"Remember when Popular Mechanics magazine did that feature on the Autobots in '03?"
First Aid had drawn quite a crowd of Autobots in the Rec room. He had come straight from the repair bay to divulge the juicy details of the after events of the brawl. He had already tossed the scraps of knowledge he had on the injuries to the ravenous huddle like meat to a pack of wild dogs, and was now moving onto the reason why they fought in the first place.
"Yeah," recalled Jazz fondly, "That photographer really caught my good side," he chuckled
"Oh, and which side would that be?" asked Mirage, he sounded deadpan serious, but every one knew he was playing. Jazz reacted with a playful tap to Mirage's shoulder.
"Anyway," continued First Aid, "Remember how Tracks got a whole double page all to him self..."
"... And Sunstreaker didn't." Jazz was getting the picture. "Man, I bet that really bruised his ego. That explains why those two have been waltzing round like Peacocks in heat for the past few years"
"And Prime spent the best part of an hour getting this out of them?"
Asked Hotspot, he sounded most disappointed
"Yeah, apparently Tracks has really been rubbing it in lately."
At this point the Rec-room doors opened and Eject entered. He called for attention, but nobody listened
"Hello! Guys! Gears sings karaoke! Guys!" None of the assembled Autobots paid a blind bit of notice to the tiny Eject; they were far too engrossed in their established conversation
"Well, if you aren't going to listen to me, I'll just tell you any way! If you don't listen, you don't know!" Eject proceeded to explain the situation in detail, giving precise details of Gears' activities and future whereabouts. But nobody listened. At least not anybody who he could see. Exasperated at the lack of attention he was receiving, he left for a much needed recharge cycle, unaware that some one had been doing to him exactly what he had been doing earlier. Some one hidden in the support beams. Laserbeak.
Megatron sat and looked at the repair reports in disdain. Decepticon headquarters was in shambles, and a quarter of his forces were still out of commission. In times like this Megatron looked for a scapegoat to vent his anger on, it was the only way he could maintain his self-control. He looked down at the Reflector third that had handed him the report. He considered his next action before having his chain of rather malicious thought interrupted by a familiar and welcome voice
"MEGATRON," it was Soundwave. "LASERBEAK HAS RETURNED"
"Excellent!" Megatron anticipated a similar state of affairs at the Autobot camp.
"Report."
"THE AUTOBOTS ARE IN A BATTLE WORTHY STATE"
"What! After the trashing we gave them?"
Soundwave sensed Megatron's anger, and tried to proceed with caution
"LASERBEAK ALSO FOUND THAT THE AUTOBOTS HAVE DISCOVERED A NEW ELEMENT ON AN ASTEROID IN THE TIGRUS SECTOR"
"What kind of element?" Megatron's anger was growing
"ELEMENT AT FIRST SEEMED TO HAVE INTRIGUING BIO-CONDUCTIVE QUALITIES DUE TO UNUSUAL MICROBES FOUND GROWING ON IT. ELEMENT WAS SUBSEQUENTLY FOUND TO BE USELESS BY THE AUTOBOTS."
"Is that it?" Megatron sounded calmer
"TWO AUTOBOTS WERE INVOLVED IN A SERIOUS BRAWL"
"Ha ha, Prime's having a little difficulty keeping the rabble in check, eh?"
Megatron felt much better, and proceeded to dismiss Reflector.
"Was that all he found of interest?"
"AN AUTOBOT WILL BE APPEARING IN A HUMAN DRINKING ESTABLISHMENT FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES. APPEARANCE IS ONLY MINOR, AUTOBOT OF LITTLE SIGNIFICANCE"
Before Megatron could respond, Starscream entered the main control room. His presence was felt by all, the various Decepticons stationed at the control consoles all looked up immediately at his arrival. Starscream had a reputation, one he was extremely proud of, as someone to be watched
"I have just come back from Trypticon and had a little talk with Shockwave, almighty Megatron," the condescending sarcasm was apparent in Starscream's voice. "...And he isn't a happy little lamb-bot"
"I don't remember killing you and allowing you to become a humble messenger," Megatron dug at Starscream as he walked over to a communication console
"No, that's still Soundwave's lot," retorted Starscream, directing a malicious glance at Soundwave. "I was just filling in while he collected his homing pigeonoid." Soundwave narrowed his optics at Starscream, who responded with an evil grin
"Shockwave, report," Megatron activated the monitor, conjuring up the bizarre visage of the Decepticon custodian of Trypticon
"Megatron," there was a distinct tone of agitation in the usually emotionless voice of Shockwave. "Those accursed Autobot witches have attacked Trypticon again and destroyed his transforming cog" he stated coldly. "I require more troops to annihilate them.
As Shockwave continued his report to Megatron, Soundwave received two eject requests amongst his in-vision diagnostics. They were from Rumble and Frenzy. Usually Soundwave would ask why his cassettes wanted to eject, but he was weary and low on power, so decided to let his miniature helpers go unmolested for once. He pressed his eject button, and Rumble and Frenzy spewed forth from his chest pack like rectangular missiles, transforming in midair into their almost identical robot forms
"Thanks Soundwave!" called Frenzy as both he and Rumble made a quick dash for the exit
"Kids today..." tutted Starscream sarcastically
"Oh this is gonna be sweet!" said the excitable Frenzy to his brother.
Both tiny Decepticons had taken to the air, and were jetting through the corridors of the Decepticon base at considerable speed. As they flew, they passed a porthole, which showed a barnacle encrusted Mixmaster scrubbing algae from the hull. The Construction chemist had a face that could send a Sharkticon running for its maker, though there were several barnacle growths around it
"Yeah," chuckled Rumble. "If we can get out of the base
It was a little known fact amongst the Decepticon ranks that the Spy cassettes whilst inside Soundwave could interface, both for communication purposes and to learn of another's findings on a spy mission. Rumble and Frenzy had done this when Laserbeak returned, learning of Gears' little star turn and making a basic plan in order to have a little fun. Their plan was simple. Get out of HQ, get to the karaoke bar, and do a little heckling.
The pair arrived outside the docking tower access port. The "port" was actually a large hanger; complete with everything needed to maintain the Decepticon air force. Rumble clipped the entry panel, opening the doors with a serpentine pneumatic hiss. The pair ventured in, marching in sync with their characteristic tough-guy strut. Expecting to find the hanger empty they were thrown to find a vehicular Vortex being loaded by two sentinels.
"Oh slag, what are we gonna do now?" Frenzy was worried. Megatron had imposed a strict curfew on the Decepticons, confining them to base unless they had permission from the head honcho himself. The pair had planned to sneak out unnoticed, something that had now been scuppered. Rumble was however, unfazed. He was slightly brighter than Frenzy, and had already worked out how to turn this situation to their advantage.