There was an ire silence in the Autobot base as the occupants of the base were all staring at the computer screen in front of them.

On the screen, a footage was being played. The footage of the infiltration in the Pentagon that happened a couple days ago.

In the footage, the person who had done the infiltration. There were three figures on the screen. One being the infiltrator and the other two were guards who were trying to stop him.

As the footage continued, it showed the infiltrator taking out the guards. One by shooting him and the other by dashing at him and attacking him with some sort of blade. The bullets fired by the guard didn't seem to do anything to the infiltrator.

After the guards were taken out, the infiltrator looked up towards the camera and the Autobots gasped when they saw the face of the infiltrator.

"Jack…" Arcee gasped seeing her former partner.

"Wha-how? How is this possible?" Bumblebee beeped.

"I don't know how it all came to this, but Jack has stolen valuable information regarding many secret military projects, and the Pentagon doesn't like that." Agent Fowler said.

"Agent Fowler-" Optimus began, but was cut off by the agent.

"Hear me out Prime, my superiors didn't like the stunt Jack pulled at the Pentagon. The casualties he has caused, combined with the theft of valuable classified information, has put Jack into their naughty list. They've already issued a warrant to incapacitate him if he poses a threat during any future encounter." Agent Fowler said,"I'd advise you lot to find that boy as fast as you can and stop him before the military makes any harsh decisions."

"I… understand Agent Fowler." Optimus replied.

Agent Fowler nodded and then left the base.

The Autobots turned towards the other humans present in the base. In the human area of the base stood Raf, Miko and June Darby. It was hard to break the news of Jack's development to them. But this news has made the world crash upon them. Miko was holding Raf as they both struggled with this new knowledge. While June had her hands over her mouth. The older woman was on the verge of tears as she stared at the image of her son on the screen.

"June?" Optimus took a step towards her.

"I-I, I'm sorry Optimus, b-but I need a moment." June quickly excused herself before running into the hallways of the base.

"June!" Arcee called out before going after her.

Bumblebee was about to go after them, but Optimus stopped him. "Let them be, Bumblebee. Let them be." the Prime said to the scout.

Hearing this, Bumblebee stopped and Optimus turned back towards the team. Many of them had grim faces. Especially Smokescreen and Sideswipe. They didn't like what had happened with the human they had befriended. As for Tailgate, the mech was looking down at his feet as he felt Optimus's gaze fall on him.

"What are we gonna do now, Optimus?" Smokescreen asked.

Optimus took a moment to gather his thoughts before answering,"The circumstances are not preferable, however, it doesn't change our goal. We are still going to rescue Jackson and cure him and help him. But now, we must do it sooner, before the military has a chance to apprehend him themselves."

The Autobots present in the room nodded and agreed to the plan. Optimus once more glanced at Tailgate. The Prime didn't say anything despite the disappointment he felt towards his fellow soldier. Deciding it simply wasn't really worth saying anything, Optimus decided to just move on with important work at hand.

June weeped in the solitude of the empty corridors of the base. Her heart ached as she thought about her son. Her sweet boy, who has been turned into this… monster. As she weeped, she could hear footsteps approaching her.

"June?" Arcee asked as she finally found the woman.

June looked up at the femme. "Oh, H-hey Arcee." she smiled weakly.

The blue femme felt her concern rising as she saw June in such a state. "June, are you okay?" She asked.

"No." June replied,"I'm not okay Arcee. None of this is okay!" She screamed.

Arcee sat down beside June as the woman continued,"I just, I just wish I can, I can rip Jack away from them and hold him in my arms, and never let go again." she sniffed,"H-he has suffered so much already, and now this. It's, it's just so unfair!"

"I understand how you feel June." Arcee said,"Maybe not completely, but I do understand. I also want to bring Jack back." Arcee felt like choking as she continued,"Every night and every morning the guilt of not being able to save him eats me away. The regret of not being a good partner to him is something I'd never be able to put behind me."

June looked up at the femme, and at that moment, instead of a warrior made of metal, she saw a simple woman torn by the loss of someone she held close to. The nurse reached up, resting her hand on the femme's arm. Arcee looked down at the human, surprised with this unexpected gesture.

"I have faith in you Arcee." June spoke, trying to sound as encouraging as possible,"You, Optimus, your whole team, I have faith in you all. I know you will bring Jack back. Back to us."

Arcee felt her spark pulse hearing June's words and she felt a whole lot better as she spoke with her. "I will, June." She said,"I promise I will."

June smiled seeing Arcee's expression change. "Now that's the Arcee Jack would be proud of."

Arcee looked away, feeling slightly embarrassed, but a smile formed on her face, nonetheless. A few moments passed between them silently, until June decided to say something.

"Arcee. Could I ask you something?" she asked.

Arcee turned to look at June. "Of course." She replied.

June took a deep breath as she tried to keep her nerves calm, while turning her thoughts into words. "Arcee,... how do you feel about Jack?"

This caught Arcee off guard. Out of everything, this was not a question she expected June to ask.

"What do you mean?" she asked, confused.

"Well, before all this, you two were spending a lot of time together, and well you two were pretty close."

Arcee was now becoming slightly nervous, but she tried not to show it. "So? Jack and I are friends." She answered, despite the current situation of their relationship.

"Really? Nothing else?" Responded June, a smirk starting to form on her face.

"Y-yeah,... Just friends." Arcee said.

But June could see through her facade. "Arcee, don't lie to me." She stated with a voice that she had used on Jack for so many years.

Arcee then began stumbling for words as she tried to find a way out of this. "Why are you asking this?" she asked in an attempt to get out of the question.

"Just,

But after a few short seconds she saw there was no way out of this. So she decided to take a deep breath and come clean with June. "I'm... I'm in love with your son June." She answered shyly as she wasn't ready to talk about this with her.

"And how long have you felt this way?" June then asked.

"For a long time." She admitted,"The feelings were always there. But I only realised them a few months back, just sometime before Jack's capture."

Arcee felt bad as she recalled the memories of that time. How she had unintentionally hurt Jack. Primus, she was horrible to him and yet he always stuck by her, being her anchor for when she needed him. But now, her Jack had been turned into an enemy by MECH and all because she couldn't, didn't, protect him.

Arcee looked at June, the raven haired woman having an unreadable expression. Arcee was becoming more nervous now, as she didn't know what was going to happen next.

"June. Are... are you okay with the way you feel about Jack?" she asked.

She was worried that June would not accept her. And honestly, she wouldn't blame her, if she did so. After all, who'd accept someone like her. Even putting the difference in species aside, she had been a horrible partner to Jack. What is to say she won't be a good romantic partner.

June gave the femme a dark look for a few seconds, which only made Arcee worry even more. But that look soon disappeared and was replaced with a small smile.

"Yes Arcee. I'm okay with it." She finally answered.

"R-really?" asked Arcee who was flabbergasted by June's response.

"Yes Arcee. I know you will always be there for him, knowing you make him happy. So yes, I'm okay with it." She answered.

Arcee was shocked by June's response as she thought she wasn't going to allow her to be with her son. But to now find out that she was okay with it filled her with joy.

"Th-Thanks June." Said Arcee as she pulled June into a hug.

"Your welcome Arcee. Personally, I think you'd make a great daughter in law." Responded June with a chuckle.

Arcee chuckled at that too.

"June, how do you know he felt the same about me?" she asked.

"Well, Jack would mumble your name in his sleep sometimes. Besides, I'm his mother. I tend to notice things about him" Responded June as she chuckled at the memory.

"Wait really?" Arcee then tried to confirm as a mysterious grin began to form on her face.

"Yep" was all June said in response.

Arcee then began to laugh as the both of them began to walk down the hall again. "OH! I am so going to use that to my advantage!" She stated as then both June and Arcee laughed as they got up and began to walk down the hall.

Megatron frowned as he watched the security footage of one of his energon mines. The subject of his attention is a small figure clad in black armour. From the looks of it, it appeared to be a minicon. But it didn't make sense. As far as he knew, the minicons had gone extinct during the war on Cybertron.

Another thing that surprised him was that this "Minicon" was working alongside Arachnid. He remembered that traitorous femme. Knowing how she worked, it was really unusual to see her work alongside this Minicon. But he had to admit, they worked well together.

If he had come across this Minicon before Airachnid, he is sure he would have kept this person as an asset. His fighting capabilities could prove useful. Megatron played another footage and as he watched the clip, he watched something peculiar.

"This Minicon is capable of transforming into a full sized cybertronian." Megatron thought as the clips showed the Minicon transforming into a Cybertronian.

Despite the small and scrawny build of its cybertronian form, it was able to defeat multiple Vehicons all by itself. Megatron had to admit, the fast paced ferocious fighting style of this Minicon was quite impressive. Skillset like that would have been of great value in the gladiator pits of Kaon.

Watching some humans come in and steal his Energon, along with the dead corpse of one of his Vehicons brought some distaste to Megatron. This human group, they called themselves 'MECH' as he recalled. The very same group who had once managed to abduct Breakdown.

"So Airachnid and her little pet have taken asylum to these humans." Megatron mused.

He paused the footage, zooming on the Minicon, his optics capturing every detail of the new participant of this conflict. "You can prove to be an interesting construct." the leader of Decepticons said.

Jack was sitting on his usual spot on top of the hill. While his eyes were fixed on the scenery in front of him, his mind wandered around in thoughts. Looking back at his life, he realised something. He has always been a puppet. A puppet driven by the fear of his bastard of a father, a puppet to his mother's wishes, a puppet to the cause of the Autobot faction. And now, a puppet of Silas, being used as a weapon for his doings.

Wanted to break out of this cycle. But he was helpless now. He and Airachnid were relying on Silas and his organisation, and Silas knew it too. So for now, he could do nothing. He has to remain a pawn in this war path.

Jack curled his fist, feeling hatred for his situation. He sighed as he tried to relax himself. He wouldn't be a pawn any more. This is now his war path. His destiny is his to choose and he will be damned to let anybody else control it any more.

"Someday." he whispered,"Someday I'll be free."