright? I don't want to have to go searching for yours."

A surprised smirk on the seeker lightened the dark air around him and he feigned a pout, "Oh, continuing to wound me, are you?"

"Always. Don't expect anything less."

Starscream sighed in relief as Arcee ran through the ground bridge and he turned back to prepare for his own travels, "I never shall."

Soundwave stiffened momentarily as a sequence of acceptance beeps rang out into the air and he hummed, "Space bridge codes accepted. Bridge opening: three, two..." the portal opened and his faceless helm turned towards it, "Bridge portal: open."

Optimus and his team felt a secondary rush fall upon them. They had just succeeded in taking one location and now had to undergo a similar mission so soon. The Prime transformed out a blaster and wordlessly walked forward, followed in cautious sequence by Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Smokescreen, Breakdown, Knockout and Starscream, the seeker hesitating as he brought up the rear. He wanted to feel one last tickle of air against his faceplates, one last particle of the Earth under his peds, one last moment of his being on this planet for as long as he dared. Because something inside him, whether the hiccup in a new form or something else, told him that he would suffer if he dared feel these freedoms again.