Author's Notes: Wow! An update not after a million years?! Crazy! But I've got bad news… I am out of the country for a whole freaking month! So alas, I will not update all the month of May and into June. But I will be back after that! And hopefully with more chapters already done because I will be stuck in an airplane 16 hours both ways, so I have no choice but to sit in a chair and type out these chapters, lol. But anyway…
In this chapter are our heroes' final plans of taking care of the Decepticon threat! Hoist tries to see through his fears, and they get info from their crabby Con prisoner. Finally, in a want to impress a potential love interest, Chop Shop offers to be their inside bot to scout out enemy territory.
Drop a comment to share what you think, and of course, enjoy! See everyone later in June!
Part 9
A Crab Boil
Location: Griffin Rock, Maine
Whirl
If she was physically able to explode from excitement, she would have done so before she accepted Hotshot's seventh challenge to race up Griffin Rock Mountain. But the race currently in progress aside, the Groundbridge tech was almost done rebooting! That meant their teachers would be home before Mr. Kade and Professor Heatwave killed each other on their road trip! Whirl knew better than that of course… She thought they made a great team even if they fought more then they put out fires. But regardless, the Groundbridge was almost fixed!
Also a big plus, once they had their Groundbridge back they wouldn't have to keep jumping from the Academy to the Firehouse, then racing up and down the mountain trail to reach the Alchemor crash site. Not that Whirl minded racing, it just seemed a waste of time and Energon. And the whole point of this enterprise was getting more Energon. Kind of counter productive if anyone asked her. No one had asked her though, so she kept it to herself.
As Grimlock and his band of Dino buds ripped their way through the wreckage to get to the ship's Energon stores they needed for Secundus, they had found a few other items of interest. Namely, more pods that had survived the crash that still contained snoozing Decepticons. Oh, and lots and LOTS of weapons. Whirl had never seen so many blasters, blades, bombs, and others implements of destruction in all her life. Unless she counted Mrs. Neederlander's gun collection.
Fixit had explained they had reached the ship's contraband stores, which contained the stock of items they had taken from the prisoners before booking them. This detail brought Chop Shop running in search of his own guns. But either way, all of it needed to be brought back down the mountain, through the only working Bridge linked to the Academy, and then sealed away. Mostly so it couldn't be used against them. Or before Professor Chase could see it. She didn't want her poor professor to suffer a blown fuse. He also didn't need to know she had accidentally touched a blaster wrong, and it fired, and then blew up a boulder. That was her and Hotshot's little secret.
She took the final turn on two wheels, Hotshot so close they were almost bumping into each other. Whirl leapt out of her vehicle form without stopping, hoping the momentum would get her over the finish line they had scratched into the dirt earlier. It worked! She got over the line a full half second before Hotshot did! But that was about as far as she had considered this master plan, because she hadn't figured how she would stop her sixty mile an hour self flying into the air. 'Quick!' She thought as the ground raced closer to say hello to her faceplates, 'What would big Whirl do?'
Something quick thinking and ill-advised, that's what!
She turned her whole body hard, transforming her rotors so fast it made her T-Cog ache. But she was in her copter mode and managed to create enough of a downdraft to break her fall. Her skids scrapped across the rocky ground and threw her into a tailspin. Perfect! Now the inevitable crash would just be horrifically painful but not deadly! Still an improvement in her book.
But before she could smash helm first into a jutting portion of the Alchemor, something snagged her rail rotor and jerked her to a stop. She was dizzy from the spin, but she transformed, leaving her upside-down and dangling by her ped in the grasp of a Dinobot.
"Lookie Boss! I got me a little flying Earth Bot!" The massive bot said with a sideways grin.
Whirl smiled at him too. Though, she was upside-down… so did that mean she was frowning from his prospective? "Thanks for the save, Sludge."
The Dinobot Sludge nodded a few times, then after deciding he should do something other than hold her by the ped, he righted her back on the ground. Whirl stumbled, still dizzied by her amazing feet of arial agility. Sludge must have assumed she was about to fall over, because he scooped her back up and deposited her onto his shoulders. "No worries little bot… Ya know, I had wings once. Flyin' was loads of fun. Got picked up by a Vehicon buddy of ours on a way to a bug fight."
"Thank Primus you can't fly all the time." The comment came from another Dinobot. Snarl, who was busy digging his fingers into the wall of the Alchemor and tearing it open like it was the paper mâché Cody once helped her build a baking soda volcano with. "You woulda been crashed dead into the first mountain you flew by. Or knowing my luck… smashing your dumb self into me. "
"Careful please!" Fixit yelped as another portion of the ship was rent asunder. "You're approaching a pool line- Fuel line! I don't want to be surrounded by a fiery inferno for the second time in a week!"
'Sludge would probably appreciate a baking soda volcano…' Whirl thought to herself as Fixit dodged Snarl's hapless tossing of panels over his shoulder. She would have to carve out some time to show him how to make one.
Hotshot swerved up beside Sludge on skidding tires. "No fair Whirl! That was cheating!"
"We never said we couldn't transform during the race." Whirl informed him with a smug grin, high above on her Dinobot throne.
"Focus please, team!" Quickshadow said in her poshest of voices. She even clapped her hands together to really drive home the point. "I need all servos on deck to help unearth this Energon!"
Sludge grumbled and let Whirl down for good. "Boss is right, she do sound just like Commander Shoulder Pads. Just a lot more girlish…" He trudged back over to his team to continue working.
"Did Hoist ever come out of the ocean?" Hotshot mused as they followed Sludge into the piles of crash debris.
"I mean… He'll have to come up to refuel eventually." Whirl pointed out.
They stopped in front of the newest stockpile of weapons and other contraband. Brushfire was helping to inventory it before they sent it back down the mountain. All the while, Chop Shop was 'helping' by thoroughly explaining each and every weapon's function, and whether he had ever used it or not, and if he had, how cool he looked doing so. Though Whirl had just come up on the conversation, Chop Shop had claimed to have at least fired each one Brushfire had checked off the list. He also had an impressive, showoffy story to go with each comment too.
"Yeah, that one's got some right good power behind it. Not like the cannon I carry of course. It's-" He paused to flex a bit, "got a bit more fire power than most.' Chop Shop explained of the rifle Brushfire was currently holding. And that's when Whirl noticed a much larger gun mounted on Chop Shop's still flexing back.
"You found your gun!" Whirl cheered. "And it's bigger than me!" She noted. Of course, that made sense. All of Righty and his minicon buds made up Chop Shop, and that made a bigger than average bot. He would need a big weapon to lug around. 'But what if they all get in a fight, and don't want to combined into Chop Shop?' came a sudden thought. 'Would they all have to drag the gun behind them? Hmmm.'
Chop Shop startled. He must have been too busy flirting with Brushfire to notice them arrive. "Yeah… The brutes dug it out just a bit ago." He said and motioned to the Dinobots. "Horrific things they are but can't complain when they do most of the heavy liftin'." He then turned his whole focus back onto Brushfire with a grin. "As I was sayin'. I'd be happy to show ya how to shoot some time. When this whole, situation is handled of course."
"I'm not too bad a shot." Brushfire snickered. "Course, not much use for it here until recently. Blaster fire tends ta scare away the wildlife, no matter what planet you're on. I'm more of an organic caretaker here. Passes the time, keeps me happy."
Chop Shop very quickly shifted his gun on his back to better conceal it from sight. "Oh yeah! I love me some organic… thangs too. This world, just covered with the little buggas. Plenty to enjoy."
Well, that was clearly a lie. But he had taken Whirl's advice and was playing up Brushfire's love for wildlife. At least his smile wasn't too forced. 'So, are they ALL Chop Shop? Like a bunch of bees?' She thought to herself. Righty and the other minicon spiders were so different from each other after all. 'Or does Chop Shop's brain just kinda go to sleep when they aren't combined? It may be rude to ask him… I'll just ask Professor Boulder when he gets back.'
"More Con junk incoming!" Grimlock tossed something between Chop Shop and Brushfire before diving back into the fray for more.
Chop Shop looked ready to shout for the second interruption to his smooth game. But something about the item that landed at his peds caught his totally off gaurd. "Blimy… no way." He bent over and retrieved the item from the ground. He seemed hesitant to handle it, as if fearful it would break. He did, something Whirl had missed, and the thing transformed out into a long contraption. It was actually bigger than his gun even was, and once it was done shifting, he needed both broad arms to support its awkward shape. "Could have sworn they woulda tossed this."
"Another weapon of yours?" Hotshot hurried over, clearly excited to see more of the destructive tools in action.
Chop Shop shook his helm. Whirl wasn't sure, but she thought she detected a hint of genuine fondness in his two sets of optics.
"It's an old instrument from before the war." Brushfire commented. "It's a hard one to master. Takes at least two bots to play right."
Going by his shocked expression, Chop Shop was apparently surprised she knew that. "Yeah. Not much use for it in the war I admit. But you could say I got a soft spot for it…"
"You have to play it right now!" Whirl squealed. "Finally, a Decepticon who likes music!" If only she had brought along the recorder so they could play a duet.
Interestingly enough, Chop Shop seemed hesitant. "Eh, I'm not that good, kid. I mean, I picked a few things up from my stop on Eurythma. But, I mean, I just dabble."
What? He was being bashful? That was strange, considering he took every waking opportunity to show off in front of Brushfire.
And speaking of Brushfire, both Whirl, and Chop Shop noticed around the same time she had put down her inventory work and was now waiting expectantly for him to play. Chop Shop released a bit of a nervous laugh.
"Come on, lover boy!" Snarl laughed from across the debris field. "We're all dying to hear it!"
Chop Shop glared at him. But Brushfire's continued intrigue must have been enough to break him. It was the first time she had given him more than just the time of day and passive nodes as he blustered on. He sat down on a scrap pile behind them, adjusting the complex instrument in his servos. Then one of the Minicons that made him up popped off from his left ped. The Spider bot crawled up to the other half of the instrument his two servos couldn't reach. Well, that explained how he could play an instrument intended for two bots.
The instrument activated with a deep and resounding thrum. Whirl sat down in front of him and got comfortable. As Chop Shop and his left ped Minicon started to play, Whirl instantly knew she had to practice loads more with, well, every instrument she played, because Chop Shop had been wrong before about being not that good. He was amazing at playing! The light immitted from the strings warped the air around them ever so slightly, giving off a transparent rainbow that reflected off the metal of Chop Shop's fingers. It was hard for her to place in comparison to the human instruments she was accustom to. It sounded like the deep richness of a cello, the sparkful strums of a guitar all mixed together with the singsongness of a harp. But only if you plugged it up to an electric amplifier.
Whirl realized at that moment, she had never heard a Cybertronian instrument before… It sort of made sense. When was there time for music if everyone was fighting a war? Most of the music stuff probably got blown up along with anyone who knew how to play. The art stuff too. She was sad, but then suddenly very happy Chop Shop had smuggled this one off Cybertron.
"It's kind of weird…" Hotshot whispered to Whirl. He had since sat next to her to listen as well. "Not the music, but like, the guy playing it."
"What do you mean?" Whirl whispered back. Because she actually didn't have a clue. "We've gotten to know him well enough to see past the differences. Sure, Chop Shop is strange, because he's made up of six other little bots, and that turns all of those individuals into a totally different bot. In fact, it kind of reminds me of a cartoon me and Professor Blades like to watch where crystal aliens fuse together to become different crystal aliens. They like music in that cartoon too… I wondered if Chop Shop would take a request-"
"No, not him being a Combiner, or like, anything else you just said." Hotshot clarified. "Him being a Con. Until Wedge said he used to be one, I never really saw them as people with hobbies, or friends. But even then, I never knew Wedge as a Decepticon. He's an Autobot like me. But now, we're meeting all these Decepticons, and sure, they're different, but, they're like me too." Hotshot winced at his own awkwardness. "That's stupid of me to say."
"No." Whirl assured him softly. "It's wise. It's strong to admit you were wrong."
Chop Shop's song concluded, and the light from the instrument faded.
Grimlock bellowed a laugh with his group. "I think I feel myself falling in love with him too!"
Brushfire's impressed clapping tuned out their mockery. "That was better than just 'dabbling' mate. That was beautiful!"
Chop Shop only shrugged, offering a rare show of embarrassed flattery.
Much like Quickshadow was known to do, she had appeared silently out of nowhere to observe them. Brushfire jumped back to attention. "Sorry Quick! We're working!" She insisted.
"Nothing wrong with the occasional break." Quickshadow offered. She was observing Chop Shop thoughtfully. "I've been told by Cody I tend to take my work a little too seriously… It could do us some good, to slow down. Sometimes." She glanced at Whirl and Hotshot. "Especially if it benefits the younger lot. Learning about old Cybertronian culture is never a waste of time. Thank you for sharing, Chop Shop."
The Combiner nodded, folding the large instrument into its more portable shape.
'Come in, Rescue Bot team.' Heatwave's voice said, activating the open com channel. Whirl was on her peds at once along with Hotshot.
"We hear you loud and clear, Heatwave." Quickshadow informed him promptly. "Report."
'Secundus says the Groundbridge is working again. Where can we find you?' Heatwave asked.
"The crash site." Quickshadow answered. "Grimlock and-" She vented deeply, "His team, have almost uncovered the Alchemor's Energon stores. With it, Secundus will be able to fuel his abilities to sense and track down all the other Cons. And as a bonus, we can start dampening our enemies' technologies in kind, giving them a taste of their own medicine."
'Perfect. Standby.' Heatwave said.
And Whirl didn't even have time to get excited before the burst of a Groundbridge activated right beside them. The roaring of engines came through the vortex. The marvelous sight of her professor's vehicle forms appeared! They all came to a stop a few paces away, the Groundbridge collapsing behind them.
Heatwave's driver side door flung open, and Kade came crashing down onto the ground, looking as if he was holding himself back from kissing the dirt. "Home sweet home! God, I forgot how annoying road trips were without teleporting alien technology!"
Unable to contain herself, Whirl screamed. She couldn't wait for the rest of the Burns to disembark so her professors could transform. She just rushed up and hugged Heatwave's front grill. It was so good to see they were all ok.
Heatwave just chuckled. "Good to see you too Whirl." She didn't waste any time hugging Chase, Boulder, and Blades, all still in vehicle modes so unable to fight off her affections. Once empty of their human passengers, Heatwave and the others transformed. He then stood in scowling silence as he observed the Dinobots across the field, Fixit just barely not getting flattened under their massive peds.
"There ya are, boss!" Grimlock said with a fanged grin. "Just in time! We just dug to the Energon stores! We storm the Con base after this, right?"
Heatwave's glare was sharp and ready. Whirl figured he had many hours of driving while listening to Kade's mix tape over and over to practice it. "We still need to know what we're up against before we go guns blazing into the Decepticon camp."
Brushfire approached them, Chop Shop right by her. "Heatwave… I understand we need to take things really carefully. But, before I was forced to leave the area, the Deceptcions had already made a right mess of the place they had overrun. I'm really worried about what kinda damage they have done." She wore an expression Whirl wasn't used to seeing on her. Deep worry, or maybe encroaching dread. It didn't suit Brushfire.
"I understand, Brushfire. But, I worry if we just send Grimlock, and now, all his friends, they could do damage to the area too. Probably more then what the Decepticons have already done." Heatwave pointed out. "We need to play it safe."
Brushfire vented, crossing her servos with that look of worry once more.
"Ya know…" Chop Shop spoke up. He had noticed Brushfire's worried energy field like Whirl had. Though unlike herself, his attempts to cheer her up may or may not have been a bit more self-serving. She guessed the latter, as when Brushfire perked up, he flashed her a self-assured, flirty smile, "Ya could send in an insider bot, or, multiple mini ones. Intel collectin' only. It's not like I wouldn't fit it."
"You would go on our behalf to spy out the base? Hm, not a bad idea." Quickshadow agreed, looking too Heatwave. "Something to think about at least."
"Could be promising." Heatwave agreed.
"But risky." Boulder added with a glace of apprehension aimed at Heatwave. "It would be catastrophic if they found him out…"
Chop Shop snorted, "Please, Autobot! I know these kinds of blokes. Huddled in a cave in favor of fightin' it out. I'm not worried, even if they do sniff me out."
"Plus, he's just a Con!"
Whirl looked down. Yep, Fixit had found his way into the conversation and was smiling assuredly at the proposed topic. "He will fit in among the other criminals well enough. And we wouldn't have to sacrifice one of our own for the task. Win win!"
Chop Shop glared down at the smiling minicon. "You sayin' I'm expendable, ya little runt?"
"Well, that's not a very 'socially acceptable' way of putting it…" Fixit hummed. "But, I will say your existence became infinitely less significant to the universe when you signed your designation onto the Decepticon's war roster."
Chop Shop chose that moment to readjust the gun on his back, the low hanging butt of the weapon smacking Fixit right in the faceplate.
Heatwave just rolled his optics. "Alright Chop Shop. If you're really willing, I think this may be the best way to move forward."
"Ah, undercover work!" Chase intoned. "A time-honored tradition for the intention of intel collecting. I have written a book about that also. Allow me to share it…"
A crash from the ship drew everyone's focus upward.
Snarl pushed his way out of a broken panel. He was followed by the other three waiting impatient in the shadows of the ship. "We hit the Energon vault, boss! Needs a pass code. Sludge already bashed his helm into it a few hundred times to break it down. No luck."
That statement seemed true to Whirl. Sludge did look rather dizzy stumbling alongside Grimlock.
"You can't bust through that!" Fixit snapped up at them, still rubbing the place Chop Chop's gun smacked him. He rolled back over to them in a huff, but that authority in his voice didn't exactly match with his size. Even more so while craning his neck cables to just address the Dinobots looming over him. The poor trembling minicon barely cleared Grimlock's heel strut. "It's reinforced, highly tempered-"
"You got the code?" Grimlock asked.
"Um, yeah, I- GAH!" Fixit was lifted off the ground and into Grimlock's claws before he had a chance to spin his wheels in reverse to escape.
"Alright, squirt! In we go." Grimlock and the others vanished into the dark tunnel they had carved out, ignoring Fixit's terrified complaining about being so high up.
"Primus, what did we come back to?" Blades huffed.
"More Dinobot." Heatwave vented. He gave Quickshadow a sympathetic look for having to deal with them all this time. "I'm starting to come around to Hoist's point of view. Alright everyone. No time to waste. Let's start siphoning the ship's Energon, then we can Bridge it back, and get ready to infiltrate the Decepticon base."
Kade groaned loudly. "Really, there's no time for a nap?"
"Let's go, cranky." Danie said, patting his hunched back as she passed.
"Fine." Kade snapped. "Well, at least we have my mix tape to listen to while we work. We didn't get to finish listening to the third play through before we got back. Heatwave, it's still in your CD player. Crank up the tunes."
Heatwave gave him a very long, pointed look. A small port on Heatwave's chest shifted into view, where a human CD popped out. He retrieved it between two fingers, then snapped it in half. He handed the broken pieces back to Kade before marching towards the Alchemor.
"You have no taste in music, my man." Kade grumbled, pocketing the broken fragments.
Whirl followed merrily after her professors. Kade wasn't totally wrong. Music would be a good way to make the work go faster. Unfortunately, it seemed Chop Shop's musical contribution was done. He appeared to have grown self-conscious with so many new eyes and optics as an audience. No big deal. She had own inner soundtrack to work with until they could persuade Chop Shop to play again. "We, are the Crystal Gems…" She hummed to herself.
Location: Rescue Academy
Cody
"Thanks guys, let's hope it doesn't come to that." He hung up the phone with a sigh and looked to Frankie as they walked down the Academy's main hall. "Well, that's taken care of…"
Frankie wore a wry smile. "So, Whirl's code name: 'Death Con Decepticon, Operation: Con's Gone Wild' is all a go?"
Cody nodded. "Yep. So if we reach a world ending scenario, we at least have it covered." He said while giving his phone a little shake.
"When are we not handling a world ending scenario?" Frankie retorted with a snort.
Truer words had never been said with such knowing sarcasm. "Not that it will get any worse. The bots are fearless. They'll sort out this mess."
"And our 'back up' won't spill the secret to Team Prime, or Agent Fowler?"
"Nope. They're used to lying for the sake of protecting their alien friends, which is something else we have in common besides our teenage status." Frankie's face suddenly fell. "And Raf said he really doesn't want the war to break out again. Say's he can't stomach Bumblebee and the others in danger anymore. They will only spill the beans if things go totally off the rails, which I figure is something we were going to do anyway."
Cody felt a great deal of sympathy for their new Nevada friend. He could relate. When the Rescue Bots or his own family rushed into danger, his mind wouldn't stop racing until they were all home safe again. He couldn't imagine if those he loved were fighting in a war.
They arrived into the spacious common's area of the Academy to find Medix knelt down in front of a large cabinet like he was trying to coax out a scared cat. Further investigation proved there was no cat. It was Hoist, cowering in a cupboard. Wedge was just lounging, apparently having given up the task of getting Hoist out.
Cody tilted his head when faced with the ridiculous scene. Yeah… It was a good thing these guys weren't on the front lines of any war.
"You have to come out eventually, Hoist." Medix grumbled, giving his metal fingers a few summoning snaps.
"I disagree." Hoist whimpered. "Not while there is a literal infestation of Dinobots running around."
"Have you tried talking to them?" Cody said, though already assumed the answer.
Hoist and Medix looked up. Apparently, just that suggestion was enough to send Hoist into another shaking fit. "I would have to get close to them to do that! No thank you." He slammed himself back into the cabinet.
"Let it go, Medix." Wedge sighed. "All we can do is wait for the group to bring back what the Alchemor had."
Frankie checked her phone when it buzzed. Then she smiled. "Good news. Folks from Griffin Rock are offering to help drive loads through the Ground Bridge back here. My dad says your dad is organizing it soon."
"Sounds like dad." Cody agreed. "Then again, I'm sure everyone is just excited to get the space junk off the mountain. It is the most popular hiking trail that got crashed onto after all."
"We would have gotten it cleared off a week ago," Wedge insisted. "If it weren't for, ya know, 'Death Con Decepticon, Operation: Con's Gone Wild'."
"Can we please not call it that?" Medix groaned. "I admit Whirl was right about it having a 'ring' to it. But it is over the top dramatic."
"You just learned Whirl has a flare for the dramatic?" Hoist's muffled scoff came through the cabinet door. "How long have you known her?"
"Five years, Forty-six days." Medix reported. "And every second has been exhausting."
The lights above them flickered, summoning their attention to the ceiling.
"What's up, Secundus?" Frankie asked.
"I sensed another of those large power spikes… It is a power I have not felt in millennia."
"The second time you sensed it?" Medix said with blatant confusion. "Why didn't you say anything the first time?"
"I did." Secundus insisted. "It was the first thing I reported to Hotshot and Whirl upon my awakening from stasis."
Medix vented. "So, THEY just didn't mention it."
"That checks out." Frankie agreed.
"I worry this power may be linked to the Decepticon presence here on Earth. Though, that is just a theory. The coincidence is too great." Secundus surmised.
"Like, this power you sense may have brought the Cons here?" Cody said, desperately needing clarification.
"Perhaps." Secundus said.
"One more thing to deal with once this is over." Medix vented again.
"It will take me a while to track the power that I sense." Secundus explained. "So there is no need to worry over it now."
Frankie smiled at Medix. "Good. We have a reason to put it off."
"Lucky us." Medix grumbled.
The door to the common's room slid open. Chop Shop sauntered in like he owned the place, smile matching his confidence. Quickshadow walked lockstep with him despite the massive height difference he had over her.
"I will be encrypting your comm frequency, so the Decepticons will not be able to hear or detect our communications with you." Quickshadow said. "Save for a high frequency detecting sonar, your cover is, well, covered."
Chop Shop jumped down onto the large Bot sized couches and leaned back as casually as physically possible. "Anythin' else, Sheila?"
Quickshadow glared at him. "As a matter of fact, we haven't even covered half of what you need to know. So, get comfortable."
Chop Shop rolled his optics. He took her advice and slouched even further into the couches.
"What's going on?" Cody asked.
Chop Shop lulled his helm back to said, "I'm gettin' a crash course in all thing's infiltration related. I'm about to take a little trip to my fellow Con's hideout."
"You're going undercover?" Cody pieced together from the vague statement and the thick accent.
"Heatwave is ok with that?" Medix seemed far from convinced by his confidence alone.
"He thinks it's the best-case scenario in fact." Quickshadow assured. "The more we learn before we make any decision even almost close to a raid, is invalid."
"And I'm a Con, so there for expendable apparently." Chop Shop added with an optic roll.
Quickshadow fixed him with a cross look. "You did volunteer," she reminded.
"And I'm sure for only the noblest of reasons?" Frankie snickered, just as Brushfire came into the room, catching Chop Shop's attention.
The Decepticon Combiner gave a devilish grin before hoping up off the couch to follow Brushfire to one of the many view screens.
"I suppose our crash course in undercover espionage is concluded?" Quickshadow said with a brow raised.
Chop Shop waved off her concern. "Please, Im'a Con after all. I'll fit right in. I'm not worried," He glanced over Brushfire's shoulder after clocking she was staring worriedly at pictures on the screen. Cody recognized them as the patrol area in Australia. "I'm just happy to help the, local organics." He assured Brushfire with a winning smile.
Frankie snickered on Brushfire's behalf. Repressing his own amusement the best he could, Cody headed for the large Bot sized cabinet that had been slowly creaking back open over the course of the conversation.
Then the common's room door flew open, the rowdy laughter of Dinobots pouring in. The cabinet slammed shut. Poor Hoist.
Grimlock and his buddies quickly made themselves at home, Heatwave's venting sigh followed right after. He and the team had returned to the Academy too! And it seemed they had gotten to know the Dinobots on the way. Cody couldn't tell, since it wasn't like Heatwave could get bags under his eyes, but he looked exhausted.
Amongst the entering party was Cody's family, all safe and accounted for. He ran over, his dad already opening his arms to embrace him. "Good to be back, son. Thanks for looking out for us from the command center." His dad said as he hugged him tight.
Kade came into the embrace, grabbing Cody in a head lock and giving him an enduring noogie. A greeting Cody had hoped getting older would put an end to. He had a feeling this would happen into their old age. "Hope you didn't worry to hard, Codes. Me and Heatwave had it covered."
"So then, Heatwave had it covered." Graham corrected. Kade broke away from Cody to instead snatch Graham in the same head lock to administer another knuckle digging noogie. So then Cody was right. Age didn't much matter to Kade in this regard.
From the bot sized couches, Cody noticed one of the Dinobots perk up. "Boss, you see that small door shakin'?" Said the big goofy one Cody knew to be Sludge.
Grimlock glanced over the couches. "Yeah, that's Hooks probably. He gets into the damndest places."
Cody could almost see the dusty wheels in Sludge's mind turning as he staired at the cabinet door. It had started to shake even more violently when Hoist became the Dinobot's focal point in the conversation. Cody was worried the door would shake right off its hinges.
"Hm…" Sludge ventured from the couches. He had to almost press himself to the floor to get eye level with the trembling door. "You stuck in there, little bot? Need me to rip the door off to get ya out?" He took the handle in the tip of his two claws, starting to pull it open.
With an "EEP!" Hoist slammed it shut again, much to Sludge's surprise. He rose a metal brow. "Little bot?"
"Look alive team… Our schedule is moving up." Heatwave announced to the growing occupants of the room. Thankfully, it was fairly large to fit the task, even considering the company.
"Did that scary Agent lady called you too?" Cody guessed.
Heatwave blinked. "How-"
"She's called the Academy like seven times." Frankie divulged. "And she, sounds, MAD. Something about ten bot sightings a day. I tried to assure her that humanity's just paranoid after learning the truth, and that could induce large crowds to have a group hallucination where they think they see bots."
"She wasn't buying that." Cody added.
Blades groaned and flopped dramatically onto a couch not claimed by a Dinobot. "Of course she didn't. She can smell when we're lying, and our fear too, probably."
Wedge limped back in with his sights set on Medix. After giving the trembling cabinet a curious glance, then a knowing eye roll, he said, "Your one patient is awake, finally… Which is impressive after everything Grimlock did to him."
Medix vented as he stood. "I'll check on him, just to give me something more productive to do. I'd have more luck herding cats then getting Hoist to come out." He grumbled.
"As a matter of fact, Medix," Heatwave said thoughtfully. "If he's well enough, have him join us in here. Chase and Boulder will escort him."
Medix was thrown. "I guess that'll be fine… He should be well enough to make the jaunt out of med bay and down the hall. But, why?"
Heatwave and Quickshadow shared a knowing look before he answered. "If we are sending Chop Shop into the Decepticon base, it's best if we get intel from somebot who was already on the inside. Clampdown is the only Decepticon we have who lived there. He's bound to know all about the traps and layouts of the place."
"That is giving him a lot of credit." Wedge said with a chuckle. "From what I gathered from our brief chat, it seemed he wasn't the fan favorite there."
"But he still has working optics and audios." Heatwave countered. "He can report anything he knows."
"Had working optics and audios." Grimlock laughed. "I tried fixing that."
He went ignored, and Medix instead left with Chase and Boulder to bring back their esteemed, 'guest.'
Soon enough the door was opening again, and the room fell quiet as the funny looking Decepticon scuttled in with the help of Boulder to lean on. They had him restrained, so he was probably less then cooperative when they got him up. But his arms didn't really bend like any other Cybertronian Cody had seen, so they had to sort of fashion the cuffs around the thick end of his claws. The look couldn't help but remind Cody of a lobster tank in a seafood restaurant where they all had rubber bands on their claws.
Clampdown's grumpy façade fell like a rock into the ocean when he locked his shifting focus onto Grimlock's grinning form. "Ah scrap, I'm fragged." Clampdown whimpered.
Kade, who had been munching on chips in the corner until this moment, suddenly choked on crumbs. "No freaking way!" His outburst was focused solely on Clampdown as Boulder sat him down in a chair. Oh boy, this didn't bode well. "I thought the shark guy was weird looking! But this dude is just a straight up crab!"
Danie, who had been mooching from his chip bag this whole time, took the opportunity to add, "To bad you wasted all of your ocean puns," and then crunched another chip as a sort of mocking emphases.
Kade gave that some thought. Then he smiled. "I'm crabable of cooking up more puns."
Danie went to kick him in the shin, but he was ready this time. "Ha! Missed!" he laughed in triumph as he dodged the kick. Danie didn't give him a moment to dodge her next blow, which was just a hard right hook into his arm.
Thankfully, Cody's dad had it covered, breaking them up like they were five year olds, in total defiance of their fully adult status. With that taken care of, Cody was able to focus on the new Decepticon in the center of the room. Chase had sat him down and gave him a 'don't try anything' look that he had only witnessed his dad using. It probably came in their line of police work. And fatherhood.
Clampdown shriveled under the stairs of the Dinobots and every other Rescue Bot and Rescue Recruit boring their gaze into him from every angle.
"Yeah, this one won't take long to break." Grimlock snickered, and went to stand up.
Heatwave came to Clampdown's defense. "Nope! You sit this one out. We can handle this."
Grimlock slumped back down with a carefree shrug of indifference. Heatwave refocused onto Clampdown. "They've already explained the status of the war when you woke up, right?"
Clampdown, even scared out of his wits, managed a somewhat pointed glare. "Yeah. Theys told me the 'truth.' Saying yous Autobots stopped the war or some scrap like that. I may not bes the most smart kind of Con, but I ain't that stupid. I ain't tellin' you Bot's nothin'!"
The sound of snapping metal resounded around the room, making Clampdown jump in his seat. Grimlock had retrieved a pipe from somewhere and snapped it in half like a twig. He also did so while maintaining direct eye contact with Clampdown.
Heatwave stepped into their line of sight. "I don't want to sit here trying to convince you of the truth. Whether you believe us or not, we need your help for the greater good."
"They ain't bluffin' mate." Chop Shop said from his own seat across the room. Clampdown startled again, finding the Combiner amongst the many faces. Chop Shop tapped the Decepticon symbol on his own chest and smirked. "Take it from me. They're real interested in not rockin' the boat on this rock for some reason."
Chop Shop's assurance appeared to at least have some positive effect on Clampdown. It was either because he was a fellow Decepticon, or Clampdown noticed the massive riffle Chop Shop was able to just have on his back while strutting around the Autobot base unsupervised.
Clampdown's crazy eyes danced on their stalks, twitching from one bot to the other. "If I's talk, what's in its for me?"
"Yous gets tos keeps you'res legs's." Swoop managed to threaten him while also mocking his speech.
Heatwave gave the snickering Dinobot a warning glance. "If you help, we will give you safe passage back to Cybertron with time served. You'll be totally free of all charges."
That caught Clampdown's interest. Of course, Heatwave left out the every so important detail that everything he just said was already going to happen to Clampdown and all the other Decepticon's anyway.
"I don't knows that much… Maybe a thing or two from eavesdropping of the bosses. Theys all scheming about stuff behind each other's backs."
"What kind of crazy schemes we talking here?" Came Hotshot's sudden interruption. Heatwave and Chase had been looming over the Decepticon, both faces downcast and stern as they tried to persuade Clampdown as much as possible. That seriousness went up in smoke when Hotshot had jumped to his feet with a sudden burst of excitement. "Are they plotting to overthrow the new Cybertronian government by planting spies in it? No! They're going to create a cloning machine to overrun the Earth with Con clones! Wait, no, they're going to mind control every bot on Cybertron to turn against the Autobots!?" Heatwave tried to stop the tirade, but now Whirl was getting into it too with gasps of shocked realization that only grew in intensity with each new idea presented. "NO! I know, They're going to summon the Fallen themselves from the depths of the Pits with the help of some evil weapon of pure darkness to destroy Earth!"
Hotshot was clearly proud of himself for the input he had contributed. Heatwave, not so much.
Clampdown just staired at him, totally dumbfounded. "N-no. Not even close."
Hotshot's whole chassis sank in disappointed. "Oh, ok…"
Clampdown continued to stair at Hotshot. The confusion soon turned into a narrow glare, even in the face of his imprisoned status. "Everything you just said is the stupidest thing I's ever heard in mys life. Like, really kid? The Fallen? Like, whats you talkin' about? Megatronous? Why would yours brainpan jump to that?"
"Um…" Hotshot stammered. Taken aback by the once scattered and somewhat dim Decepticon becoming the opposite very suddenly. Hotshot shifted. "I don't know, because, he's um…"
"Evil?" Clampdown guessed. "That whats you was gonna say? That's total Autobot Functionalist propaganda talkin'. Megatronous was a fraggin' PRIME. And one of the only one of the Thirteen not totallys scared scrapless by Unicron. Poor guy was double-crossed by the broad he loved, who hes had to kill in self-defense. Whole thing was tragic as the Pits. I's feels sorry for the poor bastard. I's woulda left world and never looked back too if I's was him. Was it that evil to not want to be stabbed in the back by his fellow Primes just because they thought theys was so much better?"
Clampdown snorted in clear disgust before carrying on with the tirade of his own. "Yous Autobots just love slappin' that 'evil' label on his aft. All cuz Lord Megatron named himself after him. You want an evil Prime? Try PRIMA. He was the fragger, and that's comin' from me's, who's worked for mys fair share of scrapheads."
All of Hotshot was hunched over, as if the shame was crushing him into a cubed car in the junkyard. "Sorry…" He managed to whisper.
"Good, yous should be." Clampdown snapped right back.
Kade broke the stifling silence before it suffocated the room's occupants. "I am so freaking confused about everything he just said." He admitted.
Clampdown waved one of his bound claws dismissively at the Autobots that surrounded him. "Don't ask them. Theys need to crack open a history archive sometime."
"I think we need to take a deep vent and backup." Heatwave offered.
"Yeah, I think I's done." Clampdown huffed and crossed both claws.
Grimlock jumped in at that moment, standing up to give a dramatic stretch of his massive body. Hoist's door started to shake violently again. "Ya sure about that, crabs? You may be walking back to the medbay without those stupid stick peds if that's your choice."
"NO!" Boulder snapped in a rare show of anger. "We are Autobots and that's not how we handle things!"
Grimlock cocked a metal brow. "And you all forget I ain't an Autobot right now. That's why you hired me. No metal off your skids if I do something regrettable."
"Why's this little bot in here so scared?" Sludge spoke up out of nowhere. He appeared to have not been paying any attention to anything else but Hoist in the trembling cabinet. "This Con ain't that scary."
"It's not him." Cody explained as gently as he could. "It's, you guys. He's scared of Dinobot."
Realization hit Grimlock hard. "Oh, that's why he's always quakin'! Make's sense lookin' back."
Swoop and Snarl just laughed. "Probably a good thing to be scared of." Snarl agreed.
Sludge on the other hand, appeared genuinely upset at the news. He gave the door Hoist hid behind a knock he probably thought was gentle. "You ok little bot?"
There was a long hesitation behind the door. Then Hoist's voice whimpered, "I just, don't want anyone to get hurt, even Decepticons." He admitted.
Sludge pondered that. Then he shuffled towards Clampdown. Hoist peeked out, glowing eyes terrified to see what was about to unfold. The Decepticon winced in anticipation as the Dinobot approached him. "We won't hurt ya Con. I promise. We just want your help, that's all."
"The hell are you talking about Sludge?" Grimlock groaned.
Sludge gave his boss a big and confident smile. "I'm tryin' to use my new 'emotion thinking' skills."
"You're what?" Grimlock demanded, absolutely dumbstruck.
Sludge shrugged. "My drinkin' buddies been tellin' me I should 'work on myself' so I been seein' a therapist back on Cybertron! And that's what they been tellin' me to do. Course, they don't call it 'emotion thinking', that's what I call it cuz I couldn't remember all the big words they use."
"Empathy?" Frankie spoke up.
Sludge's whole face lit up. "Yeah! That's one of them words! You a therapist too?"
"When the hell you been doin' all this?" Snarl said with a scoff.
Sludge shrugged. "I does stuff outside work too."
"Not much," Swoop added. "You fight, smash scrap, drink at the bar then recharge."
"And after all that, I see a therapist now too!" Sludge said. "And doctor bot and me been workin' past my…" He hesitated, struggling to think of the word, "Trauma!" he recalled triumphantly, "And I'm suppose to do stuff important to me. And what's important to me, is not being like the monster Shockwave tried to make me be. Soooooo," He gave Clampdown another grinning look. "What can I, Sludge, help you, Con, with so you can help us?"
Clampdown blinked at him. He appeared more confused than Sludge's Dinobot friends. "Um, nos more cuffs?" He tried, lifting his bound claws.
Sludge ripped off both buzzing bands from Clampdown's claws before even Clampdown was ready for it. "Anything else?"
Clampdown glanced about the room, looking for some form of confirmation he wasn't losing his mind. His focus found Chop Shop again, which made sense, at least from Cody's perspective. Chop Shop gave him a simple shrug. "I's go back to Cybertron?"
Sludge nodded. "Just like that red bot said, you help us fix all this, then you go home. All the Con's do! I have a friend on Cybertron, matter of fact, and they are one of the new Con leaders. If these bots don't let ya go, I'll get my friend to come get ya. Promise."
Clampdown shifted in his seat. Then he nodded.
"So do we have a deal?" Heatwave pushed, not giving Clampdown too much time to really think it over.
Clampdown finally bobbed his oddly shaped head up and down. "Yeah… Yous got a deal."
Sludge gave a smug nod back at his gob smacked Dinobot friends. Then he looked to Hoist, who had since emerged somewhat from his cupboard. Past the lingering fear, Hoist now just looked confused, and a little hopeful. Sludge nodded to him also and went to sit back down.
"Just make sures I don't gets killed by Thunderhoof. If he finds out I nacked on him again," Clampdown shuttered, "He'd rip my optics out if he tracks this back tos me."
"You what?" Blades interrupted. Cody wasn't the only one to break their attention from Clampdown to find the helicopter bot noticeably confused. "Why would you knock on anyone?"
"Nac." Clampdown specified. "I already did it once. When yous other Autobot friends caught me shippin' high grade explosives fors Thunderhoof's enterprise, and they said if I tolds them where the big boss Thunderhoof was they would cuts my prison stay in half…"
Chase brightened considerably from the tale. "Ah yes, a police informant. A very wise road to redemption for any criminal seeking to once more follow the straight and narrow road of the law."
Cody brightened too, but for totally different reasons from Chase. "Narc! He mean's narc, not, whatever he said."
"Yeah, Nac." Clampdown huffed. He was clearly getting agitated, like they were all the idiots around him. "What in the Pits ya think I said?"
"It was the hard A sound for me." Blades clarified. "Made it sound like you were physically knocking on people. This scenario makes much more sense given the context."
"We are getting off track. Again." Heatwave said, snapping the trajectory of the conversation back to focus. "We won't tell any Decepticons who you are or that you helped. This is for the good of Earth and Cybertron's continued peace."
"Ok…" Clampdown said after a long invent. "What's you wants to know?"
"Everything you can tell us about the Decepticon's in Australia. The place you were hiding out." Heatwave elaborated when Clampdown was visibly confused by the use of Australia's name.
That was the moment Brushfire entered the interrogation. "What was the outside of the Con base lookin' like before ya left? How was the damage?"
"Damage?" Clampdown was thrown by that worry. "Eh, nothin' to bad I's guess? The cave we was in wasn't collapsin' much. Just every so often when we had the Alchemor stewards drillin' to make more room for the ship they's building. Them's little flyin' organics infestin' the cave always gettin' in the way though. We's made it a game to see who could shoot down as many as possible. Kinda passed the time."
That comment had two significant impacts very quickly. Brushfire's whole frame jolted with noticeable anger at the news of the cave dwelling bat's treatment. And then there was Fixit, who had relegated himself to the corner doing who knows what up until this point. His big round eyes reflected true sorrow for the first time Cody had seen at least. "So, that's where the other stewards are…" He mumbled.
Cody was quiet so not to disturb the meeting. He snuck from his place nearer to Hoist's hiding spot and came to Fixit's side. Frankie had followed his example, seeming to sense his intentions. They both gave the Minicon a silent pat on either shoulder. Fixit lifted his head, looking back and forth between the two smiling assuredly at him. His worried eyes softened somewhat.
"A ship?" Heatwave echoed. "What's that for?"
"To escape this dump." Clampdown said with a shrug. "Glowstrike and Saberhorn are tryin' to get off world. But theys don't have no Energon. So they sent mes out to get fuel rods to power the ship. But here's the thing…" he leaned in conspiratorially. "Thunderhoof don't want to do that. He thinks he can start his new crime enterprise here after wipin' you Autobots out. This place is far away from the Autobot enforcers around Cybertron, ya know. BUT Steeljaw is plottin' to overthrow Glowstrike and Saberhorn! But he's said to everybot on board he needs to get Glowstrike and Saberhorn outs the way first. Probably Thunderhoof too… Now that I's thinks about it."
"What's this Steeljaw going to do?" Heatwave demanded.
"He don't wants to go nowhere," Clampdown said, "He wants to stays here, enslave the local organics and claim Earth as a kinds of Con refuge."
So, that wasn't great news. Cody saw the horror dawn on Heatwave's and every other bot's face as this scheme was revealed.
"What a creep." Danie offered.
"Kind of an understatement, Danie." Graham muttered nervously.
"We aren't going to let that happen," Boulder promised Graham, and by extension, everybody else listening.
"Tell us everything about the base you were hiding out in." Heatwave inquired hurriedly. "How many Decepticons there are, booby traps, the tech they have access to, everything."
"Then we get you ready to head in for infiltration, big boy." Quickshadow said to Chop Shop.
He looked unconcerned, only taking that moment to bat his many eyes at Brushfire. "Anything to help a sheila get her place back."
At least he was confident. Noting everyone's else's worry, Cody wasn't so sure he was anymore.
"Good thing we reached out," Frankie whispered to Cody while Clampdown continued to unload everything he knew. "We may need more help in the end if things get as bad as they are turning out."
Cody just squeezed his phone in his palms, unloading his nerves energy into the device. Glancing at the phone screen, he saw the new Nevada number he had just called. He hoped it wouldn't get that bad, but Frankie's gut instincts were seldom off. "Yeah, probably not a bad idea."